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Buying a home is likely one of the biggest financial commitments you will ever make. It can also often be one of the most exciting. But before you plunk down your hard-earned cash on that house of your dreams, it makes sense to carefully check out exactly what you are getting yourself into. The best place to start is by hiring a professional home inspector to conduct an objective evaluation. You can then make your offer conditional upon being satisfied with the results of the inspection.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT TO LEARN?
According to The Home Inspection Networka division of the Brookfield RPS that provides a service connecting buyers and sellers with home inspection services across the country, a home inspection is an in-depth, visual examination and evaluation of the accessible structure (inside and out) and all major systems of the house. It also identifies structural problems or other defects, and notes any repairs that may be needed and what the associated costs will likely be.
THE MAIN ITEMS EXAMINED IN A HOME INSPECTION ARE:
- Exterior of the home's site/lot
-Exterior walls of the home
-Roof coverings, flashings and gutters
-Roof support structure
-Central air and heating system
ITEMS NORMALLY NOT INCLUDED IN A HOME INSPECTION INCLUDE:
-The cosmetic or aesthetic features of a home
-Swimming pools and spas
-Fireplaces and other wood burning devices
-systems such as the telephone, cable TV, alarm systems and lawn sprinklers
There are services that will inspect some of the above, so it is worthwhile asking an inspector beforehand if you want any of them to be included. Pricing can vary depending on the type, size and age of the home and if any specialty services are added.
It's important to know that a home inpection can't detect every possible flaw. It's not a warranty that things will not break down at a future date, although some firms do offer warranty protection options for purchase. It's also not an appraisal of the value of the home - a service provided by real estate appraisers, usually to determine the value on behalf of lenders.
In general, home inspectors only inspect areas and items that can be seen and they cannot see through the foundation, floors or walls. The Home Inspection Network caustions that, "Unlike what you may have seen on TV, an inspector cannot knock down a wall to see what is inside it!"
A home inspection is, however, a valuable tool that can help you be aware of what costs, repairs and maintenance the home may require immediately, and over time. Hiring a home inspector provides you with an independent assessment and can help ensure you buy with both your head and your heart.
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Scripture: verse 27
When a bull, sheep or goat is born, it is to stay with its mother for seven days; but from the eighth day on, it may be accepted for an offering made by fire to Adonai.
Observation: The passage is about acceptable sacrifices: animals offered had to be without defects or deformities, etc. I’m not sure why a newborn animal had to stay with its mother for seven days, but I’m guessing it was for the good of the flock. It seems quite possible that losing a baby too early caused distress in the mother.
I could be wrong, of course, but there’s a number of places where God gave instructions that make more sense now than they did then. Washing your hands under running water after touching a sick person would prevent the spread of disease and reduce the risk of infection. The commandment that slaughtered meat be eaten within two days makes plenty of sense when you consider that they were in a hot climate with no refrigeration and limited resources for preserving it. (They had access to salt, admittedly, but it was expensive and probably not widely used.)
And I like that we can trust God to know what He’s doing. That even the most arbitrary rules will probably make sense when we have access to His knowledge of how things work. He knows the plans He has for us – and they are plans for good (Jer 29:11). He knows enough to help us stay safe.
Application: What you see is not all there is. Trust Him to know more than you do.
Prayer: Father, I praise you for knowing everything there is to know. I praise you for understanding the mysteries of the universe, and for sharing your knowledge with us. Help me to trust you to keep me safe. Amen.
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One of the crucial sections in "Mont Blanc," as well as one of the crucial passages in Romantic literature, deals with the relation of the individual to the surrounding world:
Dizzy Ravine! and when I gaze on thee
I seem as in a trance sublime and strange
To muse on my own separate phantasy,
My own, my human mind, which passively
Now renders and receives fast influencings.
Inspired to look inward by the sight of the river valley, Shelley has a sudden and clear understanding of the workings of his mind: his mind is involved in a constant exchange of information with his environment. Shelley stresses that his mind "passively" partakes in this exchange, implying that he is, in some respects at least, merely a vehicle for the reception and transmission of information. This theme that the poetic mind acts as a passive receiver and transmitter is recurrent in Romantic poetry, most notably in the motif of the Eolian harp, a kind of wind-powered musical instrument, used by Coleridge in a poem named for the instrument and "Dejection, An Ode," as well as by Shelley himself in "Ode to the West Wind" (Norton p. 331).
This idea of the mind, especially the poetic mind, as a passive receiver and transmitter received much impetus from theories of the sympathetic imagination. Viewed in the technological context computers shows the problematic aspects of this cobnception of the mind. They are capable of assimilating vast sums of information, and rearranging it in various ways. That is essentially what Shelley proposes that the human mind does. Computers , as time goes by, have become able to arrange and manipulate the information they are fed in increasingly complex (one might almost say creative) ways. It is possible to extrapolate that creativity is not necessarily an affair of the "soul," but instead the cognitive ability to relate bits of information in different ways. This is a dehumanizing notion, but probably not one that Shelley, as and atheist and investigator of truth, would have shrunk from on those grounds.
Shelley uses the technique of apostrophizing the inanimate ravine in this passage, as he does throughout the poem, effectively drawing the reader into the dialogue with the environment.
Incorporated in the Victorian Web July 2000
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Government Spends $100M Preying on Business In Pursuit of Wolves
BOSTON (MainStreet) -- What could be done with $100 million dollars? As it turns out, a lot of bloodshed.
That is how much is spent every year by Wildlife Services, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, to kill hundreds of thousands of animals.
The species most commonly targeted by Wildlife Services' lethal control program are predators such as wolves, bears, coyote and mountain lions. An estimated 100,000 native carnivores are killed each year, with approximately 2 million animals killed since 2000.
The purpose is often to prevent losses of either livestock or game species such as deer and elk that are popular targets for hunters. Some of the methods used for controlling predators include trapping, aerial gunning, denning (killing young in their dens) and using poisons such as Compound 1080 or sodium cyanide M-44.
"Driven by narrow agricultural interests, these predator control activities often ignore the greater public need for a healthy environment, fiscal responsibility and safe public lands, raising some serious questions about how the program is being administered," says a press release from the Natural Resources Defense Council, which holds the position that Wildlife Services is wrongfully scapegoating predators.
USDA Wildlife Services is distinct as the only federal program that markets its services -- killing native predators native predators and other "nuisance" wildlife -- to ranchers, state wildlife management agencies and even corporations, despite a mission "to resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist." It not only seems contradictory as a mission; it has also caused several conservation groups to accuse Wildlife Services of having a profit-driven conflict of interest.
The program is so notorious that last year it became the subject of a three-part expose in The Sacramento Bee by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Knudson. He found that the programs went on with minimal monitoring and also killed tens of thousands of non-target animals, including cats, dogs and river otters.
"There will obviously be times when livestock and predators come into conflict, when coyotes kill lambs and black bears become too accustomed to humans and cause genuine harm," began a scathing editorial on the Wildlife Services program that appeared in The New York Times this past summer, "But Wildlife Services' lethal damage is broad and secretive."
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Know what’s hot, and what’s not, within the well being and fitness subject. Here a food trivia: a Snickers bar has decrease index than a bagel! The peanuts (really the proteins in it) within the bar lower the index quantity making it higher to eat. So it’s not all struggling if you go on a glycemic index weight loss program. The trick is to decrease the index of food by combining it with high protein substances. This fashion, it will likely be slowly absorbed by the physique.
In 2013, Drain Kagan decided to change her life. She switched up her coaching and weight-reduction plan plan and transitioned from an newbie CrossFit competitor to a WBFF Bodybuilding Professional within the course of. Now she’s a health mannequin, WBFF Bikini Pro, personal trainer, creator of several online health packages (including the ever-standard Booty Building Guides ), and a NYT greatest-promoting creator—all whereas holding down a job as a registered nurse.
The LIFECENTER Well being & Fitness Membership affords quite a lot of health membership options to suit your wants. There are additionally group fitness classes and certified private trainers accessible at an additional cost. Membership is on the market to ages 14 via grownup. Our childcare service within Children Cease can be found to patrons of the Bartlett Community Middle whereas participating in any neighborhood middle program. There is a two hour limit per visit. You must be the mother or father or legal guardian of the kid that you are bringing to make use of this service. All parents or guardians must stay on web site. Children should be a minimum of 6 months old and no older than 14.
In Tips on how to Be Properly, greatest-promoting writer and main health knowledgeable Dr. Frank Lipman shares his formula for lifelong vitality-the Good Drugs Mandala. Illustrated by a round system of six rings, the Good Medication Mandala incorporates more than 100 easy steps to what really works to improve and strengthen your resilience, functioning, and overall health. In this invaluable book, you will discover ways to: br br EAT: master the very building blocks of life-meals br br SLEEP: reprioritize and restore one among your most basic wants br br TRANSFER: make sure the body strikes in all of the ways that nature intended it to br br DEFEND: mitigate and pre.
From Venezuela to Florida and from exercise newb to one of the most recognized figures in health, Lewin has had fairly the trip. After immigrating to the U.S. in 2012, Lewin began taking the health scene by storm. Now she’s recognized to greater than 12 million Instagram followers as a health model and bodybuilder who dispenses trustworthy and provoking fitness and nutrition recommendation online and through her Fitplan and Mealplan apps.
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* * THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED FOR THE WINTER SEASON BUT OPEN BY APPOINTMENT! BE AWARE IT IS UNHEATED SO MAY BE VERY COLD… * *
Season Opening Celebration will be in June 2015! Date TBA.
The Bread and Puppet Museum is a massive accumulation of the puppets, masks, paintings and graphics of the Bread and Puppet Theater, housed in a 150-year-old barn in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, 25 miles south of the Canadian border. It is one of the largest collections of some of the biggest puppets and masks in the world. It was created in 1974 when Bread and Puppet Theater moved to this former dairy farm after a residency at Goddard College, and before that close to a decade in New York City. The museum is full to the brim; its population density is an expression not only of the accumulations of time but of the urgencies which inspired the making of so much stuff: the poverty of the poor, the arrogance of the war-mongers, the despair of the victims, and maybe even stronger than that, the glory of this whole god-given world. And naturally, all this will decay in due course.
Grouped according to theme, color, or size, the puppets recreate dramatic scenes from bygone shows and form striking compositions with hand-printed banners and paper-mache reliefs. Over the years, the collection has expanded to fill two floors in the barn and now spills out into the woodshed, the Cheap Art bus across the road, and onto the walls of the Paper-Mache Cathedral behind the barn. There’s also a museum store bursting with Bread and puppet’s distinctive posters and publications.
The vast contents of the Museum are the result of a half-century of creativity and hard work, which began in New York City in 1963. Peter Schumann, founder and director of the Bread and Puppet Theater, is the artist, but the actual production of the puppets is mostly the result of extraordinary communal efforts. A core group of dedicated, experienced puppeteers, joined by friends and neighbors and apprentices build the puppets and the masks, applying layers of paper-mache over Peter Schumann’s sculpted clay models. And then, using simple materials like cardboard, poplar saplings and rummage-sale clothing, construct figures of impressive size. In the summer, much of this work goes on in the Museum’s front yard, next to the Quebec-style clay oven in which Schumann bakes the famous sourdough rye bread.
One would have to go far indeed to find anything comparable. And since this museum replaces the traditional museum’s ideal of preservation with acceptane of more or less graceful and inevitable deterioration, consider making your visit sooner rather than later.
The museum is open June 1 to November 1, daily 10 am to 6:00 pm, and is also open before and after evening performances. There is a museum tour every Sunday at 1:00 pm during July and August. During the cold months, it is officially closed, but may be opened by appointment or chance. Admission is free; donations are welcome.
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by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Nov 28, 2010
The United States believes that China's leadership has directed a hacking campaign into computers of Google and Western governments, according to US diplomatic files leaked Sunday.
The documents obtained by whistleblower site WikiLeaks revealed the intense and sometimes fraught diplomacy between the two Pacific powers on a range of issues -- particularly Iran and North Korea.
In one cable, the US embassy in Beijing said it learned from "a Chinese contact" that the country's Politburo had led years of hacking into computers of the United States, its allies and Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
The New York Times, which viewed the cable, said the embassy found that attacks against Google were "part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government."
Google announced in March that it would no longer follow the communist government's instructions to filter searches for sensitive material after attacks against the company and Gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents.
Hacking campaigns originating from China have been reported before, but US officials have stopped short of publicly accusing Beijing of orchestrating cyber warfare.
The thousands of leaked documents also recounted efforts by the United States to persuade China to rein in North Korea.
In one secret memo on the WikiLeaks website, the United States in 2008 instructed its embassies to press China and Central Asian nations to block a North Korean plane suspected of proliferating weapons to Iran.
In another cable a year earlier reported by Britain's Guardian newspaper, the United States asked Beijing to stop what it believed to be a missile shipment from North Korea to Iran transiting through China.
Beijing is considered the only country with real influence in reclusive North Korea.
In a meeting late last year, senior Chinese official Wang Jiarui is quoted as reiterating Beijing's call for stability on the Korean peninsula and urging the United States to reach out to the North by promising not to seek regime change.
Despite the lack of movement on North Korea, the documents gave an upbeat US assessment on China's position on Iran.
A cable on the WikiLeaks website said Wang praised US policy on Iran in a meeting with Williams Burns, the State Department number three, and said Tehran should not seek nuclear weapons.
In another cable, a Chinese official dismissed concerns that Beijing's standing in the Islamic world was hurt by its response to 2009 ethnic bloodshed in the Xinjiang region, whose indigenous Uighur population is mostly Muslim.
An official was quoted as saying that China had stepped up media outreach in the Middle East to prevent any backlash, including setting up an Arabic-language version of state-run China Central Television.
The cables show China venting anger at the United States for refusing to hand over 22 Uighurs originally held at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The United States cleared the men of wrongdoing but feared they would face persecution in China.
Cables depicted US officials searching the world asking countries to take Guantanamo inmates, with Slovenia's leadership told that a meeting with US President Barack Obama was linked to its decision on taking a prisoner.
According to another document, the US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan last year confronted her Chinese counterpart on information that Beijing offered three billion dollars if the neighboring country shut the Manas air base, a key US conduit for the war in Afghanistan.
The Chinese ambassador, Zhang Yannian, "ridiculed the notion of such a deal, he did not deny it outright," US Ambassador Tatiana Gfoeller wrote.
"'It would take three dollars from every Chinese person' to pay for it," she quoted him as saying. "'If our people found out, there'd be a revolution.'"
The United States eventually renewed US rights to the air base after the United States ramped up compensation.
Cyberwar - Internet Security News - Systems and Policy Issues
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement|
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Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline)
|Endocrine system. (Parathyroid gland not pictured, but are present on surface of thyroid gland, as shown below.)|
|Latin||glandula parathyroidea inferior, glandula parathyroidea superior|
|Gray's||subject #273 1271|
|Thyroid and parathyroid.|
The parathyroid glands are small endocrine glands in the neck that produce parathyroid hormone. These glands are usually located behind the thyroid gland and in rare cases are located within the thyroid glands. Most people have four parathyroid glands, but some people have six or even eight.
The parathyroid glands are four or more small glands located on the posterior surface of the thyroid gland. Histologically they are quite easily recognizable from the thyroid as they have densely packed cells in contrast with the follicle structure of the thyroid. However at surgery they are harder to differentiate from the thyroid or fat.
|parathyroid chief cells||darker||many||smaller||manufacture PTH (see below).|
|oxyphil cells||lighter||few||larger||function unknown.|
Parathyroid hormone (PTH, also known as parathormone) is a small protein that takes part in the control of calcium and phosphate homeostasis, as well as bone physiology. Parathyroid hormone has effects antagonistic to those of calcitonin. It increases blood calcium levels by stimulating osteoclasts to break down bone and release calcium. It also increases gastrointestinal calcium absorption by activating vitamin D, and promotes calcium uptake by the kidneys.
Embryology and evolutionEdit
Genetically, Eya-1 (transcripitonal co-activator), Six-1 (a homeobox transcription factor), and Gcm-2 (a transcription factor) have been associated with the development of the parathyroid gland, and alterations in these genes alters parathyroid gland development.
The conserved homology of genes and calcium sensing receptors in fish gills with those in the parathryroid glands of birds and mammals is recognized by evolutionary developmental biology as evolution using genes and gene networks in novel ways to generate new structures with some similar functions and novel functions.
The superior parathyroids arise from the fourth pharyngeal pouch and the inferior parathyroids arise from the third pharyngeal pouch. They are vertically transposed during embyrogenesis. This is significant in function-preserving parathyroidectomy because the superior parathyroids are supplied by the inferior thyroid artery and the inferior parathyroids are supplied by the superior thyroid artery. If the surgeon is to leave a single functional parathyroid for the patient, they must preserve the appropriate blood supply.
- ↑ Histology at Boston University 15001ooa
- ↑ Histology at Boston University 15002loa
- ↑ Histology at OU 40_06
- ↑ Eknoyan G.. (1995). A history of the parathyroid glands. Am J Kidney Dis 26 (5): 801–7.
- Endocrine Web at endocrineweb.com
- The origin of the parathyroid gland at pnas.org
- Human Gland Probably Evolved From Gills at pandasthumb.org
- The role of the endoderm in the development and evolution of the pharyngeal arches at blackwell-synergy.com
- Parathyroid disease and treatments discussed in layman's terms at Parathyroid.com
- Deep homologies in the pharyngeal arches at scienceblogs.com
- Dictionary at eMedicine Parathyroid+gland
- Virtual Slidebox at Univ. Iowa Slide 149
Human anatomy, endocrine system: endocrine glands
|Islets of pancreas|
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|
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Just a few years ago, two dozen black war veterans’ graves were hidden behind decades of weeds and trash in the Town of Rye until community members came together to clean the cemetery up.
Now a local New York organization is heading efforts to fully restore the town’s only African-American cemetery and turn it into a site honoring the history of the people buried there.
According to Newsday, Building Community Bridges wants to preserve the graves of the 22 black war veterans who saw combat in the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War I and II, along with almost one hundred other African-American graves in the cemetery. The organization will research the history of the people buried there and install kiosks that provide that information to visitors.
The project will also focus on paving a path into the cemetery and repairing headstones.
“It’s a part of our history, and we believe it’s a forgotten party of our history,” David Thomas, president of Building Community Bridges, said. “We all believe the Town of Rye’s history is a common one, and just as we memorialize the John Jay Heritage Center, we should memorialize the African-American cemetery as well.”
Robinette Robinson, 75, was a young child the first time she visited the cemetery. She’d come along with a friend whose father wanted to search for his father’s grave and decorate it.
“It was horrible,” she said. “The weeds were waist high. I was frightened. I thought there were snakes there. It was like a jungle.”
She hadn’t been back to the graveyard until a few years ago and she was surprised by the site’s clean appearance. She was even able to find the tombstone of her great-great-grandfather, Robert Purdy, an escaped slave who fought for the Union in the Civil War.
The Town of Rye cemetery had been active until 1964, when the Civil Rights Act became law. Then about six years ago, the site was listed on the national and state Register of Historic Places, which led to initial cleaning efforts. Now Thomas is hoping the restoration project will bring visitors to the cemetery.
“We want people to learn about what the activities were for everyone in the Town of Rye, not just for Caucasians,” Thomas said. “Most history is famously that, and now we have a broader perspective of what life was like in the 1800s and early 1900s in the Town of Rye.”
Follow Ugonna on Twitter at @ugonnaokpalaoka
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Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States
Before choosing plants for your yard, consult the Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States: Identification and Control Web site. You might be surprised at how many commonly available plants are considered invasive and should be avoided, including Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), winged burning bush (Euonymus alata), and several types of privet (Ligustrum).
The book Herbal Vinegar (Storey Books, 1994; $14.95), contains more information than the title implies. You might expect the book's sections on the history of vinegar and its uses, how to make vinegar and how to flavor vinegar, for example. But the book also includes information on growing your own herbs for flavoring vinegar, household uses of vinegar, and a large section of recipes that include body care products as well as culinary marinades, sauces and eight different kinds of mustard. I'm even tempted to try one of the four different recipes for "vinegar pie." Herbal Vinegar is written by Maggie Oster, NGA's regional reporter for the Upper South. Check out her column at http://garden.garden.org/regional/report/current/8.
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Zones 4 - 11. This aquatic perennial's tuberous roots colonize the soil at the bottom of earth-bottom ponds, or the soil in containers fully submerged in lined ponds. The stems of the leaves can reach the surface of water that's nearly two feet deep-and then continue upward, above the water, a few inches or even a foot farther. The roots don't tolerate frost but the tubers and roots are hardy anywhere the water above the soil is deep enough that the pond's surface-ice doesn't freeze all the way down to the soil, and yet is not so deep that their leaves can't reach at least a bit above the water's surface to get the full sun they need to grow and flower: From the frost-free tropics of Zone 11, then, all the way down to the seriously-Wintered Zone 4 of Northern Vermont and Canada. Few plants, aquatic or terrestrial, have such a world-wide versatility.
Easily sprouted by scoring the short end of the seed and leaving in a bowl of water. Nymphaea, or the "true" water lily, has its place in myth and legend, beginning with the ancient Greeks who dedicated the plant to the nymph, a type of water demigoddess.
Zones 4 - 11. This aquatic perennial's tuberous roots colonize the soil at the bottom of earth-bottom ponds, or the soil in containers fully submerged in lined ponds. The stems of the leaves can reach the surface of water that's nearly two feet deep-and then continue upward, above the water, a few inches or even a foot farther.
The roots don't tolerate frost but the tubers and roots are hardy anywhere the water above the soil is deep enough that the pond's surface-ice doesn't freeze all the way down to the soil, and yet is not so deep that their leaves can't reach at least a bit above the water's surface to get the full sun they need to grow and flower: From the frost-free tropics of Zone 11, then, all the way down to the seriously-Wintered Zone 4 of Northern Vermont and Canada.
Few plants, aquatic or terrestrial, have such a world-wide versatility. Growing your lotus in a plastic tub that's submerged in water: Plant the tuber shallowly, on its side, in a dishpan-sized plastic tub of heavy soil. Don't use potting soil, which is so fluffy it would just float away when you submerge the plastic tub. Leave the tuber's growth tip exposed.After two or three of the small starter leaves have sprouted, you can lower the tub (carefully) to its "mature" depth.
Yes, the starter leaves will be "drowned"-fully submerged-but the subsequent leaves will know to grow all the way up to the surface. Only after the young plant has a half dozen leaves lolling around on the surface, just like those of water lilies, does it then decide to grow leaves that leap up out of the water entirely before unfurling.
Product Information Specifications for 15 Seeds Dwarf Purple Nymphaea Lotus Aquatic Plant Below:
Live Aquatic Plant Nymphaea Queen of Siam Purple Tropical Water Lilies Tuber for Aquarium Freshwater Fish Pond by Greenpro
- You get a tuber of live water lily like the 2nd photo. It is a sample from our stocks.- Tuber size is 2"-8" length.- Most water lillies prefer a depth of 18-24 inches - The best way to plant is in a pot then place in a larger container or a pond - It's wonderful for aquarium community.- Plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and absorb nutrients from water that are derived from fish waste.- Your plants are 100% satisfaction guaranteed. Important things to remember.Water lilies need more than 4 hours a day of sunshine to flower.Tropical lilies need full sun all day.Keep lilies away from moving or flowing water. Away from pump or filter.Frequently fertilize a water lily once a month depending on the fertilizer type and the size of your container.No Pond No problem! Water lilies are thriving in a container.Here are few tips to grow. Water lilies are perennial plants that shoot in spring, flowering late spring until fall and going dormant in Winter.Most water lilies will grow with 30-60 cm of water above the surface of the soil in place they are planted. Obviously, smaller type likes to be nearer.Use heavy soil intended not fluffy one. Cover the soil with rocks pea or gravel.
Manufacturer: William Tricker Inc.
Brand: William Tricker Inc.
Red Flare. This excellent night blooming water lily was developed by the famous hybridizer Martin Randig of California in 1938. The blossoms are a deep red with foliage of a mahogany shade that stands out among the finest night bloomers. The foliage is typical of the class of night bloomers in growing very thick leaves with undulating margins. Late in the afternoon, while the typical day blooming water lilies are closing, Red Flare shows a wonderful deep coloration as dusk approaches. In moonlight, it gives off a glowing red coloration during the late night hours. In the early morning it continues to show its magnificent flowers! A must in every water garden pool
Huajun® 7.5"Leaf Garland Plants Vine Fake Foliage Flowers Home decor 12pcs. Legth:7.5", material:fabric. Package:Set of 12 pcs. Leaves size:5*4.5cm Pls note:it is small size.only can decorate your small area,it you need decorate large area,pls buy it more,thank you.
Pink Tropical Water Lily - Water Garden Live Pond Plant
Brand: Pond Plants Discounts
Tropical Water Lilies are spectacular pond plants that can be grown outside in your water garden in all zones as long as the weather is warm enough. Tropical water lilies like the temperature to be at least 70 degrees. If you live in areas that freeze, you can winter your tropical water lilies inside and bring them out again in the spring. Tropical water lilies are very free flowering and for the most part, very fragrant. Tropical water lilies come in shades of white, yellow, pink, red, blue and purple. Tropical water lilies come in both day blooming and night blooming varieties. Depth should be maintained between 6" to 18" when first transplanted and then once established can be grown from 12" to 30" deep depending on the variety.
The "Beautiful Dancer" Lotus Plant is a beautiful SHOWSTOPPER addition to your water garden or KOI pond that originated from China. You really get a lot for your one time investment in this plant as it is an "annual" plant that comes back every single year, so it does not need to be repurchased annually. This plant is easy to grow, just pot and pack it in hard packed rich soil out of your backyard and sink the pot a few inches under water in the pond. They can also be grown as a bog plant or in a pot, just keep their feet wet. You get one leaved tuber, shipped bare root (the leaves will usually fall off when shipped with leaves on the plants). JUST PLANT LIKE AN ONION, THEN SIT BACK AND WATCH THEM TAKE OFF. YOUR LOTUS WILL BE DANCING WITH BEAUTIFUL PINK AND WHITISH PINK TINGED BLOOMS IN YOUR WATER GARDEN FOR MANY YEARS.
Manufacturer: William Tricker Inc.
Brand: William Tricker Inc.
Bagdad. The flowers are wisteria blue, broad and flat, gold centered with yellow stamens and petioles just long enough to hold them above the floating leaves. Leaves are of medium size, light green above and with blotches of red and brown, and dark green with beneath with purple stripes. George Pring, in 1941, described this wonderful lily as "The combination of leaf and flower gives a rich effect, something like that of a Persian rug". It is a good propagator. Without a doubt this water lily stands out among the blue flowered water lilies. Many hybridizers have always claimed Bagdad as one of the best achievements of George Pring.
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This peachy-hued relative of the plum has a long and storied history. Thought in the past to be a medicine, an aphrodisiac, a cancer cure, and a childbirth inducer, it's also well, pretty delicious as plain ol' food.
Several sources place the fruit as native to China, then brought to Armenia where it enjoyed an enthusiastic reception. Today, 95% of apricots produced in the US are from the sunny land of California, and they're popular as jams and dried (and possibly dipped in chocolate). They're also excellent sources of Vitamin A and C
When buying apricots, pick out fruit with rich, orange or yellow hues that are slightly soft to the touch. Slice them up and eat them fresh, use them to flavor syrups and alcohols, bake them into pies, or make a chutney. Some of the recipes below call for dried apricots and apricot jams, so you can enjoy the unique flavor of the fruit in every form.
What's your favorite way to eat an apricot?
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The word emollient is an adjective defined by Merriam-Webster as “making soft or supple…soothing especially to the skin”. However, the dictionary emollient definition is not the only definition.
In skin care, “emollient” is a noun that refers to key ingredients in moisturizers and cleansers. Products that include emollients are especially helpful for dry skin care.
Read on to learn how this type of facial emollient, in particular for evening use, treats dry skin.
Dry skin results from a lack of water in the stratum corneum. The stratum corneum is the outermost of the 5 layers of the epidermis. It protects the skin and is the key to healthy, attractive skin. The stratum corneum contains fatty acids and ceramides (fat molecules), which fuse together to form a continuous layer that retains water and protects skin.
However, this layer can become damaged from:
- Excessive sun exposure
- Subjection to harmful chemicals
This damage makes it harder for the skin to retain moisture, especially when subjected to water-reducing conditions such as:
- Low humidity or wind exposure, which increase evaporation from the skin
- Overwashing, which washes of the surface layer of natural oil
- Aging, which reduces sebum production
The best way to keep the stratum corneum healthy and moisturized is with emollients, in particular an facial emollient for evening use. When applied to the skin, emollients remain in the stratum corneum and act as lubricants to maintain skin’s soft, smooth, pliable appearance.
Dr. Perricone’s extensive research has led him to the formulation of the Evening Facial Emollient, which contains the emollient Retinol.
Retinol works to:
After 4 weeks of use, 70% of participants in a clinical trial reported that their skin looked and felt smoother, while 66% showed improvement in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Have you tried Perricon MD Evening Facial Emollient?
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MiYaD’s T.L.C. Preschool arose from a common desire for excellencein meeting the needs of children and their families. Toddlers and parentshave 3 hours during the day which they can both benefit from new-foundindependence!At MiYaD Early Childhood Preschool, we see each child as a unique andprecious gift entrusted into our care. This concept is what governs ourschool’s educational approach. Emphasis is placed on the individual child andon encouraging each child’s innate inquisitiveness and thirst for knowledge.Small classes and high teacher-student ratios ensure each child receivesindividual and caring attention. Our nurturing and patient teachers providetools to build the children’s self-confidence and facilitate positive interactionwith others.
We believe a positive preschoolexperience is crucial and will be thecatalyst for your child’s continuingsocial development.
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As most of you know, the phrase “good news” is not often associated with the phrase “405 freeway.”
But every so often, a ray of sunshine breaks through the gloom, tears and frustration. That was the case on Monday morning, when Caltrans opened the southbound carpool lane on the 405 between the Santa Monica Freeway and the 90 freeway.
The HOV lane was built as part of a five-year, $167-million project to build carpool lanes on both sides of the 405 between the 90 and the 10. The northbound carpool lanes should be open within a couple of weeks, according to Caltrans officials.
But the fun of freeway construction doesn’t end there. As the above
Caltrans map shows, the northbound 405 between the 10 and the 101 — the stretch including the Sepulveda Pass — still lacks a carpool lane. A billion-dollar project to complete the lane by 2013 is underway, with Metro, Caltrans and the city of Los Angeles combining on the effort.
Pre-construction activities have begun and Metro officials say that construction in earnest is set to begin this winter. It’s a monster project. Three bridges over the freeway need to be replaced and 20 entrance and exit ramps need to be realigned, among other improvements.
