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Homily (Reflection) for Weekday of the Christmas Season: 04th January on the Gospel
Ps 97:1.7-9. (R. v. 3);
Topic: The gospel chain.
John’s exclamation in today’s gospel led two of his disciples to Jesus. And after spending the rest of the day with Jesus, one of them, Andrew, broke the good news to his brother, Simon Peter and also brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looked at him and said, “‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).”
We see in this gospel what I prefer to call the gospel chain in this homily. John who was sent by God to prepare the way for Him declared according to what he was told, cf. Jn 1:33-34. This declaration in today’s gospel brought Andrew and the other disciples to Jesus. The gospel continued through Andrew to reach Simon Peter. Needless to say that through Simon and other disciples, the gospel continues till today, cf. Rom 10:18.
Each and every one of us is indeed called to call others, cf. Matt 4:19; Mk 1:17. It is therefore not enough that one has received the gospel. The gospel transforms every person that receives it. It is our duty to make the gospel reach more and more people to the glory of God, cf. 2Cor 4:15.
It is important to note that those we bring the gospel to will certainly leave us to follow Christ just as Andrew and the other disciple of John did in today’s gospel. However, He assures us, “whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt 16:25; cf. Mk 8:35. 10:29-30). Again, “...everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God” (Lk 12:8). The gospel demands that Christ must increase, and we must decrease because “No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven” cf. Jn 3: 27,30. Do not allow the gospel to stop with you. Make it reach others through you for the greater glory of God.
Bible Reading: Mk 8:34-38. 10:17-31.
Thought for today: You are called to take the gospel to others.
Let us pray: Lord, help us in our weakness to bring the gospel to everybody – Amen.
You are free to share this reflection with others if you consider it worthy.
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Tips on Getting The Right Software That Fits Your Flight Simulator Hardware If you are one of those aircraft fanatics, you would definitely like to get to another level when it comes to maneuvering those aircrafts.
You probably thought of getting a flight simulator hardware for your gaming system but you are not that sure which software would best fit.
Well, this article would be able to discuss a few pointers regarding finding the right software that could match your flight simulator hardware, or the other way around.
First that you should consider is to know all the features that your software is capable of supporting before you try getting a hardware compatible with that.
Since this is a cheaper option compared to going through training so you could learn how to fly, you shouldn't be spending that much just to get a hardware and a software to make them work together.
It is either you look for a software that you can use for any device or search for a device that is compatible for the software package that you currently have.
You may find a lot of gaming hardware available nowadays, most of these are joysticks, however for flight simulators, they are more often known as yokes, pedals and rudders.
These peripherals allows you to enhance your gaming experience and at the same time lets you understand what real flying is all about.
Not all flight sim software or hardware is made equal so you have to be cautious in purchasing what is right for your whole gaming system.
One of the major flight simulator hardware is the yoke or the joystick and this comes in various sizes as well as types.
Those yokes which are smaller than usual and more sophisticated are found to be expensive ones which more often, only professionals are the ones who purchase them and make use of them.
You can also find throttles, pedals, and switch panels which may be available through different brands such as Saitek, Suncom Technologies, CH Products and other brands.
Aside from these hardware devices, you may also find various software packages available online that would be able to support such gaming devices and it is not that hard to find such software in the market today.
Most of the providers of these software packages have their own website and offers a free course that would only require for you to sign up.
It is better to find a software that is capable of supporting all types of controllers just in case you are not capable of getting other hardware devices for your flight sim aside from your computer's keyboard.
This would assure you that the aircraft simulator that you are getting is worth its value.
Source White Market |
The World of Fine Wine’s new auctions and secondary market correspondent, Chloe Ashton, rounds up the latest news and figures
Could anyone have predicted this? At the time of writing, the World Health Organization had recorded more than 7 million cases of Covid-19 and almost 400,000 deaths. Almost 40 percent of these occurred in the US and UK alone. If I thought the aftermath of new US wine tariffs, Hong Kong riots, and the impending outcomes of Brexit would set a grim scene for my first Liquid Assets article, the reality of the global situation today is infinitely worse.
2019 ended on a difficult note for fine wine, with overall annual losses for Liv-ex indices of 3–4 percent. The Liv-ex 50 index—made up of Bordeaux first growths—saw a bigger dip over the first quarter of 2020, recording a loss of 3 percent between January and March. The Bordeaux-dominant Liv-ex 100 index lost 1 percent, and the Liv-ex 1000 index, 2 percent (fig 1).
Regional indices show Burgundy is the strongest culprit of the latter, its index dropping more steeply than any other fine-wine region since September 2019. In the first quarter of 2020, only the Bordeaux Legends 50 index performs worse, with a loss of 4 percent over the three-month period (compared to Burgundy’s 3 percent drop). In fact, all but two regional indices declined between January and March 2020, and even the exceptions—the Rhône 100 and Italy 100—remained flat (fig 2).
While Burgundy usually reaps the reward of Bordeaux’s losses, both regions ceded market share in the first quarter of 2020. Instead, Italy and the Rest of the World indices have doubled their respective 2019 market shares in 2020 thus far. No doubt propelled by Barolo 2016 and Brunello 2015 campaigns, the former index has risen from 9 percent in 2019, to 15 percent in 2020 (year to date), now matching Burgundy’s share (fig 3).
It is possible that a shift in consumer priorities, brought on by the coronavirus outbreak toward the end of the quarter, has added to regional diversification. Will Hargrove, head of fine wine at Corney & Barrow, tells me, “The virus itself has seen people focus on wine for drinking now (new purchases, as well as deliveries from their own reserves).” Amid a weak secondary market for wine at the higher end, exploration has been a noticeable consumer trend. “People are viewing this as a chance to try things and shop in a more eclectic fashion,” Hargrove explains. He cites two Italian examples—Etna and Barolo—as well as New Zealand and Germany as discovery segments.
A further good news story for 2020 is the retail sector. As bars and restaurants across the world began to close throughout the first quarter, retail sales have surged, with some shops reporting “Christmas-level figures” for March and April. Zachys confirms that “retail business has been very strong,” but adds a caveat: “The biggest change is, while we are selling more bottles, the average order value is lower, which is very reminiscent of 2008.”
Alongside the comforting fact that wine is being bought and enjoyed through the pandemic, fine wine’s global price performance is not so discouraging against the wider backdrop. In April, France’s central bank reported an estimated GDP reduction of 6 percent during the first quarter of 2020—the biggest quarterly contraction since World War II. The stock market, too, bares its own wounds, with the FTSE 100 recording its biggest quarterly fall for more than three decades. While the fine-wine trade remains active, albeit at lower values, the fragile economy is a warning sign of a bumpy road ahead.
Photography courtesy of Sotheby’s, from its London sale on March 18, 2020, lots 137, 170: Château Mouton Rothschild 1982 and 1986. |
Our fantastic Ambassador Paul Rose visited a Naval Corvette being prepared for sinking as an artificial Reef in Madeira recently. When he came back he wrote this article for Sport Diver Magazine that talks about our project:
A SURPRISING WILD PLACE, A WARSHIP FOR SINKING AND NO DIVING!
THE WILD SELVAGENS
Our expedition to the Selvagens Islands was a beautiful surprise. Jacques Cousteau had called the Selvagens waters the “clearest Waters in the world” and as the islands are a protected bird reserve (protecting the world’s largest breeding colony of Cory’s Shearwaters) that extends out to the 200 metre contour line we had a feeling that the marine ecosystem would be in good condition. But this bit of the eastern Atlantic Ocean is a busy place and the Selvagens are only 280 kilometres south of Madeira, 170 kilometres north, of the Canary Islands and are relatively close to coastal developments, busy shipping lanes and commercial fishing areas. They are also easy targets for illegal fishing,
Remarkably the Selvagens waters are absolutely pristine shark numbers are low, but will come back once the area is fully protected. We were overwhelmed by discovering reefs in pristine condition and encountered more diversity in the open waters than we have seen on any previous expedition.
Our drop-cameras recorded incredibly rich and diverse deep life, including small tooth Sand tiger sharks, and we shared our experience with a brydes whale, countless dolphins, massive groupers, marlin, amberjacks, triggers, hogfish, loggerhead turtles and, of course, thousands of beautiful Cory’s Shearwaters.
Two weeks ago I presented our Selvagens scientific report and film in Madeira and Lisbon to the Natural Park authorities, local and national government officials and the Portuguese scientific Community and the press. As ever, it’s a privilege to share the work and know that the future of these amazing islands is in good hands.
A WARSHIP FOR SINKING
To refresh from the formal presentations my good friend Paulo treated me to a visit to the shipyard to see the Joao Countinho, an 84-metre-long, 1,336-tonne naval corvette that is being prepared for sinking as an artificial reef project in Madeira.
The team has only been working for a few months and already all the fuel, oil, paint, batteries and other hazardous items have been removed.
The engines are still in place, but the cylinder heads have been removed and the sumps are open exposing the immaculately cleaned crankshafts. Miles of wiring, cables and pipes have been removed and all of the countless compartments are clean. When we were aboard the team were busy gas-cutting access holes through the overheads and decks to make it safe for divers. She will be towed to Madeira in July for sinking and I’ll be there hoping to be one of the first to dive her.
This is exactly what we need here in the UK and that’s what We are doing with Wreck to Reef. The team in Portland has done fantastic work in getting all of the permissions in place and all we need now is a ship. So if you are well connected in the Navy or have enough money to buy a ship for sinking then please pickup the phone and give me a call!
I’ve spent recent weeks on clifftops filming my new BBC series, the South West Coastal Path. It’s going well. We’re on schedule and having fun. Aside from the walking I’ve been busy shovelling coal on a steam train, tagging cygnets, finding fossils, firing a Tudor Cannon, which was great fun, and a Gulf War howitzer, which was very Sobering.
I still have hang-gliding, the RNLI, Snorkelling, pilchard fishing, rock climbing, tank driving, surf lifesaving, miles of walking and a lot more pasties and wonderful local beer to get through,
A terrific project.
But… can you believe that I won’t be diving? When I am in Portland I have the rare opportunity of Sailing with Paralympic gold medallist Helena Lucas. I can’t resist it and have my fingers crossed for some big winds. However, something has to give and that’s the dive!
The South West Coastal Path goes right along Chess beach and when I get to Chesil Cove I’ll be thinking of my first dive at Easter 1969. As the sea flooded into my homemade wetsuit it
brought with it a sense of life, freedom and opportunity that have never forgotten.
Sport Diver JULY 2016 |
Choose a tab above to find words that begin with that letter.
Or enter the word in the form below. If the word you're looking for cannot be
found it will automatically be suggested to the Glossarymaster (MB) for review and inclusion.
1. in scoring an abbreviation for "even par" or level par (as opposed to - and + scores that represent under or over par, respectively) 2. abbreviation of the word "Equalizer," which is a word substituted for pitching
wedge by the Hogan company (see also this article on names of wedges)
Example: 1. On scoreboards you most commonly see scores with either a minus sign (-), a plus sign (+) or E. 2. Rusty's irons were made by the Hogan company, so he had an Equalizer (which had
an E on the sole) whereas my set had a Pitching Wedge.
a score of 2 under (less than) par for a hole
Example: A hole in one on a par 3 hole is also an eagle.
(usually used in reference to wedges but can pertain to other clubs) the actual bounce that is presented to the ground as differentiated from just the rawbounce angle (which is a
static measurement of the angle of the sole relative to the shaft and a level base); effective bounce consists of things like the sole's depth or thickness (from leading edge to trailing edge), the radius, curve or camber of
the sole, the orientation of the club head and shaft, the angle of approach and, therefore, how high the leading edge is above the ground, as well as the club's static bounce angle
Example: The effective bounce is made up of many variables and is a more accurate indicator of club performance than the bounce angle alone.
the combination of a club's loft angle and face angle (e.g., a driver with 9 degrees of loft and a 2 degree open face has an effective loft of 7 degrees, i.e., when the face is square those two open degrees get subtracted from the loft)
Example: The dymanic loft, effective loft and loft angle may all be different.
(also "8 iron") a short iron with a typical loft of around 37-44 degrees (club specifications can vary between manufacturers)
Example: Mark flushed his eight iron/8 iron and the ball rattled the flag as it slam-dunked into the cup.
(also "plugged, buried") a ball stuck in the ground as a result of its impact
Example: Ernie was able to lift, clean and then drop his embedded/plugged/buried ball without penalty.
(also "butt cap") the top end of the grip, or a plastic cap on wrapped or leather gripped clubs
Example: When a club is in an upright golf bag it is resting on its end cap/butt cap.
in the Rules of Golf-specific sense, considered to be anything used, carried or worn by a player, their partner or caddie(s) except their ball in play and any small object they use to mark their ball; equipment includes carts (motorized or not)
Example: There are many details associated with equipment in the Rules of Golf. Also see Rules of Golf FAQ.
Equitable Stroke Control (ESC)
the "capping" of individual hole scores to make handicaps more indicative of a player's scoring potential (the maximum score that a player can post on any hole is based on the player's Course Handicap - see
Handicaps for more)
Example: Equitable Stroke Control/ESC does not change your actual gross score; just the score you turn in for handicap purposes.
rules of behavior, propriety, decorum, manners, etc.
Example: Observance of the proper golf etiquette is very important to some players.
(also "British ball, small ball, British Open ball") a slightly smaller golf ball (1.62 inches in diameter instead of the standard 1.68 inches) that was common many decades ago, but that has not been allowed by the R & A since 1990
(and has been disallowed from The Open Championship, or British Open, since 1974)
Example: Because the European ball/small ball/British ball/British Open ball was smaller in diameter it probably went a little farther than the standard ball, all else being equal.
(also "even, level, level par") anytime one's score is level with, or equivalent to, par during, or at the conclusion of, a round of golf
Example: Jill was at even par/even/par/level/level par with two holes still to play.
a golf course with very short holes, mostly par 3's and short par 4's, generally thought of as under 5,200 yards for 18 holes and par 65 or less
Example: An executive course, with its short total yardage, can usually be completed in a relatively short period of time.
(also "explosion, blast, blast shot") a shot that removes a large amount of sand or earth in addition to (hopefully) the ball, as might happen from a buried lie in a bunker
Example: A(n) explosion shot/explosion/blast shot/blast into the wind can be unpleasant. |
- Beginning your with tea and low can masks your starvation for a very long time
- This causes calorie deficit and result in overeating later within the day
- Having a wholesome breakfast can improve your metabolic price
Many people can’t do with out our mattress tea or espresso. For some, it’s the solely technique to have a bowel motion in morning. However, as it could have been instructed a number of instances earlier, beginning your day with tea or espresso will not be the very best factor you are able to do in your blood strain, coronary heart price and respiration price to call a number of. In response to nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar, stimulants like tea or espresso (which have caffeine) and cigarettes jolt the system out of slumber. Having them very first thing within the morning could make the physique really feel harassed or kicked, which we frequently mistake for feeling awake.
Beginning your day with tea or espresso: Why it isn’t such an important thought
In her guide Do not Lose Your Thoughts Lose Your Weight, Diwekar mentions that beginning your day with a stimulant like tea, espresso or cigarette makes the physique really feel harassed due to the rise in coronary heart price and respiration price. It responds by hampering fats burning. Within the morning, the guts and respiration charges are at its lowest and that is the reflection of a relaxed way of thinking and physique. To maintain the system relaxed, we have to give it actual meals which is simple on coronary heart, lungs and abdomen too.
Additionally learn: Unable To Fall Asleep? Strive These Teas To Combat Sleeplessness
Dangers related to beginning your day with tea or espresso:
1. Enhance in blood sugar ranges: Stimulants in tea or espresso lead to improve in blood sugar ranges and supply zero vitamin to the cells which were ravenous for the previous 9 to 10 hours or extra (after dinner the earlier night time).
2. It may well masks your starvation: This will likely make you go hungry for a very long time with out realising it. “Going hungry within the morning is a catastrophe for anyone who desires of an attractive physique,” says Diwekar within the guide.
3. Overeating: Going hungry for an extended time frame creates an enormous calorie deficit within the morning after which the physique has no different choice however to overeat later to make up for the deficit.
4. Gradual metabolism: In response to the Mumbai-based nutritionist, individuals who do not feel like consuming something within the morning are victims of a gradual metabolic price and a digestive system which doesn’t operate successfully. “Quite a few research have proven how a hearty, wholesome breakfast can improve our metabolic price. With dawn, the metabolism peaks and the cells demand vitamin. That is the time to eat and eat massive” she provides.
We communicate to nutritionist Nmami Agarwal concerning the negative effects of beginning your day with tea or espresso. She lists the next negative effects:
- It may well set off nausea by disrupting the acid-alkaline steadiness of the physique
- Tannin content material of tea can affect digestion and result in bloating or different disagreeable digestive signs. “While you devour tea with some meals, tannin tends to bind with carb/protein of that meals, thereby minimizing this unfavourable impact,” she provides.
- Tea and low each include important quantities of caffeine and consuming caffeine on an empty abdomen can result in heartburn and acid reflux disease by stimulating the gastric cells to supply extra acid.
Additionally learn: 5 Downsides Of Consuming Tea On An Empty Abdomen
- A cup of tea/ espresso can be dangerous to your tooth enamel and it might probably very effectively result in a gradual erosion of the protecting enamel, resulting in brittle tooth. “Caffeine can be a potent dehydrating agent and extra of water loss can result in muscle cramps, one thing you may not wish to begin the day with,” Agarwal tells DoctorNDTV.
- Tannins current in tea is that it might probably scale back the absorption of iron within the physique particularly when taken on an empty abdomen.
- A cup of tea or espresso may appear to be a soothing treatment for a lot of however over time it might probably result in elevated nervousness and restlessness by disturbing your physique clock
Wholesome methods to begin your day as an alternative of tea or espresso
- If you’re somebody who will not be used to consuming something within the morning, you can begin with a fruit, suggests Diwekar. After that, inside an hour, you possibly can have your normal breakfast choices like parantha, poha, muesli, dosa, idli, upma, roti or sabzi. Ideally, the breakfast needs to be wholesome, selfmade, served sizzling, and wealthy in fibre.
- “As soon as your cells obtain vitamin via meals and the blood sugar involves an optimum degree, be at liberty to have your tea or espresso. The respiration price, coronary heart price, and many others will nonetheless improve, however now your first meal or breakfast will act as buffer,” she explains within the guide.
- Agarwal recommends that it is a good suggestion to exchange your cuppa tea/espresso with some soaked dry fruits or lukewarm water with some added herbs.
(Rujuta Diwekar is a nutritionist primarily based in Mumbai)
(Nmami Agarwal is nutritionist at Nmami Life)
Disclaimer: This content material together with recommendation offers generic info solely. It’s under no circumstances an alternative to certified medical opinion. All the time seek the advice of a specialist or your personal physician for extra info. NDTV doesn’t declare duty for this info. |
Welcome to a series of posts that will inform you of some amazing collaboration tools for your 21st century classroom. These tools promise ease of use, no student log in, and limited teacher set up, allowing for just in time use. After a short read of each post, you will have the ability to use one, or all, of these tools in your next lesson or educator meeting. Before introducing this first tool… I want to thank you for continuing to return and for continuing to share this blog with others. If you haven’t subscribed please take a moment to do so. You can be guaranteed future posts by subscribing by either RSS or email. I also invite you to follow me on Twitter at mjgormans. I really do enjoy networking with all of you! Now… about that first collaborative tool. Have a great week!
Perhaps you are involved with Project Based Learning, have students working on collaborative activities, are creating lessons that demand total class input, are working with other teachers on a project, or are connecting with other classrooms outside of your school, district, state, or country. The ability to create an area that can be shared with others on the web can be so valuable. In fact, sites that allow student access without student sign in may be just what your activity requires. Each one of the tools I will be sharing in the next few weeks are quite different; yet allow for valuable collaboration, contribution, and feedback that will actively engage educators and students. This first one not only allows for collaboration and sharing, but could also be valuable for the display of lessons, meetings, and your own organization.
Linoit is a digital online tool that can serve educators and students in multiple ways. Imagine an electronic classroom display board. One that could leave the classroom and be visible on any computer screen anywhere. Now, dream about the ability to create it in minutes using multi-color post it notes, pictures, drawings, web links, and even videos. Better yet… kids can contribute by being given a URL… no log in needed! Best of all it is fast, easy to use, and dependable. This is just the beginning, because Linoit can be valuable as you plan and organize for your classroom and school needs. Let’s take a look at what makes Linoit so special… and potentially quite valuable.
1. Access from anywhere (even on the road). Discover more including the ability to post a sticky note from a phone. Watch the video!
2. Organize stickies using any visual method. Take a look at organization by color, date, and tags.
3. Free layout of stickies, pictures, and movies. Explore different ways to layout, share, and allow for input.
4. Set due dates on your stickies. Read how these can be broadcast to your phone and calendars.
5. Share files in your posted stickies. View the way this collaboration can occur.
6. Use a bulletin board as a meeting place to share. Find out how entire groups can collaborate.
7. Use from an iPhone or iPad. Learn more about this special app.
8. Easily create your own account. Visit and get started.
Are you interested in classroom integration ideas? I have started my own short list that I thought I would share. Remember this tool allows you to use your own creativity in ways that might promote past lessons or perhaps engage you and your students in new unexplored activities. As you learn more and reflect, please feel free to share your ideas via feedback to this post or by email.
Fifty Ways To Integrate Linoit In The Classroom
1. Brainstorming a concept… 2. Classifying objects in a lesson… 3. Comparing and contrasting an idea (colors or sides of page)… 4. Sharing and building a web link collection… 5. Developing a character in a novel… 6. Listing properties of traits… 7. Setting up a group project (Do not use full names)… 8. Posting a nightly question looking for feedback from home… 9. Picture sharing wall on a subject or area… 10. A wall of questions that students may have… 11. A project or assignment board… 12. Get feedback from students or the world (Posting a Board URL on Twitter can get feedback from many people)… 13. Reviews of a book… 14. Feedback on Peer Presentations (Note rules of naming and digital citizenship)… 15. Suggestion Box… 16. A Resource Wall for a unit of study… 17. Vocabulary Listing (could even have students add pictures)… 18. Pros and cons of a subjects or idea… 19. Quiz and test question prompts… 20. Student project posting… 21. Essential or Driving Question posting with reflection allowed… 22. Socratic Seminar points… 23. Calendar for project with posted reminders… 24. Web Quest board… 25. Student theme based board… 26. Story and sentence starters… 27. Grammar/Vocab correction boards (Teacher posts incorrect and students post corrections)… 28. Board of debate stances on a certain topic… 29. Pictures posted to provoke thought… 30. Entry board for Project Based Learning… 31. Community connection board for project… 32. Story builder with sequence of pictures… 33. Website review… 34. Data collection board… 35. Field trip posts from mobile devices 36. Assignments for a differentiated classroom by group or task… 37. Focus on writing short to the point sentences (Since stickies have a character limit)… 38. Collaborative note taking… 39. Short poems and even include pictures… 40. Student organizer… 41. A collaborative story… 42. Student postings of concepts and vocabulary not understood… 43. Listings in categories of parts or speech and word types such as synonyms… 44. Listing of phrases such as idioms 45. Links to student work… 46. Links to resources… 47. A student multimedia project posted on a board using links, pictures, videos… 48. Movable stickies (rank order, match, timeline)… 49. Web and Mindmapping… 50. Portfolios.
Remember that Linoit can be used by groups of students, individuals, or as a classroom lesson tool. I hope you enjoyed looking over these fifty classroom integration ideas and I am sure you can think of countless other ways to use Linoit in your own preparation and organization. Remember… it can also be used in teacher meetings, collaboration, and planning sessions. Be sure to further explore Linoit by navigating to the Facts Page and clicking on left navigation links. Here you will discover such topics as How to use lino safely?, About “Groups”, and important lino tips . As in using any Web 2.0 tool make sure you read through your own district and school AUP before using. Remind students about proper digital citizenship which includes proper posting and not releasing personal information regarding themselves or others. I know as you begin to use Linoit you will find yourself sticking with wonderful ways of incorporating the use of its stickies in your classroom and school!
Well, there you have it… the first in a series dedicated to online digital collaboration tools. Now is the time to engage in some networking! Please continue to join me as I expound on other ways you can promote collaboration and other 21st century skills. But that’s not all… future posts will also contain resources on Digital Curriculum, evaluating web resources, Project Based Learning, STEM, Web 2.0, and so much more on 21st Century Learning. Please take a moment to subscribe by RSS or email! Your subscription means a lot to me and I thank you in advance. You can also give this article a retweet if you scroll to the bottom! It’s a great way to spread the word and I appreciate your support. Remember to follow me on Twitter at mjgormans. Thanks, and until next time… find a way to get your classroom to stick together in their digital collaboration efforts. Have a great week! – Mike |
Things to Do in Alberta
The glacier-fed Lake Minnewanka lies just minutes from the town of Banff, and the sight of the Canadian Rockies jutting straight up out of the 17-mile-long body of water proves breathtaking. Lake Minnewanka is the perfect location to begin exploring the wilderness protected by both Banff National Park and the larger Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage site.
Cruises operate around the lake during the summer, but there are plenty of other ways to get out on the water. Minnewanka is the only lake in the Banff area to allow privately operated motorboats, and there are 16-foot aluminum boats available for rental as well. For a more authentic adventure, canoe rentals provide the opportunity to explore for a day or more, as several backcountry campgrounds are located around the lake. Setting out on the area’s trails is definitely worth the effort, too, even if it’s only to complete the two-mile stroll to the Stewart Canyon Bridge that spans the Cascade River.
A natural geological feature measuring more than 160 feet high (50 meters), Maligne Canyon is one of the deepest river canyons in the Canadian Rockies and a popular destination in Jasper National Park for both sightseeing and exploration. A striking geologic formation, Maligne Canyon is a classic example of karst topography, which occurs when water carves out bedrock, creating a deep canyon with smooth walls.
The parks service has created a self-guided trail, which describes the geological history of the area; several bridges span the gorge, allowing for spectacular views of the canyon. For a more interactive view of crystal pools, waterfalls, bubbles from underground lakes and more, take the short loop that tours the upper reaches of the canyon or the longer loop that follow the gorge and exits at a fifth and sixth bridge at a lower point. In the winter, join a tour company for a guided walk down into the canyon or try ice climbing.
The Jasper SkyTram (formerly Jasper Tramway) is the longest—and highest—aerial tramway in Canada. Built in 1964, the Tram begins at 4,279 ft (1,304 m) above sea level and transports guests to 7,472 ft (2,277 m) above sea level in an enclosed tram compartment in seven minutes. The SkyTram rises above Whistlers Mountain and provides expansive views of lakes, six mountain ranges, the town of Jasper and Alberta’s longest river, the Athabasca.
A guide answers questions and points out areas of interest, animal life and history of the area during the Jasper SkyTram tour. After reaching the top, guests can stroll boardwalks to view wildlife. Alpine inhabitants include the whistling hoary marmot, white-tailed ptarmigan, ground squirrels, pikas and the occasional bighorn sheep. There are also hiking trails to the summit of Whistlers Mountain for those wanting more of a challenge.
Bow Falls are located on the Bow River in Alberta’s Banff National Park, within walking distance of the Banff Springs Hotel. The short, wide, cascading falls are a popular sightseeing stop, likely because of how accessible the natural destination is - the falls can be easily enjoyed by people of all abilities and all ages. Trails for pedestrians and for cyclists wind along the south shore of the Bow River and its rapids, and the pedestrian trail climbs up to the clifftop where the falls begin. (Bicycles aren’t allowed at the top.) The viewing areas at Bow Falls offer vistas of the river and the falls themselves. A cement promenade located at the base of the cascading falls has a few benches to sit on, though most people sit on the ledge of the promenade and enjoy the views from there. At the far end of the promenade is a small sandy beach where rafting and kayak tours often begin.
Calgary Tower is a city landmark, teetering over the city’s downtown skyscrapers since 1968.
Atop the tower’s shaft you’ll find ‘the pod’, home to an observation deck and revolving restaurant. From here you have stunning views over the city, all the way to the snow-capped mountains fringing the horizon.
Peer through the binoculars on the observation deck, walk out on the glass floor rimming the edge of the observation deck if you dare, and dine in the revolving restaurant, Sky 360.
During special events, the Winter Olympics cauldron on the tower’s summit is lit, re-creating the Games magic.
What begins as a drip of water from the melting Bow Glacier turns into the stunningly beautiful Bow River, which flows slowly and steadily through the Rockies in Canada’s oldest national park. The river also flows through Banff, Canmore and Calgary, making it a constant presence on any journey through southern Alberta.
The best way to appreciate the beauty of Bow River is by heading out on the wheelchair-friendly walking and cycling path in downtown Banff to complete the short trip to Bow Falls. Countless picnic tables and park benches make Bow Falls an ideal lunch spot, and float trips, in giant inflatable rafts, begin right at the base of the falls, too. Both wildlife and wildflowers are often seen along the river, where canoe trips are popular. The river is divided into three half-day canoeing sections, all of which require intermediate experience: Lake Louise to Castle Junction, Castle Junction to Banff and Bow Falls to Canmore.
Originally called Banff Hot Springs Reserve, Cave and Basin National Historic Site was the birthplace of both Banff National Park and the entire Canadian National Parks system. Today, 43 national parks, 167 historic sites, four marine parks and one national urban park (which make up the largest network of protected lands in the world), can trace their roots back to these warm mineral waters in Banff, Alberta. Reopened in 2013 after a three-year renovation project, Cave and Basin is now home to an interpretive museum and a boardwalk hike past countless thermal pools, but the short walk down a stone tunnel into the large hot spring cave remains the most spectacular attraction. A waterfall pours down from the ceiling, filling the jade-green hot spring. The setting is so beautiful that it isn’t hard to believe that when three Canadian Pacific Railway workers discovered the springs, they immediately laid claim to the land and saw its potential as a major tourism draw.
More Things to Do in Alberta
It’s true – the views from atop Sulphur Mountain really are spectacular, and riding the Banff Gondola is the most fun way to get there.
From the fully enclosed glass gondola, you’ll see six mountain ranges, the town of Banff and the immense river valley. At the summit, stand on top of the world at the Upper Terminal and follow the self-guided Banff Skywalk along the summit ridge.
Hike the South East Ridge Trail, or visit the summit’s historic buildings, including a meteorological station and interactive giant compass. Dinner at the summit is an amazing experience, with views of Banff’s twinkling lights and snow-capped peaks.
Billing itself as the greatest outdoor show on earth, you can expect something special at the Calgary Stampede. And with everything you’ve come to love about rodeos, state fairs, grandstands, concerts and carousels, something special is what you get. Every year since 1923, this ten day event annually attracts more than a million people who come to see what happens when you offer the biggest payouts to rodeo contestants and marry it with chuckwagon races, blacksmithing competitions, midway, markets, dancing, singing, and a heavy native people’s participation. It’s an event of grand scale that kicks off with an opening parade featuring dozens of marching bands, over 150 floats, clowns, dancers, politicians and business leaders. It’s extravagant, beautiful, dusty, and it smells like funnel cake and horses – in short, it’s the defining event of Calgary, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Heritage Park is a historical village in Calgary that showcases the history of Western Canada from 1860 to 1950. It is Canada’s largest living museum, divided into four areas that each represents a different period of time.
Some of the area historic buildings still stand, while others have been brought in and restored. Traditional schools, homes, and saloons of the past give a sense of what life was like in each era. The park’s staff stands dressed in period costume, while horse.and carriage or vintage automobiles roam the streets. Other historic working artifacts of make history come to life. Interactive areas demonstrate the evolution of Canada’s industries, including fur trading, the Prairie Railroad, and the era of the automobile. Available activities include riding an authentic steam train or making your own old-fashioned ice cream. Visitors experience the history of Canada as it comes to life in nearly 200 available exhibits.
Visit the spot where Calgary was born at Fort Calgary, and explore the city’s formative years from 1875 to 1914. A wooden fort was built here by the North West Mounted Police in 1875, and today, the legacy of those times is re-created with interactive exhibits, replica barracks, guided tours and an interpretive center. Dine in the former home of a Canadian Mountie, try on an authentic Mountie uniform and explore the fort’s extensive riverside grounds surrounding the meeting point of the Elbow and Bow rivers.
Ski down true Olympics-standard ski runs and ride a bobsled on an actual Winter Games track at Canada Olympic Park, the main focus for events during the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Divided into winter and summer activities, choose from summertime mountain-biking and incredible winter snowboarding and cross-country skiing without having to drive to the mountains. Other adrenaline-fueled activities include wall climbing, bungy jumping, ziplines and zorbing. More sedate pursuits include mini golf, views from the Ski Jump Tower observation deck and tours of this activity-filled complex.
Jasper National Park is home to stunning scenery, incredible wildlife and of course, breathtaking skies. Travelers can get a unique perspective on the heavens during a visit to the Jasper Planetarium, where constellations and evening stars are on display above comfortable seats. An informative guide leads travelers on a tour of the Milky Way and solar system, while describing the wonder of the Northern Lights. After taking in stunning projections on the planetarium ceiling, travelers can peek into the largest telescope in the Rockies for a real-life look at the stars. Staff are happy to provide photography tips to insure the best possible photos of evening skies are captured.
Things to do near Alberta
- Things to do in Banff
- Things to do in Calgary
- Things to do in Edmonton
- Things to do in British Columbia
- Things to do in Washington
- Things to do in Wyoming
- Things to do in Whistler
- Things to do in Vancouver
- Things to do in Sunshine Coast
- Things to do in Victoria
- Things to do in Oregon
- Things to do in Manitoba
- Things to do in Utah
- Things to do in Nevada
- Things to do in Colorado |
Chris's dedication to his business really paid off in 2006 when a Douglass Fir from his farm was chosen to be the White House Christmas Tree, back when President Bush was still in office.
