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1. My son, do not lose my faith,* and let your heart guard my commandments.
2. Because the proliferation of days and years of life shall enrich you.
3. And peace, goodness and rectitude shall not abandon you, except do tie them into your bosom* and write them over the tablets of your heart.
4. So you may find mercy, goodness and learning before Allaha and before humanity.*
5. Depend on Maryah with all your heart, and on the wisdom of your own soul do not rely.
6. Come to know him in all your ways and he shall fix all your paths.
7. do not become wise in your own eyes, except be in submission to Maryah and fall away from evil.
8. So as it shall become the healing for your flesh and the marrow for your bones.
9. Honor Maryah for all your gains, and ahead of all your triumphs.
10. So as your storehouses are filled to their brim, and your wine presses are flowing with wine.
11. My son, do not denigrate Maryah's discipline,* nor ignore her rebukes;
12. Because whoever Maryah has mercy for, he approves of, like the father who approves his son.
13. Blessed is the human being who finds wisdom, and the son of the flesh who finds learning.
14. Because her* pursuit is better than the commerce with silver, and her product is better than refined gold.
15. For she is worth more than precious stones, and nothing can match her.
16. The proliferation* of days in her right [hand,] [the increasing] richness and honor in her left [hand.]
17. Her ways are the ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace.
18. She is the Tree of Life to those who grasp at her, and blessed are they that hold on to her.
19. Maryah in his wisdom consecrated the foundations of the earth, and he established the heavens with his knowledge.
20. And through her knowledge the unknown was penetrated, and the clouds dropped their shadows.
21. My son, do not look down in your eyes on protecting my teachings and my advice.
22. And they shall be the everlasting life* for your soul, and a comforting chain around your neck.*
23. And then you shall walk in your paths with hope and your foot shall not hesitate.
24. And you shall sleep and not be afraid, and you shall lie down and your sleep shall be sweet.
25. And you shall not be afraid of the turmoil out of the calm, nor the torment* of the sinners when it comes.
26. Because Maryah shall be with you, and He will guard your foot so you will not be trapped.
27. Do not stop from doing that which is beautiful, to the extent that is in your hands to do so.
28. And when you have it, do not say to your friend, "Go, and come again later, and I shall give it to you."
29. Do not contemplate evil against your friend who sits with you during the calm.*
30. Do not judge a human being falsely.
31. Do not be made jealous by the unjust man, and do not be satisfied with his ways.
32. Because that abomination is defilement before Maryah, and the discourse of Maryah is with the upright.
33. The cursing against* Maryah is in the house of the abominable, but* in the dwellings of the righteous there are blessings,
34. He casts off the ridiculers and He hovers over the wise.
35. The wise inherit honor, and the fools receive disgrace.
*3:1 Lit. Ar. id.: "law," or "religion."
*3:3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Neck."
*3:4 Lit. Ar. id.: "Children of humans."
*3:14 NB! Reference is to "wisdom", which is feminine in gender.
*3:16 Lit. Ar. id.: "Lengthening."
*3:22.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Lives."
*3:22.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "A cherishing [necklace] on your neck."
*3:25 Lit. Ar. id.: "Drenching."
*3:29 Lit. Ar. idiom retained: "At peace."
*3:33.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Of."
*3:33.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "But."
Proverbs 4 | Aramaic Bible Index |
Japan, China and U.S. Currency Wars: Rhyme and Reason by John Mauldin, Mauldin Economics
“The significant problems that we have created cannot be solved at the level of thinking we were at when we created them.”
– Albert Einstein
“Generals are notorious for their tendency to ‘fight the last war’ – by using the strategies and tactics of the past to achieve victory in the present. Indeed, we all do this to some extent. Life’s lessons are hard won, and we like to apply them – even when they don’t apply. Sadly enough, fighting the last war is often a losing proposition. Conditions change. Objectives change. Strategies change. And you must change. If you don’t, you lose.”
– Dr. G. Terry Madonna and Dr. Michael Young
“Markets are perpetuating a serious error by acting on the belief that central bankers actually know what they are doing. They do not. Not because they are ill-intentioned but because they are human and subject to the limitations that apply to all human endeavors. If you want proof of their fallibility, simply look at their economic forecasts. Despite their efforts to do so, central banks can’t repeal the business cycle (though they can distort it). While the 2008 financial crisis should have taught them that lesson, it appears to have led them to precisely the opposite conclusion.
“There are limits to knowledge in every field, including the hard sciences, and economics is not a hard science; it is a social science whose knowledge is imprecise, and practitioners’ ability to predict the future is extremely limited. Fed officials are attempting to guide an extremely complex economy with tools of questionable utility, and markets are ignoring their warnings that their ability to manage a positive outcome is highly uncertain. Markets are confusing what they want to happen with what is likely to happen, a common psychological phenomenon. Investors who prosper in the long run will be those who acknowledge the severe limits of economic knowledge and the compelling evidence that trillions of dollars of QE and years of zero interest rates may have saved the system from immediate collapse five years ago but failed to produce sustained economic growth or long-term price stability.”
– Michael Lewitt, The Credit Strategist, Nov. 1, 2014
As I predicted months ago in this letter and last year in Code Red, the Japanese have launched another missile in their ongoing currency war, somewhat fittingly on Halloween. Rather than being spooked, the markets saw it as just another round of feel-good quantitative easing and climbed to all-time highs on the Dow and S&P 500. The Nikkei soared even more (for good reason). As we will see later in this letter, this is not your father’s quantitative easing. The Japanese, for reasons of their own, will intervene not only in their own equity markets but in foreign equity markets as well, and do so in a size and manner that will be significant. This gambit is going to have ramifications far beyond merely weakening the yen. In this week’s letter we are going to take an in-depth look at what the Japanese have done.
It is something of a cliché to quote Mark Twain’s “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” But it is an appropriate way to kick things off, since we are going to look at the “ancient” history of Mark Twain’s era, and specifically the Panic of 1873. That October saw the beginning of 65 months of recession (certainly longer than our generation’s own Great Recession), which inflicted massive pain on the country. The initial cause was government monetary intervention, but the crisis was deepened by soaring debt and deflation.
As we seek to understand what happened 141 years ago, we’ll revisit the phenomenon of October as a month of negative market surprises. It actually has its roots in the interplay between farming and banking.
The Panic of 1873
Shortly after the Civil War, which saw the enactment of federal fiat money (the “greenback” of that era, issued to finance the war), there was a federal law passed that required rural and agricultural banks to keep 25% of their deposits with certain certified national banks, which were based mainly in New York. The national banks were required to pay interest on those deposits, so they had to put the money out for loans. But because those deposits were “callable” at any time, there was a limit to the types of loans they could do, as long-term loans mismatched assets and liabilities.
The brokers of the New York Stock Exchange were considered an excellent target for such loans. They could use the proceeds of the loans as margin to buy stocks, either for their own trading or on behalf of their clients. As long as the stocks went up – or at the very least as long as the ultimate clients were liquid – there wasn’t a problem for the national banks. Money could be repatriated; or, if necessary, margins could be called in a day. But this was before the era of a central bank, so actual physical dollars (and other physical instruments) were involved as reserves, as was gold. Greenbacks could be used to buy gold, but at a rate that floated. The price of gold could fluctuate significantly from year to year, depending upon the availability of gold and the supply of greenbacks (and of course, market sentiment – which certainly rhymes with our own time).
The driver for October volatility was an annual cycle, an ebb and flow of dollars to and from these rural banks. In the fall when the harvest was ready, the country banks would recall their margin loans in order to pay farmers or loan to merchants to buy crops from farmers and ship them via the railroads. Money would then become tight on Wall Street as the national banks called their loans back in.
This cycle often caused extra volatility, depending on the shortness of loan capital. Margin rates could rise to as much as 1% per day! Of course, this would force speculators to sell their stocks or cover their shorts, but in general it could drive down prices and make margin calls more likely. This monetary tightening often sent stocks into a downward spiral – not unlike the downward pressure that present-day Fed tightening actions have exerted, but in a compressed period of time.
If there was enough leverage in the system, a cascade could result, with stocks dropping 20% very quickly. Since much of Wall Street was involved in railroads, and railroads were nothing if not leveraged loans and capital, falling asset prices would reduce the ability of investors in railroads to find the necessary capital for expansion and maintenance of operations.
This historical pattern no longer explains the present-day vulnerability of markets in October. Perhaps the phenomenon persists simply due to market lore and investor psychology. Like an amputee feeling a twinge in his lost limb, do we still sense the ghosts of crashes past?
(And once more with Mark Twain: “October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.”)
It was in this fall environment that a young Jay Gould decided to manipulate the gold market in the autumn of 1873, creating a further squeeze on the dollar. Not only would he profit off a play in gold, but he thought the move would help him in his quest to take control of the Erie Railroad. Historian Charles R. Morris explains, in a fascinating book called The Tycoons:
Gould’s mind ran in labyrinthine channels, and he turned to the gold markets as part of a strategy to improve Erie’s freights. Grain was America’s largest export in 1869. Merchants purchased grain from farmers on credit, shipped it overseas, and paid off the farmers when they received their remittances from abroad. Their debt to the farmers was in greenbacks, but their receipts from abroad came in gold, for the greenback was not legal tender overseas. It could take weeks, or even months, to complete a transaction, so the merchant was exposed to changes in the gold/greenback exchange rate during that time. If gold fell (or the greenback rose), the merchant’s gold proceeds might not cover his greenback debts.
The New York Gold Exchange was created to help merchants protect against that risk. Using the Exchange, a merchant could borrow gold when he made his contract, convert it to greenbacks, and pay off his suppliers right away. Then he would pay off the gold loan when his gold payment came in some weeks later; since it was gold for gold, exchange rates didn’t matter. To protect against default, the Exchange required full cash collateral to borrow gold. But that was an opening for speculations by clever traders like Gould. If a trader bought gold and then immediately lent it, he could finance his purchase with the cash collateral and thereby acquire large positions while using very little of his own cash.
[Note from JM: In the fall there was plenty of demand for gold and a shortage of greenbacks. It was the perfect time if you wanted to create a “corner” on gold.]
Gould reasoned that if he could force up the price of gold, he might improve the Erie’s freight revenues. If gold bought more greenbacks, greenback-priced wheat would look cheaper to overseas buyers, so exports, and freights, would rise. And because of the fledgling status of the new Gold Exchange, gold prices looked eminently manipulable, since only about $20 million in gold was usually available in New York. [Some of his partners in the conspiracy were skeptical because…] The Grant administration, which had just taken office in March, was sitting on $100 million in gold reserves. If gold started suddenly rising, it would hurt merchant importers, who could be expected to clamor for government gold sales.
So Gould went to President Grant’s brother-in-law, Abel Corbin, who liked to brag about his family influence. He set up a meeting with President Grant, at which Gould learned that Grant was cautious about any significant movements in either the gold or the greenback, noting the “fictitiousness about the prosperity of the country and that the bubble might be tapped in one way as well as another.” That was discouraging: popping a bubble meant tighter money and lower gold.
But Gould plunged ahead with his gold buying, including rather sizable amounts for Corbin’s wife (Grant’s wife’s sister), such that each one-dollar rise in gold would generate $11,000 in profits. Corbin arranged further meetings with Grant and discouraged him from selling gold all throughout September.
Gould and his partners initiated a “corner” in the gold market. This was actually legal at the time, and the NY gold market was relatively small compared to the amount of capital it was possible for a large, well-organized cabal to command. True corners were devastating to bears, as they generally borrowed shares or gold to sell short, betting on the fall in price. Just as today, if the price falls too much, then the short seller can buy the stock back and take his losses. But if there is no stock to buy back, if someone has cornered the market, then losses can be severe. Which of course is what today we call a short squeeze.
The short position grew to some $200 million, most of it owed to Gould and his friends. But there was only $20 million worth of gold available to cover the short sales. That gold stock had been borrowed and borrowed and borrowed again. The price of gold rose as Gould’s cabal kept pressing their bet.
But Grant got wind of the move. His wife wrote her sister, demanding to know if the rumor of their involvement was true. Corbin panicked and told Gould he wanted out, with his $100,000+ of profits, of course. Gould promised him his profits if he would just keep quiet.
Then Gould began to unload all his gold positions, even as some of his partners kept right on buying. You have to keep up pretenses, of course. Gould was telling his partners to push the price up to 160, while he was selling through another set of partners.
It is a small irony that Gould also had a contact in the government in Washington (a Mr. Butterfield) who assured him that there was no move to sell gold from DC, even as that contact was personally selling all his gold as fast as he could. Whatever bad you could say about Gould (and there were lots of bad things you could say), his trading instincts were good. He sensed his contact was lying and doubled down on getting out of the trade. In the end, Gould didn’t make any money to speak of and in fact damaged his intention of getting control of the Erie Railroad that fall.
The attempted gold corner didn’t do much harm to the country in and of itself. But when President Grant decided to step in and sell gold, there was massive buying, which sucked a significant quantity of physical dollars out of the market and into the US Treasury at a time when dollars were short. This move was a clumsy precursor to the open-market operations of the Federal Reserve of today, except that those dollars were needed as margin collateral by brokerage companies. No less than 14 New York Stock Exchange brokerages went bankrupt within a few days, not including brokerages that dealt just in gold.
All this happened in the fall, when there were fewer physical dollars to be had.
The price of gold collapsed. Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was often at odds with Jay Gould, had to step into the market (literally – that is, physically, which was rare for him) in order to quell the panic and provide capital, a precursor to J.P. Morgan’s doing the same during the Panic of 1907.
While many today believe the Fed should never have been created, we have not |
And how aloof and remote from him she had become now!
Oblonsky had more than once experienced this extreme sense of aloofness, instead of intimacy, coming on after dinner, and he knew what to do in such cases.
With my brother there will be none of that aloofness there always used to be between us, there will be no disputes; with Kitty there shall never be quarrels; with the visitor, whoever he may be, I will be friendly and nice; with the servants, with Ivan, it will all be different.
There are no more uses of "aloof" in the book.
Show samples from other sources
People who don’t know her, think she is aloof from the rest of the team, but she is just focused on the game.
She focuses on her work and is aloof from office politics. |
Make no parley—stop for no expostulation, Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer, Mind not the old man beseeching the young man, Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties, Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses, So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.
Ever the hard unsunk ground, Ever the eaters and drinkers, ever the upward and downward sun, ever the air and the ceaseless tides, Ever myself and my neighbors, refreshing, wicked, real, Ever the old inexplicable query, ever that thorn’d thumb, that breath of itches and thirsts, Ever the vexer’s hoot! hoot! till we find where the sly one hides and bring him forth, Ever love, ever the sobbing liquid of life, Ever the bandage under the chin, ever the trestles of death.
There are no more uses of "trestle" in the book.
Show samples from other sources
Mother was so nervous, she bathed— into the trestle table while curtsying.
Gail Carson Levine -- Ella Enchanted
On the way back home, they were on board when the P & W had its famous crash, when the motorman was drunk and took the high trestle over the Schuylkill River at sixty miles an hour, and the whole kaboodle took a swan dive into the water. |
The ringing impact of trucks, the sharp whistle of the engines from the junction, mingled with their shouts of "Men from Mars!"
An enormous hole had been made by the impact of the projectile, and the sand and gravel had been flung violently in every direction over the heath, forming heaps visible a mile and a half away.
It struck the tower of Shepperton Church, smashing it down as the impact of a battering ram might have done, swerved aside, blundered on and collapsed with tremendous force into the river out of my sight.
I touched the curate’s leg, and he started so violently that a mass of plaster went sliding down outside and fell with a loud impact.
The earth all round it had splashed under that tremendous impact—"splashed" is the only word—and lay in heaped piles that hid the masses of the adjacent houses.
Dense black smoke was leaping up to mingle with the steam from the river, and as the Heat-Ray went to and fro over Weybridge its impact was marked by flashes of incandescent white, that gave place at once to a smoky dance of lurid flames.
It was heavy, this vapour, heavier than the densest smoke, so that, after the first tumultuous uprush and outflow of its impact, it sank down through the air and poured over the ground in a manner rather liquid than gaseous, abandoning the hills, and streaming into the valleys and ditches and watercourses even as I have heard the carbonic-acid gas that pours from volcanic clefts is wont to do. |
Water scarcity tops list of world miners' worries
By Barbara Lewis
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The world's top mining companies warned on Tuesday that assets will be stranded and investors will walk away unless they deal with water scarcity in key mining regions such as Africa, Australia and Latin America.
After the hottest global year on record in 2016, water has shot up the agenda at mining board meetings.
"Investors say to us: 'don't talk to us about returns'; they want to know how we're managing water," Nick Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields, said at an international mining conference in Cape Town.
Mining requires water at almost every stage of the process and the bulk of the assets of major mining companies are in water-stressed regions mostly in the southern hemisphere.
Anglo American has said it is striving to use as little water as possible. It has limited water consumption by using 65 percent recycled water and its goal is to reach 95 percent over the next decade.
"Water is one of the greatest constraints to new supply of mined products across the industry," Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said.
"Investors can see there's a risk that if regions are running short of water, there's a good chance miners will have to divert those resources. What are we doing to anticipate that?"
Mining companies cite examples where water has caused conflict. For instance, Barrick Gold Corp mining operations in Peru were disrupted in 2012 because of protests over water supplies.
With its biggest mine in the Mexican desert, Canada's Goldcorp, the world's third-biggest gold miner, is investing $60 million in new technology to slash the amount of water it uses to store mine tailings, or waste.
"To draw on wells to sustain your operations could be a source of potential conflict down the road," Goldcorp CEO David Garofalo said in an interview late last month, calling water the mining industry's "number one" challenge.
The International Council on Mining and Metals, which groups 23 firms including BHP Billiton, Rio, Anglo American and Glencore, in January published a position on water stewardship to enforce best practice.
The industry body quotes research showing increased levels of conflict because of water and the financial cost of water issues, saying water-related infrastructure accounts for approximately 10 percent of the industry's capital expenses.
Since 2000, water-related issues were implicated in 58 percent of mining cases lodged with the World Bank Group's Compliance Officer Ombudsman, which deals with complaints from communities around mining operations, data published in January showed.
(Additional reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Susan Thomas and Sandra Maler) |
These German typewriters were quite popular in the USA during "the day" and known for their quality craftsmanship. Many of the the antique and vintage Adler typewriters available are still in great working condition requiring just a little oil and a good cleaning!
Like many of the old typing machines, people are finding these everyday in their parents or deceased relatives attics, basements and garages. Since most of these are portables, they are stored at least in the case they came in if not an additional box. There's some real nice Adler typewriters being found out there!
Most people recognize that these finds are collectible just from the stunning craftsmanship, but unless they happen to be an antique dealer or have an interest in the machine they find themselves with no use for it. Most of the time they donate them to the local thrift store or better yet, sell them on eBay. That's great news for you!
There's usually at least a few of these at any given time on eBay, and often they can be purchased for a bargain price! Imagine finding an old Gabriele 35 manual typewriter in it's original case? Or even a vintage German Adler No. 7 or a J5 manual machine for your display? It happens everyday and most of these finds are on eBay.
Perhaps you are interested in the retro Royal Adler electric typewriters? There's plenty of those to be found too, and many in near perfect condition! maybe an old Satellite model is what you need for your small office? These electrics still perform great and some typists prefer the old fashioned typewriters over a computer keyboard. Perhaps you do too!
Whether you are seeking an vintage Adler for your collection, display or even to use, now is the time to take action. It's a great time to buy these machines and as time goes by, they of course become more scarce and more expensive. Take a peek right now and get in on the great deals being offered on these Adler typewriters! |
Imagine the freedom to ski “off-piste” in the wild snows of Vermont. Skiers are lured to the back country to escape the crowds and in search of that deep powder. Alpine Touring skis with releasable heel binding equip these skiers to tackle that steep, rougher terrain. But knowledge of inherent risks and survival skills becomes paramount as one ventures into remote areas. Well. We’re going to tell you about those survival techniques as we venture into the backcountry on AT gear.
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Watch our Vermont PBS Kids' 24/7 channel. Enjoy the benefits of joining our Kids' Club! Explore our many free videos, games, and resources for educators and parents!
Montréal's 375th celebration combines history, heritage, art, and culture for a year of events. We offer a taste of Montréal in our Montréal Minutes and MTL375 interviews and travels in the city.
Come Meet Curious George at the University mall, Friday August 11, in the center court from 1 - 3 pm
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People talk about Vermont PBS!
Vermontpbs.org proudly supported in part by... |
Water Tour April 28 – Register here
Thanks to an abundant snow and rainy season, Kern County is brimming with water. You can see evidence of this bounty in the Kern River, canals, ponds and water banks. Have you wondered where the water is coming from, where it’s going and where it will be used?
Join the Water Association of Kern County for a bus tour of local water projects, the Kern River and banking facilities to learn how they are operating in this wet year. Get a behind-the-scenes look at water management and see how Kern County benefits from this most welcome precipitation.
First Point of Measurement on the Kern River
Water Hub – “The Spaghetti Bowl” – at Coffee Road and Truxtun Extension
Kern Water Bank
$15 box lunch
(Please wear closed toe, comfortable walking shoes)
Tour begins at 9 a.m. at Mill Creek Park, 21st & R St. in Bakersfield. Park your vehicle there. Bus will depart at 9 a.m. and return at approximately 4 p.m. |
May 19, 2005
DougAlbany --- Teenagers often lead busy lives, especially those so involved in extra-curricular activities, such as sports and band, and too young to drive themselves to practices.
Academics, like math, rarely get as much energy invested as those after-school classes get.
Take a math class at Radium Middle School for example. Few teenagers look forward to math class anytime during the school year. "Was there multiplication in there?" asks Haley Husted to one of her classmates. The math teacher included statistics in the last days of class. "I don't understand it. I was just there," says Husted, who certainly looks forward to attending school, especially on days she has band.
"Music is a way of life for me. Without music, life would be a boring place," says Husted, who understands music much better than math. The music seems to come naturally for her. "I picked it up kind of easy," says Husted, sitting in the school's band room with several other teenagers getting ready to play various instruments.
Husted plays a special instrument, a family heirloom, a 30 year-old saxophone her mother once played that Haley proudly clams as her own. "This is Susie, my symphonic saxophone," says Haley, as she kisses the saxophone more than twice as old as she is.
She dearly loves not only playing, but also marching. Her Radium Springs Middle School band often marches in parades. The band director at Monroe Comprehensive High School invites her to play with their marching band.
That makes two bands, when most band students only march with one group. She auditioned and was selected for an arena football team band-the South Georgia Wildcats of Albany. All three bands require her to practice for hours, and to complicate an already busy schedule, she's too young to drive.
How does she keep her commitments? "You've got to learn to make time for things you do that you love so much," says Haley who has the philosophy of someone much older and wiser than many 14-year olds.
She is the youngest member to play in the country's only Arena Football League band, and it has its advantages. "I get special treatment," says Husted. Some fans get special treatment, sitting close to the band, having the best musical seats in the house.
The band sits in section 123 of the Albany-James H. Gray Civic Center for each home game, where she loves to march and play in a precision half-time show. "Six hours to rehearse," says Husted about an eight-minute performance where she questions herself with every step. "Whether I was on the beat or not, whether I was on the right foot. I was kind of nervous," says Husted.
Not a one of the sixty-six hundred Arena Football fans noticed, or the 60 other musicians noticed her nervousness as they marched to the sound of several drummers. Husted started playing saxophone three years ago. |
Surgical wart removal. Or use another wart treatment ?
Surgery is a popular option for wartelimination often. Usually following home chemical and treatment programs on the warts which has failed, surgery remains a standard choice for those who seek wart elimination. Associated with simple: surgery functions. It’s effective, simple medical procedures, performed in a physician’s workplace or outpatient center usually, causes at the least pain, hardly any scarring in the tactile fingers of a talented, skilled professional and is covered by insurance usually.
There are two types of used surgical wart removal techniques useful for wart removal commonly.
The first is a variety of curettage andelectrosurgery. Electrosurgery means using equipment that send a little electrical charge in to the relative mind of the wart, burning it effectively. Curettage means trimming the wart off totally utilizing a surgeon’s knife or a specifically designed spoon shaped gadget designed for this use. Frequently, these two procedures together are employed, sending the wart into shock with the electricity and removing it with the spoon shaped surgeon’s knife then. Lately, state of the creative art lasers have been used in combination with growing recognition and enviable success prices. They effectively melt away the wart by capturing a rigorous beam of light in to the base or base of the wart, severing its blood circulation and killing it.
The wart is normally remaining to die if it’s internal or it may be cut off following the laser skin treatment. Whatever treatment you select for wart removal, it is possible to rest assured that if it is new even, it’s been tested and perfected before it’s been used on you frequently. Go to your physician at the onset of any observeable symptoms or irregularities you might see in or on your own body. Let him diagnose your trouble and discuss the possible remedies. And when you elect wart elimination, rely upon medical science to possess found the ideal method to go about any of it for maximum achievement and minimum pain. |
AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Repeat opioid users can expect to pay the costs for emergency treatment under a bill from the Governor's office.
The bill was referred to the Maine House of Representatives committee on State and Local Government on Tuesday as LD 1558, "An Act to Require That Municipalities and Counties Recover the Cost of Opioid Antagonist Treatment from Repeat Recipients." While the Governor's office generated the bill, it is being sponsored by Rep. Frances Head, a Republican, from Bethel.
The bill calls for reimbursement of costs associated with drugs like Narcan that are used to revive subjects who have overdosed on heroin and other opioids. First time recipients of the treatment are exempt. But for anyone needing treatment for additional overdoses, the bill requires compensation from that individual to be collected by the municipal or county agency that administered the dosage.
If those agencies do not make an effort to collect payment, the bill empowers the Dept. of Health and Human Services to penalize them with a fine of $1,000 per incident.
© 2017 WCSH-TV |
This year’s Paris Air Show is brimming with technological innovations from a variety of startups that dream of disrupting the traditional aviation travel paradigm. One of the more interesting ideas comes from Eviation Aircraft, a first-time Paris exhibitor that just launched an all-electric airplane designed to fly for 600 or so nautical miles at a cost similar to travel by airliner (or even bus) over the same distances.
The Israeli startup plans to build a prototype next year of the three-engine distributed-propulsion aircraft that would feature one electric motor at the tail and one on each wingtip for unheard of aerodynamic efficiency. The claim is that the motors on the wingtips would enable significant drag reduction while variable power could also be used for yaw control, managed automatically by software, said Eviation co-founder and CEO Omer Bar-Yohay.
The first Eviation production model is slated to arrive in 2020. It will carry six to nine passengers using electric motors supplied either by Yasa of England or Siemens of Germany as well as 6,000 pounds of batteries. If that sounds like a lot, well, it is – but it’s necessary to propel the aircraft, which will have a max takeoff weight of just under 12,000 pounds, a max payload of 2,750 pounds and a cruise speed of 240 ktas, all fairly incredible projections from a company that wants to change the world of aviation, and maybe the world in general.
“At a time when we are more connected than ever, our mobility options must adapt to reflect this new, efficient future,” said Bar-Yohay. “Whether it is a zero emissions, low-cost trip from Silicon Valley to San Diego, or Seoul to Beijing, our all-electric aircraft represents a chance for people to move with the speed and impact our global economy now demands.”
Eviation was formed by Bar-Yohay and two other Israeli entrepreneurs. The company is being self-funded for now, but the trio plans to start raising the capital necessary for the certification effort in the coming months and eventually hopes to partner with an established airframe manufacturer on the ambitious project.
The composite aircraft would feature a V tail and sit atop long landing gear. Eviation will take advantage of new regulations created in the upcoming Part 23 rewrite, which has the goal of cutting aircraft certification costs and allowing new technologies such as electric propulsion to be used in general aviation for the first time.
A follow-on version of Eviation’s unusual airplane would seat as many as 13 people, cruise at 30,000 feet and be powered by aluminum fuel cell technology, for which Eviation already owns the intellectual property.
Price for the smaller initial version is targeted at around $2.6 million, while the larger aircraft would sell for about $4 million and be positioned as a competitor to the Pilatus PC-12 and Beech King Air 350.
Even with the hefty price tag, Eviation’s founders say the cost per seat mile for an aircraft that requires no jet fuel or avgas would be under 10 cents, making regional travel aboard its electric aircraft as economical as airline travel today. |
What activities do you have?
- Orientation meeting
- Mom’s Retreat
- Fall Picnic
- Fall and Winter parents’ meetings
- Field Trips
- 4th Friday’s
- Graduation Ceremony
- Senior year events and activities
- Workshops for new homeschoolers
- Workshops on teaching methods, how to teach writing, etc.
- Group classes (vary year to year)
- Kindergarten graduation ceremony
- Christmas Party
- Drama Club
- Spelling Bee
- Every 2 years – trip to Dauphin Island (2015 DI year 5th -12th)
- Every 2 years – Space Camp
What are the homeschooling laws in Alabama?
Alabama laws require that you submit school attendance and that you have a legal covering. For the most comprehensive information go to http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=AL
Do you have an athletics program?
- We do not offer an athletics program at our school but several area homeschool covers offer sports and allow other groups to participate. Football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, rowing, and dance are just a few examples. Also, Whitesburg Baptist Church offers the Upward Program for several sports as well as a karate class and there are community T-ball, baseball and soccer teams.
Can you tell me about your yearly meetings?
- We meet in May for orientation for new families and for our new school year with special sessions for high school moms and upcoming 8th grader moms. There is a time for encouragement and time for all the new business for the year.
- We have a fall meeting to kick off our new year. This is a shorter evening meeting where we have a devotional and take time to submit required forms and money for yearly activities. All information for upcoming classes and activities is given out at this time.
- We have a winter meeting early January to begin our second semester. This is a meeting very similar to our fall meeting.
How can I teach High School classes?
- There are multiple answers to this question:
- There are several curriculums that are offered as online classes.
- There are local classes that your student can attend and juniors and seniors can dual enroll in local colleges and universities or online schools that offer dual enrollment.
- Several curriculums have excellent teacher’s guides to assist you in instructing the course.
- Parents with expertise in a course (e.g. physics, history, etc.) may offer to teach a class in the course if board approved.
Can my child get into college?
- Absolutely! Most colleges require school transcripts and an ACT or SAT test score (which are scheduled multiple times in the year.) You can register online for a convenient test location and date. At WBCS we provide your student with a school transcript meeting standard academic requirements that has gained our graduates entrance into schools all over the nation.
Do you offer standardized testing?
- We require standardized testing yearly ranging from 3rd grade- high school.
Do you have a kindergarten program?
- We do have a kindergarten program. Beginning the 2014-2015 school year it will come under WBCS. Please see Enrollment, Kindergarten section for details.
Do you have a preschool program?
- We do have a program called Bright Lights but you do not have to be a member of WBCS to be a participant in this program.
- Bright Lights is the WBCS pre-school program offering families and their young children an opportunity to gather for holiday parties, field trips and play times as well as learn about the rewards and advantages of the home schooling experience. WBCS kindergarten families are welcomed as well. Families do not have to be a member of WBCS to participate in the Bright Lights program. There is a small semester fee and moms are expected to help with planning and execution of activities.
What do you offer beginning homeschool families?
- We offer new families the opportunity to sit down with other seasoned homeschool families to get a feel of how to begin. We walk alongside you as you begin your first steps into homeschooling.
- The administrator is readily available to answer questions and provide support and encouragement.
- We highly recommend HSLDA’s website. http://www.hslda.org/earlyyears/Checklist.asp
What are 4th Fridays?
- From August – October and January –March we gather together, on the 4th Friday of the month, for a fun morning of “show and tell.” All families are invited to bring their lunch and have their students share something with the group (science project, art project, story they have written, play an instrument, sing, etc.) and enjoy a time of fellowship and encouragement.
When does the school year start?
- The school year for WBCS starts on June 1st and ends May 31st. During that period the student will acquire the required number of days to meet state guidelines but there is no requirement as to when the schooling must occur. Many families choose to school a few days a week during the summer in order to take more time off around the holidays or to take a vacation in the fall or winter.
Why should I choose WBCS for my home school cover?
- We are a cover whose mission is dedicated to the support of families who are seeking to educate their children in the strength and admonition of the Lord and who will provide encouragement, support and accountability. If that is what you are seeking, please consider WBCS.
Who can I contact for more information? |
The 52MW Chemin d'Ablis wind farm is located in the Eure-et-Loir department, to the south west of Paris. The other 25 turbines making up the plant are still operating, though are also being checked, according to EDF EN.