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Common Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa) is otherwise known as Spinach dock. It is a close family member of the Dock plant. It grows best in rich soil which is well drained and loves either full sun or partial shade. Often found growing in meadows or fields, it is a welcom food source for much wildlife. Growing from spring to late autumn and lasting for around eight to ten years, sorrel is a welcome cheap addition to the garden. Around mid June to July the Sorrel will produce reddish green flowers. It is easily recognisable by its long, large arrow shaped leaves. It has a very sharp and yest zesty flavour and is a great addition to a green leafy salad. It is also often substituted for the likes of spinach although some caution should be adhered if using sorrel. Sorrel produces a large level of Oxalic Acid which if you east in excessive amounts can cause problems as it removes calcium from the blood. It can also cause damage to the liver. If using sorrel only on a mimimal basis, and infrequently though, this should cause no adverse affects, as with all herbs, if used in excess they can cause some side effects. Sorrel was used in the olden days as a cure for scurvy, it was also used in teas, linaments and lotions to treat a wide range of ailments.
Sorrel is one of Europes most favourite herbs, this especially is the case in France. It is widely used there in soups and also to make sauces.
To end with, for an abundant crop, little nurturing and for a long lasting addition to your kitchen, Sorrel is a cheap, tasty herb suitable for one and all. It is easily propogated from seed or can be purchased in a small pot from your local grden centre.
Oh that's just what I was going to say. Short but sweet. :-) I had this growing in one of my past gardens and thought it was just a weed until a more enlightened visitor pointed it out and took some away with them!
ice_pink 31.07.2007 17:53
Short but sweet, lovely review :)
Minha 26.07.2007 12:23
I WAS going to say that I would think that not many people knew about this - seems I was right! :o) Hazel xx
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The management is facing several problems while setting physical standards for direct labour. Out of many problems, some of the problems are briefly explained below.
1. New workers are recruited from time to time in an organization. The new workers do not have previous experience or have less experience. In such a case, an adjustment should be made for the new workers while fixing standard time for the job. This is a difficult task.
2. In the fast changing modern world, there is a lot of technological innovations. Hence, a need arise to install newly advanced technology machine in the production place. The estimation of standard input for standard output requires a long period of time. Thus fixing of accurate standards may be considerably delayed.
3. Some specifications are made for the purchase of some materials. But, the materials are not available with required specifications in the open market. Thus, the standards fixed may not be achievable.
4. The management is not in a position of selecting the type of standard. For example: Standard time for Direct Labour. In such a case, the problem arise whether average performance time is taken as standard time or attainable time is fixed or skilled laborers alone considered for fixing standard time. Like wise, the problem arise relating to allowance of wastage.
The wastage is divided into two i.e.
- controllable wastage and
- uncontrollable wastage.
In the case of uncontrollable wastage, the management cannot do anything. But, in the case of controllable wastage, the problem arise relating to the level of controlling the wastage.
Moreover, the wastage may be classified into two i.e.
- avoidable wastage and
- unavoidable wastage.
In the case of avoidable wastage, the problem arise relating to fixing of level of avoidable wastage. In this way, the effect of standard cost cannot be fixed under these type of situations.
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Despite the lack of any major city or agglomeration of the same level as Silicon Valley, tech companies continue to drive demand in the APAC region, according to the report of property consultant CBRE.
The research has listed 15 Asia Pacific cities in three categories based on their performance with regard to business conditions, innovation environment, and cost and availability.
A weightage of 40% each was given to business conditions and innovation environment. While cost was given 20% weightage as it’s comparatively a less important factor for tech companies.
"Leading cities are Beijing, Bengaluru, Shanghai, Singapore and Gurugram. These cities score highly in terms of business conditions and innovation environment, as well as providing costs and availability that are supportive for business growth," the report said.
Hyderabad figures in the list of five competent cities along with Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Tokyo and Seoul. These cities already host tech industry sub-sectors and show reliable performance across most categories.
"India is home to an increasing number of tech unicorns and Asia Pacific is increasingly defined as the region leading in the rapid adoption of disruptive technology. However, there is still room for growth in terms of identifying locations where business conditions, innovation and talent come together to form a globally competitive digital hub," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO of CBRE India.
Magazine, who also heads South East Asia, Middle East and Africa business, said improved access to incubator and accelerator programmes and a vast pool of skilled IT talent based in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru have supported the cultivation of new ideas.
"Asia Pacific is home to 8.4 million Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates, out of which 30% are in India, which is huge," he added.
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The pressure to pre-read doesn’t exist when it comes to our Literature & Ideas Weekend - we’re here for the unforgettable conversations and to pick the brains of some of the most interesting people you'll ever encounter!
But if you’re still feeling a little under-prepared, here’s three sessions where no reading is required, we promise (although we can’t promise you won’t want to grab their books afterwards).
Matt Okine | Being Black 'N Chicken, & Chips
Matt Okine is one of Australia's favourite award-winning comedians. A triple j breakfast darling, stand-up festival circuit performer and now, writer and star of his own semi-autobiographical show The Other Guy on Stan, his career continues to be on the rise.
We can relate, and so can you, when he takes on the Literature & Ideas Amphitheatre in a FREE session on Sun 23 Feb at 11.30am.
Chiké Frankie Edozien | The Lives of Great Men
Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria Chiké Frankie Edozien learned to read from the newspapers his father brought home. He grew up to become an ink-stain scribbler telling the stories in service of a greater good. His The Lives of Great Men memoir won the Lambda Literary 2018 nonfiction award for Best Gay Memoir/Biography.
'In this luminous book, we are exposed to a universe of important but untold stories: the queer African is brought out of the shade of society’s bigotry and thrust into the light. They are given the starring role, finally, and presented to the audience in full view of their humanity.' - Brittle Paper
Chiké Frankie Edozien talks to Holden Sheppard about The Lives of Great Men, his award-wining memoir of growing up gay in West Africa, moving to New York, becoming a journalist at the New York Post and finding love. Plus, he's a tennis enthusiast!
Katherine Johnson is an award-winning Tasmanian author whose new book, Paris Savages, is a fictionalised account of three Badtjala people who were paraded as human curiosities in Europe in the 1800s.
‘While the debate about who can tell whose stories is ongoing, Johnson’s creative deep dive into history has an authenticity that will no doubt help fix the gaps that pervade our predominant narrative. A general understanding is not enough; it is important that we comprehend the specifics of the appalling treatment of native people and cultures that has taken place in our collective past. We must unpack the worst stretches of our history with eyes wide open.’ - Lousie Swinn, The Sydney Morning Herald
Johnson is the author of three previous novels: Pescador’s Wake (Fourth Estate, 2009), The Better Son (Ventura Press, 2016) and Matryoshka (Ventura Press, 2018). Her manuscripts have won Varuna Awards and Tasmanian Premier's Literary Prizes. The Better Son was longlisted for both the Indie Book Awards and the Tasmania Book Prize.
Johnson holds both arts and science degrees, has worked as a science journalist, and published feature articles for magazines including Good Weekend. She recently completed a PhD, which forms the basis of her latest novel, Paris Savages.
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More correctly known as military chaplains, the men who served as such were better known as padres. Padres gave spiritual guidance to men who sought it. They did not carry weaponry even at the front. Most padres were Anglican but those regiments with predominantly Roman Catholic soldiers in them (such as Irish regiments) had Catholic padres too. Though padres had a spiritual capacity, they also carried out other tasks. Men who had difficulty in writing home or reading letters would call on a padre to carry out these tasks. They also had the role of telling men at the front that God was on their side as theirs was the righteous cause. German padres also served the same function and German army belts frequently had ‘Gott mit uns’ (God with us) on their buckles. Padres read the burial service at burials and frequently put themselves in great danger by administering the last rites to men wounded in No-Man’s-Land. They would be found in field hospitals comforting men injured in battle. Other than services on a Sunday, padres would also do the same before a battle. Some padres became very popular with their men. ‘Woodbine Willy’ was a padre who gave out free cigarettes after a service, while the Reverend ‘Tubby’ Clayton started a social club at Poperinge that became known as ‘Toc H’, though it was more formally Talbot House. Here rank counted for nothing as officers and soldiers were treated as equal. Men could read in peace or generally just socialise – just a few miles from the battles that surrounded Ypres. Toc H’ had few rules – but you had to leave your military cap at the library if you borrowed a book to read in the house as no one was allowed to leave minus this part of the uniform - which guaranteed the return of a book.
It was a padre, David Railton, who came up with the idea for a tomb for an unknown soldier as he, along with many others, was well aware of the many thousands of men who had been killed on the Western Front but who had no known grave. The burying of an unknown soldier at Westminster Abbey – carried out with huge solemnity after the war – was, Railton believed, a gesture for all those men.
Padres also had to maintain the morale of those at the front. In the conditions found at the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele etc this must have been a difficult task. Conditions in the trenches must have pushed to the limit those who were religious. A few spurned the advice/role of the padres. One of these was the war poet Siegfried Sassoon who was hostile to the part played by the Church in its efforts to boost patriotism by using God and right as a lever to get men to join up.
"Padres in World War One". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2011. Web.
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Course Codes : COMS1003
Intercultural Communication: An Advanced Resource Book for Students
Publication Date 18 Oct 2016
OverviewRoutledge Applied Linguistics is a series of comprehensive textbooks, providing students and researchers with the support they need for advanced study in the core areas of English language and Applied Linguistics. Each book in the series guides readers through three main sections, enabling them to explore and develop major themes within the discipline. This highly successful text introduces and explores the dynamic area of intercultural communication and the 3rd edition has been updated and features new readings by Janet Holmes, Fred Dervin, Lei Guo, Summer Harlow and Adrian Holliday that reflect the most recent changes in the field.
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For the past few weeks students across campus have been downloading a trivia app called QuizUp. My roommate has been trying to convince me to play it since it came out.
According to New York Magazine, QuizUp “has already become the fastest-growing mobile game in history” after its release in early November. By its eighth day of availability, it had one million users.
At the beginning of December, it had over 3.5 million users and has dominated the top of the iPhone app list ever since.
With many trivia categories to choose from, QuizUp is the most extensive mobile trivia game to date. After my roommate and I challenged each other on Modern Family trivia until 2 a.m., I realized exactly how addicting this app was.
The categories vary from trivia about popular TV shows and movies to food logos. The game starts with general questions and continues to more specific ones as the level of difficulty increases. Each round has seven questions with only 10 seconds to respond.
QuizUp allows you to challenge other players, including friends or strangers. When you join the network, your friends are notified and the app will connect to your Facebook or Twitter.
The company that created the game, Plain Vanilla Games, is surprised by the great success of the app. New York Magazine’s statistics show that the average competitor is playing the game for around 40 minutes a day.
This is not the first game for the company. They also launched an unsuccessful app called The Moogies, which was an interactive game for preschoolers.
The failure of the The Moogies led the company to take a different approach to app marketing.
They decided to base QuizUp on the already successful Trivial Pursuit app, hoping to create an even more elaborate version of the game.
I think this app is new and refreshing. What draws me to this game the most is the fact that you can interact with friends.
The only complaint I have is that it is a little overwhelming to play at first. It took me a while to navigate the app and get the hang of it. Also, unfortunately, the app is only available for iPhone users.
If you’re looking for a fun new app, check out QuizUp, but make sure you have plenty of time to kill because the game will suck you in every time.
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The Naadanpattu of Kerala or Kerala folk songs narrate unrecorded tales of the land and people. These lyrical songs are evoked from the emotions and simple wisdom of agrestic folk. The toiling group of boatmen, peasants and farmers forgets the monotony of their humdrum life by humming these melodious songs.
Almost every aspect of life and occasions such as childbirth, marriage, festivals, the glee of the harvest season, weddings, war, the union of man and woman, mythology and religion and death finds a place in Kerala folksongs. Maappila Pattukal, Palli Pattukal, Onapaattukal, Vilpaattu, Vanchipattukal and vadakkan pattukal, are some of these native songs of different castes and communities of Kerala.
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That may be untested, unproven inadequate, though
Alternative healthcare is something that attempt to have the exact therapeutic outcomes of modern day-day conventional medication. There are many varieties of alternative medicine, covering anything from homeopathy to acupuncture and from regular medicine to major techniques like body organ transplants. Needless to say, regular drugs has its own reveal of critics on top of that. Often, alternative treatment can be a heal-all for health issues that medical practitioners will want to not take care of. The discussion over no matter whether alternative treatment can be viewed as legitimate is constantly rage.
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A fresh style of alternative treatment that is preferred in recent times is integrative treatment. This particular solution remedies integrates conventional approaches to illness with a bit of kinds of choice treatment methods. A good example of this can be pilates remedy. Yoga therapists focus on attaining an equilibrium in between spirit, body and mind. The intention of yoga exercises treatment therapy is to release the unfavorable strength and toxic compounds that collect within the body. Some option remedies found in integrative treatment contain biofeedback, reflexology, pure organic, aromatherapy and mind-calming exercise drugs.
While most people today link choice options with alternative treatment options, regular remedies also offers some routines it can handle. Doctors may well not constantly go along with the strategies included in integrative and complementary strategies. But, for some circumstances, typical drugs has actually been ready to try out these replacement solutions. A great treatment therapy is holistic solution.
The practice of supporting and alternative medicine goes back numerous ages. The aims of contrasting and integrative health care routines are to promote well being, reduce health issues and treat warning signs. Practitioners believe standard health methods are way too aimed at condition avoidance and also easygoing with people. This permits the illness to turn out to be and fester really hard to take out. By employing several tactics, experts desire to foster much better general health and well-simply being. For instance, chiropractors use soft methods to take care of situations for instance neck pain, backside muscle tissue and suffering spasms.
Another illustration showing a substitute medication tactic is strength remedies. Energy solutions derive from the belief an imbalance in the real physical body may result in conditions which includestress and panic, sleep issues and obesity. An energy therapy treatment method to curing a huge health-related method is called cell hydration. This type of therapy considers that an discrepancy within the chemical type and power action of tissues through the entire system results in a number of various medical ailments. By making use of distinct approaches and therapies, body cells are cleansed and repaired to the all-natural well being. These healthy procedures target the whole guy, rather than just curing a particular problem.
Naturopathic remedies together with other alternative medicine methods bring on purely natural natural remedies and nutritional supplements for therapy. Moreover, an acupuncturist supplies arms-on, preventive treatment options utilizing conventional Chinese treatments tactics. These practices are employed for generations to help remedy conditions and conditions. They also have improved over the years to feature even more present-day strategies of therapy and verdict, with a natural approach than classical styles of alternative treatment.
Some people are starting to examine alternative healthcare techniques and therefore are leaning in the direction of naturopathy and acupuncture. Other people are looking towards Chinese medication and holistic options to help remedy popular problems and diseases. While westerners even now do not comprehend the effects of Chinese organic drugs or chinese medicine, these are starting to accept the advantages of these replacement solutions. Reports have found out that progressively more men and women are satisfied with the end result of choice therapies and many get medical treatment because of their comfort level with choice therapies.
It must be mentioned which not every treatment solution is suitable for every person. A qualified acupuncturist is only one of numerous industry experts that may help clients having an ear contamination or long-term weakness. So that you can evaluate which alternative healthcare is acceptable perfect for your and you also medical treatment organization, a meeting using your physician is highly recommended. There are plenty of choices to look at without any two individuals are equally, so you should examine the different possibilities in order to find the best treatment method for you and your personal desires.
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高校入試 英作文 漫画
- What are you going to do today?
- What were you doing last night?
- I will have a party at home. Would you like to come?
- I don’t think I can come on time.
- I have to go home now.
- You don’t have to clean up.
- Please tell me when you need me.
- I think there is someone famous. There are so many people at the station.
- This is more beautiful. Why don’t you buy it?
- You are as funny as my Japanese friends.
- I am here to pick up the thing I bought.
- I don’t think you have ever eaten Japanese food.
- He is the man I like.
- I am glad to come. This is the movie I wanted to watch.
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The ancestry of pewter extends back before the Christian Era. Romans used it quite extensively for table ware.
Pewter is an alloy of at least 90 percent tin and 10 percent lead and copper, a few manufacturers added antimony for strength.
American use. Due to the fact most Americans, similar to today, were medium to low income folks, pewter was also employed widely as table service.
By the 1800s pottery wares replaced most pewter articles.
By the 1900s folks possessed an extra amount of income. Quite a few desired to retain articles of their and the nations history and antiques and reproductions were added to households.
Collectors consider pewter with 90 percent tin the highest quality, a lower tin content pewter was also produced, named ‘trifle,’ this only had 60 percent tin.
Today’s pewter is mostly tin, the lead is considered harmful and was therefore eliminated.
Polishing pewter. Unlike the care required in polishing silver, several polishing compounds can be employed, including any silver, brass or copper polishes. The process is also eliminatory – simply rub the compound then buff it with a soft cloth.
To shine it like silver does pewter an injustice. The real color of pewter is a dull gray-blue.
If the pewter has blackened with age, a thorough scouring with a powder and kerosene mixture often cleans the surface.
If difficult try a steel wool pad and kerosene. After washing, rinse thoroughly and finish with a good silver polish.
Temperature is important for pewter storage. Too low temperatures, below 60 degrees, can cause pewter to to deteriorate slowly. High temperatures will disfigure the surface due to its soft nature. Store pewter in finished wooden containers or drawers, unfinished wood releases acids harmful to pewter.
Flatware should be set flat or warping can occur.
Kitchen pewter. Pewter is very heavy compared to other kitchen utensils, a platter usually was 5 or 6 pounds. A full set of pewter, including dishes, plates, platters, etc., was called a “garnish of pewter.” Many ladies were proud of these wares. A set given for wedding gifts was very much prized.
Unlike the displays of those that prefer the gray-blue hue for pewter, our ancestors polished it to a silver shine. Old timers used to gather horse tail rush, crush it, and use it to scour their pewter with water. This was called “scouring-rush.”
Pewter was also used in the manufacturing of funnels, dram cups and steins. These are not commonly considered part of a service.
Readily used. Even though pewter was considered a poor man’s silver, well-to-do homes proudly displayed and used pewter for service ware readily.
Not only was pewter used in most domestic utensils, this metal was used to make lamps that burned whale oil and other non-petroleum oils.
Drinking mug lids are often pewter, including the steins made in Germany.
A contributing factor to the lack of old colonial pewter articles is due to the Revolutionary War wherein pewter was melted and cast into shot.
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Does video games really effect the environment and if it affects what are the consequences? Here are some interesting statistics covered in the infographic that shows how video games impact environment.
Till date Nintendo, the leading video game developer has sold games and consoles that weigh nearly 6 billion lbs. If it’s the case, then Nintendo needs at least 1,453 years to recycle all the games and consoles. Its bit astonishing to know that nearly 2.4 billion of cured oil would be saved if all the games manufactured by Nintendo are directly downloaded.
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Single-incision laparoscopic surgery
The University of Toledo Medical Center is embarking on a new era in minimally invasive surgery.
UT Medical Center is the only hospital in the region with university-quality care and the first to deliver single-incision laparoscopic surgery. This revolutionary procedure allows our surgical specialists to go through the navel to operate, which means less pain and less trauma for patients needing gynecological and gastrointestinal surgeries.
In fact, with no visible scarring and faster recovery time, you may feel like you never had surgery at all.
UT Medical Center was the first facility in northwest Ohio with specialists trained to perform single-incision surgery. Dr. Jianlin Tang, assistant professor of general surgery, already has performed more than 100 cases.
Common applications for this single-incision surgery include gall bladder, appendix, colon, acid reflux, ovary/fallopian tube and hysterectomy surgeries. In most laparascopic surgeries for these conditions, a surgeon uses three to four ports of entry for a camera and laparoscopic instruments, leaving small scars – a significant advancement from the tradition “open” forms of surgery.
But these leading-edge single-incision procedures reduce the number of incisions to just one, through the belly button, leaving no visible scars. The camera and instruments enter the abdominal cavity through the navel. Once the removal or repair has been conducted, a tiny bandage or stitching closes the area affected, and the organ or damaged tissue is removed. Finally, the incision in the navel is internally stitched. Other advantages include less bleeding and fewer complications.
Committed to the ultimate safety of each patient, at UT Medical Center, each patient is carefully evaluated to determine which surgical procedure will be the safest and result in the best outcome for each patient.
This new breakthrough in surgical technique is an excellent example of what academic medical centers do for medicine – we look for new and innovative ways to improve patient safety, comfort and care.
Surgeons at The University of Toledo Medical Center have a history of leadership in minimally invasive surgery in the region, including laparoscopic procedures for kidney removal for transplantation and use of the daVinci surgical system.
Surgical consultations at UT Medical Center can generally be scheduled within 24 hours. If you would like a consultation for a single-incision procedure or any other surgical procedure, call 419.383.3759 or ask your physician to refer you to UT Medical Center.
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Century’s Sebree aluminum smelter has a production capacity of approximately 220,000 metric tonnes per year. The facility is 100-percent owned and operated through Century Aluminum.
Sebree is located in Henderson County, Kentucky, perfectly situated in the middle of the Midwestern market. It is an ideal location to conduct business as a large majority of the smelter’s customers are within a 600-mile region. Since it began operations in 1973, more than 10 billion pounds of aluminum have been created.
Century Aluminum Sebree employs 515 workers within the tri-state region – it is one of the largest manufacturers in the area. Economically, the plant supports the region with approximately $3 million annually in state and local taxes; around $45 million in purchases from regional vendors; and another $35 million in wages and salaries.
There are three production departments at Sebree:
There are three potlines, each containing 128 aluminum pots.
All of the potlines’ molten metal is transported by a cruce truck to the Casting department. In Casting, employees turn the new aluminum into two primary products: billet and low-profile sow. Cast billet resembles a 20-foot telephone pole, which is then heat treated and cut to customer specifications. While sow is shipped to various customers who re-melt it for blending and casting into various shapes, billet is shipped to extruders who apply pressure and heat to re-shape the billet into such things as air conditioning coils and window frames.
This department creates carbon blocks in a newly installed baking system. Each block weights approximately 1,700 pounds each and are made, baked and then shipped to Potlines where they are put inside each pot to conduct electricity. Very few locations in the United States make their own carbon blocks.
Keeping the facility running efficiently is the Maintenance department where experienced employees work around the clock for all departments.
Sebree takes pride in its safety record and makes safety a priority every day.
Sebree is quality certified to the ISO 9001:2015 standard.
For information on products made at our Sebree facility, click here.
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Honey I Washed the Kids soap & Honey Bee Bath Bomb ? by LUSH
[via teetoo] “Bumblebee on a blue lupin in my garden”
VIDEO: by vkgoeswild
“I like the joke on the bumblebee;
His wings are too small to hold him.
He really can’t fly, professors agree
But nobody ever told him.”
Rarest of Bumblebees Rediscovered: “Cockerell’s Bumblebee”
“The most rare U.S. species of bumblebee, last seen in 1956, has turned up once again in the White Mountains of south-central New Mexico. Called “Cockerell’s Bumblebee,” this prized pollinator is known from an area of less than 300 square miles, giving it the most limited range of any bumblebee species in the world…
Any story about bees surviving in the wild is uplifting news in light of the well-documented decline of bees worldwide. Recently the U.N. reported bee losses of up 85 percent in some areas of the industrialized northern hemisphere, where pesticides, pollution, and parasites may all be to blame.
Cockerell’s Bumblebee, among nearly 50 species of bumblebees native to the U.S., has avoided many of these threats, living on protected national forest and tribal lands. For that reason, it is not especially surprising for an insect species to be rediscovered after decades, when people might otherwise imagine that it may have gone extinct…”
Help us save the honey bees!!
Your contribution directly supports the educational outreach, community action and advocacy efforts to protect the health and well-being of honey bees. HoneyLove is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible.
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Hours before the June 30 protests began against Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party, the nation's Christians were once again singled out for behaving like citizens who have the right to participate in the protests.
In Minya, Upper Egypt, where millions of Christians live, letters addressed to the Copts threatened them not to join the protests, otherwise their "businesses, cars, homes, schools, and churches" might "catch fire." The message concluded by saying, "If you are not worried about any of these, then worry about your children and your homes. This message is being delivered with tact. But when the moment of truth comes, there will be no tact." It's signed by "People zealous for the nation."
Such threats are not limited to anonymous letters. During a recent TV interview, Sheikh Essam Abdulamek, a member of the parliament's Shura Council, warned Egypt's Christians against participating in the June 30 protests. "Do not sacrifice your children," he said, as "general Muslim opinion will not be silent about the ousting of the president [Morsi]."
Notable in all these threats is that Christian children are specifically mentioned as targets— the easiest and most effective way at punishing "uppity" Copts who think they, too, along with the millions of other Egyptians, have the right to protest the Brotherhood and Morsi. These threats are not empty; since the rise of Morsi and the Brotherhood, the targeting of Coptic children has been on the rise. Some, especially young girls, are regularly abducted, raped, shamed into converting to Islam and then "marrying" their rapists. Coptic boys have increasingly been abducted from the doorsteps of their churches and held for ransom. Most recently, a 6-year-old Christian boy was murdered by his kidnapper— after the boy's family paid the ransom. (Read more about the jihad on Egypt's Christian children.)
The number of notable Islamic personages on record threatening Egypt's Christians is significant: in December 2012, Safwat Hegazy, a prominent Brotherhood figure and preacher, threatened every Christian who dared vote against Morsi's Sharia-heavy constitution. In a video, speaking before a throng of Muslims, he said:
A message to the church of Egypt, from an Egyptian Muslim: I tell the church—by Allah, and again, by Allah—if you conspire and unite with the remnants [opposition] to bring Morsi down, that will be another matter [screams of "Allah-hu Akbar!" ("Allah is Greater!") followed by chants of "With our soul, with our blood, we give to you, O Islam!"]… [T]here are red lines—and our red line is the legitimacy of Dr. Muhammad Morsi. Whoever splashes water on it, we will splash blood on him" [followed by more wild shouts of "Allah-hu Akbar!"]
Around the same time, Dr. Wagdi Ghoneim -- who earlier praised Allah for the death of the late Coptic Pope Shenouda, cursing him to hell and damnation on video -- made another video, entitled, "A Notice and Warning to the Crusaders in Egypt," a reference to the nation's Christians, or Copts, which began with him saying, "You are playing with fire in Egypt, I swear, the first people to be burned by the fire are you [Copts]." The heart of Ghoneim's message was genocidal:
The day Egyptians -- and I don't even mean the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafis, regular Egyptians -- feel that you are against them, you will be wiped off the face of the earth. I'm warning you now: do not play with fire!"… "What do you think -- that America will protect you? Let's be very clear, America will not protect you. If so, it would have protected the Christians of Iraq when they were being butchered!"
Later, a few months ago, while discussing the ongoing protests against Morsi, Sheikh Abdullah Badr, an Al Azhar trained scholar and professor of Islamic exegesis, made the following assertion on live TV:
I swear to Allah, the day those who went out [to protest], and at their head, the [Coptic] Christians -- I say this at the top of my voice -- the day they think to come near Dr. Morsi, I -- we -- will pop their eyes out, and the eyes of all those who support them, even America; and America will burn, and all its inhabitants. Be assured, the day Dr. Morsi is touched by any hand whatever, and connected to whomever, by Allah it will be the last day for us. We will neither leave them, nor show them any mercy.
Of all of Egypt's citizens, its indigenous and original inhabitants -- the Christian Copts -- are also the most denied equal rights; a revealing reminder of how Islam entered Egypt, with the sword and violence, and why most Christians, over the centuries, converted: to remain Christian was to remain a third-class, barely tolerated "citizen," who paid extra taxes, jizya, and was denied any equality with Muslims.
Sadly, not only do some Islamic leaders insist that Egypt's Christians have no right to protest, but also, apparently, so does the current U.S. administration. Days before the June 30 protests, U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson asked the Coptic pope to urge the Copts not to join the protests -- thus validating Sharia law's position concerning subjugated Christians: they must never complain against their Islamic overlords, in this instance, Morsi and the Brotherhood.
Raymond Ibrahim is author of the new book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (published by Regnery in cooperation with Gatestone Institute, 2013). A Middle East and Islam expert, he is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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What We Do
The Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) is an interdisciplinary research centre with global outreach on issues of media freedom, independence and plurality, hosted in the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield. CFOM aims to inform and advise governments, policy-makers and stakeholders internationally on countering threats to media freedom, and to bring about positive changes to laws, policy and practice and raise standards of journalism safety worldwide.
CFOM’s work covers three main areas:
Researching and contributing to the development of policies to protect media freedom and public interest journalism whenever they are under threat in areas of conflict, instability or tension; and addressing issues arising from the emergence of new media platforms and providers of journalism content.
Educating journalists and journalism students about best practices and providing resources for training others on the rights of journalists and the role of journalism in democracies.
Advocating for media freedom and the global protection of journalists and of free, independent and reliable journalism.
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Erdogan Calls Zionism a “Crime Against Humanity,” UN Secretary-General Remains Silent
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan grouped Zionism with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia as a “crime against humanity” in a speech at a United Nations summit on tolerance held in Vienna on Wednesday, Israel Hayom reported.
“Just like Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it becomes unavoidable that Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan was speaking at the fifth global forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was seated behind Erdoğan on the dais, did not react.
Erdoğan’s comments echoed U.N. General Assembly Resolution 3379, adopted on Nov. 10, 1975 by a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions), which determined “that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” The resolution was revoked in 1991 by UN General Assembly Resolution 4686.
“The status accorded to Palestine at the U.N. General Assembly [in recognizing it last November as a non-member observer state] was indeed a historic achievement. This has been a very important turning point in global peace,” Erdoğan added.
The non-governmental monitoring organization UN Watch criticized Erdoğan’s comments and urged all members of the alliance’s High-Level Group, which comprises eminent people, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “to denounce remarks that fundamentally contradict the very purpose of a forum supposedly dedicated to mutual tolerance.”
“Erdoğan’s misuse of this global podium to incite hatred, and his resort to Ahmadinejad-style pronouncements appealing to the lowest common denominator in the Muslim world, will only strengthen the belief that his government is hewing to a confrontational stance, and fundamentally unwilling to end its four-year-old feud with Israel,” UN Watch said on its blog.
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The Center for Pediatric Dentistry
The earlier children begin going to the dentist, the more comfortable they’ll be with exams throughout their life. Schedule their first appointment when they turn 1. Children can zero in on a parent’s fears, so if you’re afraid, the less you say the better. If you fuss or tell children how brave they are, they may think something scary will happen. Instead, share a book about going to the dentist. Mention that dentists and dental assistants like children and help them keep their teeth healthy.
To get the most out of your child’s dental visits, don’t be shy. Tell the dental assistant or dentist how your child is feeling. Describe the medications he or she takes and include drug allergies. If you don’t understand the dentist’s explanations, ask questions. If treatment is required, make sure you know why and what it involves. Ask if there are other options, how they differ in cost and which the dentist thinks will best fix the problem.
Ease the teething blues
Baby’s first tooth means it’s time to schedule his or her first dental visit and deal with teething. Tender gums can interrupt sleep and make children irritable, drool and constantly chew on things. Cold-like symptoms may also develop. (If a high fever occurs, call your pediatrician.)
To ease the pain, have clean chilled teething rings and washcloths on hand. Swap them out as needed. Massaging baby gums with your clean finger may also help relieve pressure from the incoming tooth. Contact your child’s pediatrician before using over-the-counter pain medication.
Teeth generally emerge between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, but the time line depends on the child. Typically, the two bottom-front teeth push through first. Even before teeth come in, pediatric dentists advise parents to wipe children’s gums after feedings so that they get used to having their mouth cleaned.
