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Understanding the Origins of the Classic Orphan Girl Story Publication Year: 2011 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Download PDF (67.0 KB) In the pages that follow, I attempt to write with intellectual detachment about sentimentality. For a few paragraphs, however, I have no choice but to speak with genuine sentimentality about the people who infused this intellectual exercise with such joy. I have been fortunate to have had excellent mentoring since leaving graduate school. At Kansas State University, Anne K. Phillips, Dan Hoyt, Phil Nel, Karin ... Introduction: Gender, Sentiment, Individualism, Discipline Download PDF (172.9 KB) Disciplining someone effectively is a subtle process. On the one hand, successful discipline requires documentable results: the disciplined person stops one behavior (drinking, lying, stealing, speaking) or starts another (exercising, listening, sharing, studying). These outcomes of discipline are observable. Yet on the other, the power that underwrites discipline is at its fullest when it cannot be ... 1. The Wide, Wide World and the Rules of Sentimental Engagement Download PDF (139.9 KB) The history of affective discipline in the classic orphan girl novel begins long before there was a clear market for children’s literature whose goal was to delight rather than instruct young readers. Susan Warner’s The Wide, Wide World, published in 1850, crystallized many of the central tenets of discipline in the popular sentimental style, not coincidentally going on to become the ﬁrst best seller in ... 2. The Hidden Hand and Momentary Individualism Download PDF (88.7 KB) If The Wide, Wide World has become the example par excellence of sentimentalism, E.D.E.N. Southworth’s The Hidden Hand is a much more difficult orphan girl novel to classify. It was ﬁrst published in serial form in 1859, thus appearing within the same decade as The Wide, Wide World. But it was also republished in serial form twice more over the subsequent decades before ﬁnally being published ... 3. Eight Cousins and What Girls Are Made For Download PDF (103.2 KB) If women in sentimental-era novels could manipulate men, if Ellen Montgomery could place her father’s authority where she wished or nudge her future husband back into the role she preferred, the logical conclusion was that they sometimes ought to manipulate men. Similarly, when Craven Le Noir blackened the name of Capitola, she and her adoptive father might have disagreed about the best ... 4. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and the Threat of Affective Discipline Download PDF (107.3 KB) Although the orphan girl novel came to popularity in the nineteenth century, it was during the opening decades of the twentieth century that orphan girl novels proliferated. Taking a page from Eight Cousins, girls’ ﬁction of the new century invested its protagonists with more disciplinary agency, simultaneously pushing for more distinct subjectivity for girls involved in the affectionate relationships ... 5. A Little Princess and the Accidental Power of Stories Download PDF (94.7 KB) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was the ﬁrst of the classic orphan girl novels to suggest the affective power of storytelling in the hands of disciplining girls, but Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1905 novel, A Little Princess, was more dedicated to exploring the power of storytelling than any other book in the genre. The great popularity of Rebecca touched off a revival of the sentimental orphan girl story, ... 6. Anne of Green Gables and the Return of Affective Discipline Download PDF (81.2 KB) With all the changes Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and A Little Princess make to the formula of affective discipline, it might seem that L. M. Montgomery’s ﬁrst orphan girl novel, 1908’s Anne of Green Gables, is something of an anachronism. In the previous orphan girl novels of the new century, the genre pulled itself away from public and conscious affective discipline as well as from most of the other ... 7. The Secret Garden and the Rajah’s Master Download PDF (82.8 KB) Classic orphan girl novels regularly reﬂected the broader culture’s ideas about loving discipline and the shifting subjectivity it engendered. At various points in their history, such books demonstrated a preference for shaping spirits rather than bodies, a tendency to invest citizens with rights that could be owned like tangible commodities, and even a concern that affective discipline might work ... 8. Pollyanna and Anxious Individualism Download PDF (111.2 KB) Because The Secret Garden and novels like it descend from the sentimental novel, they traditionally keep the mother out of the crosshairs of affective discipline. After all, the sentimental novel detailed the empire of the mother, and she guided rather than absorbed disciplinary intimacy. But, as The Secret Garden demonstrates, the mother can be stripped of her body just as can the father, ... 9. Emily of New Moon and the Private Girl Download PDF (166.1 KB) The last of the novels clearly in the sentimental orphan girl tradition that I examine is Emily of New Moon, published in 1923 by L. M. Montgomery, who had already achieved international fame as the author of Anne of Green Gables. Written at the end of the genre’s long history, Emily relentlessly examines the trends of the earlier novels. Whereas early girls’ novels such as Eight Cousins ... 10. Spinning Sympathy Download PDF (139.7 KB) When Katy Carr, of Susan Coolidge’s 1873 novel What Katy Did, awakes on Christmas morning in her invalid’s bed, she is delighted to discover three important gifts. From her cousin Helen, who is also an invalid, there is “a little silver bell.” Tied up nearby is “a beautiful book . . . “The Wide Wide World’ ” (203). These gifts and others adorn the third gift, a new chair from her father and the ... 11. Girls’ Novels and the End of Mothering Download PDF (139.1 KB) When postsentimental orphan girl stories used mother ﬁgures as antagonists in plots about girls achieving a more robust subjectivity, they performed a stunning revision of the sentimental model of discipline they had inherited from nineteenth-century sentimental novels. That mothers could be antagonists at all was a fundamental shift: in the mode from which this girls’ ﬁction borrowed its ... Conclusion: Affection, Manipulation, Pleasure, Abuse Download PDF (133.5 KB) Although standard readings of the history of affective discipline in the United States stop with the close of sentimentalism, women writers of the next several decades continued to ﬁctionalize and test new strategies of discipline through love. They did so in novels that borrowed a narrative formula about orphan girls, revising such key terms of sentimental suasion as sympathy, individualism, and ... Download PDF (110.6 KB) Download PDF (112.3 KB) Download PDF (546.0 KB) Page Count: 256 Publication Year: 2011	255,214
Steve Weiner is a member of SDUSA’s National Committee. He lives in Medford, Oregon. For 45 years Steve has been publishing his thoughts in a paper he calls the Suspicious Humanist. Like many of you, I get barraged by reading material from many political, cultural, and news media organizations. Yet, I always make time to read the Suspicious Humanist. The writing is thoughtful and enlightening. Steve never focuses on just one subject, and each item is an easy read, short and pithy. He uniquely weaves a story of politics, literature, psychology, religion, and ethics. He will insert an unrelated vignette here and there. It never fails that the 10 minutes I spend are very well worth it. I have attached the most recent copy HERE. On this Presidents Day, we take pause to remember our past national leaders: particularly Presidents Lincoln and Washington. Here in my home town of Carnegie, PA, we unveil a new permanent exhibit in our Library & Music Hall facility which we are calling the Lincoln Gallery. It features 100 photographs of Abraham Lincoln and will reside next to the Capt. Thomas Espy GAR Post, America’s most intact Civil War veterans post. A full schedule of events is planned to mark the occasion. I cannot claim to be deeply knowledgeable about all our presidents. Like many folks, I know our major presidents and their historical significance, with President Lincoln being a standout. Over the weekend I spent time browsing through Stefan Lorant’s huge book, Pittsburgh: Story of an American City. It gave a solid accounting of the founding of our city and Colonel George Washington’s military role. Although engrossing— you can spend hours just skimming its 1100 pictures— a person could conclude that Pittsburgh was inhabited only by wealthy white people even up to present day (1964). To the contrary, the growth of this great industrial city is the story of working people of all colors, ethnicities, and national origins. The minimal attention paid to the working people of Pittsburgh is the book’s main failing. Regardless, I bring up the Hungarian Lorant because he was a noted historian of American presidents, and even the presidency itself. In particular he wrote several books on Lincoln. The printing of the 100 Lincoln photographs I mentioned above was originally commissioned by Lorant and accomplished by noted Pittsburgh photographer Norm Schumm. Elected officials often point to past leaders who inspired and motivated them. Even as a small player in municipal government, I am no different. All presidents are flawed, as all of us human beings are, but there are certain words and deeds that resonate in us. In particular I admire FDR’s elaboration of our Four Freedoms and Harry Truman’s racial integration of the military in 1947— an unpopular move. And who can forget Eisenhower’s warning about defense contractors. Since those presidents, however, our presidency has become infected by Hollywood. I’m not blaming our presidents for that; advances in film, television, advertising, and now the internet, have forced presidents into an all flash and no substance mode of operation. So, when I think back to my influences, I have to go pretty far back. And for me, that’s Lincoln. As with any war, we are obligated to weigh the merits against the costs. Certainly the costs of the Civil War were huge and devastating. Some claim that Lincoln had no choice because the secession of the Confederacy would have irreparably damaged our nation— that the North and the South were co-dependent and could not exist separately. But I expect that trade relations between the two countries would have continued quite normally after the divorce. Indeed, it was slavery that was the defining element, and the question of whether or not America would go to war in support of its least powerful “citizens”. It is a moral question, not a financial one. It is still a question we grapple with today, for example, when we look at the 3 million Syrian refugees and ask ourselves if we have any obligations to help others in distress. Lincoln made his stand, and paid for it with his life. He said, “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm”. Also, we are reminded that the War was not the only issue of Lincoln’s day. He presided during a period of great industrial expansion. As capitalists converted human beings into factory machines, Lincoln responded, “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration”. And lastly, and most significantly for me, Lincoln provided guidance for elected representatives in the last words of his Gettysburg Address, “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth”. This is the very foundation of social democracy and people around the world have adopted this motto as they shake off the bonds of tyranny. Have an enjoyable and memorable Presidents Day. In the early morning hours of a day last October, my theories of optimal medical insurance began to be put to the harsh tests of reality. My wife had gone to bed early, saying that she had a sore throat. At about 5 A.M she woke me and said that she couldn’t breathe. An ambulance took her to the local hospital, where she was sedated and intubated. She was unconscious. By about 11 o’clock her blood pressure began to drop, and my daughters and I were told that she would be transferred to cardiac intensive care at Massachusetts General Hospital because the doctors feared that she was having a heart attack. We followed her to MGH and began a three month vigil. Massachusetts General Hospital is probably one of the best hospitals in the world. It is also probably one of the most expensive. My wife, Carol, was in an intensive care unit for about three weeks, during which we learned that the basic problem was not her heart but a bacterial infection. Mass General prides itself on its treatment of infections, and that problem was soon on its way to solution. However, Carol remained unconscious; an MRI showed bleeding in many parts of her brain, probably brought on by the infection. She was in a medical unit at MGH for another week, where she was fitted with breathing and feeding tubes, and then she was transferred to what I am told is the region’s finest rehabilitation hospital. We had no assurance that she would ever regain consciousness and if she did, what her mental condition would be. About two weeks into this process, when Carol’s condition was stabilized, the thought crossed my mind that this world-class care probably had a world-class price tag. Suddenly I was faced with the reality that thousands of insured Americans go bankrupt each year because of medical expenses. In addition to Carol’s physical condition and our deep anxiety, there was the possibility of financial disaster after years of hard work and careful saving. I gathered the books on medical insurance issued by my various insurance carriers and began to read carefully what the various plans covered and how they were coordinated. After an hour or so the conclusion was clear: we were unlikely to have any more than quite minor costs for which we would be liable. For the first time in what seemed ages, I had an enormous sense of relief. We could concentrate on Carol getting better,and in the middle of December, she began to recover consciousness. At the end of January she came home and today is her old self, except that she has trouble balancing the checkbook! Is this a tribute to the insurance companies of America? Far from it! You see, like most elderly people, we are covered by Medicare Parts A and B and a supplement that is private but government-standardized. As I followed the claims process, it was seamless and required no intervention on my part. The claim went directly to Medicare and then to the private carrier. Presumably, if there had then been a balance, I would have been billed. In fact, with this catastrophic illness, I received one bill for $235. I probably could have contested it if my emotional state had been better, but it was easier to write the check. Why am I troubling you with this intensely personal story? First, to point out that, for part of our population, we already have a well-functioning government health insurance system, and in my experience it does not interfere in any way with superb medical treatment and does not involve bureaucratic red tape. It is Medicare, and unfortunately it covers mostly us old folks. After my own relief at our coverage, my next thought was, why doesn’t everybody in this country have the same assurance of good treatment without anxiety over costs? The short answer is that medical insurance in this country is in the hands of companies that have a vested interest in denying claims and hassling people who are already having a hard time. President Obama and the corporate Democrats left health insurance for most people in the hands of these companies when the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 (when the Democrats controlled Congress). They had before them a workable and working example in Medicare, and they ignored it. At the same time that my family and I were going through this terrible experience, the implementation of “Obamacare” began. It is composed of many moving parts, like some ramshackle Rube Goldberg machine, and some of those parts, like the expansion of Medicaid in the states,are in the hands of politicians deeply opposed to the whole idea. The finest administrator would have had difficulty with its implementation, and there is no evidence that Barack Obama has an abundance of administrative skill. We have before us an example of how to make health insurance work. Medicare for All! The Advisory Council of the New York Working Families Party has voted to endorse Elizabeth Warren as a presidential candidate for 2016. While as an independent party, the WFP cannot participate directly in the Democratic Party primary, it is likely that its endorsement would have an impact on progressive Democrats who do vote in the DP primary. In making the endorsement, the Working Families Party joined such organizations as MoveOn.org and Democracy for America in a “draft Warren” effort. A spokesperson for Senator Warren repeated previous denials that she is running. Bill Lipton, the state director of the party, was quoted by The New York Times as saying, “The only thing better than watching Elizabeth Warren take Wall Street to task from the Senate would be helping her bring our issues to the center of the national debate.” Other WFP leaders were more cautious and insisted that it was not a move against Hilary Clinton. Ed Ott, former head of the New York City Central Labor Council, said, “What the Warren vote reflects is that people want a Democratic Party with spine.” The Working Families Party is a coalition of labor unions, progressive activists and community advocacy groups. It was prominent in supporting Mayor Bill deBlasio in the New York City election two years ago. Generally the WFP is in coalition with the Democrats and, because of New York’s unusual law permitting fusion voting, the votes for a candidate with multiple party nominations can be counted together. At its convention last October Social Democrats USA determined that the transformation of the Democratic Party into a genuinely progressive- social democratic party was its major political objective. Now SDUSA has taken a giant step toward building the alliances with other progressive groups that can lead to the kind of Democratic Party that it advocates: the National Committee determined to commit a substantial part of the organization’s resources to participation in NetRoots Nation, a national gathering of progressive activists to be held in Phoenix in July. It is expected that SDUSA will be able to present its principles and agenda to more that 3,000 people who form much of the progressive leadership of the nation. In taking this action, the National Committee recognized that the next two years will present important opportunities for the progressive movement. There is widespread enthusiasm for a possible Presidential candidate of the democratic Left, such as Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. The issues that they and others have raised have sparked a discussion that is already defining the contours of a broad progressive platform. Now is the time for the myriad of progressive groups to come together in a mighty movement to reverse the Republican- corporate Democrat policies of the last thirty years. SDUSA hopes that this will begin at NetRoots Nation. Given the always uncertain financial health of SDUSA, this was not an easy decision. However, the National Committee is confident that a good member education program will not be affected adversely by the cost of exhibiting at NewRoots Nation. If you want to help, why not join us and/or make a contribution? You can use the SDUSA tab on this site.	33,528
Tech Favorites: Professional Development Five district leaders review the best new professional development programs. Reviewer: Dr. Felicia Fowler Instructional Technology Coordinator, Memphis City Schools , TN Challenge: We needed something that could be used by over 7,000 teachers across the curriculum. Response: Discovery Education allows for face-to-face professional development and online support in the form of discussion forums and webinars. Teachers have expanded technology use in their classrooms. Lesson Learned: The professional development support has helped to increase the capacity of our teachers to integrate technology. Ease of Use: Extremely easy! Teachers can download videos to their desktop or stream it live. Appeal: The videos provide visual context for what students are learning, which gives more meaning to instruction and exposes students to events, people and cultures around the world, and experts in the field. Final Word: Allows collaboration of teachers worldwide and provides a forum for networking and sharing ideas. We are implementing a Technology Exemplar initiative. Reviewer: Jhoni Ebert Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum and Professional Development, Clark County School District, Las Vegas, NV Challenge: We introduced PBS TeacherLine in 2001. As the fifth-largest district in the nation, sheer distance between schools meant we needed to look at online professional development options. Response: We found TeacherLine to be very user-friendly. It was such a smooth, quick interface and did everything we wanted it to do. Lesson Learned: Adding graduate-level credit for TeacherLine has increased the appeal and also the cost to the participant. Ease of Use: We have fine-tuned the enrollment, orientation, and fee processes over time. Appeal: We’ve heard that teachers appreciate having 24/7 access. And the large number of course offerings provides plenty of choice in every area of the curriculum. Final Word: TeacherLine aligns our district’s needs and initiatives, as well as offering the rigor that will challenge and inspire teachers. Reviewer: Mary Connery Network Director of Staff Development, Fairport Central School District , Fairport, NY Challenge: We wanted quality professional development—the ability to expose our staff to international and national experts on-demand. Response: We are beginning to see principals lead discussions with this product. It allows our smaller learning communities and groups to take advantage of a useful reference and discussion tool. Lesson Learned: It supplements our other efforts and is available anywhere and at any time. Ease of Use: School Improvement Network’s PD 360 is simple to use. Appeal: It’s individual-based. Their experts are people that teachers are always reading about. Real classroom examples are shown, using real teachers and administrators. Final Word: It supports the learner who wants to follow up on references. It allows the administrator to look at a library, and then send out a clip for others to preview independently. Administrators are integral to implementation. Reviewer: Obe Hostetter Instructional Technology Teacher, Rockingham County Schools , Rockingham County, VA Challenge: We wanted to be able to share interactive whiteboard tips, troubleshooting, and Notebook lessons, and have staff create interactive classroom lessons. Response: As a result of joining the SMART Exchange, we’ve connected with other SMARTBoard users through e-mail and conferences. Lesson Learned: Teachers can share and download lessons, and technicians looking for troubleshooting ideas can find help from peers on how to solve problems, or how to use software and resources with staff. It is creating a personal learning network for educators. Ease of Use: I think the SMART Exchange is easy to use because it is searchable, has RSS feeds, and is organized by topic. Final Word: It’s an excellent way to find answers and resources, as well as solve the problems of other users. I have personally shared technology integration tips with others there.	124,895
The truth is that programmers often need to embed dynamic variables into static string patterns. To accomplish this feat we used to write something like: A good news is that Scala 2.10 brings a shiny new string interpolation: The new syntax is more concise, offers more static checking and provides a better runtime performance. To facilitate the transition, Scala plugin introduced a new group of intentions to easily convert between all the variants of string formatting: In addition, we now have a complete format string and argument verification in the following places: - Interpolated strings	62,636
'The runner', an early, violent deity in panther form, seen as a manifestation of judicial authority. A personification of the executional tool. She was one of the protective powers in the king's suite. Her claws was likened to the barbs of the king's harpoon, which he used to protect himself with in the Underworld. The symbols of Mafdet was the pole, rope and blade of execution, with the deity in feline form climbing up it. Related searchesbuprenorphine adverse effects blue tulip rose read kundalini energy block dream dictionary shower wit famous wits urban exploration tunnels	11,545
New Zealand is a country located in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising of three main landmasses. Its capital is Wellington. Magical beasts and beingsEdit - The Antipodean Opaleye is a Dragon native to New Zealand though it has been known to migrate to Australia. - Ghosts have been sighted throughout the country. - In Maori myths, there is a Kelpie like creature called a Taniwha (TAH-NEE-FA) that resides in rivers. Magical games and sportsEdit - Quidditch was introduced to New Zealand some time in the seventeenth century by a group of European herbologists. After a long day collecting samples, the wizards would relax by playing Quidditch. The New Zealand Ministry of Magic has spent a lot of effort in trying to keep early Maori art depicting white wizards playing the game away from Muggles. - The Moutohora Macaws are a Quidditch team from New Zealand. - The mascot of New Zealand's Quidditch Team is a Phoenix named Sparky. Behind the scenesEdit - Chris Rankin who portrays Percy Weasley was born in Auckland, New Zealand. - Terence Bayler who portrays the Bloody Baron was born in Wanganui, New Zealand. - Pam Ferris who portrays Aunt Marge was brought up in New Zealand where she found her interest in acting.	303,788
A congressional subcommittee is in Central Florida trying to speed up the process of turning unused space facilities into job-creating private businesses. Rep. John Mica's panel met at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. Private industry could make use of a pair of old trailers built to carry space shuttle fuel tanks. The trailers are sitting unused at the moment, but it's the buildings and hangars that can be converted to private use. For example, Boeing is using an old space shuttle hangar to build and process a new space ship that may carry astronauts to the space station before the end of the decade. There are 47 launch pads at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, but only three of them are in use. Only 8,000 people work at the Kennedy Space Center, when 18,000 people used to work in the area. Mica's oversight panel is looking for ways to speed up the conversion from public to private. "We're trying to do everything we can to turn the properties around -- the assets that are sitting idle, the property, buildings and facilities, and get a return for the taxpayers," Mica said. Leaders of the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape testified that the conversion is not easy, and that they have requirements and responsibilities to other agencies that slow the process. Private launch companies such as SpaceX are looking for non-government facilities and launch pads, perhaps in other states, where they can work more efficiently. If the government doesn't make the conversion easier, then more jobs and more business are going to be lost.	178,653
A new study conducted at the University of British Columbia found that two components found in garlic will help reduce the contamination risk of infant formula. Published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers identified diallyl slfide and ajoene (two components in garlic) that work to significantly lower the contamination risk of Cronobacter sakazakii , which is found in dry infant formula powder. The bacteria is an organism that can cause bacteraemia (bacteria found in baby's blood, which can poison him), meningitis and necrotising enterocolitis (a fatal bowel issue found in premature babies) in baby. Though it's not only found in powder formula mix, in the last five years it's been most commonly detected there. Though the infection is rare, it's typically fatal in infants — and it's not only found in the US; it's been detected all over the world. Xioaonan Lu, co-author of the study, said, "A trace dose of these two compounds is extremely effective in killing C. sakazakii in the food. They have the potential to eliminate the pathogen before it ever reaches the consumer. manufacturing process." Which basically means that the discovery of these two breakthrough components could help make infant formula safer to consume for baby. Lu adds that the garlic compounds could be used to prevent C. sakazakii on food contact surfaces and in every step of the production process, from processing, packaging, delivery and ingestion. It would reduce the risk (and fear) for moms who are bottle-feeding baby. In fact, the use of garlic could revolutionaize the entire system. "Pipes used in the manufacturing of milk products are typically cleaned with chemicals like chlorine, but these garlic compounds are a natural alternative," says Lu. "We believe these compounds are more beneficial in protecting babies against this pathogen." Amazing, isn't it, what a little garlic can do? What was your biggest concern before bottle-feeding baby?	71,670
Originally Posted by HMenke I didn't say that. But to not acknowledge the very serious problems with pure democracy is to invite tyranny. Yet liberty does not prosper under anarchy. Limited government is necessary to promote individual liberty, but there must be built-in protections for individual rights and strong restraints on the scope and power of government. This is the essential problem of good government: how shall a government be established so that liberty is preserved/protected/maximized? I don't see it that way. Government is one of the few organisations where people actually have some, albeit limited, control of the persons in charge. One could leave more to the market, but I hardly see how that's going to prevent tyranny. All people are inclined to egocentrism and further along the line to egoism. Both in government and in the private sector. It's for that reason that communism or any form of socialism is doomed to fail; they just exhanged political equality and economical inequality for political inequality and economical equality. It's also why powerful private sector actors should be kept in check. I don't really see the tyranny from more democracy. I've been a member of a city council for a while and I was absolutely disgusted by the way my fellow councilors proceeded with politics. There's a lot of conventional wisdom, street knowledge that common people possess - but instead of going in a dialogue and collaborative process with them to produce a better policy, most energy went into shutting them up and estranging people from the political process. That doesn't mean that the politics there were bad; we kept our budget (although a lot of it went down the drain to some of the old boys network friends of the magistrates - you can never quite put your finger on it) and the happiness was on a reasonable level, but it is a missed chance. By arguing for more democracy I do not propose that people can vote in more referendums; I believe California is the best counterexample for that , but that people are more involved in dialogues on how to formulate policy. When your town decides to remove the park, because they don't want to maintain it - would it not be better to know what citizens are willing to do for the park in the first place? Perhaps that way the park can be saved. So no, no referendums, but more dialogue between and among citizens, government and NGO's.	16,788
The MexicanA Mexican family crosses over the border to the Land of Milk and Honey where the streets are paved with gold. But the husband can find no work. His family is hungry, so he takes a walk to a quiet place at the foot of a big hill, kneels at the base of a tree, and begins to pray: "Sweet Jesus, please show me a way to feed my family..." Eyes closed, the Mexican does not see the BLACK man coming over the top of the hill, who is stumbling wildly with a broken grocery sack. When the Mexican man opens his eyes, a large wheel of cheddar cheese rolls down the hill an lands at his feet! "Oh, thank you Jesus, thank you!" he cries, grabs the cheese, and runs straight home. Upon returning home, he gives the cheese to his wife and instructs her to make nachos. "But wouldn't you rather have cheese enchiladas and burritos and other things?" she inquires. "No," the husband says, "Jesus sent this to me with a message... As I ran home, I kept hearing Him yell, ' THAT'S NACHO CHEESE! THAT'S NACHO CHEESE!'	12,791
State non-oil companies receive funds from Pdvsa and central bank Venezuelan state-owned oil company Pdvsa is responsible for providing funds to the country's basic industries However, the stimulus has not been enough. State-run companies are facing financial needs that are being met by state-owned oil company Pdvsa and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV). In 2012, the oil industry and the BCV sent funds to state industries that according to some analysts were used to fill the industries' economic gaps. BCV data reveals that by the end of 2012, the financial institution allocated some USD 3.6 billion to non-oil public companies. Moreover, over the last two years, Pdvsa itself has received financial aid from by the BCV and in late 2012 further resources were allocated to Pdvsa and the non-oil state companies so they could meet their deficits. Resources requested by the state oil company have been mainly oriented to meet obligations established by the Venezuelan Government, namely welfare programs, including housing; labor liabilities, the so-called mining arc in Guayana (south Venezuela), projects in agriculture, and an investment program for the basic industries, south Venezuela. In an attempt to boost steel production, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez ordered Pdvsa to provide funds to state-owned steel company Sidor, yet the company's steel output by the end of 2012 was down 29.9% due to labor conflicts, spare parts and raw material shortage, and delays in the delivery of funds for investments. Translated by Jhean Cabrera At first she agreed that I use her real name, that she had no problems with that at all. After all, living with HIV had driven her to help others – as a workshop facilitator giving talks and conducting seminars, or as a volunteer for local AIDS Service Organizations like Acción Solidaria (Solidary Action) and Mujeres Unidas por la Salud (Women United for Health, or Musa), a support group network for HIV-positive women. But when we were well into the interview, the realization that she might lose her private health insurance coverage made her change her mind.	73,398
The Appling County Food Processing Plant will be in operation again this summer to provide the citizens of Appling and surrounding counties the opportunity to put up fresh fruits and vegetables. Plant personnel can assist you in preparing your product for the freezer or the can. They can also help you can your own soup, sauce, or Brunswick stew. Costs for processing will be $.65 per 401 can (about one quart), $2.50 per tray for blanching, $1.25 per quart for corn, and $5.00 per bushel for shelling peas and beans. Customers are expected to perform the necessary washing, peeling, shucking or other steps needed to prepare their food for processing. Customers will also be expected to clean up the area they use and any materials. Plant personnel will be available to assist in cooking and sealing the products. The plant will be open at 7:00 a.m. each day of operation and all food must be in the plant no later than 11:00 a.m. The food processing plant will be open this summer on the following days. June 3-6, 10-13, 17-20, and 24-27. The July dates are 1-3, 11-12, and 15-18. The plant will be closed on Fridays during the month of June and the fourth of July holiday. The Appling County Food Processing Plant is located behind the Appling County High School. Access to the Food Processing Plant is through the entrance between the Appling County High School and Appling Elementary Complex. Follow the paved road around behind the high school. The Appling County Food Processing Program is an educational program provided by the Appling County Board of Education and the Appling County Agriculture Education Department. If you have any questions about the Food Processing Plant please call 367-8617 or 367-8610.	174,148
Yes, I am one of those annoying people who pick movies to pieces. Of course, when the movie is fantasy, I am capable of suspending disbelief to enjoy the movie. In the case of the new movie, Noah, however, that isn’t an option. The reason being that there are many people who still take the fable as truth – some going as far as to waste their life away on a vain effort to find evidence. How can I be so sure that the story of Noah arises in the Middle Eastern dreamtime? Because of engineering. Because of biology. Because of earth. Engineering is not my field, so I’ll leave it up to others. In short, a wooden boat of such a size defies the known properties of the material and cannot be replicated by engineers. Now into a territory I’m more familiar with, I will need to break this down to many points to show just how idiotic the idea is. No boat could be big enough. It would have appeared otherwise to the all-too-human author at the time, with their limited experience of life that existed at the time of writing in other corners of the world and of all the life that had ever previously existed. Even assuming all the dinosaurs and mega-fauna forgot to buy their tickets and assuming genus, or even families were the “kinds” described, the line would still have been too long (eg. ranging from the many millions with species down to the many thousands of families – which in turn would require evolution along the lines of Pokemon, that is within a generation or two, to account for all the species today). Worse than that; the floods would have either been saline or fresh, meaning that the SS Noah would have needed aquariums for all species of the opposing environment. And this point is a catch-22; if we grant that the waters were saline – in turn leaving the massive per-historic marine reptiles and modern marine mammals off of the ark – well, then this boat needed to carry a year’s worth of water for all those on board. Fresh flood waters demands tanks big enough for the likes of blue whales and their buddies. The problem of thirst isn’t the end of the problem with resources. We must also consider what we could forgive the writer for not knowing; trophic levels. That is to say, animals eat each other. To support just the big carnivorous cats and dogs over this period, we couldn’t have just two of every species – but rather whole herds of prey species. These sacrificial herds were never mentioned. This in turn magnifies the problem of feed for the herbivores, as the prey herds will need vast amounts of food and water to maintain the meat-eaters. Assuming that the floods were fresh, thereby saving Noah the issue of carrying the water, he would still need to catch hundreds of tons of krill prior to the flood (because the freshening water would have killed them off) to feed however many baleen whales he needed to carry to “evolve” into the species we see today. As soon as you factor in food, the already absurdly small boat looks even worse. Again, we could forgive an author a few millennia ago for being ignorant, in this case, of limits to viable population size. Sure, a few breeding pairs of a given rodent might take off in a new environment, but that’s not guaranteed. We only need to look at how many times rabbits needed to be introduced to Australia before they exploded. When you are talking about a species that may only breed once a year or even longer, the chances that a single breeding pair would suffice to save to species is effectively shot. And I’ve ignored the problem of inbreeding here, which would have played havoc with subsequent generations. Having a singly breeding pair of every known species (or genus or family), Noah would have been lucky to have any persist and flourish. And now the real kicker To sprinkle salt into the wound, the year on the ark in itself means everything. Not only would he need to carry all the animals and all the food (and potentially water) to survive the year, but also for much longer. Worse than this, he would have needed to carry tons of seed. No seedbank (ie. seeds in the top soil) would remain viable for such a period under the flood. Apart from the osmotic pressure – or high salinity – caused by the flood itself and apart from the silt collection from a year of turbulent water movement (remembering that this silt, the creation would tell us, led to all the fossils), the seeds would simply expire. So, Noah would have needed herds of prey to release after the flood and enough food to support these as well as the herbivore breeding pairs while he reseeded the entire global terrestrial landscape with all the plant life we see today. None of this is mentioned and must fail the laugh test. This problem is one noted prior to Darwin even learning his alphabet. No-one has found a single example of a fossilised duck mingled with Triceratops. We could take this further and state that there has never been fossilised evidence of a giant ground sloth being killed by a t-rex, of a human kill of any dinosaur or of pterosaur competing with a large eagle (noting that they share the same niche). That’s because these species existed in different geological periods. The flood silt didn’t conveniently cover different groups in sequence. Of everything, the fossil record is both the most damning and easiest to understand to anyone who has any actual interest in reality. If these ancient stories are true, show me the fossils. Back to the movie Sure, it looks dramatic, but with so many plots holes, the story fails before it even begins. Yet, for the true believer, it would, absurdly, be cementing to their faith. This work of fiction will be watched by the faithful as though it were some documentary! Of course, Russell won’t be shooing off any dinosaurs or else the critics would rip it to shreds. Which brings me to the crux; there is a way out for the faithful. It is the only way out and one few who want to soundintellectual is likely to mention; magic. “Oh, the boat would break? God held it together.” “Oh, the boat wasn’t big enough? God made the animals shrink for the trip.” “Oh, there wouldn’t possibly be room enough for all the food and water? God ran a meals-on-wheels service.”” “Oh, there’s a problem with salt or fresh water? God made all aquatic life temporarily salt tolerant. “Oh, two individuals don’t make for a viable population? God again…” “God… God… God…” Geeezus! Give up with the mockery of science and admit to placing faith in ancient stories over genuine certainty derived through critical analysis and get on making Adam and Eve Dino parks. If you’re willing to suspend the laws of the known universe to make your story fit reality, you are no longer talking about science – which is all about those laws. There’s nothing wrong with that, just admit it. I don’t care. Live and let live. If only they could admit to their warped, magically inclined reality, we could dutifully write it off and stop pretending to take it seriously. Then, perhaps, I would allow myself to suspend disbelief and watch the epic, yet terribly scripted, movie.	17,434
Looking into the treatment options that a medical spa can offer? If you want to make a few aesthetic changes to your face and/or body and are wondering whether you should look into your medical spa options, the answer is a definite yes. Today’s options are many when it comes to the aesthetic treatments you… Wellness Center: What Is Regenerative Medicine? Regenerative medicine is one of the primary focuses of a wellness center. It is a branch of medicine that deals with the use and optimization of the body’s natural self-healing abilities to improve wellbeing. It extends to areas like organ transplant (real or artificial), cellular therapies and tissue engineering. The body has natural healing abilities. In the event of a cut or scrape, the body will repair itself. If someone suffers a cold, their body will respond and restore them to good health. This is the basis on which regenerative medicine operates. Although it might seem like a new idea, regenerative medicine has been practiced for several decades. The first skin graft procedure happened in 1854, while the first successful kidney transplant was done in 1950. Operations like organ transplants and autografts are categorized under regenerative medicine because they are done to rejuvenate, replace and regenerate the body. The main focus of regenerative medicine include: Organ transplant medical devices A person with a failing or damaged organ needs to get a transplant. However, the available organs are not enough and many patients die daily while waiting for a transplant. Even if they get a transplant in time, their body may fight the organ, necessitating immunosuppression drugs that may come with side effects. Scientists and researchers in wellness centers are working diligently to solve organ scarcity by creating artificial devices that can mimic the function of organs like the heart, kidneys and liver without risk of rejection. Also, medical devices are in development to aid damaged organs and sustain the patient while waiting for a transplant. Tissue engineering is another branch of regenerative medicine that involves the use of scaffolds – devices created from natural and artificial materials – to aid cells as they repair and maintain tissues and organs. With biologically active molecules, cells develop on the scaffolds to create healthy, functional tissue. Tissue engineering consists of materials like artificial skin, cartilage and lab-grown bone. Cellular therapies focus on the application of stem cells to regrow and repair body tissues. Stem cells have an extraordinary ability to change into different cell types, whether skin cells, blood cells or brain cells. Every organ and tissue in the human body formed from a stem cell and the body continually uses stem cells to initiate healing when sick or injured. Scientists are trying to see how they can utilize the special properties of stem cells to regrow, heal and repair organs and tissues. Cellular therapies can transform the method of treating ailments and diseases. Currently, medical treatments aim to relieve symptoms. However, cellular therapies aim to cure diseases at the source. For instance, stem cells changed into liver cells can ultimately be transferred into the body of someone with a damaged liver. The healthy cells may then repair the liver with the body’s natural healing activities – where the “new” cells replace the damaged cells or help them change into healthy cells. This will drastically reduce dependence on organ transplants and remove concerns about organ rejection. The potential use of regenerative medicine is truly remarkable. A wellness center applies regenerative medicine to help patients achieve real and lasting health. Check out what others are saying about our services on Yelp: Read our Yelp reviews. Juvederm is a clear gel that belongs to a group of hyaluronic acid dermal fillers. This filler is injected into the skin to repair the appearance of age-related issues such as wrinkles and facial folds. Cosmetic doctors often use it on the face to fill the lips and other areas. This article focuses on important… Skin care treatments are crucial in maintaining glowing skin, and with the help of medspa treatments, that glow can be achieved! As the world of medicine has continued to evolve, more and more people are considering different medspa treatments to improve their skin complexions. Being aware of some of the most common medspa skin care… According to a report from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more than 1.5 million procedures have been carried out involving the Botulinum toxin, most commonly in the form of Botox®. This makes these injections one of the most common nonsurgical procedures in the United States, whether performed for cosmetic or health reasons.With the…	223,786
US 4041233 A A novel aldehyde-containing polymer (ACP) is prepared by reaction of a polysaccharide with periodate to introduce aldehyde groups onto the C2 - C3 carbon atoms and by introduction of ether and ester groups onto the pendant primary hydroxyl to modify solubility characteristics. The ACP is utilized to absorb nitrogen bases such as urea in vitro or in vivo. 1. A modified polysaccharide containing 10% to 35% by weight of C2 - C3 aldehyde groups and in which 0.05 to 0.5 of the amylose units are of the formula: ##STR5## where R is the residue of an ether or ester moiety. 2. A polysaccharide according to claim 1 in which R is an alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, phenyl, alkylated phenyl, carboxyalkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms or the ester residue of an alkanonic acid of 1 to 6 carbon atoms. 3. A polysaccharide according to claim 2 in which R is carboxymethyl. 4. A polysaccharide according to claim 2 in which R is methyl. 5. A polysaccharide according to claim 1 having a molecular weight from 30,000 to 14,000,000. 6. A polysaccharide according to claim 5 selected from starch or cellulose. 7. A method of producing a modified polysaccharide comprising the steps in sequence: modifying 0.05 to 0.5 of the primary hydroxyl groups of the amylose units to introduce an ether or ester group thereon; and oxidizing the C2 - C3 hydroxyl groups of the amylose units to dialdehyde groups at pH 4-5 with 0.5 to 1.5 moles of an alkali metal periodate per mole of polysaccharide to introduce from 10% to 35% be weight of C2 - C3 aldehyde groups to form amylose units of the formula: ##STR6## where R is the residue of an ether or ester moiety. The invention described herein was made in the performance of work under a NASA contract and is subject to the provisions of Section 305 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, Public Law 83-568 (72 Stat. 435; 42 USC 2457). 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a modified polysaccharide, to methods of synthesis and to methods of use in absorbing basic compounds such as urea from solution. 2. Description of the Prior Art A sizable fraction estimated 50,000 people who die of kidney failure each year in the United States are free of other complications and might be restored to useful life if their kidney function could be provided artifically. At present, artificial kidneys (using hemodialysis) and clinical procedures have been developed to the point where long-term sustenance of life by periodic hemodialysis is practicable in many cases. The limitations in using hemodialysis are the small number of patients who can be treated with a given kidney machine and the considerable expense of maintaining and staffing a kidney-treatment center. Obviously, a desirable solution lies in the development of an artificial kidney which is inexpensive, portable and capable of being operated outside the confines of a hospital with a minimum of medical attention. Attainment of this solution will require increased efficiency of mass transfer and further optimization in design of artificial-kidney systems. In recent years, considerable attention has been focused on methods of reducing the size of the artificial kidney. This requires miniaturization of the membrane-containing dialyzer and a significant reduction in the volume of dialyzing fluid. It is generally conceded that the toxin primarily responsible for the uremic syndrome has not yet been identified. Even though urea is not considered particularly toxic, its removal is one of the chief objectives of dialysis as practiced today. The reason for the concentration on urea reomval is that, in the absence of more specific knowledge, dialysis based on this principle is obviously beneficial. At least two explanations suggest themselves: (a) Unidentified toxicants are removed along with the urea. (b) Urea produces toxic products. In order to increase the efficiency of hemodialysis, it is desirable to maintain the trans-membrane concentration gradient of waste metabolites as high as possible. Low waste concentrations in the dialyzing fluid have in the past been maintained by two methods. The more widely used method is the continual dilution of the dialyzed substances in a large reservoir fluid, usually 100 to 300 liters. A second method of maintaining the gradient is to use the dialyzing fluid in a single-pass operation, where the waste-bearing effluent is discarded. Even then, more than 100 liters of fluid are required. The current research trend in obtaining low concentrations of wastes is to remove them selectively from the dialyzing fluid. Such an approach would allow the use of much smaller volumes of dialyzing fluid. Among all waste products, urea is by far the major waste metabolite which must be removed daily from the body fluid. Three major methods of urea removal from dialysate have been reported. The first procedure utilizes an activated carbon bed which removes urea by absorption. However, the demonstrated capacity for urea is only 0.2-0.8 grams per 100 grams of carbon. In another method urea is reduced by enzymatic hydrolysis either inside microcapsules or by the combination with other absorbents. A commercial apparatus utilizes sodium zirconium phosphate to remove the ammonia produced by enzymatic decomposition of urea in the presence of urease. However, the capacity of urea removal is limited by the reaction extent of enzymatic decomposition. It has recently been reported that oxystarch has been used for binding urea in its transit through the gastrointestinal tract (an in vivo application). Oxystarch is receiving wide attention for its potential as an absorber in the gastrointestinal tract. The disappointing aspect about this material is that it is useless in diaylsate because it dissolves in that fluid. Oxystarch absorbs urea at low pH but will dissolve if treated with alkali at pH 8. Therefore, oxystarch will dissolve into dialysate or leach into the blood if utilized for in vivo applications. An improved nitrogen base absorbent is provided in accordance with this invention. The absorbent demonstrates a significant affinity for urea molecules while being insoluble in dialysate utilized in an artificial kidney system. The absorbent will find use generally in absorption of basic materials and particularly, ammonia, ammonium amine or amide compounds such as urea from solution. In vivo use by digestion of the material, and absorption of urea or other amide substituted metabolites while passing through the G.I. tract is also indicated. The absorbents of the invention have demonstrated absorption of at least 1% urea based on weight of absorbent under physiological conditions (0.03M urea, pH 7). Some of the absorbents of the invention exhibit absorption capacities comparing favorable with that of the commercially utilized urease-zirconium phosphate system which has a urea absorption of about 2%. The absorbents of this invention are prepared by modification of the primary hydroxyl group of the amylose unit of a polysaccharide to introduce from 0.05 to about 0.5 degree of subsititution of an ether or organic ester moiety and by specific vic-glycol oxidation of the C2 - C3 hydroxyl groups with a reagent such as periodate to introduce from 10 to 35% by weight of aldehyde groups. The aldehyde groups are responsible for the absorption capacity of the modified polysaccharide and the primary hydroxyl substitution provides the desired insolubility characteristics while permitting the absorbent to be swellable such that the introduced aldehyde groups are available for absorption. Polysaccharide materials for use in this invention have a molecular weight from 30,000 to 14,000,00 and may be derived from homopolysaccharide or heteropolysaccharide sources, and are preferably homopolysaccharides such as starch or cellulose. The fraction of interest is the amylose containing material of the formula: ##STR1## The periodate reaction is specific for the oxidation of the C2 - C3 hydroxyl groups to form a dialdehyde as follows: ##STR2## The oxidation is practiced at a pH of 4-5 and ambient temperature with from 0.5 to 1.5 moles of alkali metal periodate per mole of polysaccharide, typically equimolar sodium periodate. The oxidation may be practical before or after susbtitution of the primary hydroxyl. However, since the dialdehyde groups are subject to hemi-acetal shift during etherification or esterification it may be preferable to practice the subsititution step before oxidation. The substitution step is practiced according to art-recognized etherification or esterification procedures except that the degree of substitution is controlled to introduce a small amount of substituent and to favor the susbstitution at the primary hydroxyl position. The primary hydroxyl groups are substituted to form an absorbent in which 0.05 to 0.5 of amylose units are of the formula: ##STR3## where R is aliphatic or aromatic ether or ester, preferably alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, phenyl or alkylated phenyl, substituted alkyl such as carboxyalkyl of alkanoyl of 1-6 carbon atoms such as ##STR4## where n is 0 to 4. Etherification is effected by treatment with alkali such as 5-30% NaOH followed by an alkylation reagent such as an alkyl or aryl halide at room or elevated temperature. Esterification can be practiced by soaking the cellulose in a dilute solution of sulfuric acid in glacial acetic acid which is then added to a mixture of acetic anhydride and acetic acid or by suspension in pryidine with excess of acetic, propionic or butyric anhydride. Specific examples of practice follow: The absorbents were tested for urea absorption in isotonic dialysate as follows: Two gram samples of the various products were stirred with 100 ml of the following solution: 1 liter distilled water 4.5 grams sodium acetate trihydrate 5.8 grams sodium chloride 2.0 grams urea Urea concentration of the solution was measured by a spectrophotometric method involving formation of a colored reaction product of urea and p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde as described in Handbook of Analytical Chemistry, L. Meites ed., McGraw-Hill, 1963P. 46-48. The samples were suspended in the urea test solution and stirred with a magnetic stirring bar. After the desired time had elasped, the mixture was filtered to remove suspended material and the urea concentration in the filtrate determined. Absorbents were prepared by etherification or esterification of cellulose, followed by oxidation of the etherified sample with aqueous sodium periodate at pH 4-5 and ambient termperature. Carboxymethyl cellulose (D.S. 0.15) was stirred with an equimolar quantity of 6% sodium periodate solution in water at room temperature until reaction was complete as evidenced by lack of color formation with maganous ion-phosphoric acid mixture. Time required was 36 hours. The resulting solid was washed until free of iodate. It was then tested for urea absorption and showed a urea pickup of 2% by weight after 16 hours. Cellulose filter pulp (4 g) was suspended in 20% sodium hydroxide for a few minutes. It was then filtered and washed with water until neutral. The water was exchanged with dioxane, the dioxane-wet pulp was washed with pyridine and suspended in fresh pyridine. A 20% molar excess of p-toluene sulfonylchloride was added, and the mixture stirred for 4 hours at room temperature, and allowed to stand overnight. The solid was filtered and washed, suspended in methanol, and a 2 molar excess of sodium methoxide was added. The mixture was refluxed for 1 hour, and then filtered and washed with dilute acid and finally with water. It was then reacted with sodium periodate as in Example 1, filtered, washed, and dried. The material showed a urea absorption of 1.5 wt%. Cellulose filter pulp 4 (g) was suspended in pyridine and an excess of acetic anhydride added. The mixture was allowed to stand 3 days at room temperature, filtered, and washed. The solid was then reacted with sodium periodate and thoroughly washed. The resultant material had a urea absorption of 1.5%. It is to be realized that only preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and that numerous substitutions, alterations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims: Citas de patentes	39,077
