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warc | 201704 | 60% MORE potent
than Pro 500
The
most documented, and affordable growth hormone support product in
the world.
Increased energy, weight loss, leaner muscle mass, sleeping better,
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body. The benefits of increasing GH levels in adults (30 yrs+) have
been well documented.
Slowing, stopping or even reversing the
biological aging process is simple, practical and possible. Revitalization
of energy levels, increased immune functions, regeneration of all
major organs (including the skin) and strengthening of bones are
just a few of the benefits of increased GH levels.
More Balanced, Youthful Hormones
After a double blind clinical study on Regenesis oral spray,
Dr.
Steven Novil concluded: "There is a significant physiological
change with the patients. The direction in movement of hormone
levels being brought back to youthful and regenerative levels is
significant in of itself." He went on to state, "Supporting
data of the double blind study, show that the patients consistently
evidenced marked progressiveness towards balance. The spray returned
the body to a higher metabolism with greater efficiency and a more
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Some people notice improvements within a few weeks, such as increased
energy, better sleep, and better mood. However for others it takes
longer.
An initial period of at least 6 months is recommended.
Structural improvements in skin and hair definitely take longer,
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the inside" before manifesting "on the outside".
If you practice a healthy lifestyle while using Regenesis Pro 800,
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F. Pearl McBroom,
MD, Preventive Medicine Specialist in Southern California, has
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including increased energy, improved mental clarity,
restoration of hormone balance and an increased sense of well
being.
Why
Regenesis?
Regenesis originated oral GH support spray. With more experience
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We are the only manufacturer
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Regenesis Pro 800 mimics the body with Low Dosage/High Frequency
(LD/HF) therapy. This approach
works with the body in the
natural GH release cycle.
Regenesis Pro 800 has shown to lower free serum IGF-1 levels by
promoting an increased number of IGF receptor sites. High levels
of free serum IGF (and insulin) have been associated with obesity,
diabetes and cancers.
People who have been on Regenesis Pro 800 tell us the benefits continue
over the years they have taken the product. They become more youthful
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Clinical evidence demonstrates that by increasing Growth Hormone
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Injected GH
and oral spray work in entirely different manners. Finally there is an effective choice at a price virtually . everyone
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The Finest Option Available
Regenesis Pro 800 was designed to stimulate the production and release
of your own Growth Hormone. Evidence suggests Regenesis Pro 800
may also enhances the absorption of the resulting growth factors.
Over a period of time (typically 3-9 months) users may notice a
drop in IGF-1 numbers while seeing positive results from Regenesis
Pro 800 spray. Since HGH is responsible for the regulation of IGF-1
in the liver, scientists and manufacturers assume anything that
increases lGF-1 levels must also be increasing HGH levels.
There
is much evidence this is not the case.
Dr. Rashid Buttar has observed significantly lower than expected
IGF-1 levels among high performance athletes. Athletes have lower
serum glucose levels and a greater sensitivity to insulin. As well,
athletes are biologically (physiologically) younger than sedentary
people. He states
"Efficacious hGH therapy In fact there is "An inverse
correlation of IGF-1 and hGH efficacy".
increase IFG-1 levels". does not
We believe that
effective Pro 800 therapy supports an increase
in the number of IGF receptor sites. The increase in IGF receptor
sites leads to an increase in IGF binding and a lowering of circulating
serum IGF-1. This is what numerous clinics have observed in patients
taking Regenesis Pro 800 as well.
Reported
Benefits
Increased
energy, strength and stamina
Strengthens
bones, stimulates tissue repair
Improved
memory & intellectual capacity
Regeneration
of the brain, pancreas, liver, heart, spleen, kidneys and other
organs
Improved
sexual drive and performance
Enhanced
immunity, infection resistance
Improved
exercise performance
Increased
muscle mass without exercise
Reduction
of excess cellulite and fat
Reduction
of high blood pressure
Improved
cholesterol profiles
Strengthening
bones, reversing osteoporosis
Elevation
of moods, reducing depression
Improved
deep sleep (healing sleep)
Improved
skin elasticity and thickness
Smoothing
and reduction of facial wrinkles
In
essence, we are turning back the biological clock
Oral ingestion by
Spray has been shown to be up to 9 times more effective than swallowing
pills or capsules, due to superior bio-availability and absorption.
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For
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Each
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Why Increase
Growth
Hormone Levels?
Growth Hormone
is abundant in the body when people are young. During that same
time they have seemingly endless energy, creativity - and an attitude
that they can accomplish nearly anything. As we grow older our bodies
produce less Growth Hormone each year - they also begin to deteriorate
in many ways. Well, according to Dr. Daniel Rudman,
"The
overall deterioration of the body that comes with growing old is
not inevitable. We now realize that some aspects of it can be prevented
or reversed."
What if I Increase HGH Levels?
Clinical evidence demonstrates that by increasing Growth Hormone
we can dramatically reverse many negative health symptoms that develop
with aging. Unlike many other hormones, GH is considered a master
hormone, affecting almost all body
tissues and controlling
many functions, as well as acting on the mind. HGH
and IGF-1 helps the DNA repair itself better, prior to cell division.
HGH initiates the transport of amino acids and nucleic acids into
the cell. IGF-1 facilitates the transport of nucleic acids into
the nucleus of the cell where the DNA resides, giving it the raw
materials needed to repair damage to the DNA and initiate cell division.
Suggested
usage of
Regenesis
Pro 800
The
most effective times to take Regenesis Pro 800 are immediately
before
exercise and immediately before bedtime.
Spray
3-4 sprays immediately prior to sleep. Spray once every 20-30 minutes
during exercise. Exercise programs vary for each person. For some
it is a brisk walk or gardening. For others it is a game of tennis
or a strenuous workout. Whatever your exercise, spray before you
begin.
Spray
under the tongue or inside the cheek. Spread the sprays in different
areas. Do not swallow for 1-2 minutes.
Spray
6-8 sprays per day for the first three months. Some users will change
to a maintenance dosage of 4 sprays per day, however users will
see much greater benefit from 6 sprays daily.
Regenesis
Pro 800 is more effective when
avoiding the period: 20 minutes
before to 2 hours after eating.
Regenesis
Pro 800 may be administered 7 days per week. Results may be increased
by not using Regenesis Pro 800 for one week every 3 months.
Monitor Your Progress
It is important to understand that the most important benefits occur
through long-term usage (1 year or more) of Regenesis Pro 800. We
all notice when a new ache or pain comes along,
however we donít
often notice when they leave us. Make a list of all the items
in which you would like to see a change for the better. Take another
look at this list after 3, 6 and 12 months. We expect you will be
pleased with your progress. | 8,391 | 3,889 | 0.000264 |
warc | 201704 | Large volcanic eruptions, despite their low frequency of occurrence, have the potential to cause massive loss of life and affect the health of humans and animals and cause major economic losses. The knowledge of the evolution of past volcanic processes is key to mitigate the effects of future eruptions. Field studies along with application of diverse techniques of analysis generate volcanic data, such as, eruption ages, petrological classification, estimates of ejected volume, intensity and magnitude. The design of databases on volcano data constitutes a tool for experts in charge of identifying places at risk, forecasting volcano activity, and scientists interested in finding the relation between volcanic eruptions and climate change. A global database on Quaternary explosive on explosive volcanism has been developed as part of the VOGRIPA project and implemented which main aim is to facilitate accessing data on volcanic eruptions for the scientific community. An explosive eruption is included in the database if its magnitude is 4 or above and if it has been dated. Also at least one measure of the eruption magnitude, such as erupted mass, erupted volume or Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI) is required. The use of the age data is examined for periods of time according to the nature of the age data and also considering major Earth events such as glaciations and interglacials. As we go back in the time, peaks in volcanic activity most likely reflect biases of data; however is an increase in the number of explosive eruptions in the 7th to 10th century and in the past 650 years in the global database on explosive volcanism as well as ice core records. Statistical analyses are applied to eruption records to test the linked hypothesis that the volcanism has been constant over the time interval chosen and that there is not under-recording. The hypothesis is in agreement for the period between 15,000 and 45,000 years BP, and for the whole period including only eruptions with Magnitude 7. Number of explosive eruptions with M>4 and active volcanoes back to 40,000 years BP in 2,500 year intervals | 2,122 | 1,031 | 0.000971 |
warc | 201704 | Is your city sustainable? Can it even begin to feed itself? There is a movement to grow a local foodshed.
It started out in Vancouver, as a couple comitted to food grown within 100 miles of their home. That became a movement, adopted by food activists.
Now, with rising food prices, concerns about climate change and Peak Oil, and a demand for more wholesome food – cities are changing bylaws (Hello chickens and bees!) – and mandating local food purchases. They hope to develop both employment and food security.
Alisa and James take turns explaining their food adventures, seeking a return to local production. Recently they spent 4 months in a Spanish village. Europe may not be as advanced as you think!
There are pitfalls, and rediscovery of old foods, and ways to keep growing year-round, even in the North. A comparison of Farmers’ Markets, and local food standards.
Well spoken, bright ideas, lots of research and experience went into this gem, sure to be a lasting classic. Presented by the Museum of Vancouver, The Tyee magazine, and Tides Canada.
Recorded by Alex Smith, of Radio Ecoshock at the Museum of Vancouver, November 25, 2010.
End song: “Sold” by Dan Mangan, Album “Nice, Nice, Very Nice”.
Download the audio for this episode here. | 1,296 | 766 | 0.001352 |
warc | 201704 | Whipping up batter for anything from cakes to crepes can not only be time consuming but also expensive. In addition, the trend in consumers who are looking for authentic, homemade treats is growing, which can be hard to achieve for restaurants, bakeries and dining halls who are trying to serve up a variety of freshly-made delectables every day.
After looking at the needs, wants and trends within the market today, Rich’s Culinary Solutions Team recently launched a new innovative product called Rich ‘N Easy Bakery Batter®. This versatile batter can be used for endless possibilities, including muffins, breads, cookies, waffles, crepes and cakes.
Bakery Batter is made with real eggs and butter, featuring only seven main ingredients to meet the fresh, authentic ingredient desires of consumers. To satisfy the needs of our customers, Bakery Batter can be used for most batter-based offerings with a versatile, buttery vanilla flavor that easily accepts flavors and inclusions to create signature offerings, allowing customers to add locally-sourced add-ins to create signature baked goods.
“Most other batter products in the market come in a dry mix formula which requires more labor, meaning there can be inconsistency from batch to batch and potential spoilage of unused batter,” said Michelle Lund, Assistant Marketing Manager at Rich Products. “What makes Rich ‘N Easy Bakery Batter so unique is that it has an exceptional, consistent taste that compares to a freshly-made batter, with less labor.”
Smart package-design can be a time saver, which is why the Bakery Batter packaging was designed with our customers in mind.
“In helping our customers work more efficiently, we designed packaging where the end of the Bakery Batter sleeve can be torn off at the tip and dispensed directly into muffin pans, bread or cake molds or even into a mixing bowl to be combined with other ingredients, colors or inclusions,” said Lund.
Bakery Batter can be frozen for up to 365 days, and it thaws easily when needed. Once thawed, it can stay in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Bakery Batter has already been proven to be an innovative, time-saving product in the lives of customers. An ice cream shop franchise recently started using Bakery Batter to make waffles for ice cream sandwiches. The versatility and great flavor was what really sold this customer on the product.
Rich’s is constantly striving to be the trusted first choice among customers, and Bakery Batter is just one more example of listening to the needs and wants in the Food Service industry to deliver an innovative product that is sure to delight the taste buds of any baked-good enthusiast.
If you’re a customer looking for more information on Rich ‘N Easy Bakery Batter, contact your Rich’s sales representative. | 2,868 | 1,384 | 0.000744 |
warc | 201704 | Consumer durables is a cataloguing of consumer goods that are not essential to be bought very often as they are fashioned in a way so as to last for an extended period of time. Profits in the consumer durables sector were most profoundly…
BMI View: We believe that increased investments in advanced data networks will lead to LTE being a key
growth driver for the mobile market, as operators increasingly attempt to migrate subscribers onto higher
ARPU post-paid plans. This is in the wake of moves by the new regulator aimed at injecting higher levels of
competition in the wireless, wireline and pay-TV markets. In the wireline market, convergence is offsetting
the effect of fixed-to-mobile substitution, with wireline voice subscriptions showing a divergent upward
trend relative to other markets in the region. Additionally, as Telemex's wireline network is opened up, we
expect this to pose long-term upside risk on the uptake as well as monetisation of broadband services. The
latest pay-TV figures from IFETEL show stagnant cable subscriptions and slowly growing satellite
subscriptions. Although Axtel and Megacable have both launched IPTV in the market, we believe that
satellite in the short to medium term will continue to lead the segment.
? We have revised our forecasts for Mexico's mobile subscriber base in order to take account of Q415
figures reported by the leading operators. We estimate that Mexico had 115mn mobile subscriptions at
the end of 2015, representing a mobile subscriber penetration rate of 84.2%. We expect this to increase to
almost 90% by the end of 2016 and more than 93% by the end of our forecast in 2020.
? We have updated our forecasts for Mexico's fixed-line and broadband subscriber markets, incorporating
Q415 data from regulator Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFETEL). We estimate that Mexico
had 21.2mn fixed lines in service at the end of 2015 (16.7% penetration), up by 5.0% on the 2014 figure.
We forecast that Mexico will have more than 24.7mn broadband subscribers by the end of 2020. This will
equate to a penetration rate of 18.3%, up from 12.6% at the end of 2015. | 2,155 | 1,094 | 0.000925 |
warc | 201704 | TOP NAV
BOOK
BLOGS 17
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Bush's "Reading First" Is Working Two Turning Points, says Michael Barone by Christopher Chantrill February 05, 2007 at 2:12 pm
WHAT with women now outnumbering men in higher education about 60:40, it certainly seems that the writing is on the wall for the patriarchal age.
So this report on mating customs in an island off Guinea-Bissau by Rukmini Callimachi has some salience, as the social scientists say.
On this remote island the women chose their mates. Have done since the dawn of time.
In this archipelago of 50 islands off the western rim of Africa, its women, not men, who choose. They make their proposals public by offering their grooms-to-be a dish of distinctively prepared fish, marinated in red palm oil.
Its unthinkable to refuse. Anyway, why would you want to? But the fish ritual certainly gives a renewed power to the old wives tale that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach.
Listen to this old codger. Before his wife to be offered him a plate of fish,
"I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65. "Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her."
Well girls, what do you think of that?|
TAGS
The incentive that impels a man to act is always some uneasiness...
But to make a man act [he must have]
the expectation that purposeful behavior has the power to remove
or at least to alleviate the felt uneasiness.
Ludwig von Mises, Human Action
But I saw a man yesterday who knows a fellow who had it from a chappie
that said that Urquhart had been dipping himself a bit recklessly off the deep end.
Freddy Arbuthnot
Dorothy L. Sayers, Strong Poison
At first, we thought [the power of the West] was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity.
David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing
[In the] higher Christian churches... they saunter through the liturgy like Mohawks along a string of scaffolding who have long since forgotten their danger. If God were to blast such a service to bits, the congregation would be, I believe, genuinely shocked. But in the low churches you expect it every minute.
Annie Dillard, Holy the Firm
Civil Societya complex welter of intermediate institutions, including businesses, voluntary associations, educational institutions, clubs, unions, media, charities, and churchesbuilds, in turn, on the family, the primary instrument by which people are socialized into their culture and given the skills that allow them to live in broader society and through which the values and knowledge of that society are transmitted across the generations.
Francis Fukuyama, Trust
In England there were always two sharply opposed middle classes, the academic middle class and the commercial middle class. In the nineteenth century, the academic middle class won the battle for power and status... Then came the triumph of Margaret Thatcher... The academics lost their power and prestige and... have been gloomy ever since.
Freeman Dyson, The Scientist as Rebel
Conservatism is the philosophy of
society. Its ethic is fraternity and its characteristic is authority the non-coercive social persuasion which operates in a family or a community. It says we should.... Danny Kruger, On Fraternity
What distinguishes true Conservatism from the rest, and from the Blair project, is the belief in more personal freedom and more market freedom, along with less state intervention... The true Third Way is the Holy Grail of Tory politics today - compassion and community without compulsion.
Minette Marrin, The Daily Telegraph
When we received Christ, Phil added, all of a sudden we now had a rule book to go by, and when we had problems the preacher was right there to give us the answers.
James M. Ault, Jr., Spirit and Flesh
I mean three systems in one: a predominantly market economy; a polity respectful of the rights of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and a system of cultural institutions moved by ideals of liberty and justice for all.
In short, three dynamic and converging systems functioning as one: a
democratic polity, an economy based on markets and incentives, and a moral-cultural system which is plural and, in the largest sense, liberal.
Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism
There was nothing new about the Frankish drive to the east... [let] us recall that the continuance of their rule depended upon regular, successful, predatory warfare.
Richard Fletcher, The Barbarian Conversion
We have met with families in which for weeks together, not an article of sustenance but potatoes had been used; yet for every child the hard-earned sum was provided to send them to school.
E. G. West, Education and the State
mysql close | 5,056 | 2,623 | 0.000386 |
warc | 201704 | Law360, New York (September 16, 2009) -- Current economic pressures are changing how lawyers are hired and what legal fees their clients pay. At the heart of the changes lies the much maligned billable hour. While reports of the death of the billable hour continue to be greatly exaggerated, the billable hour increasingly has a new companion - litigation budgeting.