Only 5 tree farms in the country have ever been tapped more than once for this honor and there has never been a repeat winner in Pennsylvania until now.
For the 2nd time in 4 years the Christmas tree adorning the Blue Room inside the White House will come from Crystal Spring.
"From our little piece of Carbon County here it's a big honor it's a great honor."
Now, just because this farm has been selected to provide the White House Christmas tree doesn't mean the actually tree has already been chosen.
You see, the tree that was cut and submitted for the nationwide White House Tree competition would never survive until December. So, in three weeks White House officials will descend upon Mahoning Township to pick the perfect evergreen. The only unbendable rule is that it has to be 18 1/2 feet.
Chris says he's not sure which one they will pick but he says he has at least one perfectly sized and shaped Douglass Fir that will certainly be in the running.
Once the tree is delivered to the nation's capitol Chris and his family will once again have the honor of meeting the President of the United States and the First Lady.
Chris takes a lot of pride in knowing that when he's shaking hands with President and Mrs. Obama it'll be the result of a whole lot of hard work. |
Of what confidence there is in institutions, the military and small business are at the top in an Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll released Thursday. But even they get very-confident or better ratings from well under half the people.
Blogs, banks and Congress get the most distrust.
What would people change if they were in charge? The poll found growing sentiment for legal protections for same-sex couples, with 58 percent saying they should have the same government benefits as married heterosexuals and nearly as many backing federal recognition of gay marriage. Respondents overwhelmingly opposed a stronger federal hand in two other areas: enhancing presidential powers to bolster the economy and requiring people to buy health insurance, as this year's health care overhaul law does.
Out of 18 fixtures on the American scene, none won the strong faith of even half the country. The military did best with 43 percent saying they are extremely or very confident in it, and small business and science were the only others to garner solid trust from at least 3 in 10 people.
On the flip side, 54 percent said they have little or no confidence in blogs and other citizen media, 52 percent said the same about banks and financial firms and 49 percent said so about Congress.
The survey, conducted last month, conforms with others detecting a general glumness as this fall's congressional elections approach. While analysts say the discontent is largely fed by the prolonged economic downturn, the AP-NCC poll suggests a broader angst, with public confidence lagging in many of society's pillars.
"Does anybody have common sense anymore?" said Rosanne Favaloro, 53, of Lebanon, Pa. "Is anybody worried about the middle-class family anymore? I wonder."
Asked about their trust in people running major institutions, 39 percent said they are extremely or very confident in small and local business leaders, close to the military's mark. Then came the scientific community at 30 percent. Organized religion was next at 18 percent.
On the other extreme, about one in four said they have absolutely no confidence in Congress, banks, the federal government, blogs and organized labor.
Republicans most trust the military, followed by small business and religion. Democrats prefer science, small business, then the military. Just one in five Republicans expressed strong confidence in science, about the same proportion of Democrats who said so about religion.
Only 10 percent of Republicans expressed strong confidence in state governments, despite frequent GOP demands that Washington cede more power to the states.
Just 10 percent of Democrats voiced strong trust in Congress, even though their party controls it.
The print and broadcast media were strongly trusted by just 13 percent, only slightly more than the 8 percent with faith in blogs. Those under age 30 were far likelier than older people to voice confidence in what they read.
Other polls have shown a steady decline in recent years in the confidence that people have in major institutions. The new survey found a souring sense of how well the government is meeting six broad goals set by the preamble to the Constitution.
The government got positive scores in three areas: making sure that people can pursue happiness, that they feel safe and free and that they are shielded from foreign and domestic threats. But most said the government is doing a poor job of helping everyone and not just special interests. They were about evenly split over whether the government is making America a better place and making sure all are treated equally.
The grades for each have worsened since the AP-NCC poll of 2008.
For five of the six goals, fewer said the government is doing a very good job than said so in 2008, while the number saying it is doing very poorly remained stable or grew worse in every case. Democrats, minorities and people under age 30 generally have brighter views.
"Nothing is guaranteed, but all that hope that I can be more than my parents are is still there," said Brian Durham, 20, a college student in Bloomington, Ind.
Three-fourths called the Constitution enduring and not outdated. Most said that laws should be followed even when there is a short-term public safety risk, and that a minority's rights should be protected from pure majority rule.
"Americans appear to be saying that our institutions are getting it wrong, but these values remain increasingly important," said David Eisner, the constitution center's chief executive officer.
Most also said that judges should interpret laws broadly and that Supreme Court justices' decisions are influenced by their political views.
The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that operates a Philadelphia museum and other educational programs about the Constitution.
The AP-NCC Poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications from Aug. 11-16, using landline and cell phone interviews with 1,007 randomly chosen adults. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
AP Polling Director Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report. |
Debt can affect anyone at any age. Whether you are fresh out of college or close to retirement, you may have debt in some shape or form.
"Good Morning America" is highlighting inspiring individuals who became debt free at various stages of their lives with "GMA’s Ultimate Debt Diet: Debt Free At Any Age.”
A mom who successfully eliminated thousands of dollars of her own debt is sharing her strategy for getting your finances in order.
Kumiko Love wasn't always good with money. But as the 33-year-old mother embarked on a career as a financial counselor, she learned valuable information that she has shared with 1.5 million followers on her blog, "The Budget Mom.".
"I really want to teach my readers [they can] have this life they truly love, but living in a way where it's not putting them in debt," Love told "Good Morning America." "It's about showing what that looks like in a real person's life, which is why I share my real numbers with my readers."
Love posted her budgeting method on her site, where it's been shared 141,000 times.
Here are Love's tips, reprinted in part, with her permission.
The Budgeting Method That Changed My Life
"My budgeting process incorporates three different methods -- the Calendar Method, the Paycheck Method and the Cash Envelope System," Love writes on thebudgetmom.com.
"Trust me, no one in the world had printables or worksheets that incorporated all three of these methods into one system or template. So, I decided to design my own."
"I am a firm believer that my budgeting method can work for anyone, no matter their income size or schedule. As long as you put in the work to make it personal and realistic to your own life, there is no doubt in my mind that you can be successful."
1. The Calendar Method
You first must identify the regular bills you're responsible for. These bills are usually around the same amount every month. For example, rent, student loan payment, gym membership, etc.
Using a calendar, Love designates dates for expenses and the amount due for each. She also writes down the calendar dates when she gets paid.
Love is a paycheck budgeter, which means she creates a budget everytime she's paid.
"It's a matter of writing down all my regular bills -- my monthly bills first," Love said in her Youtube tutorial. "Then what I do is I assign which bills I want to pay with what paycheck."
Love also uses the calender to identify pop-up expenses for birthdays and holidays.
She color code matches each bill to a specific paycheck from which the money will come to pay it.
Love says the calendar method is a trial and error method to figure out the best way to pay your bills.
2. Paycheck Method
Before you budget, you must know where your money is going.
"[R]evealing the ugly truth about your spending can be scary, and you might not even want to know the truth. But if you don’t face it head on, you will never make any progress with your finances," she writes on thebudgetmom.com.
"First comes awareness, and then comes progress."
Keep track of every dollar by reviewing past bank statements and start categorizing your spending. Once you're aware of your expenses, you can start budging with Love's paycheck bill tracker (see explanation on template here).
The bill tracker was designed to create a zero-based budget. A zero-based budget simply means your income minus expenses, equals zero.
"Zero based budget is to create a plan for every dollar," Love told "GMA." "So every dollar [you] make is being used for a place in your budget. If it already has a place, then we get rid of mindless spending."
Love has two bill trackers for each month -- one for the paycheck she receives on the 5th of the month, and another for the paycheck she receives on the 20th.
The printouts show her monthly bills, the budget for each and what she actually pays. There are also columns indicting amounts in her cash envelopes, savings plans for holiday spending and extra debt she needs to pay off.
Love shares a detailed walk-through on Youtube explaining how she uses the bill tracker sheet.
3. Cash Envelope System
Once your necessary bills are accounted for on your calendar, it's time to figure out and budget all your other monthly expenses.
These are what Love calls "variable bills" and they're separate from priority bills like rent and electric.
Variable bills are not set in stone.
"For example, one month you might spend $30 on clothes, the next month you might spend $400," Love writes on her blog. "You have complete control over how much you spend on these items."
Examples of variable expenses include:
Once you've determined which categories in your budget are variable expenses, then set a limit for each. Look at your past spending trends and decide how much money you'd like allotted to each category.
"Remember, you will probably tweak these limits as you go, and you should be updating or looking at these limits every time you update your budget," Love explains.
Let's say you spent $700 on food last month -- for groceries and eating out. From there, start tackling what you want to spend and slowly make realistic decreases.
Decrease that $700 by $50, making it $650 a month for food.
"If you can reach that goal, if you can stick to that, then decrease it another 50," Love tells "GMA." "Don't decrease it too much where you keep failing, get frustrated and stop."
By using cash, this limits your debit and credit card use, so you're not putting yourself in more debt when paying for variable expenses, she noted.
Love said it's also important to track your ever-increasing net worth to make sure you're making progress throughout your budgeting journey.
In other words, you shouldn't be increasing your lifestyle costs whenever your income increases.
This way, "you'll truly have the extra income to throw at financial goals," Love said.
Through her budgeting methods, Love met her goal of ditching $77,000 in debt which included $32,000 in student loans, a $16,000 car loan and some credit card debt.
Your own goals can be written in the "extra savings" column of the paycheck bill tracker. Love has heard from readers saving for big parties, car maintenance funds, a pet adoption or for annual property taxes.
Once you track your spending, plan your calendar and budget your paycheck, you can hone in on bigger financial goals. |
Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah : Lesson 12
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
The Third Treatise :
Al-Haneefiyyah (The Straight and True Religion), the Religious Way Followed by Ibraaheem
The Definition of Al-Haneefiyyah
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
إنَّ الحنيفيةَ: مِلَّةُ إبراهيمَ
That Al-Haneefiyyah (The straight and true religion) the religious way followed by Ibraaheem13
: Shaykh Fawzan’s Explanation
His saying, “That Al-Haneefiyyah the religious way followed by Ibraaheem”: meaning that which is obligatory that you should know and be aware of is that Al-Haneefiyyah is the religious way of Ibraaheem, and Al-Hanf in the language means inclination.
So the meaning of Al-Haneefiyyah is the religious way which turns away from shirk towards tawheed. And Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaatu wassalaam was a Haneef, a Muslim. Haneef meaning one who inclined away from shirk and turned away from it towards tawheed and making his religion purely and sincerely for Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. He the Most High said:
إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ كَانَ أُمَّةً قَانِتًا لِّلَّهِ حَنِيفًا وَلَمْ يَكُ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
Ibraaheem was an Ummah (a teacher of good, and a leader followed upon guidance), obedient to Allaah, Haneef (upright upon the true religion of Islaam), and he was not from those who associate others with Allaah [16:120]
So al-Haneef was one of the attributes of Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaam with the meaning that he turned away from shirk and inclined away from it totally in favour of tawheed, turning totally towards tawheed and making worship purely for Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. Allaah the Most High said:
ثُمَّ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ أَنِ اتَّبِعْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا
Then we revealed to you that you should follow the religious way of Ibraaheem the Haneef (the one who was upon the true religion, tawheed turning away from shirk). [16:123]
And He the One free of all imperfections said:
مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلَا نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَٰكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
Ibraaheem was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but rather he was a Haneef, a Muslim, and he was not from those who associated others with Allaah [3:67]
These are the tremendous characteristics of Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaam, from them is that he was Haneef, and that his religious way is Haneefiyyah, and it is the religion which is purely and sincerely for Allaah the Mighty and Majestic which has no shirk in it. And Allaah commanded His Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam that he should follow this religious way by His saying:
ثُمَّ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ أَنِ اتَّبِعْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا ۖ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
Then We revealed to you that you should follow the religious way of Ibraaheem who was Haneef, and he was not from those who associated others with Allaah. [16:123]
And we have been commanded likewise that we should follow the religious way of Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaam. He the Most High said:
هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ ۚ مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ۚ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
He has chosen you for His religion, and He has not placed any unbearable difficulty upon you in the religion. So follow the religious way of your forefather Ibraaheem. Allaah it is who has named you the Muslims [22:78]
And it was the religion of all of the Messengers.
However because of the fact that Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaatu wassalaam is the most excellent one of the Prophets after our Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam because he encountered in the path of calling to tawheed such torment and trials as were not encountered by anyone else, and he had patience upon that. And because he was the father of the Prophets, because the Prophets who came after him, all of them were descendants of his ‘alaihissalaatu wassalaam. So therefore Al-Haneefiyyah was the religious way of all of the Prophets and it is the call to tawheed and the prohibition of shirk this was the religious way of all of the Messengers. However because Ibraaheem took notable stances for this religious way, it was ascribed to him and for those who came after him. And the Prophets all of them after him, they were upon the religious way of Ibraaheem, and it is the religion of tawheed and ikhlaas making the religion purely and sincerely for Allaah the Mighty and Majestic.
What is this religious way which our Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam was commanded to follow, and which we have been ordered to follow? It is obligatory upon us that we should be aware of it, because the Muslim, it is obligatory that he should be aware of whatever Allaah has made obligatory upon him, so that he can comply with it, and in order that he will not violate it. It is not sufficient to merely ascribe oneself to it without awareness, it is not sufficient to ascribe oneself to Islaam when he does not know what it is, and he does not know what are those things which nullify Islaam, and what are the religious duties of Islaam and the rulings of Islaam, and it is not sufficient to merely ascribe yourself to the religious way of Ibraaheem and you do not know what it is, and if you are asked about it you say, “I don’t know”. This is not permissible, it is obligatory that you are well aware of it so that you can proceed upon it upon clear insight and so that you do not violate anything from it.
Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (rahimahullaah) said:
أنْ تعبدَ اللهَ وحدَهُ مخلصًا له الدِّين
Is that you worship Allaah alone, making the religion purely and sincerely for Him14
: Shaykh Fawzan’s Explanation
His saying, “Is that you worship Allaah alone, making the religion purely and sincerely for Him”: this is the religious way of Ibraaheem, that you worship Allaah making the religion purely and sincerely for Him. That you combine two matters: worship and making the worship purely for Allaah. So whoever worships Allaah but does not make the whole of religion purely for Him, then his worship will be nothing at all. So whoever worships Allaah and fasts and performs the Hajj (pilgrimage) and prays and performs ‘Umrah, and gives in voluntary charity and pays the Zakaat and does a great number of acts of obedience, however he does not do so making it purely and sincerely for Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, either because he does that for show or for repute, or because he mixed his deeds with something from shirk, such as calling upon other that Allaah, and calling for aid upon other than Allaah, and slaughtering for other than Allaah, then this person will not be mukhlis one who is acting purely and sincerely for Allaah in his worship, rather he will be a mushrik, and he will not be upon the religious way of Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaatu wassalaam.
Many of those who ascribe themselves to Islaam today fall into major shirk, into calling upon other than Allaah and worshipping the graves and the tombs and sacrificing for them and performing vows for them and making tawaaf around them and seeking blessing from them and calling for aid to the dead and other than that, and they say that they are Muslims. Those people do not know the religious way of Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaatu wassalaam which their Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam was upon, they do not know of it or they know of it but then contradict it knowingly, and Allaah’s refuge is sought, and this is even worse.
So the religious way of Ibraheem does not accept shirk in any form and whoever mixes his actions with shirk then he is not upon the religious way of Ibraaheem, even if he ascribes himself to it and claims that he is a Muslim. So what is obligatory is that you should have awareness of the religious way of Ibraaheem and that you act upon it and that you adhere to it by worshipping Allaah making the whole of the religion purely and sincerely for Him, that there is not in your worship anything from lesser shirk or greater shirk.
This is the religious way of Ibraaheem ‘alaihissalaam: Al-Haneefiyyah, which turns away from shirk totally and turns to tawheed totally, that you worship Allaah making the religion purely and sincerely for Him.
Sharh-ul-Usool-ith-Thalaathah. Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles of Imaam Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab by Shaykh Saalih ibn Fowzaan al-Fowzaan hafizahullaah. Translated by Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah
Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah
Listen to the Full Audio Series:
Sharh Usool-ith-Thalaathah – Shaykh Fawzan | Dawud Burbank |
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I argue that an analysis of Buddhist meditation theory and practice may be used to ground a model of the possibility of free agency that stands up against four powerful arguments for free will skepticism in contemporary analytic philosophy: Peter van Inwagen’s consequence argument, which asserts that if choices are lawfully necessary consequences of prior events, then they are unfree; Derk Pereboom’s two arguments for hard incompatibilism: the manipulation argument, which asserts that manipulated choices are unfree, determinism is functionally equivalent to manipulation, and thus determined choices are unfree; and the randomness argument, which asserts that we cannot claim authorship over random neural events; and Galen Strawson’s impossibility argument, which asserts that choices are always conditioned by mental states, so unconditioned free will is impossible. Although Buddhism sees the entire process that begins with beliefs and desires and culminates in actions as an ultimately impersonal, agentless process, Buddhism is nonetheless capable of formulating the diametrical opposite of Strawson’s impossibilism and Pereboom’s hard incompatibilism, what I call possibilism or soft compatibilism, the view that free choices and actions can emerge from conditioned or unconditioned mental states, independently of whether the world is deterministic. This is not to suggest that Buddhism contains or endorses a theory of free will, but that Buddhism may formulate such a theory.
Repetti, Rick, "Buddhist Meditation and the Possibility of Free Will" (2015). CUNY Academic Works. |
What is the rarest book in the world?
10 of the Most Rare Books of All Time
- Shakespeare’s First Folio.
- The Gutenberg Bible.
- The Birds of America.
- The Codex of Leicester.
- Don Quixote.
- Tamerlane and Other Poems.
- Ptolemy’s Geographia Cosmographia.
- On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.
What is the most expensive rare book?
The Codex of Leicester
Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex of Leicester, also known as the Codex Hammer, is the most expensive book ever sold.18 мая 2020 г.
What books are worth a lot of money?
20 Iconic Books You Probably Own That Are Now Worth A LOT Of Money!
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), J.K. Rowling.
- The Cat in the Hat (1957) Dr. …
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Arthur Conan Doyle.
- The Bible (1600 – 1630)
- The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book (1894-1895) Rudyard Kipling:
What is the rarest Bible?
the Gutenberg Bible
What is the most selling book of all time?
How much is a Bible worth from the 1800’s?
Value: The value of an old leather Bible in very good condition with no family records or other factors that would increase its value might be worth about $10 to $20 dollars. If the Bible contains family records, or other important factors it could be worth from $20 up to a large amount.
What is the oldest book ever written?
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Will books die out?
Books themselves, however, likely won’t disappear entirely, at least not anytime soon. Like woodblock printing, hand-processed film and folk weaving, printed pages may assume an artisanal or aesthetic value. … “I think there will come a point where print just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Who owns the most expensive book in the world?
Today, Christie’s New York will auction off a copy of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, which already holds the title of most valuable printed book in the world, having sold for about $11.5 million in 2010.
How do I know if my book is worth money?
The easiest way to know how much your copy of a book is worth on the open market is to check on how much similar copies are currently being offered for. Fill out this form with enough information to get a list of comparable copies. You probably don’t need to include every word of the title and author’s name.
How do I know if my Harry Potter book is worth money?
First editions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets usually have the Smarties sticker/logo on the front, so that should be fine. The date of copyright should be 1998, the publisher Bloomsbury, and the number line counting down to 1, and only hardback copies of this book have collectible value.
What old stuff is worth money?
So to help you along, here are 15 old things in your house that could be worth a fortune.
- DAVID BOWIE’S DIAMOND DOGS VINYL. …
- RETRO VIDEO GAMES. …
- ANYTHING POLLY POCKET. …
- VINTAGE COMICS THAT INSPIRED TODAY’S MOVIES AND TV SHOWS. …
- VINTAGE ADVERTISING SIGNS. …
- BOY SCOUT MEMORABILIA. …
- POKÉMON CARDS. …
- KANSAS QUARTERS.
How much is a 100 year old Bible worth?
Those are worth between $100 and $300. Incidentally, if you have one of these, and it’s a family Bible you want to preserve, but the spine is broken, or the covers are falling off, you can have them fixed, but it’ll cost a couple hundred dollars.
Why do Bibles have gold pages?
It’s assumed a bible is read on a daily basis so it’s a heavy use book but made with thin pages in order to keep the size down. The gold edges look nice and maintain the bible’s life. Since Bible paper is usually very thin, the gilt edging protects the paper from humidity. |
Just to recap (though it may assist you if you read this and the next couple of episodes by starting from the previous blog), the God-fearing young farm worker John Foster, a one-time neighbour o’mine, swallowed poison from his wife during dinner on Tuesday night November 17, 1846. Within minutes he was sick as a dog in the yard. After a night of agonising pain he died the next afternoon at around 4pm in a downstairs room at his mother in law’s tenement cottage where he had gone to live after his marriage just three weeks before.
The village did not waste much time. On Saturday, that is to say just four days after the fatal suet pudding had touched his lips, John’s inquest got under way. A jury — it had to be comprised of at least a dozen local men — was sworn in. Its role was to decide the cause of death — and like a grand jury, to hand down indictments.
Inquests were almost always held in local pubs — a big table for the body, which was usually on show in an open coffin, spare room for a jury to be sequestered, plenty of chairs for the crowds — and inquests did attract crowds.
First job for any jury was gruesome; they were made to look closely at the body. Whether on this occasion John had indeed been moved the few yards to The Crown Inn from where he had died, or whether the jury traipsed along the lane to peer and poke at the corpse still at home is not known. What is recorded however in very great detail is the testimony of all the witnesses and the summing-up of the coroner. The coroner was a man named Harry Wayman, a solicitor from the nearby town of Bury St Edmunds. Being coroner ran in the Wayman family, as his dad had gained local fame by supervising the inquest 20 years before of molecatcher’s daughter Maria Marten in the infamous ‘Murder in the Red Barn’ — a crime which so grabbed the national public imagination that you could buy china ornaments to remind you of it…
A coroner was required to call a local surgeon as an expert witness where there was no obvious external cause of death. This was so that the doctor could say as they almost always did, that he believed it to be a death from natural causes. The local doctor Mr Jones was called and must have said enough to the contrary to make the coroner adjourn the inquest and instruct the policeman present to “take in charge” young Mrs Foster, while Jones did a post mortem.
On the following Friday the jury was called back to The Crown Inn. Three medical men all agreed that they had found arsenic. Their evidence — that Foster could not have been poisoned before dinner and then ate that meal, as the onset of symptoms is very quick — piled the case up against his wife. Nevertheless her little brother was brought back to say again that there was only ever one suet pudding and everybody ate the same pudding. By the way, this eight-year old was left all through that fateful morning with the dying Foster, while his mother went to the local town on an ‘errand’ and his sister took a couple of hours to visit the same doctor Jones a mile away to get a remedy for her husband. Were they accomplices and had they found excuses to be out of the house while John’s last agonies tore at their Christian consciences over what they had done?
Next: The trial |
Though it’s by no means the full story — to find that you might want go to my book, An Infinite Deal Of Nothing — and it does not even reveal the name of the man who was actually guilty of the biggest con tricks in history, it’s good to see that a part of the story of the Great Diamond Scandal that was known back in 1872 is remembered here for the anniversary of its discovery. So here’s a shameless plug for the book…
An Infinite Deal of Nothing
A desert full of diamonds; a mine filled with silver; a story full of lies
In just one year in the 1870s newspaper stories revealed that people had been taken in by not one but two of the most audacious confidence tricks ever tried on an unsuspecting public. In his book, An Infinite Deal of Nothing, author and historian Martin Hedges tells how one trickster convinced the public of two continents that somewhere in American desert you could scoop diamonds out of the dirt. During the same year, an American rival followed him to London to try to seduce Britons out of their money. He claimed a silver mine he owned was the most productive in the world.
But there were no diamonds. There was no silver. The diamonds scattered across the scrubland half way up a mountain were bought wholesale in London. The silver mine was ‘salted’ with ore glued to the walls of the mine.
The two swindlers stood to take literally billions in today’s money. One failed — though he was only beaten by an unlucky meeting on a train and an unexpected change in the weather.
The other fraudster made a killing, escaped the reach of British courts and entered history for a time as the fourth richest men in America. Neither was prosecuted, though evidence available at the time and gathered in this book would have convicted them both.
Among the cast of principal characters in this fast moving tale of greed and gullibility are:-
- A Southerner with a back story — during the Civil War he nearly succeeded to rob the Union of millions of dollars in gold by piracy on the high seas
- The doyen of British financial journalism, the financial editor of The Times, caught taking bribes
- The most famous one-man bank in Britain, duped when he took the fraudsters at their word
- The drunken, dishonest, jealous, wife-beating son of an umbrella manufacturer from Birmingham
- A so-called expert on mines nicknamed Professor “Sell-a-Mine”
- A vain cowboy prospector who could not keep his mouth shut
- America’s foremost geologist — a white man who had a secret second life pretending to be an African American railroad conductor
New research in An Infinite Deal of Nothing uncovers evidence from London which has been overlooked for nearly 150 years to provide definitive answers to the guilt of the perpetrators |
About 20 years ago, we drove to Loket, a small town in the western part of the Czech Republic, a part of the country that was once known as ‘Sudetenland’. It was home to a large German speaking minority, which was expelled from Czechoslovakia at the end of WW2.
We stayed in a small but cosy hotel with a fine restaurant. One evening, there was a couple of German tourists sitting at the table next to ours. Their pet Alsatian dog, Harry, was sitting under the table at their feet. We greeted them as they seemed quite jolly. We struck up conversation with them and soon we were clinking each other’s wine glasses.
They told us that they hardly ever travelled out of Europe because they did not want to leave Harry on his own. However, they said to us:
“Once, we visited Kenya”
“To see wild animals?” we asked.
They laughed, and then replied:
“The only wild animals we saw were Africans.”
This unsettled us a bit as did Harry who was, by now, licking our ankles with great interest. Somehow, the conversation drifted around to the Jews of Germany. At that time, the German Jewish community, such as it was, was under the leadership of Ignatz Bubis (1927-1999). One of the couple said:
“Whenever Bubis sneezes, Germany must pay the Jews one million Deutschmarks.”
Detecting a move towards further anti-semitic remarks, my wife said:
“By the way, we are Jewish.”
This brought the conversation to a swift end and also led to the couple failing to meet us for coffee and cakes on the next day, as we had planned earlier in the evening.
In a way, it was good that my wife had stemmed the possible flow of anti-semitism, but I was a bit disappointed. I would have been fascinated to discover how deeply they felt about the Jewish people in Germany so long after the end of WW2.
We never discovered the names of this German couple, but privately we christened them ‘Adolf’ and ‘Eva’.
A couple of years later, we revisited Loket and stayed at the same hotel. As we parked outside the hotel, we saw a couple packing suitcases into the back of thier vehicle. Accompanying them, there was an Alsation dog. Yes, you have guessed right. It was Adolf and (und?) Eva packing up to return to Germany. We greeted each other politely, but not warmly. |
Exodus 12:5 Lamb Without Blemish
Exodus 12:5 KJV Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
The shepherd had to carefully inspect each lamb, looking for the best to offer as a sacrifice. What did a carpenter, soldier, farmer, merchant, or other person who did not raise or own sheep do for a sacrifice? In the early days of Judah, before the stone temple, did each person go into the fields to purchase a sacrifice? Did the shepherd give the same care and attention to choosing every sacrifice for others as he put into choosing one for his family? Was there one lamb more perfect than the other? Did the shepherd think by saving the best for himself, he would receive a special blessing from God? Or did he see the message in the sacrifice and give the best to others, maybe the poorest family as an offering?
If the shepherd really loved and cared for his sheep, what went though his mind day after day, week after week as people came to purchase a lamb? What went through his mind each year as he choose the best of the first born to take to the Tabernacle? What must of gone through the mind of a shepherd as he looked up at the stars wondering why God ordered the sacrificial system? Did they realize the lamb was a symbol pointing to the life, ministry and sacrifice of the Messiah?
John 1:36 KJV And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
Before Jesus began His public ministry, John identified Him as the lamb of God. Many people look at this symbol as Jesus’ sacrifice. What about Jesus as the Lamb of God? What about God as Jesus’ Shepherd? God chose the best of the best, the perfect sacrifice. He held nothing back. God watched over Jesus every minute of every day He was gone, closer than any shepherd watched a lamb. God constantly inspected His Lamb making certain He was the perfect offering. There were a few major differences. The lambs death was quick. At the hands of the high priest, Jesus’ death was slow. Unlike the shepherd looking up at the stars asking why, God had no place to turn, no one to ask. The only thing God could do is shroud His Son in darkness for a while as He suffered on the cross.
A print version is also available from Amazon. |
The PT-76 is a lightly armored, amphibious tank. Its Russian designation, PT (Plavajuschij Tank) is translated as Amphibious Tank. The PT-76 was developed between 1949 and 1951. It was adopted by the Soviet Army on 16 August 1952 and went into full production in 1953 at the Volgograd Tank Factory. There were over 12,000 total PT-76 tanks built, with approximately 2,000 for export. The PT-76 was formerly the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army. It was intended for reconnaissance, water obstacle fording operations, and Naval Infantry landings. Furthermore, the PT-76 is able to transport troops externally and support troops with its main gun during landing and establishment of beachhead operations.
The PT-76 main armament is a 76.2-mm gun with coaxial SGMT 7.62-mm machine gun. The first tanks were fitted with the D-56T Rifled Gun. It had no stabilization and this was one of the greatest disadvantages. Later it was replaced with the improved D-56TM (2A16) Gun.
The PT-76 was the first tank fitted with hydrojet engines to navigate in water. Water goes through the two inlet screens on the bottom of the hull and is ejected through the rear outlets. It is ejected at a high speed and creates a jet of water propelling the tank forward. It also has the ability to float in reverse and steers on water by closing the water ejection lid of the required side to turn.
The PT-76 was widely exported and participated in combat operations in Africa, Vietnam, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, as well as being used by most Soviet client states during the Cold War era.
This Trumpeter kit builds into an initial production PT-76 with the double baffle muzzle brake as seen on a howitzer, early style drive sprockets and some early turret features that distinguish it from later types. Trumpeter has captured these features nicely in the kit as well.
The kit comes nicely packaged in Trumpeterís standard, sturdy cardboard box with four sprues of grey plastic individually sealed in plastic bags and the upper and lower hull halves. The upper hull is also packaged within a cardboard insert to keep it from being damaged or scratched in transit. There is also a nicely molded pair of rubber-band tracks with crisp link details molded on both sides. Two small PE frets, a length of wire, a piece of string, a small decal sheet, nicely drawn instructions, and a color plate round out the contents.
The parts are molded nicely with minimal flash on a few pieces and most mold release pin marks in hidden places, with the exception of two prominent ones on the inside of the turret hatch. As long as you leave the hatch closed, they are not an issue. The quality of molding is high with fine details and smaller items molded separately for good definition.
The lower hull is nicely represented and has a fully detailed underside with access panels, weld seems, water intakes and other features replicated excellently. The road wheel arms are each molded separately and can be articulated to match rough terrain. The drive sprockets are nicely molded, but the teeth do not line up properly. To remedy this, round off the D-shaped key on the key on the back of the front half and line the teeth up visually or with the track as a guide. The road wheels are molded nicely with front and back details. The rubber tires have the standard Russian ribbing from the molding process, but as most models, they are way too prominent and should be sanded down to be just noticeable. On the inside, there are two water intake tubes so that the intakes and outlets for the water jets are not open to the empty hull interior. They do have a couple locating pins that will need to be sanded down for a smooth inner surface though.
The upper hull is equally as nice with finely molded details as well. Of note, the turret race on the hull is molded with gear teeth and no locking notches. This detail allows for super-detailing and turret removal if desired. Be careful if you do not glue the turret in place though, as there is nothing to hold it on. There are also separate hatches molded for the engine access hatches. These will allow an engine compartment to be shown if you scratch one, or a resin AM one becomes available. Two PE grills are included for the upper hull as well. The PE headlight guards are worth mentioning at this point as well. They are finely manufactured and well engineered in one-piece. With some good forethought, Trumpeter has molded bending guides for them onto the running gear sprues to assist in proper bending of the light guards. The remainder of the upper hull is pretty straight forward and equally as well molded.
The turret is just as nice with only the aforementioned release pin marks on the inner surface of the hatch, which isnít noticeable when closed. There is also a breach for the cannon that is pretty complete as well to help take up some of the empty space inside the huge hatch if you choose to leave it open. There is wire for the grab handle on the outside of the turret. Again, Trumpeter helps you out with a full-sized bending template in the instructions for it. The template makes it easy to get the correct shape of this piece. As with the hull, the remainder of the turret goes together without issues.
The decals are for two different vehicles. One is an unidentified Russian Green vehicle with turret numbers 491. The other is an unidentified Middle East version in a two-tone brown and sand scheme with Arabic numbers on the turret sides.
Overall, this seems to be a great kit up to Trumpeterís current standard of quality. It will build into a great kit straight out of the box with the included PE and wire grab bar to dress it up, and lends itself to some super-detailing if you wish. It is a great addition to any modern or Soviet armor collection and can be finished in any number of countries liveries since it is used all over the world.
EDIT: A full Build Review
is now available as well to compliment the initial In-Box Review. |
An education program through our library literacy programs encourages “Back to Reading Culture” in the lives of our children. This is implemented through creating a conducive/ friendly library environment for reading. Since the inception of this program in 2012, we have:
–Donated over 25,000 books to libraries in Ogun, Ebonyi, Lagos, Ondo, FCT and Nasarawa States from 2012 to present
–With the enthusiasm of restoring back the culture of reading in the lives of our youth,the Foundation has refurbished 41 Libraries in L.E.A Primary Schools located in F.C.T Abuja, Nassarawa State, Ondo State, Kwara State and Delta State.
