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This morning, I tried to check Professional Regulation Commission’s official website, www.prc.gov.ph for some exam result updates so I opened up Mozilla Firefox and searched for “prc” using Google Web Search.
From the search results, I quickly noticed this note, “This site may harm your computer“.
When I clicked the link to PRC’s website, this Warning from Google Web Search came up!
I also tried using Internet Explorer and searched via Google Web Search and the same warnings and pages came up.
I went back to Firefox and used other search engines and this message came up, check image below.
It really looks like that the site is attacked by a hacker and linked it to a third party site with malwares. I went back to Internet Explorer to test other search engines and I actually accessed the PRC site. It seems like Internet Explorer’s security is not that tough though.
According to Google Web Search‘s diagnostic page for www.prc.gov.ph,
“site is listed as suspicious, visiting this web site may harm your computer”.
When Google visited the site, they found out that;
“Of the 63 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 2 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-07-15, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2009-07-14.”
“Malicious software includes 4 scripting exploit(s), 4 trojan(s), 4 exploit(s).”
“Malicious software is hosted on 2 domain(s), 1 domain(s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site.”
According to this report by Google Web Search, www.prc.gov.ph is being attacked by a hacker using a third party domain that automatically downloads and installs malicious software to users’ computer without its consent.
I advice you to not to access the site for now until the PRC’s technical department resolve this problem. Also, use Mozilla Firefox for a tighter security. It seems like Internet Explorer is not that tight in blocking malicious sites based on my experiment above.
And make sure that a strong and updated anti-virus software is installed in your computer that’s also capable of blocking malwares, spywares and other harmful internet wares. |
The Maya were not the first inhabitants of present day Belize and Central America and account for only the last 3,200 years of the 17,000 year history of human occupation of this area. The following chronology provides insight into the first settlers and those who came after them, where the populations came from, who they were influenced by and what events affected their survival.
This fascinating account of the tools, weapons and ceramics that remain, sheds light on these early peoples and puts Maya civilization into a broader context. Mesoamerican chronology is traditionally subdivided in periods: Paleo Indian, Archaic, Prec1assic (or Formative), Classic, Post classic (the last three are further divided into middle and late facets) and Historic.
Paleo-Indian Period (15000 -7000 BC)
This period marks the first colonization of the New Word by small groups of people who are referred to as Paleo-Indians. Scientists believe that the Paleo-Indians may have followed herds of large animals such as mastodons, mammoths, horses, camelids and bison as they crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia to Alaska. The land bridge was made possible by the formation of huge glaciers and ice sheets which caused water levels to drop more than 150 feet below their present level. As water levels fell the Aleutian Islands, which spread across the Bering Strait, would have been joined together, linking Asia to America.
Evidence of these climatic and geological events has been noted in many countries, particularly in Canada and the United States. In Belize, the Blue Hole at Lighthouse Reef with its underwater cave system is now submerged some 400 feet below sea level. During one of several ice ages, this cave, like the Bering land bridge, was above ground level. We know this because stalactites that adorn the ceiling of the cave could only have been formed by drip water laden with calcium carbonate deposits. Elsewhere in Belize sea shells and marine fossils have been found in the Crooked Tree area, and in the Orange Walk and Cayo Districts.
Paleo-Indians in the Yucatan Peninsula, lived a nomadic way of life. They did not live in permanent villages; consequently they left few clues or artifacts that can assist us with determining many aspects of their cultural lifestyles.
The few campsites that have been found suggest that they had few material objects. Their tools were predominantly made from wood, bone, shell, and stone. Their most important hunting implement was a fluted projectile point that is generally referred to as a Clovis point.
The first evidence of Paleo-Indian occupation in Belize was discovered in the early 1960s. Following Hurricane Hattie, farmers near Santa Familia, Cayo District, discovered two large bones that were later identified as those of an extinct (Pleistocene age) giant sloth.
Cut marks on the bones suggested that the animal may have been killed by hunters who subsequently cut the bone to get to its protein rich marrow. Conclusive evidence of Paleo-Indian presence in Belize was recovered in the mid 1980s. At this time a farmer near Ladyville discovered the first fluted projectile point in the country. A few years later another farmer in the Toledo district found a second Paleo-Indian projectile point in his corn field. Since then, teeth of an extinct mastodon were discovered in Bullet Tree Falls and simple stone tools associated with the remains of extinct horse and cave bear were recovered in a rock shelter at Actun Halal, in the Cayo District. This evidence tells us that here too early humans gathered edible plants and hunted along the open savannas and river valleys of the country.
The Archaic Period 7000-2500 BC And The Birth Of The Maya
Sometime around 7000 BC most of the world began to experience changing climatic patterns. As the weather became warmer and wetter, the icy glaciers melted in the north and the Pleistocene era gradually drew to an end. Along with these major environmental changes many of the large animals that once flourished in the Americas (mastodons, giant sloths, horses and camelids) began their decline and eventual extinction.
The climatic challenges at the end of the Pleistocene period also had important effects on human populations. With the subsequent depletion of large animals, people began to rely more and more on plants and smaller animals for food. These changes brought about the next phase in human development, referred by archaeologists in the New World as the Archaic period. This phase begins roughly around 7000 BC and terminates with the establishment of early Maya culture around 3000-2000 BC.
Climatic changes in the Archaic period led to the invention of new tools for use in the exploitation of different sources. Three oft he most diagnostic implements used by the Archaic people of this time are large stone bowls and pestles, and smaller, but wider, projectile points. The stone bowls and pestles are similar to (but slightly smaller than) the manos and metates that were later used by the Maya for grinding and processing plant food. The new projectile or spear point has barbs on either side (somewhat like a fishtail) and was used for hunting smaller Post-Pleistocene animals.
The best evidence for Archaic human activity in Mesoamerica was recovered by archaeologists working in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico. They noted that after the end of the Pleistocene era, people began to collect and eat a variety of plants such as peppers, squash, avocado and early forms of corn. Much of this food was carried by Archaic people to their rock shelter campsites in bags that were woven from plant fibers. With the passage of time, many of the plants originally collected by these people were domesticated. Plant domestication eventually led to the establishment of the first permanent settlements.
Evidence of Archaic human activity in Belize is only slightly better than the preceding period. In most cases too, this evidence is limited to the diagnostic projectile points left behind by these nomadic people. The first Archaic period artifact reported in Belize was discovered in the 1980s near the Lowe Ranch to the north of Ladyville Because of this archaeologists in Belize refer to them as Lowe points. Up until 1999 about twelve Lowe points had been recovered in the Belize, Orange Walk and Corozal Districts. Between 2000 and 2005 several more points were discovered in the Cayo District: in San Ignacio, near Spanish Lookout, in the Roaring River area, the Caves Branch River Valley, Calla Creek and the Mountain Pine Ridge.
- Source: Dr. Jaime Awe Belize Archaeology Commissioner, |
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Grocery Shopping on a Student Budget
As a student, you probably don't have a lot of extra money. Buying groceries can put a strain on your already tight budget. However, there are strategies you can take to help you keep your costs down and make the most of your money when you are grocery shopping.
Guide to Punctuation Book Review
Review of "Associated Press Guide to Punctuation" (2003) by Rene Cappon to determine if it would be a helpful resource for college students.
Hazing in College
Hazing practices place on many college campuses. While many people perceive hazing activities as harmless pranks, these practices are often carry great risks to the individuals being hazed and liability to the hazers.
Helping Commuter Students
Developing an affinity for your college, becoming involved in campus activities, and forming friendships are strong predictors of college success. It can be more difficult for commuter students to form form these essential college bonds and their college success may be impacted.
How to Stay Motivated in the Summer Session
Does it feel like everyone else is having fun while you are trudging to your summer class and while sitting in your room studying? The summer session can be a difficult time of the year to stay motivated. Using motivation strategies can help you stay energized during the summer session.
Improve Your SAT Vocabulary
Techniques to help students improve their vocabularies at low or no cost.
Informational Interview Questions to Ask
As a college student, you may benefit from conducting an informational interview to help you choose a career path or to learn how to be successful in your chosen career field. If you conduct an informational interview, come prepared with a well chosen list of questions to ask during the interview.
Informational Interviewing Steps
An informational interview is a meeting designed to help you learn more about a career field you find interesting. They are a great way for you to gain an insider's perspective about a career field. They also can help you gain important business contacts.
Informational Interviews - Finding Professionals
If you are interested in conducting an informational interview you will need to identify a professional in your field of interest to interview. Finding a professional to interview can be a challenge for many students because they are not certain where to look for contacts.
Interview Questions for Recent Graduates
When you interview for your first job after college, you will likely be asked one or more of these questions about your education and your future plans. Prospective employers want to know what you gained from your college experience, planning and decision-making ability, and future goals.
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Take a moment to visit the Alzheimer Organization site to find out more about this mind altering disease to become aware of what signs to look for in a loved one or yourself.
Epilepsy Awareness Month. Nov. 1–30. To increase public awareness that despite dramatic gains in treatment, epilepsy is a serious and chronic health condition for which there is no cure. For more information, browse www.epilepsyfoundation.org.
Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Nov. 1–30. To increase attention to lung cancer issues—early detection, increased research funding and increased support for those living with lung cancer. For more information, browse www.lungcanceralliance.org.
National Alzheimer’s Disease Month. Nov. 1–30. To increase awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, advances in research, and help for patients, caregivers and families. For more information, browse www.alz.org.
National Scholarship Month. Nov. 1–30. To increase awareness of the need for and importance of scholarships as well as to acknowledge and celebrate the positive impact of private-sector scholarships on access, choice and success in higher education. For more information browse www.scholarshipproviders.org or www.nationalscholarshipmonth.org.
Weekly November 2007
Children’s Book Week. Nov. 12–18. Sponsored by the Children’s Book Council to encourage the enjoyment of reading for young people. For more information, browse www.cbcbooks.org.
Sadie Hawkins Day. Nov. 3. Tradition established in the Li’l Abner comic strip in the 1930s by cartoonist Al Capp. A popular occasion when women and girls are encouraged to take the initiative in inviting the man or boy of their choice for a date.
Daylight Savings Time ends; Standard Time resumes. Nov. 4, 2007–March 9, 2008. Many use the popular rule “spring forward, fall back” to remember which way to turn their clocks. Also, it’s time to check the batteries in all smoke alarms in your home.
Veterans Day. Nov. 11. To honor veterans. Held on the anniversary of the World War I Armistice. “At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” fighting ceased in World War I.
Great American Smokeout. Nov. 15. To celebrate smoke-free environments. For more information, browse www.cancer.org.
Family Volunteer Day. Nov. 17. To encourage and mobilize families in community-oriented projects. For more information, browse www.FamilyCares.org or ww.PointsofLight.org.
Thanksgiving Day. Nov. 22. Legal holiday; always the fourth Thursday in November. |
1David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever. 3And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: 5of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; 6of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; 7of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; 8of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; 9of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; 10of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. 11Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 12and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. 13Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” 14So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. 15And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD. 16David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; 20Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. 22Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. 23Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 25So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. 26And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 28So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres. 29And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and rejoicing, and she despised him in her heart.
1 Chronicles 15 |
Genesis 26:1-35 . SOJOURN IN GERAR.
1. And there was a famine in the land . . . And Isaac went unto . . . Gerar--The pressure of famine in Canaan forced Isaac with his family and flocks to migrate into the land of the Philistines, where he was exposed to personal danger, as his father had been on account of his wife's beauty; but through the seasonable interposition of Providence, he was preserved ( Psalms 105:14 Psalms 105:15 ).
12. Then Isaac sowed in that land--During his sojourn in that district he farmed a piece of land, which, by the blessing of God on his skill and industry, was very productive ( Isaiah 65:13 , Psalms 37:19 ); and by his plentiful returns he increased so rapidly in wealth and influence that the Philistines, afraid or envious of his prosperity, obliged him to leave the place ( Proverbs 27:4 , Ecclesiastes 4:4 ). This may receive illustration from the fact that many Syrian shepherds at this day settle for a year or two in a place, rent some ground, in the produce of which they trade with the neighboring market, till the owners, through jealousy of their growing substance, refuse to renew their lease and compel them to remove elsewhere.
15. all the wells which his father's servants had digged . . . the Philistines had stopped, &c.--The same base stratagem for annoying those against whom they have taken an umbrage is practiced still by choking the wells with sand or stones, or defiling them with putrid carcasses.
17. valley of Gerar--torrent-bed or wady, a vast undulating plain, unoccupied and affording good pasture.
18-22. Isaac digged again the wells of water--The naming of wells by Abraham, and the hereditary right of his family to the property, the change of the names by the Philistines to obliterate the traces of their origin, the restoration of the names by Isaac, and the contests between the respective shepherds to the exclusive possession of the water, are circumstances that occur among the natives in those regions as frequently in the present day as in the time of Isaac.
26-33. Then Abimelech went to him--As there was a lapse of ninety years between the visit of Abraham and of Isaac, the Abimelech and Phichol spoken of must have been different persons' official titles. Here is another proof of the promise ( Genesis 12:2 ) being fulfilled, in an overture of peace being made to him by the king of Gerar. By whatever motive the proposal was dictated--whether fear of his growing power, or regret for the bad usage they had given him, the king and two of his courtiers paid a visit to the tent of Isaac ( Proverbs 16:7 ). His timid and passive temper had submitted to the annoyances of his rude neighbors; but now that they wish to renew the covenant, he evinces deep feeling at their conduct, and astonishment at their assurance, or artifice, in coming near him. Being, however, of a pacific disposition, Isaac forgave their offense, accepted their proposals, and treated them to the banquet by which the ratification of a covenant was usually crowned.
34. Esau . . . took to wife--If the pious feelings of Abraham recoiled from the idea of Isaac forming a matrimonial connection with a Canaanitish woman [ Genesis 24:3 ], that devout patriarch himself would be equally opposed to such a union on the part of his children; and we may easily imagine how much his pious heart was wounded, and the family peace destroyed, when his favorite but wayward son brought no less than two idolatrous wives among them--an additional proof that Esau neither desired the blessing nor dreaded the curse of God. These wives never gained the affections of his parents, and this estrangement was overruled by God for keeping the chosen family aloof from the dangers of heathen influence. |
Abihail [N] [E] [H]
(father of , i.e. possessing, strength ).
- Father of Zuriel, chief of the Levitical father of Merari, a contemporary of Moses. ( Numbers 3:35 ) (B.C. 1490.)
- Wife of Abishur. ( 1 Chronicles 2:29 )
- Son of Huri, of the tribe of Gad. ( 1 Chronicles 5:14 )
- Wife of Rehoboam. She is called the daughter, i.e. descendant, of Eliab, the elder brother of David. ( 2 Chronicles 11:18 ) (B.C. 972.)
- Father of Esther and uncle of Mordecai. ( Esther 2:15 ; 9:29 )
[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
[H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
Bibliography InformationSmith, William, Dr. "Entry for 'Abihail'". "Smith's Bible Dictionary". . 1901. |
The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction.
He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers."
She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?"
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old, when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. |
Equipment and On Road Behaviour, Laws and Rules. Cycling Promotion and Advocacy
9 posts • Page 1 of 1
I think it's worthwhile to start a thread on this. There are two major questions: what sort of law do we want and how can we help agitate for it?
Here is my handwaving whirlwind summary of Vulnerable Road User Laws enacted elsewhere in the world.
Holland, probably Denmark, maybe others: a rebuttable presumption of fault when a less vulnerable road user collides with a more vulnerable road user. Discussed in a few places:
http://ukcyclerules.com/2010/11/16/stri ... -cyclists/
http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2012/01/cam ... y-not.html
Portland, New York, Delaware (all in USA): injuring a vulnerable road user is a circumstance of aggravation to a charge of dangerous driving. Discussed at:
Ontario, Canada: Civilly, the onus is on the motorist to show they are not at fault. Here's the statute; see s193.
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statut ... .htm#BK288 .
These are the only laws that I'm aware of, not that I've looked all that hard. I'd be grateful if anyone could either discuss them in detail (wrt to effects on safety, for example), or mention any others.
interesting article. from it:
IANAL but i deal a fair bit in the law and understand what the author here describes as strict liability to be absolute liability, while what he describes as presumption of liability to be strict liability. of course, i could be wrong..
again, i could be missing something, but i think he's confused here. a strict liability law could be for motorists to yield to cyclists, as is the case for cyclists to yield to peds on shared paths. there's no "innocent until proven guilty" dilemma with such a provision - it simply clarifies the obligation for motorists to yield to cyclists, as 100s of other rules clarify other circumstances in which road users must yield to other road uers.
i think what he's thinking is that the road rules would stay the same (i.e. proferring no special entitlement for cyclists relative to motorists), but that motorists would be presumed guilty in a collision between them. i'd agree that would be unfair, but it's not the only option. there is also a functioniing version of what i described above applying to cyclists on shared paths.
This is why I used the term "vulnerable road user legislation"; "Strict Liability" means different things to different people. I was trying to start a discussion about two things:
1. What kinds of vulnerable road user laws are out there; and
2. How would they work in Australia?
"Strict Liability" is a term that leads straight to semantic debates about what it means (and I've been as guilty of that as anybody ). These debates don't seem to shed much light, so I was hoping to avoid them this time round and instead concentrate on the actual content of this law or that and how it might apply in Australia.
I linked to that article because it was one of the more detailed discussions of the Dutch law I'd seen. It's not ideal in that respect (and the author is pretty candid about the limits of their research IMO). There are some important points that still aren't clear like how the presumption of fault can be rebutted and whether it would apply to cyclist/pedestrian collisions (according to that oft-quoted YouTube video, you know the one, the answers are "with difficulty; showing fault on the cyclist's part isn't sufficient" and "yes", but I was hoping for something a bit more substantial that that...). Hopefully someone can dig up a bit more detail.
One thing that wikipedia article points is that strict civil liability, in the English/Australian sense, is a controversial concept. It's actually not good law in Australia since the decision in Burnie Port Authority. This doesn't make it impossible to have such a civil law, not at all, but it does mean that such a law is likely to meet with resistance.
but i think it's integral to the discussion. i agree also on discussing the content. to summarise, my view on such a law is that it would simply reflect that for cyclists on shared paths, i.e.
- motorists must yield to cyclists, but
- negligence of cyclists would be available as a defence to motorists if charged under that offence (as it is for cyclists on shared paths - i believe it's called reasonable mistake in law).
the major outcome would be similar to that for cyclists on shared paths - a clear obligation to account for the vulnerability of cyclists in a collision with a driver's motor vehicle.
Strict liability is one way of protecting vulnerable road users. It may be even be a good one. By no means is it the only way; I think the existing laws demonstrate that.
To concentrate on the current cyclist/pedestrian law:
- The Road Rules (most of which create offences without fault elements - ie offences of strict liability) have a fairly relaxed penalty regime. Loss of license is about the heaviest penalty available. That's a pretty small stick for a collision, one that could involve serious injury.
- Enforcement of the Road Rules is a big problem and this one is no different.
- Negligence of the collidee (is that even a word? ) isn't a defence as such. Accident is a defence, so is honest and reasonable mistake of fact. Those are the ones that come to mind.
- It presupposes that cyclists who don't want to yield to pedestrians can go elsewhere (the road or dedicated cyclepaths as the case may be). At least, that's usually the case in practice.
- It's limited to paths and as such isn't about cyclist/pedestrian interactions in general.
- It doesn't criminalise colliding with a pedestrian, it asserts the primacy of pedestrians on shared paths. To do this, it criminalises much less harmful behaviour, under limited circumstances. I don't really have a problem with that, but it's a completely separate concern. A law that criminalises such collisions should have substantially more serious penalties and shouldn't have a geographical limitation.
I don't have anything against a law criminalising collisions with vulnerable road users. I just don't think the Road Rules are the right vehicle for those reasons. I'd also like to point out that dangerous driving (in Queensland anyway) isn't even limited to roads; it can apply to driving anywhere. An anti-colliding-with-vulnerable-road-user law should, I'd suggest, be equally broad in scope.
It's a worthwhile consideration and proposal, and realistically it is probably the jewel in the crown to make Aussie roads heavily "cyclical". I think it would be well worth investigating the interaction with peds with cars as well as bicycles, because there are situations where the ped must not create an obstruction, but how do you PROVE all this? That's ultimately the killer blow with all laws. Insider trading and corruption is illegal too, but they happen a LOT and it's hard to prosecute.
If you're referring to jules21's proposal, there's an important difference between it and (say) insider trading: it would have no fault element. At least, the Road Rules almost invariably don't, so I assume that's the case, at the risk of putting words into their mouth. Fault elements can be difficult to prove, so not having one should make an offence easier to make out. One issue with making it part of the Road Rules is the lack of "teeth"; for not-particularly-interesting reasons adding an offence to the Australian Road Rules that has jail time as a penalty is harder than it looks.
agreed. but you could do both - make a strict liability offence in the rules to yield to vulnerable road users, and put a multiplier for existing provisions in primary legislation (e.g. careless, dangerous driving) with double the max. penalty when the victim is a vulnerable road user. that would cover both circumstances - i.e. major and minor incidents.
Sure, but only the Road Rules offence would have no fault element in that case. Whether this is bug or feature I honestly don't know. I'm leaning towards "bug", but I can definitely see the other side of the coin.
EDIT: got "bug" and "feature" the wrong way 'round.
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Exciting New Discovery graphically shows how trees lift water.
Andrew Kenneth Fletcher
gravitystudy at hotmail.com
Sun Mar 19 05:51:19 EST 2000
Thank you for your post, this is what I am looking for! I agree with most of
The valve placed at the top would act like scissors and cut the water
column. It would then immediately fall on both sides to around 33 feet.
There is no point trying this unless you doubt the 33 ft limit exists in a
single upstanding capped tube.
In one experiment I had a T junction which was air tight. The idea was that
I could inject saline solution via a valve into the loop. It failed because
the water boiled, it was like air was being sucked into the water from the
walls of the tube at the top of the loop. I guess the interruption
The tube I used was 6.5mil strong nylon, the type used in the brewery trade.
I have observed the column breaking during the experiments and noted that
the level in both tubes falls rapidly to the 33 ft mark.
Ray Girvan <ray.girvan at zetnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2000031411151571207 at zetnet.co.uk...
> David Allsopp <dallsopp at signal.dera.gov.uk> writes:
> > Andrew Kenneth Fletcher wrote:
> >> By introducing a loop of tubing, instead of a single tube, to
> >> simulate the internal structure of plants and trees, and
> >> suspending it by the centre, the problem of raising water
> >> above the 33 feet limit is solved. The reason a loop of tubing
> >> succeeds where a single tube fails is because the cohesive
> >> bond of water molecules is far stronger than the adhesive
> >> qualities of water observed in Galileo's lift-pump problem.
> >> Using a loop of tubing enables water molecules to bond to
> >> each other in an unbroken chain. It helps to picture the
> >> unbroken loop of water as a cord instead of a liquid,
> >> supported by a pulley in the centre with tension applied to
> >> both ends.
> > Whoa! I can picture chemists across the land falling off
> > their chairs! ... You have some _major_ convincing to do here...
> >> The columns of water held in both sides of the tube exert a
> >> downward force due to the weight of the water contained in
> >> the tube. This force causes the water molecules in the tube
> >> to be stretched, causing the water to behave like an elastic band.
> > What do you mean, 'causing the water to behave like an
> > elastic band' ?
> Actually, I think this is the key to the Brixham Cliff observations.
> I vaguely remembered something from university, and tried a web
> search for "tensile strength of water".
> A constrained column of water does, in fact, possess tensile
> strength; to stretch or 'break' it is doing work against the hydrogen
> bonds between molecules. One of the references mentioned a
> centrifuge experiment showing a water column could take -26 MPa
> pressure without cavitating (1 atmosphere = 0.1 Mpa). This is a
> known phenomenon, and I think Andrew has hit upon an intuitive
> description of this, and an experimental setup that demonstrates it.
> The likely explanation, then, is that the 78 foot column is
> partly supported from below by atmospheric pressure, and partly by
> the tensile strength of the water column itself.
If atmospheric pressure is responsible, why does the water level go up the
tubes when the tube ends are pulled from the vessels? Surely the level would
fall resulting in water flowing from the tubes. This is simply not the case
in the Brixham experiment.
> However, it's nothing to do with the loop setup: I'd predict that a
> single closed column of water would do just as well. Andrew could
> test this by putting a valve or clip at the top of the loop, and
> seeing what (if anything) happens if it's closed after the tube is filled.
It would inevitably fail Ray.
If you would like to come to Paignton and see the video and bench
experiments, and hear what I have to say about how this theory fits with
everything, just give me a call on 01803 524117.
Kettle is always on and my wife Judy is an excellent cook. I will give you
some tube so that you can repeat my experiment and test your own idea.
I would like to share your post with the other groups to see if it will
stimulate some more responses, if this is OK with you?
> ray.girvan at zetnet.co.uk +++ Technical Author +++ Topsham, Devon, UK
> http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/rgirvan/ +++ The Apothecary's Drawer
> Message Board Title: "INCLINED TO SLEEP INCLINED"
More information about the Plant-ed |
Thu, 09/04/2009 - 14:54
BirdLife have reported a strange twist in the tale of Europes harbinger of spring the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus. In a dramatic discovery, returning cuckoos have been heard and filmed calling with a highly distinctive variation of the normal call. The new call is best described as Oooh-Kuck, Oooh-Kuck...!
Europe and Central Asia |
For those of you who earn money writing articles on the internet for sites like InfoBarrel or Squidoo, once your article is published, you only need to sit back and smile as the AdSense profit cash rolls in, right? Wrong! Getting an article published in only half the battle. The next step is to share your piece with the rest of the world – after all the world be a better place if everybody could learn from your brilliance? (I am kidding…kinda). If you use any of the following six tips, you will see an increase your number of readers.
If you have had the opportunity to speak with somebody who is generating income from the articles that they publish online, they will probably admit to you that they are earning between $0.25 and $2.00 per month for each article that they have ever published. Earning money from your articles is purely a numbers game, and it is critical to understand the correlation between people reading your article and the balance in your Google AdSense account. In all honesty, you are likely to generate around $15.00 for each 1,000 views in advertising. If you hear that an article earned $1.00, you can do the calculations to know that the article had roughly 70 page-views. That is a good number for somebody that has not researched their keywords, not independently marketed their articles and not used any additional monetization strategies (i.e. affiliate marketing) for their articles.
In other words, to make money writing articles, you must generate page views.
Once I receive confirmation that my post has been published, I follow this 5-part checklist to maximize my viewership:
1. If applicable, it does not hurt to update your previous articles with a link to your newest article. The key is that the link be natural and not crow-barred into your old posts. If done effectively, it helps a reader find related your content, which increases the probability they discover something they enjoy and would recommend to others. For example, I wrote an article on “Classic Bollywood movies” (which I wrote because keyword had good search volume). In this article, I said that Bollywood stars were India’s equivalent of Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp. When I wrote that line, I had planned to write subsequent articles on these two actors. Once the articles on Depp and Pitt were written, I went back and updated the original Bollywood piece.
2. Submit your article to the host for consideration as a feature article (provided the host has this functionality – I know InfoBarrel does). So far, I’ve had seventeen articles features and can confirm that this generates decent volume.
3. Set up a regular auto-tweet for your new post using a product like as TweetAdder or HootSuite. If possible, include the twitter handles of famous people who might be interested and retweet your article. This happened to me once – I wrote a piece about Howard Stern and his re-tweet generated almost 10,000 views within 24 hours.
4. For each article that you write, update your Google AdSense account as soon as it is published. AdSense will track each URL address, which you can use to track both the income and the number of viewers each day. Over time, you will start to realize that certain article types out-punch their weight when it comes to revenue while the ones you assumed would do well can sometimes fall flatly. This is valuable in your evolution as an author. From the main Google Adsense page, go to ‘My Ads’, then ‘URL Channels’.
5. Post the article to various social media sites (StumbleUpon, Facebook, Pintrest, etc) to drive extra traffic to your site.
Ryan’s blog, How To Earn Money Online HQ, is dedicated to teaching online entrepreneurs the ethical strategies, techniques and internet business ideas to generate a lifetime of passive income. |
Prescriptions for sleeping pills are at record volumes (56 million in 2008). In times of either emotional or financial stress, symptoms of insomnia rise, and so do prescriptions for sleeping pills. But how effective are they? A recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2008 showed that sleeping pills decreased the time it took to fall asleep by 18 minutes, and increased total sleep time by 28 minutes per night, on average.
It’s estimated that up to 50% of people suffer from insomnia occasionally, and about 10% have chronic insomnia. There are a lot of reasons that can cause insomnia, from stress to medical conditions to external factors such as excessive noise. And more and more are turning to a new generation of sleep aids like Ambien, the best seller, and its competitors Sonata and Lunesta.
Drug makers spent $300 million in the first 11 months of 2008 to convince consumers that the sleep aids are safe and effective. That was more than four times such ad spending in all of 2005.
Even the most infrequent television viewers would have trouble missing the lush Lunesta ads, which feature a luna moth fluttering around the bed of a peaceful sleeper.
But there’s a dark side to the quest for more sleep, some experts worry that the heavily advertised drugs are being oversubscribed without enough regard to known, if rare side effects or the implication of long term use. And they fear doctors may be ignoring other conditions, like depression, heart disease, excessive alcohol, tobacco or recreation drug use or stress, that might be the cause of sleeplessness.
Although the newer drugs are not believed to carry the same risk of dependence as older ones like barbiturates, some patients are reporting what is called the “next day” effect, a continued sleepiness many hours after awakening from a drug-induced slumber.