Click on the below link to read the full article.
Changing Legal Fees Through Litigation Budgeting
The articles on our Website include some of the publications and papers authored by our attorneys, both before and after they joined our firm. The content of these articles should not be taken as legal advice. | 680 | 419 | 0.002404 |
warc | 201704 | Caterpillar Inc. Group President with responsibility for Customer and Dealer Support Stu Levenick urged Congress today to develop federal surface transportation reauthorization legislation that enhances our nation’s infrastructure system and enables companies like Caterpillar to compete globally.
“Caterpillar exports to every region in the world. In 2012, Caterpillar exported over $22 billion in products from the United States. Whether the export opportunities are in our hemisphere or on the other side of the world, the goods we seek to sell must travel through a multi-modal transportation system that includes roads, rail, water and air,” said Levenick. “America needs a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization so that we can begin to rebuild our infrastructure and get back on the road to competitiveness.”
The federal surface transportation legislation was last authorized under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), which was signed into law in July 2012 and expires at the end of September 2014. Despite the progress that this legislation includes, Levenick cited how U.S. surface transportation fails to keep pace with the global marketplace.
“While other parts of the world are integrating and modernizing their infrastructure to meet the economic challenges of the 21st century, we are failing to act comprehensively and decisively,” said Levenick. “Our transportation system is the backbone of our economy. However, we are relying on investments made decades ago to sustain our growing and changing economy. We must renew our commitment to this system if we are to ensure our nation’s global competitiveness.”
Improvements in our infrastructure are also critical for companies like Caterpillar so that they can have a supply chain that supports trade and U.S. exports.
“As one of America’s leading exporters, we are keenly aware of the importance of exports for both job creation and economic expansion,” said Levenick. “We also understand how absolutely critical it is to have an effective and seamless supply chain if we are to increase exports and maintain our global leadership as a U.S. manufacturer.” | 2,240 | 1,060 | 0.000979 |
warc | 201704 | After what I’m now calling my super-fun Birthright Italy trip last week, my spirits are in good form but my nails and hair, not so much. Seven days of beaching, hiking, swimming and gel manicure aftermath, in addition to a week-long diet with about 30% of my usual protein intake has left me looking… fairly feral. So to restore my tips and strands back to their regularly scheduled health, I’m amping up my collagen intake by adding Vida Glow to my daily water bottle allotment.
At $45 for a container of 30 packets, these marine collagen blends impart delicious blueberry flavor and health benefits to boot. Studies show that blueberries boast a bevy of beauty- and health-related perks from anti-aging properties to fiber to facilitating weight loss. They’re super simple to dump into your workday water bottle or cup to sip on the go.
Snag your Vida Glow and get glowing at shopvidaglow.co.
Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Vida Glow, however all opinions herein are my own. | 1,009 | 617 | 0.001662 |
warc | 201704 | From 1997 to 2001, the Trauma Foundation gathered, assessed, and synthesized information about alcohol-related injury and violence. The organization disseminated the information to communities, policymakers, and practitioners for use in substance abuse, injury and violence prevention efforts.
The Trauma Foundation is a nonprofit organization housed at San Francisco General Hospital. It works to reduce injury-related illness and death through prevention, improved trauma care, and rehabilitation.
Under the first grant (ID# 031935), the Trauma Foundation:
Developed a database of more than 1,000 documents related to alcohol-related injury and violence. Created a new section of its Web site devoted to the topic (it was no longer in existence as of May 2006). Published a hard-copy resource manual of epidemiological data, research findings, policies, programs and other resources from the substance abuse, injury, and violence prevention fields.
Under the second grant (ID# 035122), project personnel:
Produced and distributed a book of case histories of successful community projects that worked to reduce alcohol-related injury and violence. The case histories provide advice on building and sustaining an organization, responding to opposition, mobilizing constituents, using the media effectively, working with other organizations, and lobbying lawmakers. The grantee publicized the availability of these resources through direct contact with organizations working in the field, presentations at conferences, and direct mail. To date, more than 1,600 of the resource manuals and nearly 17,000 of the book of case histories have been distributed. | 1,661 | 824 | 0.001219 |
warc | 201704 | Does the Haitian Earthquake Demand a Literary Response?
When the earthquake struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, I had just returned to Pittsburgh from Indiana University to join the staff of
Sampsonia Way. I immediately wanted to write about how the disaster affected writers. In order to do that, I had to get a sense of what the literary scene was before the earthquake.
As I began my research, I discovered that information on Haitian literature was hard to come by in the United States. Like many Americans, I knew the name of the novelist Edwidge Danticat, but few other Haitian writers came to mind. Through the help of two invaluable sources—Carrol Coates, professor at Binghamton University, and Jean Jonassaint, professor at Syracuse University—I came to appreciate that the struggle of Haitian writers began long before the earthquake.
Through repressive dictatorships, exploitative American occupation, and endemic poverty, Haitian writers—with tenacity of resourcefulness—have created and sustained a vibrant literary community on the island. It was inspiring to cover the efforts of these writers. I was particularly drawn to the story of Marie Vieux-Chauvet, who spoke out against brutality in her beautiful novellas
Love, Anger, Madness.
The story of Haitian writing is not complete without considering the sizable diaspora of writers. Yanick Lahens reflected in 2003 that “exile is one of the dimensions which … gives Haitian culture its coherence.” Writing this article also gave me a chance to explore the importance of diasporic literature. Lahens elected to remain in Haiti and part of her account of the earthquake appears in the article.
One of the issues that came up over and over again was that of the responsibility of the writer to respond to catastrophe. Jonassaint implies that a writer’s first responsibility is to their craft, while others argue that writers have a duty to respond—in their writing—to the needs of their community.
I’d love to hear readers’ comments on this issue. Does the writer have a particular responsibility to society and, if so, what is it? Please use the comment field below.
Click here to read Elizabeth’s bio. | 2,239 | 1,152 | 0.000899 |
warc | 201704 | Upping the game on public transport
Upping the game on public transport: cheaper fares and zero emission buses now
As the Regional Council begins its hearings on its Regional Public Transport Plan this week, three City Councillors are calling on the Council to introduce cheaper fares and switch to zero emission buses.
“We want to see affordable bus fares for Wellingtonians, with a 50% discount on off-peak fares,’ says Cr Sarah Free.
”We need to make our public transport assets sweat more; there are times the buses are under-utilised, and so incentives to improve patronage at off peak times make a lot of sense.
Such a move would particularly benefit those on low incomes, children and students.”
Cr David Lee said he was very concerned that bus patronage in Wellington continues to decline and questioned whether high bus fares in Wellington were contributing to this situation.
“We cannot understand why Wellington bus users have to pay considerably more than users in Auckland and Christchurch,” said Cr Lee. For example, the Inner Link Bus in Auckland which travels around inner suburbs in Auckland costs $1.90 as opposed to the proposed $2.50 to just travel around Wellington’s CBD.
“There also needs to be equity between bus users and train users. Bus users pay a far greater proportion of the cost of their trip than rail users,” said Cr Lee.
More and more evidence is emerging about the harmful health effects of diesel fumes, said Cr Free.
“We therefore urge the Regional Council not to make a hasty decision to scrap our fleet of trolley buses. We consider there hasn’t been a sufficiently detailed and transparent comparison of the total costs of the different options to get the best deal for Wellington. The present trolley buses still have years of useful life and we would like to see them retained until there is a good electric alternative”.
Cr Iona Pannett said that the Regional Council needs to embrace opportunities to collaborate with the City Council on these two issues – issues supported by the public through submissions. “This is a great opportunity for the Regional Council to take a real leadership role in reversing the trend of declining public transport use.”
Cr Pannett said “I am concerned that the Regional Council may have already made up its mind to get rid of the trolleys. Trolleys are seen as a viable form of transport around the world; over 300 cities use them, as they are seen as efficient and an environmentally friendly form of transport.
“There are questions about the accuracy of some of the figures that have been provided by the Regional Council about the cost of the trolleys. “A report by consultants Sinclair Knight Mertz (SKM) shows that energy costs for trolleys are less than that for diesel buses, they last longer and they can manage Wellington’s hills better.
“The costs for removing the wires also have not been quantified fully although another report by PwC report puts it at around $20m, a very high cost. The costs of upgrading the system may also be too high with only a portion of it requiring further work”. She also pointed out that the report shows that trolley buses are not incompatible with the Regional Council’s vision for Bus Rapid Transit.
Cr Lee added that the City Councilhas a role to play in making public transport work better. “We need to introduce a dedicated public transportcorridor and new bus priority lanes as soon as possible. Without these measures, it will be impossible to make publictransport work better.”
ends | 3,648 | 1,685 | 0.000617 |
warc | 201704 | If there is one hot button to set an Indonesian off, it would be religion.
Intolerance From a Mother’s Point of View
Yes, I know the above statement is generalizing and not all Indonesians are that short tempered. Yet sadly, every day I see posts after posts on Facebook that talk about religious uproar and witnessing the spike of intolerances in this country.
Friends attacking each other – don’t even start with how people will virtually attack strangers online for speaking up against intolerance, for stating facts that God does not teach people to be violent.
Friends calling each other “
kafir” (infidel) for not defending their religion or for deciding to be peaceful instead of spreading hatred. When my Muslim friends would say the true Muslim teachings are not what it has become today, they too got called infidels. How sad is that?
Not only on social media, I am deeply saddened to hear with my own ears messages of hatred being preached in places of worships. Places where one supposed to pray and get closer to God. This country seems to be shaken with so much hatred lately it is frightening.
I am a Christian by faith so that means in the predominantly Muslim populated country, my family and I are considered the minority. Please bear in mind that Indonesia is NOT a Muslim country even some Indonesians get this mixed up. Muslim is the majority religion here but our law recognizes Christianity, Catholic, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Kong Hu Cu. 6 nationally acknowledge religious beliefs. If you are an atheist then you are pretty much screwed – sorry, but that’s the truth. Religion is a must filled columns in just about every official Indonesian paper works.
Seems like there’s a looming dark cloud of hatred hovering above Indonesia at the moment.
How do I explain to my son when he asked: “
Why don’t they let Christian people have their event, Mommy?”
How do I explain to my son when he asked: “
Why they said kill Ahok, Mommy?”
When you hear little children shouting “
Kill Ahok!” on the street, my heart shatters and I wonder what have we become as a country?
I cannot shield my son from the outside world and what’s going on in this country. Even when I don’t watch the local news anymore, my son can hear the preachers and he can hear my family talked about the issues.
For my non-Indonesian friends,
Ahok is Jakarta’s governor who got himself in deep water from a religious accusation that he insulted Muslim. Ahok is a Chinese Indonesian and a Christian. The first Chinese descendent who hold the office as governor in Jakarta. He is a great leader in my eyes even when he is quite vocal. He has brought great changes in this city especially in fighting corruption.
All political reasons aside, I am one for peace. My most concern is how this has spiraled out of control. Religious injustice has a long history in this country, yet lately, it has escalated to the level that I can’t even comprehend anymore.
I am so concerned about our children’s future – no, I am scared about what kind of future the world will become if we don’t take a stand now! I don’t want my son to grow up where differences become justified license to kill each other. I don’t want my son to accept that minorities will have to be second class citizen always.
As a mother, I can only do these at home in hoping that my son will not get sucked into this cycle of hatred.
5 Things to Teach Children About Tolerance
Respect. This is the root of all good things. Respect covers the bases of all other great qualities that make us human. Respect for others and also for his own self. Bullying happens when there is an absence of respect for others. Respect for all religions, sexual orientations, skin color, etc. Different does not equal wrong. I will continue to teach and remind my son to hold off the judgments cards no matter what religious beliefs or sexual orientation someone has. Manners. This is very important for us parents to teach and to lead by example. Not only manners increase our children’s social IQ but it shows them as a responsible and thoughtful person. Agree to Disagree. Educating my son that hatred and violence is NEVER the answer to any conflicts or issues. I must keep teaching him that differences of opinions are a part of life and what matters is the way we react and how we control our own emotions. Acceptance. Teaching him that there are different kinds of people on this planet. Like rainbows; different colors, different shades yet it doesn’t make those who are different than us any less human or lost their rights as human being. Being interracial, my son already understands that people treat him differently here and I constantly must remind him that no matter what, we are all human being. Kindness. No one was born into this world with hatred. Children do not see the color of skin nor religion when they play together. Teaching my son to have compassions towards all living being is very important. When he has kindness in his heart, then I will rest assure he will go far in this life.
We would have less angry people in this world if we all teach our children tolerance.
There is still hope to create a better future for our children if we start from home. Come on, people we are better than this. Please, please, please let us say no to hatred!
How would you teach your children at home about being tolerant? How can we raise our children to be the agents of change? | 5,569 | 2,619 | 0.000393 |
warc | 201704 | WHAT was the basis of assurances given to suspected IRA terrorists that they were not wanted by any UK police force?
Who knew of these assurances, who was consulted and did the highly discreet nature of this scheme amount to a cover up? Just how was a suspect in the 1982 IRA Hyde Park bombing sent a letter that was subsequently found to be “a catastrophic mistake”? And what happens now to resolve these issues without jeopardising the Northern Ireland peace accord?
Lady Justice Hallett was tasked by Prime Minister David Cameron to produce a full public account of the operation and extent of the scheme, and to determine whether any letters contained errors. After five months of research and drafting, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that her review falls short. It finds that there were “significant system failures” in the extent and operation of the scheme and that the letter sent to IRA bomber suspect John Downey was the result of a catastrophic mistake by police in Northern Ireland.
What has caused particular ire with Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson was the secrecy surrounding the scheme and the evasive nature of the answers given to date.
It is not surprising that the review has been labelled somewhat confusing and, at times, contradictory. Among its conclusions are that the “On the Runs” scheme was not secret but that it was kept “below the radar” – a fine legal distinction that may be lost on IRA bomb victims.
Lady Justice Hallett also concludes that there was no evidence that any party other than Sinn Fein knew of the letters, but states dozens of other politicians should have known that a process was in operation. But how could they have known when the scheme was being deliberately kept “below the radar”?
The report is also shy in identifying specific units and individuals for the “significant systemic issues” that she found and, instead, makes general criticisms of the police, government and others. Responsibility is not assigned. That may work to pour oil on these troubled waters but it does not meet the brief of “full public account”.
It may be argued that governments are often faced with hard choices and have to undertake questionable actions for the greater good – in this case securing the peace accord. But this project was not one of them. It was less a policy approved by government than a scheme of expediency that evolved. Critical decisions were not taken by senior ministers but by people who were keen not to let ministers know what was being done.
This vague and woolly report is well short of the full explanations required. This was an operation that was bound to be difficult for the relatives of victims, and the conspiracy was to keep it away from them rather than face intense public criticism.
More needs to be done to identify those behind it.
Lib Dem U-turn won’t move voters
About the kindest thing that can be said about the move by the Liberal Democrats to detach themselves from the controversial “bedroom tax” policy is that it marks a desire by the party to more clearly differentiate itself from the Conservatives.
The party’s standing with the voters has plunged and a Westminster general election is now just ten months away.
But the implementation of the bedroom tax – or the removal of the spare bedroom subsidy as the government prefers to call it – would not have been possible without Liberal Democrat support at all crucial stages. Its MPs voted for this policy. There would not have been a bedroom tax were it not for the Liberal Democrats.
Labour’s Rachel Reeves, shadow work and pensions secretary, lost no time in pointing out that when Labour tabled a bill in February to scrap the policy, Liberal Democrats were nowhere to be seen.
The Conservatives described the switch as a “cynical PR stunt”. They said the Lib Dems had never demanded the restoration of the spare room subsidy in private.
It’s hard not to see the latest Lib Dem re-positioning as anything other than hypocritical.
The policy was brought in with the aim of tackling a spiralling housing welfare bill.
It is estimated that the policy change would save £500 million a year. But it was never going to be popular.
And so it has proved. The rationale for the policy change – that council tenants are having difficulty in finding alternative accommodation – is not new.
Voters are unlikely to be much moved by the Lib Dems’ death- bed confession. | 4,586 | 2,168 | 0.000479 |
warc | 201704 | Recycling’s the third of the three R’s — and arguably a lot less important than the first two R’s, reducing and reusing. And in fact, some environmentalists will argue that companies’ pro-recycling messages are actually smart ways of greenwashing — that excuses the same companies’ refusal to reduce and reuse! Old(er) Pacific Swell readers may remember that back in the day, beer and soda bottles got reused. As Heather Rogers exposed in her essay “Message in a Bottle” (published in “Trash“), companies decided they’d make more money by making us buy new containers with every drink, then funded Keep America Beautiful, smartly putting the cost and responsibility of dealing with the extra trash on consumers and taxpayers.
Sill, recycling’s a big part of L.A.’s landfill waste reduction strategy and an important part of environmentally conscious living. That’s why in downtown L.A., America Recycles Day‘s going to be celebrated on Monday in grand style — with lots of “interactive stations” sponsored by large corporations at L.A. Live!
You know how one roll of toilet paper at CVS costs approximately one million dollars, but 36 at Costco costs just a little bit more? Group purchasing works the same way: and starting this week, Coachella Valley residents have access to a service from San Francisco-based 1 Block Off the Grid that allows homeowners to leverage collective purchasing power for solar panels.