The Private Arm of the Law Tuesday, January 2, 2007 RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kevin Watt crouched down to search the rusted Cadillac he had stopped for cruising the parking lot of a Raleigh apartment complex with a broken light. He pulled out two open Bud Light cans, an empty Corona bottle, rolling papers, a knife, a hammer, a stereo speaker, and a car radio with wires sprouting out. "Who's this belong to, man?" Watt asked the six young Latino men he had frisked and lined up behind the car. Five were too young to drink. None had a driver's license. One had under his hooded sweat shirt the tattoo of a Hispanic gang across his back. A gang initiation, Watt thought. With the sleeve patch on his black shirt, the 9mm gun on his hip and the blue light on his patrol car, he looked like an ordinary police officer as he stopped the car on a Friday night last month. Watt works, though, for a business called Capitol Special Police. It is one of dozens of private security companies given police powers by the state of North Carolina -- and part of a pattern across the United States in which public safety is shifting into private hands. Private firms with outright police powers have been proliferating in some places -- and trying to expand their terrain. The "company police agencies," as businesses such as Capitol Special Police are called here, are lobbying the state legislature to broaden their jurisdiction, currently limited to the private property of those who hire them, to adjacent streets. Elsewhere -- including wealthy gated communities in South Florida and the Tri-Rail commuter trains between Miami and West Palm Beach -- private security patrols without police authority carry weapons, sometimes dress like SWAT teams and make citizen's arrests. Private security guards have outnumbered police officers since the 1980s, predating the heightened concern about security brought on by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. What is new is that police forces, including the Durham Police Department here in North Carolina's Research Triangle, are increasingly turning to private companies for help. Moreover, private-sector security is expanding into spheres -- complex criminal investigations and patrols of downtown districts and residential neighborhoods -- that used to be the province of law enforcement agencies alone. The more than 1 million contract security officers, and an equal number of guards estimated to work directly for U.S. corporations, dwarf the nearly 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. The enormous Wackenhut Corp. guards the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and screens visitors to the Statue of Liberty. "You can see the public police becoming like the public health system," said Thomas M. Seamon, a former deputy police commissioner for Philadelphia who is president of Hallcrest Systems Inc., a leading security consultant. "It's basically, the government provides a certain base level. If you want more than that, you pay for it yourself." The trend is triggering debate over whether the privatization of public safety is wise. Some police and many security officials say communities benefit from the extra eyes and ears. Yet civil libertarians, academics, tenants rights organizations and even a trade group that represents the nation's large security firms say some private security officers are not adequately trained or regulated. Ten states in the South and West do not regulate them at all. Some warn, too, that the constitutional safeguards that cover police questioning and searches do not apply in the private sector. In Boston, tenants groups have complained that "special police," hired by property managers to keep low-income apartment complexes orderly, were overstepping their bounds, arresting young men who lived there for trespassing. In 2005, three of the private officers were charged with assault after they approached a man talking on a cellphone outside his front door. They asked for identification and, when he refused, followed him inside and beat him in front of his wife and three children. Lisa Thurau-Gray, director of the Juvenile Justice Center at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, said private police "are focusing on the priority of their employer, rather than the priority of public safety and individual rights." But Boston police Sgt. Raymond Mosher, who oversees licensing of special police, says such instances are rare.	160,649
There is perhaps nothingÂ government likes better than getting in your business.Â I am mostly thinking of government “leaders” and elected officials.Â Having worked off and on in government for many years I rarely have seen the vindictive low level government bureaucrat of the stereotype that many talking heads like to vilify.Â I don’t doubt that many exist and I have only worked in one segment, but it is a regulatory agency where one would think the vindictive would flourish.Â What many people forget is the process…elected officials pass laws, the laws require that regulations be adopted, lawyers and politicians help write the regulations, many policies have to be developed to explain the laws written by lawyers and politicians, people then have to adhere to these edicts.Â Like them or not, government workers are oftenÂ in the middle and seemingly in your business. The more sinister and intrusive government acts are by higher officials.Â A Pittsburgh “landmark” was the Garden Theater which, as aÂ youth, I would go to see the latest releases.Â It was along a bus line and fairly easy to access.Â Sometime around high school the Garden achieved it landmark status.Â The owner opted for XXX movies rather than the ones that I used to see.Â My high school bus ride took us past the Garden each day and Wednesdays were the day they got a new movie.Â A bus load of Catholic high school students would be treated to the newest feature film.Â Porn movie title writers are a creative bunch.Â Decades later Pittsburgh officials decided that this area of the city needed sprucing up and that a theater that showed pornography no longer should be allowed to reside in one of its neighborhoods.Â Public officials had a great idea for a redevelopment project in that area and decided that the Garden would no longer stand; they would use their power of Eminant Domain to take the property.Â The only problem was that the owner didn’t want to sell and apparently had some money to fight and was willing to take on the government.Â At the time of the article linked (in blue) the City had spent over $500,000 of tax money to close the business.Â The Garden eventually lost as elected officials are never at a loss to continue spending our money and the Garden was closed.Â That was around nine years ago.Â This photograph of the “redevelopment” project was taken recently and the areaÂ looks remarkably like it did when I was in high school, though the tax-paying businesses are now gone and my guess is that the new owners, an arm of Pittsburgh’s government, doesn’t pay property taxes. Fast-forward to today and Pittsburgh is again having trouble with an adult entertainment establishment.Â This downtown club features less-than-clad women and has been at their current location for around fifty years (with different owners and different names).Â The problem with the club is that the area around it has now become part of the theatre district (notice how I spelled it differently?) and an adult club is barely tolerated.Â The current owner has the audacity to want to expand his club into a vacant, adjacent building and the elitists are all on high alert.Â The funny thing is that his proposal meets all requirements and he is planning several enhancements to make his establishment less conspicuous.Â Here areÂ few gems from the intelligentsia; “Without question, we’ve coexisted.Â We’re not about eliminating a legitimate business, but we are not interested in having this kind of business expand.” “It is a miracle we haven’t had any (problems) so far.” The problem is that in their attempt to limit or close adult clubs an unintended consequence happened and they have made existing clubs MORE valuable with very little chance of competition entering the market.Â They have a business in demand, have had no problems, and have no competition.Â The “we know best” community has just created the perfect environment for a business that they loathe to thrive.Â Too funny. My last story is one where the mamby pamby of interference has come back to bite the government hand that feeds them.Â Â With the opening of the Consol Energy Center last year the City of Pittsburgh has completed its taxpayer-financed trilogy of new professional sports venues.Â I believe thatÂ tax dollars should be used to partially fund these venues, however, a significant share of the burden should be born by the teams.Â One of the issues with each of these projects has been the value of surrounding property and how they will be used.Â The latest is what to do with the previous home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Civic Arena (that’s what it was called before the naming rights were sold to Mellon).Â Pittsburgh officials have dreams of shops,Â hotels, parking, and offices in their heads after the Arena is torn down.Â Step in a bunch of groups who don’t want the building demolished.Â They have been successfully so far by delaying any projects by an attempt to get the domed structure on the list of historic sites and subsequent preservation.Â While it is funny to see public officials thwarted by their own rules these very same laws allow non-owners to dictate how owners will use their property.Â Should the Civic Arena be placed on the historic list the owners (who happen to be the taxpayers in this case via an authority) ofÂ the building will have to leave it in place.Â Estimates are that it will cost $10,000 per month just to have the building in “moth balls.”Â Politicians waste more than that a lunch, but that does not factor in the loss of what would replace it.Â They reap what they sowed!	95,314
12 gorgeous animals of the coral reef Fri, Jun 07, 2013 at 12:15 PM Coral reefs host the widest variety of living creatures in the ocean, providing fish with food, homes and protection. Shallow tropical seas boast animals of every size and color. Here are 10 beautiful animals that make their homes in this intricate ecological system.	235,347
1. to mix (also miksim) - Abusim rais wantaim tinpis. Mix rice with tinned fish. 2. (food preparation) to garnish, to add meat or fish to a meal - Mobeta yumi abusim long pis. It would be better to add fish. - Abusim saksak long pik. Garnish sago with pork. - abusim saksak long pis to garnish sago with fish - abusim taro long kokonas to cook taro in coconut milk	211,388
Not Just Playing Around: A Review of Accessible Windows-based Games What do you do with your computer after you have read all the e-mail messages, properly formatted the documents, and completed all your spreadsheets? Believe it or not, computers can be used for fun as well as for work. One way to spend your leisure time is to play games. For computer users who are visually impaired, accessible text-based games were a common thing in the days of MS-DOS. When Microsoft Windows became the predominant operating system, games, like so many other applications, were no longer accessible. A number of companies have been working to change that situation over the past several years. The latest generation of accessible software includes a wide variety of games that are both fun to play and appeal to almost every interest imaginable. Whether you want to drive a tank through enemy territory or simply play a card game, there is sure to be a game out there that you will enjoy. All inPlay offers two accessible web-based games. For a monthly fee, users can log on to its web site and play the classic Crazy Eights card game or try their hand at poker. The monthly fee gives players access to both games. Since the software is web based, users can pit their skills against players from all over the world. Both poker and Crazy Eights have incorporated a chat feature that allows users to send text messages to each other as they play. Although the games are fully accessible, they are also designed in such a way as to be appealing to sighted users. All inPlay, as its name suggests, encourages sighted individuals to play alongside their friends and family members who are visually impaired. The company also regularly hosts online tournaments for games that are both competitive and fun. How It Works Crazy Eights is a game similar to the popular card game Uno. The strategy is to be the first to get rid of all your cards and force your opponent to pick up more. At the beginning of each hand, all users are given five cards, and one card is dealt out to determine the starting suit and number. When it is his or her turn, a player must lay down a card that matches either the number or the suit of the previously played card. The eights in the suits are considered wild cards, and they allow the player who holds them to change the current suit. In addition to the standard numbered cards, you may also play "skip," "reverse," and "draw two" cards, which makes the next player skip a turn, reverses the direction of play, and makes the next player draw two cards, respectively. When a player runs out of cards and wins the game, he or she is given points equal to the value of all the cards that his or her opponents are still holding. The goal is to get as many points as you can and to give up as few points as possible. In playing Crazy Eights, you can select which card you want to play simply by using the arrow keys. The game also has keystrokes that allow you to hear various pieces of information, such as the number of cards left in your hand or the suit and number of the last card laid down. Crazy Eights also has sound effects to make the game a little more fun to play. For example, when a reverse card is played, a tape rewinding sound is heard. Although these sounds are fun, they can also be distracting. Fortunately, All inPlay allows you to turn the sound affects off with a simple keystroke. All inPlay's version of poker is five-card draw. All new players are given a predetermined number of chips that they may use to place bets. The goal of poker is to get the highest hand while placing bets with other players. All inPlay has established various tables or rooms that players are allowed to enter and play. Each table can host up to five players and has a different betting limit. The more advanced tables also move faster, since they are intended for more-advanced players. For novice poker players, All inPlay's web site contains some very informative getting-started documents. All inPlay poker has a straightforward keyboard interface. All the commands are issued with the letter keys, and cards can be either kept or discarded using the number keys. As is the case with Crazy Eights, poker contains several useful hotkeys that provide information on the status of the game. Poker also uses various sound effects during the game. Unlike Crazy Eights, these sound effects are not entertaining. While we were evaluating the product, we found it necessary to turn off these sounds almost immediately. Want to Chat? As mentioned earlier, both All inPlay products incorporate a chat feature. Pressing the Tab key while playing either game places focus on (that is, shifts the active window to) the chat window. While in the chat window, you can type a message that is sent to all the players in the current room. Since the game is continuing while you are in the chat window, most messages are fairly short. This is, however, a great way to meet the people you are playing against. Unfortunately, it is not possible to send a message to a single user in the current room. For players who are visually impaired, both of All inPlay's games were designed to work well with JAWS and Window-Eyes. Both screen readers include configuration files (script and set files) that are designed to work with All inPlay's products. Both games have also incorporated several hotkeys that tell the screen reader to read various pieces of information, such as the last comment in the chat window. Try Before You Buy For users who are just getting started, All inPlay offers a free trial membership. Simply by going to the web site and filling out a registration form, you can play both poker and Crazy Eights for 15 days. Once this trial period has expired, you can purchase a subscription that will allow you to play both games for approximately $7.95 per month. Quarterly and yearly memberships are also available. One problem we encountered with this site is that these prices are not listed until you sign up for a free trial. There is, however, a link to send an e-mail to customer support. When we did so, we received a rapid response to our request for information on prices. Another company that creates accessible games is BSC Games. This company offers a number of freeware and shareware (try-before-you-buy) titles, all available for downloading from its web site. AccessWorld evaluated two of the company's freeware games, Crazy Darts and Sonic Match. Although these games are not fancy, they are fun, and they are a great way for new users to try accessible Windows-based games. This audio-based game allows you to throw a dart at a moving target. When the game starts, sound comes out of either the right or left speaker and moves to the opposite speaker. When you believe the sound is directly in front of you, you press the spacebar to throw the dart. A recorded voice announces the scoring region on the dartboard that the dart hit. To keep the game interesting, the target moves across the speakers at a variety of different speeds. When the game is over, your total score is announced. This game is simple to operate (requiring only one keystroke to play) and is an easy way to test your hand-ear coordination. Unfortunately, it does have some bugs. On some machines, the game would occasionally play sound using only one speaker for a split second and then report zero points. It would usually do so only once or twice per game, so unless you are trying to reach the maximum score, it is not an issue. Sonic Match is a classic memory match game. Each arrow key has a specific sound. The computer plays these sounds, and you must imitate them by pressing the appropriate arrow keys. The more sounds you get correct, the less time you are given to press each key. When you get one wrong, the game ends, and you are told how many you got correct. The game also has three levels of difficulty. The first two levels use three of the arrow keys, and the final level uses all four keys. Both Sonic Match and Crazy Darts can be played without the use of a screen reader. They are self-voicing applications and guide you through all menus. Both titles are also audio only. When you play the game, only the name of the game is shown on the screen. Sighted users found this lack of visual input disturbing and actually played better when they closed their eyes or switched off the monitor. Although these games are challenging and entertaining, they lack the sophistication of other titles we evaluated. They also have limited documentation, most likely because they are freeware. Still, these two games are a great way for new players to venture into the world of accessible games. This game is for all of us who have ever dreamed of being in command of a fully armed tank rolling through enemy territory. Your assignment is to do as much damage as possible to the computer-generated enemy while you complete several missions. You are equipped with two types of missiles, two types of shells, a machine gun, and other high-powered weapons. Each weapon has its advantages and disadvantages. While you roll through enemy territory, you will encounter such things as tank traps, several types of enemy tanks that have much better weapons than yours, and helicopters that you must blow out of the sky before they drop bombs on you. Your ultimate goal is to complete all six missions and meet up with a tank transport. One of the most striking aspects of this game is the realistic sound effects. Everything, from the rumble of enemy tanks to the burning of buildings or vehicles you have destroyed to the gurgling of a river, is presented in striking detail. The game relies heavily on sound spacing. If a player hears an enemy tank through the left speaker, for example, the player knows to turn left to face the enemy. This sound spacing can be used to place objects in a variety of directions relative to your current location. Tank Commander uses a fairly straightforward keyboard interface. The arrow keys are used to control the movement of your tank. Weapons can be selected using the numbers 1–6 on the number row. The game has a large number of commands that provide information, such as your tank's current heading and what objects are close to your current position. The game comes with excellent documentation that explains the functions of all keyboard commands. Tank Commander actually functions best when a screen reader is not active. The game speaks all menus and status reports in a prerecorded voice, so a screen reader is not necessary to convey any information. During our evaluation, we played the games both with and without a screen reader. Pressing certain keystrokes, such as CTRL right arrow to turn the tank 90 degrees to the right, caused the screen reader to speak up. This extra chatter made the game much more difficult to play. One disappointing aspect of Tank Commander is its lack of on-screen information. Sighted players are forced to rely only on their ears because the game displays only its title on the screen at all times. One might think that a game with this much audio detail would have some fairly decent graphics, but this is not the case. The game can be played in one of two modes: standard or arcade. Standard mode allows users to play as long as they can stay "alive." Once your tank is destroyed in standard mode, the game is over. Standard mode does allow you to save your current game location, so you can come back to this position at any time. The second mode is arcade mode. Arcade mode gives the player three lives. If your tank is destroyed, you lose one of these lives, and play continues until you have lost your last life. Each completed mission gives you another life. When you play in arcade mode, it is not possible to save your current game location. Before you play in either mode, you must select one of five levels of difficulty. These creatively named levels of difficulty range from "It's my turn daddy" to "It's a good day to die." As you increase the level of difficulty, the enemies move faster and become more aggressive. A demonstration version of Tank Commander is available from the company's web site for download. It runs for 10 minutes or until you complete the first mission. In addition to Tank Commander, GMA Games sells several other audio-based action adventure games. The Bottom Line Accessible games have definitely made their way to the Windows environment. Many of the titles rely heavily on complex sound effects and good hand-ear coordination, which are great for individuals who are visually impaired but not for those who are deaf-blind. When we tested these games using a screen reader and a refreshable braille display, almost all were unusable. The exceptions were the games from All inPlay, which worked fairly well using refreshable braille. The fact that most of these games had no on-screen text and therefore were challenging for sighted users to play is also disturbing. Despite these shortcomings, it is encouraging to see that companies are realizing that some people who are visually impaired are using their computers for more than just work-related tasks. View the Product Features as a graphic View the Product Features as text Products: Crazy Eights and Poker Manufacturer: All inPlay, P.O. Box 335, Oxford, MA 01540; phone: 413-585-9690; e-mail: <firstname.lastname@example.org> web site: <www.Allinplay.com>. Price: $7.95 per month; quarterly and yearly plans are also available. Products: Crazy Darts and Sonic Match Manufacturer: BSC Games, c/o Justin Daubenmire, P.O. Box 3716, Boardman, OH 44513; phone:559-224-2436; e-mail: <sales@BSCGames.com> or <support@BSCGames.com> web site: <www.BSCGames.com>. GMA Tank Commander Manufacturer: GMA Games, 245 Hillsdale Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4S IT7; phone:416-489-1933; e-mail: <email@example.com> web site: <www.GMAGames.com>. Previous Article \| Next Article \| Table of Contents Copyright © 2004 American Foundation for the Blind. All rights reserved. AccessWorld is a trademark of the American Foundation for the Blind.	146,292
What on Earth is all the fuss about? Armley Junktion is rarely out of the news these days. It was the first cafe in what is now a global ‘Real Junk Food Project’ movement which feeds punters on goods that would otherwise have been thrown away by supermarkets, restaurants and other food providers. They cook up stews, casseroles, soups etc with the unwanted food they’ve intercepted. The really good part is there are no prices on the menu, you make a donation based on what you can afford and what you feel the food is worth. If you can only afford to do the washing up, that’s fine, that’s the ‘pay as you feel’ ethos The Real Junk Food Project has adopted. I took my eight year old son yesterday lunchtime to the cafe, just off Armley Town Street. We’d never been before but were aware of the hype. But we had no idea what to expect. Was the food going to be, you know … OK? We weren’t disappointed. I had the vegetable pasta bake – it was lovely. Nice tomatoey sauce, pasta and loads of fresh vegetables cooked to perfection – big plateful, accompanied by a crispy salad on the side. Healthy, clearly good quality ingredients which were well cooked. You can’t ask much more than that! My son had tomato soup – made only from fresh ingredients (none of the tinned rubbish he’s embarrassingly used to at home). It was a big healthy bowlful, accompanied by bread. One of the volunteers there told him to eat up as all his five a day were there ‘in one big shot’. Fabulous. We helped ourselves to two bottles of water from a side table. We could have helped ourselves to tea or coffee from the corner if we’d wanted. Job done. Staff were really friendly and jovial, and the other customers were incredibly chatty – it was a nice atmosphere, I’d like to go back and get to know them a bit better! The cafe itself is pretty basic, but if you buy into the ethos, relax and enjoy yourself, you get a terrific lunch (and do your bit to support a good cause). You also get the chance to buy some of the food, like vegetables and fruit (again on a pay as you feel basis) for you to use at home. How much did we pay? I’m not saying, I gave what I thought it was worth and it’s enough to say I’d go again. You never know, if the food’s as good next time, I might pay AND do the washing up as well…	126,904
Celastrus paniculatus Seeds and Oil Celastrus paniculatus is a shrub used in Ayurdevic medicine in India. Various properties are attributed to the aerial parts of the plant, but we will deal here primarily with the seeds and the oil expressed from them. This information is provided for educational purposes only and no medical claims are made or implied. These statements have not been reviewed by the FDA for accuracy. These products are not meant to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease or condition. Their use is regarded only in terms of health supplements which may or may not have intrinsic value. Celastrus paniculatus seeds and oil have long been regarded in India as beneficial to the intellect and memory. "…The seeds…are hot, bitter, dry, acrid, appetizer, emetic expectorant, sodorific, liver tonic, aphrodisiac, stimulant, powerful brain tonic, stimulate intellect and sharpen memory, …cure joint pain, paralysis, rheumatism, weakness; seed oil enriches the blood, cures abdominal complaints, stomachic, tonic, treats cough, asthma leprosy,headaches leucoderma…Seeds used externally on foul, indolent ulcers and scabies….From seeds…an oil is obtained…it is said to be excellent for beri-beri (note: vitamin b1 deficiency disease) and 10-15 drops daily acts as a powerful stimulant, followed in a few hours by a free diaphoresis, unattended by subsequent exhaustion; oil is used in courts and colleges to increase intelligence…" (Indian Medicinal Plants V.1 Lalit Mohan, Basu, India) "…the seeds are acrid, bitter, thermogenic, emollient, stimulant, intellect promoting, digestive, laxative, emetic, expectorant, appetiser, aphrodesiac, cardiotonic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, emmenagogue, diaphoretic, febrifuge and tonic, and are useful in…abdominal disorders, leprosy, pruritis, skin diseases, paralysis, cephalalgia, arthralgia, asthma, leucoderma, cardiac debility, inflammation, stranguary, neuropathy, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea and fever and for stimulating the intellect and sharpening the memory. The seed oil is bitter, thermogenic and intellect promoting and is useful in abdominal disorders, beri-beri and sores." (Indian Medicinal Plants, a compendium of 500 species, V.2,Orient Longman 1994) "…Decoction and oil of the seed are considered a powerful stimulant for neuromuscular system and are given in rheumatism, gout and paralysis. It is used as a brain tonic to promote intelligence and to sharpen the memory.." (Major Medicinal Plants of India, R.S. Thakur, H.S. Puri and Akhtar Husain, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, India. 1989) "…Oil is rubefacient; seeds are alterative, stimulant and nervine; seeds and oil stimulate intellect and sharpen memory…uses: Oil with benzoin, cloves, nutmeg and mace added is a sovereign remedy for beri-beri (Note: vitamin B-1 deficiency caused disease) and a powerful stimulant…oil is used as a pomade for relieving rheumatic pains of a malarious character and in paralysis. It is also used in a pomatum made by mixing one part of the oil in 8 parts of butter for application to the head. It is known as ‘magzsudhi’ (brain clearer) and believed to promote intelligence." (Indian Materia Medica, Dr. K. M. Narkarni) "…The seeds have a bitter sharp taste; expectorant, tonic to the brain and liver; cure joint pain, paralysis and weakness. In addition to the properties of the seeds, the oil is stomachic, tonic, good for cough and asthma; used in leprosy; cures headaches and leucoderma…The seeds are thought to be hot and dry, aphrodisiac and stimulant, useful both as an external and internal remedy in rheumatism, gout, paralysis, leprosy and other disorders…Crushed and combined with aromatics they are…very efficient in removing pains of a rheumatic or malarious nature. Bruised and formed into a poultice they are a good stimulant application to foul, unhealthy and indolent ulcers. The seeds are supposed to have the property of stimulating the intellect and sharpening the memory." Recent studies have shown Celastrus oil has the ability to increase the intelligence of mentally retarded children. "It is concluded...that Celastrus oil has a beneficial effect on the learning and memory process in mentally retarded children." (‘Studies on biogenic amines and their metabolites in mentally retarded children in celastrus oil therapy’ K. Nalina, A.R. Aroor. K.B. Kumar and Anjali Rao, Alternative Medicine, vol 1 #4 pp 355-360. 1986) The oil in its raw state has a shelf life of up to 2 years if kept in a cool and dark place such as a refrigerator. When put into softgels, the shelf life can be expected to be much longer on the order of two to four years. Copyright © 2001 OM-CHI Herbs	308,379
Friday, January 16, 2009 From the J Herbin website: "J. Herbin is the oldest name in pen inks in the world. M. Herbin created “The Jewel of Inks” in his shop on the Rue des Fosses Saint-Germain in Paris in 1700." "Each bottle of 30 ml has an integrated pen rest. They are known as “D bottle pen inks. The “D” refers to the old French unit of measure “la Demi Courtine”. * 30 beautiful colors! * Non toxic and pH neutral * Water based * Flows smoothly and is fast drying * All natural dyes Ink on a windowsill. You would think an ink review would be easy, but there are a million little factors that come into play. To me, the most important thing is to do your best to accurately represent the way the ink looks on the page. Sadly, I struggled a bit with this one. To my eyes, on this cream paper shown above, (Exacompta Basics Journal) J. Herbin's Vert Empire is a gray green. A khaki army green. The image above was just taken outside (in 10 degree but very sunny weather) and as usual, the image is too dark & needs to be corrected. On white paper, the ink looses a bit of the yellow that the cream paper adds, and it looks more like this: Vert Empire swabbed with a Q-Tip onto white Blick drawing paper. This is the same image lightened, with a bit of cyan added to make it look (at least on my monitor) more like what it looks like in person - on the cream paper. Then I try and scan as a 150 dpi tif file. As usual, my scanner blows out the image, and the color is all wrong - BUT the color is slightly closer to how it looks on white paper. But this isn't white paper, it's cream. So I attempt to correct it. Tweaks in Levels and I think a little bit of yellow once again got it close, but still not perfect. In testing a fountain pen ink, I'm really only looking for two things. Good flow, and a color that I can live with. Unless a particular ink takes an unreasonable amount of time to dry, (like Noodler's Red-Black) I usually don't pay much attention to dry time. I don't concern myself with whether or not a color is waterproof, or as with Noodler's, "Bulletproof." I use the Noodler's BP black, but I don't really care for their other BP colors, so I have resigned myself to the fact that most fountain pen inks are NOT permanent and I just move on with trying products that I enjoy for their flow and color selection. J Herbin inks are not known as being super saturated as much as say, Private Reserve inks are. But the thinner, slightly less saturated inks FLOW WONDERFULLY and it makes writing a joy. When you find a good free flowing ink, it can sometimes turn a good pen into a great pen- not that you want a pen that "gushes" with an ink that's just TOO thin, but rather one that makes the pen glide over the page with ease. So I want colors that I can live with, but I have to keep in mind that any tested ink is most likely going to look different on different color paper. You will get a variety of shades if you try this ink, (or any other) on bright white paper like Clairefontaine/Rhodia, off white paper like Apica, or cream/ivory paper like Moleskine, Cartesio, Canteo, or Ciak. The pen you use is also going to make a difference in how an ink looks. Thinner nibs versus wider nibs... one may make the ink appear more saturated than another. The drawing above was done with a .05 Cursive Italic nibbed Lamy Safari fountain pen. If you tend to write fast, like I often do, it seems that this ink comes out a little lighter than if you write slowly. (I'm assuming more ink can flow onto the page when you write slower. ) I don't know that it's dark enough for me to write with on a day to day level, but drawing with it? It's awesome. Laying down line after line allows a great build up of layered color. It does have some shading and doodles look great. So when considering an ink, you have the ink itself, the paper you will use it on, and the pen. All three things come into play when making your selections. All Herbin inks provided by Exaclair for the purpose of review,	186,024
If you know me in a professional health communications capacity, you are likely familiar with my “professional crush” on Cleveland Clinic. I’ve written about the fantastic work they do in patient communications, and I truly believe that Cleveland Clinic is one of those organizations that just get it. This belief was reaffirmed when I read about a new program being introduced at Cleveland Clinic this year that will have nurses and physicians “shadow” patients during inpatient stays or outpatient visits to better understand and appreciate the patient experience. This program was initiated by an experience Cleveland Clinic’s executive chief nursing officer, K. Kelly Hancock, had with a patient who, despite saying everything was okay, didn’t seem to be all that happy with his experience. “Are you sure there’s nothing else we could do to make your experience better?” It was this question—and the patient’s answer—that highlighted the need for enhanced education around how non-clinical actions can really make the difference in how a patient feels about his or her experience with a hospital or with specific care givers. In this particular example, the patient felt like he was not being greeted appropriately (he would have preferred to be addressed as Mr.). But it doesn’t matter what a patient’s concern is. What matters is if he or she is uncomfortable with his or her experience as a patient, for any reason. If the patient has a problem, then you have a problem. It’s not surprising that at the heart of lack luster patient experiences is poor communication. Of course, clinical outcomes are important and must be considered above how a patient is greeted, but too often, it’s the little things that get lost in the shuffle. An extra pillow. A hand to hold. A compassionate tone. Understanding. Asking open-ended questions can make a tremendous difference. Instead of “Did you sleep well?” ask “How did you sleep?” Hancock also notes that asking “What’s important to you during this stay?” can help you know what you can do better to improve a patient’s stay. Asking this question provides the opportunity to head off some (it’s unlikely that you will be able to catch them all!) things that may make a patient unhappy with his or her stay (outside of actual clinical procedures). Regarding programs to improve the patient experience, Sandra Myerson, senior vice president and chief patient experience officer at New York’s Mount Sinai Health System, notes that “We have to pay attention to those things that are concerning to the patient that we might not even think they should be concerned about,” adding that clinicians can become very “task oriented.” Likewise, an essay that appeared in JAMA last year suggests that asking “What’s the worst part of this for you?” can be a particularly helpful question, especially is a patient is suffering. If you work in the clinical side of health care, it’s not news to you that sometimes the more intangible pieces of providing care may not come easily to doctors, and that’s why Cleveland Clinic is providing this training. There are not always quick and easy solutions to the problems with effective and appropriate health care communication, but a start is a start!	299,545
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN and SAN FRANCISCO, CA - (NewMediaWire) - December 21, 2015 - Heliospectra AB, (OTCQB: HLSPY) (FIRSTNORTH: HELIO), a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for plant research and greenhouse cultivation, is pleased to announce that the Company has been awarded a research grant from Vinnova, the Swedish innovation agency, for an innovation project entitled "LED Lighting to Enhance the Quality of Plants". Vinnova promotes sustainable growth by improving the conditions for innovation and social benefits. Over $10 Million will be handed out to a total of 96 different innovation projects around the country. Heliospectra will test LED grow lighting to stimulate aroma and nutrients in plants, and increase product quality for growers and consumers. Partners will include SP, the Technical Research Institute of Sweden, SLU, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and Chalmers University. "Previous studies have shown that the light quality is very important for the plants' inner qualities, and we have great hopes to use light to produce the quality we desire in greenhouse-grown herbs." - Dr. Karl-Johan Bergstrand, researcher at SLU The project is a continuation of the feasibility study "Lighting's Importance to the Aroma of Herbs" conducted during the autumn, where basil was grown under carefully controlled conditions under four different lighting regimes, one based on HPS lights and three based on LED light. Mature plants were harvested and analyzed with respect to a number of quality factors such as growth, the presence of volatile compounds and sensory properties. The study was conducted with financial support from Partnership Horticulture, a national collaboration between academia and the horticultural industry with the aim to create growth and sustainable development in the horticultural sector. "The results of the preliminary study clearly shows that the nature of light can affect plant development and lay a good foundation for further research on the topic. We want to learn more about how light of different wavelengths affect the aroma production in the plant. The goal is to be able to control and optimize product quality with the aid of light."- Tim Nielsen, Project Manager SP Staffan Hillberg, CEO of Heliospectra AB, commented, "This grant, and Heliospectra's participation in this important study, is testament to the agricultural lighting technology that has been developed and patented by our company." About Heliospectra AB Heliospectra AB (OTCQB: HLSPY) (FIRSTNORTH: HELIO) (www.heliospectra.com) specializes in intelligent lighting technology for plant research and greenhouse cultivation. The Company's lighting system provides an effective and durable technology for cultivating greenhouse and indoor plants by combining several different groups of versatile light emitting diodes (LEDs) with optics, remote sensing techniques, and a robust heat dissipation solution. This proprietary setup gives growers the ability to control the intensity and wavelengths of the light emitted, creating a spectrum specifically adjusted to different plant species and growth stages to better facilitate photosynthesis. The complete, highly-engineered lamp produces crops that look better, taste better, and have a longer shelf-life than those grown under HID lamps. The technology not only reduces energy consumption by up to 50%, but also helps stimulate growth characteristics and improve plant quality. Other benefits include reduced light pollution, lower mercury use due to the avoidance of traditional HID/HPS bulbs, and less HVAC investment and monthly expense requirements. Heliospectra products are based on in-depth knowledge in plant physiology and photosynthesis along with a unique way to utilize modern LED technology. After six years of development in Sweden, the company has now begun to expand into the international market. The company has raised more than $21 million in capital and has received more than $2.6 million through academic scholarships and grants. It has also received numerous awards for its forward thinking technology. Principal owners: Weland Steel www.welandstal.se, Swedish Industrial Fundwww.industrifonden.se, Midroc www.midroc.se, Avanza Pension www.avanza.se. The statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Such statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, such forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions with respect to future business strategies and decisions that are subject to change. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, technical advances in the industry as well as political and economic conditions present within the industry. We do not take any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or developments after a forward-looking statement was made. The news, reports, views and opinions of authors (or source) expressed are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of CRWE World.	119,361
Adoption Attorneys and Lawyers Find Adoption Lawyers Located in Popular Cities Find Adoption Lawyers by State Adoption law falls under Family Law and is mainly governed by the states in which the parent and child live. Adoption law requires adoption lawyers to establish a process by which a legal parent-child relationship is created between individuals who are not biologically parent and child. The biological parent gives up all parental rights and obligations, and these rights and obligations are assumed by the adoptive parents. These days there are a lot more options available to adoption lawyers for the adoption process. Adoptive families can adopt a child much easier than ever before. For example, as an adoptive parent, you can choose a closed adoption where the parents remain anonymous, or opt for the increasingly common open adoption where you actually meet and can maintain contact with the birth parents. Your adoption lawyer can help you adopt a child from another country (international adoption) or one of a different race or ethnic background. You can even adopt a "special needs" child who may have physical, mental or behavioral disabilities. Some children are also considered "special needs children" because of their age or minority group status. Ways Your Adoption Lawyer can Help You Adopt a Child: - Agency Identified Adoption - an adoption through a public or private agency. - Domestic Partner Adoption - In many states a same-sex partner can adopt his/her partner's child under stepparent adoption procedures as long as the partners are registered with the state as domestic partners. - Identified Adoption - a new and innovative way of adopting an infant. An identified adoption is created when adoptive parents and birth parents connect with each other directly or through an intermediary. - Independent Adoption - where the birth mother personally selects the adoptive parents through personal knowledge of them. - International Adoption - an adoption in which the adoptive child is a citizen of another country. Relative (Kinship) Adoption - an adoption in which the adoptive parent is related to the child (e.g., grandparents adopting grandchildren if parents die or are otherwise unable to care for the children). - Stepparent Adoption - a parent's new spouse adopts child that the parent had with a previous spouse. There are several other different tupes of adoption. Read LawInfo's adoption legal resources here. Should I Hire an Adoption Lawyer? The formal legal adoption process differs significantly from state to state. An adoption lawyer specializing in adoptions knows the particular procedures and laws of the state in which you live. With the assistance and representation of a qualified adoption lawyer, you can be better assured that all the procedures are properly followed to ensure your adoption is legal and binding. Click to learn about Adoption Law on LawInfo.	81,536
Uniflow Steam Engine The Uniflow Steam Engine (also know as unaflow) is a very simple kind of steam engine that eliminates counter-flow cycle problems. A double action uniflow steam engine: Steam enters one end of a cylinder driving the piston forward. Near the end of it's cycle, an exit hole is uncovered and low pressure (LP) steam escapes. The first valve closes and the second one opens. The piston slides back and forth in it's cylinder. The double action engine is likely to be more efficient, since it doesn't rely on the momentum of the system to return the piston to the next firing position. However, it is bit more complicated (two valves to control, etc.). The single action uniflow engine is even simpler: Here, steam enters at one end only and relies on the momentum of the whole system (which could include a flywheel) to bring the piston back to the point where new HP steam is introduced. An encoder on the connector rod could inform a controller (Arduine) as to it's current position. There was discussion in 2009 about creating such a Uniflow Engine out of high pressure steel steam pipe. This greatly simplifies the fabrication of a cylinder, since no boring is needed. Two end caps could be fastened either by threading or by welding. Seals are the major design challenge in this approach. The piston needs a good seal against the cylinder walls, presumably using steam engine piston rings. The connecting rod from the piston to the crankshaft also needs a good seal. Tight tolerances on the rod and hole in the end cap may suffice, but high pressure steam will seek any exit point. The interior of the cylinder needs to be kept lubricated. Water is corrosive to steel and will eventually compromise the interior of the cylinder. It may be better to have removable end caps either threaded (as mentioned above or bolted on. This would allow the cylinder to be disassembled for cleaning and lubrication. High pressure steam needs to be properly sequenced to dive the piston in the cylinder. This is usually done with values (poppet values being common). Computer controlled solenoids offer some advantages by being able to fine tune the dynamic operation of the engine.	52,508
The Design of Transparent Optical Networks Minimizing the Impact of Critical Nodes Sousa, A. F. Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics Vol. 64, Nº -, pp. 165 - 174, February, 2018. ISSN (print): 1571-0653 Journal Impact Factor: (in 0) Digital Object Identifier: 10.1016/j.endm.2018.01.018 For a given fiber network and a given set of client demands, the transparent optical network design problem is the task of assigning routing paths and wavelengths for a set of lightpaths able to groom all client demands. We address this design problem minimizing the impact of a given set of critical nodes. The problem is tackled in two steps: first, we minimize the demand that is disrupted by the simultaneous failure of all critical nodes; second, we minimize the network design cost guaranteeing that the minimum disrupted demand is met. We present MILP models for each step, together with valid inequalities strengthening both models. For the second step, an efficient hybrid heuristic is also proposed.	309,175
If you’ve been to the Reef Teach show, you’ll know a bit about the impact of plastic and other garbage on marine life. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, but it does photodegrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller, but just as toxic particles, which are consumed by marine life mistaking it for food. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates it is killing more than a million seabirds, and over 100,000 other marine animals (including sharks, dolphins, whales and sea turtles) every year, and that there are on average 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square kilometre of the world’s oceans! Where does it all come from? From us! When we use plastic bags that get blown away or accidentally let go of the string on a balloon. When we open the car or train door and the empty food wrapper or water bottle falls out. When we lose a net or line overboard and don’t retrieve it. It comes from our towns and cities and highways and boats. Where does it go? It gets washed up on beaches where there are on-shore currents, creating an unsightly mess that deters tourists and decreases the nesting success of turtles and bird life. It gets caught up in ocean currents where it circles endlessly, slowly breaking down into smaller particles. It gets eaten by marine life. Have you heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Over many years, plastics have been accumulating in the North East Pacific, trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. The location of this floating garbage patch shifts with the currents and estimates of its area vary greatly, but some suggest that is 3 times the size of Spain & Portgual, twice the size of Texas, or about the size of Queensland. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to accurately measure it. It’s easy to point fingers and blame other people, other nations, but it is encouraging to see that many businesses, cities, states and countries are starting to take responsibility for this problem and ban the use of plastic bags. Bangladesh was the first country to ban plastic bags in 2002. Coles Bay in Tasmania became Australia’s first plastic-bag free town in 2003. South Australia banned plastic bags at checkouts in 2008 - that’s around 400 million less plastic bags every year. Several countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe, have either banned plastic bags outright or introduced restrictions or taxes on their use. In 2008 China banned plastic bags being given away free in shops, and introduced a ban on manufacture of plastic bags under 0.025mm in thickness. The same year, San Francisco became the first city in the US to outlaw plastic bags in supermarkets. New York, Toronto, and London are considering similar measures. There is still much more that we can do to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans. But each of us can make a decision, every day… not to use plastic bags, not to drink bottled water, not to drop litter. To reduce, recycle, reuse! If we haven’t convinced you yet, or you’re having trouble persuading your friends / family / work mates / room mates… have a look at this slideshow from the Pocono Record in the US. Or join a cause like Stop Plastic Pollution: The Great Garbage Patch on Facebook. Inspire yourself and others by reading about The Plastiki Expedition – a journey from San Francisco to Sydney in a boat made out of recycled plastic bottles or Plastic Manners - one woman’s attempt to spend a year without plastic!	188,242