Flossing helps teeth and gums
By age 2, daily flossing is preferred. It removes food and plaque from between the teeth. Plaque is the sticky yellow substance that forms on teeth after eating things like bread, raisins, cookies and cake and drinking milk or soda. Bacteria grows on the plaque and forms an acid that leads to tooth decay. It can get past the gums, damage the bone and destroy the root.
To floss your child’s teeth, wrap the floss around your fingers and glide it between the teeth in a C-shaped motion. Be gentle! Forcing the floss between teeth can make the gums bleed, which can scare children into thinking that flossing hurts (it shouldn’t). To prevent bacteria from spreading in the mouth, use a new section of floss each time you move between two teeth.
Flouride helps teeth stay healthy
Pediatric dentists have a good reason for asking about your family’s water supply. They want to determine if your children are getting enough fluoride, which helps develop healthy teeth and prevents early tooth decay, one of the most common childhood diseases.
More than 25 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds are found to have one or more cavities, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fluoride stops the acid produced by bacteria (plaque) from eating away tooth enamel (the hard, shiny substance that protects teeth). It can reverse low levels of tooth decay and keep new cavities from forming.
Generally, most children receive the right amount of fluoride through a combination of fluoridated toothpaste and fluoridated water and children under 6 months don’t need supplements. If you give your child bottled water, check the label to be sure it’s fluoridated. Bring your questions about fluoride to your child’s next dental visit.
Getting children to brush
“Two” is the magic number when it comes to healthy teeth. Dentists recommend brushing a minimum of twice a day – after breakfast and just before bedtime – for at least two minutes. Since that can be a very long time for children, The Center’s Dr. Amy Kim suggests these fun ways to keep them going:
- Pick a song that’s about two minutes long and sing it during toothbrush time. Or, play two minutes of a tune from the radio or a child’s favorite CD. Use the first 60 seconds for the top teeth and the other 60 seconds for the bottom teeth.
- Place a timer in the bathroom, one that indicates minutes and seconds, or even an old-fashioned egg timer that uses sand.
- Get a brush that lights up. The Firefly toothbrush, for example, flashes a light for 60 seconds at a time.
Gingivitis, or gum disease, affects children and adults. If caught early enough, this infection is treatable. Parents and caregivers should check for the following warning signs:
- Bleeding gums at any time (including during brushing and flossing)
- Bright red, swollen gums
- Gums that pull away from the teeth (sometimes exposing the roots)
- Constant bad breath that doesn’t go away, even with brushing and flossing
- Children who suffer from Type 1 diabetes may be more susceptible to this disease
A gum exam should be part of every dental checkup your child receives. Gingivitis is 100 percent preventable if parents take children for regular dental visits starting at age 1 – or when the first tooth appears – and brush and floss their teeth twice a day. Use just a smear of toothpaste for youngsters under age 2. A pea-sized amount is right for children ages 2 to 5. Begin flossing when the gaps between the teeth close.
During Halloween week, children can have their candy and clean teeth, too. Try to serve them a healthy, hearty meal before trick-or-treating, so they’ll be less tempted to gorge on sweets. When they come home, hand out glasses of water to wash away some of the sugars and neutralize acids. No matter how tired they are, children should brush well and floss before bedtime. Afterward, let children make withdrawals from a “candy bank” so you can control how much they eat and when.
If the whole family enjoys healthy snacks, children will want them, too. A healthy snack is low in sugar and high in nutrients – just what young teeth and mouths need. Keep low-fat string cheese and yogurt, milk and cut fruit and veggies on hand. Let children choose healthy options at the store and mix-and-match them with hummus, low-fat dips or whole-grain crackers. Limit the number of snack times and save “fun foods” for special occasions.
Children are born with 20 primary teeth. Each one is important for helping them speak normally and chew naturally. “Baby” teeth also control the growth pattern of the face and hold space for permanent teeth to come in properly. After feedings, gently wipe your baby’s gums with a clean soft cloth or a two-inch square of gauze wrapped around your finger. This removes plaque and bacteria. When the first tooth appears, schedule a pediatric dental visit and begin using a soft-bristle, age-appropriate toothbrush twice a day. Add a “smear” of fluoride toothpaste at age 2.
Sealants are thin plastic coatings that protect teeth from decay. They’re applied to the grooves on the back teeth to keep out germs and food particles. It’s best to apply sealants soon after the first permanent molars come up and before decay starts to occur – at about age 5 or 6. Second permanent molars emerge at about age 12 and these teeth should receive sealants, too.
The process is easy. A special gel sits on the chewing surface for a few seconds, the tooth is washed and dried and the sealant is painted on. A protective shield forms in about a minute. Sealants are hardly visible and can last for several years, then are reapplied.
Sippy cups and bottles
Children and parents love sippy cups and bottles because they are familiar and because there are no spills! We recommend that children are weaned from the sippy cup and bottle by age 1. If your child uses either after that age, be sure that it doesn’t contain juice, soda or other sweet liquids. A cup or bottle filled with sugary beverages encourages their use and greatly increases the risk for cavities.
Teeth grinding (or “bruxism”) may sound scary coming from young mouths, but it usually isn’t harmful. Grinding is common in children under age 7 and typically stops when their six-year permanent molars come through.
Pain from an earache or teething, an abnormal bite (the top and bottom teeth don’t meet) or a change in routine – such as a new sibling or school – can cause children to grind their teeth while sleeping. Middle- and high-school-age students may suffer stress-related grinding when they’re facing a major test.
In some cases, a child is angry or unable to verbally express frustration about something. Children who are hyperactive or have certain medical conditions, such as cerebral palsy, may also grind.
Tell your pediatric dentist about any grinding or jaw clenching that you or family members have noticed. (People often don’t know that they’re doing this.) Also mention if your child complains of a sore jaw or face in the morning or pain when chewing.
Grinding can wear down tooth enamel, chip teeth or increase sensitivity. If the child has baby teeth, the dentist may say nothing needs to be done.
Older children might need a plan that protects their permanent teeth, but doesn’t affect normal growth. The dentist may prescribe a special night guard that takes some getting used to, but provides quick results.
Most children outgrow bruxism, but until they do, parental observation and dental visits are needed to keep the situation in check.
Most children outgrow thumb sucking by age 5. If it continues when permanent teeth start coming in, dental or speech problems may occur. Children can develop teeth that stick out or don’t close properly or a lisp. Older children often get teased for thumb sucking, which makes them secretive and ashamed. Stress, anxiety or other emotional issues should be addressed first. Ask your pediatric dentist for advice. Breaking this habit requires patience, love and encouragement from parents and caregivers.
How a pediatric dentist treats tooth decay depends on what he or she finds. Fillings may be needed to repair mild decay. Severe decay may require a crown, root canal or removal of the tooth.
A filling is a substance that replaces a decayed or broken part of a tooth. Commonly used materials include metal, alloy, plastic, porcelain or composite (a combination of materials). Because they’re usually tooth-colored, composites are often used on front teeth.
Crowns are used to repair teeth that are broken or show so much decay, a filling isn’t enough. They may be made of gold, porcelain or a combination of man-made materials.
In a root canal procedure, the infected core (or pulp) of a tooth is removed to relieve a toothache, stop the infection and promote healing.
Tooth decay and cavities can be avoided if children receive regular dental checkups beginning at age 1, a healthy diet and daily brushing and flossing.
Two injuries require an immediate trip to a pediatric dentist. If a tooth is knocked out, rinse it under warm water, gently push it back in the socket and hold it there or place it in a cup of milk or cool water. Remember to bring the tooth with you! Don’t scrub the tooth or remove attached tissue. For a broken tooth, gently clean the injured area with warm water. Place cold compresses on the face to decrease swelling.
What’s so special about pediatric dentists?
Why choose a pediatric dentist? Dentists who specialize in children’s oral health have advanced dental education and experience in child behavior. They dedicate their practice to the diagnosis and treatment of children, including those with special needs. These dental experts and their assistants know how to treat your child! Their first priority is to put their young patients at ease. Guided by body language, facial expressions and words (if the child can verbally communicate), the dental team assesses who needs extra time to adjust to the surroundings.
Children receive lots of praise and explanations. Using the “Tell-Show-Do” technique, the dentist or dental assistant introduces a tool to the child and demonstrates how it’ll be used before the work begins. Answering questions honestly, but with special terms, also helps. For example, the dental team gives “sleepy juice,” not shots, which makes a part of the mouth “feel like your arm or foot is falling asleep.” The saliva suction tool is called Thirsty Charlie. A high-speed drill is Mr. Whistler. The dentist “wiggles the tooth out,” instead of pulling it. Cotton rolls are tooth pillows and fluoride is tooth vitamins. Starting regular dental checkups from age 1 will make your child a confident, happy dental patient for life.
To pull or not to pull loose baby teeth? That’s a question all parents and caregivers face.
“Baby teeth should be left alone to fall out naturally,” says Dr. Ana Lucia Seminario, The Center’s interim chair. “If these teeth are bothersome, encouraging children to do the pulling themselves would be the first option, as they can better control how much discomfort they can tolerate.”
Eating apples is an easy and stress-free tool to help the wiggly tooth fall. There are some circumstances when consulting with your pediatric dentist is recommended: If the child is experiencing considerable pain or has special care needs (to avoid risk of aspiration) or has permanent teeth coming out in an undesirable position.
“Swallowing a tooth will not cause harm to the child,” says Dr. Seminario. “However, it may be a tooth fairy disappointment.”
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed changing federal law to specify that a sitting president can be indicted, even as she indicated she was no closer to moving to impeach President Donald Trump.
In an interview with NPR published Friday, Pelosi argued that despite a Justice Department legal opinion asserting the contrary, “there is nothing any place that says the president should not be indicted.”
That longstanding opinion from DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel took center stage in the political universe beginning this spring, when former special counsel Robert Mueller released his report detailing the findings of his investigation into Russian election interference and whether Trump obstructed justice in the probe.
Mueller specifically cited the OLC opinion in his report, saying he would not have brought an indictment against the president regardless of what his probe uncovered and never intended to determine whether Trump committed a crime. Mueller’s ambiguity touched off a heated battle in the halls of Congress, fracturing Democrats over whether the caucus should impeach Trump.
Though more than half of Pelosi’s caucus is in favor of pursuing impeachment, including House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, whose committee has begun proceedings, the speaker has remained adamant that the conditions are not yet ripe.
"I do think that we will have to pass some laws that will have clarity for future presidents,” she said, contending that a “president should be indicted, if he's committed a wrongdoing — any president.”
The California Democrat asserted that any suggestion that it was unconstitutional to indict a sitting president was pure spin.
"That's something cooked up by the president's lawyers,” Pelosi said. “That's what that is. But so that people will feel 'Okay, well, if he, if he does something wrong, should be able to be indicted.'"
She argued that the issue’s absence from the Constitution was not a signal into what its framers felt about charging a president with a crime — only that they could not have envisioned a president who acted with such reckless abandon for the office and its co-equal branches of government.
"The founders could never suspect that a president would be so abusive of the Constitution of the United States, that the separation of powers would be irrelevant to him and that he would continue, any president would continue, to withhold facts from the Congress, which part of the constitutional right of inquiry," she said.
Still, Pelosi indicated that she hadn’t budged in her opposition to impeaching Trump, maintaining that her colleagues would continue its array of oversight investigations and then follow "the facts and the law." But her opposition has faced fresh brushback and calls for Trump’s removal following reports of a whistleblower complaint from the intelligence community said to revolve around Trump’s making a “promise” to a foreign leader regarding Ukraine.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has refused to turn over the whistleblower complaint to lawmakers, leaving news reports about its contents as the only insight into what it contains, Pelosi called the situation “very alarming,” even for Trump’s administration.
“This is in a different class in terms of [Trump's] behavior," she said, noting that Trump himself had appointed the inspector general who deemed the complaint “urgent” and credible to begin with.
She also argued that the agency’s whistleblower statute is clear, and that the information must be submitted to the intelligence committees in Congress. "Right now they are breaking the law" by not providing that information, she said.
While she was on the subject of changing laws that would rein in the president, Pelosi also backed clarifying the limits of acting unilaterally under the guise of national security.
Trump has used national emergency declarations throughout his presidency to make an end run around Congress from everything from imposing tariffs to redirecting already-appropriated funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"The president should not be able to interpret the National Security Act as something that gives him free reign to do anything he wants by his personal declaration that something is an emergency," she told NPR.
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| Discussion: |
Gastroschisis is a congenital, full-thickness fusion defect of the anterior abdominal wall that results in herniation of abdominal contents into the amniotic cavity. It typically occurs to the right of the umbilical cord and is not covered by a membrane. Most cases involve the small bowel and portions of the large bowel.
There is controversy regarding the pathophysiology of gastroschisis, but most do agree that it is secondary to a vascular accident. One suggestion is that there is abnormal involution of the right umbilical vein, resulting in weakness of the anterior abdominal wall which subsequently ruptures. Others suggest premature interruption of the right omphalomesenteric artery or rupture of an exomphalos.
A similar congenital defect is an omphalocele. An omphalocele differs from gastroschisis in that it occurs midline at the base of the umbilical cord and is covered by a membrane. It is also associated with other serious structural defects and chromosomal abnormalities, whereas gastroschisis is typically an isolated defect.
Gastroschisis is usually detected during the second trimester ultrasound. It is visualized by bowel protruding through the fetal abdominal wall. Since these free-floating bowel loops lie uncovered in the amniotic fluid, they may become thick and edematous and appear as an echogenic cauliflower-shaped mass.
In addition, it may also be detected by an elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level. Gastroschisis occurs in approximately 1 in 4000 births and is twice as common as an omphalocele.
An omphalocele is also typically detected during the 2nd trimester ultrasound. It is visualized by an anterior midline abdominal mass at insertion of the umbilical cord and there is typically fetal ascites. The mass has a smooth surface and contains bowels, stomach and the liver. There is a membrane covering the viscera, although it may be difficult to visualize. The average size of the defect is 2.5 to 8 cm. Similar to gastroschisis, an omphalocele has an elevated maternal AFP level. In an omphalocele, acetylcholinesterase levels may also be increased.
After diagnosis of gastroschisis in utero, it is recommended to have serial ultrasounds to assess fetal well-being. Many patients are delivered via cesarean section, although this has not been shown to have any benefit over vaginal delivery.
After delivery, it is recommended to cover the bowels with sterile dressings in order to help prevent infection and to preserve fluid and heat.
After delivery the bowel is surgically replaced in the abdomen via primary repair or a staged repair process. In a staged repair, the temporary placement of a silo may be used to help reduce the hernia. The baby usually spends several weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit until the intestines are able to allow feeding.
As mentioned before, gastroschisis is typically an isolated defect. It is, however, associated with other gastrointestinal problems such as intestinal atresia, stenosis and necrosis. These morbidities occur in 25% of patients. Intrauterine growth restriction (IURG) also occurs in most fetuses due to nutrient loss through exposed bowel in the amniotic space. Most mortality in these babies result from necrotizing enterocolitis, and complicated cases unfortunately have short bowel syndrome.
Overall survival is 90% and the babies eventually feed normally and grow up normally.
The prognosis of an omphalocele depends on the severity of the associated co morbidities, such as pulmonary hypoplasia due to the decreased size of the thoracic cavities, or chromosomal defects. When associated anomalies are present, the mortality rate is 80%, but if chromosomal and/or cardiovascular abnormalities are present, it can increase to 100%. If the omphalocele is an isolated defect, it has a similar prognosis to gastroschisis.
Both gastroschisis and omphalocele have increased incidence of adhesions and secondary bowel obstuctions, as a consequence of either the primary repair and often due to their repeated abdominal surgeries.
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Display screens connected to cameras are significantly different from windows or mirrors. Looking through a window or mirror, we can focus on infinity, and we can move our vantage point to see a little different. With a display screen showing live camera footage, we see the field of view from a single point (the camera location) and our focus is on the screen.
Would it be possible to develop a screen + camera that is much closer in behaviour to a window or a mirror? I think the screen and camera would need to have the same surface area. Both would be sensitive to direction, and when camera pixel $(C_i, C_j)$ on the camera receives a photon with frequency $\nu$ from angles $(C_\phi, C_\theta)$, the screen would send a corresponding photon at frequency $\nu$ from position $(S_i, S_j)$ to direction $(S_\phi, S_\theta)$, where $(S_\phi, S_\theta)$ are calculated from $(C_\phi, C_\theta)$ mimicking either window- or mirror-like behaviour.
Is such a device theoretically possible? If yes, would such a device be technically feasible today? If yes, has there been any serious work on such devices? If it's theoretically possible but not feasible today, what would need to be developed before such devices may be on the horizon?
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Ferrite Beads Information
Ferrite beads are used to suppress unwanted signals that can interfere with electrical devices such as DC supplies, transmission lines and cables. They provide attenuation of selected frequency bands.
The physical shape of ferrite beads is similar to a toroidal inductor, but the beads have a greater length to diameter ratio and usually a greater outside to inside diameter ratio than most toroid cores. Different size / shape beads of the same material have different degrees of suppression.
The type of ferrite material used to manufacture the bead determines the range of frequencies for suppression purposes, and the physical size and shape of the bead determines the amount of attenuation. In general the impedance is directly proportional to the length of the ferrite beads.
Important general specifications to consider when searching for ferrite beads include technology, form factor, beads in package, and packing method.
Choices for technology type include:
- Solenoidal (standard) core - Solenoidal cores are rod-shaped cores.
- Toroidal - Toroid inductors have a doughnut shape and come in various diameters, thickness, permeability and types depending upon the frequency range of interest. They have a high inductance for the physical space occupied.
- Bobbin core - A bobbin core is an inductor with a core with the shape of a bobbin or spool. Bobbin cores are available with and without leads and in the axial and radial form.
- Wirewound - A wirewound inductor is an inductor with a core made of wound wires.
- Multilayer - Multilayer inductors are inductors constructed by layering the coil between the layers of core material. The coil normally consists of a bare metal material (no insulation). This technology is normally referred to as "non-wirewound". The inductance value can be made larger by adding additional layers for a giving spiral pattern.
- Laminated - Laminated inductors are ferrite beads with a core that is constructed by stacking multiple laminations on top of each other. The laminations can be of a variety of materials and thicknesses.
Form Factor & Number of Beads
Form factor choices include rod, bead on leads, bar, plate, tube, and chip:
Beads on leads - The bead has radical leads.
Plate - The bead is in the shape of a bar.
Chip - The bead is bult in a chip using semiconductor materials.
Rod - The bead is in the shape of cyclinder rod.
Bar - The bead is in the shape of a bar.
Tube - The bead is in the shape of a hollowed tube.
The number of ferrite beads in the package can be 1, 2, or 4.
Choices for packing methods include tape reel, tray, tube, and bulk pack:
Tape reel - Components are packed in tape reel assemblies that include a carrier tape with embossed cavities for storing individual components. A cover tape seals the carrier tape in place. This composite tape is then wound on a reel that is placed in a corrugated shipping box for transport and delivery. Customers unpack the reels and load them into industry-standard, pick-and-place board assembly equipment.
Tray / rail - Components are packed in trays (rails) that are made of carbon-powder or fiber materials and molded into rectangular outlines that contain matrices of uniformly spaced pockets. These containers protect components during shipping and provide proper component location and orientation for use with industry-standard, pick-and-place board assembly equipment. Trays are designed for components for that have leads on four sides and that require component lead isolation during shipping, handling, or processing.
Tube - Components are packed in shipping tubes or stick magazines that are made of rigid polyvinylchloride (PVC) and extruded in industry-standard sizes. These containers protect components during shipping and provide proper component location and orientation for use with industry-standard, pick-and-place board assembly equipment.
Bulk pack - Components are distributed as individual parts.
Important performance specifications to consider when searching for ferrite beads include impedance range, impedance tolerance, impedance testing frequency, DCR, rated DC current, and operating temperature:
Impedance is the total resistance to the flow of current, including AC and DC components.
DC component is simply the DC resistance of the device.
AC component includes the bead reactance.
Impedance tolerance is the allowed amount of variation from the nominal value as specified by the manufacturer.
Impedance testing frequency is the frequency at which the bead impedance is tested.
Direct current resistance (DCR) is the resistance of the inductor winding measured using DC current. The DCR is most often minimized in the design of an inductor and specified as a maximum rating.
Rated DC current (IDC) is the level of continuous direct current that can be passed through the inductor with no damage. The DC current level is based on a maximum temperature rise at the maximum rated ambient temperature.
Rated current is related to the inductor's ability to minimize the power losses in the winding by having a low DC resistance. For low frequency currents the RMS current can be substituted for the DC rated current.
Operating temperature for ferrite beads is the full required range of ambient operating temperature.
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Powerbags (5kg - 35kg)
Studio Powerbags The Powerbag provides a crossover between Olympic lifting, medicine ball work and core stability training. Training with the Powerbag teaches the body to use its core stabilisers effectively, so that the transfer of energy during even the most complex movement patterns can take place effectively. Additional Information Complex movement based exercises, all multi-joint in nature and all requiring a high emphasis on stability. Movement drills, such as fast feet, ladder drills, heel flicks etc. Jumps & drops, which are difficult to achieve resisted due to awkwardness of bars. Throws, difficult to do with most systems other than medicine balls which rarely exceed more than 15kg. Catching and taking the impact, again difficult to complete with most systems. Dynamic movements with a partner, throw... catch... move... throw... catch Pure resisted core stability movements. Powerbags are available in 5kg, 7.5kg, 10kg, 15kg, 20kg, 25kg, 30kg and 35kg weights.
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Zambia and Serbia are all set to revive their bilateral relations and build stronger economic relations, Serbian President Mr. Tomislav Nikolic indicated.
President Nikolic pointed out that Serbia wants to intensify its economic cooperation with Zambia, noting that the country has much to offer, particularly in the sectors of agriculture and construction.
The announcement was made during an official visit to Serbia by a delegation lead by Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Harry Kalaba, from 14th to 16th April 2015.
During the visit Mr. Kalaba had discussions with the ministry of Agriculture of Serbia and with various Serbian companies that are currently present in Zambia as well as others that showed interest in doing business in Zambia in the future.
According to both Mr. Kalaba and Mr. Ivica Dacic, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Prime Minister of Sebia, there is a lot that both countries can do to explore untapped opportunities.
As a result Zambia and Serbia are ready to work together to develop a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance development and strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
The proposed MoU will provide a sustainable framework of cooperation between the two countries and would formulate strategies for cooperation in agriculture, education, trade and investment between the two countries.
Zambia and Serbia have also decided to conclude the ratification processes of the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement.
According to the Embassy Of The Republic Of Serbia the trade between the two countries currently amounts to USD 27,000 only.
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Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D.) was found guilty of 20 federal counts, including bribery and conspiracy.
Nagin was given free trips, free gravel for his family business, and other benefits from local businesses in exchange for city contracts worth millions of dollars, the Associated Press reported. One local businessman paid for Nagin’s trips to Hawaii and Jamaica.
According to the Associate Press:
The Democrat, who left office in 2010 after eight years, was indicted in January 2013 on charges he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family business in exchange for promoting the interests of local businessman Frank Fradella.
He also was charged with accepting thousands of dollars in in payoffs from another businessman, Rodney Williams, for his help in securing city contracts.
Nagin is best remembered for his impassioned pleas for help after levees broke during Hurricane Katrina, flooding much of New Orleans and plunging the city into chaos. […]
The charges against Nagin included one overarching conspiracy count along with six counts of bribery, nine counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy and four counts of filing false tax returns. He was acquitted of one of the bribery counts.
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Help is at hand for anyone who suffers from needle phobia. Fears are learned and can be unlearned. Hypnotherapy makes this process easy.
Who enjoys the thought of injections? Only those with a slightly masochistic tendency actually find the experience enjoyable. The majority of people tolerate injections as a necessity, and don't really dwell too much upon the process; it's just one of those things.
But there are some people who are terrified by the very thought of a needle coming anywhere near to them. Copious tears are shed in the dentist's waiting room, the blood clinic or the doctor's surgery. More tears are shed at home at the very thought of needles. Needle phobia causes a lot of unwelcome and unnecessary anxiety and tension. Worse still, fear of needles causes real pain in that if you do not get treated for physical ailments, who knows what the ultimate outcome might be?
I have come across many a person who, through avoiding the dentists for years on end because of their needle phobia, has ended up suffering the effects of bad teeth and pain for a very long time. Eventually, the teeth are lost at an early age. The fear of pain, and the fear of needles, ultimately creates far more pain in the end.
There are of course many far more vital reasons for which one might require a needle to be inserted into a part of their anatomy. A fear of needles has to be overcome for ones emotional balance and physical health and well-being. The first place to go when embarking upon the quest for a phobia cure is to look for information so as to gain understanding. Where did the fear of needles come from? Why did you first become afraid of needles?
This is not a phobia which anyone is born with. This fear is learned through experience, and this experience may be actual or it may be vicarious. Once you understand that you have learned your fear, you come to the realization that whatever is learned can be unlearned. Most people just think that they "have a phobia" and that there is nothing that they can do about it. Once you open your mind to the possibility that you can change your response to needles you will find that there is in fact an easy and simple way in which to overcome your phobia.
Your thoughts trigger your emotions and hence your behavior. A phobic response is triggered instinctively by your subconscious mind. It is caused by the subconscious beliefs and expectations. Hypnosis allows you to access your subconscious mind and therefore provides a state of mind which allows you to alter thoughts and behaviors which would otherwise be "set in stone".
With hypnosis you can alter instinctive reactions and learn to respond in a different way. Simply by listening to a hypnotherapy download you can overcome your fear of needles. Hypnosis provides a quick and easy and cost effective phobia cure. There's no need for you to shed any more tears when faced with the prospect of needles.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3s to cure phobias.
P.S. You can grab a free hypnosis download from my website.
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[English version based on Google translation]
Norway has been hit by a national tragedy. What we fervently hoped would never happen, has yet happened.
At Sundvolden today we met young people and their families who shared their own horror stories with us. They have lived through a day that none of us can put ourselves in. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy goes to all those affected, in Oslo and Utøya.
Police, rescue teams, medical staff and volunteers have been fighting to save lives and have made a heroic effort for us all, even at the risk of their lives. All of us are affected by this incomprehensible tragedy, struck in disbelief at the news of the growing number of dead.
Amid all the pain and confusion, we've seen the Prime Minister, the Government, and ministries dealing with the situation in an excellent manner.
Both as individuals and as a nation, we will take a long time to digest and process the impact, grief, and feelings. In this process, we need each other. Across the country, people have lost someone they love. There are many children and young people who are afraid today. They must be taken special care of. For many, it is important to be together, while others need quiet reflection. It is good that the country's churches are open to all who want to light candles and need a place to be. It's also great that local authorities and NGOs have offered to those who feel the need to come together.
There is still much we do not know about the background of yesterday's horrific events, and it is important that we let the managers work to clarify things. But something we know: The actions carried out in Oslo and Utøya are an attack on Norwegian society that we value so highly. And they are an attack on the core of the Norwegian democracy.
It is when our nation is put to the test that the strength, solidarity, and courage of the Norwegian people is made clear. Now, we stand firmly by our values.
I remain convinced in the belief that freedom is stronger than fear.
I remain convinced in the belief of an open Norwegian democracy and society.
I remain convinced in the belief of our ability to live freely and safely in our own country.
Audio Note: AR-XE = American Rhetoric Extreme Enhancement
Copyright Status: Text, Audio = Uncertain.
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French: Méliphage unicolore German: Wulsthonigfresser Spanish: Mielero unicolor
Port Essington, Northern Territory, Australia
N Australia from Melville I and N Western Australia (Kimberley Division and offshore islands) E throughout Top End of Northern Territory (S to upper Victoria R in SW and to Barkly Tableland in SE), and on Groote Eylandt, to N Queensland (S to near Proserpine; occasional records farther S, e.g. Mackay, and on Atherton Tableland).
Male 19–22 cm, 27·8–40·4g; female 17–20 cm, 25–33 g. Plumage is plain dark olive-brown to greyish-olive above, and slightly paler and... read more
Song loud and ringing or fluting, three similar phrases separated by interval of c. 0·5... read more
Mainly riparian forests and woodlands, frequently riverine or swamp associations dominated by... read more
Food and feeding
Diet includes nectar, fruit, seeds and invertebrates (mainly insects, also spiders). Usually forages in dense vegetation, from canopy to... read more
Probably throughout year, and recorded in all months except Jun near Darwin (Northern Territory); clutches Jul–Mar. Nest built by... read more
Resident. No evidence of nomadism, but possibly moves locally to exploit flowering; at Victoria... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. No estimates of total population; recorded densities of up to 2 birds/ha. Formerly considered common at Mt Isa, in NW Queensland, but now recorded... read more
Only subscribers are able to see the bibliography. Login or Subscribe to get access to a lot of extra features!
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Hamdi al-Ta’mari was arrested for the first time from the family home in Bethlehem at 4:00am, on 25 July 2008. He was woken by the sound of Israeli soldiers banging on the front door.
Hamdi’s hands and feet were immediately tied and he was ordered to lie on the floor, as soldiers pointed their assault rifles and flashlights at him. While on the ground, a number of soldiers slapped, kicked and beat him with their assault rifles. His hands were tied so tightly that they began to swell. After 15 minutes, Hamdi was blindfolded and placed on the floor of a military vehicle.
The military vehicle drove for around two hours during which time Hamdi was insulted, slapped and kicked by the soldiers sitting around him. One of the soldiers told Hamdi that they had killed his father because he was a terrorist and that they were going to kill all terrorists. At around 6:00am the vehicle arrived at Ofer Interrogation and Detention Centre, near Ramallah. Hamdi was taken to a small room where he was again assaulted by a number of soldiers.
On 28 July 2008, four days after his arrest, Hamdi was interrogated while sitting handcuffed in front of a desk. The interrogator asked Hamdi whether he was a member of Islamic Jihad, an organization banned by the Israeli authorities. Hamdi replied that he had nothing to do with the organization and he supported independent members of the Fatah movement. The interrogation lasted about one hour and Hamdi was then taken back to his cell.
Several days later Hamdi was informed that he would be detained for three months without charge or trial in administrative detention. On 13 November 2008, Hamdi was released from administrative detention without having been charged with any offense.
On 18 December 2008, one month after his release, Hamdi was again woken up at 2:00am by the sound of Israeli soldiers banging on the front door of the family home. Around five or six soldiers entered the house and Hamdi was tied and blindfolded. He was again placed in a military vehicle and driven for half an hour to Etzion Interrogation and Detention Centre. On 21 December 2008, three days after his arrest, Hamdi was transferred to Ofer for interrogation. The interrogator wanted to know who Hamdi had met with since his release on 13 November, asked him about the flags flying from the roof of his house and what other activities he had been up to since his release. Hamdi replied that he had met with relatives and neighbors and had had no involvement in politics.
On 28 December 2008, Hamdi, without a lawyer or family member present, was taken before the Administrative Detention Court in Ofer Military Base. The military judge told Hamdi that there was a four month administrative detention order against him based on “secret evidence.” Hamdi told the judge that he had not done anything wrong and was only arrested because his father had been targeted for assassination.
Hamdi’s administrative detention order comes up for renewal on 15 April 2009.