The incident, which did not cause any damage, took place early Friday morning. While the winds were strong, they were within the operational limits of the machine, given as 11-90km/h.
Repower and EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN), which owns the plant, are carrying out an investigation to find the cause of the accident.
Commissioned in 2008
The plant, located over a 17-kilometre stretch alongside the A10 motorway, was commissioned in 2008. The 2MW turbines stand in a line stretching 17 kilometres alongside the A10 motorway from Paris to Orléans.
Chemin d'Ablis was the first of the projects selected under the French government's 2004 tender call for 500MW of onshore wind energy. It was also France's first to be connected directly to ultra high tension transmission lines. |
The Democratic governor said that he decided to take action due to the "chilling message" that would have been sent to the renewables industry if the law had passed.
Under the bill, developers would have been barred from installing turbines within a 56-mile (90-kilometre) radius of the Patuxent River naval air station in Somerset county.
The construction of turbines in the areawould have been barred until at least July 2015, when a study of the effects of turbines on the naval base's radar system is due to be released.
This would have hit the 150MW Great Bay wind farm, which falls within the restricted area. Project developer Pioneer Green Energy had said that any delay to the start of construction of the project would mean it would not go ahead.
Pioneer Green had previously thought that it had reached a compromise with the navy that would protect the radar capabilities at the Patuxent River base simply by turning the turbines off during test flights.
However, the state's lawmakers voted to introduce the moratorium in the final days of the legislative session.
The governor's veto is likely to anger those legislators who voted 122-12 in the House of Delegates and 31-16 in the Senate in favour of the bill. |
A clip from Wisdom of the Elders’ documentary short Climate and Native Wisdom: The People of the Caribou.
Wisdom is producing a series of Native American climate documentaries alongside the fourth series of Wisdom of the Elders Radio Program. Oral history, cultural arts, and climate science series featuring voices of exemplary Native elders, storytellers, song carriers, and scientists, offer vital perspective on environmental and climate issues.
Two documentary short films and Wisdom of the Elders Radio Programs have been produced. Funded by National Endowment for the Arts with additional assistance from the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Charity Trust Board and Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund.
Learn more at our “Star-Storming” crowdfunding site – https://www.generosity.com/education-fundraising/climate-native-wisdom-documentary-film-series – and receive a gift of our custom-designed Star Storming t-shirt.
Thank you to Science Journalist Terri Hansen for Wisdom of the Elders in Alaska Talk Climate Change, Culture, Resilience, published by Indian Country Today Media Network about Wisdom of the Elders climate reporting in Alaska.
Three prior radio series have aired on Native American, public, and community radio stations nationwide since 2002, also funded by National Endowment for the Arts and other funders, and are available at our website. |
Raleigh, N.C. — A plan to give some illegal immigrants specially designed driver's licenses is attracting opposition from some lawmakers.
House Bill 184 would require that licenses issued to people in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program "shall not be distinguishable in any manner from other licenses."
State transportation officials have said that the Division of Motor Vehicles will start issuing driver’s licenses and ID cards on March 25 to DACA participants. The program blocks deportation of and grants work permits to those who were brought to the country illegally as young children.
The DMV said the licenses would be vertical instead of horizontal, would bear a bright pink strip across the top instead of dark blue and would have the phrase "No Lawful Status" imprinted on them. The licenses also would expire on the date that a person's deferred-action status ends.
The American Civil Liberties Union has complained that the DACA participants are essentially being given second-class licenses, but Gov. Pat McCrory maintains that the licenses must be clearly marked to prevent the bearers from accessing government services or registering to vote.
A group of Democratic House members filed the new bill, including Reps. Deborah Ross and Rose Gill of Wake County, Paul Luebke of Durham County, Verla Insko of Orange County, Deb McManus of Chatham County and Rick Glazier and Marvin Lucas of Cumberland County. |
digital elevation model - Computer Definition
A digital map of the elevation of an area on the earth. The data are either collected by a private party or purchased from an organization such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that has already undertaken the exploration of the area. Digital elevation models are gray scale images wherein the pixel values are actually elevation numbers. The pixels are also coordinated to world space (longitude and latitude), and each pixel represents some variable amount of that space (foot, meter, mile, etc.) depending on the purpose of the model and land area involved. See remote sensing and GIS glossary. |
|This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (March 2008)|
A capon is a castrated cockerel (rooster).
Caponisation produces a bird prized for its tenderness, and takes the stringiness out of a cockerel's meat.
The Romans are credited with inventing the capon. The Lex Faunia of 162 BCE forbade fattening hens as a way of conserving grain. In order to get around this the Romans castrated roosters, which resulted in a doubling of size.
Sears Roebuck provides instructions for homesteaders prepared to do the surgery themselves: |
Digital storage needs maximum protection.With high storage capacities and many different types of information stored together, digital media are vulnerable to all kinds of abuse. Modern hard disk drives or magnetic storage tapes such as LTO or QIC can contain millions of written pages, together with other confidential information. All of this information is typically secured during use. But after the information is no longer in use, merely deleting all the files does not solve the problem. Most deleted information can easily be restored.
Spot tests made on disposed computers and hard disk drives showed that more than 80% of all tested hard disk drives had never been deleted and still contained personal data – and worse, roughly 50% of this data was hazardous!
Degaussing – a form of demagnetizing – is the process wherein a magnetic object, such as a computer tape, hard disk drive, or CRT monitor, is exposed to a magnetic field of greater, fluctuating intensity. A degausser is the machine that produces this intense magnetic field. When exposed to a fluctuating magnetic field produced by a degausser, the magnetic charge of an object is reset to a magnetically neutral state.
How does a Degausser work?
Degaussers rely on APT (Advanced Pulse TechnologyTM). During the erase an effective quick burst generates a strong and powerful pulse. At the same time an erasing field many times stronger than those produced by the read/write heads in hard drives and tape drives is generated. The field strength of degausser destroys the magnetic structure and ensures that the data are no longer recoverable by computer or laboratory attacks. Since the technology does not rely on software, it will also completely and permanently erase failed and damaged hard drives regardless of the operating system or interface. Built-in safeguards check the stored power before each erase cycle, ensuring complete erasure every time. A field strength meter, audible tones and lighted push buttons report the status of the degausser to the user. |
"Yoga recommends two possible ways for achieving the qualitie of sukha, comfort and lightness, and sthira, steady alertness. The first is to locate knots and resisances in the body and release them. This happens only gradually . . . . The means we use to release blocks and resistances must not adversely affect the body. We must proceed carefully. If we force the body we will experience pain or other unpleasant feelings and the problems will, in the long run, get worse instead of better. The body can only gradually accept an asana. It is by proceeding gently that we will feel light and be able to breathe easily in the position and therefore really benefit from it.
"The second possible means for realizing the concept of sthirasukha consists of visualizing the perfect posture. For this we use the image of the cobra Ananta, the king of the serpents, carrying the whole universe on his head while providing a bed for the Lord Vishnu on his coiled body. Ananta must be completely relaxed in order to make a soft bed for the lord. This is the idea of sukha. Yet the snake cannot be feeble and weak; it must be stong and steady in order to support the universe. That is the idea of sthira. Together these qualities give us the image and the feeling of a perfect asana."
Chicken Nugget Yoga Takes Wing
2 days ago |
How to Focus a Projector
Whether you use a projector for board meetings, conferences with clients or as part of your everyday work equipment, it's essential to make sure that the projector is focused properly. A blurry image makes it difficult to see what's being projector and causes eye strain and will give an impression of being unprofessional to potential clients or customers. Focusing a projector can be accomplished by twisting its focus ring or dial, or by sliding its focus switch.
Locate your projector's focus ring, dial or switch. Some projectors can be manually focused by twisting the lens, while others have a dial or switch that needs to be either turned or slid. Consult with your projector's manual if you're unable to locate the focusing mechanism.
Turn on the projector so that its default display image appears on the wall or projection screen.
Turn the lens or dial, or slide the focusing switch until the projected image comes into focus and appears sharp.
- Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images |
The Yukon Legislative Assembly is the current name of the legislative arm of the Yukon Government. Previously the Legislative Assembly was called the Council of the Yukon Territory, established by the Yukon Act in 1898 to provide advice to the Commissioner of the Yukon. Members initially were appointed by the federal government to legislate and administer all matters in the territory during the chaotic conditions of the Klondike Gold Rush. Citizens advocated strongly for representative government resulting in a partially elected Council and finally the first wholly elected ten-member Council in 1909.
Subsequent changes to the form and functions of the Council reflected the many challenges and developments in the history of the territory and its people. In the early years the right to vote and to run for election was restricted to non-aboriginal male British subjects over the age of twenty-one. Non-aboriginal women were granted those rights in 1919. Aboriginal people were not eligible to vote or run for election until 1961. The first woman was elected in 1967 and the first aboriginal members in 1978.
The number of members fluctuated with changing economic and political conditions through the years. The federal government reduced the Council to three members in 1919 owing to the decline of the territory’s population and stringent economic conditions following World War I. Council membership increased in the post World War II period as the population and economy of the territory grew. Five Councillors were elected in 1952, with further increases in 1961 to seven, and again in 1974 to twelve, in 1978 to sixteen, in 1992 to seventeen, in 2002 to eighteen and to nineteen seats in 2011.
In 1953 the federal government moved the territorial capital to Whitehorse. The Council Chambers moved from the Territorial Administration Building in Dawson City to the old Post Office in Whitehorse, then to two different chambers in the federal building, and in 1976 to the current chamber in the Yukon Government Administration Building.
The period after 1960 brought many new responsibilities and powers for the Council. Some members advocated for full responsible government and provincial status during these years. The Yukon Act was amended in 1960 to bring into being an Advisory Committee on Finance, consisting of three members of the Council. The Commissioner was to consult the Committee, which first met in 1962, in the preparation of the budget.
In 1968 Commissioner James Smith created the Budget Programming Committee which included the Councillors from the Advisory Committee on Finance, two Assistant Commissioners and the Territorial Treasurer. This Committee now had the responsibility of preparing the budget.
In 1970, pursuant to a directive of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, an Executive Committee was created consisting of the Commissioner, two Assistant Commissioners and two members of the Council. The Executive Committee, referred to in those years as the Ex-Comm, has been described as the “embryo” of the current Cabinet. The Budget Programming Committee was transferred into an agency of the Executive Committee and given the title Sub-Committee of Finance.
In 1974 the Council of the Yukon Territory assumed a new name, the Yukon Legislative Assembly, and after 1978 candidates were elected as members of political parties.
The federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Jake Epp, issued a letter in 1979 instructing the Commissioner to assume roles and responsibilities analogous to a provincial Lieutenant Governor. The letter granted the leader of the majority party in the Yukon Legislative Assembly the right to assume the title of Premier and to form the Executive Council with elected members appointed to serve as Cabinet Ministers.
Today the Yukon Government works together with First Nations governments and the Government of Canada to administer various regulations, programs and services affecting all Yukon citizens, including management of heritage, wildlife, health and education. |
A-mobile phone tracker may be easy in several cases, and the assistance may typically be found free of charge. In a situation like this, it helps in the case you realize how to track a-mobile phone, which has been lost. If your mobile phone is GPS-enabled, you’re certainly more prone.
Possibly BlackBerry FLAG conversation may not be hidden. There are lots of features of using Trackfone overusing a standard cellular phone provider. You don’t necessarily require a WiFi connection.
In reality, it’s the only number you could perhaps must give out. If the reason for calling contact is urgent, then there’s trouble. If you suspect that you’re being qualified by somebody then you should really be designed with indicators of telephone tapping.
Moreover, you may make use of the application to keep an eye on your pals and discover where they’re chilling out. It really is simple to use a particular type of software to really have a glance at someone’s cellphone and see what that individual does. Something equivalent does apply in the instance of of SMS also.
Free cell phone text message tracker – guestspy.com
Life After Free Cell Phone Text Message Tracker – Guestspy.com
Today once you would like, it is possible to track the cellular phone place when you go to the site and logging in. It could be worth noting that a lot of the expert tracking suppliers provide site monitoring of one’s child’s device. Since the debut of mobile phone monitoring, privacy has became a topic of question.
Some cellular phone locator vendors ask you to subscribe to a data program and a few do not. Tracing the owner or reverse mobile phone research continues to be shown beneficial for a great deal of people. Mobile phones have long develop into a warning of standing along with a type statement.
You can’t just take another individual ‘s cellular phone and commence having a examine their texting. It’s because these messages help us in advertising exactly what’s being felt at this time. These special texting might help you say everything that you wished to, right now!
Want to Know More About Free Cell Phone Text Message Tracker – Guestspy.com?
For this intent, folks are typically using SMS deals that permit them to deliver online text. Individuals now utilize texts to speak with different folks about anything and everything. If there’s data that must be mailed, most of the people currently only need to present the data and continue on.
AGPS pet tracking program together with cell phone technology stipulates the most trustworthy monitoring. Place in a GPS tracking software in your cellular phone and obtain it activated. With each one of these benefits, it isn’t surprising that cellular phone spy software is getting a growing variety of takers today.
Short Messaging support or cell phone text messages attended over a lengthy means now these have come to become a vital source of transmission. Listen, should you n’t have a telephone checklist, you must not be speaking about bulk SMS promotion. With current scientific breakthroughs, free unusual sms messages are actually able to be directed on a worldwide level anyplace in the world through several internet services.
That the significant amount of sites generating such states are a part of an online scam is another account, but there are a variety of features of technology which make cellular phone tracking possible. There are lots of following systems obtainable for your dog. There’s truly an extremely simple solution, you are able to have the texting service connected for your kid’s phone switched off. |
For some people, they feel as though not eating or skipping a meal (especially breakfast) will help them to lose weight. This actually is a myth. What happens instead is that your body thinks it’s in a “famine state” and then when you eat again it stores everything you eat as fat. In turn your body doesn’t burn the stored fat you already have. Or it will burn the non-essential parts of the body such as your muscles for energy. You will slim down but in the wrong places.
A large percentage of people simply skip breakfast, and those that do eat breakfast don’t necessarily eat what they should. Usually it’s something convenient, processed and loaded with carbohydrates and very little if any protein. The fact is there are more than 25 million young adults in America that are overweight or obese and 60 percent of them skip the “most important meal of the day” – breakfast.
Besides the obvious benefits of eating a serving of healthy protein for breakfast, studies are now showing that it keeps you fuller longer and gives you the energy you need over several hours and actually stops dieters from snacking at night (which usually consists of processed foods high in sugar, simple carbs and high fats).
Many experts are now of the belief that eating a good breakfast containing a portion of a healthy protein might just hold the key to the solution to the obesity crisis and fending off diabetes. Not only will you avoid these health hazards, but you’ll feel better and look better than you have in years!
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged amino acids, carbohydrates, carbs, chicken, diabetes, diet, digestion, eggs, energy, exercise, fats, fiber, fruit, health, healthy, healthy fats, metabolism, nutrition, protein, protein powder, smoothie, vegetables, vitamins, weight loss. |
Disclaimer: Placement of a listing on the AADD-UK website does not represent an endorsement by AADD-UK, nor does it represent any testimony by AADD-UK as to the quality of the services provided. AADD-UK does reserve the right to accept or reject listings on the AADD-UK website at any time. Inclusion on this list may not be used for advertising or endorsement purposes.
We have borrowed the following quote from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) because it clearly states the current situation for adults with ADHD in the UK:
The identification of ADHD in adults in the UK is uncommon. There are very few specialist or generic mental health services in the NHS for adults with ADHD, despite evidence of effectiveness; in addition, clinicians often feel ill equipped to treat adults with ADHD. Young people often leave children’s services with no readily identifiable adult service to support them, even though most young people with a sustained diagnosis will go on to have significant difficulties in adulthood. These, may include continuing ADHD, comorbid psychiatric disorders, emotional and social difficulties, substance misuse, unemployment and involvement in crime. This also means that there is a pool of adult patients in whom the diagnosis of ADHD has been unidentified and where ineffective treatments have been put in place for alternative diagnoses, which may account for the high rates of contact reported with mental health services for adults with ADHD and in turn the associated cost implications. In addition, many people with ADHD, and their parents or carers, experience stigma and other difficulties because of the symptoms and impairment associated with ADHD and current practice within healthcare and education (more information about the commissioning of services for adults with ADHD is available from NICE).
The potential benefits of robustly commissioning an effective service for the diagnosis and management of ADHD in adults include:
The key components of a service for the diagnosis and management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults and young people in transition are:
The transition of young people with ADHD into adult services
The NICE clinical guideline CG72 on ADHD states that young people with ADHD receiving treatment and care from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) or paediatric services should normally be transferred to adult services if they continue to have significant symptoms of ADHD, or coexisting conditions that require treatment. Transition should be planned in advance by both referring and receiving services. An assessment at school-leaving age to establish the need for continuing treatment into adulthood should be carried out.
Flexibility in the timing of transition is important. The precise timing of arrangements may vary locally but should usually be completed by the time the young person is 18 years old.
Transition arrangements should normally include:
details of the anticipated treatment and services that the young person will require
consideration of a formal meeting involving CAMHS and/or paediatrics and adult psychiatric services, and provision of full information about adult services to the young person
the use of the care programme approach as an aid to transfer between services for young people aged 16 years and older
the involvement of the young person, and when appropriate the parent or carer, in the planning.
Appropriate referral, diagnosis and management of adults with ADHD
It is important to ensure that people with symptoms suggestive of ADHD are referred for appropriate assessment, diagnosis and treatment in order to improve the recognition and management of ADHD in adults, and to reduce the risk of potentially vulnerable young people lacking access to appropriate treatment and services.
The NICE clinical guideline CG72 on ADHD recommends that:
Adults presenting with symptoms of ADHD in primary care or general adult psychiatric services, who do not have a childhood diagnosis of ADHD, should be referred for assessment by a mental health specialist trained in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD, where there is evidence of typical manifestations of ADHD (hyperactivity/impulsivity and/or inattention) that:
began during childhood and have persisted throughout life
are not explained by other psychiatric diagnoses (although there may be other coexisting psychiatric conditions)
have resulted in or are associated with moderate or severe psychological, social and/or educational or occupational impairment.
Adults who have previously been treated for ADHD as children or young people and present with symptoms suggestive of continuing ADHD should be referred to general adult psychiatric services for assessment.
The symptoms should be associated with at least moderate or severe psychological and/or social or educational or occupational impairment.
A diagnosis of ADHD should only be made by a specialist psychiatrist, paediatrician or other appropriately qualified health care professional with training and expertise in the diagnosis of ADHD.
The details of the diagnosis are described in the NICE clinical guideline CG72 on ADHD.
This guideline also notes that drug treatment for adults should:
be the first-line treatment unless the person prefers psychological treatment
be started under the guidance of a psychiatrist, nurse prescriber specialising in ADHD or other clinical prescriber with training in ADHD diagnosis and management
always form part of a comprehensive treatment programme that addresses psychological, behavioural and educational or occupational needs
be prescribed by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional with expertise in managing both ADHD and substance misuse for adults who also misuse substances.
developing a high-quality service for the diagnosis and management of ADHD in adults and young people in transition
NICE clinical guideline CG72 on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder recommends that:
trusts should ensure that specialist ADHD teams for children, young people and adults jointly develop age-appropriate training programmes for the diagnosis and management of ADHD for mental health, paediatric, social care, education, forensic and primary care providers and other professionals who have contact with people with ADHD
child and adult psychiatrists, paediatricians, and other child and adult mental health professionals (including those working in forensic services) should undertake training so that they are able to diagnose ADHD and provide treatment and management.
the organisation and planning of services.
NICE clinical guideline CG72 on ADHD recommends that multidisciplinary specialist ADHD teams and/or clinics for children and young people should be established, with separate teams and/or clinics for adults. Initially these could be provided by a specialist team, but over time should be integrated within generic mental health services.
The guideline also recommends that these teams and clinics should have expertise in the diagnosis and management of ADHD, and should:
provide diagnostic, treatment and consultation services for people with ADHD who have complex needs, or where general psychiatric services are in doubt about the diagnosis and/or management of ADHD
put in place systems of communication and protocols for information sharing among paediatric, child and adolescent, forensic, and adult mental health services for people with ADHD, including arrangements for transition between child and adult services
produce local protocols for shared care arrangements with primary care providers, and ensure that clear lines of communication between primary care secondary care are maintained
ensure age-appropriate psychological services are available for young people and adults with ADHD, and for parents or carers.
The size and commitment of these teams should depend on local circumstances (for example, the size of the trust, the population covered and the estimated referral rate for people with ADHD).
More information is available in the NICE clinical guideline CG72 on ADHD
And now for listings of ADHD specialists, support groups, and coaches please click on the links below:
If there is anything on this page you would like to discuss, or if you have any questions, please join us in our Forum here.
Review date: 00/09/2015
Next review due: 00/09/2016 |
A/C That Cools and Heats
In the late 1970’s natural gas shortages prompted manufacturers and home owners to look into heat pumps. Not a bad idea, considering that, unlike the name suggests, these work for both heating and cooling. How?
From a technical standpoint, it is a mechanical-compression cycle refrigeration system that can be reversed. It usually requires an indoor air handler and an outdoor unit, much like an air conditioner.
When in heat mode, it uses the same refrigeration cycle as within the air conditioner, but in the opposite direction. Instead of blowing the warm air from indoors to the outside, it recycles it indoors.
Think About it Like This…
A heat pump moves heat instead of making heat, giving you far more efficiency. It is powered by electricity with a SEER rating as high as 19.00. The efficiency of a heat pump is measured by the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) rating. The SEER rating of a unit is the cooling output during a typical cooling-season divided by the total electric energy input during the same period. The higher the unit’s SEER rating the more energy efficient it is.
For example, by upgrading from SEER 9 to SEER 13, the unit’s power consumption is reduced by 30%. By some estimates. That could translate into a savings of $200 to $300 a year. For one thing, the new generation of heat pumps generates two to three times as much heat as an electric boiler or a baseboard heater, using the same amount of electricity. As much as 40 percent in savings has been estimated for some residents of the Northeast.
So, because heat pumps perform both heating and cooling functions, some homeowners prefer them over gas or heat furnaces. Also because of the potential savings. In many cases, people can add a savings to their winter fuel bills of $1,200 a year.
No Longer Limited to Southern Climates
In earlier days, the heat pump was favored more in temperate climates. In areas where the temperature dipped below 30 degrees F., a backup system was needed to compensate for the limitations of the heat pump. This is no longer a problem with newer systems. Today’s technology has developed a new generation of heat pump systems that can do the job of heating even during extreme conditions. This equals as low as 20 degrees below zero!
Even older systems today can be tweaked to meet maximum heating needs. One big improvement that has allowed heat pumps to function in cold climates is the introduction of variable-speed motors. These save energy by running more slowly — but not shutting off — when the house is at a comfortable temperature. Manufacturers have reworked a mix of refrigerants, making them better at transferring heat within. Insulated tubes have now replaced drafty systems of ducts.
Heat Pumps are Environmentally Friendly
Some environmental groups are pushing heat pump systems because they supplement or replace the need for oil-burning systems. Utility companies are offering rebate incentives to homeowners who install a new heat pump system. And the new systems utilize the mandated R410 coolant adding to a safer environment.
Heating and Cooling System Replacement
Is your present system showing signs of wear and tear? Will it make it safely through the Minnesota winter?
Not only age, 10 – 18 years average for a heat pump system, other signs will indicate a need to consider a new system, such as, does it require frequent repairs? Are your energy bills skyrocketing? Is it failing to adequately heat or cool some areas? It may be struggling to get the job done. Its days may be numbered, and you don’t want to wait until it fails completely on a cold frigid night.
Yes, replacement costs may be high, but you’ll receive compensation from having peace of mind, lower utility bills, and perhaps rebates.
If this is a consideration for your home, we at Abel Heating and Cooling would be happy to take a look and give an assessment on your present system. Then we can honestly recommend ideas for replacing the system. Perhaps the problem can even be fixed. We recommend having your system checked and maintained once or twice a year. If so, you may want to consider the Abel Performance Program. This will not only keep your system in peak performance, but will allow early detection of problems.
Call us at 952-472-COOL (2665) or Contact Us |
On May 7, 2016 the smoke from the Canadian wildfires reached the Florida air. But here in the Twin Cities areas we’ve been visibly seeing, and breathing it.
From this map we can see that of the U.S. states, North Dakota and Minnesota received the most smoke from this fire. Have your eyes been watering? Was your throat dry and raspy? For people with upper respiratory diseases, this smoke is a very real danger.
In situations like this, your heating and cooling system can play a big part in maintaining your health.
What are the Toxic Components of a Wildfire?
Particulates — includes both particles that are fine and invisible and those that are coarse and visible. The fine particles are worse as they can be breathed deep into the lungs.
Carbon monoxide (CO) — CO is a toxic gas that has no odor, taste or color, and it’s generated in considerable amounts during a wildfire, causing a great concern for firefighters.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) — present in the smoke from byproducts of combustion. These compounds, such as formaldehyde, benzene or acrolein, irritate the eyes, nose, mouth and throat. They can also cause permanent tissue damage in the lungs.
Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) — PAHs are a type of organic compound that are particular to forest fires, fireplaces, or wood stoves. These particles can be carcinogenic.
Ellen Macdonald, forest ecologist at the University of Alberta says about the Canadian fire:
It’s an extremely intense fire, the ecosystem will be massively changed.”
How? Toxins released into the air by the many burning homes and buildings and their contents – like furniture, roofing, automobiles, etc. have produced a wide range of toxins including mercury, lead and organic compounds. Maybe a dishwasher, refrigerator or tires have completely disappeared to a pile of ashes, but it’s this ash that becomes the hazard when it is mixed with water. It becomes as caustic as oven cleaner!
Then the first good rain will result in a very large “toxic surge” across land and into waterways, causing an impact on humans, fish and other aquatic organisms.
Another hazard is the unprecedented amount of CO2 that is released.
The U.S. experiences more than 100,000 wildfires each year that ravage about five million acres in total…but the fire itself isn’t necessarily the most dangerous part. These fires also generate formidable amounts of smoke, and like the Canadian fire, that smoke can reach areas hundreds of miles beyond the epicenter.
What are the Main Health Effects from Inhaling Wildfire Smoke?
Smoke particulates can enter and irritate the eyes and respiratory system. You’ll have burning eyes, runny nose, a sore throat and illnesses like bronchitis. Exposure can aggravate chronic heart and lung conditions. People who already suffer from asthma and COPD will be most affected, as well as the elderly and very young.
Warning Signs of an Asthma Emergency:
- Very rapid breathing
- Struggling for breath
- Fast activating (rescue) inhaler doesn’t help or you need it more than every 4 hours
- Sucking in skin above breastbone and between ribs
- Being really tired/ lethargic (because of the work of breathing)
- Finding it hard to speak – you can’t finish a sentence
- Nostrils flaring out
- Pale, grey, sweating
- Blue lips or nail beds
Warning Signs of a COPD Lung Attack:
- Chest pain
- Blue lips or fingers
- Extreme shortness of breath
How Can You Protect Your Family’s Health During a Smoke Advisory?
Authorities recommend that residents stay inside. If you live close enough to the fire that there is ash residue outside, wipe your feet, and those of your children and pets when they come inside. Remember, toxins remain in the ash.
Keep windows, doors, outside vents and dampers shut. If they are not tight fitting, then find a way to seal them.
Do not run a fan that pulls air in from the outside. These are commonly found in bathrooms and in window units.
Check the public alert systems, including the air quality reports. If you live close to the fire, you’ll want to learn of evacuation notices.
Never use ionic air purifiers as an alternative to HEPA air purifiers. These air purifiers generate ozone and other toxic byproducts.
Use air conditioners on the re-circulation setting so outside air will not be moved inside. Even if you don’t have an air-conditioning system, your heating system likely can run continuously on the ‘fan only’ cycle. This will pass air through the filter system. Use the highest quality filter available for your units. A high efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA) works best. Be sure it is clean.
If you are concerned about future incidents of wildfire smoke inhalation, you could have your heating and cooling professional install an air-purification system.
If needed, a person could use a disposable particulate respirator. This can offer some protection against harmful particles. But get advice from your physician regarding use of respirators if you have pre-existing heart and lung conditions. Or get an N-95 mask as seen in the photo.
Advice for Employers and Employees During a Wildfire
Stay Indoors – Be sure the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems are operating at maximum efficiency and the filters are clean. To be on the safe side, you may want to call your HVAC technician to check everything out.
Stay Alert – News reports will rate the air-quality as good, moderate, unhealthy and depending on the health and condition of your employees they may need to adjust their schedule. Working from home may even be an option.
Portable Air Cleaners – These can supplement the HVAC system according to the cleaning efficiency, air exchange rate and size of the room. Contact your HVAC expert.
Physical Activity – Heavy exertion causes workers to breathe more deeply, depositing particles deeper in the lungs.
Provide N-95 Masks or Respirators
Let us Help
At Abel Heating and Cooling we have information regarding filter and air quality systems and we’re ready to help you protect your family from the ill effects of a smoke advisory alert.
Call us at 952-472-2665 or Contact Us
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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
|Title:||Magnesium status and magnesium therapy in cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis focusing on arrhythmia prevention|
|Authors:||Fairley, Jessica L|
Glassford, Neil J
|Date of Publication:||Dec-2017|
|Citation:||Journal of Critical Care 2017; 42: 69-77|
|Abstract:||PURPOSE: To investigate magnesium as prophylaxis or treatment of postoperative arrhythmias in cardiac surgery (CS) patients. To assess impact on biochemical and patient-centered outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, CENTRAL and EMBASE electronic databases from 1975 to October 2015 using terms related to magnesium and CS. English-Language RCTs were included involving adults undergoing CS with parenterally administered magnesium to treat or prevent arrhythmias, compared to control or standard antiarrythmics. We extracted incidence of postoperative arrhythmias, termination following magnesium administration and secondary outcomes (including mortality, length of stay, hemodynamic parameters, biochemistry). RESULTS: Thirty-five studies were included, with significant methodological heterogeneity. Atrial fibrillation (AF) was most commonly reported, followed by ventricular, supraventricular and overall arrhythmia frequency. Magnesium appeared to reduce AF (RR 0.69, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 0.56-0.86, p=0.002), particularly postoperatively (RR 0.51, 95%CI 0.34-0.77, p=0.003) for longer than 24h. Maximal benefit was seen with bolus doses up to 60mmol. Magnesium appeared to reduce ventricular arrhythmias (RR=0.46, 95%CI 0.24-0.89, p=0.004), with a trend to reduced overall arrhythmias (RR=0.80, 95%CI 0.57-1.12, p=0.191). We found no mortality effect or significant increase in adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Magnesium administration post-CS appears to reduce AF without significant adverse events. There is limited evidence to support magnesium administration for prevention of other arrhythmias.|
|Appears in Collections:||Journal articles|
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After a tense change of power, a massive contract for an airport in Maldives nation, has become a political and diplomatic football. The contract to modernise the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Male, won by Indian infrastructure firm GMR, has led to frayed diplomatic relations between India and Maldives.
The cost of the project is $500 million. The build-operate-transfer contract would translate into the Maldives government receiving $1 billion over 25 years. For a country with a GDP of a little over $2 billion, this is clearly a project that can make or break governments. On the surface, the controversy is about the conditions under which the contract was given out, during the regime of former president Mohammed Nasheed. The present government is accusing the former government of twisting local rules to grant the contract to GMR.
The administration has raised questions and doubts about the authenticity of the conditions under which the contract was signed. There are allegations of money having changed hands. Of course, the players involved deny this. But it doesn’t help matters that GMR has of late been getting some poor press in India. Most recently, the CAG has castigated the GMR-led DIAL for anomalies in developing the T3 terminal of Delhi airport. Earlier, there were issues with GMR’s Hyderabad airport project.
While there has been no official communication from the Maldives government to the GMR group regarding a rethink on the airport contract, there are reports that political parties are also raising questions about the contract for a strategic asset being given to an “outsider”. That’s potentially bad news for GMR, because even if the contract conditions are positive and secure for the company, the government can, at any time, scrap a contract in the “national interest”. Of the $500 million, GMR has already put in $240 million in the project and paid $130 million to the government.
