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Temple University's history begins in 1884, when a young working man asked Russell Conwell if he could tutor him at night. A well-known Philadelphia minister, Conwell quickly said yes. It wasn't long before he was teaching several dozen students—working people who could only attend class at night but had a strong desire to make something of themselves. Russell H. Conwell Inspired by the legend of a prosperous farmer, Ali Hafed, Conwell sowed the seeds of service during his lifetime as lawyer, minister and educator. Learn more about Russell H. Conwell. The Temple "T." The Owl. The Cherry and White. Learn more about Temple University's traditions. acres of diamonds "Acres of Diamonds" is Russell Conwell's best-known speech, and the inspiration behind the Temple University mission. Learn more about "Acres of Diamonds." Temple University has a rich tradition of awarding honorary degrees to outstanding leaders, artists, scientists, journalists and professionals from all walks of life whose values and achievements exemplify the mission and ideals of the university. Learn more about Honorary Degrees.
Proposition 101, Medical Choice, has been defeated by the narrowest of margins. This is a positive step, as passage of this constitutional amendment may have led to costly court battles over its potential implications. Although nothing will change in the short term, the defeat of this measure enables us to think in broad terms about what we want for our health care system, statewide and nationally. Our financial crisis is not an excuse to put aside this conversation. In fact, it should be an essential part of what we, as a state and nation, decide about our future. Why is this so? Consider the dire straits of our three major auto manufacturers, one of which may be facing bankruptcy. Many factors led to this situation, but a major one is the high cost of employee health care, making cars produced in the U.S. much more expensive than those produced abroad. This is because we have no national health insurance, as enjoyed by every other developed country. Our financial health rests to a large degree on solving the problems of health care access, cost and quality. We need to improve our health care system for many reasons. The number of uninsured, now approaching 1 in 5 Americans, is sure to increase as a result of rising unemployment. As reported recently in The New York Times, hospitals are seeing more and more patients unable to pay their bills and using hospital care as a last resort. This will lead to hospital closings or increasing costs to those with insurance, affecting all of us. Costs are expected to increase, leaving more people underinsured and at risk for bankruptcy. The quality of our health care, compared with that in other nations, is declining. In the short term,some steps that will be taken on a national level will affect us here in Arizona. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program will be expanded to cover more uninsured children – and possibly their parents as well. There are proposals to allow people over 50 to buy into Medicare. And one of President-elect Barack Obama’s proposals is to allow citizens to buy into the federal health plan. These are all incremental steps that will help in the short run, but we need to look more broadly at how to provide affordable health coverage to all Americans. The defeat of Prop. 101 illustrates that the majority of our citizens understand that. Dr. Eve Shapiro is a pediatrician in practice in Tucson. She is chairwoman of Healthy Arizona, an organization dedicated to improving health care access for Arizonans.
↑"Pascal and Leibnitz, in the seventeenth century, and Diderot at a later period, endeavored to construct a machine which might serve as a substitute for human intelligence in the combination of figures" The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 202, p.100 ↑"It is reasonable to inquire, therefore, whether it is possible to devise a machine which will do for mathematical computation what the automatic lathe has done for engineering. The first suggestion that such a machine could be made came more than a hundred years ago from the mathematician Charles Babbage. Babbage's ideas have only been properly appreciated in the last ten years, but we now realize that he understood clearly all the fundamental principles which are embodied in modern digital computers" Faster than thought, edited by B. V. Bowden, 1953, Pitman publishing corporation ↑"...Among this extraordinary galaxy of talent Charles Babbage appears to be one of the most remarkable of all. Most of his life he spent in an entirely unsuccessful attempt to make a machine which was regarded by his contemporaries as utterly preposterous, and his efforts were regarded as futile, time-consuming and absurd. In the last decade or so we have learnt how his ideas can be embodied in a modern digital computer. He understood more about the logic of these machines than anyone else in the world had learned until after the end of the last war" Foreword, Irascible Genius, Charles Babbage, inventor by Maboth Moseley, 1964, London, Hutchinson ↑In the proposal that Aiken gave IBM in 1937 while requesting funding for the Harvard Mark I we can read: "Few calculating machines have been designed strictly for application to scientific investigations, the notable exceptions being those of Charles Babbage and others who followed him....After abandoning the difference engine, Babbage devoted his energy to the design and construction of an analytical engine of far higher powers than the difference engine....Since the time of Babbage, the development of calculating machinery has continued at an increasing rate."Howard Aiken, Proposed automatic calculating machine, reprinted in: The origins of Digital computers, Selected Papers, Edited by Brian Randell, 1973, ISBN 3-540-06169-X ↑"Parallel processors composed of these high-performance microprocessors are becoming the supercomputing technology of choice for scientific and engineering applications", 1993,"Microprocessors: From Desktops to Supercomputers". Science Magazine. สืบค้นเมื่อ 2011-04-23.
Naomi King from Tulane University's Prevention Research Center talks to community members during Community leaders and local residents learned more about the work of the Prevention Research Center (PRC) at Tulane University during a networking event and information booth the PRC hosted at the New Orleans Hornets Arena Wednesday night. Tulane PRC faculty and staff visited with community partners and colleagues at halftime and during the Hornets’ winning game against the Sacramento Kings. At the Tulane PRC’s information table, staff also talked with local residents about their research, policy work, training and community engagement. Many people agreed that more needs to be done to make healthy choices the easy choices where we live, learn, work and play. The Tulane PRC focuses on addressing the physical and social environmental factors influencing the obesity epidemic and its behavioral determinants. The Tulane PRC works with local policymakers, public health practitioners, and community members in New Orleans and Louisiana so that the questions the PRC studies are the questions of most value to them, and so that the results of research are put in the hands of people who can use them to shape healthier communities.
When these pictures were published in 1897 interest in the bicycle was shattering; it was a popular conveyance, and then in just two or three years, an explosion: millions of people suddenly needed one. Bikes seemed to be everywhere, which forced people to imagine new and different uses for the machine. And so the Austrian army came up with a plan to include the bike in its plans of war, and it proved to be as about as useful as a double-decker horse...A quick search revealed that there are a number of scholarly and comprehensive webpages devoted to this very subject, among them this page at The Liberator, which focuses on more modern U.S. military bicycles: The 'Bicycle, Military, Universal' was adopted in October 1942 by the Ordnance Department. It was a military version of the Westfield 'Columbia' and was equipped with heavy duty rims and spokes. It came with a D-Cell powered headlight on the front fender and basic tools were carried in a tool bag attached to the Persons saddle. A tire pump was clamped to the frame...The site includes a large number of photographs from the WWII era, and screencaps from two movies, including From Here To Eternity, featuring soldiers with bikes. The BSA [Birmingham and Small Arms] & Military Bicycle Museum is extremely comprehensive. I'll let you explore it, but can't resist closing with this contemporary photograph: Soldiers on Bikes in Uruzgan: Dutch Marines have taken up mountain bikes to patrol their sector in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan. Dutch marines yesterday began bike patrols in Tarin Kowt. It is now safe enough to do that. Usually the soldiers ride in all-terrain vehicles and armored vehicles throughout the provincial capital. The marines, part of the battle group, got the bikes so they can make better contact with the population. It is also a practical means of moving faster in inaccessible locations in the city. The Afghans have responded enthusiastically to the Dutch initiative. [Bron: Min. Defensie NL]
Acclaimed Mid-East Diplomat Lecture Author-Diplomat Rory Stewart delivered a riveting talk to a packed Egan Library audience the evening of Saturday, March 1. The 38-year-old hails from a long legacy of British Mid-East diplomats. Stewart discussed the disconnect between the goal of building democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the ancient tribal traditions and rivalries that exist in those places. He flew direct to Juneau from Kabul, Afghanistan, where he is the Chief Executive of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, which is investing in the regeneration of the historic commercial centre of Kabul, providing basic services, saving historic buildings and constructing a new bazaar and galleries for traditional craft businesses. Stewart was awarded the Order of the British Empire and named a Fellow of the Carr Centre at Harvard University in 2004. At the UAS event, Stewart also discussed his latest book, The Prince of Marshes, about his year negotiating hostage releases as the appointed deputy governor of two provinces in southern Iraq. Stewart’s book on his walk across Afghanistan, The Places in Between was named one of the New York Times Ten Best Books of 2006. Stewart visited UAS Professor Robin Walz’s World History Friday morning at the Egan Lecture Hall where he gave a thoughtful talk that inspired good questions from students. His visit was organized by UAS environmental science faculty Eran Hood and presented by the University of Alaska Southeast and the UA Geography program with funding from BP and Conoco Phillips.
For the first time in human history, concentrations of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) could rise above 400 parts per million (ppm) for sustained lengths of time throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere as soon as May 2013. To provide a resource for understanding the implications of rising CO2 levels, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is providing daily updates of the “Keeling Curve,” the record of atmospheric CO2 measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa. These iconic measurements, begun by Charles David (Dave) Keeling, a world-leading authority on atmospheric greenhouse gas accumulation and Scripps climate science pioneer, comprise the longest continuous record of CO2 in the world, starting from 316 ppm in March 1958 and approaching 400 ppm today with a familiar saw-tooth pattern. For the past 800,000 years, CO2 levels never exceeded 300 parts per million. “I wish it weren’t true, but it looks like the world is going to blow through the 400-ppm level without losing a beat,” said Scripps geophysicist Ralph Keeling, who has taken over the Keeling Curve measurement from his late father. “At this pace we’ll hit 450 ppm within a few decades.” The website keelingcurve.ucsd.edu offers background information about how CO2 is measured, the history of the Keeling Curve, and resources from other organizations on the current state of climate. An accompanying Twitter feed, @keeling_curve, also provides followers with the most recent Keeling Curve CO2 reading in a daily tweet. Dave Keeling began recording CO2 data at Mauna Loa and other locations after developing an ultraprecise measurement device known as a manometer. Ralph Keeling took over the program in 2005 and also heads a program at Scripps to measure changes in atmospheric oxygen. The Scripps O2 and CO2 programs make measurements of CO2 and other gases at remote locations around the world, including Antarctica, Tasmania, and northern Alaska. The Scripps programs are complementary to many other programs now measuring CO2 and other greenhouse gases worldwide. Scientists estimate that the last time CO2 was as high as 400 ppm was probably the Pliocene epoch, between 3.2 million and 5 million years ago, when Earth’s climate was much warmer than today. CO2 was around 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution, when humans first began releasing large amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. By the time Dave Keeling began measurements in 1958, CO2 had already risen from 280 to 316 ppm. The rate of rise of CO2 over the past century is unprecedented; there is no known period in geologic history when such high rates have been found. The continuous rise is a direct consequence of society’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels for energy. Each year, the concentration of CO2 at Mauna Loa rises and falls in a sawtooth fashion, with the next year higher than the year before. The peak of the sawtooth typically comes in May. If CO2 levels don’t top 400 ppm in May 2013, they almost certainly will next year, Keeling said. “The 400-ppm threshold is a sobering milestone, and should serve as a wake up call for all of us to support clean energy technology and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, before it's too late for our children and grandchildren,” said Tim Lueker, an oceanographer and carbon cycle researcher who is a longtime member of the Scripps CO2 Group.
Re: Native Americans & Tribal History - Reply to R.J. Mario Rabey (Pathcpis@AOL.COM) Sat, 26 Aug 1995 01:25:30 -0400 In a reply to me dated 95-08-25 01:48:32 EDT, R.J. writes: >History serves the living, not the dead or those who conducted >Your assumption that history is defined by what survives the >ashes, or the "valiant" but ultimately doomed to failure "efforts" >of indigenous peoples to resurrect the cultural "history" they >have "lost" and "never be recovered," only betrays your ignorance >or "benign" racism which still seeks to define indigenous peoples >by their "win-loss" record. >Your's is the typical "white-liberal" apologetics for the continuing >disenfranchisement of indigenous history. You wish to appear >"sensitive" and "concerned" has no effect on the inclusion of >your unasked for judgements on the "efforts" of indigenous peoples >to "historically" define themselves. >When will you realize "history" no longer resides with the "victor?" >...No matter what his "heartfelt" concerns. These days people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future. Vernon Cooper, Lumbee Medecine Man, Wisdomkeepers >My concern is for historical truth and knowledge, not marxist doctrine applied to Native American peoples and disguised as "academic philosophy". You deny the problems of reconstructing culture and ethnohistory of particular groups caused by space-time systematics. To define "Indianess" for any aboriginal group must take into account the history of that particular group and its relationship to white contact and its effects on the evolution or devolution of the group's culture. The historical record for any native group (living or extinct) is frought with inaccuracies and distortion of events, actions and content that become entered into the written record as fact. The historian or ethnohistorian's job is to reconstruct the particular history and culture to approximate as closely as possible cultural reality as it originally occurred. Our view of tribal history, as it is currently written, is comparable to that of looking through a glass darkly colored. The view is not reality, but a distorted perception of that reality. The written record or history and the details of material culture for any group is not fixed or constant, but shifts with the passage of time because human memory and history is subjective. The human mind regularly sifts through experiences selecting those that are congruent with the beholders' perception of reality. History based on, or in part of, memorial knowledge is altered by transformation of details through time. Events, actions, and material content of culture become part of the historical record through acquisition (addition), modification (alteration) and loss (deletion). In some cases, we do not know when we are dealing with memories of actions, events. or content or the recollection of memories (i.e., remembering the memories of actions, events, and content). The bottom line is that we must recogzine the problems caused by space and time on history and culture and devise methods to sift through primary documents and sources to reconstruct the history and culture of a Native American group and chart its evolution or devolution to be able to specify what it means for example to be an "Odawa" or "Wyandot". Being of Indian blood is not the sole criterion, nor for that matter a criterion, to speak of historical truth and knowledge.
Part 1: Issues Associated With Farming Come From Public's Lack Of Connection "My Address Is" is a Utah Public Radio series exploring Utah issues associated with how and where we live. This is part 1 of 6. Don Baldwin decided as a young man he wanted to be a dairy farmer, but the square mile, 600-head dairy he now owns in Lewiston began as a much smaller operation. I grew up in Salt Lake City on the east bench. I come from a non-farm background, and we bought two heifers that had already calved, and 13 springers on Thanksgiving weekend in 1981. We originally started with just those two cows on a rented dairy, an old dilapidated dairy, it took us almost a week to get enough milk in the bottom of a very small tank that they could even measure it where the truck could pick it up. And we just started from there. Laurie and I working together. She worked as much as I did. I helped her in the house, she helped on the farm. Lots of times we had the kids with us in a cardboard box sitting in the barn or with us in a tractor, you know that's how they grew up was with us. And the kids worked too. Don’s job on the farm is more than just an owner and dairyman, he grows most of the food used to feed his cattle, from plowing the ground to fertilization and harvesting and mixing the ingredients together. In a given week, he is husband, father, chemist, veterinarian and mechanic. Don’s existence is intrinsically tied to the milk his cows produce and the land. He says public perceptions about where food comes from has affected farmers. He believes the majority of the public has lost their connection to the farm, and it affects all aspects of his life. Whether cities are encroaching on the farm and getting upset by the smell, how food is produced, or legislative issues, the American populace is separated from their food by too many generations. Ok, right now, we are hauling manure onto our fields. It's a by-product of the dairy, and it represents a valuable source of nutrients for our cropping and crop rotations. People used to understand that was part of the game. Now, there's a hue and a cry if we start hauling manure that we are contaminating the roads, we are destroying the aesthetic value of the community because it smells. Utah is a right to farm state, which means if a farm is already in production when residential or business areas grow up around it, the farmer has a right to stay. But Don says that is being challenged on a personal basis, face to face. As cities build up around land that has been traditionally farmed for several generations, the land values are pushed up exponentially high. If someone decides they still want to farm there, we face neighbors who have moved in there since we were there, and who want to change things and complain about dust from working the land, or when a wind storm comes up and there's dust that moves around, there's not a lot we can do about it, it's going to blow. There are fears that if we use pesticides or herbicides on our crops, that their close proximity to that endangers themselves or their kids. We are very careful about how we apply chemicals. It's to our benefit to be very careful. But there are litigations that jump into our faces just because we have done something that is a cultural practice. Another cultural practice being challenged on farms, is that of genetically modified organisms. Don believes farmers should be able to move forward with GMOS, because the fear about them comes from a misunderstanding of how farming works. We’ve been genetically modifying things for centuries. We've just been doing it slowly. Cows 100 years ago, couldn’t produce near what a modern cow can produce, and it's because people selected for different traits to make a cow more productive, more healthy, which enables her to live longer. Consequently, she's more profitable and she feeds more people. It's still genetic manipulation, and there shouldn't be that fear in it. The industry now has a pretty good idea of what the genomic map of cows is. We can use semen so that we breed a cow and she's going to have a heifer calf because we're able to eliminate out the guesswork, the Y chromosome. That's genetic manipulation. But the nitty-gritty of how farming happens is not the only way farmers are impacted by the public’s loss of connection. Immigration reform is another way farms and those who work them are impacted. Don is a boss to multiple employees, some of which come from other countries. I have Spanish-speaking employees, I have some from Mexico, some from Peru. I have English-speaking employees, I have first generation American citizens, whose parents came from Mexico. One of the problems that we face, is that the American populace is generally spoiled. They don't want to work. They don't care to work. Or else they think there's something that should be given them, there's a sense of entitlement. Each generation, I think, for the last four generations, that sense of entitlement has increased. And I don't discount myself from that. I recognize that sense of entitlement in myself. The Spanish guys are willing to work. They're good men, family men, just like we are. They have and accept responsibilities, they're looking for a better lifestyle, they're looking for the opportunity America has represented for generations to people who have emigrated from other countries. Don says immigrants are the backbone of agriculture’s workforce, making immigration something that deeply impacts his farm, and something the general public and thought leaders don’t always understand. But for Don, misunderstanding on Capitol Hill is not really a new problem. The legislation for businesses and farms enacted in capitol buildings across the country impacts day-to-day activity on a farm. For example, new tax law states if a farmer makes a repair to a piece of farm equipment that will prolong the life of the equipment, farmers cannot deduct the cost if it is more than $500. The cost is now a renovation, rather than a repair, and the item has to be depreciated. It's insane. We can hardly buy any parts for under $500. It's not uncommon for us to spend 4 or 5 or $6,000 a part for some of our equipment. I put a front axle under a tractor, it was $6,000 bucks. Other legislation has changed the ability of Don to transfer his farm to the next generation of his family. In 2001 President Bush signed the Economic Growth and Taxpayer Relief Reconciliation Act. The act reduced federal estate taxes, nicknamed the death tax, and increased the amount of untaxable property that can be transferred to the next generation. According to the 2012 census of agriculture, the average age of a farmer in the U.S. is 58.3 years old, with 62 percent of farmers older than 55. As Don plans for the future of his farm, he says his daughter and son-in-law have bought into the dairy, but the rest of his children have yet to decide what they want to do. They might find something else that's their interest and their dream, and they need to pursue that. They don't need to pursue what I did. Don’s son Morgan is 22, and graduates from Utah State University with a degree in economics in May. He says he’s trying to decide if he wants to go back to the farm, or work elsewhere. My father has it set up that he wants us to have a firm decision by the time we're 25, he says you should have a pretty good idea what you're doing in life by then, and so right now I'm just kind of exploring other options, and deciding whether I want to continue in my father's business. Regardless of what his children do, Don is proud of what he does because of how he has been able to positively impact society. Dairy farming has been a good life for me. I've made a good living with it, I've raised a good family, it's been a good experience for me. It's not for everybody. But I did produce a viable product that was a benefit to society. I fed a lot of people in my life. Don says many problems in agriculture could be averted and fixed if the public found a way to reconnect to, and learn about, agriculture- and the first step is looking at how food impacts the way we see the world. If they just understood how it impacts their lives, and would, it could have a great effect on the way they looked at agriculture. If they understood agriculture, it would be easier to come to grips with all the other issues. They go to the grocery store and they buy food, some people are becoming naiive enough to think food comes from the store. And it doesn't. It first is produced on the farms.
Before the Clash, before the Ramones, before the Sex Pistols, before the Stooges, even before Operation Ivy (I KNOW, RIGHT?) there was Los Siacos, a four-piece garage rock band from Lima, Peru, that’s often considered to be the first “punk” band. Unfortunately, their loud legacy has mostly been lost to history (that, and their never releasing an official album doesn’t help, either), but Noisey’s hoping to fix that with a new online documentary saluting the undeniable influence of Erwin Flores, Rolando Carpio, César “Papi” Castrillón, and Pancho Guevara. It begins with lead singer Flores ranting, “Punk rock music is a piece of sh*t. It’s music made by musicians who have no idea what they are doing. Musicians play whatever they want, and people who don’t have a clue get excited about it.” #PUNK.
Keeping Children Safe as They Use the Internet Carol Wilcoxen, Family Life Educator The summer months are a great time to learn new things. And, the Internet can help make learning fun - for you and for the grandkids. But since no group or agency oversees the Internet, adults must be the gatekeepers. You don't have to be an Internet expert to protect your grandchildren. Some basic knowledge about Internet sites and general household guidelines about computer use can go a long way toward making the Internet a fun and safe way to explore. The last part (extension) of a web address tells you where you are and what you can expect from the site. - .com means it is a commercial website, and that its name is bought for use - .gov means it is a government site - .edu means it is an educational site - .org means it is an organization's website; it may be not-for-profit - .net means it is a network website Follow these tips to safely get the best use from your computer and the Internet. - Keep the computer in a public area of the house. - Do not allow your grandkids to use the computer to just pass or occupy time. - Know how to use the services that the younger members of the household will be using. - Focus on the excitement of learning and discovery. - Together, set Internet and computer rules that will be followed by all users. - Teach your grandkids not to give personal information about themselves (name, address, school, phone number, financial information) on the Internet. - Monitor your grandchildren as they use the Internet, even if the computer is being used at a public place like a library.
Apr 1, 2013 Juice is all the rage in spring. People looking to shed some winter weight or sluggishness crave the sweet, cooling lightness of fresh pressed juice. This is only natural: it is a season of new beginnings, rebirth and rejuvenation! Yet after watching my friends blindly suffer through juice cleansing this spring, I realized there is an essential component missing from the Seattle juice community: a nutrition consultant. I connected with Kari Brunson, co-owner of my favorite juicery—The JuiceBox—and we’ve joined forces to bring educational support to juice cleansers. We want to maximize that feeling of “Aaah!” post-cleanse, but it takes a smart approach. Juicing can be beneficial and nourishing, but it can also mess up your body—big time—if done incorrectly. How do you know if a juice cleanse is for you? What happens when you’re cleansing, and how do you navigate the challenges? These are legit and important questions! I’ve created a five-part series that will tell you everything you need to know. You’ll learn how to prepare for a cleanse, how to make the most out of a cleanse for your body type and activity level, and how to disengage from a cleanse safely so you reap all of the (potentially incredible) benefits. Juice can be amazing. Juice can be a potent nourisher, but some juices may actually deplete your body of nutrients—eek! It all depends on the type of juice you drink, how it was processed, and when you drink it. Fresh-squeezed vegetable and fruit juice contains loads of good stuff: vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and electrolytes. When you drink fresh juice, you’re consuming the micronutrients of multiple fruits and vegetables at one time, and your body is flushed with vital, essential nutrients that it readily uses to build, repair and refresh your body. Moreover, nutrients work synergistically, and thus more effectively, when you consume whole foods or drink fresh juice: your body was literally designed to optimize nutrients that occur naturally in food. Supplements or fortified processed foods simply aren’t as effective (and sometimes, they’re useless). Drinking juice is one of the best ways to get the essential, diversified micronutrients your body needs. What's the catch? There is a catch, I’m afraid. To reap the fantastic benefits of juice, it must be fresh-squeezed, preferably hydraulically pressed, and consumed ASAP! All that live, stunning goodness—the vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals and enzymes—are very fragile and sensitive to light, heat and processing. Thus, if a juice is pasteurized or high pressure processed, exposed to room temperature for longer than an hour, or sitting on the grocery store shelf for weeks, the juice loses its vitality. Processing oxidizes micronutrients and kills enzymes, completely wiping the juice of its health benefits! Say so long to the OJ from your local grocer and the waffle house, and be sure to ask your juicer how your juice is processed. And do I even need to remind you to choose organic, as-local-as-possible, produce? Juice can’t replace well balanced meals. Next week we’ll discuss the best time to drink juice and how to prepare for a juice cleanse. But with that said, I want to be clear: juice cannot (and should never) replace food! A juice cleanse is not a diet, a magic pill, or even a good idea for some body types. Juice is a health-enriching supplement and a juice cleanse is simply a tool for restoration. More about all this soon! If you’re looking to refresh your eating habits, it’s probably best to start with a whole food wellness program that educates and helps eliminate common irritants. Urban Leaf’s Spring Rejuvenation program starts in a few weeks at SOL Yoga and I'd love you see you there!
Microsoft shows off real-time translator Updated: 2014-05-29 07:07 By Reuters in Rancho Palos Verdes, California(China Daily) Microsoft Corp showed off a test version of a real-time, spoken-word translation service for Skype on Tuesday, the first time the world's largest software company has demonstrated the breakthrough technology publicly in the United States. Skype Translator, as it is called, allows speakers in different languages to hear the other's words spoken in their own language, according to a demo shown by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the Code Conference technology gathering in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. "It is going to make sure you can communicate with anybody without language barriers," said Nadella, who took over as chief executive officer in February and is keen to re-establish the company as a technology leader after a decade of slipping behind Apple Inc and Google Inc in mobile computing. Nadella described the underlying technology as "magical," but said the task now was to turn it into a real product rather than just a research project. He promised it would launch by the end of the year. He did not say if it would be a free add-on for Skype - the online chat service - or if users would pay a premium for it. Immediate reaction to the demonstration, featuring an English-speaking Microsoft executive chatting with a German counterpart, was mixed. One German-speaking audience member said the translation was good enough for vacation, but not for business. The new technology, which Microsoft demonstrated in a rougher form 18 months ago in China, could represent a significant feature for Skype, which boasts hundreds of millions of users. It is an advance on Microsoft's current translation features that only work with written words on its Bing search engine and on its Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft has been working hard on speech recognition technology for years. Earlier this year it showed off Cortana, its voice-activated "personal assistant" designed to rival Apple's Siri. (China Daily 05/29/2014 page10) - Xinjiang publishes anti-terror brochures - Security pact sealed with Afghanistan - President Xi encourages international cultural exchanges - Premier Li: China willing to help Afghan infrastructure - Chinese FM: China, Asia-Pacific become community of shared destiny - Foreign minister remarks on possibility of China-Japan summit
HUD and VA Release New 2010 Veterans Data October 28, 2011 HUD and VA jointly released the second annual Veteran’s Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR), which assesses the nation’s homeless veteran population. HUD and VA use this information in their work to end veteran’s homelessness through the Obama Administration’s Federal Strategic Plan, Opening Doors. Opening Doors is an unprecedented federal strategy to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015 and homelessness among children, families and youth by 2020. Currently, an estimated one out of every six men and women in our nation’s homeless shelters are veterans, and veterans are 50 percent more likely to fall into homelessness compared to other Americans. This is unacceptable and USICH and our federal partners are committed to fixing this problem. Nowhere is our obligation to our citizens, and to those who have defended our nation, more important, more visible, or more urgently necessary than in our commitment to end veteran homelessness.
Friday, December 10, 2010 Women Writers Online Database Women Writers Online Database is a complete set of digital texts from the Women Writers Project at Brown University. This collection contains works by pre-Victorian women writers including 100 Renaissance texts. Among the types of primary sources included in this collection are: poems, letters, essays, book chapters and plays.
Some use the water, sun, and wind for adventure. Others turn these forces into electricity. A small elite do both. By David Ferris Clinging to the deck of a ketch in a gale, a sailor doesn't think of wind power as a technology promoted by greenies. Kayakers on Chesapeake Bay or Puget Sound know that a powerful tide is no match for any paddle. A surfer who has been held under by a wave respects ocean swells. These same natural elements are being engaged by engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs working to solve one of the era's trickiest challenges: converting Earth's sometimes whimsical forces into electricity so reliable that it can be metered. The potential is almost inconceivable. The United States is buffeted each year by 4,000 terawatts of solar power, 1,800 terawatts of wind power, 1,170 terawatts of wave power, and 17 terawatts of tidal power—far more than the 3.9 terawatts of electricity that the country uses annually. If we were to tap a small fraction of that power, the elements could keep our cities running forever. A few souls have experienced these forces as thrill seekers and number crunchers. Their heads carry a trove of modern knowledge, while their muscles react to the elements like those of the first sailors to unfurl a sail to wind. They're building a renewable energy future by going back to the basics. Project & Business development Manager, Pelamis wave Power Photo by Jo Hanley Andrew Scott quickly realized that he shouldn't have ventured into Portugal's Supertubos, one of Europe's most crushing waves, all by himself on a morning so misty that he couldn't even make out the size of the barrels. But the riptide immediately pulled him out, and there was no going back. "If there's this much water moving out," he figured, "there must be a hell of a swell coming in." Scott was an ocean engineer for Scotland's Pelamis Wave Power, which develops machines that capture energy from ocean swells. For a month in 2008, he was part of a team assembling the company's first commercial installation, off Portugal's northwest coast. The machines he was installing, called P1s, were 400-foot-long carbon-steel tubes painted red and yellow and divided into segments like rail cars. They would undulate on the prevailing swell and send 2.25 megawatts of electricity to shore via a subsea cable. Scott was frothing for the warmth of Portugal after more than two decades of surfing Scotland's giant breaks, including those off the Outer Hebrides and Orkney Islands, where the swell rolls in from the ice caps of the Arctic Circle. Most surfers can withstand only an hour or two in the 40°F water. At Supertubos, heavy barrels exploded onto a sandbar no more than knee-deep. Scott knew how much power was embedded in the waves: A three-foot slice of ocean pounding on the northern shoreline of Scotland, for instance, could produce enough energy to power 100 homes. Were Scott to lose his footing at Supertubos, the potential energy of several city blocks might break his back, and with it the promise he'd made to his girlfriend, Hannah, that he would give her a dog, a new car, or a diamond ring on his return. The graceful, curvilinear swells that surfers ride aren't the P1's forte. It and several similar machines—a freak show of energy harvesters that look like buoys, attic doors, ramps, or blunt-nosed fish—are intended to perform in what hydrodynamicists call the "confused sea," with swells converging from all directions. The P1's multidirectional joints capture the dominant swell while responding to other wavelets that roll or slap it. Each movement activates hydraulic rams filled with high-pressure oil, which routes to a pump, which drives hydraulic motors that run generators that create electricity. If a wave is too steep, the snake ducks, like a surfer. There's more energy in the confused sea than even surfers can imagine. "We'd like to capture a bit of it before it is spent on the shoreline," Scott says. Pelamis engineers must do that and reliably deliver electricity despite salt exposure, barnacle fouling, and the occasional titanic storm. That day in Portugal, Scott hovered outside the break for 40 minutes as crest after giant crest lumbered past. Finally he took off on one that looked manageable and squeezed a ride past the sandbar. "I straight-lined it to the beach, and I dropped to all fours and kissed the sand," he says. "And I went to work and never spoke about it." Scott returned to Hannah with a bag of dog biscuits; two years later came an engagement ring, and in January, a daughter named Emma. Meanwhile, Pelamis has built a new model, the P2, which is nearly 600 feet long. Scott still nips away for a quick surf when he can. Director, BrightSource Energy Photo by Mitch Tobias You have to get John Woolard talking for a while before he'll tell you about the elephants. He saw them when he was a river guide on the Zambezi in 1989, and they were dead, even the little ones. Poachers had hacked the tusks off. That's where Woolard stops the story, even though he's already said it was those months in Zimbabwe that established the course of his life. "I wouldn't overdramatize it," Woolard says. In his calm, analytical way, he explains the other data points—like a lion orgy and crocodiles stalking monkeys—that led him to the conclusion that he wanted to save the world by harnessing the profit motive. "In my early 20s, I was thinking, 'What do you do with your life? How do you make it meaningful?'" Since then, Woolard has exhibited a knack for making things happen and making lots of money while doing so. He returned home to Richmond, Virginia, and cofounded a youth adventure camp, which today teaches 1,000 kids a year to rock climb and kayak. At 32, Woolard cofounded energy-efficiency software company Silicon Energy, and he sold it six years later for $71.2 million. Then, in 2006, at age 41, he took on his biggest challenge yet, as president and CEO of BrightSource Energy, a position he held until May; he now serves on its board of directors. BrightSource builds towers deep in the desert and surrounds them with 100,000 or more mirrors that bounce sunlight onto the tower tip, which boils water that turns to steam and generates electricity. Its largest facility, called Ivanpah, is a three-tower, $2.2 billion spectacle rising just north of Interstate 15 in the Mojave Desert. When it goes into operation this year, it will be the world's largest solar-concentrating plant, delivering 377 megawatts of electricity to the California grid, enough to light 140,000 homes. Two more towers are planned for the California desert, scheduled to come on line in 2016. By Woolard's calculations, the world has to build six large, fossil fuel-free power plants each week for the next 40 years to stave off the 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is the current definition of climate catastrophe. He wants to see to it that BrightSource builds a lot of them. (That is, if they can be built responsibly; Ivanpah is dogged by concerns over its impact on desert tortoise habitat.) How did a river rat end up building multibillion-dollar energy projects in the desert? In part thanks to Camp Mondamin, the North Carolina summer camp that Woolard attended starting at age 11, whose counselors included some of the nation's champions in whitewater kayak slalom. The sport requires a clearheadedness amid boiling rapids, and at age 12, Woolard determined he would be a champion too. He mowed lawns and got a paper route to pay for gear and trips. He bought his own kayaks and later a car to carry them. He trained for years but never achieved his goal of making the U.S. national team. So he turned his tenacity toward the waterfalls and treacherous hydraulics known as Class V rapids. He began doing big water purely for fun, a practice that he continues to this day. Woolard's propensity for making millions doesn't extend to spending them, though. When his 2001 Toyota Prius died, he took to driving his wife's old Honda Pilot, which has 120,000 miles on it but fits his kayaks for runs down California's Tuolumne River. He'd like a new car, but there's the cost—the carbon cost—of buying a new vehicle versus keeping what he has. He'll have to run the math on that. 1 \| 2 \| next >>
A veterinarian's interview with an eminent inventor I was recently granted an exclusive interview with a world-famous inventor. He'd just found the solution to a perplexing problem of interest to veterinarians and was anxious to share his discovery with the world. He summoned me personally to share his findings. "Dr. Obenski," he began. "I called you here because I have a solution for a problem: get people in touch with their veterinarians in the middle of the night. I've invented a machine that will set minds at ease. It's an electronic device called the Televet.""You mean like a telephone?" I asked. "What's a telephone?" he replied, puzzled. "Never mind. This device sounds ingenious, but what makes you think that all vets want to be bothered?" Mr. Bell's enthusiasm was not daunted. "You vets will be anxious to get one of my new machines. With the way things are now, a typical emergency starts with a breathless rider on a winded horse showing up and yelling something like 'Doc, come quick! There's trouble at the McMaggot ranch.' With the Televet, you could have a meaningful conversation with the McMaggots, ascertain the important facts and sometimes even avoid rushing out to see a problem that isn't really an emergency." "Do you realize that if Televets existed, any crackpot on the planet could bother me at any hour?" I said. "If you expect the general public to use this thing intelligently, Alex, you're dreaming." "No, you're dreaming, Mike. By the way, what's that ringing noise I hear?" I was immediately rocketed back through time and space to my bedroom, where the ringing of his own invention terminated my interview with Mr. Bell. It seemed that I was about to participate in one of those meaningful dialogues that he predicted. "Doctor, this is Mrs. Loudsoft. Are you in your office?" I somehow managed to convey the message that we rarely stay open after 3:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve. "Well, Doctor, we hate to bother you, but we have an emergency here. It's our dog, Dialer. He's real sick. Can we bring him right over?" Foolishly, I tried to ask a few questions to determine what was wrong with the pooch. However, as any veterinarian can tell you, if clients have their minds made up about their emergency, you'll never get a straight answer. Besides, they have one standard phrase that has pried more veterinarians out of bed than any other: "We're afraid he won't make it till morning." Half an hour later, the dog was on my exam table. Mrs. Loudsoft was expecting a house full of company the next day and had no intention of spending any more of her holiday cleaning up "poo-poo" from the rug. I treated the dog for what turned out to be his annual episode of holiday diarrhea and then hurried home. I had to get back to Alex's sitting room. Maybe I could convince him to invent something else, like the food processor or the Hula-Hoop. He didn't realize that things were better in his time. The breathless rider who showed up in the middle of the night only came for real emergencies. I got back with no trouble, but I must have miscalculated the location. I wasn't at Alex's house. I was on horseback, thundering down the road to the McMaggot ranch, on my way to a good old-fashioned life-and-death emergency. The entire family was awake when I got there. These people were rugged pioneers, not the type to get easily upset. Nonetheless, they were distraught over a problem with the livestock. "We hope you can do something, Doc," Mr. McMaggot said. "We're fit to be tied. Nuggets has been making doo-doo outside of his litter box." Dr. Michael Obenski owns Allentown Clinic for Cats in Allentown, Pa.