One root of the word integrity is in the concept of wholeness, and another line stems from untouched or pure. Yet we have all been touched and none of us are pure in any meaningful sense of the concept. Is it possible for anyone to have their wholeness after having been through as much as we have on Earth? That is your quest. As you reconstruct, recover, or possibly create your wholeness for the first time, you’ll encounter the feeling of being through much that has threatened it. If you know that, you’ll experience an easier and more satisfying journey. Wholeness for you means connecting the person you are on the inside to the person you show the world on the outside. This implies revealing some of what has previously been contained in the shadows, so that you can make peace with it, and have some evidence that you’re loved and lovable despite any perception to the contrary. This is a year when you will be making contact with your deepest sensitivity, and that means bringing your healing process into every aspect of your life. It means recruiting everyone you consider yourself close to as allies, and understanding that there’s a connection between your relationships and how you feel about yourself. Nobody can “make” you feel safe, though people can assault your sense of safety. You need, therefore, to be selective about who you let into your life, and, more precisely, why you invite them into your heart or your home.	171,632
Get the most important digital marketing news each day. Google launches AdSense Labs for publishers to test new features Inline ads and Show fewer ads are the first tests available in AdSense Labs. The Show fewer ads lab lowers the number of ads shown to users by at least 10 percent. Publishers can, in turn, expect to see a drop in revenue, but a drop Google estimates will be “negligible,” or less than one percent of revenue, because the focus is on eliminating ads that are likely to be deemed of lower value to a publisher’s visitors. Inline ads are dynamically inserted mobile website ads sized 320×100. They appear as users scroll down a page and don’t require programming on the publishers’ end. AdSense publishers will find Labs under the Optimization tab. When more tests become available, Google will add them to Labs.	210,206
Although several methods have been developed to allow for the analysis of data in the presence of missing values, no clear guide exists to help family researchers in choosing among the many options and procedures available. We delineate these options and examine the sensitivity of the findings in a regression model estimated in three random samples from the National Survey of Families and Households (n = 250-2,000). These results, combined with findings from simulation studies, are used to guide answers to a set of 10 common questions asked by researchers when selecting a missing data approach. Modern missing data techniques were found to perform better than traditional ones, but differences between the types of modern approaches had minor effects on the estimates and substantive conclusions. Our findings suggest that the researcher has considerable flexibility in selecting among modern options for handling missing data. All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes - Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) - Social Sciences (miscellaneous)	149,635
In response to the very public accusations out of Kenya concerning tainted tetanus vaccine and “population control”, the World Health Organization released the following statement: WHO is concerned that misinformation circulating in the media about the Tetanus Toxoid vaccine could have a seriously negative impact on the health of women and children. The Organization confirms that the Tetanus Toxoid (TT) vaccine is safe. The vaccine has been used in 52 countries, to immunize 130 million women to protect them and their newborn babies from tetanus. There is no HCG hormone in tetanus toxoid vaccines. All vaccines administered by WHO and its partners have been prequalified. WHO’s prequalification programme is based on a strict, transparent, and scientifically sound assessment. The prequalification process includes a dossier review, consistency testing or performance evaluation and site visits to manufacturers. The process guarantees that the vaccine meets global standards of quality, safety, and efficacy. The WHO Global Advisory Committee for Vaccine Safety recently published a report on immunization safety in pregnancy. The report stated that the vaccine has been widely and safely used for 40 years. Over that period, there has been a substantial decrease in neonatal tetanus and an increase in neonatal survival, and no signal of possible harm to pregnant women or their foetuses. Tetanus is acquired when the spores of the bacterium Clostridium Tetani infect a wound or the umbilical stump of a newborn baby. People of all ages can get tetanus but the disease is particularly common and serious in newborn babies (“neonatal tetanus”). Neonatal tetanus can be prevented by immunizing women of childbearing age with tetanus toxoid, either during pregnancy or outside of pregnancy. This protects the mother and – through a transfer of tetanus antibodies to the fetus – also her baby. People who recover from tetanus do not have natural immunity and can be infected again and therefore need to be re-immunized. To be protected throughout life, an individual should receive 3 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) in infancy, followed by a TT-containing booster at school-entry age (4-7 years), in adolescence (12-15 years), and in early adulthood.	59,849
I provide customers with a poster and a logo. I always have a dialoge with them and accept what you feel the best. Based on the information, I choose a main color and decide on a concept. And then, I make a draft. Finally, I made the product. I provide customers with posters and logos. I always have dialogues with them and accept what they feel is best. Based on the information, I choose the main color and decide on a concept. Then, I make a draft. Finally, I make the product. 2. You are talking about logos in general, so the noun needs to be in the plural form. 3. Correct spelling. In addition, you are talking about dialogues in general, so the noun needs to be in the plural form. 4. The pronoun "they" is used as the subject of a verb to refer to people, animals, or things already mentioned or, more generally, to a group of people not clearly described. 5. The auxiliary verb "to be" is used to say something about a person, thing, or state, to show a permanent or temporary quality, state, job, etc. 6. No need for a definite article here, the adjective is not followed by a noun. 7. Use the definite article when referring to something specific or unique. 8. No need for this conjunction, it's redundant. 9. The Present Simple Tense is used to refer to a present or general state, whether temporary, permanent, or habitual. Actually, I'm a college student now, so it is imaginary situation. Iffective posters and logos help cliants go viral in the internet. Most of them use Social media by spreading information. If they don't make it, their business wouldn't be managed. That's why attractive advertisement is needed. I'm a college student now, so it is an imaginary situation. Effective posters and logos help clients go viral on the internet. Most of them use social media by spreading information. If they don't make it, their businesses will not be successful. That's why an attractive advertisement is needed. 2. Use the indefinite article "an" when it precedes a non-specific noun or an adjective that starts with a vowel. 3. & 4. Correct spelling. 5. The preposition "on" is used when referring to a tool, instrument, or system that is used to do something. 6. The word is in the middle of the sentence, there is no need for an upper-case letter. 7. You are talking about more than one business, so the noun needs to be in the plural form. 8. You need the modal verb "will" when constructing the First Conditional. For example, "If I study today, I will go to the party tonight.". 9. The adjective "successful" means "having achieved a lot, become popular, and/or made a lot of money". 10. Same as correction No. 2. They would not like to continue only making poster and logo because it means a single limited relationship. If we add some value like consult services for products and clients, we can differ from the similar companies. More and more customers will be interested in my company. We would not like to continue only making posters and logos because it means a single limited relationship. If we add some value like consulting services for products and clients, we can differ from similar companies. More and more customers will be interested in my company. 2. You are talking about posters in general, so the noun needs to be in the plural form. 3. You are talking about logos in general, so the noun needs to be in the plural form. 4. The adjective "consulting" means "engaged in the business of giving expert advice to people working in a professional or technical field". 5. No need for a definite article here, you are talking about similar companies in a broad sense. My opinion is the agriculture and fishery. In my experience, they believe in thier high-quality products. However, they are not good at how they tell thier products. Actually, they force to live with low income because they don't make large profit in Japan. We can help them support how thier products show customer and get regular. My opinion is that agriculture and fishery are good consulting areas. In my experience, they believe in their high-quality products. However, they are not good at how they sell their products. They are forced to live with low income because they don't make a large profit in Japan. We can help them by making their products visible and getting regular customers. 2., 3. & 4. Correct spelling. 5. No need for this adverb, it's redundant. 6. Use the passive voice here. 7. You need the indefinite article "a" when referring to a non-specific, singular noun mentioned for the first time, in this case, modified by an adjective. 8. This is a better phrase to use in this context. - reliable option（信頼性の高いオプション） - expiry period（満了期間） - good deal（お買い得、得な取引） - similar plans（同様の計画） - Her positive leadership helped bring out success in her employees.（彼女のポジティブなリーダーシップが、社員の成功を引き出したのです。） - What's the purpose of (this new service)?（この新しいサービスは何が目的なんですか？） - Give it your best shot.（試しにやってみよう、挑戦しよう） - Are you planning to launch this new project within the next several months?（この新プロジェクトは、数ヶ月以内に立ち上げる予定ですか？） - What price ranges will it cover? （どのような価格帯をカバーするのでしょうか？） - Will it be affordable?（手頃な価格でしょうか？） - I have to prepare for tomorrow.（明日の準備をしなければならない。） - How much time do you require?（どれぐらいの時間が必要ですか？） - Can you explain it in detail?（詳しく説明してくれますか？） - The company is planning to expand their business from domestic to overseas.（今後は、国内から海外へと事業を拡大していく予定です。）	297,781
These dynamic posters visually express the theme of the Dig In! unit – namely, the world of possibilities found in growing and eating fruits and vegetables. Display them in your classroom, the school cafeteria, and other places throughout the school to motivate students to choose more fruits and vegetables at meals and as snacks. Horizontal posters are 24 inches by 36 inches. Vertical posters are 36 inches by 24 inches. Available in PDF and, to Team Nutrition Schools, upon request (one of each poster per school). Race Car Poster List of Vegetables in Race Car Poster: black beans, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, celery, green beans, oranges, peaches, red bell pepper, rhubarb, sugar snap peas. Video Game Poster List of Vegetables in Video Game Poster: apples, blueberries, carrots, cherries, cucumber, green beans, green peas, pinto beans, snow peas. Roller Coaster Poster List of Vegetables in Roller Coaster Poster: apples, asparagus, banana, black beans, blueberries, Bok Choy, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes, grapes, green beans, green bell pepper, green leaf lettuce, pears, pineapple chunk, raspberries, red lentil, rhubarb, scallion, split peas, strawberries, sugar snap peas, tomato slice, white bean. Veggie Rock Stars Poster List of Vegetables in Veggie Rock Stars Poster: butternut squash, carrots, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, spinach, Swiss chard, tomato. List of Foods in Footer: tomatoes, carrots, sweet potato. Dancing Beans Poster List of Vegetables in Dancing Beans Poster: black beans, butter beans, cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lentils (green and red), navy beans, pinto beans. List of Foods in Footer: hummus (chickpeas/garbanzo beans), bean burrito (black beans), chili (kidney beans). Leafy Green DJ Poster List of Vegetables in Leafy Green DJ Poster: collard greens, kale, leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach. List of Foods Shown in Poster Footer: sandwich (spinach), broccoli with low-fat dip, salad (variety of salad greens). Eat Smart To Play Hard With MyPlate Poster This colorful two-sided poster showing the MyPlate icon and foods in the five food groups is used as part of Lesson 1. This poster is also included in Team Nutrition's Serving Up MyPlate curriculum.	145,391
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper heads to China this week, where he will discuss Canada’s vast oil reserves in a visit that is being viewed as an “open warning” to the US, which rejected a pipeline from Canada to Texas. Harper will be in Beijing and two other cities for bilateral meetings with top Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao ( ) and Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) from Wednesday to Saturday. The prime minister’s spokesman Andrew MacDougall said on Friday that it was “absolutely in Canada’s interests” to move the country’s resources to China. Five Cabinet ministers, including the ministers of natural resources, trade and foreign affairs, will make the trip with Harper. Harper is determined to build a pipeline to Canada’s Pacific Coast after US President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline that would have taken oil from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast. Ninety-seven percent of Canadian oil exports now go to the US and Harper is eager to diversify. Canada has the world’s third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela: more than 170 billion barrels. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to increase to 3.7 million by 2025, which the oil industry sees as a pressing reason to build the pipelines. Canada is increasingly looking to China, thinking the US does not want a big-stake share in what environmentalists call “dirty oil,” which they say increases greenhouse gas emissions. Harper told Obama he was “profoundly disappointed” that he rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline has become a hot topic in the US presidential election. Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have both promised to approve the pipeline. After Obama first delayed a decision on the Keystone pipeline in November, Harper told the Chinese president at the Pacific Rim summit in Hawaii that Canada would like to sell more oil to China, and the Canadian prime minister filled in Obama on what he said. Wenran Jiang (姜聞然), an energy expert and professor at the University of Alberta, said Canada is using China as leverage. He said Harper’s visit is an explicit warning to the US “It’s a not a subtle warning. It’s an open warning,” Jiang said. “Harper has said Keystone was a wake-up call.” Jiang said Washington will be paying attention to the trip, but he said a number of factors make US officials less worried than a few years ago when China’s investment intentions in Canada’s oil sector weren’t as clear as they are now. Jiang said US officials no longer fear that the Chinese are investing in Canada to lock up the supply and ship it back to China. However, Jiang said that does not prevent Republicans like Gingrich and Romney from raising fears that the US is losing energy security. David Goldwyn, a former energy official in the Obama administration, has said he sees no threat from Chinese inroads into Canada because there is more than enough oil for all concerned. China’s growing economy is hungry for Canadian oil. Chinese state-owned companies have invested more than US$16 billion in Canadian energy in the past two years. State-controlled China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) has a stake in Enbridge’s proposed Pacific pipeline, and if it is built, Chinese investment in Alberta oil sands is sure to boom.	57,981
This is a story about a young tasting event (the first edition was last year) which is already attended by large crowds. You may notice in these few pictures that the average age of the visitors here is also much younger than for many similar artisan-wine tastings in Paris, hinting that uncorrected wine is beginning to widen its follower base and may reconnect the youth with the enjoyment of wine (we've been told for years that young people were forsaking wine in favor of beer and mixed spirits). The artisan of this successful tasting event is Antonin Iommi-Amunategui (pictured on right), a young journalist who runs a wine blog at Rue89 named No Wine is Innocent. Rue89 is an information website created in 2002 by former journalists of Libération (a major left-wing newspaper in France). Rue89 retains some of the journalistic style of Liberation, with maybe more with a tabloid approach in addition to its political stance and the usual play on words in article titles, the latter being a trademark fixture of Libération. Antonin's blog displays the same corrosive and politically-oriented style in his blog, the world of wine today having all the ingredients for heated discussions and opinions. He gives natural wine a good coverage, adding a fun and provocative edge that brought him a big readership in just maybe 2 or 3 years. After his blog took off, Antonin proposed to Pierre Haski (founder of Rue89) to try set up a tasting event with the participative style found at the news website, that is, with some debates to pepper it (this time for example they had a debate between Emmanuel Giboulot and Jonathan Nossiter). When the project took shape, the contacted winemakers were OK for the adventure, especially that thanks to the partnership between Rue89 and La Bellevilloise (the group managing this cultural/events building), the fee for the participating winegrowers was largely lower than the one asked elsewhere in Paris. The vignerons could also sell their wine to the visitors, so they could have an instant return on their investment and make ties with the young public at the same time. The motto for the tasting event was Sous les Pavés la Vigne (under the cobblestones, the vineyard), mirroring the 1968 slogan painted on the walls during the riots and cobblestone barricades of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, Sous les pavés, la PLage (under the cobblestones, the beach). On the first such event last year, Rue89 helped bring the visitors in, using the news website, but this year the salon also got coverage on Le Monde and Telerama, which helped increase its popularity. The salon invited for free in 2014 Edouard Fortin who lost much of his wine as the result of an arson at his chai. I first stopped at Chateau Lamery, one of the first tables when you walked in. Jacques Broustet manages one of the tiniest wine farms of the Bordeaux region, and certainly a very atypical one when you compare to the vineyard management and cellar norms over there. I discovered his cuvée Autrement a couple years ago and it was an awakening moment. Jacques makes only one or two cuvées from his small surface (2 or 3 hectares). He farms organic (Demeter certified) which isn't simple in the Bordeaux region considering the rain and humidity along the year, he doesn't filter, fine or correct his wine in any way. __ Chateau Lamery Autrement 2011, Vin de France (table wine). Autrement means different or differently in French, and it really shows a different Bordeaux wine, a glimpse about what many unexciting Bordeaux could become if the viticulture and cellar management was overturned. The wine is as delightful as when B. and I tasted it for the first time at Shonzui in Tokyo, it was a 2009 then, a vintage with higher yields at Lamery (his usual yields are around 25ho/ha) and this wine was a pure delight. Jacques Broustet exports 70 to 80 % of his wine (foremost the U.S. through Garagiste in Seattle, and recently through Jeffrey Alpert Selections in NY), you can find it in many places in Paris, I remember having seen the bottle at Coinstot Vino for 15 € (price to go), a steal for the quality (He sells the cuvée at this price (tax included) today at the winery). Asked about the vinification, he says that for example in 2012, he destemmed all the grapes and vinified in cement vats for 3 weeks, then put the wine in old casks for 9 months, without disturning the wine in anyway there. Then, he racks in a vat for a few months and bottles on a fruit/lion day for optimum lunar conditions (in november usually). __ Chateau Lamery Le Défi de Lamery, white wine (100 % Semillon). There's some residual sugar, he acknowledges, from 5 to 9 maybe. He says he hadn't put much SO2 and the wine refermented a bit after bottling __ Hommage à Robert, (red) Vin de France (table wine) L 13. Syrah 65 %, Grenache 35 %, vines from 15 to 30 years. 11,5 % alc. Gilles Azzoni says that Syrah never makes high alcohol in their vineyards. The name of the cuvée is related to the former owner of the parcel who died in 2000. Nose : appealing meaty aromas. The wine has a thirst-quenching freshness that I appreciate each time I have one of his wines, red or white. Costs 6,5 € retail ! I bought a few bottles on the spot (could fit a box in the back on my motorcycle). __ Bran, red Vin de France L 13. Caner,net 60 %), Merlot (15 %), Grenache (15 %) and a bit of Syrah. Bottled a month before like the other cuvée. Superb to swallow, a candy full of freshness. The empty glass smells like heaven. Costs 7,7 € retail (I grabbed another few bottles), how does he make to sell at this price ?. __ L'Apostrophe 2012, Coteaux Varois 2012. Rosé. Quite powerful, a rosé from Provence where you feel the sun. __ Analepse Vin de France (table wine) 2012. White made from Carignan Blanc and a bit of Clairette. A southern white where power and freshness are yet well balanced. __ La Chance, Bandol rosé 2013. This is lmy excuse for stopping here, he releases hiss first Bandol wines, made from vineyards he worked with in the previous years but couldn't label as Bandol because he vinified the wines in Laroquebrussanne, near Brignoles in the inner Var. Now he makes the wine in a facility in the Bandol area. Nice intensity in the mouth, with a saline minerality. He says that's because the malolactic was completed and the wine sort of spits out its minerality. He works on 2 hectares in Bandol, both red and white. The total vineyard surface of his winery (most being in central Var) is 15 or 16 hectares now. __ Autrement et Encore, Coteaux Varois 2013 (a magnum). Cinsault. Some astringency at this stage. __ L'Antidote, Vin de Pays de la Sainte Baume 2012. 100 % Carignan. Generous nose full of promise, aromas of fruits and faded flowers. Mouth : light sugary side, with a saline side, an intense wine, very neat. Costs 10 € (tax included I think). Very good deal although a bit powerful for my spoiled Loire tastes. __ Abracadabrantesque, Coteaux Varois 2012. Carignan-Mourvèdre with some élevage in casks. Still tight, the mourvèdre needs time to open. Go check this wine in a year or two, I'm confident it'll be more at reach. __ L'Alibi, Coteaux Varois en Provence [I think the "en Provence" was added by the wine authorities to augment the visibility of the AOC] 2012. Grenache-Syrah. Outstanding freshness (really no regrets for stopping at his table), along with the right tannin structure and natural elegance. And this is I guess just the beginning of the life of this wine... 13 % in alc. which is moderate under this climate. __ Au Hasard et Souvent, Vin de Pays du Var 2013 (only in magnum). Old carignan vinified with carbonic maceration and blended with young Mourvèdre. Superb drinkability, goes down by itself. A magnum sells for 25 €. Jean-Christophe Comor takes part to a group of winegrowers named Rouge Provence and whose goal is to highlight the potential of Provence to make great reds, the region making an overwhelming majority of rosé. Here is the list of the vignerons who joined Rouge Provence. Outside of Bandol, Provence is not considered a region for reds but when you taste Comor's wine, you understand what we miss with this rosé débauchery... __ Spoum, Vin de France (table wine) 2013. Red natural sparkling (pet'nat). Color : turbid translucent red. No filtration Raspberry notes, surprising feel, easy drinking. 100 % cab sauvignon., that's why a tannic frame. There's an obvious candy feel here. 10,5 % in alc. Sealed with crown cap and wax (quite an elegant bottle). Costs 9 € retail and 5 € for professional buyers. 200 bottles only, for 2014 they hope to make 500 to 800 bottles of this. __ Virevolte, Vin de France 2013. Merlot, Cab Franc & Cab Sauvignon. 11,5 % alc. Meaty nose. Here they just filtered grossly for big parts, but they didn't do any fining. SO2 : usually between 20 to 50 mg in mid-élevage (at racking if I understand correctly). They may add some on the incoming grapes on difficult years. No notes for the tasting here sorry. __ Haut Médoc 2011, Cuvée Classique, 70 % cab sauvignon, 20 % merlot and 10 % cab franc. 12,5 % alc. Vintage name printed in big letters on the label. Mouth : a bit powerful for me, with astringency on the sides of the mouth. When they started they made only one cuvée, now they make one with the old vines and another cuvée for easy drinking (thirst wine). __ Baragane, Haut Médoc, Préphylloxerrique (ungrafted) parcel. 6 varieties in here, among which cab sauv, cab franc, merlot, complanted and vinified together. Superb wine, powerful too, but really awesome, it literally radiated through the mouth when you swallow. The soil is not sand here (often considered safe against phylloxera) but silts that are often flooded, which I guess the phylloxera doesn't like. They have a 40-are surface here and make 700 bottles out of it. The bottle sells for 27 €, very good deal, you'll love Bordeaux wines. Read this good profile on the Domaine by Ideemiam. Watch the video on the left where shareholders (co-vignerons) explain why they joined this participative winery (beautiful landscape with the village of Trilla in the background). __ Felhuns 2010. Turbid white wine, freshness already on the nose, and life feel. Aaron joins me among the crowd of wine amateurs, there are so many people at the table that I can't hear what the guy says. Macabeu mostly, with some grenache. Very mineral. __ Trilha 2010, Syrah on granite, marls and gneiss. Color : turbid and chalky. Mouth : delicious and intense, very beautiful, to try absolutely.2,5-month maceration, zero SO2. 22 € retail. Empty glass : so good. 4000 bottles. __ Les Arcolans 2010 (not sure of the spelling), from the vat (brut de cuve), not bottled yet. Elevage of 3,5 years, 110-year-old carignan. Nose : superb, and what freshness ! (or minerality maybe). 900 bottles. Will sell between 40 and 50 € retail. Exceptional wine, worth the price if you can afford. Picture on right : Vincent fills a glass for Frédéric Sigonneau of Domaine de L'R. __ Cyclope 2013, Pays d'Hérault IGP. Carignan-Syrah. This is the end of the day and after all these wines (some being swallowed I admit unrepently) I begin to have trouble emitting an opinion. Not bad, beyond the sugary side here. __ Myrmidons, Vin de Pays de L'Hérault 2013. 100 % Syrah, 14% alc. The mineralityis so strong here that you may mistake it for tannins. Very interesting wine, although a bit powerful for me, especially at this time of the day. __ Raphsody 2012. 100 % carbonic maceration of Carignan-Syrah. 1000 bottles. Meat-juice nose. Wine with minerality and saline notes. Very focused. 21 €. __ Titan 2012. Majority of Syrah with a bit of Carignan. Elevage in casks. 1000 bottles. Also very concentrated with this mineral and salty feel. Quite good. 24 €. In general their prices go between 9 € and 12 € tax included even if a few cuvées cost more. It was closing time and Antonin was telling gently to everyone through the loudspeaker that the event was over, we soon reached for the exit. On the left you can read on the bottle for the conventional wines all the allowed additives and corrections, the list of products and methods is so long that it ends with etc... Then the next bottle lists all the additives accepted by the European organic certyification (almost as much stuff...), then you begin with the serious wine, namely the demeter-certified wines where a few things are allowed (although rarely used I think) and from what I read on this Demeter-USA document (page 38 to 42), the sugar addition which is listed on the poster as allowed is not allowed by the Demeter-USA rules. Then lastly, the A.V.N. and Vins S.A.I.N.S. certifications where nothing at all can be added (except a bit of SO2 for the AVN). And many vignerons make natural wine along the rules of these last two groups, even though they didn't formally joined the certification.	241,001
Holy jumping bugs! I jump. I jump up. I jump high. Trace the sight word jump in these bouncy sentences. Read the sentences and draw a picture of yourself jumping. Boing! Boing! CCSS RF.K.3c and SL.K.5 Please go to this page to see all the sight word practice worksheets in this set.	235,670
From: Rolf Furuli (email@example.com) Date: Sun Mar 02 1997 - 05:46:56 EST <What is the difference between the "concept" and the <totality of "senses" that may be obtained? A camera and a house may be used to illustrate the differences between `concept` and `sense`. If we take a picture of the house from some distance, we see the whole of it. If we take a picture from a plane, we also get the whole but it looks very different. If we take a close-up picture, just a door and a window may be seen on the picture. The house is the concept and the different sides of it focused upon in different contexts are the senses, but all these `senses` clearly relate to the concept `house`, and in the picture of the whole house, `concept`and `sense` are very close. (One problem with the illustration is that a house is a definite object with clear boundaries, while the concepts of our mind have `fuzzu edges` and we often have a concept without being able to define it definitely, but in a context we are able to see the sense.) Contexts therefore add little or no information, just make a part of the concept visible When do the `senses` of a word represent different concepts? The proverbial five blind men who should describe an elephant may illustrate it. One described the belly, another the tail and so fort. Everything they said were true, but they lacked the concept `elephant`. Language is evolving, and when the senses of a word become so far apart that the mind no longer can relate them to one concept (as the parts of the elephant), a new concept is born. In the case of KOSMOS the Greek mind would relate both the sense `world` and `apparel` to the same concept. In English there are two concepts. A very good illustration is `spirit` and `soul` (philologically speaking!). The different senses of RUACH/PNEUMA - spirit , spirit creature, wind, mental inclination - and so forth, may be viewed as the blind mens description of the parts of the elephant. Etymologically they spring from one concept related to something invisible that creates visible manifestations. This concept was lost, and a host of new concepts were in time created. Therefore the word must be translated differently. Regarding NEPHESH/PSYXH the situation is different. I have been through all their occurrences in OT/NT and find only one concept. So when the word is translated with 20-30 different English words, form `life` to `appetite`, the concept is completely lost, and the reader is confused. <Some words are more referential and others are less <referential. For example, "Plato" is highly referential, <referring to a particular person. "Law" is partly <referential, but "beauty" is almost non-referential. <Highly referential words may be defined by studying the <referent, but non-referential words must be defined by the This is important! AGAPH is a non-referential word, and is also in idiomatic translations translated by one English word. This illustrates that words serve as `semantic signals` which the reader must interprete by help of the <Are you re-defining "Aktionsart" and "aspect"? Your <definitions are different from what I have read in other, I use `Aktionsart` in the traditional meaning as the lexical, objective contents of a verb, which cannot be altered by time, aspect or mood. My use of `aspect` is close to that of Fanning, but is further cultivated and is a part of a `model of semantic visibility` which entails both verbs and nouns <Have you convinced the professors at Oslo? My view of Greek verbs is a fruit of the study of Hebrew verbs and the LXX, recognizing that `the principle of visibility` is the same in both languages. I have also worked with the text of the NT, but not to the extent of producing a thesis. I have, however, discussed parts of the view, which have been well received. Fanning is valued in Ph. D candidate of Semitic languages University of Oslo This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:38:08 EDT	155,885
I have had a few questions about pictures of blocks with all the posting going on at Flickr. (Love all the photos showing up in Flickr!) I have decided to address some of them. Feel free to comment and add to my tips if you do something differently that may also help out a fellow quilter. 1) How do I get a good picture of my block? Two things make a big difference -- lighting and angle. First, the best lighting is outside in light even shade. Of course, that isn't always possible. If you have a place in your house that lets in a lot of light, that is second best and can be just as good depending on the time of day. After that, do the best you can. Second, angle. Pictures of quilts and quilt blocks look best when taken straight on. This can happen several ways. Probably the easiest way (for blocks) is to have your block on a design wall and take the picture straight on that way. Or you can hang your block on something else vertical like a wall hanging or the back of your couch (assuming it isn't up against a wall), etc. . . something plain colored is better so the block doesn't have to fight for attention. Here is the link to an excellent article about taking pictures of quilts: Click here to read "Shoot That Quilt!" article. 2) How do I get rid of the stuff around my quilt block in the picture? You want to edit your photo in a photo program like Photoshop or Picasa. I will address these two becasue I am familiar with them. This information can be applied to other programs. Picasa is a free photo program by Google. No matter which program you use, you are looking for the words "crop." In Photoshop you select an area, then go up to the top menus where it says "Image." This pulls up a list. One of the words in the list is crop. Click on that, and now everything around where you selected disappears. In Picasa, under "Basic Fixes" is the Crop button. First click on the crop button, then draw the box of what you want your photo to look like. It defaults to a 4x6 picture size so if you want something more square for your block then select "manual." You can then draw the box any shape you want -- well, not any shape, just any rectangle or square shape. 3) I'm worried I'm going to mess up my picture. Help! This is a valid concern, but there is an easy way to solve this. As soon as you open up your picture, go to the "File" menu and click on "Save As." Then rename your photo and click save. (I usually just add a letter to the end of the original name rather than thinking up something new.) Now if you mess it up, it doesn't matter because you have messed up a copy of the picture and not the original picture. Feel free to play. See what this button does or see how that filter looks. Transform, warp, color, discolor, smear, blur, sharpen, etc . . . to your hearts content. Learn what your photo program can do. AND save as many copies of the original as you want -- without messing up your original photo. Part Two -- make "undo" your friend. In every program I have used, CTRL-Z is undo. Or look for an arrow pointing backwards. Or find "Undo" under the "Edit" menu at the top of most programs. Undo can fix most problems, and if it can't, well, that's why we have already done "Save As". 4) My file is too big to post in Flickr. How do I make it smaller? To view blocks nicely on the web, they don't have to be very big. Definitely under 1 Meg. There are two ways to make a file smaller: 1) make the size (actual print size in inches) smaller and 2) make the dpi (dots per square inch or pixels per inch) smaller. I usually do both, but not until AFTER I have cropped the photo. In Photoshop, this information is found in the "Image" menu. Under Image it says "Image Size." This brings up a box that says Document Size. Change the smaller of width or height to 4 or 5. The other number is automatically changed. Change the resolution to 72. Side note -- if you are printing a picture you want 300 dpi, but for web viewing you only need 72 or 75 dpi. Did that just go over your head? Don't worry, you aren't alone. Just know if you see a 300, change it to 72. In Picasa, the way to change the dpi is to "Export to Folder" the file in the "File" menu. After you click "Export," you get a box. Where it says Image Size, click "Resize to:" and slide the slider down to one of the left marks -- either 320 or 480. Then click export. 5) Any other suggestions? Yes, I have two other suggestions. First, give it a shot! This is the perfect time to figure out how to take and post great pictures. It's always faster the second time, or the third time, around. Second, if all else fails, go find a relative, friend, neighbor, or a teenager you know and have them teach you all of this on your computer with your programs. This isn't Calculus. This is something all of you can do. And there is the possibility of a quilting related prize as incentive. What better time is there to learn? Go for it! 54 minutes ago	87,548
Screens have radically altered the way today's kids play -- and given parents a whole new set of things to worry about. Whether it's a toddler's facility with a touch screen or teen-age friends playing FIFA 13 for hours without making eye contact, nothing ratchets up a parent's anxiety more than watching their child stare at a flickering vortex, as blank and spooky as the girl in "Poltergeist." Those parents who have managed to impose limits on screen time can't talk about it to other parents for fear of sounding smug or even authoritarian. The rest of us are left to wring our hands. Does Call of Duty incite violence? Is Facebook a breeding ground for bullies? Does texting distract kids from school and family, and erode their grammar too? Will a passion for Halo diminish a child's ability to feel empathy -- and if so, is TV more damaging to her emotional development? It's important for kids to have plenty of idle time in which to roughhouse, wander, goof off, daydream, doodle, make stuff, and indulge in other low-tech pastimes. Parents whose kids rarely do any of these things, because they're glued to screens instead, are right to be anxious. And yet . . . unless your child has the kind of personality where he cannot ever release his grip on a video game controller or stop responding to texts, there's no reason to become a Luddite. Your kid's free time is supposed to be fun! And screens, as we all know very well, are, indeed, fun. This is not to suggest that screen time should be doled out as a reward, in order to bribe or pacify whiny kids. The implied message of doing so is that screen time is inherently bad for you. But that simply isn't true. Spending too much time staring at a screen isn't a terrific idea, of course; but spending too much time doing anything is a problem. Limiting screen time -- for all family members -- is smart. But it's pretty likely your kids are going to spend time in front of screens. Here are some fun, all-inclusive screen-based activities that everyone in the family can enjoy without guilt. Citizen science: Increasingly, scientists in some fields are relying on volunteers to help out with research-related tasks that involve observation and/or measurement. Some of these projects will actually get you and your family out of the house and into nature -- identifying frogs and toads by their song, say, or collecting data about local weather -- before asking you to go online and record your findings. Other citizen science tasks are strictly screen-based. One of the best-known of these is Galaxy Zoo, which asks participants to look at photos taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (a major multifilter imaging and spectroscopic survey) and the Hubble Space Telescope in order to classify galaxies. You're asked to study an image of a galaxy while answering questions about the image: Is the galaxy spiral or elliptical? What else do you see in the image -- a star, perhaps? A satellite trail? And it isn't busywork -- the first stage of the project collected millions of classifications. The current stage asks citizen scientists for more detailed classifications of a quarter-million of the brightest galaxies in the project's sample. Fooling around with sound: When we were kids, dual-cassette boomboxes were state-of-the-art recording technology. Kids today have it good! If you have a Mac, then you already have Apple's GarageBand. PC users can download a free audio editor like Audacity; or an inexpensive program like Sony's ACID Music Studio (a simplified version of ACID Pro). Today, our children record themselves making music, but even before they'd learned to play their instruments, they experimented with audio editors. With a little assistance from their parents, they created soundtracks for their homemade movies and bleeped curse words out of favorite songs. You can also use audio editing programs to make ringtones, create music loops (which makes practicing an instrument more fun), and even karaoke-ize your music by eliminating vocals. By the way, although we've never prevented our children from sampling a few seconds of a pop song to play over the blooper reel on one of their stop-motion videos, we do remind them that it's illegal and unethical to copy and share someone else's music. Note, however, that the loops that come preloaded in GarageBand and other programs are royalty- and guilt-free. Gamify your surroundings: The social city-guide app Foursquare is a fun way to explore your neighborhood, town, or city with the help of a smartphone. It encourages you to discover new places instead of doing the same old thing. Josh's 12-year-old son thinks of Foursquare as a video game that takes place in the real world; he borrows Josh's phone -- the service is not available to those under 13 -- to check in at exotic new locales around Boston, earning badges. Another fun real-world game is geocaching, which parents and kids can do together by downloading a geocaching app to a smartphone. (We like Geocaching from Groundspeak Inc.) Geocachers around the planet have hidden more than a million caches (containers, often filled with prizes) and uploaded their latitude and longitude to Geocaching.com. We've found caches hidden in our own neighborhoods, and we've also been lured by fun-sounding caches in other neighborhoods, in city and state parks, and in other cities. Enter a ZIP code into whichever app you've downloaded, and you're off and running. Note that using the Geocaching website is free, though with a paid membership you get some extra features -- like automatic notification when caches are created in your area. Design within reach: Elizabeth's eighth-grader loves Cities XL, a city-building computer game. In addition to creating skyscrapers and urban parks, he likes the challenge of balancing a city budget and planning the streets for traffic flow. Our families are also into SketchUp, a free program that lets you design almost anything, from an apartment building to a toothbrush. (Josh's ninth-grader used it, with the help of older kids on his school's robotics team, to design a robot.) And it's sure to be even more popular once your kids start begging to get one of these. If your kid can spend hours building underground kingdoms on Minecraft, give her a chance to actively explore how video games actually work by introducing her to programming. Our kids like Scratch, a programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab that kids -- with or without a grown-up's help -- can use to create games, animations, music, interactive stories, and art. Super Scratch Programming Adventure! is a companion book that teaches you how to build lots of creative (and increasingly complicated) games. Scratch can be used by children younger than 13 as long as a parent provides a valid email address. Backseat fun: Waze is a free social traffic and navigation app whose users can report accidents, speed traps, and traffic jams in real time. It has a very cute interface, and it's endlessly fascinating to observe fellow Waze users coming and going while you travel. However, it's not safe for the driver to use! That's where kids come in -- as Chewbacca to their mom or dad's Han Solo. Using Waze, they can not only help you find your destination but also avoid problems en route. The music identification app Shazam may be tailor-made for bars, but it's also perfect for driving together, whether on the morning commute to school or on a long weekend road trip. When an old -- that is, pre-2005 -- song comes on the radio, the kid in the passenger seat races to identify it via Shazam before her parent can dredge the same info up from her own, ever-shrinking database. When it comes to your kids and their attraction to screens, it's best to be a neo-Luddite: Find meaningful and fun ways to share screen time with your kids, and place restrictions not on the technology itself, but on how and when it's used. That is, of course, if you can tear yourself away from your own favorite screen diversions. Glenn and Larsen are the co-authors of "Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun."	108,890
Aonori is a variety of aromatic seaweed used as a garnish or for seasoning in many Japanese dishes, usually sprinkled in dried flake form over hot food such as yakisoba (fried noodles), o-konomiyaki (savoury pancake), or added to tempura batter. Protein rich, it also contains beneficial minerals such as calcium, magnesium and amino acids. Aonori occurs naturally in the calm, warm water of the bays of the south of Japan, where its cultivation is a major industry. Hijiki is a porous, black seaweed with a surface that is less viscous but has more texture than other seaweeds. It is normally sold dried and should be reconstituted with water before use. Hijiki contains a lot of calcium and fibre. It also contains a high level of iron. Hijiki is normally simmered with chopped vegetables such as carrots, fried tofu and beans, and seasoned with soy sauce and mirin, and served as a tasty side dish. A wide variety of seaweed products is eaten in Japan. Some of the most commonly used include mozuku, a dark brown, viscous seaweed which is often eaten with rice vinegar as a starter or palate-refresher between courses. Mekabu, the flowering sprout of wakame seaweed, has a strong, salty flavour and contains many minerals beneficial to the health. Arame kelp has a delicate, sweet flavour, thick serrated leaves and it is also harvested as a source of alginate and iodine. Kanten is a flavourless dried seaweed available in blocks, strands or powdered form, which acts as a gelling agent. It is an ideal gelatin substitute for vegetarians. Delicious jellies can be made using fruit juice or milk and are popular in Japan as a healthy treat. High in fibre, kanten is good for treating constipation and reducing cholesterol levels. Tokoroten, the natural gel form of kanten, is usually cut into thin strips and eaten cold with sweet or savoury dressings such as soy sauce and rice vinegar. Konbu is one of the main basic dashi ingredients. To make good stock, simply soak konbu in water, or heat gently in water and remove just before boiling. To make dashi konbu, kelp is washed with seawater and dried in the sun for one to two days. Konbu is rich in vitamins and minerals such as iodine. Konbu is also used in a variety of dishes such as nabe (hotpot), kobumaki (rolled konbu) and tsukudani (salted and sweetened preserved foods). Nori, a dried seaweed resembling sheets of black paper, is a very popular ingredient in Japan, particularly for the wrapping of steamed rice to make makizushi (rolled sushi) and o-nigiri (rice balls). Nori is also a very important traditional breakfast food, eaten with rice. Seasoned nori is also popular, and nori and seasoned nori are available in individually wrapped, bite-sized sheets and served at breakfast in the home or at traditional Japanese inns and hotels. It is rich in vitamin B1, which helps combat mental fatigue, and calcium. Tororo konbu is kelp that has been soaked in vinegar for a day before being shaved into fine flakes and dried. Adding soy sauce and boiling water to the flakes produces a tasty soup. It is commonly added to vinegared salads, known as sunomono, put in clear soup and is a popular flavouring in o-nigiri rice balls. With zero calories, it is an ideal seasoning for those trying to eat healthily. Tororo konbu can be stored for a long period of time without spoiling. This dark green seaweed, with its mild ocean flavour, is one of the most popular seaweeds in Japan. Available in both dry and fresh forms, it is most commonly used in soups and salads. The dried product greatly expands when it's reconstituted either by soaking in water for a few minutes or adding directly to a soup. Since wakame has no calories, it is ideal for those who are watching their weight and is believed to help prevent hair loss.	214,638
How long does meth stay in your system? Meth can stay in the system and be detected in urinalysis drug tests 1-4 days after use. But chronic use can extended this detection period. More here on how meth works and the length of time it stays in your system, with a section for your questions about meth at the end. What is meth? Meth (short for “methamphetamine”) is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. While small doses of meth can be prescribed legally for limited medical uses, most recreational doses of meth are manufactured illegally. How do you take meth? Meth comes in different forms and can be taken in multiple ways. If prescribed, methamphetamine comes as a pill. In its powder form, meth can be ingested, snorted, or injected. In its “crystal” or rock form, meth can be smoked. Main meth uses Under the Controlled Substances Act, meth is classified as a Schedule II drug, which allows for very limited medical use. Medical professionals may issue a non-refillable prescription of methamphetamine as treatment for narcolepsy, attention deficit and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and obesity. Recreationally, meth is used as a stimulant. Soon after smoking or injecting meth, the drug produces a short and intense rush. If ingested or snorted, meth can produce a longer high lasting about half a day. When used recreationally, meth creates a feeling of euphoria. However, in the U.S., it is illegal to possess meth without a prescription. Peak levels and half-life of meth Blood concentrations of meth vary depending on the amount taken. Since meth can be prescribed by medical professionals, there is a therapeutic level of blood concentration, which usually ranges from .02-.05 mg/L. Recreational meth use, on the other hand, can range from anywhere between .01-2.5mg/L. Concentrations above .2mg/L are associated with abuse, and the threshold for toxicity for meth is above 2.5mg/L. Meth levels reach peak blood concentration differently depending on mode of administration. The half-life of meth can range greatly, but for all methods of administration the half-life ranges between about 10 and 12 hours. When ingesting meth, peak concentration of methamphetamine occurs in approximately three hours. For smoking and snorting, peak concentration takes between two and three hours. Meth drug testing: How long does meth stay in the body? Different drugs and their metabolites are stay detectable through drug testing for different amounts of time. Meth stays in the body much longer than some other drugs. For example, 50% of cocaine leaves the body after only one hour. With a half-life of nearly twelve hours, meth stays in the system for a significantly longer period of time. The exact amount of time methamphetamine can stay in the body depends on a number of factors, such as urine pH levels, amount taken, how frequently the drug is used, body mass, rate of metabolism, or other circumstance. How long does meth stay in blood? Meth stays in the blood for approximately 24-48 hours. How long does meth stay in hair? The longest amount of detection time for meth is in hair. Once the hair grows out after use, meth can be found months or even years after the cessation of use. Presence of meth in hair depends on the level of meth usage and the length of hair. One half an inch of hair represents about 30 days in hair testing for meth. How long does meth stay in urine? Urinalysis can turn up a positive result for meth within 1-4 days, but heavy and/or chronic use can extend this time frame. How long does meth stay in saliva or sweat? Meth can stay in saliva for approximately 1-2 days. Evidence of meth use can be detected in sweat within two hours and sometimes over a week after someone has stopped using meth. Meth and addiction Meth is highly addictive. It is much less expensive than cocaine and produces a much longer high. Use of meth releases a large amount of neurotransmitters into the brain such as dopamine, a chemical involved in the brain’s reward circuit. The large amount of dopamine released during the meth rush depletes the brain’s supply and leads to a “crash,” including a depressive phase. Users often seek more meth to recreate the euphoria, leading to a cycle of addiction. Problems with meth? If you have a problem with meth, please seek the advice of a doctor. Otherwise, we invite you to ask questions or share your experiences in the comments below. Reference Sources: NIDA: Drug Facts: Methamphetamine NIDA: Drug Abuse: Methamphetamine DEA: Drug Data Sheets on Methamphetamine CDC Fact Sheets on Methamphetamine PubMed: Excretion of Methamphetamine and Amphetamine in Human Sweat Following Controlled Oral Methamphetamine Administration PubMed: Methamphetamine detection in maternal and neonatal hair: implications for fetal safety Photo credit: neutralSurface	171,080
A new Singapore Energy Centre, a joint effort between NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), will be launched in early 2019 to explore innovative ideas and develop talent to meet future energy needs in Asia Pacific. NUS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ExxonMobil and NTU on 3 November, signifying ExxonMobil’s place as the first founding member of the new centre. Aimed towards new discoveries and significant improvements in technologies, the centre will focus on researching next-generation technologies such as new forms of energy production; energy efficiency, conversion and storage; climate change mitigation and adaption; and energy and water access. NUS and NTU will co-lead the centre, and share their expertise, knowledge and research infrastructure. As the founding member, ExxonMobil will support the centre’s wide range of early-stage innovative research projects and activities, and facilitate collaborations between its scientists and researchers with NUS and NTU. The centre will also expand to include more industry partners and broaden its research scope in the future. Professor Ho Teck Hua, NUS Deputy President (Research & Technology) said that the partnership between NUS, ExxonMobil and NTU combines the rich scientific capabilities of both academia and industry to solve complex, real-world challenges. "We will contribute our expertise in basic and applied engineering research to develop innovative sustainable energy solutions that will not only boost the competitiveness of Singapore and our industries in the region, but also improve overall environmental sustainability,” he added. “The Singapore Energy Centre is the first energy centre partnership ExxonMobil has undertaken outside the US,” said Dr Vijay Swarup, Vice President of Research and Development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. “Through this collaboration with NTU and NUS, we hope to explore new areas of research that can help find efficient, scalable and sustainable ways to meet the world’s future energy needs.” The universities will also offer an Energy Fellowship programme to help the centre groom future leaders skilled in developing sustainable energy solutions, as well as nurture an ecosystem of innovation and research excellence in Singapore and regionally. This programme will allow students to pursue research areas consistent with the centre’s goals. In the future, both universities will be inviting other local and global industry leading companies to participate in the centre’s goals. Industry partners will have the opportunity to participate in core research, as well as take on member-directed research with the universities.	28,109