On 12 March 2008, Hamdi’s father was killed, along with three others, by an Israeli special unit in Bethlehem. The Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem, investigated the circumstances of the killing and reported that in defiance of an Israeli High Court ruling, there was strong evidence to suggest that the operation was a targeted assassination.
Hamdi’s older brother also received an administrative detention order, as did the son of one of the other men killed on 12 March, Mohammad Balbol, who has been in administrative detention since 25 July 2008.
Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial and is often based on “secret evidence.” Israeli Military Order 1591 empowers military commanders to detain Palestinians, including children as young as 12, for up to six months if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” The initial six-month period can be extended by additional six-month periods indefinitely. This procedure denies the detainee the right to a fair trial and the ability to adequately challenge the basis of his or her detention.
There are currently at least 548 Palestinians being held by Israel without charge or trial in administrative detention, of which six are children.
The detention of a child in these circumstances does not conform with Israel’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child or the Convention Against Torture. Please send Urgent Appeals to the Israeli authorities urging them to:
- Immediately cease the practice of holding children under the age of 18 in administrative detention; and
- Immediately and unconditionally release all persons currently held in administrative detention, or charge them with a recognizable offense and promptly try them in a proper court of law with internationally accepted standards for a fair trial.
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem, 91919, Israel
Fax: +972- 2-651 2631
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org, email@example.com
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence,
37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv 61909, Israel
Fax: +972 3 691 6940
Salutation: Dear Minister
Minister of Justice, Fax: + 972 2 628 7757; + 972 2 628 8618
Attorney General, Fax: + 972 2 627 4481; + 972 2 628 5438; +972 2 530 3367
Please inform DCI-Palestine if you receive any response to your appeals - firstname.lastname@example.org
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Evolution of Online Economic Development: Iowa Lakes Corridor Site Released
Monday, December 09, 2013
This week the Iowa Lakes Development Corporation (http://lakescorridor.com/ilcdc) published their new site which serves as a template for how regional economic development groups can harness the power of visually stunning websites and social media.
As recently as three or four years ago, many regional economic development groups simply used their website as an online brochure. Many economic development corporations viewed the purpose of their website as a tool to communicate with board members and local officials The Iowa Lakes Regional Development site demonstrates how economic development sites have turned from an inward focus to an outward focus. According to The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, “72% of online adults use social networking sites”. It is no secret that people rely on the information highway to digest information, look for jobs, and research locations. Iowa Lakes understands the online user as evidence by their site.
The Iowa Lakes Regional Development site also harnesses the power of stories. While data may drive business decisions, it is human interest that attracts people to an area. Spend five minutes on the Iowa Lakes site and quickly one gets a sense of the people, industry and recreation of the area. The region comes alive through the lives of real people living in the Iowa Lakes Region.
To compliment the website, Iowa Lakes also has a strong presence in the social media universe. Visit their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/iowalakescorridor) and one will find a determined approach to keeping members informed and attracting outside employers and employees. It is evident that what Iowa Lakes has launched is not just a website but a strategy to attract attention and bring in people and businesses. Lastly, what differentiates Iowa Lakes from many regional economic development groups is that they are not talking about marketing their area–they are doing it! Congratulations!
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Saint Teresa's love of God and her desire for spiritual union with him found expression in a vision in which an angel pierced her heart with a golden spear and sent her into a trance. The erotic intensity of her vision is vividly suggested in this image by Teresa's swooning expression and languid pose, and by the deep folds of drapery, which convey her agitation.
Artist: Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini Sculpture: marble Life-size group 1645-1652 CE Site: Italy: Rome Location: Italy: Rome, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Cornaro Chapel
Teresa is clothed from head to foot in a loose hooded garment. Her feet are bare, the left one prominently displayed. Her eyes are shut, her mouth opened, as she swoons in ecstasy. Standing before her is the figure of a winged youth. His garment hangs on one shoulder, exposing his arms and part of his upper torso. In his right hand he holds an arrow that is pointed at the heart of Teresa.
Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) was a Spanish mystic who lived during the Counter-Reformation, a period of religious turmoil in Europe. Teresa founded several houses for discalced (or "barefoot") Carmelite friars and nuns, who sought to live according to the original rule of the order. This was a more primitive and ascetic form of monastic life than was practiced in Spain at that time. In addition, Teresa was author of numerous books, including her Life, a personal autobiography, the Way of Perfection, a handbook for her nuns, and Interior Mansions, in which she describes the many different steps taken on the path to mystical union with God.
Teresa described the soul's intense desire for God in the language of erotic passion. In this, she belongs to a long tradition of mystical experience that is known as bridal mysticism:
It pleased our Lord that I should see the following vision a number of times. I saw an angel near me, on the left side, in bodily form. This I am not wont to see, save very rarely.... In this vision it pleased the Lord that I should see it thus. He was not tall, but short, marvellously beautiful, with a face which shone as though he were one of the highest of the angels, who seem to be all of fire: they must be those whom we call Seraphim.... I saw in his hands a long golden spear, and at the point of the iron there seemed to be a little fire. This I thought that he thrust several times into my heart, and that it penetrated to my entrails. When he drew out the spear he seemed to be drawing them with it, leaving me all on fire with a wondrous love for God. The pain was so great that it caused me to utter several moans; and yet so exceeding sweet is this greatest of pains that it is impossible to desire to be rid of it, or for the soul to be content with less than God. (Peers, 197)
The symbolism of bridal mysticism is found already in early gnostic forms of Christianity, where the central sacrament is called the Bridal Chamber. There the feminine soul of the gnostic unites with the masculine spirit and is in this way spiritualized, that is, liberated from the limitations of mundane existence. Related symbolism is found as well in the writings of the early Christian mystic Origen and the Neoplatonic mystic Plotinus. These three forms of mysticism are related and serve as the foundation for the history of mysticism in Christianity.
Probably, the early forms of bridal mysticism were influenced by the myth of Eros and Psyche, which was quite popular during late Hellenism. Indeed, we find a gnostic interpretation of this myth in the anonymous homily entitled Exegesis on the Soul, which describes the sacrament of the Bridal Chamber. During the Renaissance, Greek themes and images were rediscovered in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. Certainly, the form of Teresa's vision, and the symbolism illustrated here by Bernini, lies very close to the tale of the god of love and his human beloved. Psyche's name means "soul," and she begins her career as a mortal. It is because Eros loves her and wants her for his bride that Zeus is willing to elevate her to the status of an immortal. For Teresa, the moment in which she experiences the spiritual wound is but one moment in a complex drama culminating in the spiritual marriage, when such wounds will no longer be felt but are supplanted by a complete union of God and the soul on an inner level.
The word psyche in contemporary analytical psychology has taken on at least two meanings. On the one hand, it refers to the faculty of the human being that is capable of experiencing the imaginary world as well as the physical world. On the other hand, psyche may refer to the entire realm of experience, both conscious and unconscious. In the first case, the psyche is identified with the soul in the traditional sense; in the second, the psyche is the world of the soul.
The two traditions that are joined in this image of Saint Teresa are that of Greek mythologystory of Psyche and ErosRenaissance Christian mysticism, in which the soul is awakened to spiritual passion. There is, however, one important variation: In the Greek tale (recounted by Apuleius) it is not Eros who wounds Psyche with one of his arrows (in fact, he wounds himself when he first beholds her); rather, Psyche accidentally wounds herself when, disobeying him, she takes up a light to see what he looks like. In Teresa's vision, she as "soul" is completely passive and receives the wound at the hands of an Eros figure. Nevertheless, central to both scenes is the symbol of wounding, the origin of love in pain inflicted from without.
Although it may seem insignificant at first, the suffering caused by the arrow's wound is of the greatest value. It is the pain that initiates the ensuing action, the eventual marriage of Eros and Psyche in heaven and the spiritual marriage of the Bridegroom and the Bride in Teresa's innermost heart. Teresa describes this pain as being filled with fire, being inflamed. What is needed is something to quench the fire, to heal the wound. For Psyche, what follows is a painful period of alienation between her and Eros, until ultimately they are reunited and she gives birth to their daughter, Joy.
The marriage between the human soul and the divine lover represents a creative union of the human self with its transpersonal counterpart. The soul symbolizes the subjective capacity to feel and experience realitycapacity for consciousness. By uniting with the god of love, the soul gains a permanent connection with the abiding source of all life and love. In the infant, there is not yet the separation that gives rise to a subjective self. In the symbolism of the sacred marriage, a return to the original wholeness is achieved without a regression to the infantile unconsciousness.
Erich Neumann suggests that Psyche cannot truly love Eros in the dark. As Psyche, she requires vision. Her desire to see results in suffering, but also in real love: Psyche's act leads, then, to all the pain of individuation, in which a personality experiences itself in relation to a partner as something other, that is, as not only connected with the partner. Psyche wounds herself and wounds Eros [with the hot oil of the lamp, not the arrowed.
Auclair, Marcelle. Saint Teresa of ?ila. New York, 1953.
Beever, John. Saint Teresa of Avila. Garden City, N.Y., 1961.
Neumann, Erich. Amor and Psyche, the Psychic Development of the Feminine: A Commentary on the Tale by Apuleius. New York, 1956.
Peers, E. Allison. Studies of the Spanish Mystics. London, 1927.
Walsh, William T. Saint Teresa of ?ila. Milwaukee, 1943.
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At Smiles by Shields, we believe proper oral care is part of a an overall wellness strategy aimed at keeping all of your body’s systems functioning at their highest capacity. A diet high in fat and exposure to certain bacteria can cause atherosclerosis (the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances on artery walls which can restrict blood flow), researchers have for the first time identified distinct gene pathways that are altered by these different stimuli.
Atherosclerosis is a common human disease associated with heart attack and stroke. Certain bacteria–namely Porphyromonas gingivalis, found in the mouth of humans with periodontal disease and Chlamydia pneumoniae–are known to contribute to heart disease. Researchers have now discovered genome-wide expression changes in vascular tissue after exposure to the bacteria and the high-fat diet. Whether exposed to Porphyromonas gingivalis or one of the other causal agents, it’s clear that oral bacteria and the human diet interact to result in specific gene expressions related to heart disease.
If you have questions regarding heart disease and oral health, contact Dr. Tiffany Shields and the team at Smiles by Shields today for your next appointment!
Boston University Medical Center. (2015, January 7). Genome wide expression changes in vascular tissue identified due to infection/diet. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 16, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150107101403.htm
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Disinflationary Monetary Strategy and Instability of the Forward Yield Curve: The Case of the Czech Republic, 1999-2005
In this study I describe the relationship between monetary policy and medium and long-term swap rates. I focus especially on explanation of the instability of the level and relations of swap and forward rates on the Czech swap market in the context of the Czech National Bank's (CNB) disinflation policy based on direct inflation targeting. Theoretically the main source of this problem is the inconsistency between the central bank's current and expected policy and the anticipated course of economic fundamentals. A common feature is that during disinflation the level of monetary policy restriction is not stable over time and is hard to predict for investors. Besides objective factors such as fluctuating economic growth or limited scope of information, this is also a result of the instability of sensitivity parameters of the central bank's reaction function and of the character of the monetary strategy pursued. Empirical analysis showed a limited effect of changes in the CNB repo rate on the instantaneous adaptation of swap and forward rates. In addition, problems connected with the CNB's weakened credibility were immediately identified, along with related erroneous expectations of investors. I interpret the instability of relations as evidence of differences in investors' inflation predictions of a gradual tendency for the economy to reach a state of low inflation.
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Volume (Year): 18 (2006)
Issue (Month): 4 ()
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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Tore Ellingsen & Ulf Soderstrom, 2001.
"Monetary Policy and Market Interest Rates,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1594-1607, December.
- Ellingsen, Tore & Söderström, Ulf, 1998. "Monetary Policy and Market Interest Rates," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 242, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 08 Mar 1999.
- Marvin Goodfriend, 1998. "Using the term structure of interest rates for monetary policy," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Sum, pages 13-30.
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If you want to get Indiana HVAC license, view several procedures. They can lead you to the so much desirable certification. Yet, if an HVAC company hires you, a contractor’s license is needless. Anyway, if you want to start your own business, an HVAC approval is something you should get. Whether this information has to do with you, then consider the details below.
The specialists who work with equipment that use refrigerants, including central air conditioning units, must have EPA Section 608 license. It includes four categories.
Other companies offer HVAC licensing as well. To apply for the exams, you should.
Apart from State approval, HVAC specialists should have local credentials as well.
Only plumbing contractors can practice in the State of Indiana. Thus, local counties need various essentials for the HVAC license.
To get a HVAC license in the state of Indiana, submit.
After you submit the documents, the Board allows you to take the exam.
If you have passed the exam with 70% or higher results, do as follows.
Submit the proof of performance bond, third-party insurance,
Comply employee’s compensation coverage with proper fees and applications for the license.
There are many benefits of getting a HVAC license in Indiana.
The State provides a growing job market for HVAC specialists. Hence, the quantity of licenses can bring new job opportunities. In fact, each certificate proves that you have the background to service their equipment.
Only licensed specialists can build up a business. Moreover, they have the right to promote their services. Contractors who have certificates may also apply for public and governmental projects.
The Indiana HVAC licensing does not interchange with the licenses of other states. Each county of the state performs license. Therefore, check if your local HVAC license is valid with any other county within the state.
If you want to get an Indiana HVAC license, pay for EPA 608 certification. You should pay the fee apart from any college or school training costs.
The least cost for the licensure is $24.95 for the initial test and $5.95 for each extra attempt. The tuition cost for a regular HVAC school varies from $1,200 to $15000 for a 6 to 12-month period. In Community colleges, the cost of tuition for In-State Students is about $4,868 per year. For Out-Of-State students $8614 per year.
To get your Indiana HVAC certification, apply to a college or a secondary school program. The program should include trainings on refrigeration, air conditioning, and heating technology. The duration of such courses is something between 6 months and three years to complete.
You can check an Indiana HVAC license by the official Indianapolis website. It provides a list of certified contractors. The website also gives a search engine. Here you can type the contractor’s full name, a company name, and the number that appears on the license. The search engine will check the validity of the license.
Pass on this link to begin your search.
You should renew an Indiana HVAC contractor’s license for two years of its validation.
Send your renewal notice 90 days before its expiry.
The renewal is possible online, by The State of Indiana’s website. Email submission is also available.
Online renewal is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will take several minutes to complete. You will get the confirmation on the next business day.
The average salary of a HVAC professional varies depending on many factors. The median wage relies on the city you work. The professional background and years of experience also matter.
In fact, the yearly mean salary for HVAC specialists in Indiana is $54,540. It is higher than the national median which is $53,410.
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Posted on January 14th, 2012
I’m convinced that a successful life is largely driven by balance and moderation. Not too much of anything. Not too little, either.
More is easy. Our natural proclivity is to have just a bit more. Our society reinforces this idea. More means safety. More means security. With more, you will never be hungry. You will always be just a bit full. Because more means you don’t have to fear less.
Fear of less drives us to more.
Less is never good. Less will leave you stranded. Less will catch you with your guard down. Less will let you down when you need it most. Less does not satisfy. Less only leaves you wanting more.
Less is never Enough.
Less is not more any more than more is less, more or less. It is only when we reduce more or increase less so as to satisfy our needs and desires that Enough can be found.
Enough is a very personal metric. Like our center of gravity, each of us must find what is enough by swaying from less to more until a comfortable medium is found.
My daughter takes classes at a European-style circus arts school. It’s a pretty amazing place. They teach and train children, starting at age two, how to perform all manner of classic circus acts. German wheel, trapeze, triple trap, side-by-side, silks, Spanish web, etc. Think of Cirque du Soleil but with kids and you have the idea.
Recently, in class, she was learning how to walk the wire. As I watched her, it began to occur to me that this was the perfect metaphor for what I believe the idea of Enough is, and how to discover it.
We all have a center of balance that is unique, different from everyone else. My center of balance is different from yours. My daughter’s, from mine. As she walks the wire, hands out, wobbling to and fro, this is what she is in search of. As she gets older, this process might become easier, faster, with less wobble, but it will never end. No matter how good she becomes, she will always need some device to assist her — arms stretched, a long pole, a racquet or fan. Even the Flying Wallendas, perhaps the greatest wire act to ever perform and a family team stretching back 10 generations, still wobble and use devices to maintain their balance.
Why is this? Well, because the conditions are constantly changing. Changing in ways that we never really even think of. Here are just a few:
- The tension of the wire is never exactly the same each time. It is adjusted and set by human beings, after all.
- Wind, as one can imagine, is a factor. Even a slight breeze can make a difference.
- Is there a crowd? Well, applause and other loud noises cause vibrations in the wire.
As you can see, there are many unseen and rarely considered things that can affect one who is walking the wire. Those are just a few of them. These changes require frequent adjustment. And this is outside of the fact that, even if nothing on the wire changed, even the most seasoned wire walkers would still need to make constant slight adjustments to maintain balance, both physical and mental.
So it is with the idea of Enough. What is enough for you will be different from what is Enough for me. Also, what is Enough for each of us will change with changing conditions. If I’m really hungry, an apple will likely not be Enough for me. If I have just eaten a full meal with dessert, an apple will be too much. The goal is to find the sweet spot, the center of balance, that allows one to have enough of what one needs when one needs it. But even this will change and requires constant adjustment and re-evaluation as the conditions change. Just like balancing on the wire.
Enough comes from trying things out. It comes from challenging your preconceptions. It comes from having less, trying more, then reducing to find out what is just right. It comes from letting go of your fear of less. It comes from letting go of the false security of more. It also comes from having more, losing it all, and finding out what need really is.
Enough is hard work.
To get there, one must let go of what-ifs, conjecture, assumptions, guesses, and half-truths. One must overcome fear, gluttony, self-doubt, and thoughts of grandeur. One must ask hard questions to find harder answers.
One must let go of those fears that aim to knock us off balance and send us running towards more or less.
It comes from being forever curious. It comes from asking questions.
How can this be easier?
Can I be satisfied with less?
How much do I really need?
What if I did not have this?
What is the worst that could happen (and is that so bad)?
Is there a better way?
Is this enough for me?
Do I have what I need?
Would having more make it easier?
Would having less make it easier?
What is too much and how do I know when it is?
All of these questions and more will help you discover the answer to what constitutes enough for you. But, please keep in mind, even that changes. Just as the wire walker must make slight adjustments to constantly changing conditions, so must you.
The goal, then, is not to find what is, or will be, Enough forever. That is impossible. The goal is to discover the tools and strategies you need to find what is Enough for you right now and provide the flexibility to adjust as the conditions change.
It is my hope that these essays will help you in reaching such a goal.
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Social Entrepreneurship in Brandenburg
The site visit of Brandenburg in one of the sixteen federate states (Brandenburg) of Germany. It lies in the northeast of the country covering an area of 29,478 square kilometres and has 2.48 million inhabitants. It´s capital and largest city is Postdam. Brandenburg surrounds but does not include Germany´s capital and city state Berlin. Averaging at population density of 84 inhabitants per square kilometres, Brandenburg´s population density is much lower that German average (230 inhabitants per square kilometres), rendering in the penultimate federal state on that list.
Brandenburg is one of the federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former East and West Germany. Today the state ranks among the regions suffering most from structural weaknesses in the labour market and adverse demographic developments, particularly in the rural and sparsely populated areas that are further away from the metropolitan territory surrounding Berlin.
During our 2-day stay (8-9.6.2017) our German project partner Social Impact Lab Berlin prepared really interesting programme. Participants from Finland, Spain and Slovakia had an opportunity to discuss on state support for social enterpreneurship in Brandenburg with experts from Ministry of Labour Affairs Brandenburg and expert from Research on Society and Space. Practical part of site visit was focused on guided tour through the premises of the producer of organic edible products and discussion with the Managing Director of the Hoffnungstaler Stiftung Lobetal, Mr.Keller.
Promoting employment opportunities for low-skilled, long-term unemployed people one of the most disadvantaged regions in Brandenburg and all of Germany have been discussed during our meeting with the representatives of jobcenter/public employment service and Agency for Local and Economic Development and Tourisms.
Visiting the education iniciative ”Zuckermarck e.V.” in Wallmow showed us unique example of the community cooperation and collaboration impacted directly on a community life improvement and demographics. Thanks to the activists and vollunteers, community was able to get financial resources from eurofunds and to renovate an old building for kindergarten for children from a whole village.
Very interesting was also a discussion with farmer in Hennigsdorf. She showed us a farm development project aimed at cultivation of the walnuts trees as a part of the support service for young farmers ”Okonauten EG”.
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Are newly diagnosed diabetics at greater risk of advanced liver disease?
The negative impact of diabetes on the cardiovascular, renal, nervous and retinal systems is well recognized and regular screening for complications with these systems is advised by health care providers world over. However, awareness about diabetes potential complications on the liver, an organ that plays a central and crucial role in the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism and maintenance of blood glucose levels is still falling short.
A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in June 2010 suggests that adults with newly diagnosed diabetes could be at higher long-term risk of serious liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver failure.
Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus has risen to an unprecedented level over the past decade. According to World Health Organization statistics, more than 220 million people worldwide have diabetes and it is one of the leading contributors to ill health and premature mortality worldwide.
This study evaluated whether adults with newly diagnosed diabetes were at increased risk of serious liver disease. The results showed that adults with newly diagnosed diabetes had a significantly higher risk of developing serious liver disease than those without diabetes and this result held across demographic strata and with adjustment for other known risk factors for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
© 2007 - 2016 NutritionVista.com. All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. All articles and content written by the Nutritionvista.com team for NutritionVista.com are the sole property of J.L.S Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. Content may not be copied without express permission to do so. If you want to link back to an article, please ensure a working link to the article title is used and is functioning at all times.
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New Haven, Conn. -
A new study has found that lesbian, gay and bisexual children and teenagers are much more likely to be punished by school officials than straight kids.
The study, published in the journal "Pediatrics,"
found that LGBT kids are 40 percent more likely than heterosexual children to be expelled, stopped by police, and arrested as juveniles.
"Non-heterosexual youth suffer disproportionate educational and criminal-justice punishments that are not explained by greater engagement in illegal or transgressive behaviors," conclude the Yale University authors. "Understanding and addressing these disparities might reduce school expulsions, arrests, and incarceration and their dire social and health consequences."
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Bus Served as Shelter From Collapse
ABOUT 17 PEOPLE WERE SLIGHTLY INJURED Tuesday morning in Harlem, New York City, when a construction scaffold suddenly collapsed onto a bus next to the sidewalk.
New York Post
The btus was at a stop and the waiting passengers had just boarded when the structure came down, missing the near-victims by just moments. The scaffolding was covering a 5-story building on West 125th Street during a major renovation. The New York Times reports:
A police spokesman at the scene said that eight of the injured people were passengers on the bus and that two police officers sustained minor injuries. He said it appeared from preliminary accounts that during work on the elevator shaft in building, bricks fell from building onto the scaffolding, knocking it down.
At the scene of the accident, a busy commercial strip lined with clothing stores and other retail stores, firefighters swarmed the bus and the collapsed scaffolding.
New York Times
The scaffold along with part of the building's facade came down without warning at 9:30 am, trapping the bus's 30 passengers. Fourteen of them were transported, all with minor injuries, along with two police officers who were already at the location and had immediately started to dig through the rubble. There are also reports that as many as four of the injuries were construction workers.
WABC-TV posted this video report:
* * * *
Google Street View of the 4- and 5-story building
that is being renovated.
* * * * * * *
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KABUL—It could have been a watershed moment for Afghanistan, the first democratic transition in the nation’s history. Instead, quarreling over yet unreleased election results is turning uglier by the hour, threatening to push the country into paralysis at best, or more likely turmoil and violence.
After a couple of days of accusing his opponent, Ashraf Ghani, of vote rigging, presidential hopeful Abdullah Abdullah demanded on Wednesday that election organizers stop counting ballots because of what one of his officials has called “industrial-scale fraud.” "The counting process should stop immediately and if that continues, it will have no legitimacy," Abdullah, seen by many as the frontrunner before Saturday’s vote, told reporters. "From now on, today, we announce that we have no confidence or trust in the election bodies."
His effective boycott of the official electoral system comes at a crucial time for the country. With foreign troops packing up and resources for domestic security winding down, a full-blown power struggle with ethnic overtones is the last thing Afghanistan needs.
There is blame enough to go around for the current crisis, but one can hardly fault the Afghan people. Defying Taliban threats and inadequate security outside the cities, voters still turned out in numbers equal to an American presidential election. In the first election round in April, 58 percent of Afghans voted. Approximately the same turnout was reported after the second round on June 14—but that's exactly what some find suspicious. While the first round caused long queues in Kabul, Saturday’s runoff seemed far less busy. Election authorities say that the lower turnout in the city was balanced by better mobilization in some Eastern provinces. The critics aren't buying it.
The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA), an independent group who sent 8,592 observers into all 34 provinces, says turnout in the second round was probably closer to five million than the official number of seven million. It is unlikely, they say, that the provinces in question saw such a dramatic increase in turnout, particularly since voter security there is particularly poor. Adding to the suspicion, these provinces also happen to be Ghani strongholds. “There was systematic fraud in certain provinces. Compared to the first round, the level of fraud was higher [this time],” says Naeem Ayubzada, director of TEFA.
The final result is not due until July 22—preliminary results are due July 2—but initial numbers from Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) look fishy. In Khost province, for instance, 113,000 voted during the first round, while 400,000 votes were reportedly cast in the second. That alone isn't proof of fraud, but the province has a population of 549,000—including children. The same pattern repeats in the provinces of Paktia, Wardak, Nangarhar, and Logar. On Tuesday evening, state TV broadcast footage that allegedly shows Ghani’s team stuffing ballots.
On Wednesday, more than a hundred Abdullah supporters, mainly young people, gathered in Kabul’s Shahr-e Naw Park to plan future protests. “If IEC declares Ghani winner, the security of Afghanistan will be very bad. All people will come out and defend their rights,” said Ramin Shafizada, 27, an unemployed political scientist. “All people of Afghanistan and the international society know who the winner is. The majority voted for Dr. Abdullah. The government is bringing in illegal votes for Ghani.” Many Abdullah supporters claim that outgoing President Hamid Karzai, despite a pretense of neutrality, has actively helped Ghani’s campaign.
Abdullah, a former foreign minister and anti-Taliban fighter from the Western-backed Northern Alliance, has squared off with Karzai on fraud allegations before. In 2009, backed by the U.S., he ran against the incumbent president in an election marred by ballot stuffing on both sides, though mostly by Karzai’s campaign. Only after mediation from the international community did Abdullah withdraw before the second-round runoff.
The consequences of an electoral failure go far beyond the immediate power struggle in Kabul. European and American officials have set a relatively clean election as a condition for the billions of dollars in aid on which the Afghan economy depends. And the ethnic tensions, as represented by the Abdullah and Ghani camps, could boil over. Ghani, a former World Bank official educated in the U.S. who has served as finance minister and headed the security transition under Karzai, is Pashtun. To appeal to people in the North, he chose Abdul Rashid Dostum, a notorious Uzbek warlord, as his running mate. Abdullah, for his part, is of mixed Tajik and Pashtun ethnicity, and commands a lot of support from the North—including from Atta Muhammad Nur of the Balkh province, one of the most powerful governors in the country and a longtime rival of Dostum. Early Wednesday morning, Nur posted a Facebook photo of Mujahideen tanks rolling toward the frontline during the war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The accompanying text read, “To become president, Ashraf Ghani has to cross this border. Passing this border is impossible. A second generation of jihad is coming.”
“They are ready to do something,” says Ayubzada, the election monitor, of Abdullah’s supporters. “We are very concerned about it.”
In Shahr-e Naw Park in Kabul, the protesters deflected questions of how they will respond if Ghani is declared winner. They only promised that they will not back down. “The civil society will protest in the streets to defend our rights,” said Nasratullah Habibi, a governmental worker in his late twenties. “If we don’t defend our rights, there will never be democracy in Afghanistan.”
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The Canterbury Tales
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The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims. The Canterbury Tales, the work stands as a historical and sociological introduction to the life and times of the late Middle Ages. he was familiar with and was accepted by the lower classes as well as by the higher classes; thus, throughout his life, he was able to observe both the highest and the lowest, and his gifted mind made the best of these opportunities.
In The Canterbury Tales, the Knight is a representative of those who belong to the very high social class of the nobility. His behavior – peacemaking, speaking like a gentleman, telling a polite romance – is probably meant to provide a point of contrast with the very different “low-born” behavior of characters like the Miller and the Reeve.
the Prioress which represents an ideal religious figure in the General Prologue, to find out the answer. With the Prioress, our first example of someone from the religious life, we have not only our first supposedly pious person with her priorities out of whack but also our first example of someone who’s trying way too hard to be perceived a certain way, and how ridiculous that looks.
The Clerk The narrator tempers his satire of the Clerk by also telling us that he diligently prays for the souls of those who lend him money for books and lessons, that he speaks little but what he does say is always virtuous. Kind of like us here at Shook, this guy’s generous with his knowledge. Since this attribute was one of the most desirable for medieval scholars, we have permission to think well of the Clerk. And don’t feel too sorry for this guy – his fortunes could take a turn for the better if he gets a benefice – a position as a priest that comes with a salary.
The Physician With the Physician, one of the most educated of the pilgrims, Chaucer provides us with an interesting contrast to the Clerk. While the Clerk’s studies have been motivated by pure love of knowledge, to the detriment of the Clerk’s financial situation, the Physician pursues his learning for financial gain. The comparison of these two highly-educated men allows us to weigh the consequences of both motivations for education.
The Wife of Bath Chaucer is representing the medieval estate, or social class, of wifehood. There were many anti-feminist stereotypes about wives during this time period. We see them expressed here, in the portrayal of the Wife as lustful, in the Host and Franklin’s complaints about their wives, and in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue. But the presence on the pilgrimage of a dynamic and articulate wife who gets the chance to answer her critics means that these stereotypes are not allowed to remain unexamined.
the Parson’s portrait we see a lot of pastoral imagery, or language about sheep and shepherds. The Parson sees his parishioners as his sheep, and says that he cannot leave them stuck in the mud. He reinforces his reasons for living a holy life by saying that it wouldn’t be right for a flock of white sheep to be watched by a “shiten” (dirty) shepherd, someone bespattered with sin. From this language we get the impression that the Parson truly views himself as the caretaker of Christian souls. He takes his responsibility extremely seriously.
Many parish priests at this time period chose to take a “benefice,” or position far away from their parish, in which their only job might be to say mass for one departed rich person once a day. This was a way for a priest to make much more money, but it required him to live far away from his parishioners. By rejecting this option, the Parson shows that he is willing to sacrifice his own comfort to do his job as a shepherd of souls.
The Summoner With the Summoner’s portrait we have a critique not only of his individual character, but also of the situation that has created him. Although the Summoner’s conviction that one can avoid excommunication by paying a bribe is morally reprehensible, it may also have been true. Historians also think that summoners were not paid enough money by the church to really make a living; thus, they may have had to depend upon bribery to get by.
The Pardoner From the Pardoner’s portrait, we have good reason to believe the Host is probably right not to trust the guy: Chaucer tells us that, among his relics, he’s carrying a jar full of pigs’ bones, and that, with them, he’s able to cheat a poor parson out of two months’ salary. The Pardoner is good at preaching, but in his prologue he tells the pilgrims he only does it to win money, berating the people for their sinfulness so they’ll be more likely to buy what he is selling.