A concert by the Band and Bugles of the Rifles Regiment will take place at Winchester Cathedral on 26 April as part of a final push to raise £800,000 for the preservation of medieval glass of ʻexceptional significanceʼ in the buildingʼs presbytery. The current total of the appeal, run by the Friends of Winchester Cathedral, has already topped £550,000, having been launched a year ago. During the English Civil War, most of the cathedralʼs stained glass was smashed by Parliamentarian troops, who even hurled ancient royal bones interred in mortuary chests at the windows they could not reach to destroy them. Medieval glazing in the aisles either side of the choir and in the clerestory was the only glass to survive the savage assault. A 2012 conservatorʼs report found the condition of the windows to be much worse than previously thought, with urgent work required to prevent their being lost forever. Some have holes in them, and much painted detail has been lost, while surrounding stonework has been eroded by the weather over the centuries. Yet the report said the windows were of ʻexceptional significanceʼ, pivotal to the nationʼs understanding of glass-painting and design at that time. The earliest of this glass dates back to 1450, but the appeal is intended to cover also the conservation of the large east window, a Victorian restoration of medieval glass taken from elsewhere in the building. Tickets for the event are available from the cathedral box office, on line, or by telephone (01962 857275), and cost £25, £18 or £10. Concessions are available for the armed forces and young people.
Creator Q&A: Shooting with Pentax in a new context Photographers Antoine Pai and Matthieu Maury show us Paris through a new lens with the help of a Pentax 67. Funding your project on Kickstarter Even the cheapest projects require some capital to get going. Find out how to get funding using Kickstarter! Creator Q&A: Catch a snowflake on your camera, not your tongue Physics major and time-lapse master Vyacheslav Ivanov mesmerized us with his video of magically forming snowflakes. We asked him to reveal his snowy secrets. Building a Snorricam Featured Learn how to build and use a snorricam, a funnily named rig that uses a unique perspective to produce fantastic effects. Do-It-Yourself Dolly and Shoulder Rig Learn how to build a dolly and a shoulder rig without spending all of your lunch money. Drive-by Shooting: Using Your Car to Make Better Videos Featured A lesson about the most amazing piece of film equipment that you may have never thought to use, despite interacting with it on a daily basis: a car. Spice up Your Stills with Photoscapes In this Video School lesson, we encourage you to use fresh and interesting ways to present still photos and archival material in your films. Make a Great Holiday Video Featured Suggestions and tips on how to shoot an awesome holiday video! How to Make Easy Cardboard Frames in just a few Minutes Re-use all those cardboard boxes around your pad by turning them into spiffy cardboard frames. Easier than you think, and a great way to save waste! (We'll even show you how to… The Photojojo DIY BikeCam! Make your own. It's easy! Read how right here: http://photojojo.com/content/diy/attach-a-camera-to-your-bike/ Love, www.photojojo.com Simple, instant, effective, compact, low cost, easy to use steadicam DIY. Mic Stand Steadycam Here's a little howto for my diy stabilizer. I know there's tons of videos like that out there. But I've never seen anyone make one out of a mic stand. It's kind… DIY - Folly, or Felt-Dolly I took this with an HV20. Take a board, wrap and staple some felt around it (fleece will also do). Screw some boards to the bottom to raise it up a bit (so the picture frame doesn't… Remote Motorized Camera Head for $40 Pan and Tilt I adapted a motorized light I bought from Jaycar for $40 and took the light out and mounted a Canon HV10. Useful for setting up shots where a camera man can't go for example Hard… HV20 Focusing Tool The HV20 comes with a manual focus roller, which is a good thing. However, it is a bit awkward to operate. Others here and in HV20.com have come up with clever ways to get around… Indy Trolley Jack Jib? Always wondered if it would work and today found a cheapy at Supercheap new for $29. Has a travel of about 19cms. Don't think it would work great for macro as the head moves… About Video SchoolLearn how to make better videos through lessons, tutorials, and sage advice from us, your friendly personal creativity consultants. Lessons are created by the Vimeo staff, oftentimes using tutorial videos from the Vimeo community. You are currently viewing the Video School category Do It Yourself. You can browse all the categories below. Browse by Category Submit Your Tutorial Most of the video tutorials in our Video School lessons come from Vimeo members. If you have a tutorial you'd like to share, please submit it here.
Authors: Fernando Loup Recently Superluminal Neutrinos have been observed in the OPERA experiment at CERN.Since the neutrino possesses a non-zero rest mass then according to the Standard Model,Relativity and Lorentz Invariance this Superluminal speed result would be impossible to be achieved.This Superluminal OPERA result seems to be confirmed and cannot be explained by errors in the measurements or break-ups in the Standard Model,Relativity or Lorentz Invariance. In order to conciliate the Standard Model,Relativity and Lorentz Invariance with the OPERA Superluminal Neutrino we propose a different approach: Some years ago Gauthier,Gravel and Melanson introduced the idea of the micro Warp Drive:Microscopical particle-sized Warp Bubbles carrying inside sub-atomic particles at Superluminal speeds. These micro Warp Bubbles according to them may have formed spontaneously in the Early Universe after the Big Bang and they used the Alcubierre Warp Drive geometry in their mathematical model.We propose exactly the same idea of Gauthier,Gravel and Melanson to explain the Superluminal Neutrino at OPERA however using the Natario Warp Drive geometry.Our point of view can be resumed in the following statement:In a process that modern science still needs to understand,the OPERA Experiment generated a micro NatarioWarp Bubble around the neutrino that pushed it beyond the Light Speed barrier.Inside the Warp Bubble the neutrino is below the Light Speed and no break-ups of the Standard Model,Relativity or Lorentz Invariance occurs but outside the Warp Bubble the neutrino would be seen at Superluminal speeds.Remember that the CERN particle accelerators were constructed to reproduce in laboratory scale the physical conditions we believe that may have existed in the Early Universe so these micro Warp Bubbles generated after the Big Bang may perhaps be re-created or reproduced inside particle accelerators. We believe that our idea borrowed from Gauthier,Gravel and Melanson can explain what really happened with the neutrinos in the OPERA experiment Comments: 32 pages [v1] 10 Oct 2011 Unique-IP document downloads: 163 times Add your own feedback and questions here: You are equally welcome to be positive or negative about any paper but please be polite. If you are being critical you must mention at least one specific error, otherwise your comment will be deleted as unhelpful.
Floodwaters on the Mall The public announcement of a new, improved levee to be built at 17th Street NW brought to mind a previous levee that has been part of the downtown landscape for decades [“Flood plan proposed to protect Washington Mall,” Metro, Nov. 15]. From March 15 to 18, 1936, there were three days of torrential rainfall in the Washington area. The floodwaters reached a peak of 19 feet. East Potomac Park was underwater, as was the local airport. Even the White House was threatened. Fortunately, the Roosevelt administration had time to put up a flood barrier. It was half a mile long, extending along Constitution Avenue, from the Lincoln Memorial at 23rd Street NW all the way to 14th Street NW. Some 3,000 workers from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps were called in and began filling and laying sandbags. According to newspaper reports, the crew worked through the night, under searchlights provided by the U.S. Army. One young man defiantly yelled, “We’ll build ’em so high, the river’ll run the other way.” There were some black workers with experience working on levees during Mississippi River floods. One was said to call out, “River, I’m not afraid of you. We’ve got you down, river.” At 7 p.m. March 19, the flood reached its crest. The levee held. Two years later, in February 1938, work began on a permanent levee, using 300 WPA workers. A 2,300-foot-long barrier was raised north of the Reflecting Pool, this time extending from the Lincoln Memorial as far as 17th Street NW. It was finished sometime in 1939. The old levee can still be seen today, covered with grass and blending in with the landscape. John Lockwood, Washington \| November 27, 2010; 6:02 PM ET Categories: D.C., HotTopic, National Mall, weather Save & Share: Previous: Phone calls from the Great Recession Next: 'Miracle' conviction or one more mistake? Posted by: DaveoftheCoonties \| November 27, 2010 10:52 PM \| Report abuse Posted by: krickey7 \| November 29, 2010 10:33 AM \| Report abuse The comments to this entry are closed.
I’ve blogged a lot on the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and specifically on whether using a computer in violation of a computer use policy or Terms of Service is a federal crime. I’ve been banging the drum urging courts to adopt a narrow interpretations of the Act for a decade, and the question has recently reached several courts of appeals. A lot has been happening on this front recently, so I thought I would bring readers up to speed. To follow this issue, you need to watch all three branches. So let’s start with the pairing of Judiciary/Executive, and then cover the pairing of Legislature/Executive. First, the Judicary/Executive. Last Thursday, the Fourth Circuit deepened the apparent circuit split by joining the Ninth Circuit in adopting a narrow interpretation of the CFAA in WEC Carolina Energy Solutions v. Miller. A day later, DOJ asked for another extension of the period in which a cert petition could be filed in United States v. Nosal, the Ninth Circuit en banc case. DOJ’s request for more time may have been at least in part a response to the Fourth Circuit’s decision the day before, although I haven’t seen the filing so I don’t actually know. It’s also possible that DOJ wasn’t planning on filing for cert in Nosal but might reconsider in light of WEC. It’s hard to know. Next, the Legislature/Executive. The Senate Judiciary Committee is in the middle of its markup of The Cybersecurity Act of 2012, S3414, which you can read here. In its current version, it has no changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. However, Chairman Leahy has proposed an amendment to the Cybersecurity Act that would make two major changes. First, Leahy’s amendment would add a bunch of things DOJ wants, such as enhancing the CFAA’s penalties, adding an asset forfeiture provision, and creating a new extra-punitive 18 U.S.C. 1030A (see Sections 1-7 of the Amendment). Second, Leahy’s Amendment would add the statutory fix to the definition of “exceeds authorized access” that essentially adopts the narrow view of the circuit split on the scope of the CFAA (see Section 8 of the Amendment). This last Amendment is the Grassley/Franken/Lee Amendment that was supported by the Judiciary Committee back in September 2011. Meanwhile, DOJ is trying to get the best of both worlds: They support Sections 1-7, but they’re trying hard to block Section 8. How this plays out is anyone’s guess. But it does prompt interesting questions of strategy for both sides. If you think the Supreme Court would adopt the narrow view of the CFAA — a view that has the momentum in the Court of Appeals — then the statutory fix doesn’t have much value either way. But if you’re not sure of that, and you want the narrow view of the CFAA, do you take the generally undesirable penalty enhancements to the CFAA to get Section 8 — assuming that is an option? Either way, if Congress enacts the statutory fix, then the issue is no longer certworthy and you’ll never know how the Supreme Court would have ruled. Stay tuned, as always.
The 2013 VWBPE Conference Awards represent a sampling of those presentations, films, and exhibits that are considered to be some of the best of how best practices are being used within immerse environments for education. The following submissions were selected by VWBPE Conference attendees as upholding those principles that are significant examples for others in the education field to apply to their own curriculums. VWBPE 2013 Film and Machinima Awards \|1st\|\|Machinima as a Discussion Support System for Sugar Cane Farmers\|\|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pej7DhtKafE&feature=youtu.be This machinima was produced to function as a discussion support system, modelling the sorts of conversations sugar cane farmers need to have in order to make good farming decisions in light of climate information. The script was written by Neil Cliffe, a PhD candidate working on the discussion support system project, and recorded by professional sound engineers at the University of Southern Queensland. Top Dingo created the environment and avatars and shot the visuals, bringing it all together in this high quality machinima. This machinima challenges conventional views relating to the use of video in agricultural extension. \|Helen Farley(RL)/Helen Frak(SL)\| \|2nd\|\|Father and Son Explore 3D Virtual Worlds Beyond the Stage\|\|http://youtu.be/n2NAOujGrVc VIBE – Virtual Islands for Better Education. VIBE is a collaboration creating learning activities and tools in virtual worlds for K-12 and college educators. VIBE hypergrid is a collection of independently-themed grids such as BIOME, Nova Archaeology, Project Alexandria, Genome and Global Health. These grids have regions such as Hydrosphere, Lemon House and Traveller. Discover molecular biology and genetics labs, Roman and Maya sites, East Africa villages, a coral reef and digital library, at the poster exhibit in the Second Life main venue, the most suitable venue to promote the production and use of machinima in education. \|Dragan Lakic(RL)/Bert Matchman(SL)\| \|3rd\|\|Cross Borders of Ages and Subjects: Possibilities of Using Virtual World Education\|\|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNkLsY2wNhU This is a machinima made by 2012 UBC EDCP 585D Winter term 2 students. In this video students gave teaching demonstrations to show how they utilized a virtual world for education in different age levels and different subjects. Credit to: Yoriko Gillard, Denise Haugh, Diana Ihnatovych, Chen Liu, Min Liu, Jiyao Sun, Xinyi Wang, Kwesi Yaro, Ning Zhang. \|Hsiao-Cheng Han(RL)/Kristy Handrick(SL)\| VWBPE 2013 Poster Awards \|1st\|\|Sweetening climate information for sugar cane farmers with Second Life machinima\|\|This paper describes a project that involves the production of machinima created in Second Life for use as a discussion support tool for sugarcane farmers in Queensland, Australia. Discussion support systems in agriculture are processes which foster discussion between stakeholders about shared issues of concern and may lead to awareness raising, learning, skill development and improved decision making. This paper describes the production and preliminary evaluation of the first of these decision support machinima.\|\|Dr. Helen Farley/Helen Frak\| \|2nd\|\|Encke Virtual University Collaboration: Bringing Educators Together in Second Life\|\|The Encke Virtual University Collaboration brought educators from around the world to an island in Second Life to listen to some presentations from experts in the field, embark on a series of field trips but most importantly to collaborate in teams around a number of topics including bots, communities of practice and gamification. Like the comet Encke, the Encke Virtual University Collaboration had a long tail, with a number of workshops and events, and collaborations developing over the following months.\|\|Dr. Helen Farley/Helen Frak\| \|3rd\|\|A Real-Time Interactive 3D Virtual Retail World\|\|Real-Time Interactive 3D Virtual Retail World is a range of learning activities and tools in a virtual world, created to assist learners to achieve nationally recognised qualification “Certificate II in Retail Services”. The Environment is a collection of independently-themed Retail Shops such as Jewellery, Craft, Shoes, Art; Furniture Store and Garden Centre. These Shops have self-testing activities such as operate point-of-sale equipment, deliver service to customers and complete sales. Discover the Real-Time Interactive 3D Virtual Retail World at the poster exhibit in the Second Life main venue, the most suitable venue to promote the production and use of machinima in education.\|\|Bert Matchman/Dragan Lakic\| VWBPE 2013 People’s Choice for Best Presentation \|1st\|\|The Advantages of Live Performance and Life Lecturing in the 3D Environment\|\|Organizing events and performing in Secondlife since 2006 as well as being an experienced teacher and performer in RL gave me a lot of insight into the structure of performance in the Virtual World. Performing in the digital world is one of the most successful ways to hook people and connect them in a group. Performing is live moderation and the way to do that and the insights you gain from it can be used in many ways- also for lectures. ( I am thinking of something like a virtual TED Talk here)\|\|Juliane Gabriel(RL)/Jaynine Scarborough(SL)\| \|2nd\|\|Virtual worlds, from Unknown to Known: What We Have Done and What We Can Do More on Education\|\|When education happens in a virtual world, the possibilities and restrictions are different from a real world educational environment. In one virtual world, The University of British Columbia’s Open Sim: VIEW (Virtual Immersive Education World), the students of this class created their own educational environments in which they demonstrated a 20-30 minute lesson on one of the following subject areas – math, music, language, and civic education. In this panel discussion, the students will share their experiences on the positive and negative aspects involved in creating their virtual worlds, as well as the knowledge and experiences gained from such a process. We will also raise the opportunities and challenges for discussion.\|\|Dr. Hsiao-Cheng Han\| \|3rd\|\|Share the Black Crayon – Collaborative Superhero Teams\|\|Lead by example. Share the spotlight instead of fighting over control or the black crayon, so that people reveal and utilize their superpowers. Immersive environments, like Second Life, open opportunities for educators to expand beyond the classroom by including worldwide professional guests, virtual and physical field trips, and community building inquiry and impact on screen and off. Learn to establish educational experiences that build teams and encourage students to discover their superpowers through developing authentic avatars, fostering clear, confident communication, assigning responsibility, and cultivating respect.\|\|Renne Brock-Richmond(RL)/Zinnia Zauber(SL)\| VWBPE 2013 Exemplary Volunteer Award Those individuals who have shown dedication to the community by going above and beyond expectations and have, through their commitment, been an example to others as to what we can achieve when we all work together. iSkye Silverweb Bonde
Contingency planning for winter weather »Severe weather requires robust, collaborative planning between the Welsh Government and the public and private sectors in Wales.Learn more » Survey on Welsh language use welcomed First Minister Carwyn Jones and the Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws have welcomed the publication of an in-depth survey of how people are using the Welsh language. - ‘Choose Pharmacy’ pilot ‘shows potential’ in improving access to local health services, report finds - New Children’s Commissioner for Wales announced - Survey on Welsh language use welcomed - Raising the ambitions and educational attainment of children who are looked after in Wales - Review of requirements for the trading of captive bred birds - Amendments to the Government Guidance notes on the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 - Revised Child Poverty Strategy for Wales - Sharing the location of TB infected farms - Planning and related decisions of the Welsh Ministers Featured consultation »Aligning the apprenticeship model to the needs of the Welsh economy 85 days left Section highlightQualifications Wales BillThe Bill will establish Qualifications Wales as an independent regulator for qualifications and the qualification system in Wales. Legislative programme 2014 - 2015 » Bills that the Welsh Government will bring forward in 2014/2015.Learn more » Section highlightProject pipeline update This 6th edition details over 370 investments across both public and private sectors with a value of more than £40bn. Final Budget 2015-16 » The amount of funding allocated to Welsh Government Departments for 2015-16 is £15·3bn.Learn more » - Statistics & Research - European Social Fund Local Service Board development and priority delivery project - Evaluation of the Choose Pharmacy common ailments service - Housing demolitions and hazards - Regional economic and labour market profiles - Welsh Government People Survey - Welsh language use survey Upcoming calendar » See the schedule for all statistics and research releases.View upcoming calendar » Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is a new virus which has been reported in cattle, sheep and goats. SBV is not a notifiable disease. This virus belongs to a group of viruses that are spread by insects (mostly midges). The disease was first discovered in Germany in 2011 and since then has been found across Northern and Western Europe and the UK. SBV was detected for the first time in Wales, on a premises in Ceredigion, in September 2012. The virus has been associated with brief mild/moderate disease in adult cattle. Late abortion or birth defects have been observed in newborn cattle, sheep and goats. A vaccine against SBV has now been given marketing authorisation and is available for use across the UK. Livestock keepers interested in more information about the vaccine should contact their private veterinary surgeon.
Salt being distributed to the Potomac Road salt dome, where road crews picked it up to salt the roads in Washington during an early-February storm. During the winter, snow isn't the only white stuff that you can find on the ground. There's also salt. Road salt is used to expedite the melting snow and ice and ease peoples' commute to work. But the amount of salt that coats the region's roads invariably ends up in local waterways, where it can affect aquatic life, say environmental advocates. "It definitely has an impact on biodiversity, especially amphibians, macro-invertebrates and other insects, and fish," says Jorge Bogantes Montero, a natural resources specialist with the Anacostia Watershed Society who recently wrote of the impact road salt has on rivers. Over 750,000 tons of road salt is used every winter in the states that make up the Potomac River watershed: D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. After it flushes off the roads, water quality experts look to the measure of electric conductivity in waterways to estimate how much salt is present. Since saltier water conducts electricity better, they say conductance is a relatively good measure for salt concentrations in water. "What we see in the winter time is this electrical conductance... it will increase after a runoff event after a salt application," explains Dr. Charles Walker, a water quality specialist with USGS. Local rivers normally see conductance levels of 500 to 1,000 microsiemens per centimeter, he says. During a mid-February storm, salt levels at Hickey Run in the National Arboretum jumped dramatically. After this week's storm, a monitoring station at Hickey Run in the National Arboretum — one of three in D.C. — jumped to close to 15,000 microsiemens per centimeter. During a mid-February storm, though, it hit 45,000 microsiemens — a number matching the conductivity of ocean water. "During these runoff events following salt applications, we see the specific conductance jump anywhere from 7, 10, 15, 20, or 30,000. It jumps up quite high and then it comes back down," says Walker. All that salt has an impact, according to a 2010 study by USGS scientists in Wisconsin. They argued that the presence of road salt — specifically the chloride — is impacting aquatic life. "Road-salt runoff poses an increasing threat to aquatic ecosystems," reported the study, which was published in Environmental Science and Technology. "The analysis of historical chloride data from urban areas around the country indicated potential for considerable and widespread impact from road salt on surface water quality and aquatic life." It's not just animals, though — Walker said road salt can also make its way into groundwater. "Plants do not take up the salt, so the salt continues down through the soil profile. They've also shown that it can affect groundwater in the area," he said. In a 2012 presentation, Greg Prelewicz, Fairfax Water's chief for water planning and protection, said that excessive use of salt can even pose concerns for drinking water. He advised local jurisdictions to explore alternatives. In D.C., the Department of Public Works has started using a salt brine/beet juice as an alternative to road salt for pre-treating roads. According to Linda Grant, the department's spokeswoman, DPW has used 200,000 gallons of the mix on area roads, while over 35,000 tons of road salt have been used so far. Still, Bogantes writes that while alternatives are good, there are still tradeoffs — both environmental and economic — that make it hard for some jurisdictions to switch. "Road salt is the most cost-efficient, so that's why everyone uses it," he says. The alternatives are more expensive and not widely tested, he adds. "The economics have been a very limiting factor, and also there's not a lot of studies showing the environmental impacts, so it's still a question mark," he says.
The Washington Humane Society (WHS) Field Services Officers have seen it all, and still every day holds never-before-seen situations. Below are a few stories from the field, where our Officers, presented with unique and challenging episodes, had to think fast and creatively to save lives. June 24 – Jack Russell Survives Being Left in Hot Car A Humane Law Enforcement Officer and an Animal Care and Control Officer responded to a report of a distressed dog trapped in a gold Dodge Ram with Virginia plates. The temperature outside was approximately 85 degrees. When Officers arrived, all the car windows were sealed. The three-month-old Jack Russell Terrier appeared to be healthy and alert. The owner of the dog arrived and explained to the officers that she had been using the automatic starter to keep the air conditioning running. The owner was issued a verbal warning about the hazards of leaving a dog unattended in a motor vehicle.
Education — Learn About Water - Hydrology Primer—What is hydrology and what do hydrologists do? - USGS Water Science School—Find information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can give opinions and test your water knowledge. - Aquifer Basics - Groundwater Basics: Resources and Introductory Information - Water Education Posters (Online only)—Cartoon posters for grades K-12 on the subjects of wetlands, water use, wastewater, navigation, groundwater, coastal hazards, watersheds, water quality, and hazardous waste. - Streamer—Visualize and understand water flow across America. - Science in Your Watershed—Find information about your watershed - A Journey with Water—Educational coloring book - Glossaries of Water Resources Terms - A-Z Index of hydrologic terms Selected Products of Educational Interest The following online resources highlight popular USGS publications. USGS Publications Warehouse—Find historic, technical, and popular publications in the searchable database of over 69,000 USGS maps, books, and other publications. USGS Library—The largest earth science library in the world... providing information to other organizations and individuals in the areas of geology, hydrology, cartography, biology, and related fields. - What is Ground Water? - Ground Water —This booklet describes how groundwater occurs and how its quality is assessed. - Ground Water and the Rural Homeowner—This booklet provides rural homeowners with a basic but comprehensive description of groundwater. - Ground-Water Availability in the United States—This report examines what is known about the Nation's ground-water availability and outlines a program of study by the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Resources Program to improve our understanding of groundwater availability in major aquifers across the Nation. - Sustainability of Ground-Water Resources—This publication illustrates the hydrologic, geologic, and ecological concepts that must be considered to assure the wise and sustainable use of our precious ground-water resources. - Ground Water and Surface Water: A Single Resource—Many natural processes and human activities affect the interactions of groundwater and surface water. The purpose of this report is to present our current understanding of the interaction of groundwater and surface water. - Water Availability for the Western United States - Key Scientific Challenges—In the Western United States, the availability of water has become a serious concern for many communities. This report reviews the quality, availability, use, and sustainability of both groundwater and surface water in the western United States. - Water Resources Professional's Outreach Notebook - Ground Water - Grade level 6-8 - Floods and Flood Plains—This easy-to-understand fact sheet describes why floods occur and discusses the basics about flood-plain designation. - Large Floods in the United States: Where They Happen and Why—This publication describes the geographic and climatic factors that influence the occurrence and impacts of large floods in the United States. - The 100-Year Flood— What is a 100-year flood and why don't these floods happen every 100 years? This simple fact sheet describes the statistics behind the designation and explains why regular measurements are essential. - Drought—This fact sheet defines and explains the drier-than-normal conditions that result in water-related problems. - Streamgages—Measuring the Pulse of our Nation's Rivers - From the River to You: USGS Real-Time Streamflow Information - A Primer on Water Quality - The Quality of Our Nation's Waters - Nutrients and Pesticides—This report presents insights on nutrients and pesticides in water and on pesticides in bed sediment and fish tissue. - Pesticides in the Nation's Streams and Ground Water, 1991-2001—This report is one of a series of publications, The Quality of Our Nation's Waters, that describe major findings of the NAWQA Program on water-quality issues of regional and national concern. - Herbicides in Midwestern Reservoir Outflows, 1992-93—This fact sheet describes results from sampling midwestern reservoirs and streams. - Water Use in the United States—Find out how we use water every day. - USGS Online Lectures - Hydrology—A compilation of selected videotaped lectures made at the USGS. All of these lectures should be suitable for a viewing audience ranging from the general public to undergraduate-level students. - USGS Water Resources Seminar Series—Video archive (2003 to present) of lectures given at the USGS offices in Menlo Park, California, on a variety of water-related topics. Most of these lectures are designed for a technical, scientific audience. - An Overview of the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center in Wisconsin—Video of scientists at work in the office, lab, and field. Many of them describe the kind of work they do in the Great Lakes area and Mississipi River Basin and why it's important. Lakes and Coastal Areas - Changing Size of the Great Salt Lake in Utah—Time-lapse elevation change movie for the Great Salt Lake in Utah covering 1972 to 1996. - the fragile fringe—A Guide for Teaching About Coastal Wetlands - Sea-Level Rise—Time-lapse animations showing maps of sea-level uprising at locations around the globe and the population numbers that could be impacted. - Fly-By Movies of Shaded Relief Bathymetry in Lake Tahoe—Flight over Lake Tahoe, above and below the water. - Fly-By Movies from Selected Seafloor Studies—Animated fly-by movies of the bathymetry at Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake, Gulf of Mexico, and the Los Angeles margin. - Simulated Groundwater Route through Porous Limestone—3-D animated fly-through simulating a hypothetical route that groundwater would take through a porous limestone from the Biscayne aquifer in Florida. - Water Level Change in the Mojave Ground-Water Basin—Animated models of changes in groundwater levels in the Mojave Basin, 1999 to 2019. - Mississippi River Flooding in Wisconsin, 2001—Several short videos of the Mississippi River flood in Wisconsin in April, 2001. No narration. - Exploring Storm Surge—Preparedness movie made in 1995 about the dangers of storm surges that are associated with hurricanes. - North Carolina Water Sampling Activities—Numerous 10- to 30-second video clips showing scientists at work sampling in the Albemarle-Pamlico drainage basin in North Carolina and Virginia. Water-quality sampling, macroinvertebrate sampling, and more. - Water Use Trends in the Southwestern United States, 1950-1990—Three animations of water use (surface water and groundwater) in the conterminous United States for irrigation, public supplies, and total withdrawal. - Real-time Water Levels for Reservoirs in Puerto Rico—Nearly 45 percent of public water supply is provided by the reservoirs of Puerto Rico. Learn about the long-term program to monitor reservoir levels, water quality, and sedimentation in water supply reservoirs. Additional USGS Multimedia Resources - USGS CoreCast—CoreCast brings you straight science insight on natural hazards, climate change, satellite imagery and monitoring, water quality, human health and wildlife disease, and much more. Tune into CoreCast. It's natural science from the inside out. - USGS Videos and Animation - Jobs at the USGS—Web resources about employment with the USGS - Internships, Employment Opportunities, and Research Grants—See what opportunities are available for undergraduate and graduate students, and for faculty to participate in USGS science. - Youth at the USGS —Student Educational Employment Program Other Water Education Resources of Interest - USGS Education Resources—Discover selected online resources to support teaching, learning, education (K-12), and university-level inquiry and research. - Surf Your Watershed—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's service to help citizens locate environmental information about their local regions. - Know Your Watershed—A primer provided by the Conservation Technology Information Center - Get Informed About Groundwater—From the Groundwater Foundation, information on groundwater basics, the hydrologic cycle, threats to groundwater, and protection efforts.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program Informing Decision Makers A total of 58 sites in wadeable streams across the Nation are planned for monitoring of aquatic ecological conditions and in-stream and near-stream habitat. Policies and Notices U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey Page Contact Information: firstname.lastname@example.org Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 04-Mar-2014 14:45:20 EST
President Obama and Congress should pay heed to two positive reports on the U.S. economy released the same day $85 billion in budget cuts were slated to begin. Americans feeling more confident about their future started to borrow more and go deeper into debt in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Household debt, which incudes mortgages, credit cads, auto and student loans rose to $11.34 trillion, a slight increase of 0.3 percent, but, the Wall Street Journal reported, it was the first fundamental increase since the third quarter of 2008. Americans, attracted by historically low interest rates, committed themselves to $553 billion in new mortgages, which is the major source of consumer debt. It follows years of a depressed housing market marked by declining property values and record numbers of foreclosures. The report also cited increases in outstanding auto loans, student loans and credit card balances. Student loan debt, though, remains a concern. It has risen from $400 billion in 2005 to $966 billion at the end of 2012, and the percentage of loans delinquent more than 90 days has increased, reflecting the inability of recent graduates to find jobs. On a related note, Freddie Mac, the government agency that backs nearly two-thirds of mortgages reported an $11 billion profit last year, the largest yearly gain ever, the Journal reported. In another report, the Commerce Department said the economy grew 0.1 percent from October through December, a slight increase from what had been expected to be a downturn. Households spent money, businesses invested, and the housing market surged, said Joel L. Naroff, an economist with Naroff Economic Advisors. Although the last quarter was one of the weakest in the recovery, the Wall Street Journal reported, the upward revision means the economy has grown for 14 consecutive quarters, with the 2.2 percent growth in gross domestic product higher in 2012 higher than 2011. The Commerce Department said the housing market was up 17.5 percent and business spending rose 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter. The fourth-quarter growth in gross domestic product was less than the prior three months due in part to a nearly 15 percent reduction in federal spending during the quarter, the Journal said. Overshadowing the reports, though, is the ongoing gridlock in Washington that will lead to $85 billion spending cuts, half in defense and half in non-defense, discretionary spending, in the next seven months unless Congress and President Obama find a way to compromise on an alternative deficit-reduction plan. The cuts will ripple through the economy. Consumers are going to hold off buying that new car if they are not sure they will have a job next week or will see a 20 percent cut in pay if they are furloughed one day a week. And those who just invested in a new house will be wary of going into debt any more if they have to worry about making the mortgage payment with smaller or one less paycheck in the family.