Council on Foreign Relations May 20, 2013 Greg Mortenson has spent less than one-ten-thousandth as much as the Bush administration to help fight terrorism in Pakistan. Instead of blowing things up, he builds schools.July 13, 2008, Sunday About 500 Afghan women gathered Tuesday in this southern city to protest the kidnapping of an American aid worker and her Afghan driver and to call for her release. The kidnapped woman, Cyd Mizell, 49, works for the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation and was seized Saturday on her way to work in Kandahar, along with her driver, Abdul Hadi. Afghan officials said that they had no leads on who abducted them and that there had not been any contact with the kidnappers or demands by them.January 30, 2008, Wednesday Photo of first girl's volleyball tournament in Afghanistan's Herat Province since fall of TalibanNovember 01, 2007, Thursday “Lifting the Veil,” reported by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, returns to Afghanistan to see if things have changed since the Taliban were overthrown.September 15, 2007, Saturday Thomas Schoos, the West Hollywood designer known for fashionable interiors like that of the new LAX nightclub opening tomorrow at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, looked beyond the world of night life for his Nature Line collection of rugs. Produced by Arzu, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that makes and sells rugs woven by women in Afghanistan, Mr. Schoos's earth-toned rugs are made of vegetable-dyed wool and inspired mostly by his travels. Winter, above, one of four designs in his collect...August 30, 2007, Thursday Television, which was illegal under the Taliban, is off to a phenomenal start in a developing Afghanistan.August 01, 2007, Wednesday Invoking Afghan and Islamic traditions of chivalry and hospitality, top Afghan political and religious leaders called on the Taliban to release 18 South Korean women being held captive.July 30, 2007, Monday Local Afghan officials reported that dozens of civilians, and perhaps a great many more, were killed during United States-led coalition airstrikes.July 01, 2007, Sunday Zakia Zaki was the director of a private local radio station. She was shot seven times as she slept beside her 10-month-old baby.June 07, 2007, Thursday Deborah Rodriguez’s new book, “Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil,” is raising questions about how close to the truth a memoir must be.April 29, 2007, Sunday SEARCH 292 ARTICLES ABOUT WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN: Women in Afghanistan who would have previously had no place to turn in abusive situations can now go to shelters run by four organizations. The Mirwais School for Girls in Kandahar, Afghanistan, is thriving despite threats from the Taliban, including an acid attack on several girls two months ago.	122,529
The current pandemic with swine H1N1 remains sensitive to the oral neuriminidase inhibitor, oseltamivir (Tamiflu), an antivial. How long that will last isn’t clear, and neither drug in this category (Tamiflu or zanamivir/Relenza) is very effective, although they appear to work to some extent against sensitive influenza virus. But Tamiflu can be expensive and the cost adds up when we are talking of tens or hundreds of millions of doses. Part of the cost is that the drug company that makes Tamiflu, Roche, is in business to make money and isn’t readily giving up its licensing rights to allow others to make the drug and supply it more cheaply. But another part of the problem is that oseltamivir is not easy to make and requires expensive feed materials. Or does it? More than 3 years ago we noted that a faster and cheaper way to make oseltamivir had been developed and put into the public domain. But nothing seems to have become of it. We wonder why.	145,594
frog design: Designing For A User-Hijacked World Users are in control, again. The hacker culture that dominated the Internet in the 90s (pre-AOL and Compuserve) is now returning. Top-down, corporate-owned platforms simply can't keep up with the pace of innovation set by scrappy, digitally-native startups. Users are in control, again. The hacker culture that dominated the Internet in the 90s (pre-AOL and Compuserve) is now returning. Top-down, corporate-owned platforms simply can’t keep up with the pace of innovation set by scrappy, digitally-native startups. The result is a new crop of apps and services that are adaptable, surprising, useful and free. They grow and evolve as their user base plays with, modifies and evolves their DNA. In this way, the new breed of apps being created for the Internet is much more robust than the failed models of the past. In their clear focus on serving user needs, they point to an exciting future for users and designers alike. How can the design community harmonize with this phenomenon? By building apps that are adaptable, surprising, useful and free. We explored this theory at frog’s work hop “Designing for a User-Hijacked World” at this year’s Social Media Week. An incredibly creative mix of students, designers, advertising professionals and interested folk came together last week to build the next great social tool. Grounded in images sourced from recent editions of The Guardian newspaper, participants were assigned a social technology and asked to mash them up into a compelling social app for the audience in their picture. It was a challenge, to say the least. But even beyond the difficulty of supporting audiences from Afghani children to Furries with a new and compelling digital service, each group had to ensure their concepts met all the tenants of great, hackable software. The results, surprising and often hilarious, ranged from a dating tool that leverages banking and geolocation-based data to match you with a compatible mate to a career site that leverages your social graph to proactively push you new and relevant job opportunities. The photograph of Afghani children yielded a fascinating new service to connect school children in western countries to those in emerging markets. A photo of a toddler in Japan inspired a social toy-lending app that reduces spending while teaching kids the value of sharing. And that photo of the guys in panda suits…let’s just say it was an epic concept; a movement, even. Thanks to everyone who came out to our studio. We had a blast and hope we inspired you to create more hackable experiences. We’re looking forward to exploring how to build better experiences for people online. In the end, we are all users, and we’re finally back in control. By Adam Silver	214,771
Using audio samples from percussion instruments and synth-created sounds, Electronic Drum Kits have revolutionised the drumming industry previously dominated by Acoustic Drums. When thinking about Drums and Percussions, the common conception is of a loud and space-consuming instrument that can be cumber... Using audio samples from percussion instruments and synth-created sounds, Electronic Drum Kits have revolutionised the drumming industry previously dominated by Acoustic Drums. When thinking about Drums and Percussions, the common conception is of a loud and space-consuming instrument that can be cumbersome to own and difficult for those in the vicinity. However, with the rise of electronic drums, the instrument seems to have rectified most of the problems that arise when owning an acoustic drum set - most significantly, the pronounced noise. The electronic drum, powered by a Drum Sound Module (also known as the sound module), is the central control unit that stores the audio data (controlled by a series of buttons and knobs), and the relevant input/output connections. The drum’s trigger pads communicate with this module to produce sound. The trigger pads themselves house sensors and other electronic components to identify strikes and the intensity of the strike. This complex setup helps increase the subtlety of the expression, accurately replicating the sound of an acoustic drum set. The trigger pads in newer electronic drums (mainly the tom pads and snare pad) are made of mesh (multiple layers) to reproduce the play feel of an acoustic drum set authentically. The other components in the set are made with a mix of aluminium / steel for the frame and rubber pads. Electronic drums are great if you need a quieter way to practice or need a more flexible soundscape. They offer the same level of playability and practice potential of acoustic drum kits, only quieter, and with more versatility thanks to sampling libraries available with many of the kits. Some even let you switch out different pads and samples, load your own, and much more. With electronic drums and pads, there is virtually no limit to what sounds you can produce - including MIDI connectivity for DAW control. Electronic drums are now available at lower price points, helping reduce the entry barriers even further. Owing to its affordability, electronic drums have become the go-to for beginners looking to learn and grow their drumming career. Can I use regular drumsticks to play on my electronic drums? Yes, you can. Most modern electronic drums are made with a mix of mesh and rubber. However, we recommend you try out drum sticks made especially for electronic drum kits by Vic Firth,Vater, andRoland.Brushes are also a viable option for electronic drums, but only use nylon wire brushes to keep from damaging your mesh kit. Can I adjust the tension of an electronic drum kit’s drum heads? Yes, you can. Just like on an acoustic drum set, you can change the tension of most of the drum heads to replicate the feel of an acoustic kit. What is latency? Are electronic drum kits affected by latency? Latency is the time it takes for a strike to register on the amplifier used. Previously, latency used to be the principal reason why drummers opted for acoustic drums instead. However, over years of development and refinement, latency is not an issue to be concerned about anymore. Sound is reproduced immediately. What accessories come with an electronic drum kit? A basic drum kit from any of our brands comes bundled with the main components - cymbal pads, snare pads, tom pads, and a drum module. In our experience, we have noticed that the expensive electronic drums from Roland (and some Yamaha) do not come with a kick pedal, hi-hat pedal, and hi-hat stand. Your favourite online music store in Dubai, MusicMajlis offers some of the highest quality drum pedals and hi-hat stands to pair with your new electronic drum kit. Moreover, none of these drum kits come bundled withheadphones or speaker/monitor, which are both necessary to play the set. We strongly recommend a keyboard/drum ampand astudio headphone to go with your electronic drum purchase. The kit also doesn’t include a drum stick, but we at MusicMajlis offer a complimentary pair of sticks to our customers as a simple note of thanks. What are sensitivity options? Why does the sensitivity of a drum set matter? Drums are by definition used by striking a stick onto a surface, which inevitably causes a sound. In the right setting, listening to an acoustic drum set can be a pleasurable experience. However, in cases where a drum set is used in close quarters, the loudness can be disconcerting. With the introduction of electronic drums, you can play anywhere, regardless of space and the surrounding sound environment. In an acoustic drum kit, the volume is modulated by the force of the strike in contrast to a volume knob on the electronic drum kit. While the volume knob is a welcome addition, the scope of expression reduces considerably. To overcome this limitation, drum manufacturers implemented a ‘sensitivity’ feature. This feature helps enable the audio reproduction level based on the intensity of a strike. Similar to a touch sensitivity setting on a keyboard, the drum sensitivity function means you can opt to strike as light as a feather and replicate the sound of a massive crash (and vice versa). This matters because tone modulation and volume control are an essential aspect of drumming. Can I use an electronic drum set without a Drum Amplifier? No. An electronic drum mainly features mesh and rubber heads as the strike surface. While both these materials replicate the play feel of Acoustic Drums, they cannot naturally amplify sound. While Acoustic Drums use hollow soundboards and noisy surfaces to reverb and produce sound, an electronic drum requires an amplifier to function. What is the price range of an Electronic Drum Set? An Electronic Drum Kit starts from AED 1,200 and can go upto AED 32,000 in the professional ranges.	74,716
Vote with your free will The recent American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announcement that Taiwan has been nominated for the US’ visa-waiver program (“Taiwan gets US visa-waiver nomination,” Dec. 23, page 1) is a biasing move and it has added another perturbation to next month’s elections. In the 2008 presidential election, the AIT made a similar mistake by announcing that Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did not have a US green card, although many people still believe he has. Advocating fair elections, the US should remain neutral. The nomination for the visa-waiver program is not so urgent that it had to be announced at this time. If the US approves the nomination, it is because Taiwanese have credibility. They should thank themselves — not the incumbent or previous administration. In addition to the US announcement of the visa-waiver nomination, several other perturbations might affect the elections. These include Beijing urging Taiwanese businesspersons in China to vote for Ma, a 50 percent discount on their airfare to return to vote, the smear campaign against Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), an imbalance in party funds, and possible vote-buying and betting on the results. All voters should ignore these disturbing factors and cast their votes with their free will for their own sake and for the future of their homeland. The sustainability of democracy and the normalization of Taiwan depend on next month’s elections. A local angle In the run-up to next month’s elections, although it is interesting to see how the two main political parties continuously attack each other about procedures and any way that the other may possibly be breaking the law, aren’t Taiwanese more interested in the political decisions and political strategies that may involve real issues? Or is how to trip the other party up the only important thing in elections? There seems to be a lack of information about policy decisions, plans or even ideas that reflect the distinctions between the main parties. Also lacking is any real effort to focus on key issues in an intellectual manner or through deeper discussion. Instead, taking up most of the front pages are oversized photos of presidential candidates and trivial information, such as who gave Ma some vegetables. Please, less drivel and more intellectual debate on core electoral issues. Here is a radical idea — instead of Americans speculating from the US, why not have some Taiwanese intellectuals speculating from inside the country on how the election will effect Taiwanese? Speaking the truth It was with a certain amount of disbelief and disgust that I read about the remarks of Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) (“Activists slam ‘cleaning’ up of homeless,” Dec. 24, page 4). It is hard to believe that she could show such a lack of empathy and caring for the disadvantaged of Taipei. The words she used were no joke! They were coarse, crude and totally without feeling. However, it also proves that the divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” is widening, and those who have care less and less about their more unfortunate brethren. This is not just something peculiar to Taiwan. The US is seeing that gap widen every day. Maybe Ying should think of the old adage: “There but by the grace of God,” and then hold her tongue when she is feeling particularly fortunate.	214,250
\|Title:\|\|Symmetric Coroutines and Yieldto\| \|Version:\|\|$Revision: 1.3 $\| \|Author:\|\|Miguel Sofer <msofer at users dot sourceforge dot net>\| \|Created:\|\|Thursday, 12 August 2010\| The new command yieldto allows a coroutine to suspend its execution and tailcall into an arbitrary command. If the new command is another coroutine's resume command we obtain symmetric coroutines. The current yield and proposed yieldm commands suspend a coroutine and return the control to the coroutine's caller: they implement asymmetric coroutines. It is well known that symmetric and asymmetric coroutines have equal power, in that each can be implemented on top of the other. In Tcl8.6 as of today, symmetric coroutines can be implemented by coding a scheduler, which may but doesn't have to use the event loop. The new command yieldto implements symmetric coroutines directly. The ability of yieldto to yield to an arbitrary command also provides new possibilities. For instance, it allows to return a non-ok code to the caller without terminating the coroutine: yieldto return -level 0 -code 1 ERROR The new command yieldto cmd ?arg1 ...? the currently executing coroutine to suspend its execution (yield), the command built from the arguments to yieldto, as resolved in the coroutine's context, to be run in the coroutine's caller scope, from the point of view of the coroutine's caller, the return value and options of the new command is what the coroutine returned on yielding. In other words, yieldto implements "suspend yourself and tailcall the new command"; yieldto is to yield as tailcall is to return. Simply rename the ::tcl::unsupported::yieldTo into the global namespace while getting rid of the camelCase, and extend the coroutine documentation and test-suite to refer to the new command. This document has been placed in the public domain. [Index] [History] [HTML Format] [Source Format] [LaTeX Format] [Text Format] [XML Format] [*roff Format (experimental)] [RTF Format (experimental)]TIP AutoGenerator - written by Donal K. Fellows	49,480
Crowd-Sourcing Ideas for NASA's Future On February 5, 2010, the General Services Administration (GSA) launched a Citizen Engagement Tool based on the IdeaScale platform 22 federal agencies, including NASA. This platform allowed members of the public to submit, rank, and comment on ideas as to how NASA can best fulfill the goals of the Open Government Directive by becoming more transparent, participatory, collaborative, and innovative. Compliance Matrix and Analysis Our goal with the Open Government Plan is to communicate our framework and Open Government principles to provide context toward how we embrace Open Government. We believe that this is a process and that it is the responsibility of each directorate, program, and employee to make NASA more open. We have elected to take a structured approach to describe our activities that make NASA open, participatory and collaborative to enable the reader to browse to topics of interest, easily learn new topics and understand how to get involved. We also did it this way for our workforce; by turning this Open Government Plan into a platform to communicate what we do and tell stories that exemplify participatory behavior, we hope there will be a positive response by the community. With positive feedback, the social reward will allow that behavior to be repeated.	168,868
An analysis of the effects of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program in RA patients showed that those who used the technique had both significantly lower psychological distress and a higher sense of well-being than controls, found Elizabeth K. Pradhan, M.P.H., Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, and colleagues. There were also trends towards lower depressive symptoms scores and enhanced mindfulness among the patients who meditated, but the practice had no effect on the severity of RA, the authors reported in the October issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism -- Arthritis Care & Research. "For doctors wishing to offer patients a complement to medical management, mindfulness meditation may offer hope for improving psychological distress and strengthening well-being in patients with RA," they wrote. The mindfulness-based stress reduction program was developed as a meditation training program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, and colleagues. The program defines "mindfulness" as "moment-to-moment nonjudgmental attention and awareness actively cultivated and developed through meditation." Similar in philosophy to cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction "teaches participants to notice and relate differently to thoughts and emotions, with a sense of compassion for self and others underlying the endeavor," the authors wrote. "By continually bringing the mind back to the present moment, mindfulness meditation is thought to increase clarity, calmness, and well-being." In both descriptive and controlled studies, the technique has been linked to improvement of psychological symptoms in patients with anxiety disorders, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, and has been shown to reduce relapse among patients in remission from major depressive disorder, they noted. In this pilot study 31 patients with RA were randomly assigned to mindfulness training for eight weeks followed by a four-month maintenance period, and 32 were put on a waitlist for training and received standard care, and were offered the mindfulness training free of charge at the study's end. All patients received standard care from their rheumatologists during the study. The outcomes measures included responses to self-reported items on the Symptom Checklist-90-R, looking at depressive symptoms, psychological distress, well-being and mindfulness. Arthritis severity was measured by the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) by a physician masked to treatment status. The authors estimated adjusted means and mean changes in outcomes in mixed-model repeated measures analyses. They found that there were no statistically different outcomes between those who meditated and controls at two months, but at six months the patients who underwent the mindfulness training and practiced meditation had significantly less psychological stress than controls (P=0.04) and had significantly greater well being (P=0.03). Patients in the meditation group had a 35% greater reduction in psychological distress from baseline than did controls. The meditating patients also had nonsignificant trends towards lower depressive symptom scores (P=0.08) and more mindfulness (P=0.09). There was no effect of the intervention on DAS28 scores, however, the authors noted. The authors acknowledged that the study had limitations including the small sample size and a patient sample with a relatively high socioeconomic status, suggesting more social support and coping mechanisms than other patients with rheumatoid arthritis might have. \|The study was supported by the National Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Co-author Trish Magyari, M.S., teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction. No other conflicts of interest were reported.\| - Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco Arthritis & Rheumatism -- Arthritis Care & ResearchSource Reference: Pradhan EK et al. "Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients." Arthrits Rheum 2007; 57(7): 1134-1142.	54,171
Few writers have pioneered so many forms of escapism as Edgar Allan Poe, and fewer still have sought escape so desperately themselves. Poe’s claustrophobic life consisted of one escape attempt after another, most of them unsuccessful. Again and again he dodged poverty through overwork, but never for long. He fled loneliness into an ill-fated, loving but likely chaste marriage to a frail cousin. And drink promised an oblivion that kept luring him back, with increasingly destructive consequences. Poe’s most satisfying escape was into his writing, where generations of readers have followed him ever since. His sheer versatility continues to astonish. Without Poe, the literary arts of horror, adventure, detective, and science fiction—and, arguably, the short story itself—would have developed very differently. In addition to fiction in several genres, he wrote as famous a poem as American literature can claim. He practiced literary criticism as fine art, blood sport, and, with a series of female poets, the highest form of flirtation. If the movies had existed in the nineteenth century, he might have written screenplays as well—and bedeviled his producers as reliably as he did most of his editors. At the same time, another side of Poe remained relentlessly logical. In his criticism as well as his detective stories, he could make a case and prove it with mathematical inevitability. Often lost in any study of Poe, too, is his sense of humor. Though their victims would hardly have agreed, his hoaxes, essays, and especially his negative reviews retain their wit even today. Even the most macabre of his stories impart a certain ghoulish tickle. Poe’s influence is almost too universal to notice. He resembles scarcely anybody before him but, at least a little, almost everyone after. If he hadn’t come along to make American literature safe for ghosts and murderers, for crime-solving know-it-alls and their quarry—for the subconscious mind, in all its murk and madness—somebody else might have. But, to use one of Poe’s signature italicized endings, what if nobody had? Throughout Poe’s fiction, there runs an undercurrent of inwardness, an obsession with dark corners of the subconscious mind, at the time familiar perhaps only from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). He also used a fiction writer’s entire bag of tricks—exclamation points, double-dashes, italics, repetition, the capitalization of first letters and sometimes of entire words—to pump up the urgency of his gothic stories. If melodramatic organ chords could talk, they would sound like the narrator of a Poe story. Few students of Poe can resist the temptation to group his stories into subsets, like teams. Some might say there’s the claustrophobia team, captained by the “The Cask of Amontillado,” in which the narrator bricks up his friend in a wine cellar. Then there’s the idealized-women team, anchored by “Ligeia” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” with its female characters either doomed, impossibly perfect, or both. Then there’s the junior detective team, consisting mainly of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and its two sequels, in which Poe essentially invented detective fiction. What these categories all have in common is the self-dramatizing loneliness of genius. Poe almost always relies on a first-person narrator. All his stories are ultimately claustrophobia stories, whether they include a literally confined space, a roomier but still airless and solitary house, or the psychological prison of a damaged character’s mind. Poe’s treatment of women characters also reflects his essential solitude. Many of his narrators marry, but none ever achieves a lasting connection with his bride. Even his most self-satisfied character, the peerless amateur detective C. Auguste Dupin, has but one friend and no equal. We don’t see the suffering this causes, but only the shallowest character would fail to feel it. No serious writer today could get away with all this hyperventilating. Yet few writers can fully escape Poe’s gravitational pull as one of the original two masters of the American short story. The other would be Nathaniel Hawthorne, who, interestingly, also wrote more than a few horror stories. Like many fledgling writers, American fiction itself started out with a fascination for ghosts and gore. Edgar Allan Poe began his literary career as a poet, was a merciless critic, and found his greatest success with “The Raven.” Poe defined poetry as “the rhythmical creation of beauty.” He had strong and serious ideas as to what qualified as “poetry,” and what fell short. Poe wrote several variable essays on poetics—the best is “The Poetic Principle”—through which his ideas evolved, but remained fairly consistent. In “The Philosophy of Composition,” Poe outlines how he came to write “The Raven,” detailing his artistic choices. Scholars have pointed out that Poe’s account of writing the poem is vastly idealized and probably untrue, but however disingenuous Poe is about his composition, he’s crystal clear on his philosophy: “Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem.... Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all poetical tones....The death, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world—and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.” The death of a beautiful woman is the theme that dominates the best of Poe’s poems. There is “the lost Lenore” of “The Raven,” but also Lenore of the poem “Lenore”—Poe thought that the sound or was the most beautiful in the English language. His other famous poem to lost love, “Annabel Lee” tragically ends when he lies down by the side of his “life” and his “bride” “in the sepulcher there by the sea, / In her tomb by the sounding sea.” Poe devoted his longest essay on poetics, “The Rationale of Verse,” to an overly complicated view of rhythm and meter, but the importance of sound in Poe’s poems cannot be overstated. A master of rhythm, Poe's syllable-by-syllable approach to sound yielded some of the most memorable lines in American poetry. His ear for mimicry is unparalleled. "The Bells" is an onomatopoetic marathon of tinkling tintinnabulation and clanging, banging bells, bells, bells throughout. Excluding "The Raven," Poe's poems are mostly short lyric pieces—meditations on death or beautiful women or the death of beautiful women—almost always less than a page long. He believed that a poem should be readable in one sitting and objected to what he saw as the epic "mania" among such contemporaries as Longfellow, whom he felt valued Truth and moral didacticism over the exaltation of Beauty. For all the time he spent writing about it, Poe left behind a rather slim corpus of poetry. Perhaps because his standards were so high, a remarkable share of Poe's poems are excellent in their technique and unity. His poems remain popular in and outside the classroom, and are assured a place in the minds of readers forevermore. "I would give the world to embody one half the ideas afloat in my imagination." —Edgar Allan Poe, from an 1829 letter	12,171
When Space Shuttle Atlantis left Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday, July 8, it marked the final liftoff for the long-running Space Shuttle Program, which has dominated NASA's manned operations for the past four decades. Over a 12-day mission (since extended to 13 days), the four-person crew on STS-135 will haul the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Raffaello and a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier (LMC) to the International Space Station. Over the course of the mission, we'll be providing daily updates. Continuing the long tradition of music artists recording wake-up messages for the Space Shuttle crew, Beyonce Knowles greeted the astronauts aboard Atlantis after her song "Run the World (Girls)" was played over the loudspeakers. "Good morning Atlantis, this is Beyonce," she said. "Sandy, Chris, Doug and Rex, you inspire all of us to dare to live our dreams, to know that we're smart enough and strong enough to achieve them. This song is especially for my girl, Sandy, and all the women who've taken us to space with them and the girls who are our future explorers." After being roused from sleep, the crew got to work fixing a broken latch for a compartment that holds lithium hydroxide canisters. They're not used while the Atlantis is docked to the International Space Station, which has systems in place to remove carbon dioxide from the Shuttle, but the lithium hydroxide canisters will be needed to scrub the air when the Shuttle returns home. Also on flight day 9, the General Purpose Computer (GPC) 4, which has failed earlier in the mission and has since been in standby mode, was activated so that data could be sent to Mission Control. There, engineers are performing diagnostic tests in an attempt to determine what might have caused the system to fail. In addition to fixing the latch and dealing with GPC-4, the combined team aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station spent many hours during flight day 9 moving more equipment and supplies out of the Raffaello module and into the ISS. With more than 70 percent of the move completed, the astronauts must have gone to sleep -- at 2:29 p.m. EDT for the ISS crew and 2:59 p.m. EDT for the Atlantis crew -- feeling good: tomorrow, flight day 10, will be the last full day of transfer work if all goes according to plan. Before going to sleep, though, the Space Shuttle Atlantis astronauts held a small, personal ceremony in which a historic U.S. flag that they brought with them was presented to the ISS crew. The flag, which first flew into space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on the first Shuttle flight, STS-1, in 1981, was meant "as a symbol that the United States is in space to stay, with astronauts permanently living and working aboard the Station for many years to come," NASA explained. "[Commander Chris] Ferguson said the flag will remain at the Station until the next crew launched from the United States arrives at the outpost. That crew will bring the flag back to Earth, until it once again is carried into space with the first crew to launch from the United States on a journey of exploration beyond Earth orbit."	284,751
Vol. 20, No. 13 April 5, 2001 UD institutes precautionary measures on campus farm Access to the University of Delaware farm in Newark is restricted, effective immediately, purely as a precautionary measure, in light of the potential for the introduction of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in this country. Consistent with USDA recommendations, the University has adopted the restricted access policy, which was developed in cooperation with H. Wesley Towers Jr., Delaware state veterinarian. Similar policies are now in effect at some schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Under the policy, gates to the main entrances of the farmjust east of the Chesapeake Bay Girl Scout Council headquarters and west of the USDA Beneficial Insects Laboratoryare closed. (Access to the Girl Scout Council headquarters will not be affected.) Signs are posted at these entrances to inform the public of the restricted admittance and to identify contacts for persons requiring access. Students enrolled in classes that meet on farm premises have been individually informed by an e-mail message that if they were abroad during spring break, which ended April 1, they should contact the farm manager before going on the farm. Students will be continuing their on-farm activities, but these activities will be consistent with the restricted access policy. Before entering the farm, vehicles will be disinfected at a wash station, located in front of the Allen Laboratory. Before entry, personnel using the farm, including faculty, staff and students, will be provided disposable coveralls and boots to be worn while working with or in proximity to animals. Upon exit, the disposables will be left at designated sites. Ag Day and Cooperative Extension activities will be modified so there is no public access to UD's livestock facilities. A fact sheet on FMD has been developed, and information is available at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources web site at [http://.ag.udel.edu/]. For more information on UD's farm policy, contact John K. Rosenberger, chairperson of the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, telephone (302) 831-2524, or Susan Baldwin, Agricultural Communications, telephone (302) 831-1355. For information on FMD, contact the state veterinarian at the Delaware Department of Agriculture, (302) 739-4811. Photo by Kathy Flickinger	67,697
Case Study 16-1 Communications Strategies for the Cricket League Congratulations! You have just graduated with a degree in sport management and have landed a job in professional sports. An overseas professional cricket league has hired you as its director of international communications. The premise behind your hire is that the United States is populated with numerous expatriates from several cricket-playing countries, and this cricket league wants to tap into that market. League officials want to host matches on U.S. soil and use the Internet to engage current cricket fans in their league and nurture new fans. The cricket league is relying on you to help it choose the three markets in the United States that should host matches, and it wants you to generate local publicity to help sell tickets to these events. The league is also counting on you to generate national buzz in the United States for the purpose of increasing exposure for the remainder of the cricket season. You must now develop and implement several strategies and tactics that incorporate traditional media and the Internet, including social media sites, to generate publicity for the league. Questions for Discussion 1. Determine the three cities in the United States to host the matches during the cricket tour. What can be done in each market to engage local sports fans? How would you locate and communicate with fans from cricket-playing countries living in these markets? Would there be a benefit to engaging in a community-minded project while in each market? If so, what types of projects would you pursue and why? How would you go about gathering information from cricket fans in each local market for future communications purposes? 2. In order to make a national “splash,” your bosses want you to plan a press conference in New York City upon the cricket team’s arrival. Where would you host the press conference? League officials and the players are unfamiliar with the U.S. sports press. Prepare a back-ground sheet with brief information on some national outlets likely to attend the press conference. What key messages will you craft and share with league officials and players? What kinds of questions will the media likely ask the officials and players? What other national media opportunities might you pursue while the teams are in New York? 3. Upon the conclusion of the series, you must sustain your superb efforts by creating and implementing an ongoing communications program during the cricket season. Relying heavily on the Internet as the main medium of communication, what types of communication elements will your plan include? Your main goals are to promote merchandise sales; to keep fans up-to-date on scores; and to provide player features, standings information, and live and on-demand Web viewing of matches and highlights. Case Study 16 1 Communications Strategie s for the Cricket Leagu Congratulations! You have just graduated with a degree in sport management and Why Choose Us - 100% non-plagiarized Papers - 24/7 /365 Service Available - Affordable Prices - Any Paper, Urgency, and Subject - Will complete your papers in 6 hours - On-time Delivery - Money-back and Privacy guarantees - Unlimited Amendments upon request - Satisfaction guarantee How it Works - Click on the “Place Order” tab at the top menu or “Order Now” icon at the bottom and a new page will appear with an order form to be filled. - Fill in your paper’s requirements in the "PAPER DETAILS" section. - Fill in your paper’s academic level, deadline, and the required number of pages from the drop-down menus. - Click “CREATE ACCOUNT & SIGN IN” to enter your registration details and get an account with us for record-keeping and then, click on “PROCEED TO CHECKOUT” at the bottom of the page. - From there, the payment sections will show, follow the guided payment process and your order will be available for our writing team to work on it.	83,157
The big news today wasn’t Mitt Romney’s continued fumbling over foreign policy (for which Team Romney is surely grateful). It was the Federal Reserve’s decision to embark on a new round of quantatative easing. For the uninitated, quantatative easing—or QE to the cool kids—is a strategy for generating growth in the economy. Right now, the problem in the economy is a lack of demand. Consumers aren’t spending, and so businesses aren’t hiring, and so banks are not lending, and so on. One way to deal with this is to provide income to people, throw out benefits, tax cuts, or public works—i.e., stimulus. But that requires congressional action, and as we’ve seen for the last two years, Republicans are not interested in spending money to generate growth—or in letting President Obama do any more of it. That leaves the Federal Reserve. It can’t give money to people, but it can create incentives to spend. With quantatative easing, the Fed purchases bonds back from the government, holds interests rates down, and lowers the value of money. This forces everyone to try to get the most bang for their buck. Banks begin to loan more in order to maintain profits. Businesses decide to build or hire, since they lose money by sitting on their cash. You get the idea. Unlike previous rounds of QE, when the Fed announced its purchases and set a horizon on when it would end the policy, this QE is “open-ended.” The Federal Reserve will buy bonds indefinitely—in its words, the “Committee expects that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens.” This is just a fancy way of saying that they’ll pursue this policy until the economy improves, and then continue it further, to make sure the uptick doesn't end prematurely. It’s hard to say how this—unlike, say, the Middle East turmoil and how the president and his challenger respond—might affect the election. But it’s certainly a good sign for the medium-term health of the economy. If this goes well, it will improve the labor market, lower unemployment, and help move the country from stagnation to a genuine recovery. Which will benefit everyone, not least the guy who’s sworn in next January. So They Say "I unequivocally support the president of the United States—no ifs, ands or buts— and it certainly is not a time to try to go one-up politically. He made a difficult, courageous decision.” —George H.W. Bush, then-Republican candidate for president, responding to President Carter’s failed hostage rescue in Iran in April 1980 Daily Meme: Nobody Knows the Trouble Mitt's Seen - Yesterday, the media—and many politicians of both stripes—were dumbfounded by Mitt Romney's response to the American embassy attacks in Libya and Egypt. Today, it was conservative pundits' turn to be miffed at the liberal conspirators who yelled at their candidate. - Mitt superfan Jennifer Rubin wrote, "As far as we can see, Romney, the Near East desk and Clinton were in sync. Ah, but where was the president? He apparently had gone to bed and so the day passed without comment from him." - Katrina Trinko said the press conference in which Romney was grilled about his instant criticism of Obama "was really an example of how the media sometimes just doesn’t deserve that access." - Philip Klein: “Romney's responses didn't really matter, because reporters had already decided their narrative." - Erick Erickson had a memorable rant: "I get that Ben Smith, leading up Buzz Feed, is a leftwing journalist paraded about as if he is some sort of objective reporter at a trendy site full of cat photos. I get that precious Ezra Klein started Journolist so reporters and political operatives could collaborate on the news and narrative and now he sits at the Washington Post and gets trotted out as a fact checker." - The Wall Street Journal editorialized that Romney's "political faux pas was to offend a pundit class that wants to cede the foreign policy debate to Mr. Obamawithout thinking seriously about the trouble for America that is building in the world." - Bill Kristol said that Romney was "right to reject the counsel of the mainstream media, which is to keep quiet and give President Obama a pass." - John Podhoretz chimed in: "So it appears one politician can say what he likes and the other can’t. Because, you know, there’s an election to win, and the self-appointed referees are also the fans." - But the pundits who called out Romney yesterday aren't too worried. As Ed Kilgore wrote, "I’ve never completely understood the persecution complex of American conservative gabbers. … Maybe they will soon just shrug the whole thing off and move on instead of all this self-pitying talk about not being able to make their views known when they are making them known with deadening repetition. One can only hope so." What We're Writing - Abby Rapoport profiles the citizen army fighting against voter disenfranchisement in Pennsylvania. - Paul Waldman asks whether reporters really dislike Romney—and whether it matters. What We're Reading - Is Wall Street Scott Brown's biggest fan? - Germans aren't so impressed with Paul Ryan, but are pretty sure Obama's going to win. - Amy Davidson says Romney's less-than-skillful response to Libya was a direct result of the consultant way of thinking he cultivated at Bain. - Edith Zimmerman profiles the latest Kennedy to try to mount the national stage. - A Guardian blogger announces, "This election is bullshit." - Christopher Walken and the Most Interesting Man in the World have both joined the Obama camp this week, along with Snoop Dogg. - Obama's top fundraiser is … a journalist? Poll of the Day New late-in-the-game polling partnership Esquire/Yahoo! News asked Americans who they thought would emerge as the victor in a presidential candidate fistfight. A resounding majority of 58 percent backed incumbent Barack Obama, while 22 percent sided with Mitt Romney. A shocking 20 percent of Americans had no opinion on who would win the scuffle. For more polling information, go to the Prospect’s 2012 election map. You may also like You need to be logged in to comment. (If there's one thing we know about comment trolls, it's that they're lazy)	56,051
Want Better Health & Fitness? Set SMART Goals. In my last two posts, I told you all about how to use a vision board to define the true health and fitness outcomes you want to achieve and then revealed that vision boards mean nothing unless you create a concrete action plan to achieve your desired outcomes. Your homework was to do your research, finding out exactly what steps others have taken to achieve your desired outcome (or something similar). Did you do it? Are you ready to make your own plan of action? In order to do it right, you’ll need to set SMART goals. What are SMART goals? They are concrete action items that are: S = Specific M = Measurable A = Actionable R = Realistic T = Timed It’s crucial to write yourself a set of SMART goals when creating the action plan that will lead you to obtain your ultimate health and wellness vision. If one of your action goals is measurable and time-sensitive, but it’s not realistic given your current life circumstances, then you won’t achieve the goal. To be effective, all of your action items should accurately reflect all five qualities spelled out above. As a skilled wellness coach, I make sure all of my clients write the SMARTest action goals possible so they get on the path to their dreams as efficiently as possible. I offered some of my favorite examples of health and fitness SMART goals on the Facebook page for SaraHauber.com early last year. Check them out to make sure you’re on the right track while writing yours. Then, go out and start knocking down those goals on the way to embodying your true vision of wellness!	74,461
\|Home \| About \| Journals \| Submit \| Contact Us \| Français\| During mitosis in higher eukaryotes, nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) disassemble in prophase and are rebuilt in anaphase and telophase. NPC formation is hypothesized to occur by the interaction of mitotically stable subcomplexes that form defined structural intermediates. To determine the sequence of events that lead to breakdown and reformation of functional NPCs during mitosis, we present here our quantitative assay based on confocal time-lapse microscopy of single dividing cells. We use this assay to systematically investigate the kinetics of dis- and reassembly for eight nucleoporin subcomplexes relative to nuclear transport in NRK cells, linking the assembly state of the NPC with its function. Our data establish that NPC assembly is an ordered stepwise process that leads to import function already in a partially assembled state. We furthermore find that nucleoporin dissociation does not occur in the reverse order from binding during assembly, which may indicate a distinct mechanism. Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate all traffic of macromolecules across the nuclear envelope (NE). They are large protein assemblies composed of multiple copies of ~30 different proteins, the nucleoporins (Nups), which are organized in about 10 subcomplexes and arranged with eightfold symmetry. In metazoa, NPCs are stable throughout interphase (Daigle et al., 2001) but disassemble into their subcomplexes during mitosis. When the NE breaks down in pro/metaphase, most Nups become cytoplasmic and transmembrane Nups relocalize to the ER together with other nuclear membrane proteins (Ellenberg et al., 1997; Yang et al., 1997; Daigle et al., 2001; Beaudouin et al., 2002). Reassembly occurs during anaphase and telophase when the NE is rebuilt around chromatin. In live cells, NE disassembly has been shown to start by partial disassembly of NPCs, with Nup98 leaving the NE early followed by dissociation of Nup153 and Nup214 before the NE is completely permeabilized. The membrane Nup POM121 dissociates from NE fragments only after permeabilization (Beaudouin et al., 2002; Lenart et al., 2003). In fixed cells, the nuclear basket Nup Tpr dissociates from the NE before Nup107 but later than Nup98 and Nup50 (Hase and Cordes, 2003). More is known about the mechanism of postmitotic NPC assembly. In vitro studies of nuclear assembly in Xenopus laevis egg extracts have shed light on the essential role of the Ran–importin system, which regulates the release of several Nups from importin in proximity to chromatin, enabling them to reassociate and form NPCs (Harel et al., 2003a; Walther et al., 2003b). Several Nups bind to chromatin in early anaphase before membrane association (Belgareh et al., 2001; Walther et al., 2003a), where they have been postulated to form a prepore (Suntharalingam and Wente, 2003; Wozniak and Clarke, 2003; Rabut et al., 2004b). The mechanism of subsequent insertion into the membrane and full assembly of the NPC remains to be understood. For some Nups, the order of reassociation with the reforming NE was investigated in various experimental systems, fixed cells of different mammalian species, or nuclei assembled in X. laevis egg extracts. Together, these data predict that the Nup107–160 complex, Nup153, Nup98, and POM121 bind during anaphase, followed by the Nup62 and Nup93 complexes, Nup358, and Nup214 in telophase, whereas Tpr and gp210 reassemble only in early G1 (for review see Burke and Ellenberg, 2002). Evidence for structural disassembly and reassembly intermediates has been provided by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Porelike structures of different levels of complexity could be visualized in egg extract nuclei (Goldberg et al., 1997; Wiese et al., 1997; Kiseleva et al., 2001) and a rough time course of the formation of these structures could be established in Drosophila melanogaster embryos (Kiseleva et al., 2001). Their protein composition remained, however, unclear. Our current knowledge predicts that NPC disassembly and reassembly are ordered processes that proceed via a defined set of intermediates formed by sequential interactions of NPC subcomplexes. However, the precise order in which the different subcomplexes bind, the kinetics of the assembly events, and the functional state of the different intermediates are unknown. To address this, we systematically investigated the kinetics of mitotic NPC disassembly and reassembly by time lapse confocal microscopy in single dividing cells. Simultaneously, we monitored import competence of the nucleus. We analyzed a set of GFP-tagged Nups (Rabut et al., 2004a) representing eight different NPC subcomplexes. Our results show that NPC assembly is indeed a highly ordered process that proceeds in a stepwise fashion. Partially assembled NPCs were already import competent, which indicates that several Nups may not be required to reestablish import function. Regarding NPC disassembly, we found it to occur more rapidly than assembly and not simply in the reverse order, which could indicate a distinct mechanism. Based on our data, we present the first comprehensive model for the order, composition, and functional state of NPC disassembly and reassembly intermediates in living cells. The kinetics of Nup dissociation from and reassociation with the NE during mitosis was monitored in live NRK cells expressing 11 GFP-tagged Nups representative of eight different subcomplexes (Rabut et al., 2004a): Nup133, Nup107, Seh1, and Nup43 (all from the Nup107–160 complex); the cytoplasmic Nup Nup214, Nup98, Nup58 (Nup62 complex), Nup93 (Nup93 complex); the nucleoplasmic Nups Nup50 and Nup153; and the transmembrane Nup POM121. In triple color time-lapse sequences of individual dividing cells, we recorded each GFP-Nup together with a red fluorescent nuclear import marker (importin β–binding domain of importin α [IBB]; Gorlich et al., 1996) and vital DNA staining (Fig. 1, A and B). DNA was used as spatial reference to quantify nuclear (envelope) intensities (for details see Materials and methods) and to monitor mitotic progression. The import marker IBB was efficiently imported into the nucleus during interphase, released into the cytoplasm at NEBD, and reimported in telophase, providing a functional reference for the import competence of the NPCs. In addition, we used the reimport/release of IBB to temporally align the assembly time series of the different Nups (Fig. 1, C and D). In summary, this assay allowed us to analyze the kinetics of NPC disassembly and reassembly in detail and to determine the import competence of the nucleus in different states of NPC assembly in living cells. Members of the Nup107–160 complex were the first to bind to chromatin in early anaphase. During mitosis, a small subpopulation of the complex localized to kinetochores as described previously (Belgareh et al., 2001). General association of Nup133 with chromatin was detected shortly after the metaphase–anaphase transition or 8.5 ± 0.5 min (n = 5) before the time point of half maximal IBB intensity in the nucleus (t1/2[import]; Figs. 2 and S1 A; and Video 1, available at http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/jcb.200707026/DC1). Nup133 had already reached its maximal concentration at t1/2(import). These observations are in line with the essential function of the Nup107–160 complex in NPC assembly observed in vitro (Boehmer et al., 2003; Harel et al., 2003b; Walther et al., 2003a; D'Angelo et al., 2006). We analyzed the assembly of three additional proteins of this subcomplex (Nup107, Seh1, and Nup43). NPC subcomplexes are thought to be stable throughout the cell cycle (Matsuoka et al., 1999; Belgareh et al., 2001; Loiodice et al., 2004) and should thus bind to the reforming NE as a unit with identical kinetics. Indeed, we found Nup107 to faithfully recapitulate the assembly kinetics of Nup133 (Fig. S2 B, available at http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/jcb.200707026/DC1). This suggests that stable subcomplexes are well represented by one member in our assay. Although the assembly of Seh1 and Nup43 also started early and was completed before t1/2(import), their kinetics were slightly but consistently delayed relative to Nup107 and Nup133 during early anaphase. This could indicate that Seh1 and Nup43 are less stably associated with the complex and, indeed, this has been reported for Seh1 although not for Nup43 (Loiodice et al., 2004). To test whether the binding of members of the Nup107–160 complex to chromatin represented formation of NPCs rather than a general “coating” of chromatin, we analyzed early assembly stages by high resolution microscopy of living cells. Binding of GFP-tagged members of the Nup107–160 complex to chromatin occurred in discrete patches and small dots of the appearance of single pores (Fig. 3 A). If these structures truly represent partially assembled NPCs, they should also contain Nups from other subcomplexes. We tested this by simultaneously imaging GFP-tagged Nup107–160 complex members and mCherry-tagged POM121. Indeed, POM121 first accumulated in patches around chromatin that also showed a strong localization of Nup107–160 complex members (Fig. 3 B). To rule out that this reflected the inability of the ER to contact other regions of chromatin in anaphase, we also analyzed the localization of mCherry-tagged lamin B receptor (LBR), a protein of the inner nuclear membrane known to bind to chromatin (Ye and Worman, 1994). In contrast to POM121, the localization of LBR was relatively smooth and did not show a bias for sites of Nup107–160 labeling (Fig. 3 C). Our data therefore suggest that Nup binding to chromatin in anaphase is caused by the formation of pore complexes and is consistent with the hypothesis that prepores form already on the naked chromatin before the attachment of nuclear membranes (Suntharalingam and Wente, 2003; Wozniak and Clarke, 2003; Rabut et al., 2004b). Nup153 and Nup50 localize to the nuclear basket and have been shown to exchange dynamically from the NPC with two residence times in interphase (Rabut et al., 2004a). In our assay, both Nup153 and Nup50 were detected at the periphery of the chromatin as early as 7.9 ± 1.4 (n = 4) and 6.6 ± 0.8 min (n = 6) before t1/2(import), respectively (Figs. 2 and S2 A; and Video 2, available at