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A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Smith, Adam Smith, Adam (1723-1790). -- Philosopher and economist, b. at Kirkcaldy, Fife, the s. of the Controller of Customs there. His f. d. shortly before his birth. The first and only adventure in his tranquil life was his being kidnapped by gipsies. After being at the Grammar School of Kirkcaldy, he went to the Univ. of Glasgow, whence he proceeded to Oxf. On the conclusion of his Univ. course he returned to Kirkcaldy, going subsequently to Edinburgh, where he was soon recognised as a man of unusual intellect. In 1751 he was appointed to the Chair of Logic at Glasgow, which he next year exchanged for that of Moral Philosophy, and in 1759 he pub. his Theory of the Moral Sentiments. He received in 1762 the degree of LL.D. from his Univ., and two years later resigned his chair and page 347became travelling tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch, accompanying him to the Continent. He remained for nearly a year in Paris, and made the acquaintance of the brilliant circle of savans in that city. Returning to Kirkcaldy in 1766 he lived there with his mother for nearly ten years in retirement and close study, the results of which were given to the world in 1776 in the publication of his epoch-making work, Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). This book may be said to have founded the science of political economy, and to have created a new department of literature; and very few works have, to the same extent, influenced the practical history of the world. In 1778 S. was made a Commissioner of Customs, and settled in Edinburgh; and in 1787 he was elected Lord Rector of the Univ. of Glasgow. In addition to the works above mentioned, he wrote various essays on philosophical subjects, and an account of the last days of David Hume. The style of his works was plain and lucid, and he had a remarkable faculty of apt illustration.
Author:William Thompson (1833-1907) For authors with similar names, see Author:William Thompson. \|←Author Index: Th\|\|William Thompson \|Professor of Ophthalmology, Jefferson Medical College\| Articles in Popular Science Monthly - "The Sight and Hearing of Railway Employees", in Popular Science Monthly Volume 26, February 1885 - "Color-Blindness Among Railroad Employees", in Popular Science Monthly Volume 31, October 1887 Works by this author published before January 1, 1923 are in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted. Posthumous works may be copyrighted based on how long they have been published in certain countries and areas.
The Fact of the Matter I'm wonderin' why those fellers who go buildin' chipper ditties, 'Bout the rosy times out drovin', an' the dust an' death of cities, Don't sling the bloomin' office, strike some drover for a billet And soak up all the glory that comes handy while they fill it. P'r'aps it's fun to travel cattle or to picnic with merinos, But the drover don't catch on, sir, not much high-class rapture he knows. As for sleepin' on the plains there in the shadder of the spear-grass, That's liked best by the Juggins with a spring-bed an' a pier-glass. An' the camp fire, an' the freedom, and the blanky constellations, The 'possum-rug an' billy, an' the togs an' stale ole rations -- It's strange they're only raved about by coves that dress up pretty. An' sport a wife, an' live on slap-up tucker in the city. I've tickled beef in my time clear from Clarke to Riverina, An' shifted sheep all round the shop, but blow me if I've seen a Single blanky hand who didn't buck at pleasures of this kidney, And wouldn't trade his blisses for a flutter down in Sydney. Night-watches are delightful when the stars are really splendid To the chap who's fresh upon the job, but, you bet, his rapture's ended When the rain comes down in sluice-heads, or the cuttin' hailstones pelter, An' the sheep drift off before the wind, an' the horses strike for shelter. Don't take me for a howler, but I find it come annoyin' To hear these fellers rave about the pleasures we're enjoyin', When p'r'aps we've nothin' better than some fluky water handy, An' they're right on all the lickers -- rum, an' plenty beer an' brandy. The town is dusty, may be, but it isn't worth the curses 'Side the dust a feller swallers an' the blinded thirst he nurses When he's on the hard macadam, where the jumbucks cannot browse, an' The wind is in his whiskers, an' he follers twenty thousan'. This drovin' on the plain, too, it's all O.K. when the weather Isn't hot enough to curl the soles right off your upper leather, Or so cold that when the mornin' wind comes hissin' through the grasses You can feel it cut your eyelids like a whip-lash as it passes. Then there's bull-ants in the blankets, an' a lame horse, an' muskeeters, An' a D.T. boss like Halligan, or one like Humpy Peters Who is mean about the tucker, an' can curse from start to sundown, An' can fight like fifty devils, an' whose growler's never run down. Yes, I wonder why the fellers what go buildin' chipper ditties 'Bout the rosy times out drovin' an' th' dust an' death of cities, Don't sling the bloomin' office, strike ole Peters for a billet, An' soak up all the glory that comes handy while they fill it. This work is is in the public domain because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1923. The author died in 1931, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 80 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Soaring fuel costs are expected to deal a major blow to the profit margins of Egypt's wheat farmers this year, driving them away from the government-subsidised crop at a time when the country plans to increasingly rely on local production of the vital commodity. Wheat farmers in Minya Al-Qamh, the second largest town of the Sharqiya governorate in Egypt's Nile Delta, the very name of which means ' port of wheat,' are bracing for a tough harvest season, which in this region will begin in the second week of May. The fertile governorate is the country's largest wheat producer, as its lush, golden landscape attests. "We're going to suffer this year," lamented Mohamed, a small landowner from one of the many little villages surrounding Minya Al-Qamh. "One jerrycan (20 litres) of diesel officially costs LE22 (approx. $3.2), but now we're forced to buy it on the black market for double – even triple – the price." Rising diesel prices impact agriculture Egypt has been plagued by increasingly frequent fuel shortages since its 2011 revolution, as foreign currency reserves have dried up and credit ratings plummeted, impeding fuel and other imports. Hajj Mohamed, whose lined, coarse brown face bespeaks a long life spent labouring outdoors, is the proud owner of a small wheat field in Mamoun, Minya Al-Qamh, where he was born and raised his three sons. Like other subsistence farmers in his village, he rents the combine – a diesel-operated machine that separates grain from straw – from a private owner. "The rent of the combine has doubled this year to LE100 an hour," Mohamed complained. Harvesting larger wheat fields requires use of larger, more sophisticated combine harvesters, also diesel-powered, which are rented out by the agriculture ministry. Diesel costs impact every stage of the farming process, as tilling, irrigation and transport all rely on diesel engines. "Renting a tractor to till the land costs LE400 per feddan [roughly equivalent to one acre] this year; it used to cost LE200," explained Abdullah Romeih, a local agricultural engineer. "I used to rent a water pump for LE8 an hour. Today it costs me LE15," he added. "The owner will tell you he had to pay for the hikes in diesel prices." Farmers say the rising fuel costs have not been matched by corresponding rises in wheat prices, which are set by a government that heavily subsidises flour. The Egyptian government is offering LE400 ($57) per ardeb (roughly equivalent to 150 kilograms) of wheat this year. Though this is roughly a LE100 higher than the international price, which currently hovers at around $44 per ardeb, the rise has not been proportional to soaring local production costs. "So the government upped the price of the ardeb by LE15. If it had increased its price by LE100, it still would not cover the rise in costs for farmers," said Samir Nada, manager of a local wheat field. The risk is that diesel shortages will affect the availability of this machinery to wheat farmers, thus delaying the harvest, causing waste, and disrupting the distribution of state-bought grain to the urban mills that produce state-subsidised flour. A Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) report on Egypt issued by the US Department of Agriculture in early April estimates that "upwards of 150 million litres of diesel fuel will be required to operate combines, bagging equipment and trucks for hauling wheat from fields to storage areas" in Egypt this year. The report cites "growing concerns among producers, traders and industry experts alike that the lack of diesel fuel availability may affect [this year's] crop harvesting and its distribution." This would be catastrophic at a time when Egypt is currently striving to boost wheat self-sufficiency and as dwindling foreign currency reserves have led the government to cut back on wheat imports, which account for more than half of domestic consumption. Dreams of self-sufficiency The government has said it aims to cut wheat imports by half this year, filling the 4 to 5 million ton gap with domestically produced wheat purchased from farmers through the Principal Bank for Development and Agriculture Credit (PBDAC). But experts and industry insiders say this target for local procurement is wildly optimistic. "Historically, this figure has never reached 3 million tonnes," a high-level agriculture ministry source told Ahram Online. He put Egypt's annual local production at between 7 and 8 million tonnes on average. This is in part because subsistence wheat farming, defined as farming on plots of one acre or less, accounts for half of the roughly 3 million acres cultivated with wheat across Egypt, according to the source. Although subsistence farmers like Mohamed sell large chunks of their produce to the government, which offers the highest price, they have consistently set a certain quantity aside for their household needs and for seed stockpiling for the coming year. This, according to the FAS report, is due to price speculation and high storage losses. Mohamed, whose half-acre plot produces 8 to 9 ardebs of wheat, sets one ardeb aside for himself. The transport of domestic wheat to government warehouses nationwide, for which suppliers are responsible, will also be hit by fuel shortages, further depleting government stocks. Mohamed complains that the truck owner on whom he depends to transport his grain to the local government warehouse had recently upped his fee to keep up with rising diesel prices. Industry insiders also voice concern over the government's ability to transport the grain that it does collect out of its warehouses in time to avoid waste due to prolonged storage in poor conditions. "It's doubtful that the state's grain buyer will be logistically capable of meeting the domestic wheat procurement target, as the fuel shortages will affect transport of the wheat from its warehouses to the cities," said Ahmed El-Naggar, owner of an agriculture development company. Should the state fail in its gamble to replace imports with domestic wheat, a possible shortage in state-subsidised bread – the main dietary staple for millions in a country where over 20 percent live under the poverty line – would have dire social and political consequences. Egypt was rocked by bread riots in 1977 following a government attempt to lift subsidies, and again in 2008 due to shortages of subsidised bread. Farmers mull leaving wheat The reduced profitability of cultivating wheat will undoubtedly drive some farmers to switch to other more beneficial crops, which – unlike wheat – are not state-subsidised. "This year, I have no choice," says Mohamed. "But next year, God willing, I might plant vegetables instead of wheat – and I would get a better price for them." However, the costs and risks associated with cultivating vegetables instead of wheat will likely limit the exodus of farmers away from wheat. "The agricultural cost of cultivating potatoes, for example, is between LE5,000 and LE17,000 per feddan, whereas wheat requires an investment of only LE3,000 to LE4,000 per feddan," El-Naggar estimated. "Though the profit margins for vegetables are much higher, cultivating them is much riskier, especially for inexperienced farmers who don't have guaranteed buyers," said the agriculture ministry source. He added: "Even if wheat farmers decided to switch en masse, this would affect 200,000 acres at most." In any case, Hajj Mohamed will not be expecting much in the way of returns as he and his workers toil this summer in the unpitying midday sun.
The tompot blenny, Parablennius gattorugine, is a medium sized blenny growing to about 30 centimetres (12 in), part of the large family of blennies that live on the seabed of rocky areas in shallow water (down to 20 metres or 66 feet). The tompot blenny is found on the northern, western and southern coasts of Great Britain and is unusual on the east coast, although it has been seen on wrecks off the North Norfolk coast. The species is also present in mainland Portugal, in the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, and around the Azores and Madeira. The fish are very inquisitive and are often seen by scuba divers. Tompots are usually a deep brown/orange, and are distinguished by a pair of lappets (tentacles) above the eyes and seven or more darker stripes along the body. It feeds on sea anemones or crustaceans. - B. E. Picton & C. C. Morrow (2010). "Parablennius gattorugine (Linnaeus, 1758)". Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. National Museums Northern Ireland. Retrieved February 1, 2011. - "New protection for marine wildlife". North Norfolk News. November 12, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2011. - Tompot blenny at FishBase - Black Sea Fishes Check List - "Tompot Blenny". British Marine Life Study Society. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- Laws & Regulations - RCRA History - Hazardous Waste Regulations - Non-Hazardous Waste Regulations - Guidance & Policy Hazardous Waste Regulations The RCRA docket provides users with all the materials critical to each stage in the development of a rule, such as Federal Register notices and technical documents. Regulations.gov the government-wide centralized docket management system allows users to search the Agencys rulemaking dockets online, view the indices, and access those materials that are available online. Users may also submit comments online when a docket is open for public comment. Hazardous Waste Laws The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is a US law that provides, in broad terms, the general guidelines for the waste management program envisioned by Congress. It includes a Congressional mandate directing EPA to develop a comprehensive set of regulations to implement the law. The hazardous waste program, under RCRA Subtitle C, establishes a system for controlling hazardous waste from the time it is generated until its ultimate disposal in effect, from cradle to grave. In any given State, EPA or the State hazardous waste regulatory agency enforces hazardous waste laws. EPA encourages States to assume primary responsibility for implementing a hazardous waste program through State adoption, authorization, and implementation of the regulations. Hazardous Waste Regulations EPA regulations, or rulemakings, translate the general mandate of RCRA into a set of requirements for the Agency and the regulated community. The RCRA hazardous waste program regulates commercial businesses as well as federal, State, and local government facilities that generate, transport, treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is a waste with properties that make it dangerous or potentially harmful to human health or the environment. In regulatory terms, a RCRA hazardous wastes fall into two categories: - Listed Wastes, which appear on one of the four hazardous wastes lists established by EPA regulations: - The F-list (non-specific source wastes), which can be found in the regulations at 40 CFR §261.31. - The K-list (source-specific wastes), which can be found in the regulations at 40 CFR §261.32. - The P-list and the U-list (discarded commercial chemical products), which can be found in the regulations at 40 CFR §261.33. - Ignitability, as described in 40 CFR §261.21. - Corrosivity, as described in 40 CFR §261.22. - Reactivity, as described in 40 CFR §261.23. - Toxicity, as described in 40 CFR §261.24. 40 CFR Part 260 contains all of the RCRA regulations governing hazardous waste identification, classification, generation, management and disposal. - Part 260 Hazardous Waste Management System: General - Part 261 Identification And Listing Of Hazardous Waste - Part 262 Standards Applicable To Generators Of Hazardous Waste - Part 263 Standards Applicable To Transporters Of Hazardous Waste - Part 264 Standards For Owners And Operators Of Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, And Disposal Facilities - Part 265 Interim Status Standards For Owners And Operators Of Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, And Disposal Facilities - Part 266 Standards For The Management Of Specific Hazardous Wastes And Specific Types Of Hazardous Waste Management Facilities - Part 267 Standards For Owners And Operators Of Hazardous Waste Facilities Operating Under A Standardized Permit - Part 268 Land Disposal Restrictions - Part 270 EPA Administered Permit Programs: The Hazardous Waste Permit Program - Part 271 Requirements For Authorization Of State Hazardous Waste Programs - Part 272 Approved State Hazardous Waste Management Programs - Part 273 Standards For Universal Waste Management - Part 279 Standards For The Management Of Used Oil - Part 280 Technical Standards And Corrective Action Requirements For Owners And Operators Of Underground Storage Tanks (UST) - Part 281 Approval Of State Underground Storage Tank Programs - Part 282 Approved Underground Storage Tank Programs - Parts 283 to 299 [Reserved]
File:Total fertility rate, 1960-2009 (live births per woman).png From Statistics Explained Total_fertility_rate,_1960-2009_(live_births_per_woman).png (475 × 570 pixels, file size: 23 KB, MIME type: image/png) Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. \|current\|\|18:56, 30 November 2011\|\|475 × 570 (23 KB)\|\|EXT-G-Albertone\| - You cannot overwrite this file.
Soundararajan, R and Dorairaj, K and Jagadis, I (1997) Studies on the marine fauna of the Mahatma Gandhi marine national park, Wandoor, South Andaman Part 1 Corals. Journal of Andaman Science Association, 13 (1 & 2). pp. 10-31. A comprehensive survey was carried out during October 1990 to April 1991 to document the marine flora and fauna found in the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, Wandoor, South Andaman. \|Uncontrolled Keywords:\|\|marine fauna; Mahatma Gandhi marine national park; Wandoor; South Andaman; Corals\| \|Subjects:\|\|Marine Ecosystems > Coral Reefs\| \|Divisions:\|\|CMFRI-Cochin > Biodiversity\| \|Deposited By:\|\|Arun Surendran\| \|Deposited On:\|\|17 Jan 2011 12:54\| \|Last Modified:\|\|17 Jan 2011 12:54\| Repository Staff Only: item control page
Approaches in science teacher preparation: a comparative study of England and Zimabwe Maringe, Felix (2005) Approaches in science teacher preparation: a comparative study of England and Zimabwe. Education-Line, 1-21. Full text not available from this repository. Science education is considered a vital tool for development across the world. The importance of well trained science teachers essential for preparing students to function effectively in an increasingly technological and information based environment is well documented. Despite a convergence in belief on the assumptions of science and science teaching and learning based on notions of constructivism, inquiry and reflective practice, sharp distinctions exist in the way science teachers are prepared. While such distinctions may reflect national and even institutional contextual factors, there are structural, programmatic and process elements that appear to be eroding the commitment to the basic values in science teacher preparation. The paper, based on evidence obtained through interviews of science teacher educators and the analysis of curriculum documents in England and Zimbabwe identifies threats to the key assumptions of science and science teaching and argues for a re-examination of practice in the two countries. \|Additional Information:\|\|Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Glamorgan, 14-17 September 2005\| \|Subjects:\|\|Q Science > Q Science (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education \|Divisions:\|\|University Structure - Pre August 2011 > School of Education > Leadership, School Improvement and Effectiveness \|Date Deposited:\|\|18 Mar 2010\| \|Last Modified:\|\|27 Mar 2014 18:30\| \|RDF:\|\|RDF+N-Triples, RDF+N3, RDF+XML, Browse.\| Actions (login required)
- Who We Are - What We Do - Get Help Now Microsoft and Internet2: Workshop on Cyberinfrastructure for the Physical Sciences Posted by billhowe \| January 20, 2013 Microsoft and Internet 2 are teaming up to identify pilot projects that can inform a new class of cloud services for science. This is a great opportunity to steer the technology conversation toward your research -- Microsoft is listening carefully to the community. This workshop is focused on the physical sciences, following two previous workshops in the series including the Cyberinfrastructure for the Social Sciences workshop hosted here at UW in October. Khalil Yazdi at Internet 2 writes: We are writing to invite you to a workshop that will explore the role of commercial cloud infrastructure in addressing data management challenges faced by researchers in the Earth, Ocean, Sky and Space domains. The workshop is co-sponsored by the University of Hawaii, the University of California, Davis and the University of Washington. The University of Hawaii has graciously agreed to host the workshop, which will be held on the University of Hawaii campus on February 12th and 13th (a draft agenda is attached). Titled “Cyber-infrastructure for the Physical Sciences: Earth, Ocean, Sky and Space,” the purpose of this workshop is to bring researchers and technologists together to consider the role of commercial cloud offerings in supporting the emerging big data needs in research. Over the two days, leading scientists from the four research domains will highlight their research efforts and lead an open discussion of the cyber-infrastructure challenges faced by researchers in their respective fields. As in prior workshops, it is intended that the lively and engaged exploration of issues with participating researchers will surface areas where enhancements to the cloud infrastructure, computation, platform and application tools being developed by Microsoft can beof benefit of the research community – generally and specifically in support of the physical sciences. Attendees will identify requirements and articulate application scenarios for data services across all aspects of the data lifecycle and consider linkages that may exist between these requirements and Microsoft’s marketplace, academic search technologies and computational services. The desired outcome for the workshop is to articulate requirements for a scientific data management and analytics platform that would be supported by Microsoft and made available to the community through Internet2 NET+ Services. In addition to stimulating some new specific joint projects between Microsoft and university researchers, past workshops have already lead to new offerings from Microsoft to our community, including some practical first steps towards removing impediments to effective use of Azure services – waiver of data egress fees, accommodation of the data management and compliance obligations of researchers and institutions and the offering of Azure compute and storage in a manner that allow for the treatment of such cloud resources as capital assets. Some areas of interest include: examining alternative methods of acquiring new kinds of data; curation and archival preservation; developing families of tools for data linkage, aggregation across data types, real-time analysis and visualization; data management and storage solutions particularly with respect to restricted data; the development of pipelines for the using and sharing of research outcomes and describing best practices for cloud based research platforms; and HPC solutions for the simulation of complex physical systems. This will be the third of a series organized in partnership between Microsoft and Internet2 NET+ Services as part of a larger initiative to explore ways in which we can work together with our community of researchers and technology professionals, identify researcher needs and agree to a series of exploratory and developmental projects that will lead to enhanced services in support of academic research and scholarship. Our first workshop, held at the University of California, Davis, had a focus on Genomics and Bioinformatics. The second, held at the University of Washington examined the challenges facing researchers in the social sciences and behavioral sciences (e.g., demography, sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology, political science) in working with data and textual information coming from domains such as transportation, public health, administrative records, geo-referenced data, and environmental sensors in an effort to understand, model and analyze complex social systems. The workshop series is in part a follow up to an extraordinary meeting held in March of 2012, bringing together leading researchers and IT leadership from over 20 Internet2 institutions and senior executives from Microsoft to discuss potential opportunities for the research community and Microsoft to work together to address the challenges of large data management and support for scientific research in the Windows Azure cloud. We anticipate holding such workshops over the year to further expand on the important research challenges faced by the very wide array of research interests of the community and welcome suggestion as to research and scholarship domains that face unique challenges are otherwise inadequately supported. Our intention is simply that of providing a forum for researchers to more effectively communicate their current and emerging infrastructure needs, and the workshops are programmatically guided by the research community. We hope that you will be able to join us for what promises to be a very productive two day session and the kick-off for a series of in-depth efforts around specific research areas. Please feel free to pass along the information! Please RSVP at your earliest convenience to me directly by reply to this email (kyazdi [at] internet2 [dot] edu). Further information about the meeting, travel and lodging information will be forthcoming. If you are not attending in person and would like to join by audio/video, please indicate such interest in your reply. With kind regards, On behalf of the University of Hawaii, the University of California, Davis, the University of Washington, Microsoft and Internet2 Khalil Yazdi, Ph.D. Internet2 NET+ Services \|Draft Agenda Cyber-Infrastructure for the Physical Sciences-Earth Ocean Sky and Space.pdf\|\|71.81 KB\| Latest eScience News Please help us support your research by including the following acknowledgment in publications to which we have contributed: Supported in part by the University of Washington eScience Institute.
Title: Onboard Radar Processing Concepts for the DESDynI Mission Primary Author: Lou, Yunling Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Co-Author(s): Steve Chien, Duane Clark, and Josh Doubleday We are developing onboard processor (OBP) technology to streamline data acquisition on-demand and reduce the downlink data volume of the L-band SAR instrument onboard the DESDynI mission for three science objectives: 1) measure crustal deformation to determine the likelihood of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides; 2) characterize vegetation structure for ecosystem health; and 3) measure surface and ice sheet deformation for understanding climate change. Our approach is to determine the types of data processing suitable for implementation onboard the spacecraft to achieve the highest data compression gain without sacrificing the science objectives in each of these areas. The appropriate data processing algorithms and image compression techniques will be prototyped with the UAVSAR onboard processor that is currently under development. We will leverage the onboard autonomous flight planning software developed for the Earth Observation-1 mission and planned for the HysPIRI mission to enable data acquisition on-demand for specific science objectives. The onboard processor technology will enable the observation and use of surface deformation data and surface change data over rapidly evolving natural hazards, both as an aid to scientific understanding and to provide timely data to agencies responsible for the management and mitigation of natural disasters. In this paper, we will present preliminary onboard products that we are prototyping with UAVSAR data. These onboard products are targeted for rapid response applications that require a turnaround time of 48 hours or less. Examples include forest fuel load estimation during a wild fire, landslide, flood extent, sea ice monitoring, and ocean or river freeze/thaw monitoring.
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Catalogues: by date \| by number \| in full \| Website info: navigation help \| site description \| display conventions \| recent changes Project info: consolidated bibliography \| credits and copyright \| links \| Search: composite texts \| consolidated bibliography \| help with searching The bibliographical search engine was written by Steve Tinney of the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project at the University of Pennsylvania, and implemented with the aid of the University of Oxford's Academic Computing Development Team. It searches an XML version of the consolidated bibliography for letters, words, and phrases. For example, to find occurrences of the word "dog" in the bibliography, type dog in the search box and click the Find button. The search engine is case-insensitive, so it doesn't matter whether you use upper or lower case letters.[old image to be replaced]: The results will be displayed in a new window, like this [old image to be replaced]: The search engine finds all all occurrences of the word "dog", whether they belong to an author's or publisher's name, or form part of the title of an article, chapter, book, or journal. If the term you are looking for cannot be found, a blank screen will appear. To perform a new search, use the Back facility on your browser. NB: STILL UNICODE The search engine uses ASCII encoding for input, so to enter special Sumerian diacritics into the search box type: For instance, entering e2 in the search box will find articles in the Sjöberg Festschrift volume Dumu-e2-dub-ba-a: The search engine cannot search for standard abbreviations, such as "JCS" for Journal of Cuneiform Studies, although it displays results using these abbreviated forms. However, it is not necessary to enter the whole of a long title; key phrases such as "cuneiform studies" will also work. [What about accents and diacritics?] The bibliography search programme does not recognise boolean operators or regular expressions (advanced searching). To find two or more words within a bibliographical item, simply type a space between them. This is particularly useful for finding co-authored works, or for specifying both the author and a key word of the title. For instance, alster vanstiphout or Vanstiphout Alster will find all works written by Alster and Vanstiphout together: And alster proverb will find all works by Alster with words containing the string "proverb" in the title: Next: Searching the Sumerian composite texts Top \| Search: composite texts \| consolidated bibliography \| help with searching Page created on 29.iii.2002 by ER. Last revised on 12.iv.2002 by ER.
IMF warns Europe of falling behind US on recovery 17.04.13 @ 09:26 Berlin - Europe is falling behind the US in emerging from the economic crisis, with sluggish growth in Germany and recession in France worsening the outlook for eurozone periphery countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. "Recent good news about the US has come with renewed worries about the euro area. Given the strong interconnections between countries, an uneven recovery is also a dangerous one," Olivier Blanchard, IMF chief economist said Tuesday (16 April) when presenting the World Economic Outlook. The IMF forecasts growth in the US to be at 1.9 percent this year and 3 percent in 2014, while the eurozone economy will contract by 0.3 percent this year and grow by only 1.1 percent in 2014. But apart from the known troubles in Italy and Spain, where the economy is set to shrink "substantially" this year, Blanchard flagged up "weaknesses in the core," a reference to Germany and France. Germany's growth is forecast to be only 0.6 percent this year, while France will have a "slightly negative forecast, reflecting a combination of fiscal consolidation, poor export performance, and increasingly so, low confidence." "Low growth in the euro core is bad news not only on its own, but is clearly bad news for euro periphery countries which depends very much on the core," Blanchard noted. Meanwhile, "institutional progress" in the eurozone, such as steps to create a so-called banking union and help from the European Central Bank" is not enough." "The interest rates facing borrowers in periphery countries are still too high to secure the recovery, and there is a need for further and urgent measures to strengthen banks without weakening the sovereigns," Blanchard added. That sense of urgency is not felt in Berlin, where the finance minister recently said a change in the EU treaties would be needed to set up institutions dealing with the bankruptcy of banks without tapping taxpayers' money. A treaty change usually means years of wrangling and can be vetoed by one member state.
Chemical Control of Microorganisms 1. Distinguish between " - cidal" and "-static" 2. Discuss and give examples of the role of halogens, phenolics, heavy metals, and alcohols, in disinfection. 3. Define the roles of formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, glutaralydehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and detergents. Oliver Wendel Holmes- contagious nature of puerperal fever (Strephococcus) after childbirth. Ignaz Semmelweis- soap and water handwashing between patients, calcium hypochlorite disinfectant. Tincture of iodine- first used widely as an antiseptic during the Civil War Paul Erlich- use of Salvarsan (mercury compounds = “magic bullet”) to treat syphilis Joseph Lister- first used phenol (carbolic acid) on surgical sites and to disinfect operating room air. I. Principles of chemical control- A. Sterilization- destruction of all forms of life including spores (there are no "degrees" of sterilization). Chemical agents rarely achieve true sterilization. B. Disinfection- destruction of pathogens on an object/surface (reduce numbers below level of any threat 1. Disinfectant- used on inanimate objects. Disinfectants are usually cidal (bactericidal- kills bacteria. 2. Antiseptic- used on living skin/tissue. Antiseptics are usually static (bacteriostatic- only prevents multiplication in the presence of the agent, inhibits growth but doesn't kill). Some compounds (iodine) can be used for both, but formulas and dilutions are different. C. Selecting antiseptics/disinfectants- ideal properties 1. Fast acting 2. Broadly effective- at different temperatures, pH, and many types of microbes killed. 3. Good penetration/with no damage to surfaces (disinfectant), or nontoxic to humans/animals (antiseptic). 4. Easy to prepare and stable (long shelf life) 5. Soluble in water and works well when dilute 6. Smells good (or at least doesn’t stink). 7. High phenol coefficient- phenol used to be the standard all other compounds were compared to against S. aureus (G+) and S. typhi & P. aeruginosa (G-) under identical circumstances and dilution. They measured the concentration that kills in 10 minutes, but not in five minutes. Coefficient >1 if more effective than phenol (the higher the better), <1 if less effective than phenol. Not used any more because didn’t take into account 1) tissue toxicity, 2) temperature, and 3) activity in presence of organic matter (blood, feces) D. How Disinfectants/Antiseptics Work- 1. Denatures proteins- permanently alters secondary and quaternary structure by disrupting H bonds. Also permanently alters tertiary structure by disrupting disulfide bridges (sulfhydryl groups). Generally cidal, examples include peroxide, halogens, heavy metals. 2. Causes leaks in cell membranes- solublize or disrupt lipids with surfactants (such as alcohols, detergents, quaternary ammonium compounds). 3. Inactivation of viruses- must destroy viral nucleic acid or protein (alkylating agents, ethylene oxide gas, nitrous acid, hydroxylamine) II. Important Chemical Agents (Table 7.8)- A. Halogens- not sporocidal usually - ~5% NaOCl 1. Chlorine- germicidal action due to hypochlorous acid (HOCl, oxidizing agent) formation whenever Cl2 and H2O are mixed. a. Chlorine gas- used alone or with lime (calcium hypochlorite)- Ca(OCl)2 as tertiary treatment for municipal drinking water treatment plants. Chlorine gas combines with water ions- need enough left over (free) to have antibacterial activity (0.2 -1.0 ppm). b. Sodium hypochlorite- (NaOCl, Chloroxâ is 5-10%)- very useful in treating your own drinking water 2 drops/liter (4 drops if cloudy) treat for 30 minutes. c. Chloramines (Cl2 + ammonia)- release Cl more slowly d. U. S. Military gets Chlor-Floc (sodium dichloroisocyanurate) tablets to purify water and settle (clarify) suspended solids for drinking. 2. Iodine- more reactive and germidical than chlorine (but won't sterilize skin), takes several minutes to act. Mode of Action- combines with certain amino acids (inactivating proteins) and acts as oxidizing agent. Also used in tablet and liquid (Polarpure)forms to treat drinking water. a. Tincture of iodine- 2% in water and alcohol mix (can treat clear water with 5 drops/liter for 30 minutes = safe to drink. b. Iodophor- iodine-detergent (organic) complex. Includes the antiseptics Wescodyne and Betadine (providone ioline)- slow release, doesn't stain as badly as iodine, loosens organic mater (due to detergent wetting agent). B. Phenol and phenolics (Fig.7.7)-. All phenolics work by injuring plasma membrane of bacteria, some also denature proteins (inactivate enzymes). Good anti-Mycobacterial activity. 1. Phenol- since Lister (1847), phenol (carbolic acid) is not used as an antiseptic anymore due to tissue irritation and odor - - used in throat lozenges and throat sprays (Chloraseptic) as local anesthetic and antiseptic, but need to have >10% concentration for antibacterial effect. expensive and caustic to skin - amphyl, chlorhexidine gluconate (Hibiclens) and hexachloroaphene (a biphenol-see below) 2. Cresols- coal tar derivatives, also wood preservatives (creasote). Good surface disinfectants, have lower toxicity, greater germicidal activity than phenol. O-phenylphenol is active ingredient in Lysol, Staphene, and Amphyll. 3. Bisphenols- contain two phenol molecules a. Hexachlorophene- found in Ipana toothpaste, Mum deodorant, Dial soap, Phisoderm and Phisohex (prescription only strength). Bacteriostatic and especially good for Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. If left on skin or scalp, can be absorbed and cause neurological damage. b. Triclosan- used in a number of antibacterial soaps, at least one toothpaste, and even incorporated into plastic kitchenware (cutting boards and utensils). Especially effective against G+ bacteria and fungi. Widespread use has led to reports of resistance. C. Biguanides- injure cell membranes and are cidal for vegetative cells, but ineffective against endospores, Mycobacterium, protozoal cysts, and most viruses. 1. Chlorhexidine- at 0.2% is good antiplaque and antigingivitis agent. Nontoxic to skin and mucous membranes, so makes a good surgical scrub (Hibiclens) when combined with detergent or alcohol. It is toxic to eyes. 2. Hexylresorcinol- mouthwash, Sucrets- decreases surface tension loosens bacteria (plaque) from oral surface D. Heavy metals- large atomic weights, bind protein molecules together at their sulfhydryl groups to cause denaturation. Ineffective against endospores or Mycobacterium. 1. Mercury- Mercurochrome, Merthiolate- mercury is combined with a carrier so it is less toxic to skin. Mercury is also used as a preservative in vaccines and sera. 2. Copper- CuSO4 used as algicide for pools (inhibits the growth of any photosynthetic organism (chlorophyll). Combined with lime as an antifungal (Blue-white Bordeaux Mix) to pevent downy mildew of grapes. Both mercury and copper are added to paints along with zinc oxide as mildew inhibitors. 3. Silver- silver nitrate (AgNO3), for years was used as 1% solution in eyes of newborns to prevent blindness due to gonnococcal opthalmia (N. gonorrheae). Today use erythromycin ointment instead. Silver is also incorporated into wound dressings (slow release) good for antibiotic resistant bacteria, and to treat suture materials and catheters. It is also combined with sulfadiazine to create silver sulfadiazine (Silvadene), which is an important topical used on burns. 4. Zinc- zinc chloride common in mouthwashes and anti-cold virus lozenges, and zinc oxide as an antifungal in paint. E. Alcohols- cidal for bacterial vegetative cells, fungi, enveloped viruses, but not effective for endospores and non-enveloped viruses. Good for local physical degermination (wiping) of skin, but not on wounds. Primarily work by denaturing proteins and solublizing lipids (disrupts cell membrane). Alcohols also increase the effectiveness of certain agents like iodine and zephiran when these are mixed in a tincture- mixture of alcohol and water. 1. Ethyl alcohol (ethanol)- a 2-carbon, consumable alcohol. 70% appears to work best, 50-80% will do. 2. Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)- better than EtOH as an antiseptic/disinfectant, also cheaper and less volatile. F. Surface active agents (soaps and detergents)- alone they don’t have any antimicrobial properties. They simply function to remove skin oils and grease by emulsifying lipids and anything trapped in them (serve as wetting agents). They can do this because they are amphipathic molecules (have a water-soluble portion AND a lipid-soluble portion (Remember, soaps are created by saponification- heating a fat with an alkali, such as NaOH or KOH). Many so-called “deodorant soaps” contain triclocarban as an antibacterial agent (especially effective against G+s). 1. Anionic (acid) detergents- In general, not as effective against bacteria as cationic detergents. They are important in the cleaning of dairy equipment and utensils. 2. Cationic (basic) detergents- in general, more effective than anionic detergents. The cations, such as ammonium react with the negatively charged cell membrane to make it leaky. The most widely used are the quaternary, ammonium compounds (quats, Fig.7.9). Quats are effective against bacterial vegetative cells [better against G+s than G-s], protozoa, fungi, and enveloped viruses, but ineffective against endospres, Mycobacterium, and many Pseudomonas. Quats are very potent antimicrobials, are colorless, odorless, tasteless, stable, easily diluted and non-toxic to tissue. But they lose effectiveness when mixed with organic matter or other soaps, detergents, especially anionic ones. Two of the most widely used quats are Zephiran (benzalkanium Cl) and Cepacol (cetypyridinium Cl). If your mouthwash foams when shaken, it most likely contains a quat. G. Alkylating agents- work by denaturing proteins (form covalent cross-links between several functional groups), and alters DNA structure. Formaldehyde is a common one (formalin is 37% formaldehyde). Gluteraldehyde is even more effective (bacteriocida [including TB] and virucidal in 10 min., sporicidal in 3-10 hr.) and is used as a 2% solution (Cidex) to treat surgical instruments (must pre-clean) like delicate fiber optic endoscopes without damage. Both are also used as embalming fluids. H. Oxidizing agents (peroxygens)- inactivate various cellular components, especially effective against anaerobes. 1. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)- usually used as a 3% aqueous solution (light sensitive). Actually better for surface disinfection (sporicidal) than as a wound antiseptic (inactivated by catalase from our cells and slows down healing). New method of sterilization called plasma gas sterilization uses free radicals formed by treating hydrogen peroxide with radio or microwaves. 2. Ozone- very reactive form of oxygen created by exposing oxygen to high voltage (can smell after lightning storm or UV light use. Often used along with chlorine to treat drinking water commercially. 3. Benzoyl peroxide- used to kill anaerobes in deep wounds and to treat acne. 4. Peracetic acid- very effective (vegetative cells/fungi in 5 min., endospores in 30 min., not affected by organic matter, used on food processing and medical equipment. I. Gaseous chemosterilizers- Ethylene oxide (highly explosive), propylene oxide and B- propiolactone (all are toxic and suspected carcinogens). Used to sterilize paper products, plastics, leather, wood, metal, etc. Work by alkylating amino, hydroxyl, sulflydryl, carboxy, groups of proteins and altering nucleic acids. Sporicidal, but require long exposure (4-18 hr.) J. Organic acids- used as food preservatives. Lactic/acetic acid are used in cheese, sauerkaut, pickle products. Propionic acid (calcium propionate) is used in breads. Other preservatives include sorbic acid (K+ sorbate), benzoic acid (Na+ benzoate), sulfur dioxide (SO2 and sulfites) in wine, and nitrates/nitrites in meats (prevent C. butulinum growth and maintain pink color, but generate carcinogenic nitrosamines when heated). K. Dyes- Venetian violet or crystal violet can be used to treat oral thrush. III. Evaluation of Disinfectants- use a standard set of 3 bacterial and one viral reference strains. Salmonella cholera-suis G- Pseudomonas aeruginosa G- Staphylococcus aureus G+ Newcastle Disease Virus (infects wild and domesticated bird)- to test virucidal activity A. Use Dilution Test: This is the most widely used method. Steel carrier rings are dipped in cultures, air dried, and placed in recommended concentration of disinfectants for ten minutes at 20°C, then placed in liquid growth medicum to see if all micorganisms killed or not. B. Filter Paper Disk Diffusion Method: Easier to perform, used in teaching labs. Soak sterile paper disk in recommended concentration of disinfectant/antiseptic, place on an agar plate swabbed with test bacterial strain, incubate for 18-24 hr., then measure zone (diameter) of inhibition.