GMR said that since the bidding process was monitored by international authorities—the World Bank group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC)—there should be no doubt about its authenticity. Says Siddharth Kapur, GMR’s CFO (airports), “The whole process was handled by IFC and the contract was given in a transparent manner. Why is this being raked up one-and-a-half years later, when no one, not even the other bidders or members of the government, had objections to the process before?”
The other contentious issue is that of the $25 airport development fee (ADF), which GMR insists was built into the contract. Says Kapur, “The concession agreement provides for charging of ADF on departing international passengers. This is a sovereign commitment under the concession terms. The Maldives government needs to get their requisite approvals in place to honour their commitment.” GMR sources say that since an amendment in laws was required to allow the ADF, the former Nasheed government had written to GMR, stating that the ADF amount should be adjusted from the revenue share. However, this was discontinued when the government changed and the Waheed regime took over.
There is increased play by different political groups who want to prove they are “saving” the airport, a precious asset. Raking up an anti-India sentiment is also on the agenda of many politicians. This was apparent when the Maldives president’s spokesperson called Dnyaneshwar Mulay, India’s envoy to the Maldives, a “traitor” and “an enemy of Maldives”, before the government launched a huge fire-fighting exercise to save face.
The ruling party does not have strength and needs to create a constituency by creating such sentiments and issues. And the GMR case fits into the issue of the Maldives’ sovereignty. As no Maldives political outfit would want to antagonise India—which regularly extends a monetary line to the country—larger issues like security and national interest are being constantly raised.
Then there is the China question. Many pro-India politicians are also raising the China bogey, saying that the entire hullabaloo about GMR is basically to ease the Indian company out of the project and bring the Chinese in. A senior member of the Waheed government said on condition of anonymity, “This whole hype about GMR and the anti-India sentiments is done by some in the government who are seeking Chinese favours….The Chinese are keen on competing with India in this part…. They have plans to get the southernmost Gan International airport in Addu too. There is one more airport only a couple of miles from India’s Lakshwadeep borders. China is looking at that too.”
Recently, the Maldives government issued a prime plot of land close to the Indian High Commission in Male to China to build their embassy, a development not seen positively by India. China got the plot within a year of starting an embassy in Maldives. While this could be a serious strategic issue for India, political watchers say it is not unusual for Maldivian politicians to rake up the China issue to get the attention of Indian policymakers and Maldivian leaders. At election time, such games pay off.
As of now though, the fate of GMR’s contract in Male hangs in doubt, with the government yet to take a decision on it. With election fever picking up in Male, the airport issue may decide who rules the country next year. If anti-India sentiments prevail, GMR could just be part of the collateral damage. |
Elderly dogs are so cute.
They enjoy the most simple things and are usually easily satisfied when we take the time to give them appropriate attention and engagement.
In our house, two of our dogs are approaching their 15th birthdays: McCoy’s is March 12 and Finn’s is March 31. It is hard to believe they have been with us so long and still enjoying life at this age, but they do.
Both dogs have health issues. McCoy has had a mild hip dysplasia since puppyhood, and entropion in his left eye which causes his eyelashes to scratch his eye and make it water. But both problems have not been serious enough to warrant surgery. Other than that he is doing quite well. Finn has a heart condition for which she takes two medications and has done so for 3 years. Both dogs enjoy their meals and treats and they love to sniff everything on walks since they both became hard of hearing in the last year or so.
Dogs are living longer these days. I have found it extremely important for older dogs to have something to do that they enjoy. Often the belief is that older dogs just sleep and eat and poop. This is true, but there is likely something else that an elderly dog still enjoys doing – as long as it is not too taxing on them physically.
Our Older Dog’s Activities
McCoy really likes to go for walks. They don’t have to be long, but he still has quite a bit of energy for a dog his age. There are times that he just wants to get out in the yard and run, even if it is cold out. His running is not the same as a younger dog. He uses both back feet to push off from instead of just having one foot down at a time. This prevents his hips or legs from giving out as their strength has lessened over the years.
Finn prefers to cuddle. She does like walking and sniffing but is much slower than McCoy so a walk is a long drawn out process. Her favourite thing to do is curl up beside me on the couch and get brushed or scratched. McCoy does not care for petting as much so this is the main difference between the two dogs.
McCoy is starting to not enjoy food as much until the evening when he seems more hungry. This can be an issue for training since he is reluctant to take treats if he is not hungry. So we focus on taking him for exercise that he can tolerate.
Finn on the other paw, has no problem eating. This makes it easy to do short, interesting training sessions that make her think a bit. I also find that some light massage in the evening is good for Finn. She has always been a slightly anxious dog so this helps her relax.
Something To Live For
Daily stimulation helps keep an older dog’s mind active, just as it does in humans. Keeping the mind stimulated is huge in preventing cognitive problems in older dogs. I actually believe this is the most important thing to keeping both your dog (and you) healthy – something to live for or something of interest in life. Of course when considering what you should do with your older dog it is prudent to make sure nothing is overdone and that you choose the appropriate activity for the dog’s physical issues. But having an enjoyable activity to look forward to is crucial to keeping the mind healthy. This in turn helps the body.
I know I don’t have to tell most humans with dogs to make sure the older dog is given enough stimulation. But sometimes it slips by us, what with our busy lives and rushing around trying to get everything done and then needing to rest because of that. Often, the dog can be the last thing on the list to entertain when there is little energy left for basic stuff.
You never really know how long your dog will be with you, but you can make those years or even months enjoyable and interesting for your loyal fur friend and likely yourself as well.
For a list of the Ten most important things you can do to keep your senior dog healthy check out this link: http://www.srdogs.com/Pages/care.tips.html
For more information on Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome check out: http://www.akc.org/news/come-grow-old-with-me/ |
I want to briefly talk about “belief systems” which I would define as the collection of beliefs that you hold as fact about yourself and your life. This is important because the beliefs we hold could either be dangerously limiting us, or empowering us to open up new worlds of success. What are your beliefs? Do you believe you’re going to be wealthy? Do you believe you’re going to dominate your career? Do you believe you’re destined for greatness?
As I’m watching the Rio Olympics, the sports networks occasionally play a short montage/story of an athlete that allows the viewers to get some background into the athlete and how they became world-class, Olympic competitors. Usually the clips would be of athletes that overcame extreme adversity to rise to the top, but surprisingly all of the greatest athlete seemed to have one thing in common while they were growing up and training – they believed they could do things or achieve greatness even before they could.
Belief is a powerful force. It controls how we view the world and the experiences that come into our lives everyday. For me, I try to say affirmations to myself everyday saying I AM… whatever I want to be in the future. I’m affirming things that are already coming my way. But I have to stop myself from time to time to ask myself, “Do I really believe these things?” There’s a huge difference between saying something, and believe in it. Believe has no doubt, and if you don’t completely believe what you’re saying to yourself, your mind sees it as a fraud. I truly believe I’ll be a great business leader and innovator and make an impact in this world, but it’s important that I check myself from time to time to assess if my belief systems are completely air-tight. |
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection accused of ‘permitting one disaster after another’
By Michael M. Barrick
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – On March 16, a day before seven environmental groups announced their intention to sue the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) for failing to intervene on West Virginia’s lax oversight of mountaintop removal and other destructive surface coal mining, approximately 200 people rallied in front of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) building to demand that it stop issuing permits for mountaintop removal.
Speakers moved beyond the customary concerns about environmental impacts and alluded to several studies that show that the strip-mining practice causes lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses from clouds of fine blasting dust.
According to one study published on the United States Institute of Health webpage, “Appalachian mountaintop mining particulate matter induces neoplastic transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells and promotes tumor formation.” Additionally, the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Campaign website offers a brief video about a child needing breathing treatments because of exposure to dust clouds from a nearby mountaintop removal site. Another page, on the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition website, provides information garnered from more than two dozen studies about the illnesses and deaths caused by mountaintop removal.
Among those present or speaking at “The People’s Foot” rally were several environmental leaders, Mountain State residents, at least two groups of college students visiting West Virginia on immersion trips, a singer from Kentucky, a Charleston singer and poet, and a 10-year-old girl.
Vernon Haltom, executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch boomed, “DEP Secretary Randy Huffman has finally conceded that these health studies need to be considered, but he says his agency does not have the expertise to do so. If his agency does not understand the health impacts of the actions that they permit, then they have no business issuing more mountaintop removal permits. Randy Huffman has the authority, the mission and the moral obligation to protect people’s health, so he should issue no more mountaintop removal permits until he understands the consequences.”
Maria Gunnoe, an organizer with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition added, “Mountaintop removal is killing the people I love, and my government is allowing it. The West Virginia DEP is permitting one disaster after another, and the people of West Virginia are paying for these disasters.”
Bo Webb, who organized the rally, called for the passage of federal legislation – HR 912, the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act. “Randy Huffman could refuse to issue another mountaintop removal permit based on the health impacts, but he would lose his job. Our state government will make sure that the permits continue to flow.”
Tom Breiding with Wheeling Jesuit University’s Appalachian Institute brought a group of students to the rally and was taking them to the West Virginia Coal Association office the next day. “We provide a comprehensive overview of what is happening in West Virginia,” said Breiding.
Also escorting a student group was Wess Harris. A sociologist by training, Harris is also a farmer, educator, and self-described progressive activist living in central West Virginia. He is also a retired underground miner who was a union organizer. He stressed that he seeks to provide the students he brings in with a balanced understanding of West Virginia. “I want them to learn what we are hearing today, but I also want them to respect coal miners. It is important that they understand that we’re not bad people.” He added, about the students, “I hope they come up with a solution.”
Tonya Adkins, a native West Virginian now living in Kentucky, sang a song she wrote based on Revelation 11:18. The lyrics include the line, “What will they say on the judgment day when God destroys those who destroyed the earth?” Commenting upon her song, she shared, “A thread that runs through this is the poisoning of our water.” Revelation 11:18 reads, “The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to recompense your servants, the prophets, and the holy ones and those who fear your name, the small and the great alike, and to destroy those who destroy the earth” (New American Bible, Revised Edition).
The 10-year-old, Ukiah Cordell of Charleston, said, “I used to love hiking up a mountain, letting the cool breeze blow away my negative thoughts. I still do. But now, it is not always so nice.” She concluded with a proclamation of hope, saying, “Mountaintop removal started here and we are going to end it here.”
© Appalachian Preservation Project, LLC, 2015. The Appalachian Chronicle is a publication of the Appalachian Preservation Project. The Appalachian Preservation Project is a social enterprise committed to preserving and protecting Appalachia. If you wish to support our work, please consider becoming a member.
Also, the “Preserving Sacred Appalachia” Earth Day conference is scheduled for April 20-21 in Charleston, W.Va. This is a wonderful opportunity to be part of a community of like-minded preservationists to address the topics covered extensively on this site. Learn about it and register for it here.
Also, if you use Facebook, please “like” our page: https://www.facebook.com/appalachianpreservationproject |
Authorities and animal protection groups in Switzerland have clashed over whether a black swan should be allowed to swim with his white friends on Lake Geneva. The swan, dubbed Nelson after Nelson Mandela, was seen swimming on Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) near Vevey in the canton of Vaud over the past few months, an unusual sight given the bird is a non-native species usually found in Australia. Probably bred in captivity, it was unclear how the swan ended up in Vevey. A tag on its leg did not reveal its owner, and nobody came forward to claim it.
The situation was a concern for the Vaud cantonal authorities, who took the decision on May 27th to capture the bird to check it for diseases it could potentially pass on to native swans.
After a period of quarantine, the swan would be given to a zoo or animal park rather than released back to the lake, Frédéric Hofmann, responsible for animal welfare in the canton, said at the time.
The decision caused uproar amongst the public, with many people expressing their anger on a Facebook group set up to campaign for the bird’s release.
“It’s hurting no one, this swan. I’ve seen it for the past five months in Vevey – if it wasn’t accepted by the others it would have gone somewhere else long ago,” said one commenter, before criticising the decision to put it in captivity.
The person behind the Facebook group said: “We have been deeply moved by its brutal and incomprehensible capture. It’s perfectly adapted [to the lake] and seemed very happy. We don’t understand the need to quarantine it and then put it in a zoo.”
The emotion surrounding the case caused the authorities to change their mind, and the bird was finally released back into Lake Geneva last week by the head of Vaud’s environment department, Jacqueline de Quattro.
But now a Swiss animal protection group has questioned the action, saying the bird’s re-release could be illegal.
Francois Turrian of BirdLife Suisse said since the bird was a non-native species there was a “risk of competition with indigenous species”.
“That’s why the federal law on the hunting and protection of birds and wild animals forbids the reintroduction of such an animal into nature. Its place is in a park,” he said.
In this particular case, black swans are not able to reproduce with native species, so there is little risk.
However the action by Jacqueline de Quattro was a “bad example” that could push the owners of other exotic animals, such as tortoises, to release them into the wild without thinking of the damage they could cause, Turrian told the paper.
“We don’t understand why, if not for an electoral reason, a cantonal councillor would decide not to follow federal law.”
On Monday de Quattro defended her actions, saying that since ‘Nelson’ can’t reproduce with native species he therefore will have no impact on biodiversity.
“I absolutely dispute the suggestion I showed a bad example,” she said, saying that the swan was very different to other cases involving exotic animals. |
TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT: HOPE ON THE HORIZON
Bivalent δ-µ Opioid Ligands: Potential for Pain Control Without Tolerance or Dependence
David J. Daniels, M.D., Ph.D.
The relationship between morphine-induced tolerance and dependence, and pharmacological interaction between δ- and µ-opioid receptors has been observed for more than 20 years. Studies have revealed that morphine-induced tolerance and dependence can be reduced without compromising analgesic activity by antagonizing the δ-opioid receptor. Because it has not yet been determined whether this is a consequence of the direct association between δ- and µ-opioid receptors, or due to functional modulation involving neuronal circuitry, we have designed bivalent opioid ligands that contain µ-agonist and δ-antagonist pharmacophores to address this issue. Bivalent ligands with the shorter spacers produced both tolerance and dependence similar to both morphine and control monovalent ligands on chronic administration to mice. However, when the distance between the two pharmacophores of the bivalent ligand exceeded 18 atoms, the compounds no longer produced tolerance or dependence. These data suggest that physical interaction between the d- and µ-opioid receptors modulates µ-mediated tolerance and dependence. Additionally, one of these compounds was found to be 50-fold more potent than morphine by intravenous administration, suggesting a previously uncharacterized approach for the development of analgesics, devoid of tolerance or dependence.
New Opioid Formulations: Hope on the Horizon
Pamela P. Palmer, M.D., Ph.D.
Although there are many complex issues to discuss regarding the use and abuse of opioids, three major areas of concentrated effort should have a direct impact over the next decade on the overall safety of prescribing and using opioids to treat acute and chronic pain. First, there are new abuse-resistant formulations of opioids. We present key aspects of opioid formulations that resist abuse, including safer extended-release formulations. We also highlight the importance of high-bioavailable opioid formulations. Second, we discuss the safer dispensing of opioids, including novel drug-device products in development for the safer dosing of analgesics in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. Third, we report on efforts at mitigating dose escalation by developing opioid formulations with less tolerance development. Clinical aspects of opioid tolerance development, and key molecular targets for novel therapies to deter opioid tolerance are covered.
Real-Time fMRI: A New Method for Controlling Targeted Brain Activation Through Training, With Application to Pain Control and Addiction
R. Christopher deCharms, Ph.D.
It is now possible to visualize brain activation in real time using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI). This may allow patients to observe and learn to control the brain mechanisms underlying their own disease processes. Pain regulation is mediated through a powerful and highly developed endogenous modulatory system spanning multiple brain regions. Bringing this system under conscious control could provide a novel mechanism to decrease pain, using rtfMRI training.
In experiments designed to test this hypothesis, we provided healthy experimental subjects and chronic pain patients with rtfMRI information from the regions associated with pain perception and pain control, including the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC). When subjects deliberately induced increased versus decreased rACC activation, there were corresponding changes in the perceived pain intensity caused by an applied noxious thermal stimulus or ongoing chronic pain. This was not observed in four independent control groups that received training without rtfMRI. Thus, it is possible that subjects may learn explicit control over brain activation using rtfMRI-based training, with a concomitant impact on cognitive processes. This procedure is being actively investigated in ongoing clinical trials on chronic pain and addiction. |
Once in a while, when God looks down on us with love, he drops a soul into the world like a pebble gently tossed into a pond. Like that pebble, the soul makes waves that spread throughout the world before it all too quickly slips from our sight. My brother Davy was just such a soul.
I could talk at length about Davy’s quiet generosity, his love for his family, for his sons, Michael and Andrew. I could also talk about how since childhood Davy was a natural leader and how even at a young age the neighborhood children would follow him around. As an Army officer, his men loved and trusted Davy. No, my limited time and lack of eloquence cannot do justice to almost 50 years of a life well lived.
I do want to take a moment and share with you about how Davy inspired us during the last couple of years as his struggle with ALS progressed.
Jesus never promised us an easy life when he said that we must pick up our cross and follow Him and it is a paradox of our faith that whom Jesus especially loves, he gives a great cross. Davy was Jesus’s pebble tossed into our lives and the waves He made through Davy will continue to radiate throughout our world for many years to come.
Davy’s illness inspired compassion, love and generosity in others. Davy’s suffering became an opportunity for people think of others instead of themselves. Neighbors, friends, or even strangers would commit acts of love in the name of Davy. People would come over to help around the house, bring or cook food and bring comfort to Davy, my parents and Davy’s boys. Jesus told us that whatever you do to the least of my brothers you do unto me. Therefore, every act of love and kindness directed to Davy and our family was also an act of love toward Jesus Himself. Davy’s illness inspired compassion in others and through it Jesus brought His love to us while we in turn became more loving people to our neighbor.
Davy’s illness also inspired a spiritual awaking in those around him. One of Davy’s fellow Army officers to spoke to me about how Davy’s inner beauty brought her back to a deeper love of her Catholic faith that she had lost. Others began to pray, some for the first time. Some of us began to pray the Rosary daily, others started to attend daily Mass. At first, these prayers were for Davy and our family but as time went by Jesus used our newly inspired prayer lives to draw us to a deeper relationship of love with Him.
In effect, Jesus was using Davy to bring all of us into a closer with Him.
A week before Davy passed away he was hospitalized for three simultaneous blood infections. What happened in the hospital during that stay was the most profound and mysterious lesson for us all.
While my brothers Peter and Patrick and our mother and I sat with Davy his blood pressure took a sudden, drastic drop. Davy became unresponsive. His doctor ran through all of the checks, poking and pinching Davy, she even yelled in his ear. Nothing. Even a light shinned in Davy’s eyes brought no pupil response. Although Davy still had a weak pulse and low blood pressure, he was, for all practical consideration, dead.
At the time, the medical staff had no options to revive Davy. It was everyone’s belief that this was it and clinical death was imminent. A few moments later, by sheer coincidence, Davy’s parish priest arrived. We all gathered around Davy and began to pray and talk to him. We stood and prayed out loud there for two hours to include 2 full rosaries, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Daily Office. Slowly and miraculously, with no medical intervention, Davy began to come around, opening and closing his eyes and mouthing some of the prayers with us. Davy eventually came around later long enough to see our sister Charlene and cousin Jim for the last time as well has have some last moments with Michael and Andrew and our parents.
For those of us who were there it was a profoundly moving experience that we will never forget. As I have thought about what happened three truths became apparent:
- We didn’t pray alone, but the Guardian Angels of everyone in that hospital room was praying with us.
- That prayer isn’t about repetition, incantations or even changing God’s mind. Prayer is about us opening up ourselves to the love and generosity of God.
- Lastly, no one lives without prayer. Prayer is life itself and even if we don’t pray for ourselves others pray for us and sustain us. It could be our parents and friends who pray for us. At the very least our Guardian Angels pray us constantly even if we don’t believe and pray. Like the air around us, pray is life and we don’t appreciate what it would mean to live without it until it’s gone.
Saint Paul in his epistles reminds us that we have a cloud of witnesses watching over us and cheering us on from above. Davy is now among them and from there he will continue to pray for us and be a part of our family. Like the pebble dropped into a still pond, Davy has now slipped past our sight but the waves he made still radiate outward. We must continue to be those waves and to go forth and inspire others as Davy inspired us, with acts of love towards our neighbor and with unceasing prayer for others.
For David Bolton, LTC, US Army February 12, 1965- November 10th 2013.
Post Script: It’s been almost a year since my brother Davy passed away after a two and a half year struggle with ALS. What I have just shared with you are my words of remembrance I gave at the end of his funeral Mass.
I am amazed at how God perfectly set the stage upon which this miracle occurred. First, there was an audience: me, my brothers and my mother. Second, the doctor just happened to be present when Davy became unresponsive and validated his condition medically. The doctor was not normally in Davy’s room. Third, Davy’s parish priest unexpectedly arrived in the hospital room just after the doctor validated Davy’s condition. Fourth, I had the Rosary shown in the photos with me for all of us to pray with. It’s too much of a coincidence for all of this to line up perfectly by shear chance and luck.
It has been a long stretch between posts but I have been in the middle of moving to Massachusetts and starting a new job. Keep checking back for new posts! It shouldn’t be so long next time. |
This past month, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a change to overtime exemption regulations in response to a directive from the White House issued last year. The law—last updated in 2004—not only intends to adjust exclusion from overtime (currently exempts employees if they earn a minimum of $23,660 a year, or $455 each week), but would also increase the salary exemption to the 40th percentile of all weekly earnings among full-time, salaried employees (an estimated $970 a week), and raise the “highly compensated employees” exemption from the current $100,000 to $122,148. The proposed modified law would also call for businesses to implement sensible human resource solutions that deal with risks involved in noncompliance.
The DOL will be taking comments on the proposed change through September 4, 2015. Subsequently, the final ruling will be in effect 30-90 days after its enactment, if passed. It is always possible that the ruling may be rescinded or discarded because of a Congressional action. However, it may be likely that some update will be made to the regulations in the next few years, based on recent interest in the law.
This could affect small businesses where employees are eager to invest extra time in a project to help grow the business, but are compensated hourly. For businesses where this might be the case, business owners might want to consider how they will handle productivity and overtime, and if they will need additional resources. If and when the updated regulations are implemented, small businesses may need more money to hire more workers or pay more overtime. Whether your business needs funding now, or may need funding in the future you can learn more about different funding resources for your business at Access to Capital.
Photo Credit: Alan Cleaver, Flickr |
This weekend, my study abroad program had our first academic excursion! This means that the staff and our teachers take us to cities around Italy to teach us more about Italian history and culture. This academic excursion was called the Medieval Tuscan Excursion, and we visited four cities in Tuscany in three days! This trip was definitely a whirlwind of travel and learning, and I loved it!
The first city that we visited on our excursion was San Gimignano. From the second we arrived, I was blown away by the beauty of the tiny town. As we walked toward the center of the city, we could look out and see the rolling hills and mountains of the country side. Then, my art history professor took us on a tour of the most prominent church in the town. After that, we were free to explore for about an hour and a half. My friends and I grabbed a quick slice of pizza for lunch before climbing one of the fourteen towers that are still standing in San Gimignano. The view of the town from the tower was truly amazing! I couldn’t believe the sights were real – I felt like I was in a movie! My friends and I had the top of the tower to ourselves so we stayed up there for as long as our schedule would allow to take it all in.
Right before we needed to meet back up with the rest of the group, we grabbed some gelato. There’s always time for gelato!!
Then, we piled back on to the bus to head for Siena!!
When we arrived in Sienna, we quickly began touring! My art history professor first took us to the church where St. Catherine’s head is kept. Then, we toured the Palazzo Pubblico and the Battistero and Duomo of Siena. These tours taught us a lot about the history of Siena and Romanesque architecture.
Next, we checked into our hotel that we were staying in for the night. After that, we were free to go get some dinner and explore! I had a delicious, cheesy gnocchi for dinner and then – what else? – gelato for dessert! Bright and early the next day we were back on the road headed for Lucca!
The first thing we did when arriving in Lucca was walk to the center of the town. It was a great way to start to learn the city. Lucca is known for the fact that it’s medieval city wall is still in tact, so after walking through the city, we walked all of the way around the city on the wall! It was about a four mile walk. Along the wall, there are tons of small parks and benches. We saw so many local people enjoying the outdoors, jogging, or walking their dogs. It felt like we were really seeing a slice of Italian life because it was not very touristy.
Then we stopped in a cafe and had some panino for lunch before walking around the town and window shopping. Next, we met up with the group to check into our second hotel for the weekend. While we were there, we got dressed up for the night! We went back into the city and attended Mass at St. Martin’s Cathedral in Italian! This was the first time I have been to church in Italian. It was very exciting because there were parts of the Mass that I could follow. Then, we went to a delicious four course meal with the whole group to end the night! The next morning, we were back on the bus headed for Pisa!
When we arrived in Pisa, we quickly headed toward the Camposanto to tour the church and baptistry. They were both very beautiful! Then we had free time to take all of our touristy pictures with the leaning tower and to climb the tower! Being at the top of the tower was very scary. You can really feel that the building is leaning! The view from the top made it all worth it, however! Too soon we were back on the bus to come back to Rome, ending a very exciting weekend!
In all, the highlight of my weekend was walking around the city wall in Lucca. This town was so tiny and beautiful. The walk around the wall was so peaceful and you could gaze off into the beautiful mountains that surround the city from every angle. Watching Italian people go about their routines in the parks and on the path around the city made it feel so livable. I really felt like I could picture myself living there! The low point of the weekend was definitely how quickly we moved around from city to city and the structure of the trip. For example, we were only in San Gimignano for about three hours. I loved it there so much and there was so much more to see, but we did not have time. I really wish that we could have stayed longer! It’s ok though – it gives me an excuse to come back one day!! |
Cultural tourism in Buleleng is interesting as we have many temples, one of these is Beji temple. Some say this is the largest temple and Subak temple in North Bali. This temple is located in Sangsit village, Sawan district, Buleleng regency and it is about 8 km east of Singaraja and about 500 m to the beach from the main road. From Singaraja city spend time around 25 minutes and from Denpasar and Tabanan spend time around 2,5 hours.
It is easily accessible by any type of motor vehicle and if you are in Lovina it will probably take you just under 30 minutes to get there. For local people this temple is known as Pura Subak ( Subak Temple), Subak here refers to the organization for water supply or irrigation. Subak temple is a holy place and here you can worship Dewi Sri the Goddess of rice and the symbol of prosperity.
Village elders tell us that the village temple is presumed to have belonged to “Pura Desa Adat Sangsit” and it is the village temple of Sangsit a traditional village. The temple is picturesque and full of ornamental carvings mostly in the form of rambling plants and floral motives as is the typical style of Buleleng. The most significant thing in this temple is that every surface has a carving so it is extremely artistic. Moreover all of the carvings are painted thus making this colorful temple very unique. There is no clear evidence as to when this temple was built, but historians state that in was in the XV century during the Majapahit Kingdom period centered in Java. As with other temples on Bali it is divided into three courtyards, the outer courtyard then the middle and inner courtyard. At the outer courtyard you will find 2 dragon statues that symbolize the temple guards and upon entering the temple you are advised to wear sarong and sash. |
In the early in the morning of March 14th, 2016, a joint EASA-Roscosmos mission blasted off from Kazakhstan on top of a Proton launch vehicle. The space vehicle will take 7 months traveling through space before arriving to Mars around October 19th. The mission is actually composed of two vehicles, which will separate 3 days prior to the Mars arrival: Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, the later entering the martian atmosphere and landing on the surface.
I wondered if the launch signaled an upcoming Earth-Mars close approach. A space program wanting to reach Mars on a budget would select a launch date at a time when both planets are at their closest to reduce the fuel required, and time spent traveling through space. Sure enough, the next Earth-Mars close approach is May 30, 2016, a few days after opposition of May 22nd. An upcoming great opportunity to turn the telescope to Mars and hopefully capture some of the planet’s features. Mars’ angular size varies from as little as 3.5″ to an easy observing 25.1″ which is quite dramatic.
Earth-Mars close approach happen roughly every 26 months, and often coincide to Mars missions launches. The following list from NASA of recent Mars mission launches show a lovely two year interval.
The last one in 2013 was in November, hence a Mars 2016, 28 months later falls within that window of opportunity. The ExoMars program actually has two space vehicles. The next one is planned for… you guessed it 26 months later: May 2018 launch. |
The Iron Ore Heritage Trail spans 47 miles, connecting Harvey to Marquette to Ishpeming and beyond.
This trail follows the old mining roads which connected the inland mine shafts to the harbors of Marquette. Acting as a recreational corridor, all types of travel are permitted. “If you walk, bike, run, inline skate, wander into natural places, ride a horse, cross country ski, snowmobile, consider yourself a history buff or ride an ATV…this trail is for you!” Visit ironoreheritage.com to learn more about the history of this multiuse trail.
There are many trailheads along the way marking significant places. To see a map of the trail click here.
Rock containing Iron Ore lining the trail then and now.
The Chocolay River is featured in several pieces in the River Series.
Sunset in the Chocolay is the largest pendant:
The Mini Chocolay River Pendant is slightly smaller:
And is complimented by the Mini Chocolay Earrings:
The Chocolay Bayou is also featured in earring form:
And in an elongated pendant:
The Chocolay River is home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna. Mink, muskrat, black bear, deer, herons and eagles all call this river their home. Several species of fish swim upstream to spawn as well. If you watch closely after a rain or on a full moon, you might see steelhead cresting the surface on their way upstream.
Photo by the UP Land Conservancy
Explore this area via paddling or hiking the trails near the bayou. Water access includes a boat launch off of M28 and the Chocolay Township Marina (located in downtown Harvey)
Happy Earth Day from all of us here at Beth Millner Jewelry!
We have decided to stop posting here on our WordPress blog and pare down to one blog. C ‘mon over to our website to read our Beth Millner Jewelry Blog!
Presque Isle, Cliff Jumping, Northern Lights, Beer… To the locals the term “Blackrocks” is associated with many things.
What are they?
This rock formation is 1.7 billion years old. Known to geologists as metamorphosed igneous peridotite, aka really really old magma flow. These porous rocks are mostly covered by reddish and white Jacobsville Sandstone, but on the north shore of Presque Isle the volcanic remnants jut out over Lake Superior creating a spectacular contrast in the landscape.
On stormy days, the waves crash over the 20 foot tall cliffs and surge up the rock beach. It’s a thrill to stand in the splash zone and experience the true power of Mother Superior. Thrill seekers can enjoy calm sunny days too though. People of all ages throw themselves off the cliffs into the frigid waters below.
Where are they?
Black Rocks is located along the northern shore of Presque Isle Park, one of Marquette’s most prized natural locations. Less than 10 minutes from downtown, any visitor is sure to have their breath taken away any time of the year by the stunning shoreline. The City has a nice map
showing the exact location along with all the other neat features on Presque Isle.
Today we’d like to put out a good word for our friends at Keweenaw Coffee Works. We’ve done many Michigan Made Monday’s in the past, but today is extra special: this Michigan Made needs your help!
Keweenaw Coffee Works is expanding their production which add jobs, promotes small business success, and aids the Calumet community. Back their kickstarter to help increase output and roasting possibilities!
This micro-roastry focuses on sustainable practices in all steps of their process and is dedicated to creating some wonderfully delicious coffee! They’re dedicated to supporting their local community and love their little town of Calumet. Check out their wonderful video supporting the growth of this charming community tucked away in the Keweenaw Peninsula.
So, get out and try one of their 12 deliciously different roasts! Here in Marquette you can find KCW’s products just down the road from us at The Flying Moose (another wonderful small business) and other locations. Keep up to date with their progress by liking their Facebook page and following their Instagram: @keweenawcoffee
One of the many gorgeous Lake Superior shorelines, Wetmore Landing is a long stretch of sand surrounded by rock formations and hilly terrain perfect for hiking.
Views of notable landmarks are visible from any point along the beach. Out in Lake Superior, Little Presque Isle sits to the left and Partridge Island to the right. Sugarloaf Mtn. looms behind you and with a pair of binoculars you can see little people scurrying about the lookout.
From this site, you can hike in either direction along the North Country Trail and stumble upon some fantastic spots. To the left, up and down the pine needle covered trail brings you to Rum Runner’s Cove, a great swimming hole and awesome rock formation.
Turning right will bring you along a trail which follows the rocky shoreline and becomes increasingly rugged. The end destination is worth the hike though, Hidden Beach. This small stretch of sand is surrounded by 40-60 foot tall sandstone cliffs. Large trees have washed up into the inlet and the imposing walls make for a brilliant off-the-beaten-path spot.