Like the Summoner’s, the Pardoner’s portrait throws into question not only the character himself, but also the practices upon which he relies to make a living. Both of these portraits explore what happens when spiritual goods begin to be profit-earning commodities like any other, and question the effect of this trade upon the souls of those who practice it.
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My soil is now what I hope Monty might call “in good heart.” If I have one piece of advice for anyone “growing their own,” it is to get this right before you plant a single seed. Even if it means missing a season while you plant geen manure such as red clover or trefoil.
The soil is like a bank account. We should put in more than we take out.
Nigel Slater from Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
I was thinking about this quote last week as we were shoveling chicken manure onto the garden beds. I’m lucky enough to have found a local source for manure from organic pastured animals. The farm we purchase our milk from had some they were willing to give me for free. Since I didn’t have time to head out and load it up myself, I offered to pay their boys to load it up for me (their mom sent me this photo of them working).
They were more than happy to do it to earn some extra cash and I’m always willing to hire local kids and pay generous wages since people did that for me when I was young. I really believe this helps build an entrepreneurial mind in kids. The boys loaded up two trailer loads of manure for me.
Of course when we brought the load home, we had to unload it ourselves, which only took about 30 minutes. The first load was spread across a half of the newgarden area that was cleared this spring in the new lot.
The other load was piled below the garden area and layered with straw to compost over the winter. I wasn’t able to spread in on the remainder of the garden because it’s already planted in an overwintering rye. It will compost beautifully over the spring and will be ready to add to the beds when the cover crop is mown down.
Manure is one of those soil amendments that has fallen out of favor for some reason. I think people are scared of disease & contamination. Oddly enough, it’s the best amendment for your garden. I have noticed that when you use manure as a soil conditioner the level of microbial activity seems to skyrocket. Personally, I’d much rather use a natural organic manure than something chemical any day. It doesn’t bother me in the least bit to use in my garden. That being said, I wouldn’t use sewage sludge or manure from CAFO’s on my garden, or any kind of chemical fertilizer!
The best place to find sources of local manure seems to be Craig’s list. If you live in a rural area, pay a visit to a local farmer, you just might be surprised that they have plenty of manure they’re willing to give away.
Do you use manure on your garden? Where do you source it from?Filed under Soil | Comments (20)
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* Prices may differ from that shown
I have always been interested in bones; one of my clearest childhood memories is being allowed to gently sponge the dirt from the jawbone of a pig, which had been dug up from a Roman midden. My mother was working on the site and she took me with her occasionally during the summer holidays and I have never forgotten my excitement as I revealed the delicate structure of the teeth and the honeycomb consistency of the bone. As a teenager working in a museum archive my favourite room was the bone room where racks upon racks of brown cardboard boxes held intriguing labels. We were encouraged to open any boxes we wished and I spent most of my free time in these rooms examining the structure of the human body from the foetus to the very old. The bones recorded many of the features of pre-industrial life and medicine, so I became familiar with syphilitic lesions, unhealed breaks, arthritic joints and more brutal knife cuts and slashes. I eventually took the history path rather than the anthropology, pathology and osteo-archaeology route but I have continued my fascination with bones and bodies and what they can tell us. It was in the continuance of this interest that I got my hands on this book by Clea Koff.
Clea Koff worked as a forensic anthropologist for the UN and Physicians for Human Rights in Rwanda and Bosnia, working hand in hand with the pathologists to unearth the mass graves of the genocides that had occurred several years before (she was working in the mid-1990's). This book is her account of her time in these countries, the work she was engaged in, her role as a forensic archaeologist and what life was actually like working in this field for the UN. She excavated the bodies, gave them a gender and age range and helped the relatives identify the bodies; all the time living and working in difficult and often dangerous conditions. Needless to say, it was in my amazon basket pretty quickly and I have spent the last week absorbed in it.
The book is divided into sections; Clea's training and life before she joined Physicians for Human Rights, then her investigations in Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and finally an assessment of what happened afterwards. All of the investigation sections have a short introductory paragraph summing up the circumstances surrounding the genocides and the text is complemented by maps and colour photographs. The photographs are a mix of 'anthropologist action' and 'holiday' photographs with a few of the graves and victims themselves (some of them are quite shocking as not all of the bodies are skeletonised). The captions are often very touching, I found several in particular made my eyes prick with tears every time I read them. Whilst reading Clea's account it is very easy to become distanced from the events that she talks about, but the photos bring you back to the shocking reality of what happened in these places.
Her writing style is quite simple and personable; her personality jumps off the page at you. If it weren't for her job and the subject matter I doubt I would have persevered as I personally dislike this style, it was as if she was chatting to me! In addition to her job there is a great deal of additional material dealing with her team and the way it functioned, UN bureaucracy and her emotional reactions and how she dealt with it. Some of this was useful, some was intensely irritating, especially when she documents little spats and grievances between team members which add little to the story and waste valuable space. In parts it became more of a smug personal memoir rather than a discussion of the atrocities and her work in uncovering them. However I found her insights into the actual life of a forensic anthropologist and the emotional and physical pressures extremely interesting; likewise her opinions on the two countries and their reactions to the genocide. Both geographical areas have similarities and differences and it is through Clea's experiences and interactions with survivors and bereaved relatives that we see the real human cost of the horrors which they have gone through. It seems utterly bizarre that within such a short space of time neighbours killed neighbours and friends killed friends, that children were seen as fair game and people were able to dehumanise others to the extent that they could literally herd them together for the sole purpose of mass extermination. We get some of the background to the story in the book but it really makes you question if we are indeed superior to animals, at least animals only kill others for food and tend to limit their attacks on members of their own species. Clea Koff attempts to answer these questions in the last section of the book and her preliminary answers have prompted me to continue my interest in these conflicts and I have ordered more books on the subject.
There was absolutely no way I could have read this book in one sitting, it took me a week of picking it up for an hour or so here and there. It is impossible to skim the most emotionally harrowing sections of the book as not only does it defeat the purpose of the book but seems disrespectful to do so. I shed many tears over the stories in the book, from the (tiny) bloody handprints on the wall of the church in Kibuye, to the Bosnian boy in the mass grave with his pocket still full of marbles. In addition to this Clea is often in great personal danger, not just from insurgents, land mines and over-amorous soldiers but from those who are seeking to prevent these graves from being uncovered and the perpetrators from being bought to justice; she is actually living at the crime scene. At times even the hardened emotions of the forensic anthropologist are overwhelmed by what she is seeing and these passages are some of the most emotionally charged in the book as the reality of what has happened smacks home. It is heart warming to know that people were prosecuted and imprisoned for these genocides but such a small number compared to those who must have been involved (you need more than one person to kill 8000 men at once).
I also found this book hit an interesting note between too-technical and not-technical-enough, there are a few descriptions about the technical processes that an excavated body goes through to be 'processed', but in general it was just right for the general layman who has little experience with or knowledge of forensics processes, genocides or the politics and attitudes of other countries. I didn't feel patronised, but neither did I feel out of my depth which is usually just the right balance for this sort of book. It is an extremely powerful memoir of a forensic anthropologist (although a not particularly well written book in places) and the subject matter is both harrowing and enlightening. I have learnt so much about the conflicts in these countries and the effects of genocides on those who are left behind to grieve and to clean up the mess. The information that was gathered and interpreted is explained to us and put into the context of the genocide investigation and the reactions of relatives and countrymen. The latter were particularly interesting as often government propaganda denied these atrocities but its hard not to believe when confronted with a grave full of bodies in hospital dressing gowns with their hands tied behind their backs. From being something that happened on TV when I was a teenager or names I occasionally hear bandied about when people talk about atrocities, now these events feel so much more real and my reactions so much more visceral than before. I personally think as many people as possible should read this book, the subject matter is something so powerful that it almost tells its own story, and like other atrocities this is not something that should be allowed to be forgotten.
***Price and ISBN***
Newest version:- RRP: £12.99
Amazon have it for £8.97 or you can get it from Amazon marketplace from £3.00
Older versions such as this one : 1843541394 are available too from £2.95 on Amazon marketplace
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The Kurds of northern Iraq faced discrimination, terror and death under the regime of Saddam Hussein. After the 1991 Gulf War, they gained a measure of autonomy and safety under U.S. protection. Therefore, as the security situation deteriorated in rest of Iraq following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, thousands of displaced persons fled to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) area in the north, where it seemed safer. However, northern border villages have recently been the site of military attacks by Turkey and Iran.
* For information on the German language delegation please email Laurens van Esch at email@example.com
In Colombia, since 1964 an counterinsurgency war has left over 200,000 people dead and displaced over four million others from their homes. CPT's Colombia delegations will meet with church, human rights and social justice organizers in Bogotá and in Barrancabermeja, the industrial city in the Magdalena Medio region where CPT's full-time team has been based since 2001. Delegates will spend several days visiting one or more rural communities struggling for justice, peace and sustainable life on the land.
Corporate clear cut logging of Asubpeeschoseewagong traditional territory has destroyed hunting, trapping, food and medicine gathering activities. Indian Residential Schools have deeply impacted families and communities. Mercury contamination discovered over 40 years ago continues to poison residents.
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Greetings in the name of His & Her Imperial Majesties Qedamawi Haile Sellasie I &; Itege Menen Asfaw,
I welcome you all to one of many of the interpretations of the Scriptures from the light of Ras Tafari by, I, Lidj Yefdi (pronounced Lij, Yef-dee).
I assure you that if you are patient with me, come with an open mind and heart, you will receive more than what you might have asked for in seeking the perspective of a Ras Tafarian’s I-sight (eyesight) into the study of the Scriptures.
Now, with that said, let us go right into this…
So,with this Hebrew Shabbot(or Sabbath day) if those who actually open up their Bibles to read, & thoroughly discern, nonetheless studied either the Torah portion Mishp(f)atim-מִּשְׁפָּטִים , from a Jewish/Hebrew mode of study for those out in the diaspora, living outside of Jerusalem or Israel. Others who engage this type of study more than likely read the portion of Terumah. From the Jewish or Hebraic Calendar in the 5773 this Sabbath day would probably fall on the 5th & 6th day of the month Adar–אֲדָר. (the Hebrew Calendar corresponds to a Lunar cycle of the Moon)From an Ethiopic-Christian perspective and calculation these readings from the Scriptures would align to what is known as S(h)ir’aut- ሥርዓት; on the 8th & 9th of ወርኀ(month)- የካቲት(Yekateet). On the Ethiopic calendar, which is solar (with its correspondence to the Sun) this Sabbath (or Senbet-ሰንበት) in the Ethiopian language of Amharic which is currently one of the languages of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church(the other language being Ge’ez-ግእዝ)
Exodus 21:1- 24:18
Jeremiah 33:25, 26
Now, for in summation of the study we have in front of us; In this portion of the study of the Scriptures, laws/ordinances for the Passover(PesaKH- פסח /Fasika-ፋሲካ) are set out. In addition to the Decalogue(Ten Commandments), another series of laws are given to Moses, to give to the children of Israel. This has been accounted for as the covenant upon Mount Sinai(or the Sinaitic Covenant). God commands Moses, Aaron, & Aaron’s sons: Nadab and Abihu, to ascend the mountain. [Ex. 24:9-11]
Covenant Code(detailed statutes)
The instituting of Hebrews,( in particular the men ), to show up before God three times was established, with these detailed statutes.
Feast of Unleavened Bread
(Passover-פֶּסַח), is a memorial of the Exodus from Egypt. It also observes, the avoiding all leavened grain products and similar foods of consumption. Most families or communities tell stories of the Exodus traditionally. Pesach(Passover) usually lasts eight days (for some others it may comprise seven days): Passover’s equivalent in Etiopian Jewish/Hebrew tradition is called (Fasika-ፋሲካ) from other translated sources Fasika connotates the meaning from/into Easter. Fasika has been an upkeep from the traditions and teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, since around fourth century A.D. Even, for what is known as a Christian church, this festival of Fasika(Easter/Passover) holds significance than what is known as Christmas. Fasika succeeds an approx., 56-day fasting period, which is has certain relevancy to the Western Christian ideas of Lent. Fasika, is known to be a a day of high celebration.
Feast of Weeks/Harvest, (Shavuot/KHag Shavuot-חג שבעות) commemorates the day God gave the Torah/the LAW to the entire nation of Israel which had come to be assembled at Mount Sinai. Shavuot is linked to Passover, it also concludes the Counting of the Omer, of the seven weeks/counting of God’s festivals.
and at the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot. (Sukkot-סֻכּוֹת) The Feast of the Ingathering, is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tisrei, on the Hebrew/Jewish calendar. Moses told the children of Israel to gather for a reading of the Law during Sukkot every seventh year (Deut. 31:10-11). Sukkot is a seven day holiday, and part of what is known in Jewish tradition as the CHol HaMoed(festival weekdays). Observance of Sukkot is detailed in the Book of this week’s Torah portion. [Exodus 23:14]
Moses, was summoned by God to ascend the mountain where he remained for forty days and forty nights.
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China is going all-out in a sometimes destructive push to top the medal table at the Beijing Olympics, the New York Times reports. Athletes are risking their health by training while injured, and potential medal-winners are being pressed out of retirement. Olympic hopefuls are well aware that victory will bring fame and fortune—and failure a huge "loss of face" for the motherland.
Massive amounts of resources have been poured into the country's Olympic training program. Promising athletes are sent to special sports schools far from their families at young ages. Training is rigorous and the pressure, always high, has steadily increased as the games near. The Communist war slogan—“Don’t retreat from the front lines with light injuries"—has become a mantra for athletes and coaches alike.
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The European Commission has threatened Microsoft with daily fines of €3 million if it doesn’t provide information about its Windows operating system by Nov. 23, according to a report in a British newspaper Wednesday.
Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said Microsoft was trying her patience, according to a report in The Guardian on Wednesday. “I don’t have eternal life,” she is reported to have said.
The Commission fined Microsoft €280.5 million in July for failing to provide information as ordered in a landmark antitrust ruling in March 2004.
Microsoft initially claimed that it didn’t understand what information the Commission wanted. The 2004 ruling ordered the firm to make available enough information about Windows to allow makers of rival server software programs to design their products to work as seamlessly with Windows as Microsoft’s own server operating system.
After a hearing earlier this year, Microsoft said it finally understood what the Commission was after, and submitted what it said was the final installment of information on July 19.
However, Kroes said this isn’t enough. “I am not impressed if someone says 90 percent of the information is already there when we need 100 percent. It’s a jigsaw and some parts are missing. … In my opinion, this information should have been here a couple of months ago,” the newspaper quotes her as saying.
Neither the Commission nor Microsoft were immediately available to comment.
This story, "Report: European Commission may fine Microsoft again" was originally published by PCWorld.
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The military deployment of the Russian Army on the border with Ukraine, and the Kremlin’s demands to receive “security guarantees” from the United States and NATO reflect its ambition to change the European security order and reverse the defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
The Ukraine crisis has put Russia back in the West’s crosshairs. The US is reinforcing its military presence in allied countries in the East, and NATO has reached out to Russia and insisted on the importance of a way out of the crisis based on dialogue and diplomacy, offering a negotiation on disarmament.
An independent Ukraine is the pillar of the architecture of the European security order, but also of the future of the international order, which China and Russia, two revisionist actors, intend to redesign.
- Félix Arteaga
- Carlota García Encina | @EncinaCharlie
- Mira Milosevich | @MiraMilosevich1
- Luis Simón | @LuisSimn
Moderator: Charles Powell, director del Real Instituto Elcano | @CharlesTPowell
See also: Ukraine’s special (spanish).
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A 9-year-old boy is alive thanks to the heroic efforts of several police officers.
On Saturday, around 3:45 p.m., police were dispatched to a home on Billows Drive in East Greenwich, New Jersey. When they arrived, they learned that a 9-year-old boy with autism had wandered from the home in an unknown direction around 3:30 p.m. East Greenwich Police, along with the police departments, fire departments and emergency crews from neighboring towns began to search for the boy.
After searching for about an hour and a half, police and K9 units found the boy several hundred yards behind his home stuck in the Mantua Creek during low tide. The boy was about a quarter mile away from the shoreline and was submerged up to his neck in mud in extremely cold temperatures. Police say the boy was within several minutes of drowning due to the tide coming in.
Police officers quickly took action and ran into the creek. At one point, investigators say the officers became submerged in the mud and water as well but managed to free themselves and get to the child. The boy was eventually freed and carried safely to land. The child was not seriously hurt and was reunited with his father after being treated at the hospital.
“The officers did an excellent job and are credited with saving the child’s life,” said Lieutenant Charles Barone of the East Greenwich Township Police Department. “The only casualties were several destroyed police uniforms.”
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The disturbances of the habitat could be affecting the populations of the mantled howler, or golden-mantled howling monkey, (Alouatta palliate Mexicana) who in an extreme case could be developing mutations that make them less resistant to diseases and climate events, reveled by a study of the Ecology Institute.
Juan Carlos Serio Silva, head of the project, of which the objective was to know the structure and genetic diversity of this monkey's populations and see in which way their habitat fragmentation is affecting them genetically.
The mantled howler is one of the three species of primates distributed in the jungles of the southeast of the country and is, without a doubt, the one that present the biggest reduction and isolation of its populations.
This phenomenon has carried the monkeys to the point of near extinction. Joined to this fact, very little genetic studies have been carried out in Mexico regarding this specie.
To carry out the project the researchers collected hair from the bodies of the mantled howlers in four different regions, using a noninvasive technique with sticky darts.
Each one of this regions was divided in two zones: disturbed and the ones without human impact. In total, 300 samples of hair were collected and analysed for DNA extraction.
One of the principal findings was that the fragmentation of the jungle has induced in the primates the development of different behavioral patterns like in family breeding.
The authors of this study suggest that if this situation becomes more extreme could cause mutations that would make them less resistant to disease and climate events.
Another trascendental result is that apparently the mantled howlers in the state of Veracruz (south east of the country) come from two different maternal lineages, which is believed to have happened because of different colonization events in this region.
The researcher also highlighted that a way to help conserve this primates would be to stop disturbing their habitat avoiding the negative effects of in family breeding and resulting in a better ecological, behavioral and health quality of life.
Finally, he added that a deeper research of the genetic variability in the next generations of mantled howler is important to know the evolution of the fragmentation process and it biological print. (Agencia ID)
Cite This Page:
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Choosing a certain style of decoration is a personal decision, but if there is one that most people like, it is the one that tries to bring home a “bit” of nature, with the intention of creating comfortable, bright spaces, with a predominance of simple elements. , that simply, contribute to your well-being.
The so-called natural style, so fashionable, is based on a harmonious combination of rustic and modern. If you also want your home to be ecological, the natural fibers in the textiles you choose, wood, along with other materials such as wicker, for furniture and water-based paints, free of chemical elements, are details that you should take into account.
The four principles of natural style in decoration
Everyone can have a very specific idea of what natural design is, but any of them must include two keywords: functional and cozy. These are two adjectives that define a style that bets on the basic, beautiful and practical elements in equal measure, and that is absolutely the opposite of any ornate decoration.
- Walls and floors. They create the frame where you will shape your decorative project, so they are especially important. The coatings you choose should favor the maximum use of natural light. Bet on white or soft tones that evoke nature itself: beige, sand, pastel greens … If you feel like it, you can choose, for the floor of any room, such as the living room, wood in the form of a platform or parquet. The contrast with the white walls will be great and will be a good starting point.
- Furniture. The secret is in do not include extra furniture. The thousand accessories that only serve to subtract space, there are plenty. Items such as bulky bedside tables or sturdy headboards in the bedroom have no place in this style. Shelves, shelves, display cabinets for “figurines” … are too much. Make your basic furniture create a nice contrast with walls and floors. For example, solid dark wood furniture will look good on a floor in light tones, and, on the other hand, on a wooden floor, simple and light furniture will go great, if they are in white, perfect.
- Textiles. They bring warmth to any room and are essential in the natural style. Vegetable fiber rugs such as jute or sisal, light silk or cotton curtains or soft natural wool cushions, are details that will make any room comfortable in the simplest way and without recharging at all.
- Plants. Indispensable in this decorative style. You have a multitude of indoor plants that are going to be the hallmark of your house. It is not about placing them everywhere, but about giving them an obvious prominence. Some dried flowers or branches, a lush plant in that empty and somewhat dark corner, a fern or a small vine that hangs from the ceiling, a flowerpot that gives a fresh touch to the bathrooms … minimal details that will make nature enter your home.
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Female mice exposed to PBDEs, a type of flame-retardant found on everyday household items, pass on the chemicals to their developing offspring. In female offspring, this can cause alterations in social memories and behaviors which are reminiscent of human compulsive behaviors associated with autism.
Exposure to flame retardants and pesticides resulted in more than a million cases of intellectual disability in children between 2001 and 2016. However, adverse outcomes from exposure to mercury and lead fell significantly during the same period.
Children whose mothers were exposed to PBDE flame retardants while pregnancy had less efficient reading networks, and increased risk of developing reading disorders.
Children whose mothers were exposed to PBDEs during pregnancy may have a lower IQ than their peers who did not experience prenatal exposure, a new study reports. Researchers found that every 10 fold increase of maternal PBDE levels was associated with a drop of 3.7 IQ points in her child.
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JPL will develop an Electro-Optical sensor system and navigation algorithms to enable obstacle detection and avoidance as well as localization for unmanned ground vehicle operations over a full 24 hour cycle.
A novel illumination system will allow nighttime stereo camera-based navigation and visual odometry to a range of 30m over a wide range of terrain types and operating environments. The navigation algorithms will include a pose filter capable of reliably achieving 0.5% error in distance traveled during day time over long duration (1 hour) missions with no prior maps and with no GPS coverage, and 1% during night-time. The filter will also achieve 1% error of distance traveled over 24 hours of continuous operations with sporadic GPS coverage.
The ability to see out to 30m at night enables a medium-sized vehicle (1000kg) to travel at modest speeds (30-50km/h), in off-road and on-road terrain, while avoiding obstacles and maintaining position knowledge. This is sufficient to perform missions such as transporting supplies between remote operating bases or scouting terrain, with a target range of 10-30km.
Being able to rely on sufficiently accurate relative localization from on-board sensors, with occasional (e.g. every 1km) absolute localization updates from a sensor such as GPS, eliminates the need for prior maps and the infrastructure required to acquire, maintain, and transfer the map data, substantially streamlining the vehicle’s operation.
This work is funded by the Office of Naval Research.
Daren Lee - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Access to employer-provided benefits among full- and part-time private industry workers, March 2010
August 06, 2010
Employer-provided retirement plans were available to 74 percent of all full-time workers in private industry in March 2010; by contrast, 39 percent of part-time private industry workers had access to a retirement plan.
Among full-time workers in private industry, 86 percent were provided access to medical care benefits and 74 percent were provided paid sick leave benefits. Only 24 percent of part-time private industry workers had access to medical care benefits, and 26 percent had access to paid sick leave benefits.
Access to life insurance was provided to 74 percent of full-time private industry workers, compared with just 15 percent of part-time workers who were offered this benefit.
These data are from the National Compensation Survey, which provides comprehensive measures of occupation earnings, compensation cost trends, and incidence and provisions of employee benefit plans in the United States. A worker with access to a medical or retirement plan is defined as having an employer-provided plan available for use, regardless of whether the worker chooses to enroll or participate in the plan. To learn more, see "Employee Benefits in the United States — March 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-1044.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Access to employer-provided benefits among full- and part-time private industry workers, March 2010 on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2010/ted_20100806.htm (visited October 31, 2014).
Three recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics
Housing: before, during, and after the Great Recession
looks at consumer expenditures on household items, employment in residential construction, prices for household items, and injuries in occupations involved in building and maintaining our homes.
Women veterans in the labor force examines the demographic, employment, and unemployment characteristics of women veterans.
BLS Statistics by Occupation provides an overview of occupational employment and wages with an emphasis on STEM jobs and occupational data by typical entry-level education required.
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[Haskell-cafe] bug in ghci ?
Pasqualino "Titto" Assini
tittoassini at gmail.com
Thu Jul 8 09:36:53 EDT 2010
Thanks for the explanation.
What I meant is not that is a bug that it recurses but rather the fact
that the compiler will accept this incomplete definition without
This problem has bitten me twice while trying to use automatic
derivation of a data type in another file.
In my innocence I wrote:
instance Show Test
deriving instance Show Test
I didn't notice the error as GHC seemed to be happy and then when I
tried to use it: BANG!
I suppose that Haskell has spoiled me, if it compiles I assume that it
will work :-)
On 8 July 2010 14:29, Daniel Fischer <daniel.is.fischer at web.de> wrote:
> On Thursday 08 July 2010 15:20:13, Pasqualino "Titto" Assini wrote:
>> I just noticed that in ghci:
>> data Test = Test String
>> instance Show Test
>> show $ Test "Hello"
>> Will result in infinite recursion.
>> Is this a known bug?
> It's not a bug.
> There are default methods in Show for show in terms of showsPrec and for
> showsPrec in terms of show.
> You need to define at least one of the two to get a working Show instance,
> otherwise trying to evaluate (show stuff) will lead to infinite recursion,
> it's the same with e.g. Eq.
> Might be a worthwhile feature request to let the compiler emit a warning on
> every instance declaration where no method is defined.
Pasqualino "Titto" Assini, Ph.D.
More information about the Haskell-Cafe
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Joseph Metcalf, IIIArticle Free Pass
(born Dec. 20, 1927 , Holyoke, Mass.—died March 2, 2007, Washington, D.C.), vice admiral (ret.), U.S. Navy who commanded the full-scale U.S. military invasion of Grenada on Oct. 25, 1983, after a bloody Marxist coup resulted in the execution of the country’s prime minister and 15 of his supporters. Metcalf had less than 36 hours to prepare for Operation Urgent Fury, but he succeeded in pulling together some 6,000 troops, which, in just three days, successfully secured the island nation and seized the coup leader, Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard. Among Metcalf’s many decorations were the Bronze Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit.
Do you know anything more about this topic that you’d like to share?
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A number of Australian statutes have sought, in certain circumstances, to remove individuals’ right to silence by conferring on courts and investigative bodies the power to compel individuals to answer questions about whether they have engaged in criminal conduct. For example, the Queensland government recently foreshadowed the introduction of new laws that would empower its Crime and Misconduct Commission to compel examinees to answer questions under the threat of a mandatory jail term.
Unlike the United States, Australia does not have a constitutionally guaranteed right to silence on the grounds of potential self-incrimination – it is not possible in Australia to “plead the fifth”. While at common law individuals do have certain rights, including the right to silence and the privilege against self-incrimination, those rights are not absolute and may be subject to a contrary statute enacted by Parliament that may infringe on those rights in certain circumstances.
The Criminal Assets Recovery Act (NSW) is one such statute. Sections 13 and 13A of the act operate to override obligations of confidence, legal professional privilege and the privilege against self-incrimination. Those sections apply to examination under Section 31D (ie, in relation to a confiscation order).
The issue before the High Court was whether the New South Wales Supreme Court was authorised to make an order under Section 31D of the act that the appellants be compulsorily examined in circumstances where there was a risk that the subject matter of the examinations might overlap with the subject matter of separate criminal proceedings being faced by the appellants.
The High Court discussed the application of ‘direct use immunity’ and ‘derivative use immunity’. Under the principle of direct use immunity, answers given to compulsory questioning are not admissible in subsequent criminal proceedings. However, unless there is derivative use immunity, the answers may be used to discover evidence that is admissible against the person providing the answer.
In a dissenting judgment, Justice Hayne concluded (at 79) that asking questions and compelling answers about the pending charge interferes with the conduct of an accusatorial trial, embarrasses the defence of the accused and introduces fundamental alterations to the accusatorial process of criminal justice.
A majority of the high court found that the New South Wales Supreme Court was authorised to order the examination, and dismissed the appeal. Chief Justice French, who delivered one of the majority judgments, noted (at 36) that examinations under Section 31D would be subject to judicial control and discretion. He further noted (at 49) that:
“Judicial sensitivity to the impact of an examination on the accusatorial character of pending criminal proceedings can be expected to inform whether an order should be made in the particular circumstances of the case and, if an order be made, the way in which any subsequent examination is conducted. Its judicial character will attract the inherent and express powers of the Supreme Court to protect against misuse of its process and against unfair prejudice to an examinee.”
The minority considered itself bound by the court’s earlier decision in X7 v Australian Crime Commission, which concerned similar legislation – namely, the Crime Commission Act 2002 (Cth), which governs the gathering and dissemination of criminal information and intelligence by an executive authority in relation to matters relating to federally relevant criminal activity. One of the bases on which the majority distinguished X7 v ACC was that the Criminal Assets Recovery Act (NSW) differed in material ways from the Crime Commission Act.
Source: International Law Office
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Aquifer Recharge Mapping
What is an aquifer?
An aquifer is a body of geologic material that can supply useful quantities
of ground water to natural springs and water wells.
What is aquifer recharge?
Aquifer recharge is the process by which rainwater seeps down through
the soil into an underlying aquifer. There are many natural processes that
determine how much rainwater actually reaches and replenishes an aquifer instead
of being evaporated, consumed by plants and animals, or simply running off
the ground surface into streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Why is it important to map
The protection of our water resources is important for everyone in
the State concerned with the quality and availability of clean drinking water.
Previous water conservation and supply programs have proven to be insufficient
for adequately protecting our drinking-water supplies. About half of the
water used by humans for daily living is extracted from the ground. Therefore
it is important to identify those parts of the State where our ground water
is most likely to be replenished so that we can attempt to protect these
vital resources from pollution and any land-use practices that will decrease
the quality and availability of clean water.
How do we map aquifer recharge
The New Jersey Geological Survey (NJGS) has recently developed a method
for mapping aquifer recharge areas. The method uses rainfall data from climate-monitoring
stations, maps showing how the land surface is currently used (residential,
agricultural, commercial, wooded, pavement, etc.), what kind of soils occur
at the earth's surface, and the extent of wetlands (streams, rivers, lakes,
marshes, and bogs). These data are combined using scientific methods to determine
how much ground water is available in any particular area for recharge to
the local aquifer. How much of this water will actually make it into the aquifer
is also predicted based on how much water can usually be pumped from water
wells drilled into the aquifer. This method has been recently used to show
the location of aquifer recharge areas for Middlesex and Cape May counties.
The NJGS is also currently involved in mapping aquifer recharge areas for
the State's priority watershed areas.
Illustration summarizing the methods used by the NJGS for preparing aquifer
This image uses information from the Middlesex County aquifer recharge
map (Open File Map OFM-21 Ground-Water Recharge and Aquifer-Recharge
Potential for Middlesex County, New Jersey). Ground-water
recharge values range from 0 inches/year in the white areas to 26 inches/year
in the darker colored areas.
refer to Geological Survey Report publication
"A method for evaluating ground-water-recharge areas in New Jersey"
for more detailed information. GSR 32 is available for purchase at the
Maps and Publications Sales Office.
For a recent supplement to this methodology download
Basin Factor Calibration for Ground-Water Recharge Estimation (in Adobe
is an Excel Workbook implementing the ground-water-recharge methodology
based on GSR-32.