The Yukon Gold Rush Between 1848 and 1900 there was a series of Gold Rushes in North America that impacted technology and the lives of many Americans. These gold rushes occurred in regions that had harsh climates and difficult terrain. As there had been no previous event like the gold rush, prospective miners were inexperienced. They gambled and spent their life savings on equipment and technology for their expedition. For many of the miners the result was bankruptcy or death, but for a lucky few it was a fortune and a new way of life. The Gold Rush of 1897-1899 that occurred in the Yukon Territories of Canada is a great example of the American's dream of instant wealth and prosperity. America was in the midst of a major economic depression during the 1890's. Many farmers lost their crops due to the poor soil and weather conditions. Many that had left the farm and taken jobs in manufacturing quit because of unfair labor policies. When news about gold in the Yukon reached the United States, American's jumped at the opportunity to strike it rich. This news was reported on July 17, 1897 in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The headlines read "At 3 o'clock this morning the steamship Portland, from St. Michaels for Seattle, passed up Pugent Sound with more than a ton of solid gold on board and 68 passengers." Thousands flocked to Seattle buying supplies and booking reservations on ships bound for the Yukon. This news was precipitated by the discovery of gold by three men, Skookum Jim, Tagish Charlie, and George Washington Carmack. These men staked their claim in the town of Dawson and word about their discovery spread rapidly. Dawson became a boomtown as miners flocked to the area. The first group of miners left from Seattle, Washington in the fall of 1897 with all the supplies that would be needed for their impending journey. Once they reached Alaska the had to make the choice of which trail to travel. Both trails, the Skagway and the Dyea Trail, had reputations of being difficult and life threatening. Along the trail there were hazards such as thieves stealing supplies, rock slides, avalanches, and dead horses. The goal of the miners was to reach Lake Bennet where they spent the winter months preparing for the final stretch to Dawson City in the spring. During the winter, the prospectors would build the boat at Lake Bennet that they would need for the spring. The technology used to build these boats was crude. Most of the prospectors had no carpentry skills and only a large whipsaw. They worked in teams to build these boat that would carry their supplies. When the ice broke in May, the miners traveled as fast as they could to Dawson City. Once in Dawson they would stake their claim and begin mining. Usually once a site was found there was only two to three months before the next winter set in. As more and more miners came to the area to find their fortune, towns and markets began to develop. The towns of Skagway and Dyea grew from small settlements to have populations of over 30,000 during 1898. These towns provided the prospectors with the supplies that they would need to make their journey. With this, new markets and opportunities emerged, and any merchants went to the Yukon to sell outfits and supplies. This became so profitable that many did not even attempt to mine gold. These towns were less than desirable places to live for long periods of time. Their remote location and proximity to the United States and Canadian border discouraged law enforcement. These towns were similar to the west with a few outlaws pillaging the belongings of the miners. Jefferson Randolph (Soapy) Smith was one of these outlaws. After the gold rush dried up, these towns returned to their original population. It is important to realize that the Gold Rush of 1897-1899 did not make all of the prospectors rich and successful. The realities of this event were that many died during the trip into to the unknown wilderness. Conditions were difficult and the technology that the miners had was limited. They did not have the luxury of motorized equipment to navigate the terrain. They instead had to rely on animals and their own strength. The miners that were fortunate enough to reach the mining fields faced intense competition from others. There were not enough mining sites to accommodate all of the miners and some of the sites did not produce enough gold to make the expedition profitable. For many of the Americans it was an unsuccessful
“e” Inc, Charlesown, MA “E” inc., is in its 8th year of award-winning work with low-income children & youth in the Greater Metro Boston. Our partner schools, and the children with whom we work compose the community partners involved. We have experienced ongoing growth and more demand for our programs than that which we can provide at present. Currently, we provide in-depth science investigation residencies for public schoolchildren in the low-income communities of Greater Boston. We have created curricula that capture the interest of children facing academic, social, and economic challenges. By engaging students in the preservation of their resources, connecting them with the science of how to do so, and helping them build skills to make a difference. Ours is a unique coupling of academic support and community involvement that helps young people not just make academic gains but social gains, as well. Students are taught about the value of protecting storm drains, lowering electrical use, discussing climate change with others, protecting trees and wildlife in their respective ecosystems, reducing water use, arranging carpools, and encouraging school-wide recycling. In its 8th year of providing community-based science and civic action programs for the environment to low-income children and youth, “e” inc. is seeking to grow and develop into a new space and thusly expand its programming abilities. Specifically, “e” inc. requires a wide range of skills to address the problems and barriers posed by a complex project already in the works – specifically, the start-up of our Environmental Learning and Action Center. This new venture, created to broaden the reach and expand the mission, of our non-profit “e” inc., must bring in new revenue so the can be both self-sustaining and possibly, even able to help support our current in-depth science and civics outreach programs in low-income communities (we see 1500 children and youth a year). An MIT student or students will be challenged by the opportunity to create a business plan to assist in the growth of a environmental science and civic action non-profit. Specifically, the business plan needed for the growth of the non-profit requires help in creating its Environmental Learning and Action Center. The plan, if tailored to fit our programs and goals, will be put into action for this new arm of “e” inc. that is slated to become operational by the end of 2011. Assure that the Environmental Learning and Action Center creates a reliable income stream such that “e” inc.'s programs and operating costs are less dependent upon grants as a revenue stream for the programs that we already run. This project requires an individual with an interest in non-profits who has experience with the design of a sophisticated business plan that a small non-profit can execute successfully. We would like someone with an interest in non-profits and/or interested in learning about environmental conservation and/or urban education. We are interested in (a) graduate student(s) who desires non-profit business experience and has the skills to assess our capabilities, the current market, the opportunities available, to supply an executable plan for the future of this new organizational venture. However, we are also open to the opportunity to work with a (set of) student(s) who are interested in the project, skilled in business plan creation, and eager assist us in this task. The students would be working directly with an energetic team of interns, full-time staff members, and a sophisticated board at the non-profit. Ideally the project could be executed in a year's time, outlining the future for the program into the future for two to five years in the future. Dr. Ricky Stern 529 Main St., Charlestown, MA 02129 529 Main St., Charlestown, MA 02129 MIT students who develop projects around these ideas may apply for support from the Public Service Center's Internships or Fellowships programs. Please check the program descriptions and deadlines and talk to program staff to determine which is most appropriate for your needs and project. If you want to volunteer or you have funding from outside the PSC that enables you to work on this project, that's great! However, please do let us know if you work on a project you saw advertised here, even if you don't use our funds. And remember, the PSC staff are happy to advise on service projects even if we are not funding them ourselves.
Improving attendance and reducing persistent absence - 1 Improving attendance and reducing persistent absence - 2 Overview - 3 Section 1: Review of school attendance policy - 4 Section 2: Review of school attendance practice - 5 Section 3: Identifying how data can most effectively be used to inform actions - 6 Section 4: Providing whole staff training - 7 Section 5: Ensuring that schools fulfil minimum requirements - 8 Attendance advice for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children - 9 Guidance for academies - 10 Key elements in securing positive attendance - 11 Resources and acknowledgements Section 4: Providing whole staff training This section is divided into two parts: A) Staff roles B) Attendance codes A) Staff roles The National Strategies Behaviour and Attendance in-depth audit for attendance provides a useful starting point for raising staff awareness of the importance of a whole-school approach to improving attendance and an opportunity for everyone to contribute to planning and carrying out developmental work. In addition to specific training to raise staff awareness of how they can contribute to reducing persistent absence, many other activities for continuing professional development (CPD) will have an attendance dimension. For example, work on how to prevent bullying, on social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) and on raising attainment all have direct links to attendance, where absence can be both a cause and an effect. Staff undertaking the National Programme for Specialist Leaders in Behaviour and Attendance will also be able to focus on attendance as one of their areas of study. It therefore is important that attendance is not seen as standing alone from other whole–school development work. All teaching and support staff have a crucial role to play in improving and encouraging good attendance. Some questions a school may like to consider are: The site manager What is the impact of how the site manager interacts with pupils before and after school and at breaks and lunchtimes? How are pupils treated when they sign in late? Is it likely to encourage them to be on time in future or not bother to come into school at all? Are parents/carers engaged in limiting pupil lateness? Do pupils feel that their tutor has a genuine and informed interest in their well–being? When pupils return after an absence, does their tutor adopt an appropriate attitude in welcoming them back and following up reasons for absence? Do teachers understand the potential impact of an inappropriate comment when a pupil returns from a period of absence? In schemes of work, is attention paid to providing catch–up material for pupils who return after periods of absence? Is attendance at lessons monitored to identify potential teaching and learning issues that could lead to poor attendance? Do subject leaders monitor the attainment of pupils against their attendance? Is the attendance of individual pupils and groups of pupils tracked and correlated with their progress? Are opportunities provided for pupils to catch up with classwork and coursework outside lesson time? Do pupils feel that senior staff know when they have been absent and are interested in them? Do senior members of staff ensure that all members of staff are accountable for the impact they have on attendance? Is attendance at lessons included on agendas for monitoring and evaluation meetings with subject leaders? All members of staff have a responsibility to encourage good attendance in the way they interact with pupils on a daily basis. All staff should also be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the expectations the school has of them as part of their specific role in the school. These should be made explicit and shared with all staff as part of the school's attendance policy (see Section 1). Schools should ensure that the roles expected of all members of staff in improving attendance are made explicit in terms of both expected tasks (e.g. clear instruction on registration procedures) and, for example, their approach to pupils who return after periods of absence. This can be achieved most effectively as part of a training session for both teaching and support staff, during which the interdependence of their roles in promoting good attendance can be highlighted. All teaching and support staff should know what part they play in the school's internal escalation procedures and its reward and sanctions policy. This should ensure that good and improved attendance is rewarded and that any emerging problem is dealt with speedily. Attendance has a direct impact on attainment; attendance is therefore a school improvement issue and should be analysed alongside attainment data at both school and subject levels to indicate areas for action (see Section 3). B) Attendance codes Registration procedures need to be clearly outlined in the school’s attendance policy and repeated in the staff handbook. Accurate recording is essential in order to meet legal requirements and promote the safety of all pupils. Different schools will have different procedures for allocating attendance and absence codes. In most schools, this will involve the form or class teacher; however, it is important for all staff to have a general understanding of when each code may be used and its statistical meaning. Staff responsible for entering codes should have a thorough understanding of the issues regarding attendance. Staff should also be aware of when and to whom they should refer instances of absence in accordance with school guidelines. For example, a school might decide that it requires tutors to refer all pupils when absence through sickness exceeds a certain percentage in the year. Clear guidance also needs to be given on what constitutes ‘other authorised circumstances’ so that a consistent approach is maintained across the school. Full guidance on the use of codes and an explanation of the regulations governing the keeping of pupil registers are available from the DCSF School attendance website.
Insects often get branded with terms like “creepy” and “crawly,” prompting negative reputations for many of these creatures. For example, some insects appear to be dangerous – like the horned Hercules beetle that is incredibly strong and loves to battle with its mates – but are quite gentle in the hands of human beings. On the other hand, unique insects that radiate gentleness and beauty – like the praying mantis, glow worm, and caterpillar – are actually deceptive predators in many instances. As for other insects that look like they could barely stand on their two feet – such as the very weird yet clever antlion – they are equally ruthless when needed. And for aggressive insects with perceived blood-thirsty reputations – like the Amazon ant – the reputation is warranted in some situations but not always justified. If there’s a lesson to be learned with the following surprising insects, it’s that you shouldn’t always judge these books by their covers. Hercules, Hercules: Intimidating Beetle (Images via: Richard Sprague, Cranky Writer, Rick Lee Photo, McCully Heritage) The Hercules beetle certainly boasts the strength of such a lofty, mythological name. In scientific studies the Hercules beetle has demonstrated the ability to sustain 100 times its own weight and walk with 30 times its own weight, and only require 4 percent more energy consumption for such feats. Compare this to the elephant, which can carry 25 times its own weight. With males reaching 6.75 inches in length, the Hercules beetle is also the largest of the rhinoceros beetles, which feature a horn on their heads. These horns are not used for protection against larger predators but for battling other males when feeding. And when it comes to mating, the rhinoceros beetle loves to mix it up with other males, by engaging in wrestling matches in which the winning male tosses the losers off logs in an all-for-one battle that evokes images of the good old days of the World Wrestling Federation. Talk about testosterone overdrive. With all due respect though, Hercules beetles are quite relaxed in human hands, offering an up-close-and-personal view of an amazing creature. What’s an Antlion? Just Ask Those Helpless Ants (Images via: Wayne’s This and That, Esperance Blog, Walk about Story) Despite its name, the antlion is neither an ant nor a lion. An antlion is actually a type of insect known as a doodlebug. Why you may care less, ants certainly do! In its larval (baby) stage, the antlion is hardly a friend to ants but rather a vicious hunter, “the lion of ant hunters” so to speak. Despite their size and infancy, the antlions are cunning predators that set sand traps to feast on ants. Imagine an old horror movie when a hand pops out of the ground and snatches an unknowing person around the ankle. That’s kind of how antlions pounce on ants; once the ant falls slips into the trap, the antlion does whatever it takes to secure its victim, from throwing sand at the ant to pulling it into the sand hole to using its sharp jaws to secure and “drain the life” out of the helpless victim. The only thing worse for ants is the fact that antlions remain in their larval stages for three years, making them dangerous predators to ants for long periods of time. Praying Mantis: A Beautiful Predator One of the most interesting insects to observe in its natural element, the praying mantis is both a survivor and a fighter. While using its camouflage to remain on the “down low” from predatory birds, the praying mantis maneuvers its front legs in a crafty position that resembles a praying motion but actually allows them to pounce on insects that get too close. With its front legs containing many sharp spines, a praying mantis typically will not lose grip once getting hold of its prey; to ensure no escape, the mantis will summon its inner vampire, bite the neck of the helpless victim and paralyze it. While these tactics are typically used on beetles, butterflies, crickets, spiders and other smaller insects, a praying mantis may employ them on much bigger creatures like frogs, lizards, mice and hummingbirds, the last of which are unsuspectingly captured by praying mantises that take the appearance of flowers. Who would have ever expected such deception from the normally respectful praying mantis? Amazon Ants: The Big Bullies of the Insect World? (Image via: Flickr) Amazon ants may have the word “violent” attached to them, but the way in which they pillage other ant colonies is a bit surprising and dispels this characterization, at least in this instance. Absolutely unwilling to provide the most basic self-care at this point in their evolution and unable to feed themselves because of their sharp mandibles, Amazon ants swiftly and efficiently raid the ant colonies of the related genus Formica, steal as many pupae as possible, carry them back to their nests, and eventually utilize these ants (once they hatch) to provide them with food, nursing and many other duties. Amazingly, these raids are not vicious bloodbaths as popularly believed, in large part because the Formica are overwhelmed by a sense of panic and its own formic acid, thus causing many of these ants to retreat and let the Amazon ants take what they want. Still, Amazon ants certainly have no problems showing who is boss and resorting to killing when necessary. Stanford researchers have noted how Amazon ants kill off unwanted plants that compete with their host trees, simply by biting leaves and injecting them with their poisonous formic acid that cause the plants to die in short time. Float Like a Butterfly, Sting like a Caterpillar? While caterpillars evoke images of soft and furry creatures who transform from “ugly ducklings” to beautiful butterflies, what is not as well-known is that certain caterpillars may sting predators and humans as a means of self-defense. Most caterpillars have spines and barbed hooks that are harmless; however, a few stinging caterpillars utilize quill-like hairs that are connected to poison sacs. When touched, the hairs pierce the skin and release poison that can cause everything from mild pain to dermatitis and intestinal problems. Just ask some birds, which have become sick after being stung by caterpillars. Generally speaking, stinging caterpillars like the buck moth, lo moth, puss caterpillar and saddleback caterpillar are brightly colored, and human contact with them is relatively scarce. But when there is contact, watch out – the caterpillar is not as defenseless as we might think. Avoid the Bright Temptations of the Glow Worm (Images via:, Amazon) No, we’re not talking about the popular 1980s children’s toy but the insect larvae known as glow worms, which utilize a shining blue-green light that emanates from their abdomens and attracts insects at night. In comparable terms, glow worms can be described as the fishermen of the insect world. Glow worms create silk webs (known as snares) that resemble dewy necklaces and work like fishing lines. The visually appealing, silk webs are lined with mucus that helps trap smaller bugs and even larger insects like spiders and cockroaches. Once the insect gets caught in the silk web, the glow worm reels in its big catch with its teeth, prevents escape by attaching the prey to a mucous tube, and enjoys itself a nice meal (that is if you consider mucous-covered food fine dining).
Student Projects Improving Health of CommunityOGDEN, Utah – Students in Michelle Snow’s Health Promotion and Human Performance (HPHP) course are learning first hand about the health issues facing residents of inner-city Ogden. The Boys and Girls Club of Ogden, Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership Inc. (OWCAP) Head Start and Youth Impact have invited groups of six, five and three students respectively into their organizations to evaluate the health issues and needs of the agencies’ clients or staff. Each group used surveys, focus groups, interviews and statistical research to gather data from the clients, or staff and faculty in the case of Head Start. Once the initial assessments were complete, the students developed a budget and began to implement a health promotion program for each agency. The goal is for each student group to implement and evaluate the intervention plans they develop between now and the end of the semester. The groups will report on their findings at the end of the semester at a special symposium (April 24 at 10 a.m.) showcasing community service outcomes. “Most of our students don’t know what it’s like to live in the inner-city and the health issues that individuals deal with in that environment,” said Snow, an assistant professor who developed the course. “This is an opportunity for our students to perform graduate-level work, while assisting the community and its needs.” Students in the course said they’ve never been involved in a project like this before. “I knew the need existed, but it’s different when you interact with people and see that need first hand,” said Chris Bateman, a senior health promotions major, who is working with Youth Impact on oral hygiene issues for its clients—75-150 area youth who attend the after-school program at 2305 Grant Ave., in Ogden. Senior health promotions student Hillary Bushman’s group is addressing nutrition issues among clients of the Boys and Girls Club of Ogden. Many of the youth qualify for free meals, but still complain of hunger. “Initially we were trying to determine if they needed more education about nutritional foods that would sustain them, or whether they actually needed more food,” Bushman said. Survey results indicate poor nutritional choices are to blame, and the group is now educating the staff and children about choosing and preparing healthy food options Bushman said. At OWCAP Head Start, the focus is on developing a health intervention plan to support the more than 150 permanent full-time staff employed by the program. “If we help the staff find effective ways to deal with stress, it will help them be better providers for the children and their families,” said senior Colleen Fuller, a health promotions major assigned to the Head Start group. Fuller and three of her cohorts spent part of their spring break at the Head Start offices, administering surveys and meeting one-on-one with staff to identify stressors in the workplace and their personal lives. Mary Ellen Lykins, program manager for OWCAP Head Start, said the staff enjoyed the process. “The students have been wonderful in terms of working with us,” said Lykins. “Our staff deal with huge workloads and high expectations, so it was a great choice when the students decided to focus on stress reduction tips for our employees.” While the students have a relatively short time to assess clients’ needs and develop and implement their proposals (approximately 15 weeks), the goal is to create sustainable solutions that the organizations will continue to use, even after the students complete their work. Snow said that Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, a federal program, has partnered with the local Boys and Girls Club to ensure continuation of services after the WSU students leave. Snow worked with WSU’s Community Involvement Center to find community partners for the course. Representatives from the community agencies have been pleased with the students’ work and intervention programs being developed. “Our partnership with the students in the service learning project has been extremely beneficial,” said Betty Sawyer with the Ogden Boys and Girls Club. “We hope to use this partnership to build the foundation to provide more educational resources on food, nutrition and health at our facility.” Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. Michelle Snow, assistant professor health administrative services 801-626-7242 · email@example.com Chris Bateman, health promotion student Hillary Bushman, health promotion studentColleen Fuller, health promotion student - John Kowalewski, director of Media Relations (801) 626-7212 • firstname.lastname@example.org
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 The Germans are going to step in and backstop all Europe’s sloppiest economies. Imagine being a prudent budgeteer who is forced to pool a family budget with 20 of your neighbors, but having no voice in how they spend their money. How quickly do you think the credit card debt would add up? German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said euro-region countries may be forced to bail out other members of the 16-nation bloc that face problems refinancing their debt. “Some countries are slowly getting into difficulties with their payments,” Steinbrueck said late yesterday in a speech in Dusseldorf. “The euro-region treaties don’t foresee any help for insolvent countries, but in reality the other states would have to rescue those running into difficulty.” While declining to identify countries facing problems, the German finance chief said Ireland, which has a widening budget deficit, is in a “very difficult situation.” Ireland’s debt- rating outlook was cut by Moody’s Investors Service Jan. 30.
by Frank James With gas prices reaching a national average of $4-a-gallon over the weekend, the sense of national crisis is surging along with the cost of filling up. The New York Times focuses attention on those consumers who are akin to canaries in the coal mine, low-income rural residents who must drive long distances to jobs. They are suffering the effects earliest and worst. Here in the Mississippi Delta, some farm workers are borrowing money from their bosses so they can fill their tanks and get to work. Some are switching jobs for shorter commutes. People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money. The economic ramifications of the eye-popping gas prices, the result of sky-rocketing oil prices, are fairly self-evident. A weak economy is being further hamstrung by soaring energy costs. Efforts by Congress, the White House and the Federal Reserve Board to stave off recession are no doubt being undermined by the higher prices. In recent days, soaring fuel prices and disappointing employment data have reignited fears that the nation's economy -- which has taken a pounding over the past year from a housing downturn, credit crunch and weakening job market -- will slip into recession, or pull back further if a recession is already under way. Rising fuel prices are straining household budgets, damping the spending that drives more than two-thirds of the nation's economic activity. "What we're seeing here is a lot of additional pressure on a consumer sector that was soft to begin with," said Alliance Bernstein economist Joseph Carson. "Is it a tipping point by itself? It's close." The political effects from higher gas prices are in some cases obvious, in some not. For instance, voter anxiety over the high gas prices means that what people are seeing at the gas pump is going to require politicians to devote ever more attention to the issue during this election year. After news of the gas-price record was reported yesterday, House and Senate Republicans issued press releases seeking to blame higher prices on the unwillingness of Democrats to increase domestic drilling by opening up energy exploration the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in off shore waters. Here's a snippet from House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner: "Today marks another dubious day for this Do-Nothing Democratic Congress. On their watch, gas prices have soared to new heights, and by refusing to schedule a vote on a plan to increase American-made energy to help lower gas prices, congressional Democrats are complicit in this unprecedented surge in fuel costs. In the face of $4 per gallon gasoline, it is inexcusable that Democrats in charge of Congress will not take meaningful action to help reduce the pain at the pump on behalf of all consumers - and in the interest of our entire economy." And this from Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader: "Republicans, by and large, believe that the solution to this problem, in part, is to increase domestic production. And we had a chance to vote on that on the Senate floor, but have been stopped by some in Washington who think we can tax our way out of this problem or that buying more from OPEC is the way to go. It's time to increase American production, which benefits this country by creating new American jobs and helps deal with the problem of supply and demand." That "by and large" is significant because there are some Republicans who oppose drilling in ANWR and in coastal waters, like Sen. John McCain, the all-but-official Republican presidential nominee, for instance. Which places the Republican members of Congress in the ticklish position of bashing Democrats for, to some degree, holding the same position as the GOP's putative leader.
Iceland volcano's ash plume seen from space The ash plume from the unpronounceable Eyjafjallajokull volcano (above, in AP Photo by Brynjar Gaudi) continues to drift across parts of Britain and Northern Europe today. The gritty, abrasive dust can damage aircraft engines and literally grind them to a halt, so the events in Iceland have been canceling airline flights across much of the continent. There are lots of fascinating images of the volcano and the ash plume on the Web. The best, I think, are the ones taken from the ground, or from aircraft flying upwind of the volcano, like the one above, and at left, by Fior Kjartannson (AFP/Getty Images). But there have been many shots taken by orbiting satellites, including NASA's Aqua and Terras Earth Observing satellites. Here is a pair showing the huge steam plume that was sent up Wednesday as the volcano, erupting under a glacier, melted and boiled the glacier's ice. As spectacular as it is, the eruption does not yet appear big enough to cause regional or global effects on the amount of sunlight reaching the surface, with significant changes in the Earth's temperature. Such things are possible. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, in the Philippines in 1991 had a chilling effect on global temperatures (about 0.7 degree F globally) and caused gaudy sunsets around the world. Eruption of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia in 1815 caused catastrophic changes in the world's weather cycles, leading to what was called "The Year Without a Summer" in Europe and North America in 1816.
Opener: The Ten Commandments The class should be well familiar with the ten commandments by now. At the leader's discretion, either start by seeing how many they can remember without looking, and/or turn to Exodus 20 and read them together briefly. List them on the board for future reference during the lesson. Try to keep this portion of the lesson to 10-15 minutes. David and Bathsheba Tell the class that, while reading the next story, they should look for how many of the ten commandments are broken. Read through the story of David and Bathsheba together as a class (2 Samuel 11). Questions and discussion - Which of the ten commandments were broken? Name as many as you can. (Make sure they notice at least coveting the neighbor's wife, adultery, and murder. Let them figure out as much as they can on their own. Before moving on to the next question, point out how the commandments that were broken got more and more serious as the story progressed, and the chain of events kept going from bad to worse.) - At the beginning of the story, what was the very first commandment that was broken? - If David had not coveted his neighbor's wife, would the other commandments have been broken? - After David and Bathsheba committed adultery, what would it have taken to stop things before taking a life? - Backing up one: before David and Bathsheba committed adultery, what would it have taken to stop the whole horrible chain of events from starting? - So, when was the easiest time to have stopped that whole disaster? Make sure they either reach the conclusion themselves or help them along as needed: We may not always see "do not covet" as a serious commandment because it seems like a small thing. But "coveting" is where adultery starts, "coveting" is where stealing starts. And in David's case, it didn't stop there. All kinds of evil came from not stopping a thing when it was small enough to stop.
Dr. Weeks’ comment: We recommend coconut (pure & organic) for many health challenges. Recently, with the flu flying around creating sore throats and sinus problems, we accomplished excellent anti-viral effects by implanting a pea sized wad of coconut oil up the nostrils of people with the flu and sore throats. Coconut has, as an ingredient, a very potent, naturally occurring anti-viral agents, monolaurin and lauric acid, and this simple home remedy worked wonders. Here following is a great article about why you have not been using coconut oil over the past 25 years: can you spell CORN cornering the market with smear campaign and PR? See the movie King Corn http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/kingcorn/ and rue the day you fell in love with Corn Flakes and high-fructose corn syrup. Corn, in excess, also depletes vitamin B3 and can predispose to mood instabilities and psychosis as in schizophrenia. How a PR Campaign Led to Unhealthy Diets By Beatrice Trum Hunter Trans fats form when unstable oils, predominantly polyunsaturated ones, undergo hydrogenation. This process hardens the oils an makes them more stable. However, the process converts the natural sis form of the oils to an unnatural trans form. The trans form has been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease. After lengthy deliberation, the Food and Drug Administration recently took action. The agency will require, by 2006, a specific declaration of trans fatty acids contained in food products. This action will affect both food processors and consumers. What is likely to occur? Many products, formerly containing trans fatty acids, will be reformulated to contain lower levels, and others will be labeled “trans-free” or “not hydrogenated.” How will processors be able to formulate food products without trans fats? Doubtless, food technologists will devise solutions. However, food processors already have several options available. They can use oils that have been modified, such as high oleic oils and medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). Or, processors could revert to palm or coconut oils, which have served them well in the past. Unfortunately, these two oils have been wrongly maligned. Trans Fats are Not Saturated Fats At present, whenever the words “trans fats” are mentioned, they are followed by the words “and saturated fats.” Wrongly, these two types of fats have been inextricably intertwined by officials and the public. Both types of fats are viewed as unhealthy. To equate saturated fats with trans fats is incorrect and misleading. Saturated fats are not created equal. Palm and coconut oils, predominantly saturated, nevertheless are healthy oils. Food processors reluctantly had abandoned their use in the late 1980s, because of scare tactics waged by competing interests and misguided individuals. The story involved market concerns, not scientific evidence. Tropical Oils and Trade Politics Taxing Imported Oils. As early as 1934, the U.S. Congress imposed a tax of 3 cents per pound on palm and coconut oils intended for food, but not for industrial use. (Less than half of these imported oils are used in food products. The majority is used in soaps, suntan lotions, and other nonfood uses.) According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the act was “principally to protect domestically produced vegetable oils in their use in the production of edible products.” The tax was suspended from 1957 to 1963. In 1965, a Coconut Oil Users Committee, comprising many U.S. food companies that were using imported coconut and palm oils in their food products, sought a repeal of the tax. In 1966, Congress complied with the request and suspended the tax permanently. The oils could thus enter the country duty-free. However, lobbying efforts to protect domestic oils continued. Another bill introduced in Congress in 1977, if successful, would have reimposed the 3-cents-per-pound tax on these imported oils used with products such as potato chips. The bill failed. Although these imported oils represented only a very small fraction of oils used in food processing, domestic oil producers were concerned that the lower prices of the imported oils would not only be attractive for increased domestic sales but also would threaten to become global competitors. The “Tropical Grease Campaign.” By the mid-1980s, soybean oil accounted for more than 70% of all edible oils in the United States; palm and coconut oils, only 4%. However, the domestic oil industry viewed with alarm the competing interest of the imported oils. In 1986, with endorsements form other farm groups, the American Soybean Association (ASA) launched a series of attacks that became known as the “tropical grease campaign.” The campaign created a new term, “tropical oils,” and used the phrase derisively. The term was inaccurate. Some oils produced in temperate climates, such as peanuts, soybeans, and other oil-bearing plants, also are produced in tropical climates. The real targets were palm and coconut oils. The face-off was not between tropical and temperate-climate oils, but rather between domestic and imported ones. The ADA attempted to block competition in 1987 by trying to persuade lawmakers to introduce legislation against cholesterol-rising saturated fats. This effort was abetted by a self-styled consumer crusader, Phil Sokolof, who waged his own campaign against these oils. He established and funded the National Heart Savers Association, and paid for full-page advertisements in nationally distributed newspapers, with the dramatic headline “The Poisoning of America!” He charged that tropical oils destroy life or impair health. The combined campaigns of Sokolof and ASA convinced many consumers that tropical oils were unhealthy, and consumers should be warned on product labels. A call for labeling. The ASA viewed potential legislation on labeling as its “biggest weapon” against foreign-oil producers. The ASA ominously warned its members that foreign producers “ere trying to put you out of business.” FDA officials testified against labels that highlighted tropical oils. The FDA press officer, Chris Lecos, suggested that instead of descriptions of which oils are used, “we need labeling on fatty acid content and a breakdown between polyunsaturated and saturated fats.” U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeuter admitted that “the main objective of the proposed tropical labeling legislation was to protect the domestic oil industry.” The Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils charged: “The health angle is a smoke screen for a trade issue. …Specific labeling of foods in regard to their content of the so-called tropical oils is clearly discriminatory and without scientific basis.” The Malaysian palm oil industry, the largest supplier of palm oil, protested against what it termed a “smear campaign” waged by rival American farmers. The group complained to the advertising division of a radio broadcasting company about deceptive advertisements, and caused ASA to withdraw its advertisement claims. Similarly, the Philippines coconut oil industry, the major supplier of coconut oil, complained of false reports being circulated about its product. Conversion, with Problems The campaign succeeded in having major food processors reformulate their products with domestically produced oils. According to food writer Jane Heimlich, the anti-tropical-oil campaign resulted in a switch to “true artery-clogging horrors-partially hydrogenated oils.” The reformulation created problems. Palm and coconut oils resist oxidation and are highly stable. They do not require hydrogenation, and are trans-free. However, many of the domestic oils are predominantly polyunsaturated, which makes them quite unstable, and subject to oxidation. To make them more stable, they need to be hydrogenated. A major portion of soybean oil, for example, is hydrogenated. Food processors switched reluctantly. Palm and coconut oils have advantages over hydrogenated vegetable oils from the viewpoint of food processing. Palm oil can be separated readily by a physical process into a liquid fraction (palm olein) and a solid fraction (palm stearin). Manufacturers can make bakery shortening from a blend of palm oil and palm sterin, yet leave all the polyunsaturates intact. The resulting food product has no trans fats. Also, both palm and coconut oils are highly suitable for frying because of their high oxidative stability. Because palm and coconut oils are semi-solid naturally, they do not require hydrogenation. Unlike many other vegetable oils, extraction can be done without the use of harsh chemical solvents. These oils have low foaming tendencies when heated, so they do not require the use of anti-foaming agents. Because these oils have high smoke points, they resist polymerization and oxidation. These features benefit food processors, but do they harm consumers? The aggressive campaign against these oils was intended to make consumers fearful of unhealthy qualities in the oils, and to pressure food processors to eliminate them. However, the scientific evidence demonstrates that palm and coconut oils are healthful. The Scientific Evidence At the height of the campaign waged against palm oil, the July 1987 issue of Nutrition Reviews printed a short review of new findings about palm oil. Palm oil does not act like a saturated fat. On the contrary, animal studies showed that palm oil acts more like an unsaturated fat. Palm oil contains 40% oleic acid and 10% linoleic acid. Both of these fatty acids are effective in lowering plasma cholesterol. Also, palm oil contains tocotrienols, which lower cholesterol. Special triglyceride species and some non-triglyceride species identified in palm oil may have physiologic properties that differ form most saturated fats. A fraction of palm oil is very rich in vitamin E, and also contains large amounts of carotenoids. Both are beneficial in maintaining membrane fluidity and function. In fact, because of its carotene and vitamin E content, palm oil reduces blood clotting that can lead to stroke. The newer findings showed that palm oil had beneficial effects on blood lipids, and reduced cardiovascular risks, thrombosis, and atherosclerosis. Later, it was found that palm oil is the richest know source of natural carotenoids. By 1993, a natural carotene complex product was extracted from palm oil. Similarly, newer findings about coconut oil demonstrated that it, too, is a healthy fat. In 1988, N.W. Istfan of Harvard University Medical School’s Nutrition Coordinating Center, vindicated coconut oil. Dr. Istfan reported: “For the U.S. consumer, the use of coconut oil does not increase the role of heart disease.” Other researchers demonstrated that coconut oil reduces the risk of atherosclerosis, heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative conditions. It helps prevent bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, as a result of its antimicrobial component, lauric acid, which is found solely in coconut oil and in breast milk. Coconut oil is rich in MCTs, which provide an immediate source of fuel and energy, and enable the human body to metabolize fat efficiently. This feature helps dieters, athletes, individuals who have difficulty digesting fat, and those with impaired immune systems. Unlike some saturated fats, coconut oil does not raise cholesterol. The historic evidence strengthens recent findings about palm and coconut oils. Many groups of people, throughout the world, have thrived on these oils in their daily diets, without experiencing negative health effects. Coming Full Circle. If some food processors choose to revert to their use of palm and coconut oils-which served them well in the past-an irony should be noted: Instead of the former label declaration announcing that the product contained “NO TROPICAL OILS!” the newer labels may announce “CONTAINS TROPICAL OILS! NO TRANS FATS!” Such labels would come full circle. This article originally appeared in the August 2003 issue of Consumers’ Research, vol. 86 no. 8.