- Holmes, Joseph S. and Glass, Jeffrey T., Internal R and D - Vital but only one piece of the innovation puzzle, Research Technology Management, vol. 47 no. 5 pp. 7 - 10 . (last updated on 2007/04/17) The benefit of return in internal Research and Development (R and D) to yield return on physical asset investment is discussed. The R and D is required to generate innovations and to utilize internal knowledge to access ousite technologies. It also provide an ability to integrate the disparate technologies acquired from sources outside of the firm. It is stated that the R and D investments have a positive effect on stock prices and operating performance over the life of the firm. Industrial management;Investments;Budget control;Costs;Marketing;Risk assessment;Mergers and acquisitions;Technological forecasting;Inventory control;Operations research;Professional aspects;Product development;Failure analysis;Mathematical models;
Fedor I. Nikanov, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Simon & Schuster, Inc. and Margarita Madrigal, Defendants-Appellants, and Sonia Bleeker, Also Known as Sonia Zim, Defendant., 246 F.2d 501 (2nd Cir. 1957) Borris M. Komar, New York Ciry, for plaintiff-appellee.Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York City (Jay H. Topkis, New York City, of counsel), for defendants-appellants.Before HINCKS, STEWART and LUMBARD, Circuit Judges.STEWART, Circuit Judge.In 1949 Simon & Schuster, Inc., published 'Invitation to Russian,' a language primer offered to the public as 'a gay and simple guide to the reading and speaking of modern Russian.' Margarita Madrigal and Sonia Bleeker were credited with authorship of the volume. The plaintiff brought this action against the publisher and the two authors, alleging that in producing and publishing the book they had infringed his copyright in a Russian language chart and had been guilty of unfair competition in plagiarizing teaching methods and material from the chart and from an uncopyrighted and unpublished manuscript of which he was the author. Sonia Bleeker was not served with process and did not appear. The district court entered judgment for damages against the two other defendants. On this appeal they contend that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the claim of copyright infringement or unfair competition with respect to the chart, and that the district court was without jurisdiction of the claim of unfair competition with respect to the unpublished manuscript. There is no dispute about the facts.The plaintiff, an American citizen of Russian birth, is a professional teacher of foreign languages. In 1943 he secured a copyright on a single sheet publication, printed on both sides. One side bore the title 'Russian Alphabet Guide' and the other 'Russian Language Chart.'The Russian alphabet consists of thirty-one letters and one sign; it bears only partial and superficial resemblance to the familiar Latin alphabet. Thus an English-speaking student who wants to learn Russian encounters at the outset a formidable hurdle. Unlike a student of the Romance languages, he must master a new alphabet before he can even begin to learn vocabulary or syntax.The plaintiff's copyrighted chart incorporated a method he had devised to teach the Russian alphabet to English-speaking students. This method consisted of dividing the letters of the Russian alphabet into three groups: those letters which both look and sound like Latin letters; those which look like Latin letters but are pronounced differently; and those, mostly derived from the Greek, which neither look nor sound like Latin letters. Pronunciation was illustrated by the use of cognate words which mean and sound the same in both Russian and English. This arrangement of the alphabet was concededly unique. The plaintiff sold the copyrighted charts to the public from 1943 to 1949 with a modicum of financial success, realizing an average annual profit of between seven and eight hundred dollars.In 1943 the plaintiff was approached by representatives of the defendant, Simon & Schuster, Inc., with the suggestion that he write a Russian language textbook to be published by that firm. He agreed, and the publishing company assigned one of its employees with some knowledge of Russian, the defendant Sonia Bleeker, to work with him in preparing and editing the manuscript. The plaintiff made his copyrighted chart available to Bleeker, and she pointed out that it could serve as the foundation for the proposed book.1During the course of the following two years the plaintiff was in frequent communication with Bleeker. He produced a rough manuscript which was submitted through Bleeker to Simon & Schuster, Inc. Early in 1946 the publisher returned the manuscript to the plaintiff, informing him that it was unsuitable for publication.In the meantime, Simon & Schuster, Inc., had published three commercially successful language primers, 'Invitation to Spanish,' 'Invitation to Portuguese,' and 'Invitation to French.' The defendant Madrigal was the coauthor of each of them. Sometime in 1945, while the publisher had possession of both plaintiff's language chart and his manuscript, it made arrangements with Madrigal to turn out a Russian primer. Since Madrigal knew no Russian, Bleeker was assigned to work with her as translator and coauthor. Written contracts were signed on January 15, 1946, and 'Invitation to Russian' appeared three years later.The first three chapters of 'Invitation to Russian' present the Russian alphabet in the same three groups as does the plaintiff's copyrighted chart. The book also illustrates pronunciation by the use of cognate words, many of which are the same cognates appearing on the chart. In addition the book contains mnemonic drawings of Russian letters in the third category which are the same as the drawings in the plaintiff's unpublished manuscript.Judge Murphy found that Madrigal and Bleeker 'without any independent industry or research stole plaintiff's literary effort and copied not only his method but his form of expression and lists of cognate words.' (144 F.Supp. 377.) With specific reference to the cause of action for infringement of the copyrighted chart, Judge Murphy found that, 'What was copied principally was the scheme in plaintiff's own expressions of the alphabet and the cognate words he used to make the student better acquainted with the language before any question of grammar or syntax could be learned.' He pointed out that while the material copied amounted to a relatively small portion of the total text of 'Invitation to Russian,' it constituted a much larger portion of the copyrighted chart. He also emphasized that 'what was copied was an integral part and of real importance to the book, and unquestionably done to avoid the trouble and expense of independent work.' Damages were assessed at $5,000, together with an attorney's fee.In our view the court's findings and conclusions with respect to copyright infringement were correct. The evidence of similarity and access clearly permitted the court's basic inference of copying. General Drafting Co. v. Andrews, 2 Cir., 1930, 37 F.2d 54, 56; Encyclopaedia Britannica Co. v. American Newspaper Ass'n, C.C.D.N.J.1904, 130 F. 460, 464, affirmed Werner Co. v. Encyclopaedia Britannica Co., 3 Cir., 1905, 134 F. 831. See Shipman v. R.K.O. Radio Pictures, 2 Cir., 1938, 100 F.2d 533, 537. This inference the appellants failed to dispel. Madrigal knew no Russian, 'not even simple sentences in her 'own' book,' and Bleeker did not testify. Moreover, these portions of 'Invitation to Russian' were without counterpart in Madrigal's other language books. The insubstantial differences in arrangement of the three categories of Russian letters in the chart and in the book fell short of showing original independent effort on the part of the book's authors. Fleischer Studios v. Ralph A. Freundlich, Inc., 2 Cir., 1934, 73 F.2d 276. As this court has stated, 'It is of course essential to any protection of literary property, whether at common-law or under the statute, that the right cannot be limited literally to the text, else a plagiarist would escape by immaterial variations.' Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corporation, 2 Cir., 1930, 45 F.2d 119, 121. While only a part of the plaintiff's copyrighted work was appropriated, what was taken was clearly material, as the district court found. College Entrance Book Co. v. Amsco Book Co., 2 Cir., 1941, 119 F.2d 874.The appellants contend, however, that even accepting the district court's findings of copying, the court was wrong as a matter of law, because all that was taken was an idea, and an idea cannot be the subject of copyright protection. Baker v. Selden, 1879, 101 U.S. 99, 25 L.Ed. 841; Brief English Systems v. Owen, 2 Cir., 1931, 48 F.2d 555; Guthrie v. Curlett, 2 Cir., 1929, 36 F.2d 694. But more than a mere idea was appropriated here. 'Invitation to Russian' copied the plaintiff's expression of the idea, in arrangement, order of presentation and verbal illustration. What Madrigal and Bleeker evidently did was to follow the advice Bleeker had given the plaintiff himself in 1943-- to 'break up the chart into chapters.' This case is perhaps close to the borderline, but no closer than many others in which copyright protection has been afforded. College Entrance Book Co. v. Amsco Book Co., supra; Deutsch v. Arnold, 2 Cir., 1938, 98 F.2d 686; Nutt v. National Institute, Inc. for the Improvement of Memory, 2 Cir., 1929, 31 F.2d 236; Ansehl v. Puritan Pharmaceutical Co., 8 Cir., 1932, 61 F.2d 131; Adventures in Good Eating v. Best Places to Eat, 7 Cir., 1942, 131 F.2d 809.The court awarded damages of $5,000, the maximum statutory amount,17 U.S.C.A. § 101(b). Despite the fact that 'Invitation to Russian' was not itself a profitable publication, the award was clearly just in view of the abrupt drop in sales of the plaintiff's chart and the authors' fee paid to Madrigal and Bleeker.The award of damages was based wholly on the plaintiff's cause of action for copyright infringement. We have concluded that on that phase of the case the district court's decision was correct. Whether or not the court had pendent jurisdiction of the claim of unfair competition with respect to the plaintiff's uncopyrighted manuscript is a question we therefore need not pursue.2The judgment is affirmed. 1 In a letter of April 9, 1943, to the plaintiff, Bleeker wrote: 'Since you plan to begin the book with 'Learning the Russian Alphabet,' and you already have the chart in black and white, and all you have to do is break up the chart into chapters, before you know it-- one thing will lead to another and you will have a substantial part of the manuscript.' 2 The statute confers upon the district court 'jurisdiction of any civil action asserting a claim of unfair competition when joined with a substantial and related claim under the copyright, patent or trade-mark laws.' 28 U.S.C.A. § 1338(b). Clearly the plaintiff asserted 'a claim of unfair competition.' International News Service v. Associated Press, 1918, 248 U.S. 215, 39 S.Ct. 68, 63 L.Ed. 211; Metropolitan Opera Ass'n v. Wagner-Nichols Recorder Corp., 1950, 199 Misc. 786, 101 N.Y.S.2d 483, affirmed 1st Dept. 1951, 279 App.Div. 632, 107 N.Y.S.2d 795. Clearly the claim under the copyright laws with which it was joined was 'substantial.' Thus the only question is whether the two claims were 'related.'If the statute is but a codification of the rule of Hurn v. Oursler, 1933, 289 U.S. 238, 53 S.Ct. 586, 77 L.Ed. 1148, the answer must clearly be that the two claims were not 'related,' and that the district court was therefore without jurisdiction of the claim of unfair competition. In that case the plaintiff sued for infringement of the copyright on a play, for unfair competition with the copyrighted play, and for unfair competition with a revised, uncopyrighted version of the same play. The Supreme Court held there was pendent jurisdiction of the unfair competition claim so far as it related to the copyrighted play, but not of the claim based upon the uncopyrighted version.It has been said, however, that the statute goes much further than Hurn v. Oursler and must be broadly construed to include claims which have 'a real factual or legal relation' to the copyright claim in order to 'carry out the revisers intention 'to avoid 'piecemeal' litigation." Moore, Commentary on the Judicial Code, page 150. Such a construction would lead to the conclusion that the district court did have jurisdiction here. The parties were identical, much of the evidence bore on both claims, and 'Invitation to Russian' was the tortious instrument under both claims.This court has taken an increasingly liberal view of the statute, but apparently has not explicitly held that it goes beyond Hurn v. Oursler. Maternally Yours, Inc., v. Your Maternity Shop, 2 Cir., 1956, 234 F.2d 538, 543-544. Perhaps that is what was implicitly announced, however, in Telechron, Inc., v. Parissi, 2 Cir., 1952, 197 F.2d 757, 759-761 and Schreyer v. Casco Products Corp., 2 Cir., 1951, 190 F.2d 921, 923-924, certiorari denied 1952, 342 U.S. 913, 72 S.Ct. 360, 96 L.Ed. 683. For a discussion of this aspect of the present case, including possible Constitutional overtones, see Note, 70 Harv.L.Rev. 1469 (1957).
Sometimes when we are looking for a solution and we’ve tried all the conventional means we have to do something – anything to get the energy moving again. You may have tried everything to get pregnant, here are some unconventional tips you may not have tried. 1. A Bowl of Rice: Feng Shui folklore says to place a bowl of uncooked rice under the bed. This is to stimulate the fertility energy of those who sleep in the bed above. You can use a decorative bowl of fine china or just a plain ceramic bowl, I recommend against plastic or paper bowls. Long grain or short grain rice is fine just make sure it’s uncooked. 2. Let the Dust Bunnies Roam: Tradition says that you should not clean under the bed while trying to get pregnant. It’s said that the child’s soul comes to visit the prospective parents and this soul hides out under the bed. If you clean under the bed the soul is disturbed and leaves to find other parents. So don’t fret about how much dust is in your rice bowl just leave it be. 3. Speaking of Bunnies: Rabbits represent fertility so displaying pairs of rabbits will increase baby making energy. You can use ceramic rabbit figurines, pictures of rabbits, stuffed rabbits or rabbits made of stone. The pair should look similar (so don’t try to match a stone rabbit with a stuffed rabbit). Place them in the room and move them to a new place in the room every week. 4. Plant a Seed: In Feng Shui we use representations of what we want to attract energy so in this case we want to plant some seeds and watch them grow. Grow a plant or two in the bedroom from seeds. Choose a plant that’s easy to grow and place it in a sunny window. You can also use cuttings to grow your plants but seeds are best. 5. Display an Egg: Eggs represent the potential for new life and babies so having an egg in the room helps stimulate the fertility energy. You can get egg-shaped stones like Jasper and Agate, there are petrified eggs, glass eggs and Faberge-style eggs. Display the egg on your nightstand and keep it polished and shiny. 6. Get a Figurine of a Family: Small statues like three turtles standing one on top of the other, a family of three deer figurines or three stuffed animals in varied sizes all create the loving family energy. Place these on a table or chair (for the stuffed animals) in the bedroom so you can see them from the bed. Sometimes the energy of the room itself is off but also sometimes there’s just some doubt from one potential parent or both. It’s important to clear any negative energy to allow the fertility energy to fill the room. These simple tips have helped others. Let me know what your experience is.
"The Baird & Co warehouse sits in a dreary business park, half a mile east of London’s City airport. A black Mercedes and a blue Jaguar near the entrance are the sole touch of glamour. Step inside, and men in overalls are fashioning medallions, bars and rings from molten gold, purified in vats next door. From an office upstairs, Tony Baird, the company’s managing director, and a former coin dealer, presides over the hubbub. “Gold is stable,” he says. “It’s the value of money that goes up and down.” Baird & Co sells gold to everyone from pension funds to jewellers, and as the MD says: “Our machines can’t work fast enough these days...” Gold is still hot with investors, especially with leading hedge funds who have entered the trade in recent years, and with more conservative and libertarian-minded individual investors who seek a refuge from the uncertainties of our current government and the eroding paper money system. As the FT notes in this piece, the leading mints and gold refineries are struggling to keep up with booming demand worldwide. And it's no mystery why, when you acknowledge the fact that many sovereign nations face grave financial problems and deficits that may lead to further "debt monetization", aka inflation via the running of electronic printing presses. Ron Paul speaks to the problems of fiat money systems in the FT's article. "...In his book Gold, Peace and Prosperity, Paul decries the end of the gold standard – the practice of backing currencies with a fixed weighting in the metal, which took many forms through history. President Nixon brought an end to the gold standard in 1971, as part of his attempt to overcome the strain of funding the Vietnam war and the US’s mounting trade deficit. Paul thinks the system of fiat money facilitates “governments’ attempts to inflate, control the economy, run up deficits and fight senseless wars”. He worries, too, that both the supply of paper money and government debt levels are spiralling out of control. “My beef is with the paper money,” he says. “All the problems we’re having today were destined to happen. Gold plays an important role in the monetary system because it restrains government spending.” Without it, Paul argues, central banks have the power to print money without pausing to consider the consequences, and more impetus to spend it."
In response to bills in nine states proposing to alter speed limits, leadership of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. said it is imperative for road safety that any changes made to driving speeds promote uniformity. “If lawmakers choose to change speeds it is essential that the change allow all vehicles to travel at the same speed,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said in OOIDA’s magazine, Land Line. “Requiring trucks to drive at speeds slower than other vehicles does not promote safety. It does exactly the opposite by requiring vehicles to be constantly in conflict with each other.” OOIDA provides the following rundown on state speed proposals: - In Indiana, a bill proposes to rid the state of speed differentials on rural stretches of interstates by increasing trucks speeds from 65 mph to 70 mph – the same as smaller vehicles. Another Indiana House bill would raise speed limits for all vehicles on divided, rural highways around the state from 60 mph to 65 mph. - An Oklahoma bill would increase speeds on turnpikes from 75 mph to 80 mph. - In Utah, a measure would expand the portion of Interstate 15 where speeds can reach 80 mph. It would also add stretches of Interstates 80 and 84. - In Wyoming, the Senate voted to advance a bill to increase the speed limit for all vehicles on limited access roads from 65 mph to 70 mph. - An Iowa bill would increase speeds to 60 mph on highways posted at 55 mph. - Mississippi lawmakers are considering a bill to increase Interstate speeds to 75 mph – up from 70 mph. - Two Connecticut bills would increase posted speeds on multi-lane, limited access highways to 75 mph – up from 65 mph. One bill would increase speeding fines by 15%. - Multiple bills in New Hampshire would increase Interstate speeds by as much as 10 mph. The first bill would increase speeds from 65 mph to 70 mph on Interstate 93 from mile marker 45 to the Vermont border. The second bill would apply the change to all Interstates posted at 65 mph. It would also increase speeds to 60 mph on Interstates posted at 55 mph. One more bill would authorize 75 mph speeds on Interstates posted at 65 mph. Interstates posted at 55 mph would be increased to 60 mph. - Maryland lawmakers are looking at multiple efforts to increase vehicle speeds. One bill would increase vehicle speeds from 65 mph to 70 mph on interstates, state expressways and some other highways. Vehicle speeds on the Intercounty Connector would also increase from 55 mph to 70 mph. Another bill would limit the 5 mph boost to Interstate 68.
Book flights from Karlsruhe to Nuremberg Flying from Karlsruhe Book flights from Karlsruhe with airberlin and fly from Baden Airpark (FKB), which is located 35 kilometers southwest of the city. Baden Airpark Information Baden Airpark is the second largest airport in the region, servicing over a million passengers each year. While waiting for flights, passengers can use the business facilities to work, or take a break and enjoy the golf course or ice skating rink in the recreation center. This airport has one terminal and 20 check-in counters to make the departure process as streamlined as possible. Due to the design of the airport, passengers are shuttled to their flights by bus. Getting to the Airport in Karlsruhe The best way to use public transportation to make your flight is to take the bus to Baden Airpark, with a travel time of approximately 30 to 45 minutes. If you want to take a train to Baden Airpark, you will need to transfer to a bus at Baden-Baden train station. Many travelers, especially those with a lot of luggage, choose to hire a car or take a taxi to Baden Airpark, which takes approximately 40 minutes. Arriving in Nuremberg Your tickets to Nuremberg will give you access to a town full of rich history and tradition that is still embraced by locals. In this city you’ll witness medieval castles, intricate churches, vibrant festivals, and fascinating museums. First Time in Nuremberg The Kaiserburg castle is a first stop for many tourists when they step off of their flights to Nuremberg. This iconic castle is visible from most spots within the city. The Hauptmarkt is Nuremberg’s bustling city square that hosts the Christmas Market each year and is surrounded by beautiful examples of Gothic architecture. This area can be a good place to find cheap hotels in Nuremberg during the off-season. Booking guided tours can be a great starting point when you travel to Nuremberg. Take a walking tour through the Altstadt and view buildings from the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, including the castle. Once you have found your bearings, enjoy a ballet at the Staatstheater. Making the Most of Your Nuremberg Holiday Find flight deals to Nuremberg through airberlin and discover for yourself this city steeped in history. Summer days in Nuremberg are warm and long – perfect for travelers who want to explore the local architecture and see the city’s sights.
Today's intelligence howler comes from the normally-well-respected U.K. Telegraph. According to the paper, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il actually died more than four years ago, and has been "replaced" by a series of body-doubles who've been "running" the country and meeting with foreign leaders. We should note that the Telegraph's reporting is based on the analysis of Professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, a Japanese expert on North Korea. Professor Shigemura who has written a best-selling book on Pyongyang's alleged deception. As you might expect, his "theory" has been rejected by South Korean intelligence agencies, and groups associated with North Korea's government. The Telegraph account did not contain a response from U.S. intelligence officials, but we'll go out on a limb and say they concur with their colleagues from Seoul. Still, Shigenmura insists that Kim Jong-il died of complications from diabetes in the fall of 2003. That is the same time that Kim disappeared from public view for more than 40 days, triggering rumors of health problems, a power struggle at the highest levels of the DPRK government, or a mourning period after the death of his first wife. If you believe the professor, senior North Korean officials decided to cover up Kim's death by sending out look-alikes to take his place. In the meantime, the real power in Pyongyang has been shared by the four senior officials of Kim's government. One of them supposedly appears with the body double at every public appearance, or meeting with foreign dignitaries. Shigenmura claims to have talked with a DPRK agent who has met one of the stand-ins. The agent reported that the body-doubles were hired while Kim was still "alive." Ever-fearful of a coup, he reportedly used them at public appearances before his untimely "death." Of course, there is a long history of political and military figures using look-alikes to confuse their adversaries. British General Bernard Montgomery had at least two during World War II; their appearances at different locations at the same time (along with the real Field Marshal) created confusion among German intelligence analysts. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were also known to employ doubles. More recently, a number of notorious leaders, including Manuel Noreiga, Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro, have also used doppelgangers. But the purported North Korean deception raises a couple of questions. First, with Kim out of the way, why would the four officials agree to a power-sharing arrangement? Even the DPRK, with its slavish devotion to the "Cult of the Kims" could transition to a new leader. If nothing else, the sudden demise of Kim Jong-il--with no designated successor--would likely trigger a frantic scramble for power. The "brokered" arrangement described in Shigenmura's book, fronted by the deception effort, simply doesn't fit the template of communist politics, even in North Korea. Secondly, how could the charade be sustained in an era of forensic science? Shigenmura claims that voice analysis of Kim Jong-il's speech confirms the deception, but there would be other clues as well, detectable through photographic analysis and measurement. Not even world-class plastic surgery can completely transform one man into another. For those reasons, it's almost impossible that Kim Jong-il has been replaced by body-doubles, almost five years after his supposed death. Besides, Kim's most likely successor would come from the DPRK miliary, an outfit that is even more xenophobic and reactionary than he is. There is no assurance that Kim's replacement would adhere to his policies, particularly the recent overtures--and agreements--with the United States.
April 21st, 2013, 06:29 AM Basic language learning app I have some ideas for language learning app to start working on as a hobby project. My programming experience is limited (bits of C++, MATLAB and FORTRAN from studying aerospace engineering at university), so I could use some help! I want to start off simply by adding a menu option in a PDF viewer to lookup a word in an online foreign language dictionary, e.g. wordreference.com. So, for example, you’re reading a PDF file in French and you see a word you don’t know. You highlight/right click the word and select the new menu option “Lookup in wordreference.com”. I guess this would just launch a macro performing the following actions: - Copy the selected word, - open a browser window - direct user to url wordreference.com/fren/selectedword where selectedword is the highlighted word. I was thinking it shouldn’t be too hard to add this to an open source pdf viewer e.g. PDF Lite. I’ve downloaded the PDF Lite source code, and MS Visual Studio Express 2012 as a starting point. However I’ve no idea where to look in the source code to add such a function, hence why I am here. Can anyone give me some pointers on how to add this basic function to a pdf viewer? Thanks for reading!