1BOG operates on the principle of group purchasing. Buy in bulk, and save. Assuming that big ticket items can be complicated, and it's hard to do research well enough to trust what you're geting, 1BOG suggests that homeowners should trust them. The company matches residents in a particular area with installers. The result in Coachella, they say, is a 20% discounted price. They're working with HelioPower: they say full-service solar installs will be only $5.29 per watt installed.
A new
environmental documentary “Cool It” hits theaters today, featuring the much maligned “skeptical environmentalist” Bjorn Lomborg. NY Times and LA Times have rather over-enthusiastic reviews; NY Times’ environmental writer Andrew Revkin has a more measured, thoughtful one at Dot Earth, along with a promise to post a short interview with Bjorn and an open call for questions for him. Above’s the trailer. Restaurant industry prepares to fight South L.A.’s fast food ban. As the City Council prepares to take up an ordinance to severely limit new fast food restaurants, “the restaurant industry is gearing up to fight back, emphasizing the role fast-food businesses have played in providing jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities,” reports LA Times. Only 250 taxis will operate in Santa Monica, down from 522. SM Daily Press reports the city council adopted the new franchise structure, which includes a requirement for ultra-low and super-ultra-low emission vehicles, to reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions while providing more cab drivers with a better living wage.
This week - a month after the last time they considered it - the Commissioners of the Board of Water and Power voted to drop the incentives for rooftop solar starting in January. The initial incentive's $3.56 now for every installed watt of energy on a residential property, where the DWP gets to keep the Renewable Energy Credits. Next year, that'll go down to a max of $2.80. (Some factors can alter the incentive total; I'm leaving those out to avoid a bad headache.)
A drop was always supposed to happen. it's a new market. The idea of the incentives was to move people over, to get them to dip into the new market - then the incentives drop over time. Every utility is stepping the incentives down. S.B.1 allocated money to utilities around the state for exactly this purpose. LADWP got 318 million dollars to spend through 2016.
California failed to pass a plastic bag ban earlier this year, but L.A. County’s moving forward with an ambitious plastic bag ban plan. Why? The plastic bag industry failed to meet its own voluntary reduction goals for plastic bag use.
Serious environmental activists against disposable plastic bags may remember that back in 2008, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted after much debate to give the plastic industry yet another chance to reduce plastic bag use voluntarily — 30% by 2010, and 65% by 2013. Fail to meet those goals, and a plastic bag would kick in.
I was at that meeting, and thought that the industry would surely meet the 30% reduction goal — then perhaps fail to meet the more ambitious 65% goal. I was wrong. Apparently, voluntary efforts to curb plastic bag waste failed pretty miserably. Director of Public Works Gail Farber details that failure in the letter to the Board of Supervisors recommending a plastic bag ban (PDF): | 4,936 | 2,487 | 0.000416 |
warc | 201704 | Senior Helpers has taken a bold step by telling the world that age does not erase hopes and dreams. And by implementing the
Virtual Dementia Tour companywide, Senior Helpers has further demonstrated its commitment to those it serves. Senior Helpers is proud to support Second Wind Dreams® on this mission by encouraging donations, raising awareness, and sensitizing the world to dementia as a corporate partner.
What is the Virtual Dementia Tour?
Learning to create a positive environment for those with dementia can only come from attempting to walk in their shoes. Created by P.K. Beville, a specialist in geriatrics, this valuable, easy to follow experiential tour is designed to instill hope in professional and family caregivers, providing them with a tool to move from sympathy to empathy and better understand the behaviors and needs of their loved ones and patients.
Interested in learning how you can bring the
Virtual Dementia Tour to you?
Contact us today to help us and you learn more about changing the perspective on aging!
"Until There’s a Cure, Take The Tour!"
As experts in Alzheimer's and dementia care, you can trust us to make your loved one's life, and yours, much easier and more enjoyable. If your elderly loved one is suffering from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, it can also take a tremendous toll on your own physical and emotional well-being. But with assistance from Senior Helpers, you don't have to go it alone.
We can create a customized home care plan that changes as your loved one's needs change. Our care team has extensive training and experience in providing the right level of individual care and support, while carefully monitoring everything from medication to daily activities. Our Senior Gems® approach is about creating a positive environment that focuses on what they can do, not what they can’t do.
Elderly Care
There are more options in Parker, CO, for elderly care besides nursing facilities. Senior Helpers provides people with the option of remaining in their own homes. We supply cost-effective service that's aimed at promoting independence and self-reliance among patients. Our staff travels throughout the area, including Castle Rock, Littleton and Aurora, CO.
Our agency takes the time to carefully screen caregivers before they’re hired. When we accept new patients, we learn more about their needs, concerns, and goals. Using this information, we then strive to match caretakers and patients together based on:
We strive to provide a high level of elderly care in Parker, CO, which includes matching you with caregivers you’ll be pleased with. We maintain open communication with our patients and their family members. Our courteous staff wants to make it possible for you to continue living at home and enjoying your independence. Contact the friendly staff at Senior Helpers to request your in-home assessment and see if you’re a good candidate for our mobile service.
Contact Us
If you would like to know more about our Alzheimer’s and dementia care services, or to speak with a Senior Helpers elderly care expert about creating a customized care plan for your loved one, please contact us today. | 3,223 | 1,553 | 0.000656 |
warc | 201704 | The need for speed / Design instructors want the auto industry to go green, but students are resisting Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, June 8, 2005 2005-06-08 04:00:00 PDT Pasadena -- Environmentalists and politicians have long debated how to reduce the country's dangerous dependence on imported oil, with little to show for their efforts. But if there is one place that might have a good shot at ending America's love affair with gas-guzzlers, it should be here, in the leafy, hip confines of the Art Center College of Design.
Little known outside the auto industry, the school has long been the premier training ground for the elite auto designers of Detroit, Europe and Japan. Its graduates have helped produce the Volkswagen New Beetle, Chrysler's PT Cruiser, the Honda Element and BMW's Mini Cooper, and many have had a hand in designing the tanklike sport utility vehicles crowding suburban streets.
But now the school is initiating major changes -- or at least, it is trying. Its president, Richard Koshalek, has pushed the influential institution to embrace a green-hued philosophy, rethinking its curriculum to reshape the future of transportation. The aim is to produce a new generation of graduates who will ensure that the fuel-cell future will bear little resemblance to the internal-combustion present.
"Everybody knows what the industry is doing now is just unsustainable, and we have a chance to do something about it," said Koshalek, 63, the former head of the pioneering Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
To drive that point home, the new head of the center's auto design department, Stewart Reed, plans to take students early next fall not to a gleaming showroom or professional design studio but to a scrap yard to observe what he calls the dark underbelly of the auto industry. The goal of the exercise, he said, is to encourage a forward-looking approach to manufacturing, recycling and design -- to scrap, in effect, the past of the auto business.
"We want to get it into their psyches as early as possible," Reed said. "This has to be about new ways, not the old ways."
It is a compelling vision -- until, that is, you talk to some of the sharp-penciled young visionaries who will actually be designing the cars of the next five to 10 years.
In a recent conversation with four Art Center undergraduates, selected by the school to talk with a visiting reporter, it was clear that, while their heads are all about the latest in clean technologies and "mobility systems," their hearts still belong to vroom-vroom.
"Sure, you feel a social responsibility," said Matthew Tremblay, 27, a James Dean type once he peels off a nattily tailored black-leather motorcycle outfit. "You get a good feeling when you design a car like that, that is better for the environment. But on the other hand, you want to make something loud and obnoxious. Americans like big, loud things that are high off the ground."
Added Luis Madrigal, 31, "It's a very delicate balancing act. You want to do something new and crazy, but you need a job."
Their comments were a sobering reflection on the difficulty of transforming America's ingrained automobile culture, even for those growing up with Gameboys and iPods, who are used to measuring themselves not in horsepower but in hard-drive capacity.
For starters, the students, to be accepted into the prestigious auto design program, have to be steeped in car mythology. They know all the classic cars from bygone eras and see themselves in that continuum rather than as avatars of a whole new idea of what vehicles can be in a world wrestling with issues such as global warming.
Reed, the department chairman, admits there are hurdles. Asked if it is possible to make young students fall out of love with the traditional automobile, Reed was somewhat downbeat. "I don't think you can do it," he said. "But we do have to get to a more sustainable place, and that's what we're teaching."
Starting in 1973, with the Arab oil embargo against the United States, there has been talk of improving the efficiency of the automobile as an essential national security measure.
Some improvements have been made. Cars get better mileage, although the gains plateaued years ago. The state of California, after giving up on its plan to get manufacturers to place more electric vehicles on the roads, now is trying to construct a network of hydrogen fuel stations to facilitate the introduction of fuel-cell autos, still a distant dream.
But neither the first nor the second oil crisis, in the late 1970s, are well remembered these days even as crude oil prices rise above $50 a barrel, and the Art Center students are clearly ambivalent about pushing their designs in entirely new directions.
"Everyone knows the problems, and oil prices going up makes you think about it," said Leon Paz, 25, a student with a pierced eyebrow, a pencil-line beard and a T-shirt with the sleeves sheared off. "But unless that crisis comes, I don't think people are going to be serious about this."
And until that crisis comes, goes the thinking, how does one make a living designing cars of the future that consumers may not yet be ready to buy?
"People are scared about jobs," said Victor Garcia, 28, who is about to graduate. "They are worried about getting a job now."
Geoff Wardle, the auto design department's associate chairman, admits that the practical concerns are hard to dismiss.
"There are other jobs that you might want to think about, we tell them," Wardle said. "And they say, 'Where? I don't see them advertised.' "
Still, when they are not worried about how to repay their student loans, the students have come up with some cutting-edge ideas.
Garcia, for instance, has designed a hydrogen-powered Ducati motorcycle as a class assignment. Paz's contribution was designing a 12-cylinder speedster that could operate on just six cylinders to save on fuel. Madrigal once thought up a Porsche from which a Segway-type scooter could break away for short hops. He also talks about compressed air locomotion and magnetic motors.
While the students clearly delight in these flights of fancy, a slightly panicky vibration seemed to course through the room when they were asked how they would choose between a job at a traditional auto design company producing gas-guzzlers and one at a more visionary shop designing something entirely different.
"I wish I could pass on that one," Paz said. "It's something that worries me. That question is something you think about every day."
The students are fully prepared to introduce incremental improvements, such as better aerodynamics to improve fuel efficiency, high-performance diesel engines (popular in Europe) and smaller vehicles for short excursions within dense urban areas. Tremblay designed a system of vibrating pads in the driver's seat that, by using sonar or audio sensors, could alert deaf drivers to hazards.
But the students also made it clear that they yearn for consumer acceptance, not to mention making autos to their own tastes.
"I think about something really new, then there's another side to me that says, 'I want to hear the roar of a big engine,' " Garcia said.
His current favorite, for instance, is the new Mercedes CLS series (17 mpg in the city). For Paz, it's the Bentley Continental (11 mpg), while Madrigal loves the Bugatti (the manufacturer of the car, which is basically a rocket with wheels, does not even bother to mention mileage on its Web site). Tremblay, the gas miser of the group, is partial to the Lotus Elise (23 mpg).
The Art Center faculty is uniting behind good intentions. The question is what will happen to those new ideas once the students enter the real world.
"They want us to think beyond the box here, and that's really good," Paz said. "But personally, I'm a little reluctant to get into that too much. I'm paying $12,000 a year, and it wasn't because of classes like that." | 7,971 | 3,900 | 0.000259 |
warc | 201704 | The world is full of problems which is actually a good thing because the world needs problem solvers. This is one of the most important skills you can have as I coach people on this all the time. How do you become an indespensible employee? Solve problems! How do you land the next big job you want? Show future employers how you solved problems for your past emmployer.
Quantify the savings you were involved in: Did you save $50,000? Did you save $1,000 per month? Did you decrease errors by 50% and if so how did you do it?
The devil, or the saving grace, is in the details. Tell me the story of how you creatively solved a problem and your story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. For example, you could say something like this:
My company had to cut $50,000 from their budget and we had to show we could do this in 1 week. I brought a team of 5 group leaders and we met every day until we met our goal. We reviewed the budget line by line and cut a total of $60,000 in the end: $10,000 in car expenses for late workers – our new guideline: you could only take a car if it was after 8:30 pm. We stopped supplying meals for breakfast and lunch meetings, saving another $5,000. We only used overnight deliveries for urgent items, saving another $5,000. By the time we finished, it was a contest to see who could have the largest amount of savings. And in the end, we didn’t miss these services much at all and felt great about accomplishing this important goal for the company. My manager felt great and thanked the team in front of senior management.
Here is a link to an article written by Nancy Monson, author of Craft to Heal: Soothing Your Soul with Sewing, Painting, and Other Pastimes and Creative Wellness, where should outlines how to use creativity to solve business problems. It’s worth the read! http://vivmag.com/want-to-invigorate-your-career-increase-your-creativity-quotient/ | 1,926 | 1,041 | 0.000971 |
warc | 201704 | Baris Karaagac and Gaye Yilmaz
The recent wave of resistance that spread from a park in one of the historic neighbourhoods of Istanbul, Turkey has evoked significant enthusiasm in and support from various movements and segments of populations in several countries. Although the park, which had been a temporary home for thousands of protestors for a couple of weeks, was forcibly and violently evacuated by the police on June 16th, the resistance continues in different forms and in numerous locations, both within and outside of Turkey. This unexpected and abrupt rebellion in a country, which has been presented for a decade by many international organizations and governments as a role model for the rest of the Middle East with its commitment to market reforms and ‘democratization,’ was a response to a number of factors and ongoing processes. If the most predominant of these were the increasingly authoritarian nature of the AKP (Justice and Development Party) rule, the others were the further neoliberalization of Turkish society, the utter failure of an increasingly interventionist Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East, and a complete disregard for and destruction of the environment in the service of capital across the country.
The state's response to the peaceful protests was brutal. Thousands were injured and four protestors have lost their lives. In addition to these, one police officer fell off a bridge and lost his life while chasing protestors. Despite the traumatic state violence and its human cost, the events since May 31 mark a turning point in the past thirty years if not, in the entire Turkish history. Such a spontaneous and unified resistance, in all its creative forms and colours, bringing together formerly divided and various segments of Turkish society, is unprecedented. While it is impossible to predict what course these protests will take and what consequences they will have for the Turkish society, it is clear that they have had one clear achievement, that is, they have succeeded in politicizing a dormant, apolitical generation that has been the product of the disastrous 1980 military coup.
It is important to reiterate that this was truly a popular rebellion or uprising that has drawn different segments of society that has historically and currently been divided along ethnic, religious and class lines. What was disappointing in this process was the weakness of the participation and lack of leadership of organized labour. In this piece, we will limit our discussion to the reasons for this failure on the part of the progressive segments of organized labour. It will be argued that organized labour's weak participation and lack of leadership throughout the Gezi process are a result and symptomatic of both the worldwide socio-economic transformations taking place since the 1970s and the specificities of the AKP rule as the most recent stage of neoliberalism in Turkey.
Let's start with the following question: If it were not unionized workers or members of (left or bourgeois) political parties, who were the two and a half million people,[1] if not more, who came out and filled the squares and streets, resisting police brutality and repression around the country? The first protests were against the tearing down of a few trees in Taksim Gezi Parki with heavy construction vehicles on May 27. To prevent the partial destruction of one of the few remaining green spaces in the city, a bunch of young environmentalists, whose numbers did not exceed a few hundred, set up their tents in the park on the following day. The critical date that triggered a series of demonstrations and opened Pandora's Box was May 29 when the police raided the camp and attacked the group with intensive tear gas and water cannons when the protestors were asleep at dawn. As if gassing people and using water cannons were not enough, the police and city workers also set the tents of these environmentalists on fire. The images of such police brutality in both the mainstream (with a few days’ delay!) and critical media reached millions of viewers, as the people witnessed unprovoked police violence against a peaceful democratic protest.
The visits of some well-known and left MPs like Sirri Sureyya Önder, a Turkish member of the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), led to broader media coverage of the brutal attack by the police. On May 30th, tents were set up again but this time, the number of protestors had significantly increased with the newcomers, who were mainly composed of members of revolutionary groups. What turned this modest and not so significant protest into a mass protest or movement was the intensive use of tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons by the police and the anger at the mainstream media that ignored and refused to address this brutality. Very soon hundreds of thousands would take to the streets and occupy the Gezi Parki and several other squares and streets around the country.
Composition of the Protesters
When we look at the composition of the protesters, it looks like this rebellion is not a typical working-class rebellion. Many commentators and analysts have pointed out the ‘middle class’ character of the opposition. It has been argued that what we are witnessing is a mostly ‘middle class’ response to the imposition of a particular way of life and social discipline on a population that is anything but monolithic and unified in its worldview as well as ways of life. According to the statistics compiled on the protestors in Taksim Gezi Parki in the first two weeks of the rebellion, 79 per cent of these people had never participated in a demonstration before; and 93.6 thought they did not represent any social group and are merely simple citizens. As regards the reasons as to why they frequented the park, 58.1 per cent mentioned restrictions on freedom, 37.2 per cent the AKP and its policies, 30.3 per cent Erdogan's discourse and attitude, 20.4 per cent the tearing down of trees and 19.5 per cent opposition to the state.