http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/jcb.200707026/DC1). However, this early pool accounted for <10% of the final nuclear intensity for Nup153 and only ~20% for Nup50 (Figs. 2 and S2 A, blue shading). The major pools of these Nups associated with the NE considerably later and reached their half maximal intensity at the NE only 1.0 ± 0.3 (Nup153) or 1.1 ± 0.5 min (Nup50) before t1/2(import) (see Fig. 5 D). The biphasic assembly behavior we observed is consistent with the interphase dynamics and reinforces the interpretation that both proteins have two distinct modes of binding at the pore. Because both proteins are bound on the nucleoplasmic side of the pore, the early association of a small pool to chromatin could be involved in the formation of functional pores. The second phase of assembly paralleled initiation of nuclear import and transport through the first functional NPC assembly intermediates may therefore add the full complement of Nup50 and Nup153 to the complex. In interphase cells, the vertebrate-specific membrane Nup POM121 localizes almost exclusively to the NE, whereas it disperses in the ER during mitosis (Daigle et al., 2001). In metaphase, the ER is largely excluded from chromatin and spindle regions. However, ER membranes come close to the poleward face of the separating chromosomes early in anaphase (Fig. 3, B and C). The resulting early increase of POM121 signal around chromatin does therefore not reflect a specific accumulation (Fig. 3 B and not depicted). Accumulation in the NE over ER background became visible at 5.9 ± 1.0 min (n = 5) before t1/2(import) and then rapidly reached its maximal intensity at t1/2(import) (Fig. 2). Together with the colocalization with the Nup107–160 complex, our kinetic data suggest that POM121-binding sites on chromatin become available only in late anaphase. At this time point, ER membranes come into physical contact with the separated chromosome masses from all sides and POM121 associates with chromatin at sites where Nup107–160 components are already bound. The Nup93 as well as the Nup62 complex are thought to localize to central positions of the pore. In our assay, the Nup93 and Nup62 complexes (represented by Nup58) accumulated at the NE starting at 3.8 ± 0.4 (n = 5) and 3.3 ± 1.4 min (n = 11) before t1/2(import), respectively. The more peripheral Nup98 was first detected 3.8 ± 0.6 min (n = 6) before t1/2(import) (Figs. 2 and S2 A). All three Nups reached their maximal intensity at the NE shortly after t1/2(import). Binding of these three complexes occurred only after several other Nups were already present on chromatin. Their addition may be the last step for the formation of an import competent NPC assembly intermediate because IBB import initiated concomitant with their assembly (see Fig. 5, B and D). At this time, the Nup107–160 complex and POM121 were assembled already to ~80%, whereas only the minor early fractions of Nup50 and Nup153 were present. Nup214 is a peripheral cytoplasmic Nup with a residence time of several hours at interphase NPCs (Rabut et al., 2004a). We first detected Nup214 at the NE 0.8 ± 0.2 min (n = 4) before t1/2(import) (Fig. S2). It was thus the last Nup to associate with the newly forming NPC investigated in this study. Its first appearance was concomitant with the regaining of nuclear import activity but its concentration continued to increase over cytoplasmic background long after the maximal IBB intensity in the nucleus was reached. High import rates were reached already when Nup214 had only reached 50% of its maximal intensity at the NE (see Fig. 5 D). These kinetics suggest that Nup214 may not be required for IBB import, which is consistent with previous findings that show no role of Nup214 in protein import via classical import routes but rather suggest an activity in protein export (Walther et al., 2002; Hutten and Kehlenbach, 2006). A newly assembled nucleus will likely have to establish import function first and export only later when nuclear biosynthesis has restarted. This would explain the late assembly time of factors not required for import such as Nup214. The same set of eight representative Nups was followed during dissociation from the NE in prophase (Figs. 4, S1 B, and S3 A, available at http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/jcb.200707026/DC1). Disassembly proceeded more rapidly than assembly and more synchronously for the different Nups so that distinct steps in the disassembly process could not be clearly resolved (compare Fig. 5, A and B). This could be caused by insufficient time resolution of the assay or simply the fact that disassembly occurs in fewer steps than assembly. Disintegration of a large part of the pore could be triggered in a single step. Also, recent EM data suggest that the disassembly of individual pores within one nucleus in X. laevis egg extract is asynchronous, leading to pore intermediates in different states of disassembly at the same time (Cotter et al., 2007). If this occurs in live mammalian cells, it would compromise our ability to detect the order of the process because we measure the mean of many pores simultaneously. Electron microscopy of D. melanogaster embryos has revealed disassembly intermediates similar to assembly; however, one intermediate dominated all prophase nuclei, indicating that other intermediates may be very transient (Kiseleva et al., 2001). This fits well with our observation in living mammalian cells that disassembly is very rapid. The similar ultrastructural appearance of NPC intermediates lead to the hypothesis that disassembly could be the reversal of assembly. Despite the limitations of our assay, our data indicate that this may not be the case. For example, the Nups that assembled earliest and latest during anaphase, i.e., Nup133 and Nup214, dissociated from the NE in the middle of the disassembly process. Nup98, which assembles at an intermediate time point in anaphase, was clearly the first Nup to dissociate from the nuclear periphery in prometaphase, which is in agreement with data from starfish oocytes (Lenart et al., 2003). Finally, Pom121, which is assembled after the Nup107–160 complex in anaphase, also dissociated clearly after the Nup107–160 complex during disassembly. Interestingly, the Nup107–160, Nup93, and Nup214 complexes, which are the most stable NPC subcomplexes during interphase (Rabut et al., 2004a), dissociated early and rapidly, whereas Nup50 and Nup58 (Nup62 complex) together with POM121 remained longest in fragments of the NE (Figs. 4 and S3 A; and Videos 3 and 4, available at http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/jcb.200707026/DC1). Thus, the NE identity of POM121-containing membranes appears to be lost only gradually in prometaphase, which is in agreement with previous observations (Beaudouin et al., 2002). The persistence of Nup50 at the NE might be caused by chromatin rather than NPC association because we found Nup50 to coat chromatin throughout mitosis from prophase until anaphase (Fig. S3 B). It formed a dynamic coat, which rapidly exchanged with the cytoplasmic pool as assayed by photobleaching (unpublished data). This localization is consistent with the presence of the Aspergillus nidulans homologue of Nup50 on mitotic chromatin (Osmani et al., 2006) and could indicate a conserved mitotic function. However, it could also be caused by an inherent chromatin affinity of Nup50 because the yeast Nup50 homologue has been implicated in NPC associated gene regulation (Schmid et al., 2006). In summary, our systematic study allows us to propose the first comprehensive model for mitotic NPC disassembly and reassembly (Fig. 5, E and F). Disassembly occurs in mammalian cells in a similar manner to starfish oocytes (Lenart et al., 2003) but with faster kinetics (Fig. 5 A). The composition of disassembly intermediates appears to differ from assembly intermediates, which suggests a distinct mechanism. Our data provide detailed insight into the kinetics of pore assembly with high time resolution. Consistent with previous studies, we find NPC assembly to be a highly ordered process (Fig. 5 C). For the first time, we can relate the composition of the different assembly intermediates to import function. Our data supports the model that assembly starts with formation of a prepore on chromatin and indicates that such a structure contains the Nup107–160 complex as well as substoichiometric amounts of Nup153 and Nup50 (Fig. 5 F). These may provide the binding platform for additional components like the transmembrane Nup POM121. In our live cell assay, we measure the mean concentration of Nups over all NPCs in the imaging plane to determine their assembly kinetics. We therefore cannot formally decide whether the fact that the association kinetics of individual Nups stretch over several minutes reflects asynchronous assembly of different NPCs in the nucleus, the sequential addition of multiple copies of the same Nup to NPCs in the same state of assembly, or a mixture of the two processes. However, our high-resolution imaging data showed similar concentration of Nups in adjacent pores at single time points during assembly (Fig. 3). Furthermore, electron microscopic data from D. melanogaster indicate that specific assembly intermediates dominate at any stage of mitosis (Kiseleva et al., 2001). We therefore assume that our kinetics reflect at least to a large extent the synchronous assembly process of many NPCs after mitosis. What then is the first assembly intermediate that is competent for nuclear import? Comparing the time of half maximal concentration for each Nup with the rate of import (Fig. 5 D), our data show that the assembly intermediate containing mainly the Nup107–160 complex and POM121 does not support protein import (Fig. 5, B and D). Only upon association of Nup93, Nup58 (Nup62 complex), and Nup98 does IBB import initiate, which suggests that these complexes add transport activity to the new pore, possibly by providing many phenylalanine-glycine repeats. At this time point, at least a fraction of the pores in the nucleus contain all subunits necessary to support protein import function. In addition, the presence of a sealed or nearly sealed membrane around the nuclear compartment is likely required for IBB to accumulate in the nucleus. In contrast, the nucleoplasmic Nup50 and Nup153 as well as the cytoplasmic Nup214 are probably not required for import activity in stoichiometric amounts. In the future, it will be very interesting to analyze the behavior of additional Nups, especially the membrane-bound Ndc1 and ELYS/Mel28, which have very recently been reported to play crucial roles in NPC assembly (Galy et al., 2006; Mansfeld et al., 2006; Rasala et al., 2006; Stavru et al., 2006; Franz et al., 2007). In addition, similar data obtained for interphase assembly will allow to test whether the insertion of NPCs into an intact interphase NE follows the same mechanism as postmitotic assembly. Our assay using IBB as a functional and temporal marker should furthermore prove very useful to study additional aspects of NEBD and NE assembly. Besides a detailed kinetic understanding, the assay can also yield mechanistic insight when combined with molecular perturbations by RNAi or the expression of dominant-negative proteins. pIBB-DiHcRed was generated by ligating the fragment of the IBB domain from the plasmid pQE60-IBB-GFP (Ribbeck and Gorlich, 2002) into pDiHcRed-N1 (Gerlich et al., 2003) with a 5–amino acid linker (GPVAT) between the IBB domain and DiHcRed. pPOM121-mCherry was cloned by exchanging 3EGFP in pPOM121-3EGFP (Rabut et al., 2004a) with mCherry (Shaner et al., 2004). pLBR1TM-mCherry contains the N terminus of LBR and its first transmembrane domain. It was cloned by exchanging YFP in pLBR1TM-YPF (Daigle et al., 2001) with mCherry. NRK cells were grown in standard medium. NRK cell lines stably expressing Nups tagged with EGFP (Nup50, Nup58, Nup93, Nup98, Nup133, Nup153, Nup214, Pom121, Nup43, and Seh1) as described previously (Rabut et al., 2004a) were maintained at 0.5 mg/ml G418. Some experiments were performed by transient transfection with the same plasmids used for generation of the stable cell lines. Transient transfections with pIBB-DiHcRed and Nup plasmids were performed with FuGene 6 (Roche) 24–72 h before imaging. For dual-color high-resolution imaging (Fig. 3), cells coexpressing GFP-tagged members of the Nup107–160 complex and LBR- or POM121-mCherry were enriched by FACS. For live cell microscopy, cells were grown in Lab-Tek chambered coverglasses (Thermo Fisher Scientific). 30 min before imaging, the medium was exchanged for prewarmed CO2-independent medium without phenol red supplemented with 20% FCS, 2 mM glutamine, 100 mg/ml penicillin and streptomycin, and 0.2 μg/ml Hoechst 33342. The chambers were sealed with silicone grease. Time lapse sequences of 2–4-μm thick confocal slices were recorded at 37°C on confocal microscope systems (LSM 510) using a 63× 1.4 NA Plan Apochromat objective (Carl Zeiss, Inc.). Fluorescent chromatin was automatically tracked and focused during imaging using in-house developed macros (Rabut and Ellenberg, 2004). High-resolution imaging for Fig. 3 was performed with a 100× Plan Apochromat NA 1.4 objective (Carl Zeiss, Inc.). Images were segmented on the chromatin channel in Image J (http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/) by successive application of a Gaussian and an anisotropic diffusion filter and thresholding of the filtered image with an in-house-developed macro. The segmentation was applied to the raw images of the IBB channel and the mean nuclear fluorescence intensities were quantified. For the assembly of most Nups, the same segmentation was used to quantify the mean intensity of the Nups on the chromatin region. During interphase, the soluble pools of both Nup50 and Nup153 localize to the nucleoplasm and a clear discrimination between nuclear rim association and nuclear import in later stages of mitosis could therefore not be achieved with the assay. However, the quantification on the nuclear rim region alone as compared with the complete chromatin region did not yield significantly different results for any of the two proteins, which suggests that the contribution of import to the measured kinetics is minor. Manual rim segmentation was applied for all disassembly series to avoid folded regions of the NE. The apparent decrease in Nup133 fluorescence in the nuclear region after t1/2(import) is caused by dilution of the signal during growth of the nuclear surface area in telophase upon chromatin decondensation. Mean intensities were background subtracted and normalized. Different time series were aligned according to the time of the half maximal IBB intensity (t1/2[import]) in the nucleus (set to zero). Temporal alignment of assembly series along the metaphase–anaphase transition gave similar overall results but yielded consistently higher SDs and was therefore not pursued. The time point of first accumulation of signal over cytoplasmic background in the chromatin region was scored visually. For presentation purposes, images shown in Figs. 1, ,22 4,4, S1, and S2 were filtered with a Gaussian blur filter (Image J), kernel size 1. Error bars in all figures represent the SD. Fig. S1 shows all individual disassembly/reassembly curves used to derive the mean kinetics shown in Fig. 5 (A and B). Fig. S2 shows representative image series for the assembly of Nup50, Nup98, Nup93, and Nup214 and mean assembly curves for all analyzed members of the Nup107–160 complex. Fig. S3 shows a representative image series for the disassembly of Nup133, Nup153, Nup93, and Nup214 and the localization of Nup50 on chromatin during mitosis. Videos 1 and 2 show representative assembly series forNup133 and Nup93, respectively. Videos 3 and 4 show disassembly series for POM121 and Nup98. Online supplemental material is available at http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/jcb.200707026/DC1. We would like to thank Katharina Ribbeck and Dirk Görlich for the IBB construct. J. Ellenberg acknowledges funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft priority program SPP1175 (DFG EL 246/3-1). E. Dultz was supported by a fellowship from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory International PhD Program. E. Dultz, E. Zanin, and C. Wurzenberger contributed equally to this paper. Abbreviations used in this paper: IBB, importin β–binding domain of importin α; LBR, lamin B receptor; NE, nuclear envelope; NPC, nuclear pore complex; Nup, nucleoporin.	217,600
Partnering to protect the interests of historical vehicle owners throughout the world. So what might it take to turn our cherished historic vehicles from novelty to nuisance? A growing population? Disappearing infrastructure for historic motor vehicles? Changing social, economic and political attitudes about the rights of drivers? For more than 40 years, FIVA has been watching trends and safeguarding the rights of historic motorists in 62 countries across the globe. Now, with the formation of the Historic Vehicle Association, we are pleased to welcome North America to our world-wide organization. Together with the HVA, FIVA will now be able to align its efforts in Canada and the United States, home to the “Motor City” that put the world on wheels and brought the love affair with the automobile to the masses. North America boasts the world’s largest concentration of historic vehicle enthusiasts. That means the success of the HVA will be critical to safeguarding the rights of historic vehicle owners in the future, as well as helping to set global policy trends. In the coming months, FIVA and the HVA will be working on a unified advocacy platform that addresses some serious challenges that face owners of historic vehicles. Topping the list are emissions testing regulations; safety regulations and inspection; enhanced support for the skills and trades that fuel the hobby; and the distribution of the results from HVA’s economic impact survey. “Yesterday’s Vehicles on Tomorrows Roads” is a good slogan, but to make it a reality we need to translate those words into action. And we’ll need the strength in numbers of the U.S. and Canadian historic motorists to do it. - Horst Bruening, FIVA President What The Future Holds? There are roads in Europe that classic vehicles are not allowed to use, not to mention serious talk that any car getting fewer than 35 miles per gallon should be completely prohibited from using any EU road. If you want to gaze into a crystal ball to see how the rights of historic vehicle owners here in North America may be challenged in the future, you only need to look to Europe. FIVA provides monthly regulatory updates detailing legislation initiatives impacting historic vehicle owners, issues of concern, and FIVA's actions in response. If you would like to read more about how FIVA is working to protect the rights of historic vehicle owners, visit:	202,880
Recently, a reader brought to my attention an error in the name of the rifle that was used to shoot Detective Nick Shaw. The reader went on to explain that the M1 Garand was not a WWII sniper rifle because it was a bolt action rifle making it impossible to mount a scope. The reader was correct in the fact that I had misspelled “Garand”. It was a typo in that I had spelled it “Grand”, leaving out an “a”. Regarding it not being a sniper rifle, my research showed that it was, in fact, a WWII sniper rifle and responsible for numerous kills in the Philippine theater. Most important, it was not a bolt action rifle. The M1 Garand was an auto loader, with a top mounted bolt to load the clip. because of this configuration, the scope was mounted to the left side of the breech allowing for unobstructed shell ejection. The M1 Garand is still used today in law enforcement as a sniper rifle because of the accuracy of the .30-06 cartridge. As always before putting words to paper, I conduct intensive research. Justice & Closure underwent five rounds of professional editing, however mistakes can still be found. With the revised edition, I will make corrections and also add an author’s page acknowledging certain people for their contributions. In all sincerity, feedback is always welcomed.	241,191
French President Francois Hollande seems to think that the euro zone is "on track" to solving its crisis during yet another summit — but market observers are taking this with a pinch of salt. The European Stability Mechanism, the bailout fund set up to replace the European Financial Stability Facility in the rescue of the region's struggling economies, won't be able to directly recapitalize banks until the regulator is in place. This is believed to be a key element of the long-term success of the single currency region. Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament and a German politician, told CNBC: "Looking to the real positions of the different member states and the difference of opinion of those who are within the euro zone, those out of the euro zone, those with the opt outs. ... It will be difficult." He added: "We need to do the utmost to break this permanent speculation against some of the member states of the euro zone." One notable omission from late-night discussions was the potential for Spain to request a bailout, one factor which has caused volatility in markets so far this year. (Read More: Spain in 'No Man's Land.') The euro zone leaders will meet with their broader European Union counterparts Friday with plenty of key issues about the future of the currency to be hammered out — including the idea of a super-commissioner to oversee national budgets, the possibility of a joint budget and a new emergency fund. "The 'vision-thing' on deeper integration of the monetary union will continue," Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING, predicted. (Read More: Cost of Euro Zone Exits? $22 Trillion.) The announcement about banking supervision in the early hours of Friday morning, after ten hours of discussions, was dubbed a "messy compromise" by analyst Alex White at JPMorgan. "The statement repeated the passage from the June Summit word for word — indicating how little progress has been made. While France and the periphery continue to see banking sector support coming early next year, the German vision still looks like it is based around a timeframe from 2015 and beyond," he wrote in a research note Friday. Differences between France and Germany, the two biggest powers in the euro zone, over the timing of the new regulator seem to remain, with French President François Hollande optimistic that it could come into effect early in 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel sounded a more cautious note when talking to reporters. German politicians are eyeing elections next year, in which opposition parties could court voters by arguing that Merkel has put Germany, one of the region's best-performing economies and its largest, on the hook for bailing out the rest of the euro zone. (Read More: Euro Zone Needs to Ask for Bill in German.) "Nobody should be surprised the Germans or the relevant parties are looking for the best positions for the election campaign. That's normal," Schulz, who is a leading member of Merkel's main opponents the Social Democratic Party, told CNBC. He reaffirmed that his party would not try to damage the euro . "We are entering a very difficult campaign but... we will not allow an election campaign to damage the euro," Schulz said. —By CNBC's Catherine Boyle; Follow Her on Twitter @cboylecnbc	93,426
But even my insane schedule couldn't keep me from posting this latest installment, which comes on the heels of the announcement that the value class pattern is official. Let the celebration commence! Let Me Refresh Your Memory Unless you are a microformats geek like me, you probably don't know what the value class pattern is. If, however, you've been following this series and happened to read my Microformats, hAccessibility & Moving Forward article, you probably know more than you realize. But let me not assume too much and give you the background 411. At the core of this problem is the use of abbr to contain human-readable date information, with the title attribute value representing the ISO 8601 machine-readable date. It looks like this: <abbr class="dtstart" title="2009-05-18">May 18, 2009</abbr> And, when read by a screenreader, this design pattern results in that ISO 8601 date being read to the user as "two zero zero nine dash zero five dash one eight." What's worse is when the ISO 8601 value is more than just date, but date and time, such as in this example: <abbr class="dtstart" title="2009-05-18T10:30:00">May 18, 2009 at 10:30am</abbr> This results in screenreader output: "two zero zero nine dash zero five dash one eight T one zero colon three zero colon zero zero." The accessibility community (rightly, IMO) argued that this is not accessible to those users. Meanwhile, the microformats community argued that: - ISO 8601 dates are, in fact, quite (cross-culturally) human-readable; - The semantic value of offering expanded values via abbroutweighs the screenreader issue because - Most screenreaders don't have abbreviations set to expanded. And this debate waged for years. But it wasn't just hAccessibility that was a thorn in the side of microformats. There were also usability concerns related to the datetime design pattern. Once again, at issue was the ISO 8601 date as the title value. This time, though, the problem wasn't tied to screenreader activity, but normal browser behavior. You see, most browsers display title values as a tooltip to the user: Only the geekiest–of–the–geek will likely recognize this information. For everyone else, it throws a (arguably small) wrench in their browsing experience. And the machine-readable parts of microformats are supposed to be invisible to the user. This tooltip display is not invisible and it can be confusing to everyday (non-geek) users. Another commonly-heard complaint about microformats is that they aren't "internationalized." That is, some of the values required by microformats offer meaning only to those folks publishing in American-English. Let's consider the accepted telephone type values in hCard: "cell" is the required value to use if you are indicating a cell phone. American-English users likely know what a cell phone is, however, British-English users call these types of phone "mobile." Again, usability concerns. Enter the Value Class Pattern To address these concerns, the microformats community has been working diligently for quite a while to come up with a solution. In fact, I even tried my hand at authoring and testing what was originally called the value-excerption pattern. And all that hard work finally paid off with the value class pattern, which offers authors several options for marking up their content without having to be concerned about the aforementioned usability, accessibility and localization issues. Date & Time Information I just said it, but I'll say it again: using the value class pattern, authors have several options for marking up date and time information. You pick the one you like; the one that is most relevant to your content and your preferences. I get shivers just thinking about it (doesn't take much these days). First, let's take a look at some of the options for marking up date and time information. You Can Still Use The value class pattern does not abolish the use of the abbr design pattern for date-time information (AKA datetime design pattern). If you are on the side of the "debate" that believes using abbr with ISO 8601 date and time title values makes semantic sense, go for it. Before the value class pattern entered the picture, this is how you would mark up your date-time information for dstart in hCalendar: <abbr class="dtstart" title="2009-06-06T18:30:00">June 6, 2009 at 6:30pm</abbr> However, this method is considered deprecated for date-time information. Machines can still parse it, but now with the value class pattern, it is no longer the recommended method. Note, though, that the abbr design pattern itself — for country name expansions, abbreviated latitude/longitude coordinates, etc. — is still completely valid. It is only for date-time information that things change slightly. What are these slight changes? <p class="dtstart"><abbr class="value" title="2009-06-06T18:30:00">June 6, 2009 at 6:30pm</abbr></p> Note that the dtstart sub-property is assigned to the containing p (which can be any element), while the abbr is now assigned class="value". The ISO 8601 title value remains the same. Keep in mind, however, that this example still results in the usability and accessibility issues behind hAccessibility. But this may be the preferred method of some contact authors. The beauty of the value class pattern is that you can pick which method works best for you. Drop the Abbr Design Pattern If you are wary of screenreader and usability issues related the abbr design pattern for your date-time information, the value class pattern is for you too, thanks to the value-title subset So, instead of using abbr to contain the human-readable content with the machine data in the title attribute, you can use a span element assigned class="value-title" and a title attribute containing the ISO 8601 date. Machines then recognize that data value for that element (the one assigned class="value-title") should be extracted from the title, not the inner text. <p class="dtstart"><span class="value-title" title="2009-05-18T13:00:00">May 18, 2009 at 1pm</span></p> This achieves the goal of microformats for human and machine data, while not causing the display of tooltips in the browser or prompting screenreaders to read the machine date information. Separate Date & Time Further demonstrating how flexible the value class pattern is, you can also use it to separately specify the date and the time. <p class="dtstart"><span class="value-title" title="2009-05-18">May 18, 2009</span> at <span class="value-title" title="13:00:00">1pm</span></p>. Again, in this example, I've dropped the use of abbr and am using the span class="value-title" approach. But this time, note that I have the date and time separately specified in their own span class="value-title" elements (each with the appropriate ISO 8601 information in the title). Machines can then combine the separate date and time data into a single date-time value. And this separation of date and time can be used with the abbr design pattern. In fact, some folks believe this helps address usability concerns with datetime tooltips. Specifically, the resulting individual tooltips for date and time are more "usable" than a tooltip displaying the full date-time string: For those folks, this implementation of the value class pattern applied to the abbr design pattern is ideal: <p class="dtstart"><abbr class="value" title="2009-06-06">June 6, 2009</abbr> at <abbr class="value" title="18:30:00">6:30pm</abbr></p> You just separately define the date and time values, each with their own abbr class="value" and the appropriate ISO 8601 Note, that I am not using the value-title subset in this example. That's because it should not be used with the abbr design pattern. When using the value class pattern with the abbr design pattern, it is only necessary to assign class="value" to the abbr element. Machines already know to extract the ISO 8601 date and time from the title attribute, so class="value-title" is unnecessary and invalid. Value-Title Subset With Empty And yet there is even another option; one that eliminates both tooltips and screenreader expansions. You can also use the class="value-title" approach with an empty span … well, not truly empty. A span containing a single white space: <p class="dtstart"><span class="title-value" title="2009-05-18T13:00:00"> </span>May 18, 2009 at 1pm</p> The end result is the same: users get the clear, comprehensible date information on the browser and machines get the ISO 8601 date. And, again, no screenreader issues. But this time, you also eliminate the "confusing" tooltips. There are a few rules for this particular implementation, the first of which is to use this "empty title-value" approach restrictively. Only use it when you can't use the other design patterns. And when you do use it: - The empty value-title element should immediately follow the parent element, appearing before the human-readable content and without any additional nesting. - The empty value-title element should be used only once when defining the data value for a single property. So it shouldn't be used when separating date and time in, for example, the dtstartvalue of hCalendar. - The empty value-title implementation should only (at least for now) be applied to - ISO 8601 date, datetime, timezone and duration values - Enumerated values like the hCard - Coordinates for latitude and longitude in the geo microformat - Telephone number properties Not Just for hCalendar The examples I've covered thus far focus on date and time information that would appear in hCalendar. But you can apply the value class pattern to any microformat that references date and time information. For example, birthdays in hCard: <p class="bday">My birthday is on <span class="value-title" title="1974-09-04">September 4</span>.</p> Or publish dates in hAtom: <p class="published"><span class="value-title" title="2009-06-03">June 2, 2009</span></p> Localize While Internationalizing So far, I've only talked about the value class pattern in relation to date and time information. But remember my earlier discussion of internationalization concerns? Well, let's take a look at that and how the value class pattern helps. In my earlier reference, I specifically mention the telephone types in hCard. The only valid type value for specifying a portable phone is "cell," but not everyone references those types of phones as such. You can use the value class pattern to display the local value your users will understand, and indicate the required microformat value via span class="value-title" and the <p class="tel"><span class="type"><span class="value-title" title="cell">mobile</span></span>: <span class="value">505-123-4567</span></p> In this example, because I'm using the value-title subset, machines will know to extract the type data value (cell) from my title attribute, rather than the inner text (mobile). Localized Telephone Numbers Another example (which I stole from the Microformats Wiki, because I don't know enough about international dialing) is for localized phone numbers. In this case, a British number: <p class="tel"><span class="type">Home</span>: <span class="value">+44</span> (0) <span class="value">1223 123 123</span></p> The logic behind this implementation is that the the valid data for the telephone number is +441223123123. But Britons are familiar with the inclusion of (0) for local dialing. Yet +4401223123123 is an invalid number. So, to give local British users the information most usable to them and still provide valid machine data for the number, you apply the value class pattern. In this example, the +44 prefix is contained by span class="value" as is the 1223 123 123 number. However the (0) is not contained by anything. So machines concatenate the two span class="value" inner text to form the complete and valid data. And there are far more uses of the value class pattern. But this blog post is already longer than I anticipated (I don't know why that still surprises me, given my fondness for verbosity) and I've got other things to do … so I leave it to you to explore further. Pick Your Poison Not to suggest microformats are poison (they are indeed yummy goodness), but I felt like throwing in a cheesy heading. The point remains, though, you pick which value class pattern implementation works for you. You aren't wedded to one way of marking up your content with this pattern. As for my own preferences, I don't happen to be one of those folks who is interested in continuing to use the abbr design pattern for dates and times. Don't get me wrong. I actually think abbr makes semantic sense for containing date information and expanding with ISO 8601 via the But as much as I love semantics, I'm not a true purist. I think the value that the non-semantic span class="value-title" offers for accessibility and usability far outweighs my compulsion to be semantic. However, I'm not too keen on the use of the empty value-title approach. So I don't anticipate using it much. For the majority of my own implementations involving dates and times, I see myself using containing my content with span class="value-title" and specifying machine data in the There will likely be exceptions to this, but that's what I like most about the value class pattern. It is flexible to content authors' needs. Update Your Implementations While I found the time to put this article together, I haven't yet found the time to update my existing microformats implementations. But I will … oh, yes I will. And I hope you do, as well. Already, developers are working to update their tools to properly recognize the new value class pattern. Optimus is leading the charge with its v0.8 update that supports the value class pattern. So be sure to do your part and get your markup updated. Will There Be More? No promises at this point about future installments of this series. I'd like to cover some other microformats, but with my book obligations, I highly doubt I will have the time … at least not until after my final manuscript is complete in August. But if you are dying for more, why not revisit some of the earlier articles covering: I also recently gave a short presentation on microformats you may be interested in (or not). So, until next time … and yes, there will be a microformats-related next time even if it isn't part of this series.	309,481
As pit bull attacks continue to make headlines, some cities have banned ownership of pit bulls. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs, and pit bulls account for 32 percent of fatal attacks, according to a study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But many experts say dog-bite statistics are incomplete and breed-specific legislation isn't the solution to the problem. "Owners often want to simplify the problem they face with their own dog by looking at its breed," veterinarian Margaret Duxbury said in an American Veterinary Medical Association press release. "Breed statistics for biting dogs can be misleading because they are gathered from data on reported bites when most bites go unreported, do not include information about the overall popularity of a breed in the area and often rely on untrained witnesses for breed identification." The CDC agrees. Their dog-bite study, which lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks between 1979 and 1998, has been quoted by supporters of breed-specific legislation. But in an e-mail to the Daily Press, CDC said the research does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill and shouldn't be used for policy-making decisions. Dog bites result in an average of 16 fatalities per year, but that's just a tiny fraction — two in a million — of the people bitten, CDC said. "In most cases, a well-managed, socially competent dog presents a lower risk of biting regardless of breed," Duxbury said. "Any dog of any breed can inflict serious or fatal injury." To read more about the effectiveness of dog breed bans, see the full story in Friday's Daily Press. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here. Tomoya Shimura may be reached at tshimura@VVDailyPress.com or (760) 955-5368.	107,005
Using this graphic and referring to it is encouraged, and please use it in presentations, web pages, newspapers, blogs and reports. For any form of publication, please include the link to this page and give the cartographer/designer credit (in this case UNEP/GRID-Arendal) Amarakoon et al. 2003 Uploaded on Saturday 25 Feb 2012 Dengue fever incidence; Trinidad and Tobago Shows the increase in dengue fever as temperature rises in correlation with El Niño in Trinidad and Tobago. There is neither good prophylactic nor cure for dengue fever, a disease spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. There are four different strains of the disease. Infection by one of the strains does not provide immunity against the other strains. The symptoms range from a non-specific viral syndrome to fatal hemorrhagic disease. Increasing temperatures promote the spread of this disease.	134,314
Many college graduates are finding themselves in a decidedly retro phenomenon, where economic independence starts from the security of their parents' homes. "What seems to be changing is not that kids are returning home for a while after college, but how long they are living at home before they can leave," said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Long Island's Hofstra University. That could have widespread implications for local communities. Changing economic dynamics and cultural shifts are among the reasons experts cite for the re-emergence of nuclear, multi-generational family homes not unlike family units of post-WWII America. More Kids at Home, Less Stigma A study by the Pew Research Center of U.S. Census data determined that 39 percent of adults (ages 18-34) live with a parent or moved back home at some point during recent years. Among those who have just graduated high school or college (ages 18-24) 53 percent lived at home or moved back temporarily. Those figures represent the highest percent of Americans living in multi-generational homes since the 1950's, the Pew study said. Meanwhile an Associated Press report in April that said opportunities for college graduates vary widely. The report indicated that those with degrees in the arts and humanities may have a long wait ahead of them. In the Pew study, nearly half of these so-called "boomerang" children report paying rent to their parents and almost 90 percent have helped with household expenses. The social stigma of living at home may also be disappearing, many experts report. The Pew study said about 75 percent of returning young people reported the living arrangements were either good (24 percent) or about the same as before they left (48 percent). Many reported having college friends in the same circumstances and, unlike previous generations, the explosion of social media keeps them in touch with college friends who are far away.	288,376
Post Secret U, is being presented by Gannon University’s Active Minds organization, will be going on Wednesday until March 14. Post Secret U is a campus-based community art project that uses submitted secrets as an art display. PostSecret is an ongoing community art project and blog, created and maintained by Frank Warren, where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. Active Minds will be tabling in the Waldron Campus Center as well as the Student Health and Counseling Services Center until March 14 and will have materials and postcards free to the Gannon community, Jenna Dunning, Active Minds president, said. Active Minds is a student-led organization that seeks to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness. The organization tries to eliminate this by raising awareness about mental health and promoting help-seeking behaviors, Dunning, who is a senior psychology major and a biology minor, said. The Post Secret U event will be similar to last year’s event, but larger, Dunning said. There will be secret submissions, where students will put their secrets in lock boxes. Mindi Hodder, Active Minds vice president, said telling secrets is beneficial to everyone because it helps relieve stresses and hard emotions people might feel inside. Hodder said that with Active Minds, she finally feels like she can make a difference for others. “I would love for students who participate to come away with a better understanding of their peers,” Hodder, a senior psychology major, said. “Seeing the display may make you realize how many people have some serious secrets they hold inside and that we all need to appreciate everything in our lives.” The student secrets will be on display from March 31-April 11. Dunning said Active Minds likes to use this part of the semester to kick-start Post Secret U because this is the part of the year where students are stressing out the most. “We want to break up the monotony of studying and classes with a chance for students to ‘de-stress’ by submitting their secrets,” Dunning said. “A lot of students who participated in last year’s Post Secret commented on how submitting their secret made it feel as though a weight was lifted off of them.” Last year, more than 200 secrets were submitted from Gannon students and many more were created during the display of Post Secret U that were never factored into the initial count, Dunning said. “This year we are opening our networks up and trying to collaborate with as many student groups as possible,” Dunning said. “I have found that our success was not only due to participation from our members, but other organizations’ members as well.” Many secrets last year touched on eating disorders, suicidal ideation, obsessive compulsive disorder, homelessness, loneliness and more, Dunning said. The display last year was interactive, so students were able to stick Post-Its on secrets they felt compelled to speak on, Dunning said. “Seeing the supportive reactions to the secrets from our community made me proud to be a Gannon student and it made all the time spent planning and fundraising worth every single second,” Dunning said. “I love doing this event because it brings the community together.” There will be new and fresh ideas for this year’s Post Secret U event, Hodder said. “Without giving away everything to come, I can just say it’s going to be awesome,” Hodder said. “And I think everyone is going to enjoy seeing the display.”	194,893
If you are less physically independent since your injury, then you may have found it harder to keep your muscle strength up. Muscle strength helps our bones to hold on to their internal minerals that make up their structure, which in turn makes them strong and better able to support our muscles for us to mobilise ourselves. A natural part of anyone’s aging process is for bones to start gradually releasing their minerals, but this can happen prematurely and quicker after a spinal cord injury. Weaker bones are more prone to ‘compression’ fractures that can happen when you are mobilising yourself, or when you are helped to move by others. If a fracture happens then this might reduce how able you are to do your usual activities while they heal. What you eat and drink can influence the structure of your bones therefore you can help keep your bones strong through your nutrition choices. The main mineral which gives our bones structure is calcium therefore consuming enough high-calcium foods can minimise the amount of minerals our bones release. To absorb the calcium from what we eat and drink we need enough vitamin D levels in our blood. Collagen is also key to building and maintaining the healthy structure of our bones; when we eat foods containing protein, our bodies can digest and then use them to produce collagen. Vitamin C and zinc also help our bodies form the collagen. Our Top tips - Have at least 3 portions of high calcium food and drinks a day and you might like to have one at each meal, or as part of a snack if you are trying to regain lost weight. High-calcium foods are milk, yoghurt, cheese, tofu, and tinned fish that still contain the soft bones e.g. salmon or pilchards, but also some plant-based dairy alternatives and cereals that on their label show added calcium. There are some serving size suggestions in our ‘Living with a Stoma Nutritional Guide’. - We might not be able to produce enough Vitamin D if we do not get much time in the sun or have non-pale skin, nor consume enough because levels in food fluctuate throughout the year. Foods that are labelled as ‘high in vitamin D’ can include certain brands of eggs, mushrooms, cereals, plant-based dairy alternatives, but also oily fish like salmon. Low vitamin D levels affect many people even without a spinal cord injury and so the NHS recommends people consider taking a 10 microgram vitamin D supplement each day – speak with your pharmacist or doctor before starting this to check it does not interfere with any medications you’re prescribed. - Aim for a quarter of your plate at each meal to contain a high-protein food to help your body to produce collagen: these foods are also high in zinc. Some examples are meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, ‘mince’ made from soy or mycoprotein, cheese, milk, and yoghurt. There are some suggested portion sizes in our ‘Living with a Stoma Nutritional Guide’. - To get enough vitamin C, aim for 5 or more fruits and vegetables a day, eating a variety across the day and week. You could have a third of your meal as vegetables, or half if you are aiming to reach a slimmer size or shape.	56,130
- About BabyLux - News & Events WATCH THE PROJECT VIDEO BabyLux - An Optical Neuro-Monitor of Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism and Blood Flow for Neonatology - is a project that aims to provide an innovative and reliable tool to monitor and assess brain blood flow and oxygenation in extremely preterm neonates. The device can be brought to the bedside, measurements can be done in a few minutes and repeatedly, if the condition is critical. The project takes up complete R&D works and extends already tested prototypes to the level of demonstrator. BABYLUX NOW FUNCTIONING IN A REAL TIME SETTING The time has come for BabyLux to start the clinical demonstration! At the beginning of June 2016 the device reached Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen (Denmark). The study has been accepted by the Danish Medical Agency and, after two years of laboratory demonstration, the tool is now functioning in a real clinical environment. A second device will reach Clinica Mangiagalli Ospedale Maggiore in Milan next September. Project results will be presented and discussed during the final conference at the end of November. More details will follow.	24,351
Disabling Service Dogs From Doing Their Jobs- ‘Yes, You Can Help Yourself” By: Meg Bacanskas At Top Dog, there is a deep passion for training dogs and helping owners with behaviors ranging from regular obedience to aggression. However, there is also a second heartbeat that drives Top Dog Professional Training, and that is the love for training service dogs. This past week Adam has been able to share some of the happenings taking place at the Diabetic Alert Dog Summit (an event where he trains other professionals in the field of dog training, how to train Diabetic Alert Dogs) . This is a great time to remind the public of how they can help, or hinder, the job that a service dog is doing for their owner. A great deal of training work is done with service dogs in public places (up to thousands of hours). Owners of these service dogs depend on their companions to perform serious and important jobs that directly impact their health. It is critical that members of society do their part in respecting the job of service dogs. Recently, while Adam was working with a service dog at a grocery store, a woman approached him and the dog. She stated, “I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t help myself,” and began to reach for and pet the service dog. Adam, knowing how important the work of a service dog is, stopped the woman. Now, this woman probably left the situation upset and irritated that she could not pet the service dog. While the intent was not to upset the woman, the fact of the matter is that Adam did what was right in this situation, as should any service dog team. This is a common scene that owners and trainers of service dogs face regularly. It is important to teach adults, as well as children, the proper etiquette with service dogs. There is not a situation in this world, where if you are doing something you know you are not suppose to do, it is okay to use the excuse, “I just can’t help myself.” If you were to take a candy bar or another item without paying for it, would it be okay to say, “ I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t help myself”? Would it be ok to walk up and grab a stranger inappropriately, and justify it by saying “ I just can’t help myself”? The answer is a strong no! The same logic applies with approaching service dogs, and attempting to pet them. Some people may think it is a harmless event, and there is no big deal in petting the service dog they see out in public. This could not be farther from the truth. Service dogs are used to help owners suffering from a range of disabilities. They are trained to aid and help their owners for specific reasons. Let’s talk about a few reasons why this is such a poor and dangerous decision. For the next example, we will use a Diabetic Alert dog as our subject. A diabetic alert dog is trained to sniff out when their owner has dangerously high or low glucose events. This is an extremely hard job for the dog, as it takes a lot of concentration to constantly smell and monitor their owners blood glucose levels. Now, if a person comes up and starts petting this service dog the dog is now distracted and not fully performing their job. This could lead to them missing a glucose event, which could result in serious harm to the owner. Next, let’s talk about the selfishness that can drive the desire to approach or pet a service dog. You stopping to pet the dog will not in any way have a positive effect on the dog’s day. The appeal for a person to approach and pet a service dog is strictly driven by the selfish desire to love on, and pet the dog, and feel all those great endorphins that are released by the interaction. The one benefiting from this interaction is you, or the person doing the petting. You are distracting the service dog from their very serious job, in order for you to feel good. We also need to consider the owners of these service dogs. By approaching or bringing attention to the service dog, you are now bringing attention to the owner’s disability. This in turn may make the owner feel uncomfortable, and bring unwanted attention their way. A service dog is legally defined by the Department of Justice as a ‘medical device.’ This means the owners of these dogs have some kind of disability requiring them to have a service dog (the disability may not always be visible). They are legally put into the same category as a wheelchair, oxygen tank, or other medical devices. Most service dog owners wish they did not have to bring their dogs with them everywhere, but their dog is a medical device that they need daily. A person would not go up to someone in a wheel chair and say things like; “Oh, I wish I could take an oxygen tank with me everywhere I go”, “ Hey, that is an awesome wheelchair, can I pet it?” It is important to consider this when bringing attention to a service dog and their owner. Many of them would love to be able to simply walk in and out of a grocery store without being interrupted multiple times. The responsibility in keeping service dogs from these frequent interactions while out in public lies on both public citizens, as well as the service dog owners and training teams. If a service dog is allowed to routinely be interrupted from their job to receive attention from strangers this will reinforce a negative behavior and affect the quality of the job a service dog is doing. When it becomes a habit the service dog will begin thinking that when they walk into the grocery store, or any pubic place, it is ok to not pay attention to their owner and seek out free rewards (attention/petting). This can lead to the dog pulling more on their leash, and/or not listening to the owner’s commands. Service dogs go through an intense and strict training to do the jobs they do. If they begin to develop these bad habits, they are no longer performing their jobs at the best level possible, which puts their owners at risk. As a public citizen you CAN help yourself and refrain from interacting with service dogs in public. Not only can you bring unwanted attention to the owner’s disability, you could greatly impact the owner’s health by distracting the dog from their job. We need to spread this information to others, including kids, so that we can support the roles service dogs play in our community. It is a serious job the dogs perform for their owners. So, the next time you see a service dog out, please control the desire to approach the dog and their owner. Take a moment to control that impulse, and respect the owner and the dog.	22,835