Your doctor may be able to alert you to the possibility of side effects if you have asthma or other health conditions. Sleeping pills make you breathe more slowly and less deeply. That can be dangerous for people with uncontrolled lung problems such as asthma or COPD.
While sleeping pill popping appears to be generally safe. One must ask are we simply masking a worrisome more deadly problem - unhealthy lifestyles?
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The Iliad Book 9
The Trojans keep their watch during the night but the Greeks are restless because panic has set upon them "as crosswinds chop the sea where the fish swarm." Book 9, line 4 Agamemnon attempts to muster his troops and raise the morale calling Zeus a harsh and cruel god. He tries to convince the armies that they should retreat to Greece, but this time he is in earnest. Diomedes stands to oppose this plan. He calls Agamemnon a coward and alleges that, although he was blessed with the right to rule, he was slighted in terms of courage. Diomedes maintains that the Greek armies should remain at Troy because they arrived with the blessing of a god. Nestor rises and explains to Diomedes that although men will listen to him because he is so strong, they will be more likely to take him seriously because of his advanced age and wisdom. Nestor advises the Greeks to eat their evening meal and post sentries so that most of the army may sleep and get some rest. Everyone agrees to this advice and Agamemnon gathers the war chiefs for discussion.
Nestor is the first to speak at this council. He praises Agamemnon's lineage and character but then he criticizes him for angering and alienating Achilles. Nestor advises that they should send an embassy to Achilles and try to win him over. Agamemnon rises in consent:
"That's no lie, old man - a full account you give
Of all my acts of madness. Mad, blind I was!" Book 9, lines 147-148
Agamemnon maintains that his blindness was an act of the gods. He plans to set things right with Achilles by giving him a great amount of treasure and returning Briseis, with whom he will swear he never slept. He also proposes that Achilles marry his daughter as a formal truce between the two men. Even though he plans to remit all of this, Agamemnon doubts that Achilles will relent:
"Let him submit to me! Only the god of death
Is so relentless, Death submits to no one -
So mortals hate him most of all the gods." Book 9, lines 189-191
Nestor says that the gifts are ample and appropriate. Nestor names the men who should go to Achilles.
Ajax Telamon and Odysseus go to Achilles with two heralds. When they arrive at the camp of the Myrmidons, they find Patroclus finishing a meal and watching Achilles perform with the lyre. They make a sacrifice and share the meal with the two men. Odysseus relates the tale of the battle so far and the offering of Agamemnon, guaranteeing the treasure and Briseis himself. Achilles stands and explains that he hates that man like "the very gates of death, who says one thing but hides another in his heart." Book 9, lines 378-379. He asks if the sons of Atreus are the only men who love their wives and reveals how much he adores Briseis. He also says that he plans to leave for Greece as soon as he has sacrificed. He calls Agamemnon rich, stupid and shameless and refuses the offer of the king's daughter, saying he can get his own wife. Achilles reveals the prophecy given to him by his mother, Thetis:
"Two fates bear me on to the day of death.
If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy
My journey home is gone, but my glory never dies.
If I voyage back to the fatherland I love,
My pride, my glory dies...
True, but the life that's left me will be long,
The stroke of death will not come on me quickly." Book 9, lines 499-505
This is Achilles' fundamental problem: to die young with glory or live a long, but simple, life. Phoenix is shocked at this decision and tells Achilles a long tale about his life and his curse to never have his own son. For this reason he has adopted Achilles. He tells the story of Meleager and Cleopatra. Meleager would not fight for his friends and family because of his wife, Cleopatra. Finally, he comes to their aid and saves them, but it is too late because, although they have their lives, their city and possessions have been taken. Phoenix promises Achilles that the Greeks will honor him like a god.
Achilles tells Phoenix that he does not need this honor because Zeus already gives it to him Ajax rises and calls to Odysseus in disbelief because all of this is "for a girl". Achilles fills with rage. Odysseus returns to Agamemnon and relays what Achilles has said. Diomedes says that they should ignore him because he will fight when a "god fires his blood." (Book 9, line 858) |
At a Senate hearing on cancer funding two weeks ago, Senator Edward M. Kennedy said progress had been made against cancer, but more work needed to be done.
"We’ve come a long way in fighting cancer since we passed the National Cancer Act thirty-seven years ago. At the time, cancer was the second leading cause of death in the nation. Americans lived in fear that they or someone they loved would be lost to this dread disease, he said. "Today, we still have that fear, but we’re better equipped for the fight."
Here is what Kennedy had to say, 12 days before he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
"Thank you all for being here on such an important day. I’m standing here with modern day heroes.
Lance Armstrong is a true champion of will and determination. He has changed the way people see cancer patients. He’s crossed the finish line both on the trail as well as medically, beating cancer and taking up the fight on behalf of cancer patients across the country.
I’m also honored to stand here with Dr. Edward Benz of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Hala Moddelmog from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Their work has changed the lives of thousands and their continued commitment to battling this disease inspires scientists around the world. Thank you both for being here today and for testifying this morning in front of the health committee.
I’m proud to be working with Senator Hutchison on a bill that will really tackle the entire spectrum of cancer – starting with research, prevention, access and survivorship.
We’ve come a long way in fighting cancer since we passed the National Cancer Act thirty-seven years ago. At the time, cancer was the second leading cause of death in the nation. Americans lived in fear that they or someone they loved would be lost to this dread disease.
Today, we still have that fear, but we’re better equipped for the fight. It’s a complex disease and it requires comprehensive strategies to fight it – strategies the integrate research, prevention and treatment.
Every new discovery and small advance in medical treatment brings us one step closer to a cure and one step closer to saving the lives of millions of Americans.
For example, we’re entering a new era of personalized medicine. We can look at someone’s genes and cells to tailor therapies that can prevent cancer from occurring and cure cancer if it emerges.
Senator Hutchison and I will be introducing legislation in the coming days to make it clear that we must approach cancer comprehensively and not place emphasis on one type of cancer over another. This bill will renew our efforts to make progress in the battle against cancer, and to give patients and their families a renewed sense of hope."
About white coat notes
|White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.|
Gideon Gil, Health and Science Editor
Elizabeth Comeau, Senior Health Producer |
Captain Preston’s Unknown Biography
Captain Thomas Preston was the key figure in the fatal incident known as the Boston Massacre and the subsequent trials. In fact Preston’s name is one of the most mentioned in the historic texts, second perhaps only to Crispus Attucks who became a well known American hero. But unlike Attucks whose biographies can be found in abundance, we know practically next to nothing about Preston. The only hard facts that we know are the details of the Massacre itself that were well documented due to the scrutiny they received in the trial.
Here are the few facts that we do we know about Thomas Preston.
Thomas Preston was an officer of the 29th Regiment of Foot who was present at the Boston Massacre March 5, 1770. He was arrested after the shooting and charged with murder. As an officer Preston received a separate trial from the other accused soldiers. The trial lasted from October 24, 1770 to October 30, 1770. It was held in Boston and the future US President John Adams successfully defended Captain Preston who was “honorably acquitted” of the charges. The defense was able to prove that Preston did not give the order for the troops to fire.
And that’s about all what we know for a fact. The details of Preston’s life before his service in Boston and after the trial are very sketchy.
Even the the age and the exact bith and death years are disputed. According to Michael Burgan’s book “The Boston Massacre” publisehd by Compas Point Books, 2005, Preston was the exact same age as Samuel Adams. Mr. Burgan writes that Preston was born in 1722 and died in 1798. Admas, the famous leader of the Boston patriots was also born in the same year. This would have made Preston 48 years old during the Massacre on King’s street. But according to another book, The Complete Idiot's Guide® to the American Revolution By Alan Axelrod, Preston was 40-years old in 1770.
Another basic question remains without a certain unsewer, whe in England was Captain Preston from? It is sometimes mentiond that Preston was Irish. But there are no solid leads to a person with the same name and age in numerious Irish geneology srouces. It is possible that it was simply assumed that Preston was Irish by his assocation with the 29th British Regiment. In the book Irish Boston: A Lively Look at Boston's Colorful Irish Past, Michael P. Quinlin quotes the description of the 29 Regiment of the British army by one of the contemporaries, “the average man in the twenty-ninth was over thirty, medium tall and Irish”.
Within a month after the trial Preston was reported to have left Boston. Preston wrote a farewell note to General Thomas Gage, the commander of the British occupying forces. In this note he referred to his acquittal, "I take the liberty of wishing you joy at the complete victory obtained over the knaves and foolish villains of Boston."
After his trial, Preston retired from the army and presumably settled in Ireland, though Adams recalled seeing him in London in the 1780s.
Perhaps the last detail on which historians disagree is the amount of compensation he received from the government after returning to England. According to one sources it was a one-time payment of 200 pounds but others mention an annual pension of two hundred pounds a year from the King.
Next Article: How Townshend Acts Lead to the Increased British Military Presence in Boston |
MDGs through rural-urban lens
The days left to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number 894 only. And while South Asia is on track to achieve three out of seven MGDs: halving extreme poverty, access to safe water and reducing maternal mortality, the region lags significantly on all the others by a hefty margin.
But what recently put the region under the limelight once again is the fact that it is amongst the least urbanised in the world, along with sub-Saharan Africa.
Urbanisation is crucial for raising the standards of living; creating new sources of income and increasing quality and access to services. The focus of the recently-launched Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2013 is the rural-urban dynamics where it provides analysis on how increased urbanisation can be a poverty reduction mechanism.
One of the key findings of GMR 2013 is how generally the urban populations have far better access to the basic amenities defined by the MDGs. With the speedy pace of development in the developing world, urban poverty rates are predominantly lower than rural poverty rates.
But heres a caveat: If the forces of urbanisation are not managed speedily and efficiently, slum growth can overwhelm city growth, exacerbate urban poverty, and derail MDG achievements, mentions the report.
This is exactly what has happened in Pakistan. Over 200 cities and towns mark the geography of Pakistan, yet urbanisation is concentrated in a few large metropolitan cities where over 58 percent of the total urban population resides. With one of the highest population bulges in the world and lack of urban planning, the pressures on the few urban centres is massive.
On the other hand, small towns generally have poorer service delivery than large cities. These facts can be seen to align with what another recent UNDP update on the status of MDGs for Sindh depicted. Though the population estimates are outdated, urban poverty for cities and small towns in Sindh (minus Karachi) was found to be higher than rural poverty incidence.
In short, urbanisation needs to be managed. What would actually serve towards poverty reduction in the rural-urban realm is an integrated urbanisation strategy and complementary development policies.
Source: Report on the status of Millennium Development Goals Sindh (UNDP) |
Wels, Gerhard Anzinger, Welscity, north-central Austria. It lies along the Traun River at the foothills of the Eastern Alps, southwest of Linz. The site has been occupied since prehistoric times. Wels originated as the Roman Ovilava, capital of Noricum province. In the European Middle Ages it was a leading market town. Notable landmarks include the Lederer Tower (1376) on the picturesque town square; the town hall (remodeled 1748); the late Gothic parish church with magnificent 14th-century stained-glass windows; and the former imperial castle where the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I died in 1519. A railway junction and important cattle and grain market, the city holds a big annual fair (the Welser Messe). Wels manufactures agricultural machinery, textiles, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, and building materials. It is also an important regional centre of retail and wholesale trade. Pop. (2006) 58,607. |
This presentation examines the efforts of Richard B. Moore of the West Indies National Council (WINC) to advocate on behalf of a human rights-based anticolonial agenda at the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO) in San Francisco which established the United Nations. Although the WINC was not an official UNCIO consultant, Moore formulated an ambitious human rights anticolonial agenda through The Appeal to the United Nations Conference on International Organization on Behalf of the Caribbean Peoples and in various speeches he gave during unofficial sessions that took place outside of but outside the conference. While Moore was pushing his anticolonial agenda outside the conference, inside the conference Brigadier General Carlos P. Romulo, the Philippians delegate, was pushing for the inclusion of the word “independence” in the section of the United Nations Charter which pertained to dependent territories. Romulo’s efforts galvanized activists like Moore but ultimately their advocacy efforts had little-to-no effect on the UN’s commitment to decolonization.
|Presenter:||Myron Brown (City College of New York) -- email@example.com
|Topic:||History I - Panel|
|Time:||2:30 pm (Session III)| |
How can local businesses succeed outside of Small Business Saturday?
I am from a small town – Mooresville, IN. Most of my family still lives there or in the surrounding area. My dad has been the mayor and currently sits on the town board. Small businesses are essential to making the community grow. Of course, now there is a Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and every fast food chain imaginable within 5-10 minute drive.
It’s sad to see small businesses close down when the big ones move in. But, do they have to?
What if local businesses had a marketing department or advertising budget that could compete with the chains? There was a local coffee shop in the middle of town that we worked from when we were visiting. She made the best soup and great pastries! My parents ate lunch there often. Then one day, we called to find out the soup choices and she said she had to close. Just not enough business. Her passion was cooking and hosting – she was great at that. But she had no idea how to market her business.
How can small businesses survive in a tough economy with little to no marketing budget?
1. Word of Mouth – ask for referrals, give a discount for recommendations.
2. Use social media – be active and involved on Facebook and Twitter. Social media is not free but can be cost-effective. Utilize Facebook Ads.
3. Be involved in the community. Take advantage of being involved in local events and fairs.
4. Have a website – a good one! Make sure that your site is easy to navigate and says exactly what you do or offer. Keep it updated with great content.
5. Make sure your company is listed on Google, Google Places, Yelp, Urbanspoon, Angie’s List and other sites that are relevant to your industry.
6. Talk about your niche – what do you do different because your small – more flexible, less overhead, less red tape…
7. Create professional business cards – not from your home computer! You don’t have to spend a fortune but it’s not the place to go cheap.
8. Use tools that make you appear bigger: Google Voice, MailChimp to send Newsletters that link to social media sites, HootSuite to post to all social media sites from one page.
9. Update your LinkedIn personal and business page. This is the professional social networking site – don’t neglect it.
10. Get organized! We love Google Apps to share documents, calendars, videos and presentations. We also love 37Signals for projects and contact management.
What have you done as a small businesses to compete with the Big Boxes? |
Peter, James and John Learn Advanced Truths About The Kingdom
141:7.1 On February 26, Jesus, his
and a large group of followers journeyed down the
to the ford near
the place where John first made proclamation of the coming kingdom. Jesus with his apostles remained here, teaching and preaching, for four weeks
before they went on up to
141:7.2 The second week of the sojourn at Bethany beyond
Jordan, Jesus took
John into the hills across the river and south of
for a three days' rest. The Master taught these three many new and advanced truths about the
kingdom of heaven.
For the purpose of this record we will reorganize and classify these teachings as follows:
141:7.3 Jesus endeavored to make clear that he
desired his disciples, having tasted of the good spirit realities of the kingdom, so to live in the world that men, by seeing their lives,
would become kingdom conscious and hence be led to inquire of believers concerning the ways of the kingdom. All such sincere seekers for the truth are
always glad to hear the glad tidings of the faith gift which insures admission to the kingdom with its eternal and divine spirit realities.
141:7.4 The Master sought to impress upon all teachers
of the gospel of the kingdom that their only business was to reveal God to the individual
man as his Father— to lead this individual man to become son-conscious; then to present this same man to God as his faith son. Both of these essential
are accomplished in Jesus. He became, indeed, "the way, the truth, and the life." The religion of Jesus was wholly based on the living of his bestowal life on earth. When Jesus
departed from this world, he left behind no books, laws, or other forms of human organization affecting the religious life of the individual.
141:7.5 Jesus made it plain that
he had come to establish personal and eternal relations with men which should forever take precedence over all other human relationships. And he
emphasized that this intimate spiritual fellowship was to be extended to all men of all ages and of all social conditions among all peoples. The only
reward which he held out for his children was: in this world—spiritual joy and divine communion; in the next world—
in the progress of the divine spirit realities of the Paradise Father.
141:7.6 Jesus laid great emphasis upon what he called
the two truths of first import in the teachings of the kingdom, and they are: the attainment of salvation by faith, and faith alone, associated with the revolutionary teaching of the attainment of human liberty through the
sincere recognition of truth, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jesus was the truth made manifest in the flesh, and he promised to send his Spirit of Truth into the hearts of all his children after his return to the Father in heaven.
141:7.7 The Master was teaching
apostles the essentials of truth for an entire age on earth. They often listened to his
teachings when in reality what he said was intended for the inspiration and edification of other worlds. He exemplified a new and original plan of
life. From the human standpoint he was indeed a
but he lived his life for all the world as a mortal of the realm.
141:7.8 To insure the recognition of his Father in the
unfolding of the plan of the kingdom, Jesus explained that he had purposely ignored the "great men of earth." He began his work with the poor, the
very class which had been so neglected by most of the evolutionary religions of preceding
times. He despised no man; his plan was world-wide, even universal. He was so bold and emphatic in these announcements that even Peter, James, and
John were tempted to think he might possibly be beside himself.
141:7.9 He sought mildly to impart to these apostles the truth that he had come on this bestowal mission, not to set an example for a few
earth creatures, but to establish and demonstrate a standard of human life for all peoples upon all worlds throughout his entire universe. And this
standard approached the highest perfection, even the final goodness of the
Universal Father. But the apostles could not grasp the meaning of his words.
141:7.10 He announced that he had come to function as a
teacher, a teacher sent from heaven to present spiritual truth to the material mind. And this is exactly what he did; he was a teacher, not a
preacher. From the human viewpoint Peter was a much more effective preacher than Jesus. Jesus' preaching was so effective because of his unique
not so much because of compelling oratory or emotional appeal. Jesus spoke directly to men's souls. He was a teacher of man's spirit, but through the mind. He lived with men.
141:7.11 It was on this occasion that Jesus intimated
to Peter, James, and John that his work on earth was in some respects to be limited by the commission of his "associate on high," referring to the
prebestowal instructions of his Paradise brother, Immanuel. He told them that he had come to do his Father's will and only his Father's will. Being
thus motivated by a wholehearted singleness of purpose, he was not anxiously bothered by the evil in the world.
apostles were beginning to recognize the unaffected friendliness of Jesus. Though the
Master was easy of approach, he always lived independent of, and above, all human beings. Not for one moment was he ever dominated by any purely
mortal influence or subject to frail human judgment. He paid no attention to public opinion, and he was uninfluenced by praise. He seldom paused to
correct misunderstandings or to resent misrepresentation. He never asked any man for advice; he never made requests for prayers.
141:7.13 James was astonished at how Jesus seemed to
see the end from the beginning. The Master rarely appeared to be surprised. He was never excited, vexed, or disconcerted. He never apologized to any
man. He was at times saddened, but never discouraged.
141:7.14 More clearly John recognized that,
notwithstanding all of his divine endowments, after all, he was human. Jesus lived as a man among men and understood, loved, and knew how to manage
men. In his personal life he was so human, and yet so faultless. And he was always unselfish.
John could not understand very much of what Jesus said on this occasion, his gracious
words lingered in their hearts, and after the crucifixion and resurrection they came forth greatly to enrich and gladden their subsequent ministry. No
apostles did not fully comprehend the Master's words, for he was projecting to them the
plan of a new age.
- Back to Great Jesus Stories - |
I’m a school choice advocate, and full disclosure – my wife and I (mostly my wife) homeschool our three children. That said I’m concerned by how current voucher programs are structured with more and more strings attached. A friend of ours, Melissa Smith wrote a letter-to-the-editor that was published in the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel that speaks to this matter succinctly so I wanted to share it here for our readers:
Indiana needs to opt out of Common Core
The Aug. 1 article about Dick Morris’ appearance in Fort Wayne failed to mention one of the most interesting moments in the evening. It occurred when a member of the audience asked him about the Common Core, and he admitted he really didn’t know much about it and was going to look into it.
Morris and other organizations, such as Americans for Prosperity, who are actively promoting vouchers, have a responsibility to take the time to investigate the Common Core. What they will find is that the Common Core state standards and the federally funded assessments that accompany it, are the antitheses of the promises made by the school choice movement.
Here in Indiana, voucher or no voucher, the “choices” parents have will soon be narrowed down to only one — the Common Core. Anyone wondering why Indiana’s adoption of Common Core’s “one-size-fits all” system of national standards, curriculum and testing flies in the face of school choice need only Google the document “Closing the Door on Innovation,” which was signed by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice’s president, Robert Enlow, among others.
Legislators in Indiana should follow states like Texas, Virginia and Alaska, and pass Sen. Scott Schneider’s legislation to opt Indiana out of the Common Core initiative. If they don’t, the Common Core will certainly be the attached strings that sink the voucher movement, private and parochial school and ultimately even home-schooling as well.
Melissa R. Smith (links added by me) |
Harriet Tubman Democratic High School is the only democratic educational institution for teens in the Capital District. We offer a supportive and personal learning environment for young adults from diverse backgrounds. Our staff strives to teach young adults how to think for themselves by encouraging critical discussions and respecting student input into their educational process. Our students learn self-motivation and, in the process, discover independence and self-reliance.
HTDHS is a not-for-profit private school. We are committed to maintaining a diverse learning community. Scholarships are available and no one is turned away simply for lack of funds. Please see our Admissions tab for more information.
Category Archives: HTDHS News
HTDHS students may earn a NYS Certified Diploma within a supportive and flexible educational environment
On January 24th, the Times Union wrote an article about HTDHS. To read the article, follow this link: Times Union Article Breaking the Public School Paradigm HTDHS was recently involved in a short documentary made by SUNY students about alternatives … Continue reading |
What is it about fish? If I’m up a few pounds, all I do is eat grilled fish that night, along with some vegetables (preferably thermic vegetables). The next day, I’m back down on the scale. It’s magical. That’s why I weigh myself every morning; and one way I have maintained a 50 pound weight loss since 2001.
Why does it work?
1) Fish is easier to digest than other meats, i.e., beef, pork, chicken, etc.
2) Fish is a protein, not a carbohydrate, so it doesn’t cause an insulin spike when eaten. (the theory behind the high protein/low carb diets).
3) Fish is super low in fat.
4) Fish is extremely low in calories, yet satisfying. Just look at these calorie counts of some of my favorites (no breading, not fried):
a) Alaskan King Crab Legs, 3 oz. = 109 calories
b) Flounder, 4 oz. = 132 calories
c) Mahi Mahi, 3 oz. = 90 calories
d) Salmon, 3 oz. = 160 calories
e) Talapia, 3 oz. = 110 calories
f) Tuna, canned, in water, 3 oz. = 109 calories
When I was a little girl, I didn’t like fish, but now I love it! I used to disguise the taste of fish, but now I love it grilled, and find that, along with chicken, it is my favorite form of protein. I love Mahi-Mahi sandwiches, prefer grilled fish tacos, get excited when my husband decides to grill fish on the grill, and give a nod of approval when I see fish skewers on the menu at restaurants.
Fish helps me live the thin lifestyle, and maintain a 50-pound weight loss, so fish is my friend — and, as I said before — fish is definitely “magical!” |
New Zealanders cycle to feed Vietnamese kids
Updated : 07/12/2012 11:06 GMT + 7
Two sisters, Kim McVinnie and Sally Hewlett, recently spent their summer holiday cycling across Vietnam to help reduce malnutrition among local children.
“I saw lovely smiles and heard hellos from local people on the way. That is the greatest motivation during the trip,” said Kim McVinnie.
Kim is one of the cyclists who travelled across Vietnam, starting in mid-June, in a program supported by the international organization ChildFund.
Kim said she joined the bike trip after an invitation from her sister, Sally Hewlett, ChildFund New Zealand’s Asia Programs Coordinator. Previously, Sally was researching health issues and living conditions of Vietnamese kids for the organization. She found out that 60 percent of children in the mountainous regions of northern Vietnam are facing serious developmental issues, and even death, from malnutrition and decided to do something to help out.
To prepare for the trip, the sisters had been fundraising from family, friends and online communities.
“I have never ridden this far and suffered heat of more than 25 degrees Celsius. Some roads were terrible, which left us down in the dumps. But we kept encouraging each other to go on,” recalled Kim.
For every province they visited, the group tried to discover a new lifestyle and local cuisine.
“I am impressed with the close-knit nature of Vietnamese families. I feel the warmth from the people,” shared Sally.
US$4,500 was raised as they cycled for a distance of 700 kilometers. The money will go to ChildFund Vietnam’s Appeal to provide nutritious meals, which are called ‘sprinkles’, to 1,200 children in poor and isolated areas in the northern province of Cao Bang.
The New Zealander cyslists on their way to cycle along Vietnam |
Top 5 Myths About Tax Audits
An audit is arguably the most dreaded outcome of the tax filing process, and the situation carries with it some unsettling mystique. The standard nightmare has Internal Revenue Service agents with badges showing up on your doorstep, or the agency — seizing smorgasbord-style — the bulk of your personal assets. Experts in the field, however, say audits contrast greatly from their thriving myths.
“Audits are something most people should not be afraid of,” says Sandy Zinman, tax committee chairman for the National Conference of CPA Practitioners. “A lot of times the government just doesn’t want to do these audits.”
In fact, Zinman says, one of the most enduring tax audit myths holds that an audit is a common occurrence. He says audits are generally “a lose-lose situation” for the IRS because they require a lot of resources and because of the negative image audits project onto the IRS.
“Historically, only about 1 percent of filers get audited. That’s a real small percentage,” said financial adviser Thomas Jensen, owner and managing partner of Vaerdi LLC in Portland, Oregon. The IRS did not respond to questions regarding specific details of its auditing process, including its total number of audits.
Jensen said the IRS uses a system called the discriminate information function to determine what returns are worth an audit. The DIF is a scoring system that compares returns of peer groups, based on similar factors such as job and income. If a person’s financial data differs significantly from those established by his peers, the system gives that return a high DIF score. A high DIF score raises the chances that the filer will be audited, Jensen said.
Although the IRS audits only a small percentage of filed returns, there is a chance the agency will audit your own. The myths about who or who does not get audited — and why — run the gamut.
"There’s the myth that if a paper comes from the IRS you should break into a cold sweat. You shouldn’t."
The looming myth out there suggests the audit process is something to be desperately feared. The truth, Zinman says, is that most people only need to respond to a few IRS questions.
“There’s the myth that if a paper comes from the IRS you should break into a cold sweat. You shouldn’t,” Zinman said. “More often than not it’s a situation of, ‘Our records show this. Is that right?’ A lot of times it’s a very simple problem to resolve. You send the information or a check for the additional money, no penalties, and the case is closed.”
This "correspondence audit" is the more common of the two IRS audits. Zinman said the correspondence audit is so subtle some people may not even realize it's an audit. The other is the in-person audit. An IRS agent will request an appointment with you to review certain financial information.
“A lot of times it’s a very simple problem to resolve,” Zinman said. “What we’ll see is someone sold some stock during the year and forgot about it (when filing taxes) or didn’t even know what the stock was worth. So they can get a letter asking for information and actually get a refund because they lost money on the sale.”
Tim Clegg, a budget software developer and retired financial coach, says paying an income preparer will not shield you from an audit. Clegg, who provided tax filing guidance in Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs for more than a decade, says he has encountered many people who thought that relying on a tax service guaranteed a solid, mistake-free return.
“The easiest way for these places to compete is to advertise they’re going to get you the biggest refund and that’s what it says in the window,” Clegg said. “The problem is, the lady down the street or the chain (preparer) — they get way too enthusiastic about getting you the most money back on your return and they screw up.”
In many neighborhoods, particularly in low-income areas, “fly-by-night” tax preparation operations engage in purposeful fraud, Clegg said. The taxpayers often do not understand what they are claiming on their returns.
“Among the less scrupulous preparers, they’ll do family splitting to optimize the Earned Income Tax Credit, like, ‘You take these kids and you take these kids, that way you’ll get $8,000 rather than the $6,000 you would have gotten,’” Clegg said.
Such steps can trigger an audit, interest and stiff penalties, he said.
Jensen said the IRS has ramped up the number of audits it does in response to the country's economic woes. That means people should not think they're in the clear if they do not earn a lot of money.
“(The IRS) is doing audits across the board, for all incomes,” said Jensen, speaking in late 2011. “Over the last few years they’ve been hiring more people for that.”
Still, he reiterates that even though the IRS has increased its level of auditing, the number is a very small percentage of the returns filed.
Many people avoid taking certain credits and deductions — denying themselves tax advantages to which they are entitled — because they believe or have heard that taking them will make them more susceptible to an audit, says Clegg.
“I saw many thousands of people who said, ‘No, I don’t want to claim my daughter because she lived with my ex,’ or would not claim certain education credits out of fear," Clegg said. "Fear of an audit would cause people to just hand money over (to the government), money they were entitled to.”
Home office deductions are a big inspirer of audit fears, says Jensen.
“I hear a lot of people say, ‘If you take a home office deduction you’re going to get audited.’ These days, most or a lot of people have home offices,” Jensen said. “For years, I’ve had a home office, taken the deductions and I’ve never had an audit.”
Zinman said there are no automatic triggers for an audit. Only when the financial picture painted in the tax return stands out as atypical or beyond common sense should someone be concerned about an audit. He cited the example of a recent client. The individual had experienced financial hardship, dropping from a $350,000-salary job to a $7,000-a-year income and, subsequently, lost his home.
“He is worried about getting audited,” said Zinman. “I told him not to worry about it. There’s nothing to fear. The information is true, and it would come down to just explaining the situation to the IRS.”
The IRS abides by a statute of limitations of three years after the due date of the return, says Clegg. For “substantial errors,” the IRS maintains it can go back six years and recommends you keep most records at least that long. The experts agree: If an audit is going to happen, it will occur in the latter half of the three-year time frame.