However, we should be wary about this vague term, i.e. ‘middle classes,’ if we want to have a more rigorous and more accurate analysis of the composition of the participant masses and their motivations. When we look a little closer, we can see that a significant part of these so-called ‘middle’ classes that have taken the lead are the waged, white-collar segments of the working population joining thousands of students, academic workers, the unemployed, precarious workers, the ultras of various soccer clubs, etc. in a country that has been going through an intense period of neoliberalization since the 1980s. The AKP decade (2002-2013) constitutes the most recent stage of this process in which the entire society and the state are being disciplined and (further) restructured along neoliberal lines. These so-called middle classes, or to be more specific, the waged white collar members of the working-class, i.e. doctors, lawyers, IT workers, teachers, engineers, etc., are the ones who are rapidly losing their once relatively privileged status. The neoliberal restructuring of the labour markets coupled with the most recent global crisis has pushed these segments of the working population to an increasingly vulnerable position (Burkev 2012). However, the immediate and current reaction of a significant part of this social group to the AKP government, which has skillfully combined neoliberalism with Islamic conservatism, has assumed a nationalist and secularist form instead of a class one. While the grievances and anger of these groups could have been channelled into a broader and left political project targeting the neoliberal assault as much as the increasingly authoritarian and socially conservative rule of the AKP, the weakness of the organizations of labour has rendered this almost an impossibility.
The State of the Union under Turkish Neoliberalism
Some of the organizations of labour, which include several political parties and socialist journal circles, were all present on the ground with their members and banners when the Taksim Square and Gezi Parki were occupied by demonstrators. However, while workers participated individually and contributed significantly to the resistance, the labour unions’ record, in particular, throughout the rebellion has been beyond disappointing. Their presence in and support for the rebellion seemed almost reluctant and they failed to provide leadership and make a meaningful contribution despite their three separate calls for a general strike, all of which failed to mobilize their membership. This marks a low point for organized labour in the past 50 years.
Labour rights have never been a priority and they have systematically been ignored and violated in the republican era except for a brief interval between 1960 and 1980. If we just focus on the neoliberal period starting after the military take-over in 1980 however, the AKP years have been the worst with regard to unionization and the strength of progressive unions in particular. Today, Turkey ranks the last regarding unionization among the OECD countries. At the same time, it ranks the first when it comes to de-unionization as a result of the 38 per cent drop in the unionization rate between 2002 and 2011 among those workers who can legally participate in collective agreements. It becomes even more alarming when we observe that de-unionization has taken place in a period in which the number of workers eligible for union membership has increased from 10.5 million in 2002 to 14.9 million in 2011. Despite this widening of the potential union base, the unionization rate has fallen from 10 per cent to less than 6 per cent in the same period (Celik 2012). The picture becomes even bleaker if we extend our time period to 1988 when the unionization rate was 22 per cent. What is even more troubling is the quite low unionization rate in the private sector, which fell from 7.8 per cent in 1995 to 3.5 per cent in 2010 (Sosyal-Is 2012).
This negative trend in unionization is not specific to Turkey but has been a worldwide phenomenon in the past 30-35 years. Factors such as privatization of public enterprises and contraction of the public sector, the expansion of the service sector at the expense of industry, outsourcing, the spread of precarious forms of employment, and flexibilization of labour markets have led to hemorrhaging for unions around the world and to overall de-unionization. However, what we have witnessed in Turkey is staggering. The fall in the rate of unionization within the OECD has been 11 per cent while it has been 38 per cent in Turkey in the past ten years. The unionization rate stands at around 17 per cent in OECD countries today; that rate is a pitiful 6 per cent in Turkey (Celik 2012).
This downward trend cannot be explained by the general, worldwide socio-economic changes alone. The extent of the erosion of the size and power of organized labour in Turkey, therefore, requires special attention to the domestic factors specific to Turkey in addition to the ongoing global socio-economic trends. Here, we can talk about a number of indigenous factors. Firstly, the employment legislation that came into effect after the 1980 military takeover served a critical role in weakening labour. The two pieces of legislation, Bill no. 2821 (The Trade Unions Act) and Bill no. 2822 (The Collective Agreements, Strike, and Lockout Act), which were introduced by the junta in accordance with the demands of the Confederation of Employers’ Unions of Turkey, have been among the greatest obstacles to unionization in the country. Bill no. 2821 until it was repealed late in 2012 had contained various restrictions on the right to strike. This legislation, with its 10 per cent branch and 50+1 per cent shopfloor thresholds as well as a number of other undemocratic clauses, acted as a formidable obstacle to unionization. The most problematic of these undemocratic clauses has arguably been regarding authorization of labour unions. It has been the Ministry of Labour and Social Security that determines whether or not a particular union passes the branch or sectoral threshold to represent workers. This has resulted in partisan decisions favouring those unions allied with or close to the government.
What is more, until it was repealed in 2012, the legislation permitted the suspension of the collective agreement procedure/process once the employer or the rival union disputed the pre-authorization granted by the ministry. In such cases, court cases trying to determine if the union has authorization or not could last for years and during the course of the case, the union was not able to engage in any union activity in that particular workplace. Many employers took advantage of this situation and used this opportunity to force the unionized workers to resign or to lay them off. Although these two laws were repealed or united with some modifications under one law (Bill no. 6356) in November 2012, the spirit of the two laws has remained the same despite the lip service paid to the criticisms regarding lack of compliance with international labour standards (Keskin 2012).
In addition to the unfavourable legal framework, a number of practices have contributed to the sharp decline in unionization. These have included laying off of unionized workers and replacing them with new workers, thereby depriving the union in the workplace of its authorization to enter into collective bargaining; getting imams at mosques to preach against unionization; offering workers (financial) assistance in addition to their wages to discourage them from getting unionized; forcing workers to leave their current union and become members of pro-employer unions; intimidating workers with threats and physical violence, etc. (Celik 2012). Outsourcing has become another important factor affecting unionization and the power of existing unions. According to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the number of workers employed by subcontractors has increased from 350,000 to more 1.5 million only in the course of ten years (Yerdeniz 2013). The sectors in which outsourcing is the most common are cleaning services (public) and construction (private). The largest customers are municipalities, state-owned enterprises and higher education institutions (Celik 2012). Outsourcing has become a very effective tool for the AKP government to deprive workers in both the private and public sectors of their rights or effective use of their rights.
The AKP and Unions: Tutelary Unionism
In addition to creating an economic and legal context that has exacerbated the state of organized labour via deunionization, the AKP has also initiated a process of cooptation of organized labour the extent and intensity of which has been unprecedented. Here, we can talk about ‘tutelary unionism.’ This kind of unionism has always been a malady of the labour movement in Turkey. However, under the AKP rule it has reached a significant level, especially among the unions of public servants.
As the table indicates, there was an increase on the order of 107 per cent in the number of unionized public servants between 2002 and 2012. The interesting aspect of this process is the spectacular boom in the membership of one confederation, i.e. Memur-sen, whose membership grew by a miraculous 1448 per cent. We don't need to mention that this is a confederation closely allied with the AKP. While Kamu-sen, the nationalist confederation, too, increased its membership, the progressive KESK saw some decline in the past decade. KESK, as the only confederation that is a member of both ITUC and ETUC among the big three, found itself in a difficult position during the Gezi events. Although it declared its support for the demonstrations and called for a strike in response to police brutality and violation of democratic rights, it was still reluctant and/or was unable to mobilize greater numbers and assume a leadership role. This stemmed from the confederation's close ties with the Kurdish movement and the latter's anxiety that giving support to the Gezi process could jeopardize the ongoing ‘peace process’ regarding the Kurdish question. Also, the secular weakening of the confederation since 2002, when it represented 40 per cent of all organized public servants, contributed further to the confederation's inability to gather enough numbers and assert its position within the larger labour movement. As a result, many unions affiliated with KESK either did or were not able to mobilize their members and participated in the demonstrations at a symbolic level.
When we look at the blue collar workers’ unions, we see three confederations: The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-IS), the Confederation of Real Trade Unions (HAK-IS) and the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DISK). TÜRK-IS, the biggest confederation, has 702,000 members, HAK-IS 166,000, and DISK about 100,000. In the case of the Gezi protests, the only relevant confederation has been DISK, as HAK-IS and large parts of TÜRK-IS did not support the uprising. DISK has played a central role in Turkish politics and class struggle since the late 1960s. However, it has been directly affected by the broader social transformation in the past 10 years and has not been able to remain immune, unlike KESK, from this process despite its more progressive stance among the three confederations.
While KESK membership has been able to preserve its socialist stance and identity in this period, DISK has undergone some change with respect to the political orientation of its members. This is mostly a consequence of the Turkish law that allows multiple labour organizations in the same workplace in the public sector but bans it in the private sector. This creates an intense competition in the workplace for private sector unions and forces them, especially the weaker one(s), to make concessions to the members should the latter's political stance start to deviate from that of the confederation or the member-union. This pressure has been particularly felt by DISK, leading to a change in the politics of some of its member-unions. An interesting fact is that it is not uncommon that the workers of several municipalities run by the AKP have been organized by Genel-Is, a DISK affiliate. Of course, it is redundant to mention that in this trade the DISK-affiliates adopt a very mild political tone, refraining from touching on issues such as capitalism, religious conservatism, the Kurdish issue and the AKP policies in their training seminars or discussions.
To sum up, the contribution of organized labour in general and its progressive/socialist elements in particular during the Gezi process has been quite disappointing. Although this process provided the labour movement with a unique and unprecedented opportunity to assume a leadership role and channel the anger, creativity and energetic resistance of the popular masses into anti-neoliberal politics, the progressive elements of the labour movement have failed to seize that opportunity. This has been the consequence as much of the worldwide social, economic and political transformations under neoliberalism in the past 30-plus years as the specificities of the Turkish context and of the AKP rule in the past decade. It should, at the same time, be emphasized that this failure by the labour movement to assume a leadership role and to channel the protests toward class politics does not, in any way, diminish the significance and value of what we have been witnessing in the past month. The participants of this rebellion, through their discourse and practice, have called into question and surpassed the existing organizations of the left by their persistence, inclusivity and novel forms of democratic organization and resistance. Labour and its organizations have a lot to learn from these formerly apolitical, apathetic and currently revolutionary people. And despite all the damage he has inflicted on the peoples and classes of Turkey, we have to thank Tayyip Erdogan for giving us a new generation that is not afraid to act and speak up. •
Baris Karaagac is a lecturer at Trent University, Canada.
Gaye Yilmaz is a lecturer at Bosphorus University, Istanbul. | 20,462 | 8,216 | 0.000123 |
warc | 201704 | Oxygen-depleted toxic oceans had key role in mass extinction over 200 million years ago
Changes in the biochemical balance of the ocean were a crucial factor in the end-Triassic mass extinction, during which half of all plant, animal and marine life on Earth perished, according to new research involving the University of Southampton.
The study, published in the upcoming edition of Geology, reveals that a condition called ‘marine photic zone euxinia’ took place in the Panathalassic Ocean– the larger of the two oceans surrounding the supercontinent of Pangaea.
Photic zone euxinia occurs when the sun-lit surface waters of the ocean become devoid of oxygen and are poisoned by hydrogen sulphide - a by-product of microorganisms that live without oxygen that is extremely toxic to most other lifeforms.
The international team of researchers studied fossilised organic molecules extracted from sedimentary rocks that originally accumulated on the bottom of the north-eastern Panthalassic Ocean, but are now exposed on the Queen Charlotte Islands, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.
The team found molecules derived from photosynthesising brown-pigmented green sulphur bacteria - microorganisms that only exist under severely anoxic conditions - proving severe oxygen depletion and hydrogen sulphide poisoning of the upper ocean at the end of Triassic, 201 million years ago.
The researchers also documented marked changes in the nitrogen composition of organic matter, indicating that disruptions in marine nutrient cycles coincided with the development of low oxygen conditions.
Previous studies have reported evidence of photic zone euxinia from terrestrial and shallow, near-shore environments during the latest Triassic, but the new research is the first to provide such evidence from an open ocean setting, indicating these changes may have occurred on a global scale.
The University of Southampton’s Jessica Whiteside, who co-authored the study, explains: “As tectonic plates shifted to break up Pangaea, huge volcanic rifts would have spewed carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, leading to rising temperatures from the greenhouse effect. The rapid rises in CO2 would have triggered changes in ocean circulation, acidification and deoxygenation.”
“These changes have the potential to disrupt nutrient cycles and alter food chains essential for the survival of marine ecosystems. Our data now provides direct evidence that anoxic, and ultimately euxinic, conditions severely affected food chains.”
“The same CO2 rise that led to the oxygen depleted oceans also led to a mass extinction on land, and ultimately to the ecological take-over by dinosaurs, although the mechanisms are still under study.”
Although the Earth was very different during the Triassic Period compared to today, the rate of carbon dioxide release from volcanic rifts are similar to those that we are experiencing now through the burning of fossil fuels.
Jessica comments: “The release of CO2 was probably at least as rapid as that caused by the burning of fossil fuels today, although the initial concentrations were much higher in the Triassic. The consequences of rapidly rising CO2 in ancient times inform us of the possible consequences of our own carbon dioxide crisis.” | 3,335 | 1,582 | 0.000646 |
warc | 201704 | Technology is developing faster than research can analyze and report its effects. We are introducing technology into the lives of kids, often before we can know its long-term influence. This workshop will look at important facts we do know and present strategies for navigating the integration of technology and social media into the lives of young people. This workshop looks at strategies for parents, teachers, mentors and leaders to help ensure maximum health, safety and development for students in this developing terrain. | 530 | 315 | 0.003187 |
warc | 201704 | For Scotland Yard there is the issue of why, with violence anticipated in the West End in particular, were the force's officers once again unable to prevent disorder and a wave of highly expensive vandalism?
Should there, as the Met's former head of counter-terrorism Andy Hayman recommended last week, have been pre-emptive dawn raids to detain potential troublemakers - and is the reason there weren't, as Mr Hayman also suggested, that the force's leaders have lost confidence in their ability to balance public protection with the right to protest?
Commmander Bob Broadhurst, the man in charge of policing Saturday's protest, said today that police didn't have the evidence to make such arrests, although this too raises the question of how good the Met is, for all its talk of using Twitter to communicate with protesters, actually is at gaining intelligence on militant groups in today's fast-moving world of internet communication.
To put too much blame on the police would be unfair, however. Instead, the bigger questions should be directed at their political masters and public attitudes more generally.
It's easy to snipe, or to indulge in rhetoric about the right to protest, but so far there's been little of substance from either Mayor Boris Johnson or Home Secretary Theresa May, beyond a hastily withdrawn comment about the possible use of water cannon, to assist the police in finding the right approach.
This is important because it shouldn't be forgotten that many of the police's current problems stem from the fallout from the G20 protests two years ago. The Met's success then in preventing widespread violence, was overshadowed by a barrage of criticism of the robust tactics it used to contain the demonstration.
That prompted the police - whose use of undercover officers to obtain potentially crucial intelligence has also come under fire - to respond with a more low key approach, which in turn led to the mayhem at Millbank Tower during last year's student protests, and the later attack on Prince Charles' car.
With increased use of stop and search already being mooted and other firmer tactics probably necessary too, what's needed is some firm political leadership and a clear message about where the boundaries should lie. Without it, London should brace itself for more scenes like Saturday's.Reuse content | 2,348 | 1,242 | 0.000808 |
warc | 201704 | The group, which is campaigning for a looser relationship with Brussels, said there were concerns about the impact of Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants after movement restrictions expire at the end of the year.
The report also stressed the need for the UK to make its own welfare system more contributions-based with a "reduced level of safety net".
The project's report, co-authored by Tory MP Priti Patel, concluded that there was little chance of extending the migration controls on Romania and Bulgaria and instead urged a fundamental rethink of the European welfare system.
Ms Patel said: "The public were shocked by the large numbers of Eastern Europeans entering Britain under Labour when new EU countries joined.
"We need to ensure that the same mistakes are not made again, that a measured approach is taken and that the numbers coming to Britain are kept down.
"The Fresh Start Project's recommendations will help the Government achieve that and restore some confidence in the immigration system."
The Government has refused repeated demands to publish or commission estimates of the numbers of migrants from the two Eastern European countries expected to enter Britain in the face of unofficial research predicting as many as 50,000 arriving each year.
The Fresh Start Project report acknowledged there was "very little likelihood" of transitional controls on citizens from the two Eastern European being extended "as this would require the unanimous agreement of all member states, including Romania and Bulgaria".
The report said there were "few credible estimates" of how many migrants from the two countries would come to the UK but "it is reasonable to think that the lifting of restrictions will result in some further immigration from Bulgaria and Romania".Reuse content | 1,812 | 916 | 0.001106 |
warc | 201704 | By R.M. Clemmons, DVM, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
R.I. Peters, PhD
Assistant Professor Department of Biology
Bates College
Lewiston, Maine
K.M. Meyers, PhD
Professor
Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy,
Pharmacology and Physiology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington
Source: The Compendium on Continuing Education, Vol. II, No. 5, May, 1980, Continuing Education Article #3, pp 385-388.