Gemalto and Ericsson have partnered to create SIM-less mobile phones aimed at machines rather than people - though the technology and techniques developed will be well-received in Cupertino. The partnership will create a provisioning system to allow things (cars, electricity meters, etc) to be fitted with an embedded mobile … The nice people at Gemalto also do id cards for the Saudis et al see http://www.gemalto.com/govt/sealys/id_solutions/index.html - Gemalto is contributing to 15 national eID programs: in Europe (Belgium, Czech republic, Finland, Sweden, Portugal, Lithuania), in the middle east (Qatar, Oman, UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia) and in other areas. Another gem (geddit?) “The DVLA is recognised as a centre of excellence for the issue of high security national documents like the Driving Licence and Biometric Residence Permit,” commented Simon Tse, Chief Executive Officer of DVLA.this one from http://www.gemalto.com/php/pr_view.php?id=1257 The dvla are in the business of issuing Biometric Residence Permits - who knew? Oddly enough I saw that back in May last year, and took it up with the DVLA who responded (after some chasing): DVLA has issued the Biometric Residence Permit on behalf of the UK Border Agency since November 2008. This is an excellent example of cross-government co-operation. ...so the UK Border Agency subcontracts the work to the DVLA. It's nice to see once in a while an article talking about the SIM and its fantastic success. Certainly the most secure crypto device everyone on the planet is exposed to on a daily basis, without realizing it. I wish the article went through a bit more details about the physical security features of these chips. They were already impressive 20 years ago (when I worked at Gemplus, now Gemalto when they were designing the first gen SIM cards) and I imagine they're even more comprehensive these days. Re: Good ol'SIM The SIM may be secure but GSM communications used to be trivial to intercept. When I lived in Australia I had a CDMA phone which did not have a SIM and was seriously non-trivial to listen in on (being packet based). Also got much better reception on the outback than GSM. However it was less popular and I think Telstra ended up dismantling the CDMA network. Re: Good ol'SIM Well the problem of GSM interception lies in 2 parts. 1. Man in the Middle attacks are easily possible. (Basestations can turn off crypto) 2. The crypto is fairly weak. (by todays standards) CDMA is probably not much better in that regard, and packets have nothing to do with it. There's just a far smaller crowd of people dealing with CDMA security. " Apple has been (successfully) leading a project to extend the standard to encompass embedded SIMs" Someone doesn't follow the proceedings of ETSI SCP REQ, which is where the industry is valiantly attempting to standardize this. Methinks more checking of facts is needed before making such a blanket statement. It comes as no surprise that large actors are getting fed up waiting for standardization. Anonymous 'cos I'm too close to the (lack of) action. If eCall is required (which is another debate), what's wrong with using a SIM for an MVO which has roaming rights on every network in the EU to achieve this? I get the feeling this idea of getting rid of SIMs is a solution looking for a problem. Lets hope the eBureaucracy isn't quite as incompetent/corrupt as the corporations seem to be pushing it to be. You probably don't even need that. 999 calls are allowed on any (UK) network. I don't know how soldering the sim to the motherboard fixes anything except a transfer of power between network and manufacturer. I don't want the manufacturers to keep power after the sale. The split in responsibility is a good idea. When I was having problems with O2 a number of years back - a network engineer popped out to visit me with his Engineering iPhone to show me that the problem was with my phone not the network - because his iPhone was able to get about 3 bars more signal than my phone could, the fact that every other O2 mobile in the village got substantially less than his almost full signal was besides the point. In any case I briefly mentioned that most of the time the screen said Emrg Calls Only - and he off-handedly told me that while I was supposed to be able to make emergency calls via another network when I was out of signal of the "home" network, the network operators in the UK had never come to an agreement about this - and so while the phone claims I can make emergency calls - the calls will fail to be connected. But then.... this is the Network Engineer who upon being asked to look at the cell in the village a number of times - because he could not contact the owner of the field where the cell lives - would "verify" that the cell "looked" OK through a pair of binoculars from the road. So - who knows if he was telling the truth or not - I can say that since 1998 when I got my first Mobile Phone (M3788e on Orange) I have never actually tried ringing 999 from either my home network or any other UK network. Calls to 112/999 are now supposed to work if you don't have any coverage by your own network but you're within coverage of other networks. Some countries also allow calls to 112 even if you don't have a SIM in the mobile, but not the UK. If the phone's saying Emergency Calls Only or similar then the number of bars is the coverage for whatever network the phone has decided it will use to make an emergency call, not O2, so he was probably saying something to shut you up. The binoculars were probably a quick way of filling in the paperwork saying that the base station had been checked over so he could disappear. Such professionalism... Actually till recently you could even call the German emergency services without a SIM card. Re: I get the feeling this idea of getting rid of SIMs is a solution looking for a problem. The day Apple and other's have their way, we will have to rely on their goodwill and decisions how and when to let us switch providers. Contracts that limit our ability to use a phone on different providers are not going to be too far behind. Basically, this makes the day they only offer phones without SIM card slot is the day I will stop buying them. This may take a few years of offering both, but the control freaks at greedy corporations will eventually push this through, unless we get enough people to boycott phones with that nonsense. More bloody link bait I know I shouldn't, but what on earth was the gratuitous dig at Apple about? "Mind out, Apple" implies that Apple is under threat from this development - when in fact Apple has been one of the cheerleaders of the idea. "Well done, Apple" are obviously words that The Reg is these days unable to type... Re: More bloody link bait A reference to Apple Inc's highly developed connoisseurship of "vendor lock-in" and "walled gardens" ...and the corresponding brazen animosity to niceties like SIM cards? Just a guess. Much nicer project What I'd much rather see is an effort towards giving people a single personal access point through which all their devices (phones, cars, fridges) operate instead of providing people with yet more ways to pay five times for data for which they should only need to pay once. Re: Much nicer project As of right now, that's physically impossible due to the distances involved for the car, mobile, laptop, and tablet. Home appliances are easy enough to attach to a home network, but all those devices above can roam, and someone needs to foot the bill to keep them connected even in the middle of nowhere, and as long as you're not the owner of that particular link, you'll have to go through someone to stay connected. That's always been the problem. Someone else owns the road: be it government or a private enterprise. Why not make it user accessible? I mean that would obviously be the way to go. It would be just like a password. I mean it's not like it hasn't been done before, the German "B-Netz" (second generation analog radio phone network, now with direct dialing) did it like this: The solder bridges defined your phone number and wherefore where it was billed too. leave my SIM alone!!! I want to be able to use my contract with whatever phone I want, like borrow one if my phone dies, and I want to be able to use my phone in whatever operator I feel like, as in traveling abroad. Stop this "kill the SIM" nonsense now! Re: leave my SIM alone!!! not requiring a physical sim means that you could easily have multiple operators for your phone without having to fiddle about swapping little bits of plastic. you could then select from a menu who you want to use at a given point in time, maybe have different networks for voice vs data, have one handset for work and personal numbers, etc. it also means you could order an international account before you arrive in a country & have it activate the moment you step off the plane (no need to find somethere that sells the right-sized piece of plastic to fit in your device). also, if you have a subscription with a network operator, you should then be able to use any device simply by authenticating yourself: dropped your phone in the ocean? no problem, grab the old handset in your cupboard, reactivate it & your old number is still available to you. or add your own number to your friend's hadset for a while so people can still contact you on the trip back from the beach. preporly executed this seems like a great idea (but then, you can say that about a lot of things...) The advantage of being able to move the SIM from a broken phone (or one with a flat batter) to a working friends or second phone will be lost and I can't see the Networks being keen on allowing other Networks to be added to the hardware "SIM" in the phone. Damn silly idea designed to give what little control consumers still have back to the networks. Could be used for Removable SIMs I wonder what is going to stop this from being used on removable SIMs? Unless the eUICC also surfaces a write interface that is not available once a removable SIM has been placed in it's plastic holder. What I can see is that by liberating the operator from having to actually physically issue SIMs, we may see more (MVNO) operators enter the field - dedicated to specific embedded applications. - Updated HIDDEN packet sniffer spy tech in MILLIONS of iPhones, iPads – expert - Apple orders huge MOUNTAIN of 80 MILLION 'Air' iPhone 6s - iPad? iFAD! NOW we know why Apple went running to IBM - PROOF the Apple iPhone 6 rumor mill hype-gasm has reached its logical conclusion - Black Hat anti-Tor talk smashed by lawyers' wrecking ball
It was hard not to be moved by the plea for financial support made to the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee in April by Dora Roth on behalf of her fellow Holocaust survivors. “What have you done with the money? What? The sight on television of Holocaust survivors who don’t have heat in the winter, who don’t have money for food is to your shame. Permit us to die in dignity.” The financial distress that Roth expressed was nothing new, but over the past year it has been more in the public eye. Since he entered politics, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid, who became finance minister following the January election, has made it a point to express his concern for the plight of the country’s Holocaust survivors. Lapid, whose father Yosef “Tommy” Lapid was himself a survivor of the Holocaust, saw to it that a provision in his new party’s platform addressed the subject. Two months ago, Finance Minister Lapid also signed an order increasing government stipends paid to Holocaust survivors. And, on his Facebook page on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, he expressed the hope that no Holocaust survivors would be spending the holiday alone. Nonetheless, the newly elected finance minister has suffered the wrath of some of Israel’s Holocaust survivors. Read more at Haaretz.com.
After 1 Treatment What Type of Smoker are YOU? The following types of smokers may do well in a group setting in our stop smoking program: The following types of smokers may benefit from a private stop smoking program: Smokers with Multiple Health Problems Chronic Pain Smokers Rebellious or Denial Smokers Do any of these describe your smoking type? - Motivated Smoker: - - It is simply time to stop smoking. I know this is hurting me and I want to take the control back. I am eating better, exercising, and have already reduced my smoking. I just need some help to get past those worst days of nicotine withdrawal. - Procrastinating Smoker: - - My Grandfather smoked cigarettes until he was 90 years old and cigarettes didn’t kill him ! I can’t breathe too well, exercise, climb stairs or play tennis like I used to, but I’m not as bad as some people I see that are my age. I’ll quit if it ever starts to become a real problem. - Habitual Smoker: - - Smoking out of habit, I often pick up a cigarette without even thinking about it: while driving, after dinner, before bed, first thing in the morning. I don’t know if I am addicted; it’s just a “part” of me but I can’t seem to reduce the amount I am smoking. - “Social” Smoker: - - I started smoking once or twice a week, then once or twice a day and now it is increasing, steadily. I think I could put them down if I could go one or two weeks without smoking, but I am thinking about them more often, now. - “Closet” Smoker: - - No one knows that I smoke cigarettes … not even my medical doctor or my insurance company. I’m tired of it and know that I may probably “miss the game of deception”. - “Dieting” Smoker: - - I started smoking cigarettes when I was in college to lose weight. Now that I am older, I am afraid to stop smoking because I don’t want to gain weight. I often skip either breakfast, lunch or sometimes both. Now I am tired all the time; my original plan is not working anymore. - Bored Smoker: - - My life is so boring, all I do at night is watch TV, play video games, eat and smoke. Sometimes, if I am between projects at work, I just smoke to pass the time. - Glamorous smoker: - - I only smoke when I go out with my friends and have a few beers. Smoking looks cool, I enjoy it and all of my friends are doing it; however, I seem to be increasing the amount and times I am smoking. - Escape Smoker: - - At work, smoking gives me an excuse to take a break. At home, when my family annoys me, smoking gives me an excuse to be away from them … a way to claim my space and time. - Emotional Smoker: - - Smoking makes me feel better. Sometimes, I feel it is my only friend … it is always there for me when I need it and I need it a lot. If I stopped using it, how would I deal with the negative thoughts, feelings and pain inside of my head? - Hard Core, Addicted Smoker: - - I’ve been smoking for over 40 years and I’ve tried everything to stop! I feel like the cigarette is one of my appendages … my best friend … and I can’t give it up. I need a program that offers support and helps me understand why I am so hooked. - Mental Smoker: - - Smoking helps me focus and stay on task. When I stop smoking, I feel fuzzy headed, dizzy and disoriented. Smoking is an important part of my life and I am not sure I want to give it up. - Smoker with Multiple Health Problems: - - I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, no energy, depressed, anxious, can’t sleep and feel like my health is spiraling downward. I need some help … Other than smoking, I don’t even know what I am doing wrong. - Overweight Smoker: - - I smoke too much and my weight is out of control. I am worried about contracting diabetes or a heart related illness. I stopped smoking once and started to gain weight. So, I started smoking again, but the weight did not go away! I need help to get back on track and learn how to eat in a way to bring all of my numbers back in line. - Chronic Pain Smoker: - - I hurt all the time. Smoking takes my mind off the pain and I think it helps me feel better. How could I deal with the pain if I did not smoke? - Rebellious or Denial Smoker: - - Smoking is the only area of my life that I have total control over … and so far, smoking is not hurting my health. IF it ever starts to hurt me, I will stop … - Private Smoker: - - My smoking is a very personal pastime for me … I don’t like people that much and I definitely don’t like being in a group situation. Why do people gain weight? When a person stops the drug nicotine, the body becomes so relaxed that the metabolism slows down. At this point, if the person has poor eating patterns or habits, this is the formula for rapid weight gain to the “tune” of 20, 30, 50+ pounds! During our smoking cessation program, we teach methods and combine tools to prevent weight gain. Often clients lose 1 to 6 pounds during their first week of smoking cessation (if they are already overweight). For the past 20 years, our program has specialized in helping people stop smoking (as well as other drugs) and lose weight at the same time. When you call, I will ask you some questions and decide how fast I think we can help you drop those unwanted pounds. If I feel we can help you, I will commit to you and we can get started right away. Some clients, who are already morbidly obese, combine our smoking cessation and weight loss programs. The most weight-loss witnessed is 28 pounds in one month and 42 pounds in 2 months. This is based on our formula for rapid drug detox. Our theory is: If you detox the body rapidly and start feeling better right away, you are immediately rewarded with more energy and are more likely to adopt a healthy pattern of eating as a lifestyle change. How do I register? To join a program, call our office. After talking to you, we will determine if we can help you and commit to helping you reach your health goals. If we feel we cannot help you, we will tell you that and possibly refer you to someone else. Once we commit to work with you and your registration is complete, we send confirmation forms and tools to begin your smoking cessation transition. If you are working on multiple health problems, you should enroll in the private program (3 to 5 visits). When you call to sign up, we can guide you in the right direction. If you are an overweight smoker (of 10-20 pounds or more) or have a fear of being overweight, you may want to do a combination smoking and weight-loss program. Call to discuss this option. Our treatment blocks the cravings from the drugs you are deleting and your body “feels 10 days into the future” … relaxed and pain free. Once the toxins begin leaving, your body begins healing itself with its own natural defense mechanisms. We will suggest ways to heal and detox faster than “standard”, available methods. What Should You Expect? Any addiction is at least 50 percent mental and 50 percent physical. The first visit consists of a counseling session and the ear stimulation treatment to eliminate the cravings and withdrawal pains. Prior to your first visit, we send tools to prepare you for the mental part of your addiction and help you begin the detox process. We will take care of the physical part of the addiction with the treatment. A few days later, we like to see you again and repeat the process for reinforcement to make sure you are 100% successful . Once you have completed our program, you may come back any time in the future for “tune-ups”, and ongoing support. During the treatment, you may feel a warm or tingly feeling followed by a sense of deep relaxation. The drug cravings vanish and you feel a sense of relief. Some people report the treatment made them feel as though they had never smoked. We combine stress and weight management techniques in our counseling sessions. Many patients have followed our suggestions for eating and lost as many as 1 to 6 pounds during their first week. Our goal for you is long term success while feeling the best that you possibly can. The STOP Clinic uses a natural and common sense method of treatment to help the body begin a natural detoxification process. With our program, you do not have to worry about feeling drugged, headaches, insomnia or weight gain ! Our program helps you feel calmer in just a few minutes and more alive in just a few days. It takes 21 days to make or break a habit. We will be there to assure your success. We can make your healing experience an easier one. We look forward to seeing you soon. (of an addicted, “die hard” smoker with chronic pain:) I was having sharp shoulder pain and sciatic pain in my back and leg. For the previous 2 years, I had chiropractic help on a weekly basis. I hurt so bad, I could not lay on my back. Since I was a “die hard” and addicted smoker, I chose the combination, private program of 5 visits rather than the group sessions. I knew I needed some serious help. When I signed up, I did not realize the treatments would help with my chronic pain. Leslie mentioned that my pain might go away, but she did not promise. During the treatments, I could feel the pain leaving my body. Every night before bed, I would worry and wonder when the sharp pain would wake me up. Each morning, I woke up and thought, “When is it going to start hurting again?” The pain never came back. After my second treatment the pain was completely gone and I felt like I could “run a marathon”. I had no nicotine cravings after the first time I left your office. This “blows me away”. There may be a thought … but there was NO craving. I feel this was a miracle that I found you. I feel as though I have never smoked and I can’t believe my chronic pain is gone. I am glad my friends are coming in to work with you, too.”Nancy Neighbors
Language plays an important role in the culture of dissent, and slang can serve as a means of defiance and liberation. "It is no accident that the liveliest language in America is often the product of the ghetto, shtetl , slum, barrio , barracks, and prison yards," notes author Tom Dalzell. "Slang becomes for the oppressed an outward and physical manifestation of a subversive refusal to be subservient—a witty, humorous, and effective gesture of resistance." This fascinating survey examines hundreds of colorful expressions, each accompanied by examples of usage in books, movies, periodicals, and other sources. Vernacular sources include communities of African Americans, immigrant minorities, poor whites, gay men, the armed forces, prisoners, the workplace, and countercultures. Students of language and casual readers alike will savor this lively look at an age-old form of protest. \|Availability\|\|Usually ships in 24 to 48 hours\| \|Dimensions\|\|6 1/8 x 9 1/4\|
Roaming buffalo create management challenges By Summit Voice FRISCO — A herd of bison brought to northern Arizona in the early 1900s has moved from a state-run wildlife area into Grand Canyon National Park, and now park rangers want to develop a plan to manage the animals. Initially, the bison were managed in the House Rock Wildlife Area for big game hunters, but in the late 1990s, the animals have pioneered their way to the top of the Kaibab Plateau and into Grand Canyon National Park. Resource managers say combination of public hunt pressure, drought and fire, and reduced forage quality in House Rock Valley during the 1990s may have contributed to the bison moving through Saddle Mountain Wilderness and onto the higher elevations of the Kaibab Plateau. Over the past several years, very few bison have returned to wildlife area. Most now spend a majority of their time inside the park. With input of a working group that’s been meeting since 2008, the National Park Service now wants to figure out how to manage the current and future impacts of bison on natural and cultural resources of GCNP while supporting goals for management of a free-ranging bison population outside the park. “Stakeholder input is a central and critical part of this planning process,” stated Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga. “We look forward to engaging interested members of the public, other agencies, tribes, and organizations to get their ideas. We appreciate the on-going collaboration of the U.S. Forest Service, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and look forward to working with the Bureau of Land Management as we work through this process,” Uberuaga said. The first opportunity for such involvement will be during a 60-day public scoping period beginning when the Notice of Intent is published in the Federal Register. Scoping will provide the public and other interested parties the opportunity to participate early in identifying the range of issues to be considered when the NPS studies the potential environmental impacts of managing bison in the park; to identify topics and concerns that should be addressed in the EIS; and to bring forward any new information that NPS may not be aware of that would be useful in preparing the plan and EIS. The NPS will host three in-person open house meetings during this comment period, as follows: - Monday, April 28, 2014 Kanab Middle School 690 S. Cowboy Way Kanab, UT 84741 6:00-8:00 p.m. - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 High Country Conference Center 201 W. Butler Ave Flagstaff, AZ 86001 6:00-8:00 p.m. - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 Arizona Game and Fish Department Activities Center 4044 W. Black Canyon Boulevard Phoenix, AZ 85086 6:00-8:00 p.m. The NPS also plans to hold two informational web-based meetings the week after the in-person open houses. In the coming weeks, please check the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_bison_eis. Interested parties will be able to submit scoping comments either electronically on the PEPC web site (the preferred method of receiving comments); via U.S. Postal Service at Grand Canyon National Park, PO Box 129, Attn: Bison Management Plan EIS, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023; or at one of the in-person public meetings the NPS will be holding during the 60-day scoping period. Public comments will not be accepted during the web-based meetings; rather participants will be directed to the PEPC web site to enter their comments.
Lately I’ve been attending a class on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) given to veterans at the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Seattle. I’m there as a kind of apprentice and advisor with the hopes of soon having funding and credentials to teach classes myself closer to home. These folks (3/4 but not all men) mostly have PTSD, severe chronic pain from injuries and very difficult emotional and interpersonal issues. Most tend to live isolated. A few telling us they very deliberately chose to live deep in the woods so they won’t have to talk to anyone (but maybe their dogs). A great source of comfort for several of them is riding motorcycles and comradeship of other bikers-telling us that’s one of the few (or only) times they feel at all relaxed or in control of their lives. And yet here they are sitting in a circle watching their breath. Or lying on the floor trying to focus their awareness on each part of their bodies as our instructor talks them through it. Or doing yoga. Or talking about how hard it is to practice because they fall asleep each or the physical pain is so intense they have to take more pain drugs and then they are too fuzzy. These are people with styles that you don’t expect to see in our American dharma centers but the feeling in the room after a few weeks is just like any other dharma group I’ve ever taught or participated in. The sense of connection and comradeship is palpable. There are tears and honesty and grumpiness and confusion. One vet told us: “I used to have so much road rage I was always yelling at other drivers, it’s amazing I never shot anybody. But now I’m finding that if I remember to return to my breath I can see that the other drivers are just in a hurry, just distracted, just like me.” Another: “I was out with my girlfriend and I realized that I usually am checked out of my body and distracted by trying to avoid my pain. This time I was able to breathe and feel my body. It was a bit uncomfortable but I was able to really enjoy being with my girlfriend a lot more and she seemed a lot happier with me too.” Nothing fancy going on here either. Some basic information about stress and stress response. Bits of discussion about their lives but we avoid making it a group therapy session. Mostly just mindfulness practice in several forms – the “body scan” (lying down and bringing awareness to each part of the body in turn, slowly – takes 30-40 minutes), sitting meditation, walking meditation, simple yoga, simple Qigong. Remembering to return to the body, the breath, to non-judgmental awareness of feelings. Repeat. Trying it again. Be patient. Yes, it can be painful, hang in there. Breathe. We ask them to do 45 minutes of homework on this each day supported by CD’s of guidance on each of these forms of mindfulness. An aside: I’ve always been scornful of “guided” meditation, seemed talky and annoying and impure. Not anymore. These are powerful supports for practice for people who need them. The 2.5 hour classes themselves are a mix of talk, practice, short lectures, and discussion. A bit jumbled sometimes but of course they would be wouldn’t they? But then we did a day retreat. In silence. One woman telling us at the end “that is for sure the longest I’ve ever spent without talking when I was awake!”. That day feeling just like sesshin. Quiet, settled. People working on their practice. At the end a check in meeting with many discoveries and a few tears. Leaving to big hugs from some big tattooed vets. I am just getting started in this work so I don’t have yet any conclusions about it or any depth of understanding of what’s going on here. But the initial report is: basic mindfulness practice supported by instructors with themselves some depth in practice is a deep support for all kinds of people. People you would not associate with meditation or Buddhism or anything in that realm. Biking, drinking, hard living people who’ve been through a lot. Suffering beings. And the other half is us insiders would do well to remind ourselves to re-discover the power of basic mindfulness. All of the wonderful teachings and complicated rituals and excellent subtle nuances of Zen sit on top of a foundation of breath, of this moment, of this particular and perfect set of senstations in the body. Being in the religion business I wonder if we drift away from these roots sometimes. Let’s all keep practicing for the benefit of all beings, including our suffering brothers and sisters in the veteran community.
The REINS Act: Why Congress Should Hold its Horses Posted February 1, 2011 On Jan. 20, Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) introduced the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act – intended as a body blow to the regulatory process. The bill would require Congressional approval of any rule that would impose compliance costs of more than $100 million a year; if Congress failed to approve a rule in 70 days after its promulgation, it would be null and void. Congress has toyed with ideas like this before, but this time the House Republicans seem serious. The bill has been co-sponsored by powerful committee chairs, including the once moderate Fred Upton (R-MI), whose Energy and Commerce Committee would have to review many rules under the Act. The REINS Act is a proposal that may seem benign and appealing on the surface, but in fact, it is radical in concept and would be perilous in execution. The bill could, in effect, impose a slow-motion government shutdown, and it would replace a process based on expertise, rationality and openness with one characterized by political maneuvering, economic clout and secrecy. The public would be less protected, and the political system would be more abused. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a more far-reaching, fundamental and damaging shift in the way the government goes about its business of safeguarding the public. How could such a seemingly technical change in process have such significant consequences? How could a bill that its sponsors claim is just an exercise of Constitutional authority and oversight be so detrimental? The answers become clear as soon as one thinks through how the REINS Act system would actually work. I worked as a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill for more than 20 years, and I have a deep respect for Congress as an institution, but that includes understanding its limitations. For more than a century -- going back at least to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration -- Congress has established federal agencies and empowered them to make decisions to protect the public. Congress did not do this because it was lazy or interested in abdicating power or responsibility. Instead, Congress rightly concluded that some kinds of decisions required deep technical expertise and a balanced, judicious decision process somewhat insulated from political horse-trading and power plays. Under the current system, Congress still plays the central role by deciding what kinds of tasks the regulatory agencies should undertake, which is a fundamentally political decision. For example, in dealing with clean air, Congress sets policy -- deciding, for example, that the government should limit pollutants that endanger public health -- but agencies determine what level of a pollutant poses a danger. Congress requires that mandated pollution control technologies be available and affordable, but agencies determine which technologies meet those criteria. The REINS Act sponsors summarily reject the hard-earned knowledge that led to the creation of agencies and a century of bipartisan experience. The Act radically repositions Congress, the most political branch of government, as the place to make the ultimate decisions that involve detailed technical matters. How would this actually work? Agencies often take several years to formulate a particular safeguard, reviewing hundreds of scientific studies, empanelling expert advisors, gathering thousands of public comments, and going through many levels of executive branch review. Under the REINS Act, Congress, with its limited and largely inexperienced staff, and its broad and unfocused agenda, would have 70 days to second-guess each and every decision covered by the Act. (And the Act’s $100 million threshold is not such a high number in a $14 trillion economy, and the number does not take into account the costs a rule might save by, for example, reducing hospital visits.) So what would Congress do? It couldn’t decide it didn’t have the time, expertise, energy or interest to review a rule; failure to take action would kill any safeguard. No, it would have the kinds of hearings at which Members embarrassingly ask technical questions that they often garble, and which they are incapable of following up because they can’t evaluate the answers. Or worse still, it could forgo hearings and race the 70-day clock with even less information and debate. (Floor debate is strictly limited under the bill.) Lobbyists would descend on Congress with even greater fervor than is currently the case to pressure Members to take their side on individual regulations. Industry would no longer have an incentive to work with regulatory agencies to craft sensible regulations because they could instead just hold off and try to get Congress to overturn any rule they disliked. Campaign finance, already a national disgrace, would become even more corrupting, as industry groups would feel the need to ante up to be sure they had access when rules affecting them were being debated. (And Members of Congress would be given yet another enticement to use when soliciting donations.) The result? The agency process, which is required by law to include public information on interactions with those trying to influence regulations, would be replaced with closed-door meetings with Members of Congress and backroom deal-making. Is this a way to protect the public? Would this be an improvement in governance? Under the REINS Act, Congress might hold the reins over the regulatory process, but it would be industry cracking the whip. The REINS Act would do nothing to improve how we are governed, but it would torque the regulatory process in industry’s favor. Almost every detail in the bill would create situations that fly in the face of sensible governing principles. For example, the bill prevents Congress from considering more than one rule “relating” to the same subject in a single Congress. If the REINS Act ever became law, there would no doubt be much haggling over what was to be considered related. But let’s take the simplest case. Let’s say this month, Congress rejected a rule to protect the public from smog, but the debate indicated there were compromises that would make the rule acceptable. Under the REINS Act, no revised version of such a smog rule could be taken up again until 2013 even if there were agreement on what it should contain. Even more perversely, the bill would allow courts to overturn rules even after Congress had voted to approve them. This is bizarre, especially given Republican complaints about “activist” courts. And usually, if Congress approves a particular action (unless it was unconstitutional), a court could not rule that the action somehow did not comply with the law, which after all Congress writes. But under the REINS Act, courts are required to ignore the Congressional vote, presumably so that industry would have one more chance to block any safeguard. This can also be seen as an inadvertent admission that Congress’ own actions on regulations are likely to be “arbitrary and capricious.” More oddly still, the REINS Act is likely to lead to situations that amount to a Constitutional crisis. Let’s say a court rules that under a statute a rule limiting, say, mercury emissions must be issued by a certain date (to take a real example). What happens if the agency then issues a rule to comply with the court ruling and Congress rejects it? Who is then in violation of the law? Under the Constitution, a court presumably can’t require Congress to act, so the statute could not be enforced. But it also would not actually have been repealed. The REINS Act could quickly make a mockery of law by creating these Escher-like puzzles. Which brings us to the ultimate point: Congress already has all the authority it needs to control the regulatory system. It writes the laws that determine what activities get regulated and what criteria are used to write those regulations. It has the authority through normal procedures, the expedited Congressional Review Act, and control over the public purse to block or amend any rule it sees fit. Rulemaking does involve policy calls as well as scientific determinations, but Congress is hardly powerless to intervene. Proponents of the REINS Act complain that Congress hasn’t blocked as many rules as some would like. Maybe that’s because the public actually turns out to support safeguards once they are focused on one and because the public distrusts rules being reviewed in the political maelstrom of the Congress. Or proponents might argue that it’s hard getting anything through the Congress. But that’s the point. Even with the expedited procedures of the REINS Act, the inherent undertow of the legislative process will work against safeguards no matter how sensible and necessary they may be. And does Congress really want to be the arbiter of every significant rule? It’s already incapable of carrying out its most basic budget-writing responsibilities in the allotted time. It’s hard to see how turning Congress into a kind of 535-member Court of Claims would improve the operation of government. The burden of proof ought to be on the authors of the REINS Act to demonstrate exactly how the current system is broken and why their bill would be an improvement. The mere existence of regulations in a complex, modern nation of 300 million people is not proof of a problem. Is the problem simply that industry does not always get its way? Is the goal simply to move all decisions into whichever venue industry is most likely to triumph? From the bill itself, all one can conclude is that the REINS Act sponsors want to change the regulatory process in the worst way. Comments are closed for this post.
Alaska to EPA: Stay away from Pebble Mine (but please help us clean up this other mine) Posted August 23, 2012 Alaska is sending EPA mixed messages. On the one hand, Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty has told EPA to steer clear of Pebble Mine. On the other hand, he just asked EPA to clean up the Red Devil mine. Does Alaska want EPA’s help, or not? When it comes to Pebble Mine, the answer is definitely not. Pebble Mine is a gigantic gold and copper mine proposed at the headwaters of the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Because the mine (and its 10 billion tons of toxic waste) would threaten salmon (which are the lifeblood of the region), Alaska Native Tribes, the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, commercial fishermen and others have asked EPA to use its authority under the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay and its salmon. In response, EPA initiated a scientific review of the potential impacts of large-scale mining on Bristol Bay, which concluded that large scale mining could have devastating impacts on the water, salmon, and wildlife of the region—and on the people who depend on those resources for their survival. Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty has been unabashedly critical of EPA’s involvement. In a letter to EPA, Geraghty called the agency’s Watershed Assessment “unlawfully preemptive, premature, arbitrary, capricious and vague.” Geraghty also wrote on op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News detailing why EPA should stay away from a preemptive decision on Pebble Mine and instead leave the permitting up to the state (never mind that Alaska has never said “no” to a large-scale mine). But when it comes to cleaning up the Red Devil mine, the answer is different. Red Devil is an abandoned mercury mine oozing toxins in Southwest Alaska. After sediment tests found levels of arsenic and mercury more than 100 times federal screening level and other tests found higher-than-normal levels of mercury in fish, Geraghty asked EPA for help. On behalf of the state, he asked EPA to place the Red Devil site on its Superfund national priorities list. This designation would give EPA control and, according to Geraghty, help ensure proper clean up. So what’s the real message? Although there is irony in the State of Alaska taking contrary positions, I think the bigger message is that mines will eventually leak, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Extreme cases like Red Devil require EPA to step in under Superfund. Instead of waiting for contamination to occur at the Pebble Mine – as it inevitably will – we should encourage EPA to act now to stop the project before contamination can occur. We know enough to know that Pebble Mine would have devastating impacts on the region. We know enough to say no –now. Please join the Alaska Natives, Bristol Bay residents, and commercial and subsistence fishermen and encourage EPA to use its authority under the Clean Water Act to proactively protect the region. It’s time to stop the Pebble Mine. Photo Credit: U.S. Geological Survey Comments are closed for this post.