Photo by Greg Kretovic
How to get there: Drive up CR 550 towards Big Bay for approximately 5 miles. Turn right into the first DNR Little Presque Isle Recreation Area, the sign will identify it as “Wetmore Landing”. A dirt parking lot is available and obvious trails lead to the beach and the North Country Trail.
*Michigan Recreation Passport Required for parking.
Today is the first day of Michigan Ice Fest! The ice climbing celebration is held in Munising on February 15th-19th. Click here to find out more!
Part of the River Series, Munising Falls is featured in three pieces:
Easily accessible by a paved trail, this spectacular waterfall has a 50 foot drop before the water cascades down the bowl to the stream below. In the winter a large ice column is formed making this sight an impressive one no matter the season.
How to get there: Located within the city of Munising, follow H-58 east until you reach Washington Street and turn left. Follow until you reach the Munising Memorial Hospital and the falls parking area is across the street.
Other waterfalls are within walking distance if you’re itching to explore. Tannery Falls and Twin Falls are both accessible from H-58 as well. In the winter, you’re likely to find Ice Climbers scaling Twin Falls impressive column. For more information about Ice Climbing check out Munising’s Ice Climbing Festival.
Our very own Amelia Richards climbing the frozen Twin Falls |
Every syllabus at my institution contains a statement on Academic Integrity and every new course begins with each student reviewing and acknowledging the general statement that our work will be our own under every circumstance. Even so, since we are online learners and not present in a physical classroom with an instructor, there are a variety of methods used to “keep us honest.” As an example, for the first time in four years as an online student, I recently had to take a proctored exam for my graduate applied statistics course. Based on my own experience, following are my thoughts on exam proctoring as a method to ensure academic integrity in online learning.
In order to take the final exam, students had to secure a qualified proctor. How lucky for me that I live two minutes from a satellite campus with pre-approved proctors, I thought. With a few simple e-mail exchanges, the appointment was made, and my initial belief was that the worst part of this process would be losing a few hours of work time (and pay) due to the proctor’s schedule of availability. I was wrong.
I guess I should start with a disclaimer by admitting that applied statistics was a particularly challenging course for me. Learning math online – without the benefit of software specifically developed to deliver the content and provide ample opportunities for practice with immediate feedback – is a real challenge, in my opinion. Still, I have been holding my own and my efforts have earned me respectable grades to date. Two midterms in the course were available online and open book/open note with a three-hour time limit. I barely finished the first one and the second one was finished with enough time to check my work. My point here is that the entire three hours were necessary to complete the assessment, at least for me. There was some initial confusion as to whether or not I would use my own equipment in order to have software access, so I showed up for my exam a few minutes early, because I anticipated needing the full three hours to work and I had been told that I could only stay until 6:30. (In retrospect, this could not have been the case since a student came in around 6:30 to begin an exam?)
The exam room where I was taken was just off the main reception area, which is between two sets of exterior doors. My point here is that it is THE main traffic area. The room was no bigger than 8′ x 6′ and there was another student already working at one desk when I entered to sit at the other desk in the room. I had to use my own equipment, so I couldn’t actually sit at the desk and instead had my knees pressed up against a drawer for the three-hour exam period. There was no air flow and I have no idea what the temperature was in there.
The proctor left the door open when she exited and, one point, the noise level of people measuring the wall outside the door for installation of a flat screen monitor and discussing placement with the receptionist at the desk across the room was so loud that I poked my head out the door. “Do you need help?” was her question. “No,” I answered, “but it’s very loud out here.” “Oh,” they said “sorry,” but no reduction in the volume of their conversation occurred. At some point, the other student completed her exam and left the room. She closed the door behind her and I was grateful.
Not long after, an event that I can only equate to a pep rally began outside the main reception area in the open space. I don’t know what it was, but it involved very loud cheering, clapping, and yelling for at least thirty minutes. I put in my ear buds. I tried to fight the distraction. I tried to stay on task. In the end, I ran out of time and was unable to finish a five point question or review my work. The exam hasn’t been scored yet, but I feel very strongly that my grade on this work is bound to be negatively impacted by the environment in which I had to take it.
Since I had to show my identification to the proctor, my assumption here is that the purpose of using a proctor was simple verification that the student was taking the final exam. Using this method, can the professor actually be certain that only the student took the exam, and at what cost to the student? This method in no way guarantees academic integrity. At any point, I could have made a phone call, used IM or a myriad of other Web 2.0 tools, and gotten outside help on this exam. I didn’t, but not because I couldn’t. That’s my point.
Some professors use webcam monitoring or browser locking software. Some develop exams that don’t allow time for answer searching. I implore the course instructors and designers out there to please consider their students when they select methods to ensure academic integrity. There are many ways to accomplish your goal. Students can control an environment of their choosing, but not an environment that is selected for them. I enjoy learning in a variety of ways and I have taken several courses in a face-to-face classroom over the past four years. In those classes, I have never been expected to take a test under circumstances like these. Unfortunately, I have no recourse after the fact… |
Sigh, what can I say? I can say it didn’t deviate much from my first impression as posted in my intro post
I’ll use the discussion questions from the Penguin Reader to answer some of my thoughts about Wuthering Heights, here goes:
1) Why do you think Emily Brontë chose to unfold the story through the secondary sources of Ellen’s narrative, Mr. Lockwood’s two visits, and Catherine’s diary? How would the story have differed if it had been told chronologically? Do you trust the narrators’ versions of the events that took place? Or are they, from time to time, a bit unreliable?
I am not sure if it would change my feeling if the story is told chronologically or not. The book gave me a creepy feeling, mixed with suspense and disgust that I doubt it would have made any difference. What I think could potentially earn my sympathy was if the story was being told through first person narrative by Heathcliff or Catherine. I think I would have felt the passion more intense and why and how the passion became vindictive. I think the third person narrative could potentially be unreliable and told through coloured lense.
2) Compare Catherine’s love for Heathcliff with her love for Edgar: What are the defining characteristics of each relationship? Do you think Catherine regrets her choice of husband?
The love for Heathcliff is destructive, but alluring. The love to Edgar is reliable and enduring. Catherine’s last words was….
‘I must go Cathy’ said Heathcliff, seeking extricate himself from his companion’s arms.
‘You must not go!” she answered, holding him as firmly as her strength allowed. ‘You shall not, I tell you.’
‘For one hour,’ he pleaded, earnestly.
‘Not for one minute,’ she replied.
‘I must – Linton will be up immediately.’
Did she regret? Regret is a strong word. Perhaps she died knowing that she has betrayed her heart but she loves Edgar Linton just as well, I doubt she would regret marrying Edgar knowing that Heathcliff could not provide her with the stability and status that she needs.
3) When Heathcliff visits Catherine for the last time before she dies, she says to him, “You have killed me–and thriven on it, I think.” Nearly twenty years later, when Heathcliff is approaching death, he says, “I have to remind myself to breathe–almost to remind my heart to beat!” Did Heathcliff and Catherine believe the only way they could be together was in death? Did they, somehow, will themselves to die?
I didn’t feel like Heathcliff will himself to die, because if he did he took too long to die. Instead Edgar was the one who was most affected by Catherine’s death and somehow his illness never see the light to recuperation. In soul though Healthcliff died when Catherine died, all he wanted was Catherine to come back to haunt him. The ending however implies that both Heathcliff and Catherine is together in death.
4) The characters in the novel have a great capacity for violence and hatred, and revenge is one of Heathcliff’s greatest motivations. Is Heathcliff justified in the revenge he takes on Hindley? Do you think Heathcliff’s childhood experiences at Wuthering Heights contributed to his monstrous behavior as an adult?
There is no excuse Heathcliff for taking out revenge on Hindley. It is clear that Heathcliff’s childhood experiences at Wuthering Heights contributed to his monstrous behavior and unfortunately losing Catherine only exacerbated his monstrosity.
5) One critic stated that Wuthering Heights is “truly a novel without a hero or heroine.” What do you think of this statement? Is Heathcliff a hero or a villain?
Totally agree that the novel is truly a novel without a hero or heroine. Everyone I talk to said the same thing, “I don’t like any of the characters in the book!” I don’t see Heathcliff as a hero, more of a tortured soul that takes pleasure in inflicted pain on others, but Emily Brontë had successfully written a book with such intense and suspense that every page seems to leap out of the book and I can’t stop but keep reading until the very end.
6) Wuthering Heights is considered by many to be one of the greatest romances in literature. Do you agree with this? What is your definition of a romantic novel? Must a great romance have a happy ending?
Is it a love story? Yes. Is it romance? Nope, I don’t think so. A great romance doesn’t always need to have a happy ending (i.e. One day by David Nicholls) but it must give out that warm fuzzy feeling one experience when you felt the love is pure and genuine, without hatred and ulterior motives. Romance has to carry a hope that it will last forever. That is my notion of romance.
Today is the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the whole country (or the world) is celebrating with it. I told myself I am not going to get suck into the globe’s obsession of what Kate is going to wear, what the rest of the royal family is going to wear (but I can tell you Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice have the most unconventional sense of style and Samantha Cameron committed a fashion faux pas for not wearing a hat!) the whole royalist frenzy thingy. But when I watched the couple took their wedding vows, and then a few hours later waving to the public on the horse carriage and the two kisses at the balcony of Buckingham Palace… I welled up, close to shedding a tear but that’s what I called romantic.
Perhaps I might change my mind if I watch Wuthering Heights the movie. However with the 3rd person narrative, the anger and the revenge, it doesn’t feel romantic. The Royal Wedding is romantic, but not Wuthering Heights! 🙂
Would I recommend this book? I would and I am sure you would love it if you get past those horrible characters in the book! I actually like the old English and when I finished it I felt the need to read another classics with 18th century English. That’s how good it is, the language I mean. 🙂
I would like to thank Jenny of Jenny’s Books, Anaamica of What I have been reading and Jessica of Park Benches and Bookends for reading Wuthering Heights along with me. As soon as my read-along buddies posted their posts I’ll include it in this post! Big thanks for being a part of this! xxx
Jessica of Park Benches and Bookends’ Review : I can understand why it is a classic, there isn’t quite another novel like it and I can also understand completely why people would hate this novel (I am sure some will say hello in the comments 😉 but it isn’t a classic just because of the nasty, cruel characters, there is much more to this novel in the passion, tragedy and the Gothic elements. It is a love story but just not in the conventional/normal sense.
Anaamica of What I have been Reading: Most of the characters in the prologue are like this – evil, sharp tongued, foul mouthed – I thought the name ‘Mad House’ was a better name for the novel.
Jenny @ Jenny’s Books: Well, it’s official. I don’t like Wuthering Heights. I have given it every opportunity to thrill me. I’ve read it numerous times after Jane Eyre, and now I’ve read it not after Jane Eyre, with the openest of minds. I wanted to love it and I found that I could not.
Bookie Mee: What a wild storm. That’s what I felt about the book.
What is Kim Reading: this book is alive. I don’t know how to explain it any other way. The words leap off the page.
BCF Reviews: I liked how Emily Bronte wrote. The book was descriptive and it is a great story.
Paperback. Publisher: Penguin 1847, 2006 ; Length: 395 pages; Setting: Mid 18th century. Source: Own copy. Finished reading on: 7th April 2011.
About the author:
Emily Brontë lived most of her life in England on the North Yorkshire moors like those depicted in Wuthering Heights. Not many details are known about her life. As one Brontë scholar stated, “Next to her genius, the most astonishing thing about Emily Brontë is the silence which surrounds her life.” Charlotte Brontë declared that Emily’s “disposition was not naturally gregarious; circumstances favored and fostered her tendency to seclusion; except to go to church or take a walk on the hills, she seldom crossed the threshold of home. Though her feeling for the people [all around] was benevolent, intercourse with them was never sought; nor, with very few exceptions, ever experienced.”
Emily Jane was the fifth of six children born to the Reverend Patrick and Maria Brontë on July 30, 1818, in the village of Bradford, Yorkshire. Three years after Emily was born, her mother died of cancer, the first of several tragedies that would befall the Brontë family. Just before Emily’s sixth birthday, she and her older sisters–Maria, Elizabeth, and Charlotte–enrolled at the Cowan Bridge School. Maria and Elizabeth both fell ill, and on May 6, 1825, Maria succumbed to her illness. The other three girls then left for home, where Elizabeth died two weeks later.
Charlotte discovered Emily’s poems in October 1845 and convinced her sisters to collaborate on a volume of poetry. They chose to use pseudonyms to avoid the criticism and prejudice often directed towards women writers. In May 1846, Poems (by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell) was published, with the Brontës paying for the costs; only two copies were sold.
Emily began working on Wuthering Heights in December 1845. She completed it in July 1846 and began submitting it for publication (along with Anne’s Agnes Grey and Charlotte’s The Professor). In December 1847, the publisher T. C. Newby published Wuthering Heights. One year later, on December 19, 1848, Emily died from the effects of a severe cold. Two years later, Wuthering Heights was reissued, along with a selection of Emily’s poems and a biographical notice by Charlotte. |
Had a customer recently report that they weren't able to perform desktop sharing with their clients outside of their corporate firewall.
Looking at the reports showed this error
ms-client-diagnostics: 24; reason="Call failed to establish due to a media connectivity failure when both endpoints are remote";CallerMediaDebug="application-sharing:ICEWarn=0x320,LocalSite=xx.xx.xxx.x:xxx,LocalMR=xx.xx.xxx.xx:xx,RemoteSite=192.168.20.203:50045,PortRange=50040:50049,LocalMRTCPPort=57498,LocalLocation=1,RemoteLocation=1,FederationType=0"
This usually is down to port configuration settings on your network as instant messaging traffic (which works for you) uses UDP comms and application/desktop sharing will use TCP connectivity. There is something configured on your network that may be preventing the TCP traffic from being sent.
In the above trace, we see the ICEWarn error codes purport to: (information gained from Lync resource kit materials)
0x100 TCP NAT connectivity failed (This flag is expected. If local-to-local connectivity succeeded, the TCP NAT connectivity check may not have been tried. Or there is no direct TCP connection possible. TCP NAT connectivity failing may result in an ICE protocol failure).
0x200 TCP TURN server connectivity failed. (This flag is expected. If local-to-local connectivity succeeded, the TCP TURN connectivity check may not have been tried. Or one sided didn't have TURN server allocation. If connectivity checks were successful for the rest of the call, ignore this ICE protocol warning. Otherwise investigate why the TCP path was not possible.)
0x20 Local connectivity failed. (This flag can occur if the direct connection between clients isn't possible due to NAT/firewalls).
The above makes 0x320 if you didn't know.
We know that firewall software and hardware can attribute to this and its best to review the policies of your companies organization to determine if you might have anything enabled that would prevent traffic from negotiating with the lync servers. Often hardware firewalls have policies enabled to prevent this and might be worth testing them by switching them on/off (as they might be setup to be the default service) they are often used to prevent spam attcks or TCP attacks.
It's worth also review your anti virus software and it's exceptions which can often scan network traffic and thus cause traffic to fail or be blocked and therefore prevent any communications to/fro the lync client to by pass it.
In the above case, tweaking Kaspersky Anti virus to accept and handle this traffic resolved this customers problem.
The Lync resource kit is the place to go to review the ICEWarn errors - Chapter 9. |
What controlling measures should be taken during the planning phase. Then provide a generic method for creating a project schedule starting with the creation of the work breakdown structure (WBS).
Control measures during the process of project planning are a very important aspect in the success of any project. Some of the most important control measures that need to be taken into account in any planning process are the setting of performance standards and establishing the means through which performance can be measured and compared. These help in ensuring that the objectives and standards of the projects are measurable and determines where the project is performing as per the set standards (Accel, 2010).
Another control measure that can be incorporated in the planning process is feedback mechanism. These would provide useful information on the progress of the project through feedbacks from key players and in doing so is able to act as an early warning system on anything that may go wrong in the future or that may be going wrong during the implementation of the project. Anther control measure that should be incorporated ...
This solution discusses which controlling measures should be taken during the planning phase of a project. |
Prof Suma Athreye, Professor of International Strategy in Brunel Business School, together with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the Economics, Research and Evidence Team, and Prof Ashish Arora from Duke University USA, are organising a conference on patent use to debate and discuss recently commissioned research into the use of patents.
Patents combine incentives for the production of technological knowledge by granting temporary monopolies, with incentives for diffusion of that knowledge usually through licensing. In recent years, there has been some academic writing that has questioned whether patent regimes are paying enough attention to the latter objective. The concern is that without such diffusion, patents represent a deadweight monopoly to the innovator which can be to the detrimental to growth and further innovation. New business models have also emerged where patents are being used to underpin licensing, and the use of open innovation methods is gaining popularity in a wide variety of sectors.
The Survey of Innovation and Patent Use (SIPU) was commissioned by the IPO in order to evidence some of these trends for the UK economy and analyse the underpinning factors that make for greater patent use in the context of open innovation. In particular, the SIPU aims to provide a demand-based measure of technology licensing in the UK economy and to provide a greater understanding of the determinants of the propensity of firms to patent innovations. The conference will provide a platform for discussing the evidence on patent use and patent use in innovation and technology management. The SIPU survey results will be presented at the end of the conference.
Confirmed Speakers for the conference include:
- John Walsh – Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Tech University, USA
- Salvatore Torrisi – Professor, University of Bologna, Italy
- Iain Cockburn – Professor of Management, Boston University, USA
- Beth Webster – Director, Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, Melbourne, Australia Ayfer Ali- Assistant Professor in Business Economics, Universidad Carlos III, Madrid
- Deepak Hegde- Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, Stern School of Business, New York University, USA
The conference will take place in London on 9th September 2013.
Suma Athreye is Professor of International Strategy at Brunel Business School and Founding Director of the Centre on International Business and Strategy in Emerging Markets at Brunel University. Her research focuses on internationalization and its impact on technology management in developed and in emerging economies. Some of her well cited publications are on knowledge markets and the growth of international licensing, foreign investment into India, the growth of the Cambridge high tech cluster, the software and pharmaceutical industries in India and the internationalization of Chinese and Indian firms. She has won several grants for her research which has also been recognized by national and international media. In her current research funded by the European Commission, she has worked closely with the Office of National Statistics to create unique firm level datasets that enable her to study the impact of international technology imports on UK firm innovation and performance. She is also working with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the UK to estimate the returns to patenting for UK firms located in different sectors and different size groups. |
As the US supreme court weighs in on the future of same-sex marriage in the United States, campaigns for and against the motion have set the Internet alight.
People who venture onto social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter today, will be met with a lot of red.
The Human Rights Campaign, in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples, has initiated a campain that has seen many social network users change their profile pictures to the group’s equality sympbol.
The campaign is in response to two cases that the US Supreme Court is hearing this week in relation to state and federal laws restricting same-sex marriage.
The first case is an appeal of California’s ban on same-sex marriage known as Proposition 8 – the other case is an appeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which is a federal law that defines marriage as the legal union of “one man and one woman” for federal and inter-state recognition purposes.
The campaign has been met with opposition from those who are against same-sex marriage, though pro-equality groups and supporters of the campaign have seen the campaign spread, with hundreds of thousands of shares and likes (retweets and favourites) across social media.
The campaign’s Twitter tag, #equality, is also one of the top trending terms in the United States.
According to Forbes, not only have some of the world’s richest people come out in support for same-sex rights in the US, but have also spent a considerable amount of money for the fight over the years.
Prominent billionaires have thrown their weight in support of same-sex rights in the US, many of which are well known in the tech space.
While not all of the billionaires listed have put money into campaigns, they have all stood out, vocally, against the banning of same-sex marriage.
- Amazon billionaire, Jeff Bezos (net worth, $25.2 billion);
- Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates ($67 billion) and Steve Ballmer ($15.2 billion);
- Google co-founders Larry Page ($23 billion) and Sergey Brin ($22.8 billion);
- former Google CEO Eric Schmidt ($8.2 billion);
- Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang ($1.5 billion);
- eBay founder Pierre Omidyar ($8.7 billion);
- former eBay president Jeffrey Skoll ($3.7 billion);
- Former Cisco CEO John Morgridge ($1 billion);
- and PayPal and Facebook billionaire, Peter Thiel ($1.6 billion).
- Source: Forbes
Despite continued campaigns and big-name support – including that of US President Barack Obama – same-sex marriages remain illegal or unrecognised in most of the USA.
South Africa was the fifth country, the first in Africa, and the second outside Europe to legalise same-sex marriage in 2006. |
Cropping systems in the subhumid zone of Nigeria
MetadataShow full item record
Permanent link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/50003
Reports findings of baseline studies as size of cultivated area, cropping patterns, management in relation to fallowing and labour & other inputs, yields and constraints to increasing grain & forage production among traditional crop farmers and Fulani agropastoralists at Abet & Kurmin Biri, both in subhumid Nigeria.
- ILRI archive |
Knoll states that while apprenticing at the Bauhaus in 1925 Breuer designed this tubular steel chair named for his Wassily Kandinsky Bicycle. Other sites claim that the chair was known as the B3 by Thornet. The discussion continues that it was renamed after Breuer made a duplicate of Thornet’s B3 chair and gave it to Kandinsky who was on staff at the Bauhaus. Looks like a good research project for later in the semester. I will keep you informed about what I find.
- "I had three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." Henry David Thoreau, in WALDEN
Chair CardsThis blog was started to track the exceptional work by the students of UNCG in the Interior Architectural Design Program. Our History 221 and 222 classes use these cards to help familiarize us with historically significant design and designers. The initial purpose is for the students, however, it will remain for comments and use by anyone interested in design. - Brian - BSPeck@uncg.edu |
Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorders
|First Received Date ICMJE||December 11, 2009|
|Last Updated Date||June 30, 2017|
|Start Date ICMJE||November 18, 2009|
|Primary Completion Date||Not Provided|
|Current Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE
||Group differences in brain structure, brain function, and cognitive functions, as well as their genetic associations.|
|Original Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE||Not Provided|
|Change History||Complete list of historical versions of study NCT01031407 on ClinicalTrials.gov Archive Site|
|Current Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE||Not Provided|
|Original Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE||Not Provided|
|Current Other Outcome Measures ICMJE||Not Provided|
|Original Other Outcome Measures ICMJE||Not Provided|
|Brief Title ICMJE||Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorders|
|Official Title ICMJE||Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorders|
The following groups of participants will be eligible for the study:
Objective: The primary objective of the proposed studies is to utilize neuroimaging (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging [fMRI], structural MRI [sMRI], Magnetoencephalography [MEG]) and neuropsychological tools (eye-tracking, cognitive experiments, clinical neuropsychological measures, questionnaires, etc.) to identify cognitive idiosyncrasies (e.g., social-cognitive deficits, visual perceptual assets, and savant skills) characteristic of individuals on the autism spectrum and their neural underpinnings across childhood and adulthood.
Study Population: Children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), controls (i.e., typically developing children, adolescents, and adults and those with mild to moderate mental retardation), as well as caregivers/legal guardians/parents of these individuals.
Design: Descriptive/Characterization/Observational studies using primarily neuropsychological and neuroimaging methodologies.
Outcome Measures: Behavioral (reaction time, accuracy, eye movements, etc.) and neuroimaging (brain morphometry, BOLD, electrophysiology, etc.).
|Study Type ICMJE||Observational|
|Study Design ICMJE||Time Perspective: Other|
|Target Follow-Up Duration||Not Provided|
|Sampling Method||Not Provided|
|Study Population||Not Provided|
|Intervention ICMJE||Not Provided|
|Study Groups/Cohorts||Not Provided|
* Includes publications given by the data provider as well as publications identified by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) in Medline.
|Recruitment Status ICMJE||Recruiting|
|Estimated Enrollment ICMJE||1600|
|Completion Date||Not Provided|
|Primary Completion Date||Not Provided|
|Eligibility Criteria ICMJE||
Subjects will include:
Subjects in the ASD group will:
All subjects, except for savants, also will be excluded if they have:
Healthy volunteers, except for parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, parents of healthy volunteers, and parents of children with cognitive impairments, will also be excluded if they have:
1. a current or past history of axis I psychiatric conditions or any current usage of psychiatric medication.
Savants have less restrictive exclusionary criteria. Those with tumors or other neuroimaging-relevant contraindications will be excluded from fMRI/MEG procedures.
|Ages||5 Years to 89 Years (Child, Adult, Senior)|
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers||Yes|
|Listed Location Countries ICMJE||United States|
|Removed Location Countries|
|NCT Number ICMJE||NCT01031407|
|Other Study ID Numbers ICMJE||100027
|Has Data Monitoring Committee||Not Provided|
|U.S. FDA-regulated Product||Not Provided|
|IPD Sharing Statement||Not Provided|
|Responsible Party||National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) ( National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) )|
|Study Sponsor ICMJE||National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)|
|Collaborators ICMJE||Not Provided|
|PRS Account||National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)|
|Verification Date||January 31, 2017|
ICMJE Data element required by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the World Health Organization ICTRP |
Attending the Digital Ethics Symposium was a great experience for me. I was able to hear multiple speakers with many different ideas. One speaker that stuck out to me was Sara Perry of University of York. She discussed Gender and Digital Cultural. Her presentation started off with the topic of the “Unafraid Blogger.” Yes, we should be able to post our opinions and thoughts on the web for others to see. People’s voices should be heard on certain topics if they wish for that to happen. The question is, is it always safe to post your opinion and views for the entire world to see? The answer is no, because this can be extremely dangerous. We have the right to post our views, but coming from a safety stand point it’s not always best. People won’t always agree with others, and sadly things such as harassment can come from this.
Sara Perry then began to discuss her personal experience with harassment within her professional life. She said that she knew the people who were sending her emails, and that’s why she was so nervous about the situation. These emails that she received were discussing her physical appearance. The harassers also went into detail about sexual thoughts of her. She began to do studies on this idea of harassment within via media. Sara Perry interviewed men and women, asking if they’ve experienced harassment via media at any point in their life. Many of them experienced harassment via media within their professional careers. She targeted people within all fields of practice. Her findings showed that male’s harassment wasn’t as severe as the female’s harassment. Men would receive hate emails. Emails discussing how horrible they are at they’re job. Women received harassment discussing their gender, race, or sexual thoughts of them. I wasn’t surprised when she noted that women were the main receivers of gender, sexual, and racial harassment. I’ve received gender and racial harassment via media so I understood that statistic. Sara Perry also noted that majority of those who were being harassed didn’t report their abuse. They decided that they would just ignore it and not respond to the harassment. There were some people who reported their harassment to their companies. Sadly, many of the companies said that they couldn’t handle this situation and that they were unable to be of any assistance. It saddens me that people don’t take these actions seriously, and don’t try to do anything to stop them. I hope that in the near future people can see that this is a serious matter, and that it needs to be stopped before it gets too dangerous and out of control.
I also enjoyed listening to Lindsay Ems presentation about “Approaches to Amish Technology use: the body as an optional, ideal communication medium.” I found this topic so interesting, because I honestly don’t know about the Amish and their lifestyle. Lindsay Ems discussed the idea of Amish preferring to talk face to face rather than through an email, text message, or a phone call. She said that they feel as if the feeling and emotions are lost. The only way that you can’t feel true emotion is through a face to face conversation. During a face to face conversation you’re able to see the body language, facial expressions, and gestures of an individual. Those are the main ways to show emotion. Without those significant actions you lose all emotion and feelings. Lindsay Ems also states that media causes a lack of community and family. With using media, everyone would be so focused on everything expect for what was right in front of their faces, their family. I believe that this true, because there has been multiple times when my family and I go out for dinner and we’re all on our phones and no one is speaking to each other. We’re so focused on texting or social media that we can’t focus on each other. Lindsay Ems also quotes “the easy way isn’t always the best way.” Meaning that texting and emailing is an extremely quick way to communicate with our friends and family, but it isn’t the best way. It’s not the best way, because you lose the love and emotion.
The Amish also feel that televisions shouldn’t be used. It exposes their community to too much. They feel that it exposes them to things that will stick with them forever. Once they see those different things on television or on the radio, they then become those things. Things that they won’t be able to ever get rid of, and they don’t want those “negative ideas” of the world to latch on to them for eternity. |
21 September 2015 – All countries must contribute to solving the global refugee crisis, the President of the United Nations General Assembly said today, underscoring that the international community has an unequivocal obligation towards the women, men and children seeking refuge from conflict and violence.
“The world has not seen a global humanitarian crisis of this magnitude since the Second World War and with winter approaching in the northern hemisphere, it is only going to get worse,” Mogens Lykketoft cautioned during his first formal press conferencesince taking office last week.
“The tragic stories and heart-breaking images we are seeing in the media are only the tip of the iceberg – the manifestation of much bigger issues which only multilateral cooperation and global leadership can solve,” he added. “This is a global crisis. And it requires a global solution.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has invited Member States to a special meeting on 30 September in New York to discuss the crisis, also voiced his concern about the deteriorating situation facing refugees and migrants arriving across Europe.
Mr. Ban “calls on all European States to ensure that they abide by their international obligations, including the right to seek asylum, and the prohibition of refoulement,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
“All persons must be received with dignity and their human rights must be respected. The Secretary-General has followed with increasing concern the closing of some borders in Europe, as well as the lack of proper reception facilities as well as the increased use of detention and criminalization of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers.”
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is helping survivors of two separate incidents over the weekend involving boats carrying refugees and migrants between Turkey and Greece, which left up to 40 people either dead or missing. Nearly 3,000 people have died or gone missing crossing the Mediterranean this year.
The agency and its partners in Greece are providing ongoing support for the survivors and families, including medical and psychological care, accommodation, legal assistance, food and water. Mr. Lykketoft will shortly be convening a meeting of the General Assembly on the refugee crisis, building on the high-level meeting organized by the Secretary-General. He will also discuss the situation with Pope Francis, who will be visiting UN Headquarters in New York on Friday.
“The majority of people fleeing war and violence are refugees and have the right to seek asylum without any form of discrimination. It is not a crime to seek refuge and asylum,” he said. “We need to ensure that our responses are tangible, focused and that we work towards lasting, sustainable solutions.”
“We need to ensure that countries affected by the arrival of refugees, particularly Syria’s neighbouring countries, receive the support and assistance necessary to address the needs of these vulnerable populations,” he added. |
In the last of our series of posts adapted from presentations at the Unit’s 20th anniversary conference Tony Wright reflects on 20 years of parliamentary change and reform. He argues that parliament has become a good deal better over the past two decades, and points to Unit research as making a major contribution to bringing this about.
I am struck by the fact that if you want to campaign for office in the United States, you have to campaign against Washington. Every candidate has to be going to Washington to sort them out, to break the Washington consensus. What I notice is that this has now started to happen here. Everybody campaigning for office here seems to have to attack Westminster, or the ‘Westminster elite’. This was standard fare in Nicola Sturgeon and Nick Clegg’s general election speeches, and in the Labour leadership contest. Now this is an interesting development, and it is certainly different from twenty years ago. Even at this event today, we have been encouraged by Vernon Bogdanor to organise our thoughts around the idea that parliamentary sovereignty is a busted flush, and the serious ways that power has been cut into pieces. I would actually put a more positive spin on it, and say that there has been accountability explosion over the last twenty years. If you think back about the accountability environment then, and what it is now, we are in a different world. In that respect there is much to put in the positive ledger.
But the problem is where does parliament fit in to that changed environment? The health of our representative institutions is something that matters and getting the right relationship between the old forms of representative democracy and the new forms that we might want to develop is where the challenge comes. The mistake we make is how we think we can embrace new forms, and simply forget about these old institutional bits, when the health of our representative institutions actually matters profoundly. And in some respects – and this is why I react against this Westminster elite trope – parliament has got a good deal better over these last 20 years.
I particularly remember New Labour coming to power. I had been in the Commons since 1992 and enjoyed the dissolution of the Major government before our eyes. But the arrival of Tony Blair and New Labour was a horrendous time for parliament. Blair, with all his great virtues, had no interest in parliament at all. At the first meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party after we’d won the election in 1997 in Church House, he made a speech which basically said, ‘Get out of the place! Get out into the country! Be our ambassadors! Go and campaign!’ That was the whole tenor of the New Labour approach to parliament. Indeed, immediately they organised what they called constituency weeks. You could just sign yourself out and the more you were out of the place, the better you were. MPs were taken off select committees so they could go and do campaigning work. I remember my complete dismay at the time, thinking ‘I don’t think this is what parliament is for, and I don’t think this is what members of parliament are for’.