Technology finds the right bike for you Using a laser pointer and a few tracking balls, a computer fitting can enhance the ride for bikers and reduce pain. It starts with an interview, and a few body measurements. Then a cleat check: A simple adjustment can help relieve pressure on the bottom of the foot. “I am marking where your fifth and first metatarsal heads are. The big bony protrusion behind your big and little toe, and that’s going to tell me where to place the cleat,” said Brian Jacobson, Fit Specialist at Running Away Multisport. Now it’s time to hop on the Fit Unit. As I pedaled, Jacobson tracked my movement with a laser. Right away, he detected a problem. “Do you ever have issues with IT bands being tight?” he asked. I said yes. Brian said he could tell it was the left side because he said my knee was tracking in. It’s an exercise in geometry and physiology — angling one foot can fix the knee. Other adjustments impact the rest of the body. “We are able to move the rider 1 millimeter at a time as they are pedaling so that they feel instantaneous feedback from position to position,” Jacobson said. Tracking balls were placed along my legs and upper body captured my movement. It’s the same technology doctors use to analyze patients undergoing therapy for gait problems. “There are certain measurements we are looking for in terms of the body angles, but a lot of it is going to be based off of rider preference,” Jacobson said. The goal is to eliminate discomfort. All the data collected during the two-hour fit process will dictate the type of bike best for me. But there are warning signs. Sports medicine physician Dr. Terry Nicola says if your bike doesn’t fit your body, you’ll feel it. “Your knees hurt, you get this gradual worsening back ache, neck pain. And even the area around your crotch or genital area can become numb,” Nicola said. At the end of the session, Jacobson posted my numbers. My long femurs and short torso make it trickier to find the right ride — but that’s part of the challenge. With the right adjustments, I’ll be back on the road and pain free. The cost of the bike fit is $300 but if you buy a new bike, that money goes toward the purchase. You can also retrofit your own bike for a smaller fee. Running Away Multisport Fit Specialist: Brian Jacobson 2219 N. Clybourn, Chicago 800 Waukegan, Deerfield
\|A pair within the larger group.\| \|Characteristic dorsal shape - a dead giveaway. A whale watch boat watches blue whales in the distance.\| \|Spy hop to check us out!\| \|The black bulbous melon, lack of beak (or discernible one) and broad-based falcate dorsal fin help us to identify the species\| \|The world's best support team who happen to be my parents (and as it turns out - my good luck charms too!)\| An amazing new addition to my life list - the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhnychus). A pod of about 30 cruised towards and stuck around our boat giving us some great photo and sighting opportunities.....that is until a whale watch boat cottoned on and came racing right through causing them to hurriedly dive out of sight!!! It also happened to be the day my parents came out on their annual 'sit-on-boat-with-Asha-and-watch-her-do-what-makes-her-happy' trip so the whole thing immediately became more memorable with exclamations of excitement and joy from all quarters. Pilot whales are actually large dolphins and come in two species. This one, found in tropical and subtropical waters and the long finned pilot whale that is distributed antitropically. Click on this link to learn more about this species http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/PilotWhale.htm and see how it differs from its long-finned cousin.
State of Conservation (SOC) Danger List: Yes Document Source: WHC-09/33.COM/7A.Add Threats:Deliberate destruction of heritage Housing Land conversion Management systems/ management plan Other Threats: a) Significant decay of the property caused by local climatic conditions and alluvial erosionb) Stability of the foundations (earth mechanics) of the Jam Nizamuddin tombd) Lack of monitoring Document Source: WHC-09/33.COM/7B Threats:Erosion and siltation/ deposition Management systems/ management plan The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property. Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”). All mission reports are not always available electronically.
In the hotly contested Kansas Republican primary elections this year, polls generated a lot of interest. In two Kansas Congressional districts, independent polls did a good job of predicting the vote for all candidates except the two winners, and a candidate’s own poll may have been undermined by large voter turnout. In a KWCH/SurveyUSA poll of the Kansas first Congressional district, the poll accurately (within the margin of sampling error) predicted the outcomes for all candidates except for victor Tim Huelskamp. The survey predicted 24 percent of the vote for him, and the actual vote was 35 percent. This poll had three candidates tied, so it didn’t predict a winner. The same group also polled the fourth Congressional district. For three candidates — Jim Anderson, Wink Hartman, and Jean Schodorf, the poll predicted the exact percentage that the candidates actually received. The exception was winner Mike Pompeo. The poll predicted he would win and receive 31 percent of the vote. He did win, and his actual vote total was 39 percent. An election eve poll by political consulting firm Singularis had mixed results in the fourth district, but is notable in that it predicted eventual winner Pompeo’s vote total closely. The poll indicated 37 percent of the vote, and the actual was 39 percent. In the fourth district, Schodorf released four polls that her campaign commissioned. Each poll showed her support increasing, until in the third poll, she took the lead. In the fourth poll her lead increased. When comparing this poll to actual election results, we find that Schodorf’s poll overstated her actual performance by six percentage points. The performance of Anderson and Hartman were understated by six and seven points. For winner Pompeo, the final Schodorf poll understated his performance by 13 percentage points. (These polls did not include candidate Paij Rutschman.) In a conversation before the election with Schodorf’s pollster, he indicated several reasons why the numbers in her surveys were different than the KWCH/SurveyUSA poll numbers. One difference between the polls was the source of the voters called by the pollsters. The KWCH/SurveyUSA polls started with a list of households. To determine likely voters, the pollster would ask respondents if they were going to vote. Schodorf’s polls used voter lists as a source, calling only on voters who had a history of voting in August primary elections. Because many people look at voting as a positive civic duty, it is thought that people will overstate their actual tendency to vote, and this is a reason why polls might decide to use voter history as a selection device, especially in primary elections where turnout is generally low. It is standard practice of campaigns to use voter lists in their voter contact efforts. But this year voter turnout was high. The Wichita Eagle reported voter turnout in Sedgwick County — home to about 71 percent of the population in the fourth district — was 25 percent. That’s higher than the 19 percent turnout predicted statewide, and higher than in most primary elections. Considering Republican voters, the Sedgwick County election office reports there are 104,558 registered Republicans, and 49,967 Republican ballots were cast. That indicates a turnout of almost 48 percent, considering Sedgwick County only. By calling only those with a history of primary voting, many people who voted in this election would not have been sampled by polls based on voter history. The Schodorf polls were conducted by live operators, while the KWCH/SurveyUSA polls were automated response. This can lead to a difference in the types of people that respond to the poll. In the Republican Senate primary between Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt, the final KWCH/SurveyUSA poll had Moran ahead by 49 to 39 percent, with eight percent undecided. The actual totals were Moran winning with 50 percent to Tiahrt’s 45 percent, so that poll understated Tiahrt’s total by six percentage points while correctly choosing the winner.
Polar bear. Photo by Ken Whitten. I recently had the chance to see Arctic Tale, a National Geographic documentary film geared towards children that tells the story of a young polar bear (Nanu) and walrus (Seela) from birth to adulthood. The movie touches on a few examples of how climate change is affecting these animals and pulls at the heartstrings in the process. In one scene, Nanu’s brother collapses from hunger and exhaustion. He dies and has to be left behind as his mother and sister move on in search of food. The movie relies on footage captured over the course of 15 years, so Nanu and Seela are fictional composites of multiple animals. But the story of their fragile existence is no less real. If anything, it is far more tragic in real life. Despite some progress in May of this year when the polar bear was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Department of Interior cited melting Arctic sea ice as the primary reason for listing, the decision also came with a caveat. Thehe listing could not be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This stipulation has allowed oil and gas exploration and development planning to proceed unhindered and the Bush administration has taken full advantage. A few months prior to the ESA listing, in February 2008, the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) held an auction for oil and gas leases in Alaska's Chukchi Sea. This summer, the companies that bought those leases began seismic tests. Facilitating this aggressive development agenda is the MMS’s five-year plan for the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, which proposes opening even more of the rich Arctic waters to oil and gas industry access. At the same time, a new expedited nationwide offshore leasing and drilling plan includes these areas, as well as Bristol Bay. (view a map of leasing on Alaskas' North Slope and Arctic seas) Bush administration policies have opened some 30 million acres in Arctic Alaska—an area the size of Pennsylvania—to oil and gas drilling. Only the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remains off-limits, and as we know from the attention it received during the presidential campaign, even that is not safe. It’s not that The Wilderness Society is opposed to oil development in the Arctic. Prudhoe Bay has been producing oil for more than 30 years. What concerns us is the scale and pace at which decisions are being made, and how little consideration is being given to the cumulative impacts of proposed development activities, climate change, and the interests of local people. We also know that, despite industry declarations to the contrary, oil development is simply not environmentally friendly. Especially in frozen sea conditions, it is difficult if not impossible to contain an oil spill. The technology doesn’t yet exist. With sea ice melting at alarming rates, polar bears, along with the birds, mammals, and fish that make up this rich Arctic environment, already have it hard enough. National Geographic’s Arctic Tale ends on a relatively happy note, with the polar bear and walrus finding mates and continuing the cycle of life. Unless dramatic steps are taken to halt the push to drill every last inch of America’s Arctic coast and seas, however, the real life Arctic Tale is likely to be much more tragic.
Hallgrímskirkja sits at the center of downtown Reykjavík, a massive gray slab of church that has, to me, about the same level of architectural charm as the Potosi Correctional Center. It rises up from the street in a concrete wave meant to look like the basalt pillars found elsewhere in Iceland; it has no color to it, and given the cloudiness of Iceland’s skies, often it forms a gray wall against a gray curtain. Although Hallgrímskirkja is probably the most famous building in Reykjavík, I found few reasons to visit it. I am told that for a handful of krónur one can go up into the spire and enjoy a wonderful view of the city, assuming that the fog isn’t too dense. Some of my classmates did this, and reported having a lovely experience, but I never made the trip myself. This was, in part, because my Heathen character found the idea distasteful – I mean, I didn’t come to Iceland to spend time in churches. The other part is that I didn’t have any handfuls of krónur to spare. But I spent quite a lot of time in the neighborhood around Hallgrímskirkja, all the same. The neighborhood around the church is called Goðahverfið, or, as a handy placard notes, “The Neighborhood of the Gods.” The streets to the west of the church are all named for the Norse gods. Not 500 feet from the doors of the most impressive Christian edifice on the island sit streets named for Thor and Freyja. The metaphor almost seems too obvious. I remember something that my friend Kári, a member of Ásatrúarfélagið, said: I think the reason Ásatrú comes so easily to us is because we were never very good Christians in the first place. I made an afternoon of walking the Neighborhood of the Gods one day after my morning Icelandic class let out, taking pictures of every street sign that bore some relation to the myths. (I justified this as a way of studying noun declensions. Freyjugata – weak feminine noun; you can tell by the way Freyja becomes Freyju. Njarðargata – the ö in Njörður becomes an a in the genitive.) The selection of deities seemed to me odd and fragmentary. Most of the major deities have streets – Óðinsgata, Þórsgata, and so on – and so do many of the more obscure figures – Fjölnisvegur, named for Fjölnir, a son of Freyr named in Ynglinga Saga, and Sjafnargata, for Sjöfn, a goddess mentioned a few times in Snorri’s Edda. But some others are looked over. Freyr himself, for instance, has no street. Neither does Frigg. Urður gets one, but not Skuld or Verðandi. I don’t pretend to have an explanation for this, except that perhaps having Freyjugata, Freysgata, and Friggjargata within a three-block area would have made giving directions to foreigners a nightmare. Other than the signs, there’s nothing especially significant in the Neighborhood of the Gods to draw the eye of a mythology buff. Even the signs themselves are mostly just fun to look in a scavenger-hunt kind of way, though there were a few intersections and parallels that caught my attention – the intersection of Baldursgata and Nönnugata is sweet in a sad way, and, as Karl Siegfried at the Norse Mythology blog has pointed out, it’s amusing that Lokastígur is hidden behind Þórsgata, just as Loki always seems to be working at something behind Thor’s back. But I never found any hidden statues or secret shrines there; it is, for the most part, just another neighborhood in Reykjavík. And yet there is something in it that pulls at me. It’s the magic of the names. Óðinsgata is Óðinsgata; it’s a street named for the god I spend the most time thinking about. I wanted to see that street sign with my own eyes almost as much as I wanted to see Þingvellir or Skógafoss. It’s just the name of the street. But that name was enough to lure me to it. The name was also enough to make me visit Odin, Minnesota, a postage-stamp of a town about 35 miles north of the Iowa border. Odin was about two and a half hours out of my way on the drive from Minneapolis to Missouri, which was otherwise a straight shot down I-35. I took the country highways out past St. Peter and Mankato and found myself approaching Odin a little after noon. Nothing in Odin drew a connection between the town and its namesake, except perhaps for a yellow “NORWEGIAN X-ING” sign hanging on one of the electric poles. The Neighborhood of the Gods at least had a plaque and the Guesthouse Odinn; Odin, MN, just had a cheery red-on-white sign that read “WELCOME TO ODIN.” I wandered around for a few minutes, taking pictures of the Odin Community Center and Fire Hall, the Odin State Bank, the Odin Post Office. (Alas, no First Church of Odin, which was of course my real desire.) The town seemed empty – nobody on the streets at all. I walked over to the Odin General Store and Bait Shop. I opened the door and found that apparently everybody in the city was there too, standing around folding tables; it looked like they had just finished lunch. Perhaps it was a regular Sunday gathering. The room was dark, and even though it seemed like it was the closest thing to a grocery store around, there were only a couple of shelves holding dry goods and a freezer with sodas and Hot Pockets. I drew stares. I don’t think they saw many tourists there. I paid for a Cherry Coke and left. It’s been six months now since I returned home from my trip to the north, and I still think about that seemingly uneventful visit to Odin, MN, nearly every day. We give things names to connect ourselves to them, because the name has meanings beyond what it appears to signify. Odin is a one-eyed god, and Odin is a town of 100 people in southern Minnesota, and Odin is a street in downtown Reykjavík. And Odin is the space in my mind where these three things, and three thousand other things, intersect, meld, and are sent forth again. I remember driving away from Odin, a few moments after I took an obligatory selfie next to the welcome sign. I watched that sign recede into the distance in my rearview mirror as I began my journey southward, signaling the end of one pilgrimage, marking the beginning of whatever came next.
There are approximately 30 STIs that are now identified. STIs are more common than colds and flu. It is estimated that approximately 9 million teens and young adults ages 15 to 24 will be newly infected with an STI this year. Compared to adults, sexually active teens and young adults are at a higher risk for getting STIs, mostly due to what they do, how their bodies function and the pressure that is put on them to be sexually active (Source: CDC, Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2006) What is a sexually transmitted infection? An STI is an infectious condition that is passed from one person to another person during sexual activity. This includes anal, oral, and vaginal sex, and in some cases intimate skin-to-skin contact. Bacterial STDs/STIs are curable if properly diagnosed and treated by a doctor. People with curable STIs may not receive the proper medical treatment because they don’t know they are infected. Viral STDs/STIs cannot be cured, but sometimes the symptoms can be treated. Viral STIs can be transmitted during sexual activity even if no symptoms of disease are present. What are the possible results of an STD/STI? - Damage to organs - Damage to unborn babies - Pelvic Inflammatory Disease What is the difference between an STI and an STD? When we hear the term STD and STI, they are often used interchangeably. STI is a sexually transmitted infection. Bacteria, viruses, and other parasites can enter the body during sexual contact with another person who carries these germs (also known as pathogens). People can pass on these pathogens without even knowing it because in many cases there are no symptoms. These pathogens (germs) get into the body and multiply in numbers but they do not cause any visible symptoms. In other words, a person may be totally unaware that they have an infection. Over time, depending on the strain of the bacteria, virus, or protozoa, these infections can cause visible damage or symptoms and this is then known as a disease. Most people with an STD (sexually transmitted disease) will know it because symptoms show up. Not all STIs (sexually transmitted infections) cause STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). But an STD came from an STI. (Source: The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, Nov. 2011) - bacterial vaginosis - chlamydia * - gonorrhea * - lymphogranuloma venereum - mycoplasmas, genital - syphilis * - treponematoses, endemic - pubic lice - trichomoniasis * - Epstein Barr virus - hepatitis A - hepatitis B - hepatitis C - hepatitis D - herpes simplex virus human immunodeficiency virus * - human papillomavirus - human T-cell lymphotropic virus - molluscum cantagiosum Some of these STI’s can be contracted through other means other than sexual activity.
MUNCIE (WISH) — The latest round of awards through the “Hardest Hit Fund” blight elimination program, gives a combined $10.8 million dollars to seven Indiana cities and two counties. They’re just the latest awards granted to give cities funds to demolish abandoned or vacant homes. As part of the application process, officials say they have to have an ‘end use,’ or an idea of how to use that space, once the home is torn down. Anderson will receive $1.4 million dollars, Elwood will receive $625,000 dollars and Alexandria will receive $355,000, among several others. Muncie will receive $2.88 million dollars, that city officials say will go to help demolish 154 homes in 16 neighborhoods. It took months for a team to identify those abandoned and vacant homes that qualify for the funding, and for them to plan for what will happen next to the property. “It couldn’t be nothing but a positive thing,” said J.C. Robertson, who lives near two homes the city could demolish. He’s lived in the neighborhood for 42 years. “It was a real nice neighborhood when I first moved here,” he said. “This couldn’t be nothing but positive.” Garnet Arnold owns property near another vacant, boarded up home. “There have been people seen going in and out of it. We’re afraid it’s going to end up having drugs or something like that related to it, and we just don’t want anything like that around here,” Arnold said. When she found out the city wants to tear it down, and do something with the property, she said, “We’re very excited about that.” So are those working in the Muncie Mayor’s office. They say, they’ve been working since October on this. “This program, and the funding the city is receiving, suddenly opens the door to so much more,” said Christopher Allen, the Hardest Hit Funds Coordinator for the City of Muncie. “Most municipalities don’t have the resources to do as much as we’d like to do, so this is going to be a great shot in the arm to be able to get more things done in Muncie,” said Dr. Terry Whitt Bailey, Director of Community Development for the City of Muncie. As part of the application process, officials say they already have an idea of how to use that space, once the home is torn down. Nothing is final just yet, but they’ve got many options: small parks, community gardens, new construction, or just adding that lot to the home beside it. “For one of the first times in a long time, we’ll be able to make a big impact when it comes to blight elimination,” said Allen. Allen says they could start demolition work in Muncie by the fall.
Tue July 3, 2012 Is An AIDS-Free Generation Within Reach? Originally published on Tue July 3, 2012 7:06 pm ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: More now on the new era of AIDS. Joining us is Ambassador Eric Goosby. He's the head of PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. That's the U.S.'s initiative to help HIV-AIDS patients around the globe. Ambassador Goosby, welcome to the program. ERIC GOOSBY: Thank you. SIEGEL: And first, is that rather encouraging story that Dick Knox just reported about Haiti, is it typical of what's happening in other developing countries? Is Haiti a successful outlier or around the medium? What would you say? GOOSBY: I'd say that the HIV-AIDS response and the TB response that often runs concomitant with the HIV epidemic is typical. Haiti with its 135,000 HIV-positive people has about 38- to 40,000 who are on antiretroviral therapy at this time, and I would say that's pretty typical. SIEGEL: And we would find the same numbers in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, you would think? GOOSBY: You would find anywhere from 35 percent up to 95 percent in some of the countries like Rwanda and Botswana that have moved rapidly to really almost complete coverage of people below the 350 mark in their CD4 count, which is the trigger to initiate antiretroviral therapy. SIEGEL: Dick Knox reported on the case of Mr. Francois St. Ker, who is surviving and evidently robust, thanks to his medication. He was at death's door a decade ago. Roughly, how much does it cost for a patient like that to be taking medication, say, for a year? GOOSBY: The cost really started out at the beginning of PEPFAR in 2003, 2004 at about $1,100 per patient per year. That included drug costs with costs for a physician, a nurse, a patient information system. That total took that $1,100 down to $335 per patient per year, average. SIEGEL: Well, explain to people who I think have the impression, at least, that an HIV-positive individual in the United States is racking up far higher costs than that. How is it that we can treat someone successfully for $350 a year in Haiti, but not so in this country, or can we? GOOSBY: Well, it's a combination of lower costs because we went to 98 percent generic drugs. We also, in our sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti programs, bought in bulk, so the unit cost per drug dropped precipitously. In the United States, you're in a situation where you have 27 different anti-retroviral drugs that can be put together in, you know, really a multiplicity of different combinations, all of which, if they are not generic but brand, are very costly. So the average cost in the United States per patient per year varies from $7,000 to $9,000. SIEGEL: Isn't the challenge in trying to get people treated early on, early after they've contracted the infection? That, in that case, what you really require to find people who have flu-like symptoms, say, is a primary health care system and that may be a pretty tall order. GOOSBY: It is a tall order. I think that the likelihood that we are going to be successful at bringing people in very early to infection is low. It's a strategy that we should engage with, but not one that we should depend on. I think that people, as they become more aware of the virus and as testing now is widely available, our ability to bring people in earlier and earlier will get better and better. SIEGEL: Ambassador Goosby, on the occasion of World AIDS Day last December, President Obama called for an AIDS-free generation, but activists say the administration, in fact, lacks the will to do what it takes to end the epidemic. It's cutting PEPFAR funding, having trouble spending more than a billion dollars that's in the pipeline. Are the resources going to match the president's rhetoric here? GOOSBY: Well, I would say that, in the time that President Obama's administration has taken over the helm of PEPFAR, we have gone from 1.7 million people on treatment to close to four million people on treatment. Our ability to identify, enter and retain these individuals in treatment programs is mapped out. We know where we're going. We know what groups we have to increase our testing and outreach efforts in, and I am confident we will meet all of the World AIDS Day goals with the current budget setting. SIEGEL: Ambassador Goosby, thank you very much for talking with us today. GOOSBY: It's a real pleasure. SIEGEL: Ambassador Eric Goosby is the head of PEPFAR. That stands for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
WOODWARD TOWNSHIP — Eight horses are recovering Friday night in Lycoming County after Humane Officers removed them from a farm in the Williamsport area. Authorities believe the animals were neglected and starved because of the condition they were in. Humane officers said they discovered these horses near Williamsport earlier this week. Another horse over who was boarding his animals at the farm reported the suspected neglect to the SPCA. The horses were seized Thursday, but now the SPCA is working to determine exactly who is responsible. You can see the ribs on one horse, just one of eight seized from a farm near Williamsport. Humane Officer said all of them are in terrible health. “Their feet are bad, we have thrush, we have rain rot. we of course have, well basically it’s starvation,” said Lycoming County SPCA Humane Officer Lawrence Woltz. Two stallions, one mare and five geldings are now being nursed back to health at Appalachian Horse Help & Rescue. All came from the farm along Youngs Road near Williamsport and humane officers are investigating to determine exactly how many people will face charges. “You wonder why people wouldn’t feed them and take better care of them and I guess the sad thing from what I heard is she was boarding some of the horses,” said Norman Koch with Appalachian Horse Help & Rescue Inc. Humane Officer Lawrence Woltz says this winter has made it especially tough on larger animals because the snow has covered any grass they may have grazed on. “These large animals depend 100 percent on their human caretakers and if that’s not provided then this is what we end up with,” said Woltz. Workers at Appalachian Horse Help & Rescue say it’s going to take months to get these guys back in good health, and that’s going to take a lot of supplies and a lot of volunteers. “It will be expensive, I think a lot of times people don’t think of what it costs to keep a horse,” said Koch. They say they’ll be needing lots of good hay and grain and are in need of donations. Ron Baney is friends with the farm’s owner and saw the horses just last week. He couldn’t believe the horses were taken. “I’d say that they really take care of them, or they wouldn’t have horses the way they do and they wouldn’t be feeding them and doing things, and it’s obvious they tried. They did that,” said Baney of Woodward Township. The farm’s owners were home when we stopped by. They told Newswatch 16 they had no comment. Humane officers say they expect to file charges against up to four different individuals sometime next week.
age of marriage egypt, alliance for arab women, cairo political, cairo politics, cairo society, CEDAW, CEWLA, civil rights, civil rights egypt, civil rights MENA, civil rights women, constitution, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, cutural society egypt, eaual rights under the law, egypt equality, egypt government, Egypt laws, egypt legal rights, Egypt parliament, egypt political, egypt political system, egypt politics, egyptian charter, egyptian constitution, egyptian equal rights, egyptian equality, egyptian laws, egyptian rights, egyptian transparency, Egyptian women, equal rights for all, equality, equality advocates, equality now, fair government, girls rights egypt, government charter, human rights advocates, human rights organizations, islamic law, laws and legislation, legal rights, marriage laws egypt, marriage rights Egypt, MENA region consitutions, MENA region laws, metered, new government egypt, rights advocates, rights of the child egypt, Sharia, transparent egypt, transparent government, UN CEDAW, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, united natios egypt, wnn, wnn - women news network, wnn breaking, women advocates, women and law, women and law egypt, women's rights (WNN) Cairo, EGYPT: As a new Constitution for Egypt is looming, women and human rights organizations are particularly concerned about the inclusion of articles stipulating the importance of gender equality. Advocates are calling for both women with men, in all spheres of Egyptian life be treated under the law equally. This includes equal rights under Islamic Law within Egypt’s cultural, civil, political, social and economic spheres of life. Because of varying interpretations of Islamic law known as ‘Sharia’, Articles in the new Constitution may cause women and girls to face unfair and unreasonable treatment say advocates, as the lowering of the minimum age of marriage requirements for girls may be lowered to match religious law, which allows girls in Egypt to be married before puberty. Although the Egyptian parliament remains dissolved with no indication of when new elections will be held, a Constitutional Committee is now set to draw up a new Charter for the country. But women’s rights advocates are dismayed by the continued exclusion of women in the context of legal rights. With challenges ahead that may forbid women to enter on an equal footing with men in numerous areas of Egyptian life, many women are hoping to push forward. An evident and worrisome fact is that very few women are currently part of the Constitutional Committee. Known throughout Cairo and the nation, the Constitutional Committee has been criticized by rights organizations for its bias after Committee members were unconstitutionally appointed. Despite there being little to no transparent process for constitutional review under the debate of the full draft various provisions, such as discriminatory Articles outlining separate and different rules for men than women, have leaked out to the public sphere. “The current draft Constitution is incompatible with the aspirations of the January 2011 revolution and Egypt’s international obligations and commitments,” says Equality Now with advocate partners on Thursday. “Please continue to support those in Egypt who are demonstrating to ensure that women’s rights are protected and promoted under the new Constitution,” says advocates as they urge the Constitutional Committee to guarantee sex equality as set forth in Egypt’s previous Constitution. They are also asking that the human rights instruments ratified in Egypt’s previous Constitution stay in place without deletion. These human rights principles include the United Nations CEDAW – Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is now feared that specific words outlining the text with ‘equality for all’ may be completely excluded from Egypt’s upcoming laws and legislation. For more information about this action and to send a personal letter of petition – link to Equality Now HERE 2012 WNN – Women News Network
Woods Hole Science Center Interpolation of Reconnaissance Multibeam and Single-Beam Bathymetry Offshore of Milford, Connecticut The interpolated bathymetric data from the northern part of survey H11044 are presented in figure 7. This hill-shaded image provides a topographic perspective that allows interpretation of features and processes of smaller scale than those in previously published bathymetric data sets. For example, although rocky outcrops off Charles Island are unrecognizable in the previously published contour data, they are clearly resolved by the interpolated grid of the dense single-beam bathymetric coverage (figs. 2, 8). Similarly, a dump site in the northeastern part of the study area cannot be identified in the contoured data, but is resolved in the grid of the shallow-water multibeam data (fig. 9). Most of the sea floor within the study area slopes gently to the southeast at a gradient of less than 1:200. Water depths in the study area are shallowest near the Connecticut coastline and deepest in the southeastern corner of the study area, ranging from less than 0.7 m to more than 21.5 m. The most conspicuous sea-floor feature in this data set is the elongate bathymetric high that extends seaward toward the southeast from the Connecticut coastline (figs. 2, 7). This feature, which progressively narrows seaward from a width of over 2500 m to less than 900 m along the southern border of the study area, is steeper on its southwestern flank and ranges from 1.2 to 3.3 m in relief. Earlier work based on high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles (Lewis and DiGiacomo-Cohen, 2000; Stone and others, 2005) showed that this feature is a submerged ice-marginal lacustrine fan deposit composed of proximal facies. Rocky outcrops are common along the coastline. They are around Charles Island and just offshore of the promontories to the east, notably Welches and Pond Points (figs. 8, 10). Although some of these outcrops may be bouldery accumulations associated with moraines (Stone and others, 2005), most are undoubtedly bedrock because they follow the onshore bedrock trends (Fritts, 1965). Also in the shallow waters along the coastline are several isolated depressions of unknown origin. These depressions have relatively flat floors with steep sides, 1 to 2 m of height above the surrounding seafloor, and long axes that exceed 500 m. Sand waves in two distinct morphologies are in the southwestern part of the data set around Stratford Point (fig. 11). The larger of these bedforms tends to have crestlines that parallel the bathymetry, amplitudes of 1.5 to 4 m, and typically steeper flanks on the seaward sides. The smaller sand waves are asymmetrical with the steeper flanks facing west (stoss slopes oriented toward the east) and have crestlines that are oriented more north-south, amplitudes of 0.7 to 0.8 m, and wavelengths of 50 to 200 m. Sand waves are also along the northern flanks of the elongate bathymetric high described above. Anthropogenic artifacts are also discernable in the bathymetry. These features include the entrance channel to the Housatonic River, which is dredged to over 6 m, and disposal mounds that are part of a small (less than 1 km wide) discontinued dumping ground centered around 41°11.4'N, 72°58.8'W (fig. 9).