–As part of the Foundation’s strategic plan for 2017-2020, the Foundation has a target of establishing 30 libraries. We encourage your kind support and donation to achieve this noble course. |
Listening is the primary and essential way that pastors plumb the depths of the lives of people both within the congregation and in the greater community. In pastoral ministry listening is a given; pastors are expected to be good listeners. But in a congregation, where there is much to consider, communicate, decide, and do, leaders may be tempted to underestimate the extraordinary value of listening. After all, listening is such an ordinary thing. Leaders often need to remind themselves that when we spend time listening we are doing something indispensable. Listening keeps people from shutting down, withdrawing, and distancing themselves because they do not feel heard and valued. Listening fosters a stronger bond among the congregation’s members, a unity of spirit in the community of faith, and a willingness to risk and disclose the self. At its best, listening creates trust as people share experiences and ideas and come to realize that they also share values, desires, and dreams.
Holy and active listening demands many venues and numerous means of listening so that all voices are heard. It occurs in the ordinary and routine tasks of ministry when pastors are attentive to both their own and others’ yearnings, weariness, questions, and supplications. It occurs in the fellowship, worship, and celebrations of congregational life when people spontaneously share their joy, excitement, convictions, and thanksgivings. Pastors should be alert to the possibility that any encounter, conversation, gathering, or meeting might prove to be an opportunity to hear and learn something vital.
People may not say anything directly or outright. Therefore, pastors often listen best by observing, overhearing, and being attuned to people’s feelings and the mood of the room. Pastors sometimes listen best by inviting someone else to ask the questions. Determining the best ways and places to listen is tiring work. Remaining open to all voices, opinions, emotions, and reactions is even more exhausting. Listening to everyone includes listening to those who say things about the pastor and congregation that are difficult to hear and might even be untrue. It involves listening to people who question motives, have their own agendas, and understand their role to be obstruction.
For this reason, holy and active listening is imperfect. Our listening is influenced by our own needs, feelings, aspirations, experiences, and preconceptions. Our listening is influenced by what we do not want to hear because sometimes we do not want to change our understanding and undertake the subsequent changes in either our ministry or the congregation that a new understanding would lead to. As we listen, we may be distracted or preoccupied by what we will do next. We might move too quickly to solve rather than to hear problems.
We may be tempted to listen for reality as we would like it rather than for the way things actually are. We might find ourselves listening to confirm what we already think rather than remaining open to being surprised by others, to God speaking through others, or to the discovery of something new. Our listening is influenced by the questions we ask. A congregational leader once gathered inactive members to ask, “What is it about our pastor that keeps you from being active in church?” That leader’s assumption was obvious. And as important as the way we ask questions are the questions we do not ask. For example, how often do we invite people to name the ways they experience God’s presence in the congregation, or to identify the grace of God at work in the congregation?
Together with other leaders, as pastors listen to people’s words they also listen for “holy screams for new life, or sighs too deep for words.”1 That is to say, pastors listen for what is said beneath the surface and beyond the obvious. An active listener invites the person speaking to say more about what he or she is thinking and feeling without attempting to steer or close off the conversation. This kind of listening requires pastors and other leaders to be prepared to listen to people at length and in depth and not to be content with merely listening long enough to frame a problem and formulate a solution. The pastor’s goal, in fact, is to cultivate a habit of deliberately listening to every aspect and activity of human life—individual lives, the life of the congregation, and the pastor’s own life.
This kind of active listening takes skill and practice. It involves expressing interest through caring behavior, using appropriate facial expressions and posture, posing open-ended questions, and closely observing nonverbal cues. Active listening depends on the listener’s ability to paraphrase, clarify, probe, comprehend, confront, and sort all that the listener receives. Active listening calls for courage; it asks us to be willing to hear things that startle the teller, the listener, or both. Active listeners are natural; they do not appear to be performing a skill; they are authentic and do not seem rehearsed. Active listeners remain patient and approachable. Active listeners also give attention to physical place and emotional space so that people feel welcome and safe.
Holy listening demands that we engage in listening to discover the presence and activity of God in the joys, struggles, and hopes of the ordinary activities of congregational life, as well as the uncertainty and opportunity of change and transition. Listening is holy because we expect to hear the voice, presence, or absence of God. Holy listening demands vigilance, alertness, openness to others, and the expectation that God will speak through them. Holy listening trusts that the Holy Spirit acts in and through our listening. We discern and discover the wisdom and will of God by listening to one another and to ourselves.
From a Christian perspective, holy listening also takes the incarnation seriously; it dares to believe that, as God was enfleshed in Jesus of Nazareth, so God is embodied in other people and in the things around us. By expecting God to speak in and through the congregation itself, holy listening prevents us from searching so hard for an extraordinary and miraculous epiphany that we miss God with us. Holy listening also reminds both pastor and congregation that they are valued children of God, called and gifted to attend to what is meaningful to God’s life and work in the world.
The work of holy and active listening can be overwhelming. The size of the task, its intensity, and the recognition that pastors will miss something or someone, however hard they try, often leave pastors feeling inadequate, incapable, and deluged with work. Listening, however, is not an additional task, but something pastors are already doing as part of their ministry. God not only speaks as we listen; God helps us to listen. More than a means of determining how to preach and lead a congregation, holy and active listening is itself an act of proclamation and leadership.
1. Jean Stairs, Listening for the Soul (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000), 15.
Adapted from When God Speaks through Change: Preaching in Times of Congregational Transition, copyright © 2005 by the Alban Institute. All rights reserved. For permission to reproduce go toour permissions form.
When God Speaks through Change: Preaching in Times of Congregational Transition by Craig A. Satterlee
Homiletics professor and parish pastor Craig Satterlee reflects on how to integrate significant transitions in a congregation’s life into the preaching ministry of the church. Issues considered include: (1) the benefits and risks of using preaching to address transition, (2) how to incorporate transition into the form, content, and delivery of the sermon, and (3) how transition affects the preacher’s ability to proclaim and the congregation’s ability to receive the message.
Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony by Lillian Daniel
In Tell It Like It Is, pastor Lillian Daniel describes how introducing the practice of testimony into the worship life of the church she led strengthened lay leadership, fostered more intimate community, and drew the congregation closer to God. Tell It Like It Is includes some of the testimonies worshipers heard and reflections from both those who spoke and those who listened to these stories about God at work in the world. |
2014 COMPETITION DRIVING SCHOOL
With the closure of Race City Motorsport Park, the Alberta Race Car Association is no longer able to host and organize its annual driving school.
BUT our sister club, the Northern Alberta Sports Car Club is hosting and organzing a competition school.
Please go to their website at www.nascc.ab.ca for more information.
DRIVING SCHOOL BOOKS
During the track walk at the 2010 ARCA school, Gary Leadbetter was asked about additional books about advanced driving and going racing. For those of you who are interested in reading more please go to the following link: clients/49797/File/Advanced%20Driving%20Book%20List.jpg |
First yr college students will have the chance to receive a SP2 Safety Certificates and The Valvoline Motor Oil Fundamentals Certificate. SUNY Canton Automotive is still the only faculty in New York State to be Snap-On Diagnostics Licensed. Laskaris: The mathematical modeling expertise, or methodology, that you use is very important and has tremendous impact on the success of electrical vehicles. This new tools ensures students are training on the industry’s most up-to-date automotive gear. An vital thing to do not forget that in the event you should let your auto insurance lapse attributable to non-payment, you’ll more than doubtless pay more the next time you buy insurance coverage.
Most 2WD off-road RC cars and vehicles are suited for a extra normal 540 size, two-pole brushless motor, and a handful of fourpole sensorless setups as effectively. Most often, electric automobiles are created by converting a gasoline-powered car, and in that case it is inconceivable to inform. Nearly all hybrid and plug-in electrical automobiles use uncommon earth everlasting magnets of their traction motors.
There’s a vast range of jobs in the automotive trade. We took a have a look at the newest motor oils and rechecked our info, and we nonetheless assume you’ll be able to’t go flawed with the total-synthetic Mobil 1 , however we’ve expanded on the data it’s essential store for engine oil for your own automotive. That kind of PMAC motor isn’t something that’s much of a concern to EV fanatics, yet still will muddy the waters if you’re attempting to understand the differences.
Lastly, these currents work together with the unique magnetic field to provide forces – a element of which is the specified rotor torque. Store round for direct lenders like credit unions or banks and get pre-accredited for an auto mortgage. That is most likely not helpful unless you realize the basics on how auto insurance works – and which coverages you can’t skimp on. Examine car insurance quotes solely whenever you perceive the coverages which are best for you.
It is on the tip of the tongue of every knowledgeable we talked to; it’s available in a big selection of formulation, even for older cars and vans; it is out there just about all over the place; and, apart from its greater price in contrast with typical oil, it’s arduous to seek out anybody who has anything adverse to say about it. Are inspired to take the Automotive Service Excellence certification check upon completion of course work. |
The U.S. liberal-led order in place since World War II (WWII) is now strained more than previously over the COVID-19 pandemic. Pundits can debate back and forth the nature of where the strain began, and the implications of its origins. There are numerous geopolitical issues this global shutdown has uncovered that need attention.
Many western nations – particularly the U.S. and European Union (EU) “are irate at China for its dishonest and lethal suppression of knowledge about the viral outbreak.” Global tension in the form of a back-and-forth leading to a new Cold War between western-aligned nations and China is one of the uglier outbreaks from this virus. What are the ramifications?
Foreign Affairs insinuates China wants to be a “global savior,” as the west, and most of the world global hunker down using social distancing and stay-at-home orders. Will Chinese problems become the United Nations security council agendas in the near future? Chinese goods and services are now under attack. Are there products reliable and safe? Does power overwhelm being a perceived “serial falsifier,” of products shipped to all seven continents? In the age of branding and social media, it could be said their brand is tarnished.
For the countries overwhelmed by the virus – whether China meant for this to happen or not – is no longer the issue. Human and financial losses will take decades to recover, and it is difficult to ascertain the geopolitical implications and economic decoupling options nations and continents have to consider moving forward with China. There is an ongoing tension that will not dissipate without soft power and diplomatic reasoning taking precedence.
Historian Victor Davis Hanson believes China:
“Will not meekly accept its new reduced post-viral status. It will act even more provocatively and desperately than ever. Adversaries are most dangerous when cornered and wounded.”
Possible Chinese nuclear tests “in violation of zero-yield global agreements,” may belie this point. Beijing and western government clashes are serious, but other global areas deserve geopolitical attention.
Iran’s coronavirus response has been tepid. Domestic unease with forces against fighting with the West and UN in the form of U.S.-led sanctions against the Iranian regime is taking place. Shortages, chronic unemployment, and distrust of the government by the Iranian people could be some of the reasons why the Iranian navy provokes U.S. patrols in the Persian Gulf.
Then there is Russia and Saudi Arabia. Both countries need higher oil and natural gas prices to sustain their economies. Each regime is deployed overseas, costing them billions – Russia in Syria – and the Saudi’s in Yemen. Neither conflict has a negotiated ending, and COVID-19 is delaying possible ceasefire agreements.
What has taken place with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for global media outlets, intelligence agencies, and governments to ask if he is in grave health? Did the coronavirus cause his sickness, or something else? If he is ill, then who is the next leader? Does that change North Korea’s relationship with China and the U.S.? Speculation is rampant.
The largest geopolitical dilemma is the continuation of crashing oil prices when the coronavirus shutdowns have crushed demand for petroleum and oil-based distillates. Over 6,000 products come from a barrel of crude oil, which means governments will have to intervene to secure prices and make sure refineries will stay in business.
The world was moving towards decarbonization, but ventilators, plastics, and medications to fight the pandemic would not be in existence without crude oil. The Wall Street Journal wrote “Big Oil to the Coronavirus Rescue,” in response to this reality.
Energy policies such as the Green New Deal now has to overcome the estimated $93 trillion cost when governments and central banks are spending trillions to combat global shutdowns. These lockdowns have shown the disruption that will occur to decarbonize and rely on renewables while moving off fossil fuels for transportation and electrical generation.
Environmental cleanliness is more important than ever and ecological destruction that results from clear-cutting forests and destroying water systems for solar and wind farms will need to be dealt with in the coming months and year to make decarbonization a reality. Countries like Australia are finding electrical grid instability is the norm with heavy renewable usage.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studied a thousand scenarios for carbon-free economic systems and industrial decarbonization and concluded a mix of fossil fuels with some renewables was the best solution. Leading environmentalists are coming to the same conclusions. The amount of land, raw materials, and waste disposal procedures have geopolitical consequences when renewables are still in the beginning stage, and nations have to use more fossil fuels.
Energy and geopolitics are intertwined, and the U.S. was the leader in this race until COVID-19 hit. The U.S. Department of Energy – to meet growing global and U.S. energy upticks – wants “to restore U.S. leadership in nuclear energy.” Does this also mean the U.S. will also expand its nuclear triad with the advent of domestic nuclear energy to electricity use possibly rising and billions in research dollars appropriated?
Recent energy data shows how U.S energy policy and hydraulic fracturing changed the structure of geopolitics until the coronavirus struck. The U.S.’ “total energy exports exceed(ed) imports in 2019 for the first time in 67 years,” and “U.S. energy production exceeded consumption for the first time in 62 years.”
Gains were made in production, efficiency, and lowering emissions that were unheard of years ago over an increased natural gas-fired electrical generation. Analyzing U.S. energy policy in 2020, and during this “new-normal” will be a tug-of-war between clean and traditional energy resources. Can renewables change the world the way fracking has on the geopolitical stage? A middle ground will need to be reached, and COVID-19 may bring this occurrence.
Zero-interest rates and global recessions are economic difficulties to overcome. Scarier times and unrest are likely ahead for the new dawn of nation-state versus nation-state that COVID-19 has unmasked. Soft and hard power working together with diplomacy are tools to mitigate and return the world back to some semblance of normal. |
|(change, in thousands of jobs)||Jan 2001 to Jan 2005||Jan 2005 to Jan 2009||Jan 2001 to Jan 2009||Jan 2009 to Oct 2011|
|Federal Govt Employment||-35||66||31||49|
|Defense Civilian Employees||-27.5||25||-2.5||63.5|
|Federal excl Defense||-7.5||41||33.5||-14.5|
Federal Government employment, other than civilian employees in the Defense Department, has fallen during the Obama Administration. In contrast, it grew under Bush.
While the numbers are small, in particular relative to national employment (the Federal Government only employs about 2.8 million workers, out of a US labor force of 154 million, or just 1.8%), it is helpful to get the facts straight in the light of the continued Republican attacks that the Federal Government has boomed under Obama, and accounts for the continued weak economic and employment growth of the US. The spokeswoman for Republican Congressman and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Megan Whittemore), for example, charged in an email sent to PolitiFact (link here), that the only job growth that can be attributed to the 2009 Stimulus program was in government. Yet as we saw in a posting made yesterday at this site (link here), total government employment in the US (mostly state and local) has fallen by close to 600,000 since Obama took office. The purpose of this new post is to focus on what has happened to the Federal Government employment alone.
Federal Government employment is only less than 13% of total government employment in the US, so the changes here will not much matter overall. But it is interesting that while there has been a very small growth in overall Federal employment since Obama took office (of just 1.8% total, or 0.6% annually), it has all been due to growth in civilian employees at the Defense Department. The table above, drawn from data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (US Department of Labor), presents the numbers. The figures by the BLS on Defense Department employees are not seasonally adjusted, so none of the figures in the table above are either, for consistency. However, seasonal adjustment does not make much of a change in Federal Government employment figures in any case. The most recent available figures are for October. It should also be noted that all employment figures of the BLS are for the civilian population, and hence exclude active military personnel in all categories.
As is seen, while the number of all Federal employees rose by 49,000 under Obama, the Defense Department civilian employees grew by 63,500, so that Federal employment excluding Defense fell under Obama by 14,500. It is also interesting to note that Federal employment grew under Bush, all in his second term, with an increase of 33,500 non-Defense Federal workers over his two terms together (and by 41,000 in his second term alone).
In sum, Federal Government employment grew under Bush. Under Obama, non-Defense Federal workers have declined, and overall they have grown only because of additional Defense Department civilian workers. All the numbers are relatively small, in particular relative to the size of the full US labor force. But the assertion by many Republican politicians that the Federal workforce has exploded under Obama is false. |
Driving refresher courses
Driving refresher courses could be a suitable solution for various circumstances. For example:
- you have not driven for some time and need a top-up;
- you lack confidence in your driving and want to reassure yourself;
- you want to improve an aspect of your driving such as city centres.
Everybody is unique and has different requirements. The courses are informal and designed specifically to address your personal requirements. There is no test and no pressure. The courses can be delivered consecutively or as a series of individual sessions.
Are your driving refresher courses suitable for nervous drivers?
Absolutely! In fact, that is why many drivers come to see us. They want to become more confident on the roads. More confidence is likely to keep you safe and react appropriately to situations such as other bad drivers or pedestrians running unexpectedly in the road. |
The inability to remember important events and information can be very frustrating to anyone. Fortunately, there are increasing developments in the area of memory loss all the time. Here, you will find some helpful tips and information to help you improve your memory skills.
If that happens to you, take a break every hour for about five to fifteen minutes when you are working or studying; let your mind relax and rest. You will then be able to remember the information.
Using mnemonic devices is an excellent strategy for improving your ability to retain new information for a longer period of time. Try using mnemonic devices similar to how writers use shorthand. Your mind links a specific fact or idea with a well-known word or image. This creates a relationship that makes it easier for you to recall that memory.
If you need to remember an important amount of information, study it in different locations. By doing this, the information will not be associated with a specific place, and your brain will better be able to store it. Basically, varying the location in which you study encourages general retention.
Rid yourself of unpleasant or negative thoughts to better your memory. Studies have shown that stress and negative thoughts hinder the memory. Ask your doctor about what you can do to relieve your stress.
Visualization can be a very helpful technique when you are try doing a task that involves memorization and recall skills. If you are using a textbook to study, a good way to visualize information is to use photos and charts. You may even want to make your own graphs and charts to aid you in this memory process.
Look for memory improvement books within a library located in your area. A lot of famous psychiatrists have published important studies about memory and proper brain function. A world of knowledge is available from these resources that you can apply to your personal life.
Passing knowledge onto others often promotes improved memory. For instance, if you want to remember the time you taught your son to swim, tell the story more often. If you want to remember how to play the piano, teach your grandkids. This also allows you to properly encode the memory into your brain, making it much easier to call upon when needed.
Even if you aren’t currently enrolled in school, it is vital that you keep learning new things. If you aren’t learning new things, you’re not using an essential part of your brain that will help strengthen your memory. Therefore, you may have difficulty remembering information when such a need arises.
Organizational tools, such as day planners or wall calendars, are an amazing way to keep on top of important items in your life. Buy a planner and write everything down. Build a schedule and keep an eye on it daily. When you keep a schedule like this and pay attention to it, it will aid your mind overall. It’s less for you to remember and it is nice to have around in case you forget something.
Repeat new information out loud. When you learn an important piece of new information like a name, say it aloud right away. By repeating these things out loud for you to hear will ensure you remember this information for future use. If you can, repeat it out loud over and over again.
It is important to always get adequate sleep each night. Studies have proven that getting the right amount of sleep is crucial to memory function. If your concentration is impaired, it may become difficult to store events in your long-term memory.
Meditation improves virtually all functions of the brain, memory included, while also benefiting your body. Find a quiet, relaxing spot in which to meditate, and concentrate fully on your breathing. Thirty minutes a day of meditation will help preserve your memory.
Eat the right foods for the health of your brain and it will reward you with a sharp and versatile memory. One of the best ways to keep your mind sharp is to consume healthy fats. Try focusing on eating walnuts, olive oil, and flaxseed oil instead of trans fats.
If you are serious about improving and protecting your memory, you will try out a few of these tips. You will experience less frustration and potential embarrassment from being unable to recall names or other pertinent facts. |
If you are finding it difficult to control your acid reflux, maybe you just don’t have the information you need to help prevent the symptoms. There are lots of natural remedies for acid reflux, along with OTC and prescription solutions. The more you know about the condition, the easier it will be to find treatment and relief.
Maintaining a healthy body weight reduces your acid reflux symptoms. Those extra pounds put pressure on the stomach and cause the bottom of your esophagus to relax and allow reflux. Your sphincter will work properly once you get in shape.
It’s time to quit smoking! Smoking may actually be the root cause of your acid reflux. It slows digestion and increases stomach acids. It also slows down the production of saliva. It can weaken your esophageal sphincter as well. Therefore, you need to quit your smoking habit immediately.
Sometimes women develop a problem with acid reflux when they become pregnant. A growing child puts pressure on the stomach, which can push the acids of the stomach into the windpipe. It’s easy to deal with symptoms by avoiding foods high in fat or acidity. Many women safely use teas during their pregnancies that soothe and heal the stomach and esophagus.
Acid reflux is often made worse by trigger foods. Alcohol, chocolate, caffeine and fried foods are a few of the different items that can cause acid reflux. Other big contributors include acidic foods, including citrus fruits and tomatoes. However, triggers are an individual thing so you need to read your own body to just what is not working for you. Avoid all these if you want to be on the safe side.
The herb, slippery elm, works to thicken the mucus lining of the stomach. This lining forms a protective barrier against acid. To get the most out of this remedy, take up to two tablespoons after a meal or before sleeping.
Smokers should consider quitting in order to get rid of acid reflux. Nicotine makes acid reflux worse since it increases stomach acid. Quitting cold turkey can make acid reflux symptoms worse. Take a very conservative approach when trying to quit.
High-impact exercising can increase your acid reflux symptoms. If you do, you’ll find what you eat creeps up your esophagus. Don’t engage in vigorous exercise for at least an hour after eating.
You should avoid drinking alcohol if you suffer from acid reflux. Drinking alcohol can cause acid reflux and damage the lining in your stomach. Reduce your alcohol intake as much as possible and quit drinking if you experience acid reflux every time you drink.
Eat slowly. Don’t eat too much in one sitting; only eat as much as you want. Eating slowly and enjoying each bite will end up helping you out. Stuffing yourself and wolfing down your food will surely lead to acid reflux. You can try setting your fork down between bites to slow yourself down.
Stay away from foods with high fat content if you struggle with acid reflux. Therefore, fried foods, red meat, fast foods should be eliminated from your diet. However, if you cannot completely eliminate them, at least minimize your consumption of them. Examining the nutritional labels of your food choices to discover the fat content they possess.
If acid reflux is your issue, keep yourself in an upright position for two hours or more after eating. That’s because lying down impedes the digestion process, which causes acid reflux. Remaining upright aids in digestion. Each person will need to wait different amounts of time prior to lying down, so you just need to determine what works for you.
Is controlling acid reflux less of a mystery now? You definitely should feel that way because these tips that you’ve read will empower you. Follow the tips presented here to be free of problems with acid reflux. |
Anthroposophy is the name given by Rudolf Steiner* to a vast body of knowledge concerning humankind’s common spiritual heritage, it’s earthly heritage, and it’s dilemma in becoming the human race. Much of what is now readily accessible as Anthroposophical knowledge was, before his time, a knowledge possessed and passed-on in parts by a few: Rudolf Steiner articulated this knowledge into a modern conceptual form, arriving at it by way of disciplined scientific research into the spiritual world, and elaborating it with his thorough familiarity with modern natural science and its requirements, creating a reference available to all of humankind. Also called spiritual science, Anthroposophy is a necessary complement for understanding the full significance of the physical/natural sciences and their evidence in everyday life. Anthroposophy encompasses a worldview befitting of all human dignity.
Commonly misconstrued and mislabeled as a philosophy, Anthroposophy’s clarifying effect has led to many significant cultural and scientific contributions which are slowly gaining recognition. As a path of knowledge for striving individuals searching for self knowledge, Anthroposophy is an invaluable aid, engaging humankind as they are, as beings of body, soul and spirit.
Individuals often form groups to study Anthroposophy, attempting to slowly comprehend it’s comprehensive and scientific worldview. Some students of Anthroposophy are members of a worldwide movement called the General Anthroposophical Society, based at a World Heritage Site building called the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. The General Anthroposophical Society, an all-inclusive society formed to support the helpful contributions of Anthroposophy in the world, welcomes supporters to join this society, and one can explore membership in the United States through this link: < http://www.anthroposophy.org/membership>.
Among the many initiatives that have grown out of Anthroposophically informed scientific knowledge are: Waldorf education and Waldorf Schools (known as Steiner schools in Europe); Biodynamic agriculture; Anthroposophical medicine; natural scientific initiatives; performing arts initiatives including dramatic and speech arts; the art of Eurythmy; visual and sculptural arts initiatives; social initiatives, including financial initiatives.
*Rudolf Steiner (Feb. 27th, 1861 – March 30, 1925), born in Austria, was a scientist and artist of unusual breadth and depth, his advocacy for humankind evident in his contributions to the disciplines of pedagogy, physics, botany, zoology, medicine, agriculture, social sciences, chemistry, philosophy, art, architecture, nutrition and astronomy to name many. Steiner purportedly developed a natural capacity for “comprehensive” knowledge, allowing him to use his scientific capacity to describe the history of humanity and both the known and the hidden nature of the human being (Anthroposophy) in a way that anyone could understand, according to him, using unprejudiced capacities of thinking, the same unprejudiced capacities used in true natural scientific thinking and discovery. Steiner indicated that understanding Anthroposophy does not require a belief in their descriptions, many of which seem unbelievable at first (or second…) glance, but does require one’s own active scientific thinking participation and a devotion to discovering for oneself what is true in life to properly evaluate them; these capacities of thinking and feeling, he points out, are the same capacities necessary for open and honest discovery and participation in the natural scientific realm.
This local events calendar is maintained by friends of Anthroposophy in Eugene for the benefit of the local community. All events listed therein have some kind of relationship to Anthroposophy. Listed events should not be construed as representative of Anthroposophy per se, but rather are the initiatives of individuals seeking to deepen their own understanding of Anthroposophy and of life.
You can contact the maintainers of this calendar website at: rsgeugene(at)gmail.com
The intellectual contents of this site are copyright protected. |
1. Watch the video clip on page 1.
2. Go to page 2.
4. Circle the verbs. Cross out the pictures that are not verbs.
6. Tell what you know about verbs. (Hint: action words).
Students will edit this template:
Teacher Notes (not visible to students)
Resource from: Jack Hartmann |
October 19, 2008
European firms are being accused of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast. This is the claim that the Somalia pirates, who are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukrainian ship, are making. The pirates say the money will go towards cleaning up the waste.
Januna Ali Jama is a spokesman for the pirates and he says the ransom demand is a means of “reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years”.
“The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas.” he added.
The MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military hardware, off Somalia’s northern coast is being held for ransom.
The International Maritime Bureau states 61 attacks by pirates have been reported since the start of the year.
Money is the primary objective of the hijackings; however, claims of the continued environmental destruction off Somalia’s coast have been largely ignored by the region’s maritime authorities.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia said there is “reliable information” that European and Asian companies are dumping toxic waste, including nuclear waste, off the Somali coastline.
“I must stress however, that no government has endorsed this act, and that private companies and individuals acting alone are responsible,” he said
Allegations of the dumping of toxic waste, as well as illegal fishing, have circulated since the early 1990s.
The tsunami of 2004 literally dumped evidence of such on the beaches of northern Somalia.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the tsunami had washed up rusting containers of toxic waste on the shores of Puntland.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Nick Nuttall is a UNEP spokesman and has stated that when the barrels were smashed open by the force of the waves, the containers exposed a “frightening activity” that has been going on for more than decade.
“Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there,” he said.
“European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are something like $1000 a tonne.
“And the waste is many different kinds. There is uranium radioactive waste. There is lead, and heavy metals like cadmium and mercury. There is also industrial waste, and there are hospital wastes, chemical wastes – you name it.”
Since the containers came ashore, hundreds of residents have fallen ill, suffering from mouth and abdominal bleeding, skin infections and other ailments.
“We [the UNEP] had planned to do a proper, in-depth scientific assessment on the magnitude of the problem. But because of the high levels of insecurity onshore and off the Somali coast, we are unable to carry out an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem,” he said.
Ould-Abdallah claims the practice still continues. “What is most alarming here is that nuclear waste is being dumped. Radioactive uranium waste that is potentially killing Somalis and completely destroying the ocean,” he said.
There are apparently legal reasons for not naming the companies involved in waste dumping.The practice helps fuel the 18-year-old civil war in Somalia as companies are paying Somali government ministers to dump their waste, or to secure licenses and contracts.
“There is no government control … and there are few people with high moral ground … [and] yes, people in high positions are being paid off, but because of the fragility of the TFG [Transitional Federal Government], some of these companies now no longer ask the authorities – they simply dump their waste and leave.”
There are ethical questions to be considered because the companies are negotiating contracts with a government that is largely divided along tribal lines.
“How can you negotiate these dealings with a country at war and with a government struggling to remain relevant?”
In 1992, a contract to secure the dumping of toxic waste was made by Swiss and Italian shipping firms Achair Partners and Progresso, with Nur Elmi Osman, a former official appointed to the government of Ali Mahdi Mohamed, one of many militia leaders involved in the ousting of Mohamed Siad Barre, Somalia’s former president.
The UNEP investigated the matter at the request of the Swiss and Italian governments.
Both firms had denied entering into any agreement with militia leaders at the beginning of the Somali civil war.
“At the time, it felt like we were dealing with the Mafia, or some sort of organised crime group, possibly working with these industrial firms,” Mustafa Tolba, the former UNEP executive director said.
“It was very shady, and quite underground, and I would agree with Ould-Abdallah’s claims that it is still going on… Unfortunately the war has not allowed environmental groups to investigate this fully.”
“If these acts are continuing, then surely they must have been seen by someone involved in maritime operations,” Abdi Ismail Samataris a professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota said.
“Is the cargo aimed at a certain destination more important than monitoring illegal activities in the region? Piracy is not the only problem for Somalia, and I think it’s irresponsible on the part of the authorities to overlook this issue.”
Mohammed Gure, chairman of the Somalia Concern Group, said “The Somali coastline used to sustain hundreds of thousands of people, as a source of food and livelihoods. Now much of it is almost destroyed, primarily at the hands of these so-called ministers that have sold their nation to fill their own pockets.”
Ould-Abdallah said. “The intentions of these pirates are not concerned with protecting their environment. What is ultimately needed is a functioning, effective government that will get its act together and take control of its affairs.”
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The Anderson Collection at Stanford University has reached another on-schedule milestone in the trek toward beginning construction this summer and opening its doors in 2014. The Stanford Board of Trustees approved Ennead Architects‘ building design at their meeting this week.
The Anderson Collection is one of the largest and most outstanding private collections of post-World War II American art in the world. The collection has been built over the last 50 years by Bay Area residents Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, affectionately known as “Hunk” and “Moo,” and by their daughter, Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, affectionately known as “Putter.”
The trustees also took a step forward with the McMurtry building for the Department of Art and Art History. Renderings for that project are anticipated before the end of the month.
“The building for the Anderson Collection at Stanford University and the McMurtry building are magnificent, much-needed additions to this campus,” said Leslie Hume, chair of the Board of Trustees, in December. “Like the Cantor Arts Center and Bing Concert Hall, they make tangible Stanford’s commitment to the arts and the central role of the arts in a liberal education. As you arrive on campus and enter this wonderful arts district, you will know immediately that the arts are important to Stanford.”
Renderings of the Anderson building reveal contemporary design that contributes to the distinct architectural character of the Stanford arts district. A clerestory roof element crowns a substantial rectilinear building mass that houses the second level galleries.
The sculptural gallery provides a variety of ceiling heights and scaled spaces. An open glass lobby and grand stair to the main gallery level provides a welcoming and dynamic entrance into the two-story venue.
The distinguished tripartite building is a testament to the transformative gift of artwork from the Andersons, a gift that stands to advance arts education and contribute significantly to the cultural landscape.
Ennead partners Richard Olcott and Timothy Hartung lead the design team. They describe how the design positions exhibition spaces on the second floor below an undulating ceiling: “The gentle slope of the ceiling and the continuous translucent clerestory at the perimeter of the building bring diffused natural light into the galleries from above. A grand, shallow central staircase will serve as an extension of the gallery walls, allowing visitors to view art as they gradually ascend from the lobby to the main galleries above.”
The 33,327-square-foot building has been carefully sited in order to complement the Cantor Arts Center and surrounding landscape and to encourage physical connections between the two venues.
This is the fourth Ennead project on the Stanford campus, after the Cantor Arts Center addition in 1998, the Stanford Law School William H. Neukom Building in 2011 and Bing Concert Hall scheduled to be completed in 2013.
The Anderson building has three primary faces. The eastern, main entry façade is set back from the original neoclassical façade of the Cantor while preserving and respecting several heritage trees. These trees and associated landscape, in conjunction with a prominent path through the proposed sculpture garden to the forecourt, establish a memorable entry sequence that leads to the transparent, inviting lobby that signifies the front door to the venue.
To complement and continue the circulation sequence, the south face of the building is composed of a floating gallery with a punched opening overlooking the existing Cantor sculpture garden and shared open lawn. A sheltered walkway under the cantilevered volume of the gallery provides east-west circulation connecting to the primary bike and pedestrian pathway system to the west.
The north face of the building runs parallel to Campus Drive and faces the Arboretum. Mature trees along Campus Drive will be retained and, with the removal of the existing parking lot, these trees will extend the park-like setting from the Cantor and Arboretum to surround the Anderson building.
The Anderson building nods to the Cantor by way of a similar color palette and reinterprets the light textural treatment in new materials to connect visually not only to Cantor but also to the other buildings in the new Stanford arts district: the Bing Concert Hall, opening in 2013, and the McMurtry building, opening in 2015.
The Anderson Collection
In 2011, in keeping with the Andersons’ belief that they are custodians rather than owners of the art in their collection, they pledged 121 works by 86 artists, the core of the collection, to create the Anderson Collection at Stanford University.