More than a year has passed since I originally posted about Chocolate Milk Beverage. Since then it’s become one of the most popular posts on this blog! I appreciate all of the comments! As you can see to your right, they’re not even calling it milk anymore. This begs the new question: What is Chocolate Dairy Beverage? First, let’s see what Metro and Beatrice had to say… Response from Metro True to their word, Metro got back to me within two days. Kudos! Thank you for your e-mail. I know there have been some changes to labeling regulations as to what a product is called and what has to be included in the ingredients. I suggest you contact Parmalat directly at their website “parmalat.ca” or call 1-800-263-2858 for more information. Customer Care Specialist Metro Ontario Inc. I appreciate Metro’s timely and personal response. Judy actually read my e-mail and wrote a reply in her own words that was useful and appropriate, given Metro’s position as the retailer. Based on Judy’s response, my initial assumption is that Health Canada’s website wasn’t quite up-to-date last November. More on that in a bit, but first, lets see what Parmalat had to say. Response from Parmalat (Beatrice) Unlike Metro, it took Parmalat three months to formulate this canned reply. Not only that, but the central section of the e-mail was in a different font from the header and footer – I have indicated this section in bold. Content is king but the formatting is simply another indicator of how little effort they put into this response. This is to acknowledge receipt of your recent e-mail to Parmalat Canada. Thank you for your recent enquiry on our Chocolate Milk Beverage product. Parmalat and Beatrice have been providing Canadian families with the wholesome benefits and great taste of milk for generations. Proudly made with milk from Canadian dairy farms, our products are great tasting and nutritious. Chocolate Milk and Chocolate Milk Beverages are both standard dairy products under the Milk Act. The primary ingredient in both products is milk. Chocolate Milk Beverage is a good nutritional choice as it is: Low in Fat Excellent Source of Calcium Excellent Source of Vitamin D A Source of Vitamin A Beatrice and Parmalat also offer a variety of other value added Chocolate Milk Products, such as Smart Growth 2% Chocolate milk with DHA, and Omega-3 1% Chocolate milk as other options for consumers who are looking for chocolate milk products with additional functional ingredients. We appreciate your input and will provide your comments to our product development team for consideration in future developments. Thank you for your loyalty and for taking the time to write to us. Wow, thanks Parmalat. This sounds more like advertising copy than an e-mail response. I asked several pointed questions; your lengthy reply has not answered any of them. Interestingly, the Beatrice website nolonger lists Chocolate Milk or any of its relations on their product page. Why not? Buttermilk, Egg Nog, Banana Milk and Strawberry Milk are all apparently worthy of mention? Banana and Strawberry milk are not even sold in all provinces, Egg Nog is only available at Christmas time and Buttermilk is for pancakes, not for drinking. Chocolate is available all year round. You wouldn’t be trying to hide your chocolate flavoured dairy concoction, would you? Dairy Farmers of Canada Since Beatrice was no help at all, I decided to write the Dairy Farmers of Canada on November 18th to see if they could help. A few months ago they changed their blue cow logo to include the text “100% Canadian Milk” and was curious to see what they had to say about dairy beverages. Hello Dairy Farmers of Canada, I have noticed over the past year the appearance and prevalence of products labelled as Chocolate Milk Beverage or Chocolate Dairy Beverage, in place of real Chocolate Milk. I have been trying to figure out what exactly a ‘dairy beverage’ is and was wondering if you could shed some light on that? Would you mind sending me some information on your 100% Canadian Milk programme? How do ‘dairy beverages’ align the goals of that programme? Anyone care to guess what they’ll say? They’re basically a lobby group, so they don’t want to piss off their dairies, however, they want to sell REAL milk. There’s a bit on their website about frozen desserts being substituted for real ice cream. We’ll see, I guess… What are we drinking?? Packaging copy: “Made with partly skimmed milk (fortified with vitamins A and D) and added dairy ingredients.” Unlike real partly skimmed milks as defined by Canada’s food and drug regulations, the packaging of Beatrice’s dairy beverage does not overtly indicate the milk fat content. To the average consumer, the packaging looks nearly identical to Beatrice’s old Chocolate Milk and Chocolate Milk Beverage products. For the record, Beatrice Chocolate Dairy Beverage contains thirteen ingredients, fifteen if you count the mandatory vitamins: - partly skimmed milk (vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3) - modified milk ingredients - reconstituted skim milk powder - dipotassium phosphate - modified corn starch - cellulose gum - guar gum - artificial flavour There are five ingredients that I actually understand, which I have highlighted in grey. Several of the ‘questionable’ ones would seem to be thickening agents: modified corn starch, carrageenan, cellulose gum and guar gum. What are modified milk ingredients, anyway? A quick Google search comes up with all sorts of interesting stuff. CBC’s Marketplace summed it up well: That name can mean just about any product that was initally part of milk, especially including the following: - skim milk powder - milk protein concentrates - milk protein isolates As pointed out in a comment on the previous post, Parmalat’s own Protelac products are sold to the food industry as ‘milk replacers.’ Their frightening marketing copy identifies the true goal: cost savings. Each Prestige and Protelac milk replacer is an all-natural, advanced technology ingredient specifically designed to replace the functionality and taste of milk solids in your formulation while generating substantial cost savings verses skim milk (non fat dry milk). There’s much more to cover in the exciting world of chocolate dairy beverages masquerading as chocolate milk… In a subsequent post, I’d like to review what real chocolate milk options are left to us, beyond the dairy beverage offerings of Parmalat, et al. © 2009 http://talkinghead.ca
Includes virtual infrastructure technologies (server, desktop, I/O), virtual infrastructure management (monitoring, optimization and performance), and virtualized data center operations and strategies (automation and Cloud computing). Virtualization is arguably the most disruptive technology shift in data center infrastructure and management in the last decade. While its basic principles may not be new, virtualization has never been so widespread, nor has it been applied to as many platforms as it is today. Taneja Group analysts combine expert knowledge of server and storage virtualization with keen insight into their impact on all aspects of IT operations and management to give our clients the research and analysis required to take advantage of this “virtual evolution.” Our virtualization practice covers all virtual infrastructure components: server virtualization/hypervisors, desktop/client virtualization, storage virtualization, and network and I/O virtualization. We also explore application virtualization and delivery strategies. In addition, Taneja is uniquely focused on the end-to-end impact of virtualization on IT management, from the desktop to the Cloud, including: virtual server lifecycle management; virtual infrastructure instrumentation, performance management, and optimization; data protection, backup, and HA/DR for virtual environments; data center and run-book automation; and virtual infrastructure security and compliance management. All businesses have a core set of applications and services that are critical to their ongoing operation and growth. They are the lifeblood of a business. Many of these applications and services are run in virtual machines (VM), as over the last decade virtualization has become the de facto standard in the datacenter for the deployment of applications and services. Some applications and services are classified as business critical. These business critical applications require a higher level of resilience and protection to minimize the impact on a business’s operation if they become inoperable. The ability to quickly recover from an application outage has become imperative in today’s datacenter. There are various methods that offer different levels of protection to maintain application uptime. These methods range from minimizing the downtime at the application level to virtual machine (VM) recovery to physical system recovery. Prior to virtualization, mechanisms were in place to protect physical systems and were based on having secondary hardware and redundant storage systems. However, as noted above, today most systems have been virtualized. The market leader in virtualization, VMware, recognized the importance of availability early on and created business continuity features in vSphere such as vMotion, Storage vMotion, vSphere Replication, vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM), vSphere High Availability (HA) and vSphere Fault Tolerance (FT). These features have indeed increased the uptime of applications in the enterprise, yet they are oriented toward protecting the VM. The challenge, as many enterprises have discovered, is that protecting the VM alone does not guarantee uptime for applications and services. Detecting and remediating VM failure falls short of what is truly vital, detecting and remediating application and service failures. With application and service availability in mind, companies such as Symantec have come in to provide availability and resiliency for them. Focusing on improving how VMware can deliver application availability, Symantec has developed a set of solutions to meet the high availability and disaster recovery requirements of business critical applications. These solutions include Symantec ApplicationHA (developed in partnership with VMware) and Symantec Cluster Server powered by Veritas (VCS). Both of these products have been enhanced to work in a VMware-based virtual infrastructure environment. Virtualization is mature and widely adopted in the enterprise market, and convergence/hyperconvergence with virtualization is taking the market by storm. But what about mid-sized and SMB? Are they falling behind? Many of them are. Generalist IT, low virtualization budgets, and small staff sizes all militate against complex virtualization projects and high costs. What this means is that when mid-sized and SMB want to virtualize, they either get sticker shock from high prices and high complexity, or dissatisfaction with cheap, poorly scalable and unreliable solutions. What they want and need is hyperconvergence for ease in management, lower CapEx and OpEx; and a simplified but highly scalable and available virtualization platform. This is a tall order but not an impossible one: Scale Computing claims to meet these requirements for this large market segment, and Taneja Group’s HC3 Validation Report supports those claims. However, although lab results are vital to knowing the real story they are only part of that story. We also wanted to hear directly from IT about Scale in the real world of the mid-sized and SMB data center. We undertook a Field Report project where we spoke at length with eight Scale customers. This report details our findings around the top common points we found throughout eight different environments: exceptional simplicity, excellent support, clear value, painless scalability, and high availability – all at a low price. These key features make a hyperconverged platform a reality for SMB and mid-market virtualization customers. Over the past few years, to reduce cost and to improve time-to-value, converged infrastructure systems – the integration of compute, networking and storage - have been readily adopted by large enterprise users. The success of these systems results from the deployment of purpose built integrated converged infrastructure optimized for the most common IT workloads like Private Cloud, Big Data, Virtualization, Database and Desktop Virtualization (VDI). Traditionally these converged infrastructure systems have been built using a three-tier architecture; where compute, networking and storage, while integrated together in same rack, still consisted of best-in-breed standalone devices. These systems work well in stable, predictable environments, however, when a virtualization environment is dynamic with unpredictable growth, traditional three-tier architectures often times lack the simplicity, scalability and flexibility needed to operate in such environment. Enter HyperConvergence, where the three-tier architecture has been collapsed into a single system that is purpose-built for virtualization from the ground up with virtualization, compute and storage, along with advanced features such as deduplication, compression and data protection, are all integrated into an x86 industry-standard building block node. These devices are built upon scale-out architectures with a 100% VM centric management paradigm. The simplicity, scalability and flexibility of this architecture make it a perfect fit for dynamic virtualized environments. Dell XC Web-scale Converged Appliances powered by Nutanix software are delivered as a series of HyperConverged models that are extremely flexible and scalable. In this solution brief we will examine what constitutes a dynamic virtualized environment and how the Dell XC Web-scale Appliance series fits into such an environment. We can confidently state that by implementing Dell’s XC flexible range of Web-scale appliances, businesses can deploy solutions across a broad spectrum of virtualized workloads where flexibility, scalability and simplicity are critical requirements. Dell is an ideal partner to deliver Nutanix software because of its global reach, streamlined operations and enterprise systems solutions expertise. The company is well positioned to bring HyperConverged platforms to the masses and introduce the technology to a new set of customers previously unreached. This Field Report was created by Taneja Group for Nutanix. The Taneja Group analyzed the experiences of seven Nutanix Virtual Computing Platform customers and seven Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) Vblock customers. We did not ‘cherry-pick’ customers for dissatisfaction, delight, or specific use case; we were interested in typical customers’ honest reactions. As we talked in detail to these customers, we kept seeing the same patterns: 1) VCE users were interested in converged systems; and 2) they chose VCE because VCE partners Cisco, EMC, and/or VMware were embedded in their IT relationships and sales. The VCE process had the advantage of vendor familiarity, but it came at a price: high capital expense, infrastructure and management complexity, expensive support contracts, and concerns over the long-term viability of the VCE partnership. VCE customers typically did not research other options for converged infrastructure prior to deploying the VCE Vblock solution. In contrast, Nutanix users researched several convergence and hyperconvergence vendors to determine the best possible fit. Nutanix’ advanced web-scale framework gave them simplified architecture and management, reasonable acquisition and operating costs, and considerably faster time to value. Our conclusion, based on the amount of time and effort spent by the teams responsible for managing converged infrastructure, is that VCE Vblock deployments represent an improvement over traditional architectures, but Nutanix hyperconvergence – especially with its web-scale architecture – is an big improvement over VCE. This Field Report will compare customer experiences with Nutanix hyperconverged, web-scale infrastructure to VCE Vblock in real-world environments. The era of IT infrastructure convergence is upon us. Over the past few years Integrated Computing systems – the integration of compute, networking, and storage - have burst onto the scene and have been readily adopted by large enterprise users. The success of these systems has been built by taking well-known IT workloads and combining it with purpose built integrated computing systems optimized for that particular workload. Example workloads today that are being integrated to create these systems are Cloud, Big Data, Virtualization, Database, VDI or even combinations of two or more. In the past putting these workload solutions together meant having or hiring technology experts with multiple domain knowledge expertise. Integration and validation could take months of on-premise work. Fortunately, technology vendors have matured along with their Integrated Computing systems approach, and now practically every vendor seems to be touting one integrated system or another focused on solving a particular workload problem. The promised set of business benefits delivered by these new systems fall into these key areas: · Implementation efficiency that accelerates time to realizing value from integrated systems · Operational efficiency through optimized workload density and an ideally right sized set of infrastructure · Management efficiency enabled by an integrated management umbrella that ties all of the components of a solution together · Scale and agility efficiency unlocked through a repeatedly deployable building block approach · Support efficiency that comes with deeply integrated, pre-configured technologies, overarching support tools, and a single vendor support approach for an entire-set of infrastructure In late 2013, HP introduced a new portfolio offering called HP ConvergedSystem – a family of systems that includes a specifically designed virtualization offering. ConvergedSystem marked a new offering, designed to tackle key customer pain points around infrastructure and software solution deployment, while leveraging HP’s expertise in large scale build-and-integration processes to herald an entirely new level of agility around speed of ordering and implementation. In this profile, we’ll examine how integrated computing systems marks a serious departure from the inefficiencies of traditional order-build-deploy customer processes, and also evaluate HP’s latest advancement of these types of systems. Fast-growing virtualized environments present a thorny storage challenge to IT. Whether mission-critical applications with demanding SLAs, VDI rollouts with boot storms, or deploying a private cloud for large dev & test environments: delivering virtualized environments and cloud deployments using traditional storage can stall or break a virtualization project. Flash technology is certainly part of the solution to performance challenges posed by virtualized workloads, but can be prohibitively expensive to broadly implement across the environment. Although flash can be deployed in a number of targeted ways and placed in the infrastructure, the more it is tied down to specific hosts and workloads, the less benefit it provides to the overall production environment. This in turn causes more management overhead. Recently Taneja Group ran Tintri VMstore storage through our hands-on validation lab and documented significant large factors of improvement over traditional storage. Those factors accrue through Tintri’s cost-effective acquisition, simplicity and ease of deployment and data migration, effective high performance and availability and smooth expansion over time. This Field Report validates our impressive lab findings with feedback from the field: six customers who have Tintri storage in production environments. While each customer has a unique own story to tell, we found that everyone documented a compelling value proposition based on TCO factors. Throughout our research we found that Tintri’s approach provides significantly lower TCO than traditional storage solutions.
\| 1914 - \| \|\|14 Dec 1914 \|\|Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina [1, 2] \|\|Philadelphia, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania \|\|17 Feb 2015 \| \|\|William Henry McNair, b. 23 May 1870, Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina , d. 9 March 1929, Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina \| \|\|Annie Elizabeth Registers, b. approx. 1885, Tyrell County, North Carolina , d. unknown \| \|\|At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.\| - Was in the army as delayed birth certificate used his discharge record as one of the abstracts of evidence. - [S45] North Carolina Birth Certificate. - [S191] 1930 US Census. Plymouth, Washington County, NC - District 5, Sheet 2A, Family lives at 30 Long Ridge Road, http://goo.gl/LscMQ. Age 16. - [S335] Daye B. Family Tree Updates at 2013 McNair Family Reunion.
- (singular) An area of applied mathematics concerned with data collection, presentation, analysis, and interpretation. - (collective noun) A collection of measurements, often related to demographic information such as population counts, incomes, population counts at different ages, etc. Some local governments have (or had) a Department of Vital Statistics; plural form of statistic. area of applied mathematics collection of measurements
One of the issues that comes up in touchscreen user interfaces is that, well, you have to touch them. Sure, you can move your finger, or use two, or tap it twice, that sort of thing — but you’re either touching it or not. Essentially you only have one type of “click” any given input can do. Hover detection is something Wacom tablet users will be familiar with, as the type of detection used by their pads is a different kind, in fact designed around the idea of the hover and touch as separate input elements. But on smartphones, not so much. Cypress’s newest TrueTouch touchscreen, conveniently smartphone-sized, detects hovering like a champ. About a quarter of an inch from the screen, a finger can be detected, and to some extent its distance can be determined. This could be the beginning of something very interesting. The trouble is, of course, how to handle this new and foreign input? That’s what she said, by the way. But seriously. Hovering over things is a naturally passive behavior for us, since we’ve learned on our phones and other devices that it doesn’t really do anything. I don’t want to get into all the UI implications here, though I might at a future date, but if this technology is adopted (it’d be a strong point against the iPad in a competing tablet), it’ll be fun to see how it gets taken advantage of.
One of the most interesting discussions at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference was the debate between the “super angels” and VCs. No, I’m not referring to “AngelGate” or the question of which investor group squeezes entrepreneurs the most. Despite what they say, all investors are in the game for personal financial gain; it’s not about nurturing entrepreneurs or doing good for the world. The most interesting discussion—for entrepreneurs—was about whether a startup should raise lots of venture capital and go for the billion-dollar exit, or raise less money and be happy with a few million. This issue is much more important than it seems: it affects the way you grow your company, and the focus you place on products and customers. When you go for the billion-dollar exit, you have to start with a master plan for owning a significant slice of a multi-billion-dollar market. You need to develop grand products for grand markets. This is good—you need a vision and a long-term focus. The problems begin when you start raising capital and racing to grow at all costs. And that is where the real chasm between the “super angels” and VCs is developing. At the TechCruch event, “super angel” Dave McClure argued that there was nothing wrong with the $50 million exit. “It’s not a bad thing to be building a small mousetrap”, he said. McClure told me, after the panel, that he believes that raising too much money can be harmful to a startup—it leads to bad habits and increases the chance of failure. In the race to build billion-dollar businesses, companies lose sight of their customers and crash more readily, after burning through large amounts of capital. By aiming for smaller markets, startups can have a greater customer focus and build better products. And they can differentiate themselves from competitors going after bigger markets. McClure is right. When you raise small amounts of money, expectations are small, and you have to bootstrap your way to success. You have to focus on building products very fast, validating that your customers really need them; and on bringing in revenue. The $50,000 to $250,000 that you raise through angel capital doesn’t go very far. You are largely on your own. When instead you have millions in the bank after raising venture capital, you have the luxury of building products that are more strategic. You don’t need to ask customers what they need; you can let your gut guide you. This is great if your instincts are correct—you might build a Twitter or FaceBook. But entrepreneurs are almost always wrong. They really don’t understand their customers; they learn by trial and error. And what happens in the venture industry is that when one big-name VC funds one particular type of company, every other VC jumps on the same boat; it becomes a mad race to gain market share. Witness what is happening in the location-based services market with Foursqare and Gowalla—with all the new competitors. And with all the Groupon clones. Only a handful of the hundreds of companies that are receiving funding will survive. Maybe one—and this is a big maybe—will become a sustainable billion-dollar business. Then there is the issue of the exit. If you’re a founder and own 50% of your startup, a $30 million acquisition can be life-changing. With a $15 million payout, you go from poverty to riches. You’re set for life: you can afford to send the kids to the best schools, buy a multi-million dollar house on the hills, live a great lifestyle, and personally fund your next startup (or you can become a “super angel”). The difference to you between $15 million and $150 million (if you go for the billion-dollar exit) is small—the extra millions really won’t change your world that much more. But for VCs, these small exits don’t make sense: because of the big funds they manage and the limited numbers of companies VCs can involve themselves with, they need to make big investments to get big returns. A modest 2x return is of no interest to them. That is why they often block acquisition offers of less than $100 million. VCs see the acquisition offer as an endorsement of the company’s products and usually want to invest even more so they can go for the billion-dollar exit. This usually puts them at odds with the company founders. (There are shades of gray here: VCs can always buy part of the stock that founders own, but all else is the same. And VCs often force companies to replace company founders with “more seasoned management” as the companies grow.) As well, the lower the price, the higher the number of potential acquirers. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of companies that can do a $50M deal and only a few that can spend $500M on an acquisition. There are also alternatives to early exits, as I wrote about in this piece: Is Entrepreneurship Just About the Exit? Most entrepreneurs are happy to build a lifestyle business that pays the bills and lets them learn; grow; and “enjoy” the entrepreneurial journey. Angel investors may well endorse this strategy if they can see the steady, long-term returns. So my advice to entrepreneurs is to always think big and dream of changing the world—but be pragmatic and live within your means. You are more likely to succeed—and possibly to build a billion dollar business—if you stay focused on your customers and grow at a sustainable pace. And if you’re lucky enough to get a life-changing acquisition offer like Mike Arrington just did, follow his example. Go for the billion dollars when you start your next company—by then you’ll have more experience and you won’t be risking the kids’ college education. Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa and find his research at www.wadhwa.com.
My latest for Wired: What many people fail to realize is that Change.org isn’t a non-profit organization. Though anyone can set up a petition for free, the company makes an awful lot of money from all the data it collects about its online petitions and the people who sign them. It’s not just a path to The People. It’s a Google-like Big Data play. In amassing data from its 45 million users and the 660,000 petitions they’ve created and signed, the company has unprecedented insight into the habits of online activists. If you sign one animal rights petition, the company says, you’re 2.29 times more likely to sign a criminal justice petition. And if you sign a criminal justice petition, you’re 6.3 times more likely to sign an economic justice petition. And 4.4 times more likely to sign an immigrant rights petition. And four times more likely to sign an education petition. And so on. Change.org uses this data to serve you petitions you’re more likely to be interested in. And, in many cases, it also uses the stuff as a way of pairing you with paying sponsors you’re more likely to give money to. It’s an intriguing business, and as it turns out, a rather lucrative one. But for some, it also toes an ethical line. “We’ve sort of created an email industrial complex where we’ll do anything to get people’s email address,” says Clay Johnson, a Presidential Innovation Fellow who, in 2004, co-founded Blue State Digital, a for-profit consulting company that helped develop the Obama campaign’s finely targeted fundraising system.
TechAtlas also includes a basic, easy-to-use help-desk form that you can make available to your staff once you’ve set up a account. After you’ve registered and logged on, click Tools and Reports tab, and then click Event Tracker sub-tab. If you’re looking for more information, the Using Event Tracker presentation might help. If you’re new to TechAtlas, you can find more information at WebJunction. Systems management software suites often include tools for managing hardware and software assets. Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is one such package and it’s available to public libraries through TechSoup. In addition, help-desk management applications, network monitoring programs and other IT management tools often contain asset management functionality. So look around your library. You might already own an asset management tool. TechAtlas and Spiceworks are two free products with robust asset management features. TechAtlas was actually developed for use in libraries, and you can find articles on how to use it at WebJunction. If you’re looking for a standalone, proprietary asset management program, there are several to choose from, including systemhound and Computer Admin. Software Assets (aka Software License Management) Microsoft has developed lots of material on software asset management. You might begin with SAM Step by Step. They also created a free tool called the Software Inventory Analyzer that crawls your network and collects information about the installed Microsoft programs. Keyfiler and LicenseKeeper (Mac only) focus solely on software asset management. They appear to be fairly simple tools and might not work well in a larger library. For a discussion of other low- cost techniques for managing software licenses, check out this review at Lifehacker, especially the comments thread.
\|Posted by ED on April 26, 2004 at 19:01:28:\| \|In response to Re: Shared Trap\| Some people like to argue for the sake of arging. I remember getting into a discussion of why too much slope or too little slope (on a drainpipe) has same result..problems. Seems the original poster could not understand that if, forexample the water flows past the solids, then these can over time clog the system. Oops, I hope I have not opened a hornet's nest on slope! That's something that has not been discussed. Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Modern Plumbing techniques (i.e. venting) has been around for about 85 years or so. Why someone in this century questions the common wisdom of some of the best plumbers on this post is either baffling or again, argumentative. I would ask the original poster this question since he seems to come to conclusions easily, why he supposes that flush toilets were installed in separate rooms from the rest of the fixtures like basins and tubs around the turn of the 20th century?This separate room was accessible only from the outside. (Not an outhouse) The answer is not too difficult. Clue: answer is similar to the answer to your contraption question. : Tell you what. Go ahead and do it. You know it will work and who give as rat's ... about codes anyway? Besides, these guys that are trying to tell you what's wrong really don't know squat. I mean what the heck does a journeyman plumber know anyway? So, just do it abd cover it with concrete. One thing though, when all of the problems you have been warned about happen, please don't come back here asking these dumb plumbers what to do about them, 'cause they just might tell you.
According to ArtificialOwl.com, this smallpox hospital was Opened in 1856, on the southern tip of Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island) was part of a multitude of public institutions to care for New York City's unfortunate and destitute. The island sits between Queens and Manhattan, and was easily accessible by ferry; it was home to a prison, insane asylum, and other similar facilities. As of 1872, an annual number of 7,000 patients were treated, with an average of 450 deaths. The island was renamed Welfare Island in 1921, and in the 1950s many of the institutions on the island became obsolete and were abandoned. I’m looking forward to doing a CHIVE post in 20 years called “Abandoned Cancer hospital is a reminder of disease gone by”…
An independent investigation into the deadly September 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, is complete, and Congress will be briefed on its findings this week, the State Department said Monday. The classified report by the Accountability Review Board will be sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, a day before the panel's two most senior members will testify in closed session before the House and Senate foreign affairs committees. The board was established to examine the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans. An unclassified version of the report is expected to be released to the public after board chairman Thomas Pickering, a former ambassador, and Adm. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appear at Wednesday's hearings, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees will then hear open testimony on the report on Thursday from William Burns and Thomas Nides, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's two main deputies, Nuland said. Clinton created the board in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack to look into security procedures before and during the incident in which heavily armed militants laid siege to the mission and a nearby CIA annex. She had been scheduled to appear before the committees this week, but canceled after fainting and sustaining a concussion while recovering from a stomach virus that left her severely dehydrated. Nuland said Clinton had been given a copy of the report on Monday. She added that Clinton was "on the mend" but was obeying her doctors' recommendations to stay at home this week and recuperate. Clinton had canceled a trip to North Africa and the Middle East last week because of the ailment. In a letter sent on Monday to the two committees, Clinton said it was her hope to release as much of the report to the public as possible though there were limits due to classified information. She said she looked forward to "engaging the committees in January," though it was unclear whether that would mean public testimony or simply conversations to answer questions. Clinton also thanked lawmakers for their well-wishes as she recovers from the concussion. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
It’s that most wonderful time of year, when “best of” lists and awards recognize everything notable and laudable from the past twelve months. Few of 2013’s selections were less suspenseful than Politifact’s “Lie of the Year,” awarded to President Obama for the whopper meant to cover the statement that should have won in 2009: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” Not so, claimed the President: “What we said was you could keep it if it hasn’t changed since the law’s passing . . . ” It’s been a bad year for presidential credibility–and, from the IRS to the NSA, a worse year for our republic. In fact, it’s been a pretty rough century. The Progressive movement came of age in America one hundred years ago, with the presidential inauguration of Woodrow Wilson and the passage of the 1913 Revenue Act, which established the modern federal income tax. That year, federal spending was approximately 2.5 percent of the national economy. It rose as high as 24 percent during World War I, but President Coolidge brought it back under 4 percent by the end of the 1920s. Then came Hoover, who doubled spending in a single term, followed by Roosevelt’s New Deal and a new peacetime normal around 10 percent. After World War II, the rate settled down again–but only to about 15%. In the 60s, it crept up to 18 percent, then climbed above 20% in 1975 and stayed there (with one exception) until 1996. In 2008, we passed 20 percent again, followed by the three highest spending years (non-World War I/II) in American history. Normal today appears to be somewhere around 22 percent –or about what the U.S. spent during the first year (for us) of World War II. But consider this: in 1942, military spending accounted for all but 5 percent of federal spending; today non-military spending accounts for all but 5 percent of the budget. Progressivism has entirely recast the purpose of the federal government from defending the American people to succoring them. This does not just represent a shift in priorities; it has created a new relationship between the governors and the governed. The federal government that once served its popular master now pets its increasingly-docile children–and those who resist have fewer and fewer opportunities to make any meaningful change to this trajectory. Last week’s budget deal highlights the problem. Representative Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray essentially split the difference between Republican and Democratic spending proposals, agreeing to just over $1 trillion in “discretionary” spending for the current fiscal year. If Calvin Coolidge were president, one trillion of today’s dollars might cover the whole budget with a good bit left over. But today it accounts for less than 30 percent, the rest of which ($2.5 trillion) is labeled non-discretionary (entitlements, etc.). This is runaway spending on autopilot. Moreover, the original Republican and Democratic discretionary spending plans were just $91 billion apart. What’s on the ballot, then, in the 2014 mid-term elections? About 3% of federal spending. What about other areas of policy? The Supreme Court governs the leading social issues; bureaucratic ukase daily rewrite Obamacare, environmental legislation, and the like; the wheels of political responsibility grind slowly to a halt. One can maintain all the forms of self-government and lose almost its entire substance. Federalist 22 concludes a series of essays outlining the failures of the Articles of Confederation by showing how the government charter undermines self-government. Alexander Hamilton’s argument is remarkable, since the Constitution is at least partially guilty of several of his charges. Hamilton, in other words, has either forgotten what’s in the document he’s defending–or has chosen to outline a theory of self-government that Americans might, for all time, use to measure and reform their political practice and institutions. He begins this discussion by objecting to the equal vote given to each state in the Congress formed by the Articles: “Its operation contradicts the fundamental maxim of republican government, which requires that the sense of the majority should prevail.” Under this rule, seven states, representing less than a third of the American population, could approve laws binding on the rest. Even for matters requiring two-thirds approval under the Articles, the nine smallest states of the Union could outvote the other four, despite representing less than half the nation’s population. Is the answer increasing the supermajority of states necessary to approve a law? No, because then the minority could rule in a different way: by refusing to support important measures until its factious desires were satisfied. These were not merely hypothetical concerns. More than once under the Articles, the absence of several state delegations from the Congress had meant that the single negative vote of Delaware or Rhode Island, representing individually about 1/60th of the American population, had defeated measures advocated by the rest. The fix, then, seems obvious: amend the Articles, providing for proportional, rather than equal, state representation in the Congress. But, Hamilton argues, this won’t work either–at least if the states give that Congress the powers necessary to do its job. The single legislative assembly formed by the Articles, fortified with additional power and unchecked by an independent judiciary, executive branch, or second legislative body, would be “one of the most execrable forms of governments that human infatuation ever contrived. Thus, we should create in reality that very tyranny which the adversaries of the new Constitution are, or affect to be, solicitous to avert.” The majority should rule, in other words, but not without the restraints that help ensure it governs on behalf of all, rather than for its own factious interest. Hamilton’s last point in the essay is the most fundamental: that the people of the states, not the governments of the states (as with the Articles), must consent to their form of government–that “the streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.” What, then, is the sum of his teaching? That the people have the right to frame their government and direct its leaders, but if it is unjust for the minority to rule the majority for their own benefit, the reverse is equally so. Thomas Jefferson, the first Democratic Party president, distilled this point in his First Inaugural Address: “though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; . . . the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.” Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican Party president, did the same in his First Inaugural: “A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people.” What of the American republic of, by, and for the people today? Today, a government of the people begins and ends on election day. Thereafter, every special interest deal, parliamentary trick, and constitutional sophism is used to ram its policies (Obamacare) through Congress. Progressive policy shipwrecks are “the law of the land” when the opinion of the citizenry moves in the other direction (except, of course, the parts that can be waived, rewritten, or postponed). By the people? The members of today’s bipartisan ruling class work hard to keep their most cherished programs and policies off the ballot, their efforts secret from the people (IRS, NSA, and now HHS), and reelection challenges off limits to the people (congressional campaign committees and campaign finance “reform” that discourages competition and undermines accountability). And for the people? Consider Obamacare. It is now painfully obvious that no one will be able to keep their private health insurance plan, like it or not. In fact, it is increasingly difficult to say that there is any such thing as a private health insurance plan. Hence it represents simply the latest government program, in Tocqueville’s language, that “every day renders the exercise of the free agency of man less useful and less frequent; it circumscribes the will within a narrower range and gradually robs a man of all the uses of himself.” A century of Progressivism has made it difficult for the American people to act–but it is not yet impossible. You can still keep your republic . . . if you like it. But you’d better enroll soon. David Corbin is a Professor of Politics and Matthew Parks an Assistant Professor of Politics at The King’s College, New York City. They are co-authors of “Keeping Our Republic: Principles for a Political Reformation” (2011). You can follow their work on Twitter orFacebook.