“Audits generally always happen two years after you file,” Zinman said. “You’ve got to understand all of the hundreds of millions of people who live in this country and (who) file returns, not to mention corporations. It takes a while for all of these filings to get done and the computer to get through this process.”
Although these are some of the most popular myths, experts say plenty of other misguided beliefs about audits run rampant, some even with their own regional flavor. The bottom line, says Zinman, is to understand what the process is all about.
“You know, the American way is to work hard and pay the least amount of taxes that you can. It’s the same even for the people who work at the IRS,” Zinman said. “With filing taxes, you’re making an assertion on your return. You’re basically telling a story. You’re putting forth your story and if you’re questioned, the IRS is saying, ‘We read your story and we want you to show us where you got this info.’
“But people shouldn’t worry,” he said. “They’re not going to just come take all your money. They have a long process to go through before that. You have a lot of rights. If you owe the money, they’ll eventually get it, but as long as you talk to them, you don’t have to fear that something is going to happen to you without your control.”
If you prepare your taxes with TurboTax, you receive our free, downloadable Audit Support Center for free. It tells you exactly what to do if you are contacted by the IRS. TurboTax also offers Free year-round audit guidance from a tax professional by phone and chat, no matter where you live. For an additional fee, you can also purchase Audit Defense, which offers full representation in the unlikely event you are audited.
So many of the myths about auditing are quite narrowly focused on the Internal Revenue Service, suggesting that the IRS is the only entity that matters. That's a big-time mistake says Tim Clegg, a budget software developer and retired financial coach. Many people, he says, get through the IRS only to get “tangled up” with their state returns.
“More of the heartaches I’ve seen have had to do with state returns,” Clegg said. “The IRS is a pussycat compared to a lot of these state (tax revenue) agencies. No one out there is hungrier for revenue than the states. They’re broke and working hard to get money. And they will not be as friendly, by and large.”
He recommends tax filers be at least as diligent and careful when filing their state returns as they are with their federal tax returns.
If you live in one state and work in another, Clegg noted, you must file returns for each state. |
In this section we need to address a couple of topics about
the constant of integration. Throughout
most calculus classes we play pretty fast and loose with it and because of that
many students don’t really understand it or how it can be important.
First, let’s address how we play fast and loose with
it. Recall that technically when we
integrate a sum or difference we are actually doing multiple integrals. For instance,
Upon evaluating each of these integrals we should get a
constant of integration for each integral since we really are doing two
Since there is no reason to think that the constants of
integration will be the same from each integral we use different constants for
Now, both c and k are unknown constants and so the sum
of two unknown constants is just an unknown constant and we acknowledge that by
simply writing the sum as a c.
So, the integral is then,
We also tend to play fast and loose with constants of
integration in some substitution rule problems.
Consider the following problem,
Technically when we integrate we should get,
Since the whole integral is multiplied by ,
the whole answer, including the constant of integration, should be multiplied
by . Upon multiplying the through the answer we get,
However, since the constant of integration is an unknown
constant dividing it by 2 isn’t going to change that fact so we tend to just
write the fraction as a c.
In general, we don’t really need to worry about how we’ve
played fast and loose with the constant of integration in either of the two
The real problem however is that because we play fast and
loose with these constants of integration most students don’t really have a
good grasp oF them and don’t understand that there are times where the
constants of integration are important and that we need to be careful with
To see how a lack of understanding about the constant of
integration can cause problems consider the following integral.
This is a really simple integral. However, there are two ways (both simple) to
integrate it and that is where the problem arises.
The first integration method is to just break up the
fraction and do the integral.
The second way is to use the following substitution.
Can you see the problem?
We integrated the same function and got very different answers. This doesn’t make any sense. Integrating the same function should give us
the same answer. We only used different
methods to do the integral and both are perfectly legitimate integration
methods. So, how can using different
methods produce different answer?
The first thing that we should notice is that because we
used a different method for each there is no reason to think that the constant
of integration will in fact be the same number and so we really should use
different letters for each.
More appropriate answers would be,
Now, let’s take another look at the second answer. Using a property of logarithms we can write
the answer to the second integral as follows,
Upon doing this we can see that the answers really aren’t
that different after all. In fact they
only differ by a constant and we can even find a relationship between c and k. It looks like,
So, without a proper understanding of the constant of
integration, in particular using different integration techniques on the same
integral will likely produce a different constant of integration, we might
never figure out why we got “different” answers for the integral.
Note as well that getting answers that differ by a constant
doesn’t violate any principles of calculus.
In fact, we’ve actually seen a fact that suggested that this might
happen. We saw a fact in the Mean Value Theorem section that said that
if then . In other words, if two functions have the
same derivative then they can differ by no more than a constant.
This is exactly what we’ve got here. The two functions,
have exactly the same derivative,
and as we’ve shown they really only differ by a constant.
There is another integral that also exhibits this
There are actually three different methods for doing this
Method 1 :
This method uses a trig formula,
Using this formula (and a quick substitution) the integral
Method 2 :
This method uses the substitution,
Method 3 :
Here is another substitution that could be done here as
So, we’ve got three different answers each with a different
constant of integration. However,
according to the fact above these three answers should only differ by a
constant since they all have the same derivative.
In fact they do only differ by a constant. We’ll need the following trig formulas to
Start with the answer from the first method and use the
double angle formula above.
Now, from the second identity above we have,
so, plug this in,
This is then answer we got from the second method with a
slightly different constant. In other
We can do a similar manipulation to get the answer from the
third method. Again, starting with the
answer from the first method use the double angle formula and then substitute
in for the cosine instead of the sine using,
Doing this gives,
which is the answer from the third method with a different
constant and again we can relate the two constants by,
So, what have we learned here? Hopefully we’ve seen that constants of
integration are important and we can’t forget about them. We often don’t work with them in a Calculus I
course, yet without a good understanding of them we would be hard pressed to
understand how different integration methods and apparently produce different |
Studies are now proving what practical people have known for years. We operate out of our own habits. When we get used to doing something it is incredibly difficult to quit. This is a gift and a curse.
Force yourself into doing something productive. Use your willpower to convince yourself to do something for 21 days. At the end of 21 days, you will have built your brain into expecting it.
Twenty One Day Habit will let you keep track of it. To get started, click the login below. |
The relationship between people and dogs is unique among all other animals on the planet. Only dogs are capable of being not only companions for us but can do work such as herding sheep, sniffing out drugs, finding missing people, helping those who are disabled to become more independent, and entertain us. Scientists aren’t sure when the human canine friendship began, but a reasonable guess is that it has been going strong for more than 20,000 years.
In the Chauvet cave in the Ardèche region of France, which contains the earliest known cave paintings, there is a 50-metre trail of footprints made by a boy of about ten alongside those of a large canid that appears to be part-wolf, part-dog. The footprints, which have been dated by soot deposited from the torch the child was carrying, are estimated to be about 26,000 years old.
The first “dogs” probably remained fairly isolated from each other and from people most likely getting rid of waste from camp sites like bones from animals and other left overs for several thousand years. As dog became progressively more domesticated they would stay closer to the camps and eventually would live side by side with humans to the point that when people moved around on large-scale migrations so did their canine camp mates. The canines that lived with these early settlers would mix their genes with other similarly domesticated creatures and becoming increasingly more like the dogs we know and love today.
But what makes the dog-wolf paradigm especially misleading when looking towards wolves for guidance on how dogs would behave in the wild is that until recently, the studies of wolves in extremely artificial conditions. In the wild, wolf packs tend to be made up of close family members representing up to three generations. The father and mother of the first lot of cubs are the natural leaders of the pack, but the behavioural norm is one of co-operation rather than domination and submission. Feral or “village” dogs, which are much closer to the ancestors of pet dogs than they are to wolves, are highly tolerant of one another and organise themselves entirely differently from either wild or captive wolves. |
This page is based on the 1993 Jepson Manual.
Please see the Jepson eFlora for up-to-date information about California vascular plants.
|Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange|
|TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL||
previous taxon |
Jepson Interchange (more information)
©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
Print edition is available from the University of California Press
|The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press|
|See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition|
Annual, perennial herb, sometimes aquatic
Leaves generally basal and cauline, generally alternate, simple or compound; petioles at base generally flat, sometimes sheathing or stipule-like
Inflorescence: cyme, raceme, panicle, or flowers solitary
Flower generally bisexual, radial; sepals generally 5, free, early deciduous or withering in fruit, generally green; petals 0many, free; stamens generally 10many; pistils 1many, ovary superior, chamber 1, style 1, generally ± persistent in fruit as beak, ovules 1many
Fruit: achene, follicle, berry, or utricle-like, 1many-seeded
Genera in family: ± 60 genera, 1700 species: worldwide, especially n temp, tropical mtns; many ornamental (Adonis, Aquilegia, Clematis, Consolida, Delphinium, Erianthis, Helleborus ),
some highly TOXIC (Aconitum, Actaea, Delphinium, Ranunculus )
Reference: [Duncan & Keener 1991 Phytologia 70:2427]
Perennial; root generally < 10 cm, ± fibrous or fleshy; buds generally obscure
Stem generally 1, erect, generally unbranched; base generally ± as wide as root, generally firmly attached to root, generally ± reddish or purplish
Leaves simple, basal and cauline, petioled; blades generally palmately lobed, deep lobes generally 35, generally < 6 mm wide, generally also lobed; lower leaves generally dry, often 0 in flower; cauline merging into bracts upward
Inflorescence: raceme or somewhat branched, terminal; flowers generally 1025; pedicels generally ± spreading
Flower bilateral; sepals 5, petal-like, generally spreading, generally ± dark blue, uppermost spurred; petals 4, << sepals, upper 2 with nectar-secreting spurs enclosed in uppermost sepal, lower 2 clawed, with blades generally 48 mm, notched, generally ± perpendicular to claws, generally colored like sepals, generally obviously hairy; pistils 3(5)
Fruit aggregate of 3(5) erect follicles, generally 2.54 X longer than wide
Seed dark brown to black, often appearing white, generally winged when immature, generally without inflated collar; coat cell margins generally straight
Etymology: (Latin: dolphin, from bud shape)
Reference: [Lewis & Epling 1954 Brittonia 8:122]
Hybrids common, especially in disturbed places. Root length here includes coarse but not thread-like parts. Most species highly TOXIC, attractive and causing many deaths to cattle, less often to horses, sheep.
Horticultural information: Exc as noted, successful In cultivation only within natural range and habitat. Lowland subsp.: DRY. Upland species: winter chilling required.
Root generally > 15 cm, distally branched; buds apparent (except on herbarium specimens)See the CNPS Inventory for information about endangerment and rarity.
Stem often 2 or more per root system, 80150 (generally 100140) cm, glabrous, generally glaucous
Leaves mostly on lower third of stem
Inflorescence: flowers generally > 25; pedicels 525 mm, 625 mm apart, glabrous
Flower: sepals white to light blue, often forward-pointing, lateral 812 mm, spur 912 mm; lower petal blades 35 mm
Fruit 1220 mm
Seed winged, otherwise smooth
Ecology: Open conifer forest, rock outcrops
Elevation: 22002800 m.
Bioregional distribution: s High Sierra Nevada.
|YOU CAN HELP US make sure that our distributional information is correct and current. If you know that a plant occurs in a wild, reproducing state in a Jepson bioregion NOT highlighted on the map, please contact us with that information. Please realize that we cannot incorporate range extensions without access to a voucher specimen, which should (ultimately) be deposited in an herbarium. You can send the pressed, dried collection (with complete locality information indicated) to us (e-mail us for details) or refer us to an accessioned herbarium specimen. Non-occurrence of a plant in an indicated area is difficult to document, but we will especially value your input on those types of possible errors (see automatic conversion of distribution data to maps).| |
Vatican defends pope condoms stand
YAOUNDE (Reuters) - The Vatican on Wednesday defended Pope Benedict's opposition to the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS as scientists and countries including his native Germany criticised it as unrealistic and dangerous.
Benedict, arriving in Africa, said on Tuesday that condoms "increase the problem" of AIDS. The comment, made to reporters aboard his plane, caused a worldwide storm of criticism.
"My reaction is that this represents a major step backwards in terms of global health education, is entirely counter-productive, and is likely to lead to increases in HIV infection in Africa and elsewhere," said Prof Quentin Sattentau, Professor of Immunology at Britain's Oxford University.
"There is a large body of published evidence demonstrating that condom use reduces the risk of acquiring HIV infection, but does not lead to increased sexual activity," he said.
The Church teaches that fidelity within heterosexual marriage and abstinence are the best ways to stop AIDS.
Asked about the criticism, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the pope was "maintaining the position of his predecessors".
European governments weighed in with their criticism.
His native Germany, which had criticised him last month over his decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop, argued that condoms played a decisive role in saving lives in the fight against AIDS.
"Modern development cooperation must give access to the means for family planning to the poorest of the poor. And the use of condoms is especially part of that," Germany's health and development ministers said in a joint statement.
"Anything else would be irresponsible," they added.
France expressed "very strong concern", saying the remarks "put in danger public health policy". Meanwhile, Belgium called the pope's comments "dangerous doctrinaire vision".
A New York Times editorial said the pope "deserves no credence when he distorts scientific findings" about condoms.
The Vatican also says condoms can also lead to risky behaviour but many contest that view.
Kevin De Cock, director of the World Health Organisation's HIV/AIDS department, said there is no scientific evidence showing that condom use spurs people to take more sexual risks.
"The guidance we give is that condoms are highly (effective) to prevent the transmission of HIV if they are used correctly and consistently," he said in a telephone interview.
De Cock said abstinence and reducing the number of partners were also needed and praised faith-based groups, noting that many Catholic charities provide treatment for people with the virus in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world.
HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS, infects 33 million people globally and has killed 25 million.
Two-thirds of those infected are in Africa, analysts say.
"Anything that reduces AIDS on a depressed continent like Africa should be welcomed," said Adeleke Agbola, a lawyer in Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation.
There were also some signs of dissent within the Church.
"Anyone who has AIDS and is sexually active, anyone who seeks multiple partners, must protect others and themselves," said Hans-Jochen Jaschke, Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of Hamburg in the pope's native Germany.
"So, no taboo on the condom issue, but also no myths and trivialisation as if these put the world in order. Condoms can protect, but men often reject them," the bishop added.
(Additional reporting by Michael Kahn in London, David Lewis in Yaounde, Tom Heneghan in Paris, Phil Stewart in Rome, Paul Carrel and Noah Barkin in Berlin, and Tume Ahemba and Kingsley Igwe in Lagos; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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UMASS LABS FOR WORCESTER AREA HIGH SCHOOLS
North High school students surround Christine Oslowski (holding test tube) and are rapt as she shows them the results of their hands-on experiment in the lab of Fumihiko Urano, MD, PhD, (far left).
Christine Oslowski stands in a UMass Medical School research lab surrounded by high school students who hang on her every word. A second-year student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Oslowski is describing the steps the students will take to transform circularized double-stranded DNA molecules. As the experiment progresses, they get it, a testament to Oslowski’s preparation for their visit.
Oslowski can relate to them on another level—like these sophomores, juniors and seniors, she was once a student at Worcester’s North High School who visited a lab at UMMS through the same program they are participating in. Each year, more than 200 Advanced Placement (AP) Biology students from the four public high schools in Worcester attend UMass Labs for Worcester Area High Schools, the brainchild of Professor of Molecular Medicine Stephen Doxsey, PhD, and North High science teacher Jane Raabis. UMass Labs has grown from cell mitosis experiments in Dr. Doxsey’s lab to three other AP-specified hands-on projects in the labs of 16 UMMS scientists. In 2007, Doxsey received a University of Massachusetts President’s Public Service Award in recognition of the program’s outreach to additional students.
Oslowski always liked science and her own high school trip to UMMS answered questions she had about how a real lab functions. Now as an instructor for the students who visit the lab of Associate Professor of Molecular Medicine Fumihiko Urano, MD, PhD, Oslowski is an in-the-flesh example of someone who has emerged from high school and college to train at the graduate level as a basic science researcher. Several students said the North High graduate inspired them.
“They saw someone whose hard work has paid off, giving way to a very bright future in science,” said Raabis. “I’m sure Christine had no idea that she really had a profound impact on the females in the class.”
“The students are exposed to scientists and see that we are normal people. They also see that this is a professional setting. And they come to value science and learn its importance,” said Oslowski.
Dr. Urano is sold on the UMass Labs program for that very reason. “My primary purpose is to tell high school students that scientists are the creators of the future,” said Urano. “By showing them new technology and providing new information, I believe they will be more motivated as students. And in the future, this will come back to all of us in society,” through the support that results from scientific awareness and breakthroughs that impact disease.
"The UMass Labs program brings to Worcester high school students the opportunity to step off the bus into a research environment where they can try their hand at an experiment, get the real dope on research through conversations with graduate students and take a drive on state-of-the-art equipment." -Stephen Doxsey, PhD
Raabis accompanies her AP Biology students to UMMS; they are taking the class to potentially place in higher level science courses in college. The UMass Labs experience is invaluable for these future scholars, according to Raabis. “I’ve had kids come back from college and say science courses made much more sense because they had done it at the Medical School. This is the real deal and they remember this.” Raabis noted that all of the faculty and staff involved in the program “speak to the students on their level.”
In Doxsey’s lab, Research Associate and Lab Manager Sambra Redick spends hours preparing materials for the students’ visit. She attempts to connect basic science to patient outcomes in order to bring home the implications of the experiments. The students’ positive responses are evident in the form of two posters they created in thanks, now hanging in full view. “They tell us some of the most valuable information they learned is not in the AP book,” said Redick. “They also see that half of the lab is women—that’s important for the girls.”
Doxsey noted that the students find the program valuable for stretching their class lessons in a new direction. The academic, biotech and business sectors in Central Massachusetts potentially benefit as well, he added. “One could think of these students as home grown prospects for scientific research who might be enticed to seek careers in science in the Worcester area as they seriously consider what they would like to do with their lives.”
The students get to UMMS thanks to the work of Joseph Buckley Jr., Science & Technology Engineering Curriculum Liaison for the Worcester Public Schools, a more than 40-year veteran of the district and overseer of 41 schools and their science programs. The WPS provides funding for bus transportation to the labs. “Urban kids need so much; they need advocacy. You have to build that and then support it,” he said of his role. “If you are going to have high quality students, you must have a diversity of educational experiences.
“The UMass Labs program is absolutely wonderful for our students,” Buckley added. “They would never have the experience of having a facility and contact with people who do research without it. UMass Medical School is a cornerstone resource for us.”
Worcester Public Schools science initiatives
This information appears in the UMMS 2008 Annual Report. PDF available. |
Can you be too neat and organized? Is it possible that you could be so good at uncluterring that your life becomes devoid of things that are meaningful to you? These are the questions that first popped into my mind as I started listening to an NPR story about Lisa Perry, a woman who decided to sell, in her words, “virtually everything I own.”
As she described her reasons for making this very big change in her life, I began to understand why she (or anyone else) might pursue this possession-less path. Her decision to let go of almost all her belongings was really about taking a journey, about embarking on a process that would allow her focus her gaze forward.
… it’s not about getting rid of things that I don’t want or I don’t like or [that] remind me of bad things. It’s really about who do I want to be and what makes me happy, and keeping the things with me that will allow me to do that. And, right now, it’s moving forward and looking forward, rather than looking back at what I’ve done … where do I want to go and what do I want to be.
Perry began this process by identifying her primary goal: to be happy. She came to this realization and was inspired to make changes after reading two books, The Art of Happiness and The Pathfinder. The latter, in particular, helped her to see that as the number of things she accumulated increased, her life — her vitality — became smaller.
Selling everything one owns on eBay may seem a bit extreme and you certainly don’t have to follow in Perry’s footsteps. However, if you see happiness as an end goal and desire a more fulfilled life, it might be a helpful exercise to think about what specifically would make you truly happy, and to decide on the necessary action steps. You don’t need to part with items that resonate with you nor do you have to live in museum-like home. However, if having a welcoming and more uncluttered abode would contribute to your happiness, begin developing a step-by-step outline that will help you to accomplish that. Instead of randomly keeping or acquiring things, first consider their true value to you. Figure out if you’re holding on to things because you “might need them someday” or because you feel obligated to keep them because a loved one gave them to you. Be more mindful of the items that you allow to co-exist with you. Consider specific actions you can take that will foster happy feelings (and banish negative ones) in your day-to-day life, no matter how small. Perhaps most importantly, figure out why you feel the need to make changes. Doing this will give your plan purpose and help you to stick with it.
That’s not to say that you can’t make adjustments along the way. If you start to notice that your goals need a bit of fine tuning, take the time to polish them. It’s also likely that you will need to seek out others who can help you bring your plan to life, so don’t be shy about asking for help. And, as I mentioned before, as you go through any uncluttering project, stay focused on the reasons you want to make changes in the first place.
When do you do goal setting? Some people focus on goals when their birthdays roll around, when life-changing events occur (having a baby, moving to a new state or country, changing jobs), or when the current year comes to a close. In fact, making New Year’s resolutions has been a long-standing tradition that began with the Babylonians. It’s part of the fabric of many cultures to improve on the previous year’s endeavors. So, at this time of year, it’s quite common to think about ways to make positive changes or to renew your efforts to achieve a goal that’s been on your list.
You might feel driven to be better, to surpass your personal best in one or more areas of your life. Yet, like many people, you may struggle to keep your commitment. “Old habits die hard,” as the saying goes. It’s not just that old habits are difficult to change (because they are), but you might be creating goals that are impossible to reach. How many resolutions are on your list? How easy or difficult are they to achieve? Do you include the people you’ll seek help from to meet your goal, or do you plan to reach the finish line on your own? Do you focus on these finer points or do you simply create a list of things that you’d like to change in your life?
Making resolutions may not be the best use of your time if you don’t think through these questions and identify the reasons why you want to make some adjustments. In addition, if your goals are not put in a framework that is easy to understand with clear, actionable steps, your ability to successfully achieve them will be impacted.
Focus on your feelings
Have you thought about why you want to achieve a particular goal? How you will feel once you are successful? Danielle LaPorte, author of The Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful + Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms and creator of The Desire Map, suggests that whether you want a new job, an uncluttered home, a new gadget, or to be at your preferred weight, what you’re really after is the feeling you’ll get from achieving those goals. You’re essentially thinking with the end in mind. You’re taking a few steps into the future and basking in the feelings that you will have once your goals are met. Getting acquainted with these feelings can be an effective way to not only identify specific things to change, but also to prioritize the ones that deserve your full commitment and attention.
Make a Resolution Action Plan
While writing a list of what you’d like to achieve is a great start, creating a detailed action plan with the necessary steps and timeframes for completion will likely move you closer to achieving each of your goals. This is also a great time to think through any challenges you may face and brainstorm ideas for managing them. You’ll also want to figure out what resources and tools you might need. As you develop your plan, include action steps that are specific and that you can realistically tackle given your schedule and other commitments. Set yourself up for success by not taking on more than you can reasonably handle.
Take your time
Your plan doesn’t need to be created by January 1. It needs to be well thought out and that doesn’t happen overnight. You may need to put your plan aside and come back to it with fresh eyes. You might ask a trusted friend to look it over and offer feedback. Don’t rush the creation of a plan that can have a big impact on your life. Set a realistic deadline for completing and implementing your plan. The deadline will give you something to work toward and hold you accountable.
Creating New Year’s resolutions doesn’t have to be difficult and tedious. In fact, it can be very motivating and help you realize dreams or goals that you’ve been meaning to accomplish. Schedule time to come up with a reasonable plan of attack and be sure to reward yourself for each milestone you reach. |
"Diet" vs "Lifestyle Change"
The word "diet" implies at some point the diet will be over, resulting in weight gain if old habits are taken up again. Instead of looking at "dieting," consider healthy changes in your eating to be "lifestyle changes. These "lifestyle changes" and new attitudes should not be too restrictive. When combined with a new attitude, exercise, behavior modification, social support and a maintenance plan, these changes produce a life plan of sensible eating that allows for periodic indulgences. These indulgences should not be considered large binges, which offset all the healthy changes one is accomplishing. Over time, these guidelines can become a natural part of a new permanent eating pattern and total lifestyle.
Think Safety First
Take a close look at your present eating habits. How safe are you? Are you eating sensibly? Are your goals sensible?
- Does it provide balance and variety to ensure adequate nutrient intake (all of the food groups with the recommended number of servings)?
- Does it provide a safe level of calories (not less than 1200 calories/day; target weight loss of no more than two pounds/week)?
- Does it include common foods that are readily available, rather than special and often expensive pills and formulas?
- Does it incorporate regular exercise and activity?
Any change requires effort and motivation. Enlist the support of others. There are many exciting food products on the market today and plenty of activities from which to select. Choose a plan that works for you, is safe and can become a life-long habit. |
WALLA WALLA -- The Walla Walla School District and all district schools are in some level of needing improvement based on the latest state assessment released Tuesday.
As part of the federal No Child Left Behind law, all students are expected to meet standards in reading and math by 2014. As part of the ranking system, called Adequate Yearly Progress, schools and districts must meet key improvement goals year after year or face potential sanctions.
For the last several years, an increasing number of schools and districts in Washington state have failed to meet their goals.
In Walla Walla, all 10 schools are at some level of needing improvement, although not all face the same level of intervention.
Walla Walla High School and Lincoln Alternative High School are both in step 5, which means students have failed to meet goals for about six years. But district spokesman Mark Higgins said that because Wa-Hi and Lincoln are not Title I-funded schools, federal sanctions would not apply.
For schools classified as Title I, the stakes are higher. The district's elementary schools, with the exception of Berney and Prospect Point, all receive Title I funds, as does Garrison Middle School. These schools are then subject to federal interventions if they continue to miss Adequate Yearly Progress targets.
Berney, Blue Ridge, Prospect Point and Sharsptein are currently at step 2, meaning targets were not met for about three years. Edison is at step 1, which happens after two years of failing to meet goals; Green Park entered step 3. Both middle schools also moved into step 3, while the city's Alternative Education Program at Walla Walla Community College remained in step 1.
The district itself was in step 2 for failing to meet targets. Overall, only Prospect Point Elementary and Pioneer Middle School met AYP. So did the district's Homelink program for home-schooled students, and the Alternative Education Program.
Walla Walla Public Schools Superintendent Mick Miller said the numbers don't necessarily tell a full story of the progress individual students are making in the classroom, but that the district is committed to taking the necessarily steps to helping raise achievement scores.
He noted the district would be setting aside about $300,000 from the budget for after-school supplemental education, as required by NCLB.
"We will do what the law tells us we should do," Miller said. He said the district is also already doing a lot of what NCLB requires, such as aligning curriculum and setting aside collaboration time among teachers.
"The things the federal government is asking school districts to do now, we've been doing," he said.
He said individual accomplishments, within schools and with students, shouldn't be lost in the lump data of state exam results and AYP benchmarks. He said children often pick up concepts and learn standards at different times, at their own pace.
"That's my biggest problem with the uniform bar, is that they're not uniform kids," he said. |
Square Enix’s latest title is released today for the PC, with release dates for the PlayStation Network on July 10th and for the Xbox Live Arcade on July 11th. Quantum Conundrum features first-person action in an environment filled with puzzles, similar to the Portal series. However, instead of using portals to transport objects, the user must shift dimensions to interact with the environment in different ways, solving the puzzles presented to the user.
A demonstration of the dimension changes and gameplay at E3 shows how the different dimensions are used in progressing through the game. The Interdimensional Shift Device (ISD) is the primary gadget of the player, as one must press a button and select from available dimensions obtained from batteries scattered throughout each level. Some of these dimensions include the “fluffy dimension”, which gives the entire environment a white, soft appearance and makes objects much lighter, and the “reverse gravity dimension”, which shifts gravity upwards. The timing of changing dimensions is necessary for advancing through the levels. For example, one would change to the fluffy dimension in order to pick up a heavy safe, toss the safe toward a glass window, then immediately change back to the normal dimension in order for the safe to break through the glass window.
The setting of the game takes place in the large mansion of an eccentric scientist whose inventions are scattered throughout his home. The user takes control of the 12-year old nephew of the scientist who must explore around the mansion using these inventions to find his uncle. Aside from the dimension changing batteries and other inventions, scientific puns can also be discovered throughout the mansion, including books titled Heart of Dark Matter and To Kilowatt a Mockingbird, which are clear spoofs of classic literature.
Quantum Conundrum has so far been successful, scoring an 8/10 by IGN and achieving similar reviews elsewhere. While PC users can download the game immediately, PS3 and Xbox 360 owners will have to wait just a bit longer to get their hands on this exciting game. |
What parties do:
– Link between people and the government.
– Attract public support, recruit candidates, maintain an organization, coordinate policy and government. Most important: win elections.
Normative views of parties:
– Source of collective responsibility. General belief in activist government.
– Source of everything that is wrong in politics.
Different levels at which parties operate:
– Party in government. Parties in Congress are the most visible. Progressive era reforms: tried to lessen influence of parties.
– Party in the electorate: voters
– Party as organization: party activists and permanent organizations at local, state, and national level.
Why do third parties have such a tough time in the American political system?
– Institutional explanations: Duverger’s Law (“first past the post,” winner-take-all; compare to proportional representation), ballot access, campaign finance, the Electoral College, the presidency (compare to parliamentary government).
– Natural dualism in politics.
– Cultural explanations.
Third Parties, cont.
Types of third parties:
– Bolter parties--when a major figure leaves one of the major parties to run for president on his own.
– Farmer-Labor parties.
– Parties of ideological protest.
– Single issue parties.