The Scottish Terrier breed of dogs is affected by an inherited neurological disorder characterized by transient episodes of muscular hypertonicity. These episodes result in postural abnormalities and locomotor difficulties that can be induced by excitement or exercise. The condition was first described in Scottish Terriers by Klavenbeck et al.,1 in 1942, and has come to be commonly known as ÍScotch or Scottie Cramp.Î This article will review past developments and present recent findings in Scottie Cramp that are of clinical interest.
Clinical Signs of Scottie Cramp
Meyers et al.
2 described the clinical presentation of dogs afflicted with Scottie Cramp, the criteria useful in diagnosis of the condition, and tentative therapeutic measures for the disorder. Physical activity or the psychic responses of excitement or fear are effective in precipitating an episode, while anxiety inhibits the manifestation of clinical signs. The dogs appear normal at rest and exhibit normal locomotor activity upon initial exercise.
However, with continued excited exercise, clinical signs may be seen. The onset of signs is preceded in some dogs by a slight abduction and winging of the forelimbs, while in others the initial sign is an arching of the lumbar spine or an overflexing of the rear legs while walking. From this point, there is an increasing resistance to movement and increasing tonus in the extensor and flexor muscle groups so that the animal exhibits a goose-stepping gait. Extensor rigidity in the rear legs becomes progressively more pronounced. If the dog is running, the extensor rigidity in the rear legs may cause the animal to somersault and fall. In the most severely affected dogs, locomotor activity becomes increasingly hindered and occasionally, the animal will run in place. The head becomes extended with the nose pointing toward the ground. If the exciting stimulus is continued, a pillar-like stance becomes evident and locomotor activity is impossible. At this time, the dog may curl into a ball, respiration may appear to cease momentarily and facial musculature may show signs of involvement. Once the stimulus is removed, the clinical signs progressively decrease until they are no longer observed.
The severity of the clinical signs and time required to elicit signs vary from dog to dog The authors have observed dogs that exhibit only mild clinical signs and, then, only under extreme circumstances. On the other hand, some dogs are nearly incapacitated after short periods of exercise. There are several possible reasons for the variation, the most prominent being environment, nutrition, psychological factors and genetic differences.
Meyers et al.
3 presented evidence showing that the defect appears to reside in the central nervous system (CNS) - in those neuronal systems that control or moderate muscle activity. In Scottie Cramp dogs, the neuronal signal is hyperactive and the resultant muscle contraction is more intense and prolonged. Therefore, the prominent clinical signs, such as an arching of the back, goose-step gait and sudden catapulting of the rear quarters while running, are observed. Since the clinical signs are due to alteration in control of normal muscle contraction, Scottie Cramp is not analogous to a muscle cramp and pain is apparently not part of the episode. The name Scottie Cramp describes the clinical signs and not the pathology of the disease.
The defect appears centered in motor systems. There is no detectable alteration in intelligence and spirit. The animalÌs health is not affected by the disease, the life span of the dog is not shortened, and an increased incidence of postnatal mortality (with evidence of affected offspring in the litter) has not been reported. Clinical laboratory findings are normal.
Pathological examination of dogs with Scottie Cramp failed to reveal any abnormalities. In these studies, special emphasis was placed on the muscle and the CNS. The absence of gross and histopathological lesions in the Scottie Cramp dog indicates a functional rather than a structural abnormality. The clinical sign of Scottie Cramp, normalcy at rest and latency before signs become apparent, coupled with the absence of observable pathological findings, suggest the possibility that the clinical signs might result from a progressive depletion or accumulation of a compound within the CNS.
Genetic Basis of Scottie Cramp
Based on pedigree analysis, a genetic basis, with a recessive mode of transmission, has been suggested for Scottie Cramp
.4 A genetic basis is supported by the fact that only the Scottish Terrier breed has been shown to exhibit the disorder. Furthermore, successive matings of affected males to affected females at Washington State University have resulted in more than 30 offspring, all affected with Scottie Cramp. Outcross mating to nonaffected dogs produced only normal offspring. These facts provide additional support for a recessive trait. Not all dogs are affected to the same extent. This is apparently due to the transmission of other genetic information which may influence or modify the expression of a defective gene. This difference in genetic makeup is one reason why some Scottish Terriers with scottie Cramp rarely exhibit clinical signs while others are nearly incapacitated.
Scottie Cramp can be observed in puppies as young as 6 to 8 weeks, providing they are heavily exercised while excited. If the puppy is normal in maturation, the clinical signs are usually seen within 5 minutes. As this is a genetic disease, a dog will have Scottie Cramp for its entire life and the condition can be treated but cannot be cured. The condition will not increase in severity unless other factors in the dogs environment or its health status are altered.
It is possible to selectively breed Scottie Cramp out of a line of Scottish Terriers. This requires considerable time, effort, and a means of identifying affected dogs. By maintaining good breeding records, testing every offspring for Scottie Cramp prior to selling, and mating only nonaffected dogs, it is possible to significantly reduce the incidence of Scottie Cramp.a In the process of selective breeding, it is important not to sacrifice characteristics for which the line is noted. The authors have been working closely with a breeder and have markedly reduced the incidence of Scottie Cramp while strengthening the overall conformation of the dogs.
The Role of Serotonergic Neurons in the Modulation of Scottie Cramp Behavior
Meyers et al.5 examined the possibility that the clinical signs resulted from an anomaly within a neurotransmitter system in the CNS and found that the clinical signs of Scottie Cramp are closely related to the functional status of serotonergic neurons. These neurons are so named because they release a compound called serotonin as their neurotransmitter substance.
5-7 The functional potential of these neurons can be assessed by monitoring the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentration of both 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA), the major metabolite of serotonin, and tryptophan, serotoninÌs precursor amino acid. These compounds are subject to circadian variation, and the severity of clinical signs correlates with these daily changes. 6 When the CSF levels of these compounds are at their lowest, clinical signs are most severe. The converse is also true. Thus, clinical signs are most prominent at the end of the daily light cycle and less prevalent at night or early morning. This and other findings lead to the suggestion that serotonergic neuronal function modulates the expressions of Scottie Cramp behavior.
Pharmacological agents altering the capacity of serotonergic neurons to respond influence the clinical signs of Scottie Cramp.
5-7 Treatments that increased the CNS levels of serotonin provided a beneficial effect. Nialamide, a relatively selective monoamine oxidase inhibitor, improved the clinical rating by preventing the catabolism of serotonin. Peters and Meyers6 examined the functional consequences of exogenously administered tryptophan. Intravenous administration of this serotonergic precursor provided substantial improvement in Scottie Cramp behavior, even at the lowest treatment dosage (30 mg/kg). The CSF 5HIAA levels closely followed the improvement in clinical signs.
Treatments decreasing serotonin levels in the CNS markedly increased the severity of the clinical signs. Para-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA), a noncompetitive inhibitor of tryptophan hydroxylase (the first enzyme necessary for the formation of serotonin), markedly increases the clinical signs.5 The specificity of this effect is evident in that 5-hydroxytryptophan administration, which restored the depleted serotonin, could reverse the p-CPA-induced increase in clinical signs. Methysergide, a selective serotonergic receptor blocker, increases the clinical signs of Scottie Cramp in a dose-dependent manner.c
Meyers and Schaub
7 undertook further investigations into the mechanisms by which serotonergic neurons modify cramp behavior. Concentrations of regional brain serotonin, whole blood serotonin, CSF 5HIAA, and urinary 5HIAA were normal in affected dogs at rest. Recently, Peters and Meyers8 have shown that the turnover of serotonin in the CNS is decreased following an episode of cramp behavior. Thus, while serotonergic neuronal function is normal at rest, there is a functional deficiency during excited exercise which presumably allows the expression of clinical signs.
Recent investigations into the nature of serotonergic neuronal modulation of Scottie Cramp behavior have shown that the formation of prostaglandins within the CNS is essential in providing a beneficial effect from serotonin. Compounds that inhibit prostaglandin synthesis increase the severity of clinical signs and, thus, act similarly to those treatments that reduce serotonin function. Aspirin, indomethacin, phenylbutazone, and penicillin derivatives are examples of compounds of clinical importance that inhibit prostaglandin formation and make the clinical signs more severe. With aspirin and penicillin, this will occur at the recommended therapeutic dosages. The effect is not permanent and, following withdrawal of medication, the severity of cramp behavior will return to previous levels. Such drugs should be used with caution in Scottish Terriers known to be affected with Scottie Cramp and the owners should be informed of the probability of increased clinical signs.
Factors Modifying the Expression or Severity of scottie Cramp
The elicitation of an episode is highly dependent upon psychic factors. By identifying those situations in which an episode will predictably be elicited, an owner may reduce the incidence of episodes by not exposing the dog to the stimulus or, if this is not possible, by behaviorally training the dog to accept the stimulus. Potent inducers of an episode may be events such as feeding or going for a walk, which make the dog excited. Fear is also a potent inducer. The authors have had several reports of dogs with Scottie Cramp exhibiting signs when confronted with stairs. In one case, the veterinarian sedated the dog and, through repetitive exposure to stairs, was able to eliminate them as an initiator of cramp. On the other hand, anxiety inhibits the manifestation of the disorder and may explain the difficulty in eliciting clinical signs when a dog is taken to a veterinarian.
Dogs may suppress the elicitation of clinical signs by modifying their activity. Young puppies often exercise freely until severe clinical signs become evident thereafter, the dogs may stop exercising or may modify the intensity of exercise when they feel the beginning of clinical signs. It is, therefore, not uncommon to find clinical signs more prevalent in younger dogs. The owner may think that the adult dog, showing fewer clinical signs, has outgrown the disease.
The environment of the dog may also influence the expression of the disease. Most, if not all, stressful conditions have the potential to modify the clinical signs of Scottie Cramp. This means that dogs, with Scottie Cramp, raised in a quiet home may exhibit fewer clinical signs than dogs raised with other dogs or placed in a more intense environment. Thus, the dog may again appear to grow out of the disorder when taken from the kennel at a young age to a home environment.
If the health status of the dog with Scottie Cramp deteriorates, the clinical signs become more severe. The increase in clinical signs can be marked. When presented with a mature dog that suddenly exhibits clinical signs of Scottie Cramp, it must be realized that the dog was born with scottie Cramp, that the owner did not recognize the dog to have Scottie Cramp, and that some other event is increasing the severity of the clinical signs. The owner and their veterinarian should direct their efforts toward defining these other events. In some cases, if an infectious cause is suspected, the dog may be placed on penicillin-containing antibiotics. This will further increase the severity of clinical signs. With the correction of the primary problem and cessation of treatment, the severity of clinical signs will dissipate and the signs will return to the predisease and pretreatment state. This waxing and then waning have been incorrectly interpreted to mean that the clinical signs observed were due to a drug idiosyncrasy and that the dog does not have Scottie Cramp.
Nutritional factors are also important in determining the severity of clinical signs and altering the diet can be very effective in reducing the clinical signs. Methods that increase the availability of tryptophan may be beneficial in reducing the likelihood that an episode will occur. Glucose administration, for example, will increase the function of serotonergic neurons in affected dogs. Giving the dog a small amount of glucose, such as a chocolate bar, may reduce the clinical signs if given 1 hour prior to exposure to a stressful situation.
Diagnosis of Scottie Cramp
Unfortunately, there is no laboratory test for Scottie Cramp and diagnosis is made on observation of clinical signs. The original diagnostic criteria for Scottie Cramp included a clinical history indicating abnormal locomotion or seizure-like activity during excitement or exercise, exacerbation of the condition following administration of amphetamine, and remission of signs following the administration of diazepam or promazine derivatives.2 The clinical history and the familial history are still highly significant. Pharmacological challenge to elicit an episode of Scottie Cramp is more appropriately performed with drugs that will selectively affect serotonergic neuronal activity, and is recommended only if excited exercise is not effective in eliciting clinical signs. Parachlorophenylalane at 100 mg/kg/day, over a 3-day period, is very effective in increasing the signs of Scottie Cramp. Subclinical, or minimally affected, animals are easily detected by p-CPA treatment because the clinical signs become proportionately more increased than in severely affected dogs. Unfortunately, p-CPA is not readily available for use in veterinary practice and, therefore, is not useful in clinical situations. Methysergide, on the other hand, offers great potential for diagnostic testing of Scottie Cramp. Following oral administration of a single dosage of methysergide, the clinical signs of Scottie Cramp will be increased within a 2-hour period. The effects of methysergide disappear after an 8-hour period. With the exception of some transient nausea and gastrointestinal irritation, side effects are not obvious. Experimentally, clinical signs are easily seen at dosages of 0.1 mg/kg to 0.6 mg/kg. The dose at which there is a 50% increase in clinical signs is 0.3 mg/kg. Exceeding 0.6 mg/kg does not increase the effects of methysergide upon cramp behavior, but does increase the severity of its side effects. The authors recommend starting at a dosage of 0.3 mg/kg, increasing the dosage to 0.6 mg/kg if clinical signs are not seen. If the signs become excessive, treatment with diazepam should decrease them accordingly.
Treatment of Scottie Cramp
Diazepam, at a dosage from 0.5 mg/kg to 1.5 mg/kg, reduces the clinical signs of Scottie Cramp in an acute episode and, if given chronically, also reduces recurrent problems. Diazepam is effective if given at 8-hour intervals. Recently, the beneficial role of vitamin E therapy has been evaluated.e Vitamine E, at doses above 125 IU/kg given once per day, is very effective in elevating the threshold for the elicitation of clinical signs. Vitamin E does not reduce the severity of an episode, but reduces the likelihood that an episode will occur. Doses as low as 70 IU/kg are also effective in reducing cramp behavior but are not recommended for long-term treatments. In severe cases, maintaining the dog on vitamin E and, when needed, diazepam treatment may effectively control the condition.
Conclusion
In summary, Scottie Cramp is common within the breed. It is a genetic disorder which can be observed in most dogs at a young age. Dogs that have Scottie Cramp are not otherwise impaired and make excellent pets. By modifying the behavior, environment or nutrition, the severity of the disorder can be significantly reduced. If there is any question whether a dog is affected, a diagnosis can be obtained using drugs which block serotonin function. It is possible to eliminate the trait from a line and retain desirable characteristics by a controlled breeding program.
Authors Notes: The incidence has not been established, but based on the genetic traits, the probability is at least 25%.
bSansert©, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ 07936.
cClemmons RM, Meyers KM: Unpublished data.
dClemmons RM, Meyers KM: Unpublished data.
eClemmons RM, Meyers KM: Unpublished data.
REFERENCES
1. Klavenbeck AS, et al: Een aavalsgewijs optrendende stoornes in de regulatie van de spiertonus: Waargenomen bij Schotsche Terriers. Tijdschr Diergeneesk 69:14-21, 1942.
2. Meyers KM, et al: Hyperkinetic episodes in Scottish Terrier dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 155:129-133, 1969.
3. Meyers KM, et al: Muscular hypertonicity: Episodes in Scottish Terrier dogs. Arch Neurol 25:61-68, 1971.
4. Meyers, KM, et al: The genetic basis of a kinetic disorder of Scottish Terrier dogs, J Hered 61:189-192, 1970.
5. Meyers KM, et al: Serotonin involvement in a motor disorder of Scottish Terrier dogs. Life Sci 13:1261-1274, 1973.
6. Peters RI, Meyers KM: Precursor regulation of serotonergic neuronal function in Scottish Terrier dogs. J Neurochem 29:753-755, 1977.
7. Meyers KM, Schaub RG: The relationship of serotonin to a motor disorder of Scottish Terrier dogs. Life Sci 14:1895- 1906, 1974.
8. Peters RI, Meyers KM: Serotonergic-castecholaminergic antagonism and locomotor control. Exp Neurol (in press).
Original Doc: cramp04.doc | 19,539 | 7,581 | 0.000133 |
warc | 201704 | Steamboat Springs Attorneys for Routt County and paving contractor Connell Resources will begin selecting a jury Monday in a million dollar contract dispute about work done at Yampa Valley Regional Airport in 2005 and 2006.
Attorneys for Connell, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, are not seeking specific monetary damages, but allege in their complaint that the county cost their client more than $1 million by reneging on the terms of their contract and withholding funds.
County Attorney John Merrell said this week that he is concerned it will be difficult to seat a jury because it involves county government and a prominent contracting firm that has done large jobs in the valley.
County Commission Chairwoman Nancy Stahoviak, who is on the list of prospective witnesses for the trial, declined to comment for this article.
Denver law firm Faegre and Benson filed the original complaint on behalf of Connell in August 2009. Attorneys Kevin Bridston, of Holland & Hart in Denver, and Douglas Karet, of Holloway, Brabec and Karet in Steamboat Springs, filed a trial brief on behalf of Connell this month.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say in documents filed in Routt County District Court that the dispute has it roots in the county’s desire to value-engineer projects at the airport in Hayden. Connell was the sole bidder on the $9.4 million project in 2005 at a time when the construction industry was booming in Routt County. That bid exceeded the county’s budget by 25 percent.
“Connell lowered the price of the project based on promises Routt County made regarding the project scope, schedule and means and methods used to perform the contract,” Bridston wrote in the complaint.
Without price reductions of $1.29 million, made in consultation with project engineers at Carter and Burgess, the project would not have gone forward, Bridston said.