Another example of that is the establishment of the Modernisation Committee in 1997, which strangely didn’t give any attention at all to what I thought the purpose of modernisation was. For example, you could say we’d like parliament to do scrutiny better, or to matter a bit more in relation to the executive. We went on changing the hours so people get home earlier, all under the name of programme motions and the rest of it. But no attention at all to what the purpose might be of seeking to change the way in which parliament operates.
So the great virtue of The Constitution Unit over these years in relation to that background is the fact that it has said ‘let’s look at some of the evidence on what parliament does, let’s look at some evidence from overseas, at what other parliaments do, let’s see how we might do certain things better and differently’. This has given rise to a series of major reports offering valuable insights.
I’m not going to say much about the House of Lords, which has been a major theme of the Unit’s work, and not least because I seem to have spent too many years of my life thinking about House of Lords reform. There’s a cartoon I used once for a book I wrote on British politics. It shows two druids standing at Stonehenge, in the mists of time, and one of them says to the other, ‘next item on the agenda, House of Lords reform’. The virtue of the work that’s been done here, and by Meg Russell pre-eminently, is to highlight what the Lords actually does, and also to shatter some myths about ideal second chambers elsewhere. There is no model to be picked off the shelf. All second chambers, it seems, create difficulties and are subject to contention. They are all organised in different ways for different purposes, and the research has brought a breath of realism, fresh air and evidence to debates in this area. The conclusion has been if you want to proceed, don’t expect a great big bang. Instead, think about positive incrementalism. We’ve had many putative big bangs, none of which have ever banged, whereas we have had small reforms that have been successful. But we’ve reached the point now that even if you accept that this is the approach, we can’t go on as we are – with the chamber getting ever larger. Unfortunately I have this sneaking suspicion that in a typical British way further House of Lords reform will come not because great reformers have proposed it, but because you can’t get a drink at the bar anymore.
On the side of the Commons, everyone says the select committees have been the great growth area of parliament in recent years and it’s true. If I look back twenty years, they are different animals in many ways – their whole profile, reputation, focus, the attention to them, is altogether different. Meg and colleagues were the first to systematically consider what select committees did and what impact they’ve had, and they found that the committees were far more influential on the whole than people had thought. They came to a figure that around 40% of things they recommended were taken on board by government. They were taken extremely seriously by government and by Whitehall, proving that those who wrote them off were wrong. Then the Unit turned its attention to legislative committees, public bill committees, seeking to highlight again how overseas experience, greater permanence and more expertise was required.
And finally, my pièce de résistance. In the wake of the expenses debacle I wrote a letter to Gordon Brown saying we should really do something about parliament, that we should set up a committee to look at how we can reform parliament and so on. On the day that Gordon Brown made his statement on constitutional reform in the Commons, Jack Straw said to me, ‘Did you know that Gordon was about to announce that he is going to set up the committee you recommended?’, and I said no. And he said ‘Did you know you were going to chair it?’, and I said no – that was a good example of the Brown government in action! But the point about that is that we created that reform, in the wake of the expenses, absolutely on the back of on the work that the Unit had done. It is because of that that we’ve got the reforms that mean select committees are now elected.
The Unit has made these huge contributions to thinking about improving parliament over these years. My concluding thought is that for reform to happen, as Meg has noted, it requires a particular set of conditions and circumstances which are not within your control. But actually being there at that moment, with the materials at hand that can service that moment, is what will produce sensible and lasting reform. That is what the Unit has done for the last twenty years, and I hope it will continue to do it for the next twenty years.
For more posts in this series based on The Constitution Unit’s 20th anniversary event, click here.
About the speaker
Tony Wright was the Labour Member of Parliament for Cannock and Burntwood from 1992 to 1997 and for Cannock Chase from 1997 to 2010, during which time he chaired the Public Administration Select Committee from 1999 to 2010 and the Reform of the House of Commons Committee in 2009. He is now Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at The Constitution Unit. |
The year is 2036 and we now live in a grim world. Art and culture have been outlawed and freedom is a thing of the past. But in a secret location, a rebellion is forming. A rebellion of dancing soldiers…
This is the premise of the new video from Jabbawockeez, an eight-member hip-hop dance crew best known for being the winners of the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew.
* * *
From Ziggy Stardust to Blue Man Group to Daft Punk, the merging of science fiction and music is nothing new. Whether it’s videos like this one by the Jabbawockeez or this Smashing Pumpkins steampunk homage to Georges Melies, or the robotic sounding symphonies of dubstep, music like literature explores brave new worlds and tells stories about technology. Some bands might use SF as a theme for one video, while other musicians – like Bjork or Daft Punk – seem to perpetually exist in a futuristic or alternate reality.
The Doctor Who theme is not only associated with a SF program, its creation employed visionary music-making techniques. Though written by Australian composer Ron Grainer, it was Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop who created the music in 1963. Well before the availability of commercial synthesisers, each note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string, white noise, and the simple harmonic waveforms of test-tone oscillators that were typically used for calibrating equipment and rooms, not creating music. (Read more about that here.)
One of my favorite SFR songs is “Extraterrestrial” by Katy Perry, especially this fan made homage to Gul Dukat from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In my teen years, I loved “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo, written by Danny Elfman for the John Huges movie of the same name, released in 1985.
What are some of your favorite science fiction songs, bands and videos?
* * *
J.L. Hilton is the author of the Stellarnet Series published by Carina Press, including Stellarnet Rebel (January 2012) and Stellarnet Prince (November 2012), and is a regular contributor to the Contact-Infinite Futures blog. She also creates cool wearable things that are featured in the books Steampunk Style Jewelry and 1000 Steampunk Creations. Visit her at JLHilton.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Goodreads and deviantART. |
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. (John 9, 13-14)
We hear stories of Jesus healing people of their sickness. The usual dispute between him healing and the Pharisees were its occurrence on a Sabbath – a day intended solely for prayer and rest.
In my visits to the patients during our Clinical Pastoral Education at the Philippine Heart Center, several patients whom I visited would share that they didn’t want to get sick or being in the hospital because that hinders them from working or from doing things they usually do. Moreover, they didn’t want to be in that condition because they didn’t want to consider themselves as burden to the family. They didn’t want to look at themselves as pabigat.
The man born-blind healed by Jesus in this account of the Gospel of John was likely feeling the same thing for years already. Having been born blind would perhaps mean missing not just something but a lot. Something is lacking. Being the man in the family – one is expected to be the provider of the family. Having an illness must have been very difficult to imagine. Having no use o walang silbi must be a terrible reality to face. It must be very painful for that man to be in that condition. It must have been very hard. Yet, people hardly noticed. The Pharisees hardly felt for him. They would even stick to the observance of the Law. They put much importance to the observance of the Sabbath day than being compassionate to the situation of the paralyzed man. They were blinded by their duty to observe the Law rather than to show compassion, especially to the man who was born blind.
Yes. True indeed, laws are important to put order on things – to give us direction. However, one is to remember that laws are made for man’s advancement and not for the law itself. The spirit of the law is always mindful of the well-being of man, and is life-giving.
In this account, the Pharisees treated the law – the observance of the Sabbath day – in itself. They regarded it as an institution that should be followed and respected no matter what. That is why they were furious at Jesus. They were perplexed as on how to deal with him after gives sight to the man born-blind. They investigated the event judging the action as the one coming from the evil.
While the Pharisees tried to preserve the institution over the human person, Jesus showed us that above any institution, the Law of Love must always be the basis of things – the human person must be seen above all things – the human person before and above the observance of Sabbath. Perhaps, this is what he is trying to tell his disciple when he told them in verse three that “he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed.” God’s work of loving mercy might be revealed.
Perhaps, this account in the Gospel of John is challenging us to look back on how have we tried to preserve our laws, traditions, or even practices even at the expense of our brethren – colleagues, associates, co-seminarians, brother priests, neighbor, or even to ourselves?
This has been the practice for years already. Just follow it and stop complaining!/ Kabagobago mo palang dito. Ano ang karapatan mong questionin at palitan ang nakaugalian na? / Hindi ikaw ang superior o superiora dito. It’s as if napakamakasalanan mo na once you try to question things.
How about with our enemies, with those people who don’t agree with our ideas, who are against our principles and on what we believe in? How have we tried to put our traditions and practices forward?
We, catholics, at times, would even preserve the institution even at the expense of cursing and condemning other people. We, at times, call ourselves as “pro-life” but when we treat those we also tag as “anti-life” as if up to the point of stepping upon their person and being, we even come to the point of seeing and calling them evil and very bad people. By doing so, are we not also becoming “anti-life” in a sense? We tend to put our beliefs forward instead of showing them our compassion.
How about with our own personal beliefs and practices? How have we tried to preserve them even at the expense of other people?
Even playing dirty just to win the basketball game? Doing anything just to be at the top of the class? Complying other people to follow what we think is right?. That instead of showing them compassion, we put our personal beliefs and practices forward. We put them before other people. Complying them to follow.
Jesus in this account is showing us that showing compassion is more noble than the observance of the law, than pushing our practices forward. He is telling us that while it is necessary to put order on things we must always be mindful that it should always be for the advancement and well-being of man. It should be seen in the spirit of love – of compassion.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta was moved by this compassion that she braved all odds in order to take care of the many poor and sick people who are marginalized in the society. The same is true with St. Camillus de Lilies who was called to minister to the sick.
As St. Paul puts it in his letter to the Church at Colossae, “May you be established in love, that you may obtain all the riches of a full understanding and know the mystery of God, Christ himself.” He tells us that the basis of a full understanding of the mystery of God is the law of love. Any law that enslave a human being and does not promote its welfare is not life giving and therefore far from the will of God.
May we always show compassion toward other people, and that may we always see the love Christ has for each one of us.
JULIUS HABANA (san jose seminary) |
Sanjit Roy founded the Barefoot college in Tilonia, Rajasthan, a non-government organisation that has been providing basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities, with the objective of making them self-sufficient and sustainable. These ‘Barefoot solutions’ can be broadly categorised into solar energy, water, education, health care, rural handicrafts, people’s action, communication, women’s empowerment and wasteland development.
I tried to make a connection between what is happening in Wall Street, and all those conflicts that I have been a part of and write about… What connects these problems is exclusion… We have a problem on our hands. A problem that needs to be addressed systemically. And I can just say that no individual, no corporation can be allowed to have such unfettered wealth, such unfettered power. There has to be a cap on what corporations can have, what individuals can have.
Understanding why some events are kept alive in our collective consciousness and others interred
By PRANAY SHARMA (Published October 17, 2011 in Outlook India)
As people across the world sniffled at the poignant ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, beamed live from Ground Zero in New York, few would have remembered the significance this date holds for the people of Chile. It was on September 11, 1973, that the democratically elected government of Salvadore Allende was dislodged through a coup, organised, ironically, at the behest of the CIA, an incident more or less effaced from the ‘globalised memory’. Few, too, would have muttered a silent prayer for the thousands who have perished in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, countries turned into veritable killing fields because of the war on terror that the Americans unleashed as retribution for the terror attacks.
Truly, power is about determining what people remember and what they forget. It’s a striking asymmetry.
A few days ago, Rick Perry implied that it is OK to overlook the recently released video of US soldiers pissing over dead Afghan bodies because they are just “19-year-old kids”. He additionally “accused the Obama administration of ‘over-the-top rhetoric’ and ‘disdain for the military’ in its condemnation of (this) video”. Yesterday a crowd of Americans in South Carolina chanted “U.S.A! U.S.A!” in a homicidal manner as they stood in front of their idol, Newt Gingrich; a person who suggested that the way for Black people to get out of poverty is to make their children work as janitors. In December last year Gingrich said that the Palestinians are an invented people, who have no right to Israel’s promised land. This man has a PhD. in History. George H.W. Bush (and more recently Mitt Romney) has time and again repeated that he “will never apologize for America!”
In Crito, Socrates refuses to escape from Athenian prison, even though he knows that he is going to be sentenced to death. He argues that he has a moral obligation to honor his legal obligation, since he owes all he has to the city. So do we support everything our country does, provided it deems itself a Republic?
What when the state turns against humanity in the name of security? In the fiscal year 2011, the US was providing Israel with $8.2 million/DAY in military aid to murder Palestinians in broad daylight. The Republic of India stations approximately 700,000 troops in the tiny valley of Kashmir, the most militarized region in the world, and commits human rights abuses daily.
How much nationalism is too much?
This film, titled “The Truth and Lies of 9/11” by Michael Ruppert, an author, investigative journalist and former LAPD officer investigates the real reasons behind the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Ruppert does not base his analysis on any sort of speculation about the 9/11 attacks, but on substantive evidence. A good book to read by Ruppert covering this subject is “Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil”.
Related Articles: http://republicanredefined.com/2009/10/29/drud-trafficking-brother-of-hamid-karzai-on-cia-payroll/ http://presscore.ca/nbg/index.php?entry=entry100727-204624 http://nwoobserver.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/cia-secret-operations-drug-money/#more-4381 http://nwoobserver.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/the-geopolitics-behind-the-phony-us-war-in-afghanistan/ http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/afghan-heroin-the-cia
“You can’t trust him. I just saw it in his eyes.”
I love this clip for numerous reasons. I love that Romney went to the veteran, Bob, thinking he’s probably going to love Romney for all his conservative crap and give him positive publicity. I love how Romney almost seems excited about the gay marriage question, since he assumes the old, white male Vietnam veteran is going to be on his side. I love how much more fake Romney got when he realizes the guy he is speaking to is gay. I love how Romney cannot get Bob to stop speaking his mind with his vague “we apparently disagree on that” bullshit. I love how stressed out Romney’s minions get when they see the direction the conversation is going in and try to wrap it up in a hurry. I love how Bob calls him out by saying “I guess the question was too hot”. I love how Bob made sure he spoke his mind at the end before Romney ran away. I love how Romney looks like he was slapped in the face.
This year, the GOP has decided not to let anyone who exhibits even a smidgen of intelligence or honesty run. It is the race to the least vile and abhorrent. Amongst all the clowns, Gingrich and Perry take the cake. Huntsman has a very lackluster candidacy and seems like he should belong in the Democratic party, and Santorum is a hypocritical and loony Christian fanatic. I ultimately think that it will come down to Paul, who is suddenly being touted as some sort of hero and Romney, who will say anything to win. I will be outlining and comparing these two in this article. |
As the rules of the game change to become complete, we will see some areas that never had any clarification take shape. Case in point, the exact nature and timing of attacking had to be defined. It now appears as follows:
Attack / Use Skills / Use Items
• You may choose to attack your opponent. • Choose an attack from your Attack List.
• If any Abilities or cards in play affect your Courage and MP costs, apply them before you pay the Courage costs of the attack you’ve chosen.
• Your opponent may then play cards or other effects here that would increase or decrease your Courage and MP costs.
• Pay any Courage and MP (Magic Points)
You may use Skill cards at any time during this step.
• Use any Abilities or other effects in play that require a cost to pay and pay any costs for these.
• Make any calculations affecting final dam -age including any Weapons, Armor, Ac cessories or Medallions in play.
Any and all calculations are done in the following order:
Multiply, divide, add and subtract. |
Kevin Mitnick Startles CEOs with Cyber Tricks
At the CyberRx Conference for Small and Medium-Sized Business Executives
October 20, 2016 (Silver Spring, MD) – The World’s Most Famous Hacker, Kevin Mitnick, provided valuable insights about the theory and practice of social engineering to attendees of the 2016 American Small Business Cybersecurity Xchange Conference presented by CyberRx. Mitnick’s presentation was akin to a technology magic show of the latest hacking techniques. He educated and informed while keeping attendees on the edge of their seats. He also provided expert commentary on issues related to information security, and increased the audience’s security awareness.
“Kevin was vital to getting our message across—that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks, yet most are uninformed about the risk. As much as 60 percent of SMBs go out of business within six months of a cyber-attack. So, we asked Kevin to demonstrate to chief executive officers (CEOs) and their executive teams, in real time, how companies’ data is being stolen and what they can do to protect themselves,” said Ola Sage, Co-Founder and CEO of CyberRx, the conference host. “Cybersecurity is not just a technical issue. Policy and financial decisions have to be made that effect the entire company,” she added.
Eighteen leading cybersecurity and small business experts also briefed more than 100 attendees about cybersecurity risks, and the roles and responsibilities of senior leadership in protecting their company’s brand, reputation and legal liability. Speakers included Mark Rasch, Security Evangelist at Verizon; Natalia Olson-Urtecho, Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration; and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Adam Sedgewick, Senior Information Technology Policy Advisor and lead author of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Montgomery County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett provided opening remarks.
The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) was the platinum sponsor for the event, which was held October 4 in Silver Spring, Maryland.
CyberRx provides pre- and post-breach cybersecurity solutions. Our online cyber readiness software platform helps businesses assess their cyber capabilities within the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and provides them with data to decide what tools and services are most critical as weighed against their risk profile and budget. Our distinctive cyber concierge service offers clients best-in-class technical and management recommendations and connects them with an array of qualified and vetted service providers, as appropriate, such as incident response support, computer forensics, legal and regulatory guidance, public relations and crisis management, and cyber insurance. CyberRx is vendor agnostic in recommending solutions.
CyberRx is an e-Management company, a 17-year recognized knowledge leader and provider of cybersecurity and enterprise risk solutions for clients in the public and private sectors. For more information about CyberRx, visit https://cyber-rx.com and follow the company on Twitter @AllAboutRisks. |
The National Weather Service posted the following alert for the NYC area and Southern NY State for late Wednesday night into Thursday, February 9th, 2017:
WINTER Storm Warning IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM EST THURSDAY... The National Weather Service in Upton has issued a Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow...which is in effect from midnight tonight to 6 PM EST Thursday. The Winter Storm Watch is no longer in effect.
Accumulations: 6 to 10 inches of snow.
Locations: New York City, Long Island, Southern Connecticut, the Lower Hudson Valley and Northeastern New Jersey.
Hazard type...Heavy snow.
Timing: Late tonight through Thursday.
Impacts: Hazardous travel due to snow covered roads and poor visibilities. Blowing and drifting snow is possible.
Winds: North 10 to 20 mph with gusts 30-35 mph.
Visibilities: 1/2 to 1/4 mile at times.
Temperatures: Around 30.
A Winter Storm Warning for Heavy Snow means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency. If you must travel...keep an extra flashlight...food... and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.
Will the NY State DMV close down local offices so as to not endanger motorist by forcing them to go to scheduled hearings?
Decision Maker: The DMV Commissioner who decides is primarily based in Albany, our state capital. I sometimes get the feeling that upstate officials scuff at how New York City residents let "a little snow," affect them. The Commissioner is most likely worrying about how much money the state will lose if they don't have hearings (every guilty motorist brings in hundreds of dollars) and the salaries that are paid to staff even if they get sent home. The DMV Commissioner is not likely weighing the danger and inconvenience to the public with each inch of snow that falls during a dangerous winter storm warning.
Default Strategy: "Don't Tell Anyone Anything Until it is Too Late to be Helpful." Snow forecasts can change. Imagine if you decide to close the DMV and then it just 1/2 inch of snow comes down. You ended up losing the state thousands if not millions of dollars in revenues. Most bureaucrats and politicians will wait up to the absolute last minute before announcing they are closing offices, schools, facilities-- just to make sure it really will snow so much.
What Really Ends up Happening: From my past 19 years of working at the DMV, major snow storms will almost never result in the motor vehicles closing. What usually happens is that they will just open the Traffic Violations Bureau for trials.
If the DMV does open, you should show up to fight your case. Many police officers work in NYC but live in the suburbs and will likely call in "sick" or take a "vacation" day. This can only improve your chance of winning your case. Don't get your hopes up too high that you're going to win, though-- if the police department computers notifies DMV that an officer is unavailable due to an "injured indication," it means the Judge will likely make you show up again for a new trial date and will refuse to dismiss your case. "Injured" evokes an image of a hero cop with President Trump at his hospital bed giving him a medal for bravery-- when in reality your cop is sitting home drinking a hot cocoa having just called in sick.
Lots of motorists will call in and complain during the day. Eventually, DMV will realize that many people were at a hardship trying to make it in. They'll usually announce in the late afternoon that they will give new hearing dates to any motorists who missed their appointment. They'll mail out letters with new appointments to motorists that missed their hearing dates.
If the DMV doesn't give you a break with a new appointment and you missed your hearing date, then DMV will still mail you a letter threatening to suspend your license within 30 days if you don't show up in person to get a new appointment.
So are you feeling lucky? Should you go into your trial?
One final option is that if your hearing is scheduled for the first time, you can easily reschedule on the internet (must do this before midnight the day before). If you answered your ticket late or already rescheduled it, you've got to show up in person and talk to an administrative judge. |
The Special Danger Truck Accidents Pose
This week in Nigeria, a massive truck accident killed over 30 people. The truck carried human passengers and cattle, and was speeding at the time of the accident.
Every day we share the road with vehicles capable of mass murder. Trucks pose a special danger and require regulations beyond the normal passenger vehicle. As a truck crash attorney, I’ve seen what happens when rules break down, and I’ve noticed a few reasons we need the law to defend us against truck accidents.
What the Trucks Carry
Trucks carry living things, including people and animals. Any truck accident risks the lives of those passengers. But many trucks also carry other dangerous materials, including:
- construction materials like cement
- hazardous waste
- oil and gas
- even nuclear weapons (yes, the military transports them using trucks on our interstates)
In addition, trucks carry explosive and flammable materials in the gas tank and electrical system. We need regulations on how the trucks carry these dangerous materials and where exactly they can travel with certain cargo.
Who Can Operate the Trucks
Many large trucks require special licensing to be driven. This includes 18-wheelers, tow trucks, and emergency vehicles. Dangerous cargo requires even more licensing. And those licenses need to stay updated. The requirements vary between states, and the federal government also has standards depending on the truck.
Perhaps even more importantly, regulations affect the companies that own trucks and employ drivers. Workers’ compensation and other employment laws require:
- Drivers receive certain time off
- Trucks get regular inspection
- How/when drivers need to receive training
- and much more
In recent months, access to trucks has received wide attention because of a rise in truck-related terrorism around the world. Whether we’re talking about drivers with a history of DUI’s or about people who wish to do us harm, it’s imperative we regulate who gets the keys to these vehicles.
Truck Accidents in Memphis
Fortunately in the United States, our laws help regulated trucks and keep the roads safe. But even with better laws, horrible accidents can happen. At my personal injury firm in Memphis, we’ve seen the tragic loss trucks can cause, and we take it very seriously.
If you or someone you love has been injured by a truck accident, we’d like to help. Contact us today to speak with an attorney for free. |
Easy-To-Understand Suggestions And Advice For Search Engine Optimisation
Due to the pervasiveness from the internet, it only follows that search engine optimization is a topic of vital importance to any or all businesses. Even though process may seem intricate and complex, this article is meant to present you useful tips and hints to guide you through the whole process of optimizing your business' search engine results.
Be sure to have got a relevant title and meta description on each page of your respective site. With out a unique page title, it is extremely tough to rank highly inside the listings. The meta tag isn't necessary for high search rankings however, it will usually show below your listing from the results so it will be useful for encouraging click through.
Make sure you didn't forget to have robots.txt set. Most of the time, when a website is in development, web designers will make use of a robots.txt file in order to avoid search engines from indexing the site at all. Many of these same web developers forget to remove the robots.txt file when the site goes live. One tip can be a produce a cron job that deletes the robots.txt file automatically about the designated date once you know what date your website is going live.
To boost the traffic to your Internet marketing website, take into account the keywords that your clients are using to find your products or services or content. By using a keyword analysis service can pinpoint the most likely keywords that potential clients use. Adding the correct keywords to the content or product description will lead to more traffic.
You have to fully commit you to ultimately search engine marketing in order to succeed. Online search engine algorithms are constantly changing so tactics which were successful six months ago might be redundant today. SEO requires you to make a long term plan, regularly inform yourself about new changes and then make appropriate alterations in your methods.
Optimize your site using breadcrumb navigation. Breadcrumb navigation means including a number of links which lead the viewer incrementally to the homepage of your site. These make it simpler for people to find their way around your increase and site the incidence of your own target keywords, plus the major search engines spiders can index your web site quicker.
If you do not have plenty of time to get it done yourself, get a newsletter designer service. To get a fee, these businesses will generate quality newsletters to send over to your dedicated, or new, email subscribers. These newsletter companies may also occasionally link back to your site, boosting your hit level plus your search engine results.
Design your site from the start with search optimization at heart. Should you include excessive Flash or another products which search engines like yahoo usually do not use, you will not be extremely high through to their radar. Bear that in mind when you start your website, and you will have a easier time later on.
Know your search engine. Some search engines have over 200 various methods that they can use to evaluate if your site is worthy of staying in the top of the their search lists. Make an effort to learn as several of these as is possible and use them to your great advantage. It is best to look for up to you may, though many sites will list a few.
From the minute that you just begin your time and energy to produce a more visible site, you will need to have web analytic software into position. It is possible to tell what things that you are currently doing are causing your web site to obtain additional traffic in case you have this type of software.
You need to never republish a write-up at different links on the site. That's one important tip that you need to remember. Google ranks pages in its SERP depending on quality and considers different links to articles with a similar content being a inferior link. Instead, use references to just one single link.
One of the ways that site owners have attempt to fraudulently manipulate google search returns to their advantage, is thru the creation of volumes and volumes newest, however, not very valuable content. At the beginning, in search engine technology, it was a viable kind of search engine optimisation. Now Google as well as other search engines like google, use algorithms to prevent such sites from dominating returns.
Provided you can manage to enlist the aid of online search engine tools like Yahoo! Search Marketing or Adwords, go ahead and spend any additional money. The highly specific keyword metrics and analysis made available from these types of services takes the guesswork away from enhancing your ranking and optimizing your blog to help you it become listed as among the organic search engine rankings.
When optimizing the pictures on your website, make sure to make use of the word "image", "picture", or "photo" in addition to a description. Many users look for images utilizing a keyword plus among those image-related words. Including both in your image description may help ensure they find yourself on your own site.
Once your site is Search Engine Optimized (SEO), you also have to work towards your off-site SEO. Maximize the quantity of good websites (not pages of links, or "spam" websites) linking to your website from content-rich pages. The better the website that is linking for your needs, the more "link juice" you may receive in turn, improving your Google Pagerank.
When optimizing your site for search engine results, consistency is vital. Ensure that you keep using the same keywords through the entire site to ensure the search engines like yahoo will receive a strong categorization of your own site in one area as opposed to weak categorizations for multiple areas. It's preferable to be on page 1 for 1 phrase than page 2 for 10 phrases.
So, as you have seen SEO is not as complicated mainly because it appears. It is pretty involved with regards to research, internal coding, and refining your web site, however it is worth every penny in the end. With the above tips in your mind, you have to be smarter in terms of SEO.
Simple Suggestions To Educate You About Search Engine Optimization In The Following Article
Search engine optimization sounds very intimidating to users a new comer to web marketing or web design and maintenance. However, with a little bit of education and research, search engine optimisation can be accomplished efficiently and effectively by anyone. Read these suggestions for a couple approaches to make the site be noticeable more in search results and increase your site traffic.
In order to optimize your search engine results, ensure that you connect to relevant and useful sites all by yourself site. Picking quality and appropriate links is key here. If you this, it does not simply be a great resource for your personal site, but additionally increases the probability of people linking back to you.
To produce your web site more "crawl-able" for search engines like google, you ought to ensure that your website includes a complete site map. You can find free site map generating tools online should you not realize how to make one. Making DC SEO gives you a better chance of increasing your site's rankings.
Insert your keyword into any summaries you give when providing backlinks. Take advantage of the most compelling phrases and don't forget a call to action in those summaries, but it's essential to incorporate your keyword. For search engines like google, who definitely are continuously in search of clues about relevant content, though not just for the reader.
The best way to find more people to your site is to list out your website with Google to ensure that when folks search through Google your page should come up. Listing your website this way, provides you with an extensive venue where thousands of people will likely be brought to your blog as well as to your links.
In SEO make sure you have the right keyword density. Use keywords evenly throughout your title, headers, and your articles, also in other places in the page that will call your article on the attention of search engine listings. 1 to 2 percent keyword density is considered best these days. It means a few keywords per 100 words is DC SEO .
Take full advantage of free local company directories and bookmarking sites. Enter your website's information into any or DC SEO of the free small business directories out there. Also enter your website's URL and description into bookmarking sites. This will make your site slightly easier to be found during web searches.
A favorite strategy to DC SEO is to use Google AdWord's own keyword tool. Using it, it is possible to examine what keywords people are using to find specific things. Using this data, after that you can begin adjusting your own keywords to match how many other use, to generate more hits.
To be able to have more attention from the major search engines, give each page on your own site a different title. Vary your consumption of keywords and key phrases within the titles. Make certain to never use more than 65 to 70 characters in each title and may include the most crucial words, at the outset of the title.
Webmasters can greatly boost their websites' position on search results pages, by careful and attentive tweaking of website content and page tags. It is vital that they earn these favored positions, though. If its content is sub-par, a website that may be tweaked into high sitting on the final results pages will receive a large amount of traffic - but it does not keep any kind of it. Content articles are king.
When designing external links to advertise your website, the anchor-text that you apply is critical in establishing the potency of the hyperlinks in raising your search engine rankings. Ensure the anchor-text uses the exact key phrase that you want search engines like google to position when locating your website. In the event you run a business office supply company and wish search engines to locate your internet site together with the phrase "office supply store," then this is the key phrase you need to use as your anchor text, for instance. The more external links that point to your business applying this phrase in the anchor text, the larger your rankings for that phrase.
Create a technique on getting inbound links to your site from relevant, highly-ranked websites. Of course, everyone's goal is to locate a method for Wikipedia, the most highly ranked site of, to send out us it's link juice. Your goal must be to find other websites who's topic matches yours to present you their Pagerank boosting links.
An easy way to increase your google page rank immediately is to find a previously owned website name that already has a strong reputation. Domain names which can be no less than 2 years old are automatically given more weight by search engines. Try to find domains that had been dropped recently and determine if any one of them is a fit for the site.
To help keep from being categorized as a spam site by major search engine listings, moderate comments on your site. Spammers frequently take advantage of the comments section of popular sites to spam links on their own sites. When search engines like google see these links, they read it as spam being posted on DC SEO . Moderating comments will let you prevent these comments from ever being posted.
You can actually learn SEO or search engine optimisation online using the many guides that happen to be around. Each internet search engine carries a similar method to place the content of your respective website in to a SEO type arrangement to build higher visibility and rankings. The secret to success is to discover ways to do it.
There are many free keyword tools available online, so employ them. Knowing the top keywords that people are utilizing gain access to your website, or perhaps your competitors', is essential to driving traffic towards you. Adwords has a excellent free tool which you must utilization in the research.
You may use search engine marketing to generate additional website visitors to your own or commercial blog. One of the better ways to achieve this is simply by choosing a blog theme or template that is certainly optimized for SEO and site relevancy factors. You can expect to recoup your investment site traffic, even if this may require the use of a paid template.
Again, search engine optimisation has the possibility to provide dramatic results for those prepared to take the time to learn and apply its basic tenets. When the fundamental strategies are mastered, it is easy to achieve tremendous success online. You can start to harness the strength of search engine optimisation, by diligently applying the tips included in this article.
Easy-To-Understand Suggestions And Advice For Search Engine Optimisation |
Joget Workflow v6 Beta 2 Released
Check out the latest Joget Workflow v6 Beta for many new features and improvements in user experience (UX), app maintainability and performance.
Userview Key serves as a placeholder for a common value to be used by its elements (i.e. Userview Menu). The usage of the Userview Key is dependent on the implementation of the element such as Userview Menu.
Figure 1: Example of Userview Key Usage to Pre-filter a Listing Based on a Column
Userview Key is most commonly used when you need to restrict the content of your userview to a certain category/attribute in your application.
The userview key is placed right before the element custom ID.
Link structure: userview/[App ID]/[Userview ID]/[Userview key]/[Element Custom ID] |
Artist Bunnie Reiss enjoys transforming the old into new, and has spent her life as a collector of weathered objects with rich stories. Reiss’s ongoing project turns her collection of old leather gloves into bright works of art, utilizing symmetry and cosmic imagery to connect both the past and present. The gloves are not obvious references to animal faces, but subtle gestures that reference eyes, ears, and noses within their design.