– The Reform Party. Founded by Ross Perot in 1996. Liberal on social issues, conservative on fiscal policy. Jesse “The Body” Ventura governor of Minnesota from 1999-2003.
Third parties in the 2008 election
Major parties: Barack Obama, Democrat, 69,499,428, 52.87%; John McCain, Republican, 59,950,323, 45.60%
Third parties (combined about 1.5%): Ralph Nader, Ind., 739,278, 0.56%
Bob Barr, Libertarian, 523,433, 0.40%
Write-ins-- 251,373, 0.19%
Charles O. Baldwin, Constitution, 199,869, 0.15%
Cynthia A. McKinney, Green, 161,868, 0.12%
Alan Keyes, Independent, 47,938, 0.04%
Ron Paul, Taxpayers, 47,466, 0.04%
Róger Calero, Socialist Workers 7,577, 0.01%
Gloria LaRiva, Socialism and Liberation, 6,821, 0.01%
Brian Moore, Socialist 6,581, 0.01%
Charles Jay, Boston Tea Party 2,425; also the New Party, New American, We the People, Objectivist, Prohibition, Vote Here , Reform, US Pacifist.
Factions within parties
Tea Party and the Republican party. Not really a third party, but a faction within the R party. Pose some problems for R leadership in the next Congress.
Blue Dogs and the Democratic party. More than half of them lost in the 20100 midterms.
Moderate Republicans are a much smaller group today (“gypsy moths,” RINOs).
1800-1826 Jeffersonian Democratic- Republicans vs. Federalists.
1828-1858 Jacksonian Democrats (vs. the Whigs).
1860-1894 Competitive system between the Democrats and Republicans
1896-1930 Republicans dominant
1932-1966 Democrats dominant
1968-present. Competitive system and divided government.
How to explain shifts from one party system to another. That is, party realignments explain the establishment of a new party system.
– Electorally-based arguments. Focus on patterns of voting, partisan identification, and group voting. Mobilization and conversion.
– Issue-based arguments. Cross-cutting issues.
– The “governing side” argument.
2008 Realignment? Youth vote. But 2010 midterms proved it wasn’t.
The 1968 party system change was of a different type. Rather than realignment, the recent period is characterized by dealignment.
Voters are less attached to parties and divided government is the norm.
Shift in patterns of group voting: Southern Democrats and the gender gap.
Increased volatility of elections.
Consequences of divided government?
– Gridlock and productivity? Depends on the measure that one uses. Some evidence that major legislation is more likely to pass under unified government. Morris Fiorina says that voter consensus is what really matters.
– Investigations. Likely to ramp up in next Congress.
– Accountability? What will happen if nothing gets done for the next two years? Blame Dems or Repubs?
– Others argue that divided government is OK because voters seem to want it and it provides a check on activist government.
Counter the dealignment idea that parties are getting weaker (also challenges the Fiorina “Collective Responsibility” article).
– Parties are weaker in the electorate, but even that has reversed to some extent in recent years.
– Parties have grown stronger as organizations in the past couple of decades.
– Parties have also strengthened in government, especially in the U.S. Congress.
Differences between the Parties
– favor stronger role for the national government in areas such as health care, education, and the environment.
– More supportive policies supporting various groups (minorities, women, gays).
– More in favor of redistributive policies.
Differences between the Parties
– More limited role for government in general, but especially the national government.
– Return more power to the states.
– Deregulation--give more power to the free market, less power to the government.
– Lower taxes and spending.
Debate over Social Security and Medicare, repealing health care reform, and how to stimulate economic growth are good illustrations of differences. |
Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Assistant Secretary-General Fernandez-Taranco, for your briefing. Mr. President, we face a grave and growing threat to international peace and security in Syria today. The Syrian people have moved the world with their aspirations for democracy and universal human rights. But the Asad regime has met their calls for change with cruelty and contempt. Asad has deliberately chosen to use repression and force against unarmed civilians. Thousands of innocent people have already been killed in cold blood, and countless more have been wounded, scarred, and maimed. The Asad regime's crackdown has grown even bloodier in recent days, and anyone who still doubts the regime's true character has only to look at the havoc and destruction it has unleashed in the streets of Hama and Deir al-Zour.
Last week, the Security Council finally came together to speak out clearly. Asad has plain international obligations to meet. He must immediately end the crackdown, stop using force against civilians, fully respect the Syrian people's human rights, and comply with international law. He must heed the Syrian people's legitimate aspirations and concerns and let them assemble freely, speak out without fear of reprisal, and exercise their fundamental freedoms. He must permit full and unfettered access to humanitarian agencies and workers and cooperate fully with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In failing to do so, Asad is not just ignoring the will of his own citizens. He is not just ignoring urgent calls to end the bloodshed from the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, regional leaders from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and religious leaders such as the head of al-Azhar. He is also ignoring the tide of history. All across the Middle East and North Africa, brave men and women are standing up for the rights that all of us have but not all of us can exercise. Regimes that meet peaceful and legitimate demands with tanks, guns, and clubs will themselves lose all legitimacy.
The crisis in Syria has already rippled across the region. Refugees fleeing the Asad regime's onslaught are huddled in Turkey. The Syrian government has risked wider violence by trying to provoke distractions along its frontiers with its neighbors. Asad has breached the most basic rules of diplomacy by sending thugs to attack diplomatic missions. And the Asad regime's policies of repression and deep reliance on Iran increasingly risk dangerous spillovers of sectarian and other tensions into neighboring nations. We are particularly concerned by the continued flow of arms to Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu said Friday that Turkey had intercepted a shipment of arms from Iran to Syria. We urge all states not to supply the Syrian regime with the arms it will surely turn on its own citizens.
The United States is working together with its international partners to bring greater pressure to bear on the Syrian regime through further coordinated diplomatic and financial measures. We are also working with our partners to stem the flow of the weapons and ammunition that Syrian security forces, under Asad's authority, continue to use against peaceful protestors. Our Ambassador remains in Syria, where he will continue to speak out against the gross abuses being committed by the regime-and challenge the propaganda it continues to peddle even as it denies access to journalists, human rights groups, and international fact-finding missions.
Mr. President, we now face a growing crisis because of a handful of ruthless people who value their grip on power more than the lives of the Syrian people. Over and over again, Asad has refused to respond to the legitimate aspirations of ordinary Syrians. Over and over again, he has relied on torture, corruption, and terror rather than embracing democracy, liberty, and reform. Through his own actions and choices, Asad is ensuring that he and his regime will be left in the past. The brave people of Syria will determine their country's future, and Syria will be a better place when a democratic transition is complete.
We commend the Secretary-General for his forthright denunciation of the regime's violence and his plain conversation last weekend with Asad. We would like to see the UN take further steps to help resolve this crisis, including perhaps sending a senior UN official to Damascus. We support the idea of a briefing by the High Commission for Human Rights, and we remain determined to work with our fellow Security Council members to ensure that this Council meets its responsibilities.
This site is managed by U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City and the Bureau of Public Affairs in Washington, DC. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein. |
I asked my kids what they think of me, of my class, of my teaching. My questions were simple, including one: What is learning to your teacher? One student wrote, “She loves learning because anytime I find out something she didn’t know, she admits it and she seems to celebrate.” Another, “She’s crazy about learning – like when there is a new learning opportunity like the Vomit Comet or mock election, she always takes it.” As I looked through the pile, I laughed and I thought about how they “get me.” The references to my rainbow tennis shoes. To my “space shelf”. To the way I say everything is “my favorite thing.” Somewhere in the middle of me getting to know them so well, I’ve let them see who I really am as a person.
I could read a billion negative stories about education in the news. I could look at the list of problems facing our schools. Things I have no immediate control to change. Or, I could just try to be the best teacher I can for my kids. Not the perfect teacher, because that doesn’t exist. Not an expert, because that’s not what they need. Just the kind of teacher I hope they see when they look at me. |
Last week’s dispute between Google and Facebook continued today over a rather arcane topic — data portability.
Google appeared to pick a fight last week, when it changed its terms of service to block an application from importing your Google contacts if that application doesn’t allow you to later export that data to another app. It was obviously a move to block Facebook, and Google even released a statement saying that the social network and sites with similar policies “leave users in a data dead end.”
Last night, TechCrunch reported that Facebook has created a workaround — a single page where users can select one button to download their Google contacts onto their computer desktop, then another to upload the file into Facebook. Users could already do this on their own, but the simple two-button approach makes it much easier.
Then Google responded by sending out the following statement to a bunch of tech reporters this morning:
We’re disappointed that Facebook didn’t invest their time in making it possible for their users to get their contacts out of Facebook. As passionate believers that people should be able to control the data they create, we will continue to allow our users to export their Google contacts.
At first, the whole exchange seems a bit strange. Is it fair for Google to ask, “Why should we share our data with you if you’re not sharing anything with us?” Sure. But the company seems to be devoting a lot of self-righteousness to a relatively minor feature.
The argument makes more sense in the context of a larger competition between Google and Facebook. Google executives have complained that too much data is locked up inside Facebook and hidden from search engines, a situation exacerbated (from Google’s perspective) by Facebook’s decision to share some of that social data with Google’s competitor Bing.
Meanwhile, Google is working on its own social products. While the exact nature of those products remains unclear, we and other reporters have heard that Facebook is developing its own improvements as a way to fight back. Google has struggled with its social networking strategy in the past, and once these skirmishes turn into a real social battle, the search giant could be at an even bigger disadvantage if Facebook can access Google’s social data, while Facebook’s social data is blocked off from Google. |
Facebook’s chief operating officer was almost LinkedIn’s chief executive officer.
Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead has a lot of advice for working women, which we’ve previously covered. But according to an excerpt given to the Wall Street Journal, it also reveals some juicy tidbits about her life and career, including that LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman asked her to become LinkedIn’s CEO in 2006.
She passed on the offer:
“In the summer of 2006, a tiny startup called LinkedIn was looking for a new CEO, and Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s founder, reached out to me. I thought it was a great opportunity, and after five years in the same position at Google, I was ready for a new challenge. But the timing was tricky. I was 37 years old and wanted to have a second child. I told Reid the truth: Regrettably, I had to pass. …”
I think we can all agree, however, that given Sandberg’s career at Google and now Facebook, she made the right call. And while LinkedIn is clearly super-successful, very few companies on the planet — IPO or no IPO — are more important, more relevant, and more central to the emerging digital economy than Facebook.
Sandberg is only one of many super-successful women who have started or grown careers at Google only to jump to other Silicon Valley companies. An obvious example is Yahoo CEO and president Marissa Mayer, but a more recent example is Jennifer Dulski, who recently left Google to become president of Change.org.
Sandberg’s book is about women leaning into their careers to be successful, and features advice similar to what she talked about in a TED talk, including:
- Sit at the table (Be present and don’t accept subordinate roles.)
- Make your partner a real partner (Have or get a husband who helps out a home equally)
- Don’t leave until you leave (Don’t emotionally prepare for maternity or other job interruptions by mentally leaving before leaving.)
Image credit: Hubert Burda Media/Flickr |
The coding style for one project may use
CamelCase for variables, while another may use
under_scores. Here are some Vim procedures to switch between CamelCase and under_score variable names.
Converting from legacy PHPEdit
This is a simple procedure to change variables names from
The commands below define these mappings:
+Find the next
_Convert the next underscore on the current line.
When required, you can yank the following lines in Vim (on the first line, type
2Y), then execute them (type
@") to map the
:nnoremap + /\$\w\+_<CR> :nnoremap _ f_x~
Now you can press
+ to search for the next
$variable_with_underscores, then press
_ to find and delete the next underscore and toggle the case of the next character. Repeatedly press
_ until all underscores are processed, then press
+ to find the next variable. For example, you may type
+__+_+___ to skip through a file.
+~ for initial capitals.
The simple procedure above is suitable for manually changing a small number of variables, while inspecting each change. Using a substitute, the process can be automated. The following command will change all variables names from
If wanted, the
\v (very magic) option can be used to reduce the number of backslashes, and the conventional
/ can be used as the delimiter instead of
#. The following command is equivalent to the above:
Change under_scores to CamelCaseEdit
The following shows two substitute commands for converting names with underscores to camel case. The first command converts the beginning character to uppercase, while the second leaves it unchanged. Both commands operate on all underscore names in the current line.
" Convert each name_like_this to NameLikeThis in current line. :s#\(\%(\<\l\+\)\%(_\)\@=\)\|_\(\l\)#\u\1\2#g " Convert each name_like_this to nameLikeThis in current line. :s#_\(\l\)#\u\1#g " Test (first line is original; second and third are results from above). " CONSTANT ab_cd_ef some words name_like_this and another_name = some_more " CONSTANT AbCdEf some words NameLikeThis and AnotherName = SomeMore " CONSTANT abCdEf some words nameLikeThis and anotherName = someMore
Copy the above text into Vim. In Vim, move the cursor to the first substitute command and press
Y to copy the line. Move the cursor to the line containing the underscore names in the test text and type
@" to execute the copied substitute command. That will change each underscore name to camel case in the current line.
The command uses the
\l pattern to search for lowercase letters, so it will work correctly to convert
AbcDefGhi, but it will convert
abc1Def2Ghi (where the first character is still lowercase).
Change CamelCase to under_scoresEdit
The following shows two substitute commands for converting camel case names to names with underscores. The first command is slightly simpler but fails if the name contains numbers. Both commands operate on all camel case names in the current line.
" Convert each NameLikeThis to name_like_this in current line. :s#\(\<\u\l\+\|\l\+\)\(\u\)#\l\1_\l\2#g " Alternative: accept numbers in name. :s#\C\(\<\u[a-z0-9]\+\|[a-z0-9]\+\)\(\u\)#\l\1_\l\2#g " Test (first line is original; second is result from above). " CONSTANT AbCdEf some words NameLikeThis and AnotherName = someMore " CONSTANT ab_cd_ef some words name_like_this and another_name = some_more
If wanted, the substitute commands can be applied to the whole buffer using
% to indicate "all lines". For example, the second command applied to the whole buffer would be:
Be sure to run a diff to verify that the substitute has changed what you want.
We couldn't get any of the above to work but succeded with the following command:
It looks for any places with an underscore followed by a lower case letter and replaces that with an upper case letter. |
A shimmering layer of silver sunglint washes across the Banda Sea, highlighting delicately curving internal waves and bringing the central Indonesian islands out in stark contrast. Internal waves are, much like their name implies, a phenomena that occur in the water, rather than at the water’s surface. Like all major bodies of water, the Banda Sea is composed of layers of water with differing densities. The topmost layer is the least dense, with each successively deeper layer being denser. Internal waves move along underwater at the boundary between layers of different densities.
Internal waves are usually caused by the lower layer being forced against a shallow obstacle, like a ridge, by tidal action. The ridge causes a disturbance, which creates a wave in the water layer, similar to the way that the wind can cause waves on the water’s surface. However, unlike normal surface waves, internal waves can stretch tens of kilometers in length and move throughout the ocean for days.
Internal waves alter sea surface currents, changing the overall “sea surface roughness.” Where these currents converge, the sea surface is more turbulent, and therefore brighter. Where the currents diverge, the surface is smoother and darker, creating zones called “slicks.” These smooth and rough spots then show up in the sunglint as thin ribbons of gray.
Sunglint occurs when sunlight bounces off water’s turbulent surfaces and directly back into MODIS’ “eye,” creating a glare-effect. The more turbulent the water surface is, the more diffuse the sunlight becomes, turning the silver into a deeper pewter color. Likewise, the calmer the water, the less diffuse the sunlight is, and thus shows up as a brighter silver, almost white color. Outside of the path of the sunglint, the water appears in its normal shades of deep blue.
These true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images were acquired on February 24, 2004 by the Aqua and Terra satellites. |
Exposure to ultraviolet radiation may lower the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a new study from Australia.
Researchers looked at 1,400 people and found that those born in areas with the highest levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation were 24 percent less likely to have pancreatic cancer, compared with those born in areas with the lowest UV levels. The link held after researchers accounted for factors that could affect participants' pancreatic cancer risk, such as age, smoking and diabetes.
But exposure to UV radiation has long been linked with an increased risk of skin cancer, including the deadliest type, melanoma.
"We need to avoid the sun during the daytime periods when UV levels are the highest, and protect parts of the body that regularly get the highest exposure," said study leader Rachel Neale, a researcher at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Queensland. "We don't have the science yet," to recommend a level of ultraviolet exposure that might optimize the balance between the increased risk of skin cancer with the lowered risk of pancreatic cancer, she said.
Researchers aren't sure exactly how the link may work, but Neale noted that there also is evidence that UV exposure may lower the risk of colorectal and other internal cancers.
Neale is presenting the findings June 19 at a pancreatic cancer research meeting in Lake Tahoe, Nev.
Risks and benefits
Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease — an estimated 44,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with the condition in 2012, and 37,000 are expected to die of the disease this year.
Neale and her colleagues interviewed 704 people with pancreatic cancer and 713 people without the disease. The researchers asked where the participants were born, where they lived since their birth, their skin type and whether they easily developed sunburns, their intake of vitamin D over the course of their lives, and whether they'd been diagnosed or treated for skin cancer or skin lesions.
In this study, participants' birthplaces were matched to NASA data of UV radiation levels, which is one way that researchers assess people's UV exposure. However, Neale said, future analyses of the data — including a look at people's places of residence over the course of their lives — will give a more complete picture of the link between UV exposure and pancreatic cancer risk.
"We found that in all of our measures, sun exposure was predictive of pancreatic cancer," Neale said.
The data showed that people who said they burn readily after sun exposure were half as likely to have pancreatic cancer as those who don't burn at all.
Additionally, people who'd been treated for skin cancer or other sun-related skin lesions had a 40 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer than those who had not had skin lesions treated.
The strongest association with a reduced pancreatic cancer risk was seen in people who reported that their skin lesions were treated by being burnt off the skin, Neale said. The lesions that are typically treated this way are those that most strongly linked with sun exposure, such as solid keratoses and actinic keratoses.
Why the link?
Researchers aren't sure why there may be a link between UV exposure and a lowered risk of pancreatic cancer, Neale said.
Some studies have linked lower rates of cancer in general with higher vitamin D levels, and vitamin D is produced by sun-exposed skin.
However, studies of pancreatic cancer looking at vitamin D levels and cancer risk are mixed, Neale said, and one study published this year in the International Journal of Cancer found that people with either very low or very high levels of vitamin D had a higher risk of pancreatic cancer.
Clinical trials are needed to better understand the link, she said.
There are also other possible mechanisms that could explain the link, Neale said. While UV radiation generally has a suppressive effect on the immune system, "the immune system is complicated, and it's possible the link has something to do with immune function," she said. Genetics partly governs people's reactions to sunlight, and may also play a role, she said. |
Not Only Voice
What Is Near-Real-Time Voice Messaging?
Near-real-time voice messaging, also known as voicing, is a type of application where users speak a message which is recorded and sent to a correspondent. It is a modified version of voice instant messaging, with the difference that it does not impose a conversation on the recipient at a time.
What is Communications Convergence?
VoIP is leading us towards a convergence of communications. By having a common underlying mechanism and infrastructure, many communications technologies, like Internet access, voice, video and data communication, can be combined and be provided through a single device and over the same network – the convergence of communications.
What is IP Television (IPTV)
IPTV allows a television service to be integrated with a broadband Internet services and share the same home Internet connections.
Internet TV: Still Fuzzy, but Promising
Internet TV, or IPTV, is arguably one of the hottest new technologies in communications. A handful of operators already offer service with largely home-grown systems.
Skype Does Video
Skype 2 software gives popular Internet telephony service video call capability.
What is Fax Over IP?
A definition of fax over ip - a technology that allows you to send and receive facsimile messages over voip architecture.
The Essential Guide to Fax over VoiP
With the wide implementation of VoIP capable network routers and switches, a new horizon opens up for companies to leverage network fax; Fax over IP (FoIP). Almost every mid- to high-end network router has VoIP capabilities built in. As a result, you will likely find that most routers also offer full support of the ITU T.38 Standard for FoIP.
Leverage your VoIP Network with Boardless Fax
Optimize existing VoIP network investments by adding Fax for IP. Substantially reduce total cost of ownership. Eliminate the need for fax machines, fax boards and complex hardware configurations.
Video Over IP
Telecom operators have long toyed with the idea of running video over their present infrastructures, but now there's a couple of reasons why it might start happening on a large scale.
How to Make Voice and Video Calls in GMail and Google+
How to Make Voice and Video Calls in GMail and Google+ - Just like with Skype, Yahoo! Messenger and many other tools using VoIP technology for communication, Google has its tool for making voice and video chatting. You can use it embedded within your browser while being logged into your GMail or Google+ account.
Free Home Camera Surveillance System
Free Home Camera Surveillance System - How to build your own home camera surveillance system at home using Skype's free video calling and hardware that you already have.
Jaxtr - Online SMS
Jaxtr - Online SMS. SMS service on the Internet
Online Meeting Tools
List of online meetings tools and solutions for holding personal and professional meetings, collaboration sessions, sharing, webinars and training online.
Web Conferencing Explained
Web Conferencing. What is a Webinar and What Can it Do? Definition, requirements and features of webinars and web conferences.
How to Maximize Your Webinar’s Voice and Video Quality
How to make sure that the voice and video quality of your webinar and web conference are at their best. |
The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the European Middle Ages. The Cloisters is located in New York City, specifically Fort Tryon Park near the northern tip of Manhattan island on a hill overlooking the Hudson River. The Cloisters include the museum building and the adjacent 4 acres (16,000 m²).
Grand Central Terminal (GCT, often popularly called Grand Central Station) is a Terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built by and named for the New York Central Railroad in the heyday of American long-distance passenger trains, it is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms: 44, with 67 tracks along them. They are on two levels, both below ground, with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. It serves commuters traveling on the Metro-North Railroad to Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in New York State, and Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut. Although it has been properly called "Grand Central Terminal" since 1913, many people continue to refer to it as "Grand Central Station". Technically, that is the name of the nearby post office, as well as the name of a previous rail station on the site.
Park Slope is a neighborhood in the western section of Brooklyn, New York City's most populous borough. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park West to 4th Avenue, Park Place to the Green-Wood Cemetery according to the New York City Department of City Planning, though other definitions are sometimes offered. It takes its name from its location on the western slope of neighboring Prospect Park. Seventh Avenue and Fifth Avenue are its primary commercial streets, while its east-west side streets are populated by many historic brownstones.Park Slope is characterized by its historic buildings, top-rated restaurants, bars, and shops, as well as close access to Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and the Central Library (as well as the Park Slope branch) of the Brooklyn Public Library system.The neighborhood had a population of more than 62,000 as of the 2000 census,resulting in a population density of approximately 68,000/square mile (or approximately 26,000/square kilometer) in the area bounded by Fourth Avenue, Prospect Park West, Flatbush Avenue, and Sixteenth Street.In December 2006 Natural Home magazine named Park Slope one of America's 10 best neighborhoods based on criteria including parks, green spaces and neighborhood gathering spaces; farmer’s markets and community gardens; public transportation and locally-owned businesses; and environmental and social policy. Park Slope is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6. |
Women pay higher health insurance premiums than men in Maryland, Virginia and D.C. And many are denied care for pre-existing conditions only women have. This discrimination was the focus of a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill.
Insurers are allowed to charge men and women different rates based on gender. On average a 25 year-old female pays 45 percent more than a 25 year-old man. And Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski says coverage is skimpy at best. She says health care proposals working their way through Congress would to take away an insurers' right to deny care to a woman because she is pregnant or had a C-section. One person testified she couldn't purchase a plan from a private insurer unless she underwent sterilization. Mikulski was furious.
"I found it offensive and morally repugnant and I intend to do something about it," she says.
Insurance companies say women use more health care services than men. Some also face higher premiums if they have pre-existing conditions.
Sara Sciammacco reports... |
You are herecontent / How Wall Street Creates Socialists
How Wall Street Creates Socialists
If money is an abstraction, the investment industry's creative inventions are abstractions of abstractions of abstractions. Banks no longer just give people loans to buy houses. Now Wall Street's geniuses -- and they are ingenious -- trade bizarre financial products in which the original loan is packaged with thousands of others and buried under piles of equations and economic gibberish.
Goldman may face SEC charges, but it's the entirety of our deregulated financial system that's on trial. In this new order, the inventiveness of our entrepreneurs goes not only into creating products that actually enhance our lives (from refrigerators to laptops to iPods) but also into fashioning "absolutely conceptual and highly theoretical" financial products whose main function is to enrich a very small number of well-placed people.
Maybe the next time someone calls Barack Obama a socialist, the president shouldn't issue a denial. He might instead urge his accuser to read the hearing transcript of this week's congressional testimony from the Goldman Sachs guys in their beautiful suits.
Capitalism has not taken a hit like this since Mr. Potter made his appearance as the evil banker on "It's a Wonderful Life." No leftist polemicist could come up with as damning a description of contemporary capitalism as the contents of an e-mail that Goldman's Fabrice "Fabulous Fab" Tourre sent to his girlfriend.
"Well," he wrote, "what if we created a 'thing', which has no purpose, which is absolutely conceptual and highly theoretical and which nobody knows how to price?"
Perhaps Fab once read the Karl Marx who wrote: "The more abstract money is, the less natural its relationship to other commodities." Read more. |
Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010
Week of April 23, 2007
Live simply to protect sacred earth
Adopt this ethic as an Easter mission, says Scottish cardinal
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
How would "his (Jesus') fisherman friends . . . react to the crisis we have brought on ourselves?" he asked.
- Cardinal Keith O'Brien
While beyond the doors of churches during the Easter season and "the blossoms, the spring flowers, the lambs, the first hint of leaves on the trees," the cardinal said are "signs that are warnings, indeed, dire warnings" about the environment.
He pointed to the recent report on Scotland's global footprint, which reported that the rate of consumption in the country would require three earths to sustain it.
"We take and use much more than our share, and we cannot maintain this any longer."
The cardinal stressed that, with so much attention focused on global warming, climate change is not the only environmental crisis faced.
"We are mistaken if we consider climate change to be the only problem, imagining that if we fly less or burn less fuel or plant more trees somehow the environmental damage will be corrected," he said. Catholics "must take the whole picture into account when we consider the damage being done to our mother earth."
Species are becoming extinct at "an alarming rate" and rain forests, "fast disappearing," are half of what they used to be when he was ordained as a bishop, O'Brien said.
"I cannot help but wonder as I go round schools what will happen to those remaining forests during the lifetime of the children I meet there," he said.
"Learning to live simply will ask a great deal of us."
- Cardinal Keith O'Brien
"We fail those children in the way we destroy the land."
Even in the vastness of the oceans, "dangers and warnings concerning a sustainable future are evident," he said.
"Overfishing means we now pay a great environmental price. Stocks of many of the fish we have taken for granted and which have been plentiful are now critically low. The majestic whale is at risk as are many other species of ocean life," he said.
Pointing to technology that is endangering deep-water, slow-to-replenish stocks, the cardinal was moved to ask "what Jesus would make of this."
How would "his fisherman friends . . . react to the crisis we have brought on ourselves?" he asked.
"Learning to live simply will ask a great deal of us, and we will need help along the way," the cardinal said.
He said that he has called upon the St. Andrews and Edinburgh Archdiocese justice and peace group to examine what needs to be done to help the Church community to do a better job of meeting its environmental responsibilities.
(© Catholic Online 2007, www.catholic.org)
Our mission: To serve our readers by bringing the Gospel to bear on current issues in the Church and in secular culture through accurate news coverage and reflective commentary. |
The idea of having a process (e.g. combination of physical devices, computer programs, and the like) that can be operated, perhaps without much conscious thought or effort, or certainly while doing something else (whether that be playing roulette, standing in line at the bank, or walking down the street) suggests for a new conceptual framework for computing.
A related concept, person-worn computing, has also been explored, and in fact, there are now several companies manufacturing computers that can be worn. The utility of person-worn computing is quite obvious to anyone who's tried to type on a laptop while standing up. Even if one does manage to find a place to sit down and plug in a cellular phone and modem, most likely, the connection was erratic and, due to the large brightly backlit display (which is necessary to be able to see the screen in bright sunlight) the batteries would often run down before you were able to finish making a connection. |
A party is a social gathering of three or more individuals for celebrating. There are an unlimited reasons for having a party. The purpose can be religious, such as a baptism; cultural, such as Purim; or it can be seasonal, such as a birthday celebration. Events might be low key or formal or thematic and high energy. Parties usually involve food and drinks, some also have games, costumes, and decorations. We have party tips, planners, party foods, games, and more to help you plan the perfect party. |
|Sensoji was built in the seventh century, making
it Tokyo's oldest temple. It is said that the temple enshrines a small (5.5-centimeter)
gold statue of the bodhisattva Kannon that was found in the Sumida River by fishermen
in 628. In the Edo period, the ruling Tokugawa clan offered their prayers here,
and it was a venerated place where many commoners gathered to worship. To the
north of Sensoji lay the old Yoshiwara pleasure quarters and a kabuki theater.
This area was quite popular with Edo residents as an entertainment district, and
it is said that it served as the wellspring of Edo culture.
The grounds of Sensoji include a five-story pagoda, among other buildings, and
numerous stone monuments. Many different events are held over the course of the
year, including the Sanja Festival in May, which is attended by more than a million
people, and the Hozuki-ichi (Chinese lantern plant fair) in the summer.
The area around Sensoji is home to many famous old shops and restaurants. When
evening rolls around, relaxing over dinner and taking in the Shitamachi atmosphere
may be a fine way to finish off the day. |
Marek A. Perkowski
Evolution and limits of search algorithms.