I recently wrote a song from my friend Mohammed’s story. The song was derived from a very small portion of the much longer story. We filled several large sheets of paper before beginning to work on the chorus, and it was only a few phrases that made it from the story to the finished song. Just as a song often reveals itself in stages, so too can the process of reflection. Over the week since writing the song, I have reflected further on the process and also received comments from people, which have reminded me of previous experiences in songwriting. I remembered the moment I let go of my desire to write verses from the spoken story and to follow the natural trajectory of the song as it revealed itself to the storyteller and me. I remembered conversations with my music partner, Malcolm, when we would discuss a particular song we were working on and how difficult it could be to have ideas for the composition process (melodies, lyrics, rhythm, etc.) and to let them go if they did not speak to the storyteller. We would talk about how the song reveals itself—with a word or phrase or arc of notes—and it is our job to notice these often-subtle gifts and to guide the creative process only in so much as it honors the desires of the storyteller and the song. There is a fine line between guiding and leading the creative process. Learning how to ride the creative wave fits well with my life path of learning not to hold on too tightly, to plans, material possessions, or ideas of how something will work out. For me, songwriting is a way of dancing with the chaos of the universe. My life practice is to find ways to create equanimity in a world over which I have very little control. Having grown up studying music in the classical tradition, I did not have to worry about chaos. Everything was decided for me already. My instruction was to learn to perform and interpret the piece exactly as it had been written, often several hundred years prior, with very little deviation from the original composer’s agenda. In the classical music realm, at the least the one in which I was raised, there was little room for creativity and personal expression. I was always told that I was musical (for better and for worse). Depending on the person offering the feedback, it could be taken as a compliment or a critique of my musical abilities and expression. I dipped my musical toes into the improvisational world of jazz music for a couple of years in high school, and it was terrifying. The experience of having no written script tipped the balance toward panic and anxiety. I was unprepared and uncertain of what to do, having always been given the answers in the past, and my foray into the unknown did not last long. While I found the classical world inhibiting, the jazz world was the opposite extreme. I simply was not prepared to create melodies out of thin air. Songwriting from people’s stories seems to have become a happy medium between these two extremes. I have a context within which to work (people’s spoken words) and an equation to follow (probable chords to set to the melodies we create together). What I have discovered in songwriting from stories, particularly in collaboration with other people, is that the entire process is a community experience. Everyone participates, sharing ideas, words, and sometimes melodies (often people are afraid to sing for fear of not having a “good” voice). The feeling of not being alone in creating a piece of music is incredibly comforting. Sure, I feel the pressure of creating something beautiful and meaningful in my role as the guide, but I also have learned how to take a deep breath, let go of my fears, and trust the process. I may never write a hit song, but this is less important to me than the act of creation itself. For example, I had not planned to visit the refugee center a week ago. However, when a friend asked if her son might be able to join me, I decided to go. There is always the feeling of the unknown and the question of whether I will succeed, but I seem to have learned to focus less and less on the latter (and the subsequent doubts and fears it stirs up). Without fail, my entire being shifts in a positive way from every songwriting experience. I marvel at the fact that a new song exists in the world that could easily have remained hidden had I chosen to stay at home. This new song is no different. When my fellow volunteer, Sarah, her daughter, our friend, Mohammed, and his friend came out to my husband and my house in Boitsfort for dinner this past Friday evening, posted the song sheet on the sliding door, and sang together on the back terrace in the gathering dusk. Mohammed’s friend said that the experience of listening to me sing, especially the words of his native language Arabic, was soothing and calming. We shared food and conversation, and songs and experiences from our different cultures and lives in Palestine, Gaza, Belgium, Scotland, and the United States. We lived and breathed the meaning from the simple yet so very complex words of the song: We are human, we are the same We are human, but we can change We can have a better life if we celebrate our divide Don’t close your mind to life Life is beautiful, enjoy your life Life is beautiful, free your mind You can have a better life if you celebrate our divide Open your mind to life Nahanu bashar, mutasawean Nahanu bashar, natareya We can have a better life, if we celebrate our divide Don’t close your mind to life	39,320
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 utilizes the powerful capabilities of SQL Server in providing a comprehensive BI solution. A summary of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 BI capabilities are provided below. We have categorized the capabilities along the lines adopted by BI industry literature. Power View is an interactive, browser-based data exploration, visualization, and presentation experience and provides intuitive ad-hoc reporting for business users. Power View is a feature of SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services. In SQL Server 2012 RTM and in SP1, Power View had the ability to explore data contained in tabular BISM models (in both Excel 2013 and SQL Server Analysis Services). As announced on November 29, SQL Server 2012 Power View for Multidimensional Models Customer Technology Preview (CTP) includes enhancements that allow Power View to explore data in Multidimensional models (a.k.a. Cubes). If you are not familiar with announcement, read the blog post here http://blogs.msdn.com/b/analysisservices/archive/2012/11/29/power-view-for-multidimensional-models-preview.aspx While Dynamics AX2012 list pages provided capabilities to query and analyze operational data with the help of Excel add-in, Power view enables a user to visualize and interactively explore data behind the page in a rich graphical environment. Ad-hoc explorations created by users can be embedded within a Microsoft Dynamics AX Role center for ease of access. These explorations can also be saved directly into PowerPoint for board room quality presentations. Before we get into feature specifics, let’s review the architecture. Power View can be integrated with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 in 3 ways. Option 1: Power View consumes data from multidimensional models As you are aware, Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2 version ships with 15 pre-built cubes and this is the most compelling option when using pre-built cubes. This options requires Microsoft SQL Server 2012 With Power View For Multidimensional Models CTP. Power View over Multidimensional Models feature enables Power View to explore pre-built cubes shipped with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012R2. It must be said that the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 With Power View For Multidimensional Models CTP is a preview release that is not supported on production environments. So while, this capability is very compelling, you should not use this option in production environments of Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2 yet. Option 2: Powerful ad-hoc data mash-up scenarios A power user can use the PowerPivot add-in for Excel to create models and reports that combine Microsoft Dynamics AX data with external data sources. These models are commonly known as data mash-up applications. Microsoft Dynamics AX queries exposed as OData feeds are the best means of consuming data with this approach, because OData feeds ensure that Microsoft Dynamics AX security is enforced at the AOS level. In the above diagram, path (2a) indicates this step. With PowerPivot, a user simply assembles the data required for the analysis with the help of a PowerPivot designer. After the data is assembled, the user can browse the data by using Excel PivotTable functionality. PowerPivot models can be saved to a PowerPivot gallery in SharePoint server 2010 or 2013 (Enterprise Edition). Saved PowerPivot models can be explored with Power View as indicated in (2b) Option 3: Extend and create new data models This is a compelling approach for developers. As a developer, you can create tabular BISM models by using SQL Server Data Tools, the Visual Studio-based developer tools for creating BI models. When creating tabular models, you can either start from a PowerPivot model created by a user (that is, create a production version of an existing model) or start from scratch. With either approach, you can create a tabular model that consumes data from Microsoft Dynamics AX by means of OData feeds or pre-built cubes. After you develop a tabular model, you can deploy the model to the SSAS server; however, the server must be configured in tabular mode, not multi-dimensional mode. NOTE: Starting with SQL Server 2012, an SSAS server can be configured for either multi-dimensional mode (required for hosting Microsoft Dynamics AX cubes) or tabular mode (required for hosting tabular models). An SSAS server that is in multi-dimensional mode cannot host a tabular model, and vice versa. Now that you are familiar with the options, let’s explore ways in which Power view capability can be integrated with Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2. Launching power view to Analyze data behind a list page Provided you have installed Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2 in an environment that contains Microsoft SQL Server 2012 With Power View for Multidimensional Models CTP, user will be shown a new button in a selected set of list pages. See the green button third from right called “Analyze data”. When the user selects this button, Power view will be launched with a cube that corresponds to the data shown in the page as follows. With a few clicks user can analyze receivables from the customers shown in the list page and create a compelling Power view report utilizing the rich set of fields provided by the underlying cube. While 7 Financial list pages within Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2 have the button built-in, it’s easy to add a similar button to other pages with the API provided within the product. We will explain this customization scenario in a developer focused post later. Embedding Power View reports in a Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Role center Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 ships with a web part to expose a Power View report in a Microsoft Dynamics AX Role Center. In addition you can also use the Page Viewer web part in SharePoint Server, and enter the URL of the Power View report. If you use the Power View web part that ships with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, you have the ability to pass company and currency context to the underlying report so that users can launch Power View report for the corresponding company. Let’s explore this option in detail. Let’s launch the Practice Manager Role center of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2. If you are logged in as the administrator, you can launch the Practice Manager Role center using the user profiles form in System administration menu. Select the Practice Manager’s role center and then click button View role center. The Practice Manager’s role center will be displayed in a new browser window. If you have not customized the Practice Manager Role center, you should see the role center as follows. Let’s embed an existing Power View report in this Role center using the Power View web part. On the Role center page, click Edit Page in the Actions list. You can add the report into any area of the page by selecting a box anywhere on the screen. Click Add a Web Part just above the Actuals vs. forecast chart. The Web part gallery in SharePoint will be displayed as shown below. In the Add Web Parts pane, click the Microsoft Dynamics AX library. Select SQL Server Power View web part and then click Add to add the web part to the chosen location. SQL Server Power View web part is added to the Role center page. Now we need to configure the web part and add an existing Power View report. Point to the web part, click the down arrow, and then click Edit Web Part. You will notice the web part property page for the Power View web part as shown below. You may need to scroll your browser to the right in order to display the web part properties. You can either enter the name of the Power View report or simply click the orange report icon to select a report from a folder within SharePoint. Navigate to the Power View reports folder (this is the folder that contains the out of the box Power View reports shipped with Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2). You can also pick a Power view report from any folder within your SharePoint site. If you create a custom folder and place your own reports there, you need to place the .rsds files (ie. data sources to be used by the report) within the same folder. Let’s select the contribution margin report and then enter a fixed height of 400 pixels for a better viewing experience. The report will be shown in the Role center as follows. Now that you have seen how easy it is to add a Power View report to a Role center using the Power View web part, let’s explore some of the features of the embedded Power View report. First let’s explore interactivity. Simple lick a category within the contribution margin report. Say, click on services category in the legend (Orange color) and all the charts filter to show data for Services category. Next, click TV & Video category (brown) and all the charts are filtered to show TV & video category. If you want to expand a chart within the report, simply hold the mouse on top of the chart and a context menu will appear on the top left. Select the option to expand the chart and only that chart will be shown within the web part as follows. Holding the mouse on top of the chart will also highlight the option to restore the chart to its original size. You can launch the report in a separate browser window to view the report in full screen and/or make any changes. Select the arrow on the top left of the web part to launch the report in a separate browser window. To edit the report, click Edit Report in the upper-left corner. The field list tab on the right will show the rich set of fields available for analysis – as you may have guessed, these are the fields present in pre-built cubes. You probably know that Microsoft Dynamics AX cubes are multi-company and multi-currency. However, a Role center (just as the Microsoft Dynamics AX client) is company and currency specific. You can switch the currency and company context from within the role center. Web part applies the company and currency context to the Power View report such that the Power view report will only show data corresponding to the current company and in the same currency. The web part also adjusts the report to fit into height and width of the frame specified in the web part properties. As you resize the browser window or the size of the web part, the Power view report within the part adjusts the size accordingly. As you have seen above, Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2 adds a powerful analysis capability with the help of SQL Server power view. With the announcement of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 With Power View For Multidimensional Models CTP, pre-built cubes shipped with Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2 can be explored with Power view. Leveraging this capability, we have enabled two features: to analyze data behind a list page and to embed the power view reports into a role center. In a future post we will dig deeper into developer topics, until then, we encourage you to try this feature and provide us with feedback via connect.	275,189
When a smile is everyone’s greatest asset, overcrowding or wide spaces between teeth can sometimes take that away. Moreover, it causes difficulty when brushing, which can lead to swollen, bleeding gums and even decay. Fortunately, Family Dental Centre offers an array of orthodontic solutions for individuals looking to close gaps, align crooked and correct crowding. Our dental clinics across Singapore provide clear aligner, metal and ceramic braces treatments catered to your unique condition. We correct your teeth and bring out your megawatt smile with your choice of metal or ceramic braces, as well as Invisalign®, a system that uses virtually “invisible” clear aligners. Whether you’re a student in Singapore or a working professional, our braces treatments are affordable, efficient and customisable – and will make you beam. Wearing braces is an effective, proven way of achieving a more beautiful smile that boosts your confidence through straightening crooked or overcrowded teeth. But apart from aesthetic improvements, braces also offer long-term health benefits: Orthodontists and general dentists have similarities as they both focus on oral care. Orthodontics is one of the nine specialisations within dentistry. Orthodontists are specially trained to diagnose and treat crooked teeth, bad bites, and poorly aligned jaws that range from simple dental malalignment to conditions requiring a combination of braces and jaw surgery. General dentists usually refer patients with more complex issues to Orthodontic specialists. Proper dental health among children is a growing concern for parents in Singapore since it affects overall health and well-being. Early orthodontic treatment can correct jaw deficiencies and bite problems since the child’s body and bones are still developing. Passionate in treating her patients, Dr Shue is a certified orthodontist with a wealth of experience in the dental industry. She has also served in various committees such as the Association of Orthodontists (Singapore) as President in 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. Prior to working in a private practice, Dr Shue was working at the Dental Division and Department of Orthodontics at the Ministry of Health. She was also the visiting assistant professor at University of Toronto and University of California. As the visiting consultant at the Cleft and Craniofacial Centre for a public hospital in Singapore, Dr Shue also participated in volunteering missions to Myanmar and Indonesia. Dr Tang obtained her Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2005.After completing her residency programme at the National University Hospital and National Dental Centre, Dr. Tang proceeded to attain her specialist in Orthodontics at the National Faculty of Dentistry. Dr Tang also holds a position as the treasurer of the Singapore Dental Association from 2014 to 2016 and is also a valued member of the Association of Orthodontics Singapore. After receiving treatment at a clinic in Singapore, your teeth may be tender for the first few days, but this will disappear after you grow accustomed to your braces. Taking a mild painkiller may help. Use a small head orthodontic toothbrush to brush your teeth thoroughly, and use mouthwash at night. It is vital to maintain good oral hygiene, and regular 6-monthly cleaning is required during treatment. Avoid chewy or hard food, as these may break and bend the wires of your braces or dislodge the brackets. Sweets, mints and sugary or fizzy drinks may also dissolve the enamel. Your dentist in Singapore will provide further advice during your treatment. The cost of metal braces treatment for students starts from S$3,500, while ceramic braces start from S$4,300. Meanwhile, the fees for adults starts from S$4,300 and S$4,800, respectively. The dentist at our Singapore clinic will advise on the cost of your braces treatment after assessing your condition. Ceramic and metal braces come with their pros and cons as follows: Book an appointment with Family Dental Centre today to learn about braces treatments. If you’re concerned about your smile and are interested in having invisible, metal or ceramic braces treatments done, speak with us today. Our new virtual consultation services let you talk to one of our dentists in Singapore right from the comfort of your home. Address your concerns about getting braces on the spot before coming down to our dental clinic. To find out whether you are a good candidate, schedule an appointment with our dentist for an initial consultation. Once the assessment of your dental health is done, our clinician will work with you to develop a treatment plan that is right for you.	210,329
The recent data from SIUT has revealed a surge of COVID infections in dialysis, transplant and cancer patients at SIUT. Due to the spread in the community last week, 55 additional patients of dialysis, transplant and cancer have been admitted in SIUT overwhelming our capacity. Unfortunately, these patients are immunosuppressed and therefore contact infections readily and frequently and have to be protected vigorously; an example in hand is covid-19. SIUT treats over 16000 patients whose immunity is compromised because of the disease or treatment. This include over 6,000 registered dialysis patients who have to come twice or thrice a week for free dialysis - a life-saving procedure for these patients. To date 41 dialysis patients are under treatment for covid-19 and at least two patients are being diagnosed daily. SIUT also has 5000 renal transplant recipients on regular life-time follow-up who are also immunocompromised. Around 20 to 22 transplant patients are infected with covid-19 who are getting vigorous treatment including high regimen immunosuppression. SIUT invests 2 billion of rupees yearly only on the care of dialysis and transplant patients, as all treatment is free to the patients. SIUT also has more than 5000 cancer patients availing anti-cancer treatment facilities and can present with serious and sometimes fulminant course needing intensive and prolonged treatment. SIUT has marshalled its team to provide urgent treatment for this special group of patients of dialysis, transplant and cancer, which requires prolonged intensive care. Upto last week there were only four centres, public and private, which were not sufficient to treat the large burden of covid patients. It is commendable that the Government of Sindh took further steps and facilitated more hospitals with covid treatment. Presently 10 centres (public and private) have been established in Karachi for the treatment of covid-patients along with ventilator support. This will help SIUT to concentrate on this select group of covid patients on dialysis, post-transplant and cancer more effectively who require specialized treatment due to their immunocompromised status.	211,422
Outpatient Drug Use among TRICARE Beneficiaries Aged 65 and OlderObjective: To quantify the prevalence of use of multiple medications among a sample of Department of Defense (DoD) health care beneficiaries, aged 65 or older, who used their TRICARE benefit to obtain prescription medication. Outpatient pharmacy fill records were analyzed for a 10% random sample of 1.27 million TRICARE beneficiaries, aged 65+, who filled one or more prescriptions in the 90-day period from December 1, 2004, through February 28, 2005. The First DataBank generic code number (GCN) was used to identify drugs and calculate the mean number of medications obtained and the mean, frequency, and type of American Hospital Formulary System (AHFS) drug therapy categories utilized. Statistical significance between gender and age subgroups was tested via independent t-tests. Results: There were 1,268,162 users of the TRICARE pharmacy benefit in the 90-day study period from December 1, 2004 through February 28, 2005, approximately 72.7% of 1,744,072 eligible beneficiaries. The 10% sample of these users (N=126,682) accounted for 1,091,699 pharmacy fill records for 761,043 unique medications, or an average of 6.01 [SD,+4.01] unique medications per user, distributed across an average of 3.80 [± 2.08] therapeutic categories; 8.8% of users received 1 medication, 50.0% received 5 or more medications from an average of 3 therapeutic categories, and 2.8% obtained 16 or more medications from an average of 8 therapeutic categories. Prescription medication use was more prevalent among women relative to men, with an average of 6.28 [± 4.12] medications from 4.03 [±2.11] therapeutic categories for women versus an average of 5.69 [± 3.85] medications from an average of 3.80 [± 2.08] therapeutic categories for men (P< 0.001. Prescription medication use peaked among beneficiaries ages 80 ? 84 years. Cardiovascular drugs, central nervous system agents, and hormones and synthetic substitutes were the 3 most common therapeutic categories used by 77%, 48%, and 42% of beneficiaries, respectively. This baseline analysis documented the prevalence of multiple medication usage among TRICARE beneficiaries and suggests that some form of intervention may be warranted for a portion of the study population to mitigate the risk of an adverse drug event or other risks associated with simultaneous use of multiple medications among seniors. The geographically distributed nature of the study population and the providers who treat them further suggests the prescribing behavior implied by our findings may be generalizable to the other seniors nationwide. The Department faces a challenge similar to that of many Medicare Part D drug plans to cost-effectively monitor and optimize pharmacotherapy treatments for it’s senior beneficiaries	115,036
Click here for printable PDF “The first source to go to for Jewish Genealogy.” Info files by topic and country. Family Finder, Family Tree of the Jewish People, Yizkor book translations and more. First Timer videos for the beginner. Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston Monthly educational programs, extensive reference library of worldwide resources, one-on-one assistance. Comprehensive source for U.S. and foreign materials. Free at many libraries. Paid subscription needed. for home use after free trial period Family History Library Catalog World’s largest collection of genealogical records available on microfilm and online. International genealogy research website and social network service. Available by paid subscription. For immigrant arrival records from 1892-1924. Use the Steve Morse website (next) for easier searches. Find your ancestors more effectively in the Ellis Island database and the U.S. and N.Y. census. A wealth of other genealogical material. Routes to Roots Foundation Identifies which Jewish vital records can be found in state archives in Eastern Europe. World’s largest searchable database of Holocaust victims’ names and information. Center for Jewish History Located in NYC; a partnership of major institutions: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum; genealogy research library. JRI-Poland (Home of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland) Database of indices to the 19th century Jewish vital records of Poland. Italian Genealogy Group They have digitized many New York based vital records, especially bride and groom indexes.	177,270
Status: Largely resident, though Ireland receives birds from Britain during the winter. Conservation Concern: Green-listed in Ireland. The European population is considered to be Secure. Identification: A medium sized raptor (bird of prey) with broad wings, a compact body, short neck and medium-length tail. Has a short hooked bill suitable for eating meat. Often seen sitting on fences and telegraph posts or soaring high in the sky, where it shows a fan shaped tail and spread outer wing feathers. Will also hang in the wind on updrafts. Flies with quick, stiff wing beats. Buzzards have very variable plumages from very dark to very light. Much of the plumage is barred. Adults are brown on the upperparts, body and underwing coverts and show a broad black band on the end of the tail and wing feathers. The rest of the underwings are whitish and finely barred. Variation in adult plumage is displayed on both the upper and under sides and some birds can be extremely pale, especially in the tail and upperwing coverts. Juvenile birds are similar to adults and also display a range of light and dark plumage variation; juveniles lack black bands on the ends of their tails and wings and some paler birds show prominent dark markings on the underwing at the carpal (wing joint). Similar Species: Other raptor species Call: Very vocal for a raptor, especially in the spring. Has a loud mewing call which it uses mainly in flight. Diet: Takes a wide variety of prey items including small mammals, birds, rabbits, insects, earthworms and amphibians. Breeding: Breeding birds are found mainly in the north and east of country, north of a line from Sligo to Wexford. The stronghold of the species is in Co. Donegal, Co. Monaghan and Co. Louth. Birds nest in trees and sometimes on cliffs, usually with access to open land including farmland, moorland and wetland. The species was absent in Ireland from the late nineteenth century until 1933, when a pair bred in Antrim. The species has spread slowly down from the north through the twentieth century Wintering: Largely resident. Where to See: County Donegal is the main strong hold of the species in the Republic, but can be seen in open country anywhere in the east and north of the country. Frequently seen perched beside motorways looking for carrion or rabbits. Monitored by: Countryside Bird Survey.	231,503
Distance from Tijuana to Ventura Distance from Tijuana to Ventura is 290 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 180 miles. The air travel (bird fly) shortest distance between Tijuana and Ventura is 290 km= 180 miles. If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles) from Tijuana to Ventura, It takes 0.32 hours to arrive. Tijuana is located in Mexico. \|GPS Coordinates (DMS)\|\|32° 30´ 9.7200'' N \| 117° 0´ 13.3560'' W Tijuana Distances to Cities \|Distance from Tijuana to Los Angeles\|\|207 km\| \|Distance from Tijuana to Coronado\|\|26 km\| \|Distance from Tijuana to Imperial Beach\|\|14 km\| \|Distance from Tijuana to El Cajon\|\|33 km\| \|Distance from Tijuana to Fontana\|\|181 km\|	79,315
Huntsville, Ala. ---- What could a person’s preference of beer or wine cooler indicate? To find out, An Alabama A&M University professor is conducting a pilot study on the impact of alcohol-related television ads on overexposed youths. According to Dr. Jacob Oluwoye, transportation expert and professor in AAMU’s College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences, the Federal Trade Commission has already reported on the importance of avoiding the marketing of alcoholic beverages to young people, and it has encouraged affiliated companies to use self-regulatory standards to do so. Further, an entire decade ago, notes Oluwoye, wine, beer and liquor makers agreed to halt advertising in certain media venues, more particularly television programs whose under 21 viewership exceeded 30 percent of the audience. Highly concentrated industries such as the alcohol industry, claims Oluwoye, often prefer to compete through advertising rather than through price. He describes a ‘highly concentrated’ industry as one that is characterized by a small number of relatively large firms. Firms bordering on being a monopoly are less likely to advertise than vibrant firms competing with a small number of rivals, he says. Yet, the advertising-to-sales ratio for the alcohol industry is about three times the 3 percent rate of other industries, notes the professor. Thus, the aim of Oluwoye’s pilot study is to examine which alcohol product advertising on cable TV since 2001 has exacted the most significant positive effect on overexposed youths. Specifically, Oluwoye’s work zeroes in on determining whether any relationship exists between overexposed youths and the advertising of particular alcoholic beverages on cable TV. Doing so required the professor to develop an overexposed youth model in a form suitable for the analysis of alcohol product advertising. Although further study is necessary, preliminary data seem to indicate that beer and spirit consumption is associated with youth exposure, but wine and wine cooler consumption is not. Additional research would allow further analysis of the nuances, says Oluwoye, to get “a more accurate understanding of how different alcohol beverages affect youth exposure.” For more information about the study, contact Oluwoye at (256) 372-4994 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org. - Jerome Saintjones	104,783
International Forum “Abai and Humanism” Cultural Center “RUKHANI ZHANGYRU” Department of Kazakh Language and Turkic Studies INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF KAZAKH LANGUAGE On holding the International Forum “Abai and Humanism” dedicated to the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the great Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbaiuly on April 23-25th, 2020 Forum goals: The dissemination of the thoughts of the great poet and wise philosopher of the Kazakh people Abai worldwide regarding the common problems of humankind, expressed in his poems and “The Book of Words”. To foster a global audience’s knowledge of and interest in the works of Abai. Kazakhstani and foreign scientists, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students who wish to support humanism and world peace, to contribute to the education of generations, the environment, education and teaching, as well as those who would like to contribute to the preservation of world values, are cordially invited to participate in the forum. 1. The world of Abai and humanism. 2. Abai’s concept of humanism: “Love mankind as your kin…”. 3. The prioritization of education as the requirement of the age. 4. “The Well-Rounded Person” – modernization of consciousness. 5. Contemporary environmental issues. 6. The relevance of modern linguistic and ecological problems. 7. New directions in teaching humanities. 8. Kazakh studies, knowledge of the individual, and consciousness of the nation. 9. The content and purpose of Kazakh literary studies in the XXI century. 10. The Kazakh language and the new alphabet (Latin alphabet). 11. Al-Farabi and Abai: the concept of “The Well-Rounded Person” (“Толық адам” концепциясы) INTERNATIONAL FORUM PROGRAM April 23-24th, 2020: plenary and breakout sessions, the General meeting of the International Association of Teachers of Kazakh Language (IATKL), a poster session of young scientists, discussions. April 25th, 2020: performances of “Abai readings” competition winners, an exhibition of the characters from “The Path of Abai” by M. Auezov through the eyes of the artists, a theatrical performance of talented youth of Nazarbayev University by the student club “Kazakh Stage”, the closing of the forum, awarding of certificates. ABSTRACT SUBMISSION PROCEDURES The paper should provide a clear description of goals, methodology and expected research or project results, should be accompanied with an abstract and keywords, and should include the following information: (1) topic of the paper (2) full name of author(s); (3) academic degree; (4) place of work; (5) city (region); (6) email; (7) session of the international forum. ‒ The length of the paper is 5-7 pages (A4 format). ‒ Page parameters (margins): top-2 cm, bottom-2 cm, right-1 cm, left-3 cm. ‒ Font: Times New Roman, size 12. ‒ Line spacing – single. ‒ The title of the paper is placed in the center of the sheet in CAPITAL (capital) letters; on the next line after the title are the name and initials of the author (authors), academic degree, place of work, city (region), and email address. ‒ For papers in the Kazakh language, an abstract should be provided in the Kazakh language and abstract in English (word count: 200-250). ‒ For papers in Russian, an abstract in Russian and abstract in English should be provided (word count: 200-250). ‒ For papers in English, an abstract in English and abstract in Kazakh and/or Russian should be provided (word count: 200-250). ‒ Number of keywords: 7-8. ‒ At the end of the paper, a list of references should be indicated. References in the text are enclosed in square brackets, indicating the serial number of the source in the list of references. ‒ Only research papers selected by the editorial board are accepted. A paper design template is available at https://ssh.nu.edu.kz/and is attached below (Annex 1 ). The paper should be completed by the template and sent in Word format to the following email: firstname.lastname@example.org (forum email) with the indicated topic “Abai Forum 2019 Paper”. Abstracts are accepted until March 10th, 2020. Notification of acceptance of the thesis will be sent on March 20th, 2020. Online registration will open on March 25, 2020. Working languages of the international forum: Kazakh, Russian and English. - International participants – 50 USD; - Kazakhstan participants – 5000 KZT; - Students – FREE. - Cultural Center “Rukhani Zhangyru”, Nazarbayev University - Department of Kazakh Language and Turkic Studies, Nazarbayev University - International Association of Teachers of Kazakh Language Phone numbers: +7/717-270-5709, +7/717-270-5935	34,614
Based on kernel version 4.3. Page generated on 2015-11-02 12:49 EST. 1 Kernel driver lm90 2 ================== 3 4 Supported chips: 5 * National Semiconductor LM90 6 Prefix: 'lm90' 7 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 8 Datasheet: Publicly available at the National Semiconductor website 9 http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM90.html 10 * National Semiconductor LM89 11 Prefix: 'lm89' (no auto-detection) 12 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c and 0x4d 13 Datasheet: Publicly available at the National Semiconductor website 14 http://www.national.com/mpf/LM/LM89.html 15 * National Semiconductor LM99 16 Prefix: 'lm99' 17 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c and 0x4d 18 Datasheet: Publicly available at the National Semiconductor website 19 http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM99.html 20 * National Semiconductor LM86 21 Prefix: 'lm86' 22 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 23 Datasheet: Publicly available at the National Semiconductor website 24 http://www.national.com/mpf/LM/LM86.html 25 * Analog Devices ADM1032 26 Prefix: 'adm1032' 27 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c and 0x4d 28 Datasheet: Publicly available at the ON Semiconductor website 29 http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions/product.do?id=ADM1032 30 * Analog Devices ADT7461 31 Prefix: 'adt7461' 32 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c and 0x4d 33 Datasheet: Publicly available at the ON Semiconductor website 34 http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions/product.do?id=ADT7461 35 * Analog Devices ADT7461A 36 Prefix: 'adt7461a' 37 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c and 0x4d 38 Datasheet: Publicly available at the ON Semiconductor website 39 http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions/product.do?id=ADT7461A 40 * ON Semiconductor NCT1008 41 Prefix: 'nct1008' 42 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c and 0x4d 43 Datasheet: Publicly available at the ON Semiconductor website 44 http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions/product.do?id=NCT1008 45 * Maxim MAX6646 46 Prefix: 'max6646' 47 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4d 48 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 49 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3497 50 * Maxim MAX6647 51 Prefix: 'max6646' 52 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4e 53 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 54 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3497 55 * Maxim MAX6648 56 Prefix: 'max6646' 57 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 58 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 59 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3500 60 * Maxim MAX6649 61 Prefix: 'max6646' 62 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 63 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 64 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3497 65 * Maxim MAX6657 66 Prefix: 'max6657' 67 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 68 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 69 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/2578 70 * Maxim MAX6658 71 Prefix: 'max6657' 72 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 73 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 74 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/2578 75 * Maxim MAX6659 76 Prefix: 'max6659' 77 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c, 0x4d, 0x4e 78 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 79 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/2578 80 * Maxim MAX6680 81 Prefix: 'max6680' 82 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x18, 0x19, 0x1a, 0x29, 0x2a, 0x2b, 83 0x4c, 0x4d and 0x4e 84 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 85 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3370 86 * Maxim MAX6681 87 Prefix: 'max6680' 88 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x18, 0x19, 0x1a, 0x29, 0x2a, 0x2b, 89 0x4c, 0x4d and 0x4e 90 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 91 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3370 92 * Maxim MAX6692 93 Prefix: 'max6646' 94 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 95 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 96 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3500 97 * Maxim MAX6695 98 Prefix: 'max6695' 99 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x18 100 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 101 http://www.maxim-ic.com/datasheet/index.mvp/id/4199 102 * Maxim MAX6696 103 Prefix: 'max6695' 104 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x18, 0x19, 0x1a, 0x29, 0x2a, 0x2b, 105 0x4c, 0x4d and 0x4e 106 Datasheet: Publicly available at the Maxim website 107 http://www.maxim-ic.com/datasheet/index.mvp/id/4199 108 * Winbond/Nuvoton W83L771W/G 109 Prefix: 'w83l771' 110 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 111 Datasheet: No longer available 112 * Winbond/Nuvoton W83L771AWG/ASG 113 Prefix: 'w83l771' 114 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 115 Datasheet: Not publicly available, can be requested from Nuvoton 116 * Philips/NXP SA56004X 117 Prefix: 'sa56004' 118 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x48 through 0x4F 119 Datasheet: Publicly available at NXP website 120 http://ics.nxp.com/products/interface/datasheet/sa56004x.pdf 121 * GMT G781 122 Prefix: 'g781' 123 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c, 0x4d 124 Datasheet: Not publicly available from GMT 125 * Texas Instruments TMP451 126 Prefix: 'tmp451' 127 Addresses scanned: I2C 0x4c 128 Datasheet: Publicly available at TI website 129 http://www.ti.com/litv/pdf/sbos686 130 131 132 Author: Jean Delvare <email@example.com> 133 134 135 Description 136 ----------- 137 138 The LM90 is a digital temperature sensor. It senses its own temperature as 139 well as the temperature of up to one external diode. It is compatible 140 with many other devices, many of which are supported by this driver. 141 142 Note that there is no easy way to differentiate between the MAX6657, 143 MAX6658 and MAX6659 variants. The extra features of the MAX6659 are only 144 supported by this driver if the chip is located at address 0x4d or 0x4e, 145 or if the chip type is explicitly selected as max6659. 146 The MAX6680 and MAX6681 only differ in their pinout, therefore they obviously 147 can't (and don't need to) be distinguished. 148 149 The specificity of this family of chipsets over the ADM1021/LM84 150 family is that it features critical limits with hysteresis, and an 151 increased resolution of the remote temperature measurement. 152 153 The different chipsets of the family are not strictly identical, although 154 very similar. For reference, here comes a non-exhaustive list of specific 155 features: 156 157 LM90: 158 * Filter and alert configuration register at 0xBF. 159 * ALERT is triggered by temperatures over critical limits. 160 161 LM86 and LM89: 162 * Same as LM90 163 * Better external channel accuracy 164 165 LM99: 166 * Same as LM89 167 * External temperature shifted by 16 degrees down 168 169 ADM1032: 170 * Consecutive alert register at 0x22. 171 * Conversion averaging. 172 * Up to 64 conversions/s. 173 * ALERT is triggered by open remote sensor. 174 * SMBus PEC support for Write Byte and Receive Byte transactions. 175 176 ADT7461, ADT7461A, NCT1008: 177 * Extended temperature range (breaks compatibility) 178 * Lower resolution for remote temperature 179 180 MAX6657 and MAX6658: 181 * Better local resolution 182 * Remote sensor type selection 183 184 MAX6659: 185 * Better local resolution 186 * Selectable address 187 * Second critical temperature limit 188 * Remote sensor type selection 189 190 MAX6680 and MAX6681: 191 * Selectable address 192 * Remote sensor type selection 193 194 MAX6695 and MAX6696: 195 * Better local resolution 196 * Selectable address (max6696) 197 * Second critical temperature limit 198 * Two remote sensors 199 200 W83L771W/G 201 * The G variant is lead-free, otherwise similar to the W. 202 * Filter and alert configuration register at 0xBF 203 * Moving average (depending on conversion rate) 204 205 W83L771AWG/ASG 206 * Successor of the W83L771W/G, same features. 207 * The AWG and ASG variants only differ in package format. 208 * Diode ideality factor configuration (remote sensor) at 0xE3 209 210 SA56004X: 211 * Better local resolution 212 213 All temperature values are given in degrees Celsius. Resolution 214 is 1.0 degree for the local temperature, 0.125 degree for the remote 215 temperature, except for the MAX6657, MAX6658 and MAX6659 which have a 216 resolution of 0.125 degree for both temperatures. 217 218 Each sensor has its own high and low limits, plus a critical limit. 219 Additionally, there is a relative hysteresis value common to both critical 220 values. To make life easier to user-space applications, two absolute values 221 are exported, one for each channel, but these values are of course linked. 222 Only the local hysteresis can be set from user-space, and the same delta 223 applies to the remote hysteresis. 224 225 The lm90 driver will not update its values more frequently than configured with 226 the update_interval attribute; reading them more often will do no harm, but will 227 return 'old' values. 228 229 SMBus Alert Support 230 ------------------- 231 232 This driver has basic support for SMBus alert. When an alert is received, 233 the status register is read and the faulty temperature channel is logged. 234 235 The Analog Devices chips (ADM1032, ADT7461 and ADT7461A) and ON 236 Semiconductor chips (NCT1008) do not implement the SMBus alert protocol 237 properly so additional care is needed: the ALERT output is disabled when 238 an alert is received, and is re-enabled only when the alarm is gone. 239 Otherwise the chip would block alerts from other chips in the bus as long 240 as the alarm is active. 241 242 PEC Support 243 ----------- 244 245 The ADM1032 is the only chip of the family which supports PEC. It does 246 not support PEC on all transactions though, so some care must be taken. 247 248 When reading a register value, the PEC byte is computed and sent by the 249 ADM1032 chip. However, in the case of a combined transaction (SMBus Read 250 Byte), the ADM1032 computes the CRC value over only the second half of 251 the message rather than its entirety, because it thinks the first half 252 of the message belongs to a different transaction. As a result, the CRC 253 value differs from what the SMBus master expects, and all reads fail. 254 255 For this reason, the lm90 driver will enable PEC for the ADM1032 only if 256 the bus supports the SMBus Send Byte and Receive Byte transaction types. 257 These transactions will be used to read register values, instead of 258 SMBus Read Byte, and PEC will work properly. 259 260 Additionally, the ADM1032 doesn't support SMBus Send Byte with PEC. 261 Instead, it will try to write the PEC value to the register (because the 262 SMBus Send Byte transaction with PEC is similar to a Write Byte transaction 263 without PEC), which is not what we want. Thus, PEC is explicitly disabled 264 on SMBus Send Byte transactions in the lm90 driver. 265 266 PEC on byte data transactions represents a significant increase in bandwidth 267 usage (+33% for writes, +25% for reads) in normal conditions. With the need 268 to use two SMBus transaction for reads, this overhead jumps to +50%. Worse, 269 two transactions will typically mean twice as much delay waiting for 270 transaction completion, effectively doubling the register cache refresh time. 271 I guess reliability comes at a price, but it's quite expensive this time. 272 273 So, as not everyone might enjoy the slowdown, PEC can be disabled through 274 sysfs. Just write 0 to the "pec" file and PEC will be disabled. Write 1 275 to that file to enable PEC again.	208,309
While gathering flowers in a field one day, the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Demeter was abducted to the Underworld by Hades, who arose in his chariot from a fissure in the ground. Her mother Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, was heartbroken, and while she wandered the length and breadth of the earth in search of her daughter, the crops withered and it became perpetual winter. At length Hades was persuaded to surrender Persephone for one half of every year. This became the spring and summer seasons when flowers bloom and the earth bears fruit once more. The other half of the year that Persephone spent in the Underworld as Hades' queen coincides with the barren season. Although Persephone did have a brief crush on Adonis, she nevertheless remained true to her macabre husband, just as he remained faithful to her. You might think of Persephone and Hades as the Morticia and Gomez Adams of the Hellenic world. The Fifteen Goddesses These are the 15 categories of this test. If you score above average in all or none of the four variables: Neit. Erudite: Minerva. Sensual: Aphrodite. Martial: Artemis. Saturnine: Persephone. Erudite & Sensual: Isis. Erudite & Martial: Sekhmet. Erudite & Saturnine: Nemesis. Sensual & Martial: Hera. Sensual & Saturnine: Bast. Martial & Saturnine: Ilamatecuhtli. Erudite, Sensual & Martial: Maeve. Erudite, Sensual & Saturnine: Freya. Erudite, Martial & Saturnine: Sedna. Sensual, Martial & Saturnine: Macha. More tests we think you'll like Taken 2577 times. Hya Visitor ! Welcome to my FrenchKissFullMouthPierro Test. Be ready for anything, life is short ... Intelligence, Humour, Kinkiness, Slavabilit... Taken 231 times. Should you stay single? Find out! Taken 10225 times. Hi! I'll be asking questions regarding the automotive cultural set u fit into. Also whether you are more speed/power oriented or more appearnce orien... Taken 240 times. Bloque III - JL (2) Taken 92547 times. This is the ultimate and most accurate test one could ever take in this area. This test is for boys, but if you're a girl and you feel you REALLY want... Taken 19833 times. Find out if I think teaching high school is the right career for you! Keep in mind, it's only my personal opinion. This test will be based on me, basically. Taken 681 times. Hey internet fiends! Hopefully, most people taking this test are familiar with the popular online comic Bob and George, if not, check it out at http:... Taken 15074 times. Hi! And welcome to my What Kind of Diaper Are You Test. I'll be using advanced logic and knowledge to determine your true nature. Taken 12368 times. How intelligent are you when it comes to hitting the clubs for an evening? Taken 42902 times. This test is to show which kind of wife you are, or will be (if that is your thing). Remember to answer honestly, otherwise any future spouses out th... Connect your existing OkCupid account Restore your account to continue meeting new people. Reset your password We’ll email you a link to reset it. An email is on its way to . If you don’t see it, try checking your Spam folder. Enter Authentication Code Not so fast! You need to complete your basic info on the mobile app before you can use the desktop site.	302,682
US lawmakers have voiced bipartisan support for the Obama administration's strategic pivot to Asia but stressed the need for partner nations to strengthen their own military capabilities and to contribute more to their own defence. Members of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee plan to step up scrutiny of military policy in the region, where despite budget pressure, Washington wants to increase its presence as it draws down forces in Afghanistan. Lawmakers said this week they plan a wide-ranging examination of US force deployments and how to optimise security relationships. They plan a series of five hearings between now and early 2014, mostly focused on the growing military power of China. Congress does not set US foreign policy but it can influence it and controls the purse strings. The lawmakers said part of the committee's intent was to explain to the rest of Congress and the American public about the strategic importance of the US remaining engaged in the Asia-Pacific region. "The biggest thing for us is presence. If we have presence there it's the greatest stability you can have in that region," said Republican congressman Randy Forbes, one of six lawmakers briefing reporters this week the upcoming hearings. Democratic congressman Adam Smith said the committee would look at how the US can guarantee its alliance commitments with nations such as South Korea, and Japan and others while building on its many other relationships in the region. "One of the keys to making this work is partner capacity," he said, citing as an example US counterinsurgency support for Philippine forces fighting Islamic rebels. "What other options are out there to build capacity in forces so it doesn't all fall on us?" But Smith also advocated cooperation with China, which views the US pivot as an attempt to encircle and crimp its emerging power. Smith said China should be viewed as a partner that could work with the US on North Korea, the transition in Afghanistan and other issues. Democratic congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa said the US must be more mindful of historical conflicts between its allies and recognise that it can't solve them.	304,576
When you first open a book, you more often than naught find a Chapter List shoved in between the pages before the first official page. The list of chapter names gives you an idea of what is going to happen within the book. Some people prefer this; some people believe it isn’t necessary since the summary on the rear cover should sell it. It honestly depends on what the author wants to do. Here are some of the pros and cons to help you decide for yourself. - Your reader has an idea of what to expect for the book. - Your book looks organized and professional on first glance. - Some readers memorize the last place they’ve read by chapter number or chapter name. By listing it in the front of the book, the user can skim through the list to find the exact page number with ease. - It’s normally expected. For book clubs, it makes it easier to keep track of where everyone’s progress should be after a certain amount of time. They will not thumb through a book to guesstimate this information for themselves. - You thought naming the book itself was difficult. Now you have to name each and every chapter without giving away the entire story! - Your reader knows too much about what happens in the book. - You have yet another extra page between the cover and the first official page for the reader to begin the book. Being an extra page, it gets overlooked by some of the average readers who just want to begin reading. - Extra pages also add extra costs to your book overall. If these aren’t enough to convince you to sway either way, here is another brief article on the topic. Let me know your opinions in the comments!	152,198
by Anton Shilov 10/22/2009 \| 07:59 PM Advanced Micro Devices, the owner of ATI graphics processor developer and the world’s second largest designer of x86 central processing units, and Nvidia Corp., a leading designer of graphics processing units (GPUs), both said that Microsoft Windows 7 operating system would boost performance of today’s computers in terms of video game rendering speed as well as in terms of improved support for general-purpose computing on GPUs (GPGPU). “The availability of Windows 7 represents an important step for the PC industry, enabling an improved user experience focused on what users care about most today – PC entertainment that spans video, photos, music and gaming, as well as everyday consumer and business applications,” said Leslie Sobon, vice president of product marketing at AMD. “Nvidia SLI technology allows the highest quality and fastest frame rates by combining multiple GeForce GPUs in a PC. On average, SLI technology is up to 15% faster on Windows 7 than on previous Windows operating systems,” an official statement from Nvidia reads. “New advances in parallel computing, physics, and, stereoscopic 3D have amplified the importance of the GPU. These advances, combined with Windows 7, DirectX 11, and DirectCompute will transform PC gaming for years to come,” said Mike Ybarra, general manager of Windows product management at Microsoft. Perhaps, comments from companies who are interested in selling loads of hardware amid the launch of Windows 7 sound too upbeat, however, even industry analysts tend to agree. “DirectCompute takes [GPGPU] from a niche to the mainstream by making this potentially life-changing technology available to the millions of users of the Windows 7 operating system. Using the GPU and the CPU as co-processors has already yielded amazing results in fields such as medical, geological and scientific research and will have a transforming effect on consumer applications as well,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst for the Enderle Group. “Despite rumors to the contrary, research shows that PC gaming is growing at a rapid pace and Nvidia is the torchbearer for PC gaming. Superior graphics, stereoscopic 3D, and advanced physics are features that differentiate the Nvidia GeForce gaming experience from gaming consoles and other PC components,” said Jon Peddie, principal analyst for Jon Peddie Research.	212,840