For more information about the Surveys Aquifer Recharge Project you can
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In-vitro inhibition of antiplatelet autoantibodies by intravenous immunoglobulins and Rh immunoglobulins.
YS Mehta, SS Badakere
Institute of Immunohematology (ICMR), KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai.
Y S Mehta
Institute of Immunohematology (ICMR), KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai.
Autoimmune thrombocytopenia (AITP) is caused by autoantibodies to platelet glycoprotein antigens. Intravenous immunoglobulin (i.v.IgG) and Rh immunoglobulin infusions have found great significance in the treatment of AITP patients not responding to corticosteroids and other modes of therapy. In our study, it was observed that immunoglobulins (i.v.IgG & Rh), and their Fab fragments inhibited the binding of antiplatelet autoantibodies to normal platelets, from 15.8 to 90.7% and 25.6 to 90.08% respectively; whereas, their Fc portion did not show any inhibition. The presence of specific anti-idiotypic antibodies to antiplatelet autoantibodies was established by using monoclonal antibodies to Glycoprotein IIb/IIa and Glycoprotein Ib/IX, as the specific idiotype source. The i.v.IgG and Rh immunoglobulin products reacted with the monoclonal antibodies, only through their Fab and not through the Fc portions, thereby confirming its specific anti-idiotype activity.
|How to cite this article:|
Mehta Y S, Badakere S S. In-vitro inhibition of antiplatelet autoantibodies by intravenous immunoglobulins and Rh immunoglobulins. J Postgrad Med 1996;42:46-9
|How to cite this URL:|
Mehta Y S, Badakere S S. In-vitro inhibition of antiplatelet autoantibodies by intravenous immunoglobulins and Rh immunoglobulins. J Postgrad Med [serial online] 1996 [cited 2020 Feb 18 ];42:46-9
Available from: http://www.jpgmonline.com/text.asp?1996/42/2/46/456
Intravenous immunoglobulin, and Rh immunoglobulins, have been used as therapeutic agents for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenias. One of the mechanism of action of these preparations, that allows the opsonized platelets to evade phagocytosis by the macrophages, is blocking of the Fc receptors on the macrophages. The other mechanisms of action proposed for these products is the inhibition of the platelet autoantibodies binding to the platelet antigens by antiidiotypic action of the IVIgG and Rh immunoglobulins. Thus, administration of these products has shown long lasting remissions, especially in some refractory cases.
This study was undertaken
1. to show that MgG and Rh immunoglobulins inhibit the binding of antiplatelet autoantibodies with normal washed 'O' group platelets,
2. to show that this inhibition was due to the Fab portion and not Fc mediated, and
3. to show that the inhibition of antiplatelet autoantibodies was due to a specific antiidiotype effect, by the use of monocional antibodies to specific platelet glycoproteins Gp IIb/IIa and Gp Ib/IX.
In this study, we selected 5 patients of chronic AITP. AITP was diagnosed on the basis of a consistently low platelet count raised platelet associated immunoglobulins and normal or increased megakaryocytes in the bone marrow. The patients' sera when they first presented and had not been treated were taken for the inhibition assay.
Eight inhibitors (MgG and Rh immunoglobulin products) from 3 different sources, with various batches of the same product were used. PAIgG was estimated by the ELISA method described by Hegde et al.
Inhibition of Patients' and Control Sera Using IVIgG and Rh immunoglobulin Inhibitors:
All the inhibitors were so diluted as to have a protein concentration of 1 mg/ml in 0.01 M phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The patients' sera were then allowed to react with these diluted inhibitors at room temperature (RT) for 1 hour so as to allow the anti-idiotypic antibodies to react with the idiotypes (i.e. the antiplatelet autoantibodies). The reaction mixtures were then centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 mins at 4 deg. C to remove any precipitate formed. In one aliquot, normal saline was added so to serve as a negative control e.g. no inhibition. The reaction mixtures were then allowed to interact with washed normal donor 'O' group platelets suspended in PBS at RT for 1 hour. The platelets were then washed using PBS and the platelet associated IgG estimated. Normal donor sera were used as controls [Figure:1].
The inhibition was seen as a decrease in the PAIgG value of the inhibited sample as compared with the uninhibited control (normal saline). The percentage inhibition was calculated by taking each individuals uninhibited sera PAIgG value as 100%. [Figure:2]
Thus, % inhibition = 100 100 x PAIgG value (inhibited)
PAIgG value (uninhibited)
Detection of antiidiotype antibodies to antiplatelet antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies to platelet glycoproteins GP IIb/IIa and GP Ib/IX were used as the specific idiotype source. 50 ?g of these monoclonal antibodies (5?g/ml) were coated onto the ELISA plates using 0.5 M carbonate bicarbonate buffer overnight at 4 deg. C. The excess was washed using normal saline tween 20 (NS. T20) and the wells blocked with 250 ?l 5% non fat dried milk powder (2 hours/37 deg. C). The MgG and Rh Immunoglobulin preparations and their papain digested products diluted to l mg/ml (50 ?l) were then reacted with the monoclonal antibodies (idiotypes) coated on the ELISA plate wells at RT for 2 hours. The excess was washed off with NS. T20 and the bound antiidiotype antibodies were detected using antihuman globulin conjugated to alkaline phosphatase (FIT for 1 hour). After thoroughly washing out the excess, the substrate pnitro phenyl phosphate l mg/ml in 0.05 M carbonate bicarbonate buffer pH 9.8 was added and the colour allowed to develop in the dark. The reaction was stopped with 3N Sodium Hydroxide 50 ?l and the optical density read at 405 nm on ELISA reader. While normal saline served as blank normal donors sera served as the negative control.
Preparation and Purification of Fab and Fc Fragments
The MgG and Rh immunoglobulins were digested using papain enzyme to prepare Fab and Fc fragments using the standard technique described by Porter et al. The purified fragments [Figure:3] were then used for inhibiting the antiplatelet autoantibodies and to analyse which fragment carried the antiidiotype activity.
In this study we have established the presence of antiidiotype antibody activity in the intravenous immunoglobulin and Rh immunoglobulin preparations by two different methods.
Firstly, when sera of patients of AITP, containing antiplatelet autoantibodies is reacted with a fixed number of washed 'O' group platelets it would interact to produce measurable antigenantibody complexes depending on the amount of PAIgG. Addition of IVIgG or antiD preparations, which supposedly contained antiidiotype antibodies, to the above mixture would then show a variable decrease in the amount of auto-antibody than can still bind the platelets. This decrease caused in the levels of PAIgG [Figure:1] by the various inhibitors studied was found to vary from product to product and the percentage of inhibition was different for each AITP patients sera ranging from 15.8 to 90.7% [Figure:2]. There was no decrease in the PAIgG values for normal donor sera reacted with the same platelets. Also, it can be seen in [Figure:1] and [Figure:2] that gamma globulin precipitate from a single healthy donor serum used as control do not show any inhibition.
Also, in [Figure:3], it can be seen that inhibition of antiplatelet autoantibodies from binding to the platelets is mediated through the Fab fragments and not the Fc portion of these Ig preparations. The Fab fractions of the different immunoglobulin products inhibited the binding of antiplatelet antibodies to platelets, the inhibition ranging from 25.6 to 90.08% whereas no significant inhibition was seen by the Fc fraction of these products. Again the levels of inhibition was seen to vary from product and even amongst the different AITP patient's sera
Secondly, when we used monoclonal antiplatelet antibodies to GP IIb/IIa and GP lb/IX as specific source, to confirm the presence of antiidiotype antibodies to antiplatelet autoantibodies, it was observed that all the preparations reacted with the monoclonal antibodies coated onto ELISA plates. This conclusively showed the presence of antiidiotype antibodies. The papain digested fragments of these immunoglobulins showed that the Fab fragment of these immunoglobulins reacted with the monoclonal antibodies, whereas' no reaction occurred with the Fc fragment of the same products.
Thus, results of both the inhibition and the reaction with the specific monoclonal idiotype source confirm the presence of antiiclicitype antibody activity to antiplatelet GP IIb/IIa and GP Ib/IX antibodies in most cases of AITP.
Recently glycoproteins GP IIb/IIa and lb/IX have been shown to be the antigenic determinants against which the autoantibodies have been shown to be directed in a majority of the cases of AITP. All antibody molecules have been shown to possess in their variable region idiotypic determinant which themselves act as antigens and lead to production of antiiclicitype antibodies,. Antiidiotype antibodies are considered to play an immunoregulatory role in controlling the immune response.
Several mechanisms of action have been suggested for the therapeutic action of IVIgG and Rh immunoglobulins,,, the commonest being the blocking of the Fc receptors on the macrophages modulation of the Tlymphocytes leading to depressed immunoglobulin production including production of platelet specific antibodies. It has also been shown that these preparations could have antiidiotype antibodies to antiplatelet autoantibodies and thus might be probably inhibiting the opsonization of the platelets. Earlier studies, have shown the inhibition of monoclonal antiplatelet antibodies by the IVIgG and antiD preparations and speculated the presence of antiidiotype antibodies.
In our study, the inhibition of antiplatelet autoantibodies in the patients' sera from binding to ‘O’ group normal donor platelets was seen to vary from 15.8 to 90.7% [Figure:2] Furthermore, when the inhibition studies were carried out using the Fab and Fc fragments of the same preparations, it was seen that the Fab fraction of these immunoglobulins inhibited the binding from 25.6 to 90.08% [Figure:3] while the Fc fragments showed no significant inhibition. The percentage of inhibition as observed by Lisa Cardo et al, for IVIgIS (using monoclonal antibodies) was 55 to 60% and for AntiD, it ranged from 50 to 80%, which is quite comparable to the inhibition recorded in our study. Gamma globulins precipitated from single normal donors and normal saline served as negative controls. Also, normal donor sera were reacted with normal donor 'O' group platelets with and without the inhibition and these did not show any significant changes in their binding to the platelets.
Monoclonal antibodies to GP IIb/IIa and GP Ib/IX were used as the specific source of the idiotype to test for antiidiotype antibody activity in these preparations in our study. It was observed that the IVIgG and Rh immunoglobulin preparation and their Fab fragments reacted with the monoclonal antibodies coated onto ELISA plates while no reaction was seen with the Fc fragments. Normal controls did not show any such reaction. Thus, it can be interred from our study, that IVIgG and Rh immunoglobulins, probably, also act by inhibiting the antiplatelet autoantibodies from binding to their respective platelet antigens, and this could be one of the reasons for some of the complete remissions seen with the use of such products. Also, based on our findings we can say that antiidiotype antibodies probably play a significant role in immunomodulation of AITP.
Imbach P, Barandun S, d’Apuzzo V, Baurrigartner C, Hirt K, Motell A, Rossi E, Schoni M, Vest M, Wagner HP, et al. High close intravenous garnmaglobulin for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in childhood Lancet 1981; i:1228|
|2||Bussel JB, Kimberley RR, Inman RD, Schulman I, Cunningham Rhundles C, Cheung N, Smithwich EM, O'Maliey J, Barandun S, Hilgartner MW, et al. Intravenous garnmaglobulin treatment of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic: purpura Blood 1983; 62:480|
|3||Salarna A, Kiefel V, Amberg R, MuellerEckhardt C. Treatment of Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia with Rhesus antibodies (antiRhoD) Blut 1984; 49:29|
|4||Salama A, Kiefel V, MuellerEckhardt C. Effect of 19G antrRho(D) in adult patients with chronic Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia Am J Haem 1986; 22:241.|
|5||Cohn EJ, Oncley JL, Strong LE, Hughes Jr WL, Armstrong Jr SH. Chemical, Clinical and immunological studies on the products of human plasma fractionation. The characterisation of the protein fractions in human plasma J Clin Invest 1944; 33:417|
|6||Cardo L, Keenan JR, Bussel JB, Kunicki T, Cunningham-Rhundies C. Intravenous gammaglobulin contains antiidiotypic antibodies to antiplatelet antibodies Transfusion. 1991; Vol 31:Supplement Abst S104|
|7||Cardo L, CunninghamRhundies C. Antirdicitype to antiplatelet GP liblilia and Ib/IX in RH immune globulin Transfusion. 1991; Vol. 31: Supplement Abst S105.|
|8||Hegde UM, Powell DK, Bowes A, Gordon Smith EC. Enzyme linked immunoassay for detection of platelet associated IgG, Br J Hematology 1981; 48:3946|
|9||Porter RR. The hydrolysis of rabbit gammaglobulins and antibodies by crystalline papain. Biochem J 1959; 73:119|
|10||Kiefel V, Santosa S, Kantmann E, MuellerEckhardt E. Autoantibodies against platelet glycoprotein lb/IX a frequent finding in autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura. Br J Haem 1991; 79:256262.|
|11||Jerne NK. Idiotypic networks and other preconceived ideas. Immunol Rev 1974; 79:5.|
|12||Kamath PS, Bacialkere SS, Mehta BC. Antiidiotype antibodies and circulating immune complexes after immunisation with tetanustoxoid Ceylon Medical Journal 1994; 39:97100.|
|13||Delfraiss VJF, Tchernia G, Laurian Y, Wallon C, Galanaud P. Dormont Suppressor cell function after intravenous gammaglobulin treatment in adult chronic Aicipathic thrombocytopenic purpura Br J Haematol 1985; 60:315.|
|14||Dammaco F, Lodice G, Campobasso N. Treatment of adult patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura with intravenous immunoglobulins. Effects on circulating T cell subset and PWN induced antibody synthesis in vitro Br J Haematol 1986; 62:125.|
|15||Winiarski J, Kreuger A, Elderhamn J, Hoim G. High dose intravenous IgG reduces platelet associated immunoglobulin and complement in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura Scand J Haematol 1983; 31:342.
| 123,382
|
'I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go
after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want , if you can hit 'em, but
remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' This is what Atticus Finch
tells his children after they are given air-rifles for Christmas. Uniquely,
the title of the classic novel by Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird, was
taken from this passage. At first glance, one may wonder why Harper Lee
decided to name her book after what seems to be a rather insignificant
excerpt. After careful study, however, one begins to see that this is just
another example of symbolism in the novel. Harper Lee uses symbolism rather
extensively throughout this story, and much of it refers to the problems of
racism in the South during the early twentieth century. Harper Lee's
effective use of racial symbolism can be seen by studying various examples
from the book.
This includes the actions of the children, the racist
whites, and the actions of Atticus Finch.
The actions of the children in this novel certainly do have their share of
symbolism. For instance, the building of a snowman by Jem and Scout one
winter is very symbolic. There was not enough snow to make a snowman
entirely out of snow, so Jem made a foundation out of dirt, and then
covered it with what snow they had. One could interpret this in two
different ways. First of all, the creation of the snowman by Jem can be
seen as being symbolic of Jem trying to cover up the black man and showing
that he is the same as the white man, that all human beings are virtually
the same. Approval of these views is shown by Atticus when he...
| 47,679
|
IV.5. The Multiregional Approach for Resource and Industry Allocation Model
The Multiregional Approach for Resource and Industry Allocation Model (MARIA)
is a compact integrated assessment model to assess the interrelationships among
the economy, energy, resources, land use, and global climate change (Mori and
Takahashi, 1999; Mori 2000). The origin of the model is the Dynamic Integrated
Model of Climate and the Economy (DICE) model, developed by Nordhaus (1994).
Involving energy flows and dividing the world into regions, MARIA has been developed
to assess technology and policy options to address global warming. Like Global
2100 developed by Manne and Richels (1992), MARIA is currently an intertemporal
non-linear optimization model that deals with international trading among eight
regions - NAM (USA and Canada), Japan, Other OECD countries, China, ASEAN countries
(Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Thailand),
SAS (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka), EEFSU (Eastern Europe and the
Former Soviet Union), and ALM (Africa and Latin America). It also encompasses
energy flows and simplified food production and land use changes to show the
potential contribution of biomass.
Economic activities are represented by a constant elasticity of substitution
(CES) production function with capital stock, labor, electricity, and non-electric
energy set for the above eight world regions. Future GDP growth is projected
by considering potential GDP growth rates (the product of two exogenous assumptions
- population and potential per capita GDP growth) as well as endogenously determined
energy costs and prices. The energy module in MARIA involves three fossil primary
energy resources (i.e., coal, natural gas, and oil), biomass, nuclear power,
and renewable energy technologies (e.g., hydropower, solar, wind, and geothermal).
Energy demand consists of industry, transportation, and other public uses. Nuclear
fuel recycling technologies are simply but explicitly formulated. Carbon sequestration
technologies are also taken into account. Typically, MARIA basically generates
resource extraction profiles in which gas is mainly used in the first half of
the 21st century, and subsequently carbon-free sources (e.g., solar, nuclear,
and biomass) and coal assume the main roles in the second half of the 21st century.
Energy costs in the model consist of energy production and utilization costs.
Market prices are determined endogenously on the basis of model-calculated shadow
prices. Among various parameters, the extraction costs of fossil fuel resources
and energy conversion cost coefficients contribute substantially to determining
the model's energy mix and emissions. The latest model version, MARIA-8, applied
Rogner's estimates on fossil resource availability (Rogner, 1997). For the sake
of simplicity, the fossil resource and reserve categories are aggregated into
two classes, assuming a quadratic production function to interpolate the relationships
between resource occurrences and extraction costs. Corresponding model parameters
are summarized in Table IV-6. The cost coefficients of energy conversion technologies
are basically extracted from the GLOBAL 2100 model (Manne and Richels, 1992).
The basic values used in the case of the B2 scenario are illustrated in Table
IV-7, and important model parameters deployed for MARIA's other SRES scenario
quantifications are shown in Table IV-8. Other energy-related
cost parameters correspond to renewable energy sources, methanol and ethanol
processes, nuclear fuel recycle, carbon sequestration, etc. They are described
in more detail in Mori and Takahashi (1999).
International trade prices are generated by the Lagrange multipliers of the
corresponding constraints as a feature of optimization models. The Negishi weight
technique was employed to assess the international equilibrium prices of tradable
goods under the budget constraints (Negishi, 1972). Illustrative international
energy trade prices for scenario B2 are summarized in Chapter
4 and are not repeated here.
|Table IV-7: Illustration
of basic energy conversion cost coefficients in MARIA used for calculating
the SRES B2 Scenario.
|IND, TRN, PUB, and ELC denote industry, transportation,
public and other services, and electric power generation sectors. The values
in the first three rows (non-electricity) are millions per MJ. Those in
the last row are millions per kWh.
The Global Warming Subsystem in MARIA is based on Wigley's five-time constant
model for the emission-concentration mechanism. A two-level thermal reservoir
model is also employed following the DICE model (Wigley, 1994; Nordhaus, 1994).
Only global carbon emissions are currently treated in this model component.
MARIA's Food and Land Use module serves to assess the potential contributions
of biomass. A simplified food demand and land-use subsystem was included. Nutrition,
calorie, and protein demand is a function of per capita income. Either directly
or via meat, crop and pasture supply these demands. Forests are a source of
biomass and wood products, but also their function as a carbon sink is evaluated.
The relationships among the above-mentioned subsystems are shown in Figure
Since MARIA is designed for macro-level evaluation of various options consistently,
detailed information, such as gridded SO2 emissions, industrial structure change,
and urbanization issues, is not generated. However, MARIA can provide long-term
profiles of fuel mix changes and possible trade premiums under various scenarios.
More detailed information can be obtained by referring to the following web
|Table IV-8: Parameter adjustments
to meet the key driving forces interpretation of the SRES scenario storylines.
||Potential economic growth rates
||Autonomous energy efficiency
||Energy cost coefficients of coal
|260% of gas
250% of gas
185% of gas
| 103,031
|
- 1 Definition
- 2 Software and Formats
- 3 The Epub 2.x Formats
- 4 Epub 3.0x
- 5 Software
- 6 Conversion testing
- 7 In education
- 8 Links
ePub is a popular open e-book standard.
“".epub" is the file extension of an XML format for reflowable digital books and publications. ".epub" is composed of three open standards, the Open Publication Structure (OPS), Open Packaging Format (OPF) and Open Container Format (OCF), produced by the IDPF.” (dipf, retrieved 22:38, 26 February 2009 (UTC))
2 Software and Formats
ePub can be authored and read with an increasing set of software. Since it is an open standard, it does have support from various vendors and publishers (see e.g. Tim O'Reilly Unplugged: The Kindle 2 And Transforming Industries).
- Epub 2 (2007)
- Epub 2.01 (2010)
- Epub 3.0 (2011, recommendation)
- Epub 3.0.1 (2014, specification)
This article describes mostly Epub 2.0
3 The Epub 2.x Formats
ePub formats are defined with Relax NG but rely on other standards too. Ebup 2.x was finalised in 2010 and should work with any reader (even an "old" one). Since 2011, the recommended standard is ePub 3.x.
The ePub 2.0 Specification comes in three parts:
- (1) The open publication structure (OPS) - 09/11/07
- The Open Publication Structure 2.0 (OPS) is an XML-based standard for authoring digital publications. Contents can be marked up either with a subset of XHTML or Daisy DTBook.
- The Open Packaging Format (OPF) 2.0 describes the structure of an .epub in XML
- (2) The open container format - 10/27/06
- The OPS Container Format 1.0 (OCF) is a zip-based standard used to encapsulate publication components for transport and delivery.
ePub contents may be DRM controlled, but must not ...
ePub 2.01 uses:
- Open Publication Structure (OPS) 2.0.1
- Open Packaging Format (OPF) 2.0.1
- Open Container Format (OCF) 2.0.1
3.2 The container and packaging
The *.epub zip file by example:
If we create an e-pub version of this page we get a file called xxx.epub. This *.epub file is an OCF zip file. Here is the structure:
That kind of packaging structure follows quite a similar philosophy as the IMS Content Packaging standard. I.e. a zip file includes a central xml file (content.opf) that includes the definition of organization (the "spine") and the metadata. It then includes all the assets needed for rendering.
The mime-type, i.e. contents of the Mimetype file is application/epub+zip.
Let us now describe some of its files:
3.3 The Open Packaging Format (OPF)
File content.opf describes and organizes the various content elements of the epub package. It also provides metadata about the publication, fallback mechanisms when unsupported extensions are used, and a table of contents.
E.g. an example made with an automatic online converter for this page looks like this:
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?> <package xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns="http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf" version="2.0" unique-identifier="bookid"> <metadata> <dc:title>EPub</dc:title> <dc:identifier id="bookid">web2fb2_200904221954_3347363837</dc:identifier> <dc:language>En</dc:language> <dc:creator>Daniel K. Schneider</dc:creator> <dc:type>reference</dc:type> </metadata> <manifest> <item id="css" href="style.css" media-type="text/css"/> <item id="content1" href="content1.xhtml" media-type="application/xhtml+xml"/> <item id="i0ced13f269" href="i0ced13f269" media-type="image/png"/> <item id="ib166f0f69c" href="ib166f0f69c" media-type="image/png"/> <item id="i7fa52f212a" href="i7fa52f212a" media-type="image/png"/> <item id="i33954a4ae2" href="i33954a4ae2" media-type="image/png"/> <item id="i8be224f209" href="i8be224f209" media-type="image/png"/> </manifest> <spine> <itemref idref="content1"/> </spine> </package>
- (1) The manifest
This manifest (like in IMS content packaging) must include all files that are part of the publication in any order. It must have a structure like this according to the specification. I.e. each item must have an id, an href to a resource and a media-type. In addition, one can define fall-back elements.
<manifest> <item id="intro" href="introduction.html" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="c1" href="chapter-1.html" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="c2" href="chapter-2.html" media-type=application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="toc" href="contents.xml" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" fallback="fall1" /> <item id="oview" href="arch.png" media-type="image/png" /> <item id="fall1" fallback="fall2" href="SomeDoc.pdf" media-type="application/pdf" /> </manifest>
- (2) The spine section
“Following manifest, there must be one and only one spine element, which contains one or more itemref elements. Each itemref references an OPS Content Document designated in the manifest. The order of the itemref elements organizes the associated OPS Content Documents into the linear reading order of the publication.” (Open Packaging Format (OPF) 2.0 specification). This spine (one could translate this to "parts") can include three different kinds of files:
- XML (yours, i.e. what they call out-of-line XML
Spine elements refer to resources defined in the manifest and may include a table of contents. E.g. a simple example would look like this:
<manifest> <item id="intro" href="intro.html" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="chap1" href="chap1.html" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="chap2" href="chap2.dtb" media-type="application/x-dtbook+xml" /> <item id="chap3" href="chap3.html" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="f1" href="fig1.jpg" media-type="image/jpeg" /> <!-- ...... other multimedia assets here .... --> <item id="toc_item" href="toc.ncx" media-type="application/x-dtbncx+xml" /> </manifest> <spine toc="toc_item"> <itemref idref="intro" /> <itemref idref="chap1" /> <itemref idref="chap2" /> <itemref idref="chap3" /> </spine>
- (3) The metadata section
The metadata are defined using Dublin Core plus possible user-defined tags. Some of these metadata are mandatory, i.e. title, identifier and language.
- Other remarks
The XHTML files can include various formats, e.g. binary pictures, SVG and in-line XML. All these formats can be style with a subset of CSS2.
This Open Packaging Format (OPF) 2.0 v0.9871.0 is defined as a relax NG schema.
3.4 META-INF files in the epub package
All valid OCF Containers must include a directory called META-INF at the root level of the container file system. This directory contains the files specified below that describe the contents, metadata, signatures, encryption, rights and other information about the contained publication. (OCF 1.0 specification, retrieved 19:17, 22 April 2009 (UTC)).
The container.xml file describes in a simple case where to find the content.opf file. In our simple example it looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?> <container version="1.0" xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:opendocument:xmlns:container"> <rootfiles> <rootfile full-path="OEBPS/content.opf" media-type="application/oebps-package+xml"/> </rootfiles> </container>
An other example taken from the OCF 1.0 specification show that one could include an alternative PDF file for example:
<?xml version="1.0"?> <container version="1.0" xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:opendocument:xmlns:container"> <rootfiles> <rootfile full-path="OEBPS/My Crazy Life.opf" media-type="application/oebps-package+xml" /> <rootfile full-path="PDF/My Crazy Life.pdf" media-type="application/pdf" /> </rootfiles> </container>
In addition to container.xml, there can be five other files:
The formal specification of these files in META-INF is done with a little Relax NG schema:
- There is one rule for container (see the examples above).
- One rule for signatures and that includes the xmldsig-core-schema.rng Schema
- One rule for encryption that also refers to extenal *.rng Schemas.
3.5 The XHTML modules used in OPS
OPS uses a set of XHTML modules with some additional restrictions. E.g. OPS is always XHTML compatible, but no the other way round.
|XHTML 1.1 Module Name||Elements (non-normative)|
|Structure||body, head, html, title|
|Text||abbr, acronym, address, blockquote, br, cite, code, dfn, div, em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, kbd, p, pre, q, samp, span, strong, var|
|List||dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, li|
|Presentation||b, big, hr, i, small, sub, sup, tt|
|Table||caption, col, colgroup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr|
|Client-Side Image Map||area, map|
|Style Attribute (deprecated)||style attribute|
Remark: EPub also can use the DTBook (DAISY/NISO standard) for markup.
Readers must support SVG 1.1. SVG animation and scripting features are not supported and must not be used by publication authors; a Reading System should not render such content. CSS styling of SVG must be fully supported.
SVG content can be used from XHML img and object elements but also within XHTML (probably in the standard way with namespaces).
You also may use your own XML both inline within XHTML and out-of-line as documents. Both can have fallback options (to be used when the contents can't be rendered by a client).
3.8 OPS style Sheets
OPS Style sheets are CSS2 styles in the XML tradition, i.e. selectors and attribute names are case sensitive. Again, like for XHTML, there are some restrictions.
4 Epub 3.0x
Epub 3.0 was introduced in 2011 and in 2014 version 3.1 was published.
According to the official manual, EPUB 3's base content format is now based on the XML serialization of HTML5 (XHTML5) [ContentDocs30], whereas EPUB2 supported two basic content types: a profile of XHTML 1.1 and DTBook [OPS2] (a semantically-enhanced markup focused on accessibility concerns) [...] the EPUB 3 XHTML Content Document definition includes both extensions to and restrictions on its HTML5 base.
- Epub contents are a subset version of HTML5 that respects XML syntax (closed tags).
- Epub 3.0 allows for some interactivity using a special attribute for triggers and a JS API
- Styling is done with a subset of CSS3 (mostly CSS2)
- Rich media (e.g. video) are supported
5.1 Authoring software
(1) One solution for authoring new e-pub contents is using an XHTML authoring tool. To create the epub archive, there are two options so far:
- Build the epub archive manually which is not too difficult for a technical person.
- Use conversion software (see below), some of which is good. E.g. Calibre can handle multi-file documents in various input formats and it also can split a well structured XHTML file with an XPath expression into several sub-files.
(2) An other solution is use an Epub editor (i.e. Sigil, introduced below)
(3) Many authors probably use a combination. Produce contents with any sort of XHTML editor and the use an authoring tool to fine tune the contents.
- Sigil seems to be the best free authoring software so far.
- BlueGriffon EPUB Edition
- Product home page
- Commercial (195 Euros)
- Epub3 compatible
- Not tested so far ...
- Product home page is both a convertor and editor.
- Commercial (30 Euros)
5.2 Conversion software
There exist several tools that can convert from one format to another. Mileage varies according to input. E.g. PDF is more difficult to convert than XHTML for example,
- PDF input leads to really ugly output
- Web pages like this mediawiki page translate badly, e.g. bullets go away.
- Atlantis Word Processor
- Atlantis Word Processor converts any document to EPUB. Supports multilevel TOCs, font embedding, and batch conversion.
- Source formats: RTF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, TXT.
- Platform: Windows.
- Calibre is a one stop solution to all your e-book needs. It is free, open source and cross-platform in design and works well on Linux, OS X and Windows.
- List of general features: Library Management - Format conversion (all major ebook formats can be converted from) - Syncing to ebook reader devices - Fetching news from the web and converting it into ebook form - Viewing many different ebook formats - Giving you access to your book collection over the internet using just a browser.
- Converter: can create chapters out of single text using XPath expressions, add title image, title, author, data, etc.
- Source formats: LIT, MOBI, EPUB, HTML, PRC, RTF, TXT, PDF. Some convert better than others, e.g. PDF pictures don't translate.
- Output formats: EPUB, LRF, MOBI
- Easy to install under Ubuntu (tested with 8.04 Hardy Heron and 9.04 Jaunty). You can do it with one command line.
- Read e-book conversion with Calibre for a short how-to.
- Writer2ePub is an OpenOffice.org extension that creates an ePub file from any document openable by the OOo Word Processor.
- Quote: “W2E is an ePub creator. Simply write your document with the OOo Word Processor and W2E will make an ePub file using the best traditional typographic rules, by applying a predefined style sheet (CSS). If you need a good ePub document and you can use the OOo Writer Word Processor, W2E is your tool.”
- Seems to be a dead project (as of 2014/2015)
- On-line conversion tools
- Web2FB2 is a webpage to F3B and EPUB converter. (tested April 2009).
- The result wasn't convincing regarding conversion of a fairly ugly XHTML file (I tried with this page) - Daniel K. Schneider 19:17, 22 April 2009 (UTC).