Papers on strength of GA and can it apply to evolution of the species.
- Search Complexity.
- DEMBSKI on search complexity for GA.
- Dembski and Marx on search complexity.
- Critics of Dembski
- God and Quantum Mechanics Paper.
- Lecture slides to this paper.
This paper shows the possibility of quantum evolution controlled by God. |
CoLab works with MIT students, faculty, staff and tech¬nical resources to translate its vision and mission into practice by:
Modeling: developing operational models of urban sustainability efforts that are participatory and generate shared wealth. Currently, this work is focused in the areas of energy efficiency, waste management and procurement needs of anchor institutions.
Collaborative research, media and culture: generating new and relevant knowledge about urban sustainability with community partners and co-crafting theories of community engagement, development, and social change; preparing new cadres of planners with the commitment, skills, and ability to lead innovation across sectors and address systemic failures.
Linking: providing space for high-impact stakeholders across multiple sectors to explore common interests and develop transformative projects.
The Lab’s projects currently fall under these major subject areas: |
Apr 30, 2009
Freedom of speech is a sacred right, and privilege. We grant that right to each other. No one has the right in "MY" country, according to the Constitution of the United States of America - to take that right away from another person. For a select few, they don't seem to get this concept.
Meaning, that the majority of "The People" DO get that you can have an opinion about anything, and without fear - express that opinion to whomever and wherever you so choose. If you're passionate about your position, you may even attempt to persuade others through various means of communication.
Bottom line - it's our independent opinion's collectively gathered, that generally govern this Land. But voices must be heard from all of our citizens, in order to gather and unite that which we value in mainstream society. This is a system, that was enacted by a moral society. If the general population were not of a "moral" nature - this could never work; and what many are attempting to proclaim could be a concern. But, it is not.
The "majority" of Americans support maintaining the traditional definition of marriage. A minority of very loud advocates for same-sex marriage, are now taking that opinion and right to believe- and are now attempting to define it as hate speech. They want to take it personally. They want to be offended and hurt. They feel that if they can make the majority the bad guy, that enough of the majority will cave. Some are.
They want to make US be seen as BAD people for having an opinion that is contrary to what they WANT!
They especially enjoy using mainstream media to support their positions. No doubt that a certain judge in the recent Miss America Pageant was hoping to do just that, when he asked in particular "Miss California" Carrie Prejean - her thoughts about same-sex marriage. If national attention was what he was hoping to gain, boy did he get it!
Miss California, did not answer his question the way he had assumed that she would. In fact, from his position on the topic of legalizing same-sex marriage - Carrie Prejean committed blasphemy!
Excuse me... all she did, was respectfully as requested, "No Offense" intended -state her personal opinion. And that is when all H - E double toothpicks broke loose! That judge and his friends have now decided that this is a perfect platform for them to zero in on their new definition of HATE SPEECH; conservative opinion that is contrary to liberal opinion, behavior and causes.
Sorry, but I've raised five children, and I KNOW a tantrum when I see one. When a spoiled "child" wants their way and is finding it difficult to obtain -- it suddenly becomes the fault of anyone in their path; and what they are doing to block the way. The child never stops to think that perhaps what they want, is NOT best -- and that is WHY a good parent declines the request - in opposition to their very unattractive behavior.
In my opinion - Carrie Prejean is one WELL-BEHAVED WOMAN! I am proud to stand by Miss California as the announcement has just come out of Washington that she will join the GOOD cause to Defend Traditional Marriage on a NATIONAL level!
NOM Launches "No Offense" Religious Liberty Ad Campaign!
Miss California To Campaign Against Gay Marriage
Update: Here's a great follow-up story on Carrie Prejean "Miss California Keeps Her Crown Against ALL Odds!"
Apr 28, 2009
This is a beautiful two part series of videos, explaining in a very simple format - WHAT Mormons believe about our life before we were born, the purpose for the creation of this world -- and our reason for being here.
Two of the great questions that most people will ask themselves, at some point in their lives are... WHY AM I HERE and WHERE DID I COME FROM? Modern revelation teaches us that we had our beginnings eternities before we were ever born here upon this earth. There is an eternal purpose for our need to experience life in a telestial or fallen world.
Most importantly, is that God has a Plan, for each one of us. He provided a Savior, so that we might have the opportunity to grow through our experiences upon this earth -- knowing that we would sin. His Plan, is to bring us back into His presence, once again. Jesus Christ, through his atonement, has made it possible for us to be cleansed of the sins of this world and ultimately receive ALL that the Father has prepared for His children, who love Him.
MORMON BELIEFS PART ONE - LIFE BEFORE BIRTH
MORMON BELIEFS PART TWO - THE CREATION
God Does Have A Plan For YOU!
Finding God In The World Today...
Thank you to Mike Batie, at Latter-day Truth, for these lovely videos.
Apr 20, 2009
Not sure if you've ever had this experience before, but I have... Whether I'm chatting on Facebook, Twitter or writing a post here, or on Hubpages -- at the mention of our bi-annual LDS General Conference of the Church, I always seem to get a few questions asking to know a little bit more about it.
If you happen to be LDS and are also on Twitter, then you know that there were a lot of us using the hash tag #ldsconf over our last General Conference weekend. I had more than a few of my followers who are not Mormon, commenting on my frequent tweeting and what I was up to...
It was a great opportunity to have those small conversations about the Church, with others - that we are encouraged to have. I even "accidentally" started responding to these inquiries that had nothing to do with the actual #ldsconf - and some of my friends were then followed by LDS members who thought they were Mormon,too! LOL
However, after I apologized for using the hash tag to respond - these awesome folks didn't seem to mind at all. I suppose if they are willing to follow a gal who goes by the name of @LdsNana, they are not going to mind having other members following them as well.
I'm excited to "tweet" the link to this particular video, which highlights some of the important counsel given by Living Prophets today, in our most recent General Conference. It's really pretty cool that LDS media is using the short YouTube platform for distributing great information about the Church. I love posting these online -- whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc... or actually blogging about them.
I'm sure many of you are aware of how quickly the last Mormon Messages video went viral --and that had everything to do with you and I. Like I said, it's by small and simple things that we can accomplish MORE GOOD, online. Won't you join me and share this great video, WHEREVER you can!
Highlights of 179th General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints
Apr 14, 2009
So I'm just testing this new feature out here on Blogger, that allows me to email a picture, or update my blog with a new post via my iphone. Pretty cool, eh?
I know, you're probably wondering why I took a picture of these rolls, right? Well, I actually posted the recipe for these easy homemade rolls over on The LDS GrandParent Place a few months ago. However - as odd as this may seem to you, I didn't already have my own picture of the rolls, and so I cheated. Crazy, I know!
I actually posted a stock photo of who knows whose rolls they were - on my blog. Am I bad? I didn't think so at the time, but when a few of my own children read the post and looked at the rolls - they IMMEDIATELY detected that these were not "Grandma Skaggs' Homemade Rolls"! In fact - the current picture over there is a FAKE!
I knew right then, that I would need to actually take a picture of the actual rolls, produced from the actual recipe -- if I were to keep my integrity intact. Soooo, this past Sunday, which happened to be Easter - I made a batch of rolls and decided to grab my iphone and snap a shot. Actually, I felt pretty silly doing it - but felt it was mandatory! But hey - the picture turned our pretty good. Don't you think?
Apr 13, 2009
I've been utilizing various means of Social Media for nearly two years now, to help share the gospel, on the Internet. I really enjoy it! I write on Hubpages. I Twitter. I have a profile on Facebook. I Mixx. I Digg. I'm on FriendFeed. I Stumble. I blog. I could go on and on...
I get really excited when I hear that something that I have been involved with, is actually noticed by the big guys in Salt Lake. You know what I mean, right? Folks like the LDS Newsroom, Mormon Times and Deseret News - just to name a few. Some of you might remember the first talk that Elder Ballard gave, where his now famous talk at the BYU Hawaii graduation -- about getting involved online, and sharing the gospel through "small conversations" was given. The few of us that were already out there DOING IT -- totally shouted for joy! Am I right? It was a great day!
Since then, the momentum has really picked up - and more and more average members of the Church, just like me - are out there doing it, too.
Thinking back to about two years ago, prior to all the amazing upgrades to official LDS websites, such as LDS.org and Mormons.org - there really wasn't a whole lot of tools to help members accomplish this great effort. Since then, the Church has really stepped things up. I now feel bad, that I ever murmured about the lack of credible information to access, online.
The LDS Church is really starting to get the hang of Social Media. You can find an official presence on Twitter, Facebook and even YouTube! And speaking of YouTube and videos - what has prompted this particular blog post is the HOT NEWS that a recent video distributed through the LDS Newsroom and Mormon Messages (their YouTube channel) has hit the TOP OF THE CHARTS for viral videos, just over this last weekend.
HOT VIDEO: An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ
Traffic began to build immediately. Mormons spontaneously posted the YouTube video on Facebook, discussed it on Twitter and sent it by e-mail to thousands of others, including their friends. By Saturday, the number of views passed 100,000 and kept climbing. By Sunday, it was noted as the number 1 video in the Internet “nonprofit” category in Brazil, India and other countries.
Now, how COOL is that? And all it took, was me and you - sharing around just a little bit. I can't help but think of the scripture... that by small and simple things, shall great things be brought to pass! (paraphrased) But it is TRUE! The more you and I do our part to share what the Church is doing so well -- the MORE influence for GOOD that we can have on the Internet. That's our job you know:-)
Read the full story over at the LDS Newsroom Mormon Apostle's Easter Message Becomes Top Viral Video |
Monsanto has confirmed that a Johnsongrass biotype has become resistant to glyphosate in Northeastern Argentina.
The findings were announced recently by companies represented by two of the major fertilizer and agrochemical trade organizations in Argentina and by Monsanto.
No Johnsongrass resistance has been identified in the United States
Monsanto took the initiative in researching reports in 2004 of resistance and has worked with the industry to develop recommendations to mitigate the resistance.
A preliminary assessment of the affected area identified the problem on 17,000 to 25,000 acres.
Monsanto and the agricultural organizations have developed recommendations to mitigate the documented resistance.
Several weed species have been identified as resistant to glyphosate in the U.S. and Monsanto has developed agressive vegetaion management plans to mitigate those situation as well. Among them is an online weed resistance management continuing education course for Califonria and Arizona pest control advisors on the Western Farm Press website. Monsanto also sponsors a major online resistance course for Midwest and Southern corn producers.
Information in these courses includes recommendation for chemical control with herbicides other than glyphosate as well as recommendations for mechanical and non-chemical control. |
What is in this article?:
- Updated best management practices for insect control in vegetables focus on shifting pest spectrums, selective pesticide technologies, resistance management, maximum residue levels, and other issues.
- For lettuce, the initial application of fungicides during the rosette stage, about 30 to 40 days before harvest, has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of lettuce drop caused by airborne infections of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
- Most pre-emergent herbicides do not kill dormant weed seeds – in most cases the seeds must first germinate and contact the herbicide before the seeds are killed.
The latest Arizona Vegetable Integrated Pest Management Update from the University of Arizona (UA) Cooperative Extension in Yuma.
Best management practices for pest control in vegetables
By John Palumbo, UA Research Scientist and Extension Specialist
In 2008 a group of research and Extension vegetable entomologists and crop consultants from vegetable-producing states met to discuss pest management issues, plus challenges and opportunities confronting the fresh vegetable industry.
From that workshop, best management practice (BMP) recommendations were developed. A continuation of that meeting was held in 2009 and focused on refining the BMPs for vegetable insect control, and in general terms, defined a number of best practices for successful insect management in vegetable crops.
In addition, based on the cumulative experiences of the participating entomologists, the strengths and weaknesses of a number of new pesticide technologies (registered products and compounds under development) were identified. These included Radiant, Pyrifluquinazon, Oberon, Movento, Rimon, Coragen, Synapse, and Cyazypyr.
A number of important issues, challenges, and opportunities in insect control in vegetable crops were discussed based on regional perspectives. Among the topics discussed were shifting pest spectrums, trends toward selective pesticide technologies, resistance management, MRLs, and other production issues.
A copy of the 2009 BMPs generated from those discussions can be found at this link.
Contact Palumbo: (928) 928-782-3836 or email@example.com. |
On Ash Wednesday, our church community held our first Lenten morning prayer meeting at 6:30am. We're meeting every Wednesday morning for prayer, coming back consistently to The Jesus Prayer as our centering prayer. On Ash Wednesday, whoever wanted to have them received a Prayer Rope. Borrowing from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, we use the rope to guide our prayer. Ours have 33 knots tied into them, one for every year of Jesus' life, and that's how many times we say the prayer together.
There's something profound about the Prayer Rope simply in that it is something physical. Often, prayer becomes a disembodied practice for us. It's something that happens in our brains and in our hearts, but it seldom has anything to do with out hands, our fingers. As our fingers pass one knot after another, we are drawn not only spiritually, in some disembodied sense, but physically into this confession. The rope is something real, something with texture and frays. It has a sort of local particularity, it's small, it's mundane, and yet it draws us - in no overtly supernatural way - into the recognition of a reality that simply will not be localized or conditioned (see the 'Lord' post). We physically hold between our fingers 33 knots with specific significance, the significance to remind us of a particular and specific person, a man from Nazareth. It represents the paradox of existence and essence, the paradox of praying a prayer which begins, "Lord Jesus..."
Those with reverent sensibilities toward Jesus might find it shocking for someone to suggest that there's anything paradoxical or even ironic about praying "Lord Jesus..." (and I wouldn't want to stifle that reverence in any way, in fact I want to join in it). But there is something profound, even scandalous about praying such a prayer.
Jesus is sorta the star of the show... in more ways than one. After all, the prayer we're thinking about here is called "The Jesus Prayer." It's specifically addressed to Jesus. But who is Jesus?
Well, in the prayer we address him as 'Lord,' which is, as we have already discussed, more than a title, it's a reference to a transcendent God. But Jesus is a person, a human being, a man from Nazareth - this can't be lost. He existed in a specific time of history, occupied a particular space, spoke a specific language, and dealt with definite and local political realities. Jesus was not a spirit or a transcendent concept. He was a physical and living person with texture and frays. He was a body with breath like you and me, a body which endured suffering and was eventually broken. We pray to a fellow victim of injustice, a fellow victim of the brokenness and alienation of humanity.
To address our prayer to Jesus is to attest to the significance of the particular. When we pray to a person who shares in human experience, we pray not to some outsider. We are not looking up and out to some "wholly other" who exists above us. We are praying as to one within our human community; looking down and within, not up and away.
And yet, this Jesus is addressed as 'Lord...'
If it is not a paradox then it's simply an absurdity.
We see in Jesus the depth of existence. In Jesus we see the mystery that this Lord, this unconditional reality, is not distant and disconnected, not above us and outside of us but bursting forth from among us transforming and disrupting us. Jesus is Lord! This is our confession. The sacred visits us in the mundane. The eternal infiltrates the finite. Our particularity is assumed and healed by a God who knows us as one of us.
When we pray "...Jesus..." we open ourselves to discovering God in the particularity of human life.
"’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, And to take Him at His Word; Just to rest upon His promise, And to know, 'Thus says the Lord!'
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!" |
Between 2005 and present day, Sprint lost (and probably continues to lose) between $6 and $12 million monthly in revenue due to a number of organized fraud rings out of the New York area that involves indirect authorized and unauthorized Sprint dealers, Sprint contractors as well as Sprint employees and management.
This was accomplished in a number of ways but the base of it all was exploitation of Sprint’s notoriously unreliable billing system to create large but completely unprofitable accounts. In fact, these supposed customers actually cost Sprint millions of dollars monthly in roaming fees, workforce hours spent handling the constant calls from the dealers and invalid commissions paid to staff who profited from keeping these accounts on the books.
The way this came to be is that back in the early 2000’s, Sprint launched an unlimited plan when the customer subscribed to Sprint’s Complete Sense plan which bundled home service as well as cellular. Originally, the plan was supposed to be either $130 for the first line and $100 for each additional line, or $95 for the first line and $75 for each additional line, depending on where the customer was among other criteria such as limit of 5 lines total on the plan per account. Things like text messaging, data, roaming were not included in this deal which was revolutionary for its time. Through a series of loopholes in the system which were identified but suspiciously never completely fixed, the dealers and their group of associates found a way to add hundreds of lines at prices as low as a few cents to one main line. A brief explanation of how this worked is as follows. On every phone line in the billing system, there are a series of plan codes, usually referred to inside Sprint as “SOCs” (Service Offering Codes) which dictated whether lines could share with other lines as well as every single service involved with cellular usage. Put the wrong SOC on the wrong line and you could create a billing nightmare requiring hours of research, corrections and sometimes, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of credits that would have to be applied by someone at the VP level. Or, if you knew that if you swapped an improper code in on each line, you could potentially create a 100 line account that paid perhaps as little as 10 to 15% of what a customer should normally pay.
There were literally hundreds of these accounts that the group controlled personally as well as tens of thousands more that they either set up or were put together by unscrupulous or careless Sprint employees. The way that they made so much money off all of these accounts was to target people with poor or no credit as well as members of their own community with promises of cheap service. First they would demand a deposit on service or account “setup” fees and sell the customer a previously used phone. After ordering the line with a normal plan code and a brand new phone (usually a high end PDA with worldwide roaming capability, they would call Sprint or get in touch with one of their contacts on the inside and get the plan code to be changed to yet another free or $10 code. Upon delivery of the new phone, they would swap out the used phone to the line, and then sell the new phone out of their shop or on Ebay/Craigslist. In fact, it is believed that a cell phone “recycling” charity in the Spring Valley, NY area actually uses the phones donated to them to sell back to customers on these accounts. The same person operating this charity was also listed as an owner on a cellular dealer group terminated by Sprint for fraud in 2007.
This fleecing was so blatant that the unauthorized dealers advertised themselves as Sprint dealers and promoted their “deals” in local flyers and community papers. By the time the loopholes were partially fixed in 2008-2009, Sprint was missing between 6 to 12 million dollars a month in lost potential revenue. However, the problem was never completely repaired and Sprint decided to only half-heartedly identify and terminate problem accounts. Instead of sending payments to Sprint, thousands of customers would pay monthly to the dealers, who in turn paid Sprint as little as 10% of the money they had taken in. They weren’t just making massive profits off cell phone services; wireless internet cards were quite popular. These were cards that should have come with a minimum $59 monthly fee but usually their cost was less than $10, thanks to the same plan code exploitation. Many worldwide phones were also rented out to customers who were traveling internationally and the dealers could charge that person one rate but pay Sprint next to nothing on the invoice due to codes that had been manipulated in the billing system.
In addition to the lost revenue from service and preventable monetary adjustments, Sprint and their customers were losing probably close to a million or more a month in cell phones that were either fraudulently obtained or ordered for next to free lines that Sprint would never make any money on. It was also a daily occurrence for corporate and small business accounts like FedEx, DirectTV, UPS or ADT (now Broadview) to be targeted by callers pretending to be the owners or authorized users of the accounts who would then order brand new cell phones which would be shipped to a number of addresses around the country but mostly to addresses in and around the Tri-state area. The most notorious address was 544 Park Avenue in Brooklyn as well as other dead addresses which only led Sprint to believe that UPS delivery drivers were also in on the deal.
Under most circumstances, a scheme like this would have been rapidly sniffed out but it took literally years for Sprint’s multiple departments to shut down, or at least stem the bleeding that occurred from this scam. Part of it was poor communication amongst various departments but a major piece of it was a combination of incompetence and actual collusion with the group from New York by Sprint’s own employees. Sprint’s fraud department would terminate 3rd party dealers who they could prove were committing outright “resale misconduct” (the approved term by Sprint’s legal division) but they had a much harder time fighting a well organized group of fake storefront owners and accounts with addresses that eventually traced back to storage units and abandoned warehouses. They also had to deal with a faction of Sprint workers that were determined to keep these accounts on the books, no matter what the cost to the company. These employees often undid the work that the fraud and legal departments had spent months on. Problem accounts would be identified with special notes by legal which would be promptly removed by those who wanted to ensure their survival. Some accounts would be instantly terminated or suspended when evidence of service resale was found, only to be turned right back on by supervisors determined to make commissions at any costs.
Often when an account would reach a credit class limit which stopped more phone lines from being added to one of these invalid plans, the dealers would simply contact one Sprint supervisor in particular who would manually change the credit class without proper review by the corporate credit review department. Safeguards that had been put in place to make sure customers were credit-worthy and that accounts were profitable were bypassed for the sake of making more commission as well as probable kickbacks. There was a large amount of money that could be made doing this. In addition to base salary, Sprint’s “account retention” department employees could make up to $3,000 monthly extra in bonuses to keep accounts from cancelling. Just marking a couple of the large fake accounts as “saved” each month could max out a rep on bonuses. In one call center, there was at least one team whose supervisor was believed to be in collusion with the ring and his employees almost invariably maxed out every single month on commissions. In fact, it was common knowledge around the entire center but when other reps and their supervisors stumbled across evidence of employee cooperation with the fraud ring and reported it, they were harassed and often denied promotions. It wasn’t just call center employees who were involved, it was also believed that corporate store and back office employees were giving account security information to the fraud ring so that they could then call in and place fraudulent orders for equipment. At a couple call centers, employees had even been approached in the parking lots and offered large sums of cash for their login information, including passwords.
It was often said that the callers “knew our own system better than we do” and that was true because not only did they have the cooperation of customer service agents but also because of the fact that an employee of the company who built billing codes for Sprint was also involved. They were eventually investigated by Sprint’s corporate security department in 2009 and terminated for this. It seemed to be a weird coincidence that as quickly as Sprint’s billing investigations found and closed the abused codes, new ones would be built within hours and quickly distributed. Some were specially designed it seemed, for no other purpose than to be used on these accounts. In fact, it was common for people to call in and ask for code “PDSXXXX” within 24 hours of it being created. It was a billing system game of “whack a mole” with millions of dollars on the line.
In 2007, Sprint finally terminated one major group of dealers that operated out of Brooklyn, New York but new dealers popped up within days to take their place. The original abused codes were mostly shut down and Sprint began moving their accounts from their old, loophole-ridden system known as “P2K” to a new billing system that was used by Nextel prior to the merger in 2005. It was believed that the invalid accounts would be caught in the migration and forced to be corrected due all of the new limitations in the new software. However, as the change began, the problem was not solved. In fact, it exploded due to new plan codes being built in the new billing system in order to accommodate the patch-worked accounts that should have been caught and terminated before the transition over. These new plan codes were then given out to the dealers as fast as they were created and circulated amongst employees who knew how to work the system to maximize their commissions as well as supervisors and managers who had the same intent.
It was no accident that month after month, the same supervisors and managers led their call centers in “account saves” when many of them had a working relationship with a group that was taking the company for millions of dollars monthly. Often, when faced with evidence of employee misconduct by Sprint’s fraud and compliance team, customer service managers and their directors refused to terminate those workers. After all, they were making their numbers look good even though they were essentially paying these representatives to undermine profitability and potentially expose the company to civil or criminal litigation
Eventually, some of the Sprint staff involved was forced to resign or were fired after a report on the issue went all the way to the executive level, but some were just moved to other positions in the company as the company persisted in trying to sweep the whole issue under the rug with minimal outcry. The problem has not been completely fixed as of today, Sprint continues to lose millions monthly, and corporate accounts continue to be the target of various crime rings in search of cell phones to sell on the internet. Employees who blew the whistle and warned upper management of the issue were often harassed, denied promotions or terminated on other grounds in order to ensure silence. As of now, Sprint has not commented publicly on the matter and is not likely to do so.
*DISCLAIMER* This is a blog and the opinion of the author thereof. The author is not employed by Sprint or any of it's contractors, vendors or dealers. |
Why will this woman not move up in line? What is her problem?! Can she not SEE the entire foot of space between her and the person who just moved forward? If she doesn’t move in five seconds, I’m taking that space. 5. 4. 3. 2… FINALLY! Oh my gosh, woman, you don’t even know how close you just came to losing your place!
And that is a peek into the mind of someone slightly sleep deprived and massively overwhelmed.
Someone attempting to slip back into American culture after two-and-a-half years in South Asia, where even five inches of room between you and the next person in line is an indication that you no longer expect to go next.
Someone who, five minutes later, begins to reflect on the ugly situation that could’ve occurred if she’d butted in line.
Someone who was horrified to discover just how impatient she’d become.
As you may have guessed, that someone was me.
Of all the things about re-entering my home culture that have been difficult, I think one of the major ones has been re-adjusting my set of values. Re-adjusting my expectations for what “we” as a group are supposed to value. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are a lot of values – most, in fact – that exist in every culture. Truth, modesty, time, relationships – they’re there in every culture. It’s just that each culture goes about ranking each value differently – put one ahead of the other.
For example, truth versus relationship. South Asian culture would rank relationship over truth – to the extent that it’s considered morally better to lie than lose a friend. Western culture, on the other hand, is more likely to say what it thinks even if that means jeopardizing a relationship.
My impatience with that woman in line was less about the foot of space she hadn’t moved into and more about conflicting ideas of how lines “are done”. We each valued something different about lines. She clearly valued the order, the predictability of a line. Knowing that she could take an extra second to fiddle with her luggage and coffee mug without losing her spot. I was still in the mode of valuing efficiency, awareness, and movement in a line – personal space be forgotten!
That’s the trouble and blessing of these in-between times. Because when I lived only in the US, I wasn’t conscious of how my birth culture ranked things – there was only “right”. In South Asia, I consciously set aside my value rankings in favor of adopting another set. And now? Now there are two competing ranking systems in my brain. Priorities are murky. I vacillate between impatience (because what I think should be happening is opposite from what everyone else is thinking) and complete indecisiveness (because I can’t remember what’s “appropriate” anymore).
It’s interesting, now, to have the occasion to consciously rank my priorities. To be aware there are two different – even opposite – ways of looking at a situation. To have the opportunity to choose what value takes first place in a given situation.
When was the last time you had two different values staring you in the face? Perhaps between what the group thought and what you thought? How did you make the decision? |
For Maundy Thursday we consider the third Suffering Servant poem, found in Isaiah 50:4-9a. Yesterday we heard of the importance of listening. Today, speaking is the focus. These reflections come from J. Philip Wogaman, Professor of Christian Ethics Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C., in “Feasting on the Word; Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary” Year B, volume 2, eds. Bartlett and Brown Taylor, Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. The servant speaks in verse 7 of not being disgraced or put to shame. Why would that happen? To use Jesus as the example Wogaman says this:
“Jesus identified himself with outcasts and sinners. He was a friend to and healer of lepers, generally avoided by everybody else. He treated the common peasants, the “peoples of the land,” as the salt of the earth, even though such people were only marginally able to fulfill all of the requirements of the law. He had lunch with the thoroughly despised tax collectors. He used a Samaritan as the central, positive figure in one of his most famous parables, even though Samaritans were also despised by others. He treated women with respect as reasoning human beings. He clearly was not afraid of what such associations might do to his reputation. It is hard to say exactly why Jesus was crucified, but that must have been an important part of the reason.”
Jesus could have been disgraced and shamed by such associations, but, in the spirit of Isaiah 50:7, he was not. I remember working with youth in the church and trying to get them to understand what the equivalent behavior in their world would be, to that as described here about Jesus. I would suggest being more friendly towards disabled, towards the less popular kids, towards the kids who were always getting in trouble. I tried to get these Christian youth to see that following Jesus was more than being a good kid or a popular kid. It might even mean being labeled a loser. It was a tough sell! My hope lay in the seeds that might have been planted in those discussions, so that as the youth grew into mature people of faith, they would be more open to the deeper spiritual issues that might be involved with shame or disgrace. Then they might be able to “sustain the weary with a word.
May your weariness be sustained with a word this day, and may you find a way to pass on a sustaining word. |
Patch time: RDP vulnerability in all Windows versions; CVE-2012-0002: A closer look at MS12-020′s critical issue – Security Research & Defense – Site Home – TechNet Blogs
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/03/15
If you have RDP open on one or more of your computers, you should have patched your machines by now:
vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) [...] a Critical, remote code execution vulnerability affecting all versions of Windows. This blog post shares additional information with the following goals:
- To strongly encourage you to make a special priority of applying this particular update;
- To give you an option to harden your environment until the update can be applied. |
Sanin Kaigan National Park
|Sanin Kaigan National Park|
|Established||15 July 1963|
Sanin Kaigan National Park (山陰海岸国立公園 San'in Kaigan Kokuritsu Kōen ) is a National Park in Tottori, Hyōgo, and Kyōto Prefectures, Japan.1 Established in 1963, the park runs continuously along the Sea of Japan coast from Tottori to Kyōtango231 The park covers 87.83 km². Sanin Kaigan National Park is known for its numerous inlets, rock formations, islands, and caves.1
- Genbudō Cave (玄武洞), Kasumi Coast (香住海岸), Tajima Coast (但馬海岸), Takeno Coast (竹野海岸), Tottori Sand Dunes, Uradome Coast (浦富海岸)4567
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sanin Kaigan National Park|
- "San'in Coast National Park". Encyclopedia of Japan. Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
- "San'inkaigan National Park". Natural Parks Foundation. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- Sutherland, Mary; Britton, Dorothy (1995). National Parks of Japan. Kodansha. pp. 131–3.
- "San'inkaigan National Park". Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- "Sanin Kaigan National Park". Kyōto Prefecture. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- "山陰海岸国立公園". Tottori Prefecture. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- "Sanin Kaigan". Hyōgo Prefecture. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- "Sanin Kaigan National Park - Basic Information". Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- (English) Sanin Kaigan National Park
- (Japanese) Sanin Kaigan National Park
- Map of Sanin Kaigan National Park
|This article about a national/quasi-national park or protected area in Japan, or related topic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|
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Invite a friend
Personal Essay and Lifestories Workshop
Personal essays allow us to dig into our life stories in a short and potent form.