Merrell said the work described in the contract included creating new automobile parking areas and an arrival lane on the “land side” of the airport terminal and reinforcement of a portion of the aircraft parking area to increase the capacity for heavier aircraft, specifically Boeing 757s.
The attorneys for the plaintiff said the value-engineering process delayed the beginning of work for two months in summer 2005, pushing it back to August. However, their client felt protected by a change from the original performance terms of the contract that was put in place after value-engineering took place.
The change could be a pivotal point in the case based on Bridston’s and Karet’s trial brief.
Connell’s attorneys said the terms of a supplemental agreement to the contract were changed. Instead of giving the contractor 180 calendar days to complete the job, it was changed to 180 working days.
“Weather in the fall of 2005 was unseasonably wet and cold,” the attorneys wrote. “These weather conditions materially impeded Connell’s ability to efficiently progress the work. As a result, Connell requested to begin the planned winter shutdown in late October. Routt County refused.”
They also state that their clients were compelled to work with wet paving material.
Attorneys for Connell characterized that refusal as “wholly inconsistent” with the contract changes and further claim that the county unreasonably withheld funds.
County cites contract law
Routt County has associated with attorneys Daniel M. Gross, Jason T. Pink and Heidi C. Potter, of Berg Hill Greenleaf and Ruscitti in Boulder, for the trial.
With the burden of proof on the plaintiffs, the defense team is set up to refute any claims by Connell that the county didn’t live up to the terms of the contract.
Together with Merrell, the Boulder legal team filed a 40-page trial brief intended to lay out the legal arguments they will present at trial. The documents go into great detail defining and clarifying contract law as it pertains to construction activities.
The case file reflects that Chief District Court Judge Michael O’Hara has presided over a long list of motions hearings related to the case since October 2009. | 4,157 | 1,977 | 0.00052 |
warc | 201704 | Ministers took charge of delegations yesterday at United Nations-led climate talks in Paris to hammer out the final remaining issues blocking a global deal to save the planet from crippling weather extremes, rising seas and air pollution.
Negotiators completed a draft text of the Paris agreement, or Paris Outcome, last Saturday and handed it to the French government, which is hosting the talks. The draft is still filled with options and bracketed text that represents different country positions. Ministers must now conduct tough political negotiations on disputed areas to bring the deal home by the end of the week.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli are in Paris assisting with the negotiations.
US President Barack Obama has sent Secretary of State John Kerry to try to forge a deal that Mr Obama hopes will cement his legacy on climate change and the environment.
In a stark message to ministers yesterday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said the "clock is ticking towards climate catastrophe".
STRONG AGREEMENT SOUGHT
Outside these negotiating halls, there is a rising global tide of support for a strong, universal agreement.
U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI MOON
"Outside these negotiating halls, there is a rising global tide of support for a strong, universal agreement," he said.
But in a sign of the tough negotiations ahead, Indian Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said: "Substance-wise, we are not midway but... at a crossroads", Reuters reported.
The French have formed a Paris Committee and appointed 14 co-facilitators to tackle the more contentious issues in a bid to forge consensus. The issues include the ambition of the pact, such as long-term goals and periodic review; accelerating actions after the Paris agreement begins in 2020; and the differentiation between rich and poor nations on finance, carbon cuts and transparency of nations' climate actions.
Dr Balakrishnan joins Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira as co-facilitator for the differentiation issue.
A number of developing countries want an accounting system that differentiates them from rich nations, saying they lack the technical capacity and need assistance for reporting, measuring and verifying actions that cut greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.
The draft text also has options that call for wealthier states to take the lead in emissions cuts, while developing countries should undertake "diversified enhanced mitigation actions/efforts".
There is growing pressure for climate finance for poorer nations to come not just from rich nations but also from wealthier developing nations to share the burden of providing funds to the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
To seal a deal, poorer nations insist there should be a deep pool of funds available from 2020 to help them green their economies and pay for measures to adapt to climate change impacts, such as higher sea levels, more intense rainfall and longer droughts that threaten crops.
Without a deal on finance, the talks could falter, some developing countries and non-government organisations say.
In a reminder of the threat from industrial and transport emissions, Beijing issued its first ever "red alert" on air pollution yesterday, joining the Indian capital New Delhi in the battle against toxic smog. | 3,480 | 1,706 | 0.000591 |
warc | 201704 | To help better understand Mexico’s culture, a brief overview of Geert Hofstede’s study of different cultures would be useful. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy helps in the understanding of cultural differences. Hofstede proposed that people carry mental programs that are developed during their childhood and are reinforced by their culture (Lustig, Koester, 2006, p.114). Through these programs, the ideas of a culture are expressed through its principal values. Hofstede conducted a study of over 100,000 IBM employees in over seventy-one countries in order to identify these principal values in different cultures. After his initial study, he conducted additional research in additional countries not in the IBM sample. Through his study and additional research, he identified five dimensions along which dominant patterns can be categorized; individualism versus collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity versus femininity, and long-term versus short-term orientation to time. Below is a brief description of each dimension followed by Mexico’s cultural values within the criteria. Individualism versus collectivism refers to the degree to which a culture values the individual or the group. People must live and interact with others in order for survival and the must strike a balance between showing concern for themselves and concern for others (Lustig, Koester, 2006, p.115). Hofstede created an individualism index (IDV) to judge a culture’s individualism-collectivism dimension. A high IDV indicates a highly individualistic society, where people believe they should take care of themselves and maybe, their immediate family. People look out for what benefits the individual, not the group. Examples of countries with a high IDV score are Australia, England and the United States. Countries that have a low IDV prefer loyalty to the group over loyalty to the individual. Decisions are based on what is best for the group and in turn, the group looks out for its... | 2,020 | 971 | 0.001044 |
warc | 201704 | Trip changes world view KARINA ABADIA Relevant offers
It's amazing how little some people in the world have to get by on.
A group from St Heliers Church and Community Centre went to Cambodia recently to see for themselves the need in rural communities there.
What's really inspiring is that despite the hardships faced by many, they still have a positive outlook on life, Rev Stan Stewart says.
He leads a committee tasked with organising trips to projects sponsored by the church community in Asia every second year.
"My aim in encouraging these groups to go is to change their mental horizon so that for the rest of their lives they think of the world as a spectrum from the very poor to the fortunate," he says.
For several years the church community made trips to Thailand and fundraised to help build a hostel for children and young people which provides for education and living facilities.
That initiative no longer requires the church's help so the committee chose to support a World Vision project in Cambodia.
The 15 people who travelled there in January included church members as well as four intermediate teachers from Churchill Park School.
During the 11-day trip the group visited rural projects in the southwestern province of Takeo.
The World Vision team aims to make villages self-sufficient by educating leaders who then teach others about sanitation and food nutrition, church member Andy Picot says.
"There's just a real lack of resources. It's eye-opening to see people living like that," he says.
Church members are signing up to sponsor children from the villages at a cost of $45 per month.
Churchill Park School is also looking at sponsoring two children.
Collectively the school and church hope to sponsor 30 people. The money will benefit not only the family of each child but the whole community, Mr Picot says.
Sharyn O'Brien is one of the Churchill Park School intermediate teachers who travelled with the group. She was impressed by how well the projects were organised by World Vision.
"We could see a really strong alliance with the way World Vision set out their strategic plans and their achievement objectives, which is exactly the way a school [in New Zealand] operates."
Staff from the charity have provided sanitation blocks and water filters for drinking water at a high school there, but educational resources are still lacking, Ms O'Brien says.
There was only one computer in the school which was kept in the principal's office and wasn't connected to the internet.
- East And Bays Courier
Are our classrooms becoming overcrowded? | 2,601 | 1,315 | 0.000769 |
warc | 201704 | BENEFITS OF LANGUAGE PRESERVATION
a. Ekegusii is not an official language or a language of instruction in schools and colleges has therefore been severely eroded, stifled and forced to lose dynamism. The majority of the language’s custodians - the aged and elderly who were a walking encyclopedia of the language are rapidly passing on and with them the gems of Ekegusii. With no written materials and/or reference materials, something needs to be done urgently now to preserve the language before or the richness and full diction of the language is lost.
b. Depending on the type and level of communication, we recognize that the learning and speaking of other major world languages is envitable for the sake of inter- ethnic and international communication. However, shunning one’s own vernacular for any reason does more harm than good. The silent death of a language is also the dearth of culture and essential social values, networks, heritage and a way of life that holds the fabric of society together against rapid ruin.
c. Language is the true identity of a people for there can be no people without language. A peoples language incorporates in itself the collective and generational wisdom and experience of a people and helps them explain and understand their ecology. It is patterned reality that the young need in their quest for meaningful propagation of the tribe. We fear that the loss of our language in the form of its relegation in terms of refinement and modernization; its shrinking domains of use and spatial confinement in the rural areas, an area that is fast losing the majority of the population to the urban areas; the exclusion of the vernacular from the school environs and mass media and the hegemonic status of Swahili and English in the country all conspire to make Ekegusii an endangered species. Perhaps the question is, why save Ekegusii?
Here under we quote Jon Reyner and Edward Tennant of Northern Arizona University Research Associates on their “North American Indians and Non-Indians” (1993) document:
“Many non-Indians and some Indians see no tragedy in the loss of native languages, but as this country becomes more and more dominated by concern about crime and the breakdown of traditional families, many Indians and some non-Indians see the perpetuation of native languages as vital to their cultural integrity. The reason for this is that in addition to speech, each language carries with it an unspoken network of cultural values. Although these values operate on a sublimal level, they are, nonetheless, a major force in the shaping of each person’s self awareness, identity and interpersonal relationships (Scollon & Scollon, 1981)..It should be noted that in seeking to preserve their cultural heritage, tribes are not rejecting the importance of world languages instruction for their children instead it should be seen as native languages nurturing our spirits and hearts and world languages as sustenance for our bodies..
..The revival and preservation of minority languages is not a hopeless cause. Successful efforts towards indigenous language renewal and maintenance are to be found around the world. Examples are to be found in the revival of Hebrew in Israel, French in Quebec, and Catalan in Spain (Fishman, 1991). Even in the United States with its emphasis on conformity, small groups such as the Hutterites and Hasidic Jews have been able to maintain their languages and cultures”.
copyright Kennedy Bosire / Nigel Deacon, Diversity website
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warc | 201704 | Faced with a desperate shortage of technology workers with business savvy - and a dearth of new graduates entering the profession - is the IT industry finally being forced to rethink ageist attitudes?
According to CIOs, retaining enthusiasm, making a virtue of experience, keeping skills up to date and at least one "toe in the future" should all be on the checklist of older IT professionals who want to challenge the perception that a job in IT is for the young.
The ageism debate was reignited on silicon.com when a columnist recently claimed that a lack of "world-class" IT executives means ageism is a thing of the past in the IT industry.
"Clearly everyone who is looking for a new position needs to demonstrate pace, enthusiasm, passion for their subject and the energy that can give an employer confidence they will deliver. What is not wanted, at any age, is cynicism, apathy, bitterness or just plain mediocrity," said Vicky Maxwell Davies in her column, arguing that older IT pros should use their grey hair to their advantage, promoting their experience and gravitas.
Some readers of the column were in agreement, arguing that it is necessary for IT professionals to remain up to date with their skills regardless of their age. "I know older staff who are very much the gurus to whom everyone turns - but also there are far more who have allowed themselves to become dinosaurs," one reader commented. But not all were convinced, with another arguing that the prevailing assumption among recruiters is "once you are over 40, you are a fossil".
The last time the wider silicon.com audience was asked whether ageism was a problem in IT, 51 per cent of respondents to the silicon.com skills survey agreed, or strongly agreed, that the IT industry discriminates against older workers.
Members of the silicon.com CIO Jury were also split when asked, 'Is ageism still an issue in the IT industry?'.
Graham Yellowley, director, technology leads at LCH Clearnet, said: "There is still a perception that IT is a young person's industry but there is no substitute for knowledge and experience. Finding the blend and balance between the two is the key to a firm's success. We need organisations to start thinking about utilising senior personnel to provide more coaching and mentoring to junior staff to help their development."
The lack of skilled staff coming into the industry is also forcing companies to think again about older workers, said Alan Bawden, IT and operations director at the JM Group.
"Things have improved over the past couple of years, with less focus on the age of the candidate and more on the skill sets and experience that the candidate can bring to the organisation," Bawden said. "However, I think the lack of graduates coming through higher education with technical qualifications will force companies to reconsider their attitude to the older, skilled candidates and I think we will also see businesses having to invest in training for their existing IT staff to give them the ability to create and support the new technologies out there."
Gavin Megnauth, director of operations and group IT at Morgan Hunt, said ageism is less of an issue than it was a decade ago: "A combination of a skills shortage and staff recognising the need for retraining and reskilling has seen the maturing IT professionals find work in the contracting market."
Nicholas Bellenberg, IT director at Hachette Filipacchi, said: "I have hired staff with a great range of ages in the past and can vouch for the good effects of having some experience and gravitas around a younger team. The key thing is getting that skills-match right."
He added: "Where I have seen older IT professionals go wrong is when they stay 'stuck' dealing with one particular system or technology and don't keep their experience of other systems up to date. The problem with getting 'stuck' is that other related skills can often ossify. So you not only have to stay up to date with new systems and technologies, but also make sure your problem-solving, team-working and project-management abilities stay current.
"And for managers, there is actually nothing worse than not using new technologies and simply being out of touch. Or maintaining odd prejudices - like being rabidly anti-Apple for instance. The world constantly changes: you can't be in IT and not be in the present with at least a toe in the future."
Meanwhile, Mike Roberts, IT director at The London Clinic added: "The older I get, the more I recognise that an IT degree or MBA is something that makes you think you know what and how to deliver. It's experience that is needed."
Want to be part of silicon.com's CIO Jury and have your say on the hot issues for IT departments? If you are a CIO, CTO, IT director or equivalent at a large or small company in the private or public sector and you want to be part of silicon.com's CIO Jury pool, or you know an IT chief who should be, then drop us a line at editorial@silicon.com. Full Bio
Steve Ranger is the UK editor of TechRepublic, and has been writing about the impact of technology on people, business and culture for more than a decade. Before joining TechRepublic he was the editor of silicon.com. | 5,239 | 2,494 | 0.000404 |
warc | 201704 | It’s King Kong meets Godzilla. It’s Lex Luthor versus Dr Doom. Yes, folks, it’s a showdown between two of the biggest supervillains of the modern epoch, and I want to know which side you are on.
Here in the blue corner, representing the rampaging forces of gizmotastic hi-tech 21st century capitalism – the steely-eyed figure of Tim Cook. He is the CEO of Apple Corporation of Cupertino, California, and therefore the wielder of the biggest cash mountain in the history of mankind. He runs a company that is at the centre of the consumerist conspiracy, inspiring fresh millions across the planet every day with a lust to possess his lustrous machines.
And in the red corner we have the most dangerous foe that Apple has ever encountered. She’s crop-haired, she’s Left-wing, she’s Danish, and she’s straight out of that Scandi-noir serial
Borgen. She’s called Margrethe Vestager, and she runs the competition directorate in the European Commission in Brussels – the world’s largest and most powerful producer of shiny new rules, regulations and all manner of paralysing pettifogging piffle.
Omigosh – what a contest; and what a dilemma for us all! Your eyes flit desperately between them, and for many people it will be an eerie feeling: the first time they have ever been tempted to side with Brussels over anything. Margrethe has made an extraordinary demand. She wants Apple to pay the Irish state an infarct-inducing sum in back taxes – between $8 and $16 billion, and I know that many of you will egg her on. Yee-hah, Margrethe, you will be saying. Go on, darling. You fine them. You tax them. You show those overmighty Yankee tech giants that someone, somewhere, will finally stand up to them.
Are you in that camp? If you are, I can understand why. About a month ago the bankers Goldman Sachs published a list of the biggest and richest firms in the world. The top three, in order, were Apple, Google and Microsoft – and Facebook and Amazon were also in the top 10. All these tech companies make staggering sums from an avid British population. We love this stuff. We can’t get enough of it. We buy tens of billions of pounds’ worth of American hardware, software and services – and yet these companies pay quite derisory sums in tax to the UK Exchequer: derisory, that is, when you consider how much dosh they are earning from us all.
Google has just agreed to stump up an extra £130 million, to compensate for underpayments over the past nine years; and if its executives were expecting applause from the public, they must be disappointed today. They got a raspberry, and everyone is complaining that it isn’t enough, that it still amounts to a tax rate of only about 2 per cent on earnings.
There is a widespread feeling that the loopholes and dodges should be axed, and that they should be paying more. To a large extent I agree. It has never seemed fair that some of these companies – no matter how wonderful the service they provide – should be paying so much less in tax than the high-street tea rooms and bookshops they have pulverised. It would be a good thing, both for the UK finances and for the image of these great companies, if they paid more.
And yet I must confess there is a part of me that sides strongly with Tim Cook and Apple – or at least can see his point of view. It is absurd to blame the company for “not paying their taxes”. You might as well blame a shark for eating seals. It is the nature of the beast; and not only is it the nature of the beast – it is the law. It is the fiduciary duty of their finance directors to minimise tax exposure. They have a legal obligation to their shareholders. Tax is not paid on the basis of what “feels right” either to public opinion or to politicians. It is not some eleemosynary contribution. It is not as if we are all in church, and watching beadily to make sure that Tim Cook puts his £50 note into the collection basket. Tax is paid, and must be paid, in accordance with the strict requirements of the system. And the second reason for sympathising with Apple, and not Margrethe the crusading Danish commissioner, is that in my view this dispute should have nothing to do with Brussels.