- Tip: make use of the advanced options to set both title and author. The file name created will be named authorname_first_name_title.epub.
- Wiki 2 epub
- We did not find any software, but as we describe below, wiki to xhtml to epub somewhat works.
- There is an on-demand Epub converter for MediaWikis. However it only works with some versions: Extension talk:EPubExport
5.3 Integrated online environments
- Zinepal allows to create magazines in various formats (including Epug). Sign-up is required.
- BlueGriffon EPUB3 Validator (Firefox extension)
- EpubCheck is a Java-based commandline tool to validate EPUB files. Also can be used as programming library.
5.5 Reader Software
There exist several ePub capable readers. Here are just some of these:
- Good quality reader and one of the easiest (however it seems to need a fair amount of CPU power)
- FBReader e-book reader for Unix/Windows computers. It supports several formats.
- Wikipedia entry
- Unix/Windows (It's included in Ubuntu's Synaptic)
- Features: Several formats (partially or fully) . Several reading options.
- Calibre is a converting tool (see above), but also includes a (OK, but not too good) reader.
- Kobo is an ecosystem like Amazon: It has a store, your online library, an (optional ebook reader), etc. Ebooks are in Epub format and can be read on any device using the Kobo e-book reader software. e.g. a laptop computer or an android tablet/phone. The software can automatically synchronize with your online library, but you also can take just one book, e.g. on your mobile phone when you are stuck waiting somwhere ...
- You also can download the e-pub from the online library. I recommend this, if you buy expensive books. The file has an Adobe DRM on it and must be opened with Adobe Digital Editions. If you want to read it on Linux, you must crack the file.
- Read 10 simple Kobo tips and tricks
- OpenBerg, was an opensource initiative to write a system (reader, authoring etc.). The reader was a Firefox extension. Now dead ?
- Wikipedia entry
- Adobe Digital editions
- Adobe Digital Editions is a free software with built-in DRM mechanism. If you buy contents and if you register with Adobe you can use the contents on a limited set of other computers - needs some clarification)
- Wikipedia entry
E-books make most sense when read on specialized hardware. Several brands can read ePub documents, e.g.
- Sony Reader (Mobileread wiki)
- E.g. the Sony PRS 505 has 64MB RAM and 256 flash RAM, a size of 6", 800 x 600px, 167 PPI, 8 grey levels, USB 2.0, about 2-3 weeks battery life (7500 page turns).
- E.g. the Sony PRS 700BC (oct 2008) has a size of 127.6 x 174.3 x 9.7 mm, a touch screen / 167 ppi / 800x600px.
- 153 x 109 x 10mm: 640 x 480 VGA greyscale
- Hanlin EBooks (Mobileread wiki).
- The same hardware is sold under different brand names and with different firmware.
5.7 DRM removal
Read Digital Editions Help first, there may be a solution without removing the DRM that fits your needs.
While I understand that editors want to sell books (as opposed to see just few persons downloading and sharing them), I still argue against DRM. I would not oppose watermarking, e.g. with a (verified) real name and email address.
- Publishing houses like O'Reilly don't use DRM and still seem to sell books (I, for example, bought a whole lot). Often you can get them half price, e.g. about $20 a piece.
- DRM doesn't allow you to read books from your Linux systems.
- Books with DRM's are really difficult to install on mobile phones. In theory there is a way, but I did not manage on a Galaxy S3
- As a researcher, I want to be able to copy/paste sentences, but I cannot copy/paste from Digital editions
- Some publishing houses sell e-books with dreadful formatting that would need some fixing (ok I wouldn't take time to do that but others might). Most often maps and other detailed graphics are unreadable (maybe the quality is better in the assets directory)
- As a citizen, I do not want Adobe to register what I read.
Therefore, removing the DRM is just fine (and legal in most countries), unless you redistribute cracked books (which I don't do)
Solutions (careful ! Some of the software may be dangerous)
- Check Alf's Calibre plugin, read Ebook Formats, DRM and You — A Guide for the Perplexed and DRM Removal Tools for eBooks and finally DeDRM plugin for calibre: the simplest option for removing DRM from most ebooks by Apprentice Alf.
- Under Linux you have to run Wine, then use the above, e.g. read [http://dikkiisdiatribe.blogspot.ch/2013/01/alternate-method-linux-calibre-e-books.html
- Epub Converter sells a Alternate method - Linux, Calibre, e-books (epub) and DRM and How to get round DRM issues with e-books in Linux (epub)
EPUB DRM Removal - Download] tool (not tested)
- EPubSoft PDF / EPub DRM Removal (not tested)
6 Conversion testing
6.1 A (preliminary) conversion test of a huge HTML file
- Daniel K. Schneider 19:17, 22 April 2009. Therefore this section does need to upgraded !!
I tried to convert mediawiki contents, i.e. what could be called a wiki book.
- I took a larger list of flash tutorials from this wiki (bad idea since they include huge pictures) and generated a single (ugly) html page with the pdfbook generator (800MB for the HTML only).
- This some_flash_tutorials.html file then had to be repaired with tidy. I also converted it to real XHTML.
tidy -o flash_tutorials.xhtml -asxhtml some_flash_tutorials.html
- I opened the XHTML file in a browser and then "saved as complete web page" in a directory. This is important in order to have a local copy of all images.
- I then imported the XHTML File to Calibre and converted to epub.
- I changed the XPath expression for chapter detection to "//h1" since each each wiki page starts with h1.
The result was sort of ok, a "442 pages" 8MB file
- Some links ("a" tags) were wrong, i.e. extented over several pages. They were ok in the original XHTML file. The conversion software cannot handle something like this and looses a closing "a" somewhere.
<div class="thumb tleft"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"> <a href="http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Image:Flash-cs3-tools-panel-items.png" class="image" title="Items of the Flash CS3 tools panel"> <img height="480" border="0" width="180" alt="Items of the Flash CS3 tools panel" src="flash_tutorials_files/180px-Flash-cs3-tools-panel-items.png" class="thumbimage"/></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"> <a href="http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Image:Flash-cs3-tools-panel-items.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"/></div> Items of the Flash CS3 tools panel</div> </div> </div>
- There were too many wiki links (normal since my wiki pages are linked).
Basically, I'd have to clean up the XHTML to get a better result, i.e. remove some wiki things that are really not needed.
I then also tested eCub.
- Copy the xhtml file plus the image directory into the project directory.
- In Options, tick Portable mode. This will include images
The result was a also a 8.7MB file. This software is a bit easier to use and results were slightly better, but the links problem was the same. But it can't split a file into chapters, i.e. create a table of contents for a single big HTML file. Therefore, one has to import xhtml files one by one in order to get a chapter structure.
Conclusion: It is possible to create rather large e-books from mediawiki pages. But for quality results there is manual work to be done (or filtering script writing).
7 In education
- There is increasing interest for using EPUB (version 3) to create electronic textbooks, e.g. see the IMS EduPub initiative.
- International Digital Publishing Forum (idpf, where the standards are defined)
- epubtest has a good list of software, including commercial and free authoring/conversion tools
- Where to download ePub Books online. Several publishers are listed, but also free contents.
- Feedbooks (free contents)
- Tutorials and technical tips
- The ABCs of e-book format conversion: Easy Calibre tips for the Kindle, Sony and Nook By John Schember
- Create rich-layout publications in EPUB 3 with HTML5, CSS3, and MathML, by Liza Daly, July 2012.
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Nowadays, it is very easy to access and provide content and that is truly exciting to bring people closer and to get to know varied knowledge. However, we know that this reality raises concerns about the potential inappropriate use of this knowledge by population groups with less critical capacity and / or selection of content adapted to their interests.
When I was surfing on a Portuguese TV cable provider website I found an interesting document called Principles for the Safer Use of Connected Devices and Online Services by Children and Young People in the EU. It contains a range of principles designed to improve online safety for children and young people and it was created by several organizations from all over Europe.
This document ensures that signatories follow those principles and they are also pleasant to take individual initiatives to promote them.
There are seven main subjects set in the report. Within each subject there are several key principles. I decided to select a few principles of the two first subjects.
· Indicate clearly where a service they offer may include content considered not to be appropriate for children and display prominently options which are available to control access to the content. This could include, where appropriate for the service, tools to manage access to certain content, advice to users or a recognized system of content labelling.
· Display prominently and in an easily accessible location the Acceptable Use Policy, which should be written in easily-understandable language.
· State clearly any relevant terms of service or community guidelines (i.e. how users are expected to behave and what is not acceptable) with which user generated content must comply.
· Ensure that reporting options are in the relevant areas of the service.
· Provide notice about the consequences for users if they post content which violates terms of service or community guidelines.
· Continue work to provide innovative solutions able to support child safety protection tools and solutions.
2. Parental controls
Signatories should, as relevant for their products or services, assist parents to limit their children’s exposure to potentially inappropriate content and contact. It is recognised that parental controls have limitations and cannot replace parents’ engagement in their children’s online use. Measures that are available or appropriate to each service/product will vary, but may include:
· Manufacturers seeking to optimise hardware design to provide products which simply and clearly help parents to set appropriate levels of control on devices.
· Network providers seeking to provide necessary tools and settings across their services to enable parents to set appropriate levels of control
· Service and content providers making available the necessary tools and settings across their services to enable parents to set appropriate levels of control.
In my opinion, it is important to know the correct and most ethical way to use online services to ensure that our experiences in today’s digital world are more responsible and enriching.
If you want to access the original document, just click here.
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TOP STORY > >Cabot ends fees it put on builders of houses
Leader senior staff writer
Cabot’s impact fee on new construction, which last year brought in $208,000, has been repealed.
The city council Monday night voted 7-1 to do away with the 2006 ordinance imposing the fee on new houses and commercial buildings, which cost builders $1,272 on a 3,000-4,000-square-foot house.
If the fee had been extended, it would have nearly doubled this month.
A committee charged with determining whether the impact fee had contributed to the decline in construction in Cabot had recommended that the fee double this month as scheduled and remain at that level for 24 months, possibly until another source of income for the city was in place.
Alderman Teri Miessner, who chaired the committee, provided the lone vote against repealing the fee.
“Apparently we wasted our time meeting because apparently the intent of the council was to remove it anyway,” Miessner said.
City Attorney Jim Taylor had prepared an ordinance to freeze the impact fee at the second scheduled level as recommended by the committee, but that ordinance was not introduced. Instead, Alderman Tom Armstrong, who voted against the fee in 2006, made the motion to repeal it. That motion was seconded by Alderman Becky Lemaster, who had called the impact fee an unfair tax on the city’s struggling building industry.
Taylor had also drafted the ordinance repealing the impact fee.
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said there was nothing in the new ordinance that would prevent the council from imposing the fee at a later date if necessary. During the year the fee was in place, the city had collected $75,000 toward the new fire station that is needed to hold down the cost of residential and commercial insurance premiums.
Williams said the city’s finances have improved since the council passed the impact fee. Voters passed a one-cent sales tax that built a much-needed wastewater treatment plant, helped pay for the animal shelter, the community center and the railroad overpass now under construction.
Layoffs last year in all city departments have kept salaries down, but the city has no revenue source at this time that will pay the $1.5 million needed to build a fire station or the $1 million needed to equip it, the mayor said.
Several builders and developers attended the council meeting. Bill O’Brien, a realtor and developer who served on Miessner’s impact fee committee spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, saying the closing of one lumber yard (84 Lumber) in the city and the layoff of workers at another (Ridout) are evidence that the building industry is struggling.
“Thank you for relieving the burden,” he said.
Information available at Cabot Public Works shows that residential construction is down, but it started going down before the impact fee went into effect in November 2006.
Two years earlier, 2004, was the boom year for home construction in Cabot. Building permits for 500 houses were issued that year, compared to 288 in 2002, 374 in 2003, 419 in 2005, 400 in 2006 and 183 in 2007, which was after the impact fee was passed.
However, of the 400 permits issued in 2006, 122 were in November, just before collection of the impact fee was started, for houses that would be built in 2007.
Although residential construction has slowed, commercial, which increases the city’s tax base, is on the rise. Nine commercial permits were issued in 2002, 25 in 2003, 20 in 2004 (the boom year for residential), 60 in 2005, 58 in 2006 and 67 in 2007.
In other business, the council passed an ordinance 7-1 banning the sale of novelty lighters.
Lieutenant Mark Shoemaker, from the North Little Rock Fire Department, spoke for the ban. Two states, Maine and Tennessee, have banned the lighters and he is working on a state-wide ban in Arkansas.
The reporting system for fires has only recently been updated to include novelty lighters, so hard data is not available.
However, it is known that two boys died last year in Russellville after starting a fire with a novelty lighter shaped like a motorcycle.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Shoemaker said, showing the council a croaking frog with a flame coming from its head. “They look like toys.”
Lemaster argued that government shouldn’t regulate what citizens can or cannot do.
“Commerce will take care of it,” Lemaster said. “If they are a bad idea, people will quit buying them.” Alderman Ken Williams countered that crack cocaine is a bad idea but people still buy it.
Alderman Eddie Cook said he also is opposed to “over-governmenting” but he voted with the majority to ban the lighters.
The council also passed an ordinance allowing RVs and motor homes in R-1 zones as temporary housing for tornado victims.
The ordinance expires in six months. Anyone still living in temporary quarters after the ordinance expires will face misdemeanor charges and fines of $100 a day.
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US President Barack Obama's first stop after arriving in Jerusalem this afternoon was at the official President's Residence, where President Shimon Peres gushed over his honored guest.
"Your vision can transform the Middle East," Peres told Obama as they appeared in public in the courtyard of the central Jerusalem facility. "Your voice will encourage belief in the possibility of peace. Your vision is a historic step in that direction."
Turning to the Iran nuclear threat, Peres claimed that Israel "trusts your policy which calls to try by non-military means with a clear statement that other options remain on the table."
Peres also claimed that he had never seen Israelis so excited than they were to welcome Obama.
Both claims were a bit dubious. Israel has been quite critical of what it sees as America's foot-dragging when it comes to halting Iran's nuclear ambitions, and most Israelis worry that the Obama White House doesn't fully understand how serious or intolerable the threat is to the Jewish state.
Israelis are likewise not all that excited by the current visit. Sure, the arrival of a US president makes for quite the spectacle, and the vast majority of locals love and support the US. But Israelis long ago stopped believing that such visits carried with them any hope of true advancement towards peace and security.
While at the President's Residence, Obama was serenaded by four Israeli children and planted a tree in the spacious garden.
After leaving, Obama headed to the nearby Prime Minister's Residence for hours of talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu behind closed doors.
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Redirected from Frederic Mistral
He shared the Nobel Prize in literature in 1904 for his contributions in literature and philology. Mistral's father was a well-to-do farmer in the former French province of Provence.
Born and died in Maillane[?], Bouches-du-Rhône département, France.
... during the reign of James II[?], owing to the penal laws. They applied for naturalization in 1749.
Patrice MacMahon was educated at the College of Louis Le Gr ...
Buy Halloween Costumes
Kids.Net.Au - kids safe portal for children, parents, schools and
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In the spring of 2009, a Republican strategist settled on a brilliant and powerful attack line for President Barack Obama's ambitious plan to overhaul America's health insurance system. Frank Luntz, a consultant famous for his phraseology, urged GOP leaders to call it a "government takeover." "Takeovers are like coups," Luntz wrote in a 28-page memo. "They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom." The line stuck. By the time the health care bill was headed toward passage in early 2010, Obama and congressional Democrats had sanded down their program, dropping the "public option" concept that was derided as too much government intrusion. The law passed in March, with new regulations, but no government-run plan. But as Republicans smelled serious opportunity in the midterm elections, they didn't let facts get in the way of a great punchline. And few in the press challenged their frequent assertion that under Obama, the government was going to take over the health care industry. PolitiFact editors and reporters have chosen "government takeover of health care" as the 2010 Lie of the Year. Uttered by dozens of politicians and pundits, it played an important role in shaping public opinion about the health care plan and was a significant factor in the Democrats' shellacking in the November elections. Readers of PolitiFact, the St. Petersburg Times' independent fact-checking website, also chose it as the year's most significant falsehood by an overwhelming margin. (Their second-place choice was Rep. Michele Bachmann's claim that Obama was going to spend $200 million a day on a trip to India, a falsity that still sprouts.) By selecting "government takeover' as Lie of the Year, PolitiFact is not making a judgment on whether the health care law is good policy. The phrase is simply not true.
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By Jessica Biber
- Although there are nearly four million apps available, 49% of
smartphone owners depend on just six to 10 apps each week.
- On Android devices, app retention is 27% after the first day of install.
- On Apple devices, app retention is only 23% after the first 24 hours.
Understanding user behavior is fundamental to creating deeper engagement with your app and standing out in a packed marketplace. Tracking specific actions, segmenting audiences, and optimizing for these users is the key to launching a successful app marketing campaign.
In this post, we’ll cover audience factors and KPIs to consider, and how mobile marketers can start reaching out to their ideal target customers.
It’s important to understand exactly who you’ll be targeting. Knowing this information will help you create a user persona that will guide your marketing strategy.
App analytics can provide user demographic attributes such as age, gender, education, household income, and language preference. While these are basic characteristics, they can be combined to create a detailed profile: your target customer may be a married woman who has two kids, is employed, holds a university degree, uses a credit card, and lives in San Francisco. And as such, you should tailor your app marketing campaigns accordingly.
While location is a part of a user’s demographic, mobile marketers can get more precise with geographic targeting. Beyond country, state, city, and zip code, marketers can identify the exact locations of users, whether they’re at the airport or the mall. Knowing this information is crucial because four in five users want ads that are customized to their specific location.
Behavior patterns are important to track because they give insights into how users engage with your app. Measurable in-app behaviors can range from visited pages to purchase intent.
App analytics can provide you with a more granular view: for instance, you can see whether a user has triggered a specific action X number of times in total, or during a set period between two dates. You can see what your audience is using your app for, and when they might be most responsive to your marketing efforts. Check out our powerful app analytics tools like Attribution Analytics and In-App Marketing to gain more granular insights.
The mobile device your audience uses—specifically the manufacturer, model, and operating system—is another key factor. For example, if you’re selling luxury products, you can target presumably affluent users who own the latest high-end devices. Or if you know your audience has upgraded their iOS, you can take advantage of that operating system’s new features.
KPIs to track
Monitoring relevant KPIs through your app analytics can help you identify your most active and profitable users. These can include:
- User Acquisition: The method through which your users can find your app. This may be organic search, paid search, or in-app referrals.
- Average Revenue Per User: The total revenue of your app (price + in-app purchases), divided by your total user base. The ARPU will show you the value of each individual user.
- Retention Rate: The length of time a user engages with your app—from when they first download and install your app. Retention is difficult to maintain, as we’ve noted before, so identifying those who actively use your app for more than a month will help you find a worthwhile audience to target.
- Session Length: The length of time a user engages with your app during one session—from launching your app to closing it. Session length can vary depending on the type of app: an e-commerce app session may take an average of 2.85 minutes while an entertainment app session may last up to 5.59 minutes.
Building on your target audience
Once you’ve identified your target audience, you can use this information to find and create lookalike audiences. These are prospects who share similar traits with your existing customers. By taking a highly targeted approach, you might earn a 40–60% click-to-install conversion rate, as James Peng, Head of Mobile Acquisition at Match Group, suggests.
Using app analytics to find and understand your active user base will provide you with a strong starting point for optimizing engagement. You’ll be able to increase the number of users across multiple channels, re-connect with prospects who have dropped out of the sales funnel, or target potential customers who haven’t downloaded your app yet.
Mobile marketers who examine their analytics and measure important KPIs will gain a better understanding of how to monetize user behavior. Strategic marketing will allow you to remain competitive in an ever-growing landscape.A robust mobile measurement platform offers in-depth data, including attribution and app store analytics, to help guide your marketing strategy. Check out the TUNE Marketing Console to learn more.
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North American steel producers heard plenty of frightful economic news as 2008 drew to a close. Some fear that a stronger U.S. dollar combined with lower freight rates and lower global steel prices opens the possibility of more low-priced steel imports heading this way.
The global financial crisis and tight credit market helped contribute to weakening demand from most steel customers, an equation that helped send steel prices down from a peak of around $1,100 per ton for hot-rolled sheet in August to around $650 per ton by late November.
Steel producers responded to the demand sag by quickly moving to cut production, with predictions pointing to reductions of up to 50 percent of North American steel capacity by January.
The production cuts, however, led to some positive signs. Lakshmi N. Mittal, chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal SA, Luxembourg, said the cuts showed the industry was more flexible than it had been in the past, able to adjust to weakening demand in a matter of weeks rather than months.
That also led to some good news in terms of costs of fluxing materials, refractories, electrodes and other consumables. Lower steel demand means less production, and less production means fewer purchases of those materials.
"It's not rocket science," said John Ferriola, chief operating officer of Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C. "The basic laws of supply and demand are still in effect. When demand for those kinds of things—demand for raw materials or fluxes or electrodes or other consumables—goes down, supplies get a little higher."
That happened for steelmakers in the latter stages of 2008. Several producers found themselves in a position to cut better pricing deals on electrodes, fluxes and refractories.
"Some of these guys are talking to us now," Keith Busse, chairman and chief executive officer of Steel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., said "Even the energy companies are talking to us. But I think most of those folks (providers of materials) understand that there is a recession going on. They've looked at the forecasts and they see where things are going. People are uncertain because of the economic crisis and in some cases, because supplies of these things are a little higher than they were, we're getting a chance to make some deals at lower prices."
That wasn't the case earlier in the year, when strong steel demand, together with rising raw material costs, drove steel prices to their summertime peaks. Raw materials were in shorter supply, as were consumables, because most steelmakers were running at close to capacity.
"We don't see an issue with availability," said James Hrusovsky, president and chief executive officer of Severstal Columbus, Columbus, Miss. "Everyone has cut back, and in that environment there is less need for electrodes and other consumables. My opinion is that we have not seen the full impact of this (financial crisis) yet."
Ferriola pointed out that about 60 to 65 percent of Nucor's steelmaking costs revolve around the cost of scrap. Its other costs are move variable, leaving it with a low percentage of fixed costs compared with what most integrated mills face.
"The costs of these materials are variable," he said. "The prices, like with raw materials, are a function of production. When mills are producing at high levels the prices for these things go up, and in times like these—when production is down—the prices come down. We've gotten to the point where our suppliers are coming to us now and showing a willingness to work with us on price."
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How did the Columbian Exchange impact both the New and Old Worlds?
2 Answers | Add Yours
The Columbian Exchange had profound ramifications for both the Old and New Worlds. The most immediate effect of the collision between Europeans and Americans was the introduction of infectious diseases by Europeans, diseases for which Indians had no immunity. As a result, millions of Indians perished in massive pandemics. This was only the first shock wave of what historian Alfred Crosby has called a "trend toward biological homogeneity" that was "one of the most important aspects of the history of life on this planet since the retreat of the continental glaciers." What Crosby meant was that American flora and fauna flooded into Europe, and vice versa. Animals such as cattle, horses, and pigs, and crops such as wheat, sugar cane, and rice permanently altered the diets and agriculture of the New World. Similarly, the potato, tobacco, and maize quickly made their way into European diets. The ecological impact, especially in the New World, was dramatic. New European weeds spread like wildfire, and animals, especially hogs, destroyed crops with impunity.
Also if you could answer, Can you still see examples of this cultural exchange today? explain.
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5 Weird Things That Could Be Making You Nauseous
Everyone has experienced nausea at one point or another. It is an unsettling and, for lack of a better term, icky feeling. Maybe you get the occasional bout of motion sickness, or maybe you will get monthly nausea that is associated with PMS, but sometimes the feeling seemingly strikes out of nowhere. So what weird things are making you nauseous? The fix to your woes might be a lot easier than you think.
Odds are, your digestive unease is more likely triggered by an imbalance in your body chemistry, which are oftentimes related to dietary or lifestyle choices that can be quickly remedied. Hangovers after a night of heavy drinking frequently come with a hefty dose of nausea, but that kind of nausea is rarely mysterious. And, as anyone who has ever spent any time in the drugstore knows, loads of prescription and over the counter drugs list stomach upset as a common side effect, so pay attention to labels to avoid those sources of nausea.
So what are these other weird and wonderful sources of queasiness, and how can you stop them dead in their tracks? Check out these five situations that could be turning your lunch upside down.
Nausea and dehydration can get stuck in a nasty feedback loop with nausea keeping you from drinking water and dehydration making you more nauseated. Try drinking small sips of water until your stomach relaxes a bit, and the two problems should subside together.
Anyone who has ever chugged a ton of water in the middle of a strenuous hike or other exercise session will be familiar with the body's reaction to drinking too much water too quickly. Drinking too much water during exercise can cause an imbalance between sodium and fluids, which can cause inflammation, pain, and, yep, you guessed it — nausea. Take it slow, and you should be able to avoid an upset stomach during exercise.
3. Taking multivitamins on an empty stomach
I just learned about this one last week, and it blew my mind. Who knew taking a multivitamin on an empty stomach could backfire in such distracting fashion? Supplements like iron and copper can cause stomach upset, and more acidic vitamins (like vitamin C) can cause increased acid in the stomach, which is no fun.
4. Caffeine (or any other kind of) withdrawal
If you're a caffeine junkie and you've ever accidentally or intentionally gone without your fix for the day, you've probably experienced the splitting headaches and nausea that comes with depriving your body of caffeine. Because caffeine can cause a mild physical dependence for its users, quitting cold turkey can actually cause withdrawal symptoms like you would find with any other substance of similar strength and addictive potential. If you're actually trying to quit caffeine and want to avoid the nastier symptoms, try slowly tapering off rather than cutting it out all at once.
Stress and anxiety can cause intense physical reactions in our bodies. When we're having a particularly trying day, there are measurable spikes in heart rate, adrenaline, blood pressure, and other neurochemicals that prepare our bodies for fight or flight. These chemicals can also speed up metabolism and cause unpleasant digestive symptoms like nausea. Squeeze in an extra intense workout or try a meditation app to get your body back in tune with your everyday life rather than letting your mind and body trick each other into preparing you for the Battle of Castle Black.
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NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA – Seventeen year old Sydney Grammar students have reproduced an essential medicine in their high school laboratories. The high school students have created 3.7 grams of an active ingredient used in the medicine Daraprim for $US20, which would sell in the United States for between $US35,000 and $US110,000.
The drug has been the subject of controversy when the price rose from $US13.50 per tablet to $US750 in August 2015 as Turing Pharmaceuticals, and its CEO, Martin Shkreli, acquired the drug’s exclusive rights and hiked up the price.
With teachers, Malcolm Binns and Erin Sheridan and under the supervision of the University of Sydney’s, Dr Alice Williamson and Associate Professor Matthew Todd, the high school students have engaged with the global members of the Open Source Malaria consortium to make Daraprim in the laboratory using inexpensive starting materials.
Dr Williamson from the School of Chemistry said the scientific community could provide advice and guidance to the students online in real time. Scientists anywhere in the world were able to view all the data generated and mentor the students to accelerate the science.
The project puts a spin on the scenario of a high school teacher working alongside their students to make drugs, from the plot of the hit series, Breaking Bad. The Sydney Grammar students and Open Source Malaria consortium have a very different plan – Breaking Good. The life-saving medicine, Daraprim was originally used as an antimalarial, and is listed by the World Health Organisation as an essential medicine.
The students presented their results at the Royal Australian Chemical Institute NSW Organic Chemistry symposium, alongside honours and postgraduate students and postdoctorals.
Image: courtesy of University of Sydney
- Students make $750 drug cheaply with Open Source Malaria team – 30 Nov 2015, The University of Sydney
- Daraprim drug’s key ingredient recreated by high school students in Sydney for just $20 – 30 Nov 2015, ABC News
- Martin Shkreli responds after Sydney Grammar boys make Daraprim – 1 Dec 2016, The Sydney Morning Herald
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Back pain is a common ailment among people of all ages and the primary causes are stress, strain, injuries and simple overuse of the back muscles and spinal columns. While many people seek medical intervention to remedy this problem there is a much simpler way to alleviate the pain and prevent it from re-occurring.
Strengthening the muscles in the back is the best way to relieve stress, prevent injuries and build-up the ligaments, tendons and muscles supporting the spinal column. Top back strengthening exercises include:
1. The Hip Bridge
The hip bridge exercise is ideal to alleviate back pain associated with extended periods of remaining seated.
Lie flat on your back with your arms at your sides. Bend your knees until your feet are flat against the floor and shoulder width apart. Lift your buttocks and lower back of the floor until only your shoulders remain in contact with the floor. Squeeze your buttocks tightly and hold this position for a couple of seconds before slowly lowering yourself to the floor again.
Be careful not to arch your back during this exercise as this could cause additional strain on the lower back. Repeat the process 10 times.
2. The Swan Dive
The swan dive works and builds strength along the entire spinal column.
Lie flat on your stomach with your arms stretched out in front of you. Simultaneously and slowly, raise your chest and legs off the ground, pointing your toes and rotating your arms until they are positioned beside your body with your palms facing inward. Hold the position for 2 to 3 seconds before slowly lowering yourself to the floor. Repeat the exercise 6 times.
3. The Step Lunge
Lunges are great not only to strengthen the back but give you an overall body workout.
Stand straight with your feet placed slightly apart and take a step forward. Bend the knee of the front leg until the upper leg is horizontal and parallel with the ground and the lower leg vertical. At the same time, stretch the back leg out. Step back into your starting pose and repeat the process with the other leg. Do 10 repetitions for each leg.
Make sure that your back remains straight throughout this exercise.
4. The Bird Dog
The bird dog exercise is great for stretching and strengthening the back muscles.
Start in the ‘dog’ position on all fours ensuring that your hands are placed under your shoulders and your knees directly beneath the hips. Crunch your abdominal muscles together while raising your left arm and right leg until they are parallel with the floor. Hold this ‘bird’ position for a couple of seconds before lowering your arm and leg back into the ‘dog’ position. Repeat with your right arm and left leg. Perform the entire process again on each side 5 times.
Be sure not to arch your back or raise your arm or leg to high during this exercise.
As your muscles becomes stronger, you can increase the amount of repetitions for each exercise to continue strengthening the back.
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An Inadequate Fee
AN Ox, unable to extricate himself from the mire into which he sank, was advised to make use of a Political Pull. When the Political Pull had arrived, the Ox said: "My good friend, please make fast to me, and let nature take her course."
So the Political Pull made fast to the Ox's head and nature took her course. The Ox was drawn, first, from the mire, and, next, from his skin. Then the Political Pull looked back upon the good fat carcase of beef that he was dragging to his lair and said, with a discontented spirit:
"That is hardly my customary fee; I'll take home this first instalment, then return and bring an action for salvage against the skin."Next
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The Rule of Law Restoration is currently in a suspended state for lack of public participation and will not be active for the 2012 election cycle. Since the public interest in the rule of law is currently very low, it is necessary for us to remedy this problem before ROLR can be successful. So we're letting this website sit while we're off working more fundamental solutions. Read more here.
What do you get when you let your government
exceed the lawful limits of its power?
- A gradual and steady loss of your rights, freedoms, and privacy
- Government giving away your money and your children’s money to big business and to foreign countries
- More taxes
- More restrictive laws and rules; Less personal choice
- Growing unemployment
- Higher prices
- Frequent wars
- Widespread corruption amongst government officials (bribes, kickbacks, embezzlement, etc.)