In this workshop, you will learn how to dig into and shape personal narratives, whether they are pieces of an autobiography, sections of a memoir, journal entries or blog posts, into a form that can move others.
Since your own work will be the core of our material, you will get a chance to write a lot for this class, with detailed feedback from the instructor and your peers, not to mention two-week deadlines to keep you going.
Each week we will turn to classic and contemporary essayists for tools to make our work better.
(This workshop is designed to be a long-term home for essay writers and you’ll be welcome to repeat it to continue building your material and your network.)
|Where||723 Elm St, Winnetka, IL 60093|
|Next on||This event is over.|
|Time||6:30 pm–9:00 pm|
|Who to bring||Singles, College Students, Moms, Dads, Seniors| |
TIP of the Week:
INDULGE YOUR SWEET TOOTH!
Sitting through a long exam such as the SAT or ACT can wear on a child’s attention span. Even the most prepared student can start to feel a bit “foggy.”
But despite the popularity of energy drinks such as Redbull, this is not the answer during a long test. The energy jolt will cause a crash and your child will likely spend more time running to the bathroom than answering questions.
Help out your child by supplying hard candy for him/her to suck during the exam, especially during those long reading passages. Studies show that sucking hard candy during a test increases scores by giving the mouth a taste sensation that “wakes” the brain during extended concentration.
Hard candies also serve as great timing tools for the ACT. By the time your child finishes with one candy, he or she should be just about done with one reading passage. Of course this is approximate, but since many students waste a great deal of time looking at the clock, this can certainly help.
Let your child indulge. Help keep the juices flowing with a burst of flavor that will keep his or her brain from losing steam early into the exam. However, in terms of candy choice, we do not recommend those little caramels that have a tendency to become stuck in between teeth. Although not scientifically proven, we are sure that panicking that one might never be able to open one’s mouth again does NOT increase concentration.
Another important tip: unwrap the sucking candy BEFORE your child leaves for the exam. Put hygiene aside and have your child place the candies in his or her pocket, as some proctors might not allow the crinkling distraction.
Contest of the Week:
Share this “sweet tooth” tip with your child, and then have him or her write us an email dictacting his or her favorite sucking candy and why. The WilsonDailyPrep staff will pick a winner and provide him or her with a months supply of that candy. It’s our way of getting geared up for testing and giving a candy appetizer before Halloween!
We will be announcing the winner in our next newsletter.
Wanting or devouring great quantities of food
On his date with Suzy, Johnny voraciously ate both of his hamburgers and his plate of fries; he then gazed longingly at Suzy’s plate until she offered a sample.
Knox College: Galesburg, IL
Like comic books, fan fiction, anime? Knox is embraced as a “geek haven,” by current students. Knox also has a long history of campus-wide traditions such as mud jumping and shaking hands with…everyone. Knox was the first in the nation to admit African Americans and women. Knox offers a strong writing program and exceptional sciences. It is more mainstream than Beloit and Grinnelll.
SAT: 590-700 verbal, 580-660 math
Strongest Programs: Biology, Creative Writing, Music, Math, Political Science, Psychology
Next SAT Date:
Next ACT Date ec 11th |
Ontario ministers (i.e. Duguid and Wilkerson) have continued to justify forcing the installation of wind turbine projects into communities that don’t want them by claiming the greater good is being served – specifically that wind energy allows Ontario to burn less coal, thus preventing the early deaths of hundreds of people due to asthma etc. Their “hundreds of people” claim is highly dubious in the first place – see the research by Ross McKitrick. In the second place, as I have shown over and over again, there is no connection between wind energy production and lower coal production.
As always, me being me, I continued to wonder where all this wind energy went. The most obvious answer is that it was exported, at great loss, to Ontario’s neighbors. Certainly Ontario’s exports in almost all cases exceed whatever the wind is producing. But when I ran the numbers, the relationship between wind production and exports was roughly the same as between wind and coal – which is to say, almost non-existent. However, the relative shapes of the two sets of curves was close enough that I started wondering what the relationship of coal production was to exports. And since I’m writing this posting, you know I found something interesting.
The first chart below shows the coal production, sorted by coal production over the 21 weekdays in January 2011. There was nothing special about January, it was just the latest month available, and it was the only month I looked at – this does take a bit of time. I avoided the weekends because Ontario’s demand is low enough then that very little coal is used regardless of anything else going on. Two things jump out. First, the exports are almost always larger than the coal production. One has to wonder, if coal is killing hundreds of people every year, why is Ontario still even burning it? They certainly don’t need it for themselves. So they can earn some revenue from the exports? They’re trading lives for money? Or they don’t really believe their own words? Second, the relationship between the lines is certainly not random. In other words, more coal production strongly leads to more exports.
Next, I wondered how the wind+coal production compared to the exports. The chart below is sorted by date, so there’s no trend line. You can see, however, there’s a lot of correlation between the two lines, certainly much more than random. There are also many more days where the coal+wind production is now higher than the exports. It seems that wind production is pretty much ignored, not affecting either the coal production or the exports.
I don’t know the IESO makes dispatching decisions. Maybe they have contractual obligations with the coal plants. Maybe the coal plants have operational requirements to be run at some minimum amount. And maybe they have to be kept around in as a last resort if something else fails. So there may be good reasons why they have to be run even if everything they produce is surplus. But given that coal kills “hundreds” why was the Oakville gas plant cancelled? It could have taken over a large part of any backup responsibilities that the coal plants might have. Plus there’s still Lennox, which hardly runs at all anymore.
In any event, what earthly purpose do the wind turbines have? The entire lot of them could be dismantled tomorrow, with no effect on the grid, either from a fuel or an emission savings standpoint. You could argue, I guess, that the clean energy from wind turbines allows Ontario’s neighbors to turn down their presumably dirty generation, even though there’s no evidence that indicates this is actually done. But that seems a meager return for condemming “hundreds” of Ontarians to an early death from the coal generation – assuming Ontario’s leaders believe their own spin. |
Unable to read Windows drive10/24/2007 by ITtoolbox Popular Q&A Team for Toolbox for IT as adapted from SUSE-LINUX-L discussion group
I have a Thinkpad T61 with 3GB Ram and 2 SCSI HDD with 160GB each. On the primary disk, I have Windows XP Pro and on the 2nd HDD I installed SUSE 10.2. I know that I need to change one/more of the config files in Linux in order to read Windows drive and vice-versa. Right now I am unable to see my primary drive at all. I Want both OSs to be up and running and be able to access each other. Is there a way I can access Windows drive other than installing it on C drive?
Disclaimer: Contents are not reviewed for correctness and are not endorsed or recommended by ITtoolbox or any vendor. Popular Q&A contents include summarized information from ITtoolbox SuSE-Linux-L discussion unless otherwise noted.
Adapted from response by jerrydneal on 9/13/2007
If you want both OSs to access each other, that's not a problem. If you want both OSs up and running at the same time, and access each other, that's completely different. There are only a few ways to do the second. Use VMware (since you're already using it) and set up shared folders, or use Samba and a network. Sometimes it works on the same machine with Samba. Installing VMware tools in the guest OS enables you to copy and paste between OSs. There is a tool I believe you can mount your VMware hard drive to as a virtual hard drive.
To access both machines running at separate times, you're going to have to do 2 things. You're going to have to use ntfs-3g in Linux and mount Windows as read-write, or else use ntfs (you're going to have to install this as a kernel option) and mount it as read-only.
In Windows, the best option is to use Ext2IFS alongside Ext2Fsd. I recall that there is a data recovery company that has a good Windows-Explorer type tool for exploring Linux drives.
Popular Q&A contents include summarized information from SUSE Linux discussion unless otherwise noted. |
Networking in Windows 7 Starter
With Windows 7 Starter, your computer can be part of a wired or wireless network and can connect to the Internet. For more information about networks, see What are the different Internet connection methods?
You can also use devices that are connected to a network, such as a network printer, as long as your computer is connected to the same network. However, certain network features are unavailable:
Creating a homegroup. A computer running Windows 7 Starter can join a homegroup, but you can't use it to create a homegroup. For more information, see Join a homegroup.
Internet Connection Sharing. A computer running Windows 7 Starter can't use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to share its Internet connection with other computers on the network. With Windows 7 Starter, you must use a router to share an Internet connection among several computers. For more information, see Setting up a home network.
Connecting to a domain. Computers running Windows 7 Starter can't connect to a domain.
Ad hoc networking. A computer running Windows 7 Starter can't create an ad hoc network (also called a computer-to-computer network), but it can be part of an ad hoc network. Ad hoc networks are often used for a specific purpose, such as playing a multiplayer computer game.
Network bridging. A computer running Windows 7 Starter can't create a network bridge, but it can communicate with computers on a different network by being part of a network bridge. To create a network bridge, you must use a computer running an edition of Windows 7 other than Starter.
For information on upgrading to another edition of Windows 7, see Upgrade to another edition of Windows 7 by using Windows Anytime Upgrade.
To upgrade now
Open Windows Anytime Upgrade by clicking the Start button . In the search box, type anytime upgrade, and then, in the list of results, click
Windows Anytime Upgrade |
If you're not familiar with computers, you're probably curious about the basic parts and how they work together.
Computers come in different sizes and shapes. Laptop computers are small, lightweight machines that can run on batteries, so you can take them anywhere. Desktop computers are larger machines designed for use at a desk or table.
The parts of a typical desktop computer are the case, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers. Let's take a look at how these parts fit together to help you get your work done.
The case, or system unit, is the main part. It contains the electronic "brain" of the computer, which processes and sends information between all of the other parts.
Most cases have a CD or DVD drive so you can install software programs, listen to music, and watch movies. Windows will automatically play most CD or DVD discs when you put one in the drive.
Your monitor looks like a TV, and it lets you see all of the programs, pictures, and documents on your computer. Monitors come in different sizes, but they all do the same thing.
Your mouse and keyboard make it possible to work with what you see on your monitor. With the mouse, you can click, select, and move what you see on your screen. And you use the keyboard to type information into your computer.
If you have a printer, you can make a paper copy of what displays on your monitor…like this picture, for instance.
Finally, to hear sounds from your computer, you need speakers. Speakers let your hear everything from e‑mail arriving in your e‑mail program to music on your favorite CD.
All the parts of your computer work together to help you get the most out of Windows. |
Aug. 22, 2001 -- Two years ago, actress Kellie Martin's
19-year-old sister Heather suddenly began to suffer from fatigue, an odd skin
rash, and a slew of unexplainable health problems. Her symptoms stumped doctor
after doctor. The doctors diagnosed her with one illness, then a different one,
then yet another, as Heather's friends and family watched the formerly healthy
teen become gravely ill.
The doctors couldn't reach a consensus on Heather's ailment.
"They would stand out in the hall and argue about what the best way to
treat her was," says Martin. "In the meantime, Heather was getting
weaker and sicker. It was infuriating." Finally a doctor diagnosed Heather
with systemic lupus erythematosus, also called lupus.
By Maura Kelly
Recently, a new show called Stalked: Someone's Watching, premiered on the Investigation Discovery channel. Over the course of six episodes, the program recounts the stories of men who relentlessly pursued former partners, or neighbors, or relative strangers - and provides some insight into their twisted motives. The first episode details the relationship between Peggy Klinke and Patrick Kennedy, the man whom she once considered the love of her life - who would eventually kill...
With lupus, like other autoimmune illnesses, the patient's
immune system goes into overdrive and mistakenly attacks the body it is
designed to protect. In Heather's case, her body was killing her own kidneys
and other vital organs, mistaking them for foreign objects.
Though Heather's disease might seem unusual, 50 million
Americans -- 75% of them women -- suffer from autoimmune disorders, according
to Virginia Ladd, president and founder of the American Autoimmune Related
Diseases Association Inc., or AARDA. Because of the threat these illnesses pose
to women's health worldwide, the AARDA is currently working with both the
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and the World Health
Organization to have autoimmune disorders declared a major women's health
Misunderstood and Misdiagnosed
Autoimmune diseases are illnesses of the unknown -- the body
attacks itself, the illnesses are often repeatedly misdiagnosed, and effective
treatments are few, even after doctors do figure out what's wrong. The 80 or so
recognized autoimmune illnesses range from those that are commonly known, like
diabetes, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, to the
unfamiliar, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis -- a chronic inflammation of the
thyroid gland -- and pemphigus vulgaris, a skin disease where blisters form on
the mouth and scalp.
"Women usually have to see five or six doctors before they
find someone who can tell them what they have," Ladd says. But once
diagnosed, no one doctor treats the disease. Instead, various specialists treat
the illness symptom by symptom. Ladd hopes that soon a specialist called an
"autoimmunologist" will emerge to treat the scattered group of
autoimmune diseases as a whole.
Perhaps then doctors will have more luck determining the
underlying cause of these diseases -- that is, what triggers the immune system
to react against the body in the first place. In one-third of the cases, there
is a family history of autoimmune disorders, but that means there isn't a
family history in the other cases, says autoimmune researcher Noel R. Rose, MD,
professor of pathology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
"We are still trying to find the trigger that makes these illnesses
appear," he says. "Until we know the cause, we can't cure them. We can
only treat their symptoms."
There are many theories on what the triggers might be but so
far, no answers. Some suspect genetics plays a role. Others point to chemicals
and contamination in the environment. Still others believe some sort of viral
infection is at the root of the problem. Or perhaps it's a combination of all
of these factors, an underlying genetic susceptibility that lies dormant until
a trigger -- environmental or viral -- activates the disease. Researchers like
Rose hope to find some answers soon. "The research of the past decade is
adding up. Combined with the new research into the genetic code, we are very
hopeful that there will be a breakthrough within the next 10 years," he |
We all know that LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer) people in many countries are targets of discrimination, persecution, violence and even murder. This is despite scientific research showing that homosexuality is a natural variation in human sexuality, occurring in about 10 percent of the population, and not an abnormality or perversion, let alone a disease. >>>
A group of students protested in Banda Aceh, northwestern Indonesia, on Wednesday against the possibility gay rights activist Dede Oetomo could be appointed onto the country’s human rights commission (Komnas HAM). >>>
As the world marked the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia on Thursday, one sociologist pointed to recent situations as evidence that homophobia remains high in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslims country.
As the world marked the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia on Thursday, recent events have revealed the “many homophobic Indonesians” among the world’s most populous Muslim nation, a sociologist has said. >>>
Indonesian gay activist Dede Oetomo and transgender Yulianus “Mami Yuli” Rettoblaut are both still in the running for National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) leader position. Both names are among the 120 selected applicants that the selection committee announced in a press conference on Wednesday. |
What happens when a sperm unites with an egg? Conception...and personhood if a group battling abortion in Florida has its way. If a "Personhood Amendment" passes in Florida, an embryo would have human rights at the moment of conception. Supporters say this would make abortion and many forms of contraception -- such as oral contraceptives and the morning after pill -- illegal.
A Florida AP story in the Miami Herald describes this threat to reproductive choice:
A group called Personhood Florida is sponsoring the amendment with help from the American Life League, a Roman Catholic group based in Stafford, Va., which also is targeting up to 24 other states.
"We believe that that tiny baby that we see on the ultrasound is nothing but a person," said Personhood Florida organizer Brenda MacMenamin of Port St. Lucie. "It is a person with rights, the most basic of those being the right to life."
Another Personhood Florida leader, Pat McEwen, who also directs Melbourne-based Life Coalition International, said: "Our cause is just and our God is able."
Voters in Colorado rejected a similar a proposal by a 3-to-1 margin last year, but another attempt is being made to get back on the ballot there next year. Efforts to get on the ballot failed in Georgia and Oregon last year. North Dakota lawmakers this year rejected a personhood bill.
Why is this happening? Because we have a pro-choice president. As the former president of a national reproductive rights organization explained to me, ultra-conservative anti-choice groups are using this 'threat' to energize the radical right.
The anti-abortion movement has been around for a long time, but now they are hell-bent on dismantling such basic human rights as access to family planning and contraception. That's what they're up to during this pro-choice administration.
Here's what we need to do.
Talk about the Florida "Personhood Amendment" and pass this information along. Just don't be complacent and say, "It'll never pass." Because if we don't act and don't speak out, it may. |
This is what one of my mentors defines as the true definition of poor. There are so many people who fit that definition to a tee. The reason why I say this is because when you tell your friends, family and co-workers about a great opportunity that you have come across, what is there response? “No, I’m not interested, these things don’t work, I have tried something like that before!” The list goes on and on.
What they are doing is passing over the opportunity for one reason or another without giving it a chance to see if it would work. We not only do this in business but in our every day life as well.
We may get offered a job and because we may think that it is beneath us we turn it down, not realizing that another opportunity my come from it down the road. There are so many opportunities for us to make money out here and we turn it down over and over again sometimes due to lack of knowledge.
Now do not get me wrong, I by no means am talking about jumping from one MLM business to another just because it looks good or any business for that matter. I am talking about different ways and means to add extra income to your household. You should always be looking for other ways to generate income, that is what great business people do.
Look at Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Rachael Ray, these people have multiple streams of income because they do not pass over opportunities repeatedly and neither should you.
Start checking out affiliate sites and post card marketing just to name a couple that you can take advantage of to increase your income, you will be pleasantly surprised that you can make a small profit from just those two little opportunities that most pass on.,
Even if it is not something that you may on first glance may not be interested in, still take the time to look at it because it will also condition you to be ready when the right one comes your way and it also sends a message out to the universe so that when you ask people to take a look at your business they will take the time to do it just because you extended the same courtesy to someone else. Who knows that person may just like what they see and join you or buy what you are selling.
There are an immense amount of possibilities out there to help you generate the income that you desire, all you have to do is look for them!
To your prosperity,
P.S. Always Remember That MONEY IS EVERYWHERE!!!
Do me a favor share this with your friends on Facebook and Twitter and leave me a comment! Thanks I appreciate you! |
And y’know, sometimes I worry that bits and pieces of it are being lost? Because there are things that I know, as someone who has been around for a fairly long time and listened in a lot of spaces, that I think other people might not. I’m thinking here of things like the Non-Libidoists, who were an early asexual splinter group that set itself in opposition to AVEN and who indirectly influenced AVEN’s culture (fun fact: they used unicorns as their symbol, and I have seen aces years later saying they were uncomfortable using unicorns as a symbol because of that). Or the early history around the term “ace.” (I remember there used to be arguments on whether it should be spelled “ace” or “ase,” with people arguing very earnestly that they disliked “ace” because they felt it seemed too arrogant.) Or where the cake jokes came from. Stuff I remember either because I was around for them or because other people who were around told me when I asked.
I also wonder how much in the way of historical understanding of why particular asexual communities and institutions have formed the way they have is being passed down. I suppose being a largely Internet-based history helps a lot, in terms of retrieving important documents and conversations, but I do sometimes worry about the lack of historical resources for interested parties.
I do want to link here to Andrew Hinderliter’s fabulous set of posts on the history of defining “asexual” as we know it, and also to this graphic and AVEN post that has a truly fabulous timeline of some important historical events from the last ten years. Also interesting may be this post by someone who was heavily involved in the writing of AVEN’s FAQ. Anyone else have either cool resources or thoughts on this? Aside from Andrew’s work and the AVEN post linked in that timeline, I don’t think I’ve really seen a lot of discussion on creating a cohesive resource of asexual history that can be pointed to be people looking to learn more. |
WASHINGTON - People may be able to text their emergencies to 911 in the next few years.
There are situations where calling 911 can put the caller in danger. The Federal Communications Commission says the nation's four largest wireless carriers, inculding AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, will relay text messages to text- enabled 911 call centers by May 2014.
Under this plan texters will get an answer if their call center receives texts or not. It it can't, you'll get an automated response telling you to call instead.
Only a handful of call centers can get texts right now.
It's unclear how many of the call centers will be able to get text messages in two years, but texters will get an answer whether their call center is able to get texts or not. If the center cannot receive texts, texters will get an automated response telling them to call the center instead.
WTOP's Veronica Robinson contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
A fallen police officer's daughter gets a swarm of support. (Photos)
"Sulu" weighs in on the actor filling his shoes in the new "Star Trek."
The Nickelodeon star's antics continue in New York City.
Morgan Freeman can't stay awake during a TV interview. (Video) |
Erich Freiherr von
- Botzheim, Erich Freiherr von
Generalleutnant der Artillerie. Commander of the POW in Wehrkreis IV .
- 18-01-1871, Schloss Mattsies.
- 28-03-1958, old age, 87, Munich.
München, Nordfriedhof. Feld 169-Reihe 1-Grab 6.
Botzheim, Erich Freiherr von
Freiherr Erich von Botzheim, born 18-01-1871 on Schloss Mattsies, Mindelheim, the son of Ferdinand Freiherr von Botzheim, entered as a Fahnenjunker the Bayerische Artillerie-Regiment, age 18 on 23-07-1889, three months after Adolf Hitler’s birth, (see Hitler parents) (did you know) (see Adolf) (see William Hitler). He had a sister Louise and one brother Albert. He joined the 1st Königlich Bayerische Food Artillery Regiment and in 1890 commanded to the War School in Munich. As his father died in 1892 he sold the estate Schloss Mattsiws to his nephew Walter von Rougemont. He married Henriette Frein von Imhoff in 1898 and promoted to Oberleutnant on 01-01-1899 and on 10-08-1902 as Hauptmann. He is a Commanding Artillery Officer of Fortress Ulm at the beginning of World War I and is in April 1915 appointed as Commander of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Reserve Food Artillery Regiment. From 20-02-1916 he is the commander of the 2nd Reserve Food Artillery Regiment and from 17-04-1917 promoted to Oberstleutnant. During WWI awarded with both the Iron Crosses and other decorations. He remained in the new Reichswehr, in the Reich Ministry. In 1920 assigned as Artillery Leader VII in Berlin, 18-12-1920 appointed as Oberst. On 31-01-1922 he is succeeded by Major General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein (see Kress von Kressenstein). He himself is the successor of of Major General Georg von der Lippe with the Artillery Leader III. Promoted to Lieutenant General on 01-11-1926 and commander of the Army Waepon Office and he retired in 1927, age 56, from active service. He reactivated as Camp Commander IVB in Fortress Königstein, along the river Elbe. The defender of Königstein was Otto Lasch (see Lasch). Following commander of the POW in Wehrkreis IV from 02-10-1941 to 02-10-1942. He lands in the Führer Reserve, until 31-08-1942 and is retired again at the old age of 71, from the Army. He lived in Munich and died at the old age of 87, on 28-03-1958. He is buried with his wife Henriette, on the Nordfriedhof in Munich and only steps from the graves of the Troost couple (see Paul Troost) (Gerda) and Generaloberst of the Mountain Troops, Eduard Dietl (see Dietl). Close by the graves of Heinrich Hoffmann (see Hoffmann), Hitler’s photographer and his daughter Henriette Schirach-Hoffmann (see Henriette) and (Baldur), Dr. Gustav von Kahr (see Kahr) President of the Bavarian court in 1923 during the Putz and some further the secretary of Hitler, Hitler's former adjutant Max Wünsche (see Wünsche), Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven (see Freytag), Hitler's driver and founder of the SS, Emil Maurice (see Maurice), the General Kuno Fütterer (see Fütterer) and Hitler's last doctor Ludwig Stumpfegger (see Stumpfegger), the one who gave the suicide pills to Magda Goebbels (see Magda) and helped her as she killed her six children. |
- Wikipedia contributors. "Yellow River". 2 Mar. 2007. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_river (14 Jun. 2007).
- Yellow River Conservancy Commission. 16 Jun. 2007. http://www.yrcc.gov.cn/eng/ (16 Jun. 2007).
- Handwerk, Brian. "A Third of Fish Species in China River Extinct, Officials Say". 19 Jan. 2007. National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070119-fish-china.html (6 Jul. 2007).
- AAP. "China's Yellow River is 10% sewage: NGO". 11 May 2005. AAP http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=178213. (6 Jul. 2007).
- Microsoft Encarta contributors. "Huang". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577214/Huang.html (28 Jun. 2007).
- Encyclopeadia Britannica, vol.14. Physiographic Effects of Man: Ancient Irrigation Works. (1976) p.430
Yellow River (Huang He)
The cradle of Chinese civilization
Originating in the Bayankala Mountains in Qinghai province in western China, it flows through 9 provinces of China and empties into the Bohai Sea.
It is called the Yellow River because huge amounts of loess sediment turn the water that colour. So much of this mineral-rich soil ends up in the Yellow River that it can fill the riverbed and thus change the river’s course.
The Yellow River is known as the "Mother River of China" and "the Cradle of Chinese Civilization" in China, as its basin is the birthplace of the northern Chinese civilizations and the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. But frequent devastating floods, largely due to the elevated river bed in its lower course, have also earned it the distinction "China's Sorrow".
The Yellow River is indicative of the problems affecting many of China's rivers. Pollution, hydropower, and intensive water extraction for human consumption, agriculture, and industrial use are all taking their toll on the river.
The Chinese government estimates that around two-thirds of the Yellow River's water is too polluted to drink and according to the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Beijing-based NGO, 4.3 billion tonnes of waste flowed into the Yellow River in 2005.
Around 30% of fish species in the river are believed to have become extinct and the river's fish catch declined by 40%.
The river is extremely prone to flooding and accounts for some of the deadliest disasters in human history. In 1931 an estimated 1 million died in a massive flood. A key reason for the severity of the floods is deforestation up river and the embankment of tributaries for irrigation. These practices date back thousands of years.
Leopard (Panthera pardus), Sika deer (Cervus nippon), white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), great bustard (Otis tarda)
Agriculture, mining, hydropower |
TITLE>WILL POLLUTION DO US IN? (24-Oct-2003)
WILL POLLUTION DO US IN?
No it won't, but ...
Pollution is a topic about which it is especially important to be
sensible, because it is very easy to be trapped into thinking about it
in terms of blame, or perhaps in terms of sin. There is a page
on ideology that
has something about imagined pollution.
There are many kinds pollution - real and imagined.
- Coal smoke
- Coal smoke was about the first kind of pollution to
become a political issue. As early as the 17th century, there were
attempts to forbid coal burning in England. The need for heat
overcame recognition of harm from coal smoke. It was a long time
before the advance of technology and prosperity made it possible to
eliminate death from coal smoke. There was a famous disaster in
London in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, it was forbidden to use
coal for domestic heating.
- Sewage in drinking water
- This gives rise to cholera and typhoid epidemics before
the discovery of the germ theory of disease These epidemics were an order
of magnitude larger than any health problems caused by the
kinds of pollution people in advanced countries worry about. Indeed
lack of sewage treatment still causes much death, especially of children,
in backward countries.
- Automobile emissions
- As a problem, this has always been an order of magnitude smaller
than was the problem of coal smoke. Regulation of emissions has
reduced it greatly. In my opinion, the California requirement for
zero emission vehicles is overkill. The costs will far outweigh the
- Heavy metals in the ocean
- There was a disaster in Minamata Bay, Japan in 1956 when
mercury emissions from a factory got into shellfish.
This led to a general worry about mercury getting into the ocean. However,
there is already 60 million tons of natural mercury in the ocean, and
humanity uses only 3,000 tons per year. Therefore, dilution is a sufficient
solution except for the possiblity of local concentrations as happened
in Minamata Bay. Many fish, specifically tuna and salmon, concentrate
mercury in tissues. The FDA suggests that pregnant women eat fish no
more often than (once a week?). This may be overconservative.
- Phosphates from detergent causing eutrophication
- Nitrates from fertilizer causing eutrophication
- Particulates from burning trash
- Domestic trash burning is now forbidden.
- Pesticides in foods
- This is an exaggerated hazard.
- Pesticides harming agricultural workers
- This has been serious, and maybe still is in some places.
- Black lung disease
- This shortened the lives of coal miners. I believe it is
mostly eliminated in the US by better control of dust in mines.
The anti-pollution movement that began with threats of imminent death
of life on earth has developed considerable momentum. For example,
in 1999 the EPA proposed to return air quality in national parks
and wilderness areas to the pre-industrial level. Fortunately,
the date for acomplishing this is 2064. Fringes of the movement
have gone much further. Predictions of disaster are common.
When political enthusiasm leads to excessive regulation, the costs
thereby imposed can kill more people than are saved by the
a strong argument that EPA air quality regulations
have been harmful to health.
"Hundreds of millions of people will soon perish in smog
disasters in New York and Los Angeles...the oceans will die of DDT
poisoning by 1979...the U.S. life expectancy will drop to 42 years by
1980 due to cancer epidemics."
- Paul Ehrlich, 1969, in _Ramparts_ magazine
Send comments to email@example.com. I have been known to
change some of the pages because of comments.
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Pierre Fermat's father was a wealthy leather merchant and second consul of Beaumont- de- Lomagne. There is some dispute about the date of Pierre's birth as given above, since it is possible that he had an elder brother (who had also been given the name Pierre) but who died young. Pierre had a brother and two sisters and was almost certainly brought up in the town of his birth. Although there is little evidence concerning his school education it must have been at the local Franciscan monastery.
He attended the University of Toulouse before moving to Bordeaux in the second half of the 1620s. In Bordeaux he began his first serious mathematical researches and in 1629 he gave a copy of his restoration of Apollonius's Plane loci to one of the mathematicians there. Certainly in Bordeaux he was in contact with Beaugrand and during this time he produced important work on maxima and minima which he gave to Étienne d'Espagnet who clearly shared mathematical interests with Fermat.