The pledged collection is anchored in the work of abstract expressionists including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Clyfford Still and Philip Guston and extends to contemporary painters such as Ellsworth Kelly, Terry Winters, Sean Scully and Vija Celmins. Major postwar movements represented include Bay Area figurative art, color field painting, post-minimalism, California funk art and contemporary abstract painting.
“Ennead’s design will provide a fine home for the Anderson Collection at Stanford University,” said the Anderson family.
McMurtry moving forward
The Anderson Collection at Stanford University and the Burton and Deedee McMurtry Building, both part of the long-range vision for the arts district, are moving through the approval process in lockstep. The university plans to release the Diller Scofidio + Renfro renderings of the McMurtry building within the month.
The Department of Art and Art History will relocate to the new McMurtry building on the west side of the Cantor in 2015. The building will house the department’s programs in art practice, design, art history, film and media studies, and documentary film, which currently are housed in several facilities on campus. |
The 2005 Corvette coupe and convertible were quickly hailed as the best Corvettes ever, yet they somehow weren't new enough to satisfy a few critics. Indeed, Car and Driver first described the C6 as a "C5 and 11/16ths ... Like the '68 Vette, the 2005 is a profound evolution of the existing car. It's one long stride on the road of continual improvement."
The 2005 Corvette Z06 was unveiled in
January 2005 at Detroit's North
American International Auto Show, but
didn't hit the streets until the '06 model
year. See more pictures of Corvettes.
Significantly, the C6 is the first Corvette developed in tandem with another GM car, the Cadillac XLR, a suave two-seat retractable-hardtop convertible launched for 2004. The Cadillac was given priority because it would launch first and would stand as a symbol of an emerging renaissance for GM's luxury brand. Only after the XLR was finished could the Corvette team turn full attention to C6 work, which was under way in earnest by mid-2000 -- yet another reason why the C6 could not be totally new in concept.
It is, however, very new in content -- 85 percent by weight. Much of that newness stems from having XLR in the mix. Chief among the XLR influences were the fit and finish of the composite-plastic exterior body panels; powertrain and road-noise isolation; and interior design, materials, and assembly.
From the beginning, the design team accepted widespread criticism that the C5 was a bit large for a high-power sports car. Shedding bulk would shed pounds to the benefit of performance, but would also make the Corvette easier to live with in crowded urban conditions -- an important consideration for Europe, where GM wanted to boost Corvette sales.
Complicating matters was the desire for improved aerodynamics, which had great implications for a new C6.R racer. So did a decision made early on to abandon pop-up headlamps for Corvette's first exposed beams since 1962. Besides reducing drag the fixed lamps took weight off the front, punctuated the new C6 face, and lowered cost and complexity. The team's aero target, a 0.28 drag coefficient, was met, yielding a small but important 0.01 Cd improvement over the production C5.
Beyond competition needs, C6 styling was influenced by the C2 Sting Ray, which can be seen in the wheel orientation, body shape, and canopy cockpit. Another styling influence was aircraft, especially the YF-22 jet fighter, which can be seen in the more pointed rear profile.The C6 has plenty of other details to appreciate. Rear decks, for example, gain a "boattail" character line swept neatly back from the belt, a touch of the split-window Sting Ray coupe. Corvette's trademark four taillamps were almost perfectly round again, and nestled in a more-sculpted back panel that's still rather wide yet contrives to look lighter. Bodysides gained visual interest from a deft blend of creases and curves, especially around the indented "coves." And the "double-bubble" contouring of the coupe's lift-off roof panel was slightly more pronounced.
The C6 measures 5.1 inches shorter and an inch narrower than the C5, but is 1.2 inches longer in wheelbase at 106. That wheelbase was dictated by packaging requirements for the Cadillac XLR, but it added to the Corvette's purposeful new "wheels at the corners" stance. Helping the cause, the wheels themselves were larger, growing an inch at each end to 18 front and 19 rear. The one downside to the downsizing was slightly less cargo space: 22 cubic feet for coupes (previously 24.8), and 10.5 max for convertibles (vs. 13.9).
This clay model for the 2005 Corvette dashboard showed that the C6 would use
the dual-cowl design that had become a Corvette trademark.
Matching the more-sophisticated exterior was an all-new cockpit. The most obvious change was the dashboard. It was laid out like the C5's, but the sculpted "twin cowl" theme gave way to a clean, vertical, passenger-side panel with newly hidden airbag door. New seats offered longer cushions and more prominent side bolsters. A sprinkling of aluminum and metal-look accents provided a tasteful touch of modern "hi tech." Gauges looked much the same, but audio and climate panels had fewer buttons and clearer markings. The center stack can also house a navigation system, available for $1,400 as a first-time Corvette option. A reworked console provided proper twin cupholders beneath a sliding cover and a larger armrest/storage bin. Designers also found space for small but useful door map pockets. The doors themselves gained electric latches with pushbutton interior releases and exterior press pads; a mechanical release outboard of each seat let passengers escape in case of power failure. The ignition key was replaced by a large engine-start rocker switch, part of a standard keyless entry system with pocket transmitter, another "gift" from XLR.
Learn about other Corvettes in this generation:
| 2006 Corvette||2007 Corvette |
Looking for more information on Corvettes and other cars? See:
- Corvettes: Learn about the history behind each model year and see Corvette photographs.
- Corvette Specifications: Get key specifications, engine and transmission types, prices, and production totals.
- Corvette Museum: The National Corvette Museum draws Corvette lovers from all over the world. Learn more about the museum.
- Corvette Pictures: Find pictures of the hottest classic and current-year Corvettes.
- Muscle Cars: Get information on more than 100 tough-guy rides.
- Consumer Guide Corvette Reviews: Considering a Corvette purchase? See what Consumer Guide has to say. |
The 1932-1938 Pierce Arrow Twelves came out during the Depression. Not infrequently, hard times bring out the best in us -- in corporations as well as in individuals. Consider the case of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.
In the years leading up to World War I, and for a time thereafter, the Pierce-Arrow was one of America's leading luxury motor cars. More than a few authorities considered it, in fact, to be the best of the lot. Engine displacements, at one time, were as great as 825 cubic inches, and prices for the big Model 66 ranged as high as $8,000, more than twice the cost of corresponding Cadillacs.
But Pierce fell behind the times during the 1920s. While Cadillac was making strides with its fine V-8, and others, notably Packard, set new sales records with powerful straight eights, Pierce-Arrow clung stubbornly to its fine -- but outmoded -- T-head six-cylinder powerplant. A more reasonably priced six, the Series 80, was introduced in 1924, but Pierce's production methods were so leisurely (and yes, painstaking) that it cost at least $300 more than the corresponding Packard Six.
It wasn't until the 1929 models appeared that Pierce-Arrow caught up with the times. Offered that year were two lines of smartly styled straight eights, more powerful than any contemporary American automobile, save only the Duesenberg. And with prices beginning at $2,775, the new model was actually less expensive than its smaller, six-cylinder predecessor.
That year, the company's Buffalo, New York factory was literally unable to keep up with demand. Even after the stock market crash that October, demand remained comparatively strong, enabling Pierce-Arrow to post a 1930 profit of $1.3 million. But then came the inevitable -- sales dropped off sharply, and red ink was seen once more in the company's ledgers. By 1932, production was down to fewer than 2,700 cars, about a third of the 1929 figure, and losses totaled $3 million, a staggering sum for so small a company.
This was all, of course, during the very pit of the Great Depression, hardly the most propitious time for any company to introduce a new, more powerful, more expensive model. But that's what happened in November 1931: Pierce-Arrow announced that two new lines of 12-cylinder cars would soon be put into production, alongside the existing straight eights.
In reality, competitive conditions required that Pierce take such a step. Cadillac had announced its spectacular V-16 two years earlier, and followed it after some months with a fine V-12. Packard was in the process of reviving the Twin Six, Lincoln would have a Twelve of its own for 1932, and of course Marmon was building its superb Sixteen. The new Pierce-Arrow Twelve would be the equal of any of them.
As noted, there were two series of Pierce Twelves. That is to say, there were two 12-cylinder engines. The first of these displaced 398 cubic inches and was rated at 140 horsepower; the second, bored to 429 cubes, developed 150 bhp. Three distinct wheelbase lengths were used, with the 137- and 142-inch chassis employing the smaller engine, while the 147-inch cars received the 150-horse-power version. The 125-bhp straight eights, meanwhile, could be mated with the two shorter chassis.
The two cylinder banks of the V-12 engines were set at an unusual angle of 80 degrees to one another. The compression ratio of 5.1:1 was considerably lower than that of the Packard engine, and the twin Stromberg E-2, 1-1/4-inch carburetors were fed by a camshaft pump. In all of the 1932 Pierce-Arrows, the previous four-speed transmission was replaced by a three-speed unit, which was fitted with a free-wheeling unit.
Read about 1932-1938 Pierce-Arrow Twelve's performance next.
Want more information on cars? See: |
The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the effects of UV light and heat treatment on vitamins A, B-2, C, and E in cow and goat milk. Vitamins were analyzed by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography. Ultraviolet and pasteurization treatments caused loss in vitamin C in milk. Pasteurization did not have any significant effect on vitamin B-2. However, UV light treatment decreased the amount of vitamin B2 after several passes of milk through the UV system. In addition, UV light treatment decreased the amount of vitamins A and E. Vitamins C and E are more sensitive to UV light. UV light sensitivities of vitamins were C > E > A > B-2. These results show that UV light treatment decreases the vitamin content in milk. Also, the number of passes through the UV system and the initial amount of vitamins in milk are important factors affecting vitamin levels. |
Statistical modelling was applied to a large number of historical nutrient data to assess the significance of human perturbations in the Mediterranean Sea. All available phosphate data were grouped into subsets representative of averaged values of the measured vertical profiles in the surface and deep water layers. In contrast to earlier predictions, the statistical analysis of the phosphate concentrations in a deep water layer does not indicate any particular trend in time for the last 30 years. These data sets were then used as an input to an inverse model and a 3D primitive equation model (PEM). The former redistributes the measured concentrations by means of a variational principle and reconstructs average horizontal space distributions of the phosphate data fields as gridded solutions over the whole area. The spatial and temporal distributions thus obtained are visualised graphically and compared with other existing data, providing the first overall view of phosphate in the whole Mediterranean Sea and revealing an increasing oligotrophy towards the eastern basin. The primitive equation model is then used to assess the variability and upwelling fluxes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Hybrid ventilation systems combine the superior properties of natural and mechanical ventilation systems to reduce energy consumption. In this study, hybrid ventilation simulations were performed for several cities in Turkey, which have different climate conditions. Matlab/Simulink was utilized to perform the simulations. The results of these simulations were compared with that of regular air conditioning units in terms of energy consumption. A hybrid ventilation system which shows the general behaviour of a fan-assisted natural ventilation system with temperature-based control and which provides both heating and cooling, is shown to be effective for four cities in Turkey that have different climate conditions. Results showed potential savings of around 25-30% when compared to a regular AC system. |
Borehold trajectory between two consecutive survey points is approximated by using a curve defined in three dimensional space. Mathematically, this curve is envisioned to be the course swept by the end points of the vectors originating from the wellhead. These vectors are represented by a single vector function. Three components of the vector function are defined as a second degree polynomical function of the measured depth (MD). These second degree functions represent the change in North-South, East-West, and the true vertical depth (TVD) co-ordinates of any point on the well course. The second degree polynomical relation is verified by using the data from a small scale curved hole model measurements as well as the data from the field measurements. |
Alaska Volcano Observatory
ASH3D: Ash Cloud Load Forecast for Hypothetical Eruption
- This ash cloud load graphic is the output of a mathematical model of volcanic ash transport in the atmosphere (Ash3D, USGS).
- This model shows expected load (amount) of ash in the atmosphere for actual or hypothetical eruptions.
- AVO produces this graphic when a volcano is restless by assuming a reasonable hypothetical eruption, in order to provide a pre-eruptive forecast of airspace likely to be affected. During an eruption, AVO updates the forecast with actual observations (eruption start time and duration, plume height) as they become available.
- Colors represent amounts of ash in the atmosphere, summed from the bottom to the top of the cloud. Warmer colors represent areas of greater ash; colder colors mean less ash.
- This graphic does not show ashfall deposition on the ground; go here for ashfall graphic. Note that it is possible for ash clouds to move overhead with little or no fallout on the ground.
- For more information about ASH3D, see USGS Open-File Report 2013-1122.
- Return to Makushin activity page for more information on its eruptive status.
Page modified: November 27, 2017 11:43
Contact Information: AVO Web Team
This website is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey under Cooperative Agreement Grant G19AC00060 and G19AC00171.
Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. |
Last week we attended Merck’s Tech Innovation Summit in New Jersey which brought together over 3,000 technologists, innovators and professionals from across all cross-functional groups at Merck plus technology exhibitor’s like Ayogo.
One of this year’s topics focused on Innovation and how to drive innovative thinking around how technology can help improve healthcare as we know it. Paul Prescod, CPO and Founder of Ayogo was one of the featured speakers who addressed the audience of pharmaceutical professionals on the topic “Molecules are not enough: proven techniques to engage patients for better outcomes.”
Ok, onto a recap of what we learned! Paul focused on why many pharma mHealth applications fail and what companies like Merck can do to design applications for success. Here are the three biggest lessons pharma can learn about patient engagement and mHealth applications from Paul’s talk:
1. Pharma has an opportunity to “connect the dots” for physicians and patients.
Engagement is critical to bringing patients and physicians together, and pharma can help to “connect the dots” in three critical ways: 1) Better disease prevention, by giving patients the tools alongside therapeutic treatments to self-monitor and change behavior; 2) Greater success in treatment, thanks to greater compliance with lifestyle changes and therapy; and 3) Superior clinical decision making, as a result of the patient sharing more information with the clinician.
Pharma can use its expertise to enable a more holistic digital solution that would have greater success in engaging patients and connecting them with their physicians.
2. A Patient Engagement Platform is the solution that solves pharma’s key challenges related to adherence and consumerization.
We’re not talking symptom tracking alone. A patient engagement platform takes a holistic approach to help drive patient engagement to improve care for patients, result in better clinical outcomes lower total cost of care. In addition, Paul discussed how a holistic patient engagement platform like Ayogo’s Empower platform would provide value to several stakeholders: patients, providers, and payers with the pharmaceutical company at the center of the platform offering.
3. A successful Patient Engagement Platform has 3 key components:
a. Gamification: Think of a game as an economy, with inputs (effort, time, information), industry (the mechanics of playing), and outputs (emotional satisfaction, physical prowess, social status). Points are like the currency of that economy. They’re only meaningful to the participant insofar as they represent value created in your game’s economy. If they don’t represent some value to the participant, then they’re, well, pointless. Gamification, or as we prefer to say— Playful Design, therefore, is not about layering points and badges on top of your program to reward participation. It is about using the behavioral psychology of play to help the patient make a psychological/emotional commitment to the program itself.
b. Social Support: Studies of social game technologies as far back as 2010 show the power of the incoming message from a peer or loved one. People who received incoming challenges and messages of encouragement were three times more likely to complete a healthy action than people who did not receive those messages. The key to behavior change is incorporating this design principle into a holistic patient engagement platform.
c. Rituals and Habit Building: Focusing the patient’s attention on repeatable, actionable tasks for a period of time, is the basis of healthy habit formation. Ayogo’s Empower platform centers around a goal-oriented action list that is completed by patients throughout the day. The list is smart—changing status, based on either self-reported behaviors or wirelessly-logged data. As each behavior is completed, the user swipes away the items one by one using the touchscreen or mouse. Once their list is cleared, this small success is celebrated with fireworks and encouraging messages, reinforcing a sense of completion and raising satisfaction. Through daily repetition, these rituals become the foundation of new habits for diet, exercise, and self-care.
Interested in learning how you can implement an IT-enabled patient engagement platform at your pharmaceutical organization? Let’s talk! |
About 12,000 people flocked to a harvest festival in Madison, Wis., last month to celebrate another year's bumper crop. But the bounty in question wasn't corn or soybeans. It was marijuana.
Estimated value of the harvest: between $1 billion and $33.1 billion.
No one can pin down the exact value of the illegal produce. Any way you cut it, though, the domestic marijuana trade is flourishing agribusiness.
Home-grown leaf now supplies a quarter of the United States marijuana market. What's more, sophisticated horticulture gives native plants the dubious distinction of being the most potent smoke in the world.
Domestically produced marijuana is believed to have constituted 18 percent of the total available in 1986. But the estimated 3,000 to 3,500 metric tons of marijuana harvested in the United States in 1987 constituted 25 percent of the ``pot'' consumed here. These estimates come from the National Narcotics Intelligence Consumers Committee, a cooperative body of federal drug agencies.
NNICC says Department of Justice eradication figures also help quantify the increasing role of the US in the domestic marijuana industry. The number of plants eradicated jumped from 4.7 million in 1986 to 7.4 million in 1987.
``People go into it for the money; there are 18 to 20 million users,'' says J.W. Seward, coordinator of the eradication desk at the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). With big consumer demand and only a ``couple thousand'' eradication agents, law enforcement is at a gross disadvantage, he says.
Since the early 1980s, the proportion of US crops reported as sinsemilla, the unpollinated female cannabis plant with its higher content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the psychoactive chemical in marijuana - has continued to increase.
In 1987, 42 percent of the plants eradicated were sinsemilla; in 1983 the figure was 26 percent. The THC content in these plants ranged from 7.6 percent to 20 percent. Average THC content for imported marijuana is 3 to 6 percent, according to the DEA.
Marijuana greenhouses were seized in 45 states in 1987, compared with 39 states in 1986. Total pot-growing greenhouses seized rose from 1,077 to 1,192.
Under a recent statute, law enforcers can confiscate property of pot farmers. Thus, many growers have uprooted and moved to public lands.
``The national forests have become one of the prime growing areas, and the problem is growing annually,'' says Jay Humphreys, a spokesman at the US Forest Service.
In 1987 the service found 3,034 marijuana-growing areas and eradicated 254,947 plants. ``We think we only got 40 percent of what's being grown,'' Mr. Humphreys says.
The Forest Service has closed 886,000 acres of forests to the public because of the infiltration of pot growers, who run the gambit from ``flower children'' caught in a '60s time warp to dangerous organized criminals.
``We're not a law-enforcement agency, never wanted to be. But circumstances forced us to train as law enforcers and carry weapons. It's not something we're happy about,'' Humphreys says.
Rangers were assaulted by growers 75 times in 1987. They confiscated 101 firearms, and 31 growing sites located contained potentially lethal booby traps.
In a lot of depressed areas, local people consider work on marijuana plantations ``honest work for an honest day's pay,'' Humphreys says.
Mr. Seward of the DEA says lax legal sanctions have nurtured this attitude. He says that in the past, the ``vast majority'' of pot-cultivation arrests never resulted in jail time. He predicts that the mandatory jail sentences included in the omnibus drug legislation, recently passed by Congress, will wake people up to the seriousness of growing and using marijuana.
But some experts are skeptical. ``This highly profitable underground market is not going to be eliminated by brute force,'' says Marvin D. Miller, a lawyer in Alexandria, Va., and a member of the board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
NORML believes marijuana is wrongly categorized with dangerous narcotics like heroin and cocaine. It says that in spending some $3.8 million a year on marijuana eradication, the DEA is wasting taxpayer money attempting to enforce an unenforceable prohibition.
The organization asserts that legalization and taxation of marijuana would raise revenue that could be better spent to educate the public about the dangers of more serious substances.
Brian Murphy, a former pot farmer who left the field after being arrested and convicted, says, ``Marijuana is the most benign of all substances. A lot of people use it like a beer.''
Mr. Murphy, now a spokesman for NORML, says that 50 million Americans consume marijuana regularly, even as prices have skyrocketed.
(Federal figures put the cost of domestic marijuana at $500 to $1,500 a pound in 1987, compared with $350 to $650 a pound in 1983.)
There are even people outside the recreational-use community who say that current antipot laws are too severe.
A DEA administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, issued an opinion last month recommending that marijuana be reclassified under the Controlled Substances Act to make it available for medical treatment of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
``The record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience,'' Judge Young wrote. ``Despite the long history and extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports that suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death. By contrast, aspirin, a commonly used medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year.''
Lester Grinspoon, a Harvard University associate professor of psychiatry, agrees. He has been part of the effort to get pot reclassified.
``There is no such thing as a harmless drug, but marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco,'' he says. ``It is much less toxic than thousands of medicines prescribed by doctors every day.''
Yet Dr. Grinspoon, who has studied the effects of marijuana since 1967, concedes that pot poses a risk of lung damage because of its high tar content - four to five times that of tobacco cigarettes. ``The lungs were only meant to breathe fresh air,'' he says. |
WHILE the amount of media attention given to the crisis in America's agricultural sector declined during the past year, conditions relating to the situation have not, by and large, improved. In many respects, they have worsened. Government subsidies to agriculture now amount to approximately $26 billion annually and are expected to rise in the future. Yet despite this enormous allocation of federal funds, farms continue to fall into bankruptcy.
If this situation were merely the result of the typical attrition of markets and industries that is to be expected within a relatively free economic market, one would be inclined to say that the subsidies should simply be phased down and eventually eliminated in view of the staggering federal deficit now facing policymakers. But the problem is more complex than that and requires a more comprehensive and farsighted approach.
The tradition of federal subsidies to agriculture began after the 1930s dust bowl disaster as a means to encourage farmers to leave portions of their land fallow each year, thus reducing the loss of topsoil and allowing the land to recover nutrients and remain productive. In following years, subsidies became a permanent fixture of federal policy to ensure relatively low prices of agricultural products to consumers while providing farmers enough income from their products to remain in business.
In the 1970s, wealthy investors from abroad began to see America's agricultural land as an enticing commodity. Suddenly the market value of the land soared - tripling, even quadrupling in value. Many farmers, often encouraged by their bankers, borrowed money, using the increased market value of their land as collateral, and invested in more land and larger, more expensive machinery. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the speculation frenzy receded. The value of the farmers' collateral dropped and, as an additional blow, exports of grain to the Soviet Union were curtailed under the Carter administration in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Farmers could not pay their debts and widespread bankruptcies occurred.
Many pundits tend to view the present crisis as a morality play in which greed on the part of the farmers themselves and on the part of their bankers reaped its just rewards. (Many small-town banks that made the loans are now going under, too.) Others, more pragmatic, view the situation as a natural counterbalancing process that will trim down agricultural productivity during a period in which surpluses of grain and dairy products are typical.
But these responses ignore a factor that looms over this issue - and, indeed, over this planet's entire ecological system - like a sword of Damocles. The climatological changes that are occurring because of depletion of the ozone layer of the atmosphere and the apparent global warming trend pose far-reaching, potentially catastrophic threats to our ecological well-being. The consequences cannot begin to be foreseen at this juncture.
Today, when farms are foreclosed, the repossessed land is frequently purchased by a real estate or other commercial developer. As a result, areas once covered with crops or lying fallow are stripped and paved. The loss of vegetation in these areas increases the reflective surface of the planet - what climatologists refer to as ``albedo.'' Studies indicate that when albedo increases, precipitation levels decline, promoting a cycle that leads to permanent loss of productive soil through the process of desertification. Moreover, a number of more recent scientific studies suggest that if the ozone layer thins, crop yields will fall. And the loss of ground cover itself increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
These conditions pose potentially widespread dangers to our well-being and to the health of our environment. They should assume the highest priority for those who are currently involved in formulating policies for this nation's future and, in particular, for those who are attempting to revise current agricultural policies and programs.
How might such policies be reframed in light of these threatening ecological conditions?
One alternative would be to use the funding currently allocated to ongoing subsidies to purchase outright a certain percentage of a farmer's land and allow such land to lie fallow as part of a national agricultural reserve.
Another alternative would be to encourage owners to convert land to agro-forestry - planting, harvesting, and replanting trees. Agro-forestry industries could be given a tax break to initiate such ventures and nonprofit development groups currently active abroad could be enlisted to train farmers in agro-forestry practices.
Implementing either or both of these alternatives would reduce and eventually eliminate the spiraling cycle of farm subsidies, which comprise a significant share of the current federal deficit. They would allow farmers to trim back production. With the over-production problem diminished, farmers would be assured a better price for their crops without the necessity of continued subsidies.
While there are no studies on the cost of implementing these measures, rough estimates based on the price of land and other factors indicate that they would cost no more and probably less than one year of funding at current subsidy levels. Moreover, they would be a one-shot allocation, thus saving billions in coming years. It is to be hoped that thorough research on the cost of converting land to agricultural reserves or agro-forestry will soon be undertaken.
In light of the uncertainty of future ecological conditions, conserving agricultural land or converting it to agro-forestry industries would appear to be a wise and timely measure and would provide a way out of what now stands as an increasing spiral of exorbitant subsidies stretching far into the future. |
AS American soldiers return home from the Persian Gulf, assessments will be made of the effect of the Gulf war on everything from US elections and the economy to how the war will shape the nation's collective identity. The current climate mingles relief and amazement that the coalition casualties were so light, given the decisive Gulf victory. There's also a pride in having successfully carried out a mission.
That pride will have to make room for some humility and sober reflection. The story in the Gulf is not yet over. The region is still "hot." And common humanity demands that exultation should be tempered by recent estimates of Iraqi dead - between 100,000 and 200,000. Those numbers indicate a tremendous amount of suffering by a people with whom, as President Bush has said, America has no quarrel.
Still, the mood is upbeat. At a time when the US has been said to lack resolve, it may be important to know that the fight is not out of the American people.
In line with this, some immediate lessons can be drawn from the war. The late Barbara Tuchman, after the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986, noted a deteriorating sense of quality and a lack of precision in American workmanship, and by implication in the American mind. Others noted such problems too.
Yet forces in the Gulf showed competence and capability. More than 500,000 men and women are coming home who have had the experience of a successful mission. The forces under General Schwarzkopf showed discipline, precision, alertness, bravery, unity, care for others - an ability to achieve the task at hand, and carry out orders in the service of a larger purpose. Such qualities and spirit are needed.
As Mr. Bush told the nation last week: "The America we saw in the desert was first class. We saw the excellence embodied in the Patriot missile and the patriots who made it work."
But caution is in order. The Gulf war shouldn't become a misguided US metaphor for success. Much of the coalition clout in the Gulf came from an overwhelming superiority in machinery - high-tech weapons. The military itself operates much like a machine.
Individuals and societies aren't machines, however, nor can the more profound issues of the human condition be solved by technology. Problems in education, between neighbors, at home, resist a military approach. In sterner terms, the ability to drop bombs on a third-world country for five weeks does not immediately translate into raising intelligent children or becoming a people of moral and spiritual depth.
The war against Saddam Hussein was a success, not a panacea. |
Good Trail Maintenance and e-MTB’s to keep you ahead
Good Trail Maintenance and Catering for e-MTB’s Will Keep You Ahead of the Pack
This is the third of three blogs in which we talk to Dr Anthony Burton who has a PhD in Planning, Human Health and Climate Change and runs the consultancy Anthony Burton & Associates, based in Australia’s capital city, Canberra.
Although the details discussed below specifically refer to Australia, they are equally applicable in the USA and elsewhere.
In recent years there has been an unprecedented level of investment in mountain bike (MTB) parks. Ski resorts were the first to invest heavily into MTB trails, looking to keep their expensive facilities earning money between ski seasons. Now local communities, often quite remote, are seeing new parks being built, some with government investment and others privately funded.
With so many new parks being built, and still more being announced, is there a danger of reaching saturation point, or if you like, ‘peak MTB’?
“It’s possible,” Anthony conceded. “If we look at the early 2000s and the 24 hour mountain bike racing boom as an example. We had one local event, the Mont/Scott 24 Hour that could generate 4,500 participants and another 5000 visitors. Other people and locations thought, ‘That’s a good idea. Let’s set up our own 24 hour event!’ It got to the point where you could choose from about 15 different 24 hour events across the east coast of Australia.
“Today, there’s hardly a 24 hour race still going. We reached peak saturation. Everyone said, ‘We’ve been there and done that. We don’t want to do that anymore.’
“So can we reach peak MTB parks? Can every city have a Stromlo Forest Park? (Canberra’s biggest MTB Park and former Worlds venue). I think there is potential to have too many. But the answer is in the diversity of what you provide and how you provide it.
“If you were to go out with a cookie cutter and make 100 Stromlo Forest Parks virtually all the same, people would very quickly get bored with that. "But if you can make a series of trails that are interesting, different and connect with the other tourism based aspects of your region, then you can use your MTB park as a hook to get people to visit and stay for longer.
“There are two options, a MTB park can be the main reason to visit a location or a secondary reason. Both can allow a rider or family to stay longer.
“For example, they come and ride Stromlo on Saturday morning and then go to Questacon (interactive science museum) with their family on Saturday afternoon or to the zoo to meet a cheetah. It’s about linking those other tourist opportunities.
“A single mountain biker might spend $150 to $170 per day, but if I bring my family I might spend $400 a day.
“That will also encourage return visitations. Great food is really important, beer, wine and other opportunities.”
Budget for Maintenance
Unfortunately MTB trails are not ‘set and forget’. They need regular maintenance. How much will this cost?
“You should budget about 5% of the build cost or $2 to $4 per metre per annum for trail maintenance,” said Anthony. “In other words $2,000 to $4,000 per kilometre ($3,200 to $6,400 per mile), per annum. For a local government that might sound like a lot. For a 30 kilometre (20 mile) network you’re looking at $80,000 per annum. But you’ve got to look at the knock-on effects of that expenditure for the local community. You’re generally giving skilled work to locals, often young people.
“For every $100,000 you spend on maintenance, particularly if you’re using a local company, that will have a multiplier of about 1.8, say $180,000.
“In this age of Instagram and social media, one of your biggest marketing tools is word of mouth. So you always want your trails to be in tip top condition. They have to be safe and in a condition that is appropriate for the level of the rider you’re looking for and meets their needs and expectations.
“Even if you build the trail to the highest possible standards, you’ll still need to change and upgrade things. Natural surface trails, by their very nature, do suffer from wear and tear.
“Maintenance costs will be lower for a compact trail network than a long point to point trail, because of quicker access to all parts of the trail, especially if it’s easier to get machinery in there.
“NSW Parks and Wildlife pride themselves on only spending $1.25 per metre on trail maintenance, but in the meantime word of mouth means that ridership will fall off and you’ll get that self-fulfilling prophecy: ‘We used to have 100,000 people, now we only have 20,000. People are not interested any more so let’s cut the maintenance down further.’”
“Don’t be afraid to spend money on maintenance, in the end it will repay you and your network in spades (literally!)”
Finally, there’s new technology here right now that has huge potential to grow the MTB tourism market.
“E-mountain bikes are going to change the way in which people ride and visit,” Anthony predicted. “They’re going to open opportunities up to a whole swag of new riders.
“There are issues around e-mountain bikes for sure; but providing for them means that those people for whom riding a 25 kilometre (16 mile) trail is outside of the realms of possibility, can now do it.
“For example, when we went to Crackenback Resort we rode the Thredbo Valley Trail. My wife rode on an e-MTB and she loved every minute of it. For someone who was worried about the length and terrain of the trail, providing a full suspension e-MTB meant that she was able to enjoy that rolling bushwalker nature of that trail. It really opened it up to her and I believe it will open it up to a much broader market as well.
“Not everyone can afford to buy an e-MTB but that’s where hire can really step in. If you look at Europe, e-MTBs are changing the nature of the parks.
“It’s certainly changing how I’m designing MTB parks. I’m not necessarily designing for anything steeper, but perhaps we can now have a 16 kilometre climb to the top of a mountain with a 7% gradient coming down. In the past that climb would have been too long for an average rider. But now they can get to the top more easily. They can spend four hours on that trail and have a great time.”
Mountain bike tourism is one of those invisible industries. Because it takes place out of sight in park, forest and wilderness areas, the average member of the public might not be aware of it, but it’s already huge.
Thanks to heavy ongoing investment in new trails, ever improving trail designs, bike technology and now e-MTB’s, there’s no doubt that the mountain bike tourism market still has fantastic potential for further growth. |
Unconventional gas is ‘natural gas’ that is trapped in rock from which it is difficult to extract, requiring specialised mining procedures and often access to large areas of land.
There are serious threats to human health from unconventional gas at many levels. They relate to:
1. Land access and degradation
2. Underground chemical injection
3. Air pollution
4. Global climate
Doctors for the Environment Australia holds the position that the risks are so potentially serious, so difficult to manage and so likely to be long-lived, that any further development of the unconventional gas industry in Australia has to be seen as unwise and unhealthy.
Find out more about the related health concerns by downloading our unconventional gas and health fact sheet which also contains a list of DEA submissions and official statements on unconventional gas and other relevant links. |
|Mirror [#1]||Discovery of Sound in the Sea Book I: Importance of Sound.pdf||40,683 KB/Sec|
|Mirror [#2]||Discovery of Sound in the Sea Book I: Importance of Sound.pdf||29,870 KB/Sec|
|Mirror [#3]||Discovery of Sound in the Sea Book I: Importance of Sound.pdf||22,441 KB/Sec|
Sounds produced by marine animals, natural processes, and human activities fill the global ocean. Because water is an effective medium for the transmission of sound, both marine animals and people use sound as a tool for finding objects, navigating, and communicating under water.
The content in this book is based on the Discovery of Sound in the Sea project (DOSITS), including its website - www.dosits.org. The DOSITS content is based on well-understood scientific principles, peer-reviewed literature, and high quality sources of scientific data. Independent experts, who specialize in underwater acoustics, have reviewed all of the book’s content.