In addition to painting smaller works, Reiss also creates large installations and mural walls. Her most recent work is a 3,500 square foot mural painted on the east side of Milwaukee for the Black Cat Mural Alley. You can see more of her large and small-scale works on her website and Instagram. (via The Fox is Black) |
The Quest For The Perfect Toothbrush
“According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website, as of Christmas Day there were 138 patents with the word toothbrush in the title issued this year. 138!”
See full article on National Public Radio
With some consumer products we see constant change. Computers and cars, for instance, are constantly being improved with the discovery of new technical advances. What about the toothbrush – which has been with us for many years? It turns out that this field of invention is very much alive, as illustrated by this very interesting article.
What toothbrush inventors tell us is that the world of the toothbrush has need for much improvement – so the changes keep coming. The reason for this is that brushing your teeth effectively is actually quite complex. Your mouth isn’t flat like a kitchen floor so you can clean it with a simple brush. Parts of your mouth are hard to get to – you can’t see what your doing – the space in between your teeth is particularly difficult to clean (and requires a different tool than you might use for the outside surface of the teeth). The list goes on.
Some of the innovations in the works are sensors that adapt electric toothbrushes to different surfaces in the mouth, improved brush bristle angles to improve cleaning, and cosmetic changes to make the tooth brush more appealing to use.
Dr. Rodney Chowning, General Dentist, Denton, TX |
Hurricane Irma has ravaged the Caribbean and is headed for Florida this weekend, just days after Hurricane Harvey left devastation across Texas.
Irma blew through the islands of the Caribbean with 185 mile-per-hour winds, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The storm is barreling toward the east coast of Florida this weekend, and the area is preparing with mandatory evacuations.
In the wake of these storms and and the recent earthquake in Mexico, we spoke with Patricia Aguilera, State Department director of American Citizen Services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and Jim Judge, chair of the Disaster/Preparedness Subcouncil for the Red Cross, about what travelers should do if they find themselves caught up in a natural disaster when they're far from home. Here are their tips:
Before your trip
Plan your trip with safety in mind.
Both Aguilera and Judge agree that preparation is key. Start by researching you destination. If it's prone to certain natural disasters (hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes) during specific seasons, consider scheduling your trip for a different time.
"Know what's going on," says Judge. "It's always a good idea, no matter whether you're traveling locally or afar, to do some research. With the internet today, you're only a few seconds away from weather, travel advisories, and other news in the region that you should be aware of."
Enroll in STEP, the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.
Through the program, you'll receive travel and security updates about the destination in which you're registered. In a natural disaster, it will keep you informed of road closures, curfews, and other information you, as a U.S. citizen, need to know about the situation on the ground. You can sign up at step.state.gov.
We recommend purchasing travel insurance regardless of your destination, but should you find yourself in the midst of a natural disaster, it can be life-changing. "It is so important," says Aguilera.
Equally important: Reading the fine print. "Some of them will cover medical evacuations—in a natural disaster that can be extremely important. If you need to be medevac-ed because there is not a facility to treat something more serious, that's big thing to consider, especially because medical evacuations can be so costly: upward of $20,000 or more. Other kinds of travel insurance will cover things like changes in airline fees or staying additional nights at the hotel. Do some research, and seriously consider getting it any time you travel, no matter where you're going."
Aguilera also recommends looking into your airline's policy in regards to natural disasters so there are no surprises, should anything happen.
Pack with a worst-case scenario in mind.
Increasing luggage fees have travelers squeezing as much as they can into carry-on bags, but, in case of emergency it's better to be safe than sorry, so save a little room for these key items.
"People should consider taking a little bit of extra cash, making sure that they have copies of their credit cards. Making sure that they have extra cell phone batteries with them, if possible," Aguilera says.
"And if it's allowed—read our country-specific information beforehand—if you take prescriptions, make sure you have one or two days extra just in case you get delayed in departing, so it's not a problem. It will be very difficult for you to find those medications, if something should happen."
Print two hard copies of your travel documents, keeping one with you and giving the other to a close friend or family member back home. Make sure you have contact information for your airline, your hotel, tour operators, readily available so you don't have to scramble to look it up in an emergency.
And if you're traveling by car, Judge suggests keeping a small stockpile of essentials in your trunk:
"Put some bug spray, sunscreen, an extra pair of shoes, a first aid kit, cliff bars, maybe even have a couple of extra jugs of water in the trunk, he says, continuing, "a flashlight, a blanket, an extra battery for your phone, even toilet paper. Those things are invaluable when you're in an emergency situation."
And while a store-bought First Aid kit is a great first step—the Red Cross sells pre-made kits, here—Judge recommends customizing to fit your needs, by adding in an extra pair of glasses, any prescription medications, hearing-aid batteries, etc.
"We always encourage people: don't just take that kit and put it away: Customize it for your own needs and for your family, and then you've really got something there to help you through an emergency crisis," he says.
During the disaster.
The specifics of what exactly you should do during a natural disaster vary depending on the type of event, but Aguilera says keeping calm is critical.
"I think the most important tip is just to as much as possible remain calm and patient, understanding that obviously things aren't going to be functioning the way they normally do, and not to get caught up in the chaos. That key preparation beforehand will allow you to at least think more clearly in a time of emergency."
Judge also suggests that seeking shelter, and getting off of public streets is advisable in nearly every situation. For more natural disaster-specific tips, check out the Red Cross mobile apps for information on earthquakes, floods, wildfires, tornados, and hurricanes.
After the disaster.
Let your friends and family know you're okay. If you are traveling abroad, contact your local embassy, but only if you're injured or in need of emergency assistance.
The first thing you should do after a natural disaster is let your family know that you are safe.
"If you are okay, if you are uninjured, if you don't need assistance, you need to call your family and friends," says Aguilera. And if the landlines aren't operating, try to use social media—What's App, Facebook, or Twitter.
"That is the primary thing that a person needs to do if they are not in harm's way."
If you're traveling internationally, you should also have the local embassy's phone number on you in case of an emergency, or you can call 888-407-4747, which is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by the U.S. State Department, but do so only if you are in need of help.
"The only time that an American needs to contact us is if they are in a critical situation where they do need assistance, where they are injured or they know of another U.S. citizen that has been harmed," says Aguilera."Then we need to know about that. That is a time that they would call us."
Follow the instructions of local authorities.
Tune in to local radio, television, social media, whatever you can to get the most up-to-date information on road closures, curfews, and emergency assistance.
"The best possible thing is for people to find local to listen to local radio, television, and to hear what local authorities are saying about the situation on the ground," says Aguilera. That could be the fastest way for them to get the information that will be critical, and them deciding if they can move around, or leave the country, or what are the best next steps."
Leave if you're able.
If you leave as soon as possible following the event, "then you're not part of the traffic problem, you're not using the resources that locals might need," explained Judge. "You're doing yourself a favor, but you're also doing the community a favor by going home."
Aguilera agreed. "I would highly recommend that if they don't need to stay there, they leave," she said. "There is going to be a series of events that follow after a crisis, and and it will continue, so the infrastructure that was there, won't be there anymore. And security might be strained in assisting those that need assistance. It's better that you just depart, if possible, and get to the safest place that you can." |
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Arrowar•row (ar′ō),USA pronunciation n.
- a slender, straight, generally pointed missile or weapon made to be shot from a bow and equipped with feathers at the end of the shaft near the nock, for controlling flight.
- anything resembling an arrow in form, function, or character.
- a linear figure having a wedge-shaped end, as one used on a map or architectural drawing, to indicate direction or placement.
- (cap.) [Astron.]the constellation Sagitta.
- See broad arrow.
- to indicate the proper position of (an insertion) by means of an arrow (often fol. by in): to arrow in a comment between the paragraphs.
Floorfloor (flôr, flōr),USA pronunciation n.
- that part of a room, hallway, or the like, that forms its lower enclosing surface and upon which one walks.
- a continuous, supporting surface extending horizontally throughout a building, having a number of rooms, apartments, or the like, and constituting one level or stage in the structure;
- a level, supporting surface in any structure: the elevator floor.
- one of two or more layers of material composing a floor: rough floor; finish floor.
- a platform or prepared level area for a particular use: a threshing floor.
- the bottom of any more or less hollow place: the floor of a tunnel.
- a more or less flat extent of surface: the floor of the ocean.
- the part of a legislative chamber, meeting room, etc., where the members sit, and from which they speak.
- the right of one member to speak from such a place in preference to other members: The senator from Alaska has the floor.
- the area of a floor, as in a factory or retail store, where items are actually made or sold, as opposed to offices, supply areas, etc.: There are only two salesclerks on the floor.
- the main part of a stock or commodity exchange or the like, as distinguished from the galleries, platform, etc.
- the bottom, base, or minimum charged, demanded, or paid: The government avoided establishing a price or wage floor.
- an underlying stratum, as of ore, usually flat.
- the bottom of a hull.
- any of a number of deep, transverse framing members at the bottom of a steel or iron hull, generally interrupted by and joined to any vertical keel or keelsons.
- the lowermost member of a frame in a wooden vessel.
- mop or wipe the floor with, [Informal.]to overwhelm completely;
defeat: He expected to mop the floor with his opponents.
- take the floor, to arise to address a meeting.
- to cover or furnish with a floor.
- to bring down to the floor or ground;
knock down: He floored his opponent with one blow.
- to overwhelm;
- to confound or puzzle;
nonplus: I was floored by the problem.
- Also, floorboard. to push (a foot-operated accelerator pedal) all the way down to the floor of a vehicle, for maximum speed or power.
Frameframe (frām),USA pronunciation n., v., framed, fram•ing.
- a border or case for enclosing a picture, mirror, etc.
- a rigid structure formed of relatively slender pieces, joined so as to surround sizable empty spaces or nonstructural panels, and generally used as a major support in building or engineering works, machinery, furniture, etc.
- a body, esp. a human body, with reference to its size or build;
physique: He has a large frame.
- a structure for admitting or enclosing something: a window frame.
- Usually, frames. (used with a pl. v.) the framework for a pair of eyeglasses.
- form, constitution, or structure in general;
- a particular state, as of the mind: an unhappy frame of mind.
- [Motion Pictures.]one of the successive pictures on a strip of film.
- [Television.]a single traversal by the electron beam of all the scanning lines on a television screen. In the U.S. this is a total of 525 lines traversed in &fracnumer;
second. Cf. field (def. 19).
- the information or image on a screen or monitor at any one time.
- one of the ten divisions of a game.
- one of the squares on the scorecard, in which the score for a given frame is recorded.
- [Pool.]rack1 (def. 3).
- [Baseball.]an inning.
- a frame-up.
- enclosing lines, usually forming a square or rectangle, to set off printed matter in a newspaper, magazine, or the like;
- the structural unit that supports the chassis of an automobile.
- any of a number of transverse, riblike members for supporting and stiffening the shell of each side of a hull.
- any of a number of longitudinal members running between web frames to support and stiffen the shell plating of a metal hull.
- a machine or part of a machine supported by a framework, esp. as used in textile production: drawing frame; spinning frame.
- the workbench of a compositor, consisting of a cabinet, cupboards, bins, and drawers, and having flat and sloping work surfaces on top.
- [Bookbinding.]an ornamental border, similar to a picture frame, stamped on the front cover of some books.
- in frame, [Shipbuilding.](of a hull) with all frames erected and ready for planking or plating.
- to form or make, as by fitting and uniting parts together;
- to contrive, devise, or compose, as a plan, law, or poem: to frame a new constitution.
- to conceive or imagine, as an idea.
- to incriminate (an innocent person) through the use of false evidence, information, etc.
- to provide with or put into a frame, as a picture.
- to give utterance to: Astonished, I attempted to frame adequate words of protest.
- to form or seem to form (speech) with the lips, as if enunciating carefully.
- to fashion or shape: to frame a bust from marble.
- to shape or adapt to a particular purpose: to frame a reading list for ninth graders.
- to contrive or prearrange fraudulently or falsely, as in a scheme or contest.
- to adjust (film) in a motion-picture projector so as to secure exact correspondence of the outlines of the frame and aperture.
- to line up visually in a viewfinder or sight.
- [Archaic.]to direct, as one's steps.
fram′a•ble, frame′a•ble, adj.
- [Archaic.]to betake oneself;
- [Archaic.]to prepare, attempt, give promise, or manage to do something.
fram′a•ble•ness, frame′a•ble•ness, n.
Kitkit1 (kit),USA pronunciation n., v., kit•ted, kit•ting.
- a set or collection of tools, supplies, instructional matter, etc., for a specific purpose: a first-aid kit; a sales kit.
- the case for containing these.
- such a case and its contents.
- a set of materials or parts from which something can be assembled: a model car made from a kit.
- a set, lot, or collection of things or persons.
- a wooden tub, pail, etc., usually circular.
- [Chiefly Brit.]a costume or outfit of clothing, esp. for a specific purpose: ski kit; dancing kit; battle kit.
- kit and caboodle or boodle, the whole lot of persons or things;
all of something (often prec. by whole): We took along the whole kit and caboodle in the station wagon.
- to package or make available in a kit: a new model airplane that has just been kitted for the hobbyist.
- [Chiefly Brit.]to outfit or equip (often fol. by out or up).
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If you already have kids that are produced outdated, the usage of this layout applies. You should avoid these shades if your kids are preschoolers. Why? Yes of course, to prevent the impression of filthy that caused in having fun with your chosen furniture, because not him preschoolers.
Especially if you've animals such as pets or cats, should prevent furniture and accessories' usage is white. You will be troubled with additional care. The white colour is usually quickly evident filth or if spots. Furniture so you is going to be impressed easily obsolete and rundown, consequently you can forget classy.
A lot more hues that you can employ not to offer selected outcomes around your home furniture's usage design. You're able to choose brown or green leaves, should you select Arrow Floor Frame Kit that induced the inexplicable, for natural shade. For an elegant and elegant impression can be represented by introducing the color dark. |
Son’s “mad scientist” experiments inspires John Francis’s and Susan Caskey’s gift of $250,000 to support “iDiv” renovations
Lots of teens post photos on Facebook that would surprise or even shock their parents. So imagine John Francis’s and Susan Caskey’s reaction when friends called to tell them about the image Will had selected as his profile image. There he was at the family cottage, age 12 at the time — shooting 12-foot flames into the lake from a garden-variety water gun.
“Our friend told us to check out what Will had been up to by way of unauthorized science experiments,” says Susan. (Apparently, a combination of bug spray and a lighter had done the trick.) “For obvious reasons we didn’t allow him to take bug spray to Norval that year even though the packing list called for it.”
When considering a gift to their son’s school it was a natural move, therefore, to consider his talents. Hence, the family donated $250,000 this past summer to support Will’s natural enthusiasms; he’s now in Year 2 and the family has chosen to direct its gift to Upper School renovations and name a science lab.
“Will had a wonderful experience over eight years at the Prep and we wanted to recognize that by giving back,” says John. As past chair of the SickKids Foundation’s board of directors and a trustee of that hospital, he places huge value on encouraging innovation in health care and science research from a young age.
“There was definitely room for improvement in the learning environment of the science labs,” he says. “It’s hard for kids to stay focused with so much competing for their attention. The vibrancy of the room, even little things like good air flow and temperature control, play a big role. We want to do our part to enable young people to achieve their goals.”
Says Susan: “We feel more comfortable knowing Will has those opportunities in the right setting — with safety glasses.”
John and Susan have three teenaged children: Will, Kaitlyn and Jessica. |
Runners, with one week to go we would like to highlight the importance of the obligatory equipment.
“There is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.”
I have just attended an event that was hit by severe wind and rain for the full 5 day duration of the event.
Most competitors managed their own safety well, but a few had poor equipment for the conditions or did not know how to manage their own safety in the mountains. This gave the organisers a huge problem in order to manage the race and avoid any injury to competitors. We therefore feel it appropriate to highlight the obligatory equipment requirements for the UTMR and help clarify requirements.
Clothing, and in particular waterproofs, are the difference between a successful race or a potentially dangerous situation for the racers and organisation. As the UTMR is in the high mountains it is important to make sure the clothing layers are suitable.
Your outer layer must be FULLY WATERPROOF AND BREATHABLE WITH TAPED SEAMS TO COVER THE FULL BODY.
This is obligatory for very good reason so please do not turn up to this race without these important items. These items are carried in case you or a fellow competitor injures themselves and cannot seek shelter. The safety team need to know you can stay safe while they attempt a rescue.
A good layering system allows competitors the best chance to manage their own safety on the mountains and reduce the risk of injury or death from hypothermia. A key skill of an ultra runner is to master their environment and an important part of this is to manage their clothing systems. If it rains then competitors and their clothing will get wet, a good waterproof will delay this far longer. Sweat that is not wicked away from the skin from climbing uphill can quickly cool and put the competitor in danger at higher altitudes, so cotton is not allowed as a layering material.
A good base layer that dries quickly and removes moisture away from the skin is the most important but least expensive item of clothing in the system.
An insulating layer that dries quickly and does not absorb moisture will extend the extreme level of conditions you can stay safe in. A fleece for good weather forecasts or a thicker insulating layer for bad weather would be ideal.
Finally the waterproof breathable layer allows it all to work. Without a good waterproofness rating the moisture will force its way in under rucksacks and zips, particularly in strong winds. Without a good breathability rating the moisture that manages to get into the jacket or your own sweat with stay there and increase the speed of hypothermia.
A plastic type jacket is waterproof but not breathable, and a windproof is breathable but not waterproof.
Both these forms of shell are dangerous in protecting the athlete in the high mountains. At equipment check we will be looking at the quality of your waterproof, and insuring they have fully taped seams. Without a tape on the seams they are not classed as waterproof.
Remember a windproof is not appropriate for this event even if it has passed other ultra equipment checks as we hear this excuse regularly. If you are unsure, please contact the manufacturer of your waterproofs, or send us an email.
Make sure you check this before arriving at registration for UTMR as we do not want you to have an additional unnecessary expense.
There is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.
Good luck and may the sun shine on all of us (oh and don’t forget sun cream!) |
Double-decker buses that educate visitors on climate action, a unique idea to raise awareness about climate change, have been touring Marrakech, Morocco, since 7 November where they have been used by environmental protection associations to raise awareness about climate change. Marrakech is hosting COP22 -- the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) until 11 November.
The buses feature audio-visual equipment and photos on climate change issues. On board, locals and visitors of the Ochre City can also attend briefings on environmental themes presented by volunteers. “Our teams are tasked with informing locals and visitors on COP22 events, as well as raising awareness about the need to act now against climate change,” said Faris Atika, a young volunteer in charge of informing and receiving visitors on board the bus.
Atika, a geopolitical and international relations MA student, adds that the bus idea has been commended by visitors of different nationalities, who showed eagerness to learn more about environmental issues.
The coordinator of the two buses, Ahmed ElKanziti, said that the two double-deckers are also meant to highlight the efforts undertaken by Morocco to protect the environment and curb greenhouse gas emissions. He invited Moroccans in particular to come to see the buses, which will be showcased in Jemaa El Fna square along with other stops.
For more information about the COP22 that was opened in 7 November click HERE. |
Big Banks: Still Too Big To Fail? by Fran Reed, FactSet
A surprising new voice has emerged in the “too big to fail” debate: a Federal Bank Reserve President. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari this week publicly advocated for breaking up the big banks, asserting that the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act didn’t go far enough. He rationalized that despite banking’s long effective lobbying efforts to block structural change combined with the post-crisis fragile economic environment, the economy is now sufficiently strong to support bold bank break-up action. His comments could influence decisions over big-bank policy, both on Capitol Hill and among regulators.
Mr. Kashkari is the Fed’s newest bank president (one month in office) and a Republican who served in the George W. Bush White House administration. Importantly, he’s also a former top Treasury Department official, who during the financial crisis ran the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the 2008 crisis-related effort to stabilize the financial system by injecting capital into banks. Unlike other Fed bank presidents, he also is a former politician, having run unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for governor of California in 2014.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen testified on February 10 before the joint House Committee on Financial Services and Senate Banking Committee, the required semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress (formerly known as Humphrey-Hawkins Testimony), that regulatory efforts in the wake of the financial crisis have been effective in creating a more resilient and stronger, better-capitalized, more liquid banking system.
All of this has taken place during a tumultuous U.S. presidential primary season in which both liberal and conservative candidates have been sharply critical on the lasting effects of the financial crisis. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has been firing up audiences by attacking “Wall Street’s greed” and several Republican candidates have vowed to repeal “heavy-handed” governmental regulations.
Big Banks – If a Bank is Well Capitalized and Less Complex, Does Size Really Matter?
Size alone is a simplistic and arbitrary measure. It’s true that the biggest banks have grown bigger. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), by year-end 2015, the big four U.S. banks (JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo) had combined assets equal to 51% of the $5.18 trillion total bank assets — compared with 44% of the $8.01 trillion total bank assets at the end of 2006.
Most current policy makers haven’t endorsed breaking apart large banks. The generally held belief is that the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law and the actions that followed it outlawed bailouts and are forcing bank creditors and investors to assume the risk of a big bank failure, rather than taxpayers.
Regulators like the Fed, the ECB, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel III), and Financial Stability Board have taken dramatic micro-prudential actions limiting bank risk-taking through higher capital requirements, the threat of capital surcharges for non-compliance, and greater loss reserve requirements.
- Core tier one capital ratios: a key measure of a bank’s balance sheet strength, comparing equity capital to risky assets.
- Leverage coverage ratios: measures capital held by banks against total assets
- Total Loss Absorbency Capital (TLAC): capital buffer requirements to absorb potential losses
Regulatory pressure on large banks to increase capital cushions to absorb potential losses and reduce reliance on volatile forms of funding have helped fortify their balance sheets, but the extra capital set aside for losses has dragged down profits and price performance.
Importantly, two bank industry trends of the late 1990s and early 2000s set the stage for the financial crisis: an over-reliance short-term funding combined with a new way to leveraged long-term complex risk.
- Short-term funding: Through the issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) and asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), banks became addicted to a huge new source of short-term funding from wholesale sources like institutional investors. The great irony in wholesale funding sources is their abundant availability in good times but total loss in tough times. Harder-to-come-by retail deposit bases proved to be a much more stable source of funding.
- Leveraging complex risk: The special purpose vehicle (SPV) created the ability to securitize mortgage collateral from illiquid assets into tradable securities. Banks would sell large groups or “pools” of geographically diverse loans to these SPVs, which had no employees or physical location and were not subject to banking regulation. SPVs financed their risky asset purchases by issuing short-term paper into the capital markets, acting similar to banks (“borrow short, lend long”) — which is why SPVs are referred to as “shadow banks.”
Securitizations were broken down into “tranches” with varying expected cash flows to receive a certain credit rating, which allowed banks to distribute this new form of risk to investors who desired specific exposures; higher returns were given to riskier expected cash flow tranches. Credit ratings were assigned by expected cash flow analysis and not by the credit worthiness of the borrower.
Ultimately this standardization and growth of the securitization process led to lower mortgage lending rates and, in turn, led to reduced lending standards. In reality, banks retained large amounts of this risk. The majority of securitization never really left the banking system and ironically increased the interconnectedness among banks.
The post-financial crisis regulatory regime has been crafted to take more than size into account. Supervisors assess the strength of the banks by considering four elements:
- Business model
- Governance and risk management
- Risks to capital
- Risks to liquidity and funding
Complexity and liquidity risks are at the heart of modern banking reform. There’s been sharp regulatory focus on simplifying banks: streamlining the legal entity structure and providing incentives for higher quality liquid assets (HQLA) and lower risk-weighted assets. The new regulatory framework has gone a long way to imposing costs on big banks based on the risks they pose to the financial system. The flaw is that this framework hasn’t made clear what the endgame is. The implicit message of capital surcharges and other constraints is that banks of a certain size and risk profile will be treated as utilities.
Although today’s big banks may be bigger, they are less interconnected, less complex, maintain stronger balance sheets and generally have far smaller derivatives books.
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Members of a key Congressional committee on Tuesday voiced support for NASA's Constellation program, designed to get astronauts back to the moon.
The comments came a week after an expert panel said NASA's plans were not possible, given its current budget.
The occasion was an appearance by Norman Augustine, head of a committee formed to consider the future of human space exploration. The Augustine committee sent a summary report to the White House last week saying NASA needs at least an extra $3 billion a year to implement the Constellation moon program. The report also included several alternatives to that program.
At a feisty session on Tuesday, Congress was having none of those alternatives, starting just minutes into the two-hour hearing.
"NASA has been working for more than four years on the Constellation program, a development program in support of which Congress has invested billions of dollars over that same period," said Science Committee chairman Bart Gordon. "As a result I think that good public policy would tell us that there needs to be a compelling reason to scrap what we've invested our time and money in over the past several years."
The Democratic chairman's words were echoed minutes later by the top Republican on the Science Committee, Ralph Hall.
"It is hard for me to understand why the president is seeking new options at all when there has been an agreed-upon plan for several years. Why don't we just fund the program we've all agreed to?"
But Norman Augustine stressed that by his committee's analysis, NASA's Constellation program — given the current budget — is, as they might say at the space agency, a no-go.
"And the reason for that, the primary reason, is the mismatch between the task to be performed and the funds that are available to support those tasks."
The Augustine report includes several options for human spaceflight, but in his Congressional appearance, Mr. Augustine emphasized that they were just that — options, not recommendations.
"We've tried very hard not to wind up being in the position where we make a recommendation as to a program, but each of the options does have liabilities, including the current program. All the others have them, too. Each has their benefits, and it's really up to the decision maker to make a judgment as to how to weigh those."
When Augustine referred to the "decision maker," he was talking not only about President Obama, but also about Congress, which appropriates the money to pay for space exploration. Most of the options in the Augustine report were based on a budget increase of $3 billion a year. By comparison, NASA's current budget for all its programs is about $18 billion. |
Researchers have found the cause of a rare bone disorder in children that may eventually lead to a treatment for osteoporosis, a common disease that causes weak and brittle bones in the elderly.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and three other centers found that defects in a gene that's sensitive to hormones can lead to progressive osseus heteroplasia, or POH.
"I think that this disease, progressive osseus heteroplasia, represents a model for us to understand the factors, genetic and biochemical, that may trigger the development of new bone," says Michael Levine, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Levine headed a multi-center study that looked at the hormone sensitive gene, GNAS. The investigators found that children with POH had defects in GNAS that results in the production of too little of a protein called Gs-alpha, which plays a critical role in cells' ability to communicate with other cells.
The result, according to Dr. Levine, is a communication breakdown. "This unusual syndrome is an example of a disorder in biology where a patient begins to grow bone in places where there shouldn't grow bone. And the bone is absolutely normal except for its location," he says. "And what it represents is a mis-wiring of signals that regulate primitive cells and differentiation, so that cells that should become muscle and connective tissue, or fat or even skin somehow are being triggered to become bone cells."
By understanding the mechanism by which children with POH produce too much bone tissue, researchers think they may be able to strengthen the frail bones of osteoporosis patients. Again, John's Hopkins' University's Dr. Michael Levine. "Ultimately we can learn how bone regenerates, and what signals cause primitive cells to generate into bone cells, we may be able to develop rational therapies that we can then apply to osteoporosis," he says.
Dr. Levine and colleagues published their work on POH in the "New England Journal of Medicine."
The disorder strikes approximately one in 100,000 children. Doctors at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri sent the genetic material from two children to Baltimore to be analyzed. Dr. Michael Whyte, a co-author of the New England Journal Study, says researchers made a fascinating finding. "A very wonderful revelation came from the clinical investigation concerning a genetic phenomenon known as imprinting, where depending upon whether you inherit a gene defect from either parent, depending upon whether it's coming from a mother or father, you can end up with a different expression of a disorder," he says. "And that's what's talked about in this paper. At last an explanation based on imprinting based on who might develop POH and who might develop Albright's hereditary osteo-dystrophy."
Until researchers looked closely at the genes of children with what appeared to be different bone overgrowth diseases, doctors thought they were separate disorders. They have discovered otherwise. |
President Bush says all Americans are deeply saddened by the deaths of four Canadian soldiers killed by a U.S. bomb during a training exercise in Afghanistan. Mr. Bush is promising a timely and thorough investigation.
They were the first Canadians to die in combat in the service of their country since the Korean War five decades ago.
The five solders were killed when a U.S. fighter plane mistakenly dropped a bomb on them during a live-fire training exercise near Kandahar.
In a written statement, President Bush referred to the five as "Canada's fallen heroes." He said Canada is shouldering great burdens in the war on terrorism and making tremendous sacrifices.
The president called Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien shortly after word of the accident reached Washington. Mr. Bush said he told the prime minister that the United States will work with Canada to determine exactly how the tragedy occurred. He said they will draw every possible lesson from what happened to better protect coalition forces. |
Jordan's King Abdullah has asked his prime minister to form a new government following parliamentary elections held in mid-June. The Jordanian monarch asked Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb to stay on and form a new cabinet, after he submitted his resignation. It is traditional for a serving government to resign following an election.
New Jordanian lawmakers were elected June 17.
The departing 26-member cabinet's mandate ran out on election day when it supervised a parliamentary poll for the first time in six years.
Mr. Abu Ragheb's outgoing government was formed three years ago. During that time he re-organized his cabinet five times.
Mr. Abu Ragheb is not a member of the 110-seat Chamber of Deputies, which met last week for the first time since King Abdullah dissolved the previous legislature in June 2001.
Jordan's press has speculated that Mr. Abu Ragheb may add new cabinet posts or separate existing positions. |
The United States is consistently the top study abroad destination for students around the world, with nearly 900,000 international students coming to the U.S. to study during the 2013-2014 school year.
But why do international students choose to come to the United States? While there are numerous different reasons, here are four of the reasons students gave us:
1. Excellent academic programs – in the U.S., there are numerous world-renowned universities and colleges that offer many different academic paths to choose from.
Kwang Yeon Lee, a student at Johns Hopkins University, came to study in the U.S from high school. He says that U.S has the strong reputation for higher education.
“There are a lot of education options here…my country doesn’t have this much educational diversity,” he said.
2. Career-minded learning opportunities – in addition to studying, many students also participate in academic clubs and professional organizations, even if they’re not directly related to their major. These clubs give students an opportunity to learn practical skills that could be use in their careers.
At Georgetown University, for example, students considering a career in journalism can join the school’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) to support their interests. As a member of a professional organization, students have access to conferences, networking opportunities, and many kinds of professional experience to supplement what they learn in the classroom.
3. Specialized libraries and resources - many U.S. schools not only offer students a multitude of resources to help in their education, from books, to films, to academic journals, but offer resources that can be hard to find elsewhere.
Suk-Hwan Kang, a student at Georgetown University, said it was hard to find English books when he studied in his home country, South Korea. He couldn’t find translated or English books, which made it difficult to complete courses in his major: Western History. But, most of time in the United States, he doesn’t have any trouble finding the books he needs.
4. Advanced-level English language programs - many colleges and private English language schools provide English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to help students learn English.
Some international students come to the United States to take these classes and prepare themselves to enter university; others come to learn English while experiencing American life; others come to improve their English while working at an internship or job.
“Before starting my internship in the U.S, I took some language courses that helped me learn the basics of speaking, writing, reading in English” Kang Han, a student at International Language Institute in Washington D.C. “The English program was helpful to understand American culture too.”
Jeonghyun Kim is a VOA intern for the English web desk. She is from South Korea, and is currently pursuing her Masters in Professional Studies in Journalism at Georgetown University. |
Here's a sample of our volunteer opportunities:VIEW AS
Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty
We work to reduce suffering and to create meaningful social change for animals by advocating for sensible public policies, investigating cruelty and working to enforce existing laws, educating the public about animal issues, joining with corporations on behalf of animal-friendly policies, and conducting hands-on programs that make ours a more humane world. We are a leading disaster relief agency for animals, and we provide direct care for thousands of animals at our sanctuaries and rescue facilities, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and mobile veterinary clinics.
We celebrate pets, as well as wildlife and habitat protection. We are the nation's most important advocate for local humane societies, providing shelter standards and evaluations, training programs, a national advertising campaign to promote pet adoption, direct support, and national conferences. We operate a Humane Wildlife Services program in the D.C. metro area to provide homeowners and businesses with humane and effective solutions to conflicts with our wild neighbors. We promote scientific innovation by driving the development of humane alternatives to replace harmful animal experiments. The HSUS publishes All Animals, a membership magazine, and Animal Sheltering, a bi-monthly magazine for animal sheltering professionals.