From Bordeaux Fermat went to Orléans where he studied law at the University. He received a degree in civil law and he purchased the offices of councillor at the parliament in Toulouse. So by 1631 Fermat was a lawyer and government official in Toulouse and because of the office he now held he became entitled to change his name from Pierre Fermat to Pierre de Fermat.
For the remainder of his life he lived in Toulouse but as well as working there he also worked in his home town of Beaumont-de-Lomagne and a nearby town of Castres. From his appointment on 14 May 1631 Fermat worked in the lower chamber of the parliament but on 16 January 1638 he was appointed to a higher chamber, then in 1652 he was promoted to the highest level at the criminal court. Still further promotions seem to indicate a fairly meteoric rise through the profession but promotion was done mostly on seniority and the plague struck the region in the early 1650s meaning that many of the older men died. Fermat himself was struck down by the plague and in 1653 his death was wrongly reported, then corrected:-
I informed you earlier of the death of Fermat. He is alive, and we no longer fear for his health, even though we had counted him among the dead a short time ago.
The following report, made to Colbert the leading figure in France at the time, has a ring of truth:-
Fermat, a man of great erudition, has contact with men of learning everywhere. But he is rather preoccupied, he does not report cases well and is confused.
Of course Fermat was preoccupied with mathematics. He kept his mathematical friendship with Beaugrand after he moved to Toulouse but there he gained a new mathematical friend in Carcavi. Fermat met Carcavi in a professional capacity since both were councillors in Toulouse but they both shared a love of mathematics and Fermat told Carcavi about his mathematical discoveries.
In 1636 Carcavi went to Paris as royal librarian and made contact with Mersenne and his group. Mersenne's interest was aroused by Carcavi's descriptions of Fermat's discoveries on falling bodies, and he wrote to Fermat. Fermat replied on 26 April 1636 and, in addition to telling Mersenne about errors which he believed that Galileo had made in his description of free fall, he also told Mersenne about his work on spirals and his restoration of Apollonius's Plane loci. His work on spirals had been motivated by considering the path of free falling bodies and he had used methods generalised from Archimedes' work On spirals to compute areas under the spirals. In addition Fermat wrote:-
I have also found many sorts of analyses for diverse problems, numerical as well as geometrical, for the solution of which Viète's analysis could not have sufficed. I will share all of this with you whenever you wish and do so without any ambition, from which I am more exempt and more distant than any man in the world.
It is somewhat ironical that this initial contact with Fermat and the scientific community came through his study of free fall since Fermat had little interest in physical applications of mathematics. Even with his results on free fall he was much more interested in proving geometrical theorems than in their relation to the real world. This first letter did however contain two problems on maxima which Fermat asked Mersenne to pass on to the Paris mathematicians and this was to be the typical style of Fermat's letters, he would challenge others to find results which he had already obtained.
Roberval and Mersenne found that Fermat's problems in this first, and subsequent, letters were extremely difficult and usually not soluble using current techniques. They asked him to divulge his methods and Fermat sent Method for determining Maxima and Minima and Tangents to Curved Lines, his restored text of Apollonius's Plane loci and his algebraic approach to geometry Introduction to Plane and Solid Loci to the Paris mathematicians.
His reputation as one of the leading mathematicians in the world came quickly but attempts to get his work published failed mainly because Fermat never really wanted to put his work into a polished form. However some of his methods were published, for example Hérigone added a supplement containing Fermat's methods of maxima and minima to his major work Cursus mathematicus. The widening correspondence between Fermat and other mathematicians did not find universal praise. Frenicle de Bessy became annoyed at Fermat's problems which to him were impossible. He wrote angrily to Fermat but although Fermat gave more details in his reply, Frenicle de Bessy felt that Fermat was almost teasing him.
However Fermat soon became engaged in a controversy with a more major mathematician than Frenicle de Bessy. Having been sent a copy of Descartes' La Dioptrique by Beaugrand, Fermat paid it little attention since he was in the middle of a correspondence with Roberval and Étienne Pascal over methods of integration and using them to find centres of gravity. Mersenne asked him to give an opinion on La Dioptrique which Fermat did, describing it as
groping about in the shadows.
He claimed that Descartes had not correctly deduced his law of refraction since it was inherent in his assumptions. To say that Descartes was not pleased is an understatement. Descartes soon found reason to feel even more angry since he viewed Fermat's work on maxima, minima and tangents as reducing the importance of his own work La Géométrie which Descartes was most proud of and which he sought to show that his Discours de la méthode alone could give.
Descartes attacked Fermat's method of maxima, minima and tangents. Roberval and Étienne Pascal became involved in the argument and eventually so did Desargues who Descartes asked to act as a referee. Fermat proved correct and eventually Descartes admitted this writing:-
... seeing the last method that you use for finding tangents to curved lines, I can reply to it in no other way than to say that it is very good and that, if you had explained it in this manner at the outset, I would have not contradicted it at all.
Did this end the matter and increase Fermat's standing? Not at all since Descartes tried to damage Fermat's reputation. For example, although he wrote to Fermat praising his work on determining the tangent to a cycloid (which is indeed correct), Descartes wrote to Mersenne claiming that it was incorrect and saying that Fermat was inadequate as a mathematician and a thinker. Descartes was important and respected and thus was able to severely damage Fermat's reputation.
The period from 1643 to 1654 was one when Fermat was out of touch with his scientific colleagues in Paris. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly pressure of work kept him from devoting so much time to mathematics. Secondly the Fronde, a civil war in France, took place and from 1648 Toulouse was greatly affected. Finally there was the plague of 1651 which must have had great consequences both on life in Toulouse and of course its near fatal consequences on Fermat himself. However it was during this time that Fermat worked on number theory.
Fermat is best remembered for this work in number theory, in particular for Fermat's Last Theorem. This theorem states that
xn + yn = zn
has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2. Fermat wrote, in the margin of Bachet's translation of Diophantus's Arithmetica
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain.
These marginal notes only became known after Fermat's son Samuel published an edition of Bachet's translation of Diophantus's Arithmetica with his father's notes in 1670.
It is now believed that Fermat's 'proof' was wrong although it is impossible to be completely certain. The truth of Fermat's assertion was proved in June 1993 by the British mathematician Andrew Wiles, but Wiles withdrew the claim to have a proof when problems emerged later in 1993. In November 1994 Wiles again claimed to have a correct proof which has now been accepted.
Unsuccessful attempts to prove the theorem over a 300 year period led to the discovery of commutative ring theory and a wealth of other mathematical discoveries.
Fermat's correspondence with the Paris mathematicians restarted in 1654 when Blaise Pascal, Étienne Pascal's son, wrote to him to ask for confirmation about his ideas on probability. Blaise Pascal knew of Fermat through his father, who had died three years before, and was well aware of Fermat's outstanding mathematical abilities. Their short correspondence set up the theory of probability and from this they are now regarded as joint founders of the subject. Fermat however, feeling his isolation and still wanting to adopt his old style of challenging mathematicians, tried to change the topic from probability to number theory. Pascal was not interested but Fermat, not realising this, wrote to Carcavi saying:-
I am delighted to have had opinions conforming to those of M Pascal, for I have infinite esteem for his genius... the two of you may undertake that publication, of which I consent to your being the masters, you may clarify or supplement whatever seems too concise and relieve me of a burden that my duties prevent me from taking on.
However Pascal was certainly not going to edit Fermat's work and after this flash of desire to have his work published Fermat again gave up the idea. He went further than ever with his challenge problems however:-
Two mathematical problems posed as insoluble to French, English, Dutch and all mathematicians of Europe by Monsieur de Fermat, Councillor of the King in the Parliament of Toulouse.
His problems did not prompt too much interest as most mathematicians seemed to think that number theory was not an important topic. The second of the two problems, namely to find all solutions of Nx2 + 1 = y2 for N not a square, was however solved by Wallis and Brouncker and they developed continued fractions in their solution. Brouncker produced rational solutions which led to arguments. Frenicle de Bessy was perhaps the only mathematician at that time who was really interested in number theory but he did not have sufficient mathematical talents to allow him to make a significant contribution.
Fermat posed further problems, namely that the sum of two cubes cannot be a cube (a special case of Fermat's Last Theorem which may indicate that by this time Fermat realised that his proof of the general result was incorrect), that there are exactly two integer solutions of x2 + 4 = y3 and that the equation x2 + 2 = y3 has only one integer solution. He posed problems directly to the English. Everyone failed to see that Fermat had been hoping his specific problems would lead them to discover, as he had done, deeper theoretical results.
Around this time one of Descartes' students was collecting his correspondence for publication and he turned to Fermat for help with the Fermat - Descartes correspondence. This led Fermat to look again at the arguments he had used 20 years before and he looked again at his objections to Descartes' optics. In particular he had been unhappy with Descartes' description of refraction of light and he now settled on a principle which did in fact yield the sine law of refraction that Snell and Descartes had proposed. However Fermat had now deduced it from a fundamental property that he proposed, namely that light always follows the shortest possible path. Fermat's principle, now one of the most basic properties of optics, did not find favour with mathematicians at the time.
In 1656 Fermat had started a correspondence with Huygens. This grew out of Huygens interest in probability and the correspondence was soon manipulated by Fermat onto topics of number theory. This topic did not interest Huygens but Fermat tried hard and in New Account of Discoveries in the Science of Numbers sent to Huygens via Carcavi in 1659, he revealed more of his methods than he had done to others.
Fermat described his method of infinite descent and gave an example on how it could be used to prove that every prime of the form 4k + 1 could be written as the sum of two squares. For suppose some number of the form 4k + 1 could not be written as the sum of two squares. Then there is a smaller number of the form 4k + 1 which cannot be written as the sum of two squares. Continuing the argument will lead to a contradiction. What Fermat failed to explain in this letter is how the smaller number is constructed from the larger. One assumes that Fermat did know how to make this step but again his failure to disclose the method made mathematicians lose interest. It was not until Euler took up these problems that the missing steps were filled in.
Fermat is described in as
Secretive and taciturn, he did not like to talk about himself and was loath to reveal too much about his thinking. ... His thought, however original or novel, operated within a range of possibilities limited by that [1600 - 1650] time and that [France] place.
Carl B Boyer, writing in , says:-
Recognition of the significance of Fermat's work in analysis was tardy, in part because he adhered to the system of mathematical symbols devised by François Viète, notations that Descartes' "Géométrie" had rendered largely obsolete. The handicap imposed by the awkward notations operated less severely in Fermat's favourite field of study, the theory of numbers, but here, unfortunately, he found no correspondent to share his enthusiasm.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
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Paul Epstein was brought up in a Jewish family in Frankfurt where his father was a professor at the Philanthropin Academy. After submitting a thesis on abelian functions, he received his doctorate in 1895 from the University of Strasbourg. The city was German at this time (and called Strassburg) and it had been since it was annexed by Germany during the Franco-German War of 1870-71. From 1895 to 1918 he remained in Strasbourg, teaching at the Technical School and also at the University where he had been appointed a Privatdozent. During World War I he did military service. At the end of the war in 1918, however, the city of Strasbourg reverted to France, and Epstein, being German, was forced to leave Alsace. He returned to his native city of Frankfurt.
Epstein was appointed to a non-tenured post at the university and he lectured in Frankfurt from 1919. Later he was appointed professor at Frankfurt. On 30 January 1933, however, Hitler came to power and on 7 April 1933 the Civil Service Law provided the means of removing Jewish teachers from the universities, and of course also to remove those of Jewish descent from other roles. All civil servants who were not of Aryan descent (having one grandparent of the Jewish religion made someone non-Aryan) were to be retired. However, there was an exemption clause which exempted non-Aryans who had fought for Germany in World War I. Epstein certainly qualified under this clause and this allowed him to keep his lecturing post in Frankfurt in 1933.
Decisions at the Nuremberg party congress in the autumn of 1935 made it clear that non-Aryans would no longer be able to keep their posts even if they had served in World War I. Siegel writes in :-
Epstein voluntarily relinquished his teaching position before the Nuremberg laws went into effect. As he explained to me, he had wanted to save the German authorities the trouble of doing to him what the French had done back in 1918.
Epstein did not attempt to emigrate. He was 64 years old and had he emigrated he would have lost all his money except 10 Marks. There was no prospect of a 64 year old obtaining a post. On the Kristallnacht (so called because of the broken glass in the streets on the following morning), the 9-10 November 1938, 91 Jews were murdered, hundreds were seriously injured, and thousands were subjected to horrifying experiences. Thousands of Jewish businesses were burnt down together with over 150 synagogues. The Gestapo arrested 30,000 well-off Jews and a condition of their release was that they emigrate. The Gestapo broke into Epstein's house but found that he was seriously ill and could not be moved. At this point Epstein must have known that his only chance was to leave Germany. It would have been posssible for :-
... one of his sisters had emigrated earlier and could have supported him. But despite the possibility of escape, he hesitated leaving his books and his native city.
He moved to Dornbusch and was visited there by Siegel :-
... we sat in the sunny garden of the house he was living in then. ... he pointed to the trees and flowers in the garden and said "Isn't it lovely here".
About a week after Siegel's visit, Epstein received a summons from the Gestapo. He knew what had happened to others who had received such a summons, many had been tortured and killed. He wanted to avoid the suffering so he took a lethal dose of Veronal. The Gestapo later claimed that they had only summoned him to get him to sign a document to fix a date on which he would emigrate.
His work was in number theory, in particular the zeta function. He also worked on the history of mathematics. Perhaps we should mention one other of Epstein's talents which was music, and he took part energetically in the cultural life of Frankfurt.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson |
Friday, October 29, 2004
Sausage is a very good way of using up those bits and pieces of flesh that aren't pretty as a roast or a steak. A friend once said that there were no saucisse, sausages in Nouvelle France in the 18th Century because they did not have sausage stuffers. The Lewis & Clark journals describe a way that it may have been done, but I am too fumble fingers to do it. I use a large tin funnel and insert the long end into the casing and use a wood reemer to push the forcemeat through. In Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789, page 61, is an engraving of Winter, from the Four Seasons by Crispin de Passe after Martin de Vos, showing hanks of sausages in the border. So I will again use my spice mixture from her book, as I find the taste is very much as I remember from a child. My grandfather, Joseph Marie Blanc, was from Aymavilles, Aste, Italy, just over the border from France, and I make and eat these sausages in his memory. To see boudins being made, click here.
Soak 4 ft of beef casings for an hour in cold water and flush twice with a faucet
1 large onion, minced, sautéd in 2 tbls of butter, cool
In a large bowl, soak 1 c of freshly ground bread crumbs with 1/2 c light cream
Grind 8 oz of skinless chicken breasts with 8 oz of hamburger and 1 handful of duck or goose fat twice with the fine blade of meat grinder or use two knives brought down over the meat alternately with a rhythmic action to preserve the juices in the meat and to incorporate the meats and fat together
Add the meat to the large bowl of crumbs along with the onions.
Add 1 1/2 teas. mixed spices, 1 tbls salt and gresh ground white pepper to taste
Add two slightly beaten eggs and 2-4 tbls of brandy or white wine
Use your hands to completely mix the forcemeat together.
Tie one end of the casing into a knot and begin pushing the other end over the end of the funnel. Try to push evenly so as not to have air bubbles in your sausage. Twist it into 4-6 inch lengths and tie the other end with twine, as well as the twists in the lengths. Prick each link with a needle 2 times to keep the sausage from bursting during cooking.
Bring a large pot of water to boil into which you put a rib of celery with a sprig of thyme tied to it, a carrot sliced, one onion sliced and salt and pepper to taste. Once this broth is simmering, slowing let your sausages down into the liquid and cover with a ceramic plate to keep the sausages submerged. Cook gently for 1/2 hour. Remove and drain.
To serve, fry gently in butter until lightly brown and garnish with grilled onions.
Recipe from James Villas, The French Country Kitchen, p. 184.
Next: Making Quince Paste, pâte de coings, to save for the winter holidays.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
October. Butchering time. Fresh venison hangs in an outbuilding. In addition to the plump old chicken stewing in the pot over the fire for tonight's dinner, I have some turkey from that pesky old tom I can grind (his flesh is too tough to do much else with) and a rasher of bacon (tranche de lard–and here let me insert that even though I am a reenactor of 18thC New France where pork was a mainstay, I do not eat pork, so I will always be using a substitute), in this case turkey bacon. I have company coming on Friday evening for dinner, so I will cook this paté (country terrine) on Tuesday as its flavor improves with age.
In a large bowl add:
1. 1 medium onion finely chopped and sautéd in 1 tbls. of butter.
2. 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of coarse salt ground together in a
3. 1 tbls. of chopped parsley, 1 tbls. mixed dry herbs (I use herbs de Provence), 1 tsp. mixed spices* (see source following), 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 3 eggs, 1/4 c. eau de vie (brandy)
4. Mix well and stir in 1 1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs.
5. Grind together or chop 1 lb. turkey, 1/2 lb. venison or beef or chicken, cubed, 1/2 lb chicken liver and a handful of chicken fat or use a mezzaluna or two knives brought down over the meat alternately with a rhythmic action to preserve the juices in the meat and to incorporate the meats and fat together.
6. Stir meat into mixture in bowl and continue to mix with hands as in mixing meatloaf.
7. Fry a small bit to see if the seasoning is sufficient (never eat raw meat). Adjust if necessary.
Line a terrine or paté dish(set the cover aside) with strips of turkey bacon so that pieces are hanging over the side of the pan. Pack the paté mixture into the bacon-lined pan, tap it against the counter to release any air bubbles and fold the strips of bacon over the meat. Lay a leaf or two of bay and a sprig of thyme on top. Set the cover on.
8. Place pan in another larger pan and fill with water half-way up the sides of the paté pan. Cook the paté in a preheated 350°F [180°C] oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean and hot (or meat thermometer reads 160°F).
Remove the terrine and place it on a plate, place a board cut to fit the terrine's inside onto the paté and weight it down. Allow it to cool and then place it in the springhouse with the weights in place overnight. Remove the weights the next day, replace the lid of the terrine and keep it cool until serving time. Slice the paté, just before serving, while it is still cold. Cornichons (pickled gherkins) are the traditional accompaniment.
Recipe adapted from Terrines, Pâtés & Galantines, Time-Life, p. 89.
*Mixed Spices, enough to make two patés of country terrine, can be purchased from Old Bedford Mercers. Blend is from a recipe found in
Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789 .
Next time: boudin blanc. |
By Zubeyde Yalcın
(A morning newspaper)
Sunday, November 11, 2012
stay in Indonesia, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought up an interesting
suggestion for the International Monetary Fund.
although IMF assistance may
appear to be a
prescription for some nations, in fact it is
quite the opposite, as the fund
has often caused serious problems for countries
in trouble. So Erdogan asks
why it is that the fund
uses dollars instead of gold.
he doesn't feel it is
right for the IMF to act according
to one nation's currency,
Erdogan states, "The IMF extends
aid on a 'who, where, how, and on what
conditions' basis. For example, if the IMF is under the influence of any single currency, then they are going to rule the world based on the exchange rates of that
"Why do we not switch then to a monetary unit such as gold, which is at the very
least an international constant and indicator that has maintained its honor throughout
history? This is something to think about."
Turkey had to pay a heavy price
for the agreement it made with
the IMF, Erdogan stated,
"We have not made a
standby agreement for the past three
periods. In April we will have zeroed out our debt completely
and we have no intentions of working
with the IMF again."
Prime Minister Erdogan went on to state: "One would
hope that the IMF would help countries in trouble. But at
present this is not the case. This is what we need
said he believed that the United
Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Organization for Co-operation
and Development all need
to undergo reform. |
What causes blisters? Friction or rubbing of the skin is one of the most common causes of blisters. Blisters caused by rubbing and friction can occur after walking, running or hiking long distances, especially while wearing ill-fitting shoes, or after performing other repetitive motions over an extended period of time; for example, shoveling dirt in the garden. Other causes of blisters, include extreme temperatures (either hot or cold – sunburns, heat burns, frostbite), chemical burns, intense pinching or crushing, allergic reactions and disease.
What are the causes of a water blister?
Chafing, rubbing or repeated friction of an area of skin are the most likely causes of a water blister. Most water blisters occur on the hands and feet and can be blamed on ill-fitting shoes and/or physical labor, especially the kind that requires gripping something like a shovel or a golf club. But friction is not the only cause of water blisters.
Burns can also cause very painful water blisters, especially second degree burns, as can allergies and even some viruses like chickenpox or shingles. Blisters that occur on hands and feet are commonly classified as water blisters.
What are the causes of a blood blister?
A blood blister occurs after pinching of the skin or intense impact to an area of the skin. Chemical irritants, infections, medical conditions and scalding or burning, including sunburns, can also cause blood blisters, as can friction to an area of skin over a long period of time. This type of blister generally appears after excessive rubbing or friction on feet or hands.
What are the causes of a burn blister?
First-degree burns cause red skin, but second-degree burns cause blisters. Anything that gives skin a second-degree burn will cause burn blisters. Common examples include scalding from boiling water or hot oil, or even very bad sunburn. |
Researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) worked in partnership with colleagues at Maastricht University and Danish biomechanical firm AnyBody Technology to develop the pioneering human foot simulation.
The team uses motion sensor cameras to measure the leg or foot and then uses computer technology to model the many bones, joints, ligaments, muscles and tendons which make up the human foot. Previous to this development, it is very difficult to make a foot model. Often the model is made from plaster and then plastic is moulded around it by experts in hand. This process could take up to 6 weeks.
The new technology will lead to the manufacture of better made and more efficient orthotic devices. It is estimated that roughly 200 million Europeans suffer from disabling foot and ankle conditions and these devices should cut recovery times and reduce symptoms for these patients.
The university is leading a euro 3.7 million funded project to develop a new fully integrated design and manufacture process for orthotic devices using 3D printing technology.
Professor Jim Woodburn, project co-ordinator, said: "The Glasgow/Maastricht foot is a game changer. It opens the door to a huge range of applications, including the manufacture of better and more efficient orthotics, resulting in quicker recovery times, reduced symptoms and improved functional ability for those suffering from conditions which afflict the foot and lower leg."
Michiel Oosterwaal, clinical researcher at Maastricht University Medical Center, explained the model will also lead to more and better information about the workings of the muscles in the lower leg.
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Minoa (WSYR-TV) -- Firefighters struggled for hours to contain a house fire on Hulbert Street in the village of Minoa Friday afternoon. Now, a family is left without a home and officials say the fire may have been sparked by a child.
As dense smoke and flames destroyed her daughter's home, a retired teaching assistant passed by wondering how many of the volunteers at the scene could have been her former students.
"They are my kids putting their lives on the line for my grandchildren,” said the fire victims’ grandmother Linda Menninger.
Investigators focused on a kitchen in the two-story home, where the owner says a young son lit incense while his mother ran to the store, throwing it in a waste basket as he became nervous. The boy and his sister escaped, but the fire spread quickly.
"The challenge is right now, because everything is collapsing on top of each other, and trying to smother the fire from the outside. If we could get inside to do it, it would probably be a lot easier,” said Minoa assistant fire chief Richard Sabin as the fire burned.
While crews fought the fire for hours, EMT's set up a rehabilitation zone nearby to help fight fatigue on a hot day.
"Periodically they rotate through the rehab center and they get hydrated with water and Gatorade, and depending on the weather, hot food. We monitor their vital signs and let them know whether they are good to go back in or not,” explained EAVES ambulance EMT Robert McPherson, who was also at the scene of the fire.
As firefighters investigate what happened, Linda is both grateful to the tireless volunteers and worried about the grandchildren they worked to save.
“They've always needed a break. The kids have had it tough their whole life,” Menninger said. "It is definitely going to be a fresh start from here on in."
Firefighters say the home is a total loss. The American Red Cross is helping the two adults and three children who resided at the home. |
An A4 scanner is a scanner that is capable of scanning A4 sized paper, which is in between an American/Canadian letter sized piece of paper and a Legal sized piece of paper from the same countries. You see, Canada and the United States are two of the only countries left that have not adopted the A series paper, which is a sort of world-wide accepted, universal paper sizing system that has been gaining popularity over the years.
It has been officially adopted by the U.N., as well as by most major and smaller countries. And while the United States and Canada still use a different set of paper measurements, this A4 size of paper still finds use for official documents and for documents that will be traveling overseas.
If you think that you will have the need to scan paper that is of this size, such as A4 paper, then you might have need of an A4 scanner. An A4 scanner can scan legal sized documents that are used in the United States and Canada, but they can also be used to scan the A4 sized documents, anything smaller, and sometimes bigger documents, depending on what model you get.
An A4 flatbed scanner might not be sold at every office retailer if you live in the United States. But anywhere else, this will be the default scanner that you will likely find on the shelf. And, even though they are not used very extensively in the Unites States and Canada, you can still find scanners that will work for this type of paper if you look hard enough, with much thanks to the internet.
In a bricks & mortar store, just make sure to ask a sales associate, or to read the box in order to figure out whether or not the scanner will work with A4 paper. You should never automatically assume that a scanner will work with A4 paper, though most scanners sold are actually A4 scanners, especially since they are used more and more these days.
A4 flatbed scanners are especially important to have if you do not live in the U.S. or Canada. They are almost a necessity anywhere else because A4 paper is the default paper used for writing letters, sending business reports, for filing information, and for about anything else.
A4 scanners are going to be a must in almost any office, and it is important that you are not left without one. Hey, A4 paper may not be much bigger than American legal paper, but it is going to be a pain if you need to scan that extra little but, and end up having to cut off the bottom!
A4 flatbed scanners, as well as A3 scanners, are pretty common, and you can get them in about any brand, with Plustek being one of the most popular. The major brands might be more pricy, but you will find that there are still entry level brands that anyone can afford.
Entry level A4 scanners will get the job done, but for work that is high definition in any way, you are going to want to get a good scanner that will last you awhile and give you good, high definition images. |
MADD is an abbreviation for:
Mothers Against Driving Drunk
Find a translation for MADD in other languages:
Select another language:
What does MADD mean?
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Use the citation below to add this abbreviation to your bibliography:
MADD also stands for:
- Mad Arsonists Do Drugs
- Maddmothers Against Drunk Driving
- Maulena Anequa Deonna And Danquetta
- Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama
- Mothers Against Deadbeat Dads
... and 9 more » |
New Zealanders release rare ducks
New Zealand authorities have released 12 members of the world's rarest duck, the sub-Antarctic teal.
New Zealand's Conservation Minister Nick Smith says the species may survive into the new millennium after the release onto a predator-free island south of New Zealand.
The bird is a small, highly territorial duck found only in New Zealand's sub-Antarctic.
The 12 ducks will be fitted with identification bands and radio transmitters to enable conservation staff to monitor them.
The only existing wild population of as few as 20 birds survive on a 23 hectare rocky islet. |
Bird flu strikes again in Vietnam
A strain of bird flu virus that is not lethal to humans has killed at least 4500 chickens in Vietnam, officials said.
This comes three months after an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 type that killed 16 people was declared over.
The chickens on three farms in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu died or were destroyed after testing positive for the H5 strain of the bird flu disease.
While the H5 type is not known to be harmful to humans, another strain, H5N1, is lethal.
"We are doing everything we can to contain the outbreak. Our hope is that it will not spread," said a spokesman for the animal health authority in Vinh Loi district where the three farms are situated.
"All random tests on the chickens in these farms were positive for avian influenza of the H5 strain."
Anton Rychener, Vietnam representative for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, said news of the outbreak was not surprising.
"We have said all along the virus is really still out there and may periodically resurface," he said.
The U.N. body was in daily contact with Vietnam's animal health department and Rychener said the latest outbreak was "nothing to panic about".
Last week, Nguyen Van Thong, deputy director of the agriculture ministry's animal health department, said many of the more than 10,000 poultry blood samples tested recently were H5 positive.
"So far the virus is not dangerous to human health but it is a present threat...all poultry should be inspected before consumption," Thong said.
He said the tests were done on samples from 37 cities and provinces around the country and that most of the positive results came from water fowl like ducks.
Chinese and U.S. researchers reported on Monday that the H5N1 strain of bird flu was mutating into an ever more deadly form in ducks and needed to be controlled quickly.
A small outbreak of the H5N1 virus was found in a farm in the south of the country in May but was quickly contained, state media had reported.
Bird flu erupted across many parts of Asia from late last year and killed millions of chickens and devastated poultry industries in several countries. It also killed eight people in Thailand.
Vietnam declared itself free of the disease on 30 March.
People who got infected are believed to have caught the disease from close contact with sick birds. There were no confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission. |
This is one of those unspoken things we all know, but may not have thought of why it's a good idea.
I know when I was teaching (10 years ago) this was all the rage, pairing up an upper elementary classroom with a primary grade level. In homeschooling, it tends to happen naturally because if you have more than one kid, chances are they are not all the same age.
But how can you best take advantage of it? And what are the advantages?
Advantages for the Older Kid
1. Chance to be the teacher. We all know it's true for us, you learn a subject better if you have to teach it or model it. The same is true for kids.
2. Chance to be a role model. Who do young kids most look up to? The kids about 3 or 4 years older than them (as long as it's not their brother or sister). 5th graders are immensely cool to a 1st grader.
3. Chance to be a leader. Some kids are not naturally gifted at leading and when working in groups with their peers they won't lead. This is a prime chance for them to step forward and LEAD!
Advantages for the Younger Kid
1. They get to see what it looks like to be bigger and know more.
2. Having a mentor who is more approachable than their teacher is.
3. Learning from multiple people. The more sources of information and input a child has the more the information will stick in their head.