This DOSITS book focuses on sound in the ocean, both natural and human produced. Despite the marine focus, much of the information about these sounds and the related underwater bioacoustic principles are true for all aquatic environments. This book contains a selection of DOSITS content about how marine animals produce, receive, and use sound, along with a chapter on the potential effects of human produced sounds on animals in the ocean. Several of the topics discussed in this book are areas of current active scientific research and new information is available as peer-reviewed publications become available.
Importance of Sound
Marine Animal Communication
Marine Mammal Navigation
Marine Animal Feeding
Sound Production and Reception
Potential Effects of Sound
The Discovery of Sound in the Sea materials have been developed by the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography in partnership with Marine Acoustics, Inc. of Middletown, RI. Many other scientists have contributed to the project’s materials, including over 50 independent scientific reviewers. In addition, many researchers have generously donated the use of images and sounds in this book. DOSITS materials have been developed and produced with funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation. Proceeds from the sale of this book will support updates of the book’s content as the results of newly published research are incorporated into DOSITS content. |
WASHINGTON — A new poll shows that half of those who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement also identify as part of the religious right, reflecting the complex — and sometimes contradictory — blend of bedfellows in the American conservative movement.
The poll released Tuesday by the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute comes as the Tea Party’s composition and potential impact is still under hot debate. Experts disagreed about what the poll meant, with some saying it reveals serious fissures between social and fiscal conservatives and others saying the two movements can find common ground on subjects such as limiting public funding for abortion.
Institute chief executive Robert Jones said the poll, funded by the Ford Foundation, aimed to clarify the relationship between the two groups.
“The way the data looks, if this is a marriage of convenience, it’s one that would be against the law. The relatives are too close,” said Jones, a self-described progressive.
The survey, which polled 3,013 people by telephone over four days in early September and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points, also found:
• The percentage of Americans who say they’re part of the Tea Party movement is 11 percent — about half the size of the group who say they are “part of the religious right or conservative Christian movement.”
• Fifty-five percent of people who say they are part of the Tea Party agree that “America has always been and is currently a Christian nation” — 6 points more than the percentage of self-described Christian conservatives who would say that.
• Among the differences between Christian conservatives and Tea Partyers is their source of news, with 39 percent of the former group saying Fox News is their most trusted source for “accurate information about politics and current events” and 57 percent of the latter group saying that.
The poll appears to ask the most detailed questions yet related to faith and the Tea Party. |
September is fast approaching, which means that the start of the school year is almost here. If your child has diabetes, there are several items beyond stocking up on school supplies that should be on your back-to-school checklist. To find out what steps you should be taking before your child hits the books, check out this piece in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
And if you feel that your child could benefit from a diabetes support group at school, be sure to read this article, by counselor and support group leader Debra Madaris Efird, on how to start such a group.
This blog entry was written by Web Editor Diane Fennell. |
Many experts agree that the digital economy is one of the most pressing issues of our time. According to research conducted by MIT, companies that successfully adapt to the digital world are 26% more profitable than those that don’t. Those that don’t aren’t merely left to underperform in the marketplace. Many—like Kodak and Blackberry—are left wondering whether they fit into this brave new world at all.
The thing that some business leaders fail to realize until it’s far too late is that digital transformations are not a way to support “business as usual”—they’re about redefining what “business as usual” means in the first place. They’re about finding new ways to work smarter, not harder. Many airlines are having great success with this regard in particular.
But what the digital economy really means for airlines can be summed up in a single word: opportunity. Technology has connected people around the world in a way that has no parallel throughout human history. Airline leaders can now use the digital economy to connect to their travelers in powerful and meaningful ways. This helps to create a mutually beneficial situation for all parties.
Intelligent operations: Working smarter
One of the most powerful implications of the digital economy for airlines has to do with the intelligent operations that are now possible. Airlines can now have real-time visibility over their entire infrastructure. This allows them to manage based on instant data and smart algorithms, giving them the power to make better, more informed decisions moving forward.
Consider an unavoidable disruption that is poised to cancel X number of flights across the country. With intelligent operations, leaders can see the impact immediately. They can reschedule passengers more quickly, reorganize flights with better efficiency, and more. This not only preserves their desired business outcome, it improves the passenger experience as well. What would have been a massive, lengthy, and expensive issue ten years ago is now much easier to manage.
This is a huge benefit before you even consider that predictive models can be used to prevent unforeseen disruptions in the first place. Along the same lines, Big Data and mathematical models can help maximize operational efficiency. These models drive costs per flight to the actual flight for maintenance, turnaround, fuel uplift, catering, airport, and flight charges at each airport to maximize operational efficiency and reduce unnecessary spending.
Creating new market opportunities
Another thing that the digital economy means for airlines is that new market opportunities are emerging all the time. Consider online travel planning, something that has become a “new norm” for both business and leisure travelers.
According to Skift, Priceline.com has $1.84 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2015 alone. They had $13.8 billion in growth bookings during the same period of time. Remember, this is a third-party provider. If airlines used the digital economy to offer the same level of service to their customers, this is a potentially incredible new revenue channel, just waiting to be taken advantage of. Studies already confirm that airlines that offer a larger number of ancillary services—like online booking—have better operating margins than those that don’t.
Proactive safety and maintenance
The digital economy isn’t just about increasing revenue, however. It also makes safety easier to manage than ever. Based on the same type of real-time data airlines are using in other areas, they can move to a predictive model for safety and maintenance.
Sensor data can be used to predict failures before they happen. Maintenance crews can then make decisions faster to mitigate short-term and long-term risk. Maintenance programs themselves can be optimized for maximum safety, while guaranteeing maximum maintenance yield and aircraft availability at the same time.
Customers demand personalized engagement
Finally, the digital economy has big implications for airlines in terms of personalized traveler engagement in particular. Customers want airlines to treat them as individuals. They want services to be offered based on their situational needs: They don’t just want offers—they want relevant offers that actually benefit them on a basic level.
The digital economy and traveler loyalty management allow for all of this. This doesn’t just let airlines offer better services, it also directly impacts their bottom line. According to a study by Collinson Latitude, 61% of travelers look for loyalty programs with a broad range of personalized offers. Additionally, 77% of satisfied travel loyalty program members continue to spend money with that brand long-term.
The digital economy isn’t just creating a situation where airlines are offering a better, safer service to customers. It’s creating a situation where those customers actually want to become loyal brand advocates at the same time.
The connection is real—and powerful
Digital technology has been about connecting people to each other from the beginning. It makes perfect sense that the digital economy is about connecting people to businesses in meaningful new ways. There is a tremendous opportunity for this in the travel industry alone. Airlines are already offering better passenger travel experiences by way of traveler loyalty management and more.
From opening up huge new markets like online travel planning to paving the way for intelligent operations and making gain in safety and maintenance, the digital economy doesn’t just make good business sense. Financials aside, it enables airlines to change the foundation their businesses are built on for the better, and for all time.
For more insight on this digital age of airlines, see “Build a Better Customer Journey for the Digital Traveler.” |
James Zdralek has devoted much of the past two years to a white paper – The Future is Money – that does no less than propose a new blockchain-powered monetary system running on inflation-proof, bubble-resistant digital currencies.
The SAP Labs Montreal user experience designer wants to inspire a total rethink of the global economy by introducing a system of trade he terms “futures-backed currency.” In a nutshell, futures-backed currency’s value would be based on agreed-upon future deliveries of products and services, rather than on a physical good like gold or on government law, as is done with fiat money.
A futures-backed currency would separate interest, inflation, and economic growth from government finances and international banking, returning them to their natural functions, Zdralek believes. In his mind, this would make the financial system more stable, doing away with the inflation of traditional currencies like the Euro and the U.S. dollar, the fluctuating valuation of Bitcoin, and the deflationary spirals associated with hoarding.
If futures-backed currency could do all that, why aren’t we already using it? Because it’s only now – with the emergence of blockchain and smart contracts – that the technology to trade currencies in such a way, and on a large scale, is becoming possible, Zdralek explains. Blockchain, serving as a decentralized authority that holds people accountable to each other in exchanges of value, removes the need for intermediaries that ensure trust. And with smart contracts, agreements between buyers and sellers are written in code, allowing trades to self-execute across the blockchain.
Curiously, Zdralek’s background is not in economics, but instead what he admits is a “weird mix of design, psychology, and accounting.” This meant that although I found The Future is Money fascinating, I had to consider the possibility his theory was naïve or wildly over-optimistic.
I needed a second opinion, and I got it from Nadine Hoffmann, a banking and financial services expert and one of SAP’s key figures in the blockchain space. “James is a brilliant mind. He is thinking about improvements to the financial system in ways that can’t be ignored. There are many questions about how cryptocurrencies and blockchain could affect security, inflation, and money management by central banks. Futures-backed currency could provide world-changing answers.”
As more endorsements rolled in, I decided it was time to sit down with Zdralek to learn more about his grand vision. This Q&A features excerpts from our conversation, which have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Adam Winfield: Is futures-backed currency a unique concept, or is it influenced by other theories?
James Zdralek: There are similar ideas out there, but with blockchain, it could really gain momentum. There are things like prepaid cards, where you go into a coffee shop, buy a prepaid card, and you are exchanging money for a future coffee. But that’s not the same as something traded on a blockchain.
Some of it came out of discussions around mesh networks – transferring data from one cellphone to another to complete a call, rather than going through a centralized control of cellphone towers. How do you track debt and credit on this type of sharing system? That question snowballed into the current white paper, which has been evolving for a couple of years.
AW: What’s the back story to your writing The Future is Money?
JZ: Economists think inside the box. There are certain lines they don’t cross when they talk about economics. As a designer, I’m trained to think outside the box. This led to coming up with solutions to problems in the monetary system. Interest rate control is centralized. Inflation is very damaging to the economy, but it’s very slow and hard to see. I was interested in addressing these problems. When I heard the idea of exchanging value on an Ethereum contract, I thought, hey, you could have currency based on something of value.
AW: How does blockchain make futures-backed currency possible?
JZ: In monetary systems, you need to control the supply of money. In a traditional monetary system, the government is in control. With blockchain, it’s an algorithm. If you create a currency that is futures-backed, it’s a promise that I’m going to deliver some meat in a shipping container to this port. That’s a promise I can put on the blockchain, and it scales really quickly when people are confident, the economy’s booming, and politics are stable.
AW: Are there times you’re doubting yourself when working on such ambitious theories?
JZ: All the time, because I’m not a trained economist. I’m coming at it from the outside saying, “Hey, I think this is wrong, I don’t think we’re doing money correct.” The white paper is more of a futurist look at what could possibly happen, so there are economic concepts and ideas that are rough.
It’s not an immediate future. It’s a far future – 10 years, 5 years if things really move rapidly, but I’m thinking more like 20 years because these are huge changes, in terms of countries controlling money, in terms of the technology coming along in advancement. It’s like a Jules Verne submarine thing: they didn’t exist when he wrote the book, but they came about later. It’s just putting the ideas out there so we can start talking about them and preparing.
AW: Does the regular person need to know about this? Would it affect how they use money?
JZ: For people, it would eliminate the charges in a checking account. You keep money there because you want it secure, but you’re not getting a very good interest rate and you’re paying fees. In theory, this new monetary system could create an easier way for people to just hold onto their money, and it won’t be gradually shrunk by checking account fees and inflation.
Also, when you create a futures-backed currency, interest is embedded in the money itself. You have to read the paper for that to become clear. And If I want cash in my pocket because I don’t want to deal with this whole futures-backed currency thing, a company can create a bill and issue the digital currency that backs it.
AW: Who is the paper aimed at, and what do they do with the ideas?
JZ: Economists, monetary policy economists, the central banks, the commercial banks. I want to get this discussed in central banking circles as an option or a theory. They operate at a different level to me; I’m more creative and looking at crazy ideas. I’m asking, “what do you guys think? Can we run an experiment to test this?”
Central banks are concerned about any change that would impact things too rapidly, because rapid change is dangerous and a lot of people could get hurt. A lot of money could disappear, and things could go haywire. I don’t think central banks could make a great announcement saying, “This paper is very interesting, we should move in this direction.” So, this is kind of an innovation thing that behind the scenes people will be looking at.
Having said that, I’m hoping everybody reads the paper. In usability and design we talk about our user group. If you have used money, then you’re my user. If you’ve got a problem with money, we should talk about it. |
Editor’s note: The City Council voted 13-1 to pull down the monument and store it away from Lee Park. Councilwoman Sandy Greyson was the lone “no” vote, and Councilman Rickey Callahan voted that he was “present,” neither for nor against. We’ll have a story up soon. Here’s the piece from this morning.
This morning, the Dallas City Council will vote on a resolution to authorize the removal a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from Lee Park. Mayor Mike Rawlings believes he has the votes to approve the resolution, which was drafted by three of the African-American members of the Dallas City Council, and which also officially condemns the history of slavery, racism, oppression, exclusion, and disenfranchisement that has dominated the historical experience of African-Americans.
That means that, after the vote, the city manager will remove the statue from the park. The mayor’s new Task Force on Confederate Monuments will begin the process of discussing what will ultimately come of it, as well as what the city will do with the massive Confederate memorial in Pioneer Cemetery, and the many streets, murals, and parks that bear the names and symbols of the Confederacy.
The removal of the Lee statue comes as cities around the southern United States have been removing or covering up Confederate memorials. In Dallas, a group of citizens has been organizing an effort to remove Dallas’ Confederate symbols since earlier this year, and council member Philip Kingston, who has been working with the group, previously drafted a resolution that called for an immediate removal of the monuments. The mayor initially expressed reluctance to the idea of immediately removing the statues, while simultaneously condemning them as “dangerous totems.” That changed, Rawlings says, after the violence in Charlottesville, when a woman was killed by a protester associated with white supremacist groups that were rallying around a statue of Lee in the Virginian city.
“[Removing the statue] was my first inclination after Charlottesville,” Rawlings said. “It wasn’t my first instinct before. My point of view changed.”
Rawlings says what became clear to him after the violence in Virginia was that the Confederate monuments were more than simply historical artifacts.
“I’m a marketing person and there is a term called ‘brand association,’” he says. “Fairly or unfairly, when a Robert E. Lee statue gets associated with Nazi sympathizers, that brand regard goes way into the negative.”
The latest resolution establishes a clear timeline for the task force to complete its deliberations, requesting the new body submit a plan to the council by November 8. That sets up a critical two-month period in which Dallas’ relationship to its own history – and the many figures represent that history – will be put on trial. It is an important moment for a city that has, historically, been more of a mind to re-brand or rewrite its history, rather than confront it.
Starting that process by removing the Lee statue indicates a sincere desire to confront that history meaningfully, but opposition to the move has already begun to surface. Yesterday, a new group calling itself the Dallas Citizens for Unity and Reconciliation— headed by Jane Manning, Pierce Allmän, Henry Tatum, and William Murchison—released results of a survey it paid for that asked 503 registered voters if they would rather see the statue moved or maintained with an additional plaque that offers “the historical perspective of the statue with the addition of privately funded new statues that celebrate the African American community.” The survey found that a majority of those asked favored the compromise, but one can’t help but wonder how Dallas voters would have responded to similar polls about school desegregation or voting rights if they had been conducted during the Civil Rights era.
That’s because, as Wick wrote a few weeks ago and the mayor seems to now perceive, the historical context of these monuments and statues is secondary to the symbolic meaning they now express. There is little merit to the argument that we need to preserve these particular symbols, regardless of any aesthetic or historical relevance, because they are the propagandistic media of a culture that held tight to a worldview in which white supremacy was central. Or, as Kingston said in an interview yesterday: “They are institutional reminders of the institution of racism. I don’t have to look hard to find reminders of the institution of racism.”
All of which makes a second argument made against the removal of the statue voiced by Rick Brettell, the former-director of the Dallas Museum of Art and the Dallas Morning News’ art critic, all the more tone deaf. In an article that appeared over the weekend, Brettell argued that the intention of the Lee monument’s artist, noted 19th century equestrian sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor, was not to create racist propaganda. Brettell’s point may be supported by the curious irony that Proctor also sculpted the steed beneath a statue of the brutal “scorched earth” Union General William Tecumseh Sherman that sits in Grand Army Plaza in New York.
But as Kay Kallos, the city’s public art program manager, explained to the Task Force on Confederate Monuments during their first meeting last week, the meaning of public art differs from other forms of artistic expression in that it carries with it the intention not only of the artist but also the individuals – and the broader societal impulse – that inspired its commissioning. If Brettell can argue that Proctor was a kindly man out-of-step with the commonplace racial attitudes in which his time was steeped, he would have a more difficult time arguing that those who paid for and organized the installation of the Lee statue felt similarly. And it is those cultural attitudes that allow for the statue in Lee Park – as well as Confederate monuments through this city and the rest of the southern United States – to retain a potency that has been newly coopted by resurgent fascist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist organizations.
It all goes to highlight the importance of the work the Task Force on Confederate Monuments has in front of them. In speaking with both Rawlings and Kingston, they agree that the issue at hand is not whether the statues should be moved, but how they are to be moved. That process offers a rare opportunity for broad-based civic discussion and education around this city’s racist past.
“I think the passion around history and preservation is in an exciting conversation with racism,” Rawlings said. “And how do you do that? That’s what I think you are going to hear in this group. Will they find the secret formula for racial strife? I don’t think so, but I do believe it is a good avenue for civic discussion.”
The Task Force will meet again this week and will be briefed, at the request of member Sara Mokuria, on the historical context of the Confederate monuments. If done well, that briefing should begin to help people like Brettell, or the educators and artists lining up to support the DCUR, understand that any archaeological or aesthetic merit of the Lee statue, or nostalgic connection to imagined civility, or any of the original intentions of its creation or commissioning, is superseded by the potency of those objects as totems of racial hatred.
The task force should also look to other examples of how to deal with offensive propaganda. This country isn’t the only place that has to have dealt with discarding propaganda. Germany and countries in Eastern Europe have expunged symbols of fascist or communist regimes in various ways. A recent article in the New Yorker talks about India’s decision to deal with massive monuments to British Colonial rule by placing them in a park and allowing them to rot.
“New Delhi had not erased its imperial origins,” the New Yorker author writes. “It had collected painful symbols of it and then allowed their potency to dissolve.”
To this end, the task force should not only seek out historical experts, but also experts in dealing with issues of aesthetic and artistic potency. There are many contemporary artists whose work, writing, and thinking often wrestles with these kinds of issues of meaningful context and potency. Some are active right here in our community – artists like Lauren Woods, Vicki Meek, Rick Lowe, Michael Corris, Cynthia Mulcahy, Carol Zou, Darryl Ratcliff, and others. These are the cultural workers who possess the language and insight to deal with the multifaceted complications that arise when considering how to properly dissolve the potency of propaganda.
The good news, though, is that today’s action by the mayor and council, and the prerogatives set for the task force, indicate that city’s leadership is ready to tackle this heavy task with sincerity, even if that means they will face tough pushback from some of their constituents.
“Someone said to me, ‘all you want to be is politically correct,’” Rawlings said. “I really don’t. All I want to be is correct.” |
Car Inspection in Oklahoma
Currently, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) doesn't require inspections of any type for vehicle registration or registration renewal. This includes smog tests as well as safety and vehicle inspections.
Controlling Smog and Emissions Pollution
Motor vehicles play a pretty big role in the formation of smog, especially given the airborne by-products from their exhaust systems. These vehicle emissions and the environmental damage they cause are the main reason many states require smog checks.
However, just because Oklahoma doesn't require smog and emissions testing doesn't mean you can't do your part to cut back on vehicle air pollution.
Responsible practices include:
- Keeping up with regular vehicle maintenance such as oil and air filter changes.
- Making vehicle repairs as soon as they arise.
- Driving the speed limit.
- Carpooling with friends and coworkers.
- Condensing errands and other trips into one ride.
In addition to these green driving practices, you might also consider purchasing an eco-friendly vehicle. These sorts of cars, including hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles, can even help you save some green. Read on for details.
Oklahoma Incentives for Eco-Friendly Driving
As mentioned above, there are plenty of financial perks for driving green, even if the state doesn't require your vehicle to pass a smog check.
For example, Oklahoma drivers of eco-friendly vehicles might be able to take advantage of:
- Tax incentives, including the:
- Alternative Fuel Vehicle Income Tax Credits.
- Federal Tax Incentives for Green Vehicles.
- The Natural Gas Rebate and Loan Programs for vehicles operated by compressed natural gas (CNG).
- Potential auto insurance discounts, including discounts for:
- Driving eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles (EV), hybrids, and alternative fuel vehicles (AFV).
- Practicing green driving habits, such as those listed above.
Get more details about each of these benefits over at our section on green driving incentives.
Keeping Your Vehicle Road Safe
Just as it doesn't require smog checks, Oklahoma doesn't require vehicle safety inspections, either; however, for the safety of you and others, it's in everyone's best interest to keep vehicles in great working order. Keeping tabs on your vehicle's maintenance also can help cut back on smog and emissions!
Depending on your experience level, there are a few issues you can regularly monitor yourself. For example:
- Does your horn work properly?
- Do your brake lights, taillights, headlights, and turn signal lights all work?
- Is your license plate securely attached?
- Are your tires properly inflated? Is the tread in good condition?
- Are all of your mirrors, including your side view and rearview, properly affixed?
Other issues might be better left to a professional. For example, a professional auto repair technician can make sure:
- All the fluids are at their proper levels. These fluids include oil, transmission, brake, radiator, power steering, and even windshield washer fluids.
- The air filter is clean.
- The brakes are in working order. (Of course, if you hear any squeaking when you use your brakes, bring your vehicle to a mechanic as soon as possible.)
- Equipment such as the battery, spark plugs, and belts are functioning properly and isn't ready to be changed.
- Your tires don't need rotated or changed.
Remember, keeping your vehicle in the best working order can help cut back on both smog and emissions AND vehicle accidents. |
European Declaration on Allergen Immunotherapy
También en / Also in Spanish
Even though Immunotherapy could be the most rewarding field in terms of return, translational value and European integration, and a field in which Europe is recognised as a worldwide leader, it has not yet received adequate attention from European institutions or research funding bodies.
[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]”Immunotherapy can free patients from their severe symptoms”
“Immunotherapy can free patients from their severe symptoms. I believe Europe would win a lot by taking advantage of this treatment” said Professor Nikolaos Papadopoulos, EAACI Secretary General. Evaluation and surveillance of the full cost of allergic diseases are still lacking and impaired by the variety of health systems across Europe.
During 2011 we are celebrating the 100 Years of Immunotherapy: one century ago, in 1911, Leonard Noon published in the prestigioous british The Lancet the first original paper describing the use of allergen extract injections to treat hay fever, nowadays known as allergic rhinitis.
The European Academy of Allergy would like to call upon Europe’s policy-makers to coordinate actions and improve individual and public health in allergy promoting immunotherapy awareness, updating national healthcare policies to support allergen immunotherapy, prioritising funding for immunotherapy research, monitoring the macroeconomic and health economic parameters of allergy and treamlining medical disciplines and specialties.
The effective implementation of the above policies has the potential for a major positive impact on European Health & Well-Being in the next decade. |
NSW Drought Strategy
The climate of NSW is variable and drought is an inevitable feature in our landscape, therefore it should be considered in the same light as other business risks.
The NSW Government is encouraging farmers to move away from their reliance on an emergency response. Planning for the long-term is the most effective way that farmers can prepare for drought and other downturns.
The Government is committed to working with industry and stakeholders to enhance farmers' drought preparedness and responses to drought will be aligned with the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Drought Policy Reform.
The $300 million NSW Drought Strategy was announced in 2015 (PDF, 112.33 KB).
- Finance - The Farm Innovation Fund provides long-term low interest loans to help improve permanent on-farm infrastructure.
- Skills and Training - The Farm Business Skills Professional Development Program provides primary producers with access to vocational training and farm business planning.
- Animal Welfare Assistance - Funding over five years to provide transport assistance for animal welfare and donated fodder within NSW.
- Information - Including practical advice on seasonal conditions, pest and weed management and livestock management made available through Local Land Services and DPI.
- Research and Development - $2.5 million to work with the Bureau of Meteorology to explore an enhanced network of weather stations across NSW. Work with the Commonwealth Government and farming communities to develop a commercial multi-peril insurance product for the cropping sector.
- Wellbeing – The Rural Resilience Program and Rural Support Workers, and a range of services in the public, private and non-government sectors.
Key principles of the Drought Framework
- Drought is an inevitable feature in our landscape, therefore it should be considered in the same light as other risks to farm businesses.
- The NSW Government will maintain a suite of existing and new measures to assist farmers build their businesses.
- The NSW Drought Strategy encourages primary producers to plan ahead in normal conditions to prepare and build flexibility to deal with adverse conditions.
- A whole-of-government response to drought has been introduced to ensure coordination of service delivery to the broader rural community.
- The NSW Government will work with industry and stakeholders to enhance farmers' drought preparedness
- NSW Government responses to drought will complement the Commonwealth assistance measures, and will be aligned with the Intergovernmental Agreement on Drought Program Reform.
Regional Assistance Advisory Committee (RAAC)
The Regional Assistance Advisory Committee (RAAC) is an independent body that provides advice to the NSW Government on drought.
The Chair of the Drought Interagency Working Group will provide guidance to the RAAC on how to collect information and when to initiate consultation to understand the impact of climate conditions on communities.
The RAAC will provide a balance of views from farmers and non-government organisations on climate related issues affecting regional NSW.
A new RAAC membership structure and Terms of Reference has been put into place to redefine and strengthen the role of the RAAC.
NSW Drought Interagency Working Group
The NSW Drought Interagency Working Group ensures a whole-of-government approach is taken to drought policy and the implementation of the NSW Drought Strategy.
The working group draws on a range of regional networks to:
- Monitor the drought situation in NSW and the climatic conditions that contribute to drought based on advice provided by the Regional Assistance Advisory Committee.
- Review and provide advice on the policy response to deteriorating seasonal conditions and requests for drought assistance.
- Ensure proposed drought assistance measures are consistent with the Intergovernmental Agreement on National Drought Program Reform (IGA) and the IPART drought assistance evaluation framework (once completed).
- Monitor and ensure delivery of the NSW Drought Strategy.
The working group meets every two months or as required, and comprises representatives from the:
- NSW Department of Industry
- NSW Treasury
- NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Family and Community Services
- NSW Health
- Local Land Services
- NSW Department of Education
- Land and Water Commissioner
- Transport for NSW
The working group is chaired by the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
History of drought
Drought has been a constant and inevitable feature of the NSW landscape.
During the second half of the 19th century increased population and droughts led to increasing the intensity of farming and attempts to 'drought proof' agriculture through the expansion of irrigation.
Two of the most significant droughts in NSW in the last two centuries include the Federation Drought and the Millennium Drought.
- The Federation Drought was experienced from 1895-1903 and considered one of the worst droughts in history.
- The Millennium Drought was experienced across NSW from 2001 until 2010. |
Estuarine fish habitats occur where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with the salty ocean water. This brackish water environment supports a variety of fish habitats, including:
These environments provide important feeding, spawning and nursery sites for many aquatic animals. There are animals, such as crabs and some mosquitoes, that rely on estuarine water to complete their life cycles and others, such as migratory shore birds, visit estuaries to feed and rest.
Did you know...
70% of coastal fish species in south-eastern Australia need to move through estuaries to complete their life cycle.1
Many fish species spend all or part of their life in estuaries and as a result estuaries support diverse and productive commercial and recreational fisheries and the oyster industry. These are important contributors to the local economies of many regional towns.
There are approximately 154 large and medium-sized estuaries and embayments along the NSW coast. Most of these are under intense urban development pressure with approximately 80% of the State’s population living near an estuary. Some 60% of the State’s estuaries are intermittently closed and open lakes and lagoons which are sensitive to what happens not only in the estuary but also throughout the lake's catchment.
A series of maps of the State's estuarine habitats are now available. Thse maps show the current distribution of core elements of estuarine habitat, such as saltmarsh, seagrass and mangrove.
View a map showing the saltmarsh in your estuary.
A saltmarsh is a community of plants and low shrubs that can tolerate high soil salinity and occasional inundation from salt water. They usually have areas with vegetation interspersed with bare areas (salt pans). Saltmarshes occur at the upper levels of the intertidal zone, often behind mangroves, and, while they're not subject to daily tidal inundation, they're flooded by larger tides and semi-permanent pools of brackish water.2
Saltmarshes are characterised by plant species, such as Sarcocornia quinqueflora (samphire), Sporobolus virginicus (saltwater couch) and Juncus species (rushes).
41 fish species are known to use saltmarsh areas, including yellowfin bream, sand whiting and various mullets.2
Saltmarsh is important to fish as it provides sources of food, habitat and shelter when inundated at high tide. Saltmarshes play an important role as a juvenile habitat for species such as bream and mullet. Crabs are common in saltmarsh communities, and are a significant food source for bream and other fish species. Some species, such as common galaxias (Galaxias maculatus), deposit their eggs in saltmarsh vegetation. Saltmarshes also act as a buffer and filtration system for sediments and nutrients.
Saltmarshes can be found in estuaries along the whole NSW coastline, with the larger areas occurring in the Manning bioregion (between Nambucca Heads and Stockton). Saltmarsh is found in many estuaries of NSW and covers a total area of approximately 59km4. The distribution of major areas of saltmarsh in NSW is shown in the table below.5
Number of estuaries
Tweed / Morton (north of Nambucca Heads)
Manning (Nambucca Heads to Stockton)
Hawkesbury (Stockton to Shellharbour)
Batemans (Shellharbour to Tathra)
Twofold (south of Tathra)
Within NSW, saltmarsh area is contracting, with losses of between 12% and 97%. Part of this is due to the expansion of mangroves.4 Mangroves move landward because of changes in rainfall patterns, sea level rise, tidal changes due to harbour dredging, sedimentation and changes to the catchment.6 In many areas the extent and health of saltmarsh communities has rapidly declined due to pressure from rural and urban development.
Coastal saltmarshes have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community under the Threatened Species Conservation Act, administered by the Department of Environment and Climate Change. For more information visit Saltmarsh as an Endangered Ecological Community (www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au).
Mangroves grow along the shores of many NSW estuaries, and in some places form extensive forests. Of the five species of mangrove that occur in NSW, Avicennia marina (Grey Mangrove) and Aegiceras corniculatum (River Mangrove) are the two most common.
Mangrove-lined creeks are important habitats for fish, crabs, birds and other animals. Mangrove trees provide large amounts of organic matter, which is eaten by many small aquatic animals. In turn, these animals provide food for larger fish and other animals. Mangroves also help maintain water quality by filtering silt from runoff and recycling nutrients.
Mangroves also play a vital role in protecting foreshores from storm surges, cyclones, tsunamis and wind and wave conditions.
In some areas, there has been a large decline of mangroves due to clearing or reclamation and changes in water flow from waterfront developments. In other areas, mangrove communities are expanding due to the build up of sediments from catchment clearing, development and stormwater run-off.
Mangroves are protected in NSW and a permit of required from NSW DPI to undertake works or activities that may harm them.
Seagrasses occur in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estuaries. The total area of seagrass in NSW is approximately 154km2.4 The area of seagrass beds can be highly variable seasonally as seagrasses die back during the cooler months and re-establish in warmer months of the year.
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants that can live underwater.7 The most common species in NSW are Zostera capricorni (eelgrass) and Halophila spp (paddleweed). Posidonia australis (strapweed) is limited to the more marine-dominated estuaries of central and southern NSW.
Seagrasses are particularly valuable as nursery, feeding and shelter areas for many aquatic animals, including commercially and recreationally important fish, crabs and prawns. Seagrass meadows are renowned world wide as rich and productive nursery areas for juveniles of economically important species. Research in the Mediterranean has found that 400 square metres of seagrass can support up to 2000 tonnes of fish a year.8 Along the NSW coast, luderick, bream and snapper are found as juveniles within seagrasses.9
Did you know...
Many major estuaries in NSW have lost as much as 85% of their seagrass beds in the past 30-40 years.10
Like other estuarine vegetation, seagrasses contribute organic matter to the food chain, and remove nutrients from the water. Seagrasses are particularly valuable because they grow quickly and produce a large amount of organic material. The primary productivity of several species of seagrass has been measured, and in general it has been estimated that each hectare of seagrass bed can generate up to 20 tonnes of organic leaf material each year.8
Seagrasses also baffle water currents, causing them to drop their sediment loads, thus maintaining water quality.
Seagrasses are, however, a fragile habitat. Some species can recolonise areas but other do not and are particularly sensitive to impacts. Posidonia species do not recolonise areas after removal.
Seagrasses are protected in NSW and a permit is required from NSW DPI to undertake works or activities that may harm them.
Macroalgae are members of the huge group of aquatic plants know as algae. The algae are primitive photosynthetic plants that include single celled ‘phytoplankton’and the multi-celled macroalgae, or seaweeds. Macroalgae should not be confused with seagrass.
Habitats with no vegetation, such as shallow mud flats, sand flats and deeper soft substrate areas, are the most common habitats in estuaries. They support a very diverse benthic (bottom-dwelling) community, including worms, crabs and yabbies. This, in turn, provides food for many fish species such as flathead and whiting.
Coastal lagoons are often characterised by entrances to the sea which intermittently open and close. The characteristics of this habitat are a function of how often the ocean entrance opens and closes, the width and orientation of the mouth, the size and character of the freshwater catchment upstream, and the size and shape of the lagoon itself.
Intermittently opening and closing coastal lagoons (ICOLLs) are a special type of estuary with unique features. (More about ICOLLs and their management.) They don't generally support large mangrove or seagrass communities but can have an abundance of the macrophyte Ruppia species (sea tassel) and fringing wetlands with Casuarina species, Melaleuca species, and brackish rushes and reeds.
Mullet, bream and prawns can grow to large sizes in closed lagoons. This can enhance their chances of surviving and reproducing when the lagoon subsequently opens and they make their way into coastal waters.