We confront national and global cruelties through major campaigns targeting the barbaric practices of dogfighting and cockfighting; abusive puppy mills where dogs are treated not like family but like production machines; the worst cruelties of factory farming in modern agribusiness such as confinement of animals in crates and cages; inhumane and unsporting hunting practices such as "canned hunts" of captive exotic animals; the suffering of animals in experimentation, including chimpanzees and pets; the slaughter of American horses for export to foreign countries where horsemeat is considered a delicacy; and the clubbing of baby seals and other animals for the commercial fur trade. Our track record of effectiveness has led to meaningful victories for animals in Congress, state legislatures, courtrooms and corporate boardrooms. |
May 17, 2017
Guiding Question: Is the Water in our Homes Healthy or Unhealthy?
Research Team: Keila Alvarez, Brianna Amezcua, Ana Anaya, Liseth Campos, Malyq Clark, Alyssa Herra, Tyreese Love, Raul Villalobos
Teacher Facilitator: Mrs. Brooks
Guiding Question: To Drink or Not to Drink: Is Our Water Appropriate to Drink based on EPA Standards for Safe Drinking Water?
Research Team: Ja'Danee Williams, Anna Kennedy, Melissa Morris, Melissa Zaldivar, Josue Meraz, Eveny Rosales, Denise Delatorre, Victoria Rojo, Emarie Juarez, Haylie Cortez, Tiffany Melgar, Jocelyn Moreno, Jason Temple
Teacher Facilitator: Mr. Davis
Guiding Question: Does Eutrophication Exist in Our Community?
Research Team: Marvin Portillo, William Gonzalez, Jhanaya Shingleton, Julie Sandoval, Ashley Lopez, Brenda Soria, Kate Velasquez, Stephen De La Pena, David Guevara, Syre Baker, Daniela Perdomo, Freddy Domingo, Mayceo Flores, Axel Acevedo, Juan Ceja, Wilfredo Guitierrez, Anthony Rosillo, Christopher Rojo
Teacher Facilitator: Mr. Guesno
May 25, 2016
Grade 3Title of Investigation: How can we help solve the problem of trash being dumped in the neighborhood and around our school, especially on Grand Avenue?Research Team: Salvador Nunez, Promise Newton, Osbaldo Villenueava, Nyiema Collier, Kyler Panton, Jayden JilesTeacher Facilitators: Mrs. Collins Ms. Sima, & Ms. SmithGrade 4Title of Investigation: How can we reduce waste in the community in order to minimize or eliminate curbside garbage on the streets?Research Team: Jair Coria, Evelynn Cornejo, Mikalah Douglas, Aileen EscalanteTeacher Facilitators: Ms. Francis & Mr. O’DanielGrade 5Title of Investigation: How do we involve the whole community in neighborhood clean-up using an outreach plan?Research Team: Malaysia Lampley, Edmund Matthews Harold Munoz, Kylah Warren, Judea Watkins, Aniyah WilridgeTeacher Facilitators: Mrs. Clark & Mrs. Von der LanckenGrade 6Title of Investigation: Why Do People Bully Other People?Argument: Bullying does not just happen in person. Even when it isn't physical it still involves using power to intimidate or harm another person. Bullying can even be not letting someone participate with the group to make them feel bad. Research Team: Alliyah Sanchez, Yahir Escudero, Jim Antonio Ray & Melanie CaceresTeacher Facilitator: Ms. Murray
Guiding Question: How can we reduce the number of stray dogs in our community?
Title of Investigation: Abandoned dogs in our community
Central Argument: Dogs and cats should be spayed and neutered because it is healthier for them and makes them less aggressive and less stray animals on the streets will need to find homes.
Research Team: Angel Visencio, Sezar Navejar, Damien Farias, Uriel Nieto, Noelly Acevedo, Jason Salamanca, Sadie Robinson
Teacher Facilitator: Ms. Daniels
Guiding Question: Why are our fellow students harming themselves and why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?
Title of Investigation: They hurt me...so I hurt myself
Central Argument: Schools are not aware or supporting students that are harming themselves even though the majority of the situations that are caused on campus.
Research Team: Salina Langer, Bianca Cobbs, Makayle Nichols
Teacher Facilitator: Mr. Davis
Guiding Question: How can we change the culture of our school as it relates to bullying?
Title of Investigation: Empowering bullies through therapy
Central Argument: Therapy can be used to address some of the underlying causes of bullying behavior
Student Research Team: Isaiah Collier, Dayanara Cortez Lopez, Yammilet Montez, Brenda Soria, Simone Williams
Teacher Facilitator: Ms. Edwards
Guiding Question: Are there healthy food restaurant choices in my community?
Title of Investigation: Using mathematical reasoning to solve problems
Central Argument: Health food options exist in our community, however this depends on one’s choices.
Student Research Team: Kate Velasquez, Citlaly Adams, Catheryn Lopez
Teacher Facilitator: Ms. Parsee
Guiding Question: What are solutions we can use to keep the school restrooms clean?
Title of Investigation: School restrooms
Central Argument: If students care about the school than the cleanliness of restrooms should be reflected accordingly
Student Research Team: Axel Acevedo, Steven De La Pena, Brianna Penaloza-Cruz, Jnanya Shingleton
Teacher Facilitator: Mrs. Valentine
Title of Investigation: Do Drugs Hurt Our Community?
Argument: Drugs that are useful to humanity can also be harmful to mankind.
Research Team: Myani Oates, Destiny Lopez & Kiara Stafford
Teacher Facilitator: Ms. Williams
Guiding Question: Why should we address social inequality in our community and society?
Title of Investigation: Social inequality
Central Argument: Social inequality creates different experiences for everyone.
Student Research Team: Jakobe Staton, Diego Garcia, Mar’Karjae Pugh, Claudia Cabrera, Samantha Villa
Teacher Facilitator: Mr. Conde
Title of Investigation: Are Anti-Bully School Programs Effective?
Argument: Anti-Bullying programs are expected to have a positive impact on reducing bullying in our schools. It is possible that students will learn acts of bullying they didn't know about before by watching anti-bullying, anti-violence films?
Student Research Team: Stephanie Ayala, Blanca Vivas, Natalie Ayala & Josimar Organista
Teacher Facilitator: Ms. Johnson
Guiding Question: Are illegal drugs more accessible to students in our community?
Title of Investigation: Illegal drugs within reach
Central Argument: Children in low-income communities have easy access to drugs
Student Research Team: Jentoria Lee, Imunique Young, Abril Bolainz, Jeffrey Guzman, Brandon Ramirez
Teacher Facilitator: Ms. Aguirre-Wasser |
What Is an Urbanization Rate?
An urbanization rate is the rate at which the size of a given urban population adjusts over a defined period. A high urbanization rate implies high growth in urban population whereas low urbanization rate means that the population is growing slowly in the urban centre. Globally, some countries experience higher urbanization rates than others. The countries with highest urbanization rates in descending order include Rwanda, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Burkina Faso, Laos, and Burundi.
Countries Who Are Urbanizing at the Fastest Rate
The top three countries with highest urban growth are Rwanda, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates recording growth rates of 9.3%, 7.9%, and 7.5% respectively.
Rwanda is the world’s leading urbanizing nation with most of its population shifting into urban centers. It is estimated that between the years 1968 and 2017, the average rural to urban migration has increased from 3.1% (1968) and 30.7% (2017). Due to the genocide which marred the country’s image and development in 1994, there was a need to embark on productive economic growth immediately. The country adopted vision 2020 by which they would have made significant economic, social, and political stride. Urbanization was, therefore, part of the strategy as the government viewed it as a way of encouraging integration between the two rival communities of Tutsis and Hutus.
Urban growth also resulted from the refugees who were returning to their stabilizing country and dwelled in the urban areas. Also, the government through its policies have introduced a legal and institutional framework to ensure facilities are established for conducive urban habitat. The government also set up bodies to ensure implementation of above strategies. Moreover, Rwanda has set up National Urbanisation Policy, which ensures maximum participation of stakeholders.
All these policies and government participation have seen Rwanda rise above its neighboring countries in achieving its goals. In fact, the World Bank ranked Rwanda as the continent’s most competitive place to do business in Africa in 2016.
Qatar is second after Rwanda regarding urbanization rate at an estimated rate of 7.9%. The country is situated in western Asia to the northeast coast of Arabian Peninsula, and its capital city is Doha. Statistics indicate that its population in the capital city has doubled since the year 2004. Some of the major cities in Qatar include Lusai City, Msheireb Downtown Doha, Katara, and Education City. The major factor contributing to urban development in this country is the availability of petroleum resources and natural gas fuel. Major towns and cities have housed laborers, academics, scientists, as well as designers.It is estimated that Doha recorded a rise in population from five hundred thousand people in 2004 to 1.3 million at present.
Qatar is striving towards achieving its vision 2030 target and works under the guidelines of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The country is targeting to counter the negative impacts of urban population by cooperating with the United Nations. The government of the United Nations appointed HH Sheikha Moza as one of the ambassadors of UN SDGs. Doha is well stocked with facilities including the airport, good residential houses, roads, transport, and communication facilities. There are continuous constructions of residential houses to counter the influx of urban dwellers.
Moreover, Qatar plans to hold the famous World Cup games in 2022. The tournament has boosted the country’s economy due to the sponsorship deals, which are tied to it. Housing such world-popular sport has put the country into the international spotlight and therefore the need to up its facilities. Hence, many people have moved to the major cities to engage in preparation activities consequently adding to the already populated cities.
The United Arab Emirates
The third fastest urbanizing nation globally is the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The well-known decorated city of Dubai is situated in the UAE. The United Arab Emirates is located in Asia, neighboring Oman and Saudi Arabia among other countries.
Dubai city has gained world recognition and is known for its artificial decoration of beaches. It has become the center for different people; be it scientists, tourists, academicians, or business people. The fact that it has been designated to hold the World Expo 2020 has magnified its image further globally. The city has developed over the years as it was situated close to oil-rich countries such as Iran. Dubai is well endowed with infrastructure and facilities.
Why Do Some Countries Urbanize Faster Than Others?
From the above examples, it is evidenced that there is no uniformity in urbanization rate. Globally, these countries are influenced by many factors, which are different from one country to the other. For example, government policies are one of the important factors which influence urban growth. The above case relating to Rwanda indicates that the government encourages urbanization. The Rwandan government targets high urban growth by prioritizing it in its vision 2020 objectives. The United Arab Emirates government has invested its resources in Dubai to encourage residents and visitors to the city.
Moreover, some countries experience faster growth in urban population because of commercialization. Urban centers are equipped with trade and financial facilities; consequently, they pull people to its environs who invest in business activities. Furthermore, some countries have better transport and communication facilities in towns as compared to other parts of the country. These facilities would have a pulling effect on rural dwellers who move to urban areas.
In the less developed countries, people move to towns with the desire to change their social lives. Poor living conditions in rural areas force many people to consider urban life as an option. Finally, industrialization in urban centers attracts people since there are better opportunities for employment. Many countries are facing unemployment crisis, as the governments are unable to provide job opportunities to their growing populations.
The high urban growth rate has adverse impacts which may include overcrowding in towns, inadequate housing, unemployment, and rise in criminal activities. Faster urbanization may not match with the government’s expansion of infrastructure and facilities hence leading to inadequate resources.
Countries Who Are Urbanizing At the Fastest Rate
|3||United Arab Emirates||7.5|
|15||Turks and Caicos Islands||4.7| |
Durango was founded on April 13th, 1881 by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad company and has always been considered a 'railroad town'. The area was originally settled by the Anasazi Indians, now called the Ancestral Puebloans, known for their impressive cliff dwellings.
This western destination is situated between the red sandstone hills of the Animas River Valley. Northeast are the San Juan and Needles Mountains, to the west is arid desert land, and to the South is the vast San Juan National Forest and canyon country. Durango, Colorado sits at 6,512 feet in elevation and receives over 300 sunny days a year, more than Orlando, Florida or Hollywood, California!
ADDITIONAL COLORADO CITY PAGES:
- Started in 1972, the Iron Horse Bike Classic is run in Durango, Colorado on Memorial Day weekend and is the longest running cycling event in the United States.
- Famous western writer Louis L'Amour wrote his Sackett Series of stories while staying at The Strater Hotel, a well known Durango landmark.
- The name 'Durango' is derived from the Basque word Urango meaning water town. The original mayor named this southwest Colorado town after Durango, Mexico.
- Durango Mountain Resort
The Durango Mountain Resort is a year-round family fun destination with 85 ski trails and 11 lifts on 1,200 breathtaking acres in the San Juan Mountains. Enjoy snowmobiling, Sno-Cat tours, dedicated snow boarding zones and intoxicating views of the Needles and La Plata Mountain Ranges. Durango Mountain Resort receives over 260 inches of virgin Colorado snow every year. During the late spring and summer, Durango Mountain, also known as Purgatory Mountain, is home to pulse-pounding alpine slides, world class rock climbing and rappelling, cookouts, festivals and summer youth camps. The resort makes a great launching point for all kinds of outdoor activities in the Colorado wilderness.
- Durango and Silverton Railroad
The railroad finally arrived in Durango, Colorado on August 5, 1881, and construction on the line to Silverton began in the fall of the same year. By July of 1882, the tracks to Silverton were completed and the train began hauling both freight and passengers. The line was originally constructed to haul silver and gold ore from the San Juan Mountains back to Durango, but passengers of that day realized it was the view that was truly captivating. This historic train has been in continuous operation for nearly 125 years, carrying passengers on a spectacular journey through the mountains on a narrow-guage railroad. Of all of the attractions in Colorado, this is one of the best.
- Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is just a short distance southwest of Durango and is a must-see while in this area of Colorado. The landscape of Mesa Verde is awe inspiring and this is the historic site of the once thriving Anasazi civilization. These Ancient Puebloans created vast cliff dwellings throughout the bluffs, including the incredible Cliff Palace. Mesa Verde has been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. Activities in Mesa Verde include half and full day tours with experienced guides well-versed in the 700-year history of cliff dwellers. The Mesa Verde Museum is dedicated to the culture and history of the Anasazi people. Campgrounds are available from May to October and the Far View Lodge opens in late April for eager visitors. Additional archaeological sites are nearby Durango, Colorado and ready to be explored.
- Las Animas River Adventures
White water rafting, world class fly fishing and kayaking tours are just some of the great things to do on El Rio de Las Animas Perdidas, outside Durango. Las Animas is also known as the Purgatory River and the formal name translates as River of Lost Souls. Explorers from Spain named the river after a group of explorers disappeared and their bodies were lost, not receiving the Catholic Last Rites so important to their faith. They believed these Lost Souls were confined to Purgatory until judgment day. The upper Las Animas River offers extreme white water rafting and the lower runs are great for all levels of experience. A two-mile stretch of the Animas River is Gold Medal water, with the highest rating for quality of large trout fishing. Las Animas is full of rainbows, browns, rivers, and cutthroat trout. The nearby San Juan River is also a popular fly fishing destination for Colorado vacations.
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Fundamentals of Leadership: Communicating a Vision
by Kerri Harris
Great leaders are not always born that way. Unfortunately, many management training programs don’t sufficiently emphasize leadership development, but instead focus on fundamentals and the day-to-day tasks that confront managers within the organization. This article takes a look at how having vision and then communicating it is the foundation of leadership and contributes to the makeup of a truly great leader.
Today’s business climate of outsourcing, in-sourcing, virtual teams, and ROI-driven objectives can leave a manager at any level feeling powerless. Yet, we often see examples of those who can elicit unwavering support from their teams, driving highly effective projects, and getting the best performance from employees despite ever-increasing workloads. What is it about these individuals that makes them stand out as great leaders? Generally, the answer is the difference between a strict management model and one that includes basic principals of leadership. There are recognizable characteristics in great leaders and simple strategies anyone can adopt to improve employee performance and change the work environment for the better.
Experts have long studied the subtle differences between general management, leadership, and truly great leaders. Thomas Cronin, author of, “ Thinking About Leadership ” observes, “Managers do things the right way , while leaders are more concerned with doing the right thing. ” A focus on managing projects and deadlines leaves little room for leadership activities, but it can be done in a step-by-step approach beginning with awareness and a little common sense.
The remainder of this article addresses the following areas:
From the beginning, we are taught that outward signs of success are shown through upward promotions and ever-increasing responsibilities. But not all great performers translate into great managers. One has to consciously decide to take on a leadership role, adopting new tactics to lead others. This requires careful thought and consideration of one’s own goals and a willingness to change. Begin with an honest inspection on your own situation by asking the following questions:
- How well do I understand the department’s role in helping to meet the company’s larger goals?
- Can I summarize the group’s mission in one sentence?
- Can I articulate the kind of environment in which I want to work and share that vision with my team?
- When necessary, am I willing to argue against my superiors to protect the integrity of our work, and will the organization allow such challenges?
- How well can I identify the strengths and weaknesses of those with whom I work, and can I channel those strengths and weaknesses into positive tasks?
- Am I willing to delegate assignments and provide the kind of information others need to complete these tasks well?
- Am I willing to make mistakes, accept others’ mistakes, and use these as opportunities for improvement?
- What will the group’s role still exist in two years, five years, and beyond?
- Am I willing to empower others to make decisions and foster creative thinking?
- Do I believe I can make a difference, no matter how small?
Objective answers to these questions do not always provide a clear direction, but they do help determine a personal commitment to accepting a leadership role. Self-inspection drills like this one can lead to the realization that vast improvements are needed, or even that an individual is in the wrong role or wrong organization altogether. It’s a personal decision, but a critical review for any manager, newly promoted, or seasoned veteran, to undertake from time to time. It also lays the groundwork for the most important principal of management: Communicating a Vision.
“If you want to build a ship, then don’t drum up men to gather wood, give orders,
and divide the work. Rather, teach them to yearn for the far and endless sea.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Creating a Shared Vision
The first critical task of any leader is to effectively communicate the vision. A mission statement is the intrinsic, ‘Why?’ of your department’s very existence and the vision becomes the “How?” – a compass from which everything else is driven. The Alliance for Nonprofit Management, a professional association of non-profit business managers, defines a vision statement as, “…If a strategic plan is the ‘blueprint’ for an organization’s work, then the vision is the ‘artist’s rendering’ of the achievement of that plan. It is a description in words that conjures up a similar picture for each member of the group of the destination of the group’s work together. “ This concept highlights the value of your contributions within the organization now and in the future. Every assignment, every objective stems from this vision and defines the basic goals for everyone within your group to achieve that vision.
Defining a vision is based largely on the expectations of your superiors within an organization, but there is always room to further define your vision within the scope of those expectations. For example, a department of technical writers may be perceived as necessary for document management and process control, but a mission statement that illustrates a best-in-class performance communicates significance – a statement that the group’s employees may not really understand. Often, employees who do not feel valued or don’t believe their efforts matter have lower productivity and overall job satisfaction.
Establishing a carefully planned and documented vision with your direct reports defines goals for the group and creates a personal ownership for every individual. Including your staff in a collaborative process cultivates buy-in and general acceptance. While not all employees will enthusiastically support the end results, you’ll have far greater success than if you attempt to impose your will and force others to adopt a new guideline.
The Collaborative Process
When beginning to discuss a vision with your team, first define the core values of your organization. These are the common ideals that everyone can understand, including integrity, creativity, innovation, service, and accuracy. If challenged in a new business climate, the organization would retain these principles. Review with your team the core values and mission statements for the company and decide if your team’s performance has adhered to that mission.
The next phase of building a vision includes an examination of what your team will aspire to become or achieve as long-term goals. James Collins and Jerry I. Porras illustrate this technique in. “ Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. ” They describe a simple process of inspection that will further define the vision for your team. Begin with a single sentence of what the department does, then ask the group to explain why it is important. Ask this question five times. If your department ceased to exist tomorrow, what would the company lose? This discussion leads to the heart of your department’s contributions to the organization as a whole.
Collin and Porras illustrate this technique with examples of visions from identifiable companies that helped shape their mode of operation for years:
- Become a $125 billion company by the year 2000. (Wal-Mart, 1990)
- Become the dominant player in commercial aircraft, and bring the world into the jet age. (Boeing, 1950)
- Become the company that most changes the worldwide image of Japanese products as being of poor quality. (Sony, early 1950s)
- Crush Adidas. (Nike, 1960s)
- Transform this division from a poorly respected internal products supplier to one of the most respected, exciting, and sought-after divisions in the company. (components support division of a computer products company, 1989)
Communicating the Vision
After you have established a vision for your department, communicating it becomes an important final step. James O’Toole, author of Leadership from A to Z , describes this communication in broad terms, “The task of leadership is to communicate clearly and repeatedly the organization’s vision…all with the intent of helping every person involved understand what work needs to be does and why, and what part the individual plays in the overall effort.” Communicate the vision often, in both subtle and dramatic ways. Tie the day’s events back to the vision, underscoring its relevance. From internal memos, presentation, or posters, the vision servers a reminder to the team of their purpose and goals. The vision can be incorporated into objective setting and performance review standards as well as interdepartmental projects. These steps serve to energize and direct the group’s actions as stakeholders and advertise your efforts to upper management.
Developing leadership qualities as a manager not only improves the group’s performance, but also equips managers to deal with the demands of business performance. Managers today do not have the luxury of time for in-depth strategy sessions, team-building excursions, and one-on-one personal reviews thanks to an increased virtual work force. Teams are spread across the globe, operating at difference hours, across cultures, all while working against critical deadlines and lofty objectives. Yet taking the time to initiate a small goal like creating a vision is the first step toward creating a better team, a stronger workforce, and entrepreneurial thinkers. This crucial step initiates the beginning of a transformation within yourself and a larger effect on the group you lead.
References and Suggested Reading
- Alliance for Nonprofit Management: http://www.allianceonline.org/about
- Collins, James C. and Jerry I. Porras. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. First Paperback Edition. New York: Harper-Collins, 1997. 219-239. http://www.harpercollins.com/
- O’Tool, James. Leadership from A to Z: A Guide for the Appropriately Ambitious , San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999. www.josseybass.com
- Phi Theta Kappa’s Leadership Development Studies http://leadership.ptk.org/ |
Wheel studs are designed to keep your tire/wheel combination safely secured to your car, truck or SUV. Most people never assume that these hard steel components can go bad or wear out and in most cases, they would be correct. The most common cause of a bad or failing wheel stud is due to improper installation by tire service technicians, over torquing of lug nuts, or lug nuts that are not tight enough. However, because the wheel stud is often exposed to the elements, and takes a tremendous amount of abuse daily, there are other issues that can cause these parts to wear out or break.
Most cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in the United States are equipped with four to six wheel studs on each hub. The wheels are inserted onto the hub and are attached with lug nuts or screw-in wheel studs to safely attach the wheels to the vehicle. They are supposed to be tightened to a precise recommended torque pressure by a certified mechanic. When a stud goes bad, it snaps off the hub and creates a serious safety situation.
There are many warning signs that you should be aware of that will reduce the potential of a broken wheel stud and will keep you safe as you drive down the road. Listed below are a few symptoms or warning signs that will indicate that the wheel studs should be replaced.
Damaged threads on the wheel stud
Tires and wheels are attached to the vehicle by lug nuts that have a similar thread pattern as the wheel studs. Occasionally the threads of the wheel studs can be damaged due to multiple reasons including:
- Improper installation of the wheel's lug nuts onto the stud: the lug nuts are supposed to be hand-threaded a minimum of four rotations to ensure they are properly attached to the wheel studs. Many mechanics and car owners that change a tire on the side of the road often forget this fact before they start to quickly tighten the lug nuts. They should also be tightened in a star pattern and securely fastened to the vehicle’s hub before being placed back on the ground.
- Cross threading the lug nut onto the stud: this happens frequently in several oil service or tire service shops, especially when technicians get in a hurry or use impact wrenches that are set too high. To avoid a cross threading situation, make sure the lug nuts are installed correctly and slowly guide the lug nut onto the wheel stud until it touches the hub. The wheel stud hitting against curbs, potholes or other objects: many of today's cars, trucks and SUV's have protective "hub caps" or wheel covers that protect the wheel stud from impact. However, they don't have to be hit directly in order to be damaged. Sometimes the impact will bend the wheel stud.
- When the wheel stud shows signs of damage, it should be replaced immediately in order to reduce the potential of shearing off the hub while the vehicle is in motion. If you notice that your wheel studs are damaged or if a tire center or service mechanic tells you they are damaged, make sure to have them replaced as soon as possible and that they are properly torqued to the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended pressure.
Rust on the wheel stud
This situation commonly occurs in areas where the car, truck, or SUV is exposed to salt water or sodium chloride used to melt ice on roads in winter. Although many wheel studs are made from stainless steel and are highly resistant to rust, it happens more often than you'd think. When the wheel stud rusts, it becomes very difficult to remove lug nuts or properly place them on the wheel studs without damage occurring as listed above.
It's recommended that if you live in areas where the vehicle is exposed to salt frequently, have your wheel studs examined for signs of rust once per year. If you have rusted studs, have them replaced by a certified mechanic.
In many cases, the damage will be done by careless mechanics who believe they are professional pit crew members of a NASCAR team and treat your wheel studs with the same abuse as these professional racers. However, professional NASCAR teams replace their wheel studs after every single race. If a problem is recognized, don't argue with the mechanic who completed the tire service and may have damaged the wheel stud about who is going to pay for the replacement, contact an independent ASE certified mechanic to do the job correctly. |
For us, pantomimes and Christmas have always been linked. Whether we went on Boxing Day (when they traditionally opened) or in the run up to New Year, the combination of silliness and glitter had a truly festive feel.
But it seems that we were mistaken – a trend for Easter pantomimes has hit the country, with shows popping up all over the place!
UK Easter pantomimes
This year you can see:
- Pinocchio in London
- Puss in Boots in Enfield
- Beauty and the Beast in Dunfermline
- Sleeping Beauty in Redcar
- Robin Hood in Cambridge
- Beauty and the Beast in Wrexham
- Beauty and the Beast in Yeovil
And, although we’re not sure these count as traditional pantos, there are also productions of:
- Alice in Wonderland in Doncaster
- Alice in Wonderland in Bridlington
- The Wizard of Oz in Bedford
- Alice in Wonderland in Hayes
- Alice in Wonderland in Northampton
- The Jungle Book in Huyton
All running in March and/or April and no doubt we’ve missed out a few as well. Of course, now that we come to think of it, there’s nothing really to connect pantomimes with Christmas. They don’t have religious connotations and they don’t contain Christmas music or traditions, so there’s no real reason to contain them to the festive period.
History of pantomime
Pantomimes originally came to Britain in the 18th century from the Italian tradition for improvised comedy, and were a jumble of stock characters and folk tales. They evolved and became synonymous with Christmas, as well as developing characters such as the dame and the principal boy – as well as favourite customs (“It’s behind you!”). Music Hall entertainment became a part of the fun too, with well-known performers and celebrities often enlisted as characters.
Would you be happy to see a panto in the spring, or is it a major part of your festive holiday traditions?
- For more news and views, pick up the latest copy of Yours magazine |
Appraising Research: Evaluation in Academic Writing
1 Jan 2010
Focusing on the introductions to research articles in a variety of disciplines, the author uses appraisal theory to analyze how writers bring together multiple resources to develop their positions in the flow of discourse. It will be most useful for researchers new to appraisal, and to EAP teachers.
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Few artistic moments are as instantly recognisable as Pablo Picasso's Blue Period, and from it La Vie (Life) has emerged as the culminating masterpiece. This book not only examines 'La Vie's' history and physical structure in unprecedented detail but also uses the painting as the touchstone for exploring a broad array of issues vital to modernist culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. Picasso and the Mysteries of Life uses new scientific studies of 'La Vie' to examine the artist's working method and the painting's enigmatic subject. Author William H. Robinson reconstructs the relationship between the painting's complex symbolism and the process of its creation, and in so doing breaks new ground in understanding the sources of Picasso's fertile imagination and his relationship to contemporary artists. La Vie emerges as a pivotal turning point in Picasso's development into the most innovative and influential painter of our time. |
The Five Nations Health Protection Conference took place on 14th and 15th May 2013 in the picturesque surroundings of the Radisson Blu St.Helen’s Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.
The aim of the 5 Nations conference is to provide an annual forum for continuing professional development for Consultants in Communicable Disease Control, Consultants and Specialists in Public Health and the wider health protection workforce.
Alex White, Minister of State for Primary Care in the Department of Health opened the conference with a warm welcome to attendees. He was followed by Dr Michael Ryan of University College Dublin who engaged all those in attendance with a timely review of the lessons learned from the SARS epidemic, ten years on from that defining public health event. Dr Ryan also reflected on the developments in public health preparedness and international co-operation since then, and what impact these would have for current and emerging health threats.
The outbreak sessions always provide the most diverse and perhaps unexpected learning points in a health protection conference and this year was no exception. Two listeria outbreaks provided a valuable insight into the application of fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (fAFLP) typing and shelf life determination. Colleagues from Bradford demonstrated how positive developments can be made following an outbreak, speaking about how they applied their experience of an influenza outbreak in a care home to improve engagement and leadership from care homes in vaccinating their staff members. A presentation of a VTEC outbreak associated with childcare facilities in rural Ireland, highlighted the challenges faced in such outbreaks and the perennial issues of managing children with prolonged VTEC shedding.
The second session showcased the breadth and depth of surveillance being undertaken in health protection. This session was brimming with new technology, including the new technological developments introduced to prepare for the 2012 Olympics and the molecular epidemiology of TB in Scotland. Added to these, were the latest surveillance findings in M.bovis in humans and cattle in Northern Ireland as well as VTEC and Norovirus surveillance schemes in England.
The Bloodborne viruses and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) session was a showcase for initiatives in quality improvement and innovation. It opened with a joint presentation by representatives of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Public Health England discussing how they developed a best practice toolkit for tattooing and skin piercing practitioners to address the lack of consistent national standards. This session also included an innovative study which found that undertaking dried blood spot (DBS) testing for household contacts of Hepatitis B surface antigen positive pregnant women, in their own homes significantly improved screening uptake for partners. There was also exciting STI epidemiology in the form of a cohort study from south west Ireland providing important risk factor information for STIs.
The aptly named “Injecting some common sense into disease prevention” session focused on vaccine preventable diseases. During this session, delegates were treated to a smorgasbord of presentations varying from a measles outbreak in a prison to improving communication with GPs to optimise pertussis surveillance. The session also featured important learning about the decline in vaccine uptake following a change in the childhood vaccination schedule in the Republic of Ireland. The session lived up to its name, with plenty of practical learning points for delegates to take home with them.
“Environmental Change and the Four Furies – Fire, Flood, Freeze and …Wee Beasties” addressed the wide spectrum of environmental public health and kicked off with one of the more unusual topics of fracking. Expertly presented by Dr. Anthony Breslin, this new and important topic for health protection captured the audience’s attention as they learned what exactly fracking is, why it has garnered so much media attention and the potential health issues, which we may be asked about in the future. This well received presentation led on to another on VTEC outbreaks related to private water supplies and provided food for thought on this important topic. The session ended with how public health can address a wide range of natural hazards, inspiring all in attendance.
The coffee breaks provided a great opportunity to make new acquaintances and catch up with old colleagues while perusing the ever growing range of poster presentations. The posters matched the diversity of topics in the programme. The PHMEG prize for best poster was awarded to an impressive poster reporting the results of a pilot home sampling scheme for HIV testing in Manchester and Salford. The investigators used the pilot to demonstrate that home sampling was acceptable to local people with 3000 tests ordered over an 18 month period. A great success and an inspiring message for all of use to take home!
Just as the conference opened with Dr Ryan’s talk on new and emerging disease threats, it also drew to a close with current emerging disease threats in the Hot Topics section. The West Midlands response to a cluster of cases of MERS-CoV (previously Novel Coronavirus 2012) and the challenges faced by the health protection teams provided food for thought on preparing for this new infection while Dr John Watson from Public Health England provided the very latest information on the constantly evolving MERS-CoV and Influenza H7N9 situations. |
I AM an Anarchist.
All good men are Anarchists.
All cultured, kindly men; all gentlemen; all just men are Anarchists.
Jesus was an Anarchist.