Consumers will soon be able to pay their old-fashioned paper bills simply by snapping pictures of them with their smartphones and tablet devices. This isn’t just a new mobile banking feature. It’s a technology that might reshape the industry. Mitek Systems will be piloting its new Mobile Photo Bill Pay technology with US Bank early this year. Customers will be able to set up bill payments by simply snapping a picture of their paper bill with their camera-enabled smartphone or tablet. All a user has to do is take a picture of the bill and the app does the rest — correcting for any image distortion, reading relevant data and processing the transactions through the users’ bank. There is no need to manually enter biller and payment information anymore. The technology then automatically extracts relevant information from the paper bill and auto-populates the fields required to make a mobile payment. Data extracted from image includes the payee name, address, account number and amount due. The consumer then schedules the payment and clicks “pay.” Transactions conclude with verification that the users’ bills have been paid and electronic payments have been sent from their financial institutions. Users only need to snap a photo of a bill once and that particular payee information will be automatically saved in the app’s vendor list for future use. Mitek says the ability to add a new payee with a mobile device is a key competitive advantage over existing mobile bill pay applications. Mitek is no stranger to the mobile banking space. Indeed the company is one of the financial industry’s earliest innovators of mobile remote deposit capture (RDC) technology. It’s harder scanning bills to pay than it is checks for deposit. Even though much of the data is structured, bills come in some 100,000 different formats and layouts. “What really differentiates Mitek is the dynamic extraction of data from any invoice or bill, regardless of layout,” said Mitek CEO James DeBello. “That’s not easy.” “With mobile check deposit, we have 564 banks, including the top 10 retail banks,” said James DeBello, Mitek’s Chief Executive. “Our technology has enabled $10 billion in deposits. But we think the mobile bill payment product could be even bigger. The market could achieve 50 million Americans.” According to Mitek, more than six million Americans use smartphones to pay bills, and 58% of online households that own a smartphone stated interest in mobile bill payment. Mobile photo bill pay adoption is forecasted to reach 33% among adult U.S. consumers by 2018, resulting in 1.4 billion bills migrating to this channel. While the technology will be initially piloted exclusively with US Bank, DeBello confessed that Mitek is in discussions to distribute Mobile Photo Bill Pay with a number of leading banks and tech providers in the financial industry. Translation: Expect an appropriately aggressive sales effort from Mitek, with rapid adoption across the retail banking sector. Mitek says additional pilot tests are already planned with two other major banks, but won’t yet say who. None of this bothers Chris Peper, VP of US Bank’s mobile channel, who is decidedly upbeat about his bank’s debut of mobile photo deposit. “We’ve seen the customer enthusiasm for mobile check capture and want to provide that same level of convenience to bill payment,” Peper explained in an interview with American Banker. “What we hear from customers is that one of the biggest barriers to the adoption of bill pay is taking the time to do all that data entry, manually inputting the addresses and entering the payment info. It’s easy to do transpositions and other typing errors, especially on a mobile device.” “We’re excited and we do feel it’s an opportunity for us to differentiate in the market,” Peper added. “This is the killer app for bill pay in the mobile space.” Peper won’t say whether the bank plans to charge for the new service or not, however US Bank is one of the few to charge a fee (50¢) for mobile check deposit. A Differentiated, Sticky Service With Massive Switching Potential “The major banks don’t really have many ways of differentiating their core service offerings from each other,” noted a market analysts at Trefis. “They have to rely largely on technology to stand out in the crowd.” But mobile photo bill pay represents more than just a powerful brand differentiator. The feature just may be the switching breakthrough the banking industry has been waiting for. Think about it. What’s the number one pain point for consumers wanting to switch banks? For those using the service, it’s online bill pay. No one feels like going through the hassle of transferring payee data and details to a new institution. Banks somewhat euphemistically call this a “sticky service,” but it would be more accurately described as “inertia fueled by cynicism surrounding a perceived inconvenience.” “Banks have also been searching for ways to make bill pay more portable,” notes Andy Schmidt, a Research Director with the TowerGroup. “Mobile photo bill pay can be used to onboard new customers into the bank’s bill pay portal.” “The ability to enroll new payees and pay a bill on a mobile device extends the utility and stickiness of mobile banking while streamlining the bill pay process,” Schmidt observes. Schmidt suggests mobile photo bill pay could play a major role as a new account switching and migration tool. Moving accounts and bill pay arrangements from one bank to another the old way is a tedious chore. “Banks looking to acquire new customers or increase bill pay usage among existing customers could use mobile photo bill pay to facilitate the migration,” Schmidt says. Julie Cunningham, VP of Corporate Communications at Mitek Systems couldn’t sum it up any better: “The name of the game is to make as easy as possible for the customer.” Mitek Systems – Mobile Photo Bill Pay Overview
I have always been a history buff but none of the accounts I've read go into exact detail when it comes to outfitting based on rank. the only genuine photo I've been able to find of a civil war era general posing with a sword is of Robert E lee and his is clearly an infantry sword. however with the south being, primarily self outfitted, or outfitted based on donations, I can't speak for whether union officers were given different swords based on rank. some officers were awarded swords and some of them may have chosen the ceremonial sword instead of the issued weapon but that's another can of worms all together. ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin
Turns out Julia Child was a fellow Goldfishianado! Legend has it that she would serve Goldfish as hors d’oeuvres at dinner parties. Seriously, google “Julia Child Goldfish” and you’ll find a bunch of great stuff, including this excerpt from a “Recollections About Julia Child” page: I showed my nine year-old son Julia’s kitchen this summer — in the Smithsonian, now — and said, “see that table… I sat there early one evening at her house in Cambridge. She poured a lovely German wine and asked if I wanted something to eat.” “What’d she fix you?” “Well, she went over to a bin that opened from the cabinet in the pantry – inside I could see it was lined with a plastic sack. She pulled out a big handful of those little goldfish crackers.” “We supped on fish and a fine white wine at Julia’s that night.” Lucky bastard! I also read that after she passed away, there was a memorial in Boston where they served Goldfish in her honor. When I go, I want to be cremated and have my remains stored in a Goldfish bag. Since the 4th of July is tomorrow, why don’t you sit back and learn how to cook some beef:
Maybe you’ve heard of green smoothies before. You may have even tried them, and already be experiencing the amazing health benefits of a daily green smoothie habit. But if not, and if you find the idea of a ‘Green Smoothie’ a little disturbing and unappealing, I promise you, you’re not alone. You definitely wouldn’t be the first to react in horror at the thought of drinking a glass full of green! Despite being also affectionately known as a ‘Green Monster’, the green smoothie is really not that scary at all. With the right ingredients – and the right blender – they can actually be truly delicious. And they have some amazing health and weight loss benefits that you should know about. What exactly is a Green Smoothie? A green smoothie is made by blending your favourite fruits with a handful of green leafy vegetables, along with enough water or other liquid to give it just the right consistency. As I write this, I’m drinking my ‘St Patrick’s Day’ smoothie, made with the following delicious (and oh so healthy) ingredients: - 1/2 a large banana - 3 pear halves - a serious handful of baby spinach leaves! - 100ml Charlie’s Honest Mango smoothie (because it was there in the fridge – normally I’d just use water) - juice of 1/4 lemon That’s it! Blended. It’s the perfect start to the day. SO much better than a piece of toast – or even a bowl of muesli or oatmeal. Truly! How can green smoothies help with weight loss? - Because of the high nutritional content of green leafy vegetables and fruits, a green smoothie will give your body a good share of it’s daily vitamin and mineral requirement. As your body begins to get the nutrients it needs, you’ll find you stop having the same cravings for sugar and junk and empty calorie foods. - The alkalinity of the fruits and greens in your smoothie can help your body to cleanse and detox from the effects of the highly acidic foods that many of us eat far too much of. - As green smoothies are so easily digestible, you should very quickly notice an increase in energy, and with it a desire to move and even exercise more than you have been! - Green smoothies are so satisfying and can easily replace breakfast or any other meal without the need for additional calories. My green smoothie weight loss experience When I first discovered green smoothies at the beginning of 2009, I was already eating a mostly healthy diet, and had lost 12kg (26lbs) over the course of eight months. But I’d reached a plateau. Within just six weeks of replacing my regular breakfast of weetbix and milk or buttered toast with a morning green smoothie, I easily lost a further 5kg (11lbs). Not only that, but I felt amazing, better than I’d felt in years. A friend who added green smoothies to her morning routine experienced even more impressive weight loss results, losing 10kg over just a couple of months! Replacing my green smoothies with buttered toast for breakfast? That unfortunately resulted in a weight gain of more kgs than I’d like to mention. And with it a fair amount of misery. Which is one of the many reasons I’ve now returned to my morning green smoothie habit – and intend to stick with it! Other health benefits of a daily green smoothie habit - Clearer, ‘glowing’ skin - Clear, alert eyes - Less tiredness & fatigue - Enthusiasm for life (green smoothies are a great antidote for depression!) Some ideas and recipes for creating your own delicious green smoothies Some of my favourite ingredients for creating my morning green smoothies are: - Banana (adds a smooth, creamy texture) - Berries – Blueberries / Raspberries (high in antioxidants) - Mango (use frozen if out of season) - Baby Spinach leaves - Bok Choy - Celery Leaves (these can be quite strong, so use just a little to start) - Ginger (just a small piece, also an acquired taste) - Lemon Juice - Spirulina – just 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (an awesome superfood, but don’t use too much!) You might also like to try: - Coconut Water - Almond Milk - Flax seed or Chia seed (if you have a very good blender) A few tips that will help you to make the most of your green smoothie experience - Don’t use a food processor! Or a hand-held stick blender. A green smoothie with ‘bits’ in it is not an experience I want to recommend. Use a decent blender. If you have one, or are thinking of investing in one, a Vitamix or Blendtec will give you the ultimate green smoothie experience. If you’re looking for a (much) cheaper alternative, a ‘rocket’ or ‘bullet’ blender works beautifully too. Whatever you use, make sure it’s a blender. Not a food processor. Speaking from experience, sadly! - If you don’t love your first green smoothie, don’t let that put you off. Try another combination of ingredients next time, maybe using less greens until you’re used to the taste. And make sure you use fruits you love. - Don’t forget to add water. But not too much! For half a blender-full of ingredients, start with half a cup of water, adding more if needed. - For even more noticeable health, energy and weight loss benefits, try adding a second green smoothie mid-afternoon or a few hours after dinner. - Follow food combining principles that recommend you eat fruit on an empty stomach (generally 2 to 3 hours after your last meal) and half an hour before eating anything else. This will help you with digestion of your green smoothie and leave you feeling super energised! Hope this gives you some great ideas and inspiration to create your own green smoothie habit. I look forward to hearing your results! Happy St Patrick’s Day! My favourite green smoothie posts around the web: - Classic Green Monster – Oh She Glows - 6-tricks-for-making-sensational-green-smoothies – Simple Mom - Show Us Your Green Mo! – The Wellness Warrior Get your FREE copy of 7 Days of Gorgeous Green Smoothies Join the Gorgeous Green Smoothies email list here: Image Credit: .imelda on flickr
CHARLESTON (AP) - Cutting out violent media and entertainment and placing armed guards at schools could help make them safer, a violence expert told school and law enforcement officials on Wednesday. Speaking at a summit on school safety, retired Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, an expert on human aggression and the roots of violence, pushed simple, inexpensive solutions, such as implementing lockdown plans, locking doors and shatter-proofing windows. He also called for more controversial tactics like placing armed guards in schools and imposing strict dress codes that ban baggy pants. He said violent movies and video games teach children from an early age to associate violence and killing with pleasure and rewards. He called for the creation of no media-violence zones in schools, with a moratorium on violence in art and writing. Grossman spoke in harsh, ominous terms to a packed auditorium to try to encourage action to prevent school violence. "Sandy Hook is just the beginning," Grossman said, referring to the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in which a gunman killed 26 students and faculty. "They're coming to our daycare centers, they're coming to our buses, they're coming to our Little League games." Grossman said that no American child has died in a school fire in 50 years because school officials have prepared for fires, but that they have failed to do the same to prevent school violence. "We prepare, prepare, prepare for fire," Grossman said, mentioning the ubiquity of fire alarms, fire drills, extinguishers and sprinklers. "But what have we done to prepare for violence? Our children are more likely to die by violence in school than every other cause put together." He urged communities to decide for themselves whether their schools need more security, but said that unarmed security is not a viable option. "Never call an unarmed man security," he said. "Call him a Wal-Mart greeter if you want, but don't fool yourself into thinking you're safe because you find an unarmed man and call him security." Sheri Hoff, the director of attendance for Jefferson County's schools, said they already were practicing a number of school safety policies. She said that they have had school lockdown codes for eight years and that they continue to work on ways, like shoving desks in front of doors, for teachers to secure classrooms. Hoff also said it was important to distinguish between trained, armed law enforcement officers at schools, and more generic armed guards. "An armed guard is the rent-a-cop that you get who walks around, the law enforcement officer is trained not only in laws but also to work with children specifically in their environment," Hoff said.
The NASA-WV Space Grant Consortium selected Andrew Tiffin of North East, Md., to develop a rocket payload to measure greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at West Virginia Wesleyan College. The fourth-year physics major will fly the payloads on weather balloons as part of testing for actual rocket and/or satellite flights. Tiffin's project was included in the Space Flight Design Challenge, sponsored by the Consortium and NASA's IV&V Facility in Fairmont. Technical support is provided by Assistant Professor of Physical Science Dr. Tracey DeLaney at WVWC, Research Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Dr. Dimitris Vassiliadis at West Virginia University, and Steven Hard at NASA IV&V. Tiffin will receive a $5,000 stipend for the project and $1,000 for supplies and equipment. He will attend the Aircraft Readiness Engineering Workshop in Havelock, N.C., from June 22-27, where he will learn about helicopters with aerospace engineers from the Department of Defense. Dr. Tracey DeLaney, assistant professor of physical science, works with student Andrew Tiffen. Also sponsored by the consortium are Wesleyan students Josh Hiett, a senior from Bloomery, and Jacob Coleman, a sophomore from Belington. Hiett will measure the earth's magnetic field using a sounding rocket flight to be launched from Wallops Island this June, and Coleman's project involves measuring radiation in the upper atmosphere.
Monday morning, a number of leaders from pro-life groups in Iowa and across the country gathered outside of Congressman Leonard Boswell’s office to demand that he vote to end the practice of giving taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood. The organization received $360 million from the federal government last year. The event is part of the “Women Speak Out: Defund Planned Parenthood” tour, which will make eleven stops in seven states over the next few days. Former Colorado Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave and Live Action President Lila Rose are the featured speakers at each stop. Musgrave, who served three terms in the United States Congress, is now the Project Director for the Susan B. Anthony List Votes Have Consequences initiative. Rose is a 22-year-old recent college graduate who has exposed the sinister behavior of Planned Parenthood through investigative videos and interviews with Planned Parenthood employees. Some conservative pundits have said Rose is “doing the work that 60 Minutes used to do.” Musgrave and Rose were impressive at the stop, but so, too, were the local pro-life leaders who took to the microphone. Iowa Right to Life’s Jenifer Bowen and Maggie DeWitte from Iowans for L.I.F.E. added a local perspective on the fight against Planned Parenthood. Tamara Scott of Concerned Women of America’s Iowa affiliate, did an excellent job of articulating the reason why Planned Parenthood should not be funded with taxpayer dollars. Below are the videos of each speaker. All did a phenomenal job. Please take the time to watch their remarks and call Congressman Leonard Boswell and Congressman Bruce Braley and ask them to stop funding Planned Parenthood. Congressman Boswell: (515) 282-1909 Congressman Braley: (319) 287-3233 blog comments powered by Disqus
We are all familiar with tax planning. How often have all sat before the TV to watch our Finance Minister read out the General Budget and wondered if the budget is good or bad for us. The IRDA’s insurance repositories will be inaugurated by P. Chidambaram, the Union Finance Minister, on the September 16th. This is a first time unique insurance repository of its kind that will have the insurers offer policies under a unique number code, which will be registered with the insurance repositories, authorized by the IRDA. Albert Einstein once quoted that the hardest thing to understand in the world was income tax. Now if a genius like him was having trouble, it is no wonder that people of average intellect break into a cold sweat at the mere mention of income tax! If you are feeling overwhelmed by your debt load, you may be tempted to seek out debt relief. However, you must keep in mind that debt relief can have a negative effect on your credit score. If you are determined to reduce your debt and are serious about this, it pays to get practical. Look at your budget and figure out exactly how you can make the best use of your monthly income. Americans are doing a better job of paying off their credit card debt, and they are doing so in a timely manner. Getting out of debt can be a tricky proposition. However, it is also a task that a lot of people like to tackle at the outset of a new year. Credit card bills will soon arrive and show how much households spent during the holidays. Chances are good that many consumers added a few hundred dollars of debt to their credit card accounts which already averaged nearly $5,000 per cardholder. Christmas may just be over, but it can take months for some people to get their finances straightened after the festive period. January is one of the worst months for debt. Has the ever-burgeoning debt stressed you out? Well, you are not alone; there might be thousands other like you across the globe. You got to deal with the situation somehow. To achieve this purpose following tips will help you out.
“The Challenge Of Complex Change & The Right Leadership For Super Performance!” We suggested that they are interactive, living systems being made up not only of Capital Goods & Technology, but also of People. Of course, in the scheme of things this is a relatively new paradigm and historically we were conditioned to see Organisations somewhat differently. In fact, traditionally an Organisation and how it operated was defined and understood in purely mechanistic terms which in turn had a tremendous impact on how Organisations were led and how employees were regarded, deployed and generally treated. If an Organisation is a machine, then for optimum efficiency its operations are made up of a range of activities repeated in a standardised way, by a workforce which is an integral part of the le machina. It then makes sense for Leadership to be exercised by Command & Control, &, by extension all activity or work is conducted as a mindless and impersonal process, with both change and creativity being viewed as a threat to efficiency. Complexity Theory and any new paradigm which enables us to look at the same things very differently has led to a new understanding of how Organisations and the People within them actually operate in reality. An Organisation however is not simply a Complex System, it can also adapt to its environment by being self-organising and learning through constantly revising and rearranging its constituent parts in response to feedback (Social, Political, Economic, Legal, Technical etc) from its’ environment. We now more readily regard and engage with Organisations on this level and as one of our recent Blogs argued, the demand for deep-reaching & sustainable change within Organisations is being driven by hard forces which are coming from all directions: Whether Private or Public Sector, big or small, Businesses face disruption to Competition & Shareholders demanding more; Organisations face increasing Regulation, new Legislation and new Government targets. The corollary of this is that Change is a constant and the need to Change is becoming more frequent, radical & complex. Organisations however are capable of intelligent, purposeful & collective action taken to influence their environment in desired directions. They can learn, adapt and grow, &, this growth can be described in terms of a Life Cycle going from Birth, through Infancy, Adolescence, Maturity and onward to eventual decline. So, we have Complexity and we have the constant of Change – What then might be the right sort of leadership for such circumstances? The Mudd Partnership would suggest Adaptive Leadership. Adaption, can be described as a dynamic process of mutual influence and we are all engaged inco-creation by virtue of the influences we exert upon each other; whether in the workplace, within our family and in our social lives: And Adaptive Leadership is by definition a very active form of leadership which impacts upon its environment and does so in very definite ways. It also has some very definite characteristics. For example, an Adaptive Leader is: – Proactive, foreseeing opportunities and putting in place the resources to make them a reality; – A Thinker who acts to exert a Strategic Influence on their environment & ensure their organisation is competitively well positioned; – Comfortable with challenge, encouraging diverse & divergent views to enrich the decision-making process, &, very able to admit when they are wrong and change course if necessary; – Continually learning themselves, whilst encouraging innovation from their direct reports and the wider workforce; & also – Focused on the Organisation’s capacity to learn and transform, change its culture and adapt its technology; – Willing to experiment and take risks, whilst being completely attuned to their Stakeholders and markets; & finally – Astute, open, flexible, responsive and serves their Organisation with Passion, True Purpose & Humility! And those are three key things which regular readers of these Blogs & followers of our discussions on various LinkedIn Groups & Twitter will know that we absolutely believe are prerequisites for truly great leadership. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below and if you enjoyed this post, remember to ‘like,’ share and subscribe.
A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men. The study found that more than half of the men measured had penises that were shorter than international standards for condoms. It has led to a call for condoms of mixed sizes to be made more widely available in India.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6161691.stm The two-year study was carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research. Over 1,200 volunteers from the length and breadth of the country had their penises measured precisely, down to the last millimetre. The scientists even checked their sample was representative of India as a whole in terms of class, religion and urban and rural dwellers. The conclusion of all this scientific endeavour is that about 60% of Indian men have penises which are between three and five centimetres shorter than international standards used in condom manufacture. Doctor Chander Puri, a specialist in reproductive health at the Indian Council of Medical Research, told the BBC there was an obvious need in India for custom-made condoms, as most of those currently on sale are too large. The issue is serious because about one in every five times a condom is used in India it either falls off or tears, an extremely high failure rate. And the country already has the highest number of HIV infections of any nation. 'Not a problem' Mr Puri said that since Indians would be embarrassed about going to a chemist to ask for smaller condoms there should be vending machines dispensing different sizes all around the country. "Smaller condoms are on sale in India. But there is a lack of awareness that different sizes are available. There is anxiety talking about the issue. And normally one feels shy to go to a chemist's shop and ask for a smaller size condom." But Indian men need not be concerned about measuring up internationally according to Sunil Mehra, the former editor of the Indian version of the men's magazine Maxim. "It's not size, it's what you do with it that matters," he said. "From our population, the evidence is Indians are doing pretty well. "With apologies to the poet Alexander Pope, you could say, for inches and centimetres, let fools contend."
The husband strolls in from work. He’s drunk. A lonely meal is set on the dinning room table. A single candle burns. As he hangs his coat, he hears the clanking of pots and pans. He enters the kitchen to see his wife, her back to him. An empty Shiraz bottle on the counter, she takes the last swig from her wine glass. The husband probes, “Hey, Sandy.” She says nothing. Then SLAMS the cupboard. “You okay,” the husband asks. She turns, shooting daggers of contempt. “I’m fine,” she says. Then exits. Now that’s a scene full of subtext – not much dialogue, but clearly, there is a lot going on. In screenwriting, subtext is all the content underneath that is not announced explicitly by the characters but is understood by the reader or viewer as the scene, sequence, or script unfolds. With dialogue, it’s what the character is saying between the lines, often revealed through a character’s action or reactions. In action description, subtext occurs when we understand a particular action to mean something different or something more than the obvious.
It's been a confusing couple of weeks in vaccine-related news. First came the results of a recent study which found "no link" between the current vaccination recommendations and autism, then the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (also known as "vaccine court") awarded millions of dollars to two children with autism for "pain and suffering" and lifelong injury-related medical expenses. Huh? But I thought they just said there was no link between ... wait, I'm confused. If vaccines don't cause autism, why did the government pay millions of dollars to autistic kids as compensation for vaccine injury? I'm no expert, and there's not a ton of information out there on these particular cases (because access to medical records has been blocked from public view), but I'm wondering if this doesn't all boil down to a system of semantics designed to protect the medical powers-that-be. Because while the government has yet to admit that vaccines caused autism in these (or any) children, they did "concede" to the fact that vaccine-induced encephalopathy (brain disease) produced "permanent injury, including symptoms of autism and ultimately an ASD diagnosis." Remove a few words from that sentence and you get "vaccine-induced autism." It seems fairly obvious, doesn't it? Whatever you choose to call it, the reality of what these families have been through is heartbreaking: Parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors of both children testified they were developmentally normal, if not advanced for their age when they developed seizures, spiking fevers and other adverse reactions to their vaccines. According to these eyewitnesses, the children never fully recovered, and instead began losing vocabulary, eye contact and interest in others around them, all classic symptoms of regressive autism. So how are we supposed to reconcile stories like these with study results claiming "no connection" between vaccines and autism? My kids luckily both made it through the toddler phase -- and their pediatrician-recommended schedule of vaccinations -- unscathed. But if I had to do it over again, with all of this information at hand, would I choose to vaccinate? I honestly don't know. Are you having trouble deciding whether or not to vaccinate your child? Image via helpingting/Flickr
Why Do Animals Migrate? by Bobbie Kalman is my curriculum tie-in this week. I'd recommend this to grades 3-5. It is a chapter book; 32 pages in total. It starts with definitions. Example: "All animals have areas where they live. These areas are called habitats." The book gives the reason for migration: because when seasons change it becomes too difficult to stay in their habitats. So they move to a new habitat for a certain period of time. They migrate. Teachers, here are two questions to ask of your classes. Q. Why do Canada geese fly in a V-formation? A. Flying in a V-formation keeps them from getting too tired. p.10 Q. Which animal migrates the farthest? A. The arctic tern. p.12
Security providers including Cloudflare, Akamai and Arbor Networks, specializing in blunting denial-of-service attacks, are helping new Internet-based businesses survive ransom threats by cybercriminals to crash their businesses. A number of security providers such as Cloudflare, Akamai and Arbor Networks, specializing in blunting denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, are helping new Internet-based businesses survive ransom threats by cybercriminals to crash their businesses. By collaborating with security developers, channel partners may see an opportunity to help smaller customers avert a cybercrime that could threaten their businesses right out of the gate. Hackers demanding ransom in Bitcoins as payment for not crashing a business’s website by flooding it with traffic have hit newbies such as the New York-based Meetup, a company that connects people offline; Vimeo, a video-sharing business; Bitly, the URL shortening company; Shutterstock, a stock photography agency; and others, according to a New York Times report. The Times’ report describes an attack on Meetup in which hackers demanded immediate payment of $300 worth of Bitcoins to avoid knocking the company’s website offline with a crippling overflow of server traffic. Meetup’s executives declined to pay and within minutes the company was hit with a traffic flow 40 times normal that crashed its website for four days. “There’s the moral hazard of engaging,” Brendan McGovern, Meetup’s chief financial officer (CFO), told the Times. “Because if you were to pay, you can’t take them at their word that they will halt, or worse, you’ll get your name on a list in the criminal hacker world saying that you are a company that’s willing to pay.” McGovern described the DDoS attack as similar to getting overrun by zombies. “Imagine you run a coffee shop,” he said. “And zombies start coming in — millions of zombies — and you can’t sell coffee.” One solution to the wave of DDoS attacks is for businesses to spread their traffic across a number of data centers, which Cloudflare, a 4-year-old San Francisco-based security provider, subsequently did for Meetup—offering it a cloud service to pre-empt another DDoS attack before it hit the company’s network. According to the Times account, Cloudflare’s sales skyrocketed some 450 percent last year, partially owing to the growing incidence of DDoS attacks. Bigger security players are also expanding to cover DDoS technology. Last December, Akamai bought Prolexic, a Hollywood, Fla.-based DDoS specialist, for $370 million, a move the vendor said was important to its overall product portfolio. Perhaps the most visible of recent DDoS attacks occurred last November when the hacking group Anonymous took down a number of Microsoft (MSFT) services, including Hotmail, MSN, Live, Outlook and the company’s website in a well-publicized outage the perpetrator later claimed was a mistargeted barrage.
I'm a huge fan on the movie "Shattered Glass", a film in which journalist Michael Kelly is portrayed as a brilliant editor for The New Republic magazine. After leaving TNR, Kelly went on to edit several other news and opinion journals and was eventually killed while covering the war in Iraq. I immediately bought a copy of "Things Worth Fighting For", a collection of Kelly's collected journalism pieces. One of my favorites in the book is this gem, which was originally published in GQ. The link is much shorter than the original. I hope you'll go there and get back to me. It's pure, undiluted greatness. Next, imagine if GW Bush had done this.... But, as Shakespeare said (or maybe it was Christopher Marlowe), the evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones. Here's Nick Gillespie, of Reason magazine on Kennedy's major accomplishment: There is, buried deep within Kennedy's legislative legacy, a different set of policies worth exhuming and examining, precisely because they were truly a break with the normal way of doing business in Washington. During the 1970s, Kennedy was instrumental in deregulating the interstate trucking industry and airline ticket prices, two innovations that have vastly improved the quality of life in America even as—or more precisely, because—they pushed power out of D.C. and into the pocketbooks of everyday Americans. We are incalculably richer and better off because something like actual prices replaced regulatory fiat in trucking and flying. Because they do not fit the Ted Kennedy narrative preferred by his admirers and detractors alike, these accomplishments rarely get mentioned in stories about the late senator. But they are exactly the sort of legislation that we should be celebrating in his honor, and using as a model in today's debates about health care, education, and virtually every aspect of government action. So at least he deregulated the trucking industry. I owe him a big one. Here's a picture of him coming out of the swimming pool, shortly after killing somebody. Multiple coats of high gloss Whitening to Instapundit for the collections of links.
'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it,' Solomon tells us. Clearly, the future is in the care of our parents. Such is the responsibility, promise and hope of fatherhood. Such is the gift that our fathers give us. Our fathers bear an awesome responsibility -- one that they shoulder willingly and fulfill with a love that asks no recompense. By turns both gentle and firm, our fathers guide us along the path from infancy to adulthood. We embody their joy, pain and sacrifice, and inherit memories more cherished than any possession. On Father's Day each year, we express formally a love and gratitude whose roots go deeper than conscious memory can recite. It is only fitting that we have this special day to pay tribute to those men -- our natural fathers, adoptive fathers and foster fathers -- who deserve our deepest respect and devotion. It is equally fitting, as we recall the ancient and loving command to honor our fathers, that we resolve to do so by becoming ourselves parents and citizens who are worthy of honor. Sunday, June 21, 2009 A quote from Ronald Reagan to remind us how important fathers are:
1627 - Christopher STRUTT died in Rattlesden, Suffolk, England. Christopher was the son of Robert STRUTT and Agnes ________. Christopher was my 12x great-grandfather. 1671 - Joseph CHENEY born in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Joseph was the son of Thomas CHENEY and Jane ATKINSON. 1671 - Nathaniel EDGE born. Nathaniel was the son of George EDGE and Joan ________. 1677 - Sarah WEBB married Robert PRICE in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Sarah was the daughter of John WEBB and Anna BASSETT. Sarah was my 9x great-grandmother. 1697 - Sommers PIERCE born. Sommers was the son of William PIERCE and Abigail WARRIN. 1716 - Joseph CRANDALL married Ann LANGWORTHY in Westerly, Rhode Island. Joseph was the son of Rev. Joseph CRANDALL and Deborah BURDICK. 1748 - John PHILBRICK died in Hampton Falls, Province of New Hampshire. John was the son of Thomas PHILBRICK and Abigail ________. 1752 - Zephaniah CLARK born. Zephaniah was the son of Oliver CLARK and Elizabeth FREEMAN. 1759 - Joseph POTTER born. Joseph was the son of George POTTER and Content MAXSON. 1775 - Sylvanus MAXSON born. Sylvanus was the son of Sylvanus MAXSON and Lydia LEWIS. 1788 - Dorcas BOND born in Surry County, North Carolina. Dorcas was the daughter of Samuel BOND and Elizabeth BEALS. 1796 - Thompson TAYLOR married Nancy Ann OLDHAM. Thompson was the son of Commodore Richard TAYLOR and Catherine DAVIS. 1809 - Sarah McPHEETERS married John D. POAGE in Fayette County, Kentucky. Sarah was the daughter of John McPHEETERS and Elizabeth CAMPBELL. 1815 - Melinda C. SWAFFORD born in Bledsoe County, Tennessee. Melinda was the daughter of Thomas SWAFFORD and Nellie HOWARD. 1816 - Joseph CROCKETT born. Joseph was the son of Alexander CROCKETT and Elizabeth WATKINS. 1823 - James BOTTS born. James was the son of Benjamin BOTTS and Frances PUTMAN. 1832 - George SILLS married Mary GRIMES in Champaign County, Ohio. George was the son of Michael SILLS and Rosanna FETTERS. Mary GRIMES was the daughter of Benjamin GRIMES and Catherine HAYNES. They were Eileen's 3x great-grandparents. 1835 - Michael M. PETRY born in Eldorado, Preble County, Ohio. Michael was the son of Jacob PETRY and Magdalena ________. 1845 - Caroline Marie Louise KAHRE married Ernst Samuel OLDEMEIER. Caroline was the daughter of Heinrich Wilhelm KAHRE and Marie Caroline Wilhelmina KORFF. 1862 - Isaac C. CHIVLARE born in Warrick County, Indiana. Isaac was the son of Miles CHIVLARE and Louisa Jane BOYER. 1867 - Clarinda Ann RICHARDS born. Clarinda was the daughter of John Thomas RICHARDS and Mary Jane CROCKETT. 1871 - Nathaniel LEWIS died in Cicero, Hamilton County, Indiana. Nathaniel was the son of Nathaniel LEWIS and Nancy Ann SNIDER. 1915 - Nathan Thomas BEALS died in Leola, Grant County, Arkansas. Nathan was the son of John T. BEALS and Mary DAVIS. Nathan was my 3x great-grandfather. 1918 - Maggie R. HELMS married John Austin REYNOLDS in Warrick County, Indiana. Maggie was the daughter of Charles W. HELMS and Emma C. WHITE. 1942 - John PETRY died in Jay County, Indiana. John was the son of Charles PETRY and Susannah WEHRLY.
The guard explained that the prisoner had been arrested under orders from the previous King, Henry II. But Henry died before it could be revealed what charges were being brought against the prisoner, so they continued to hold him in a judicial limbo. Henry II died on July 6th, 1189. So that means this episode of 'Robin Hood' took place in the Spring of 1198. The dating for previous episodes could be determined from there, as well as the episodes that would follow.....
From the sublime to the ridiculous, we have one Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, ordering the state legislature to enact, in 180 days, a law giving homosexuals the right to marry. I don't want socialist-lite in my capitalist presidents, and I don't want a "compassionate conservative" (if that means robbing people with a smile instead of a frown). Answering complaints by congressional Republicans that George W. Bush was in London when he should have been in Washington lobbying for his endangered legislative program, the White House contended he had postponed the British visit three times and could not do so again. Following the gay marriage debate - and now the Massachusetts court ruling legalizing gay marriage - feels like being lost in a house of mirrors. Everyone agrees that we are well on our way to living in a country where allowing same-sex marriage is the law of the land, and yet virtually no major national politician and neither of the major political parties supports the idea. Given the public outcry about the federal court's order for the removal of Judge Roy Moore's Ten Commandments display, I'm surprised there isn't as much alarm about the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision to sanctify gay marriage. With economic growth and name recognition of the average Democratic presidential candidate both running at about 7 percent, the Democrats are in trouble. Unable to rouse more than the Saddam-supporting left with their kooky foreign-policy ideas, the Democrats had been counting on a lousy economy. A "religion of peace," says President Bush about Islam. But investigative journalist Robert Spencer, in his new book "Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West," argues that what we call "Islamic extremism" stems from a straightforward reading of the Koran and interpretative Islamic texts. The Massachusetts Supreme Court's 4-3 decision sanctioning - mandating - homosexual marriage is but the latest in a long line of cultural assaults, large and small. After a year in which financial improprieties gobbled up headlines like never before, it would stand to reason that a brewing scandal involving a major international organization, millions of dollars, and alleged tax evasion would receive similar treatment. Are marriages made in heaven, or in courtrooms? Are civil laws that define "the family" man's best effort to codify his understanding of God's law, or are they merely artificial constructions conveniently pieced together by legislatures and judges to suit their passing political and ideological interests? The real story within the "real" story of Jessica Lynch seems yet untold despite a made-for-TV movie and a book by former New York Times golden yarn-spinner Rick Bragg. The 4-3 ruling, which orders the state legislature to write a law permitting arrangements similar to what the Vermont Supreme Court approved in 1999 when it allowed "civil unions" the same benefits as marriage, is further evidence that G.K. Chesterton's warning has come true: "The danger when men stop believing in God is not that they'll believe in nothing, but that they'll believe in anything." I was dining at Taverna on Capitol Hill the other night and spotted Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich sitting in a dark corner almost by his lonesome self. Which reminded me that the Ohio congressman is in need of a first lady. Administrators at the University of North Carolina at Wonderland (UNCW) sometimes have a hard time striking a balance between the right of free speech, and the right of minorities, women, and homosexuals never to be offended by anything at any time. Jessica Lynch and Elizabeth Smart as portrayed on the small screen are appropriate heroines for our times (i.e., ratings month). Their stories stoop to the lowest common denominators of sensation, tawdry sentimentalism and phony innuendo, camouflaged with emotional color. I sometimes wonder whether a nation that sends girls like Jessica Lynch into battle and punishes soldiers like Lt. Col. Allen West is quite in its right mind. Legislators Reintroduce FIREARM Act to Expose ‘Race, Ethnicity’ Requirements for Gun Purchases \| Cortney O'Brien
Genetic Research: Dr. Loren Skow, Texas A&M University The rationale for this study is that the composition of bone in antler material is somewhat different from that of long bones; consequently there are likely to be genes expressed in antler that will not be expressed in other bones and therefore not identified in human and mouse genome analysis. The goal is to identify the mRNA's from genes associated with rapid antler growth, those with maintenance (main beam), and those that cause an inhibition of growth (apoptosis). The analysis of gene expression in rapidly growing (fork line) and slow growing (spike line) deer may provide a clue as to the identity of the genes that are responsible from these different phenotypes. This study may also lead to the discovery of growth promoting substances with application to bone healing in humans and animals.