The timing of the lagoon opening can favour different species at different times. A spring/summer opening favours tarwhine, snapper, sand whiting, luderick, leatherjackets and prawns, while an autumn or winter opening favours yellowfin bream, dusky flathead and flat tail mullet.10 |
Future Immortal Norm Provan showed he was a visionary in 1976 when he wrote a column for Rugby League Week on his idea to bring in video replays to help referees.
His idea was to use the new at the time technology of the "television video disc" to help referees clarify decisions on try-scoring plays with a "neutral video committee of three officials" set up at each ground who would wave a red or green flag to indicate the final decision to the on-field whistleblower.
The video referee was first used in Australia during the Super League competition of 1997 and has been part of every season of the NRL era which kicked off the following year.
"We are not that far away now from what Norm suggested," NRL senior manager of officiating Bernard Sutton said.
"It's essentially the same system - independent people who review but do not look at every aspect but tries.
"When video referees first started, up until the end of 2015, they were at the ground and had a more sophisticated way of communicating by going to a board or a screen but essentially the system that Norm was referring to is not too different to what we are now in terms of video refereeing."
Titled "TV jury", this article first appeared on the front page of Rugby League Week on May 29, 1976, written by Norm Provan.
Modern aids are being used by to crucify referees - why can't modern aids be used to save them?
This week has been "chop up referees" week.
And all because of the television video disc.
In my playing days the video disc did not exist and referees were spared the wrath which today springs from video replays.
Today, with the video disc operating, a referee has no hope in hell of being right.
I would not be in a referee's shoes for all the tea in China.
And if I was a referee I wouldn't make a decision on a try until the video has been examined.
Why can't a neutral video committee of three officials be set up at each ground?
If there was doubt in a referee's mind about a try he could signal to the committee who could then study the replay of the video.
A member of the committee would then signal, with either a red or green flag, if the try should be allowed or not.
I would not want to see the video used for every decision relating to the game - only for doubtful tries.
I'm sure referees would appreciate the availability of such a modern-day aid.
At least let's consider the possibility and don't scoff at this suggestions.
This looks like being a vintage year for disputed tries.
It will be a record year of sacked referees if the video disc is not installed at all grounds.
Forming a video committee would be a way of keeping the vice-presidents occupied. |
Get The Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders in our online shop or purchase your Kindle version on Amazon. It is the definitive resource for effective sales leadership, based on the proven principles of the Sandler Selling System.
Rule #11: Mange behavior, not results.
Create a cookbook or a recipe for success. You know, many sales leaders and sales managers, they manage numbers, not behavior. Think about that for a second. How many of us are knee deep into spreadsheets every single day? We can tell you who's on track, who's not, we make sure that we tell everyone on our team what their quota is. They push back on quota's like every other sales person does. There's no way I can hit that number. The other thing that's missing is they don't know how to get that number. They don't know what to do in order to hit this $10 million quota. They have no idea. It's frightening for them.
We tend to spend a lot of time managing the end result. Here's a rule that I want you to think about; people can't manage anything they can't control. Think about that for a second. People can't manage anything they can't control. As a sales person, you can't control yes's and no's, you can't control what the competitions, going to do, you can't control what the markets are going to do, you can't control interest rates. Out of your control. What you can control is your behavior.
Here are some things that you need to do as a sales leader. Number one. Convert your quota into a behavioral plan; what we call a recipe for success or a cookbook. That is all the things that they should do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis that they can control in order to hit that number, to be successful. What that does, it takes this ambiguous, hard to get quota, and turns it into something that I can do every single day. I am accountable. I have this culture of accountability, responsibility. I can control my destiny. Most people know the what, it's the quota, they don't know the how. That's what the cookbook is.
In addition to creating the road map, it's good for your psyche. Why? Because once sales people understand what it takes every day; and I did that today. Let's say that I sent out ten introductory letters on LinkedIn. I did two of this and three of that. I didn't make a sale, but I did my daily behaviors, that mathematically as they re-engineered or reverse engineered my sales process, I'll hit my number. If I did that today, I get to celebrate that. I say, "I did my behavior," and that's great because you know what? Sales, we lose more than we win. I mean our self-esteem is getting pounded daily, so a cookbook is great for the road map and it's great for the psyche.
The bottom line is, create a cookbook for both your sales people and you, as a sales leader and watch your numbers jump through the roof.
THE SANDLER RULES FOR SALES LEADERS details a sales management process that works. It offers 49 timeless, proven principles for effective sales leadership, based on the Sandler Selling System. The book is the sequel to the Wall Street Journal bestseller THE SANDLER RULES, also authored by David Mattson.
Interested in Sandler Training? Contact us today! |
Right handed adults needed
I’m final year psychology student at the University of East Anglia and I am currently completing a study on perception and action in neurodevelopmental disorders for my undergraduate dissertation.
I am looking for individuals who are right handed and over the age of 18 to participate in a brief online computer based task which you can find here.
Adults with Dyslexia in the workplace
Participants required: Dyslexic adults 18+ and currently in full-time employment
My name is Holly Morran and I am currently conducting research for my undergraduate dissertation at Edinburgh Napier University. The research is about how your dyslexia may affect your experiences in the workplace and to understand if workplaces are doing enough to support and create awareness for those who have dyslexia. I am also dyslexic and I am interested to hear the experiences from others with dyslexia.
I am looking to conduct interviews with those who are interested in sharing their experiences. Interviews will be conducted at your convenience and should last no longer than 45 minutes.
If you are interested in sharing your experiences with dyslexia in relation to your employment, please contact me by email, email@example.com
Ends: 8th March 2019
Would you be willing to share your experience of your child’s journey to being identified as dyslexic?
Rhona Macdonald has written a manuscript about her own journey in the 80s and 90s and would like to add some more recent journeys. Rhona has a publisher on board and aims to raise awareness of what it is like for a child to be misunderstood and mislabelled. This will provide parents and teachers an insight as to what a child lives through and therefore empower them to make a change to that child’s life. The book will be published online. Please contact Rhona on firstname.lastname@example.org if you and/or your child are interested in participating.
Autonomy, Rights and Children with Additional Support Needs
The aim of this research is to examine how children’s rights are being promoted in the area of special and additional support needs. The research is being conducted by two teams, one based at the University of Edinburgh and one at the University of Manchester.
Parents and carers of children and young people with additional support needs have for some time had a right to have a say in their child’s education. There has been an increasing emphasis on ensuring that the views of children and young people with special and additional support needs are reflected in important decisions relating to their education. This research aims to explore the extent to which children and young people are being given opportunities to participate in everyday decisions about their education and also in disagreement resolution processes. The research will provide information on:
- The strategies used by schools and local authorities to engage children and young people in educational decision-making;
Children’s and young people’s views on their involvement in decision-making relating to their education;
Parents/carers’ views on the extent to which their children are active participants in the decision-making process;
Factors which promote or inhibit the ability of children’s and young people’s views to be heard and taken into account.
For further information about the project contact: Professor Sheila Riddell, e-mail: Sheila.Riddell@ed.ac.uk; phone: 0131 651 6597
To see the questionnaire, click here.
Study into the use of social media amongst parents of children with hidden disabilities
Participants needed to help look at the use of social media as a coping strategy. Click here to take part.
Call for dyslexia research participants: adults, both with and without dyslexia
Researchers at the University of Trento (Italy) are studying the perception of webpage visual complexity by people with dyslexia versus average readers. The research aims to improve the next generation of Web accessibility guidelines, particularly focusing on the legibility of the Web for dyslexic people.
The researchers are now looking for participants for a brief online study. Both dyslexic and average readers are needed. The study includes viewing webpages and rating how complex they seemed. The webpages will very briefly be flashed on the screen. The study should take less than 15 minutes.
If you would like to participate in the research, please follow the link: http://dyslexia.atw-lab.com/welcome/adult/en/web/
Note: the study does not run from a mobile device because it needs a larger monitor.
Email for research-related requests: email@example.com
Dyslexia tutors and assessors required to trial new software that builds confidence and productivity for dyslexic writers
SprintPlus, is a relatively new piece of software that students and adults use to proof their written work either at school, university or work. We would like to invite dyslexia assessors or tutors from all areas to trial SprintPlus. In return for your feedback we will give you a free license.
We believe that SprintPlus builds the confidence and productivity of dyslexic writers but we want your thoughts and comments.
New research on visual issues
Teams from Bristol and Newcastle universities carried out eye tests on more than 5,800 children and did not find any differences in the vision of those with dyslexia. Report co-author Alexandra Creavin said eyesight was "very unlikely" to be the cause of such reading problems. The study draws on a long-term tracking study in the Bristol area, which has followed the health of more than 14,000 children since the 1990s.Click here to find out more.
Click here for a statement on the research and the BBC article by the International Institute of Colorimetry.
Click here for Dyslexia Scotland's leaflet on Visual Issues. |
Our news today comes from www.azcentral.com Channel 12 TV in Arizona and is dated April 30, 2014.
The Killip Elementary School Chess Team won the Arizona Scholastic State Chess Championship for the 7th year in a row. Killip Elementary School in Flagstaff, which has the highest number of students from low-income families in the city, keeps dominating the state.
“The students not only took several kings during the 2014 Arizona Scholastic State Chess Championship, a team of second-and third-graders took first place.”
“We never give up on each other,” said player Karen Mercado, 10. “We practice, practice, practice.”
Coach Ted Komada said that about 500 students and 50 teams from all over Arizona attended the state games held April 11-13 at Flagstaff High School. He made it clear that as their coach he is cautious to only point out when they win in the tornaments. Komada said. “As long as we play to our fullest potential, even if we don’t win an award, we still won. We find fun in our work.”
With about 40 Killip kids participating in their various age groups, this is the seventh consecutive year that a Killip team has won.
Some Important Background
“A large number of these kids come from low-income families, and funding for the chess program comes only from parent, student, and staff fundraising efforts. Komada says parents often donate food, drinks, cups, and other miscellaneous supplies to offset expenses.”
“The team started with Komada about 10 years ago with just a handful of kids. Now there are over a hundred members, and no professional coaching.”
‘We’re not chess players, we’re teachers,” Komada said. “We’ve learned right alongside the kids.”
“He says they would love to get a chess expert from the community to come in from time to time to help their more advanced player get to the next level.”
There is everything good about this story.
- From the standpoint of learning, this is tops. Learning chess is like learning another language… and that is soooo good for children.
- Playing chess is a strategy game that requires a lot of thinking and planning. It provides an excellent model for learning to think and plan in life in general.
- This success shows that you can take a learning experience that is usually reserved for advantaged children and bring it to the disadvantaged… and not only bring it, see these young children shine with it.
- As you read how this coach coaches, you will see an outstanding example of excellent teaching. Here is what he said:
“As their coach I’m cautious to only point out that they win in the tournaments,” Komada said. “As long as we play to our fullest potential, even if we don’t win an award, we still won. We find fun in our work.”
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Take one hundred
years. It is an impressive span in time, for a human being. There was wars,
economic breakthroughs, migrations, inventions, revolutions, shifts in the
education style, etc., with all their consequences: new life styles, targets,
habits, expectations, etc. Obviously, one cannot have the same course of life
at the dusk of this period as in the dawn. But where is the biggest difference
in this course? Which are the salient differences in peoples' behaviors? How
much readiness is in our minds and in public authorities minds to "read"
these signs that clearly states that people have new life courses, in which not
only that they do different things, but they do old things at different
The editors and
contributors, many of them members of the MacArthur Research Network on
Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policies, have tried to gather all the
necessary data for a good understanding of the problem. For there is a
problem: early adulthood (or late adolescence) it is a genuine stage in the
life of an individual standing in the threshold of the 21st century.
One can compare
the data cross-national or simply inside the borders of one country. Adulthood
frontier's problem it is not one of the United States, Germany, United Kingdom
or France. It is a problem of all advanced industrialized countries: a problem
of social institutions, such as welfare regimes, labor and housing markets,
religious and educational institutions, and cultural practices, ideologies
values and attitudes, which all shape the individual behavior in the same way
across those countries. There are, of course, national differences, but we can
neglect them -- these differences do not create unique patterns.
to adulthood during the twentieth century is marked by dramatic changes in
education and family formation patterns. Structural and economic shifts drew
people in the cities, and women were drawn in the labor forces, so that the
work and family formation were molded on the new opportunities and habits. Men
and women delayed the marriage and individualized their pathways to adulthood.
Time use patterns show a convergence between men and women, designed by
economic opportunities for young adults and changes in social norms concerning
None of these
aspects remain unrelated to the others. Obviously, certain combinations between
gender, ethnicity, education, etc. are more favorable for a smooth way towards
adulthood than others. It is also obvious that some social policies enhance
particular sets of personal qualities and dispositions to act. The book includes
a set of outlines for the main issues to be addressed through public policies.
For example, the need for improvement in the footing of vulnerable populations
is very well sketched through the summing of the results showing that there are
populations that face insurmountable obstructions after the leave from the
public system. In conjunction with the notice that the economic mobility it is
not so high to help the overcoming of related problems, we have a good to
believe that a government support for redistributive politics is necessary.
This refers to the US government, like the other findings regarding public
policies improvements, but most of them can be applied to Western Europe's
governments as well.
Maybe the main "black
point" for the reader who wants to be struck by a chart that pictures the
whole of the problem can be seen in the lack of an overall synoptically track
of the evolution from the short transition from adolescence to adulthood (as it
was early in the twentieth century) to the span not covered neither by
adolescence, nor by adulthood. But there are two good reasons for this lack.
First, the complexity and amounts of data are hindering such an endeavor.
Second, the picture of the phenomenon is in front of everyone. It is impossible
to think that there is one person who does not see an example illustrating the
behavior described in the book among his friends or colleagues. Surveys'
results are meant to reveal the trends and dimensions of the phenomenon, not
only its existence, which, at least in some of its aspects, is older than the
period taken in consideration.
The book keeps
track of these changes for every important category: childbearing and marriage
(separate and in joint sequence), time use (in education, housework, leisure,
travel, etc.), generation gaps in attitudes, behavior and values (from the 70s
to the 90s). Then follows the changing in conceptions. When do adolescents
become adults? How people make the transition to adulthood? How the different
pathways affect adult outcomes? How many paths we have? How hard it is for each
category to get ahead? Does ethnic and racial diversity counts? How important
is the material assistance from families? These are just few of the question
raised and addressed throughout the book. Simplifying, we can say that the book
- Introducing the problem;
- Stating and comparing the differences, along the most important
- Raising questions about which are the important factors and how
these affect the target;
- Analyzing the policies and practices with regard to the
problem, and stating the trends.
Finally, for the
book is a result of a big sociological endeavor, I have to mention that the
reader will find here not only charts and tables of processed information, but also technical information on
surveys, the forms and the methods used, and generally a large amount of
technical materials. Of course, this is a precondition for demonstrating the
scientific accuracy, but these technical data speak also about the wideness of
these studies and the relevance of the findings.
Yet, the authors
mention that there are reasons to believe that an exhaustive study of the
problem it is not possible. There are challenges and impediments hard to
overcome: a highly accurate study is very expensive, some of the paths to
special populations are closed, gathering a right research team (which has to
be a multidisciplinary one) requires important efforts, etc. But, with large
amounts of data and bundles of perspectives, this book represents a very good
starting point for the economical, political and generally cultural studies on
the western (post-) industrialized countries' citizens. Probably the next step
to be made regarding this subject is that of studying the changes in
mentalities and moralities, as well as the new challenges raised by the
collided interests of lifelong education and social vulnerability of those
squeezed by material duties. But there is, also, a rich set of exits towards
the field of social problems, not to be neglected by any of those who are
Ó 2006 Viorel Zaicu
Ph.D., Bucharest, Romania |
Business Formation: Choosing the Form that Fits
1. Describe the basic features that distinguish the four basic forms of business ownership: sole proprietorships, general partnerships, C corporations, and limited liability companies.
Sole Proprietorship – the business is owned by a single individual
Partnership – two or more people serve as co-owners of the business
Corporation – the business is a separate legal entity
Limited Liability Company – a hybrid with characteristics of both a corporation and partnership
2. Why do many entrepreneurs initially set up their businesses as sole proprietorships? Why do many successful entrepreneurs eventually decide to convert their sole proprietorship to some other form …show more content…
In both mergers and acquisitions two formerly independent firms come under common ownership, but the way the combination occurs is quite different. Acquisition occurs one corporation buys controlling interest in another company. The acquiring firm remains intact and the firm that is acquired (called the target firm) becomes its subsidiary. In a merger the two formerly independent companies agree to combine to form a new corporate entity.
A horizontal merger (or acquisition) - when the two firms in the combination are both in the same market. A vertical merger- the firms in the combination are at different points in a supply chain, so that one is a supplier (or potential supplier) to the other. A vertical combination was Comcast’s acquisition of controlling interest in NBC Universal. The biggest example of a horizontal combination was AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile
9. Compare an S corporation with a limited liability company. Why do you think limited liability companies are currently more popular than S corporations?
Both provide all owners with limited liability and eliminate the problem of double taxation associated with C corporations. LLCs have become more popular |
The bill I chose for this paper was proposition 35. This proposition was proposed in the fall election of 2012. Proposition 35, also known as “Californians against Sexual Exploitation Act”, was primarily about increasing the penalty for sex trafficking. The bill would increase prison sentences for human traffickers, require convicted human traffickers to register as sex offenders, require all registered sex offenders to disclose their internet accounts (such as Facebook), require criminal fines from convicted human traffickers to pay for services to help victims, and lastly mandate law enforcement training for identifying human trafficking. The fiscal impact of this bill was estimated and …show more content…
Arguments for proposition 35: The first argument in favor of the proposition was that in an independent study the State of California was given an F for the laws that have to do with human trafficking. The next argument favoring prop 35 was that it would finally hold the traffickers accountable for the crime by increasing penalties and preventing the traffickers from hiding behind their victims actions. Another argument in favor of Prop 35 was that it would help stop the exploitation of minors over the internet; all offenders would be watched by law enforcement with regard to all of their internet activity. Also the proposition would help to stop sexual exploitation of minors. The last argument in favor of the proposition is large number of vulnerable women and children being victimized by pimps and traffickers in the State of California.
Arguments against proposition 35: The primary argument in opposition of the proposition was that the ballot measure would expand the definition of pimping. Another argument against was that the bill would have an unfavorable outcome on our state’s economy because of the slight increase in costs. If the proposition were to pass anyone who receives money from regular, consensual prostitution between adults would face the |
Botox is a safe, FDA approved cosmetic treatment that relaxes facial muscles to eliminate wrinkles. With it, your skin can return to the smooth, younger-looking appearance that you wish to achieve. Botox produces remarkable results that will benefit your skin in multiple ways. By following up with subsequent treatments, your skin will improve by reducing the facial contractions that cause further damage from fine lines and wrinkles.
What Can Botox Treat?
Botox has been used to treat medical conditions since the 1960s, and many people found relief through Botox that they could not find through other treatment options. Many people seek its benefits to treat a condition known as hyperhidrosis. This is a condition that is characterized by excessive sweating in the underarms and other areas. It is injected into the affected areas of underarms, hands, and feet to relax the muscles, effectively reducing the excessive sweat symptoms of hyperhidrosis.
How Long Does It Take to Work?
When you go in for your first Botox treatment, it is important to know that you are not going to see results immediately following your injections. Instead, you will likely start to notice a difference in your skin 48 hours after your treatment. However, the full effects of your treatment will not be noticeable for 10-14 days following your treatment. This means that if you are getting Botox for a special event, it is a good idea to receive your treatment 1 to 2 weeks before. Not only is this time important to allow for it to take full effect, but it is also necessary to take full advantage of the healing process that relieves mild swelling or redness that may occur at the injection sites.
Where you receive the injections and the severity of the lines you are seeking to treat can also affect how long it takes to see the full results. Botox tends to work faster on smaller wrinkles. So if you receive injections in the crow’s feet around your eyes and the more severe wrinkles on your forehead, you are likely to see the relaxation of your crow’s feet sooner.
How Long Do the Effects Last?
The effects of Botox can last anywhere from 3 to 4 months, and in some cases, a patient can experience the benefits for a longer duration. Often a follow-up appointment is strongly recommended after 2 weeks to determine whether additional injections may be necessary to meet the patient’s particular beauty goals. By following up your initial Botox treatment with regular treatments at suggested intervals, you will experience its full effects.
How Can I Prolong The Benefits of Botox?
There are several things that can be done to extend the results of Botox. It has recently been found that zinc supplements are able to extend the efficacy of treatments. People taking zinc supplements have found their results to last up to 30% longer. Retin-A wrinkle treatments can also extend the longevity of Botox. This can also reduce the number of units per visit needed.
Speak to Elume Medspa for More Information
For adults who are concerned about cosmetic facial imperfections and are seeking a solution, Botox can produce amazing results. If you are tired of dealing with fine lines, wrinkles, and want to look and feel younger with improved, youthful skin and a glowing complexion, it can be the perfect solution. For more information and to schedule a consultation, reach out to Elume Medspa. |
More than 470,000 homes and businesses were still without power Monday after snow and ice storms on January 27 and 28 left nearly 1.7 million customers in the dark from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, local utilities reported.
The storms hit Kentucky the hardest, leaving more than 700,000 customers in the Bluegrass State without power.
E.ON US, which owns Louisville Gas and Electric Co and Kentucky Utilities Co, said it could take seven to 10 days to restore service to all 138,000 customers still without service.
E.ON US, a subsidiary of German energy company E.ON AG, owns and operates about 8,000 megawatts of generating capacity and transmits and distributes electricity to more than 900,000 customers and natural gas to more than 325,000 customers in Kentucky.
High temperatures in Louisville, the biggest city in Kentucky, would fall from near normal levels of 4C to 7C to well below normal levels -7C to 2C on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to forecasts by AccuWeather.com.
In Arkansas, another hard hit state, the electric co-operatives, which serve about 490,000 customers, said outages peaked at about 300,000. The co-ops still had more than 70,000 homes and businesses in the dark Monday morning.
After crashing across the Midwest, the storm dropped a lot of snow in the Northeast before moving off the East Coast into the Atlantic Ocean by the middle of last week.
Snow, however, does not disrupt power service like ice. Ice accumulates on trees and branches, snapping them onto power lines. |
There's No Such Thing as a Bug-Free App
A 120-ton space shuttle is waiting to be launched. There’s no human sitting in the control center, waiting to push the button that would launch the space shuttle. Instead, it’s the software that gives order to four identical machines onboard the space shuttle that pulls information from thousands of sensors and make hundreds of millisecond decisions.
This software is bug-free, doesn’t crash and doesn’t need to be rebooted, as reported by FastCompany. It even goes onto calling the software perfect -- as perfect as human beings have achieved. The last three versions of the 420,000-line program had just one error each.
If the software has bugs, people die. Period. The software was maintained by a group of 260 women and men working day in and day out to ensure the software delivers what it’s supposed to and ensure that no one dies.
So coming to the question: Can a human being write bug-free applications? The technical answer is yes. The practical answer, on the other hand, is not so much. The reason behind this is that it’s just not economically viable, unless you’re building a life- or mission-critical application.
To understand why it’s unrealistic to expect bug-free applications or software development, let’s understand how the software behaves. A piece of software or an application does not run in isolation on a perfect device or system. It has dependencies of the platform that are out of its control and the existence of libraries makes it even more complex.
If you want your application to be bug free, then you need to also ensure that every library you utilize is also completely bug free -- which is simply possible when you’re relying on a third-party for this. Speaking of third-party, even the slightest of complexities in an application triggers the integration of a third-party application program interface-- again, an external reliance with no control.
In his latest book, Art of the Start 2.0, Guy Kawasaki writes, “Good enough is good enough. There is time for refinement later. It’s not how great you start -- it’s how great you end up.” It’s a good thought when you’re building your product company ground up. Ask any successful tech product entrepreneur, and they’ll tell you how buggy their mobile or web app was in the initial days.
Accounting for every single use case in the initial days of your product is tedious and can take your mind off other important things -- like product validation. Your best bet would be to factor in the typical use cases as imagined and ensure those are bug free.
Bugs are only bugs when they are reported. So here’s how you should approach your first or your next application development project.
1. Expecting your developers to write bug-free code should not be the goal. Rather, focus on giving your early adopters a functional product that can solve their problems.
2. Many bugs are raised simply due to a shortfall in what the software does and what the end user is expecting. This can easily be resolved by insisting on creating a detailed functional specifications (FS) document before a single line of code is written. Here’s a sample FS Document for reference.
The FastCompany article further reports that at the on-board shuttle group, about one-third of the process of writing software happens before anyone writes a line of code.
3. Most programmers across development firms don’t do unit testing and wouldn't even know how to do that, which means that as a company you would have to hire more expensive ones.
4. Considering all costs and decide for yourself what matters most-- inexpensive software that works well 99 percent of the time or an expensive one which works well 100 percent of the time. Also, you want to go live with this application now, not in ten or twenty years. |
Ireland and Brexit: modelling the impact of deal and no-deal scenarios
This QEC Special Article was subject to refereeing prior to publication. The authors are solely responsible for the content and the views expressed.
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A new study from the ESRI and the Department of Finance examines the impact of three Brexit scenarios on the Irish economy. The study finds that GDP in Ireland ten years after Brexit will be around 2.6% lower in a Deal scenario, 4.8% lower in a No-Deal scenario and 5.0% lower in a Disorderly No-Deal scenario respectively, compared to a situation where the UK stays in the EU. |
The water treatment system is operating at one-third its usual capacity
The Austin, Texas, water utility has issued a city-wide boil water notice, following flooding in central Texas that caused water supply lakes to be filled with silt and sediment. While there has been no bacteria detected in the system yet, the supply water requires extended filtration to cope with the debris. This marks the water utility’s first-ever city-wide boil water notice, according to the Austin Statesman.
“The high level of debris, silt and mud requires extended filtration that slows the process of getting treated water into the system,” said Austin Water in a press release. “To provide necessary water pressure for fire protection, plants must distribute water at treatment levels not typical of the utility’s high standards for consumption.”
Under usual conditions, Austin Water is able to produce more than 300 million gpd, but the utility is now only able to produce approximately 100 million gpd, as reported by KUT.
“This isn’t a conclusion we came to lightly,” said Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk. “Unfortunately, this is simply a case of mother nature throwing more at the system than the system can currently process.”
In the Eanes school district, drinking fountains will be covered and bottled water will be delivered. Students are being encouraged to bring bottled water and cafeteria’s will not serve salads. Additionally, Austin Public Health said that restaurants and food providers are aware of the water issues. |
Therefore, 16 professors of Technische Universität Dresden will work together in an interdisciplinary team with more than 500 scientists to advance the research concerning the key technologies for the 5th generation of mobile communications. The grand opening is planned for September in Dresden.
At the computer fair CeBit in March in Hannover, Fettweis explained in a widely noted press conference how the short latency of wireless communication will profoundly change many areas of society. Parts of his vision of the Tactile Internet are e.g., better traffic assistance systems, robotic-aided tele-surgery, and new learning and trainings methods with special haptic-tactile feedback.
"From today's point of view, there will be four research tracks which address the whole value chain: from the semiconductor chips about wireless data transmission and the core elements of network infrastructure to tactile network applications", the cluster Coordinator explains. "For these, technological requirements are: extremely low latency, massive throughput, massive sensing, massive resilience, massive safety and safety as well as massive fractal heterogeneity of every element." TU Dresden's Cluster of Excellence cfaed (Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden) will particularly support the new 5G research platform with its three systems- oriented research paths - Orchestration, Resilience, and Highly-Adaptive Energy-Efficient Computing (HAEC). "'Dresden 5G Lab' is based on the experiences made in the Cluster of Excellence cfaed and the Collaborative Research Centre 'HAEC'", Fettweis says.
The globally active research and development partners from industry appreciate the excellent competences of Dresden's researchers and therefore plan to participate in this initiative. The international communication companies 'Vodafone' and 'National Instruments' have recognized the high innovation potential and already approved to support the research activities of the new 'Dresden 5G Lab'.
However, the international competitors are not idle. For example, the South-Korean government had announced, at the CeBit fair in spring, to invest more than $1 billion in 5G research over the next years. The researchers in Dresden have already established a sound basis to manage the future of the 5th generation of mobile communication and are ready to face this challenge in the global competition.
The Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) is the Cluster of Excellence for Microelectronics of Technische Universität Dresden. This research platform unites eleven partner institutes with about 300 scientists who are working in the fields of electrical engineering, computer science, material science, physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. |
About one in five (21%) in Europe say they now rarely carry physical notes and coins, according to the ING International Survey Mobile Banking 2017 – Cashless Society report.
The study probes nearly 15,000 people’s attitudes to the cashless society concept in 15 countries in Europe, the USA and Australia. Results suggest a cashless society is not only possible but could be accepted by at least part of the population in many countries.
Fifty-four percent of respondents living in Europe agree or strongly agree that “I use physical cash much less than 12 months ago”. Of that proportion, nearly eight in 10 (78%) also say they expect to go on using fewer notes and coins in the next 12 months.
Some rarely use the hard stuff
In fact a fraction of the population has largely dispensed with cash – only resorting to physical notes and coins once a month, once a year or even less often. Increasingly people are transacting via non-cash methods, including cards and mobile payment apps.
Living comfortably without physical cash was considered the stuff of science fiction only a few decades ago. Today it is a realistic proposition.
However, we also see that although many now choose to use physical cash less often, there are those who – currently – are sticking with notes and coins.
About a third (34%) of the people in Europe surveyed agree that if it were up to them, they would go completely cashless – although there are differences between countries. Learn more in our full research report.
This article is related to the ING International Survey: |
Dontrush into desiccating your winter oilseed rape this season. The optimumglyphosate spray timing for well-structured modern hybrids is significantly laterthan for traditional, denser pure line stands. Holding off with the sprayerwill not delay combining and could make all the difference in maximising yieldsand oil contents from this years high potential crops. Whats more, todayspod shatter resistant varieties mean this can be done without increasing therisk of seed losses in the run up to and at harvest.
Thisis the firm advice of Roundup technical specialist, Manda Sansom who finds thatthe desire to avoid interfering with the wheat harvest often tempts growersinto desiccating their OSR too early; especially so under the pressure of acuteworkload and weather worries.
Unlike last year, we have time this season, she pointed out. Particularlywhere early maturing varieties like Excalibur and DK ExPower are beinggrown. We also have even,well-structured crops which will benefit from extra time for pod-filling andoil accumulation. And, in most cases, quite enough moisture in the ground tosupport it.
Combined with continuing nitrogen uptake especially after late fertiliserapplications and robust sclerotinia treatments, this seasons thick-stemmed,well-branched crops, of course, will naturally stay green longer. All of whichmakes it more important than ever to use a quality glyphosate at the bestpossible timing.
Ourwork clearly shows that earlier desiccation does not mean earlier combining,Mrs Sansom stressed. Desiccating too early just means stems take longer to drydown. It may also noticeably restrict output primarily by limiting the oilthat is formed relatively late in seed-fill as well as increasing the risk ofred seed at harvest.
Monsanto studies also confirm that the far greater branching of modern hybridsgrown at todays recommended plant populations means a much higher proportionof the crop yield comes from side branches which mature significantly laterthan the main raceme.
Indeed,crops with average populations of 30-40 plants/m2 were typically found carry80% or more of their yield in side branches which had seeds with a 5% highermoisture content than those on the main raceme.
Desiccatingthese sort of crops when the seeds on the main raceme are at the right stage ofripeness as has always been advised for traditional pure line stands wouldclearly be premature, observed Manda Sansom. After all, at a time when justeight out of the 45 pods (18%) on the main raceme were immature, on an entireplant with five shoots we have recorded 43 of its total of 143 pods (33%) asimmature.
With 10 good pod-bearing branches or more on many crops this season, spraytiming needs to be based on assessments of pods from the area of the crop wherethe bulk of the yield is being carried, not the main raceme. In many cases thismay mean desiccating 7-10 days later than would otherwise be the case.
The upper pods on the main raceme may be over-ripe by this stage, sheaccepted. But any losses from here will be minor compared to the yield, oiland sample quality gains from the entire crop. And genetic pod shatterresistance will be extremely valuable in limiting even these possible losses.
In practice timing can only be determined by taking a representative sampleof 20 pods and when the colour in themajority of the seeds changes from green to brown the crop has reached thethreshold of 30% seed moisture . A detailed timing guide is available at http://monsanto-ag.co.uk/publications/Roundup_harvest_management_timing_guideVs2.pdf
While desiccation will be more rapid andcomplete when undertaken at the right stage of crop maturity, Mrs Sansom isadamant it will continue to demand the most effective glyphosate regime.
Aswell as modern Roundup brands which offer the most efficient activity throughmore reliable uptake and translocation under the particularly challengingconditions of a heavily-waxed and senescing crop, she recommends:
Usingwater volumes of 200-250 litres/ha in thick or leaning crops;
Sprayingearly in the day in hot weather to take advantage of higher relative humidity;
Adjustingthe boom to ensure the best spray pattern coverage of the whole crop; and,
Employinglow drift nozzles or formulations wherever possible. |
One of the folks behind the recent cigarette butt cleanup in downtown Fayetteville has put a new idea into action to try and prevent them from ending up on the ground in the first place.
Colin Massey, who works as a county agent on water quality issues for the UA Cooperative Extension Service, recently installed two “Ballot Bins” in Fayetteville’s entertainment district in hopes that engaging with smokers in the area will make them think twice about where their butts end up on Dickson Street.
The Ballot Bins are simply cigarette receptacles divided into two bins, with a poll question on the front. Smokers can then “vote” in the poll by placing their butts in the corresponding bin. Questions like “Which is better: Lager or Ale,” or “Who’s the better footballer: Ronaldo or Messi” were used by the UK-based inventors of the bins, which proved to be an effective way to curb cigarette butt littering in populated areas.