The Commission is plainly using the EU treaty articles on state aid to intervene in the tax jurisdiction of a member state when strictly speaking, it seems to me, they should butt right out. The paradox of this whole case is that the Irish and Apple are on the same side. If Margrethe the Commissioner makes Apple give Dublin $16 billion in back taxes, that will actually be against the wishes of the Irish government.
The Irish decided they wanted to go for an ultra-low corporation tax, at 12.5 per cent. It was their sovereign ambition to attract the HQ of Apple and others. They wanted Irish taxi drivers to have the honour of ferrying Apple executives around, and they wanted Irish waitresses to snaffle their huge tips. The EU Commission is partly excited by the chance to bash a corporate American giant; but mainly it is a chance to attack tax arbitrage between member states – to move ever closer towards uniformity and away from a spirit of healthy competition between jurisdictions.
We need that competition. We need the Irish to be able to do their own thing. Otherwise business tax rates would simply rise in lockstep across Europe. We should be resisting the Commission’s approach, and we should recognise that the fault in the whole affair lies with our national arrangements – our own system for not getting a fair whack from the tech giants. After years of Labour inertia, George Osborne has made progress. The Google payback is a start. We now need to go further. We want, need and deserve these companies somehow to pay more tax in the UK. But the problem does not lie with the firms, or the Irish government, and it certainly should not need Brussels to sort it out. | 6,019 | 2,905 | 0.000354 |
warc | 201704 | It has been confirmed that while the taking of steroids is a serious offence in sports law, it is not a criminal offence in the UK, an anomaly which puts the UK at odds with recent Olympic Games’ hosts.
Only the trafficking of steroids constitutes a criminal offence, so if the quantity of drugs is deemed to be solely for personal use, an athlete cannot be apprehended.
Australia, Canada, China and Italy all toughened drug importation rules before hosting the
Olympics but the Government says there will be no similar legislative change in time for the 2012 Games.
However, the Government says it is serious about stamping out the abuse of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs and will submit a formal application to the World Anti-Doping Agency that recommends athletes should face at least a four-year ban, or life, for serious drug offences.
The Wada code, which has a two-year ban for steroids and other drugs such as EPO and human growth hormone, is undergoing a comprehensive review.
“We are making a clear pitch for tougher sentences and urging the need for a universal sentencing policy,” said Hugh Robertson, the Olympics minister. “We would like to see at least four years, if not rather longer than that.”
The minister’s view supports that of the British Olympic Association but is at odds with that of UK Anti-Doping chief executive Andy Parkinson, who has personally advocated a softening of some sanctions.
Robertson said: “That difference of opinion happens in sport. It is not helpful just before the London 2012 Olympics but I am not asking him to resign.”
The minister’s spokesman said that athletes arriving for the London Olympics would be able to bring into the country a quantity of steroids as long as it was for their personal use.
“It is not a criminal offence for personal consumption for athletes in this country, but they will be dealt with under anti-doping law if they get caught with the drugs in their system,” the spokesman said.
UKAD also confirmed that it would expect border control officers to tip them off so that targeted drugs testing could be carried out.
“UK Anti-Doping has a two-way exchange of information with the border agency to ensure that information about athletes and support personnel can be used to identify trends and patterns and build up anti-doping rule violations,” UKAD head of intelligence Gabriella Re said.
The International Olympic Committee says it will conduct 5,000 drug tests, of which 1,000 will be blood tests, throughout the London Olympics.
Road cyclist David Millar, 35, has confirmed he will not compete at London even if Wada’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the BOA life ban for drug cheats is successful.
Millar broke his collarbone last week but said the ongoing controversy of his EPO drugs record had taken away the joy of possibly competing at the Games.
“I am not going to the Olympics. It is something I signed off from a long time ago,” he said. | 3,065 | 1,481 | 0.000698 |
warc | 201704 | home convention 2017 membership events publications associates resources multi-media contact Abstract: “Elfies at large – Beware!”
It is common knowledge that
English has become the Lingua Franca the world over. Today the overwhelming majority of communication takes place between nonnative users of English, often in the absence of native speakers. Given this, proponents of the ELF movement, whom I call elfies in my lecture, claim that native English standards need not be followed any longer. After I have subjected this assumption to critical analysis, I conclude that teachers had better follow their own agenda and satisfy their learners’ genuine needs, instead of listening to elfies – or any other researchers, for that matter. Péter Medgyes, CBE, is Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics and Language Pedagogy at Eötvös Loránd University Budapest. During his career he was a schoolteacher, teacher trainer, vice rector, deputy state secretary, ambassador of Hungary and Vice President of IATEFL. He was a plenary speaker in 45 countries and is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Non-Native Teacher (Macmillan, 1994, winner of the Duke of Edinburgh Book Competition), The Language Teacher (Corvina, 1997), Laughing Matters (Cambridge University Press, 2002), Golden Age: Twenty Years of Foreign Language Education in Hungary (National Textbook Publishing Company, 2011) and Reflections on Foreign Language Education (2015, Eötvös Publishing House). His main professional interests lie in language policy and teacher education, with a special emphasis on nonnative English speaking teachers. He can be reached at pmedgy@gmail.com. Abstract: Student involvement, teacher involvement and the Goldilocks principle.
As a formal code, used to convey meaningful messages, a language necessarily has a dual character. Reflecting this, teaching philosophies oscillate between the two poles of form and meaning, control and freedom, imitation and expression, knowledge and skill, learning and using. Where are we now? In many teaching contexts (though not all), the last 40 years have seen a powerful drift towards the freedom/expression/using end of the spectrum. Increased student involvement, learner-directed work, learning by communicative activity and a concern for personal development are all good things, but they can push the basics of language teaching and learning into the background. We need to keep in mind the Goldilocks principle: not too little, not too much.
Michael Swan is a writer specializing in English Language teaching and reference materials. His manypublications include Practical English Usage (OUP), the Cambridge English Course series (with Catherine Walter), and, also with Catherine Walter, the Oxford English Grammar Course. Michael’s interests include pedagogic grammar, mother-tongue influence in second language acquisition, and the relationship between applied linguistic theory and classroom language-teaching practice. He has had extensive experience with adult learners, and has worked with teachers in many countries. Title: The ‘native factor’, the haves and the have-nots …and why we still need to talk about this in 2016.
Abstract: It is often claimed that much has changed in the field of English Language Teaching since 1983, when Peter Medgyes first described the struggle of ‘non-native’ teachers for visibility and due recognition. But has it? Away from academic circles, where the discourses that equated the ideal teacher with the ‘native speaker’ have been interrogated and critiqued, how has the situation really changed for the professional teacher of English whose first or home language is a language other than English?
In this talk I will draw on research studies, anecdotal evidence and my own and my colleagues’ personal experiences to examine the state of equality and social justice in ELT with reference to the so-called ‘non-native speaker teacher’ thirty years on. I will look at how the logic of the market is used to justify current discriminatory recruitment practices that still perpetuate the view that a(n unqualified) native speaker is preferable to a qualified and professional ‘non-native teacher’.
I will reflect on the impact of the native-speaker bias and its dominance on developments in English Language teaching methodology, and how this dominance seems to have affected the emergence of context-appropriate pedagogies. Finally, I will address the ‘second best’ view of the ‘non-native teacher’ and its impact on their own construction of a legitimate professional identity and on their confidence in themselves as teachers, users and experts of an-other language.
Biodata: Silvana Richardson is Head of Teacher Development at Bell Educational Services and Head of Programme Quality at the Bell Foundation. She has worked in English Language Teaching for over 25 years as teacher and academic manager, and has trained EFL, MFL, ESOL, EAL, CLIL and subject teachers and trainers in the state and private sectors both in the UK and abroad. She has been Director of the Bell Delta Online and Director of Studies at Bell Teacher Campus, Cambridge, and has written online materials for teachers for Cambridge English Teacher. Silvana is a speaker in international conferences and a Quality Assurance inspector. | 5,461 | 2,629 | 0.000391 |
warc | 201704 | After completing his research for Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville turned to the French consolidation of its empire in North Africa, which he believed deserving of similar attention. Tocqueville began studying Algerian history and culture, making two trips to Algeria in 1841 and 1846. He quickly became one of France's foremost experts on the country and wrote essays, articles, official letters, and parliamentary reports on such diverse topics as France's military and administrative policies in North Africa, the people of the Maghrib, his own travels in Algeria, and the practice of Islam. Throughout, Tocqueville consistently defended the French imperial project, a position that stands in tension with his admiration for the benefits of democracy he witnessed in America. Although Tocqueville never published a book-length study of French North Africa, his various writings on the subject provide as invaluable a portrait of French imperialism as Democracy in America does of the Early Republic period in American history. In Writings on Empire and Slavery, Jennifer Pitts has selected and translated nine of his most important dispatches on Algeria, which offer startling new insights into both Tocqueville's political thought and French liberalism's attitudes toward the political, military, and moral aspects of France's colonial expansion. The volume also includes six articles Tocqueville wrote during the same period calling for the emancipation of slaves in France's Caribbean colonies.
French writer and politician Alexis de Tocqueville was born in Verneuil to an aristocratic Norman family. He entered the bar in 1825 and became an assistant magistrate at Versailles. In 1831, he was sent to the United States to report on the prison system. This journey produced a book called On the Penitentiary System in the United States (1833), as well as a much more significant work called Democracy in America (1835--40), a treatise on American society and its political system. Active in French politics, Tocqueville also wrote Old Regime and the Revolution (1856), in which he argued that the Revolution of 1848 did not constitute a break with the past but merely accelerated a trend toward greater centralization of government. Tocqueville was an observant Catholic, and this has been cited as a reason why many of his insights, rather than being confined to a particular time and place, reach beyond to see a universality in all people everywhere. | 2,473 | 1,254 | 0.000798 |
warc | 201704 | Researchers at California's Stanford University have built and demonstrated an ultrafast nanoscale light-emitting diode (LED) that consumes significantly less power than current laser-based systems.
Nevertheless, the Stanford LED is capable of transmitting data at a very rapid rate of 10 billion bits per second - and is a major step forward in providing a practical ultrafast, low-power light source for on-chip data transmission.
Unlike previous iterations which operated only at temperatures below 150 degrees Kelvin (about minus-190 degrees Fahrenheit), the new device functions perfectly well at room temperature.
"Low-power, electrically controlled light sources are vital for next-generation optical systems to meet the growing energy demands of the computer industry," explained Jelena Vuckovic, associate professor of electrical engineering at Stanford.
"This moves us in that direction significantly, [because] our device is some 2,000 times more energy efficient than best devices in use today."
According to Gary Shambat, a Stanford doctoral candidate in electrical engineering, the device is actually classified as a "single-mode LED," a special type of diode that emits light more or less at a single wavelength, much like a laser.
"Traditionally, engineers have thought only lasers can communicate at high data rates and ultralow power," said Shambat.
"[Yet] our nanophotonic, single-mode LED can perform all the same tasks as lasers, but at much lower power."
Both Vuckovic and Shambat noted that nanophotonics was "key" to the technology, as the engineers inserted little islands of the light-emitting material indium arsenide, which, when pulsed with electricity, produce light.
These "quantum dots" are surrounded by photonic crystal (an array of tiny holes etched in a semiconductor) which serve as a mirror that bounces the light toward the center of the device - confining it inside the LED and forcing it to resonate at a single frequency.
"In other words, it becomes single-mode... Without these nanophotonic ingredients - the quantum dots and the photonic crystal - it is impossible to make an LED efficient, single-mode and fast all at the same time," added Vuckovic. | 2,222 | 1,165 | 0.000869 |
warc | 201704 | The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says it plans to start evaluating mobile broadband speeds in order to let customers know whether they're getting value for money.
In a similar project to its broadband speed measurement program, it plans to work with wireless carriers to give consumers detailed information about their mobile broadband performance.
The project's been credited with bringing about a substantial improvement in the accuracy of advertised broadband speeds in the year since it was launched.
"We know from experience: transparency on broadband speeds drives improvement in broadband speeds. Our ongoing Measuring Broadband America program has helped improve performance in wired broadband," says FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.
"Our new mobile broadband measurement initiative extends the program to smartphones and other wireless devices. It will empower consumers and encourage improvements in mobile networks and programs, benefiting millions of Americans."
The FCC says that major wireless carriers and CTIA-The Wireless Association have already agreed to cooperate with the project.
However, Consumer Watchdog says the plans don't go far enough. It wants phone carriers to be forced to disclose actual data speeds in their advertisements - particularly when pushing 4G services. Operators, it says, promise faster 4G services "either without actually making improvements to existing products and services or without disclosing the meaning of 'faster'."
Consumer Watchdog highlights AT&T as an offender. In a petition to the FCC, it claims that the company marketed the iPhone 4S as a faster, 4G phone, without actually improving speeds at all.
"The FCC's mobile broadband testing and measurement program does not go far enough," says Laura Antonini, Consumer Watchdog staff attorney.
"The public may finally get some reliable information on mobile broadband data speeds, but it will not prevent wireless carriers from fooling consumers with inaccurate and confusing data speed claims." | 2,036 | 983 | 0.001028 |
warc | 201704 | Coevolution-reciprocal evolutionary change in interacting species driven by natural selection-is one of the most important ecological and genetic processes organizing the earth's biodiversity: most plants and animals require coevolved interactions with other species to survive and reproduce. The Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution analyzes how the biology of species provides the raw material for long-term coevolution, evaluates how local coadaptation forms the basic module of coevolutionary change, and explores how the coevolutionary process reshapes locally coevolving interactions across the earth's constantly changing landscapes.Picking up where his influential The Coevolutionary Process left off, John N. Thompsonsynthesizes the state of a rapidly developing science that integrates approaches from evolutionary ecology, population genetics, phylogeography, systematics, evolutionary biochemistry and physiology, and molecular biology. Using models, data, and hypotheses to develop a complete conceptual framework, Thompson also draws on examples from a wide range of taxa and environments, illustrating the expanding breadth and depth of research in coevolutionary biology. | 1,185 | 639 | 0.001568 |
warc | 201704 | I’m not talking about zombie moms. I’m not talking about women trying to pull the wool over some poll worker’s eyes in order to vote in a different town. I’m not even talking about undocumented women who some worry might be sneaking into your local voting booth.
I’m talking about women who just haven’t gotten around to changing their names on their driver’s licenses because of the paperwork and time required — either because they’ve gotten married or divorced.
Most of the news covering the GOP’s efforts to keep certain groups from the polls in November focus on the elderly, college students and people of color — groups that trended Democratic in 2008 and helped elect Barack Obama to the White House. While backers of voter photo identification laws want us to think these are just reasonable efforts to protect us from voter fraud, studies show there is virtually no voter fraud in America to protect us from. And to the extent that such fraud has been found, there has been no impact on the outcome of those elections.
Soooo …. then what would be the other reason to spend so much money and time and effort to fix something that’s not broken? Just some patriots doing their damnedest to protect us by making sure that only 100% pure Americans get to cast their ballots as they worry that our country will be overrun by illegal Communist forces who don’t even take the time to vote for American Idol?
OK, I made that last part up. But the reasons so many on the conservative right give for pushing their unprecedented effort to alienate voters who have legitimate reasons for not having photo identification are as follows:
1. Everyone should have a driver’s license. Yes, that would be nice. But there are plenty of places where people don’t drive to get where they need to go. Often college students haven’t gotten around to driving even though they could. And older voters whose minds are sharp but whose reflexes have slowed down aren’t on the road anymore and don’t need to renew. Are the votes of these groups any less valid because they’re not driving? 2. Voter IDs are free. Except that they’re not. You need an official copy of your birth certificate or marriage license to get one, which costs money. If you don’t live near the places to get the back-up documentation, there’s the cost of gas or cab fare (if you live in a place that has cabs). If you live in a rural area where the only place to get the required documentation is the county seat, we’re talking about the better part of a work day to do it. Conservatives claim $20 or $30 here or there is surely not a barrier. Except for plenty of people in this country, who are legitimately entitled to vote, $20 or $30 is food money for the whole week or the cost of getting to and from work that can’t be spared for other things. 3. People who don’t get an ID are lazy and don’t deserve to vote. Maybe those actual words haven’t been uttered, but that is part of the underlying message from those who believe that only people with government-issued photo IDs should be allowed to vote in the election this November. For those who can’t see that for many people there are significant obstacles, both physically and financially, to getting a government-issued photo ID, it’s apparently morphed into the idea that if you can’t get past those barriers, you’re not deserving of exercising your constitutional right.
But let me tell you about “lazy.”
While it’s pretty easy to change your name on documents and IDs after you get married, it’s harder to switch it back. When I divorced my first husband, it took me months to find the time in my work schedule to jump through all the hoops necessary to change my name, and I even had the judge include language in my divorce decree to make that switch “easier.” I had to make sure I had official documents and notarized copies of my divorce papers, and had to go to government offices to change my Social Security card and then driver’s license. Plus I had to find the time to take off from work to do it, because the offices I needed to go to were only open during business hours. So if I couldn’t squeeze it in on a lunch hour, I had to use vacation time or get docked pay to do it. And I had my own car, as well as an employer who was willing to be flexible and understood that there would be long lines I’d have to wait in because everyone else was using their lunch hour for similar official errands. And it was still a time-consuming pain in the you-know-what.