Changing the Definition of a “Farm” Can Affect Federal Funding Image for Amber Waves finding "Changing the Definition of a 'Farm' Can Affect Federal Funding" USDA defines “farm” broadly as any operation with the potential to produce at least $1,000 worth of agricultural goods in a given year. Based on 2006 prices, an operation could be considered a farm for growing 4 acres of corn, or a tenth of an acre of berries, or for owning one milk cow. Consequently, most U.S. establishments classified as a farm produce very little, while most agricultural production occurs on a small number of much larger operations. The definition of a farm affects farm statistics and influences the design and delivery of Federal farm programs. The definition also has implications for States because each State’s share of the national farm population is used to help allocate some Federal funding. In fiscal year 2009, for example, Congress allocated more than $200 million, based partly on the distribution of the farm population, for land-grant universities to conduct agricultural research and disseminate information through the Cooperative Extension Service. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service used the number of farms in each State, among other factors, to allocate over $1.3 billion to States for several conservation programs in 2009. USDA’s Farm Service Agency apportioned more than $775 million in farm loan program funds in 2009, primarily using each State’s number of farmers. USDA’s farm definition has remained unchanged since 1975. However, the increasing concentration of agricultural production on large farms and the proliferation of small “rural residence” farms with little or no production have led to proposals to narrow the definition of a farm to more closely target “actively engaged” farmers. Any change in the farm definition could have far-reaching consequences since the characteristics of farms vary from place to place. For example, changing the annual farm sales threshold to $10,000 would result in a redistribution of the share of farms located in each State. Under this scenario, almost two-thirds of all States would experience changes in their share of farms of less than 0.5 percent (in either direction). For several States, however, the change would be greater. Because of the relatively large number of very small farms, Texas’s share of U.S. farms would drop more than 3 percent, while Tennessee’s share would decline more than 1.5 percent. In contrast, Iowa’s share of farms would grow more than 2 percent, while the shares of Nebraska, Illinois, and California would increase more than 1 percent. This article is drawn from... Exploring Alternative Farm Definitions: Implications for Agricultural Statistics and Program Eligibility , by Erik O'Donoghue, Robert Hoppe, David Banker, and Penni Korb, USDA, Economic Research Service, March 2009
One of the most characteristic provinces of Norway ; it was always with pleasure that I travelled through its valleys and mingled with its inhabitants. These are tall, well-built, graceful, and intelligent-looking, reminding me of the Dalecarlians in Sweden, described in Vol. II. The province is divided into Upper and Lower Thelemarken. In Lower Thelemarken, as in Saetersdal, the men wear pantaloons reaching nearly under their arms, but dark in color and of a different fashion, and a very short and oddly-shaped waistcoat, over which is a white jacket, still more strange in shape; the buttons are of silver, and the whole is far from pleasing. The women are dressed in dark, thick vadmal, longer than in Saetersdal, with similar bright borders at the bottoms of the skirts; the waist is peculiar, being a low bodice, with straps crossing the shoulders, over which the high-necked and long-sleeved chemise projects; to this is usually added, when out-of-doors, a short loose jacket. At church, or on other formal occasions, they wear gloves and cloth stockings, both embroidered with gaudy flowers; the head-dress consists of a silk kerchief arranged as a turban, its ends falling to the waist behind. A great drawback in travelling in this province is the poor fare at the stations; the food is of the plainest kind, and, to one unaccustomed to it, not very appetizing. The valleys are very irregular in every direction, and most of the means of communication are by simple parish roads, which lead to out-of-the-way places and to old farms. Among the most characteristic styles of building on these old farms is the stabbur, where the wearing apparel and stores of the family are generally kept. In the dwelling-house one sees quaint rooms where are found the old bedsteads reached by a high step; shelves on which is kept the Bible or some sacred book ; cupboards with old china, mugs, etc. ; here and. there biblical inscriptions, and ancient seats made of a single log. The traveller enters Thelemarken either by water by the Eidanger fjords to Skien, and thence by canal to Nordsjo, or by land from Christiania, by Drammen and Kongsberg. From the north a magnificent high-road from Odde on the Hardanger crosses to Roldal, the greatest elevation being 3500 feet above the sea ; then over the Haukelid down towards Silgjord. Another route branches off to the south by the Bandaks V and, upon the shores of which is the hamlet of Laurdal, where, in contrast with the wild district of Upper Thelemarken, one sees large elm, linden, aspen, ash, alder, and maple trees ; the apple, cherry, and walnutthe last not common in Norway were here loaded with fruit. In the fields they are so trimmed that their shade cannot retard the growth of the crops. The lake is 210 feet above the sea, and Laurdal is a well-protected spot. Bandaks Lake is 30 miles long, but hardly a mile wide; the scenery is wild, and the water of a deep olive-green; the neighboring mountains are clad with fir and pine to their tops. From this lake, through a series of other lakes, one may go to the sea, with the exception of a drive of 14 miles from Straéngento Ulefos. One year, towards the middle of August, I found myself in Kongsberg, which has a population of 5000 souls, and is built on the shores of the Laagen, 500 feet above the level of the sea. This town is celebrated for its silver mines, the most productive of which is the Kongens Grube, which has already reached a depth of 1800 feet. Leaving Kongsberg, a drive of twenty miles brought me to a forest on a plateau 1700 feet above the sea; descending a ravine through a dark wood, suddenly burst into sight the Bolkesjo farm, 1240 feet above the sea. I know of no farm in Norway so picturesquely situated, and none with such peculiarly superb landscape. It was nestled among fir-clad hills, whose dark color contrasted with the green meadows and fields which they surrounded. The place was partly hemmed in by barren mountains, on which were seen patches of snow. Here in a steep valley, two lakes, apparently overlapping each other, are noticed: the Bolke, of a triangular shape, 1000 feet, and a little beyond the Tol, 690 above the sea-level. Everywhere little streams trickled down the hill-side, filling the air with the sweet music of their waters. Ole Gulliksen Bolkesjo, the owner of the place, belonged to one of those old Norwegian families who trace their genealogy for centuries. He was worth about a quarter of a million dollars, and was a true type of a bonde-working in the fields like any one of his farm hands. The stile, or house, was in unison with the surroundings. It had an upper story ; in the lower everyday room was carved in the wood 1778 (the date of the finishing of the structure), and “Soli Deo Gloria.” In the upper room, two beds, like the berths of a ship, had been built along the walls; they were painted blue inside, with the exterior ornamented with highly-colored flowers. By the inscriptions in old Norwegian one could at once know the religious feelings of the builders. Over one was written, and badly spelled, “May God send seed to all sweet creatures.” In another part I read, ” Houses and goods are inherited from parents, but a sensible woman comes from the Lord.” Somewhere else, “Trust in God :” the remainder I was unable to translate. There were other inscriptions besides. In a corner was a cabinet, with the letters O. E. S. B., under which was 1797. About seventeen miles west of Bolkesjo, the lower end of Tin Lake is reached, upon the water of which plies a little steamer. The shores of the lake are thoroughly Norwegian, with rugged mountains covered with forests to their very tops. Towards the northern portion, on the western shore, one enters a part of the lake called Vestfjord, running east and west ; the scenery increases in beauty, the landscape reminding one of the Hardanger. Leading from this fjord is a fine narrow valley, called Vestfjorddal, on the left of which Gaustad rises 6000 feet. It is celebrated for the Rjukandfoss at its end, one of Norway’s highest and most beautiful water-falls. The valley terminates abruptly, closed by gigantic walls, but the spray of the turbulent waters is seen long before the fall is reached. The Rjukandfoss (reeking or smoking waterfall), plunges into a chasm from a height of 780 feet over a perpendicular ledge mi the table-land. It is formed by the river Maan, which rises in the Mjôs Vand. The sight is appalling as the eye seeks the depth below amidst the roar of the water: it is a fascinating spot. Leaving the Rjukandfoss, I travelled towards Lake Silgjord, a charming part of Lower Thelemarken. At its upper end are the valleys of Morgedal, Flatdal, and Grundingsdal, which abound in fine mountain scenery. One of the most fruitful regions of Lower Thelemarken is south of Lake Silgjord, in the valley where its outlet finds its way towards Nordsjo. On both sides of the stream, on the hills overlooking the flat dale in which the river flows, there are numerous fine farms, with large houses and buildings, which give a fair idea how the well-to-do farmers of Thele live. This district is known under the name of BO. I went to Silgjord for the first time in the following manner: I ,had become acquainted at the sæters in Upper Thelemuarken with a number of bonder, who grazed their cattle there in summer; when the season was over I came down with them from the mountains, following the horses and cattle, in-tending to go with them to the horse fair in Silgjord, and to the cattle show a few days after in Skien. The herds belonging to the farmers joined, till at last there were several hundred head of cattle with many horses. At dusk we would stop at special places built for the purpose, where the animals were penned for the night. In the cortege were also many carts loaded with the produce of the dairy. At Silgjord I had, through the kindness of a friend in Christiania, secured a number of rooms for my friends and myself at the store of the place, which was also an inn. He had tried his best to get me quarters at some farm, but all the farmers excused themselves, being ashamed to receive a stranger in their modest dwellings. On the way down I had made some friends, and invited them to stay with me during the fair; they accepted the invitation with pleasure, and put me down as a very good stranger. When I made my appearance with my bonder friends, in their odd Thelemarken costume, the owner of the place remonstrated ; he said he thought the room had been secured for gentlemen and their wives. I answered, “Never mind ; they are honorable, straightforward bonder, well-known in your district.” I ordered dinner for twelve. He said he could not accommodate me, that he had no food, no bread, etc. At last I became annoyed, and told him that it was all non-sense; that a good honest farmer, even if he wore a peasant costume, was as good as anybody. Most of the men who were with me were white-headed, and belonged to the best class of bonder. The rooms had been secured for me, and I insisted on having them and on treating my friends.. Finally, I said that, if he refused, I would expose him in the public print. He then relented, but with bad grace; he never gave us enough to eat, and his charges were exorbitant. This misunderstanding soon spread, and I became very popular with the bonder. Since that time I have had many a good time among my Thelemarken friends.
Bill Knight - November 5 Macomb, IL – Caring for others is basic in the Gospels, but too many Right-wingers dismiss that as liberal, foolish or somehow contributing to a "cycle of dependency." Despite criticism or doubt, some are called; some even answer. A woman named, appropriately, Holly, for more than a year now has spent a big chunk of her Sunday mornings doing what she can to feed a few dozen homeless in west-central Illinois. She says, "A few people sort of shake their head and say, Those people need to get a job'," and adds, "They're like you or me, really." The need became known to Holly like a bolt from the blue, she says, remembering, "A year ago in May we were walking along and I noticed people hanging around one place or another - under a bridge or next to a wall - and I felt a need to talk to them. I hadn't a clue what to say. "I met a few people who turned out to be homeless," she continues. "I knew nothing about homelessness, and I'd heard all the stereotypes about them all being drug addicts, prostitutes, drunks or mentally ill. But I talked to them - one woman in particular, a woman named Beverly - and saw that most of them aren't like that. Most have just had a bit of tough luck. "God spoke to my heart," she adds, "and I just asked Beverly, What do you need?' and I remember her saying, I don't like peanut butter'." Holly laughs and acknowledges that there are vital social services that help but most are Monday through Friday. "There's not much on Sunday," she says. "It's slim pickins, so I thought, Why not?' " So Holly gets up at 4:30 Sunday mornings to cook and organize a makeshift potluck for the homeless, who come by the dozens to a church where biscuits and gravy, eggs, hash browns, orange juice and more are offered to the needy starting about 7 a.m. Holly, a 41-year-old electrician, says, "If there's good work being done, it's all God, not me. I'm the one that's blessed in this." What many people may not realize, she says, is that a lot of homeless people want to work - and some are. She says, "Some are working, but they don't make enough or can't save enough to get a place." Besides shelter, some folks dress in tatters or have little beyond what they can carry, so Holly and her husband, a 53-year-old dry waller, gather clothes and other items through their own modest program. She's busy, but she's been busier. Holly was diagnosed with cancer months ago, and underwent a round of treatments, wrapping up this summer. She says, "I'm in remission from the lymphoma now," speaking as matter-of-factly as someone noticing an untied shoelace. A former area resident, the Rev. C.T. Vivian - a one-time Western student and Peoria social worker who became one of Dr. Martin Luther King's trusted lieutenants - a decade ago said his advocacy for the poor and disenfranchised derived from the Sermon on the Mount from the Book of Matthew. In an interview with Pam Adams of the Peoria Journal star, Vivian said, "It's the most profound, the most deeply spiritual - not just religious, but spiritual - piece of material in one hump in all humanity. It's the higher mathematics of spiritual life."
Wanted: citizen-scientist volunteers to help monitor the night moves of bats. The Arizona Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the town of Marana, will rely on volunteers to collect data in the coming months for a Hummingbird Feeder Bat Monitoring Project. Most of Arizona’s 28 bat species eat insects, but two species — the endangered lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat — are nectar feeders and often visit backyard hummingbird feeders, said Jessica Gist, a wildlife specialist with the Game and Fish Department. “We don’t know a lot about those two species, and the information we receive from volunteers will help us learn more about where they are found and their migration” between Arizona and Mexico, Gist said. She said volunteers will be asked to make observations and photos of bats that visit their hummingbird feeders at night. They will send information to a website sponsored by Marana — www.marana.com/bats — where biologists will collect the data. The website is also the place to sign up if you’d like to volunteer for the project or get more information about it. The bats are in Arizona during the summer and tend to visit feeders frequently in late August and September. They remain in Arizona until the fall, Gist said. The study boundary takes in Tucson Basin sites including all of Marana as well as Oracle, Casa Grande, Safford, Globe and Picacho Peak among other sites in Southeastern Arizona.
"Stagecoach" Mary Fields was born in March 1832... in Hickman County Tennessee and moved to the Great Falls, Montana area. Fields was the first female African American carrier for the mail service in Montana. She also owned several businesses in Cascade County Montana and drove the stagecoach, hence her nickname. Fields was an extremely popular person in Virginia City, Montana, so much so, that a Virginia City ordinance was enacted that made it legal for her to enter a saloon, a place forbidden by law to any other self-respecting woman, except Mary, not engaged in the honky-tonk business.Text and image from the Billings, Montana Examiner article about the High Plains Women's Museum, via the interesting Hey to Your Mama N'em blog, via Fuck Yeah, Victorians! Addendum: prompted by Ninabi's comment, I tracked down more of Mary Fields' history at Cascade Montana.
Tuesday morning, February 12, 2013, Dori Contreras and Cindy Looy woke before dawn to catch a cross-country flight to Washington, DC, for a two-week visit to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). Originally, Cindy was going to attend a biannual workshop of the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystem Program. However, after Dori obtained a Sigma Xi grant to study a fossil leaf collection housed in the NMNH’s paleobotanical collections, they teamed up and turned it into a joint research excursion filled with an array of activities. Dori: My main goal was to collect data for a study on the leaf characteristics of early flowering plants from a warm wet climate approximately 100 million years ago. And just to clarify, what I mean by "data" is photographs — lots and lots of high-resolution photographs of individual fossil leaves preserved in rock. The specific fossils that I was interested in come from the Fort Harker locality in Kansas. They were collected over a roughly 30-year period (1860s through 1890s) as a part of the US Geological Survey’s explorations of the geology of the Western Interior of the United States. I wasn’t exactly sure how many specimens I would find in the museum "stacks," which consist of rows and rows of floor-to-ceiling cabinets filled with drawers of fossils. Based on Leo Lesquereux’s publications from the late 19th century, I was expecting somewhere around 100 specimens. However, after two days of opening wooden drawers I located just over 300 Fort Harker specimens! Many have never been figured or mentioned in publications, and most have not been reevaluated in over 100 years. I knew that it would be a major task to photograph them all in the detail needed for study, so I went right to work. The museum's imaging room had an impressive setup of top-notch, stand-mounted cameras connected to computers for remote shooting. Most of my time was spent carting specimens back and forth between the stacks and imaging room and doing nonstop photography. The trickiest part of imaging for data collection was getting the lighting angle and brightness just right to pick up the three-dimensional (and often obscure) features of each leaf. At least magnification wasn't an issue — the resolution of the camera I used was so high that a microscope was not necessary! Ultimately, I was able to photograph almost every specimen in the collection, totaling a whopping 50 gigabytes of images. Now I look forward to the next tasks: naming and organizing all those files, followed by detailed measuring of key ecological leaf characteristics for each specimen. Luckily ,a new Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) student just joined "Team Contreras." We hope this study will provide insight into the structure and function of plant communities in warm, wet climates during the early radiation of flowering plants. Cindy: Last year, members of the NMNH's Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystem Program received good news from NSF: their Research Coordination Network proposal, "Synthesizing deep time and recent community ecology," was funded. This means that over the next five years a group of paleo- and "extant" ecologists will meet semiannually to study the assembly and disassembly of biological communities in the past and present. Attending this winter's edition of our meeting series was my main goal of this museum trip. Our workshop consisted of three days of presentations, data gathering and subsequent analyses in a friendly and inspiring atmosphere. It is always a treat to return to the NMNH, smack in the middle of the National Mall in DC. From 2004 to 2008 I worked as a research fellow in the Paleobiology Department of this bigger sister of the UCMP and being at the NMNH always instills a special feeling. It could be the 325,000 square feet of exhibition space, the 20,000 daily visitors from all over the globe, or the 126,000,000 documented specimens in the museum's collections. Perhaps it is the illusion of being in the "center of the world," with the close proximity of the NMNH to the White House. But still, I know how lucky I am to be at the west coast equivalent of the NMNH. The UCMP public exhibits may be primarily online, but with the Department of Integrative Biology, the UCMP boasts something that the NMNH lacks altogether and something that presidential fly-bys can never compensate for: a pack of fabulous graduate and undergraduate students! Outside of the meeting I had plenty of time to catch up with friends and work with former colleagues. Fellow-paleobotanist Bill DiMichele and I spent quite a bit of time in the museum's paleobotany collections. During the past 20 years, Paleozoic paleobotanists from the NMNH (Bill DiMichele, Dan Chaney, and Serge Mamay) have intensively sampled latest Pennsylvanian, Early Permian and Middle Permian sites in Texas. More than 360 collections of compression fossils were assembled using sampling strategies appropriate for the reconstruction of plant communities. Bill and I pulled out numerous conifers for morphotyping. We are trying to get a grip on how diverse early Permian Euramerican forests were, and how seed-plant dominated assemblages changed through time. Working our way through all the cabinets took quite some time, but that's nothing compared to all the imaging and measuring that still needs to be done. Ah well, that’s what is great about being a scientist: the work is never completed. Every question answered raises plenty of new, interesting questions. Both: Additionally, we got to present our work to east coast paleontologists and geologists at the annual Penn-Smithsonian Geobiology Symposium. It's always good to foster cross-talk on the continental scale and represent the paleontological force that is the UCMP!
1994 Quill & Trowel Award for Writing, Garden Writers Association of America Passalongs are plants that have survived in gardens for decades by being handed from one person to another. These botanical heirlooms, such as flowering almond, blackberry lily, and night-blooming cereus, usually can't be found in neighborhood garden centers; about the only way to obtain a passalong plant is to beg a cutting from the fortunate gardener who has one. In this lively and sometimes irreverent book (don't miss the chapter on yard art), Steve Bender and Felder Rushing describe 117 such plants, giving particulars on hardiness, size, uses in the garden, and horticultural requirements. They present this information in the informal, chatty, and sometimes humorous manner that your next-door neighbor might use when giving you a cutting of her treasured Confederate rose. And, of course, because they are discussing passalong plants, they note the best method of sharing each plant with other gardeners. Because you might not spy a banana shrub or sweet pea in your neighborhood, the authors list mail-order sources for the heirloom plants described. They also give tips on how to organize your own plant swap. Although the authors live in and write about the South, many of the plants they discuss will grow elsewhere. from the book Amid the clamor of press releases touting the newest, improved versions of this bulb or that perennial, what keeps people interested in old-fashioned plants? Nostalgia, for one thing. It's hard not to feel a special fondness for that Confederate rose, night-blooming cereus, or alstroemeria lovingly tended by your grandmother when you were a child. Such heirloom plants evoke memories of your first garden, of relatives and neighbors that have since passed on, of prized bushes you accidentally annihilated with your bicycle. Recall the time you first received a particular plant, and you'll recall the person who gave it to you. "The perfect marriage of two noble traditions: southern storytelling and a gardener's love for sharing plants." "Each plant in Passalong Plants is accurately described in the intimate language of front porch talk, and the authors always tell you how to grow it--whether by seed or cutting or division." --New York Times Book Review "All readers who appreciate fertile ground wherever they find it will be hard-pressed not to laugh out loud as Bender and Rushing hold forth. Be sure to scribe your name in your copy as soon as you get it, because this book will 'passalong' among friends faster than weeds sprout." "An entertaining and insightful ode to the fragrance, color, and history of old-fashioned plants and the people who love them. . . . The authors' writing ranges from reflective to laugh-out-loud funny, making this book an enjoyable, easy read. Once you've picked it up, you'll want to pass it along to you favorite gardener." "Rushing and Bender are storytellers in the great Southern tradition, and expert gardeners, too. Best of all, they are wonderfully amusing companions for the trip on which they invite us: a tour of traditional Southern garden plants." "You can define Passalong Plants with one word: fun. . . . This book is worth passing along to those people close to you." © 2015 The University of North Carolina Press 116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808 How to Order \| Make a Gift \| Privacy
UnNews:Greece plans financial consolidation by earthquake From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia \|This article is part of UnNews\|\|We distort, you deride\| 29 January 2010 ATHENS, Greece -- Greek politicians feel a surge of envy these days whenever they consider the enormous sums of money the world is sending to Haiti as aid for rebuilding the country. Facing their own disastrous budget Greece would definitely prefer its EU neighbours to send their spare Euros due south to their needy fellow Europeans. In an interview with UnNews, Greek minister of economic affairs Stavros Insolveou said that Greece's budget emergency is sort of a natural disaster itself. "The hole in our budget is so large that the Athens metropolitan area might disappear in it any day. We desperately need humanitarian help." If this line of reasoning does not succeed, more radical measures might follow. Greece possesses a number of more or less active volcanoes and areas of tectonic unrest which need just a little encouragement. This could trigger earthquakes at least equal to the Caribbean disaster - and what's more, the numbers on the Richter scale are only numbers, and Greece has unique number manipulation skills. This was last proven when Greece presented its qualification for the Euro currency. Therefore it should be easy to take advantage of the world's current donating mood. However, if the money does not flow in fast enough, the country has some more creative ideas to find funding. Greece has thousands of islands, so it should be no problem to spare some of them and sell them to other interested nations. Germany is a likely candidate for buying Crete, since the country has recent experience in incorporating new provinces into its territory. And Crete has many things Germany is currently lacking, for example culture, sunshine and nice people. - Anthony Alto "Greeks take a tip from Haiti, plan their own disasterous earthquake". AA Newsletter, January 29, 2010
- Complementary Health Practices What is Polarity Therapy? Polarity Therapy is a mixture of both Eastern and Western energy therapies. It is based on the belief in an electromagnetic energy field that surrounds the body and moves between the poles of the body. Health is experienced when the energy flow is balanced and free of blockages, and pain and disease occur when the energy is not flowing properly. Polarity Therapists balance the energy field through touch, stretching exercises, nutritional advice and self-awareness. What is the history of Polarity Therapy? Dr. Randolph Stone created Polarity Therapy as a complete healing system in the late 19th century. Dr. Stone was an Osteopath, Naturopath and Chiropractor who had an interest in the Eastern health care systems of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. He incorporated his understanding of the energy principles of qi and prana from these two systems to establish Polarity Therapy, along with principles from his own medical training such as nutrition and exercise. Dr. Stone gave lectures and taught seminars on Polarity Therapy until his death in 1981. The American Polarity Therapy Association was established in 1984, and over 20 certification programs exist in the U.S. today. What are the principles behind Polarity Therapy? Polarity Therapy is based on the belief that the body is surrounded by the human energy field, through which energy is constantly flowing and moving between the head and feet, or poles, of the body. The Human Energy Field is affected by diet, touch, exercise, relationships and life experience. Polarity Therapists are trained to balance these effects through bodywork, yoga exercises, counseling and nutritional advice. What happens during a typical session? After interviewing you on your lifestyle and medical history, the Polarity Therapist evaluates your energy flow through polarity bodywork. This is done by moving their hands from the head to the feet and over the chakras and is done completely clothed. They will then apply differing amounts of pressure to the body to stimulate and balance energy flow. The practitioner will then advise dietary changes or demonstrate exercises to try at home. What are the benefits? Polarity Therapy is used both as a preventive and to heal specific conditions. Some conditions benefited by Polarity Therapy include headaches and migraines, digestive disorders and stress. How can I find a practitioner? Therapists can be found by visiting the American Polarity Therapy Association. Encyclopedia of Healing Therapies by Anne Woodham and Dr. David Peters. Alternative Healing: The Complete A-Z Guide to more than 150 Alternative Therapies by Mark Kastner, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac., and Hugh Burroughs. Henry Holt and Company: 1996. The Consumers Guide to Alternative Healthcare by Craig Clayton and Virginia McCullough. Adams Publishing, MA; 1995. - About Us - Medical Care - UNH Self-Care Guides - Student Health Benefits Plan (SHBP) - Ill or Injured - Mental Health - STI Testing & Treatment - Women's Health - Complementary Health Services - Incoming Student Information - Information for International Students - Release of Information Form - Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs - Chronic Illness Support - Eating Concerns - Emotional Health - Massage Therapy - Sex and Gender - Stress Management - Yoga Classes - Paws and Relax Pet Therapy Program - Get Involved - Peer Support/Mentors - Request an Educational Program - SPIN Recipe of the Week (as seen in TNH) - Wildcat Wellness Student Blogs on UNHTales - Employee Clinic - Health Withdrawals
QD Vision, a maker of optical technology for improving color (and reducing energy use) in TV sets, was among the companies which were categorized as cleantech by the Cleantech Group and raised funding in the second quarter. (Pictured: QD Vision CEO Jason Carlson.) The UpTake: Forget solar and wind power. The new draws for cleantech venture cash are all about energy efficiency. Massachusetts saw $102.9 million in venture investment raised by cleantech companies in the second quarter, according to the Cleantech Group. But most of the top fundraisers aren't what you'd typically think of as cleantech. No solar, wind or energy storage startups were among the top fundraisers, the Cleantech Group reported. Instead the group consisted of: Kyle Alspach covers startups & venture capital for the Boston Business Journal. If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below. Sign up to receive Upstart Business Journal’s free daily email newsletter, weekend edition and breaking news alerts.
- Prayer and Worship - Beliefs and Teachings - Issues and Action - Catholic Giving - About USCCB The purpose of this introductory activity is to provide students with background knowledge of social justice, and to understand that there is a difference between charitable works and social justice. 1. Prepare the materials for the lesson. You will need: 3. For a group of 20 or more, use ten face cards (which will be given to ten students) and number cards for the rest of the students. 4. If you have less than 20 students, you should only use 8 face cards, and the rest number cards. 5. If you have less than 15 students, use only 6 face cards and the rest number cards. 6. Copy the homework assignment. 7. Meet with the outside presenter (if applicable) to touch base on the lesson. The teacher should begin the lesson by introducing the outside classroom presenter, and telling the students that he or she wants to play a game with them. Allow some time for each student to introduce him or herself to the presenter. You may want to consider having the students wear name tags. (If no outside presenter is available, the game can also be facilitated by the teacher. However, having an outside presenter may help the students enter the new reality and rules of the game.) Instructions for the Presenter: 1. Pass out a playing card to each student, giving the following instructions: "I am going to give each of you a card and you may not look at it until I tell you to." 2. After you have passed out the cards, tell the students to look at their cards. Then arrange the desks into two rows so that those with a face card are on one side of the room, and those with a number card are on the other side of the room. 3. Tell the students that those with face cards are "the royalty" and those with number cards are "the lowly number people." 4. Initiate discussion. For example: 5. Pass out the marbles. Give two marbles to each poor person, and a whole bag to each rich person. If you are using food, such as raisins or pretzels, tell the students not to eat them or open the bags until you tell them to. 6. Tell the students about the prizes: "Each of these envelopes contain a prize. You can buy these prizes, or 'gifts' from me today." Tantalize the students by telling them the contents of some of the envelopes. Help them picture themselves enjoying the gifts. After they see the value of each gift, ask the students what they think they will use to buy the gifts (the correct answer is "the marbles") and how much they think each gift will cost. 7. Explain the rules of the game: 8. Tell students not to open the envelopes until all the gifts are purchased. 9. Be ready to begin handing out the envelopes as students come forward with 18 marbles. Give the class a signal to begin. Have a bag ready, as students will "pay" for a gift by placing 18 marbles in the bag. 10. After all the gifts have been purchased, ask the students to return to their seats. Tell them, "That's the end of the game." Then, initiate discussion: -Ask, "What were the messages of this game?" Listen for: "People only share after they get what they want, not need." "God decides which families we are born into." "It hurts to beg." "Some have more than others." "The rich have easier access to gifts." "It's a game about sharing." "It's a game about greed." -Ask the students to describe the type of sharing that did take place. What you are listening for is a description of "leftover sharing," that is, we tend to share with the poor after we have made sure all of our needs and wants have been fulfilled. Tell the students that "leftover sharing" is often how adults share. People usually do not donate to the point that they no longer have enough money to go to the movies or out to eat. "Leftover sharing" describes what probably takes place when schools or parishes conduct food drives. -Ask the questions: - "Should those with more share with those who have less?" Most students will say "yes." - "Why should those who have more share?" Note: This is a critical question. It is disarmingly simple, but even adults can have a hard time answering this question. -This question is looking for motives of giving. Many people, when pressed for an answer, will disclose their motive as one that is self-serving or in their self interest. For example, some have said, "It makes me feel good to give." Or, "I might be poor one day, and if I help a poor person now, maybe someone will help me." Another motive for giving is religious in content. For example, "God made us all." "Because Jesus said we are to share." "We are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God." 11. Throughout the program you will want to emphasize with the students the proper motive for sharing or helping others. Unfortunately, in many of our schools we teach children to do the right thing but for the wrong reason. For example, we conduct a food drive in our school, but the children are told if they bring in food, they can wear jeans on Friday. That is teaching them the motive of self-interest and not the motive of other-interest professed in the Gospels. We should bring in food for the poor because they are our brothers and sisters. 12. Ask the children to hold up their cards. "See how we are different? Some of you are black fours. Some of you are red sevens. Some of you are kings and queens." 13. Talk about social differences. Racial and economic groups tend to "hang around" their own kind. We often judge by appearances. 14. Direct the students to show the back sides of their cards. "What do you see?" Listen for "We are all the same." "God doesn't see color or rich or poor. He only sees sons and daughters." 15. Ask the students who you represented at the beginning of the game when you passed out the cards. They should guess, "God." And that's right. Explain that passing out the cards at the beginning of the activity symbolizes that God decides where, how, and to whom we were born. None of us gave God input as to the station of our birth. 16. Ask the students "What were the rules of the game?" You might even write them on the board. Then ask, "Were the rules fair?" They should say, "No." Ask, "How could the rules be more fair?" Listen for: "Change some of the rules." "Give everyone the same amount of marbles." 17. Explain and emphasize the two ways the Church says we can help people: -Charitable Works. Direct assistance, such as giving the poor people more marbles. A food drive is an example of charitable works. -Social Justice. Changing unjust rules, such as lowering how much the prizes cost or redistributing the candy allotment so that those with the fewest have more. -Explain that this program is about justice, about learning how to help people change unjust rules. 18. Pass out the homework assignment. Ask the students to illustrate the three concepts from this lesson. The three concepts are: (1) a poor person, (2) a charitable work, and (3) an act of justice. Anticipate that most students will have a hard time illustrating an act of justice, because it is a concept that most Catholics are not familiar with. You might need to brainstorm some ideas with the students: Justice is helping to change the laws in some way to make all more equal. What can students do to help change laws they think are unfair or could be better? By accepting this message, you will be leaving the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This link is provided solely for the user's convenience. By providing this link, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assumes no responsibility for, nor does it necessarily endorse, the website, its content, or
Students learn what causes rain-on-snow floods while considering the earth's energy balance, and utilize an excel model to investigate how these events might change in the future. VIDEO: Rain on Snow Flooding Energy Balance (YouTube) Rain-on-Snow Flooding: Presentation, Lab and other teaching materials. February 19, 2015 UW Climate Change Video Contest- The University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences wants to know: What does climate change mean to you? Create a video in three minutes or less to show the world how you feel about climate change. There are prizes for the 1st and 2nd place winners from the High School and Undergraduate submissions. Submissions are due on April 13, 2015 by 5pm (PST). For more information go to: https://apps.sefs.uw.edu/video/
Chapter 6: Acceptable Use of Information Technology The mission of Vanderbilt University is to be a center of scholarly research, informed and creative teaching, and service to the community and society at large. The university upholds the highest standards and is a leader in the quest for new knowledge through scholarship, dissemination of knowledge through teaching and outreach, and creative experimentation of ideas and concepts. In pursuit of these goals, Vanderbilt values most highly intellectual freedom that supports open inquiry, and equality, compassion, and excellence in all endeavors. To achieve its mission, the university applies substantial financial and personnel assets toward operating a reliable, available, and secure network computing infrastructure. The mass adoption of digital technologies in the everyday lives of members of our community requires that Vanderbilt establish clear policies that guide how community members may use the university’s information technology resources. This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) communicates the respective policies associated with our role in the Vanderbilt community as students, faculty, staff or other authorized users. The guiding purpose of the AUP is to ensure that the university’s information technology resources are used to promote the core mission of Vanderbilt in education, research and scholarship, patient care, and service, either directly or through the various administrative entities and services that enable Vanderbilt’s core mission. To that end, the policy has the following goals: a) First and foremost, that information technology resources are used for their intended purposes; b) That the use of information technology resources is consistent with the principles and values that govern use of other university facilities and services; and c) That the integrity, reliability, availability and performance of information technology resources are protected. This policy applies to all Vanderbilt University students, faculty and staff and to all others granted use of Vanderbilt’s information technology (IT) resources whether individually controlled or shared, stand-alone or networked. It applies to all computer and communication facilities owned, leased, operated, or contracted for by Vanderbilt University. Information technology resources include but are not limited to Vanderbilt’s Internet 1, Internet 2, private networks, telephone, fax, voice mail, electronic mail, instant messaging, electronic collaboration, content management, or other applications that attach, utilize, or otherwise interface with Vanderbilt’s data and voice network computing infrastructure. Electronic communications include but are not limited to any information—data, text, graphics, audio, video, or other artifact—that can be sent or received via an electronic system or manipulated or transferred via the network computing infrastructure or an attached device or peripheral. a) Privacy, Integrity and Operational Security The privacy of all users and the integrity and operational security of Vanderbilt’s information technology system must be respected by all. Vanderbilt’s IT resources must not be used by anyone to gain or attempt to gain unauthorized access to private information, even if that information is not securely protected or is otherwise available. The fact that an individual account and its data may be unprotected does not confer either an ethical or legal right to access it. Investigations of misuse, unauthorized use, or illegal activity, compliance with federal, state or local laws or regulations, as well as routine or emergency maintenance of the IT system, may require observation of electronic information by appropriate and authorized university officials, employees, or their authorized agents. Such activities are not in violation of this principle so long as these activties are conducted by authorized individuals on behalf of Vanderbilt University and are governed by professional IT forensic protocols. Vanderbilt uses automated systems to monitor data transmissions entering and leaving the Vanderbilt networks to detect the presence of viruses, malicious software, or privileged information. Consistent with the University’s commitment to academic freedom (see “A Statement of Principles,” Part III, Chapter 1), specific safeguards protect the privacy and academic freedom of the Vanderbilt faculty in the event that a faculty member’s electronic communications or records must be inspected without his or her express consent: 1. The University shall inspect electronic communications or records of a faculty member only in response to an external legal process (a judicial or administrative subpoena, or a document request from a governmental agency, e.g. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or U.S. Department of Labor, in regard to a complaint filed with the agency to which the University would be responding) or to investigate a specific allegation of a violation of an internal University policy. Except as may be required by law, the scope of the inspection shall be limited to the specific legal complaint or specific policy violation and access to electronic communications shall be granted only to those who must have access to complete their university duties (“need to know”). 2. Only the Chancellor, the University General Counsel, the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, or the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs may authorize inspection of a faculty member’s electronic communications or records. Unauthorized inspections are in violation of this policy. 3. The University shall provide to the Faculty Senate an annual report recording the number and general nature of such inspections concluded in the previous fiscal year. Unauthorized access to private information constitutes a violation of this policy, and may result in disciplinary actions under the Faculty Manual, Student Handbook, HR policies, or other applicable policy statements. Violation of this principle may also constitute a violation of state or federal law. Use of Vanderbilt’s network computing and electronic communications infrastructure comes with certain responsibilities and obligations. I. Unlawful Use Tennessee and federal laws provide for civil and criminal penalties for violations of the law of systems use. Examples of unlawful actions include, but are not limited to, defamatory remarks, destruction of Vanderbilt University data or equipment, unauthorized copying of copyrighted material and the transportation of obscene materials across state lines. Any use of Vanderbilt network computing assets by anyone in the organization that violates state, federal, or local laws is prohibited. II. Violation of Institutional Policies Vanderbilt University’s academic departments, clinical operations, and administrative areas maintain policies that govern and inform our day-to-day lives in the conduct of our Vanderbilt experience. Any use of Vanderbilt network computing assets that violates applicable institutional policies is prohibited. Violation of Student Honor and Conduct Codes Vanderbilt University maintains high standards for its students and various codes and policies govern and inform a student’s day-to-day life in the conduct of his or her Vanderbilt experience. Students are prohibited from using the Vanderbilt network computing assets for activities that violate the conduct code, the honor code, or other policies and regulations delineated by the Student Handbook. c) Fiduciary Responsibilities I. Vanderbilt Community Members Members of the Vanderbilt community possess a great personal responsibility to themselves and to other community members to utilize technology while maintaining their fiduciary responsibilities. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to: • Being responsible for the security of one’s personal information • Protecting personal and private information of others • Taking care to minimize risks of various undesirable events, such as disclosure of sensitive personal information, identify theft, and even threats to personal safety when using Vanderbilt information technology assets. II. Information Technology Professionals Vanderbilt IT personnel are granted elevated or privileged access to Vanderbilt University’s information and information systems. This privileged access places the Vanderbilt IT professional in a higher level of trust. To maintain this level of trust, Vanderbilt IT professionals must develop, maintain, and continually enhance their skills and abilities on behalf of those they serve. IT professionals employed by Vanderbilt University must strive to be trusted and highly skilled custodians through: • Preserving confidentiality • Protecting data and information integrity • Establishing and maintaining availability of information systems • Educating those around them about IT and social risks related to • Enhancing and maintaining technical skills • Demonstrating an understanding of the areas they serve d) Intellectual Property At the heart of any academic or research endeavor resides the concept of intellectual property. All copyrighted information (text, images, icons, programs, video, audio, etc.) retrieved from computer or network resources must be used in compliance with applicable copyright and other law. Copied material must be properly attributed. Plagiarism of digital information is subject to the same sanctions as apply to plagiarism in any other media. Acquiring or sharing copyrighted materials without obtaining the appropriate licenses or permissions may be unlawful. e) Publication or Distribution of Unauthorized Recordings, Photos, Images, Text or Video With the availability of low cost cameras, smart phones, and consumer electronics, it is possible for someone to acquire voice, video images, still images, multimedia, or text in non-public situations without the knowledge or consent of all parties. Vanderbilt network computing assets must not be used by anyone in the organization to publish or distribute this type of material without the expressed consent of all involved parties. f) Right to Copy and Inspect for Legal and University Process Vanderbilt University is committed to protecting the privacy of faculty, students, staff, patients, and other users of its IT resources, and their electronic communications. However, because Vanderbilt operates subject to compliance with various federal and state laws and regulations and must be able to enforce its own policies, Vanderbilt must occasionally inspect, preserve, and produce records to fulfill legal obligations and to carry out internal investigations. Vanderbilt University reserves the right to obtain copy and convey to outside persons any records or electronic transactions completed using Vanderbilt University information systems in the event it is required by law or institutional policy to do so. Vanderbilt University may also in its reasonable discretion, when circumstances require, obtain and review any records relevant to an internal investigation concerning compliance with Vanderbilt University rules or policies applicable to students, faculty, staff, or all others granted use of Vanderbilt’s information technology resources. Users therefore should not expect that records created, stored, or communicated with Vanderbilt information technology or in the conduct of Vanderbilt’s business will necessarily be private. Vanderbilt University reserves its right to any work product generated in the conduct of its business. g) Locally Specific Policies Individual units within the university may create additional policies for information resources under their control. These policies may include additional detail, guidelines, and further restrictions but must be consistent with principles stated in this policy document. Individual units adopting more specific policies are responsible for establishing, publicizing, and enforcing such policies, as well as any rules governing the authorized and appropriate use of equipment for which those units are responsible. All members of the Vanderbilt University community are given notice of this policy by virtue of its publication and are subject to it on the same basis. Ignorance of this policy does not relieve any user of his or her responsibilities under the policy. All users are expected to familiarize themselves with the contents of this policy and act in conformance with these principles regarding any use of the university’s IT resources. Due to the rapid nature of change in both information technologies and their applications, the university may amend this policy whenever deemed necessary or appropriate. Users are encouraged to periodically review this policy in order to understand their rights and responsibilities under it.