Massey saw the idea online, and his work with water quality issues along with his experience volunteering in local cleanup efforts led him to decide to try the concept in Fayetteville.
“I was involved in two cleanups this summer, and over a total of about three hours, we collected over 20 pounds of cigarette butts,” he said. “We wondered if there was a way that we could divert those before they ever hit the ground.”
Massey purchased the bins with grant funds intended to demonstrate water quality issues in a way that is impactful to the public. Since cigarette butts commonly end up in storm drains that lead directly to local waterways, the Ballot Bins were a perfect fit for his mission.
“The cigarette butts create a lot of problems because they float,” he said. “So, they end up in the stormwater where wildlife can mistake them for food, and they leech some really nasty chemicals into our water.”
Massey worked with Peter Nierengarten and Brian Pugh of the city’s Sustainability and Recycling & Trash departments to obtain the necessary permits for the receptacles. There are two Ballot Bins currently installed in the Dickson Street area; one near the railroad tracks across from George’s Majestic Lounge, and another near the Shulertown Food Truck Court at the intersection of School Avenue.
Nierengarten said he worked with Massey to help determine locations that had historically been problem areas for litter – particularly with cigarette butts.
“It’s a common misconception that they are biodegradable,” he said. “Plus, the Dickson Street area is in the White River Watershed, and if they aren’t dealt with, they will end up in the river.”
Massey empties the bins every week or two, changes the questions, and collects data on how many butts he’s diverting along the way. In addition to using fun and engaging questions like “Who will win the upcoming Razorback football game,” and “Zombies or Mummies” around Halloween, he’s also used the bins to increase education and awareness around the issue of littering and where the butts end up.
“We try to mix it up with funny and engaging questions, but also some that are educational,” he said. “We asked a true or false question like ‘T or F: Cigarettes are the most commonly littered items’ recently as a way to try to get that message across.”
Massey said he has received a bit of negative feedback from at least one person online who felt the bins would glorify smoking, but he said he feels like that idea is a bit of a stretch.
“I can see where they are coming from, but we’re definitely not trying to promote smoking,” he said. “I can’t imagine someone seeing these and saying, ‘Oh I want to participate in this so I should start smoking.'”
In addition to the Ballot Bins, Massey is working on other projects to help keep trash and pollutants out of local waterways. Recently, he installed filters on storm water drains in a handful of locations in Fayetteville and Springdale to illustrate how much litter, sediment, yard waste, and oil can be picked up by runoff water, enter storm drains, and flow directly to streams and rivers, ultimately affecting water quality.
Massey considers the Ballot Bins project to be a pilot for something that could become more widespread around the city.
He’s been encouraged by the early results.
“It’s nasty to clean out, but if they are filling up, then they aren’t ending up on the ground and that’s what we want,” he said. |
When you invest in a safe and you choose which items to keep in it, it’s easy to think that once you lock it, you won’t have to think about it again for some time. However, it is important that you take the necessary steps to make sure your safe is in good condition, so it not only lasts for a long time, but also so that your valuables are not damaged in any way. Whether you have a portable safe or a heavy-duty safe inside of your home, maintenance is necessary every so often. Here’s what you need to know about taking care of your safe.
Watch Out for Moisture
Depending on the safe, you may find that if you open it for the first time in several weeks or months, there can be a musty smell and/or moisture build-up. In some cases, this can lead to water or moisture damage to the products in the safe. Due to the fireproof and waterproof structure of many safes, they can provide the perfect condition to absorb moisture inside the safe. To help prevent this from happening, you should plan to air your safe out at least every two weeks for a minimum of 20 minutes each time.
If your safe is still in good condition, invest in a small packet of silica gel, the same packets that are used to keep moisture out of boxes and bags. It will help absorb moisture and can be used multiple times; just make sure it dries out in-between uses. Putting a small bowl of coffee grounds inside of your safe can help get rid of bad smells as well.
Delicate items like pictures or intricate jewelry should be placed in an air-tight container before you put them into your safe as to avoid any damage. All of these precautions should help to maintain the safe, as well as the valuable items inside it.
If your portable safe requires batteries in order to operate the lock, make sure you have the proper batteries that the user manual specifies. Batteries should be replaced at least once annually, and they should be replaced at the same time.
Cleaning Your Safe
Make sure your hands are always clean and dry before touching your portable safe. Use a mild cleaner to wipe down the surface of your safe and avoid harsh products, especially when wiping down the keyboard. |
One of the most common ways to enhance the curb appeal of your home is to paint it. Modern paint technology provides homeowners an endless number of exterior paint ideas. Nonetheless, when it comes down to choosing the exterior paint color combinations for your home, the process can become a bit overwhelming. When you paint your home, you expect to end up with a house paint design that beautifies your home and accentuates its best features. The expense associated with painting the exterior of your home makes it critical that you get it right.
An exterior redo is not something as easy to fix as an unfortunate choice of paint for the powder room. Some of the key considerations for exterior painting projects include paint color, subdivision limitations and the style of the home.
Historic Paint Colors
Vintage homes come in a wide array of style, including Queen Anne, Victorian, Craftsman bungalow, and modern ranch. Regardless of the style of your home, you cancreate the appropriate period look for the exterior of your home with the related paint scheme. Exterior paint color combinations for historic homes include:
- 1830s - 1910s — Typically Victorian style-homes have a palette that emphasizes contrastand variety. Color combinations may mix purple tones with goldtones or greens with red.
- 1880s - 1910s — The Arts & Crafts movement, which countered the extreme colors of the Victorian era, embraced nature, hearth and home with a variety of colors such as off whites and rich earth tones.
- 1930s - 1940s — The Bauhaus inspired modern movement took place before and after World War II. This style glorified clean lines, meticulous quality and the careful use of colors like sandy gold, creamy yellow and terra cotta.
For many Americans, the aftermaths of World War II represented a time of high energy and a future of prosperity. Mid-century modern and Scandinavian influences resulted in brighter colors, such as gold, avocado, sage, and coral, which had the tendency to reflect the newfound optimism of homeowners. In the 1980s, contemporary paint colors evolved into the mauve, baby blue and other pastel colors-- the Miami Vice effect. Today, exterior paint color combinations are trending towards alabaster, grays and other off-whites hues.
Most homeowners associations (HOAs) do a good job of ensuring the grass is cut, trees are trimmed and the streets are clean--some will even allow you to paint your home any color other than lime green. To maintain consistency within a particular subdivision, some HOAs may have bylaws that limit exterior color choices to a selection of shades for the body, trim, garage door, front door and special features. The bad news is that if you desire another color, you will need to seek the approval of your HOA.
House Style and Region
Depending on whether you have a bungalow, Victorian, Mediterranean-inspired villa or old world Tuscan, each home style has architectural elements that makes it unique. The house’s distinctive characteristics are best highlighted with a carefully chosen house paint design. For example, Craftsman-style homes have low-pitched roof, exposed rafter tails, deep porches and other architectural assets. Traditional colors for these homes consist of earth tones, but contemporary schemes offer the historic natural hues in brighter colors.
If you would like to bring these exterior paint ideas for your home into fruition, contact Five Star Painting for a free, no-obligation consultation. We have the experienced staff and professional crews ready to give your home a totally new look. |
The human side of automation.
How do we safely use aviation automation when the entire world is becoming addicted to letting machines do the hard work?
Whether you can have too much of a good thing is no mere philosophical question. It has a direct bearing on aviation safety when the good thing in question is cockpit automation.
Automation in aviation can mean many things, from a simple wing-leveller autopilot, to a fully integrated suite of electronics that manages the entire flight from climb-out to touchdown. Most modern discussion of automation refers to integrated avionics combining the functions of an autopilot with a flight management system: an aircraft that knows where it’s going and how to get there.
On balance automation is a good thing. Even reports pointing out its problems say this.
‘These systems have contributed significantly to the impressive safety record of the air transportation system,’ the US Federal Aviation Administration says in its 2013 report on Operational use of flight-path management systems.
But the FAA report goes on to say ‘flight crews sometimes have difficulties using flight path management systems’.
The FAA’s Flight Deck Automation Working Group concluded: ‘modern flight-path management systems create new challenges that can lead to errors. Those challenges include complexity in systems and in operations, concerns about degradation of pilot knowledge and skills, and integration and interdependence of the components of the aviation system’.
Pilots and regulators are not the only ones with a simmering mistrust of automation. Down on the ground there’s a sceptical school of thought that says automation is having insidious effects on everyday life and that aviation should not think it can be immune to these.
Writing in The Atlantic Monthly, author on technology, business and culture, Nicholas Carr, said: ‘Automation turns us from actors into observers. Instead of manipulating the yoke, we watch the screen. That shift may make our lives easier, but it can also inhibit the development of expertise.’
Carr has emerged as a fierce critic of technological utopianism with magazine articles such as Is Google making us stupid? and his 2011 critique of the internet The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. His latest book, The Glass Cage, to be published in September, looks at aviation automation, among other targets.
Speaking to Flight Safety Australia, he emphasised the importance of practice, both to develop skills, and to maintain them.
To become skilled, ‘One has to be deeply engaged in a difficult task under a wide range of circumstances’, Carr says.
‘As commonly designed, automation ends up reducing both the challenges a pilot or other worker faces and the intensity of his or her engagement in the work. Essentially, it turns the person into more of an observer and a less of an actor. Rich skills aren’t given an opportunity to development, or rich skills, if already developed, start to become rusty.’
Carr is concerned that systems are becoming focused on technology, rather than people. ‘People are being pushed further out of the loop,’ he says. ‘The dominant design ethic is what human factors experts describe as “technology-centered automation.” Designers and programmers try to shift as many tasks as possible to the computer, and then allocate to the human worker only those tasks that the computer is not yet capable of doing. Considerations of computer capabilities are given precedence over considerations of human capabilities.’
‘What drives this is a desire to gain the efficiencies that high-speed computers can provide, even if it means a loss of human talent. It’s a trend that’s very hard to reverse or even resist, particularly for profit-seeking businesses, which naturally seek to make their operations as efficient as possible.’
Human skill decay becomes a serious problem when automation fails. Carr points to researchers who have found instances of this on flight decks, at sea, in factories and power station control rooms.
‘When automation fails, we often see a worker not only experiencing a sudden and unexpected spike in workload, but also a sense of disorientation. Because the worker has not had enough to do, he tunes out and loses situational awareness, and when something goes wrong he often reacts in a slow or incorrect way. The combination of decayed skills and lost situational awareness can increase the odds of an accident.’
Another problem is what is called ‘the automation paradox’. Even when an automated system operates properly, it can overload a worker when a crisis occurs, Carr says.
‘In addition to dealing with the crisis, a worker often has to monitor computer screens and enter data into a computer. That ends up overloading the worker at the worst possible moment. Both these phenomena have been seen in aviation (such as Qantas flight 32, where the electronic centralized aircraft monitor ECAM overloaded the crew with an estimated 120 messages) and elsewhere, such as in factory control rooms or on battlefields.’
Even in our personal lives, we often experience automation paradox, Carr says. ‘If you’re using a GPS system while driving and the system gives you an incorrect or confusing instruction, you often find yourself wrestling with the GPS unit even as you’re driving—a dangerous example of overload.’
There are some philosophically different models of automation out there. Carr notes that over the last decade electronic stability control systems have become widespread on motor vehicles. These systems are ‘automation in the background’. They automatically monitor the vehicle’s intended and actual paths over the road, but only intervene when these paths diverge, such as when the vehicle is skidding. Until then the driver has control.
‘Unfortunately, there are other new automotive technologies, such as adaptive cruise control and automated lane centering, that may have the opposite effect, encouraging the driver to tune out and lose situational awareness (and, in the long run, skill).’
Professor Sidney Dekker is not convinced that having automation ‘in the background’ overcomes the fundamental problems arising from the failure of humans and automation to communicate. ‘The problem with automation in the background is the “strong and silent” issue. If it has a lot of authority but does not involve the human user in what it is doing (because it sits in the background), that can actually amplify automation surprises’, he says.
Dekker notes that both Boeing (Turkish Airlines flight 1951) and Airbus (Air France flight 447) aircraft have had crashes following the crew being surprised and confused by the behaviour of automated systems. ‘If we want to train for these things, we should probably first have a better idea of how to represent automation failures in the cockpit. This is where human factors or cognitive systems engineering research come in.
And on the issue of how to keep basic skills sharp in an age of automated flight, Dekker, a glider pilot since he was 14, has an old-school solution. ‘Deliver, with each jet that leaves the factory, a couple of gliders to the purchasing airline, while extracting the promise that its pilots will be put through basic glider training up to solo, so that they know how aerodynamics are supposed to work again.’ |
For Immediate Release—March 18, 2019
Contact: Thomas Meyer, (360) 460-7397, [email protected]
Salem—Oregon House lawmakers voted 42-12 today to enact a moratorium on fracking until 2030. The fracking process injects a high-pressure mix of toxic chemicals into underground shale rock to extract fossil fuels. It poses a serious risk to public health and to drinking water safety. While there are currently no fracking operations in Oregon, there is potential for the process to be used in various parts of the state.
“The Oregon House showed real leadership today by passing a moratorium on fracking, and we need the state Senate to quickly follow suit,” said Thomas Meyer, Food & Water Watch Regional Organizing Manager. “Fortunately, fracking hasn’t yet begun in Oregon, but this type of dangerous fossil fuel extraction could come to as many as 14 counties across the state. Study after study shows that fracking poses severe threats to drinking water, air quality and public health, not to mention the global climate that we all depend on. Oregon leaders have made stirring statements about the need to address climate change, and this bill represents a tangible step forward to protect our state and our climate.”
If the bill goes into law, Oregon would join New York, Vermont and Maryland, which have banned fracking, and Florida and New Mexico which are considering outlawing some forms of dangerous drilling.
Food & Water Watch was the first national organization to call for a ban on fracking everywhere. Food & Water Watch champions healthy food and clean water for all. We stand up to corporations that put profits before people, and advocate for a democracy that improves people’s lives and protects our environment. |
Ohio to New Jersey Freight shipping and trucking services are in high demand; Columbus to Newark is a major route for freight shipping services.
The Columbus, OH to Newark, NJ route is a 525 mile trip that takes a little over 9 hours of driving to complete. Shipping from Ohio to New Jersey ranges from a minimum of 355 miles and 6 hours from Bridgeport, OH to Cherry Hill, NJ, to over 593 miles and a minimum of 10 hours on the road from Cincinnati, OH to Trenton, NJ. The shortest route from Ohio to New Jersey is along the I-70 E and I-76 E; however, there’s also a more northern route that just uses the I-80 E traveling through Youngstown, OH.
Almost Home of the Mighty Buckeyes, Ohio links the northeast to the midwest and contains some of the busiest trucking routes in the country. Ohio is within a one-day drive of 50 percent of US residents and 70 percent of North America’s manufacturing capacity. Bordered to the north by Lake Erie, an important cargo port area and to the south by the Ohio River, Ohio’s nearest neighbors are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Ohio’s climate ranges from mild to the south to cooler to the north, where severe lake effect snowstorms are not uncommon in the winter, making travel in the north treacherous during the worst parts of the winter. Major cities include Ohio’s capitol, Columbus, along with Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton and Akron.
New Jersey’s state motto, “liberty and prosperity,” describes this second-wealthiest of the 50 US states well. The Garden State’s warm, humid summers, temperate spring and fall seasons and snowy winters help foster the rural agricultural areas that lie between metropolitan New York City to the north, Philadelphia to the south and the famous Jersey Shore along the Atlantic Ocean to the east. New Jersey’s largest cities are Newark, Jersey City and Patterson. State capitol Trenton’s motto, “Trenton makes, the world takes,” sums up New Jersey’s welcoming attitude toward commerce.
Ohio to New Jersey Freight shipping quotes and trucking rates vary at times due to the individual states industry needs. Since Ohio and New Jersey are mainly industrial, with manufacturing and distribution centers throughout, we see plenty of shipments by Flatbed as well as by the more common dry van trucks. Our Less Than Truckload (LTL) carriers in both Ohio and New Jersey are also running a number of regular services between the two states, and it’s an active route for heavy haul freight shipments, as well. |
home buyers need to save over $500 per month for 10 years for a deposit in NSW and Victoria, I thought I would republish the below post of mine from January 2010 about the impossibility of saving a deposit in a market with rising prices.
Baby boomers and older generations often cite high expectations, and the inability to save, as the main hindrance to the younger generations’ ability to buy their own home. They go into great detail about how much it has always been a struggle to buy a home, and that if young people decreased their expectations and bought something small they could work their way up the property ladder.
I am one of those generation Ys looking to buy my own home, and from this perspective, it is not quite that simple.
The mythical property ladder
The argument that if younger generations decreased their expectations, and maybe bought a small apartment now, so that they could somehow work their way up the ‘property ladder’, is entirely misleading.
For example, a young couple buys an apartment for $200,000 in lieu of a $400,000 house they really want based on the contemptuous advice of older generations. They imagine that in 10 years they might be able to sell for $350,000, netting a profit of around $100,000 to spend on a larger home (after transfer costs). The problem is that larger homes have also increased in price by 75% so that the $400,000 house is now $700,000. Buying that dream home has gone from a $400,000 prospect to a $600,000 prospect even with the apparent advantage of being on the property ladder.
The way to benefit from increasing property prices is to buy multiple investment properties so that you leverage the benefits beyond your single dwelling needs.
No more avocados
Next, we can look into the arguments about spending a little less on luxuries to get a person into a home-buying financial position. Dining out, gadgets, and holidays all seem to get mentioned. But if we look into it, these relatively small expenses are not the main factor – the main factor is income.
A hypothetical future home buyer might spend $200 per week on dining out, ‘gadgets’ (mobile phones etc), and travel. That’s $10,400 per year – maybe $3,000 on a trip to SE Asia, $2,000 on gadgets, $2,000 on dining out, and the balance for other luxury items. Let’s see what that money could have done if it were funnelled into a property-buying strategy.
Assuming a starting point with no savings, this hypothetical person (or couple, or family) can save about $58,000 in 5 years assuming they receive 6% on their savings. If they thought they might one day want to live in a home that currently costs $300,000, by the time they save their $58,000 the home is worth $400,000 (at a 6% price growth rate). They now need $80,000 for their deposit. They continue saving instead of splurging and in another 5 years they have $137,000 saved. The home is now worth $535,000. They have enough for a deposit, but the repayments on their home and associated ownership costs are now around $900/week.
So after ten years of saving, living life without those luxuries that make it so much more enjoyable, they are in no better a position than before.
I’ll leave you with a question. If you bought a home for $100,000 in 1990, and the market his risen so that it is now worth $600,000, how much better off are you? |
All webmasters and SEO’s who put their effort in developing, publishing and promoting their sites have one aim to get top rank in all the major search engines like Bing, Google and Yahoo.
And it can be annoying when instead of their hard work websites are not getting indexed and have unsatisfactory ranking across all search engines or get penalized. The major reason behind the poor performance of the website is not following the SEO and Webmaster guidelines provided by the search engines or practicing the black hat SEO techniques for website promotion.
As we know, Bing search engine from Microsoft is an evolution in the internet search. And Bing has good market share in web search space. So we cannot over look Bing and therefore webmasters should know the Bing guidelines and make proper implementation of all just form the first step of website development.
Bing webmaster guidelines / Bing penalty checklist one cannot over look
- Website must be designed with a clear hierarchy.
- Easy internal navigation.
- Add sitemap for users so they can have a clear idea about the website.
- Proper Html coding: make use of important tags like Title and Meta. And Alt attribute should be used for describing the image.
- Avoid broken links in the website i.e. implement 301 redirection to solve this issue.
What not to do:
- Keyword stuffing: don’t fill web pages with unnecessary keywords.
- Don’t use copied or duplicate content on the website. Put relevant, original and quality content.
- Avoid Cloaking: Cloaking is a practice where one set of content is shown to human visitors and another set of content is shown to search robots. For example: Writing with white over a white space.
- Avoid Doorway pages (pages created for spamdexing) i.e. Doorway page are poor quality webpage stuffed with keywords or phrase to spam the search engine.
- Avoid using link farms or other methods for generating back links.
Thus, if you want your site perform well in Bing and should not get penalized, follow the webmaster guidelines and Bing penalty checklist.
Bing has released the penalty checklist and SEO guidelines for the webmasters. You can download it from the Microsoft Download Center in either of the document formats (PDF or XPS).
Check out the Penalty checker tool at Gabblet Toolbox. |
Preventive Health ExamsRoutine Physicals
Preventive Health Exam
A routine physical is a preventive health exam designed to catch problems before they catch up with you, and help keep you in good health. This routine exam also helps you maintain a relationship with our practice, as well as allowing us to better coordinate care with you and other providers, ensure your health information is updated, and provide refills if necessary.
The preventive health exam takes more time than a regular appointment, in order to:
Go over your medical background, including any chronic medical problems, medications, and relevant family medical history
Check for new issues via physical examinations –
Routine preventive lab testing and disease screening may be done, if warranted
Baselines are established so we can compare your past results to those in later appointments and exams, and identify any important changes
Important Note: Your preventive exam is different than a regular appointment. We cannot sufficiently address your preventive health needs if also asked to address treatment of chronic or acute issues such as a cold, injury, etc. Please schedule a separate appointment for these needs!
Let us catch issues before they catch up with you!
The preventive health exam is designed to identify any evidence of disease, precursors to disease, and other wellness opportunities. While not a guarantee, it is a smart way to stay on top of your health.
We will take your weight, blood pressure and temperature and do a comprehensive exam, checking your heart, lungs, abdomen, head and neck, skin, nervous system, and more. Laboratory tests may be done to check your cholesterol and glucose levels, or other disease screening as deemed necessary.
Depending on your age, we may also check your prostate, do a hernia and testicular exam, and check for evidence of sexually transmitted infections. Learn more about the exam and ways to stay healthy.
We do a breast and pelvic exam with Pap smear, if you do not have a gynecologist. We may also check for sexually transmitted infections. Learn more.
Your provider will flag signs of a potential problem and discuss them with you. A follow-up office visit may be recommended to review any abnormal findings. Otherwise, we will convey your results to you through our Patient Portal.
When should I get a physical?
We recommend a preventive health exam for all of our patients, on an annual basis for those over age 50 and less frequently for those under 50 and in good health. We recommend scheduling your preventive exam several months in advance, as there is high demand for them and only limited time allotted each day (so our providers can also care for patients with acute problems).
Key Benefits to Know:
We strongly recommend you contact your health plan prior to scheduling a preventive health exam so you understand your coverage and any limitations and can anticipate any out of pocket costs. For example-some plans have changed coverage of preventive health exams from once per year to once every two years.
Some important questions to ask your insurance company are:
- How often are you allowed to get a Preventive Health Exam? (this could be annually or every other year)
- What services are covered under your Preventive Health Exam benefit such as lab work?
- Lab services and treatment related to chronic or acute issues are not covered under your preventive health benefit and may be applied to a deductible or other out of pocket costs.
Stay in good health!
The best way to ensure your good health now and into the future is to exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, get enough sleep, and not drink excessively or smoke. And, of course, check in with us periodically for your routine preventive exam! |
Households left $1.5b on the table in power price savings
Recent article on stuff stated that New Zealand households missed out on $1.5 billion in savings over the past five years because they did not switch to the cheapest power provider available.
The main issue is that many households are complacent about their electricity bills, according to Electricity Authority.
In 2011, residential customers could have saved $165 each or $280 million collectively by switching to a cheaper option – a figure that increased to $175 each, or a collective $307m, in 2015.
As a result, over the five years, the potential savings passed the $1.5b mark.
New Zealanders have a good rate of switcing power companies compared to other countries. In 2015 alone almost 418,000 consumers changed their electricity supplier. This is also stimulated by the fact that 12 of New Zealand's 16 regions had an increase in the number of electricity retail brands available for consumers to choose from.
"Our research shows just under 60 per cent of consumers consider their electricity options each year, either by looking into switching or investigating the options with their current retailer," Electricity Authority chief executive Carl Hansen said.
"Of those that don't consider their options, the main reasons for this behaviour are that they were happy with their current plan or retailer, followed by being too busy, or thinking it was too much hassle to review or switch. I'd love to see more consumers actively considering their options – it all helps increase the competitive pressure in the market and ensures electricity retailers are giving the best deal possible."
It is pretty easy to compare power companies, see how much you will save and switch through a website such as glimp. Visit us here: www.glimp.co.nz/power.
"Switching electricity providers is not at all like the switching processes in some other services – the electricity companies do all the leg work." |
Canada Just Pledged $50 Million to Global Fund That Helps Children in Crisis Get An Education
This commitment will affect the lives of almost 340,000 children.
The Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, presented and hosted by the Motsepe Foundation on Dec. 2, brought together world leaders, artists, and Global Citizens to bear witness to 58 commitments and announcements worth more than USD $7 billion — including a Canadian pledge of CAD $50 million to Education Cannot Wait (ECW).
Ahead of the festival, more than 45,000 Global Citizens around the world signed a petition calling on Canada to commit to ECW, and while he was not able to attend the festival in person, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to their actions with a video message and a tweet on Sunday, announcing the important commitment.
“These are global challenges and it’s up to all of us to make sure everyone has the freedom, equality, and opportunities they need to thrive,” he said. “That means empowering women and girls and Canada is doing its part.”
Canada’s $50-million commitment to ECW will affect the lives of almost 340,000 children and is part of the country’s broader commitment of $400 million to girls’ education, which was announced at the G7 Summit in June.
ECW is a global fund that works to ensure that children affected by conflict and crisis can still pursue their education. They focus on gender equality and access for girls, which has been a focal point of Trudeau’s time in office.
"Now get out there and change the world!"— Global Citizen Canada (@GlblCtznCAN) December 2, 2018
Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau couldn't make it to #GlobalCitizenFestivalSA, but he has an important message for the thousands of Global Citizens in Jozi right now! 🇨🇦
Join us and take action on education here: https://t.co/LoqQZLYzXgpic.twitter.com/TrGyAe7lah
Today, an estimated 39 million girls around the world are not in school due to war, natural disasters, and other emergencies. Funding to organizations like ECW is vital to help empower girls and see to it that they reach their potential — and therefore help lift them out of poverty.
In 2016, Canada committed CAD $20 million to ECW and Canada’s leadership at the G7 resulted in almost $4 billion pledged to girls’ education in crises.
The festival in South Africa led to significant announcements in education.
Sierra Leone committed to increasing its education budget to 21.5%, Germany committed to doubling its funding of the Global Partnership for Education from €18M to €37M and increased its funding for ECW by €15M for a total of €31M. The government of Kenya also pledged to spend almost 30% of its budget on education.
The commitments made at Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 are set to affect the lives of more than 137 million people. |
G EDU Categories
🏆 Professional 🕑 6 💻 Online
Youth Soccer Injury Prevention and Wellness Specialist
With this strategic combination, players will develop the confidence to return to gameplay and minimize the risk of injury and illness. Not only will they be less susceptible to injury, they will also have a solid foundation giving them the best chances of reaching their full potential.
Showcase that you specialize in this niche and achieve your Certified Youth Soccer Injury Prevention and Wellness Specialist Credential.
WHO IS IT DESIGNED FOR?
The Youth Soccer Injury Prevention and Wellness Specialist Certification course is suitable for a wide array of health experts and professionals including personal trainers, group fitness instructors, chiropractors and chiropractic assistants, soccer coaches, physical therapists, massage therapists, athletic trainers, registered dietitians, occupational therapists, safety experts, physical education teachers, recreational activity instructors, registered nurses, physicians, osteopaths and other allied health professionals.
Youth Soccer Injury Prevention and Wellness Specialist
GMP Big Advantage – Instant access – dive in and start learning right away. Download the materials to the course and view offline – so you are not confined to be online.
✓ Course Book
✓ Study Workbook
✓ Notes Guide
✓ Soccer Resources
✓ Sample Practice Plans
✓ Player Wellness Resources
✓ Lesson Plan Steps
✓ Final Exam and Instant Grading
✓ Certificate of Completion
Big Bonus: Specialist Designation
✓ Your Specialist Designation does not expire
✓ There are NO FEES to keep your Credential current
✓ No Final Exam Retake Fees
✓ Education Tech Support
✓ Lifetime—24/7 Access
✓ Define soccer training basics
✓ Identify and explain common youth soccer injuries
✓ List nine things you can do to prevent movable soccer goal injuries
✓ Evaluate perfectionism burnout
✓ Examine girls in competitive soccer
✓ Explain a neuromuscular warm-up
✓ Identify hamstring muscle and groin strain injury tips
✓ Evaluate how to avoid soccer injuries
✓ Describe how to prevent ankle sprains and groin injuries
✓ Identify knee injury red flags
✓ Apply small-sided conditioning alternative drills
✓ Apply 11 speed work tips for a fast soccer team
✓ Explain off-season tips
✓ Identify nutrition and hydration tips for better performance
✓ Apply a youth soccer warm-up
✓ Explain how to recover and accelerate faster after a game
Accreditations & Certification Board Approvals
GMP Fitness is proud to be nationally approved and accredited by the following organizations. If you do not see your certification company in the list below—please contact GMP Fitness at 888-467-3488 or email firstname.lastname@example.org (or click here). The course may be pending approval.
✓ American Council on Exercise—ACE—see the special notes below
✓ ACTION Certification—ACTION—0.6
✓ American College of Sports Medicine—ACSM—6
✓ America Fitness Professionals Association—AFPA—6
✓ British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association—BCRPA—6
✓ The Cooper Institute—CI—6
✓ International Fitness Professionals Association—IFPA—6
✓ International Tennis Performance Association—ITPA—6
✓ International Sports Sciences Association—ISSA—6
✓ National Association for Fitness Certification—NAFC—6
✓ National Association of Sports Nutrition—NASN—6
✓ National Council on Strength and Fitness—NCSF—3
✓ National Council For Certified Personal Trainers—NCCPT—0.6
✓ National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association—NESTA—see the special notes below
✓ National Federation of Professional Trainers—NFPT—1.25
✓ National Strength Professionals Association—NSPA—6
✓ Professional Fitness Instructor Training—PFIT—6
✓ American Senior Fitness Association—SFA—0.6
✓ World Instructor Training Schools—WITS—6
ACE (American Council on Exercise)—If you are an ACE Certified Professional and would like to earn CECs for this course please email or call GMP Fitness to find out if this course is going through the approval process.
*NESTA (National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association)—accepts GMP Fitness courses for credits, There MAY be a petition fee.
*ITPA (The International Tennis Performance Association)—ITPA members can earn continuing credits for their certifications through GMP Fitness.
GMP Fitness Exam Facts
✓ Exam instructions are online.
✓ Online true/false and/or multiple/choice final exam.
✓ You must pass the exam with 80% or higher.
✓ NO time limit to take the exam.
✓ You can save your final exam if you cannot complete it in one sitting.
✓ Immediate grading and exam results.
✓ Instant download to your certificate of achievement.
✓ NO fees to take the exam–included in the price.
✓ NO fees to Retake the exam–included in the price.
3 Simple Steps To Get Your Certificate
1. Pass the online final exam.
2. Automatic certificate generation.
3. Download your CEC/CEU Certificate.
Your Reward For Excellence
→ Youth Soccer Injury Prevention and Wellness Specialist Certificate upon successful completion of the exam (This is a downloadable CEC/CEU Certificate – included with the price of the Course)
→ Optional Purchase—Distinguished Achievement Recognition Certificate (mailed)
Show off your Specialist Credential with our Distinguished “Professional Youth Soccer Injury Prevention and Wellness Specialist” Certificate.
GREAT for your PORTFOLIO!!!
What does it take to become a Professional Specialist?
You will need to complete the course and pass the final exam.
Keeping your Credential Current
There are NO FEES to keep your Credential current, but we do strongly encourage students to take further education. This will not only elevate your skills and fortify your knowledge, but it will also show your dedication and commitment to your clients and your profession.
When will I receive my Continuing Education Certificate (CECs/CEUs)?
When you pass the final exam you will receive your CEC/CEU Certificate. This will be available for you to download.
How long do I have access to the Specialist Curriculum?
You will have lifetime access to this Specialization Program. There are no time limits or constrictions in this course and you are welcome to revisit the materials as many times as you like.
How long does it take to complete the Course?
There is no time limit to complete the course, but we do recommend that you complete the Specialist Course within 1 year after registration. The length of time required to complete a specific program depends on the individuals’ dedication and available time to study.
Professional (P) Course Prerequisites
Just One Prerequisite … To qualify to take any of the GMP Fitness Courses you must be at least 18 years of age. See our FAQs for more information.
• Note: Continuing Education Credits (CECs/CEUs) will only be applied for certified fitness professionals or other health professionals.
Customer Course Support
As part of the GMP Fitness commitment to customer service, you’ll receive unsurpassed, exceptional customer support. Have a question after you purchase the course—contact us at email@example.com or call 888-467-3488. |
Fighting multiple sclerosis since he was 8 years old, Jahi Gibson was unable to defend himself while growing up in a crime-ridden neighborhood.
Weeks of physical therapy had helped him walk again after MS temporary paralyzed him from the neck down. This was his chance to not only walk better, but to even dance.
Jahi is among 1,000 young teens in nine cities picked for a free summer camp led by the world-famous New York dance company, each teen facing personal challenges that would seem overwhelming to the average adult.
(READ the story from TODAY.com)
Photo credit: Justin Namon / Courtesy of the Adrienne Arsht Center |
If you are interested in being baptized or want more information, fill out the form below.
What is the meaning of baptism?
It illustrates my new relationship with the three persons of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This is the only passage in Scripture from the lips of Jesus concerning baptism and how to do it. Jesus commands us to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
In baptism, we confess the equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as God. Baptism is an outward symbol of the work of the three persons of the Godhead providing us salvation and eternal life.