Trail 2008 Report: I had Eastern Bluebird families and Carolina Chickadee families in my nestboxes. One box was raided either by an avian predator or a Black Rat Snake that was large enough to get over my stovepipe baffle. Two boxes were infested with blowflies. One brood died but the other brood were saved by me by having a man-made switched out nest and the chicks got well and fledged at 18 days. All of my boxes were paired on my property for Tree Swallows to nest as neighbors with the Eastern Bluebirds so as to warrant off unwanted territorial fighting. No Tree Swallows nested, so I moved many of my boxes into other areas in Woolwine and left 5 on my acreage. I am featured on the Fall 2008 Virginia Bluebird Society’s newsletter on Page 6, “Lessons from a New Bluebirder”. Here is a cut and paste from the article from that newsletter below. You can also go to the Virginia Bluebird Society’s website/Newsletters: http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/ Fall 2008 VBS article: “Lessons of a New Bluebirder”, by Christine This is my third year of bluebirding. In my first year, 2006, my husband andI moved to our new home in Woolwine, Virginia, and found an old bluebirdnestbox in the back yard. To our surprise, there were bluebirds nestingthere upon our arrival that first week of March. But a week after we moved in, Ifound a big black rat snake hanging out of the box’s entry hole. I was horrified! We cleaned out the box, built a hardware cloth baffle, and placed it underneath the box. The same pair apparently came back and tried again, but the second brood died the first day after hatching, from the 100-degree heat. After that, wetook the box down, and I started my studies about bluebirds. My second year, 2007, our new neighbors dropped off a nestbox as a gift. Carl Rupprecht, who made the box in his woodworking shop, helped me install it behind our house on a pole with a predator baffle. We were able to joyfully watch two broods make it into the world that season. This year, my neighbor helped me build my first bluebird trail of 14 boxes. I experimented by doubling up the boxes 15 feet apart, because we had seen Tree Swallows diving out of the trees and into our pond the year before. Some of theboxes on the trail were not occupied, but the ones that attracted Carolina Chickadees and Eastern Bluebirds. The first broods did well and fledged. I had no snake predation and no House Sparrows. The second nesting proved problematic. I noticed that one of my boxes seemed to be in trouble. I photographed the parents from afar in the field one morning and was wondering why the male came with food only four times within two hours. When I checked the box the next day, I found the chicks had died, all four of them. I immediately removed them and the nest and took them back home to investigate what happened. Blowflies! I was stunned. As I thought about it, we had three days of over 90-degree heat the week before. There was a lot of dust at the bottom of the box underneath the pine needle nest, and I saw the larvae in it as well. I found one live and one dead adult blowfly in the center of the nest buried in there, and more larvae. When I looked at the dead chicks on the underside, I didn’t see larvae attached to them. I then realized that I was not checking closely enough for any indication blowflies even existed – my first experience with this problem. I did look for insects and didn’t see any. The nest appeared clean, and I watched the parents bring food. Now I realize the blowfly larvae were hidden inside the nest underneath the babies, and I had missed them completely. I felt sad that the second brood died, but I also was on alert for blowflies on the trail. Sure enough, I found another nestbox with blowflies. The chicks looked anemic and weak at five days, and they had feathers only in stripes on their backs. This time I had to intervene! I quickly switched the contaminated pine needle nest with a homemade pine needle nest. I put the needles in, tamped it down with my fist, and added some grasses for softness. I carefully picked up the sick five-day-old chicks and placed them in the new nest while my husband stood by with an umbrella to shade us from the sun. Both parents were watching me in the trees and came back to the box a few minutes later. I left the nest alone for a few days. When I checked on Day 8, I was truly amazed! The chicks were larger, growing feathers again, and looking bluer and healthier. They fledged at exactly 18 days. I’ve learned as a new monitor that there will be losses. However, with love and devotion and learning about these marvelous birds each year, the celebrations outweigh the losses, and monitoring is worth every minute of my time. I have a feeling of accomplishment helping the beloved bluebirds! – Christine Boran, Blue Ridge Highlands, Woolwine, Patrick County Coordinator, Virginia Bluebird Society BELOW: 12-Day Old Healthy Chicks photo below….they should fledge between 15-18 days. These were in the Mountain Rose Inn’s nestbox in 2008. Many thanks to Mike and Dora Jane for their continued support! Blue Ridge Highlands, Woolwine, Patrick County Coordinator, Virginia Bluebird Society Here is the Mountain Rose Inn’s website and their birding page where my photos are posted.
The Daily Northbridge By Deborah Gauthier NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. – Seeing the Worcester County Sheriff’s van anywhere in town might once have been cause for alarm. Today the van is a symbol of something that is very right rather than wrong. Having the van parked on Douglas Road beside Memorial Town Hall every day last week meant savings for the taxpayers and an incentive for non-violent non-sex offenders from the Worcester County House of Correction to continue on a path to recovery. Sheriff Lew Evangelidis immediately saw the value of the of the Community Service program when he was elected to the office in November 2010, so he doubled the number of inmates participating. The program saved taxpayers across the state $1.5 million last year. So far this year, Evangelidis said, the savings is $2 million. Evangelidis stressed that only non-violent offenders are eligible to participate in the community service program, many of them close to the end of their confinement. Though he’s happy to provide the service to cities and towns in the commonwealth, his main goal is to help the inmates, most of them jailed, directly, or indirectly, because of their addiction to drugs and/or alcohol. A crew of four worked in Northbridge last week, painting the iron fence around the town’s historic Memorial Town Hall and helping clear some of the debris on the grounds at the Department of Public Works on Fletcher Street. One crew member, jailed for larceny, said he’s due to be released in July. He is currently looking into substance abuse programs that will help him continue his recovery from the addiction that ultimately put him behind bars. “Programs that keep you away from those choices is the best chance you’ve got,’’ Evangelidis said to the young man, who will be living with his parents when he is freed. The House of Corrections has a “discipline approach’’ to the addiction issues of inmates. “We can do better,’’ Evangelidis said, “and this program is a big part of that.’’ Town Hall maintenance comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works, and DPW Director James Shuris said he appreciates the help the town received from the inmates. The week-long project completed Friday saved Northbridge taxpayers about $15,000 in savings, Evangelidis said. “The Inmate Community Service Program has provided a true win-win for the Town of Northbridge and for the Sheriff’s Department. With local communities continuing to struggle during these tough fiscal times, our inmate work crews are able to complete many worthy projects throughout the Blackstone Valley… at little or no cost resulting in a significant savings for taxpayers while inmates who are selected for the program appreciate the opportunity of a productive days work.” “This is a tremendous program which has provided a great benefit and substantial cost savings to our community,” Shuris said. “All it cost us is food and drink.’’ For more information on the Sheriff’s Inmate Community Service Program contact the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office at 508-854-1938 or visit www.worcestercountysheriff.com.
One hundred and ninety million minecraft blocks have gone into the creation of Halion, a massive minecraft city comprised of almost two hundred individual buildings, all of which have custom interiors, naturally. Oh, and there’s a sweeping harbor at the bottom of a cliff face, complete with ten ships ready to be launched in a flotilla like no other. Being a complete city, it comes with six distinct and useful districts, including a place for heavy medieval industry and slums where the lower classes can rest their flea ridden heads. Minecraft players who have always found minecraft maps to be a little bit thin on the lore side of things will be pleased to know that Halion isn’t just one of the biggest minecraft city building projects of all time, it comes with a two thousand word tale of lore, or yore, if you prefer. That’s 1899998000 fewer words than blocks in the build itself. Halion is the work of seven very talented builders from the Atherys community of Minecraft builders and dreamers. People who are pushing the boundaries of what can and cannot be done in minecraft – though it seems at this stage that pretty much anything can be done in the game. What’s super fun about this build is that it was created with both fire and ice in places that will do untold damage if you simply download the file and open it. The creators recommend that you view this map in MCEdit or on a server with fire and water spread off because otherwise you’ll open the map and watch as the whole thing goes up in flames – which I am pretty sure is a feature for many players.
Bat-killing fungus is European invader Results from an experiment conducted in a University of Saskatchewan bio-safety lab suggest that bats in North America are dying from a European strain of fungus recently introduced to Canada and the United States. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging disease of hibernating bats that’s associated with a skin infection caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans (Gd). The fungus grows in the skin of the bat, producing a white residue on the muzzle, wings and ears. “Our results showing that the European strain of the fungus, which doesn’t adversely affect bats in Europe, is just as virulent as the American variety suggests a recent introduction to our continent,” says Dr. Vikram Misra, a microbiologist at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) and member of the research team. “These results give us hope that North America’s bat populations may recover as they have done in Europe.” The research team also learned how and why the fungus kills bats. In the study, both European and North American strains of the fungus cause bats to wake up more often during hibernation — a process that depletes the creatures’ fat stores and leads to starvation and death. The research, which was published on April 9 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by University of Winnipeg biologist Dr. Craig Willis and performed by scientists from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, United States and Germany. The team included two U of S researchers: Misra is head of the WCVM’s Department of Veterinary Microbiology and WCVM pathologist Dr. Trent Bollinger who is also regional director of the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre’s western/northern region. “Bats make very important — and often underestimated — contributions to the health of our ecosystem. White-nose syndrome has the potential of decimating their numbers and driving some species of bats to extinction. Information about the course of the disease and why it kills bats may help to limit the devastation caused by WNS,” explains Misra, who also co-authored the first published report on viruses in Canadian bats with Willis and Manitoba biologist Dr. Jack Dubois, another member of the WNS research team. First detected in the eastern U.S. in 2007, WNS continues to spread across the continent and is responsible for the death of millions of bats in Eastern Canada and the U.S. In contrast, the Gd fungus has been found on bats throughout Europe but doesn’t cause the mass mortality that researchers have witnessed among North American bat populations. To better understand what exactly is killing the bats, researchers collected disease-free bats from caves in Manitoba and brought them to the WCVM’s Animal Care Unit — a U of S facility that offered ideal conditions for conducting the WNS experiment. “The disease was already in eastern U.S. and Canada, making it impossible to collect bats that were free of the Gd fungus,” explains Misra. “We had the appropriate facilities, the pathology and microbiology expertise and a source of large numbers of disease-free bats in neighbouring Manitoba.” Using strict biosecurity precautions, the scientists inoculated two groups with North American and European strains of Gd while a third control group received no treatment. For the next four months, University of Winnipeg postdoctoral fellows Drs. Lisa Warnecke and James Turner used video cameras and body temperature sensors to monitor the hibernating bats that were kept in climate-controlled, Level 2 containment rooms at the WCVM. After final analysis, results showed both strains of the fungus were deadly — the European strain even more so — to bats. Besides learning more about how the fungal infection increases the frequency with which the bats wake up from hibernation, Misra says researchers were also able to satisfy Koch’s Postulates (criteria designed to establish a causal relationship between a microbe and a disease). The study’s results confirmed that the Gd fungus is the cause of WNS and the mortality associated with the disease. In April, Warnecke and Turner completed another experiment that examines the effects of humidity on the severity of WNS as well as how the disease progresses in bats. WNS team members will analyze data and samples from this study over the next few months. The team also plans to look at how bats cope with the stress of the disease by turning on stress-response genes, and preliminary research in this area has already been done by one of the WCVM’s third-year veterinary students. - Visit the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences web site to read the research abstract. - Read the National Post article about the bat study.
Here you can find miscellaneous information about plutonite. Keep in mind that the plutonite word section is under continuous updating process so the texts may change in the future. We do our best to provide you with content that is up-to-date. Though we cannot guarantee any data completness due to vast amount of words. Plutonite status is currenty set to - open for additions. CRC32 code (good, fast, simple and very popular, especially with archivers): MD5 string (more advanced, but also bigger and utilising more resources): Encrypted string using the standard Unix DES-based encryption algorithm: Note that the sha1 alg. has been compromised and is no longer being used by secure corporations and government agencies. Number of bits that are needed to store chars using given encoding: 72 Plutonite -> tot pltonite, plutionaite lite, piloutoniteee, pelutonite un poliutonite, plutoite puonit luoie, plutnite pluonte, plutonite. Pelutoinoite lonit, pliuatoniotae. Luone tnit, palutonite, uit lo to, lutonite luonite, paluatooniote, plutonite p plunte. Pluotonite plutonite plautoonietoe. Pleuatoonitei ploutoinitie, palutoniete. \|return to 'plutonite' top\|
Authors don’t earn a salary for a book, be it one book or several. Book authors are self-employed contractors who receive payments in the form of advances based on anticipated sales, and royalties from percentage of actual sales. In some cases, writers are hired under contract to assist or ghost write for a lead author. Even in that event, however, the payment is considered an advance. Publishers pay authors advances that range from as little as $1,000 to amounts in the high six figures for fiction and non-fiction. But a drop in overall book sales and the impact of lower priced e-books has reduced the amounts of advances publishers pay out. "The Wall Street Journal," in a September 2010 article, noted that major publishers are publishing debut novels of literary fiction less frequently, making authors turn to small independent publishers. The independents are paying an average of $1,000 to $5,000 for advances compared to the $50,000 to $100,000 advances that major publishes had typically paid for debut literary fiction. Author and Agent Mandy Hubbard writes on her blog that, for popular fiction, major publishers generally pay advances of $7,500 to $10,000, or as high as $15,000 if a novel has a good marketing hook. Authors with a solid track record can earn much more. Payment in Installments Instead of paying an advance all at once, publishers are now paying the advance in installments. A typical installment structure would have three payments: one-third when the author signs a contract; a third when the author completes revisions, known in the business as delivery and acceptance; and the final third on publication. Other publishers pay in two installments, half on signing, the remainder on delivery and acceptance. Author Constance Hale on her blog site "Sin and Syntax" quotes literary agent Andy Ross as decrying the practice. While an advance had originally been intended to give an author enough money to complete the book, “Now, essentially you’re getting an advance after the book is written,” Ross said. “That’s not even an advance. That’s a behind.” Since an advance is based on anticipated royalties, an author doesn’t receive any royalty payments until the royalties reach the amount of the advance. As a result, experienced authors say the advance payments are often the biggest checks they receive, and in some cases, the only checks. The typical royalty an author receives, according to the Wall Street Journal, is 15 percent of the retail price for a hardcover, and 25 percent for an e-book. But the prices for e-books are less than half the retail price for a hardcover, reducing the cash payment to the author. E-books and Self-Publishing The rise of the e-book market and the relative ease for authors to self-publish these days has dampened retail prices and reduced the viability of brick and mortar bookstores. Self-published authors on average, however, are hardly reaping a fortune. "The Guardian" newspaper in London conducted a survey that found the average amount earned by self-published authors in 2011 was $10,000. And while there are some superstars like Amanda Hocking with sales of $2.5 million, the survey found that half of self-published authors made $500 or less. Authors have criticized the survey for its bias and small sampling -- only 1,007 authors -- suggesting that much more than half of self-published authors are not exceeding $500 on their books.
The three toy honorees were selected from among 12 toy finalists that included: The Ball, Big Wheel, Cabbage Patch Kids, Game of Life, Hot Wheels, Nintendo Game Boy, Paper Airplane, Playing Cards, Rubik’s Cube, Sidewalk Chalk, Toy Tea Set, and Transformers. Roll it, throw it, kick it, catch it, bounce it, or bat at it, the Ball is as old as civilization itself. It has, in fact, been depicted in ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman drawings and continues to provide opportunities for free play among people of all ages. Baby’s first toy may be a soft and safe cloth ball, older children play kickball on the playground, and a grown-up’s reward for a week’s work may be a round of tennis or golf. Today, we even set aside physical spaces—baseball stadiums, tennis courts, and golf courses to play these ball games. Vroom, Vroom! In the 1960s, Ray Lohr, head designer for Louis Marx & Co., took apart a tricycle, mixed up the parts, and reassembled them into an upside-down trike that handled like a race car. Launched at the 1969 Toy Fair in New York City, the Big Wheel had a low-slung design that made for superior handling, giving kids a sense of independence and control that tippy old trikes could never deliver. By the following Christmas, children all over the country delighted in riding their new “muscle” trikes. The Big Wheel remained Marx’s big seller for a decade. Admitted into the hall because of its role as a major industry innovator, Nintendo Game Boy transformed the electronic-games market by popularizing handheld gaming. video-game platform did more to put gamers “on the go” than this invention. And go they did—bringing their gaming experience to school, to summer camp, and to the back seat of the family automobile. Over the past two decades, Game Boy has become synonymous with hand-held gaming fun. Its portability and efficient design, ability to allow simultaneous multiplayer gaming, and scores of intriguing games (like Tetris and Super Mario Land, featuring Nintendos’ already-iconic character Mario) make it a true innovator. The National Toy Hall of Fame at Strong National Museum of Play recognizes toys that have engaged and delighted multiple generations, inspiring them to learn, create, and discover through play. Criteria for induction include: Icon-status (the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered); Longevity (the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations); Discovery (the toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play); and Innovation (the toy profoundly changed play or toy design). To date, the following 44 toys have made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame: Alphabet Blocks, Atari 2600 Game System, Ball, Barbie, Baby Doll, Bicycle, Big Wheel, Candy Land, Cardboard Box, Checkers, Crayola Crayons, Duncan Yo-Yo, Easy-Bake Oven, Erector Set, Etch A Sketch, Frisbee, G.I. Joe, Hula Hoop, Jack-in-the-Box, Jacks, Jigsaw Puzzle, Jump Rope, Kite, LEGO, Lincoln Logs, Lionel Trains, Marbles, Monopoly, Mr. Potato Head, Nintendo Game Boy, Play-Doh, Radio Flyer Wagon, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Rocking Horse, Roller Skates, Scrabble, Silly Putty, Skateboard, Slinky, Stick, Teddy Bear, Tinkertoy, Tonka Trucks, and View-Master.
output frequencies of a laser are determined by several factors. First, the gross wavelength is determined by the energy uncertainty (broadening) of the laser transition, which determines the wavelength and overall linewidth. Nonetheless, at any given instant, only a relatively few frequencies within this overall envelope are allowed to oscillate. These "longitudinal modes" result from the boundary conditions that, in a conventional two-mirror lasers, the amplitude of the wave must be zero at the mirror surface (i.e., that the oscillating wave is a standing wave). This means only those laser frequencies that meet the criteria operate, where c is the speed of light, L is the effective cavity length, and N is an interger. Adjacent modes are typically illustration below shows the lasing envelope of a helium neon laser operating at 632.8nm with a cavity spacing of 23cm. This results in a mode spacing of 640MHz. Since the width of the gain curve (FWHM) is only 1400MHz, only two longitudinal modes can operate at any given time. If the laser were twice as long, four longitudinal modes could operate simultaneously. the allowable longitudinal modes are a function of cavity length, the frequency will change as the cavity length changes. In lasers where only a few longitudinal modes can operate, these changes will cause outpout power to fluctuate as the modes sweep under the gain curve
Clean energy, public transit and local food make these 10 big cities the greenest of them all. Honking cars emit foul black clouds, skyscrapers blot out the sun, litter lines the gutters and healthy green space can be hard to come by. But in many of America’s biggest cities, these negative traits are being eclipsed by clean, efficient public transit, bike-friendly infrastructure, multiplying trees, reliance on renewable energy and a fierce pride in locally-produced products. Slashing greenhouse gas emissions and coming close to zero waste is no easy feat for a metropolis with a population of at least 250,000, but these 10 cities – from Boston to San Francisco – prove that sustainability is possible on the largest of scales, in good economic times and bad. 10. Boston, Massachusetts Representing the entire East Coast in impressive renewable energy stats, Boston boosted its solar power with the Solar Boston program and counts wind among its top three sources of electricity, with a turbine on city hall and more slated for several public schools. Other big plans include turning fall leaves and other yard clippings into power and fertilizer with a new biogas facility, and using recycled trash to power homes. For those residents who don’t rely exclusively on the nation’s most utilized public transportation systems, taxis will soon be another green option as they’re all required to go hybrid by 2015. New bike lanes and 250 bike racks have increased Boston’s pedal power, and the city saves a whopping $400,000 a year thanks to LED traffic lights. 9. Denver, Colorado The Mile-High City is an outdoor wonderland with 14,000 acres of parkland in the mountains, 200 parks within the city limits, 850 miles of dedicated bike trails and 29 recreation centers. Denver preserves and protects its active, natural heritage with conservation measures like a no-pesticide policy in its parks and the Mile-High Million program, which plans to plant one million trees in the metropolitan area by 2025. For a city in a semi-arid region, Denver is adept at managing its water consumption, offering residents incentives to keep their usage down. Any concrete going into new city projects must be green, and Denver has also made some significant renewable energy goals, hoping to run on 20 percent wind power by 2020. 8. San Jose, California Maybe it’s not California’s best-known or most-beloved city, but San Jose deserves some serious accolades for its clean-tech goals and innovations. Angling for the title of clean tech capital of America, San Jose has already created over 25,000 jobs in green industries and actively works to lure green businesses to the city. In fact, after Tesla Motors relocated its headquarters there in 2009, San Jose began rapidly developing infrastructure for electric vehicles including plug-in charging stations. It’s home to many of the nation’s top solar manufacturers as well as the world’s largest testing facility for solar products. In a bid to become a zero-waste city, San Jose has managed to divert 62 percent of its waste to recycling and plans to reuse 100 percent of its waste water for landscaping within the next 15 years. The city’s Green Vision plan also includes a goal to reduce per capita energy use by 50 percent and get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources within the same time period. 7. Oakland, California Hop on a zero-emissions bus for a tour of one of America’s model green cities, checking out dozens of urban farms, renewable energy projects and a wide variety of eco-friendly businesses. Oakland is working to rise above high levels of unemployment and poverty to position itself as a leader in sustainability, particularly in the areas of local food, green jobs and renewable energy. Taking cues from its bigger Bay Area sister San Francisco (and sometimes even eclipsing it), Oakland gets 17% of its energy from renewable sources like hydroelectric, biomass and wind, and in 2007, it won the City Solar Award from NorCal Solar for having more solar power wattage than any other big city in Northern California. The city aims to lower its greenhouse gas emissions to 36 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020, the most ambitious target in the nation. It’s also home to Van Jones’ Ella Baker Center, one of several local organizations that focuses on training low-income adults for jobs in green industries. 6. Austin, Texas Austin may be best known for its vibrant music scene, but this city shines just as bright in the sustainability arena. Not only is Texas’ capital city bicycle and pedestrian friendly, with plenty of mass transit and even hybrid plug-in stations, but its building codes encourage green practices and home energy audits are mandatory when selling a house. Austin is also the largest local government to run on 100% renewable energy, and by 2020 the city aims to have 30% of its residential, commercial and industrial energy consumption shifted to clean sources. Birthplace of Whole Foods, Austin is brimming with organic restaurants and natural food stores, including America’s first zero-waste, packaging-free grocery store, In.gredients. If you’ve never been there and imagine the entire state of Texas as a dusty wasteland full of tumbleweeds, banish that notion from your mind, at least as it pertains to Austin – this city is surprisingly lush, offering stunning outdoor settings for biking, kayaking, swimming or just relaxing. 5. New York, New York The fact that the Big Apple can compete with much smaller cities like Austin and Oakland is reason enough to land it in the top five greenest cities. It’s undoubtedly no easy task to keep a teeming metropolis of over 8 million residents from turning into an environmental nightmare, and while New York City can’t boast quite the same statistics on clean air or water conservation, it excels in public transportation and does surprisingly well on greenhouse gases and public park space. It’s the city’s very density that makes it so efficient, with just 20 percent of the population driving their own vehicles on a regular basis. Tall, jam-packed skyscrapers are more energy efficient than single-family homes, and of course, they use up a lot less land. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is further kicking up the city’s eco credentials with tree-planting programs, hybrid taxis and a program that phases out heavy heating oils. 4. Chicago, Illinois Boardwalks, parks, nature centers, organic restaurants, green hotels and lots of eco-friendly shops: Chicago definitely has a lot to boast about. The United Nations chose it as one of just two U.S. cities for UN-Habitat’s 100 Cities Initiative for its work over the past two decades addressing climate change and healthier, greener living in general. Since 1989 the city has seen 500,000 trees planted, 10,000 bike racks installed, 114 miles of bike lanes established and 900 acres of abandoned, polluted land returned to productive use. Chicago’s City Hall boasts a stunning rooftop garden, adding to more than 2.5 million square feet of green roofs within the city limits – more than all other U.S. cities combined. A downtown airport was demolished to make way for a 100-acre park, adding to the city’s reputation as a testing ground for reducing the urban heat island effect. The city is also making headway on a 2008 climate goal that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent come 2050. 3. Seattle, Washington All of those waterways surrounding Seattle don’t just give it its postcard-perfect beauty and contribute to its wet, mild climate – they also provide over 90 percent of the city’s power in the form of hydroelectricity, and more low-impact hydropower plants are planned to reduce impact on wildlife like salmon. The city’s two global warming initiatives, Seattle Climate Action Now and Seattle Climate Partnership, have distributed thousands of home energy efficiency kits to residents and urged over 100 local businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And when something like blackberry brambles threaten to overtake Seattle City Light’s substations, the utility employs a chemical-free solution: goats. 2. Portland, Oregon Seattle’s carbon-neutral electricity makes it the star of the Pacific Northwest when it comes to climate change, but Portland has it beat in all-around sustainability and green living. A quarter of Portland’s workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation with about 9,000 city residents biking downtown every day. The first city to adopt a climate change action plan, Portland offers free plug-in parking spots for electric vehicles and has more LEED-certified residential towers than any other city in the U.S. Portland is beating back sprawl with zoning regulations that encourage dense urban growth while leaving farmland for agricultural use. And on top of all of this, Portland has rightfully earned a reputation as a laid-back, eco-friendly place to live thanks in part to a lively local food and beer scene. 1. San Francisco, California While Portland and Seattle are snapping at its heels, San Francisco manages to hang on to its title as the greenest city in America for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that city residents seem to have concern for the environment encoded into their DNA. Voters routinely approve aggressive green programs like banning plastic grocery bags and financing renewable energy for public facilities. San Francisco diverts a jaw-dropping 70 percent of its waste thanks to mandatory recycling and composting, and urban farms produce 20 times more food than the city’s residents can consume in a year. Nearly half of all San Francisco residents bike, walk or take public transit every day. Despite being more populated, San Francisco has a lower annual output of greenhouse gases than its Pacific Northwest competition, and is on track to reach its goal of 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
\|Title:\|\|Lease for a Year\| \|Date:\|\|22 December 1833\| \|SOLD - transcription available:\|\|£8.00\| \|Parchment : 1 sheet 55cm x 60cm with 2 wax seals, 2 signatures and revenue stamp\| \|Summary of contents\| John Hinxman of Golders Green in the Parish Of Hendon, Middlesex. Farmer. James Baikie of Perey Street, Rathbone, Middlesex. Esquire. Frank Burton of Sacketts Hill House, Isle of Thanet, Kent. Esquire. This is the first part of a sale by Lease and Release in which James Baikie and Frank Burton are buying property in St Clement Danes, Middlesex, from John Hinxman. The property consists of: 1. Messuage known as No 5 Sheffield Street, Parish of St Clement Danes. 2. Slaughterhouse and two timber dwelling houses on the South Side of Bear Yard, Parish of St Clement Danes. 3. Parcel of land on the North side of Sheffield Street abutting on a passage leading to the White Lion with a house known as No 6 Sheffield Street. \|Website: www.familychest.co.uk email: email@example.com\|
by johnah on October 29, 2020 What Is A Kokedama? Kokedama (柔爪) is a Japanese word meaning “moss ball”. It refers to a type of plant used in traditional Japanese culture to decorate houses, tables, walls and other objects. They were originally made from the leaves and flowers of the Japanese evergreen tree, but have since been adapted into decorative items such as pillows, vases and even clothing. The term “koke” means “ball” in Japanese, which is why the name “kokedama” literally translates to “moss ball”. In addition to being used as decorative items, they are also used as a form of medicine. They contain alkaloids similar to those found in opium poppies and hence their use was banned during World War II. However, it has been reintroduced with strict regulations. Kokedama Moss Ball Recipe There are many different types of kokedama, each with its own unique properties. Some are poisonous while others have medicinal qualities. There are two main kinds of kokes: the green variety and the red variety. Green varieties grow in tropical climates whereas red varieties grow in temperate regions. Both types require varying amounts of sunlight to thrive; however, green varieties need less light than red varieties due to their higher chlorophyll content. There are many different recipes for kokedama. The main ingredients typically include: 1. A bundle of Washing Line Moss (known as neri-shinmoss in Japanese) 2. Some soil (regular potting soil or any mixture of soil and peat are best) 3. A small stone to prevent the moss from floating around in the water that is sometimes mixed in with the soil. 4. A small piece of string or thread (to hang it up with) 5. A shallow container such as a bowl or cup to prepare the kokedama in. Showing 1 – 5 of 5 You May Also Be Interested In: What Are Kokedama? ( House Plant Care ) The History Of Kokedama In the first half of the 17th century, kokedama were used by the monks at Buddhist temples. Temple Gardens were places for reflection and Buddhists monks would use them to decorate their gardens and provide a meditative experience. They have also been used as part of a religious ceremony in which the kokedama would be decorated to coordinate with the occasion. At some point, kokedama were also used in the home. Many wealthy merchants had kokedama hanging from their ceilings as decoration. They were hung near the roof of a house so that they could be a little closer to the sky. Even to this day, many houses in southern Japan have kokedama hanging from the ceiling! Edible Types Of Kokedama While traditional kokedama are made with non-edible plants, there are many edible types of kokedama that have been created. Many of them are even used in cooking. These edible kokedama can be difficult to find, but are definitely worth an experiment! Kokedama Edible Types: 1. Green onions (Spring Onions) 2. Hange Mushrooms 3. Shimeji Mushrooms 4. Ebine Mushrooms 5. Coral Mushrooms 6. Blewit Mushrooms Kokedama Hanging Plants There are also a number of plants that can be grown in kokedama that can then be hung from the ceiling! These plants can be used in a decorative way by themselves or with traditional kokedama plants. Kokedama Hanging Plants: 3. Chinese Evergreen 5. Heartleaf Philodendron 6. Pilea (aluminum plant) Why stop at growing only the edible and hanging plants though? There are also many beautiful orchids that can be grown in a kokedama! If there was a time to splurge, it would be on orchids. They are easy to grow and can last for years if tended properly. 1. Moth Orchid 2. Kangaroo Paw 3. Dancing Girl Orchid 4. Mandarin Dancers 5. Dracula Simia 6. Pansy Orchid 7. Dancing Butterflies A kokedama is definitely not just a decoration; it can be a work of art! The next time you are looking for a unique plant to grow, try a kokedama! Showing 1 – 7 of 7 You May Also Be Interested In: What Is A Bonsai? Buy a Kokedama Kit If you’re looking for your first kokedama, we recommend getting a kokedama kit. It comes with all the materials and instructions needed to get started. Buy Kokedama Kit If you prefer to make your own kokedama, you can buy all the materials separately: Sphagnum Moss Peat Pod Root Rope Air Plant Soil This is the brand that we like to use, and we find that it’s really easy to work with. Buy Sphagnum Peat Moss Looking For More Gardening Ideas? Beyond kokedama, there are a lot of other creative things that you can do with plants. We have a guide on the best plants to keep indoors as well as some low light plants that work great in office environments or rooms without windows. You can also learn how to make your own living moss terrarium! Best House Plants Low Light House Plants How To Make A Moss Terrarium How To Make A Kokedama How To Take Care Of Your Kokedama How To Repot A Kokedama How To Water Your Kokedama How To Make A Kokedama Tree How To Take Care Of An Air Plant How To Make An Air Plant Terrarium How To Make A Succulent Kokedama How To Repot A Succulent Kokedama How To Water A Succulent Kokedama How To Start A Succulent Kokedama How To Take Care Of A Cactus Kokedama How To Repot A Cactus Kokedama How To Water A Cactus Kokedama How To Start A Cactus Kokedama How To Take Care Of A Echeveria Kokedama How To Repot An Echeveria Kokedama How To Water An Echeveria Kokedama How To Start An Echeveria Kokedama How To Take Care Of An Aloe Kokedama How To Repot An Aloe Kokedama How To Water An Aloe Kokedama How To Start An Aloe Kokedama How To Take Care Of A Pothos Kokedama How To Start A Pothos Kokedama How To Take Care Of A Spider Plant Kokedama How To Repot A Spider Plant Kokedama How To Water A Spider Plant Kokedama How To Start A Spider Plant Kokedama Sources & references used in this article: Miniature Moss Gardens: Create Your Own Japanese Container Gardens (Bonsai, Kokedama, Terrariums & Dish Gardens) by M Oshima, H Kimura – 2017 – books.google.com A Multi-Species Ethnography of Nature and Time: Human’s Long-Standing Relationship with Moss in the Japanese Temple Garden by N Hoare – globalhorizonsjournal.wordpress … Innovation: Creativity as a Renewable Resource for the Eco-City by T Beer, D Curtis, J Collins – Enabling Eco-Cities, 2018 – Springer DIY Succulents: From Placecards to Wreaths, 35+ Ideas for Creative Projects with Succulents by T Daigle – 2015 – books.google.com Moss-viewing och dess kopplingar till den Japanska natursynen by J Karlsson – 2018 – stud.epsilon.slu.se Rooted in Design: Sprout Home’s Guide to Creative Indoor Planting by T Heibel, T de Give – 2015 – books.google.com A New Species of Praying Mantis from Peru Reveals Impaling as a Novel Hunting Strategy in Mantodea (Thespidae: Thespini) by J Rivera, Y Callohuari – Neotropical Entomology, 2020 – Springer ShORT COuRSES by MC DISCOVER – SCULPTURE – westdean.assets.d3r.com Nature in Miniature in Modern Japanese Urban Space by A Haijima – Rethinking Nature in Japan, 2017 – arca.unive.it
This erudite, complex, and fascinating book reexamines the struggle over and for the office of caliph, primarily during the period from the death of the Prophet Muhammad to that of his grandson al-Hasan bin `Ali bin Abi Talib (632-670 AD). In a comprehensive study of early Islamic history, Wilferd Madelung examines the conflict which developed after Muhammad’s death for the leadership of the Muslim community. He pursues the history of this conflict through the reign of the four ‘Rightly Guided’ caliphs to its climax in the first inter-Muslim war. The outcome of the war, which marked the demise of the reign of the Early Companions, resulted in the lasting schism between Sunnite and Shi’ite Islam. Contrary to recent scholarly trends, the author brings out Ali’s early claim to legitimate succession, which gained support from the Shi’a, and offers a convincing reinterpretation of early Islamic history. This book will make a major contribution to the debate over succession. Wilferd Madelung’s book The Succession to Muhammad has been awarded the Best Book of the Year prize by the Islamic Republic of Iran for the year 1997. About the Author Wilferd Madelung is a historian of early Islam. His research has focused on the rise of the caliphate, sectarian schisms, religious movements, and theological schools in medieval Islam. He is currently editing and studying Ibadi theological texts of the eighth century. Title: The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate ٍAuthor: Wilferd Madelung Publisher: Cambridge University Press Length: 421 pages Pub. Date: 2008-01-12
Scarborough is a resort town on the North Sea coast in the English county of North Yorkshire. The population is 50,000 inhabitants, with the suburbs - 108.4 thousand. Watch camera online in Scarborough It was founded in the 10th century by the Viking Torgils Skarthi (that is, hare lip) on the site of a watchtower of the Romans. The very name of the city - Scarborough - comes from the Scandinavian Skarthborg, literally meaning "the fortress of Scarti". In the XII century, Norman feudal lords built Scarborough Castle on a rocky hill, one of the owners of which was Pierre Gaveston. In the Middle Ages, there was a busy fair here, which gave the name to the famous ballad Scarborough Fair. During the English Revolution, Scarborough changed hands seven times. In 1626, healing springs such as those that made the Belgian Spa famous were discovered at Scarborough. The city became the first seaside resort in England. His golden age fell on the 18th century. In 1845, a railway was built to Scarborough, increasing its attractiveness among tourists. As in Bournemouth, Scarborough hosts frequent seminars and conferences. Many Englishmen, after retirement, move here from megacities. The film actors Ben Kingsley and Charles Lawton were born in Scarborough, the writer Anne Brontë is buried.