Here's how to save a blog template. This is also a lesson in writing technical documentation. The biggest mistake in tech doc is forgetting a step, assuming users "already know that" or "will automatically do that". Go from A to Z, not from C to Q. I use my Blogger blog as an example. Yours may be different in some respects. Blog Template Saving (1) Go to Blogger dashboard (blog edit control panel). (2) Select "Change Settings" for the blog whose template you want to save. (3) Select "Template" (tab). (4) Select "Edit Current". (5) Put cursor on beginning of template code ("DOCTYPE..."), left click once, drag cursor and highlight the whole code. (6) Go to top browser chrome and select "Edit", then "Copy". (7) Select "Start" in bottom browser chrome. (8) Select "WordPad" or "NotePad" or whatever text editor you have. (9) When new file opens with blank page, select "Paste". (10) After entire code has been pasted, select "Save". (11) Type in title for this file ("Vaspers template January 29, 2006"), and save it. (12) Select "Exit". Congratulations. Your blog template is saved. Now you don't have to worry. If you don't do this, I pity you. [signed] steven edward streight aka vaspers the grate
Who Inspired Us? Who was a geologist, a university professor, and a founding member of the Sierra Club? The Sierra Club's LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite continues to provide a special online program, Words for Wilderness Around the World. Originally offered on-the-ground in Yosemite to celebrate the LeConte Memorial Centennial, the Words for Wilderness Around the World now invites people from around the Earth to submit electronically their thoughts and experiences about nature, wilderness, These themes are a point of departure. Individuals may write about a personal relationship with nature or about environmental challenges faced by family, friends, organizations, agencies, local communities, their nation, or the global community. You may also write about the landscape of home or a natural habitat; protecting wildlife; biodiversity; the challenges of life in the twenty-first century; clean air and clean water; global population; human rights and the environment; or concerns about global warming. A poem, drawing or words of naturalists or nature writers (if properly identified) may be included. All contributions at this time must be submitted electronically. Please see the links at left for further information. Words for Wilderness Around the World were collected at LeConte Lodge in 2003 and 2004. Now we are seeking contributions from elsewhere - especially overseas! posted on this website. Here's the idea: each contribution becomes a link in a virtual necklace of words that will circle the Earth. The idea for the necklace of words grew from the work of Frederick Law Olmsted, who believed that parks are opportunities to weave together parcels of green space-living necklaces - healthful places where people rest and recreate. Olmsted sought to link the United States together, park to park, in one green corridor. From the door of LeConte Memorial Lodge, in Yosemite Valley, a necklace of words - GREEN WORDS - will grow around the world. Our course around the world follows John Muir's travels around the world. We start in Yosemite National Park, where Muir's preservationist ideas took form and multiplied. From LeConte Memorial Lodge, the necklace depicts the progress of Words for Wilderness Around the World (see map.) This Words for Wilderness Around the World website includes a web submission form through which to forward John Muir, Joseph LeConte, Frederick Olmsted, Ansel Adams, and David Brower sought to preserve wild places. They accomplished this goal, in part, by writing journals about their wilderness experiences, which became articles and books that shared their sentiments about the natural world and the need to preserve wilderness. These inspiring conservation leaders believed in the University of the Wilderness - that in nature are important lessons about the world in which we live. Words for Wilderness will follow the lead of these inspirational writers, engaging people in creating a global necklace of words as each person records experiences and thoughts about nature, wilderness, and the environment. From individual communities, from the places we recreate, from organizations through which we are guided to a greater understanding of our world, LeConte Memorial Lodge and the Sierra Club invite participation in Words for Wilderness. * All ages are welcome. Words (up to 50), poetry, and drawings will be accepted. Please use our Website Submission Form to submit your Information and Donations For more information, during the summer contact Sierra Club LeConte Memorial Lodge Curator, P.O. Box 755, Yosemite, CA 95389, 1-209-372-4542; e-mail: During the winter, contact LeConte Lodge Committee Chair, Harold Wood, P.O. Box 3543, Visalia, CA 93278; phone: (559) 697-3525; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org Tax deductible donations to support the new exhibits and renovation efforts of the LeConte Memorial can be made to "Sierra Club Foundation," marked for the "LeConte Lodge Fund." Up to Top
Witness Testimony of Mr. Carl Blake, Paralyzed Veterans of America, National Legislative Director Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, on behalf of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), I would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify today on an issue that we consider the signature health crisis of the Global War on Terror. Many Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans face difficult challenges ahead as they learn to deal with traumatic brain injuries that they have incurred during their combat service. The Independent Budget devotes significant attention to the issue of mental health care and specifically traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the FY 2008 edition. In accordance with the policy information included in this year’s Independent Budget, most of my written statement will reflect those points. However, I would like to focus on a few key issues that relate to care being provided to service members with traumatic brain injury at the Department of Veterans Affairs polytrauma centers. Severe TBI results from blast injuries, particularly those caused by improvised explosive devices (IED), which severely shake or compress the brain within the skull. This often leads to significant and sometimes permanent damage to the brain. Many servicemen and women also experience traumatic brain injuries associated with a lack of oxygen to the brain as they are being treated for other serious injuries. Likewise, service members who are in the vicinity of an IED blast or involved in a minor motor vehicle accident can suffer from a milder form of TBI that is not always immediately detected and can produce symptoms that mimic PTSD or other mental health disorders. Unofficial statistics also suggest that many OEF/OIF veterans have suffered mild brain injuries that have gone undiagnosed. In many cases, symptoms have manifested themselves after the veterans have returned home. The Department of Defense (DOD) admits that it lacks a system-wide approach for proper identification, management, and surveillance for individuals who sustain mild to moderate TBI. It is essential that VA and DOD coordinate to better address mild TBI and develop a standardized follow-up protocol utilizing appropriate clinical assessment techniques to recognize neurological and behavioral consequences of TBI as recommended by the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board. PVA is particularly concerned about veterans who have experienced a TBI but whose symptoms have been masked by other conditions. We have heard anecdotally that this is a particular problem for veterans who have incurred a spinal cord injury in the upper cervical spine. Veterans who have incurred this level of injury as a result of a blast incident often have experienced a traumatic brain injury as well. However, their symptoms may be diagnosed as the result of their significant impairment at the cervical spinal level. Unfortunately, they may not get the critical treatment needed at the earliest stage to address the TBI. We recognize that this is a difficult challenge facing physicians, nurses, and rehabilitation specialists as they must decide what condition must be treated first, even while not necessarily realizing that other conditions exist. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for DOD health care facilities to miss these masked conditions as well because they do not have the specialized expertise to recognize multiple severe conditions. PVA believes more research must be conducted to evaluate the symptoms and treatment methods of veterans who have experienced TBI. This is essential to allow VA to deal with both the medical and mental health aspects of TBI, including research into the long term consequences of mild TBI in OEF/OIF veterans. Furthermore, TBI symptoms and treatments can be better assessed for previous generations of veterans who have experienced similar injuries. Ultimately, it is important to point out that the care being provided to those severely injured service men and women who have incurred a traumatic brain injury at the VA is nothing short of extraordinary. As explained in the Administration’s budget submission for FY 2008, in 2006, VA’s Research and Development department established a Polytrauma and Blast-Related Injury Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) that coordinates with the four polytrauma centers providing advanced medical care to veterans with complex disabilities, including traumatic brain injury. The QUERI links VA researchers directly to the four centers located in Richmond, VA; Tampa, FL; Minneapolis, MN; and Palo Alto, CA. These centers are designated as level one trauma centers. These lead centers provide a full spectrum of TBI care for patients suffering moderate to severe brain injuries. PVA is pleased that VA is also taking steps to establish level two polytrauma centers in each of its remaining Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) for follow-up care of polytrauma and TBI patients referred from the four lead centers or from military treatment facilities. PVA believes that the hub-and-spoke model used in the VA’s spinal cord injury service serves as an excellent model for how this network of polytrauma centers can be used. Second level treatment centers (spokes) refer spinal cord injured veterans directly to one of the 21 spinal cord injury centers (hubs) when a broader range of specialized care is needed. These new level two centers will better assist VA to raise awareness of TBI issues. These increased access points for TBI veterans will also allow VA to develop a system-wide screening tool for clinicians to use to assess TBI patients. To help facilitate access to these specialized services, VA assigns a case manager to each OEF/OIF veteran seeking treatment at one of its medical facilities. The case manager is responsible for coordination of all VA services and benefits. Additionally, VA has created liaison and social work positions at DOD facilities to assist injured service members. However, these case managers continue to report problems related to transfer of medical records from referring military facilities; difficulty in securing long-term placements of TBI patients with extreme behavioral problems; difficulty in obtaining appropriate services for veterans living in geographically remote areas; limited ability to follow patients after discharge to remote areas; poor access to transportation and other resources; and inconsistency in long-term case management. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) stated in its July 2006 report Health Status of and Services for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans after Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation that while many of the patients they assessed had achieved a substantial degree of recovery, “…approximately half remained considerably impaired.” Unfortunately, the ability of VA to provide this critical care has been called into question, particularly in recent weeks. PVA recognizes that the VA’s ability to provide the highest quality TBI care is still in its development stages; however, it continues to meet these veterans’ needs while going through this process. We believe many of the problems highlighted in recent newspaper articles regarding the TBI programs at the four polytrauma centers is a result of congressional inaction. The VA is not being prepared for success by a Congress that is not fulfilling its responsibility to properly fund it in a timely manner. The VA is learning to do more and more with less and less every year, and the TBI program is no exception. We are especially concerned about whether the VA has the capacity and the staff necessary to provide intensive rehabilitation services, treat the long term emotional and behavioral problems that are often associated with TBI, and to support families and caregivers of these seriously brain injured veterans. As stated in the FY 2008 Independent Budget: During a September 2006 House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing, a statement was provided for the record that indicated the 20-year health care costs for TBI could exceed $14 billion. As noted in the OIG report, “these problems exact a huge toll on patients, family members, and health care providers.” There are several challenges we face in ensuring these veterans and their families get the specialized care and support services they need. Clinicians indicate that in the case of mild TBI, the [veteran’s] denial of problems that can accompany damage to certain areas of the brain often leads to difficulties receiving services. Likewise, with more severe injuries, the extreme family burden can lead to family disintegration and loss of this major resource for patients. To ensure a smoother transition for veterans with TBI and their caregivers, VA should evaluate ways to provide additional assistance to immediate family members of brain-injured veterans, including additional resources and improved case management, and continuous follow up. The goal of achieving optimal function of each individual TBI patient requires improved coordination and inter-agency cooperation between DoD and VA. Veterans should be afforded the best rehabilitation services available and the opportunity to achieve maximum functioning so they can re-enter society or, at minimum, achieve stability of function in an appropriate setting. Finally, the broader VA is unlike most, if not all, other health care systems in America. While the quality of care may be outstanding during early stage treatment at some private facilities, those same facilities generally provide care in the short term. On the other hand, the VA is the only real health care system in America capable of providing complex sustaining care over the life of the seriously disabled veteran. Private treatment options often give no consideration whatsoever to the long-term care needs of the veteran. Meanwhile, the VA has developed its long-term care program across the broad spectrum of services for many years. Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, the task of providing this critical care to this segment of the OEF/OIF veterans population is a daunting one. Without coordinated efforts by DOD and VA and the backing of Congress through the appropriations process, the VA will struggle to adequately handle all of the expectations placed on it. Veterans with TBI, as well as their families, should not have to worry about whether the care they need will be there when they need it. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Team up for healthier pets Your veterinarian is much like the fabled little red hen. Just as the hen wanted help to plant, grow, and harvest the wheat to bake the bread, your doctor needs your help to educate pet owners about diagnostics and prepare them for the tests their pets so desperately need. Every member of your practice has an important role in diagnostics. Before you say, "Not I," consider these recommendations for tasks each team member can tackle to make sure pets get the tests the doctor recommends. Receptionists: Reach out You're literally on the hook for this, because you're on the phone with clients every day to remind them about their pets' upcoming appointments. This is the perfect time to set the stage and prepare clients by presenting the idea that the veterinarian may run tests during their visit."Receptionists play an introductory role in discussing diagnostics with clients," says Ciera Sallese, CVT, a technician at Metzger Animal Hospital in State College, Pa. "They help remind owners that while their pet is due for an exam and vaccinations, they might also be due for tests, from fecal exams and retrovirus screenings to medication-monitoring blood work." Dr. Fred Metzger, DABVP, owner of Metzger Animal Hospital, agrees that front office team members play a huge role that starts on the phone. For example, say Mrs. Johnson calls because her dog Princess is sick. The receptionist might say, "Mrs. Johnson, I'm so sorry Princess isn't feeling well. Dr. Cares may want to get a urine sample, so try not to let Princess urinate outside. Dr. Cares may also want to do some blood work." This prepares the client to expect diagnostics at the appointment, Dr. Metzger says. And it works just as well when you're calling to remind clients about their preventive care visits. In fact, if you're calling the day before the visit, you can offer more detailed instructions that may provide clearer results for the diagnostics the veterinarian recommends. This might include asking the client to withhold the pet's food after midnight so the veterinarian can take a fasting blood sample. "This is already letting the client know that we're not just going to give a shot, we're going to be doing some blood work," Dr. Metzger says. Receptionists also play a key role with client communication by sending reminder postcards or emails to increase compliance with routine testing, Sallese says.
Produced several times each year to take an in-depth look at current affairs impacting the people of North Carolina, The Focus On... series is part of UNC-TV's ongoing commitment to providing timely coverage of public affairs issues affecting the state.Visit Focus On... Website Full Episodes \| 10See All Experts and cancer survivors discuss recent cancer research, prevention, and treatment. American Promise film sparks lively exchange on race, gender, education, and black boys. Join a panel of experts from Duke Univearsity as they address questions from brain researc Alan Alda and a panel from Duke University discuss the PBS series, Brains On Trial. UNC-TV, with production partner AARP, discuss the issue of hunger among older adults in NC Caregiver and cared-for-many North Carolinians will be both. Reconstruction is the topic for the last episode. Experts explain the different roles of African Americans during the Civil War.
HISTORY:Since it is non existent, I have contacted John D. Wenzel, Jr. the current president of the company gathering historical information about the creation and evolution of the company through decades till present time. Thank you John for your dedication and cooperation. Without your assistance it would have been impossible. We have a brief history, but the history is really of two companies, Lancaster Pump, which sold the pumps and chain saws and C-B Tool Co. the machine shop that made the chain saws and pumps. C-B Tool bought the assets of Lancaster Pump in 1978. C-B tool did the work and Lancaster Pump got the credit. My step father who was the son of the founder of C-B Tool Co and eventually owned the company which held some chainsaw patents. The one that I remember was the chain tightener. A Brief Look Into Our Company's History: Located in the heart of Lancaster County , Pennsylvania, Lancaster Pump's history and Image reflects the conservative, solid, quality way of life that has come to be expected of the area in which it began -it was organized with a handshake and has maintained that honest attitude throughout its sixty-plus years. The history of Lancaster Pump is really the history of two companies. In 1942, the late F. Earl Brimmer formed a partnership with the late Kurt H. Aronsohn, a German hydraulic engineer who came to the U. S. in 1938. Mr. Aronsohn was a leader in his native country in the development of domestic water systems. The two men organized “Lancaster Pump and Manufacturing Company", occupying a small storeroom in town. Shortly after its conception, Paul L. Stauffer joined the organization and eventually became the president after the deaths of Brimmer and Aronsohn, until retirement in 1978. Being wartime and unable to secure machinery for manufacturing purposes, the company started on a distributorship basis and sold within a very limited territory . Desperately looking for manufacturing facilities, the late Charles L. Beard, founder of "C-B Tool Co.", a local manufacturer of automotive parts and small hand operated tools, was contacted and was very receptive to the idea of producing the "Lancaster Pump". The historic moment was when Aronsohn said: "Charlie, if you make the pumps, I'll sell them". They shook hands, never signed a contract and operated as one company until 1978, when the assets of both companies merged into one corporation. Long gone are the days of Charlie and Aronsohn. Today you will find Charlie's son, William "Bill" Beard as the guiding force in both, C-B Tool Co. and it's division, Lancaster Pump. For over 60 years, Lancaster Pump has manufactured a complete line of well and water pumps for residential, commercial and industrial use, as well as a complete line of residential and commercial water treatment equipment including water softening, water filtration, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, chemical feed pumps, and ultra violet water purification. John D. Wenzel, Jr. President C-B Tool Co. / Lancaster Pump and Water Treatment First saw produced by the Lancaster Pump & MFG.Co. MANUFACTURED BY:LANCASTER PUMP & MFG.CO.LANCASTER,PENNSYLVANIA,U.S.A. INTRODUCED: ? UNKNOWN. DISPLACEMENT:4.7 cu. in. (77cc) BORE:2.0 in. (50.8 mm) STROKE:1.50 in. (38 mm) CYLINDER:Aluminum with cast iron sleeve INTAKE:Reed valves (6) CONSTRUCTION:Sand cast magnesium CARBURETOR: LAUZON DIAPHRAGM. ENGINE TYPE:TECUMSEH POWER PRODUCTS (PP AH47)
What are some ways that women contributed to the war effort during WWII? After many of the regular farmhands joined the military or industrial forces in World War II, the Women's Land Army was formed in order to provide essential labor to American farms and farmers. From 1943 to 1945 the Women's Land Army recruited, trained, and placed millions of women on American farms. This program sent both rural and urban women to the farms, where they assisted in providing the necessary food products and commodities for a nation at war. This resulted in a major change in both societal roles of men and women, and in the manners in which farming had previously operated. Inspirational, informative, instructive, imploring—posters were a major part of the war effort. Virginians would have seen many of these posters. Those most common in Virginia would have been placed in train stations asking for railroad workers or in the Tidewater area calling for experienced seamen. Other types of posters would have encouraged saving scrap materials, following restricted diets, contacting servicemen, and supporting the war effort through war bonds. Display the poster to students without revealing any information concerning it. Have them: • Analyze the purpose or intent of its message. How is its purpose communicated? • Evaluate what impact the poster might have had on a citizen. Consider the time period during which the poster was developed and used. • Collect and analyze current advertisements. What products or messages are being communicated? How do these relate to current events? Compare the purpose of these messages to the purpose of the historic poster. • Create a unique war poster for Korea, Vietnam, or one of the Iraq wars. • Design a poster related to a current event. Explain the significance of your choice. • Analyze the art form in the poster. Why was this medium chosen? How does the choice of color influence the message? What influence does object placement have? • Is this poster considered art? Would the designation of the poster as art or not as art have changed over time? Compare the poster to popular culture art, for example: Andy Warhol's works. Do these relate? How? Research and Discussion Questions: • What is the purpose of this poster? Do you think it was effective? • One aspect of being a good citizen is fulfilling responsibilities. What are those responsibilities? How do serving in the armed forces and farming relate to each other? Is one more important or significant? Why or why not? • Research women's involvement in World War II. Answer these questions: What were some of the jobs women did during World War II? How did these jobs differ from the ones women traditionally did? What was the effect of women's involvement in the war effort on American society after the war ended? Carpenter, Stephanie Ann. “Regular Farm Girl": The Women's Land Army in World War II” Agricultural History 71 no. 2 (1997): 163–185. Nagy, Alex. “World Wars at Home: U.S. Response to World War II Propaganda.” Journalism Quarterly 67 no. 1 (Spring 1990): 207–213. Colman, Penny. Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II. New York: Crown Publishers, 1995. Bird, William L., Jr.,. and Harry R. Rubenstein. Design for Victory: World War II Posters on the American Home Front. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.
CHIROGRAPH OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II FOR THE INSTITUTION OF THE POPULORUM PROGRESSIO FOUNDATION My predecessor of venerated memory, Pope Paul VI, on the 26th of March 1969, at the end of the second anniversary of his Encyclical Populorum Progressio, instituted a Fund to help the poor campesinos and to promote agrarian reform, social justice and peace in Latin America, according to the guidelines given by the Bishops of this Continent. In this year, in which we celebrate the Fifth Centenary of the beginning of the Evangelization of the American Continent and the meeting of the IV General Assembly of the Latin American Bishops, I wish to place emphasis on these events with the institution, in the Vatican City State, of a Pious Autonomous Foundation for the purpose of promoting the integral development of the communities of the poorest campesinos of Latin America. This is to be a gesture of the loving solidarity of the Church towards the most abandoned and those most in need of protection, such as the indigenous peoples, peoples of mixed racial backgrounds, and Afro-Americans, in order also to continue, in this way, the initiative of my August Predecessor. The Foundation is aimed towards collaborating with all those who, conscious of the suffering condition of the Latin American peoples, wish to contribute to their integral development, according to a just and appropriate application of the social teaching of the Church. To this end, and in virtue of my supreme apostolic authority in the Church and of my sovereignty in the Vatican City State, according to canons 331, 114 §§ 1 and 2, 115 § 3, 116 § 1, of the Code of Canon Law, and art. 1 of the fundamental Law of the Vatican City State of 7 June 1929, and art. 1, letter a) of the Law on sources of rights of 7 June 1929, II, I establish the Autonomous Foundation "Populorum Progressio" as a public canonical juridical person and as a civil juridical person, with its seat in Vatican City State. This Foundation is to be a sign and testimony of the Christian desire for fellowship and authentic solidarity. The Foundation will be governed by the canonical Laws and by civil laws in effect in the Vatican City and by the annexed Statutes which I now approve. Vatican City, February 13, 1992. IOANNES PAULUS PP. II © Copyright 1992 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana © Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II TO H.E. Mr GEAROID P. O. BROIN, THE NEW AMBASSADOR OF IRELAND TO THE HOLY SEE* Monday, 16 December 1991 With great pleasure I welcome you to the Vatican for the presentation of the Letters of Credence by which you are appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ireland to the Holy See. I am grateful for the greetings which you have conveyed from Her Excellency President Robinson and I gladly reciprocate with good wishes and the assurance of my prayers for the well-being of the Irish people, with whom this Apostolic See has been united by uninterrupted bonds of faith and friendship for over one thousand five hundred years. You have referred to the profound changes taking place in the world with surprising and even alarming rapidity. It is as if the human family had shaken off a sombre and pervading threat, which for decades overshadowed international relations and caused every forecast for the future to be accompanied by pessimism and fear. The world, in fact, is striving to leave behind the negative aspects of its division into opposing blocs. But as it does so, the international community finds itself faced with a host of underlying problems standing in the way of genuine peace and progress. There exists a real danger that the vacuum created by the decline of ideological tensions will be filled by new excesses. The most obvious sign of such excess is the resurgence of the nationalistic tendencies which in some cases have already led to tragic violence and conflicts. These situations clearly undermine the processes of economic development and political agreement which should have followed from the changed relationship between East and West. At the same time, the old problems have not gone away. The distress of millions of victims of hunger and poverty, the enormous imbalance between the more developed nations and the less developed ones, situations of radical injustice and violence, the denial of human and civil rights and freedoms - all this demands urgent attention if the legitimate aspirations of the human family are to be met. Fortunately, there are hopeful signs of the international community’s determination to meet the challenges of the present with more effective structures of dialogue and cooperation and an increased sense of the interdependence between countries. In this perspective, the core question facing Europe is not one of development and prosperity alone but one which concerns the very significance and the continuing validity of Europe’s historical, cultural and religious experience. What is at stake is the defence and promotion of the positive and permanent values and ideals of European civilization. Your own country, Mr Ambassador, has a distinctive contribution to make to the new Europe which is being formed. Ireland can play a significant role in keeping alive a culture firmly based on the centrality of the human person as the subject of inalienable rights and freedoms, and open to the transcendent dimension of human existence. Just as at difficult times in the past her monks and missionaries brought faith and learning to many parts of Europe, so today she has a "gift" which she has a duty to defend and to share. Ireland’s gift, as I indicated when I received the Letters of Credence of your distinguished predecessor, is "the rich humanism which characterizes her people and which springs in the first place from her fidelity to her Christian traditions" (John Paul II, Address to the New Ambassasador of Ireland to the Holy See, 22 Jan. 1990). Among the values which occupy an important place in your people’s outlook and which need to be considered in all their importance I will mention only these: a keen sense of religious and civic freedom, a demand for equal justice for all, special care for the weaker members of society, a strong and loving family life, and a warmth of hospitality towards others. This spiritual and moral ethos, to which Irish emigrants and missionaries have borne witness in so many parts of the world, continues to be a basic point of reference and source of direction and energy in meeting the challenges now facing Irish society. Modern societies are all faced with similar challenges: among others, to defend life, the family and the sacredness of marriage, to ensure high standards of education, to create opportunities for employment, to uphold principles of accountability and honesty in private and public life, to counteract the social degradation that comes from crime and drug and alcohol abuse. The evils obstructing human development are not merely economic and political. Their roots are above all ethical and moral. The building of a more human and more humane society requires a courageous and generous response to the truth about man and his transcendent destiny. Without a revitalization of essential spiritual resources there cannot be a strong and decisive individual and collective commitment to the common good and to solidarity. Against the background of closer union and cooperation between the peoples of Europe, efforts to bring about a peaceful and voluntary reconciliation between the two communities of northern Ireland, to which Your Excellency has referred, take on new significance and urgency. The violence which continues to plague that Province is sinful and unjustifiable. It is also the expression of outmoded political and social positions, and those who follow this path pursue an unjust and undemocratic struggle. The only real path to peace is the path of respect for human rights, respect for legitimate differences, respect for the rule of law, on the part of everyone. We must continue to hope that the communities involved will work in practical ways to break down the barriers of mind and heart which divide them. Mr Ambassador, I wish you well as you take up your new responsibilities as Ireland’s Representative to the Holy See. You may be certain that the various departments of the Roman Curia will be only too willing to cooperate with you in your task. I assure you of my earnest prayers for the well-being of the beloved Irish people. *AAS 85 (1993), p. 23-25. Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, vol. XIV, 2 pp. 1405-1408. L'Attività della Santa Sede 1991 pp. 1066-1068. L’Osservatore Romano 17.12.1991 p.7. L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly edition in English 51/52 p.2. © Copyright 1991 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana © Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Conservative To The Core — Democrat spending habits trounce those of republicans I recently came across an interesting news item. It was a breakdown of spending trends of 13 Democrat-controlled states compared to 24 states under Republican rule. The report covered spending trends from 2011 through 2013. These statistics came from the National Association of State Budget Officer’s Expenditures Report. I found this report telling in that, brace yourself for a shock, all Democrat-controlled states saw increased spending, whereas 10 of the Republican-controlled states saw a spending decrease. When saying “Democrat or Republican-controlled states,” the report refers to states where one or the other political party controls both legislative chambers as well as the governor’s mansion. Here are some specifics. In 2010, Democrat-run states had a 59 percent faster general fund spending rate than Republican-controlled states. Overall spending increased 1.11 percent for the Republicans and 5.55 percent for Democrats. This translates to a 400-percent spending increase in Democrat-controlled states over the spending increase in Republican-controlled states. What bothers me from this is not so much that liberal, Democrat-run states wallow so freely in the public trough, but that so many Republican-controlled states had tax increases at all. This kind of behavior from Democrats is certainly standard operating procedure and therefore expected, but conservatives look for Republicans to lower or at least maintain a status-quo on spending. But as I mentioned in an earlier column, not all Republicans are conservative. And that’s too bad, because rank-and-file Republican voters mostly expect their elected representatives to hold a conservative position relative to spending. Here are some other figures, these distilled from the Americans For Tax Reform report on tax changes. Again, those who think Democrats really don’t enjoy spending your hard-earned dollars should brace themselves for a shock. States with Democrat governors saw a whopping $60 billion in tax increases over the last three years, while Republican governors were responsible for $38 billion in tax cuts over the same time period. When added together, that gives us a staggering $98 billion difference between states with Republican governors and states with Democrat governors. And for sure, that ain’t chump change. For people living on a tight budget who plan to relocate, which sounds most appealing, states with Republican governors or those with Democrat governors? It seems like a hands-down vote for states with Republican governors, if you ask me. Conservatives often invoke the ire of their liberal opponents when they use the phrase, “tax-and-spend liberals.” Given the figures listed above, the phrase doesn’t sound hackneyed at all, but rather concise and to the point. This penchant for flagrant and extravagant spending on the part of the Dems goes right to the top. The Obamas spend taxpayer money as if it were Monopoly dollars. But why not? After all, they didn’t work for it, we did. This brings up an absolute truism that applies to Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals alike. That is, no one fully appreciates things that they themselves didn’t work for. Give someone something and they may like it and really enjoy it. But they won’t really value it as much as if they had to go out and generate the bucks to buy or make it themselves. It’s just human nature. And the Obamas are certainly examples of typical human nature when it comes to spending money they didn’t earn. Judicial Watch recently became privy to U.S. Air Force records that indicate that American taxpayers have coughed up approximately $16 million to pay for the Obamas to fly to Hawaii and Africa. Sure, the office of president comes with paid vacations, but this seems a bit ridiculous. I don’t know about anyone else, but it irks me that any president, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, would saddle taxpayers with such expenses. And it hurts even more now when the country is in the midst of rising healthcare costs, rising property taxes and so on and so on. We can ill afford to send anyone on taxpayer-funded vacations to other countries. The First Lady apparently suffered no pangs of guilt when she extended her Hawaiian vacation. Michelle Obama chose to return to Washington separately, thus freeing up some time for her to visit with good friend Oprah Winfrey, in Maui. Aww, isn’t that nice? It would have been nicer if Oprah Winfrey had paid for Mrs. Obama’s expenses rather than we poor, overtaxed bums back home. But heck, Mrs. Obama’s 50th birthday was near and President Obama “gave” his wife this extra trip as an early birthday gift. Gee, I don’t recall ever hearing about civilians or non-bureaucrats giving their spouses birthday gifts on the taxpayer’s dime. This just shows the Obama’s total disregard and lack of respect for we the people. But the trips and expenses cited here are old news and in fact, are only the tip of the excessive-spending iceberg. We conservatives believe that lower taxes mean a stronger economy. When people are allowed to keep more of their own money, they spend more of it. It’s a pretty simple concept, but one that Democrats have a difficult time grasping. What’s more, taxes don’t just come in the form of income and property tax. Everything we buy and most things we do are taxable. Disgusted about the high price of gasoline? It’s not the gas that costs, it’s the government taxes. In fact, the gas tax is a guaranteed cash cow for bureaucrats to dip in at will. Don’t know where to get the bucks for that next big highway project? Just raise the gas tax. People are locked into buying gasoline and there’s no way around it. They may gripe and complain, but there’s not a single thing they can do about it. It was always thus with the gas tax, but it is even more so now. The reason is the big push on President’ Obama’s part for the country to go “green,” and eschew traditional sources of energy. Never mind the failed green industries that took startup bucks from the government (taxpayer money) and promptly went out of business. But this underscores another lesson. That lesson is, we won’t ever get away from fossil fuels as long as the departure is government-mandated. Only when private industry develops truly efficient green energy on its own, will green ever become cost-effective. But that says it all about most everything, doesn’t it? Stop taxing people in order to give the money to unworthy causes. Instead, take the conservative path and reduce taxes. That, in turn, will stimulate industry and industry, coupled with technology, will work to better all our lives on its own, without a single dollar of tax money.