It illustrates my new life as a Christian.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Baptism does not make you a believer – it shows that you already believe. It is your commitment to Christ that saves you. Baptism simply says to the world, “I am not ashamed to tell the whole world what’s happened to me. I have given my life to Jesus.”
Baptism is going public with your faith in Jesus!
Why be baptized by immersion? Because...
Jesus was baptized that way.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water...
Every baptism in the Bible was by immersion.
The Greek word baptizo means, “to immerse or dip under water”.
The founders of denominations agree on this.
Martin Luther... “I would have those who are to be baptized to be entirely immersed, as the word imports and the mystery signifies.”
John Calvin... “The word ‘baptize’ signifies to immerse. It is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church.”
John Wesley... “Buried with Him, alludes to baptizing by immersion according to the custom of the first church.”
Who should be baptized?
Every person who has believed in Jesus.
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
There is one qualification in the Bible to be baptized. You have to believe in Jesus Christ.
At Grace Chapel, we wait until our children are old enough to believe and understand the meaning of the gospel and baptism before we baptize them.
What should I wear?
The key is modesty. We don’t wear robes for baptism. The pastor wears a t-shirt and swim trunks. So choose a modest top and bottom that you don’t mind getting wet. Bring a change of clothes, a towel, and a plastic bag for your wet articles of clothing.
Can my family be baptized together?
Yes! If each family member understands fully the meaning of baptism and each one has personally placed their trust in Jesus for their salvation, we say, “Go for it!”
What if I have special needs?
All of our Elders can perform a private baptism in special circumstances. |
Vacations in Patmos (Dodecanese - Greece)
Patmos: The island of the Holy Revelation with the idyllic Chora
Patmos Beaches Travel To Patmos Pictures Patmos Patmos Transportation Patmos Information Patmos Accommodation Patmos Attractions Patmos Food Patmos Purchases Why Choose Patmos Patmos User Comments Patmos Map Alternatives to Patmos Patmos Connections
Vacations in Patmos island - Patmos, The island of the Holy Revelation with the idyllic Chora
More Patmos pictures
Information On Patmos
Patmos is a small island shaped like a sea-horse and it is one of the northest islands of the Dodecanese. Contrary to most islands of the Dodecanese complex, Patmos is an infertile island created by volcanic activity with little green.
Patmos is also called the Island of the Apocalypse because it is there that the Holy Book of Revelation was written by Saint John, a text that is part of the New Testimony and one of the most famous texts of all time. Due to this Patmos is a center of religious tourism while it has also been declared a Holy Island by the Greek State.
The natural beauty of Patmos combined with the picturesque Chora and the unique religious atmosphere are some of the reasons why the Forbes Magazine has voted Patmos as the most idyllic place of Europe.
If you find yourself on Patmos during the first two weeks of September do not miss the unique Religious Music Festival which is most interesting and held out in the open outside the Cave of the Apocalypse.
Fortunately on Patmos tourist growth is mild and has not altered the traditional life-style of the island.
Patmos informationPatmos informationPatmos information
Beaches Of Patmos
Patmos is not famous for its beaches, as visitors lick the island for other reasons. However, Patmos has scenic beaches with clean sea. Fans of pebble beaches will be happy on Patmos. The main beaches of Patmos are:
Patmos beachesPatmos beachesPatmos beaches
Travel To Patmos
Using the fast ship from Pireaus you will reach Patmos in approximately 7 hours, while it will take you around 10 hours with the conventional ship. There is no airport on Patmos but there is a helicopter landing spot for emergency cases.
Patmos travelPatmos travelPatmos travel
Transportation On Patmos (Car Rentals)
You can access most beaches of Patmos using the bus routes that cover the distance between Grikos and Kampos, passing by Chora and Skala of course. However, the buses are not frequent, as on average they pass every two hours (depending on the route), therefor it is best to have your own transportation. In case you do not, you may rent a car of a motorcycle, or make use of the taxis that travel on Patmos.
Patmos transportationPatmos transportationPatmos transportation
Accommodation On Patmos (Hotels, Apartments, Guesthouses, Rooms to let)
Most rooms to let and hotels are in Chora and Skala, the harbor of Patmos. At Meloi you will find the only camping of Patmos with a popular tavern near by.
Patmos accommodationPatmos accommodationPatmos accommodation
Food & Drink On Patmos
On Patmos you will find many local dishes with fresh fish. Do not forget to try the local cheese Kalathotos (made with goat and sheep milk) and the sweet pougakia (with honey, almonds and walnuts).
Patmos cuisinePatmos cuisinePatmos cuisine
What To Buy On Patmos
You will find many traditional products of Patmos and souvenir icons at the Monastery, but also in shops all over the island. You should also know that jewelery making is a tradition on Patmos.
Patmos purchasesPatmos purchasesPatmos purchases
Attractions On Patmos
The beautiful capital of Patmos with its white alleys and the imposing classical houses is build amphitheatrically with a view to the harbor.
The most important religious attraction in Greece. This is where Saint John wrote the Book of Revelation and where thousands of tourists.
One of the oldest and most important monastic centers of the East, while in its vast area you can find important attractions.
An impressive museum located inside the Monastery, hosting remarkable treasures of Patmos.
The museum is found in Chora and it is housed in a traditional house of the 17th century belonging to Simantiri family.
A very interesting museum with many rooms in Chora of Patmos.
A beautiful female monastery near Grikos.
A small room in the harbor where documentaries about Patmos are projected.
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Alternative Islands To Patmos
Patmos is not what you are looking for? Then one of the following nearby islands might interest you:
Lipsi (9 klm from Patmos)
Leros (19 klm from Patmos)
Kalymnos (35 klm from Patmos)
Kos (63 klm from Patmos)
Astypalaia (69 klm from Patmos)
Nisyros (85 klm from Patmos)
Tilos (107 klm from Patmos)
Symi (126 klm from Patmos)
Halki (138 klm from Patmos)
Rhodes (154 klm from Patmos)
Karpathos (157 klm from Patmos)
Kasos (201 klm from Patmos)
Kastelorizo (294 klm from Patmos)
Patmos alternativesPatmos alternativesPatmos alternatives
Islands Connected To Patmos
There is a ferry from Patmos to the following islands:
Kalymnos (direct connection to Patmos)
Kos (direct connection to Patmos)
Leros (direct connection to Patmos)
Lipsi (direct connection to Patmos)
Rhodes (direct connection to Patmos)
Samos (direct connection to Patmos)
Symi (direct connection to Patmos)
Syros (direct connection to Patmos)
Connections from PatmosConnections from PatmosConnections from Patmos
Comments On Patmos
There are yet no comments on Patmos...
Patmos Beaches Travel To Patmos Pictures Patmos Patmos Transportation Patmos Information Patmos Accommodation Patmos Attractions Patmos Food Patmos Purchases Why Choose Patmos Patmos User Comments Patmos Map |
After death, most assets pass to your loved ones without incurring any federal income tax liabilities. Only interest that accrues on the asset from the time your loved one becomes the owner of the asset will be taxed. However, there are certain types of assets that may trigger a federal income tax liability. This includes IRA’s and other types of retirement accounts. Further, U.S. Savings Bonds are subject to their own special rules with regard to inheritance and taxation.
U.S. Savings Bond During Estate Administration: an Overview
Typically, the income from a U.S. Savings Bond accrue without incurring taxes until they are cashed in. If the bond owner dies, the new owner must pay tax on the interest that accrued during the decedent’s lifetime. . The IRS refers to this as “income in respect of a decedent.” This tax is due and payable when the new owner cashes in the bonds.
However, estate administrators have an important decision to make. The interest that accrued up to the date of death of the original bond owner can instead be reported on the decedent’s final income tax return. This is typically done if the decedent is in a lower tax bracket than the beneficiary. By choosing this option, the beneficiary of the bond only has to include the interest earned after the date of death on his or her income tax return.
The tax responsibilities that accrue when someone dies can be numerous. Our article “Having Left This World, You Still Need to Pay Your Taxes in California,” offers helpful insight into the liabilities that may result.
Did you find this article helpful? We encourage you to share it with your family and friends on Facebook!
AttorneyThe Grossman Law Firm, APC · 525 B Street, Suite 1500, San Diego, CA 92101 · (951) 523-8307 |
Once upon a time, a rocky mountain overlooking the grand city of Barcelona was home to a twisty race track. Through the years, Montjuïc became a popular yet dangerous scene of spectacular races. Racing there started in 1932, when civil war was on the horizon. Decades later, long after the fall of the republic, Formula One hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in Montjuïc for the first time in 1969. To all that came an end just six years later, when five spectators were killed in a tragic accident which halted the race and the future of the park as a race track. Racing in Catalunya continued, but it was never on race tracks more scenic than the mountain course.
To remember all the heroics performed in the park, a get-together of old racing cars is held each year at the new home of Catalan motorsports: Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló on the outskirts of the Barcelona metropolitan area. With sports cars of days gone by revving it up for some old school racing, we couldn’t miss out on this opportunity to photograph these classics.
Photos by Sebastià Galbany. |
Microbial colonization during early life plays a relevant role in healthy immune and metabolic development of an infant. Until now, research has been focused on studying the role of gut bacterial communities in the health outcomes of infants, and little is known regarding the role of colonizing fungi (the mycobiome) in the first months of life.
A recent study, led by Prof. Cheryl Gale from the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA), has found that mycobiome differences exist at each infant body site over the first month of life and mode of birth influences key fungal groups.
In this pilot study, the researchers characterized the skin, oral cavity, and anus (a mix of skin and faeces) mycobiomes of infants (n = 17) over the first month of life and the anal and vaginal mycobiomes of mothers (n = 16) through amplicon sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region 2 of the ribosomal ribonucleic acid locus (ITS2), which is considered a universal deoxyribonucleic acid barcode marker for fungi.
Infant mycobiomes varied by body site over the first month of life. Specifically, the infant mycobiomes at the anal sites were different from those at the skin and oral sites. Anal samples exhibited increased relative abundances of Candida albicans versus skin and oral mycobiomes, and increased abundances of C. parapsilosis in anal samples versus skin samples.
Both infant and maternal mycobiomes tended to be dominated by few taxa. The taxa of highest prevalence and relative abundance across all infant body sites were Candida species, with C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis having the highest relative abundance in the skin, oral, and anal regions. C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were also prominent, depending on the body site. Malassezia accounted for only 2% of the relative abundance in the infant skin mycobiome, whereas in adults Malassezia is a predominant colonizer of the skin, together with Candida and Saccharomyces. Similarly, the maternal vaginal and anal mycobiomes were also dominated by a single taxon, with C. albicans as the most abundant in the vaginal mycobiome and C. albicans, S. cerevisiae, and C. parapsilosis as the most abundant in the maternal anal mycobiome.
Infant mycobiomes were individualized and variable across studied infants. Skin mycobiomes showed within-infant similarity over time, whereas the oral and anal mycobiomes of infants exhibited high intraindividual variability. Besides this, alpha diversities of infant mycobiomes did not significantly change over the first 30 days of life, regardless of body site, which suggests a lack of new species acquisition and limited increases in richness within the first month of life. Regarding alpha diversity (the average species diversity at the same body site) and beta diversity (the differentiation among different body sites) measures, infant mycobiomes as a group over the first 30 days of life looked similar to the maternal mycobiomes as a group.
Mode of delivery influenced the relative abundances of specific fungal groups in infant skin and oral mycobiomes. Candida albicans fungi were present in a higher proportion on the skin of vaginally born infants on day 30 and C. orthopsilosis were the most abundant fungi in the oral cavity of caesarean section-born infants during the first month of life. However, vaginal birth did not result in infant mycobiomes that were more similar to the mother’s vaginal mycobiome. These data suggest that other sources of transmission of fungi from mother to the infant are involved beyond vertical transmission.
In conclusion, this is the first study that has explored the structure of the infant mycobiome by body site and depending on mode of delivery. Further research is needed in order to study the contribution of early-life mycobiome establishment to infant health and to explore whether there was a clear progression toward a different or mature infant mycobiome composition as occurs with the infant bacterial microbiome.
Ward TL, Dominguez-Bello MG, Heisel T, et al. Development of the human mycobiome over the first month of life and across body sites. mSystems. 2018; 3(3). doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00140-17.
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You’re given the pointer to the head node of a linked list and a specific position. Counting backwards from the tail node of the linked list, get the value of the node at the given position. A position of 0 corresponds to the tail, 1 corresponds to the node before the tail and so on.
You have to complete the int getNode(SinglyLinkedListNode* head, int positionFromTail) method which takes two arguments - the head of the linked list and the position of the node from the tail. positionFromTail will be at least 0 and less than the number of nodes in the list. You should NOT read any input from stdin/console.
The first line will contain an integer , the number of test cases.
Each test case has the following format:
The first line contains an integer , the number of elements in the linked list.
The next lines contains, an element each denoting the element of the linked list.
The last line contains an integer denoting the position from the tail, whose value needs to be found out and returned.
, where is the element of the linked list.
Find the node at the given position counting backwards from the tail. Then return the data contained in this node. Do NOT print anything to stdout/console.
The code in the editor handles output.
For each test case, print the value of the node, each in a new line.
In first case, there is one element in linked list with value 1. Hence, last element is 1.
In second case, there are 3 elements with values 3, 2 and 1 (3 -> 2 -> 1). Hence, element with position of 2 from tail is 3. |
What’s with the Hat?!
If you just stumbled across this photo of a beautiful man you might think it was someone’s lover or friend; you might weave all kinds of stories about it. If you got curious and started digging, then you’d find this image has provenance. It’s all about the hat. It’s a photo of Bhagat Singh, a campaigner for independence in India. Taken in 1929 it was printed widely in the press
despite attempts by the British to suppress it. Why the need for suppression? The fedora was worn by the British men in power. By wearing it, Bhagat symbolically took back that power for the people he represented. The oppressed claimed ownership of the language of the oppressors. Similarly demonstrators protesting recently against Trump’s degradation of women wore knitted pussy hats.
Objects of Dissent
In these cases knowing the context changes our perception of meaning radically. This is one of the themes of Ian Hislop’s entertaining show ‘I Object’ at the British Museum. There are some fascinating examples. A bible of 1631 with a misprint: ‘thou shalt commit adultery’, coins stamped with ‘votes for women’, bank notes with ‘scum’ concealed in a watermark, the cartoon of a bloated George IV with medications for VD on a nearby table. The message in all these cases is pretty unequivocal but consider a delicate painting of a Chinese landscape in which the traditional misty pines have been replaced by pylons. It was intended as a critique of the process of industrialisation but imagine it as an ad for a pylon manufacturer. How well the pylons blend into the landscape! Here it isn’t just the intention and context of the image which assigns meaning, but the ethical stance of the viewer through which it’s either a celebration or a critique of progress. It can be used and abused.
The good, the bad and the ugly
These considerations become most acute with the oldest exhibit: a bulbous female statue from Assyria inscribed with a royal edict promising severe punishment to anyone removing it. Hislop offers up the idea of ‘revenge porn’, imagining the statue as a representation of a rejected royal mistress, purely on the grounds that it is ‘ugly’ and not characteristic of prevailing aesthetics. But, (besides the subjectivity of this judgement) Assyrian aesthetics combine elegance and monumentality in equal measure and their women are indisputably on the chunky side. There just isn’t enough context to anchor a meaning here.
This brings to mind all the difficulties about interpreting ancient works of art. How do we know what they mean, or when we are ascribing meanings to them which they don’t possess? And what the hell?
Using the past for our own creative purposes is of course a legitimate way of enriching our own culture. Loyalty to historical accuracy can be fluid. This is about creating something new and the process makes its own rules for authenticity.
Chinese landscape with pylons
Interpreting the past requires imagination too, but here authenticity is rooted in objectivity. It means being prepared to continuously revise ideas, testing them against evidence and other people’s expertise, and being empathetic to the unfamiliar. Above all it requires having respect for
the original realities however hard they are to uncover. It’s the difference between cooking a meal and being a detective, and those who think if it’s the past, any ingredients will do, are like detectives who’ll settle for any culprit to file away a case or fit an agenda.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful. |
The first month of your baby’s life can be a little rough. You are getting to know your baby, and know what they need and how to care for them.
Expect your baby to need to feed at least 6 times /24 hours at 1 month of age. If they are breastfeeding this could increase up to 12 times.
Your baby will probably sleep 12-18 hours a day between regular feedings. Do not let your one-month-old baby sleep through the night.
You might see some early gains when your child is 1 month old, yet these are probably going to be expected to their reflexes, as opposed to being responsive.
Crying is upsetting to guardians and their children. Build up a scope of encouraging reactions and try them hard and fast.
Children are prepared to look for their parents’ confronts, tune into their voices and hand over the heading of human sound. Early interactive experience will help your child’s mind to develop and find out about the world.
Most babies regain their birth weight within the first 2 weeks after birth. An average weight gain at this age is between 150-200grams/week. Breastfeeding babies normally gain a lot of weight in the first few months of life.
Your baby will be due for their first immunisations in one month. Hand washing is the number one method of controlling infections and minimizing contamination. After you change your baby’s nappy and before feeding them, wash your hands and dry them well.
Get into the habit of raising your baby’s cot sides before your walk away. Active babies can wriggle and squirm and need to be watched particularly carefully.
Whatever your child may be doing, just encourage them to grow and learn at their own pace. |
When patients aren't languishing in a doctor's waiting room, it's good news not just for health consumers but for the doctors themselves, who receive better patient satisfaction scores the less their patients wait, according to a new study by healthcare consumer engagement group Vitals.
It found a strong correlation between wait times and doctors' star ratings. Physicians with five stars, the highest doctor rating on Vitals, had a 12-minute, 33-second wait on average. Doctors with a one-star rating, the lowest, had a wait time average of 33 minutes, 4 seconds.
"Wait time alone is probably not the cause of the bad rating," said Vitals Founder and Chairman Mitch Rothschild in a statement. "More likely, a doctor who can't watch the clock may not be effectively managing other parts of the practice that impact the patient experience."
Nationally, the average time a person waits for a doctor is 18 minutes, 35 seconds. Compared to last year, that's a decrease of 1 minute, 16 seconds. Wait times are down about 13 percent since Vitals first started reporting on the data in 2009.
Alternative care facilities may be taking the burden off primary care doctors, the report found. Urgent care centers, which welcome walk-ins, have an average wait time of less than 30 minutes. Retails clinics have about a 30-minute wait time, with prescriptions filled on-site. Telemedicine services often offer on-demand appointments, and products such as home diagnostic kits can help a consumer self-diagnos ailments ranging from strep to HIV in fewer than 20 minutes.
Some primary care doctors, feeling the pressure from those facilities, have expanded hours, adding weekend and evening hours for patients who work, which the report said has reduced the weekday crush at most offices.
Broken down by city, wait times in Milwaukee, Wisconsin were the shortest this year, at 13 minutes 22 seconds. El Paso, Texas had the longest wait times -- 25 minutes and 57 seconds.
In looking at specialities, Vitals found that dentists had the shortest average wait times at 8 minutes 27 seconds. Chiropractors made patients wait the longest, at 12 minutes 35 seconds -- longer than plastic surgeons, radiation oncologists and child psychologists. |
Let's start by looking at the contents in cigarette smoke:
It contains 6 toxins:
* Tar - we use it to pave streets
* Nicotine - An insecticide ... it's a poison that kills things.
* Carbon monoxide - Blocks the body's absorption of oxygen
* Formaldehyde - used to preserve dead bodies
* Hydrogen cyanide - cyanide is used in executions
* Benzene - a component of gasoline
Look at the above & ask yourself, do I want this in my lungs?
Do I need to go further? OK, my mother in law smoked and she contracted and died from lung cancer. God rest her soul.
You found this answer helpful
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i love to smoke and get that high feeling especially if its kush or dro regge i dont like its a different high my question is can smoking weed make you die at an early age? and if not is it a good alternative to use when feeling hungry? when i used to smoke it thru bongs or from a swisher id get the munchies so bad and always wondered why it would make ya sooo hungry!!
Hi..How Are You Sir. I am from pakistan.I would like to know about How can i Leave Smoking.When i was in class 8th. i Smoke The First Ceg..Know i m not a passive smoker, i m Aggressive, when i want to leave it , My head Dont allow me to leave.its gaving more pain when i try to leave. I m well educated,and know that smoking is not good for health.But i cann t stop my Self. I m to far But need a Change in life. My life is going In depression. My native languge is not english thats why i cant express my self at batter way. thanks for Reading, jansher
hello i am an anonymous recration meth smoker never used a needle in my life i havent done any drugs for almost 5 months ( wich is very astonishing considering the fact that i fomerly used a variety of ilegal drugs on a daily basis) and today i smoked a small amount of meth, well small compared to my former usuall doses and this was almost twelve hours ago i am still very high which is occasionally common but my concern is i am expiriencing a moderate amount of pain in my testicals more specifically my left testical on a scale of 1 to 10 10 being the worst possible amout pain imaginable im at a 6 almost 7, i know the health risks and dangers of drug usage but i would like to know why my testicals- testical are in pain |
Businesses in the movement against single-use plastic
Right now, it’s Plastic Free July, a global movement that was started seven years ago in Western Australia with the goal to dramatically reduce single use plastic and improve recycling. We think there’s a real opportunity for the city centre and the businesses here to be an exemplar in waste management and minimisation. We think there's a good case for going waste free ahead of Council’s goal of 2040.
To mark Plastic Free July, we’ve taken a look at what some of our local businesses are doing this month – and all year round – to reduce plastic use and create discussion and action on this important topic.
Locally, the Sustainable Business Network is running a #showusyourlunchbox campaign, encouraging people to take their own reusable containers to their favourite eatery to get lunch with the added intention of raising awareness and prompting a culture shift about single-use plastics. City centre SBN members taking part in #showusyourlunchbox include Altezano Brothers, Scarecrow and Green Time.
James Griffin of SBN says that many people are ready to make the shift to bringing their own containers to buy food.
“Increasingly bags from home are being used for supermarket shopping. Taking our own containers to food stores is a logical next step, and it’s something everyone can do.” James Griffin, SBN
Scarecrow and Green Time both offer discounts to customers year round for bringing their own containers, only provide compostable single-use containers, and also make a concerted effort to reduce plastic from their supply chain.
Green Time’s Kitty Lin says she feels there’s a lot of potential for businesses to lead the way and show consumers that they have motivations beyond profit.
“I believe that action, belief and commitment need to be built into the business model from the start, so then the practices can evolve and improve as the business gets bigger.” Kitty Lin, Green Time
Scarecrow’s Alison Dyson says that actions are secondary to attitudes in the movement against single use plastic.
“We need to work hard together to make waste un-acceptable, and to make our re-use, re-cycle and repair a natural ‘first instinct’. This will only happen when all walks of life are reflecting these attitudes: food and retail can be big drivers in pushing this new attitude.” – Alison Dyson, Scarecrow
Businesses outside of the food industry are also taking action to reduce plastic use. Heather Gerbic of Pauanesia says that they work closely with their suppliers on packaging and shipping, and that many of their suppliers recycle paper and use cardboard rather than any plastic protection or wrapping for shipment.
“In the case of our Native softie birds we recycle large cardboard boxes and non-woven bags to supply the makers with the recovered wool fabrics. The hand-made stuffed birds are returned in the same outers.” She says that while these actions have been easy to institute locally, they need to work harder with international, larger scale suppliers. “We need to constantly re-stipulate the plastic minimization part of our order.”
All of the businesses we spoke to talked about their staff and customers’ enthusiasm about their actions to reduce plastic. Kitty says many of their regular customers understand that ‘eco-costs’ are investments for the future and are vocal in their appreciation for their work. “Some tell us or write to us about how much they appreciate our existence or what we do, how we do, showing the team that our hard work is worthwhile. It means so much.”
Heather says many of their initiatives to reduce plastic and other waste are their staff and customers’ ideas. “It is a partnership of all parties involved not just the owner.”
“Every day we make a conscious effort and conscious choices. So do our customers! We love that.” Alison Dyson, Scarecrow
Find out more or let us know what you're doing:
- If you’re interested in finding out more about reducing plastic use and other sustainable business practices, the Sustainable Business Network, based in Britomart, is a valuable local resource and network
If you feel strongly about reducing plastic use and waste or have any interesting stories to share about what’s already happening in your businesses to reduce waste we’d love to hear from you. Send us an email or give us a call on (09) 379 8000.
Other plastic free happenings in the city centre this July:
- Britomart’s La Cigale market has gone plastic-free from July, asking all stall-holders to eliminate plastic bags from their stalls. They’ll be offering options including paper bags and compostable cornstarch bags for free, and reusable product bags and carrier bags will be available to purchase
- For the Love of Bees and Live Lightly are hosting a screening of The Clean Bin Project on 20 July at the Ellen Melville Centre as part of Films for the Future: a hopeful film series. |
Have you ever worried that robots would one day be the ruin of humanity? According to a paper published this month, you might not be too far off base.
Four researchers from Boston University and Columbia University simulated an economy featuring two types of workers - high-tech employees who produce new software code, and low-tech workers who produce human services (people such as artists, priests, psychologists and the like).
At first, high demand for code-writing high-tech employees increases their wages.
However, over time, the amount of legacy code grows. As this happens, and as some smart machines become better able to learn tasks, writing new code becomes redundant, the authors state.
Demand for code-writing high-tech workers then becomes limited to those who are needed for general code maintenance like updates and repairs.
The rest of the high-tech workers end up going into the service sector, which consequently pushes down wages for employees in that industry.
'Boom-bust' tech cycles
And lower incomes reduce the amount of goods and services that workers are able to buy.
While there can be several of these so-called "boom-bust" tech cycles, over time robots "can leave all future high-tech workers and, potentially, all future low-tech workers worse off," the paper states.
"In short, when smart machines replace people, they eventually bite the hands of those that finance them," the researchers say.
The model also predicts a long-run decline in labor's share of income, which has been underway in the U.S. since the 2000s, as well as "a growing dependency of current output on past software investment."
So the researchers ask: What can be done to stem the impact of the robot overlords?
One solution may be to tax those who initially see benefit from the new technology and then use the proceeds to supplement workers' pay once wages start to wane, the authors said.
The model's "central message is disturbing," the paper states.
"Absent appropriate fiscal policy that redistributes from winners tolosers, smart machines can mean long-term misery for all," the paper concludes.
The researchers are Boston University's Seth Benzell, Laurence Kotlikoff and Guillermo LaGarda, and Columbia University's Jeffrey Sachs. |
Did you know that 80% of a plant’s problems originate in the soil? Poor soil conditions can influence the success of your garden, but understanding the composition and overall health of your soil can help you establish a successful, thriving, and sustainable garden. Whether you are hoping to grow turf, trees, vegetables or perennials, the secret to success is in the soil. Join us and get the scoop on Colorado’s unique and challenging soils; learn how to use a soil test; and let a Master Gardener with CSU Extension- Arapahoe County guide you through the process of preparing your soil to get your plants off to a strong start.
This class is part of a “Gardening for Newcomers” series! Purchase classes individually, or save money by registering for all five classes at once.
Thursday, April 18, 2019: Introduction to Soils
Thursday, May 9, 2019: Lawn Care Tips for Beginners
Thursday, July 11, 2019: Perennials and Ornamental Grasses
Thursday, September 19, 2019: Trees and Woody Plants Care
Tuesday, October 15, 2019: Preparing Your Garden for Winter |
The idea of switching offline is something many of us know we’d benefit from, though fail to action.
Even if we’ve sworn off email before 9am, chances are we’re catching up on the latest GoT podcast or clearing Facebook notifications suggesting a birthday wish for your cousin’s ex-boyfriend’s mum.
“Being connected 24 hours a day is definitely something that impacts on our everyday lives, compared to the way that we used to live, but that doesn’t mean it is necessarily a bad thing. It could be a really good addition to the way that we’ve always interacted with each other,” Dr David Tuffley, lecturer at the School of Information and Communication Technology at Griffith University told The Huffington Post Australia.
It’s a no-brainer that we are more efficient than ever before.
Workplace flexibility has improved thanks to tools like Google Hangouts and around the clock email means getting that final pitch off after a school pickup is totally possible.
Still, it begs the question -- what sort of effect does being “plugged in” at all times have on us day-to-day?
“For a lot of people it’s a question of balance and finding enough self-discipline to know when to switch off and not check email or look at Facebook or any of the other social media platforms,” Tuffley said.
As we look to the future, Tuffley said smartphones are only going to become more pervasive, so it’s crucial we understand how much engagement is too much.
Bridianne O’Dea, postdoctoral research fellow at Black Dog Institute said when it comes to the connection between mental health and online interactions, the evidence has been largely misrepresented.
“At this point in time we don’t have any evidence to concretely state that being on your phone or being online has a negative effect on your mental health,” O’Dea told HuffPost Australia.
Of course, that’s not to say there isn’t a relationship however, O’Dea said there are many other factors we need to take into account before claiming a causal effect.
Rather than viewing online interactions as a bad thing, O’Dea said the general consensus for practitioners globally is that they actually have a positive impact on those experiencing a mental health problem, as it offers both solace and a pathway of communication they wouldn’t have had before.
“For people who live with mental health conditions and have higher rates of social anxiety, often their behaviour online or lack thereof, can help those around them get an insight into how they are feeling,” O’Dea said.
In short, it helps a person’s social support network identify certain behaviours that might indicate they need help.
“For example, whether they’ve had a depressive or bad day or in more severe situations a person may be showing behaviour like mania or suicidal ideation,” O’Dea said.
In the context of work, being able to send an urgent email late at night may relieve stress and help you to actually get some sleep.
O’Dea said while studies report people are using their devices increasingly outside work hours, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is causing them more distress however, that’s not to say it isn’t something workplaces should monitor and discuss with employees.
While being connected at all times poses challenges, O’Dea said we only have to look to the current youth generation who don’t really know any different to see that in fact, we are quite resilient.
“There’s this huge sense of nostalgia about the time before phones and social media existed. It is as if it was better back then -- as if the way we shared information was simpler and therefore made for a better life,” O’Dea said.
According to O’Dea, that’s not necessarily the case.
“While the online world definitely poses a number of challenges for things like self-esteem and sleeping patterns, it is not helpful to identify it as having a negative effect on mental health,” O’Dea said. |
When my mom, a baby boomer, sent our family a group text using what she thought was a Hershey Kiss emoji, everyone erupted in laughter. At least the emojis in response displayed that reaction. We informed my mom the emoji was something a little more vulgar than a Hershey Kiss, it was the poop emoji. She was slightly embarrassed.
Emojis have changed how we communicate over text message. Text messages however, are not the only forms of communication being impacted by emojis. Adobe released their second annual email survey today and found that 51 percent of older millennials (25–34), have used emojis in their work email. Text messages have influenced not only email, but work email too. 70 percent of respondents to the survey believe text messaging has influenced how email is used. Emojis, text messaging, instant messaging, chat rooms, and forums have altered communication personally and professionally.
Forms of communication are changing. Language is changing. My mom had one interpretation of an emoji, a wrong one by the way, and the rest of my family had a different interpretation. When interpretation and language have a breakdown, miscommunication begins to surface its ugly head. This is detrimental to relationships, working relationships, and business as a whole. As I was chatting with Ben Tepfer, Product Marketing Manager at Adobe Campaign, he told me, "Certain emails are sent at work where there is too much room for interpretation." What does "Thanks..." really mean? Is that sarcastic? Does it mean another email will follow with the "..."? Interpretation is causing many communication breakdowns in the workforce today.
Millennials Work Email Habits Take Shape in Businesses
Communication, interpretation, and forms of communication are not the only obstacles to businesses today. Many businesses are having to face the issue of new work email habits, specifically because of millennials. Millennials are the first generation raised on instant communication in digital form. These habits were shaped in this generation from childhood.
Millennial work email habits are even changing the ways businesses function today. With 54 percent of millennials citing that they use their smartphone as their primary device to check work emails, they are always attached to work. The workforce, specifically the millennial generation, is struggling to detach from work. People send 19 work emails on average and read 29 emails over the weekend. 49 percent of millennials check their email while still in bed. One quarter of people check work email constantly or frequently while on vacation. These are habits changing the way businesses function and millennials are a big reason why these habits exist.
It's not entirely clear why exactly millennials have a constant "on-switch" to work email. Some may feel the pressure of always being available to their boss in order to appear as a hard-worker. Maybe it's the rise in tech companies and millennials being constantly connected to devices. Then again, it could have some thing to do with so many people working virtually. Whatever the reason, millennials are significantly attached to their work email.
Work Email Habits Effect on Business Operation
Whether in marketing, human resources, or any other department, work email habits influence how businesses function. To be honest, work email habits do not necessarily need to be corrected or righted. Some habits just need to be addressed. Millennials have a high expectation to response time with work emails. Half of all respondents to the Adobe survey expect a response to their email within an hour. One fourth of older millennials expect a response to their work email within a few minutes. Work email habits need to be addressed.
If employees are checking their emails constantly or even frequently, how proficient are they to complete assigned tasks or projects? Multiple studies indicate that it takes people 15 to 25 minutes to get back on track after an interruption such as an email. These habits are impacting work production and proficiency greatly.
Obviously businesses are not going to eliminate work email, but they can alter the habits and expectations of emails. Businesses can implement policies to minimize the constant email interaction. They can have a set of standards to require a certain timeline to response. Emails should not be a hinderance to business production and growth, but a leverage to optimize employee's work and workplace culture.
Maybe it's time to reevaluate communication within your workplace. What are top priorities in reference to emails? What would boost employee morale? What would increase talent development? What habit has your company fostered in relation to work email?
Assess and implement.
Statistics provided within this article came from Adobe's second annual email survey, focusing on white collar work habits and behaviors in relation to personal and work email. If you would like to know more, visit Adobe. Interpretation of the survey are the author's own and does not speak for Adobe. |
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