Babcock, James H. "Intelligence and National Security." Signal 33, no. 3 (Mar. 1978): 16-18, 20. [Petersen] Bundy, McGeorge. Danger and Survival: Choices About the Bomb in the First Fifty Years. New York: Random House, 1988. New York: Vintage, 1988. [pb] Petersen: "Detailed discussion of the missile gap question." Dulles, Allen W. "Intelligence Estimating and National Security: An Address, January 26, 1960." Department of State Bulletin 42 (14 Mar. 1960): 411-417. Gaddis, John Lewis. "NSC 68 and the Problem of Ends and Means." International Security 4, no. 4 (1980): 164-170. Hoxie, R. Gordon, et al. The Presidency and National Security Policy. New York: Center for the Study of the Presidency, 1984. Jones, Frank Leith. Blowtorch: Robert Komer, Vietnam, and American Cold War Strategy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2013. Freedman, FA 92.3 (May-Jun. 2013), notes that this is a "sympathetic biography." The author "makes a convincing argument that Komer was, in fact, a master strategist, able to put short-term issues in their wider context and think through the likely consequences of action." For Wirtz, IJI&C 27.4 (Winter 2014), this is a "finely crafted monograph." It "makes a convincing case that Komer was a gifted strategist who was able to devise politically sensitive policies that matched ends to means to achieve realistic objectives that furthered U.S. interests." Peake, Studies 59.2 (Jun. 2015), says the author "adds particulars to a colorful though relatively unknown CIA analyst who became an advisor to four presidents." Komer's "passion for and contribution to strategic issues and national policy have received insufficient attention. Blowtorch adjusts the balance." Knorr, Klaus E., ed. 1. Historical Dimensions of National Security Problems. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1976. 2. Power, Strategy, and Security. Princeton. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983. Pfaltzgraff, Robert L., Jr., Uri Ra'anan, and Warren Milberg, eds. Intelligence Policy and National Security. London: Macmillan, 1981. Pforzheimer notes that this book consists of the papers (later updated and expanded) from a 1979 conference hosted by Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The authors include a number of distinguished practitioners and "thinkers" in the field of intelligence. "The reputations of many of the authors ... makes this book an interesting contribution to the literature and worth reading." Raskin, Marcus. The Politics of National Security. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1979. Raskin has nothing but contempt for the national security establishment and the government that sustains it. Sarkesian, Sam C. U.S. National Security: Policymakers, Processes, and Politics. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1989. UA23S275 This is an undergraduate-level national security text. U.S. Department of State. Office of the Historian. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968. Vol. X. National Security Policy. Washington, DC: GPO, 2002. [http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v10] From "Overview": "The editor tried to document ... the roles of President Lyndon Johnson and his key foreign policy advisers ... in the administration's consideration of ... national security issues. Major topics ... include: analyses of the Soviet military threat, the development of new U.S. weapons, the question of U.S. development and deployment of an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system, chemical and biological weapons, tactical nuclear weapons, counter-insurgency policy, improvement of command and control systems, and military force structure." U.S. Department of State. Office of the Historian. Gen. ed., Edward C. Keefer. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976. Volume XXXIV. National Security Policy, 19691972. Ed., M. Todd Bennett. Washington, DC: GPO, 2011. [Available at: http://static.history.state.gov/frus/frus1969-76v34/pdf/frus1969-76v34.pdf] Return to National Security Table of Contents
Who Was On Board This Evening?? (Page Two) Who Was Here? (Page Two) Pick Your Ship Did You Know? - A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way. Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruise ships operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port, so the ports of call are usually in a specified region of a continent. There are even "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages" where the ship makes 2-3 day round trips without any ports of call. By contrast, dedicated transport oriented ocean liners do "line voyages" and typically transport passengers from one point to another, rather than on round trips. Traditionally, an ocean liner for the transoceanic trade will be built to a higher standard than a typical cruise ship, including high freeboard and stronger plating to withstand rough seas and adverse conditions encountered in the open ocean, such as the North Atlantic. Ocean liners also usually have larger capacities for fuel, victuals, and other stores for consumption on long voyages, compared to dedicated cruise ships. Did You Know? - SeaDream I is a small cruise ship operated by SeaDream Yacht Club. In service since 1984, she was formerly named Sea Goddess I, and later Seabourn Goddess I. Did You Know? - Silver Whisper is a cruise ship that entered service in 2000, and is operated by Silversea Cruises. The passenger capacity is 382 passengers, and there are 295 crew members. Her sister ship is the Silver Shadow; both ships were built by the Mariotti Shipyard in Genoa, Italy. They both have a high space-to-passenger ratio—the ship's gross tonnage divided by the passenger capacity—at 74, providing more space per passenger than any other cruise ship. Did You Know? - The Seabourn Odyssey is the first new ship for Seabourn Cruise Line in over a decade. About 90% of the ship's suites have private verandas. Some of the Seabourn Odyssey's features include one of the largest spas featured in a cruise ship, a built-in marina, and expanded guest services compared to the older Seabourn fleet. The ship's keel was laid in early July 2007. The ship includes 11 decks with two swimming pools, six outdoor whirlpools, water sports from the marina and a private diamond showroom. The Retreat features a nine-hole mini golf course, a giant chess board and shuffleboard. The ship was completed in May 2009, a few weeks earlier than planned. A sister ship, Seabourn Sojourn, was planned and launched in 2010.] Did You Know? - Seven Seas Mariner is a cruise ship for Regent Seven Seas Cruises (formerly Radisson Seven Seas Cruises). She was the first all-suite, all-balcony ship in the world, and was awarded "Ship of the Year" in 2002 by Ocean and Cruise News. Also, she was the first to offer dining by the famous Le Cordon Bleu of Paris in one of the onboard restaurants. Her staff to guest ratio is 1 to 1.6. In 2009, Seven Seas Mariner made the news when it rescued an around-the-world-sailor from a crippled sailing yacht west of New Zealand. Did You Know? - By March 2000, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, parent company of Crystal, started negotiations with the French shipyard, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, for the construction of a third ship for Crystal Cruises. Crystal Serenity was then ordered in Chantiers de l'Atlantique (now STX France Cruise SA) in 7 November 2000, together with the signed Letter of Intent. In 12 December 2000, the official contract was then signed by NYK and Chantiers, for the construction of Crystal Serenity, with an expected delivery by June 2003, which was 6 months ahead of the original plans. By March 2001, Crystal Cruises unveiled the designs for the upcoming Crystal Serenity. The keel of Crystal Serenity was laid on 9 July 2002 in Chantiers de l'Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France. She was then christened in 3 July 2003, by Dame Julie Andrews, in Southampton, United Kingdom. "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser, published in 1948. The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni James, Jimmy Buffett, Fats Domino and Liza Minnelli. Bette Midler and Barry Manilow recorded the song for Midler's album Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook (2003). Miss Piggy performed the song with actor Roger Moore an episode of The Muppet Show. Frank Loesser's daughter, Susan Loesser, authored a biography of her father, A Most Remarkable Fella (1993), in which she writes: "I'd like to get you on a slow boat to China" was a well-known phrase among poker players, referring to a person who lost steadily and handsomely. My father turned it into a romantic song, placing the title in the mainstream of catch-phrases in 1947. " The idea being that a "slow boat to China" was the longest trip one could imagine. Loesser moved the phrase to a more romantic setting, yet it eventually entered general parlance to mean anything that takes an extremely long time.
Loveland Beacon welcomes Steve Kovacs with a new feature – maps and fun facts trip through the world: then and now By: Chuck Gibson LOVELAND, OH (June 9, 2020) – Before we get to the inaugural issue of Steve Kovacs maps feature here on Loveland Beacon, I thought you might want to know a bit about this Loveland local and the maps and fun facts he’s going to be sharing with us here. Steve Kovacs, Antique Map Collector, Loveland Resident (Provided) Steve Kovacs, his wife Theresa and their two children have been familiar faces in Loveland since 1999. He has nurtured a passion for geography and maps throughout most of his adult life. After retiring from Procter & Gamble’s Research and Development organization several years ago, he shifted gears and placed a more serious focus on collecting antique maps. “For many people, maps are what is in your hand when you have a phone,” said Kovacs. “You have your ‘Google Maps’ and it’s really about getting from point A to point B and you can find out how to get there. Getting to the old maps, the antique maps, it’s more about information about how people interact with their environment. You see more and more of that the older the maps are.” Old maps also reveal more about how people learned about their surroundings. Those “antique” maps tell how they were able to capture information during the age of discovery. “In many ways the older maps are almost a form of art,” Kovacs said. “You go back to the pre-1800’s especially, even the later ones, they become very colorful. They put sea-monsters or land monsters into the maps. It was a form of art.” Kovacs knows maps are different things for different people. Maps can be a link to history. It was new information, new learning for the people who created the maps. Their maps were a way to share that information with other people. Still others found the creation of maps to be a form of art. Maps can be a connection to where you are from or where your ancestors are from. “You may have a map of some part of the world that is important to you,” said Kovacs. “You may collect maps. A map is a collectable for many people.” Kovacs made the analogy of people who may collect baseball cards – a picture of somebody on a card. Again, it is different things for different people. He collects, buys and sells maps. His Facebook posts sharing map images and a few short words has drawn a positive response from followers of his social media posts. “I find them fascinating personally,” Kovacs said. “After I retired, it became obvious I should do more than just think about them. That’s how I got into collecting and buying and selling maps.” Steve has also established a boutique on-line map gallery, world-on-paper.com. He believes that antique maps document the evolution of humanity’s discovery of, and adaptation to, the topographical environment over the centuries. He enjoys antique maps not only for their factual content but for their attractive and artful visual impact. Loveland Beacon hopes you will enjoy Steve Kovacs maps and facts too. Issue 1 – Tuesday, June 9, 2020 By: Steve Kovacs for your viewing pleasure: Today is Saint Columba Day in Ireland. He is one of the three patron saints of Ireland, along with St. Patrick and Ste. Brigit of Kildare. Columba, or Colm Cille in Irish, was a 6th century Bishop who spread Christianity to Scotland. (Editor’s note: St. Columban Catholic Church here in Loveland, Ohio is named for St. Columba(n) of Ireland.) This 1831 map of Ireland is by Henry Teesdale. The map shows many roads or turnpikes and predates the first Irish railroad by just 3 years. Teesdale was a prominent cartographer and publisher based in London and one of the founding fellows of the Royal Cartographic Society (Credit Steve Kovacs)
AUGUSTA – Maine’s citizen legislature occasionally creates dynamics that look bad from the outside such as lawmakers voting on issues that affect their own interests. Farmers serve on the Agriculture Committee, lawyers serve on the Judiciary Committee, etc. The nature of Maine people electing “ordinary citizens” to represent them makes some situations virtually unavoidable. But sometimes interesting patterns emerge, such as the case with former Speaker Mark Eves, whose track record of private sector employment seemed to track along with organizations trying to protect or grow state funding. Maine’s online financial transparency tool, Maine Open Checkbook, provides us with another interesting pattern today, this time through Maine Examiner’s review of state data and records related to well-known Democrat State Rep. Drew Gattine, who has a history of clashes with Governor Paul LePage. Photo courtesy Rep. Drew Gattine Facebook page. Rep. Gattine is a senior project manager at Optum, a national healthcare company, and was elected to the Maine Legislature in November 2012. Maine Open Checkbook does not show a single state transaction to Optum in the data available before Gattine’s election, which is available as far back as 2009. But in the period from 2013 to 2016, more than $52,000 in state funds flowed to Gattine’s employer, according to that state data. Miscellaneous professional fees are the description used to describe the transactions which make up the bulk majority of the cost of the expenditures, which largely disclose expenditures for the Worker’s Compensation Board and the Department of Health and Human Services. Rep. Gattine served on the Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee before being appointed to the powerful Appropriations Committee in the current session of the Maine Legislature.
Fishing in august Still warm but cool in the evening Gradually, the summer heat subsides. At first it is almost imperceptible, but it will rain – and day by day the coolness will become more insistent. In the meantime, a clear and hot August is a welcome time. This month, bread is harvested. Hot midday hot breathes all the herbs, dry lands and ravines have not yet burnt out. The coolest time of the day is observed before the morning dawn, although it is fresh throughout the night. In the lowlands and floodplains, fog spreads in the evening, wrapping herbs, bushes and trees. Abundant dew then long kept on mature greenery. Despite the coolness of the night, the days are set clear, warm. Summer is gradually leaving. Evenings are now short, it takes longer to wait for the morning. But how bright and cheerful it is in the deep August sky! As if autumn is not expected. And she is already on the threshold. Bird flocks have increased significantly. Tetereva now hold near compressed fields. Feathers they have significantly decreased – molted. Young animals are so grown up that with a quick look you can not distinguish it from adults. Young stock finishes age molting. Sometimes young predators are accompanied by an old male – he teaches cunning and dexterity. Do not miss the wild berries that come across on the way: they love to eat raspberries and blueberries. Herds of wild boars graze around deaf forest swamps in floodplains. Separately, only male billgoers walk. Wild pigs feed on rhizomes of aquatic plants. By the end of the summer, you accumulate a lot of starch and sugar in these rhizomes, and striped boars eat off on them. By the way, young hogs have already begun to change the striped “pajamas” to “bristly zipun”, In August, perch fishery is improving, spinning and on the track, especially in lakes and large ponds; Ide and chub – in the rivers, on the frog. Often on this nozzle takes a pike and a perch. Good takes a carp. The heat subsides, the nights become cool, the water cools and brightens, the fish again goes to deeper places, the biting is noticeably revived, especially in the second half of the month. Catching predators by spinning is incomparable. Pike, pike perch, large perch and even ide begin to eagerly take a lure, a dead fish on a rig. On the donkey and piercer, the frog becomes seductive for the pike and chub, for ide – perlovitsa meat. At the end of July – early August, accounted for mass flight of mayflies. It lasts only a few days in clear and calm weather. At this time, biting completely stops. But if you hook one or several mayflies on the hook, the bite can be successful. True, they are hard to plant because of the tenderness of the calf, but the fisherman will be rewarded. Particularly interesting fry fishing Water in the reservoirs gradually it becomes more transparent: fewer microorganisms remain in it. And in purer water, a fish can already notice a bait from a long distance, both natural (animal or vegetable) and artificial. In August, fishing for fry and spinning is improving, especially in lakes and large bodies of water. In rivers on the frog you can catch pike and perch. Successful fishing roach on the grasshopper among aquatic vegetation. Everywhere she is caught by float fishing rods in a plumb line on a bloodworm, a worm, a caddis larva and a worm from the mold. In grassy thickets in royal waters, roach, rudd, busters peck; on clean places – bream. Particularly interesting at this time fishing in fry. He is eagerly grabbed among the algae, snags and reeds perch and pike. In the second half of the month, there is a slight decrease in night-time air temperature (naturally, and water), which noticeably improves the bite, as the fish, feeling the cold autumn is coming, and then winter, will be more actively looking for food. But this zhora is still far away. While considered the most successful fishing in the dawns. From the middle of August, the season of catching predatory fish by spinning, walking and circles begins. Nibble perch weakens, and the catfish stops. With a decrease in water temperature, algae die. It is becoming more and more difficult for predatory fish to hunt young fry by this time. Therefore, having come to the place of fishing, it is necessary to establish where predatory fish can be found in this reservoir: at depth, in shallow places, near grass, near the shore or in the middle. For example, catfish, old pikes, perches and perches live in deep, snagging pits and basins, under steep shores with a quiet current or whirlpools. Chub loves to stand near bridges, piles, near sunken beams under a dam. Fishermen know that any non-predatory fish (roach, crucian carp, rudd, bleak, and even gudgeon) bites well on colored grains of cereals. You can also use such bait on roach, crucian carp and white bream: egg yolk is placed in a vial with a wide neck, a piece of cotton wool is dipped into it and then placed on a fine hook – the fish bite instantly. By the way, the nozzle can withstand a few poklevok! on the site you can rent an apartment for rent in Lviv …
One of my first job assignments as a cooperative education student (Co-op) during college was to learn the local Siemens business phone system. The central phone unit was in an enormous cabinet in the basement of the building. This past weekend I worked with a team at my current job to decommission a Fujitsu PBX that started service in the same time era as my Co-op job. It was also the biggest piece of equipment we had in the computer room. But we didn’t decommission the Fujitsu system because of its age. The unit was still working and providing service. The primary driver to replace the system was cost. The support contract for the old equipment was expensive and newer Voice-over-IP (VoIP) systems offer additional savings by reducing long distance costs. I certainly appreciate all the modern features on the VoIP system, but that was not the primary driver for the change. After the implementation experience, I had time to reflect on what I think will be the future of business phone systems. I observed that many office dwellers are already just setting their desk phones to forward to their cell phones. People are growing accustomed to have a single phone for their voice communication needs and they like it with them and not tied to a desk. So I don’t see the next generation of a business phone system requiring wires, punch blocks, and ethernet switches in the building. Rather I see a desk set that is wireless and talks to a local PBX through wifi. Power and Portability The phone sets we installed last weekend draw power from a POE ethernet switch. I see the future phone drawing power from a desktop surface device, not a cable. The phone unit will have a battery and be portable around the office. Hopefully this doesn’t lead to more lost phones and cracked screens. 🙂 The central PBX in the data center may be replaced with a cellular solution from a provider. For those willing to have their phone service on a subscription and as a tie-in with cloud based data center services, a cellular option will exist for primary business phones. This could appeal to both small businesses and large. Desk phone units could either be cellular or use a wifi connection to a local device at the facility that negotiates the cellular signal with the provider. I see the future of business phone communications systems with less wires, more air based communication, less on-premise equipment, and more portability. Now, I need to work on decommissioning all those old fashion FAX machines. My future dream can’t exist with FAX machines and modems. Onward and upward!
Fake goods estimated to be worth £1m have been seized in a raid on two houses in Renfrewshire. Pirated goods are often used to fund organised crime Trading standards officers and police swooped on the houses in Johnstone on Thursday morning. They said it was a "breakthrough" against organised crime. The haul included computers, printers, scanners, CDs and pirate DVD copies of the latest cinema releases including the new Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal. Operation Spiderman was the result of weeks of undercover surveillance. It involved Renfrewshire Council Trading Standards, Strathclyde Police, the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) and the European Leisure Software Publishers (Elspa). The depute convener of Renfrewshire Council's regulatory functions board, Councillor John Hood, said: "Selling counterfeit goods poses a constant threat to legitimate business and can damage the local economy. "Often profits fund other illicit criminal activities. "This is an excellent result for our trading standards team and the police who have worked together for weeks to prepare Operation Spiderman."
Best all about me for infants All About Me Worksheet Print - Published by using: osryd wilcox size: 2550x3300px class: lesson plan, extra >> posted at: monday, december 18 2017 20:31:02 layout: jpg/jpeg once you have a broad outline of the abilities and sub-talents that you are going to train, you can then move to thematic devices. In case you are aiming for a pass-curricular technique in your private home lecture room then a summary of subject matters need to be added to your annual and quarterly planner. These themes will manifestly cross over all your difficulty year plans. If you are beginning with a large subject matter consisting of the surroundings, then your sources for all topics could be primarily based on surroundings problems. Pretty certainly then, your english comprehensions and written work might be associated with an factor or factors of the environment. Within the mathematics magnificence, your examples would be based totally at the environment, and so on. The printables on this web site may be downloaded for private and educational purposes most effective. Industrial use is strictly prohibited. You may no longer put up this content material, or any photographs from this website, onto some other internet site or blog. By means of downloading content material from this website, you agree to these terms. Published by: darolyn mcdaniel dimension: 819x1024px magnificence: lesson plan, more >> posted at: monday, december 18 2017 20:33:21 format: jpg/jpeg writing an effective lesson plan can prove to be a challenging challenge and that is why it may come to be vital to call on writing offerings for instructors to make sure that the scholars inside the class achieve the set objectives. The key points that secondary faculty instructors need to recognize about before writing plans are widely recognized by means of the professionals who offer writing offerings for instructors. It's far important for instructors to be completely ware of what they are going to educate before they can even start to collect a plan. Time desires to be well budgeted for the path and the grade degree is also an essential attention. There are various requirements that plans are required to fulfill and expert provider companies can help instructors meet these standards. It is vital to word that the scholars are anticipated to research in keeping with what the state requires them to study. Subjects of study can be evolved by using often referring to what the standards or curriculum of the country outlines. An all about me worksheet we could children inform a touch bit approximately themselves, and then proportion it with their friends. This a laugh pastime is a high-quality manner for teachers to get to understand their college students at the start of a new school yr.
What is BIM? The Handbook of BIM (Eastman, Teicholz, Sacks & Liston 2011) defines, “With BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology, one or more accurate virtual models of a building are constructed digitally. They support design through its phases, allowing better analysis and control than manual processes. When completed, these computer-generated models contain precise geometry and data needed to support the construction, fabrication, and procurement activities through which the building is realized.” BIM or Building Information Modeling is a process for creating and managing information on a construction project across the project lifecycle. One of the key outputs of this process is the Building Information Model, the digital description of every aspect of the built asset. This model draws on information assembled collaboratively and updated at key stages of a project. Creating a digital Building Information Model enables those who interact with the building to optimize their actions, resulting in a greater whole life value for the asset. B is for Building. The key point to remember here is that “building” doesn’t mean “a building.” BIM can be used for so much more than designing a structure with four walls and a roof. This preconceived notion of “building” comes from its roots—in an etymological sense, it quite literally means “house.” In order to get the true gist of BIM, however, it helps to think of the word “building” in terms of the verb “to build.” BIM is a process that involves the act of building something together, whether it relates to architecture, infrastructure, civil engineering, landscaping or other large-scale projects. I is for Information. And that information is embedded into every aspect of your project. This is what makes BIM “smart.” Every project comes with a staggering amount of information, from prices to performance ratings and predicted lifetimes. It tells your project’s life story long before the ground is ever broken and it will help track potential issues throughout your project’s lifetime. BIM is a way to bring all of these details into one place so it’s easy to keep track of everything. M is for Modeling. In BIM, every project is built twice—once in a virtual environment to make sure that everything is just right and once in a real environment to bring the project to life. This step is the overview of every other aspect of the building and its information. It provides the measure or standard for the building project—an analogy or smaller-scale representation of the final appearance and effect. It will continue to model this representation throughout the building’s lifespan. This model can become a tool for the building owner’s reference long after construction is completed, helping to inform maintenance and other decisions. It’s also the step that will help to sell a concept while condensing all of those other layers of information that show the building’s every detail. How can BIM help you? BIM brings together all of the information about every component of a building, in one place. BIM makes it possible for anyone to access that information for any purpose, e.g. to integrate different aspects of the design more effectively. In this way, the risk of mistakes or discrepancies is reduced, and abortive costs minimized. BIM data can be used to illustrate the entire building life-cycle, from cradle to cradle, from inception and design to demolition and materials reuse. Spaces, systems, products and sequences can be shown in relative scale to each other and, in turn, relative to the entire project. And by signalling conflict detection BIM prevents errors creeping in at the various stages of development/ construction. What is a BIM object? A BIM object is a combination of many things - Information content that defines a product - Product properties, such as thermal performance - Geometry representing the product’s physical characteristics - Visualisation data giving the object a recognisable appearance - Functional data enables the object to be positioned and behave in the same manner as the product itself. What is the future of BIM? The future of the construction industry is digital, and BIM is the future of design and long term facility management; it is government led and driven by technology and clear processes; and it is implementing change across all industries. As hardware, software and cloud applications herald greater capability to handle increasing amounts of raw data and information, use of BIM will become even more pronounced than it is in current projects. BIM is both a best-practice process and 3D modeling software. By using it, designers can create a shared building project with integrated information in a format that models both the structure and the entire timeline of the project from inception to eventual demolition. It enables architects and engineers alike to work on a single project from anywhere in the world. It condenses a plethora of information about every detail into a workable format. It facilitates testing and analysis during the design phase to find the best answer to a problem. It makes for easier design, simpler coordination between team members and easier structure maintenance across the entire built environment—and this is just the beginning.
I started a fitness business because I loved fitness and what it did for people. How it made them feel, how it made them better. Along the way I realized that this is only part of the battle. I thought I could get away with eating what I wanted when I wanted. Many people are still in this trap today. We have great workout routines and some people work out five or six days a week. We do these crazy challenging workouts and feel great. But then we put poor quality fuel into our body. Think of your body as a vehicle. If you have a luxury vehicle that needs premium fuel and put in the low grade, you may not notice a difference right now, but in a few months or years you are going to end up with issues you need to fix. Why not pay a little extra now to get better quality fuel (food) that will save you in the future. If you get sick you will need to take time off so this is going to cost you more money and time. We know that nutrition is 80% of the battle so why do we put the majority of our time into the other 20% working out and little to no time prepping meals or educating our self on better nutrition habits? Nutrition should be the base of your wellness pyramid. Then fitness. I’m not saying activity is not important, it most definitely is but we should focus more on what we are fuelling our bodies with. We feed our kids or grandkids the best foods so that they grow up strong and healthy. Great! Why stop there? Our bodies are rebuilding daily and what we put into them determines what our cells, our skin and our hair is made of. Do you want a low grade or premium body? Take small steps today and figure out what the biggest problem is you have with your nutrition? Is it not being prepared? Too many packaged foods? Over eating? Then decide how you are going to change this today. Then do this for a full week. Next week, choose another area to work on! Nutrition is your foundation for overall wellness! Remember, You are what you eat! Literally!
This isn't just a potato. Our team recently wrapped up the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator, a program in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organisations in the world.LEARN MORE WELCOME TO REGEN NETWORK. We build open tools that facilitate ecological regeneration. There may be nothing of more critical importance today than the regeneration of the world's ecosystems. Regen Network provides the tools that are needed to regenerate our planet. We enable decentralized, collective action towards healthier ecosystems, and help constantly improve our understanding of our natural world, and our role as part of it. Some examples of projects we are running on Regen Network: Transparency: what's happening on our planet right now Regen Network gives anyone in the world access to open, scientifically valid information about the current state of our planet - be it a piece of farmland, a river, or an entire ecosystem - without having to rely on a centralized authority. Collaboration: aligning farmers and organizations Regen Network is an open data platform, on top of which anyone can build applications. We are building the first application, which enables farmers and funders to create agreements about farming practices and ecological change.Read More A new Commons: your open platform and toolkit Regen Network is building an open community, stewarding commonly held resources and tools, including: a pool of high quality data about ecological state. These common resources will be governed by the community they belong to. Understanding the State of Our Planet To create agreements about ecological improvement, we first need to understand where we are today. We need an accounting system to both analyze how healthy the environment is at our starting point, and to track how this changes over time. In other words, we need a trusted database for ecological data. In this way, any person anywhere in the world can be sure what the current state is of each ecosystem or piece of land, and base their goals for improvement on this common understanding. This is why we are building Regen Ledger: the Blockchain of ecological health. It's a Proof-of-Stake blockchain focused on ecological data, assets, and agreements using the Tendermint Consensus Engine and built on the Cosmos SDK. Tracking Ecological Change Ecosystems are not static: they continuously evolve, due to changing circumstances, such as weather, seasons and human impact. To understand what is changing on a piece of land, Regen Network allows users to make claims. For example, a farmer may claim "today I planted 50 trees in this section of my land". Depending on the farmer's aims, he can simply make the claim, or he can invite a third party to verify what has happened, to help make his claim more credible to others. This third party traditionally is a person who visits the location to check that the trees have in fact been planted, or that the trees are still there. At Regen Network, we are working on making it possible to verify what is happening on the ground via algorithms running on satellite imagery, as well as combinations between both of these methods. Which method makes most sense depends on what needs to be measured, and how certain we need to be about what has changed. Measuring Ecological Health Regen Network is built to support a wide variety of ecological improvement agreements. These include agreements about improving practices, agreements about ecological changes and a combination of both. Changing practices isn't 100% sure to be effective, but can be tracked in the short term. To track actual ecological impact, we look at long term indicators. Regen Network allows users to track change that is meaningful to them, not restricting metrics, and allowing us to gain a more holistic understanding of ecosystem health. Ranchers & Farmers: Get paid for your positive ecological impact.Sign Up Now
In the two chapters I’m going over today– “The Place of Anger in Depression” and “Self-Pity and Depression”– Tim makes an argument based on commonly held attitudes among evangelicals and fundamentalists. As I’ve talked about in the past, the common understanding in Tim’s circles is that there are “good” emotions and “bad” emotions– and the “bad” ones are sinful. In my experience, there are two emotions in particular that seem to be universally reviled in evangelicalism: anger and self-pity. He is building on that assumption, relying on a typical evangelical’s willingness to accept the claim that all anger and all self-pity is sin. That claim becomes the foundation of his argument that all depression comes from sin, because he believes that everyone who becomes depressed were angry and self-pitying first: A number of individuals with whom I have shared this [claim that all depressed persons are angry] have challenged me, but on further questioning and closer examination, we established the problem [of anger] without exception. (88) At last we have come to the primary cause of depression … Of one thing I am certain: if the mental thinking patterns of self-pity is not arrested, the person is hopeless. (97-98) Tim also does something else: he makes his argument unfalsifiable. I have repeatedly noted that non-depressed people seem to accept this diagnosis [of self-pity] easily. Even individuals usually prone to depression, when not depressed, seldom argue. It is the depressed themselves who seem to rebel against it. (97) And with that one sentence Tim does what Christians have been doing for millennia: he sets up his argument with the claim that anyone arguing against him proves him right. If I were to approach Tim with mountains of research and personal stories of how depression and self-pity aren’t automatically connected, he would dismiss me outright with “of course you would say that: you’re depressed.” It amuses (and infuriates) me how people like Tim claim to take the Bible so seriously and yet are completely willing to ignore anything that doesn’t support the argument of the moment. For one thing, Tim says that anger is always sinful (93), and he quotes Ephesians 4:30-32 to support that, arguing that those verses teach that anger always “grieves the Holy Spirit” (92). Except it’s bitterly ironic that he passed over verse 26 to get to there. In case you need a reminder, Ephesians 4:26 says “Be angry and sin not.” That does seem to imply that it’s at least possible to be angry without sinning. The fact that the rest of the passage includes things like “wrath” when God themself is often described as “wrathful” punches gigantic holes in Tim’s argument, but he desperately needs Christians to skip over the parts of the Bible that don’t agree with him; without that, he can’t rhetorically link anger and sin with depression. But all of the above isn’t even my biggest problem with this chapter. My biggest problem is that he is incredibly formulaic in his approach to this problem (93-96), and in order to be this reductionist he has to but on blinders as big as barns. People are not formulaic. Problems like depression and mental health aren’t formulaic and simple (an argument he anticipates on 98, calling it an “excuse of the intellectual”). There are many things that I am angry about. Some of the anger is appropriate, some of it misdirected, and it’s my job as a human being to wrestle with that. Anger isn’t always the correct response, but sometimes it is. Sometimes there are money-changers in the temple. One of the things that I am angry about is the fact that there is so much abuse and violence in the world, and I am utterly confident in the assertion that abuse and oppression make God angry, too. Hopefully I’ve already established why linking depression with self-pity is wrong– and hopefully that’s obvious as the noses on our collective faces. However, Tim doesn’t even have a consistent definition of what he considers to be self-pity. To most of us, when we hear “self-pity,” we think of someone who sees themselves strictly as the victim of other people or of circumstance and absolutely refuses to take any steps whatsoever that could help improve their life or emotional well-being. That is Reason #1 that “self-pity” doesn’t fit as a description for people who are depressed: we rarely see ourselves that way. If anything, it’s the exact opposite; the bone-deep conviction that we are worthless tells us on the daily that we are the ones responsible for everything being so miserable– not other people, and not circumstance. However, Tim only works with that definition half the time. The rest of the time he confuses it with things like entitlement: One brilliant but depressed scholar I know holds a Ph.D. and has developed a world-renowned reputation. He had as a young man offered great promise and was expected by those in his field to excel. Having a problem marriage, he drifted into serious patterns of hostility toward his wife. These, in turn, caused him to indulge in the habit of self-pity, which demotivated him. After years of such thinking, he came in for counseling. Having written few articles and never finishing a book, this brilliant man had wasted the creativity potential of a lifetime. Naturally he blamed his wife instead of himself. “If it hadn’t been for that woman, I could have realized my potential.” (102) On the surface, this seems to fit “self-pity”– the man in this story blames his wife for his failures. However, that’s because Tim doesn’t acknowledge the realities of abuse or abusers, and he skips right over the red flags. I believe that this man had a huge entitlement complex– he believed he deserved to have everything he wanted, and like every other abuser on the planet felt entitled in his relationship with his wife. When his wife turned out to be a human being, he resented her for not living up to his expectations. She was supposed to help him be this accomplished scholar– she didn’t, so it’s all her fault. The fact that Tim never once acknowledges that abuse can play a part in causing depression crops up over and over again. He tells a story of a young woman who wanted to be a virgin when she got married, but had sex with her husband before their wedding. Tim had this to say: Self-justification is a natural defense mechanism against self-condemnation, of course, so it was easier to blame him than share the responsibility. Before long her hostility produced self-pity, and finally she became depressed. (103) If you’ve been around here for long, you should recognize what’s happening there. A woman came to him angry and upset that she and her husband had sex– “blaming” him for taking her virginity. I’m not saying that it’s impossible for a woman to willingly consent to sex and then be upset about it later, but those women don’t usually refuse to acknowledge their part in it. Considering that this was the 60s, I’d bet the moon that this young woman experienced some form of sexual coercion– and it’s possible she was raped. Later on we get this: One depressed woman spent most of her time in the counseling room dissecting her husband … Knowing the counselee’s husband as I did, fully aware that he was surly, inconsiderate and unkind … I proceeded to explain that the greater her problem, the greater her grace … Instantly the woman snapped, “I’d rather have a kind husband than the grace!” (106) Her husband wasn’t even kind. That is basic introductory-level human decency, but Tim doesn’t even address the reality that her husband is an jerk, but instead insists that God will use his behavior to “instruct” her. The reason why Tim can’t address or acknowledge abuse as a cause for depression is that he knows that it would make his theory monstrous. Saying that we need to “count it all joy” and that “trials” are the way we “grow up spiritually and emotionally” (106) turns into something horrific when you say it to a child that’s had bones broken by their father or a woman raped by her husband. “You need to count your rape for all joy because that’s how you’ll mature” is a horrific nightmare of an argument, and he knows it.