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we again present Elon Musk, a brilliant entrepreneur and the co-founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors and Space Exploration Technologies. In this interesting, three-minute clip (courtesy of the USA Science and Engineering Festival), Elon shares some words of wisdom for entrepreneurs. My favorite quote: “Sometimes people fear starting a company too much. What’s the worst that could go wrong? You’re not going to starve to death…” I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Since its beginning in the 19th century, morphological typology has postulated a universal scale of less vs. more tightly packed word forms. The scale ranges from isolating to agglutinative to fusional to introflexive, and is canonically exemplified by Chinese (isolating), Turkish (agglutinative), Latin (fusional) and Modern Standard Arabic (introflexive). Recent research has shown that such a scale conflates many different typological variables and incorrectly assumes that these parameters covary universally (see Plank 1999, Bickel and Nichols 2005, among others). Three prominent variables involved in this are phonological fusion, formative exponence, and flexivity (i.e. allomorphy, inflectional classes). In this chapter we concentrate on fusion. For exponence, see Chapter 21, and for one aspect of flexivity, see Chapter 59 (on possessive classification). Fusion refers to the degree to which grammatical markers (called formatives in the following) are phonologically connected to a host word or stem. There are three basic values: isolating, concatenative, and nonlinear. Isolating formatives are full-fledged phonological words of their own. In Fijian, all formatives with more than one mora are isolating. An example is the past tense formative aa: ‘I gave the coconut to them.’ Concatenative formatives are phonologically bound. They need some other host word for their pronunciation and form one single phonological word together with that host. The usual effects of this are that concatenative formatives cannot be individually stressed, and that the combination of formative and host undergoes various phonological adjustments. The past tense marker of Turkish, for example, undergoes vowel harmony and assimilates in consonant voicing to the host stem. Thus, the past tense formative is -ti after a stem with unrounded front vowels and a voiceless final consonant (e.g. git-ti ‘go-past’), -tı after a stem with unrounded back vowels and a voiceless final consonant (e.g. yap-tı ‘do-past’), -di after a stem with unrounded front vowels and a voiced final consonant (e.g. gel-di ‘come-past’), and so on. A subset of concatenative markers is constituted by cliticized words. The Spanish object marker a, for example, is syntactically a word (preposition) but phonologically it is a clitic and thus concatenative. Once the phonological alternations are properly analyzed, strings of concatenative formatives can be segmented into clear-cut morphemes. Nonlinear formatives are not amenable to this because they are realized not in linear sequence but by direct modification of their host. In our sample, we found two subtypes of nonlinear formatives: ablaut and tonal. Modern Hebrew illustrates the ablaut type. The past (“perfect”) vs. future (“imperfect”) opposition, for example, is expressed by (i) the choice of a stem template (e.g. CaCVC in the past, CCVC in the future) and (ii) the choice of agreement affixes (entirely suffixes in the past, mostly prefixes in the future). (2) Modern Hebrew (Orin Gensler, p.c.) ‘I will guard’ Neither affix nor stem choice appears to be basic. Tense is not marked in this language by an extractable morpheme but by the complete affix-plus-stem pattern as a whole. For purposes of this survey we call this ablaut morphology. ‘She (usually) leaves.’ Here, present habitual is expressed by low tone on the last syllable (3a); past perfective is expressed by high tone (3b). Languages were surveyed for the case and tense-aspect-mood exemplars as defined in the chapter on “Sampling case and tense formatives”. Nearly 90% of the languages in our sample have the same values for case and tense-aspect-mood, and therefore we combined the two values into one overall value: \|Go to map\| Mixed types mean that case and tense-aspect-mood differ from each other, and the type list exhausts what combinations are attested in our sample. In a few instances, however, mixed types refer to languages where there is conflicting evidence for the fusion type of at least one of the formatives. Conflicting evidence is found, for example, in Lakhota (Siouan; North and South Dakota), where the future tense marker -kta is part of the same phonological word as the verb stem with regard to morphophonological rules, but not apparently with regard to syllabification (see for careful discussion). Other instances of conflicting evidence that we found include Beja, Thai, Chamorro, and Gooniyandi. The color scheme on the map is set up so as to highlight the presence of some isolating and the presence of some nonlinear formatives. Most of the languages in our sample (75%) rely exclusively on concatenative morphology for case and tense-aspect-mood. Languages with some isolating or nonlinear formatives are much rarer and have limited areal distribution. Languages with isolating formatives, or traces of isolating structure in mixed types, are mostly confined to the Sahel Belt of West Africa and to Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Apart from this, there are outliers in southern Africa (Khoekhoe), Australia (Gooniyandi), and the Americas (several instances). In our sample, ablaut morphology is always mixed with concatenative morphology and appears as an African singularity limited to representatives of Afro-Asiatic (Hebrew, Egyptian Arabic, Middle Berber Atlas, Beja) and the Central Sudanic branch of Nilo-Saharan (Lugbara). Similarly, tonal morphology is also by and large restricted in our sample to African languages (Niger-Congo and Nilotic). An outlier with tonal formatives is Iau (Lakes Plain; Papua, Indonesia). This research was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation Grant No. 96-16448 (Nichols, P.I.), Swiss National Science Foundation Grants No. 08210-053455 and 610-062717 (Bickel, P.I.), and the Institute for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies, UC Berkeley. We thank Aimee Lahaussois Bartosik, Dave Peterson, and Suzanne Wilhite for help with data collection.
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Swimming lessons are turning around low academic scores at one Norfolk school. The lessons are part of a new program started by the Norfolk Redevelopment Housing Authority. The program gives students from Tidewater Park Elementary free swimming lessons before school at the Southside Aquatics Center in Norfolk. NRHA started the program to teach the students a new skill, and hopefully turn their low academic scores around. “It’s a great partnership between Norfolk Redevelopment Housing Authoring, Norfolk Public Schools, and the City of Norfolk,” said Lucy Major, Resource Development Administrator with NRHA. “Everyone is kind of buying into the program. It’s amazing.” The program appears to be working. Shemieka Sutton, a swimming instructor with the program, says the kids are becoming more confident in their swimming skills. “They are also more encouraged about themselves when they feel more comfortable in the water,” said Sutton. The kids aren’t just becoming better swimmers. Administrators at Tidewater Park Elementary say they are also becoming better students. “It’s helping their minds, it’s helping them have a good spirit about learning and education,” said Valencia Moore, Assistant Principal at Tidewater Park Elementary . “The students are making better grades in school as a result of this experience,”said L’Tanya Simmons, Deputy Superintendent for Norfolk Public Schools. NRHA also hopes to keep these kids from becoming a sad statistic. Studies show African-American children are three times more than likely to drown than white students. “The fact that we have kids drowning because they don’t have the opportunity to learn how to swim is very unfortunate. That’s why programs like this are just so important, and vital to our community,” said Moore. The kids are also learning values they can use outside the classroom. “Here you have to show teamwork, like if someone doesn’t get it you have to help them,” said Nacoria Knox, a student at Tidewater Park Elementary. “When I go in class I would do the same to help my peers in class so they can be good things too.” NRHA started the swimming program last year. This is the second group of kids to go through the swim lessons. In the coming months, they hope to add an after school swim program for Tidewater Park Elementary.
Limitations of Health Insurance and Medicare Health insurance and Medicare are not as comprehensive as most of us think. Even the highest-quality plans (both group and individual) and Medicare provide Acute Care, limited Extended Care, and NO Custodial Care (you can find this in your policy under "General Exclusions".) Health insurance and Medicare are designed to cover relatively inexpensive, short-term needs such as office visits and drug co-pays. And they also pay for serious, relatively expensive procedures like surgeries. Medicare covers Primary Skilled Care as follows (2010 Medicare • For the first 20 days, Medicare will pay 100% of costs • For days 21-100, it will pay all but $146 (which is covered by Medicare Supplements) • For days 101+, Medicare pays nothing toward the costs of long-term care Only long-term care insurance is designed to pay for the type of extended care often needed after serious injuries, illnesses or operations, or as a natural result of aging. These issues are important to understand, and they can be complex. We encourage you to contact our long-term care insurance specialists at 888-247-5905.
Although rape is a topic not often discussed, it is unfortunately still a major problem that many men and women face on a daily basis. Once you are a survivor of rape, it may be difficult to overcome the physical and emotional barriers that result from this unwanted act. The attitude towards rape has evolved over the years. Traditionally, a husband could not be charged with raping his wife even if it was an unwanted sexual act, and men could not be considered rape victims. Today’s definition of rape varies from state to state, but typically refers to an act of non-consensual sexual intercourse that is forced upon someone by physicality, threat of injury, or other forms of pressure or threat. Unfortunately, rape is not uncommon and happens more often than may be expected. Here are some statistics about rape in the United States: Although women are most often the victims of rape, with 9 out of 10 survivors being female in 2003, men are not exempt and face many of the same issues during recovery. Rape survivors must address the physical and emotional trauma from the event and must make choices about how to deal with these factors. It is important to provide an individual in this situation with information about the options he or she has so that they can make their own decisions regarding their physical and psychological health. Sexual assault can lead to many unwanted physical and mental changes in a victim. Sometimes, victims may revert to substance abuse in the form of alcohol or drugs to ease the pain that they feel. This form of “self-medication” may provide temporary relief, but can be detrimental to the overall health of the victim. Instead of using alcohol and drugs as a way of numbing the pain, survivors are encouraged to find activities that they enjoy. Consistent exercise has been found to be a helpful alternative that relieves stress. Flashbacks and body memories are also common effects of sexual assault. Traumatic events often linger in the form of flashbacks and cause the survivor to feel as if they are back in the moment of the attack. Body memories are a little different, and come in the form of unexplainable physical problems that are triggered by memories of the incident. Depression, eating disorders and sleep disorders are also commonly seen in the aftermath of a sexual assault. The outcomes of sexual assault are traumatic for both men and women, causing changes in personality and mood. Counseling sessions with a professional therapist or psychologist can be very helpful in the recovery process. After a sexual assault, having a medical professional do a physical examination is important. For the purposes of collecting evidence, most emergency rooms are equipped with a “rape kit”, which aims to collect possible DNA samples that can lead police investigators to the perpetrator and prevent them from committing the same crime again. The standard procedures for this examination would also include HIV and STI tests, checking for injuries, pregnancy tests and providing emergency contraceptives for pregnancy prevention. Not only is taking care of a survivor’s physical health important, but it is also encouraged for individuals who have been sexually assaulted to seek psychological attention or obtain a strong, social support while going through this time. There are many counseling centers and support groups dedicated to listening and helping victims of sexual assault. Many universities provide this service in their counseling centers. CSULB Student Health Services provides counseling for sexual assault survivors. Although it is common for sexual assaults to go unreported, with less than 40% of cases brought to the attention of police, it is important to have the resources and information available to report these crimes and seek justice. Reporting a rape will not change what has happened to you or a loved one, but it has the potential to stop future attacks from occurring. To report a rape, the victim or a friend must call 911 to report the crime to police or, when receiving a physical checkup in a hospital’s emergency room, the hospital staff will contact the police upon the request of a victim. There is no specified time limit to report a sexual assault, but it is important to know that the sooner an attack is reported, the better the chances are for justice to be served. Police are more likely to obtain DNA evidence if the crime is reported immediately following the attack and if the evidence has not been washed away. The decision is always up to the survivor on whether or not to report a crime, but it is encouraged for a person to discuss their options with a counselor or a hotline service before reaching a decision. Having someone to talk to after a traumatic event is very important for the victim to begin the psychological healing process. Hotlines are available 24 hours a day and their trained staff can provide counseling and referrals to other trained counselors. CSULB Health Resource Center Survivor Empowerment Group
Section Description Provided by Instructor Method of Evaluation: Term Paper The seminar explores the legal process of responding to international crimes, both recent and historical, and other injustices by providing monetary compensation and other non-penal remedies. No international law background is required. The topic begins with the history and development of the Alien Tort Statute from 1789 to the present, a statute that for three decades after 1980 seemed to offer a principal means of securing compensation in US courts for international wrongs, wherever they occurred. Specific topics relating to the ATS include (1) the international law background of the 18th century, (2) the evolution of the ATS in appellate decisions prior to 2004 beginning with its revival in the surprising Filartiga case (2d Circuit 1980), (3) the interpretation of the Supreme Court's decision in Alvarez-Machain v. Sosa (2004) and its application in recent cases ranging from the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam to the legal implications of the Iraq & Afghanistan wars, 4) suits against multinational corporations, usually in the extractive industries operating in emerging economies, and 5) the unfolding future direction of the ATS after the Supreme Court's decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell (2013), which seems likely to reduce but not eliminate ATS litigation. In considering American offenders, we examine other theories (e.g. disbarment proceedings, contract eligibility suspension, Bivens actions) against largely-immune federal agents and officials and private contractors, an area of law that blossomed with various revelations from the war on drugs, Iraq and Afghanistan, and Guantanamo; regarding foreign offenders, we examine suits against foreign officials and governments (in the US under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (1976) and anti-terrorism statutes; in other nations under their corresponding laws or national practice; in international law, under the ICJ's 2012 "Jurisdictional Immunities of the State" case (Italy v. Germany); we conclude by examining defenses common to litigation in these areas (e.g. state secrets, political question, contractor immunity, pleading specificity, forum non conveniens, comity, and international sovereign immunity). To put these largely US suits and legal theories in context, the seminar will also examine some of the ways in which reparations and restitution have been awarded in recent decades in the US and other countries as part of the settlement of major wars and for human rights violations. Turning to US courts, we will look at campaigns by Japanese Americans for compensation for wartime internment, as well as by Native Americans, African Americans for black reparations, and Holocaust survivors. Cases have been brought in US, regional (notably the Inter-American Court of Human Rights), and foreign national courts against Germany and Austria for Nazi crimes, Castro's Cuba, the Soviet Union and South Africa, former European colonial powers for looting from their colonies, post-colonial regimes for nationalizing the property of Europeans, divided and reunited Germany, former communist East European nations, Latin American juntas, and other dictators around the world. Looking also at certain alternative mechanisms for human rights justice (truth commissions, political apologies), the seminar will try to assess the theory and applications of this new, broad, but fledgling area of litigation and statutory programs and its intersection with the uniquely American ATS and related legal tools. T 6:20 –8:10 p.m. Method of Evaluation J.D. Writing Credit Minor (automatic), Major (only upon consultation) (Writing Credit Available: Major or Minor Writing Credit)
Information: This video will show you how U.S. Army inserts an oropharyngeal airway. Oropharyngeal airway is a curve piece medical device that is used to sustain a patent airway. These are J-shaped plastic tubes that may also come in several sizes. Various applications of techniques are necessary for it to be correctly inserted. A thorough assessment on a victim’s condition is also required prior to oropharyngeal airway insertion.
Security strategy reviewed The US opts for new military approaches in Iraq as it seeks to counter the insurgents' offensive tactics, writes Salah Hemeid It is small, light, mobile and could be carried in a suitcase. But the SAM-7 anti-aircraft missile is as lethal as any other anti- aircraft missile in a war zone. Observers suggest that the Russian-designed rocket could be behind the downing of several US helicopters in Iraq over the last few months. It would appear that the Iraqi insurgents, who are also in possession of machine guns that have proven deadly for US helicopters, are forcing the Americans to review the strategy behind their highly publicised security operation. This is aimed at stabilising Baghdad and paving the way for President George W Bush to find an exit strategy from Iraq. Eleven US helicopters have crashed in Iraq since 20 January, prompting the US military to review flight operations and make plans to send more advanced types of combat helicopters to Iraq. The most recent crash occurred on Sunday in Mosul, north of Baghdad, when a US helicopter was hit by ground fire but landed safely. Two British service members died on Sunday also, when their helicopters crashed in mid-air, north of Baghdad. The British army said the helicopters crashed after colliding over a rural area. The crashes followed insurgent claims that they have received new stockpiles of anti-aircraft weapons. Islamic websites have also been airing videos showing US helicopters being hit in Iraq. General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that hostile forces have been more successful lately in shooting down US helicopters. He added that four US helicopters had been shot down by small arms fire in recent months, including a Black Hawk in which all 12 National Guard soldiers aboard were killed. SAM-7, also know as Strela, is a portable, shoulder-fired, low- altitude surface-to-surface missile with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance. It is similar to the US- manufactured Stinger which was effectively used by Afghani mujahideen in their war against the Soviet occupation. The SAM-7 was the first generation of Soviet portable SAMs, its original version entered service in 1968. Although it is limited in range, speed and altitude, it can force enemy pilots to fly above its effective ceiling, raising the chances of their detection by radar, and their vulnerability to other air defence systems. The SAM-7 is a tail-chase missile system the effectiveness of which depends on its ability to lock onto the heat source of low- flying fixed, and rotary-wing, aircraft. "When manned properly, it can be very effective and force the enemy to change tactics," said retired major-general Mohamed Kadri. Mohamed El-Sayed Said, an expert at the Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said that the repeated downing of American choppers in Iraq shows "a grave defect" in the US war strategy there. He added that the recent attacks on American choppers showed more "resilience and efficiency" on the part of the Iraqi insurgents, in their fight against the more superiorly equipped American army. "If the Americans cannot use their helicopters to pinpoint the pockets of resistance, their strategy to defeat the insurgency is doomed to failure. They [the insurgents] can deny them the air superiority which they need to make the security plan work," he said. Said added that the insurgents may also be using other light anti-aircraft artillery, such as machine guns used in guerrilla warfare, to shoot down the choppers. Insurgents have claimed that they used SAM-7s to shoot down American and British helicopters shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In one case, they claimed they shot at a DHL- hired plane, severely damaging it while it was landing in the well fortified Baghdad International Airport. During the Saddam era, the Iraqi army had stockpiles of the SAM-7 rockets in its arsenal and these are believed to have been taken by insurgents after the US army failed to control Saddam's army barracks immediately after the invasion. Haroun Mohamed, an Iraqi journalist who follows Iraqi affairs from London, said the insurgents might have looted as many as 120 military camps and warehouses after the April 2003 fall of Saddam's regime. He said that thousands of engineers in Saddam's defunct Military Industrialisation Organisation have joined the insurgency, and that they are believed to be maintaining and upgrading the abandoned weaponry. "They are experienced and highly motivated," he said. Insurgent leaders, talking to Al-Ahram Weekly in several Middle East capitals, said that a number of other advanced types such as SAM-16s and SAM-18s had also been recently bought. In January, the London-based Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported that the insurgents had received "a new generation of the Strela missiles". It quoted experts as saying that the insurgents are using the missiles in areas around Baghdad. It is also widely believed that Al-Qaeda-linked groups, especially in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, are also in possession of the missile. In a video tape posted on the Internet in 2003, Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, showed a stockpile of SAM-7 missiles in its Al-Battar training camp. Saudi officials acknowledged at the time that the group smuggled the rockets from neighbouring Yemen. Some experts added that Iran might also have supplied Shia groups, such as the Mahdi Army, led by the radical cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, with anti-aircraft missiles, including SAM-7, Strela ground-air missiles. The missiles are believed to be manufactured in Iran. Meanwhile, US armed forces plan to send a squadron of V-22 Osprey helicopters to Iraq to join the fight against the insurgency. General James T Conway, commander of the Marine Corps, announced Saturday that the hybrid aircraft that can function as both a helicopter and airplane will be sent to Al-Assad air base in Iraq in September. The Marine Corps believes that the aircraft will be able to avoid the surface-to-air attacks that have been downing US helicopters.
Domestic Violence Prevention the Focus of New Website, National Campaign There were 141 domestic violence-related murders in Pennsylvania last year, 10 of which occurred in Allegheny County. In an effort to increase public awareness of domestic violence, the “PA Says No More” campaign was launched. Part of that is a website which includes a video series produced in partnership with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PACDV). Part of the campaign is to let Pennsylvanians know that everyone can play a role in preventing and stopping domestic violence. “There are a number of things that we can do, including talking to our children about healthy relationships and what the characteristics of healthy relationships are from the time that they’re very small," said PACDV Executive Director Peg Dierkers. "We might start with conversations about what to look for in a friend, and as they get older about dating relationships.” Plus, she said if somebody notices that someone is struggling with an abusive relationship, they can let that person know that help is available. “There are 60 domestic violence programs across the state serving all 67 counties,” Dierkers said, “50 rape crisis centers serving all 67 counties and about 120,000 individuals do reach out for help in Pennsylvania each year.” The continuing problem of domestic violence is complicated. But Dierkers said part of the problem is an ongoing culture of acceptance that treats domestic violence and assault as something that is commonplace. “Movies, certain musical entertainers and books all contribute to that culture where violence is romanticized or glorified, and we need to be talking about how that won’t be tolerated anymore and about why that’s not OK,” Dierkers said, “that there are actually real people experiencing the effects of that kind of behavior, and it has lifetime consequences.” The focus of the campaign centers on the message that sexual assault and domestic violence are never appropriate and that Pennsylvania must do all it can to break the cycle of abuse. The “PA Says No More” campaign includes a video series which features survivors of violence and abuse sharing their stories. It’s part of the national nomore.org effort.
The first annual Science Celebration Night at Schmitz Park Elementary was not your average science fair. In fact, last night’s event wasn’t a science fair at all. Christine Morrell, who shared photos today, explained that it was “organized in partnership with teacher representatives from each grade and the PTA … a combination of grade level exhibits and interactive experiences hosted by local organizations (including Museum of Flight, Issaquah Fish Hatchery, the Woodland Park Zoo Raptor Program, Chief Sealth International High School World Water Week, Islandwood/Homewaters, the Mountaineers, and more.)” She added, “The goal is to show students how fun science can be, both in school and out in the real world … through interactive, hands-on experiences, kids can experience many applications for scientific discovery.” She says volunteers from the West Seattle High School science program helped too. Sorry, comment time is over. All contents copyright 2005-2015, A Drink of Water and a Story Interactive. Here's how to contact us. Header image by Nick Adams. ABSOLUTELY NO WSB PHOTO REUSE WITHOUT SITE OWNERS' PERMISSION. Entries and comments feeds. ^Top^
What on earth is HTML5? HTML5 is changing everything on the web as we know it, and most of us don’t have a clue how, and why. Most of us won’t know HTML5 when it jumps out of the browser window and hits us between the eyes with a hammer. We just assume it’s Flash. Except, it’s not … quite … but we can’t quite put our fingers on it. What on earth is HTML5? HTML5 is an evolution, as opposed to a revolution. It is the next evolution of the web’s document format – HTML. In the early 1990s, when the web was born, HTML was mainly a text document format. A typical argument in the drafting of HTML as a standard included whether images should be built into the browser, and called by name! In other words, HTML was originally not designed to be a media rich format. Over time the need arose to include not only images, but also video, audio, interactive graphs, and all kinds of rich media into web pages. Flash stepped up and provided most of that functionality through a plug-in. The downside was that the Flash content was binary (not readable by search engines), and as a whole, it provided very little along the lines of interacting with the rest of the page. It was just an HTML page with a piece of Flash in it. Nothing more. The most obvious solution HTML5 provides is new tags (keywords) that allows all kinds of media and graphical content to be included in an HTML5 page, in an open and interactive way. A fantastic example is this music video Mirror, by Japanese band Sour. This band is, by the way, not entirely new to the viral scene. In HTML, all content is equal. Ads, menus, blog post content, titles, comments … they’re all enclosed in tags with the exact same semantic meaning. In other words, web browsers and search engines cannot distinguish between them, and as a result, a comment on a blog post is being treated on par with the post content when Google tries to figure out what the post is about. HTML5 introduces a whole range of new content container tags to add semantic spice to web content. Without going into too much detail, these tags are placed around pieces of content, marking them as specific commonly used types of content. A web browser or search engine not only knows that there is content now, but also knows more or less what the content represents. Google now knows which part of the web page is the body text of an article. It knows where the paragraph breaks are – it knows where the article stops and where the comments start. This is used to provide better search results, by understanding document structure. This is not possible with HTML4. An even more exciting evolution on the semantic front is microdata. Microdata allows the author of a web page to define a set of additional data values to enhance the meaning of pieces of information. Google already uses this. Microdata can for instance be used to, on a user profile page, tell Google (or any browser that implements microdata) which part of the content is the user’s name, which part is their profile picture, and which part is their email address. In the same way, microdata can be used on an event page to tell Google when the event starts, and how long it will carry on for. This is being used today, and it works. What can HTML5 do? Let’s start this section by asking a counter question: What can HTML do? The answer is: Nothing. It is not supposed to do anything – it merely tells a browser what to display. HTML5 is different. Interactivity – the HTML5 APIs A canvas element can for instance be turned into a game screen, and updated just like a screen. In other words, anything that could traditionally only be done natively on the Operating System, can now be done in a canvas element in the browser. The Messaging API can be used to communicate between different elements or objects on a page, and even between different browser windows. As shown with the music video mentioned above, this allows for multi window applications that do things in perfect sync. Browser windows can message each other and send data to each other, behaving as a single application. All of these additions fill all the necessary gaps to turn the browser into the new platform. This vision is clear when considering Google’s Chrome OS, which is nothing more than an Operating System that consists entirely of only one application: Google Chrome. This bridges the gap between different Operating Systems, between Mobile and Desktop. It achieves what Sun tried to do with Java. A truly abstract platform, which behaves exactly the same, no matter which system it is running on. Posted by Adriaan Pelzer
Having just visited an ATM today, this alert from the Grand Rapids Police Department caught my eye. Thieves are at work in Grand Rapids, rigging up ATMs to steal your information and then hack into your bank account. It's called ATM skimming. Crooks set up a replica key pad, replica card scanner and a camera on or near the ATM to collect info from each transaction. Creepy, right?
First raised bed community garden in Florence is enjoyed by all residents FLORENCE, Ala.(WHNT) – Gardening continues to gain popularity in the Tennessee Valley. In April, we told you a story about Florence’s first community raise bed garden. Organizers are now calling the garden a success. Steve Chenault has a bed at the community garden. He comes to his garden bed twice a week. Since April, he`s harvested sixty pounds of tomatoes. He admits this accomplishment came during a rough time. ‘With my disability the raised bed gives me the opportunity to do things that I couldn`t do before and I can plant and cultivate a plant with just little or no work. It just gives me the opportunity to be a gardener,” said Chenault. Florence`s first raised bed community garden has also given dozens of residents the opportunity to be gardeners. The fifty three beds have produced herbs, tomatoes, green beans and peppers. Organizers are trying to keep track of the garden`s success with a log station. Gardeners can weigh their produce at the station and log it in a produce log book. The Alabama Extension System in Florence says even though the garden is full, it is taking applications for people interested in participating the program. It says it will continue the garden year round. Click here for more information.
ADOPTION MEASURE: Controversial Law Passes Earlier this year an Iowa adoption organization was forced to close after one Russian region put a hold on American-bound adoptions. Camp Hope had facilitated the adoptions of 175 Russian children since the year 2000 until it shut down last spring. There is now little hope of the camp reviving. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin says he plans to sign a national measure banning the adoption of Russian children by US families. “So far I don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t be signing it, although I have to see the final draft and weigh everything.” Russia’s Upper House of parliament unanimously approved the controversial measure Wednesday. The legislation could affect hundreds of American families seeking to adopt. Adoption rates were as high as 5,800 in 2004, with numbers declining as uncertainty increased in recent years. The Department of State describes the move as legislation that, “will needlessly remove the opportunity for hundreds of Russian orphans to join loving families each year.” The move is widely seen as retaliation for a law President Obama signed earlier this month that imposes US travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in Russia.
Mingo native Larry Cleverley’s farm sits on Highway 330 in Japser County between two of the deadliest intersections in Iowa. As the Iowa Department of Transportation attempts to make them safer, the possibility remains that Cleverley may lose his land. That was the subject of a public information meeting in Baxter last night. Iowa DOT has outlaid funding for the project in the department’s five-year budget, and has narrowed down all of the proposed projects to just two. One would take a minimal amount of Cleverley’s land and utilize J-turn intersections, while the other would require more land to construct an overpass. Of the two, Iowa DOT District 1 Engineer Scott Dockstader says the overpass will be safer, though verbal support at the meeting was higher for the J-turn option. After the meeting, Cleverley was not optimistic “I don’t want to make anybody mad, but I think this is just a dog and pony show. I think the DOT is going to do what they want to do. They can say that they’re reactive to public opinion, I’m hesitant to believe that. I’m really cynical when it comes to the DOT having been in a family that’s had to deal with them for so long.” Some commentators at the meeting called for a third option, to make both intersections perpendicular to Iowa Highway 330, rather than the current 70-30 degree intersections. The change would improve visibility, but as Assistant District 1 Engineer Tony Gustafson observed, it doesn’t fix the problem of drivers darting across both lanes of traffic. “We’ve looked at that also, the concern here is with the far side accidents. Folks are going through the first set of lanes and then there’re more severe fatal accidents, serious injury accidents that occurred on the other side of the intersection. Squaring up that intersection does not address just that incident with that accident would improve the sight distance somewhat.” He says, “But we feel one alternative with the J-turn which eliminates people from crossing directly through the median at the intersection and has folks basically do a u-turn or what we call a J-turn is a safer alternative.” Gustafson says the DOT expects a project decision in early July.

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