Self-control is one of the most sought after yet least understood aspects within our fitness culture. We all strive for it and we all want more of it. Many people blame a lack of self-control as the reason why they can’t stick to a diet or exercise program. I too have struggled with self-control through much of my fitness career. I also learned that I would lose control just when I thought I had it all figured out. Just when I thought I had an iron clad grip on my diet and exercise program I would binge on junk food and skip workouts for days on end. This would then result in a stronger resolve to improve my self-control and never lose that control again. I would be fine for a while only to then lose control once more and the whole cycle would keep repeating itself. Such a cycle can be a very draining and frustrating experience. You work so hard for so long only to somehow have it slip through your fingers and send you back a few paces. This cycle takes up time, money, resources and not to mention the pride and confidence that is essential towards achieving your fitness goals. The good news is that it is possible to achieve a very high level of self-control. It is possible to break the cycle and instead of going around and around in endless revolutions, you keep progressing year after year. How To Harness The Power of Self-control The first thing you must learn is the purpose of self-control. I know on the surface it may seem like self-control is about not eating that candy bar or getting to the gym on time. But there is a much deeper reason why we believe we need self-control. The heart of self-control centers on the myth that you have to control your own self to succeed in reaching your fitness goals. This can bring up the image that we humans are an out of control and unruly bunch of animals by nature. Therefore our animal tendencies must be controlled or else we will all turn into fat and lazy slobs. This sort of thinking is what drives the You vs Yourself mentality in our fitness culture. So many folks claim that we are our own worst enemy or that you must defeat yourself to win. I couldn’t disagree more with this idea. The fact of the matter is that getting in shape isn’t about fighting yourself. If anything, that’s the most certain road to failure. Just imagine what happens when an army fights itself or when a board of directors fight themselves within the same business. Such self conflict causes a lot of stress and wasted energy that drags down the very folks who are trying to win. As they say, you can’t hold a man down without staying down with them. As I always say, you cannot fight yourself and win. Many of the failures within our fitness culture can be directly linked to someone fighting themselves. In fact, most folks who fail to reach their goals do so because they are fighting their own self. Unfortunately, our fitness culture is largely based upon the idea that you need to fight yourself. Our media and advertisers take dead aim at the notion that something is not right with you and thus something must be wrong with you. Therefore you need to fight these aspects of yourself like a demon that possesses your soul. If people can convince you that you have to fight yourself then they can convince you that you need some sort of help. You’ll need to buy some sort of product to fight your inner self that wants to do nothing but sit on the couch and eat junk food. So the natural course of action is to recommend following a program or plan that goes against that “evil self” and you must exert self-control in order to control yourself and stick to the program. It makes sense in practice. We do have cravings for chocolate cake after all. We all feel like skipping out on a workout from time to time. We all feel the desire to give into that evil self that must be controlled. The great mistake is in believing that the desire to stray is coming from within our own self. Here is an example for what I’m talking about. Get down on the floor and start doing some push ups. Keep doing them even though your muscles burn and your breathing may become labored. As your body starts to protest, just keep going. Keep fighting all the way until your absolute breaking point. After you collapse on the floor, rest for a few minutes and then do just a few more pushups once you’ve regained some strength. The purpose of this exercise is to teach you that you’re not the one supplying the challenge. As your body grew tired and weary, you were not fighting yourself. You were fighting fatigue! I know this because after you rested a bit and did just a few more push ups, you were able to do them a whole lot easier. You were the same person both when you were struggling and when the pushups were easy. Nothing about you was actually different except for the level of fatigue brought on by the exercise. The key to winning the battle for a fit body is in understanding exactly what adversary you need to fight. Imagine the army fighting itself. As it’s fighting within its ranks, the other country just comes right in and conquers the territory. If the army stopped fighting itself and fought the invading army, they would have won. Instead, they spent too much effort fighting itself and they were easy pickings. The same thing happens when we fight ourselves. We talk negatively to ourselves and beat ourselves down. We use a lot of effort to struggle within ourselves and meanwhile the forces around us blow our behaviors around like a trash can in a hurricane. Know what you should really be fighting against! Don’t fight yourself while working out. Fight distractions, boredom, fatigue and poor technique. When you crave the chocolate cake, you’re not fighting that “evil self” that wants the cake. You’re fighting hunger, stress, boredom, deprivation and anxiety. These are not things that are coming from you. They are simply reactions you have towards external elements. They are not a reason to fight your self. I believe real self-control isn’t about being in control of your self. It’s about your self being in control. This sort of idea often gets confused with obedience. When someone follows a strict diet or exercise program to the letter, they are being obedient. They are not fully in control because the program they are on is calling the shots. Let’s say you want to be a race car driver. You have little sense of control and all you want to do is just put the pedal to the floor and go as fast as possible. So on your first day out you hit the gas and drive right off the track and crash. Obviously you were not in control! So you hear about a safe driving program and you go take it. After all you don’t want to crash and burn again right? In this program, Dr. Nevagonnacrash talks about the evils of speed and how even walking into a tree at 5mph can cause significant injury. He talks about how the brake pedal is more important than the gas and how using it more will improve your chances of safety. So during the next day on the track the start light goes green and you hit the brake. You just sit there pressing that brake pedal as hard as you can. You may feel like you’re in control. You feel safe and secure. But you’re not really in control. You’re just obeying an ideal that someone else imparted upon you. You know something isn’t right. You don’t want to just sit there and mash the brake but what can you do? If you let go of the brake and hit the gas you’re going to fly right into the wall. So now you’re fighting yourself. You’re conflicted between your desire for speed and the desire to stay safe. You believe you must choose between either flying at top speed or staying on the brake. One offers safety and security but it doesn’t satisfy the desire for speed. The other satisfies the desire for speed but there is no security. This is the You vs. Yourself cycle that so many people can become trapped in for years all the while believing they are struggling for self-control. The reality is that the struggle will never end because neither side is true self-control. One is unrestrained action and the other is a self-imposed prison. Neither is an option that places you in complete control. The solution of course is to drive the car with skill and timing. Apply the brake when it’s time to brake and hit the gas when it’s time to go. Through practice and time you’ll learn just the right time and the right amount of pressure to put on each. When you need to restrain more you restrain more and when you want to release more you release more. That is real self-control my friend. That is when you are calling your own shots and making your own calls. You don’t need to control your self because your self is in control and it’s doing a great job. Of course such self-control isn’t a black and white issue. It will take time and practice to know just how much you should and should not do. Most of all, no one else on earth can know exactly what you should and should not be doing. I don’t know your body or your life in the necessary detail you do. I don’t know if having a cookie after dinner is the right call to make or not. Only you can know that through time and practice. Sure you’ll make mistakes along the way. Sometimes you’ll give it a little more gas than you should have. Other times you may be too conservative with the brake. It’s okay. This is how you learn to stop fighting yourself and you learn to trust yourself instead. For there are plenty of challenges you’ll face on your path to a fitter body. Those challenges are a hell of a lot easier to face when your self is in control and you are your own best ally instead of your biggest adversary.	97,912
There is no doubt that terminology plays a very important role in many different fields such as translation, standardisation, technical documentation and localisation. Subject fields such as different sectors of law and industry all have significant amounts of field-specific terminology. In addition, many document initiators might use their own preferred terminology. Researching the specific terms needed to complete any given translation is a time-consuming task. However, attempting an initial terminology extraction using term extraction tools has proved to be very time-saving. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the extraction tools facilitate extraction, the resulting list of candidate terms must be verified by a human terminologist or translator. Therefore, the process of term extraction is computer-aided rather than fully automatic. Term extraction can be defined as the operation of identifying term candidates in a given text. It can either be monolingual or multilingual (usually bilingual). Monolingual term extraction attempts to analyse a text or corpus in order to identify candidate terms, while multilingual term extraction analyses existing source texts along with their translations in an attempt to identify potential terms and their equivalents. Term extraction generally involves four steps: the compilation of a corpus, the extraction of term candidates, the validation of the term… Read more \| termcoord.eu	26,219
If you’re after an indulgent chocolate hit, as far as baked goods go, there’s nothing chocolatier than a brownie (unless you eat pure chocolate from the store cupboard anyway). An American invention & widely popular almost everywhere these days, it’s unclear where the origins of these chocolatey squares lay. There are many different theories, mostly based around happy mishaps in the kitchen, such as a chef accidentally adding melted chocolate to a biscuit dough, a cook who forgot to add flour to a cake batter & a housewife who ran out of baking powder when making a cake for guests & baked it anyway, serving flattened cakes. It seems that no one truly knows where the invention was born. Another popular theory is that a chef at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago was the inventor back in the late 19th century. Bertha Palmer, a socialite who’s husband owned the hotel, requested that the chef make a special dessert for ladies attending the Chicago 1893 World Fair. The dessert was to be cake-like but smaller than you’re average piece of cake so that if could fit into boxed lunches (plus it’s hard to remain prim & proper when tackling a large slab of chocolate cake, just ask Bruce Bogtrotter). The chef met her order by producing a brownie which was topped with walnuts & an apricot glaze. This same brownies is still made to the same recipe & served today at the hotel which is now The Palmer House Hilton. No matter where these confections came from though, I think that we can all just be grateful that they did (dare we imagine a world without brownies). It’s the simple treat that can be enjoyed anywhere, suitable for any occasion or even lack of occasion, everyone loves a bit of chocolate. Where controversy lies though isn’t with our glutinous appreciation of the brownie but at it’s core, it’s texture. Should a brownie be cakey, gooey or fudgy? Each of us will have our own opinion on this but, much like how we take our tea, it’s all down to personal preference. Personally, I’m all for brownie diversity (if ever there was a cause to champion, I feel this could be mine) & think that there’s enough room in the world for each kind, which should be appreciated on their own merit. Sometimes I crave the moist, gooeyness of a tray of brownies so difficult to cut that you wonder why even bother cutting it at all (mega brownie!). Other times, I enjoy the moreish, chewy, easily transportable chocolate hit of a fudgy brownie. A cakey brownie would be my least favourite of the bunch, I feel as though it needs to pick a corner… cake or brownie, don’t masquerade as either. These brownies are somewhat more on the fudgy side of the brownie scale. Once cut, they have a slightly crispy outside & a chewy centre with the hidden contrasting crunch of chocolate chips throughout. These are the perfect kind of texture that I associate with a brownie, the sort that I remember from my childhood. Cut into neat, bite-sized squares & where less than two is never eaten. These are really simple to make & do disappear quite quickly, a real crowd pleaser so gift wisely or maybe make two batches! Even in world where there’s always something new to try or capture our tastebuds, a world of cronuts & deconstructed desserts, I think our love for the humble chocolate brownie will never fade, or at least it shouldn’t (then we know we’ve got issues). - 250g granulated sugar - 70g butter - 2 eggs - 1 egg yolk - 1 tsp vanilla extract - 80ml rapeseed oil - 75g cocoa powder - 65g plain flour - 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda - 1 tbsp cornflour - 1/4 tsp salt - 130g chocolate chips - Grease & line an 8″x 8″ square cake tin with baking parchment - In a saucepan, gently melt the butter & mix in the sugar (it will look lumpy but don’t worry) - Remove the pan from the heat & mix in in the eggs, oil & vanilla - Sift over the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate, cornflour - Use a spatula to fold through the dry ingredient before adding in the chocolate chips & mixing through - Pour the mixture into the cake tin - Bake the brownies at 170C for 25-30 minutes until set & a skewer inserted into the centre of the brownies still comes out with a few crumbs - Leave the brownies to cool completely in their tin before slicing into squares	270,183
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal flagged off 10 Broad Gauge (BG) locomotives to Bangladesh. In keeping with the requirements of the Bangladesh Railway, the locomotives have been suitably modified by the Indian side. These locomotives will help handle the increasing volume of passenger and freight train operations in Bangladesh. Moreover, of the seven rail links that existed, four are functional now. To further strengthen rail connectivity in the region, one new rail link, between Agartala in India and Akhaura in Bangladesh is being constructed with finance under Grant Assistance of India. During COVID-19, parcel train and container train services have been introduced via Benapole in Bangladesh. Both these services have already started in July 2020.	144,176
Leave it to the clever boys at Goldman Sachs to turn dross into gold: They have come up with a way to hide massive losses so clever, it requires special comment: The Orphan Month. Yesterday, we noted that the bulk of their profits had come from AIG transfer payments — the theft from taxpayers AIG 100% payouts funded via bailout monies that saw Goldie as one of the largest recipients. Floyd Norris notes that most of the AIG effect was in December. “For the first quarter, the total A.I.G. effect on earnings was, in round numbers, zero.” How is it possible that this occurred? Isn’t GS on a December to February calendar? Well, there is a small asterisk about that. It seems that GS is moving from a December to a quarterly calendar. Meaning their latest Q is January thru March. But what of December, with all t he AIG monies and the comparison to the strong December 2007 and all? In a word, Orphaned: Goldman’s 2008 fiscal year ended Nov. 30. This year the company is switching to a calendar year. The leaves December as an orphan month, one that will be largely ignored. In Goldman’s news release, and in most of the news reports, the quarter ended March 31 is compared to the quarter last year that ending in February. The orphan month featured — surprise — lots of writeoffs. The pre-tax loss was $1.3 billion, and the after-tax loss was $780 million. Would the firm have had a profit if it stuck to its old calendar, and had to include December and exclude March? Truly astounding . . . the word Chutzpah simply does not do it justice . . . The Case of the Missing Month NYT, April 14, 2009, 6:55 am Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor implied. If you could repeat previously discredited memes or steer the conversation into irrelevant, off topic discussions, it would be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.	240,338
Isn't your guardian angel supposed to "guard" you? You remember the old prayer? "Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, rule and guide." "Light and guard"? Well, maybe not. Or at least maybe not always, according to Pope Benedict, who surmised wryly that perhaps his guardian angel was not negligent in preventing the pontiff's broken wrist, but actually "following superior orders," in order to teach the pope humility. That's according to this story on AP. "Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that his guardian angel was clearly acting 'on superior orders' when he let the pontiff fall and break his wrist this month. The 82-year-old pope said in a lighthearted tone that: 'Perhaps the Lord wanted to teach me more patience and humility, give me more time for prayer and meditation,' the pope added. The pope thanked law enforcement officials for being 'like angels,' as he prepared to depart Les Combes, the Alpine resort where he tripped and hurt his right wrist about 10 days ago while on vacation. 'Unfortunately, my own guardian angel did not prevent my injury, certainly following superior orders,' Benedict said." It's wonderful to see the pope speaking lightheartedly, and, moreover, in such a self-deprecatory way. (When was the last time a public figure--who wasn't caught in a scandal or under indictment--say that he needed a lesson in humility?) The vagaries of life are a great teacher of humility. St. John Berchmans, a Jesuit who died quite young, said, "Vita communis est mea maxima penitentia." Or life in common--that is the common, daily life of every man and woman--is my greatest penance. (Some Jesuit wags believe that via communis is better translated as Jesuit community life, but we'll leave that for another blog post.) And when the Trappist monk Thomas Merton was asked if he "mortified" himself (that is, subjected himself to extreme physical penances) he said, in essence, life is mortifying enough. So Benedict's broken wrist is an example of how life's struggles can teach us. Sometimes. All the same, I prefer my guardian angels to guard, thanks very much. And I'll take some light, while they're at it. James Martin, SJ	35,354
Lenin, demonized by most western media outlets. Blamed for Stalin, blamed for the totalitarian nature of the Soviet-Union. When stalinism collapsed in 1991 in the USSR, the media of the capitalists started a massive campaign to demonize the first Soviet leader. Blaming Lenin for Stalin’s crimes is what many anticommunists do today. But they have very little to stand on. The only thing they have against Lenin is the Red Terror, the period between September 1918 and February 1922. After the revolution triumphed in Petrograd, the new Soviet government needed an agency to defend the first socialist state. On 20 December 1917, Lenin created the Emergency Commission or Cheka. The task of the Emergency Commission was to defend the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic by any means necessary. As the White Terror killed many workers and supporters of the Bolsheviks, the Cheka grew in numbers. Felix Dzerzhinsky led the organisation and by 1922, employed more then 200.000 people. After surviving two assassination attempts on his life, Lenin ordered Dzerzhinsky to start the Red Terror. Anticommunists call Lenin evil because of the brutality which Felix Dzerzhinsky used against suspected counter-revolutionaries! What many anticommunists never know is that the Red Terror did not start in November 1917. Lenin only started the Red Terror after the whites killed Soviet supporters for over 10 months. Also the invasion of 200.000 foreign soldiers led by 40.000 British troops, was a big problem for the weak Soviet government. Between 1917 and 1921, the Red Army had to fight very hard to survive. Lenin knew what the anticommunists would do after they defeated him. In Finland the anticommunists were victorious and murdered more then 8.000 Finish Bolsheviks, another 10.000 would die in prison camps. In Hungary 5.000 Jews and supporters of the short lived Hungarian Soviet Republic were killed, 75.000 were jailed. In Germany the revolution also failed, 21.000 German revolutionaries died including Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht who were brutally murdered by anticommunist forces. Lenin knew the consequences of defeat and ordered the Cheka to be as equal brutal as the anticommunists! Anticommunists think that Lenin was like Stalin, because he ordered the execution of people, like the order to murder 100 Cossacks. This famous hanging-order was issued in August 1918, after Lenin was told that anticommunist Cossack forces destroyed towns loyal to the Soviet government. Therefore Lenin ordered his soldiers to put an end to their White Terror by hanging 100 Cossacks. Many Cossack families were victims of both the White and Red Terror. Some were loyal to anticommunist forces and were punished because of this. By today´s standards the Red Terror was indeed cruel and brutal, but in 1918 all participants of the Russian Civil War acted brutal even the so called ”democratic” nation of Europe. British imperialist forces had no problems watching while anticommunist Russians executed supporters of Lenin. In the capital of Azerbaijan, 26 Soviet leaders were murdered by nationalist Azerbaijani forces under British supervision! British imperialism wanted Russia to remain in the war against Imperial Germany. When the Soviet revolution ended Russia’s participation in the world war, the Germans were able to pull armies from the eastern front. Winston Churchill was secretary for war in 1919 until 1921, he supported the deployment of 40.000 British troops to aid the White Armies of the anticommunists. The British soldiers were sent to fight in the Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok regions. Churchill was supported in his war plans by the French. Their objectives in Russia were: - Prevent the capture of Allied material stockpiles in Arkhangelsk - Mount an attack helping the Czechoslovak Legions stranded on the Trans-Siberian Railroad - Resurrect the Eastern Front by defeating the Red Army with help from the Czechoslovak Legions and an expanded anti-Bolshevik force of local citizens and stop the spread of world communism! However by 1920 it became clear that workers in western Europe were rebelling. Germans were in uprising since November 1918 and even in Britain workers went on strikes. Fearing a socialist revolution in western Europe, the armies of Britain, France and most European nations were pulled out of Russia. Japanese soldiers remained in Vladivostok until 1922. This port-city was the last bastion of imperialism to be liberated by the Red Army. The anticommunist propaganda in Russia portrayed Lenin as the devil. Since many Bolsheviks were Jews, the White Armies used classic antisemitism against the supporters of the revolution. In Ukraine, the nationalist anticommunists participated in massive anti-Jewish pogroms, killing between 50.000 and 200.000 Jews. Their hatred was fueled by the antisemitic propaganda spread by nationalists about a ”Jewish Bolshevik” plot to destroy ”Christian Ukraine”. With Stalin’s mass terror in the 1930’s, this hatred was only strengthen. When Nazi Germany invaded the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic in June 1941, many antisemitic and anticommunist Ukrainians participated in the murder of 1,3 million Soviet workers and peasants! In 1922, the armies of the anticommunists were defeated. After more then five years of brutal civil war, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics was born in December of that year. Western anticommunists lost the civil war in Russia, so the new USSR was isolated and ignored. It was not until the start of the Cold War that Lenin was equaled with Stalin. The stalinists claimed to be leninists and portrayed themselves next to the founding father of the USSR. Although Stalin and his successors praised Lenin into heaven, their politics were not revolutionary socialist at all. Still it was enough for the anticommunist media, who used the totalitarian culture of the Soviet-Union and Maoist China against the communist movement. Vietnam, Angola and Mozambique were declared ”socialist” republics in the 1970’s. World ”communism” seemed very powerful and many supporters of communists parties were blinded in their dogmatic believes that they were building socialism. In reality none of these so called ”people’s” or ”socialist” republics were healthy workers nations, most were build on the bourgeois state model with a parliament and ministers. Cuba is still called the Republic of Cuba, not the Socialist Republic of Cuba or the People’s Republic of Cuba. The economy of many ”socialist” nations were based on the Stalinist top-down model, with no workers councils nor democratic participation rights. Only the ruling communist party was allowed to run the economy. Since party bureaucrats are not economists, the economies of Stalinist nations stalled by 1980, unable to complete with the dynamic international capitalist system! Lenin’s face became the model for failure. The capitalist media praised the market reforms in China, as Deng Xiaoping replaced the planned economy with a market one. Micheal Gorbachev in the Soviet-Union was also praised for his limited capitalist reforms started in 1988. After the failed coup of August 1991, the Communist Party of the Soviet-Union was banned. Lenin’s party was now gone and Boris Yeltsin made his move to replace the red banner with the czarist colors. On 25 December 1991, the banner of the czars was raised and the USSR ceased to exist. Many Lenin statues were destroyed in former Soviet republics. In the Baltic nations all statues of the first Soviet leader were removed. People blamed Lenin for Stalin crimes, as they were told that Lenin started it all. It is understandable that they could not see the difference between Stalin and Lenin, because the dogma between 1927 and 1991 was called; ”Marxism-Leninism”. After been forced to worship Lenin as god for almost 40 years, many Baltic people became very anticommunist and remain very hostile to his ideals. In Ukraine, Lenin is both hated and praised. Many ethnic Ukrainians are anti-Lenin and see him as a ”Russian” oppressor, while Russians in Ukraine still glorify him as a ”Russian” leader. The real Lenin however was never a Russian chauvinist nor a supporter of a Russian cultural empire. In fact Lenin was very critical of Stalin’s great Russian chauvinism in Georgia. But most people do not know the true Lenin, they only know the Lenin of the propaganda of either the anticommunists or the stalinists! The Lenin of the anticommunist propaganda is not the true Lenin. However because our media is owned by capitalists, they portray him as a ruthless, bloody and evil dictator. The Red Terror is used to claim Lenin was just as evil as Stalin, totally ignoring the fact that Churchill supported the White Armies, the antisemitic, anti-democratic Russians. It was the western world who aided the Whites in the hope, Russia would remain in the war. 1 million supporters of the Soviet revolution were murdered between 1917 and 1923. Lenin was not afraid to use terror against those who stood against him, history had learned him that his opponents would not hesitate to murder him and his allies. Still the Lenin of the anticommunist propaganda remains the Lenin most people see. The first dictatorial leader of the USSR, the first in line of many. Lenin’s face is put next to Stalin and Mao and even next to Adolf Hitler. This is how the anticommunist propaganda works and the Stalinist communist parties who glorified the Lenin of the Soviet state propaganda, only aided the anticommunists in spreading this false picture!	198,545
Interviewee: Courtland Collier Interviewer: Martha Cade Date: April 15, 1989 Courtland Collier is an associate professor emeritus of the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Florida and serves as a commissioner of the City of Gainesville. This interview is part of a series of interviews on the issue of growth/no-growth in Alachua County. Courtland Collier was born July 29, 1925, in Buffalo, New York. Their family spent their winters in Florida. After high school graduation in 1942, Collier enlisted in the U.S. Navy and undertook flight training. He received an early medical discharge and enrolled at Yale to study civil engineering. He received his bachelor of engineering in 1949. He moved to California and enrolled in the Fuller Theological Seminary. He also worked for the California Highway Department constructing bridges and highways. He moved to Kansas for construction work and then enrolled at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for engineering graduate school. Collier then went overseas, to Peru, Venezuela, and Cuba, where he worked in construction and design of roads and bridges. He later moved to Miami and Fort Lauderdale. From Fort Lauderdale Collier moved to Gainesville to work on his master's degree in civil He began work on his Ph.D. but became interested in local politics. Problems with the electric company and road paving were especially pressing at that time, and he decided to put his expertise to local benefit. He was elected for six-year terms to the City Commission in 1967, 1979, and 1988 (for four years). In the interview he discusses the problems associated with traffic arterials and housing density and how the city and county are affected by the Growth Management Act of 1985. His solution to these problems is for the city to annex or consolidate (he explains the difference) in order to provide a high level of service at a lower tax rate. He notes that a majority of the citizens of Alachua County want a change in government, although there is no clear majority of what kind of change that should be. Other topics discussed include art in public places, where he feels the problem is allowing professional artists to make decisions for the public; volunteer and governmental agencies that provide social services; and impact fees and other sources of revenue (sales tax and utility tax), which Collier feels we need a sketch plan that would detail where development would occur and where land for agriculture and ecologically sensitive land would be set aside. He thinks the city and county should get together to provide at a reasonable cost green space, recreation, jobs "lots of good things that we all treasure in the spirit of good fellowship and brotherly love." [Courtland Collier is identified as CC and Martha Cade as MC.] MC: I am interviewing Courtland Collier in his home at 830 NW 22nd Terrace in Gainesville, Florida. It is 10:50 a.m. on Saturday, April 15, 1989. I am Martha Cade, and I am doing this interview for the archives of the Oral History Project at the University of Florida. Mr. Collier is a city commissioner in the City of Gainesville. He is also an associate professor emeritus in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Florida. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering at Yale University and a master's in engineering at the University of Florida in 1963. He is a registered professional engineer and licensed general contractor, and he has worked in that capacity in several countries. He has written two textbooks and articles for numerous professional publications. He served on the city commission from 1967 to 1973, 1979 to 1985, and from 1988 to the present. He was also mayor of the city from 1981 to 1982 and has served as chairman on many committees in the community. We will be discussing issues that pertain to growth versus no-growth in Gainesville and Alachua County. First I would like to ask you a little about your background, beginning with when and where you were born. CC: I was born in Buffalo, New York, on July 29, 1925. MC: Did you live in Buffalo? CC: No. My dad was working in Warren, Pennsylvania, at the time for a firm by the name of New Process. He was writing some direct-mail advertising for them. He was one of the pioneers in that field. The nearest suitable hospital just happened to be in Buffalo, so I lived in Buffalo for about three weeks. Of course, we went back to Warren. Then after Warren, Dad moved to White Plains, New York, for a short time, and then to North Tarrytown, New York. We had a house there. Mother finally sold it after Dad died in the early 1950s. In the early 1930s Dad bought a house on St. Armands Key in Sarasota, Florida. We spent our winters down there and summers up in New York. That is the way I grew up. I started school in the fall in Tarrytown, New York, and then attended the schools in Sarasota during winter. Then I came back late in spring to the schools in New York. Interestingly enough, I found that they were pretty much on par. I found that the Sarasota school was usually a little ahead in math and the New York school was usually ahead in language, English, and the arts, but I did not find that there was really that much difference between the two. People at that time used to say Florida had a terrible school system. It was probably the teachers. I had some pretty good teachers. MC: Was it hard socially to move from school to school? CC: Well, a kid is pretty adaptable, and I did not find things too difficult socially. I had friends in both areas and seemed to make friends fairly quickly, so it did not seem like any kind of handicap to me. I rather enjoyed it. MC: Did you have brothers and sisters? CC: Yes. I was the next to the last in a family of six kids--four boys and two girls. MC: Did your mom stay home and take care of you? CC: Yes, my mother was a homemaker. That was her full-time job. She did a pretty good job at it. MC: Could you tell me your parents' names? CC: Dad's name was Robert Collier, and mother's name was Marcheneil. Her maiden name was Bass Marcheneil Bass Collier. MC: Where did she get the name Marcheneil? CC: Well, it is a good old southern name. She was born in Temple, Texas. Her mother was born in Grantville, Georgia, so that is where, of course, she was named. It is not an uncommon name. MC: What did you do when you graduated from high school? CC: Well, I graduated a year early, in the summer of 1942. I took my senior year in summer school, and that was finished up in August 1942. The war, of course, had started December 7, 1941, so the natural thing for me to do was to join the navy. I went through flight training as a naval aviator. When I was a year along in the course I contracted rheumatic fever and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Hospital north of Chicago. After several months I received a medical discharge. Well, I met a young sailor there whose dad had a fruit ranch in California, and he invited me to go out there to recuperate and do some work around the place and generally get my health back. So I hopped on a train and went out there, and I met this marvelous family. They took me in as one of their own. It was there I became a Christian. After a few months eating some of that farm food I gained about forty pounds. The cream from the cow was so thick you could not pour it, you had to scoop it with a spoon. A little bit of that and tender loving care, and I was feeling a lot better after several months. Since I was not eligible for re-enlistment, I went down to San Francisco to ship out in the merchant marine. I made several trips to the South Pacific war zones. Then I thought it might be interesting to see what Europe was like in the middle of the war, so I hitchhiked across the country to the east coast to ship out to the north Atlantic. Unfortunately, I contracted tuberculopleurisy, and a doctor in New York said that I needed to take some rest and recuperation. Well, Dad had sold the place in Sarasota and bought another place in Mountain Lake, Florida, right next to the Bok Tower carillon in Lake Wales, so I went down there for several months. It was down here that Mother came across an article in the newspaper saying that Yale was preparing to accept returning veterans, and she suggested I apply. That is how I got to Yale. I enrolled in engineering there, starting out in mechanical engineering. After talking with some of the people in civil engineering, it was obvious that civil had a broader scope, so I switched over to civil engineering. In the summer after my freshman year I went back out to California to work in a summer service project there with the Baptist ministry. We took kids up in the Sierras for summer camp and taught Vacation Bible School and had a real good time. I also fell in love, and at the end of the summer I married a very sweet girl from Auburn, California, whom I had met while I was staying at the ranch in Auburn. MC: What was her name? CC: Her name was Elizabeth Taylor Collier. After college I was interested in exploring more deeply into the Christian faith, and the opportunity came to study at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, so we went out there. This was in the fall of 1949. I enrolled at the seminary and was very pleased with the studies and the fine Christian scholars that I had to study under there. I studied the Bible, Greek, and some other in-depth Bible studies that satisfied me with the Christian faith as far as the place that I ought to be. About halfway through my second term we had to drop out for financial reasons, and we found out we were expecting our first child, Debbie, who incidentally is living right here, just south of Alachua. She has five kids of her own now. MC: Oh, great. CC: So she was born in Pasadena. I went to work in the California Highway Department for several years constructing bridges and highways out there in the Pasadena area, as well as the mountains overlooking Pasadena. That was good fun. Then I got an offer to work for a contractor in Wichita, Kansas, so I went there and worked for a while. Then we moved on to Dodge City, Kansas, and lived there for a while. That is where my second child was born, my son, Nathan. He lives next door to me. Then it was on to Texas, where I worked down along the Mexican border for several years zoning and building highways. Then we were on to Lehigh [University] to do some graduate work. MC: Lehigh is where? CC: Lehigh is in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is where I went to engineering [graduate] school. Then I got an offer to work overseas. I went to Peru and then to Cuba for a while. Then after Cuba we went to Venezuela, and then from Venezuela to a job in [Miami and] Fort Lauderdale, Florida. MC: What kinds of jobs did you do in the foreign countries? CC: Construction and design. In Venezuela we did some design and construction mostly for the petroleum industry. I worked for Lummus Company in Venezuela; they did work for Shell Oil Company. Then from Fort Lauderdale I decided to come back to the University of Florida to work on my master's degree. MC: Had you been to the University before, or to Gainesville? CC: Well, I had been through Gainesville one time en route to Jacksonville to take the test for my Florida P.E., professional engineer's license. I had just really been here that one time. But this is a very attractive area, The people that I was working with in Fort Lauderdale saw that I was going to go to graduate school at the University of Florida, and they spoke very highly of it. It had a good MC: So what year was that when you came to Gainesville? CC: That was in February 1961 I came up. I had called up here to the civil engineering department. They asked, "Have you taken the Graduate Record Exam [GRE]?" I said no, and they said "I am sorry, but it is too late to apply now." I said, "Well, if I go up there to talk to you, would you speak to me?" Professor [Ralph W.] Kluge was the head of the civil engineering department at that time. He very graciously said yes, so I packed up the car and came on up here. He decided he could let me enroll. MC: Without the GRE? CC: Without the GRE. So I have been here ever since. After my first term here he said, "We need somebody to teach in construction. Could you help us?" I said, "Well, my background and experience is mostly in construction, so I would be more than happy to help you." I started out as a teaching associate, which is a non-faculty position, while I pursued my master's. I got my master's in 1963. I started out on my Ph.D. program, but about that time I got interested in local There were some real problems with local politics. We had a city-owned electric company that was charging one of the highest residential rates in the state. There were some obvious inefficiencies and non-responsiveness to some of the local needs. We had almost one hundred miles of unpaved dirt streets. MC: In the city? CC: In the city. Large areas of the city had no sewer service. Residents were using septic tanks and outhouses. It was a pretty bad situation. People were building houses in the flood plane and were getting flooded out. There were just a number of things that needed to be done. I thought well, I have only been here six years, so I do not really have any chance of being elected, but maybe I can get somebody who is qualified to run. So I went around to some of my friends that were better known and had been here for some time and suggested, "We have some real problems here in town. Why not run for city commission? I will help you." They all said, "No, I am busy doing (this, that, or the other thing). Why don't you run?" Well, I thought I did not have any chance of winning, but maybe if during the campaign we could get some good discussion going, get some attention concentrated on some of these problems, it would ultimately lead to a solution. So I threw my hat in the ring. (It did not cost anything at that time.) There were six or seven candidates for that one seat. A good crowded My friends came through and did what they said they were going to do they got their friends out to vote and worked hard on the campaign. I think we spent close to one thousand dollars on that first campaign. By contrast, I think in the last campaign we spent about fifteen thousand dollars. Back then it depended upon the people, of course, [to win an election]. You [still] cannot buy a [successful] campaign in Alachua County. You have to have the people in favor of you or else it does not go. It turned out that I had the second highest vote total on the first round. The person who got the highest vote total was a realtor and very fine man, but at that point in time if there was anything that was a handicap running for city commission it was being involved in development. So I was able to run, and I won the runoff election. So my good friends managed to get me elected in 1967. Then we started campaigning to clean up some of the problems. On the problem of paving we were able to work together with the city engineer, and we devised a program called semi-pave. We had first gone to the DOT [Florida Department of Transportation] and asked their advice, and they said, "Well, it is going to cost you at least three or four dollars a lineal foot. There are 5,280 lineal feet to a mile, and you have about one hundred miles. That means you have more than you can handle." So I worked with the city [manager and city] engineer, and we worked out a program of semi-paving that actually costs about seventy-five cents a foot. The key to it was using the compaction that was in place rather than tearing up the road and laying it down again, as was the standard practice. We looked at the road and figured it had twenty or thirty years of traffic over it and was pretty well compacted, so it is going to stay in pretty good shape. We made sure that there were two or three inches of limerock, and then we just put a penetration- and gravel-seal coat on top of that. We felt it would last anywhere from three to five years, but at least it would get us out of the dust and mud. Well, we finished that program in 1973, and here it is 1989, and most of those roads are still being used. Some of them pretty patched up, but they far exceeded the three to five year life span that we anticipated. That was very successful. We paved about one hundred miles of roads, including every road where we had public right-of-way. We had to do a sewer project in east Gainesville, where most people still used septic tanks and outhouses. We sewered hundreds of homes that had been using septic tanks and outhouses. That project included almost a third of As for the problem with Gainesville [Regional] Utilities, we managed to arrange for the director at that time to retire, and we found a number of competent, college-trained people. After a period of about ten years we went from [being the utility with almost] the highest residential rates in the state to the lowest residential rates in the state. At the present time we are within 1 percent of the lowest [residential electric rate] in the state, even though our electric utility pays more to the city in profit than we get from property tax. We really made some progress in all of those areas, and I am very pleased to have been a part of it. Nothing like that can be accomplished single-handedly. It took a lot of people to [do the] work. It took a lot of effort, and I am [proud to have been] a part of that. MC: Why did you get back into the commission in 1988? CC: Well, we have a two-term limit, so we can serve only two [consecutive] three-year terms, which means a commissioner can serve for only six years [straight] if elected for a second time. Then you have to take at least one year out [of office]. The first time I took six years out. There were some things I needed to do. I wrote a book, I took a sabbatical, I achieved, a few things like that. Then in 1979 I decided to run again. People were kind enough to re-elect me, so I was in from 1979 to 1985. Then I was out for three years and ran again. The people were good enough to re-elect me in 1988. Once you get involved in solving local problems, it kind of gets into your blood. You find out where all the buttons and levers are and how to get things done. You have the ability on one hand, and there are real community needs on the other hand. Gainesville's biggest challenges are still ahead of us. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. MC: I understand that Gainesville has grown in population about three times since you first came to Gainesville. What are some of the problems we face in the city right now? Are they similar to the problems we faced when you first joined the CC: Yes. Actually, the population in Gainesville doubles about every twenty to thirty years. It has since 1850. Historically we have a growth rate right around 3 percent per year, which means we double in less than twenty-five years. I see no sign of the growth rate slacking. We are in one of the fastest growing areas in the United States. We really do not need to accelerate our growth rate. We have enough problems in handling the growth we have. Obviously we are a very viable area. People [continue to] come here for the same reasons that you and I came here: the desirable location, the intellectual stimulation from the University, the opportunities for kids. We are trying to pick up our deficits in parks and recreation, and I think we are going to be successful. People here are not afraid of new ideas, and it is just a great place to live. Sunshine, orange juice. You can make a living here and do what you want. It is easy to make good friends. There is a great attitude on the part of the people here. So I am very pleased to live here, and I am sure other people will come and find the same things. I look for the greatest growth we have ever had [to occur in the near MC: Because we are growing, and growing rapidly, there are a lot of services in Gainesville that need to be growing alongside the population. I would like to talk about some of the things that are important in a community, starting with the road system. I know you have a lot of experience with roads. Do you feel they are adequate in Gainesville? CC: Well, you know [from personal experience that] if you go out during rush hour you will find that you have to wait for two or three cycles at traffic lights in various locations, not everywhere, but say on 34th Street, on [NW] 43rd Street, on Main Street, and Newberry Road. There are too many locations with clogged traffic. Obviously it is going to get worse unless we are able to devise a road-building program that can handle that. By the very nature of it, we never seem to quite catch up. If we keep [pursuing] a reasonable distance behind it, we are doing pretty well. Our biggest problem is planning ahead. We never seem to learn that you not only have to provide for today's traffic but for tomorrow's traffic, too. So what we really need to do is look at the county as it will be at the time of full That is a concept a lot of people have trouble with. What is full development? You can easily visualize a subdivision with one hundred lots in it. Finally you will sell that one hundredth lot, and that lot will be built out. Then you will have a full subdivision. What are you going to do then? You do not try to squeeze more people into the same subdivision. You go next door and build another subdivision. Some day all the land that is subdividable is going to be subdivided, and we are going to have a built-out condition in the community. People say that is so far ahead that it cannot even be imagine. However, I am sure we can imagine a built-out condition for Alachua County just as easily as we can imagine the built-out subdivision of one hundred lots. Alachua County consists of about six hundred thousand acres. About half of that is developable, and the rest of it is going to be agricultural lands or greenspace, like Payne's Prairie or wetlands or areas of sensitive ecological [and aquifer recharge] areas that we want to preserve. Certainly we do not want to develop all the agricultural land in the community. Let us make a rough guess and suppose we have 25 percent [of the land area] for greenspace and 25 percent for the farmers, for agricultural use. That leaves about 50 percent for development of one kind or another. That means we have about three hundred thousand acres in Alachua County that we could develop at the time of build-out. This is just a rough guess, but it is better than no guess at all. It might even be in the ballpark. So how many people can we expect? Our present density is about three units to the acre overall. That includes roads and schools and parks and so on. If you get three and a third people per residential unit, per family (that makes the arithmetic a lot easier), that means about we average ten people per acre. So you have a density of ten people to the acre overall on 300,000 acres, that means we have an ultimate carrying capacity of three million people if we do not increase the density. (If we increase the density we can hold more.) [That translates to] three to six million if we consider doubling our density. Doubling our density may sound acceptable in the abstract. But if you agree to double our density, then how about building an apartment house in your neighborhood? That is when people [become alarmed and] come in to the meetings saying, "Not in my backyard! Put it somewhere else. It is a fine idea in the abstract, but we do not want it here." That is one of the predominant reactions that will probably keep our density low. But if we guess the three- to six-million person range for open carrying capacity in Alachua County, you can see we have some room to grow. Okay. Now what about time frames? We do not really have to worry about time frames if you sketch plan an [adequate] infrastructure. I am talking about a sketch plan, not a million dollar plan. A sketch plan may cost about $2,000. Where are we going to put these people? [Let's use the process of elimination.] It is not hard to determine the undesirable locations. They are the wetlands and the places like Payne's Prairie or San Felasco Hammock that are ecologically sensitive or for one reason or another are undesirable for building on. Then there are the better, more productive farm lands that you want to save, obviously. So [by process of eliminating lands that are undesirable for development] you can figure where you want to put these three to six million Then you need a road system, which brings us back to the question that you were originally asking. We need a road system that is going to transport these people from where they are to where they want to go. Well, where do they want to go? Obviously, they want to go to work, so we need arterials that will take them to the work centers. [In addition, we need arterial access] to the shopping areas, the industrial areas, the institutional areas, and so on. From these needs we devise the arterial road map. Our principal objective is to be sure that we do not inadvertently allow a subdivision [to be constructed] right where one of these arterials needs to go and that we provide right-of-way for the roads. In the past [we have made the mistake of thinking] this is just a country dirt road now, so you can build your house right up next to it. You only need sixty feet, maybe eighty feet, in some cases one hundred feet, but you can build your house right up next to it because it is just dirt country road. In little while, a few more houses are built out there, and the new residents need a two-lane paved road. Traffic picks up, and after a while it becomes an arterial. That is exactly what happened to [NW] 34th Street [between University Avenue and NW 16th Avenue]. Then [the traffic becomes congested and you need] to four-lane it or six-lane it, but people say no, no, you will ruin our residential neighborhood. A residential neighborhood should never have been built facing 34th Street in the first place. It should have been built on the side streets off of it, with the houses facing side streets or parallel streets to 34th Street. We need wide rights-of-way so we can put up some buffers, some barriers [between residential use and heavy traffic]. A berm is one of the best barriers, but you do not have room for a berm in there MC: What is berm? CC: A berm is a large mound of earth. So 34th Street [between University Avenue and NW 16th Avenue] is a perfect example of how not to do it. [In many instances we still are not planning ahead and are] not providing for the arterial traffic that is obviously going to be there in the future. MC: Why do they let things like this happen? For instance, there has been talk about widening [NW] 43rd [Street] for quite a few years. But just two years ago a developer was allowed to build three homes right on 43rd. Who allows that? CC: Local government allows that. The problem is they just find it difficult to envision Alachua County in a built-out condition. It is easier to visualize Alachua County as cities and farms and dirt roads out there. They find it difficult to gear up to an urban mentality, which is why we need urban planners that can plan for the built-out condition of the community. MC: Is that what happened with the Oaks Mall and Newberry Road? CC: That certainly contributed to the overloading of Newberry Road at the Oaks Mall. MC: It seems like as soon as one road is built it is