- A lack of justice in the courts
Does this sound familiar?
It certainly should, for governments at every level in the US (local to federal) are routinely breaking the very laws that created them (such as the US Constitution, the state constitutions, and the county and city charters). And the citizens are letting them get away with it!
We can fix it if we fix the following problems first:
- The American voters must rise to the challenge and insist that their governments obey the limits of their powers. No other group but the voters can or will ever make this happen.
- The voters won’t take charge until they are thoroughly informed about: 1) just how bad things have gotten, and 2) just how good the design of our Constitution is when compared to our unlimited government today. They need convenient, regular, and prolonged exposure to accurate information on both of these points.
- Because they are not well informed, American voters continue to vote based upon false or failing paradigms such as: the “two-party system”, the “left/right political spectrum”, and “the lesser of two evils”. We must trade these paradigms for a new one: insisting that no candidate who reserves the right to exceed the powers of his or her office ought ever be allowed to serve in office….regardless of party affiliation.
- Candidates who believe in strict abidance by their limited powers of office may likely be abandoned or even shunned by the political establishment, as they pose a serious threat to “business as usual”. They need, therefore, a place to take a stand for the rule of law–as well as a place where the public can rally around them.
The Rule of Law Restoration’s solutions:
- Provide a website (You’re reading it!) where voters can be regularly and accurately informed about why the rule of law is such a good idea and how much we suffer when government exceeds its lawful powers.
- Put out the call for a new breed of candidate—one that pledges first and foremost to strictly follow the US Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land and to use his or her powers in office to make the rest of the government obey the Constitution, too.
- Help voters to see that our best hope is to pledge never again to vote for any candidate who reserves the right to exceed the powers of his or her office.
- Build a big enough group of candidates and voters to ensure that rule of law candidates are being elected and supported in their efforts while in office.
What do I do first?
1. See to it that you are well informed—starting right now! Before you do anything else, subscribe to ROLR so that you can receive email alerts when:
- Candidates take the Pledge.
- New informative articles are posted about the issue of governmental lawlessness.
- ROLR candidates win an election.
You may unsubscribe at any time. Look for the subscription link in the right-hand margin on this page. Please sign up right now before you forget.
2. See how many candidates have endorsed the rule of law by taking the pledges.
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In 1921, an unknown World War I American solider was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the City of Washington, became the focal point of reverence for Americas veterans.
Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nations highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triumphe). These memorial services all took place on Nov. 11, the anniversary of the end of World War I at 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month) which became known as Armistice Day.
Armistice Day officially received its name in the United States in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar congressional action. If the idealistic hope had been realized that World War I was the War to End All Wars, Nov. 11 might still be called Armistice Day. But only a few years after the holiday was proclaimed, war broke out in Europe. Sixteen and one-half million Americans took part. Four hundred seven thousand of them died in service, more than 292,000 in battle.
Realizing that peace was equally preserved by veterans of World War II and Korea, Congress was requested to make this day an occasion to honor those who have served America in all wars. In 1954, President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming Nov. 11 as Veterans Day.
In 1958, on Memorial Day (which honors U.S. service people who died in actions), two more unidentified American war dead, one from World War II and the other from the Korean War, were buried next to the unknown soldier of World War I.
A law passed in 1968 changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that Nov. 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.
In 1973, a law passed providing interment of an unknown American from the Vietnam War, but because of the improved technology to identify the dead, it was not until 1984 that an unidentified soldier was buried in the tomb. In 1998, however, the Vietnam soldier was identified through DNA tests as Michael Blassie, a 24-year-old Air Force pilot who was shot down in May 1972 near the Cambodian border. His body was disinterred and reburied by his family in St. Louis, Mo.
The focal point for official, national ceremonies for Veterans Day continues to be the memorial amphitheater built around the Tomb of the Unknowns. At 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, a combined color guard representing all military services executes Present Arms at the tomb. The nations tribute to its war dead is symbolized by the laying of a presidential wreath. The bugler plays taps. Every year the President of the United States urges all Americans to honor the commitment to our veterans through appropriate public ceremonies.
Nov. 11 is now recognized as day to pay tribute to and honor all American soldiers who died for our country.
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Relics of our colonial past :
To be destroyed or preserved?
Upper part of the inner gate showing the construction date
There is nothing to prevent what may be called odd bits from the past
seeping into one's memory now and then. A threat made by an MP was one
such odd bit that sailed into my mind recently. The threat made over
electronic media apparently spawned out of a frenzied fit of nationalism
was that this powerful people's representative would decimate the Galle
Fort to zero point very soon for the simple fact that it stood there
overlooking the beautiful seaside city of Galle like a giant ghost of
imperialism. Fortunately the mental ethos of those at the top seem to
have progressed (some of the MPs like mind would say regressed) since
that threat was made. As an alternative to quarrelling with history now
we have come to terms with it. The recent move to preserve the Jaffna
Fort is the latest in the execution of this attitudinal change.
Just to give some basic facts about the Fort, birth - Portuguese
period, exact year - 1619 adolescence and maturity - Dutch period. The
Dutch used it to facilitate trading activities of the island's Northern
region. Site of Fort - situated on the South side of the Jaffna
peninsula at the water's edge of the lagoon.
It is described in aligned documents as the second largest existing
Fort in the island and showcases not only Jaffna's importance to
Europeans, but its significance throughout the island's history.
Perusing the expenses to be incurred for what is termed the
"Conservation and restoration of the ancient Jaffna Fort, a parsimonious
reader will begin to think that the State is overdoing it.
Here are the staggering figures - total budget Rs. 104.5 million,
budget for 2010 - 33 million. But wait. All that is not our money. There
is a donor, i.e., the Govt. of the Netherlands. Donor gives 62.1 million
for the total funding and 19 million for the 2010 funding.
Concept of mutual heritage/dual heritage
After clean-up of vegetation in the rampart
Inside the Fort
Queen's House inside the Fort
Anyway for the critics the Cultural Ministry in an elaborate document
presents this shield under the title, 'Concept of Mutual Heritage/Dual
Parentage'. That however may not make very pleasant reading to those who
beat the drum of hatred against the imperialists refusing to accept that
stage of history as perhaps inevitably arising out of Western dominance
in that era (all sins of arrogance and trespassing forgotten in the
bloated sense of power).
Concept of Mutual Heritage/Dual Parentage
i) The heritage that resulted in the three hundred years after 1500s,
when the major nationals in Europe overflowed their boundaries and went
in both East and West directions of the globe are referred to as Mutual
Heritage or Dual Parentage. It relates to two or more cultures or
cultural traditions for which two or more countries and regions bear a
responsibility for recognition, preservation and protection of this
ii) The built heritage, in particular, which results from historic
cross-fertilisation between different human population (in this case,
the Europeans and the Sri Lankans) on the one hand and the environment
(in this case, the local conditions - available materials, prevailing
technology etc.) provide cultural identity and diversity, not only for
the two or more cultures or cultural traditions, but also in regional
and inter-regional context. Although colonial in context, the design
characteristics of the built heritage resulting from this phenomenon,
therefore, offers various and definitive meanings, that anchors it in
the landscape where it is built.
iii) In such a context, Jaffna's Fort and associated built heritage,
therefore, beyond its role as a mere historical document, embody the
values related to the culture of Sri Lanka's colonial past.
Although the basic designs for the fort were prepared by Dutch
professionals overseas, final designs were modified based on the local
conditions and also constructed by utilising local craftsmen using
locally available material and prevailing technology.
Objectives of the project are given as:
i) The primary objective of this project is to preserve Jaffna's
ancient fort and its associated built heritage by arresting all factors
(human, physical, botanical, climatic etc.) that would affect the
authenticity and integrity of this heritage property.
ii) The Jaffna Fort and associted built heritage, due to its
significant heritage values, if preserved and presented in a
professional manurer, also has a great potential to be the major tourist
attraction of the region.
iii) Apart from offering the tourists to appreciate its heritage
values related to military design, town planning, historic,
architecture, its physical elements could be used through adaptive
re-use to promote not only cultural tourism in the region, but also
To put "First things last" some basic facts about the Jaffna Fort
will be given especially as they are interesting in the context of all
that recent grisly melodrama the Jaffan peninsula. Fort was built circa
1619 that corresponded with the years of entrenching Portuguese power in
this peninsula. It was not built out of dire military necessity, but
setting up garrisoned Forts was the norm in this empire as a basic
component of its defence.
So in 1619, the Council of Goa had authorised Phillippe de Oliveyra
to erect: a fort at the best site and port in Jaffna. (Quote Jaffna
under the Portuguese by Tikiri Abeysinghe). Work began earnestly in 1625
to ward off attacks from Senarat's Kandyan Kingdom with their plans to
turn Jaffna into a vassal State of Kandy to be ruled by the king's sons.
Other than these plans the Jaffna fort was not considered much of a
necessity going by the opinions of contemporary administrators. Olviera,
man mostly behind the Portuguese conquest of Jaffna considered the
Jaffna man as generally passive. "Fraco" is the Portuguese word used.
His successor Seixas found the Jaffna man "Quiet and mild without any
military training and therefore unlikely to rebel unless instigated by
outsiders". Tikiri Abeysinghe writes." The result of this assessment was
that in Jaffna fortification was begun later, proceeded more slowly and
when it was completed, Jaffna, for its population and area had fewer
forts than in other areas".
The only other fort in the North was at Kayts which was later
demolished. These observations by O.M.Da Silva in "Fidalgos in the
Kingdom of Jaffnapatnam" too are worthy quoting.
"In Jaffna, the military complexion of the administration was
gradually fading in that the peninsula was peaceful and docile except
for the brief turbulence with the Kandyan invasions".
In the late 20th and early 21st century, the Jaffna peninsula was
noted all over the world as the most equipped gunpowder storehouse, but
just read this as regards the gunpowder situation of Jaffna in the early
"Gunpowder making (in Jaffna factory) was discontinued as production
costs were too high. So gunpowder was obtained from Colombo factory and
spoilt stocks were sent there for remaking".
This fort was expanded during the Dutch period. Hence the Netherlands
The byline for the article on 'In search of a new constittion' by
M.A.Q.M. Ghazzali in the Sunday Observer on May 23 had been
inadvertently stated as M.A.Q.M. Ghasszli and, his designation should
have read as Advocate of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and not former
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10:40 a.m., October 29, 2020, Breakout Session 3
Resilience: It Helps to Share Experiences
– Greta Lynch
Moderators: ShaLise Simmons and Carina Dickens
Zoom Link: osu.zoom.us/j/98403792356?
Meeting ID: 984 0379 2356
Seniors have been asked to visit grocery stores at times when other shoppers are not present. So no one sees them struggle with new requirements beyond mask wearing, like following the arrows, standing on the x. Some seniors were struggling to grocery shop prior to COVID19, but the added restrictions have brought new anxieties. When experiences are shared as stories we can learn from them. Our seniors will share their new cooking challenges when brands or items are not available. The challenges of getting proper nutrition and adequate diet during these uncertain times. And equally important, the sadness of not being able to dine with friends. We will take chat questions and we will share examples of overcoming roadblocks during this session.
– Heather Reister, Marie Economos and Amanda Bohlen
Moderators: Stacey Baker and Jared Morrison
Zoom Link: osu.zoom.us/j/99633358213?
Meeting ID: 996 3335 8213
Families often struggle to find a healthy balance between work and home life but now more than ever parents are seeking support in blending home, school and work responsibilities with peace, productivity, health and happiness. PAX Tools is a collection of evidence-based, trauma-informed strategies to improve cooperation and self-regulation with youth. PAX Tools draws on decades of science to create strategies that support parents, youth workers, and other caring adults to create a nurturing environment that ultimately helps kids thrive!
In this session, participants will learn:
- Participants will identify how to teach behavior as a skill-set resulting in youth self-regulation.
- Participants will be able to describe nine evidence-based Tools and how they overlay with the ten evidence-based Kernels and Cues from PAX GBG. (GBG = good behavior game)
- Participants will be able to determine how PAX GBG and PAX Tools support one another as a community-wide, environmental prevention strategy
Participants will leave the session with realistic, hands-on strategies for strengthening communication and relationships with youth.
Going Virtual - Real Money. Real World.
– Amanda Woods, Lauren Jones, Elliott Lawrence, Allison Cooper and Cassaundra Dietrich
Moderators: Bridget Britton and Amanda Rysz
Zoom Link: osu.zoom.us/j/95552450258?
Meeting ID: 955 5245 0258
Real Money Real World is an interactive, statewide youth financial literacy program. In the past year, the Real Money Real World program has undergone a large, and much anticipated branding and content update. But, because of the pandemic - the production of this update has come to an unfortunate halt. In an effort to embrace these uncertain times, and adapt our approach to youth financial literacy, a small team has been working to translate this highly anticipated update into an online learning platform.
We will invite our participants to learn more about the updates they're looking forward to, but also introduce them to what this experience will look like played out in an online learning environment. We know this is a lot to consider, because these are big changes for such a tried and true program, but we will encourage those in attendance to embrace the changes in front of us, and hope that they will look forward to FCS, financial outreach, and youth-focused programming adapting to the changing times.
The presentation will be interactive, in that we will give our participants a chance to experience what this program will look like virtually, and encourage their active participation throughout. We know there will be some questions about the changes we're presenting, so we will also welcome any questions as an opportunity to discuss ways we can all pivot to embrace change.
Creative Ways to Maintain a Strong Body and Mind During a Pandemic: A Physical and Mental Health Approach
– Rachel Dilhoff, Angela Sorg, Brittney Schori, Caroline Everidge and Megan Peterson
Moderators: Alaina Niebauer and Deetra Huntington
Zoom Link: osu.zoom.us/j/92970394064?
Meeting ID: 929 7039 4064
What does a bucket of water, your pet, a baby, a pig, and a computer have in common? They are all tools that can enhance physical and mental health during a pandemic. It is no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed lives in many ways. The way that we work, learn, and go about our everyday lives has drastically transformed in just a few short months. These changes are taking a toll on our bodies and mind whether we see it or not. People who once went to the gym to exercise or participated in recreational sports leagues have had to resort to other activities at home, or none at all. Also, spending time with family and friends at a restaurant or at your favorite MLB stadium has been deemed unsafe. With so many new restrictions and uncertainties it is no wonder a need for new approaches to physical and mental health are needed which includes everyday household items.
In this presentation myself, as well as four other HHS Extension Educators in northeast Indiana, will discuss new and creative ways people can meet physical health recommendations and work on maintaining a state of positive mental health through these uncertain times utilizing common (and sometimes unconventional) items/family members/pets at their homes. We will also talk about how technology can help us in our efforts to reach out to the community and can strengthen programming efforts moving forward. There will be demonstrations from the team and discussions of programs we have implemented focusing on mental and physical health during the pandemic. We will encourage participants to have a discussion on what these new norms of physical and mental health will look like in the future and what might hinder or enhance efforts.
COVID and Food Waste
– Brian Roe
Moderators: Susan Shickley and Amy Meehan
Zoom Link: osu.zoom.us/j/99283639091?
Meeting ID: 992 8363 9091
Perhaps no phenomenon has so quickly and radically altered the household food landscape and daily food patterns as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this session we contemplate the immediate and longer-term implications of this public health crisis on the amount of food wasted by consumers by sharing data collected from more than 500 Americans during the summer of 2020 about changes to their food and home experiences related to COVID. Participants will be asked to answer some of the same questions posed to the national survey sample and we will compare how session participants’ experiences compare and contrast with those who were surveyed during July. We will discuss the implications of the results for food waste patterns and levels and recommend several steps to reduce waste as the pandemic unfolds.
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Originally published February 28 2007
The latest round in conventional medicine's ongoing attempts to discredit (and ultimately outlaw) nutritional supplements is found in a highly questionable study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which claims that vitamins actually increase the risk of death.
The study claims to have analyzed a collection of previous studies on Vitamin A, beta carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and selenium, concluding that most of the nutrients are actually dangerous to human health. Of course, this is research from conventional medicine – an industry that promotes patented chemicals as perfectly safe, even though FDA-approved pharmaceuticals are killing 100,000 Americans each year. (Imagine the uproar if vitamins killed even a fraction of that number…)
To avoid getting hoodwinked by questionable research on "vitamins," you have to strongly consider the financial interests of the source of this research. JAMA accepts millions of dollars in advertising from drug companies each year, and its pages are absolutely packed with drug ads. The American Medical Association, for its part, has long worked to discredit alternative medicine and has even been found guilty by U.S. federal courts of engaging in a conspiracy to destroy chiropractic medicine. The AMA, which is largely considered a joke by anyone familiar with natural health, is hardly a credible source for publishing scientific f indings on nutrition. To protect the multi-billion dollar drug industry, the AMA would say practically anything, I believe.
How to fake a vitamin study
Faking a vitamin study to show supplements as harmful is extremely easy to pull off, by the way. All you have to do is use synthetic forms of the vitamins and avoid using natural, food-sourced vitamins . These synthetic vitamins – which are really just industrial chemicals – may be called "Vitamin E" or "Vitamin A" or even "Vitamin C" but they have no functional resemblance to the real vitamins that occur in nature. Every single study over the past two decades that has sought to discredit Vitamin E, for example, focused on using synthetic Vitamin E in order to show harm. It is curious that no researcher from the world of conventional medicine will ever test the natural, full-spectrum vitamins, nutrients and phytochemicals that appear in nature. You know why? Because they would discover a universe of natural medicine that makes patented prescription drugs obsolete.
A second way to fake a vitamin meta-data study is to simply cherry-pick the results you want to include in your meta-data analysis. This is a routine trick used by dishonest researchers who have an agenda of discrediting nutritional supplements. To pull this one off, they simply eliminate all previous studies that showed positive results for vitamins, and include only previous studies that showed negative results. Then they run a statistical analysis on all the studies they hand-picked and declare – surprise! – those vitamins are dangerous! Many of the studies on vitamin E, by the way, were conducted on dying heart patients who were only expected to live two weeks, regardless of what they took.
And yet, it is curious that when conventional medical researchers report the results of mortality risks for their prescription drugs, they always use absolute risk. They say things like, "Well, this drug only increased the risk by one percent." But what they are not saying is that it may be a 200% relative increase in mortality risk, depending on the baseline absolute mortality numbers. So i f only 0.5 people out of 100 normally died from heart disease during a particular study, but 1.5 people died when taking a drug during that study, the relative risk increase is 200%. But the medical journals and the mainstream media will report is at a "one percent increase."
You see how the game is played? Here's the con:
• All statistics on the dangers of prescription drugs are reported as absolute risk to make the numbers seem smaller (and make drugs seem safe).
• All statistics on the dangers of synthetic vitamins are reported as relative risk to make the numbers seem larger (and vitamins seem dangerous).
And this is how conventional medicine lies with statistics. It's only one of the many tricks used to disinform the American public about the dangers of pharmaceuticals or the benefits of nutrition.
This research published in JAMA does remind us of one important point, however: synthetic chemicals are harmful to human health. If you take cheap "vitamins" made of these synthetic chemicals, you are doing yourself more harm than good. These cheap vitamin manufacturers, by the way, are usually owned by pharmaceutical firms. I would personally never take vitamins purchased at common retailers such as Wal-Mart or Walgreens. I only recommend and consume vitamins from high-end nutritional supplement companies Read more!
Originally published February 28 2007
We learn today that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has commuted the death sentence of Kenneth Foster, scheduled to be executed tonight, to life in prison. This rare commutation is due in large measure to the tireless efforts of Afrosphere blogger Eddie Grifffin and activists from the around the world. The following is from Mr. Griffin's blog post today:
It still hasn't socked in... that Kenneth Foster will live. In a last ditch appeal from supporters around to world to save Foster's life, along with recommendations from the Texas Pardons and Parole Board, Governor Rick Perry stayed the execution, which was scheduled for this evening, and commuted Foster's sentence to life... Read more
"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry said in a statement.
"I am concerned about Texas law that allowed capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously and it is an issue I think the legislature should examine."
Once again, the power of a collective voice has been demonstrated. Texas governor's just don't commute death sentences because they usually have too much political capital tied up in being "tough on crime" with their base. The facts seem to have prevailed here. Mr. Foster didn't kill anyone and that alone warrants this commutation. However it never hurts to add a little pressure from around the world to help folks make the right decision and do the right thing! Read more!
From Reuters: U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people
The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said. U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies. About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said. "There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.
Wow. 9 guns for every 10 people. And you can bet this doesn't begin to count the number of weapons out there "illegally." Of course the publication of this study will lead to the inevitable defense of the senseless gun culture in America, but all you have to do is look at cities around the country to see the damage wrought by such easy access to firearms by people more than willing to use them. Of further interest in the Reuters article were these tidbits:
On a per-capita basis, Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38. France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people.
"Firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons -- these images are certainly misleading," Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause said.Read more!
Found this interesting post over at the Afrosphere's African American Opinion blog via African American Political Pundit and Eurweb.
How did Koreans start operating hair and nail salons in black communities across America. Almost overnight? Why did we allow Koreans to (t)ake over a business that was historically a business operated with the black community and mostly by black women. How did all this happen? Who was asleep at the wheel? Is it not time to take our business back one neighborhood, one community at a time?
My wife talks about this issue all of the time, especially how these products are damaging Black women's hair. Here's some additional food for thought from filmmaker Aron Ranen.
Maybe, ... it's time for an Organic Beauty Product revolution ... A backlash against all the chemicals that are making black woman's hair fall out...healing stuff...now as Aron points out, here is where it could get interesting.... how about BLACK Farmers growing the organic ingredients!!!
Go here to read more. Read more!
Peter Tosh understood the bigger picture. Listen.
Meanwhile at a prison somewhere in the Phillipines, prisoner rehabilitation efforts are well underway through dance therapy. Somehow I don't see this happening here.
I was reading Field Negro's posts from the past few days, but this one in particular matched my mood today. So forgive me Field for blogging on basically the same thing, but your posts really got me to thinking about what the hell is going on in this society.
The murder rate in cities like Philadelphia and New Orleans is through the roof, mostly of the senseless variety; a horrific rape and assault in Florida that defies description; the murders and attempted murder of 4 promising young students in New Jersey; etc., etc.. The list goes on and on, but the aforementioned involve our people. Then i got an email today detailing this incident that took place about a month ago.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) A man fatally shot his three children and then took his own life in a Montgomery home Sunday night as law officers hunted for him on a domestic violence claim by his estranged wife, police said.
...Eric Robinson, 42, was found in the house where his wife, Brenda Robinson, lived with their three children. Robinson, who lived at a different address, fatally shot the children, (police spokesman Barnett) said. The three children a 4-year-old girl and boys aged 6 and 11 were found in Eric Robinson's car outside the house where the wife lived with her children and her mother. The police spokesman said there had been an "ongoing domestic violence relationship" and officers had been actively looking for Robinson after his wife signed a warrant Sunday afternoon accusing him of violating a protective order.
I had not heard about it until today, but suffice it to say, this takes the cake. I have no problem with someone who feels the need to shoot themselves, but damn, leave the kids out of it. How in the world can you even bring yourself to aim a gun at a 4, 6, and 12 year old? And if there was a protective order against the husband for domestic violence, what was he doing with the kids unsupervised?
But the real question is what the hell is wrong with people these days? Has the daily dosage of violence that we see in the form of bombs dropped in the name of democracy around the world desensitized Americans to violence? Video games maybe? Fatherless households? Poverty? What? I don't know the answer to my own question, but I do know that something is obviously wrong. Especially with us.
There used to be a time, not long ago, when an incident like those above happened you didn't have to ask if the perpetrator was Black. We just did not do stuff like this. Now, you just don't know. And it's getting worse.
America has some soul searching to do, and in Black America, we reaIly need to take a close look inside. I just hope we have enough time left to do it before this path we're own takes us all straight to hell, whether here or in the afterlife. Read more!
From the Electronic Village:
The charges against the Jena Six -- the Black Louisana high school students charged with attempted murder for a school fight in which a white student was beaten up -- have not been dropped or overturned. However, the local school board did cut down the tree in the schoolyard.
Read the whole post, including action items here.
This is at least a bit of good news, but the ultimate goal is to have all of the charges dropped against the "defendants." We all know that this case is a bunch of nonsense, but apparently some folks need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. That's where the Afrosphere has burst on the scene.
The Jena 6 didn't registered even a blip on the national scene until Afrospear bloggers started spreading the word and highlighting the details of this travesty of justice, not to mention organizing caravans of people to rally in Jena in support of the accused. Suddenly, you now have a flurry of national attention around these events.
I've been saying to everyone I can that the Afrospear has the possibility of provoking change at an unimaginable level in regard to the condition of our people. This case, the Genarlow Wilson case, the Don Imus Situation, BET's Hot Ghetto Mess; all have been heavily influenced through the attention Afrospear bloggers have focused upon each. That's powerful y'all.
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While running across the lifespan can help to slow the rate of decline of cardiovascular capacity and strength, as a runner enters the masters years they will experience an inevitable and unavoidable progressive decline physiologically, biomechanically and also in performance.
Here are 5 tips to help the runner who is looking to stave active:
TAKE HOME: By adding even just one of the above tips you may assist your running (P.S. Still very helpful also for runners sub 40yrs) 👍🏻
Brad Beer, a physical therapist and owner of POGO Physio in Australia, wrote the following post. He has tons of great information on his blog and Instagram. Follow him @brad_beer
The therapists at SRVPT have a variety of backgrounds and are interested in sharing our knowledge with you! Check out their bios for more specific information.
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At one end of the spectrum, the survey identifies the heaviest consumers, most active users, and happiest denizens of the information society. It also locates those who find great satisfaction in the use of ICT even though they have fewer network resources. In the middle range, the typology highlights some users who have invested a lot in services and hardware, but feel uncomfortable with the extra connectivity. And at the other end of the spectrum, it identifies those who get along – many of them just fine – with a relative scarcity of information goods and services.
The ten groups that emerge in the typology fit broadly into a “high end,” “medium users,” and “low-level adopters” framework. However, the groups within each broad category have their own particular characteristics, attitudes and usage patterns.
- The elite users of ICTs consist of four groups that have the most information technology, are heavy and frequent users of the internet and cell phones and, to varying degrees, are engaged with user-generated content. Members of these groups have generally high levels of satisfaction about the role of ICTs in their lives, but the groups differ on whether the extra availability is a good thing or not.
- The middle-of-the-road users consist of two groups whose outlook toward information technology is task-oriented. They use ICTs for communication more than they use it for self-expression. One group finds this pattern of information technology use satisfying and beneficial, while the other finds it burdensome.
- For those with few technology assets (four groups), modern gadgetry is at or near the periphery of their daily lives. Some find it useful, others don’t, and others simply stick to the plain old telephone and television.
- Download report (pdf, 284 kb, 55 pages)
– Download questionnaire (pdf, 124 kb, 28 pages)
– “Survey defines split in technology use” [USA Today]
– “Wired but not Web 2.0? That’s normal, study says” [CNET News]
– America: The Growing Digital Divide [TechCrunch]
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The importance of Painting Classes Orange County CA cannot be underestimated. Here are some reasons why art as a subject is important for children.
From the first grade, the pupils have art lessons in elementary school, they learn how to use paint and brushes and even make simple drawings. Later, the use of scissors and paper is added, but that's not all that is taught in art classes. Likewise, children already learn in elementary school to look at pictures and describe them. Regardless of whether your child wants to pursue an artistic career, art education is important for all children.
The importance of art education:
The elementary school students get to know the works of old masters while looking at pictures, not only painters from CA are treated there. The students get an insight into foreign cultures, and their interest in art and culture is cultivated. It depends on good teachers because only then can children really get excited about art and culture.
Most children enjoy painting, it encourages their creativity and gives them new ideas. Not every child has a talent for drawing, but individuality is what is needed. The Kids Art Classes in Orange County CA prepares the children for their later profession because painting and handicrafts train the fine motor skills of the child's hand.
Encourage creative talent early on:
In our Watercolor Painting Classes in Orange County CA, children are taught the basics of color theory, they have the opportunity to try out different things and receive suggestions for a hobby. If your child likes to paint at home or enjoys handicrafts, you should support them and buy them the right materials. Adhesive foil in different colors can be used for many design possibilities, even for the window.
In Pencil Drawing Lessons Orange County CA in elementary school, children can develop their own style, they learn to express themselves with pictures. An important aspect is that children are trained to work carefully and cleanly, right from the start.
Encourage your child:
You should encourage your child at an early stage and support them with advice. Soon it will enjoy painting and designing, it will realize its own ideas.
The children's social behavior is encouraged in art classes because children learn to exchange ideas with others and to carry out various projects together with their peers. Everyone is asked to contribute their own ideas to the project.
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The COVID-19 pandemic will accelerate the adoption of automation by firms and organizations across the region, according to a new policy brief by the APEC Policy Support Unit and The Asia Foundation.
Constraints to labor supply caused by movement restrictions, both domestically and globally, as well as the withdrawal of workers who are elderly or have pre-existing conditions are some of the push factors for firms to explore or even deploy automation in their operations.
A variety of stimulus and relief measures launched by governments to cushion the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lower interest rates and subsidies for going digital, may also provide incentives for more firms to automate business processes. The unintended impact of this scenario would be the risk of certain jobs being eliminated, which would contribute to creating further spikes in unemployment rates around the region.
The report calls on APEC policymakers to conduct a thorough risk assessment of jobs that may be impacted or eliminated by automation to understand the challenges faced by workers and the unforeseen impacts of crisis-response policies.
“It is impossible for us to talk about growth when people are struggling to secure their livelihoods,” Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat commented. “We have been mandated by ministers to prioritize the return of workers to employment. Our responsibility is to ensure that we support people at risk with greater inclusive policy instruments.”
Policymakers are advised to strengthen and expand social protection policies to protect workers and provide income security. APEC will also need to collaborate closely with the private sector to monitor automation trends and support the need for workforce upskilling and retraining.
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February and snakes aren't often paired together -- cold weather, hibernation, and reptiles, et cetera -- but this coming month will be very much about a certain reptile and the welcoming of a new year.
And what forms that snake will take. He's already covered in glittery scales at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and he'll be made out of thousands of pieces of folded paper in Chinatown come Feb. 16 and 17. And the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena is ready to pay honor on Saturday, Feb. 2 via a day-long festival that is both free and family-oriented.
"(E)vents, performances, crafts, demonstrations, and museum galleries" are all part of the pay-no-admission day, which will be a Pan-Asian celebration of several cultures and traditions around the continent.
Highlights include a traditional lion dance by the San Gabriel Valley Chinese Culture Association, taekwondo demos by Xplore TKD Demo Team, and Sumo wrestling.
Chinese knotting, silk art, and lantern making are three of the art demonstrations on the schedule.
There shall be food trucks, of course, including the Mighty Boba. Some boba, some sumo, and some celebratory Year of the Snake spirit? It's a nice and meaning-filled Saturday at the Pacific Asia Museum. And a very rich kick-off to a month-long celebration of a certain serpent and the many gifts and lessons he arrives with with the dawning of a new year.
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- Manti Te'o Hoax Mastermind Confesses to Dr. Phil
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