Edited 17 Apr 2014, added Sidonian list (see tabs at bottom of table) This is from a transcription of a 1873 newspaper article. The source is the New Brunswick Archives. I have sorted the list alphabetically by last name. Watch out for errors. I imagine this list has been transcribed many times. As we add data, you may need to scroll within the window to see the bottom. Perhaps not all passengers became part of the Scotch Colony. Some families left immediately when they saw the conditions in the Colony. Jean Duncan is documenting Scotch Colony families here: http://www.jeanbduncan.com/scotchcolony/index.htm Jean has added the lot numbers that the settlers occupied. Here’s a map of the Colony’s granted lots http://scotchcolony.ca/2013/05/11/1270/. She is also trying to identify the wives and children. We welcome your comments.
Informed by current debates in social theory, these contributors take up a variety of substantive, theoretical, and normative issues such as migration, nationalism, citizenship, human rights, democracy, and security. Contributors: Didier Bigo, Lothar Brock, Chris Brown, Neil Harvey, Martin O. Heisler, Rey Koslowski, Friedrich Kratochwil, Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Richard W. Mansbach, David Newman, Antje Wiener, Frankie Wilmer. Subjects: Political Science You do not have access to this book on JSTOR. Try logging in through your institution for access. Log in to your personal account or through your institution. Table of Contents Export Selected Citations Export to NoodleTools Export to RefWorks Export to EasyBib Export a RIS file (For EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager, Zotero, Mendeley...) Export a Text file
Posted: Saturday, May 12, 2007 Mission Day 4 – Diving and Potting We woke up early and excited. Today was going to be a good day because our objectives for the day included plenty of diving. We wanted to maximize our dive times, so immediately after breakfast and the morning planning conference, Tim and Joe began to prepare for our dives. In fact Tim was so excited to get out and get diving that he skipped breakfast and kept Joe in tow as they ran through their dive pre-check lists. Tim and Joe explored Sector C, an area to the east of the habitat. They were heavily laden with equipment—a diver mapping and navigation system, a diver tracking system, video camera, still camera, and the rest of our technical dive gear. They walked along the ocean bottom, exploring the sea floor just as we would explore the moon upon our return in a few years. The reef survey of this sector will allow us to return to the most interesting areas in a few days and obtain representative samples of the surrounding terrain. We’re testing this technique to evaluate its effectiveness for our future lunar expeditions. A side benefit to the dives is the amazing wildlife we encounter. We were visited by a big turtle affectionately called aquanaut number 7. He approached us from directly opposite the station, checking both Tim and Joe out individually like he was looking our equipment over for our sea safety review. Plenty of Jack fish, snapper, and barracuda. In all there were beautiful fish and coral all around Joe on an amazing three hour dive. Jose’s educational outreach was exciting. Six schools, including one from the United Kingdom, participated. Dominic assisted Jose in giving a great tour of the habitat. The students asked good questions about our experiments, remote robotic surgery experiments and the plant germination experiment. Some also asked about our weight suit studies related to the design of a new space suit and moon suit design. The aquanauts really enjoy these school kids joining the mission. Their questions are extremely interesting and right on subject for exploration of the seas and space. Image: NEEMO 12 crew members pose for a group photo at their undersea habitat as they begin the 12th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations mission. Image credit: NASA Potting operations confounded by current also wreaked havoc on the NURC divers as they had to use all their skills to bring up components of a robot while bringing in components of another robot. All of this equipment is “one of a kind” and full of electronics. The potting divers use extra care to keep the material dry and protected as it transits down from the surface ship through the pressures of water to Aquarius. When transporting items down, they need to make sure that the items are protected from the increased pressure of the deeper depth and are not damaged by their packing material being crushed into them. When bringing items up from Aquarius, the divers have to make sure that all of the air is removed from the bags, so that as the item is brought up, it does not start up to the surface too fast and pull the diver up with it. If possible, they prefer to use pressure canisters, known as “pots” (hence the term, “potting”) that keep the item at a constant pressure (whether starting at sea level or at habitat depth) and relieve the pressure change once at the final destination. Then the biggest issue for the diver is just the initial weight and buoyancy of the pot, which does not change with depth. Heide and Jose finished off the LunaSea, which simulates a communication tower, during their afternoon simulated moon walk. However, the afternoon was challenging as a strong current developed making it hard for the aquanauts to work and erect the structure. Perhaps the highlight of the construction was when our commander, Heide, installed the NEEMO 12 flag on the solar array. Along with the aquanauts building the LunaSea tower, the rover was to be out observing. The remote operation of the rover from MCC was successful today. However, we cut the operations short due to that pesky strong current. In the evening, we have the opportunity to catch up on our daily reports and e-mails. All in all, it was another great day from the ocean floor. We are amazed at all of the analogies that we have with space and lunar exploration, but also how the ocean floor is a very unique and wonderful place. We hope that you continue to join us for more exciting tasks tomorrow. The NEEMO 12 Crew // end //
Tip for: 01.23.17 What are the differences between a charge, fee, and a fine—and how do you use them? A Charge is something that is unmodifiable. This includes manually-charged amounts via the Charges button or the F command, or the end result of an overdue fine; the term ‘Charge’ is also used as the overall term for any charge/fine/fee charged to a patron. All Charges that have not been paid show in the Charges tab and the Charges subtab in Circulation. From here you can Make Payments, and Print a list of all Charges. Note that applying credit to or forgiving a charge is now done via Make Payment in v7. Need to modify a charge to a smaller amount? Select the charge, click Make Payment, and enter an amount in Forgive that brings the balance down to where it should be. A ‘Fine’ is an Overdue Fine that is still accumulating until the book is returned. Once a book is returned, the Fine then becomes a Charge. Overdue Fines are controlled by Item Policies (Fine Rate), limited by Patron Policy (Maximum fine for overdue item or Fines limited by item cost), and show up in Circulation under the Charges subtab. Overdue Fines are still accumulating, so patrons can pay their fines so far, but if they haven’t returned the book they will continue to get Overdue Fines. A Fee is a charge that is created by Alexandria based on Policies and Preferences without operator assistance, e.g. for Lost or Damaged items. (Although the F command is for ‘Charge Fee’, it is a charge more than a fee.) - The Fee amount for Damaged items is set in your Damage Codes preferences. When you mark an item as being damaged (using the DL command on the current patron and item), that fee is automatically charged to the patron. - When a book is Lost, the patron will automatically be charged the Replacement Cost; the Default for that is set in the Item Policy, but can be changed individually per Copy record. - If you use Loan Fees, these are set by Item Policy, and apply when the item is checked out. - Returned Lost Item Fees are set in Circulation Rules preferences; when a lost item is returned, the initial charge is removed or refunded, but the patron will be charged this Returned Lost Item Fee Amount. All Payments are found under the History subtab (v7) or Payments subtab (v6), where you can see more details, print receipts, and refund any payment transaction. History in v7 is also where you can Add Credits for the current patron (meaning you are receiving money to add to the patron’s account), or Refund Credits (meaning you are giving the patron money, e.g. if they are graduating). In v6, you will manage credits under the Credits subtab. Does that make things clearer? Don't worry, we'll cover related topics over the next few weeks, and soon you will be an expert on Alexandria financial processing! Summer is here–let's keep in touch! May 16, 2022 End-of-year tips: Tidying up for summer May 10, 2022 End-of-year tips: Managing patrons May 03, 2022 End-of-year tips: Item clean up Apr 26, 2022 End-of-year tips: Disable emails Apr 20, 2022 End-of-year tips: Due Dates Apr 13, 2022 End-of-year tips: Inventory Apr 06, 2022 Researcher Monthly Usage report–How are your students using Alexandria? Mar 29, 2022 Assigning policies–the complete guide Mar 23, 2022 When does an overdue item become lost? Mar 15, 2022 Want more tips? Sign up for the emails! How helpful was this page?
There’s so much in life that’s out of our control: the last twelve months has shown us that. Yet we can surf the ‘worldly winds’ without losing our confidence, direction and sense of purpose. Focusing on the worldly winds, or lokadhammas, we will explore how life throws us about by four pairs of opposites in our lives, many of which were especially prevalent for us all during 2020: pleasure and pain gain and loss praise and blame fame and infamy When things go our way do we feel positive and elated? When they don't, do we grow negative and despondent? How much do we get blown about by the large or the very small daily circumstances of our lives? How do we respond when someone praises us? What is our response when we feel blamed for something? Are we attached to our gains but struggle against our losses? Do we crave the pleasant experiences in life and resist the unpleasant? What can we do about it? The Buddha teaches that, if we are attached to things being a certain way, we will experience difficulty when they change. As impermanence and change are inevitable in life, it is helpful - and a relief - for us to realise that we won't be able to make the world exactly as we want it. We can, however, develop a broader perspective, allowing us to experience more steadiness, consistency and robustness in our moods, emotions and thoughts. Instead of letting our habitual patterns control us, we can live our lives with an attitude of curiosity, exploring these pairs of opposites. We can notice how our responses colour our perception of reality. We can't avoid the ups and downs of life, but we can learn practical ways to recognise how they 'hook' us, and then respond to them with greater awareness and creativity. As we look at the Buddha's teachings on love, generosity, contentment, truthfulness and awareness, we will see how these can transform our lives, helping us to grow in wisdom, compassion and equanimity. We will develop practical strategies for coping with the worldly winds through meditation, led reflections, talks, discussions and workshops. There will also be some periods of silence.
This is a slightly changed version of my Auto-Login Test page. You can set a cookie that will be stored for 0 - 1000 days. You can for instance store the cookie for 1 year (default) and then come back months later and check if it is still stored. All of this is stored on your PC. Nothing is stored here. If you set a cookie and you come back before the expiry time and we can't recognize you, this cookie has been lost (deleted on your PC). The URL of this page is: You can use this test to find out if an auto-login or other "permanent" feature at a site stopped working because of a problem on their side or a problem on your side. e.g. if your search preferences for Google get lost one day you can come here and check if we can still remember you (before the expiry time!). If we can remember you the search preferences were lost because of a problem at Google. If we can't remember you it's likely that the same cause that wiped our cookie also wiped Google's cookie on your browser. You can then investigate why the cookie was deleted. go back to the other tests
The rate for suicide has tremendously rose for millennials within the United States and there are many contributions to this devastating trend such as pressure from social media and an increase in drug addiction. Millennials face a different challenge from past generations. The rise of social media has brought a plethora of obstacles such as the pressure to keep up with the social life of one’s peers by obtaining a certain number of followers, likes, and just overall “clout” on these sites. This pressure brings a heavy mental weight on millennials causing them to make radical decisions to acquire the attention they feel they need to be looked at a certain way in society. Millennials will do almost anything to portray a certain lifestyle for social media. Once millennials can not live up to the image they have put out to the world they fall into a depression and that depression is a leading cause to suicide. Jordyn Young, a Research Associate for the University of Pennsylvania, conducted a study on 143 students to establish the link between social media and depression. The students were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One would continue their social media habits as usual while the other would significantly limit their access to social media. According to www.healthline.com , “What we found overall is that if you use social media less, you are actually less depressed and less lonely, meaning that the decreased social media use is what causes that qualitative shift in your well-being.” In addition, with the pressure of social media most millennials are falling in the sad cycle of drug addiction which is also another rate that has skyrocketed compared to the past generations. Drug addiction is a numbing tool used by millennials to escape to pressures and responsibilities of the real world. Millennials must find another way to cope with the obstacles they have to face in life because drug addiction will do nothing but lead to a life of despair, loneliness, and unhappiness. They have turned their problems over to alcohol, opioids, and harder drugs such as heroin and acid. According to www.addictioncenter.com , “Over the course of one decade, from 2007 to 2017, the rate of alcohol-related deaths among millennials rose by 69%, the rate of deaths caused by drugs rose by 108%, and the suicide rate rose by 35%. The report also indicates that the opioid epidemic has devastated millennials. From 1999 to 2017, the rate of fatal opioid overdoses among millennials rose by 500% and the rate of fatal overdoses involving synthetic opioids (especially Fentanyl) skyrocketed by 6,000%.” With these problems facing millennials they are not the only ones to throw blame upon. We must hold the past generation accountable for not providing more stable conditions for millennials to have greater mental health and preventing childhood trauma that leads to a downward spiral in life. Some solutions that can be put into place to fix the trend of suicide rates amongst millennials will be the addition of more drug courts and mental health courts to maintain a social wellbeing and a reduction in screen time on social media apps to escape the pressures of living up to peers. If these procedures are put into place the United States will see a decrease in suicide rates.
By Yousaf Ajab Baloch Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan in terms of area and smallest in population, replete with natural resources. No doubt, Balochistan has great contribution in development of Pakistan by dint of its mineral resources, mainly, natural gas, copper and gold reserves. However, the people of Balochistan suffer from extreme poverty, diseases, economic exploitation and immense human rights abuse. Unfortunately, these miseries are never covered and we find Balochistan missing in the mainstream media of the state. Media, being fourth pillar of the state should have covered Balochistan equally; inversely, this remains a dream only. The backwardness of Balochistan should have been the main concern but the unbalanced reporting of media ratifies the violation of ethics of journalism. Very tiny issues of other parts of Pakistan become headlines in print and electronic media but big humanitarian questions hardly make place in the mainstream media. Most of the news and burning issues in Balochistan remain unreported. Therefore, a large number of people in Pakistan do not know the realities and hardships confronting people in Balochistan, even they do not have ideas of natives of Balochistan, their culture, languages and the cities in Balochistan except the capital Quetta. The political, social and civil society organizations have huge reservations and grievances against media in Balochistan. Time and again boycott of the news channels and newspapers have also been reported. The poor coverage of Balochistan in media is justified that the most volatile land where political activists, journalists, human rights defenders, teachers, intellectuals, doctors and lawyers are abducted and later on killed and dumped but their killers are not arrested nor the media highlights these issue. Obviously, Being in Balochista we observe the discovery of new minerals is reported in print and electronic media but the unearthing of mass graves of Baloch disappeared people hardly becomes a news for channels and print media. Unfitness of cricket players and blisters on the hands of tennis players become breaking news but the blistered feet of Farzan Majeed, Sami Baloch, Mama Qadeer Baloch and two dozen women and children cannot be a common news in the media who have been marching for the safe release Baloch missing persons. No supply of natural gas from Balochistan for domestic and commercial purpose to Punjab and other parts of Pakistan becomes breaking news, however, the deprivation of 95 percent of the people in Balochistanis not noticed who have no access to their own natural gas because it is supplied to the Punjab. Hardships of the people in the disruption of the gas supply in Punjab and other parts of Pakistan are covered but the shivering and diseases of people in Balochistan are ignored. The gold and copper of Chagi, Hubco Power project, Gwadar project are valued in the media and for the state yet the people who are deprived of clean drinking water, education, healthfacilities and basic human rights have no value in the media. The children who die of disease due to no health facilities cannot become news story in the media. The missing of key to the film star Meera’s car and travel in the Rickshaw becomes leading and breaking news but missing of thousands of Baloch from different walks of life is barely debated. The abduction of eight years old Chakar Baloch and later recovery of his bullet riddled and tortured dead body cannot gain the attention of news channels. Unfortunately, weeks long Sindh festival and Punjab youth festival are continuously covered in the media but Voice for Baloch Missing Persons peaceful protest of 1330 days and Quetta to Islamabad long march on foot for the safe release of Baloch missing persons cannot attract media outlets. Recently in a conference on the role of media I.A. Rehman, Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in his speech concludedthat “We are still demonizing communities yet no activism on the part of citizens is there. Balochistan represents one such population which is not being covered properly because it does not guarantee good ratings to the media.” “We opted to remain silent in the case of Bengal and nothing is stirring us to open up now. We have learnt nothing from the history.” criticized I.A. Rehman Aforementioned are some well-established facts about Balochistan and media, which rational people never deny. The role of media regarding Balochistan is really disheartening. News channel owners and newspapers’ publishers do not seem in the position to cover Balochistan as much as it deserves. If media outlets in Pakistan believe in the ethics of journalism then they have to change their policy and discrimination against resources rich land. Published in The Balochistan Point on February 18, 2014
This webpage is primarily concerned with how the Gayton and Blisworth quarries were linked to the SMJR system, but for reasons of clarity I have also described the nearby link to the LNWR (West Coast) main line. For convenience I have decided to label the various links with letters of the alphabet so that they can easily be identified on the map. Only limited details of the narrow and standard gauge industrial lines leading to these sidings have been included. I am greatly in debt to Barry Taylor for providing great help in the construction of this article. I have also referred to Eric Tonk’s excellent account ‘The Ironstone Quarries of The Midlands Part 3 The Northampton Area’ and taken note of various on site observations by members of the SMJ Society. The first mention of any siding is July 1878 when the Railway Commissioners arbitrated on a dispute over the rates for carriage of iron ore - the siding is mentioned, but no details given. Whether this was linked to the LNWR or the N&BJR is not known for certain. Link to the LNWR There was a standard gauge line from Gayton Quarry to exchange sidings with the LNWR which led to Gayton Loop on the West Coast Main Line. It’s believed that the majority of ore extracted before 1940 was taken away by this route. At first horses were probably used but a steam engine 0-4-0ST was acquired from Monkton Main Colliery, Yorkshire some time after 1877. It took the wagons to and from the exchange siding ( labelled D on the map) up until 1900, while horses were used for shunting purposes. But when Mr Sparrow took over the quarry in from 1900-1921 he reverted to horse haulage, three wagons at a time right up to the LNWR at Gayton Loop! A footpath passed over the line at Bridge 1a. Ore was loaded into the standard gauge trucks from chutes near Bridge 2. A double cable incline brought the narrow gauge wagons the last few yards up to the chutes. Bridge 2 was a largely wooden affair which spanned the N&BJR which was built because the NBJR had arrived – the incline was already there and there was some controversy over the fact that the new railway had cut off the quarries from their outlet to the main line, hence the bridge being provided (presumably at the cost of the NBJR). The wagons were brought to this point by a 2’ 10’’narrow gauge system which extended both to the north and south of the bridge. A steam 0-4-0ST named ‘Gayton’ was later joined by a 0-4-0 petrol engine loco, built in 1918 believed by Tonks to have been built by Groom & Tattersall’s of Towcester. This is extremely likely because they had the experience having earlier built another petrol engine locomotive, ‘Petrolia’ for C W Bartholomew’s 15’’ gauge railway at Blakesley. An engine shed stood just south of Bridge 2 and in 2010 Andy Thompson and myself found partly buried rumble in the field at its location. Quarrying finished around 1925. Bridge 2 was destroyed by fire on 26th September 1929. Links to the SMJR System As the main focus of iron ore extraction gradually moved eastwards and southwards so the provision of sidings linked to the SMJR and its forerunner the N&BJR moved eastwards towards Blisworth Junction. Siding A on map The first loop siding that there is detailed documentary evidence of was linked to N&BJR lay north of the line from a point just west of Bridge 5 to a point just west of Bridge 4. It was called Wheldon’s Siding and was inspected by the Board of Trade on 11th April 1881 and lasted until 1888. It was linked to the working quarry face by a probably narrow gauge line of which not a great deal is known other than it was not linked to the more extensive Gayton Quarry narrow gauge system. There was a chute for loading wagons in the siding roughly at the midway point of the loop. A map of this arrangement as it stood in 1881 can be seen In Cooke’s ‘Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR Western Region – Section 29 the SMJR (3rd Edition)’ Here's a link to an old OS map ( c. 1885) which Nigel Furniss has found and which shows the layout clearly. This siding had disappeared by 1900. Here's another link which shows the situation in 1900. Tonks doesn’t show the location of this loop in his map of the Gayton’s quarries but describes its rough location and probably wrongly suggests that ore was taken down the cutting side in wagon bodies removed from their wheels. Siding ? on map Barry Taylor has found some evidence that a siding on the opposite side of the track from this siding and slightly nearer to Blisworth may have opened in 1888. This evidence being a diagram described as of Wheldon’s Siding that was sent to the Board of Trade by the N&BJR which clearly shows a loop siding located south of the line. A chute is shown midway along the siding as well. Here’s a link to a photo of the document. http://thesmjr.ning.com/photo/wheldons-siding-1888-inspection-of-new-siding?context=latest Neither Barry nor myself are entirely convinced that this siding existed and feel that the diagram may have been drawn the wrong way around in error. Whoever drew up the various Board of Trade diagrams of Wheldon’s Siding that Barry has inspected was certainly not that good at spelling so perhaps they made other more serious errors. There is no evidence of there being a narrow gauge mineral line to serve such a siding near this point nor of any quarry workings in the immediate vicinity in 1888. However the curvature of the line in the diagram fits the curvature of the N&BJR between Bridges 4 and 3. If there was a siding south of the line it would have opened at the same time as one further east north of the line. Tonks does not mention such a siding but then he only briefly mentions and doesn’t map the next one either. Siding B on map The second loop siding that we can be definitely sure about opened in 1888 north of the N&BJR line from a point near the Milepost 1 to a point just east of Bridge 2. Detailed diagrams and maps exist of this siding in its various manifestations . This was also possibly incorrectly known as Wheldon’s Siding, indeed it even was named as such on the official 1905 diagram of alterations being made, but later it was described by the SMJR as Blisworth Ironstone Siding. This seems to have confused Tonks in his researches as he seems to have confused the locations of sidings A and B at one point (see page 39). Initially in 1888 it opened as a shortish loop beginning near Milepost 1 and passing under Bridges 3 and 2. A chute stood on the north side of the N&BJR cutting immediately next to the eastern parapet of Bridge 3 for loading wagons below. It is not known exactly how ore arrived at the top of the chute as there was no link to Gayton Quarry’s narrow gauge system. Here’s a link to a picture of it on the Blisworth Images website. ( It's picture 18-09 in Part 1 once you've got to the site) The loop was controlled by ground frames operated by an Annetts key that was attached to the train staff. The loop was extended eastwards in 1906 and there is evidence at that time of a direct link to Gayton Quarry’s standard gauge line which seems to have passed through a building, possibly the Gayton quarry’s engine shed, en route! Here’s a link to another of Barry’s maps which shows this. Finally around 1916 the connection at the western end of the loop was taken out turning the loop into a plain siding. However the SMJR Appendix for 1916 warns their staff that trains are only allowed to enter the siding from the eastern end so the loop must have existed intact when this Appendix was written but it seems that the western connection had not been in use for a while previously. After a brief period of closure around 1921-2 the siding finally closed for the last time on 27th May 1927. Sidings at point C During the Second World War a new quarry was opened up north of the old A43 Towcester – Northampton road at Blisworth. By this time all other rail connections and narrow gauge tramways had disappeared. It was connected to the SMJR system (by then part of the LMS) by a standard gauge steam worked line. Exchange sidings were laid on the south side of the SMJR line near Bridge 1a. The points that turned into the sidings faced towards Blisworth and were controlled by a ground frame. There were two loops leading from the main siding and the quarry’s line fed into a long headshunt at the west end of the main siding. Here’s a link to Nigel Furniss' photo of what appears to be the ground frame base for this siding system’s entrance from the main SMJ line. These sidings opened on 20th December 1941. No loading chutes were necessary as main line wagons were being taken directly to and from the quarry face. In the 60s BR 27 ton iron wagons were being taken directly from the quarry to these sidings. The quarry finally closed on 30th September 1967 being worked by Richard Thomas & Baldwins Ltd at the time. Altogether at different times 6 different 0-4-0ST and 0-6-0ST locos worked from the quarry face to the exchange sidings. In BR days various steam and diesel loco types worked the wagons on along the SMJ to Blisworth station, anything from an Ivatt 2MT tank to a namer Peak! See ‘The Last Days of the SMJ Pickups’ on this website for further details. This was the last part of the SMJ system to remain in use, apart from the still used connection to Kineton MoD. NB. The Gayton Quarry, it's tramways, Sidings A,? and B and Bridge 2 had all disappeared long before the RT &B quarry, rail connection and Siding C were opened. Dick Bodily 6th March 2013 Add a Comment
If online dating feels as though an unsolvable problem in the find “the one” (or anyone who you’re finding), you’re one of many. Pew Studies Center information keeps unearthed that even though the number of people utilizing online dating providers is growing as well as the amount of people who believe it's a great way of meeting someone is continuing to grow — above a 3rd of the people who document getting an on-line dater have actuallyn’t really eliminated aside with somebody they’ve fulfilled on line. Online dating sites isn’t when it comes to faint of cardiovascular system or those effortlessly disheartened, states Harry Reis, PhD, Professor of therapy and Dean's teacher in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, at institution of Rochester. “There’s the existing saying that you have to kiss some frogs discover a prince — and I think that really applies to online dating.” Reis scientific studies social relationships plus the points that influence the quantity and nearness of one's affairs. He coauthored a 2012 review post that analyzed exactly how therapy can describe some of the online dating dynamics. There’s the existing stating that you have to kiss countless frogs to obtain a prince — and that I think really applies to online dating. Meeting anybody on the net is fundamentally different than meeting someone IRL In some tips online dating are an alternate ballgame from meeting someone in real world — and in some techniques it’s perhaps not. (Reis highlights that “online dating” is clearly a bit of a misnomer. We make use of the label to imply “online meeting,” whether it’s through a dating websites or a dating app.) “You typically have information regarding them if your wanting to in fact fulfill,” Reis claims about visitors your fulfill using the internet. You may possibly have review a brief visibility or perhaps you could have got relatively considerable discussions via book or email. And in the same way, whenever you meet anyone traditional, you may learn most information on see your face early (instance when you are getting created by a pal) or you may know hardly any (if, let’s state, you choose to go around with some one your met shortly at a pub). “The concept behind online dating just isn't an unique tip,” says Lara Hallam, a researcher during the division of correspondence reports at college of Antwerp, where she’s taking care of the lady PhD in commitment researches. (the lady analysis presently targets internet dating, such as research that unearthed latinske seznamka that age was the only dependable predictor of just what produced online daters very likely to in fact get together.) “People constantly used intermediaries such mothers, company, priests, or tribe members, to track down an appropriate lover,” Hallam says. Where online dating is different from practices which go further back once again include levels of anonymity engaging. Should you see anybody via a friend or family member, only creating that third-party relationship try a means of assisting validate specific personality about some one (appearance, principles, character traits, and so forth). A friend may well not fundamentally set things right, but they’re nevertheless position you with people they believe you’ll like, Hallam claims. “Online daters remain on-line complete strangers until when they opt to fulfill offline.” Reis research social interactions plus the aspects that influence the quantity and closeness of your relationships. He coauthored a 2012 overview post that analyzed just how therapy can clarify certain online dating sites characteristics. There’s the existing proclaiming that you need to kiss most frogs to track down a prince — and I also think that truly relates to online dating sites. Satisfying anyone on the internet is fundamentally distinct from encounter someone IRL In some techniques internet dating try a different ballgame from meeting some one in real world — plus in some means it's perhaps not. (Reis explains that “online dating” is really a bit of a misnomer. We use the name to suggest “online meeting,” whether it’s through a dating web site or a dating app.) “You normally have information about all of them when you in fact fulfill,” Reis claims about folk your fulfill on the web. You might have browse a brief profile or perhaps you possess got fairly considerable conversations via text or e-mail. And equally, whenever you see somebody off-line, you'll learn plenty of details about see your face beforehand (such as for instance when you are getting build by a buddy) or you may know hardly any (if, let’s say, you are going completely with someone you satisfied quickly at a club). “The concept behind internet dating is certainly not an unique tip,” says Lara Hallam, a researcher in office of Communication researches at college of Antwerp, where she’s focusing on her PhD in partnership research. (the girl studies at this time focuses primarily on online dating, including a study that unearthed that era was the actual only real dependable predictor of just what produced on-line daters more prone to in fact meet up.) “People have always utilized intermediaries including mothers, pals, priests, or group customers, to track down the right companion,” Hallam claims. Where online dating sites varies from strategies which go further straight back are the layers of anonymity included. In the event that you meet some one via a friend or member of the family, merely creating that 3rd party relationship was a means of helping validate some characteristics about some one (looks, values, personality attributes, and so on).
Childish Gambino and Google Have Teamed Up for an Augmented Reality Experience Immerse yourself into an augmented world of beats and beasts. After his Coachella act where the hip hop artist dropped a few surprises for his fans, Childish Gambino (i.e., Donald Glover) has moved on to a new technological adventure. Childish Gambino is now teaming up with Google for a new augmented reality act, a multiplayer augmented reality app that is called Pharos AR app for Android. An iOS version of the AR app will be launched at a later date. The new “Pharos” AR app will allow users to explore an exciting, trippy and neon-tinged world where they can listen to Gambino as the sound track. When a user opens the augmented reality app, there will be an augmented cave of “Pharos” that they can step through. On stepping through into space, the user is taken through an experience in which they explore a cave where they can find glyphs to interact with while exploring multiple elements of the song with assistance of some virtual mythical dancers. They will be able to immerse themselves into this virtual neon-filled world while still retaining the ability to look out at the real-world around them. After all, this is a mixed reality app. If the user tracks all the glyphs in the cave, they will be able to explore even more exciting worlds “throughout the Childish Gambino’s universe”. The Pharos AR app gives users a very spacey feel. The experience is very similar to that of other Childish Gambino’s “Pharos” projects. Previously, the hip hop artist used the “Pharos” franchise in his various live performances which made use of 360-degree video projections within a planetarium-like video dome. The Pharos AR experience comes with a multiplayer option which allows multiple users to immerse themselves into the experience together. This is a main point of difference with some of the previous AR audio apps. The app relied on ARCore’s Cloud Anchor API to incorporate this multiplayer functionality. This is Google’s take on AR cloud and provides an excellent way of sharing an augmented reality layer with multiple users while at the same time getting them to experience similar visual objects within the same space in all their phones. In the project, Google also used the popular real-time 3D development platform Unity.