torn up to make it wider. CC: Our arterials are seldom wide enough because it is difficult to require a 300-foot-wide right-of-way for a little two-lane dirt road, even though it will one day become an arterial carrying fifty thousand people. So they let people build houses [close to the road], and they experience all sorts of [subsequent] trauma. It is psychologically very traumatic to people to think of a six-lane highway going in front of their homes in which they grew up. There needs to be some provision for protecting and buffering these homes as the traffic increases. MC: Will the Growth Management Act and concurrency help in this practice, do you CC: I think it will. I think it certainly is a great leap forward to have the Growth Management Act in place. The City of Gainesville used to have a one-year capital acquisition program. Each spring they would think of what capital investments they wanted to make as far as the city was concerned for the next year. We finally got them thinking in terms of a five-year plan. Now we are trying to get them thinking in terms longer than that. It is a gradual process, and some people find it difficult to think beyond tomorrow. I think there are enough people around that are concerned, and this Growth Management Act is going to increase their concern because we are having to plan a little further ahead. Obviously, as grim as the picture may be, we have to think in terms of ultimate What is the [ideal] built-out condition for our community, and how can we plan to make it occur? How do we want things to look [and function] for our children and grandchildren? Incidentally, if we take the population of Alachua County and double it, it gets up to three million pretty quickly. We have 185,000 in the county at the present time. That doubles to 370,000 in one doubling, 740,000 [in two doublings], a million and a half (approximately) in the third doubling, and three million in the fourth doubling. Historically, each doubling has taken about twenty-five years. Therefore, four doublings takes about one hundred years. So one hundred years from now we could have three million people here. Then double that and in one hundred twenty-five years [there is] a potential for six million people here. One hundred years ago really was not that long ago. My father was born in 1885, and that was over one hundred years ago. So it may take just two generations, really. MC: What provisions have we made in the City of Gainesville and in the county to protect our land from storm water drainage and an abundance of solid waste? CC: We have taken a giant leap forward in the storm water area by starting up the storm water management utility. Previously we knew what we should do; we just did not have the money to do it with. Storm water management is not a very exciting expenditure, so historically at budget time [storm water budgets get sacrificed for more pressing needs. For instance, when] the city manager adds a million dollars for storm water management, then the police chief says, "Yes, but I need ten new patrolmen," and the fire chief would say, "I need a new fire station out here," and so on. These are pressing issues. They say, "Oh, storm water management can wait one more year. We have gotten by so far." So our new approach is to set up storm water funding as an enterprise fund that we bill people for directly once a month. MC: This is the city? CC: This is the city. And that can be spent on nothing but storm water management. One of our more current problems there is that the [Florida] Department of Environmental Regulation has informed us that the run-off from the road surfaces is highly polluted, particularly for the first quarter inch of rainfall. That first quarter inch carries a lot of pollutants, and we should not drain those off in the sink holes, which lead directly to the drinking water aquifer. They are saying that we have to plan to treat the polluted run-off. Put it through settlement basins and give it some kind of primary treatment where we can skim off most of the pollutants before allowing the water to go back down to the aquifer. That is one of the things we have been dealing with, and we have that funded now. It is not overly funded. It will take a little while to get all [the work] done, but the steady stream of funds is in sight and will lead to a solution. MC: What about the county? For instance, the Oaks Mall? There is a lot of paved CC: The county is facing a very real problem in that they would like to be a county government but would also like to provide urban services. Well, really, one definition of city government is a local government that provides urban services. So they have been trying to be a city government as well as a county government. They were trying to administer an urban ring around the city of Gainesville, which is about the least efficient geography you can imagine. Trying to provide services to a doughnut-shaped ring with a hole that is seven or eight miles wide is about the worst possible configuration. What we are trying to do now is City of Gainesville annex and provide urban services for that urbanized area. MC: Do they pay more right now than people in the city for services? CC: Yes. There is a Metropolitan Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) which consists of all the areas outside all the municipalities in Alachua County. They have their own property tax, about six mills. The city at this time is taxing 5 and 5.75 mills, so we are a little bit lower. MC: How do we reduce our millage? CC: Well, we have other sources of income. We have the franchise fees from telephone, from cable TV, from gas, profit from the electricity system. At the same time we are offering one of the lowest rates in the state, so it is a well-earned profit. And we have the SMU, the Storm Water Management Utility. We have more alternatives than they have. MC: Would we have financial benefit from annexing the [urban] fringe? CC: It is about a break-even. Our problem is that if we do not annex, then the more affluent people tend to move to the suburbs, and the average income for the people in the city goes down. As this happens ultimately the city becomes a refuge of the poor and the low income, and the poverty rate increases. So in order to stay healthy, we need to grow. We can provide services to the people in the urbanized areas surrounding the city limits in a much more efficient manner. We can provide higher level of service at lower rates. That is the logic behind it. We need to [annex] or else stagnate. MC: So what are the other reasons the county is against annexation, besides the mistaken idea that it would cost less if they stayed a county government? CC: Basically turf. For every house we annex they [used to] see a loss of several hundred dollars in tax revenues. One of the big problems now is revenue. They saw it as a zero-sum game if we won they lost, rather than what it really is. We all win if we let one government provide the urban services and the other provide the rural and social services [and other countywide services]. MC: Tell me about solid waste disposal. I know they have implemented a new program in the city and some neighborhoods for recycling. CC: In this area there are very few suitable locations for landfill. There is a great deal of public sentiment against incineration. Those are basically the two standard methods for disposing of solid waste. So we need to try to reduce the amount of solid waste we produce and make the landfill last as long as possible. To do that we are implementing this month a recycling program citywide. Right now recycling does not pay for itself. It is going to cost us an extra seventy or eighty cents per household per month in order to pay for the recycling program, but in the long run I am sure it is the right thing to do. As people help markets develop for recyclable items and as these markets develop, I am sure the value of the recycled materials will increase. Certainly it is going to help preserve our landfill for a longer period of time. The landfill is run by the county. The city is not in that business. We just have a contractor drive our solid waste to the landfill. We pay a tipping fee to the county and dump the stuff into their landfill. The county takes care of the landfill. MC: How do you convince the citizens to recycle products if it is costing them more CC: Well, the cost [is included in the garbage bill, and] they have to pay it anyway. To get them to recycle requires a public education program. Most people respond to that. It just makes sense not to throw an aluminum can away, to just put it in the recycling program rather than in with the wet garbage. If the public were not behind it we probably would not be doing it. It just makes a lot of sense. I think people recognize that. MC: There has been some talk of charging individual families per pound of waste. Do you know anything about that? CC: Well, it is an interesting thought, and it makes a lot of sense until you get down to the implementation of it. It means that you have to weigh each load that you put on the garbage truck, and that slows it down considerably. If you see the waste disposal people working out there, they are running all the time. They are on a route basis, when they get through with their route, they are through for the day, so they are in a hurry to get through. If you slow them down by having to weigh everything, it becomes a very cumbersome and expensive system. And the advantages are not that great. Unfortunately, at the present time the disadvantages out weigh the advantages. MC: What would be the advantages? Would that help people decide to recycle more CC: It depends upon how you implement it. Yes, if we charged for every pound taken to the landfill, that would certainly provide an incentive to reduce the solid waste stream by recycling everything possible. Just right now it is too cumbersome to implement. [However, it certainly is a system to include in future MC: Why are people opposed to incineration? CC: They are afraid of toxic gases. Our stack scrubbers are not very efficient just now, and there are tons of various kinds of toxins that [get by and] are released into the atmosphere. We do not know all the effects. So locally incineration is not very popular [here], although in some parts of the state it is being used. MC: Do you see us ever using incineration when our population gets up to three CC: I think it is quite possible if we can develop a system that reduces the toxins released through the stacks to a non-harmful level. That is number one. Number two is defining a non-harmful level. MC: I would like to talk about the urban fringe problem a little bit. How do we keep from having buildings built on urban fringe in the future? It costs more to service those areas and build roads out to them. How do we keep people inside the city limits building within the city? CC: Well, the standard approach to that is an urban services district that sets up a line that you move from time to time as the need arises, a line outside of which you cannot develop. You can build a farmhouse, a barn, or something like that, but you cannot put in a subdivision outside this line. That is the way you keep development compact. You wait until all that area is developed, or at least a high percentage is developed, because you do not want to give anyone a monopoly on developable land. If say you wait until 75 percent of it is developed before extending the urban services boundary another couple of miles, you keep the development pretty compact. We tried that back in the 1970s. We said, "Here is the line. We will not extend our utilities any further than that for the present time." The county then proceeded to get into the utility business. They bought Northwood Utilities for a considerable multiple of the [lowest] appraised value and went into the utility business. That was the way that they circumvented the standard procedure for insuring compact development. As a result of that, the city decided and I think wisely so to combine with the county and set up the Regional Utility Board [RUB]. The city combined the water and sewer with electric services at that time (previously they had been separate) and bought from the county the Northwood Utilities. The city and county combined to form a ten-member board (with all five city commissioners and all five county commissioners) to formulate policy for the regional utilities. Well, that lasted from 1972 (somewhere around there) to 1979. It tended to deteriorate because the city retained ownership of the electric while allowing the ten-member board to set policy. All policies set by the ten-member board had to be ratified by the five-member city commission, so if there was, say, a seven-three vote on RUB, with five county commissioners and two city commissioners [voting for and three city commissioners voting against], the city commission, when they sat, could still reverse it by a three-two majority. So this led to some differences of opinion, to put it mildly, and RUB finally broke up about 1980, I guess. MC: Do you ever foresee the city and county ever getting along enough to solve some of these problems? CC: Well, the problem there is the same thing we ran into with RUB. You can get the first ten commissioners to say, "Fine. We will work together. We will cooperate," and so on, but then every year you may get a new commissioner elected to the city commission and every two years a new commissioner elected to the county commission. This does not occur always, but frequently. The new commissioners may be uncooperative for one reason or another. They may have their own agendas. Possibly the reason they ran is because they have were unhappy with the present government and may find some fault in it. It is just human nature that sooner or later you are going to get a majority or a powerful minority that says, "This thing is not working. Let's break it up." I think the ultimate answer is consolidation or annexation. Consolidation is not the perfect answer, but when you get through talking about annexation and unification and all the other nations" you end up with, well, you really cannot have two levels of local government that are competing with one another and expect there to be peace and efficiency and the highest level of service for the lowest cost. It just does not work. MC: What exactly is consolidation? How does it differ from annexation? CC: The best example of consolidation is Duval County, Jacksonville, where they had a referendum. They said, "Any town [in Duval County] that wants to retain its identity may do so, and any town that wants to consolidate with Jacksonville may do so." Essentially what it did was abolish the city charter of Jacksonville. Say you are part of the county, and there were four small towns that opted to retain their municipal charters. The way it would work here would be similar. We would have a referendum. As a matter of fact, we had two referenda back in the 1970s to give people an opportunity to consolidate. They rejected both of them. The analysis was they rejected both of them primarily because of the personalities involved. The first one would have done away with the collective charter officers the sheriff, the clerk, the tax collector, tax assessor, supervisor of elections. These were all occupied by very popular people, and the public wanted to keep the sheriff and so on, so they voted down consolidation the first time. Then the second time the proposal was to keep all the charter officers in place, but for some reason or another I guess there was xenophobia at that time. The city people were afraid the county people were going to take over, and the county people were afraid the city people were going to take over, so they said no, not just yet. Then we had a straw ballot the last election that gave the options of status quo (stay like we are), unify services, annex, or consolidate. None of them got a clear majority. There was about 10 to 20 percent of the people who voted for status quo, depending upon the area. Most of the people that voted for status quo were living in the small municipalities, as well as some in Gainesville, which indicated that the small municipalities were doing a good job at servicing their people. But that meant that 80 to 90 percent of the people were saying to change, that they do not like the status quo. There was no clear-cut majority on what kind of a change. Nor was it really clear that the people were really clear on what they were voting for. If you asked the question "What is the difference between consolidation and annexation," the bright, young, aware person might have been in favor of any kind of "ation" they thought might be an improvement over the status quo. MC: What would you prefer to see happen? CC: I think we are still small enough where we need only one government. We are trying to provide urban services, and the county is trying to provide urban services. It is not working. It is becoming very inefficient in those areas. I think the easiest thing to do is consolidate. Let the small municipalities opt out of consolidation if they so desire. On the other hand, I am not at all sure if consolidation would pass because of the same problems we had before. As you were about to point out, the problem with annexation is that you can annex today, and tomorrow a new subdivision might spring up outside the annexed area, which means you just have to keep annexing. The county gets to determine the shape and the type of the new development outside the annexed area. They may make all kinds of mistakes, and the city has to administer them. It has to administer 34th Street and the other problems that the county created, but it could get out of that if annexation occurred. MC: Is there any way that the city can entice people to want to live in the city and developers to build in the undeveloped areas in the city instead of on the fringe? CC: Well, we are working on that at the present time. There are some areas out there where people have asked to come into the city, so we are going to schedule an election for them in June. There are two ways we can annex: (1) under the general law which says the area to be annexed has to vote [with a] majority for annexation, as well as the city has to vote [with a] majority for it; (2) under a special act that passed for Gainesville, Alachua County, which says if you get the urban boundaries commission together which consists of the ten commissioners, and they are willing to permit it, then you can lump all the vote into one. The city and the annexed area vote together, and whatever the majority of the combined electorate says, that is what is done. But the county is not willing to do that. So we fall back to the general law. MC: The Growth Management Act was started in 1985. Does it affect only the city, or the county? CC: It affects [both the city and] the county. MC: So when does it go into effect for Alachua County? CC: May 1991. MC: Do you see that as helping solve the problems we have in the county? CC: Well, it is no panacea, but it will at least direct people's attention to growth management. What it says essentially is that if we have [infrastructure such as] a road that is loaded to capacity at the present time, then we cannot have any more development until that road is widened. That is going to be a little difficult to live with. The temptation there is to set low standards. [We may have to] set a service level of E or something like that, which is congestive but is not going to stop development. We will be tempted to sacrifice standards in order to stay away from the crisis of having people bang their fists on the table and saying, "I cannot develop because you have not widened your road." The same is true of the rest of the infrastructure. Anything you can set a standard on you have to meet or exceed those standards or no more development [will be allowed]. MC: Those standards are not met in the city at this time, are they? CC: We have not set the standards yet. If you took the standards that we have traditionally used, the answer would be yes, we do not meet all of our standards. And that is sort of what by nature a standard is. It is something you hope to achieve but you probably have not at the present time. It is true for government as well as people. MC: So when these new laws go into effect for our county and our city, will we have to take care of our existing roads and bring them up to standards before we can spend money building new roads in the county? CC: The answer is yes. The temptation is to set the standard so low that you already exceed them. In other words, change the traditional standards. MC: Will the state allow that to pass? CC: That is a good question. What standard is the state willing to let us accept for ourselves? I do not know the answer to that. Several of the first few comprehensive plans that were sent to the state have been rejected. I think Broward County was one of the first. The basis on which they were rejected was that the standards were too low. MC: As our city and county grow, how do we make sure that greenspace is set aside in the city limits? CC: Well, that is a very good question. We are at the present time working on the greenspace element of the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is going to set the standards. It has a number of elements. It has about maybe fifteen to twenty elements, one of which is going to be the greenspace element. We are currently revising the standards for that. I think we are going to have fairly respectable standards for greenspace. We have traditionally set aside $300,000 a year for acquisition of greenspace in the city, and we have been able to pick up some significant acreage. We devised the Recreation Funding Task Force last fall to give us a permanent, dedicated source of income for recreation and greenspace. They made their report yesterday advocating a referendum for a half-cent additional sales tax dedicated to recreation and greenspace. That would provide about $6 million a year countywide which would, if passed, mean that we would have a continual and dependable source of income for that type of thing. That to me is the best option. A number of people are going to be working very hard for a permanent funding source. So standards and funding are the two things we need. We are working on both. MC: I want to ask you about art in public places. There is a law stating that a certain percentage of the cost of the building has to be used for public art. It looks like a majority of the people do not approve of the art that is chosen. Something I think would be nice would be to use that money for funds for greenspace, because greenspace and parks in this area would be enjoyed by everybody. CC: That is quite true. There was this suggestion that came in the other day why not use the funding for landscaping when it is directly related to the building? I agree. I think that some of the items that are being purchased for art are pure junk. I think that almost literally we require fencing around better looking junk than some of the stuff they are trying to sell us as modern art at the present time. Where we have gone astray, obviously, is we have let the professional art people make the selection. They are trying to tell us that our standards for art is wrong. You might have seen my letter to the editor recently regarding the piece of art that was selected for the new utilities building. MC: Yes, I enjoyed it. CC: Where we went astray there is we let four professional artists select out of over two hundred entries and pick four finalists. Then the lay board was brought in to try to pick the best of the four pieces of junk. They did the best they could, but they should have had an option [to vote for] "none of the above," but they did not. I hope we can get that turned around, but I am not at all sure we can. I think your suggestion certainly has a lot of merit. MC: Some of the other things that are necessary in a community are a good educational system and social services. Could you tell me what some of the social services are that we have in Gainesville? CC: Well, we have a number of professional organizations and a number of volunteer organizations. The basic social services are provided by the state through HRS. That is food stamps. Housing is provided from the federal government through the housing authority, which has over a thousand low-rent units, and through the Section 8 program, which is a rent supplement. So food and shelter are provided for the most part by the state. We have some food and shelter provided on a temporary basis by volunteer organizations such as St. Francis House and the Salvation Army. There used to be two or three other smaller ones. They provide shelter for maybe two or three nights. Then you are supposed to find your own. The food will continue to be provided as long as you show up. They have sandwiches for lunch, soup for supper, and so on. We have a lot of volunteer agencies that are doing a little this, a little that to help the drug rehab program. They are swamped. They raise funds around the community and also receive some limited drug funding. They also have a rehabilitation program that is funded by the public and private [sources]. The public, I believe, is funded by HRS, as well as private efforts. There is a lot of youth work going on youth soccer league, boys' club, girls' club, boy scouts, girl scouts, 4-H. For the most part [these are] volunteer efforts, although they do get some regular funds. The city supplies under $100,000. I think $40,000 to $60,000 is pretty close for the Southeast Boys Club, and we probably get a couple hundred thousand dollars benefit from that because of the volunteer efforts that go along with that. But that is money well spent. We also provide funding for such things as the Hippodrome [State Theater], the Acrosstown Repertory Theater, and items that are supposed to contribute to the MC: Where does the money come from that we provide for these services? CC: Well, it comes from the four different levels of government. The federal government, of course, funds some of the activities. We also get some through the state. The state funds the HRS with state money and federal money. The county provides social services, information referral, and is typically involved in some of the food programs. The state legislature frequently comes up with what they consider to be a bright idea, and they mandate that the counties provide the service and the funding to go with it, which poses a real hardship on local government. The city in recent years has gotten more and more into that. At the present time they are spending about $240,000 on outside agencies. The hope is that this will be seed money which will go together with private contributions and volunteer efforts to provide much more benefit to the local community. In most cases I am sure that is true; in some cases it is probably MC: Tell me where the money comes for other spending in Gainesville, for the roads, for the schools, for the sewage. CC: Well, the school board raises their own funds. They have the ability to levy property taxes, which they do, up to ten mills. They also get millions of dollars from the state. The roads are done on three levels state roads, some of which are federally funded, most of which are state funded, and most of the money comes from gas tax; county roads, most of which comes from gas tax; and city roads, most of which comes from [the general fund]. We have not done any paving in the last three years. We have done the maintenance. Maintenance costs us about $2 million a year, and most of it comes from the general fund. I think $700,000 comes from the gas tax, but most of it comes from the general MC: Do you think we have adequate funds for a city that is growing as quickly as CC: We never quite have adequate funds. We try not to get too far behind and catch up where we can, but we never quite have all the funding we would like to have. MC: Tell me about the impact fee. CC: The impact fee is a good idea. I do not know why it has taken the county so long to implement it, but they say they have plans for this summer. The impact fee is a fee charged new construction to pay their share of the infrastructure. For instance, if the cost to the roads averages out to $200 per household, each new household that is built is supposed to pay $200 for the infrastructure part. There are limitations on how those funds can be spent. [If they are collected for roads], they have to be spent on roads, roads that represent the new home owners' share. They cannot be spent on bringing our share up to standards. They have to be spent on bringing the new home owners' share up to the prevailing standards, not the desired standards. MC: What about the existing growth? What about bringing it up to standards? CC: Well, that is something we have to charge ourselves for. The easiest way to do that would be to charge a user fee, which consists of a gas tax. If the legislature now would provide for a ten-cent gas tax, that would help bring our roads up to standards. One real problem is planning now for future traffic. We are not reserving the rights-of-way for arterials. These paving and drainage needs are going to catch up to us, and the bill is going to be large. Most people who drive do not mind paying for what they are using, but they do want to be able to see it. MC: What are some other ideas for raising revenue besides a user fee, impact fee? CC: Well, first is the sales tax. The city engineer has suggested that just as we are going to accomplish more with the [storm water] utility, perhaps we could make roads a utility and charge people a monthly fee for roads. That is pretty much it. One of the board members has suggested a fee for recreation. One dollar seventy-three cents per month per household would provide something like $2 million or $3 million per year for greenspace and recreation. Somebody else suggested a tax on non-alcoholic beverages. A nickel a can on Coke or something like that would supply about $3 million a year for drainage. There are ideas like that floating around. MC: I have heard that Gainesville is two years ahead of its population growth in commercial and residential buildings. Do you see this as a problem? CC: Well, I see it as an opportunity. We have an overhang in the market, certainly. We have vacancies; we have some 17 percent vacancy in the rental market. We also have about five hundred housing structures in town that are in need of demolition. About three thousand are seriously deficient and need major repairs. So this is an opportunity to catch up on those without putting people out on the street. As long as there is plenty of housing available we should be able to catch up with our housing needs without seriously inconveniencing people. MC: So it is fine to keep building new buildings, new commercial property. CC: Well, it is fine for the community. It is not fine for the builders, because they are losing money when they build a house and cannot sell it. That is the risk they choose to take, and they understand that. They know when they build a house in an area where there is a high vacancy rate that it is going to be a little more difficult to sell it. But that is the free market, and we do not want to interfere any more than is necessary. MC: Tell me about business in Gainesville and how it helps our economy. CC: Well, business in Gainesville is one of the factors that we have been trying to work very closely with. We have to encourage business. Their prosperity is our prosperity. We obviously need the right jobs for young people as they come out of the school system so they do not have to move away from home in order to make a good living. We need to provide the goods and services that our citizens need. That is business. We need to encourage them. We have recently proposed a businessmen's ombudsman. Businessmen sometimes complain that they get the runaround at City Hall with the city government. We want to give them one-stop permitting so they can just get an application and deal with one person. MC: So how about bringing new businesses into Gainesville? There have been attempts over the years, and they have always been foiled. CC: Well, we encourage new businesses in Gainesville. There are four or more different economic development offices at the present. There is an economic development office in the City Hall, there is one in the Chamber of Commerce, and the county recently established one. There is the Downtown Redevelopment Authority which is actively trying to gain business, and several others. There are four right there plus several others in other locations that are trying actively to bring business. They brought in [Fred] Bear Archery, which ultimately brought about three hundred people. A number of years ago they brought G.E., which is now Gates [Energy Products], Driltech [Inc.], and a number of others. They have reasonable success. I personally feel that it would be more successful if they all operated out of the same office. That way we could coordinate their efforts a little bit better. They seem to like to do their MC: Could you summarize for me where you think our city and county are going growth-wise and what you see in our future? CC: I think we are in the middle of a very active year. I see growth continuing in the foreseeable future. I think it is very important for us to look at Alachua County at the build-out stage and sketch plan where we want the development to occur and where we do not want it to occur, where the ecologically sensitive lands are (the wetlands), and where the most beneficial areas to retain for agriculture are. We need to sketch plan our arterials, where they need to go, so we can reserve land for those. I would plan for those so we will not have to be buying up additional rights-of-way [that is already developed and pay] extraordinarily high prices. Today the cost of rights-of-way for widening the road will frequently exceed the construction cost. This is just because somebody a few years ago did not foresee a few years into the future. We need to learn from those mistakes. We are not at the present time; we are still making the same old mistakes. Someday maybe people will listen and start thinking of their children and grandchildren. We would like to see the city government and the county government getting together and saying, "We are all trying to accomplish the same thing. Let's just combine, with the people agreeing, so that we can adequately plan ahead." The county and the city need to get together and provide a nice, high level of service at a reasonable cost where the users pay for the services that they get. [We need to ensure] that the tax burden is fairly distributed, that we go into the future with our eyes open and make provisions for a good, high quality of life, with lots of greenspace, lots of recreation, lots of [good jobs and other] good things that we all treasure in the spirit of good fellowship and brotherly love. MC: Did you ever think of running for the county commission yourself? CC: I ran for the county commission one time in 1974 when I was a Republican. It was the wrong time and the wrong place. They had not had any black members [on the county commission], and it just happened to be the time when Tom Coward decided to run, too. It was obvious that they needed at least one black member. I could not really run a full-fledged campaign, and I did not win that one. They run from districts, as you know. You have to live in the district. We have always had pretty good representation from our district since then, so I have not had the opportunity. I enjoy city government. MC: That is good. But without your input on the county commission, is there any other way to get your ideas across to the people in the county so they will be convinced of the need for some of these things you would like to implement? CC: Well, a lot of other people are thinking similar ideas, but we will just have to get one of them to run and be successfully elected. MC: Would the Gainesville Sun be helpful in educating people? CC: Oh, yes. They usually take a pretty enlightened viewpoint, sometimes on the wrong side of things, but I think more often on the right side. MC: Okay. Well, thank you very much for spending some time with me. CC: It has been a real pleasure, Martha. MC: Thank you. CC: And good luck on your project.	266,493
Theresa May, the recently elevated prime minister, has started to put some flesh on the bones on the deservedly much-maligned phrase ‘Brexit means Brexit’. What does the slowly lifting fog mean for food and retail? Well, two points come to mind. First, the fact that Article 50 will be called by the end of March 2017 brings a bit of focus to matters. The first economic outcome of this decisive announcement was a downward movement in sterling; there may be further depreciation when Article 50 is finally called. For importers, this brings the conundrum of pricing power and/or margin squeezes while for exporters, particularly those using homegrown ingredients, it changes their terms of trade. Accordingly, pricing strategies, import substitution and export opportunities may rise up boardroom agendas. Consumer prices, living standards and confidence are, of course, linked and manufacturers and retailers may need another element of entrepreneurship to pass through this foggy zone. For choice, we see CPI rising, but through a finely meshed competitive filter, implying both constraint and opportunity for retailers and suppliers alike. Maybe ‘British goods for British consumers’ should have been the Conservative Party mantra. Second, home secretary Amber Rudd has spoken of ‘British jobs for British workers’! What about the government’s own NHS on this front? What about the negative differential skillset, punctuality and commitment of too many Britons versus foreign labour? British jobs for British workers means enormous supply side skills training and welfare policy change if it is to be realised. There remains much to work through for Mrs May’s ‘one nation’ Toryism to be meaningful. We sense that the trade will welcome easing deflation, if inflation can be controlled, while an outcome of emerging labour policy may be increased capital investment, replacing too much feckless British labour ‘supply’. Some uncomfortable truths about a significant element of the British workforce are about to be aired. If structural change takes place, then Britain’s productivity challenges will be diluted. It’s a big if though. Clive Black is head of research at Shore Capital Stockbrokers	77,125
\|Email Page\|\|Printer Friendly Version\|\|Submit a Report\| The best time to paddle is within two hours of high tide. With a put in at the Burlington City ramp, follow the inward flow 1 to 2 hours before high tide. For the first half mile, the creek flows under several bridges in Burlington City. After the Route 130 bridge, the creek opens up into a wide marshland as it winds its way inland. There are many birds and signs of small animals such as muskrat along the way. With the tide behind you, it is not unusual to move along at 5 MPH while paddling easily. For a suburban area, the route is quiet and enjoyable. At about three miles in, the marshland disappears and the characteristics of an inland creek take shape, although the flow of the tide still dominates. Once the creek narrows, blown down trees are common for the next 1.5 miles. Some paddling skill is needed to negotiate through this area, but progress is still fairly easy. Once the creek reaches the area of Old York Road, the tidal flow stops. I have not paddled beyond this area, but a friend of mine did put in once about five miles upstream at Petticoat Bride Road, paddling all the way down to the Delaware. The trip was very difficult and took all day, with frequent take outs to negotiate blow downs. Unless you are prepared to bushwhack your way through this area, I would not recommend paddling above the tidal flow. The return trip is easy if you manage to catch the tide change and run out with the current. If not, be prepared to work hard as paddling against a 3-4 MPH tide requires power all the way. This trip is especially pleasant in the summer, when powerboats dominate the river. Because of low bridges and shallowness of the creek at low tide, the creek rarely sees many boaters. Bent Shaft Canoe Paddles Hardshell Kayak Sail Rigs	267,597
The U.N. Security Council on Sunday condemned the Syrian government over alleged use of artillery and tank shellings on a village in Homs province which killed more than 100 civilians, including dozens of women and children, over the weekend. The council held an emergency meeting Sunday in the wake of the violence in the town of Houla in Homs on Friday and early Saturday, which killed 116 people and wounded more than 300. Among those killed were 49 children and 34 women, according to the U.N. The U.N. body later came out with a statement condemning "in the strongest possible terms the killings, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more in the village of [Houla], near Homs, in attacks that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighborhood." Britain and France wanted the statement to be even stronger, but Russia, an ally of Syria, expressed disagreement. "It still remains unclear what happened and what triggered what," Russian deputy U.N. ambassador Igor Pankin was quoted as saying. Russia and China have blocked council's earlier attempts to impose sanctions on Syria. The council reiterated its demand in the non-binding statement that the forces of President Bashar al-Assad withdraw heavy weapons from Syrian towns. "Such outrageous use of force against the civilian population constitutes a violation of applicable international law and of the commitments of the Syrian government under United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2042 and 2043 to cease violence in all its forms, including the cessation of use of heavy weapons in population centers," CNN quoted Azerbaijan's Deputy Ambassador Tofig Musayev, as saying. Musayev presided over the meeting and spoke to reporters. However, the Syrian government denied the allegation. Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Syrian security forces were in their local bases Friday when they were attacked by "hundreds of heavily armed gunmen" firing mortars, heavy machine guns and anti-tank missiles, staring a nine-hour battle that killed three soldiers and wounded 16. "No Syrian tank or artillery entered this place where the massacres were committed," The Associated Press quoted him as saying. "The security forces did not leave their places because they were in a state of self-defense." Makdissi accused the gunmen of a "terrorist massacre," and the media of spinning a "tsunami of lies" to justify foreign intervention in Syria. German Ambassador Peter Wettig said there was "clear evidence" of the government's role in the killings. "The evidence is not murky, and there is a clear footprint of the government in this massacre," he was quoted as saying. Special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan is scheduled a visit to Damascus Monday. Clashes between government troops and anti-government protesters have continued despite the deployment of 280 U.N. observers monitoring a ceasefire, which seeks to end the increasingly violent uprising that began last year and was enforced April 10.	47,889
In an earlier column, I offered consumers warnings about annuities. A reader, in a letter to the editor, disagreed with my views on the subject. I stand by my position that annuities simply aren’t good investments for a majority of those who buy them. Annuities flourish in part because of the high commissions received by salesmen – commissions that typically aren’t disclosed to consumers. These commissions, along with excessive fees and surrender penalties that are often longer than 10 years, are one of the key reasons that most annuities tend to be poor investments, as these costs ultimately come out of investors’ returns. There have been so many consumer complaints to insurance commissioners nationwide about alleged improprieties in the sale of annuities – chiefly, regarding a lack of disclosure – that the Pennsylvania Insurance Commission has posted on its website a link to a consumer alert on the site of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (www.naic.org). The alert warns: “Senior citizens should be aware of deceptive sales practices when purchasing annuities.” Further, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov) has become so concerned about annuity marketing that it posted on its website a cautionary letter from Christopher Cox, then chairman of the SEC, concerning fixed equity-indexed annuities. In the speech, Cox denounced the “abusive sales practices often used to promote equity-indexed annuities to older investors for whom they are unsuitable.” As if that weren’t enough, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (www.finra.org) warns consumers in an investor alert that some fixed equity-indexed annuities allow insurance companies to make changes in fee arrangements, after a consumer has invested, that may have a negative impact on returns. These three entities are echoing sentiments I expressed in my column, only more loudly. The collective voice of these regulators is distinctly saying: “Buyer beware.” Q: I’m interested in learning how to re-balance my portfolio. Could you explain why re-balancing is important and how to do so? Re-balancing your portfolio is the unemotional, disciplined process of getting it back to its original balance as called for by your preferred asset allocation – the percentage of total dollars in each asset class (stocks, bonds, etc.). When they are established, portfolios should have a set asset allocation determined by your objectives. But these allocations tend to drift over time as values change. When they do, it’s paramount to consider re-balancing. Let’s say that an investor has an initial asset allocation calling for 60 percent of the portfolio’s dollars to be in stocks and 40 percent in bonds. This allocation is consistent with the investor’s objectives and tolerance for risk. Stocks have historically carried more risk and volatility than bonds, and this individual wouldn’t be comfortable having more than about 60 percent in stocks. Monitoring performance over time, this investor will eventually notice that the allocation has changed. If stock returns have outpaced those from bonds, the actual asset allocation could now be 75 percent in stocks and 25 percent in bonds – meaning that the investor is now taking more risk than originally planned. This scenario calls for re-balancing — selling some of the stocks that have gains and putting these profits into bonds – to restore the asset allocation to the original target of 60/40. Investors who lack a re-balancing discipline may look at their portfolios periodically and react emotionally by selling investments that haven’t been doing well and buying those that have. Thus, they sell low and buy high. By contrast, maintaining a re-balancing discipline forces investors to follow the all-important rule of Investing 101: Selling high and buying low. To maintain such a discipline, investors cannot procrastinate. There must be an ongoing, unemotional process of monitoring investment allocations and considering re-balancing when needed. Care should be taken not to re-balance too often, however, as this may increase trading costs. Even more hurtful than trading costs can be the tax consequences of selling investments with inappropriate timing. Selling within one year of purchase can mean short-term capital gains tax which, for the wealthiest investors, may be as high as 35 percent. But selling more than one year after purchase may mean a lower long-term capital gains tax of, say, 15 percent. So, although investors should consider re-balancing when the target asset allocation has drifted, this discipline shouldn’t be so rigid that it ignores tax consequences that can slice deeply into net returns. Unfortunately, most investors and their advisers do not adhere to a disciplined re-balancing process, so they are often exposed to excessive risk. - Editor's note: The opinions expressed in this column are solely the writer’s and do not reflect the opinions of The Patriot-News. Before acting on any financial advice, readers should consider whether it is suitable for their circumstance and consider seeking advice from a financial or investment adviser. Tim Decker, president of ISI Financial Group Inc., is a Lancaster-based, fee-only financial planner, meaning his compensation comes from advice and service and not from selling particular products. Decker answers financial questions from readers in The Patriot-News the third Sunday of every month. Submit questions by writing him at Timfirstname.lastname@example.org. His weekly radio show, Financial Freedom, airs Saturdays at noon on WHP580 AM.	153,894
Yearly blood work is important for our feline friends too! For cats that are 1-8 years of age the doctors at the Coon Rapids Pet Hospital recommend a general health screen and for our senior cats (>8-9 years of age) we recommend the senior screen. Yearly bloodwork helps us detect changes or abnormalities before your pet is sick. Often times, there are things we can do to treat disease or prevent progression if abnormalities are picked up early. Our health screen for younger cats looks at the function of the liver and kidneys and screens for diabetes. Our senior screen bloodwork assesses internal organs (including liver and kidney), checks for signs of inflammation, infection or anemia, evaluates electrolytes, looks for metabolic abnormalities and screens for common endocrine disorders such as diabetes and thyroid disease. Is your cat up to date on their yearly blood work?	102,648
Swedish, b. 1941, active in the United States Wool and linen; weft-faced with discontinuous weft patterning The Adele Roller Fund and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Myron T. Kerr, Jr., 97.74 Gallery 340 — On view Helena Hernmarck works in the traditional art of tapestry weaving, but she has honed a unique and revolutionary style during her 40-year career. Born in Sweden, she received a traditional education in Swedish textile production in Stockholm before moving to Montreal, London, and finally Connecticut, where she maintains an active studio. Her approach to imagery, which she calls “superrealism,” interprets a snapshot of something ordinary at unexpected dimensions, most often using tremendous magnification. The intention is to jolt the viewer into a new frame of reference. The varied texture and complexity of color in Hernmarck’s interpretations result from her technique, which involves weaving bundles of threads of various thicknesses and hues, known as “butterflies,” into the tapestry. In Glimpse, the architectural dimensions of a town seem to shrink when seen from a bird’s-eye view. The inspiration for the 11-foot tapestry was an aerial photograph by William Garnett, which Hernmarck clipped from a 1967 issue of “Life” magazine. Glimpse was originally commissioned for the lobby of the Diamond-Shamrock Building in downtown Cleveland. Though the original photograph depicted Hatfield, Massachusetts, it had the small-town feel that its Ohio patrons wished to evoke.	190,419
In a moment of cultural serendipity (or, depending on how you look at it, calamity), Oxford Dictionaries Online just announced that "twerk" made the list of new entries to its quarterly dictionary update. While the release of the update list reliably incites horror at the debasement of the venerable Oxford Dictionary institution, not to mention the English language in general, it is important to realize the difference between Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) — a flexible, web-only collection focused on current English usage — and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), a historical record of the core of English, printed and bound on high-quality paper, from which words are never removed. However, while most people respect the OED for enshrining the respectable, time-tested, stable fundament of English, they enjoy it for preserving the odd, rare, and obsolete, exactly the category of entry for which "twerk" is likely headed. Here are 16 words from the latest ODO update, matched up with 16 words from the OED that had short, obscure lives. 1. TWERK, BRANSLE ODO - twerk, v.: "dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance. OED - bransle, n.: "a kind of dance" 1662 (Samuel Pepys' Diary) "They danced the Bransle." 2. OMNISHAMBLES, ACANG ODO - omnishambles, n.: "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations." OED - acang, v.: "to act foolishly, lose self-control" 1200 (St. Katherine manuscript) "Hu nu, dame, dotestu? Cwen, acangestu nu mid alle þes oðre?" 3. SELFIE, DAP ODO - selfie, n.: "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website." OED - dap, n.: "likeness, image" 1746 (Exmoor Scolding) "Tha hast tha very Daps o' thy old muxy Ont Sybyl." 4. FOOD BABY, GUTLING ODO - food baby, n.: "a protruding stomach caused by eating a large quantity of food and supposedly resembling that of a woman in the early stages of pregnancy." OED - gutling, n.: "a great eater, a glutton" 1632 (Robert Sanderson sermon) "The Poets..made themselues bitterly merry with descanting vpon..the fatte paunches of these lasie gutlings." 5. A/W, M.B. ODO - A/W, abbrev.: "autumn/winter (denoting or relating to fashion designed for the autumn and winter seasons of a particular year)." OED - M.B., n.: Initialism for "Mark of the Beast," used in "M.B. waistcoat" 1874 (W.E. Gladstone) "[The undivided clerical waistcoat] was deemed so distinctly Popish, that it acquired the nickname of 'The Mark of the Beast'; and..among the tailors..was familiarly known as 'the M.B. waistcoat'." 6. FAUXHAWK, BULLHEAD ODO - fauxhawk, n.: "a hairstyle in which a section of hair running from the front to the back of the head stands erect, intended to resemble a Mohican haircut (in which the sides of the head are shaved)." OED - bullhead, n.: "a mass of curled or frizzled hair worn over the forehead" 1672 (Andrew Marvell) "To trick up the good old Bishop in a yellow Coif and a Bulls-head, that he may..appear in Fashion." 7. GRATS, SDEIGN ODO - grats, pl. n.: "congratulations" OED - sdeign, v.: "Shortening of disdain" 1590 (Faerie Queene) "They sdeigned such lasciuious disport." 8. HACKERSPACE, ANYTHINGARIAN ODO - hackerspace, n.: "a place in which people with an interest in computing or technology can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment, and knowledge." OED - anythingarian, n.: "One who professes no creed in particular; an indifferentist." 1704 (Thomas Brown) "Such bifarious anythingarians, that always make their interest the standard of their religion." 9. GEEK CHIC, SHEEPSY-WOLVESY ODO - geek chic, n.: "the dress, appearance, and culture associated with computing and technology enthusiasts, regarded as stylish or fashionable." OED - sheepsy-wolvesy, adj.: "wolves in sheep's clothing" 1657 (Jeffry Watts) "Linsie woolsie, sheepsie woolvsie prophets." 10. CAKE POP, FLIP-FLAP ODO - cake pop, n.: "a small round piece of cake coated with icing or chocolate and fixed on the end of a stick so as to resemble a lollipop." OED - flip-flap, n.: "a kind of tea cake." 1876 (The Golden Butterfly) "As we sat over her dough-nuts and flipflaps." 11. SQUEE, 'CATSO ODO - squee, exclam. & v. & n.: "(used to express) great delight or excitement." OED - 'catso, int.: an interjection akin to "what! Gods me!" from Italian cazzo the "membrum virile." 1708 (Motteux's translation of Rabelais) "Cat-so! let us..drink." 12. SRSLY, 'CAVY ODO - srsly, adv.: "short for 'seriously'." OED - 'cavy, n. & adj.: short for "cavalier." 1650 (Mutatus Polemo) "The Cavies being at that time ready to turn anything, except Roundhead, for some money to be chirpingly drunk." 13. BABYMOON, CHOP-LOGE ODO - babymoon, n.: "a relaxing or romantic holiday taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born; a period of time following the birth of a baby during which the new parents can focus on establishing a bond with their child." OED - chop-loge, n.: short for chop-logic, one who chops logic, "a contentious, sophistical arguer" 1542 (Udall's translation of Erasmus) "He..with lacke of vitailles brought those chop-logues or greate pratlers as lowe as dogge to the bow." 14. BALAYAGE, FRIZILATION ODO - balayage, n.: "a technique for highlighting hair in which the dye is painted on in such a way as to create a graduated, natural-looking effect." OED - frizilation, n.: the act of frizzling the hair 1567 "Her chief and comon exercise..was, to force a frizilacion of her haire." 15. BUZZWORTHY, COLEWORTS ODO - buzzworthy, adj.: "likely to arouse the interest and attention of the public, either by media coverage or word of mouth." OED - coleworts, n.: old news. Literally, a cabbage-like plant. From the proverb for "old news," "coleworts twice sodden." 1644 (Chirologia) "It being better sometimes to use a licentious and unwarrantable motion, then alwayes to obtrude the same Coleworts." 16. UNLIKE, UNLIKE ODO - unlike, v.: "withdraw one's liking or approval of (a web page or posting on a social media website that one has previously liked)." OED - unlike, v.: "to give up liking; to cease to like" 1761 (Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph) "My heart is not in a disposition to love... I cannot compel it to like, and unlike, and like anew at pleasure."	99,484

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