What can you do together?
1. The most obvious one: read together. Let the younger kid get a chance to practice one on one, and let the older kid get a chance to practice reading a harder book out loud or reading with style.
2. Science experiments. There are many wonderful science experiments that you can do, that you may not want to do with a bunch of 5 year olds. But, if you add in a more experience 9 or 10 year old suddenly that experiment looks much more doable. Also this gives the older kid a chance to strut their stuff and build up excitement.
3. Group projects. Let the younger kids provide illustrations and help with presenting while the older kid does the writing and helps with research. We did this for a homeschool co-op and both sides learned more than they would have on their own.
Have you ever had a multi-age group together? What were your favorite activities? What benefits do you see? |
Under the conditions of global warming sea levels globally are expected to rise considerably this century. The sea levels will rise largely due to expanding water due to elevated ocean temperatures and from melting ice, especially ice sheets. Many studies have been done on the conditions but the west coast of the United States recently evaluated potential rises in order to plan accordingly.
The states of Washington, Oregon and California collaborated to commission the sea rise report recently released. Performed by the National Research Council, the report detailed previous studies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 report. The researchers also included satellite data of the coastal region, tidal readings and further climate models.
The report indicated that a large portion of the coast is expected to see rising seas of six inches by 2030. North of the San Andreas Fault, Northern California, Oregon and Washington will see a rise of four inches. The difference is attributed to the rising land due to seismic activity in this region counteracting the rise.
By the year 2100, sea levels are expected to rise by three feet south of the San Andreas Fault. North of the fault the region will likely see a rise of two feet. However, the report indicated that if a major seismic event occurs off the coast of Oregon it could drastically alter events in the region. If an earthquake similar to one 300 years ago were to occur the region would see a land elevation decrease which would essentially cause a three foot additional rise in sea level in the region.
Agencies along the west coast will use the information to plan for erosion, structure loss and to be prepared for heavy storm damage and potential flooding. The planners also have to contend with the fact that El Nino effects could add an additional foot of sea level during El Nino events. Globally sea levels will rise similarly as to the U.S. west coast, however, there is variability depending upon the locations such as seismic activity reducing the impacts in the Northwest. |
Australia's economic wellbeing and growth depend on a competitive domestic economy and access to foreign markets and investment. Trade policy, industry policy and microeconomic reform all work to provide Australian business with the competitive foundations and opportunities to thrive in an increasingly globalised marketplace. Australia's trade policy combines mutually reinforcing multilateral, regional and bilateral efforts to advance its commercial interests. Strategies focus on reducing barriers and developing markets for Australian exports, services and investment.
As with Australia's security interests, Australia's economic interests are most closely engaged in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2002, 70% of Australia's exports of goods and services went to member economies of the APEC forum. APEC members accounted for 47% of Australian foreign direct investment at June 2002.
For a major trading nation like Australia, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is of particular significance. It is the chief forum for global trade liberalisation and, through its rules and disciplines, provides a predictable and more transparent environment for trans-border business. It also provides an important means of resolving trade disputes. Australia chairs the Cairns Group of WTO member countries seeking fair trade in agricultural products.
The key multilateral trade objective for Australia is the successful conclusion of the new round of WTO trade negotiations, launched in Doha in November 2001. The Doha Declaration gives specific commitment to negotiations on a wide range of issues, including services, industrial products, intellectual property, WTO rules (including anti-dumping), dispute settlement and some trade and environment issues. The round offers Australia potentially a substantial improvement in access to global markets - particularly in agriculture, services and industrial products - and secure trading conditions. Australia was disappointed that the fifth WTO ministerial conference in Mexico in September 2003 did not take the necessary decisions to advance the negotiations. Australia remains committed to achieving a substantial market access outcome and is actively encouraging all other WTO members to continue to engage constructively in the negotiations.
Engaging in the region, Australia is committed to achieving APEC's goals of free and open trade and investment. The implementation of these goals will bring considerable long-term benefits for Australia and the region. APEC's 'three pillars' - trade and investment liberalisation, business facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation - form the basis of its work. APEC also supports multilateral trade negotiations in the WTO, and emphasises private sector participation in its activities.
Leaders from the 21 APEC member economies meet annually to develop strategies for promoting growth and economic development in the Asia-Pacific region. They also hold informal discussions on current regional and international issues. Ministers, government officials and all sectors of business and industry also cooperate to reduce the barriers to trade and investment.
Australia has indicated it is prepared to consider concluding with important trading partners bilateral FTAs which would complement its multilateral efforts and deliver early benefits in the form of improved access to markets for Australian exporters and enhanced conditions for trade and investment. In 2003, Australia concluded an FTA with Singapore and negotiations for FTAs are currently underway with the United States of America and Thailand. Australia’s regional economic presence is further enhanced by key agreements: the Australia-Japan Trade and Economic Framework (signed in 2003), the CER Agreement (agreed in 1983), and the ASEAN Free Trade Area - CER Closer Economic Partnership (concluded in 2003). Efforts are also underway to strengthen the trade relationships with China and other countries in the East Asian region.
This page last updated 24 March 2006 |
ABOUT THIS RELEASE
Presents a broad selection of environmental statistics and information which illustrate topical environmental issues. The subject matter will vary in each issue, as new environmental issues emerge or more current data sources become available. While ABS data forms a core component of the statistical information, data from other government agencies, international organisations, industry, and individual researchers is also included. Value is added to these widely sourced datasets by bringing them together and analysing their import for selected environmental issues.
Each issue of the publication will explore some of the relationships that exist between our use of the natural environment in Australia for socioeconomic benefit and the impacts that some of these activities have on our ecology and stocks of natural resources. The publication aims to meet the information needs of a general readership.
This page last updated 20 June 2006 |
The Internet Becomes Next Nostradamus for Allergy Season
Google reveals most common allergy symptoms and peak of suffering
ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) - While it's believed that Nostradamus' prophecies predicted many historical events, his digital successor, the Internet, may be foreseeing the height of allergy suffering. According to allergist Leonard Bielory, M.D., American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) board member, Google search volume is shedding light on the most common allergy symptoms, when searches peak and how they pertain to pollen types.
In his research, being presented at the ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting, Dr. Bielory found that, due to tree pollens, nasal allergy symptoms are the most common searches from March through May. Symptoms include sneezing, a runny and itchy nose, and stuffiness due to blockage or congestion.
“Allergy sufferers experience heighted allergy symptoms in the spring season, and again during September due to weed pollen and grass season,” said Dr. Bielory. “The peak week for all allergy symptom searches is the second week of May, suggesting sufferers may be experiencing both spring and summer allergy symptoms.”
Nasal allergy symptoms were also commonly searched during the fall months. The second most common symptom, based on search volume, is eye allergies.
With spring allergy season being only four short months away, the ACAAI advises sufferers to schedule an appointment with their board-certified allergist during the winter months to find relief.
“Treating symptoms early, before they appear, means less suffering,” said Dr. Bielory. “An allergist will develop a customized treatment plan to keep you living an active, healthy lifestyle.”
According to an ACAAI patient survey, board-certified allergists are successful in treating up to 90 percent of patients with seasonal allergies and 70 to 80 percent with perennial allergies.
Those who think they may be suffering from seasonal allergies can track their symptoms with MyNasalAllergyJournal.org. More news and research from the annual meeting, being held Nov. 8-13, 2012 can be followed via Twitter at #ACAAI.
The ACAAI is a professional medical organization of more than 5,700 allergists-immunologists and allied health professionals, headquartered in Arlington Heights, Ill. The College fosters a culture of collaboration and congeniality in which its members work together and with others toward the common goals of patient care, education, advocacy and research. ACAAI allergists are board-certified physicians trained to diagnose allergies and asthma, administer immunotherapy, and provide patients with the best treatment outcomes. For more information and to find relief, visit Facebook and Twitter.
The ACAAI Press Room is located in Room 304B at the Anaheim Convention Center, Nov. 9-12, 2012. To arrange an interview, please contact Christine Westendorf, ACAAI Media Relations Manager, at 847-427-1200 or ChristineWestendorf@acaai.org |
Welcome to The Academic Wino! If you are new here, please read the “About Me” page to find out more about myself and the blog. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and or Pinterest. Thanks for visiting!
There’s no way one single person (even if that person is The Academic Wino!) can possibly review every single piece of peer reviewed literature related to wine that is published every day. This series presents multiple new papers (within the past year or so) in one post by briefly summarizing the research and linking to the source in order for you to pursue further if you’re interested. If there is enough interest, be it through comments or emails, I can review any of the papers introduced to you in this post in a more critical assessment.
“Long-Term Effects of Mechanical Winter Pruning on Growth, Yield, and Grape Composition of Barbera Grapevines”. This article, published in 2011, aimed to compare mechanical pruning of grapevines to hand pruning, and whether one or the other fared better for the grapes the following year in regards to growth, yield, and grape quality. Barbera vines were examined over a 5 year period and were subject to either manual pruning by hand, or mechanical pruning with their a light manual follow-up for a severe manual follow-up.
The results showed very few (if any) differences between manual hand pruning and mechanical pruning. Specifically, yield per vine, cluster weight, bud fruitfulness, and grape composition were similar between the different treatments. The only minor difference was a slight decrease in anthocyanin content in the mechanically pruned vines, which was insignificant (i.e. they were statistically the same for all treatments). The take-home from this study, according to the authors, was that since mechanical pruning yielded grapes thatwere nearly identical in yield, composition, and quality compared with hand pruning, it may be of economic benefit to the vineyard to pursue mechanical pruning strategies. By using mechanical pruning, labor demand in this experiment decreased by 70%. Of course, certain vineyards can’t use mechanical pruning equipment due to their steep slopes and tricky terrain, so these results aren’t necessarily applicable to all vineyards.
Source: Gatti, M., Civardi, S., Bernizzoni, F., and Poni, S. 2011. Long-Term Effects of Mechanical Winter Pruning on Growth, Yield, and Grape Composition of Barbera Grapevines. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 62(2): 199-206.
“Effect of co-winemaking in phenolic composition, color and antioxidant capacity of young red wines from La Mancha region”. This article, published in 2012, examined the effects of the co-winemaking technique on phenolic composition (as well as color and antioxidant capacity) of some Spanish red wines. Several 1:1 blends of two different Spanish red grape musts were combined prior to fermentation, as well as some 1:1:1 blends of three different Spanish red grape musts. After blending the musts, co-fermentation was completed and the finished wines analyzed.
As you may have guessed already, co-fermentation resulted in wines that were more complex than if the wines were fermented separately. Co-fermented wines showed improvements in color characteristics, and significant increases in resveratrol content. Some of the blends resulted in increased antioxidant capacities, while other blends resulted in decreased antioxidant capacities. The authors claimed that these results suggest that co-fermentation or co-winemaking may be another technique winemakers could use to create diversity in their offerings for consumers, thus potentially giving them a market advantage that they wouldn’t otherwise have. My main beef with this study isthat they did NOT compare the co-fermented blends with blends made after separate fermentations. The only comparisons were between the co-fermented blends and single varietals. I think the more appropriate comparison would be between the co-fermented blends and single fermentation blends blended together after fermentation, but maybe that’s just me.
Source: Gómez Gallego, M.A., Gómez García-Carpintero, E., Sánchez-Palomo, E., González Viñas, M.A., and Hermosín-Gutiérrez, I. 2012. Effect of co-winemaking in phenolic composition, color and antioxidant capacity of young red wines from La Mancha region. European Food Research and Technology 235: 155-167.
FORENSIC SCIENCE / TOXICOLOGY:
“A Fatal Case of CO2 Intoxication in a Fermentation Tank”. Stop reading this post now if you are at all upset by these types of topics (i.e. fatalities). I’m not going into gory details, but still, you all have imaginations and you should stop now if you’re a particularly sensitive individual….
This article, published in 2013, is a stark reminder of the sad reality that while winemaking can be fun and rewarding, it can be a dangerous job when care is not taken or proper training is not complete. While these tragic events are rare, they do happen and steps to avoid them should be taken by every winery.
What happened in this case was that there was a fermentation tank that had not been cleaned in 5 months, and until that time had been completely sealed, allowing CO2 to build up. An “unskilled worker” then entered the tank to clean it and quickly passed out due to too much CO2 and not enough oxygen. A second worker then went into the tank to rescue the first worker, but due to the incredibly high CO2 content inside the tank, the second worker quickly lost consciousness as well. Other staff members then found the two unconscious inside the tank and were able to easily pull out the first worker. As a result of the position of the second worker, the tank had to be rotated in order to get him out. CPR attempts were successful only for the first worker, which the second worker succumbed to his injuries and passed away. After autopsy, the cause of death was recorded as “CO2 intoxication/asphyxia in a vitiated atmosphere due to fermentation of wine mash”.
The take-home for this tragedy is to be sure to clean your tanks as soon as possible after cleaning, to avoid massive build-up of potentially deadly CO2 or other chemicals. If this is not done and one finds oneself presented with a sealed dirty tank that’s been sitting for some time, open it up and air it out for a long time before even attempting to clean it. Wearing oxygen masks/tanks wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Finally, please be sure to train all workers to understand this and all the possible dangers in the cellar (or vineyard) so that you don’t find yourselves in a similar tragic situation.
Source: Kettner, M.D, M., Ramsthaler, M.D, F., Juhnke, C., Dipl.Ing, Bux, M.D, R., and Schmidt, M.D, P. 2013. A Fatal Case of CO2 Intoxication in a Fermentation Tank. Journal of Forensic Sciences. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12058. |
It’s the end of Woodworking Safety Week and I was going to post something something different but this video from Matt Vanderlist (Matt’s Basement Workshop) caught my eye and I just had to do some analysis.
First, the video. It’s graphic so be aware of this BEFORE you hit play.
Well, wasn’t that fun? I can still see the router flopping all over the bench top with abandon in my mind. Does that mean we woodworkers should give up our tailed routers? Absolutely not.
Although that may be the reaction of many, those less reactionary should seriously look at what he did and how we should never do that ourselves. It’s like any mistake, you need to learn from it. Everyone talks about tablesaw accidents but routers, especially the new larger horse power models, can cause some serious damage if used improperly.
Now, let’s discuss Matt’s analysis. His first mistake he points out is complacency. In other words he just didn’t think about what he was doing.
I don’t think he meant it that way when he created his video but that’s what it boils down to. He listed within his section on complacency several things to illustrate how he was complacent. Being tired was one of the major things he pointed out and he is correct to do so. When you’re tired, it’s time to quit…no matter what you’re doing, how you’re doing it or what your deadline may be…stop, get some rest and attack it when you’re fresh. While this is a big factor, I just don’t think it’s his biggest mistake.
He gives the example ‘I’m just going to use the tool this way just this one time. What’s the worse that can happen?’ This implies that he thought about the use of the router and chose not to do it safely. I think he’s correct in his “complacency” argument which means he never stopped to think about what he was doing. In the video he had the router set up, the board in place, picked up the router and turned it on and started routing without a thought to what was happening and why. We’ll get to that shortly.
His next section was on misuse of the tool. And while this too was a big contributing factor to the accident, it still wasn’t the biggest. He points out that he’s using the wrong router for the task and he’s once again correct but he didn’t go far enough. His trim router was made to “trim” things off. It’s in the name! What he failed to do prior to turning on the router was think about the operation he was performing and what were the potential problems.
Matt’s last section was about body placement. Again, I think his analysis was on the right path but he stopped short of reaching the goal. He works hard at trying to get you to understand his body position wasn’t being effected by camera placement. I’m sure it wasn’t. Personally, I didn’t see where he was over-reaching to the point it would cause this accident. What I saw was, he didn’t think about what could happen and what would be his escape route if something catastrophic happened.
This all brings us to what I saw and what I think he could have done to avoid this accident. Let’s look at the four major things I think he did wrong.
First, he was taking too big a cut for the size router he was using. This jibes with his idea of switching to a full sized router rather than a trim router but even at that, the cut is just too big to take in one pass given the rest of this setup. I wouldn’t attempt such a deep cut (look at how much router bit is projecting beyond the base of the router) in one pass with any router. One of the things I want you to walk away with from this is, a larger router isn’t going to make the process inherently safer. If Matt had used a 3-1/2 horse power router, he would still have had problems taking such an enormous cut.
Now that I’ve criticized how he did it, let’s take a look at how it could have been done better. First off, regardless of what router he chose, he should have tried to take that pattern cut in several lighter passes. I’m not talking at this point about how much material extended beyond the pattern. I’m talking about how far the bit projected beyond the base. It looked as though he was using a top mount pattern bit to make the cut. In spite of the name, it’s the wrong choice. If he would have thought about how far the cutter extended beyond the base, he might have realized there was no way to control the router once he made contact with the wood.
The better choice would have been to use a guide bushing and take the trim cuts in smaller bites (3 or 4 at least). I know that means making several trips around that pattern but I’m sure the extra 15 minutes would have saved him hours (if not days) of pain. Even with a trim router, this cut would have been a lot safer and manageable with a guide bushing and shallow cuts. He just needed to think through the process better.
Starting on end grain is another problem he had with this accident. Trying to take such a deep cut on end grain at any time is just asking for trouble. And he found it. Again, shallower cuts and starting on side grain (where the grain direction is going in his favor) would have been the better choice had he thought about it.
My next bone of contention is going to cause some controversy, I’m sure. Let me just get it out…I don’t like those hockey puck bench things. Matt mentions that they’re safe ‘you’ve seen the demo with them using a belt sander on a board on top of them and it doesn’t move’. In the inimitable words of Col. Sherman T. Potter…horse hockey. I’ve never liked the pucks nor the mats for routing. There’s too many directional forces at work for them to be secure. Using a belt sander on a board that’s on top of the pucks puts a fair amount of downward pressure on the work. That’s what keeps it “securely” in place. I say “securely” because I’m not standing behind a person using a belt sander with a board on those pucks, are you? Think about it, a bit too much dust between the puck and the board and a drop in downward pressure and you’ve got a rectangular frisbee on your hands…on in your stomach or face.
Let me say this in no uncertain terms. Clamp your work securely to your work surface. If you stop and think about it for a second, no matter what I’m doing, if I have my work locked into a vice or clamped to my bench it isn’t going anywhere.
Matt pointed out how he was going the wrong direction. When I watch the video, it looks like he was doing that from the start. It was my first reaction when I watched the video. It looked like he pushed the router into the work and then decided to move the running router away from himself. At that point it grabbed the end grain and became a rocket instead of a router. I’ll take Matt at his word that he actually intended to go the right direction and accidentally caught the work while trying to back up to his starting point. I just thought it too important to not point out here…DO NOT CLIMB CUT WITH A ROUTER. It’s spinning far too fast and has too much horse power (that little Rigid has a one horse power motor) for ANYONE to control. Matt’s climb cut wasn’t intentional but the inability to control the tool was exacerbated by the depth of cut. The base of the router being so small also contributed to the bit contacting the wood when he didn’t intend it. If he would have thought about what he was doing more, he would never have backed up with his router.
One of the last things I see that Matt did wrong was he used his hand to help secure the wood to the pucks. See my rant on the pucks to understand why I don’t think Matt thought this process through enough. It’s just a couple of paragraphs back so you should be able to find it quickly.
In all of this, I’m not trying to bash my friend Matt Vanderlist. I’m trying to point out Matt’s biggest mistake. It’s one I talk about frequently here at the school, the Acanthus Workshop. If you’ve taken a woodworking class here I’m sure you have heard me talk about it. Matt’s biggest mistake was he didn’t think.
He shut off his brain and used a tool that, for all the reasons he and I have given, wasn’t right for the job. He also didn’t think about how the tool was going to react to coming in contact with the workpiece. He didn’t think about where the tool, the work or the cutter might end up if something when completely wrong. He didn’t think about how to keep his hands out of the path of the cutter when something did go wrong nor did he think about how he can’t move fast enough to avoid injury. He didn’t think about the fact that he was tired and NOT THINKING.
No matter what tool you are using, whether it be hand or power driven, you need to think about what you’re doing. You need to think about what the potential dangers are of the operation. You need to think about how you can position yourself to receive the least bodily injury possible should something catastrophic happen. You need to be alert and focused on the task at hand. In other words, you need to think…constantly. As sad as it may be in some cases, your brain is your biggest safety device. If you aren’t willing to use it, give up woodworking and take up crochet. Think about it. |
Survivors of Jean Ribaultís fleet staggered onto the beach south of St. Augustine with nothing but their torn clothes. Eventually, the castaways clustered into two groups. One, numbering about a hundred were under the command of Ribault. A smaller group came together on a beach farther south. Neither group had food or water. Apparently, none knew how to catch fish in tidal pools or which coastal plants were edible.
Ribaultís party staggered northward in search of potable water. Eventually, the desperate men encountered a small search party dispatched by Menéndez to look for survivors of the French fleet. Ribault assumed that his group of about 100 men would be treated decently and fed, since René de Laudonniére had treated two ship-wrecked Spaniards as guests. This was not to happen.
As soon as Menéndez heard about the surrender of the Frenchmen, he sent word to have their hands bound behind their backs. They were then individually interrogated. The few Catholics in the group were freed and given food and water. Then following direct orders from King Phillip II, Menéndez gave each Protestant a chance to renounce his faith and convert to Roman Catholicism. Apparently, none did. Ten at a time, they were marched to a river then rowed across to the other side. Their throats were slit behind a sand dune, where the others could not see their pending fate.
A few days later, the Spanish encountered the smaller group of survivors. This time, some of the Protestants did not trust the Spanish. They ran off into the woods to take refuge among the Timucua. The remainder were given the same option and then executed.
There is no document that provides the exact number of French Protestants martyred by the Spanish. Scholars currently estimate the number at about 350. Approximately, 600 more Frenchmen drowned at sea during the storm. The fate of most of the Frenchmen who took their chances among the Indians is not known, but they probably were adopted into these tribes, since there was no way for them to reach home after the Spanish occupied Florida. In 1566 the Spanish attempted to buy some Frenchmen living among the Timucua, but their adopted Native American neighbors refused to betray them.
Source: Sixteenth Century French Exploration of the Southeast, by Richard Thornton, People of One Fire, Blairsville Georgia, © 2012. |
The following data is extracted from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans.
A widely known and universally esteemed citizen of Riley County, a retired farmer living in great comfort in the pleasant Town of Riley, is Jesse White, an honored veteran of the Civil war. For almost sixty years his home had been in the Sunflower State and he had done his part in aiding in its agricultural, religious and educational progrees. He was born July 10, 1844, in Jackson County, Indiana. His parents were Jesse and Naney (Kinlon) White.
From their native state, North Carolina, the parents of Jesse White removed to Indiaua in 1842, and thence to Kansas, arriving at Manhattan, May 14, 1857. They settled on Mill Creek, fifteen miles northwest of Manhattan, and on the farm then chosen spent the remainder of their days, the father dying in 1861, when aged sixty years, and the mother passing away in 1864, at the age of fifty-three years. Farming was the father's occupation. He was an anti-slavery man but was a Jacksonian democrat. Both he and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were good, virtuous, worthy people; none better ever came to Riley County. To them were born children as follows: David R., who is deceased; Richard F., who died in Indiana; Ellen E. and Sarah A. are both deceased; Nehemiah, who died while a soldier in the Union army, a member of Company G, Eleventh Kansas Cavalry; Martha Jane, who died in childhood; Jesse; John C. and Martha Ann, both deceased; and Thomas, who is a farmer in Riley County.
Jesse White was thirteen years of age when be accompanied his parents to Kansas, and with them and afterward went through pioneer trials and privations. Back in Indiana he had seenred a few months of schooling, but after coming to Kansas he had no educational opportunities of any kind. He was well trained, however, to meet cmergencies on the farm and in the cultivation of land and handling of stock, and despite its discouragements for a long time in Riley County, he preferred farm life to every other and kept active as a farmer and stock raiser until he was nearly sixty years old. For a few years, however, while but a youth, after roming to Kansas, Mr. White followed freighting between Leavenworth and Manhattan, and between the latter city and Atchison transported goods by ox-team.
When the Civil war came on he soon began preparations for a military life, his patriotism being shown in deeds rather than words when, in August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company G, Eleventh Kansas Infantry. One year later this regiment was mounted, becoming the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry. He shared the fortunes of this regiment until the close of the war, participating in battles and enduring exposure, receiving his honorable discharge on May 23, 1865, at Camp Babcock. Mr. White had an original and unique drawing of his own drafting, showing Camp Babcock in detail, a very interesting memento.
When the war closed Mr. White returned to Riley County and ontered upon an agricultural life, beginning on rented land. One year later he bought a tract of eighty acres, situated on Mill Creek, in Grant Township, Riley County, and there established his home. With characteristic industry and energy he applied himself to the developing of his farm. During his travels he had observed the methods used in many sections of the country by different farmers and could see, in numerous cases, why they had but indifferent success. On his own land he was thorough and practical, and through his care and good judgment prospered exceedingly. Purchasing other tracts as suited his convenience, Mr. White acquired 417 acres in his home farm and resided on it until 1901, when he retired and purchased his present residence in the Town of Riley. In 1913 he sold the home farm but still owned two quarter sections in Wild Oat Township. Mr. White had always believed in improving property and on his own he erected fine buildings and in every way made it one of the best, as it was one of the largest stock farms in Riley County. He gave much attention to raising cattle, but all kinds of stock were bred.
Mr. White was married August 17, 1863, to Miss Emma Jane Blodgett, who had been a devoted wife and invaluable helpmate to him. Mrs. White was born in Wisconsin, November 1, 1845, and is a daughter of William and Hannah (Sebring) Blodgett. Her father was a native of Vermont, her mother of Pennsylvania, and they were married in Ohio. They moved to Wisconsin at an early day, and in the fall of 1857 they came to Kansas and located in Wild Cat Township, Riley County, where they subsequently lived and there died. They had five children, namely: William Walter, who died while serving in the Civil war as a member of Company G, Eleventh Kansas Infantry; John Alpheus, who resided on the old Blodgett homestead; Collister, who is deceased; Emma Jane (Mrs. White); and Hannah Ellen. The father of Mrs. White lived to be eighty-eight years of age and the mother was aged eighty-four years at time of death.
Mr. and Mrs. White became the parents of the following children: Oscar A., William E., Charles U., George W., Hettie L., Ida B. John W., Minnie A., Carrie E., deceased, and Jeese Bert, who lives 2 1/2 miles east of Riley.
It is quite usual to find that sons follow their father's opinion in political matters, but when Jesse White came to identifying himself with one of the great parties he found times had changed from the old days and that his own principles were fully in accord with the republican party and he had been firm in his adherence to it. He had never sought political office, but had served his township trustworthily on several occasions. Both he and wife have long been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For twenty-five years he had belonged to the Odd Fellows, and both he and wife are members of the auxiliary order of Rebckab, and Mr. White belongs also to the Grand Army of the Republic.
Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans |
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Text of report in English by Polish news agency PAP
Warsaw, 11 December: Sixteen per cent of Poles believe that the introduction of martial law on 13 December, 1981 was a "decidedly just" decision, 35 per cent said it was "rather just", 13 per cent termed it "rather unjust" and 12 per cent said it was "decidedly unjust", a recent [Public Opinion Research Centre] CBOS poll has found.
According to CBOS, the percentage of Poles advocating the introduction of martial law has slowly but surely dropped over the last decade. Fifty-one per cent of … |
By Darlene Franklin
I am a New Englander by birth and proud of it. I didn’t make it west of the Mississippi River until I was twenty-two. Nor did I watch many Westerns on television. My heroes were the Minutemen and the leaders of the civil rights movement. Mythology belonged to the Ancient Greeks and Romans; with a healthy dose of the Norse gods.
Then I went to graduate school in Texas, moved to Oklahoma with my husband, and later made it to Colorado. When I began writing, the heroine in my first book followed a similar path: she left Maine to go to medical school in Denver.
Along the way of falling in love with living in the West, I learned that the legend of the Wild West forms the basis of American mythology. Consider the following stock characters:
o Saloon girl: forced into prostitution against her will but with a heart of gold
o Mountain man: loner, fiercely independent, explorer
o Miner: always looking for the next strike
o Gambler: charming cad, willing to risk it all on the turn of a card
o Cowboy: Rough on the outside but a gentleman and a protector
o Texas Ranger: committed to justice. One Ranger is equal to a hundred of the enemy
Buffalo Bill introduced the Wild West to the world through his show; and artists such as Remington and Russell captured it with paint. It lives on in small mining and ranching towns. When we watch or read a western, we expect certain things. Think about it. Could How different would J.R. and Bobby Ewing be if they lived in Boston instead of Dallas? Of course a team called “Cowboys” became known as America’s team! No wonder Olympic uniforms often include Stetsons.
When Janette Oke wrote her first prairie romance, she opened the door for all of us. Christians, in particular, seem to have an insatiable desire for those larger-than-life characters. I have dipped into that fascination for several of my books, including my latest, A Ranger’s Trail in the Texas Trails series.
As writers, we may want to write about an earlier time (shout out to all of our colonial writers!) or a later time (anyone else there want to write about the 1950s?) We’d like to choose a different setting than Montana or Texas (or whatever state is the current flavor of the year).
But our readers hunger for the Wild West for good reason: They want faith-based stories during a time that brought out the best-and worst-of Americans.
Let us applaud and enjoy our heritage as we write about that most American of all heroes: the cowboy.
Darlene Franklin is a Christian, mother, grandmother, and oh, yes, makes her living by writing books. She recently moved to Oklahoma City to be near her grandbabies. Her lynx point Siamese proudly claims Darlene as her human. She has written twenty books and had short articles published in twenty others. |
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