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And so on the 29th day of his presidency, Barack Obama signed the stimulus bill. But the earth did not move. The Dow Jones fell almost 300 points. G.M. and Chrysler together asked taxpayers for another $21.6 billion and announced another 50,000 layoffs. The latest alleged mini-Madoff, R. Allen Stanford, was accused of an $8 billion fraud with 50,000 victims. “I don’t want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems,” the president said on Tuesday at the signing ceremony in Denver. He added, hopefully: “But today does mark the beginning of the end.” No one knows, of course, but a bigger question may be whether we really want to know. One of the most persistent cultural tics of the early 21st century is Americans’ reluctance to absorb, let alone prepare for, bad news. We are plugged into more information sources than anyone could have imagined even 15 years ago. The cruel ambush of 9/11 supposedly “changed everything,” slapping us back to reality. Yet we are constantly shocked, shocked by the foreseeable. Obama’s toughest political problem may not be coping with the increasingly marginalized G.O.P. but with an America-in-denial that must hear warning signs repeatedly, for months and sometimes years, before believing the wolf is actually at the door. [continued…] Editor’s Comment — There is a pathological optimism inherent in every colonial enterprise. And while a pillar of America’s founding mythology is that this is nation which cast off the chains of a colonial power, that myth serves to obscure the fact that with or without British oversight, the American project always required that America be conceived as a quasi-divine creation and not a colonial imposition on an already inhabited land. This image of an immaculate conception has thus always made it difficult for America to develop a healthy sense of the tragic. Yet a fixation on a hopeful future inevitably requires a denial of death. We want renewal but we hesitate to imagine that first must come destruction. Death precedes rebirth. As yet another small sick tale of the profligacy of bankers emerges — a 43,000 pound binge on champaigne spent on banker’s night out in London a few days ago — and as growing outcry says that what banking executives call “compensation” is in the eyes of the rest of us simply theft, it might seem hard to imagine that there could be such a thing as a good banking story. Muhammad Yunus has already been honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, but if his message until recently might have seemed quaintly out of sync with the raucous engine of capitalism, now that that engine is not merely sputtering but is emitting the death rattle, there has never been a better time to pay attention to the story of Grameen banking. The granting of the Nobel Prize to Grameen Bank did a lot to focus the world’s attention on microfinance as a tool for alleviating global poverty, and it is encouraging to see so many countries adopting microfinance at the local and national levels. But in other ways, the last two years have been difficult. The problems began with soaring food and oil prices. By the fall of 2008, the world economy appeared to be crumbling, with the most formidable pillars of the strongest economies on the verge of collapse and stock markets around the world plummeting. This financial crisis offers an interesting illustration of the social failings of the existing capitalist system. Credit markets were originally created to serve human needs—to provide business people with capital to start or expand companies and to enable families to buy homes. In return for these services, bankers and other lenders earned a reasonable profit. Everyone benefited. In recent years, however, the credit markets have been distorted by a relative handful of individuals and companies with a different goal in mind—to earn unrealistically high rates of return through clever feats of financial engineering. They repackaged mortgages and other loans into sophisticated instruments whose risk level and other characteristics were hidden or disguised. Then they sold or resold these instruments, earning a slice of profit on each transaction. All the while, investors eagerly bid up the prices, scrambling for unsustainable growth and gambling that the underlying weakness of the system would never come to light. The result was to convert traditional capitalism into what many have described as “casino capitalism,” marked by irresponsibility and limitless greed. [continued…] Speaking with a smile and in a thick but tempered accent, Dr. Yunus, an economist by training, stated, “Something is missing in the theory of capitalism…those who created economic theory misinterpreted human beings.” Dr. Yunus went on to say that, “Business is a part of [human] activities but there are other sources of happiness missing from economic theory…I am creating a door that does not exist in the theory.” A door, if not a fundamental shift, is exactly what Dr. Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, has created. In the thirty three years since its first group loan of $27, Grameen Bank has grown to become the largest bank in Bangladesh, now lending an average of $100 million per month at an average loan size of just $200. Operating as a for-profit institution, but with the expressed objective of improving the socio-economic conditions of the poor, Grameen has a staggering 2,539 branches and operates in 83,566 villages around Bangladesh. Though its nearly 8 million borrowers are not required to post collateral for loans, the bank has a current repayment rate of more than 98%, current deposits of nearly $1 billion, and posted a profit of more than $1.5 million in its most recent fiscal year. [continued…] Microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in alleviating poverty, said he wants to open credit unions in the recession-gripped United States. Yunus, who opened Grameen America bank in New York a year ago in the bank’s first implant in the developed world, said he was seeking a US credit union license to “work in any state.” The global financial crisis is an “exciting, great opportunity … to redo our life, our institutions, our policies,” the Bangladeshi economist, nicknamed “Banker to the Poor,” told a forum in Washington to promote his latest book, “Creating a World Without Poverty.” Yunus said he had met earlier in the day with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and they had discussed microfinance, which extends small amounts of credit to the poor so they can start businesses, and the US government’s bailout plan aimed at averting a meltdown of the world’s biggest economy. [continued…] Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for pioneering a micro-lending model for the world’s poorest to engage in business, said Thursday his formula can also help recession-racked American families escape poverty. “This is the right time to come here,” Yunus declared as he sought $2 million in seed money to establish North Carolina as another U.S. foothold for his micro-finance institution outside New York. The year-old U.S. offshoot of the Grameen Bank that the former economics professor founded in Bangladesh three decades ago also is looking to expand into New Jersey, Nebraska, Louisiana and other U.S. states as economic turmoil closes employment doors on more people. [continued…] Roubini tells me that bank nationalization “is something the partisans would have regarded as anathema a few weeks ago. But when I and others put it in the context of the Swedish approach [of the 1990s] — i.e. you take banks over, you clean them up, and you sell them in rapid order to the private sector — it’s clear that it’s temporary. No one’s in favor of a permanent government takeover of the financial system.” There’s another reason why the concept should appeal to (fiscal) conservatives, he explains. “The idea that government will fork out trillions of dollars to try to rescue financial institutions, and throw more money after bad dollars, is not appealing because then the fiscal cost is much larger. So rather than being seen as something Bolshevik, nationalization is seen as pragmatic. Paradoxically, the proposal is more market-friendly than the alternative of zombie banks.” In any case, Republicans must now temper their reactions, he says. “The kind of government interference in the economy that we saw in the last year of Bush was unprecedented. The central bank — supposed to be the lender of the last resort — became the lender of first and only resort! With our recapitalizing of financial institutions, and massive government intervention in the markets, we’ve already crossed a significant bridge.” So, will the highest level of government be receptive to the bank-nationalization idea? “I think it will,” Mr. Roubini says, unhesitatingly. “People like Graham and Greenspan have already given their explicit blessing. This gives Obama cover.” And how long will it be before the administration goes in formally for nationalization? “I think that we’re going to see the policy adopted in the next few months . . . in six months or so.” That long? I ask. “Six months from now,” he replies, “even firms that today look solvent are going to look insolvent. Most of the major banks — almost all of them — are going to look insolvent. In which case, if you take them all over all at once, you cause less damage than if you would if you took over a couple now, and created so much confusion and panic and nervousness. [continued…]
Saturday, January 21, 2012 Bliss and Animal (This week's Photo Hunt themes) Do animals -- particularly/including insects such as butterflies -- feel bliss? And if so, when in particular do they feel blissful? This was one of the questions that Sandi's and Gattina's choice of themes for this Saturday had me pondering as I decided what images to put up for this week's Photo Hunt entry. With advance apologies to the more sensitive Photo Hunters: Going with the theories about food and sex (or, if you prefer, food, love and sex) that I first was introduced to in a college biological anthropology class, I've consequently elected to put up shots of animal pairs -- specifically butterflies -- getting sustenance (this entry's top photo) and going at it (the other two photos -- yes, even in the middle one... though you'd have to look more closely to see the... ahem... connection! ;b). On a personal note: I must say that spotting beautiful butterflies and being able to get good photographs of them can get me feeling pretty blissed out. And being able to do so counts as one of the highlights and attractions of hiking in Hong Kong for me -- this particularly so because a great variety of butterflies (about 240 different species, in fact!) can be spotted in the territory. :)
Jump to navigation Jump to search Revision as of 06:32, 22 March 2017 by Jayaram (Created page with "<div style="font-size:30px">'''LOWERCASE(text)'''</div><br/> <math>text</math> is the text which we want change in to a lowercase. ==Description== This function used to ch...") - is the text which we want change in to a lowercase. - This function used to change the upper case letters in to lower case letters. - Upper case letters are the alphabetical capital letters and Lower case are the alphabetical small letters. - Capital letters: ABCDEF…..,Small letters: abcdef…. LOWER function will consider only the text. - When we are giving any numbers, or any special characters like @,&.. all are ignored. - Also we have to give the text with in double quotes("") or we can use the cell references. - LOWERCASE("United Arab Emirates")=united arab emirates - LOWERCASE("Train No is 16245")=train no is 16245 - LOWERCASE("Time %")=time %
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new black, the shiny new object, the reply to each marketer’s prayers, and the tip of creativity. Financial institutions have longed used an artificial neural network to detect system adjustments and abnormal claims while alerting and flagging them for human to research. Consequently, pc imaginative and prescient is sometimes seen as a part of the unreal intelligence field or the computer science discipline typically. The serendipity of the Phineas Cage incident demonstrates how architecturally robust the construction of the brain is and by comparability how rigid a pc is. All mechanical programs and algorithms would cease functioning correctly or utterly if an iron rod punctured them, that is except synthetic neural systems and their distributed parallel structure. The mixture of AI and nanotechnology can even make technological breakthroughs within the fields of medication, vitality, and manufacturing programs. Chess is a game which has been utilizing synthetic intelligence to produce better systems in game taking part in. AI, using deep learning techniques the place the algorithm trains itself, can go a number of the technique to making sense of this information by monitoring actions over time, aligning behaviors with observable benchmarks and assessing anomalies. Nevertheless, in observe, the outcome of such a take a look at would in all probability depend closely on the humans concerned in addition to the machine. To execute routine features, machines have been increasingly outfitted with management subsystems, and the resulting man-machines systems have been referred to as “semi-automatic” systems. Synthetic Intelligence And Crowdsourcing The first focus of this essay is the way forward for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Many experts and business analysts argue that AI or machine studying is the long run – but if we glance round, we are convinced that it is not the long run – it’s the current. So when we study where we are at present with Artificial Clever Techniques the answer most applicable could be; We’re at the Tip of the Ice Berg. For example, the superb functionality of everyday machines like a automobile, a stitching machine, kitchen appliances, and the Web, or the standard of TELEVISION pictures, movies, and telephone communications are all a result of the Artificial Intelligence Techniques being utilized in many widespread high-tech products. artificial intelligence companies los angeles, artificial intelligence companies, artificial intelligence definition oxford To most individuals, Synthetic Intelligence (AI) probably means sci-fi movies with robots and computers performing inconceivable human tasks. Studying different animal minds is a helpful comparative methodology and will even lead to the creation of artificial intelligence (that does not embody irrelevant transitional states for an artificial entity), based on a model not as complex as our personal. Synthetic Intelligence, Life And Darwinian Evolution Synthetic Intelligence is a branch of laptop science which aims to create intelligence of machines. This is in distinction to the ideas of other researchers of the identical time (Wang 1960), who had been involved with getting the right answers regardless of how human might do it. The interdisciplinary area of cognitive science brings together pc models on AI and experimental techniques from psychology to try and construct precise and testable theories of the working of the human thoughts. An organization named Metamind is using images to establish infrastructure injury after which utilizing the data with AI and crowdsourcing to create correct algorithms to robotically find catastrophe injury. Many banks are making use of artificial intelligence systems to keep up e-book-protecting, organize operations, manage properties and spend money on stock. artificial intelligence definition quizlet, artificial intelligence stocks cheap, artificial intelligence movie cast, artificial intelligence stocks under $20, artificial intelligence movie trailer We have to overcome the boundaries that define the 4 different types of synthetic intelligence, the limitations that separate machines from us – and us from them.
Pheremones are chemical signals released by an organism that influence the behavior of another. Communication between living cells is often ultimately chemical in nature. Chemical substances produced by one cell travel to another cell where they bind to protein receptors in the cell membrane or within the interior of the cell and initiate a series of signal transduction mechanisms that elicit a response. Chemicals that travel within an organism between cells of its own body are variously termed paracrines, neurotransmitters , neuromodulators, or hormones . Pheromones are chemicals that are carried between individual organisms of the same species. Pheromones are often involved in the mating behavior between males and females in which the chemical serves as an attractant for one of the sexes. Following emergence from the cocoon, female Cecropia moths crawl a short distance away and broadcast a pheromone early in the morning that serves as an attractant for flying males. Males have olfactory ("smell") receptors on their antennae and they fly upwind and orient themselves to equalize the signals received by the two antennae. In this way, they can locate a virgin female from several miles away. Females of closely related species may use the same or a similar chemical but broadcast it at different times of the day. Males are genetically programmed to respond only at the appropriate time. The female nearly always produces pheromones that serve as sex attractants, but males may produce pheromones that serve as aphrodisiacs. Mantispids are small predaceous insects that resemble miniature praying mantids. Courtship behavior is elaborate because the male must convince the female that he is a potential mate rather than an easy meal. The male produces a sweet musklike substance from his abdomen that helps to appease the female and reduce her predatory instincts. Pheromones may be involved in mating even when the organisms do not actually meet. Many marine creatures such as sea urchins and oysters release eggs and sperm in the water in a process called spawning. Pheromones in these secretions will induce other members of the same species to simultaneously release their eggs or sperm, thereby increasing the likelihood that external fertilization will occur. The preceding examples have involved pheromones carried in the air or water, but direct contact between the receiving organism and the pheromone must sometimes occur. Ants finding a source of food will lay down a trail with a secretion from their Dufour's gland by touching their abdomen to the ground as they return to the colony. Foragers leaving the colony can follow the pheromone trail back to the food source. Sometime a pheromone can be "decoded" by another species and used against the animal that normally responds to it. The bolas spider twirls a silken thread tipped with a glob of sticky silk that it throws at insect prey to entrap them. The strand is coated with the same pheromone produced by certain female moths to attract males of their own species. When the amorous moths fly to the spider expecting to mate, they are instead captured and eaten. Chapman, Reginald F. The Insects: Structure and Function, 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Sumich, James L. An Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life. Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown, 1996. Wilson, E. O. The Insect Societies. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1971.
Two million malicious emails bypassed traditional email defences, like secure email gateways, between July 2020-July 2021, according to new data from Human Layer Security company Tessian. These emails were detected by inbound email security tool Tessian Defender and, in a first-of-its-kind report, Tessian analysed them to reveal how these attacks slipped past existing controls and the tactics cybercriminals use to carry out advanced spear phishing attacks. The report revealed that organisations received the most malicious emails in the last three months of the year, with Tessian detecting 45 per cent more malicious emails in October, November and December 2020 versus the quarter before. November 2020 saw the biggest spike, with around 90,000 malicious emails detected in the week of the Black Friday sales. Overall, employees received an average of 14 malicious emails per year. However, this number rose dramatically in the retail sector, with employees in this industry receiving the most malicious attacks at 49 on average. Manufacturing employees received the second most at 31, employees in the food & drink industry received 22, research and development employees received 16 and tech employees received 14. Interestingly, Tessian researchers found that malicious emails are typically delivered around 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the hopes that a phishing email will slip through the cracks of a tired or distracted employee. In a previous Tessian report, 45 per cent of employees admitted they had clicked on a phishing email because they were distracted. When looking at the techniques used to target employees, impersonation tactics like display name spoofing, whereby the attacker changes the sender’s name to someone the target recognises, were used in 19 per cent of malicious emails while domain impersonation, whereby the attacker sets up an email address that looks like a legitimate one, was used in 11 per cent of threats detected by Tessian. Two per cent were account takeover attacks. The top five brands most likely to be impersonated in the malicious emails detected between July 2020 and July 2021 were Microsoft, ADP, Amazon, Adobe Sign and Zoom – the latter likely spurred on by the shift to remote working. Josh Yavor, Chief Information Security Officer, Tessian told B365: “Gone are the days of the bulk spam and phishing attacks, and here to stay is the highly targeted spear phishing email. Why? Because they reap the biggest rewards, “The problem is that these types of attacks are evolving every day. Cybercriminals are always finding ways to bypass detection and reach employees’ inboxes, leaving people as organisations’ last line of defence. It’s completely unreasonable to expect every employee to identify every sophisticated phishing attack and not fall for them. Even with training, people will make mistakes or be tricked. Businesses need a more advanced approach to email security to stop the threats that are getting through – the attacks that are causing the most damage – because it’s not enough to rely on your people 100% of the time.”
The Washington Post recently put out an article criticizing Russia for hiring online trolls to advance narratives that are in Russia’s interests. The problem is not that a country advocates for its own interests. Every country does that. The problem is these trolls represented as if they were average people acting of their own volition but were not. That is false pretenses and is a dishonest tactic. The problem for Democrats who are complaining that Russia unduly influenced the election is that Hillary Clinton’s Super Pac Correct the Record did the same thing. Correct the record employed a group of trolls to go online to defend Hillary and “push back online on Sanders supporters” (and later against Trump supporters.) While pretending to be unpaid citizens operating of their own free will. In 2015, Correct the Record announced that is would work in coordination with the Clinton campaign. Hundreds of e-mails released by wikileaks confirm coordination between Hillary’s campaign and Correct the Record. In leaked e-mails, the CEO of the Center for American Progress expressed concern over this connection saying “I’m not their biggest fan… this does seem shady” … “skirting if not violating law doesn’t help her”. Defendants of this co-ordination claim there is an “internet exemption” that exempts Correct the Record from campaign finance law regulations. Whether this is a valid loophole or not, the important point is that Hillary is coordinating with a group that engages in the same false pretenses that some Democratic elites are complaining Russians is doing. The hypocrisy. Trump didn’t coordinate with the Russians to hire trolls. Russia did it on its own. Hillary’s campaign DID coordinate with this dishonest behavior and approved of it. Correct the Record went on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and 4chan to manipulate the public. Some Reddit users were very upset about this practice, claiming CTR trolls attempted to bury trending topics about wikileaks releases damaging to the Clinton campaign. More like “Cover-up the Record”. Correct the Record also helped write a pro-Hillary/anti-Bernie story for CNN’s opinion page that was officially credited to Atlanta’s black mayor Kasim Reed. CNN may as well have written “by Hillary Clinton” on the credit tag of the article. Talk about false pretenses! Russia didn’t do anything like that. The article was released right before the Georgia primary. Clinton won the state easily. CNN carried the story, who is owned by Time Warner who donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
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Critics claim the document does not contain any new funding or “recycled” plans The government unveiled its levelling-up white paper. It outlines 12 “missions” that aim to reduce the disparity between the richer and the poorer areas of the UK by 2030. Boris Johnson’s flagship policy is “Levelling up” and the prime minister stated that it would “break the link between destiny and geography so that no matter where your location, you have the same opportunities”. The white paper, which contains plans to improve education, broadband, and transport, was announced by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It includes plans for “pride in Place” and other improvements. This is the first time that a government has put narrowing spatial economic disparities at its core. The department stated that all 12 missions can be quantified and will be completed by 2030. However, one mission does have a 2035 target. These 12 missions will be cross-government and cross–society, with all departments being tested to see if they can reduce the gap between the richer and the poorer areas of the country. Public metrics will monitor progress and track the evolution of differences across UK regions. A government report will be published every year on progress, and a new Levelling Up Advisory Council is established to support analysis and provide advice. The government has stated that it will change its approach to data collection and evaluation. The National Audit Office published a report today criticizing the government’s method of evaluating the levelling up plans. The plan aims to give more power to the local government in England. This will allow each area to have “London-style” powers, which could include their mayor. The government will establish a new, independent body to monitor the use of these powers. Its purpose is to “improve transparency in local government performance”. The 12 missions 1. To increase productivity, pay and employment in all parts of the UK. Each area contains a city that is globally competitive and closes the gap between top-performing and bottom performing areas. 2. To increase investment in research and technology outside of the greater south-east by at least 40%, and at least one-third over the Spending Review period. With that additional funding from the government seeking to leverage at least twice the private sector investment over a long term to stimulate innovation. 3. Local public transport connectivity in the country should be comparable to London’s, with better services, simpler fares, and integrated ticketing. 4. Nationwide gigabit-capable broadband, 4G coverage in the UK, and 5G coverage for most of the population. 5. There will be a significant increase in primary school children who achieve the expected standard in maths, reading, and writing. This will translate to 90% of English children reaching the expected standard. The percentage of children who achieve the expected standard in the worst performing areas of the country will increase by more than a third. 6. To increase the number of people who successfully complete high-quality skills training across the UK. This will result in 200,000 more people successfully completing skills training each year in England. It will also be driven by 80,000 people taking courses that are the least skilled. 7. To reduce the gap between areas with high and low healthy life expectancy (HLE), and to increase HLE by 5 years by 2035. 8. Improvement of well-being across the UK, closing the gap between the top performing areas and other areas. 9. An increase in “pride” in place, such as people’s satisfaction in their local community and engagement in local culture. The gap between top-performing areas and other areas is closing. 10. Renters can now get a pathway to ownership, and the number of first-time home buyers is increasing. The number of undecent rented houses will drop by 50%, with the greatest improvements occurring in the areas that are least performing. 11. A decrease in homicide, violence and neighborhood crime with a special focus on the most affected areas. 12. Each part of England will be able to have one. It will include powers at the highest level of devolution, as well as a simplified funding arrangement. Recycled plans and no new money Johnson stated that the levelling up whitepaper is “the most ambitious, comprehensive plan of its kind this country has ever seen”. However, the plans were criticized for not having enough funding and being called a “rebranding” of existing strategies. According to Centre For Cities analysis Germany spent approximately PS1.7tr euro between 1990 and 2014. This compares to the UK’s PS11bn commitment over the next five year. Alexander Rose, who was formerly a senior solicitor in Government Legal Department, called for the government’s announcement of catch-up funding. Gavin Barwell, former chief of staff at No.10, said that while the money is not sufficient, it is a step in right direction. According to Centre For Cities analysis Germany spent approximately “PS1.7 trillion Euros between 1990 and 2014.” This compares to the UK’s commitment of PS11bn over five years. Alexander Rose, who was formerly a senior solicitor in the government’s legal department, called for catch-up funding. Former No. Gavin Barwell, chief of staff at 10 said that the funding was insufficient, but it is a step in the right directions. Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy stated that the white paper contains “recycled and watered down ambitions”, pointing out that one of the best announcements was made in 2008 by Gordon Brown. Darren Jones, chair of the Business, Environment and Industrial Strategy Committee, highlighted the similarities to the recently abandoned Industrial Strategy via a tweet. The Industrial Strategy was scrapped by the government in March 2021. However, the “best elements” of the industrial strategy were incorporated into the government’s Plan for Growth. This economic plan includes the levelling up agenda. It aims to support growth by significant investment in infrastructure and skills, innovation, and to pursue growth which benefits all parts of the UK. It also supports the government’s Global Britain vision and enables the transition towards net zero. Michael Gove, levelling up secretary, revealed the white paper today. He said that the UK is an “unparalleled story of success” but that not everyone shares in its success. “For many decades, too many communities were overlooked and undervalued. While some areas have experienced growth, others have fallen into a vicious cycle of decline. The UK has been like an aircraft that fires on one engine. “Levelling up” and the white paper are about ending historical injustices and calling time on postcode lottery. “This won’t be an easy task and it won’t happen overnight. But our 12 new national levelling-up missions will drive real change across towns and cities across the UK so that your location doesn’t determine how far you are able to go.
Stem cell therapy offers the potential of rebuilding the enteric nervous system (ENS) in the aganglionic bowel of patients with Hirschsprungs disease. the aganglionic bowel and 175026-96-7 manufacture gave rise to neurons. ENS stem/progenitor cells used in this study appear to be clinically relevant donor cells in cell therapy to treat Hirschsprungs disease capable of colonizing the affected bowel and giving rise to neurons. for 5?min at 4?C. Nos1 The pellet was resuspended and EGFP positive cells were isolated by circulation cytometry (MoFlo, Beckman Coulter K.K., Tokyo, Japan). Cells were seeded and plated at 5??104 cells/ml in DMEM/F12 medium containing 100?ng/ml recombinant human EGF (Pepro Tech, Rocky Hill, NJ, USA), 100?ng/ml human FGF-2 (Pepro Tech), 20?g/ml of W27 (Invitrogen-Life Technologies, Tokyo, Japan), and 2mM L-glutamine (Life Technologies, Tokyo, Japan) and cultured in an incubator at 37?C, 5?% CO2 for 7?days to allow NLBs formation (Nagoshi et al. 2008). Circulation Cytometry Cell sorting and cell analysis were performed on a triple laser MoFlo (Beckman Coulter K.K., Tokyo, Japan) with Summit software as explained previously (Matsuzaki et al., 2004). Briefly, 2 g/ml Propidium iodide (PI: Sigma-Aldrich Co., Tokyo Japan) was treated on 5 ml cell suspension with EGFP positive cell screening. PI fluorescence was assessed after excitation at 488 nm with argon laser, and a live cell gate was defined that excluded the cells positive for PI. EGFP+ cells were recognized by EGFP fluorescence. Differentiation of NLBs in vitro NLBs generated from the stomach of At the14.5 mice were transferred to glass bottom chamber slides coated with poly-d-lysine/laminin (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA/Invitrogen-Life Technologies Japan) and cultured in a medium made up of 10?% fetal bovine serum (FBS; Equitech-Bio, Kerrville, TX, USA) for 4?days before being fixed in 4?% PFA and processed for immunohistochemistry. Co-cultures of stomach explants and NLBs Explants of post-cecal hindgut were obtained from At the12.5 mice. NLBs were apposed to the rostral end of explants of hindgut and co-cultured for 7?days as described previously (Hearn et al. 1999). Results Distribution of EGFP conveying enteric neural crest cells in the intestinal wall of P0-Cre/EGFP mice To examine the distribution of EGFP 175026-96-7 manufacture conveying cells within the gastrointestinal tract of P0-Cre/EGFP mice, cryosectioned small intestines of post-natal P0-Cre/EGFP mice were examined. Clusters of EGFP conveying cells were located two individual layers within the bowel wall (Fig.?1a). Immunohistochemical staining with the pan-neuronal marker, PGP9.5 exhibited co-localization of PGP9.5 positive cell clusters with EGFP manifestation (Fig.?1b, c), suggesting that neural crest-derived enteric neurons expressed EGFP in the myenteric and submucosal plexuses in P0-Cre/EGFP mice. Fig.?1 ENS stem/progenitor cells isolated from embryonic gut of P0-Cre/EGFP mice and expanded as neurosphere like bodies (NLBs). aCc Section through small intestine of post-natal P0-Cre/EGFP mice showed EGFP conveying cells in 175026-96-7 manufacture both myenteric plexus … Isolation of proliferative neural crest-derived cells from embryonic stomach of P0-Cre/EGFP mice EGFP conveying enteric neural crest cells were isolated from dissociated gastrointestinal tracts of At the14.5 P0-Cre/EGFP mice using flowcytometer. EGFP+ cells accounted for 7.01??2.52?% of total cells (n?=?6). When produced in medium made up of 100?ng/ml EGF and 100?ng/ml FGF-2 in floating culture, spheroid structures resembling NLBs formed following 5C7?days culture (Fig.?1d). Most of the NLBs were 50C100?m in diameter after 7?days in culture and all of the cells comprising NLBs were EGFP-positive (Fig.?1e). To characterize cells within the NLBs, frozen sections through NLBs were examined immunohistochemically using antibodies to markers of neural crest 175026-96-7 manufacture cells [g75 (Stemple and Anderson 1992) and Sox10 (Paratore et al. 2001)] and neural stem/progenitor cells [Nestin (Lendahl et al. 1990) and Musashi-1 (Sakakibara et al. 1996)]. A sub-population of cells within the NLBs was immunoreactive for p75 (Fig.?1f) and Sox10 (Fig.?1g). Moreover, the neural stem/progenitor cells markers, Nestin (Fig.?1h) and Musashi1 (Fig.?1i) were also.
People regarding reduced-earnings household tend to be more likely to secure a good bachelor’s knowledge when they earliest attend a several-year university 8 thirteen sixteen 18 20 23 Dining tables step one Assistance number are different from the organization kind of 2. Aid wide variety are very different from the earnings and you may sector 3. Websites rates may vary because of the income and you may markets 4. Number of freshmen getting Name IV finance by income and you can market, 2011–twelve 5. Websites rate to have lowest-earnings college students finding Term IV funds, 2008–09 and you can 2011–twelve 11 14 15 17 19 And also make School Possible for Lower-Earnings Youngsters 5 Addition Studies show that each other labor pool demand and you can wages are a lot high for gurus that have a college degree, and you may monetary projections recommend that that it demand will increase from the future. The price tag having a degree, however, is a significant obstacle for almost all people. These streams from financial assistance are offered of the federal and state governing bodies, colleges, and personal organizations; and in the place of funds, gives and you may grants do not need to become paid off Entry to college or university is especially challenging to own low-money college students, just who were most social K–12 college students for the Ca. Due to the fact college or university will set you back have risen, offers and scholarships are a significant financing to have a good of many children seeking to usage of degree. Most of the grant and you may grant advice in California are provided with public organizations-we. Because costs out of browsing college has actually risen and you can accessibility advanced schooling enjoys declined, policymakers and you may teachers wish much more so you can has and you will grants given that an opportunity for making college or university so much more accessible. Consequently they are it distributed during the a and you can equitable fashion? In this declaration, i establish the different version of has and you will scholarships for sale in Ca and you can assess the knowledge that they have assisted to result in the country’s degree program available and you may affordable. I following gauge the part of grants and you may grants in boosting college or university conclusion and graduation costs, and in addition we intimate which have a discussion of your own rules tips and you may pressures facing system execution. I consider all types of has and you will scholarships however, appeal into the style of to your public financial assistance programs, because these could be the places that extremely policy levers can be found. Given that students regarding low-earnings group be more oriented than many other school-bound college students into the provides and you may scholarships, we pay types of focus on how changes in this method so you can financial help might connect with such children. I and grab a closer look in the how grant services may vary along side nation’s major degree avenues: the community colleges, the new California County University (CSU), the brand new College from California (UC), individual non-profit colleges, and private for-profit universities. Appendix A has the benefit of an in depth dialogue of our own methods and you can analysis. Appendix B brings extra figures. See Bohn ainsi que al (2013) and you will Johnson (2012). And then make College or university Easy for Lowest-Money Children six Types of Give and you will Grant Help More half of the postsecondary people inside the California discover grant otherwise grant help, offered from the after the sources: ? The government, mainly as a result of Pell Has. Almost a couple-thirds away from offer help in California is offered from the county and you may federal governments, towards the federal government offering the largest share, mainly through its Pell Provides, which are available to people possible college student exactly who reveals an economic you desire (look for package lower than). The fresh has are used for tuition or living expenses and you can is actually renewable for as much as half a dozen ages. Just as much the fresh give in the 2013–14 is actually $5,645 having an entire educational season, once the average number involved $dos,500. People need sit-in an eligible postsecondary facilities for the new offer-nationwide, more than 7,100000 associations meet the criteria, together with of numerous professional universities-and to keep choosing support must take care of high enough progress (a minimum GPA regarding dos https://paydayloanadvance.net/payday-loans-pa/pittston/. Almost every other resources of government aid include grants and you may software for army teams, however, complete costs try relatively small as compared to Pell Gives (discover Figure step one). Determining Economic You prefer Universities differ in their devotion out of financial need, however, almost all fool around with an effective student’s money and you may assets so you can assess a keen “requested family sum” otherwise EFC.
Blanket Poncho Tutorial I don’t think its gets any easier to make an on trend garment than this blanket poncho. Hope you love this blanket poncho tutorial. I will admit this was a new blanket. My mother bought it for me. The point of my blog is usually to upcycle or recycle. You can go one better than me and recycle an old blanket into a blanket poncho, up-cycle a sofa throw or even old curtains provided they aren’t too stiff. My blanket came a standard 130 centimetres x 150 centimtres. You could easily go as big as 150 centimtres x 200 centimetres. To finish your blanket poncho you can add fringing along the back and front bottom edges. And then sew a hem around the arms and neck openings. Or make your own bias tape from left over fabric? I found a tutorial for continuous bias tape. Wow, life changing! Who knew bias tape is so easy to make? You could sew bias tape all around your poncho. The options for this are endless. How about a tweed poncho with faux suede tape? Or a light cotton throw trimmed with bright fringing for a summer beach poncho? The choker necklace was made from left over strapping which I had lying around. Will feature than next week but here are a few older posts for choker necklaces – You need: – - between 130 to 150 x 150 to 200 centimetres of fabric - matching colour thread - bias tape and fringing (optional) - sewing scissors - sewing machine You do: – Fold your poncho in half and in half. Measure it out and mark with tailors chalk, old soap or even pin it as I did. You want to cut the centre front to the fold line. Then cut a teeny, tiny bit longer so there is space for your neck to fit in the very middle. Skip this step and your poncho will hang too long in front. Over-lock or zig-zag any edges of your fabric that might fray. Then fold back and make a hem around the front and neck section. And any other sections that need edging. You can sew bias tape around the edges in lieu of a hem. Also add fringing at this point Press this seam with an iron and press your poncho flat. If you want to sew the sides together now is the time. I didn’t do that but it does make the poncho fit better. It can slide off. And just like that you have a brand new poncho. See you right here next week.

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