A Monarchist is one who believes a monarch should govern. A Plutocrat believes in the rule of the rich. A Democrat holds that the majority should dictate. An Aristocrat thinks only the wise should decide; while an Anarchist does not believe in government at all. Richard Croker is a Monarchist; Mark Hanna a Plutocrat; Cleveland a Democrat; Cabot Lodge an Aristocrat; William Penn, Henry D. Thoreau, Bronson Alcott and Walt Whitman were Anarchists. An Anarchist is one who minds his own business. An Anarchist does not believe in sending warships across wide oceans to kill brown men, and lay waste rice fields, and burn the homes of people who are fighting for liberty. An Anarchist does not drive women with babes at their breasts and other women with babes unborn, children and old men into the jungle to be devoured by beasts or fever or fear, or die of hunger, homeless, unhouseled and undone.
segunda-feira, outubro 21, 2013
Citação Liberal do Dia |
Drug abuse is usually taken to mean the use of an illicit drug or the excessive or nonmedical use of a licit drug. It also denotes the deliberate use of chemicals that generally are not considered drugs by the lay public but may be harmful to the user. A primary motivation for drug abuse appears to be the anticipated feeling of pleasure derived from the CNS effects of the drug. The older term "physical (physiologic) dependence" is now generally denoted as dependence, whereas "psychological dependence" is more simply called addiction.
|Abstinence syndrome||A term used to describe the signs and symptoms that occur on withdrawal of a drug in a dependent person|
|Addiction||Compulsive drug-using behavior in which the person uses the drug for personal satisfaction, often in the face of known risks to health; formerly termed psychological dependence|
|Controlled substance||A drug deemed to have abuse liability that is listed on governmental Schedules of Controlled Substances.a Such schedules categorize illicit drugs, control prescribing practices, and mandate penalties for illegal possession, manufacture, and sale of listed drugs. Controlled substance schedules are presumed to reflect current attitudes toward substance abuse; therefore, which drugs are regulated depends on a social judgment|
|Dependence||A state characterized by signs and symptoms, frequently the opposite of those caused by a drug, when it is withdrawn from chronic use or when the dose is abruptly lowered; formerly termed physical or physiologic dependence|
|Designer drug||A synthetic derivative of a drug, with slightly modified structure but no major change in pharmacodynamic action. Circumvention of the Schedules of Controlled Drugs is a motivation for the illicit synthesis of designer drugs|
|Tolerance||A decreased response to a drug, necessitating larger doses to achieve the same effect. This can result from increased disposition of the drug (metabolic tolerance), an ability to compensate for the effects of a drug (behavioral tolerance), or changes in receptor or effector systems involved in drug actions (functional tolerance)|
Dopamine in the mesolimbic system appears to play a primary role in the expression of "reward," but excessive dopaminergic stimulation may lead to pathologic reinforcement such that behavior may become compulsive and no longer under control—common features of addiction. Though not necessarily the only neurochemical characteristic of drugs of abuse, it appears that most addictive drugs have actions that include facilitation of the effects of dopamine in the CNS.
The sedative-hypnotic drugs are responsible for many cases of drug abuse. The group includes ethanol, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed drugs for anxiety and, as Schedule IV drugs, are judged by the US government to have low abuse liability (Table 32–1). ... |
Some people teach women's equality with men should qualify women to assume any office or authoritative role generally and traditionally held by men. I would like to examine this ideology from a biblical, logical and Spirit of Prophecy perspective.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26, 27)
Within the three co-equal Persons of the Godhead we see submission without diminishing equality; Jesus the Son of God was plainly submissive to the will of the Father, and the Holy Spirit works at the behest of both the Father and the Son, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). Likewise, we see submission in God's image, man and woman, without diminishing equality. Let us pursue this line of reasoning through the inspired word:
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (Genesis 2:18, 21-23)
God Himself gave Adam a companion. He provided ‘an help meet for him’—a helper corresponding to him—one who was fitted to be his companion, and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him. A part of man, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, she was his second self; showing the close union and the affectionate attachment that should exist in this relation. (Adventist Home 25)
From the beginning, Eve had a submissive role, yet was equal to her husband. Adam was created larger and stronger than Eve, “Eve was somewhat less in stature; yet her form was noble, and full of beauty” (PP 45). Adam was to be the provider and protector for Eve and their children. He was, like Abraham generations later, to command his household after him, to be the head and priest of his family.
The problem seen in the understanding of many is equating equality with sameness. Eve was created as an equal to her husband, yet she was of a slighter build, of different proportions, with special organs designed for childbearing and nurturing. She could only conceive and bear a child as she submitted to the dominant role of Adam in fathering the child. Here we see clearly headship and submission within the equality of Adam and Eve in the united act of procreation.
The term "helpmeet" is also indicative of a submissive role, even though equal. The woman is not inferior for accepting her role of submission, and the man is not superior for assuming his role of headship. The woman does not have to be able to father a child in order to be equal with her husband any more than a man has to be able to give birth to a child in order to be equal with his wife.
In the secular arena, a woman is deemed equal with man when she can fill any role man can fill. Should that reasoning find validation within the church? Is it biblical reasoning? Does this not indicate a denial of the equality with which women have already been endowed by our Creator? Is it not to covet that which God has ordained for someone else? A case in point:
And Miriam the prophetess, and Aaron spake against Moses..., Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it... And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: ...And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. (Ex. 15:20; Numbers 12:1-15)
Even though Miriam was a prophetess, she was strongly rebuked by the Lord for coveting a role for which she was not ordained. Neither was she ever called to be a priestess along with her brother the High Priest and her nephews the priests.
Some more thought questions: Is not the push to ordain women essentially a denial of their equality with men and God's role for them, insinuating that their role is somehow less important than the role God has established for man? Therefore, to accept women as equals we must accept them into the role of men in addition to their role as women? Are men likewise to campaign for the right to fulfill the role and function ordained for women in the interest of equality?
Patriarchy was established in the Garden of Eden by our Creator in a perfect world He designed and desired to last forever. It was carried forward after the fall of man throughout both the Old and New Testament ages, through the birthright system, through the sacrificial system, through the sons of Jacob and the tribes of Israel, through the Levitical priesthood, in the family with many obligations specified for the males only, through the kings of Israel, through the apostles of the New Testament, through the offices of bishop and elder and deacon who were all to be the husbands of one wife, not the spouse of one spouse. In the New Jerusalem, we see the 12 foundation stones named after the apostles, and the 12 gates of the city named after the tribes of Israel, the sons of Jacob.
There are many ways in which women of our day are called to minister for the advancement of the cause of God, some of which they are even more qualified than men. Notice from Ellen G. White this overlooked counsel in the article quoted by David Gemmell in the March 2015 issue of Adventist World:
There is a wide field in which our sisters may do good service for the Master in the various branches of the work connected with his cause. Through missionary labor they can reach a class that our ministers cannot… Christian women are called for… There are so many kinds of work too laborious for women, which our brethren are called to engage in, that many branches of missionary work are neglected. Many things…undone, the women, if properly instructed, could attend to… There are many other offices connected with the cause of God which our sisters are better qualified to fill than our brethren…” (RH 12/19/1878)
Should men feel less than equal with women over such statements by the pen of inspiration? No, of course not. These statements tend to bear out equality apart from sameness. God's order was clearly established and maintained in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The issue of patriarchy, priesthood, and headship is not an issue of equality and inequality, but rather an issue of God's established order for His own faultless reasons. |
این مقاله جالب و کاربردی به صورت بسیار جالب نحوه تشخیص و یافتن دوربین های مخفی را بررسی و نشان می دهد
How to find hidden cameras
During the last few years the number of surveillance cameras has grown out of bounds. Cameras have been installed in many public and semi-public places such as universities , streets, supermarkets, gas stations, parking garages, cinemas, bars, shops, busses, train stations and even discos. About 25 million CCTV1 cameras are estimated to be in operation worldwide at the time of writing . Some countries, notably Great Britain, are trying to fully cover every corner of public life with cameras. The Privacy International CCTV page states that between 225 and 450 Million Dollars are spent on surveillance technology in Britain per year, involving an estimated 300.000 cameras. These efforts result in a person driving through the city of London being filmed at least once every five minutes . In the near future cameras may even be installed in all taxis, keeping an eye on the passengers . In Houston, Texas, about 400 cabs have been equipped with such cameras . It may not be obvious right away why it could be of any importance to anyone to be able to locate hidden cameras. Some will reason that concealed cameras are more or less exotic and thus knowledge on how to find them is not necessary at all. Others even consider interest in how to locate hidden cameras to border the criminal. Both parties err, as shall be illustrated in the following. Contrary to common belief, hidden cameras are nowhere close to exotic. In 1996 David Fletcher, chief executive of the British Security Industry Association, estimated that employers were spending 12 million british pounds a year on covert camera equipment to monitor their staff [7, p.49]. A survey conducted by the American Management Association found that “33 percent of major U.S. firms say they tape employees – overtly or covertly – to counter theft, violence, or sabotage” . There have been several reports of staff being monitored in changing rooms without their consent . Subminiature cameras were even discovered by the author of this paper during treatment at an oral surgeon’s practice: the camera was plastered into the ceiling next to a ceiling light.
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In the event that you lay down with your mobile phone on your bed, you should need to locate another place to keep it.
People who keep their cell phones within arms reach while they sleep could be at an increased risk of of cancer, infertility, and other health issues.
The California Department of Public Health released guidelines for reducing exposure. They include:
- Keeping the phone away from the body
- Reducing cell phone use when the signal is weak
- Reducing the use of cell phones to stream audio or video, or to download or upload large files
- Keeping the phone away from the bed at night
- Removing headsets when not on a call
- Avoiding products that claim to block radio frequency energy. These products may actually increase your exposure.
Mobile phones transmit radio frequency energy when they send and get signs to and from cell towers.
CDPH said some scientists and public health officials believe this energy may impact human health.
The California Department of Public Health said children could be most at risk for issues.
The organization said the normal age when children get their first telephone is currently only 10 years of age.
They said most young people keep their phones on or near them most of the day and while they sleep.
“Children’s brains develop through the teenage years and may be more affected by cell phone use,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith. “Parents should consider reducing the time their children use cell phones and encourage them to turn the devices off at night.” |
There are two species of pythons on Borneo, the more well known of which is the bigger, in fact arguably the biggest and definitely the longest snake in the whole world, Recticulated Python (Python reticulatus). The other species is Python breitensteini the endemic Borneo Python, aka Borneo Short-tailed or Borneo Blood Python. It was until quite recently regarded as a sub-species ot the Sumatran Short-tailed Python and carried the name Python curtus breitensteini.
The trick is to hold it behind the head firmly and to stand back immediately when you release it. It may or may not try to bite your hand or somewhere else! Better still just leave it alone in the first place!
The Borneo Python is a short and stout snake seldom exceeding 1.5 metre (5 feet) in length. It is non-venomous but can give a nasty bite and I learned in a rather painful way that, like people, some individuals are more agressive than others! Some will tolerate handling without trying to bite while some, even baby ones, will strike readily! Over the years working and living in plantations I have found them to be just as common as reticulated pythons, and unfortunately, as they move more slowly they are more often caught (for the pot!) and more are seen as roadkills! Many times I have seen them crossing the road at night especially in wet weather and I always slowed down to watch them cross. Once at night while driving in a hurry I saw one of these fat guys on the roadside, however to my dismay the next morning when I passed the same road it was still there - run over and dead (most likely deliberately by some heartless driver - many people in Borneo are inexplicably anti-snake!)
Unlike the other species, this is a mainly wait-and-ambush hunter, I've never heard of one climbing up a chicken coop to take a bird, and usually lie in wait near ponds and swamp for their prey which are probably mostly rodents and small mammals.
The correct thing to do is to set it free!
Baby Borneo Pythons are chubby and rather cute looking, even to some of my snake-fearing friends, and one may be tempted to keep them as pets! However though I can never resist picking them up , I now always release them after taking their photos... |
Post by Wayne Brown Post by Madrigal Gurneyhalt Post by Wayne Brown
I've wondered for years if their names were intended to bring to mind
both Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" and the characters Boris Drubetskoy
and Natasha Rostova from "War and Peace."
Why? It takes 5 seconds to look it up on Wikipedia and have it
Well, I don't automatically take every idle speculation, opinion,
theory and conjecture that I formed decades ago and look them up
on Wikipedia to confirm them, unless there's something important
depending on them. And then I usually look for confirmation from
a more reliable source than Wikipedia. (Wikipedia undoubtedly does
play a part in forming some of the NEW idle speculations, opinions,
theories and conjectures that I'll be holding for the next two or
three decades, if I live that long.)
I was aware of the Godunov pun, which is in Wikipedia, but where does
it mention _War and Peace_?
Badenov's name is a pun on that of the 16th-century Russian Tsar
Boris Godunov ("bad enough" vs. "good enough"). His accent and
explosive temper are an homage to Hollywood actor Akim Tamiroff,
especially Tamiroff's role in The Great McGinty, a 1940 movie
directed by Preston Sturges.
Consistently separating words by spaces became a general custom about
the tenth century A. D., and lasted until about 1957, when FORTRAN
abandoned the practice. --- Sun FORTRAN Reference Manual |
Have you ever wonder why it is so easy for all of us to feel out of our element, out of control and far too often out of our minds. We have become a society which invents and invites new sources of stress. We log more hours at work than any other nation, yet are much less productive. When we do relax, many of us do so watching the news or dramas on TV. The newscasters trying to sensationalize even the most mundane of stories to have you fearing for your life or enraged at the world we live in, while the dramas try to top their last gruesome tale with more trauma, violence and criminal genius. Your mind doesn’t get a break. All this stress can leave you with your heart beating out of your chest worrying about things that you can’t control and if looked at rationally, probably won’t ever be an issue for you.
But it happens, to nearly everyone. We get burnt out and can’t calm ourselves. In severe cases people feel like they are having a heart attack and even faint. Not every case is this dramatic, but even mild cases where you worry constantly about family, friends, work, and every little detail takes it’s toll on you.
Every week I see at least half a dozen patients from all walks of life coming in for the treatment of anxiety, and they all say the same thing after acupuncture treatments, “I feel great after the treatment and the calmness stays with me even through stressful situations.” Today I’d like to talk about a few reasons why acupuncture can be so helpful with anxiety.
In previous posts I’ve talked a bit about acupuncture balancing out the mind and body, I’d like to talk about how acupuncture can help with issues of anxiety and depression from both an eastern and western perspective.
From an eastern point of view when we are experiencing any symptom whether psychospiritual or physical, the energy that flows through our acupuncture channels is disrupted. Patients can get symptoms that correspond to one or more of these channels and through questioning, palpation and observation we can diagnose which channels are being effected and treat them to restore normal flow of energy and help patients feel calmer and healthier in all aspects of their lives. Each of these channels corresponds to certain emotional qualities and aspects of your personality. For instance the Liver channel is associated with leadership skills, decision making and helping keep order. When out of balance people can be angry, hostile or develop a type of depression we see as anger turned inwards, sometimes described as self loathing. Each of us should have a balance of all emotions to be healthy, however even when in balance we do have tendencies towards certain emotions and behaviors, these problems only arise when one of these aspects becomes top weak or too over powering.
Western research has shown some amazing phenomena occur during an acupuncture treatment. For sake of keeping this brief, I’ll talk mostly about changes which benefit psycho-emotional problems like anxiety or depression. After about 15 minutes of treatment a myriad of changes occur mainly do to a shift in a persons autonomic nervous system. Your autonomic nervous system is somewhat of an autopilot when it comes to your bodies response to stress. It consists of two main functions a sympathetic response, often referred to as Fight or Flight and a parasympathetic response, aka Rest and Digest.
This response is in most cases considered a safety system, our bodies should kick into fight or flight when attacked and this response would have been very necessary during our early years as cave dwellers. Today, while still necessary, we tend to process all stresses as life or death situations, to the point that people often use the term “Paper Tigers” to describe this event when it happens at work.
So, back to that first 15 minutes of acupuncture; and the changes in the autonomic nervous system that start during that time. Patients will often describe a wave of relaxation that comes over them. On the inside of the body we see sweeping changes in blood flow, hormone levels, oxygen levels and even brain function and chemistry. This all occurs during the rest and digest period. Brain waves have been shown to switch from the mental chatter and focus waves to deep sleep and meditation waves. There is marked increase in hormones such a serotonin and dopamine which both play a role in mood regulation. Systemically capillaries dilate and bring fresh blood to all the organs helping you remove metabolic waste, (think a mini-detox). This increasing blood flow helps soften muscles, dropping shoulders, an area everyone holds stress. It has also been shown to regulate circadian rhythms (day/night) to help you get a better night sleep. All of these functions occur regardless of where the needles are place and help you feel better overall. When combined with acupuncture points specific to treating emotional problems and calming the spirit acupuncture can be a very powerful tool to help with anxiety and depression whatever the cause.
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If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me |
Mali has suffered ongoing attacks from armed groups, creating an enduring climate of conflict and volatility. Improved functioning of the criminal justice system can end impunity, which is perceived as one of the main causes of instability. The judiciary is overburdened, and slow justice delivery discourages the population from seeking formal legal remedies. Especially in the North, the criminal justice system remains dysfunctional and lacks public trust.
IDLO is working in Mali with criminal justice sector actors and institutions – both formal and informal – to help them provide credible and effective justice for Malian citizens by addressing locally-identified and specific contextual needs.
With the commitment to implementing the United Nations' 2030 Agenda, IDLO's activities in Mali worked to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 16. [ Find out more ] |
We thought we were engaged in an honest intellectual debate because Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan a member of the Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabia's highest religious body, a member of the Council of Religious Edicts and Research, the Imam of Prince Mitaeb Mosque in Riyadh and a professor at Imam Mohamed Bin Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia's main center of learning declared in his book "Al-Tawheed – Monotheism" that 'Slavery is a part of Islam'. Muslims who contend Islam is against slavery "are ignorant, not scholars." "They are merely writers," he said. "Whoever says such things is an infidel".
Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzans writings have been translated into Dhivehi and are circulating in the Maldives. If Rooney wishes to question the claim of Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan, we advise him to contact the Sheik.
"War is deceit" according to Mohammed, Prophet of Allah. We do not want to engage in neither war nor taqiyya.
Instead, Dhivehistan Report will join our brothers and sisters and endeavor to emulate the way of Jesus of Nazareth, Prince of Peace and turn the other cheek.
The report about Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan's claim that slavery is part of Islam has resulted in a spate of comments, some interesting and others in decidedly bad taste. We urge our readers to refrain from making comments that are irrelevant to the post and topic.
To end this posting I bring you some words of wisdom from Siddhārtha Gautama , the Buddha. Although very little remains today, for about 1500 years(which is still longer than Maldivians have prostrated towards Mecca), statues of the Enlightened One dotted the Maldive islands and the people of Maldives, our ancestors, took refuge in the wisdom this sage of the Sakyas.
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."- Gautama Buddha |
MEANS OF DISEASE TRANSMISSION (MODE OF TRANSMISSION)
a. Physical (Direct) Contact. Certain diseases are spread by physical contact
with an infected person. Examples are syphilis, gonorrhea, and scabies.
b. Indirect Contact.
(1) Droplets, air, and dust. Droplets are vehicles by which a disease may
be transmitted from an infected person to susceptible persons. When an infected
person coughs, sneezes, or even talks, he spreads droplets containing disease germs.
If other persons are close to the infected person, they may inhale some of these
droplets. Furthermore, some germs expelled from the respiratory tract are extremely
small and light in weight and may remain suspended in the air for hours or may be
resuspended in dust. Inhalation of these germs by susceptible persons may also result
in disease. Many of the respiratory diseases are transmitted in these ways.
(2) Fomites. Articles contaminated with disease germs from an infected
person may become vehicles of disease transmission if a susceptible person uses
them. Examples of fomites are contaminated clothing, bed linen, and eating utensils.
c. Arthropods or Other Vectors. Flies, fleas, mosquitoes, ticks, mites, and lice
are among the arthropods that spread disease from person to person or from animal to
person. Insects are involved in both the direct and the indirect transmission of disease.
A mosquito, for example, can pick up disease germs when it bites a person sick with a
disease such as malaria. Later, when the mosquito bites another person, it injects the
disease germs. The mosquito is, therefore, the vector by which the disease is
transmitted from one person directly to another person. The fly, on the other hand,
transmits disease germs indirectly. It can pick up disease germs on its body when it
comes in contact with filth and may deposit these germs on food. If a person eats this
food, he may become ill.
d. Water and Food. Certain disease germs are transmitted through the
consumption of foods such as raw fish and improperly cooked meat and poultry.
However, most of the diseases that are transmitted by food and water are the result of
contamination of the food or water with feces or other infectious material from a person
or animal. If water or food so contaminated is not properly treated, the germs therein
may infect the consumer. Outbreaks of disease will occur when personal hygiene and
proper sanitation practices applicable to food handling, water purification, water
disposal, and the control of flies and other vermin are not properly observed and
enforced. Among the diseases usually transmitted by contaminated food or water are
typhoid fever, infectious hepatitis, cholera, dysentery, and food poisoning (due to
staphylococci, Clostridium perfringens, and other organisms.)
SUSCEPTIBLE PERSON (HOST)
A susceptible or non-immune person is one who has little resistance against a
particular organism and who, if exposed to this organism, is likely to contract disease.
By contrast, an immune person is one who has a high degree of resistance to the
organism and who, when exposed, does not develop the disease. Immunity to many
diseases is relative and can be overcome by sufficient exposure to the diseases. The
term host is used to connote the living body upon which or in which a disease agent or
parasite lives--the final recipient of an infectious agent. The susceptibility of a host to
invasion by infectious agents is dependent upon a number of factors. |
Opening Exhibit of Vivian Maier
Amsterdam -- 'Vivian Maier, Street Photographer' is a retrospective exhibition featuring the work of the female street photographer at the Foam Photography Museum.
Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network realize that the photographer's impressive oeuvre was only discovered at the end of her life.
Vivian Maier (New York, 1926 - 2009) worked as a professional nanny throughout her life.
In her free time, she documented life in large American cities such as New York and Chicago, although no one in her immediate circle ever saw the results.
When documentary filmmaker John Maloof bought his first box of Vivian Maier negatives at auction in 2007, he had no idea who the photographer was - in fact neither did anyone else.
Maloof knew the pictures were the work of a certain Vivian Maier, but searching for any history of 'Maier the photographer' was to no avail, as she had never achieved any kind of professional success.
Two years later, after posting some of the Maier's work online and getting an unrestrained euphoric reaction en masse, he tried looking for Maier's history again.
This time, the filmmaker found an obituary, posted only a few weeks earlier - he had missed Maier's life by a hair's breadth - Malooof embarked at once on a journey of discovery into the life of this unknown but obviously talented individual - a journey that led to a very emotive and successful documentary on the then unknown street photographer.
Eventually John Maloof, and a collector Jeffrey Goldstein amassed virtually all of the mysterious photographer's work.
The two then tracked down Maier’s heir and paid the copyrights to the photos. They began to promote and sell the work; until a lawyer and photographer named David C. Deal challenged them in court, claiming that he had located a closer heir that was the rightful owner of the copyright.
Goldstein sold his negatives to gallerist Stephen Bulger rather than face the legal fees of a potentially drawn out case.
The sale involved approximately 17,500 photographic negatives representing about 15% of the entire known Maier collection. The same legal handcuffs are preventing the Stephen Bulgar Gallery from any action until the copyright issues are resolved.
Maier left behind an imposing body of work, consisting of 100,000 negatives. Its quality can be compared to that of famed contemporaries like Joel Sternfeld, Joel Meyerowitz, Elliot Erwitt and Garry Winogrand.
Besides photos, she also made countless motion pictures and audio recordings. The exhibition at Foam contains photographic work from the 1950s to 1980s in both black-and-white and color, as well as films.
Maier was an extremely intelligent, curious free spirit - if rather eccentric and solitary. She documented all that caught her attention, in photos as well as sound and motion pictures.
On the street she was inconspicuous: she wore a hat, a long dress, a woolen coat and men's shoes, and she never left the house without a camera around her neck.
The secret documentary photographer remained single all her life and never had children of her own. Instead, she worked as a nanny.
The Gensburg's, a well-to-do Chicago family, who Maier worked for and subsequently moved in with in 1956, gave the photographer her own bathroom, which became Maier's first darkroom.
Her photographic work, at first predominately black-and-white, focused on societal subjects: street life, the disadvantaged and emigrants.
But once the Gensburg children grew up in the 1970s, Maier worked with other families, and lost access to her darkroom. She was then no longer able to develop her own film and her exposed film rolls began to pile up - undeveloped as she continued to document the street.
In the 1980s, financial problems led to developments that made Maier's photography more difficult. With no fixed abode, the photographer's rolls of film to continued to be undeveloped.
In the late 1990s, Maier put down her camera for good, and her possessions were placed in storage while she tried to keep her head above financial water.
In response to her situation, the Gensburg children arranged a small studio for her, saving her from becoming homeless.
The photo archive fell into oblivion, however, until it was finally auctioned in 2007. The archive was sold in multiple lots to various parties - and eventually John Maloof came to possess a great deal of the work. Only after he had the work further investigated did its remarkable quality become apparent.
In 2008 Maier suffered a fall on the ice in Chicago and died in April 2009.
After a lifetime in domestic servitude, secretly documenting the streets of America through 100,000 photographs, Maier died in poverty - just on the edge of global recognition - never to know that her work would even receive a glimmer of praise, or understanding.
'Vivian Maier, Street Photographer' is an exhibition based on the material that John Maloof came to own - and is on display at the Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam until 1 February 2015.
Today's homepage Featured Art Video offers a tiny glimpse of the enormous cache of Vivian Maier photography. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvXRTzFXyIo&sns=em |
Does aspirin protect us against cancer?
Yes, according to clinical studies conducted on patients taking daily aspirin (Acetylsalicylic Acid) for conditions like arthritis, etc., or among heart patients taking aspirin to thin their blood to prevent blood clots and blockages in the coronary (heart) arteries. The findings show that those taking daily dose of aspirin (as low as 81 mg a day) have almost 43 percent lesser risk in developing pancreatic cancer, compared to those who do not take aspirin daily. More investigation is underway to find out the explanation for this apparent link, and also if aspirin similarly protects us against colon cancer, other malignancies and against other conditions. Indeed, our longtime household friend, aspirin, so commonly simple and inexpensive medication for the usual headaches and pains, is truly an amazing wonder drug.
How does wine protect our heart?
Wine, more especially the red variety, contains a chemical called Resveratrol, which has been found to be cardio-protective, among other benefits of moderate and disciplined drinking. The recommended “dose” is one to two glasses of red wine with dinner. Exactly what mechanism is at play to protect the heart when Resveratrol enters our circulation is not totally clear, but clinical investigations have shown that red wine is good for our health. The one particular red wine that is supposed to contain the highest level of Resveratrol is Pinot Noir, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. The caveat is, of course, moderation and discipline.
What is the cause of stomach ulcers?
In the past, the medical community thought that stomach ulcers were caused by hyperacidity (high acid content in the stomach), by eating spicy food, alcohol ingestion, or even by prolonged hunger. This was what physicians and other healthcare personnel were taught, and the prevailing scientific opinion at the time. Today, we know better. The cause of majority of stomach ulcers is an infection, caused by H. pylori bug. When the researcher who discovered this initially presented his theory and findings to the world medical community, he was scorned and literally laughed at…until various independent and extensive laboratory and clinical studies proved him right. He became a hero who had revolutionized the treatment of gastric ulcers, transforming this disease entity from a surgical illness to a medical condition manageable by pills, instead of by a knife in the operating room.
Why is the combination of viagra and nitrates fatal?
Viagra (Sildenafil citrate) is the very effective “anti-impotent” pill prescribed for male erectile dysfunction, whose chemical action allows the veins in the penis to dilate and fill with more blood to cause engorgement and erection, enabling the individual to successful penetration and intercourse. Nitrates are heart medications that also dilate blood vessels (arteries and veins in the heart and all over the body). When the blood vessels in the body are dilated “too much” (as the combination of Viagra and nitrates will do), the blood pressure of the person falls very low, and uncontrollably leads to shock, and death in some patients. Viagra is a very safe drug to take, as the millions and millions of men taking it could attest, as long as it is taken under the supervision of a physician and not taken by heart patients who are on medications that contain nitrates.
Are there medications without side effects?
No, there is no medication, not even vitamins or aspirin,that are totally devoid of potential side-effects, good or bad. This is the reason why we do not recommend (and are very much against) self-medication, even with over-the-counter drugs.
Do we really need sleep?
Many times, we hear people (young and old) claiming that they do not need sleep, or that an hour or two was enough sleep for them. It is unhealthy not to have adequate sleep. While there is no magic number, having at least 8 hours of a restful sleep is considered good for the body. This brief “hibernation” gives our body time to recharge and repair itself, and boost our immune system. With inadequate sleep, our body functions less than optimal, our brain and other organs less efficient, and our disposition a bit cloudy and irritable. Those who have enough restful sleep also feel and look better, and are more pleasant, positive and productive. On the other hand, sleeping more than 10 hours daily (except for babies and young children) does not confer extra benefits, and might even make one lazier and more sluggish.
Why does blood not clot inside our body?
This is one of the wonders of our body, which is replete with various multi-layer defensive mechanisms (and offensive ones against bacteria, viruses and other intruders or potential diseases or injuries), mediated by chemical reactions within us, all aimed at protecting us and keeping us healthier by constantly maintaining homeostasis (physiologic balance within our body). Blood circulating in our arteries and veins does not clot because we have natural built-in anticoagulant (anti-clot) substances produced by our body. Also, the smoothness of the endothelium (lining of the inner wall of the blood vessels), which contains negatively charged protein, repels the clotting factors and platelets to maintain the fluidity of blood. These chemicals keep our blood “just right,” not too thin for us to have spontaneous bleeding and not too thick to produce clotting and blockages in our blood vessels. Our lifestyle (including smoking or medications we take) could adversely affect this homeostasis and throw it helter-skelter. When this homeostasis is off-balance, an unphysiologic condition ensues and an ailment (DIS-ease) develops.
Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org |
Our family loves the spicy and rich flavors of Korean food. When the kids come home during their school break, their restaurant of choice is the local Korean BBQ. Apparently, in their neighborhoods, there are plenty of Japanese and Chinese eateries but not many Korean. So, off we go and they consume an embarrassing amount of food, but are extremely happy after a good meal.
Korean food is very popular in Japan and Hawaii and we grew up enjoying kimchi, super spicy fermented cabbage and bulgogi, grilled marinated beef. But, as with all foods, they tend to transform and change to suit the local taste. For example, the kimchi in Hawaii isn’t has spicy as the real Korean versions. They say it developed to suit the tastes of the immigrant Japanese workers, so it’s a cross between Japanese pickles and Korean kimchi. I think that weather has an influence on flavors as well. For Hawaii’s tropical weather the milder kimchi works well. However, I just like to know what is authentic. As I was looking for authentic Korean food on the internet, I came across this fabulous website that you may wish to check out: Trifood.com Their tag line is Celebrating Korean Food.
I don’t know about how one feels about challenging a new recipe when the ingredients and equipment are different from what you’re accustomed to. For myself, although I understand the recipe, I find that it’s hard to envision the procedure and always wonder if I’m doing the right thing. Of course it’s always great to have friends who are willing to teach you, and one of my childhood best friends is Korean. However, there’s a small problem… she lives on the other side of the earth from where I am…. But, about a month ago, my good neighbor, Joy, introduced me to a fabulous show on T.V. called the Kimchi Chronicles that was aired on PBS last year. It introduces us to Korean culture through food! Unfortunately, it isn’t on air anymore, but they do sell the DVD and cookbook on their website www.kimchichronicles.tv
Chef, Marja Vongerichten, the hostess of the show is warm and so genuine. She also teaches us Korean recipes for the American Kitchen. Although there are no video recipes, just watching these videos on Korea gives you a glimpse into their culture and how they enjoy food.
I tried Marja’s LA Galbi (Thinly Sliced Barbecued Short Ribs) recipe. Click on the recipe and it will take you to her recipe and website.
Her suggestion of putting the major ingredients in a blender is such a good idea – no more grating or chopping! As our family prefers our food a little less sweet, I eliminated the cola and instead added a quarter cup mirin, Japanese sweet cooking wine, but otherwise, followed the recipe. Thank you Marja for opening the path to enjoy more Korean food at home! It was delicious!
Make your own kim chee with this kim chee base from Momoya |
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