Efforts to cut hundreds of thousands of Americans from the voter lists is anything but innocuous. And even one Pennsylvania lawmaker made it clear (in public, no less) that the main reason for advocating for stricter voter ID laws in the Keystone State — a crucial swing state — is to ensure a Mitt Romney victory. The right-wing crusade to disenfranchise as many Americans as possible isn’t about voter fraud or protecting a process. It’s to game a system by trying to convince voters that we should fear something that is virtually non-existent.
The studies that reveal there is little voter fraud also show that voter ID efforts do more to prevent eligible voters from casting ballots than to protect us from undocumented, non-citizens trying to wrest our democracy from us for their own nefarious purposes. I don’t know about you, but I’m not particularly worried about the nuns who wanted to vote but had an ID issue. Unless they were these nuns:
But this is a non-issue for women in the 21st century, right? We live in a time when fewer brides change their names when getting married. In my daughter’s school, you could make that argument, where I’d guess about half the moms I know have kept their maiden names rather than changing to their husband’s last names. But across the country, somewhere close to 90 percent of women take their spouse’s last name when they say “I do.” Factor in a divorce rate of 50% and the fact that almost one-third of eligible women voters don’t possess a government issued photo ID, and it doesn’t take a genius to do the math (or the politics) to realize what’s really going on.
Where I vote, it’s not necessary, at least for the moment, to show an approved photo ID. The poll workers ask for my name and my address and check to see if I’m registered. When I pulled out my purse to rummage for my bifocals so I could see the voting form I was signing last time, they thought I was going for my driver’s license and told me that wasn’t necessary. So, yes, it
IS possible that someone could show up at my voting location and claim to be me if they knew my full name, my full address, and the last four digits of my Social Security number. But the odds of that happening are almost as remote as winning the lottery buying one Powerball ticket.
Ladies, you shouldn’t have to worry about this, but why take a chance? If the super-conservatives are going to make a stink about this, there is time to beat them at their own game. I know it’s hard in the dog days of summer when kids are in tow and there’s not even a respite of a couple of hours of summer camp to get to the Social Security office or the DMV or the county courthouse to make sure you’ve jumped through all the hoops to have that official photo ID just in case. But if you are determined to vote in November, please don’t leave your vote to chance. You shouldn’t have to hand over a driver’s license, but you might have to. So let’s help each other out in the next couple of months when it comes to keeping an eye on each others’ kids so we can all make sure we’ve got the appropriate identification for the voting booth. Just in case. | 7,981 | 3,592 | 0.000292 |
warc | 201704 | ELECTRON MICROSCOPY FACILITY, TRINITY COLLEGE
Blocking a death receptor causes damaged myelin, the protective coating surrounding nerve cells, to repair itself, according to a study published Sunday (July 3) in
Nature Medicine. The finding suggests that drugs targeting the receptor could help treat multiple sclerosis by reversing the myelin damage characteristic of the disease.
“Showing remyelination, as they do
in vivo and in vitro, is a pretty cool result,” said Richard Ransohoff, a Cleveland Clinic neuroscientist who was not involved in the work. The new receptor is a novel first step in potentially repairing damaged nerves of multiple sclerosis patients, he said.
Current multiple sclerosis drugs slow the disease’s progression by quieting the inflammatory response of the immune system, which attacks the myelin surrounding nerve cells and kills oligodendrocytes, brain cells that make and repair myelin. Without their myelin, nerve cells gradually lose their ability to send electrical signals. But because they suppress the immune response, these drugs make patients more susceptible to rare infections such as viral brain inflammation and diseases such as leukemia.
They also cannot undo existing damage, leading scientists to seek out approaches that stimulate the growth of new myelin or the restoration of existing myelin. Though research has identified several candidate molecules that promote myelin survival, none have yet proven to do so successfully in patients.
Sha Mi, a cell biologist at the Biogen Idec, a Boston biotech company, and her colleagues were studying a multiple sclerosis drug candidate that promotes oligodendrocyte survival when they discovered that a molecule called the death receptor 6 (DR6) kills the brain cells. In 2009, the same receptor was implicated in neuronal cell death in Alzheimer’s disease, binding a precursor to the amyloid beta protein and initiating a cascade that triggers neurons to self-destruct.
To determine whether inhibiting the receptor could fuel new cell growth, the researchers first used a detergent to destroy the myelin sheaths in rat neurons, then blocked the DR6 receptor with an antibody. Sure enough, the treatment kept oligodendrocytes alive and spurred their growth and maturation, which in turn repaired the damaged myelin sheaths, Mi said.
Targeting DR6 also seemed to quiet an overactive immune response. In rats with experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), an inflammatory disease used to model multiple sclerosis, inhibiting the receptor resulted in a noticeable improvement of the rats’ symptoms. “If we are blocking DR6, we can potentially block inflammation as well as blocking cell death,” Mi said.
The findings suggest that targeting DR6 could eventually lead to new multiple sclerosis drugs that repair damaged myelin. But the anti-inflammatory effects of blocking the receptor could be a double-edged sword, because as with the current MS drugs, suppressing the immune system can have unintended consequences, said neuroscientist Bruce Trapp of the Cleveland Clinic, who did not participate in the research. “The market is filled with anti inflammatory drugs that are doing a good job,” he said. “But you cannot get too aggressive because you get very serious side effects.”
S. Mi, et. al, "Death receptor 6 negatively regulates oligodendrocyte survival, maturation, and myelination," Nature Medicine, doi:10.1038/nm.2373, 2001. | 3,496 | 1,669 | 0.000611 |
warc | 201704 | The University of Louisiana at Lafayette signed an agreement Friday with a university in the Mexican state of Tabasco, opening the door for academic and research partnerships between the two institutions focused on developing engineers for the southern Gulf of Mexico neighbors.
The partnership with the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Centla in the state of Tabasco is the first of 15 agreements UL-Lafayette will sign with the Mexican state’s major universities, said Mark Zappi, dean of the UL-Lafayette College of Engineering.
Reforms in Mexico have opened up the country’s energy fields for direct foreign investments, and both Mexican business and education officials have visited Lafayette and Louisiana to attract interest. The country’s national oil company, Pemex, is seeking investment partners and technical expertise as it plans to ramp up offshore production.
Mexican officials claim they’ll need thousands of engineers to meet demands in the country over the next five years and universities are seeking partners to help supply the workforce, Zappi said following a signing ceremony with Centla higher education officials Friday at the UL-Lafayette Alumni Center.
As part of the partnerships, undergraduate students from Tabasco will have the chance to transfer to complete their degree at UL-Lafayette. Zappi said the partnership also will enable the creation of a joint master’s program and doctoral program, and provide opportunities for Tabasco engineering faculty to advance their studies and research.
“They don’t feel they have the means to meet the capacity needs,” Zappi said. “They want to use this relationship to meet a goal of having a high percentage of their faculty achieve (doctorate) degrees.”
UL-Lafayette’s engineering program is a model for universities in Tabasco, said Ramón Antonio Rodriguez Laynes, director of the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Centla. Laynes spoke in Spanish and his comments were translated for the audience of UL-Lafayette officials and members of the media.
Laynes thanked the university for the opportunities that the partnership will provide.
“We consider education an instrument to development” in the country, Laynes said.
The Tabasco universities also hope to learn from UL-Lafayette’s existing partnerships with industry, as well as ways to diversify the state’s economy — lessons Lafayette has mastered, Zappi said.
“UL is ranked by the National Science Foundation as one of the top universities in the country for working with the energy industry. That shows our strong relationship with industry,” Zappi said. “They’re also interested in looking at our model to diversify their economy and how we’ve survived downturns in the industry and how to pick their target (industries) — like for us, it’s been information technology and health care.”
Zappi said he and other university officials will travel to Tabasco later this spring to finalize agreements with the 14 other universities, and similar agreements with schools in the neighboring coastal state of Veracruz also are planned.
Follow Marsha Sills on Twitter, @Marsha_Sills. | 3,254 | 1,476 | 0.00071 |
warc | 201704 | Although the construction of roads in rural areas of Tanzania has boosted economic opportunity, it also could increase HIV transmission, according to a report by the Tanzania Civil Engineering Contractors Association and the African Medical and Research Foundation, IRIN/
PlusNews reports. Tanzania in the 2006-2007 fiscal year plans to build more than 2,000 kilometers of roads. Roads and bridges connect villages -- which often have low HIV prevalence -- to cities -- which often have high HIV prevalence -- the report says. In addition, road construction employs "the youngest and fittest members of any community" and "harbors the very people that the epidemic targets," the report says. According to the report, highly mobile civil engineers and technical staff who live in construction sites, separated from their families and frequently bored and intoxicated, often engage in sex with local women. Because there often are more men than women in a village, women might have sex with multiple men, the report says, adding that condoms frequently are not readily available and when they are, they often have expired or have been stored incorrectly. The report urges the government to consider road construction workers as a vulnerable group to HIV transmission and make HIV prevention, treatment, care and support programs for them a priority (IRIN/ PlusNews, 9/20).
Back to other news for September 22, 2006
Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/hiv. The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Kaiser Family Foundation, by The Advisory Board Company. © 2006 by The Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. | 1,860 | 971 | 0.001038 |
warc | 201704 | In Response to Reported Case of Multi-Drug Resistant HIV in NYC, HIV Prevention Leaders Urged a Clear and Targeted Public Health Response, Increased Resources for Primary HIV Prevention and Continued Collaboration With Medical Providers
February 14, 2005
Chicago -- In response to a reported case of a multiple-drug-resistant strain of HIV recently identified in New York City, members of the Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services (UCHAPS) urged continued community, government and public health emphasis on primary HIV prevention activities and coordinated delivery of health promotion messages to communities at increased risk of acquiring or transmitting the disease. New York City is a UCHAPS member jurisdiction and leads the nation in cumulative HIV/AIDS cases, with more than 137,000 diagnosed cases of AIDS.
UCHAPS called upon state and local governments, health agencies and prevention programs to conduct a clear and targeted public health response, including increased resources for primary prevention, increased public awareness, and continued collaboration with public health and medical providers.
This reported multiple-drug-resistant strain of HIV (3-DCR HIV: three-class antiretroviral resistant HIV) highlights the need for HIV prevention programs to continue a focus on primary prevention, which works towards the reduction of high-risk sexual behaviors and substance use, among others. "It's important that the community continues to embrace HIV prevention," said Steven Walker, the UCHAPS Community Co-Chair, "this newly reported case highlights the need for more community-level interventions that seek to address and change community norms regarding HIV risk behaviors. We know that we can't address HIV prevention in a vacuum, separate and apart from the other issues that compose the complexities of life."
The co-factors that lead to risk-taking are complex and include a broad range of issues including racism, homophobia, stigma, poverty, and violence, which each must be addressed in a coordinated effort and integrated into a comprehensive health promotion program. "Those of us in health departments are committed to working with our local and national partners, including our colleagues in other highly impacted urban centers and the CDC, to develop proactive responses to this new challenge. Our commitment to the coordination of HIV prevention and AIDS care have been significantly underscored by these recent developments." said Bill Stackhouse, Ph.D., UCHAPS Governmental Co-Chair.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene developed resources to assist community groups and health departments in responding to questions about the episode, as well as increasing awareness of medical providers: www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/public/press05/pr016-05.html.
The Urban Coalition of HIV/AIDS Prevention Services (UCHAPS) is a coalition of HIV prevention leaders in six cities that collectively represent one-third of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and includes New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, and Chicago. For more information, www.uchaps.org.
Project Inform Press Statement on the New York City Department of Health Report of a "Super" Strain of HIV
This article was provided by Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services. | 3,347 | 1,577 | 0.000638 |
warc | 201704 | Last week, I attended a documentary screening on campus titled “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.” The documentary described how the DeWolf family’s wealth was founded on the slave trade. Panelists following the screening discussed research that has recently uncovered many deep connections between Harvard and slave labor. For example, Harvard Law school was established on land bequeathed from Harvard patron Isaac Royall Jr., whose family’s wealth was derived from slave plantations owned in Antigua and Surinam. Slaves also followed the children of the wealthy onto the campus and served them in the dormitories, and worked in the houses of Harvard’s presidents and faculty. Even today, many of the portraits that hang in Harvard Law School depict slave-owners.
Although slavery has been illegal for almost 150 years, the economic systems built on slave labor still exist today. In fact, one of the panelists at the event on Harvard and Slavery asserted that there are more slaves in the world today that any other time in history. The difference now is that the overt practice of slavery has been driven underground. If we view slavery in a vacuum as an antiquated practice, we miss the strong connections it has to the exploitation of labor today. Slavery is an economic system in which a class of society benefits and profits from the labor of another, while the enslaved derives no benefits. Slavery is no longer legal in the United States, but vestiges of the system that created it persist in the form of racism, sexism, and the labor struggle of today. White male privilege guarantees that a certain percentage of the population, by virtue of its color and gender, has the mark of the servant. This privilege cuts down competition and concentrates power in fewer hands. Racism and sexism are societal constructs that keep oppressed people, of all races and genders, who are exploited for their labor from uniting with each other and becoming more powerful. This struggle isn’t over yet.
Despite its massive wealth, Harvard has continued to exploit its workers throughout its history. The University has systematically tried to ensure that its workers work as hard as possible for as little compensation as possible. In the 1930s, Harvard laid off 20 janitors and replaced them all with men after the minimum wage board had ruled that the women’s pay should be increased two cents per hour. Harvard did not even guarantee its workers a living wage until the Living Wage Campaign of 2001 forced the president to negotiate with protestors. In 2009, Harvard dealt with the financial crisis by instituting mass layoffs, especially among clerical workers, which left many libraries understaffed.
This semester, the University introduced a reorganization model of shared services to the libraries, by which they propose to streamline processes and reduce staff by an unspecified percentage. Library employees who are designated as "shared services" are nolonger paid out of their local school's budget. The shared servicemodel creates service contracts, in which certain tasks that employeeshave been performing for years in circulation, technical services, andpreservation are listed, quantified and sold back to the libraries froma central administration called "Shared Services," the employees donot yet know which tasks will be assigned to them. Although a plan for library “restructuring” was announced in January, library workers still do not know how this will impact salaries and benefits for the employees who survive the staff reductions, or even how many employees the library will employ. Harvard, on the other hand, has plenty of money to handsomely compensate the employees who do the work it values most: making more money.
Unfortunately, viewing workers as commodities to be exploited can have other negative consequences for the university community. At a forum two weeks ago, workers and faculty members discussed concerns that, in addition to causing severe economic distress to loyal long term employees, the shared services model requires a standardization of procedures that will negatively impact the quality of services the libraries are able to provide. Harvard has a reputation as the greatest educational institution in the world because of the notable figures who have passed through its doors and left their mark on society. The Harvard Libraries, in their traditional form, served as an information resource that gave them access to a variety of materials that helped form a foundation for them as critical thinkers. At Harvard, the administration, the faculty, the students, and the workers are strongly dependent on each other, though these webs of interdependence are not always obvious. Continued exploitation of workers for financial gain is not only a step backward in the moral evolution of society, but it increases the likelihood that in the future Harvard’s reputation will be founded more on massive wealth than on excellence in education.
Desiree Goodwin is a Library Assistant in the Graduate School of Design Library. Recommended Articles Handlin Says Plight of Negro Today Parallels Problems of Early SlaveryThe Negro today faces a problem similar to that he encountered during the early days of slavery in this country, Star NYU History Professor PoachedNew York University (NYU) Associate Professor of History Walter Johnson—maven of 19th century history on slavery, capitalism, and imperialism—will trade Seminar Studies Slave TiesThis is the first in a two-part series. Part two runs in The Crimson tomorrow, April 25. Nearly three centuries Slavery Ties Left UnexploredWith initiatives like a new financial aid program, Harvard often start trends that ripple through higher education. But when it Hearing a Culture of SilenceFlying from the United States to West Africa and back is surprisingly easy if you’re lucky enough to have the | 5,980 | 2,841 | 0.000357 |
warc | 201704 | News ANALYSIS - In this week's news, new research by World Resources Institute (WRI), WorldFish, the World Bank, INRA and Kasetsart University shows that farmed fish and shellfish production will likely need to increase by 133 per cent between 2010 and 2050 in order to meet projected fish demand worldwide, writes Lucy Towers, TheFishSite Editor.
The study, Improving Productivity and Environmental Performance of Aquaculture, also finds that although aquaculture’s environmental impacts are likely to rise as production grows, there are a variety of actions producers can take to minimise impacts and encourage sustainable growth of the aquaculture industry.
The five approaches to sustainable aquaculture production included the need to invest in technological innovation and transfer, using spatial planning and zoning to address carrying capacity, shift incentives to reward sustainability and shifting fish consumption toward fish that are low on the food chain - species such as tilapia, catfish, carp, and bivalve molluscs.
A new $120 million shrimp and sea cucumber farm complex is to be built in Qurun,
Oman as part of a joint venture between the Arabian Marine Development, Bank Sohar and Lim Shrimp Organisation.
The farm expects to produce around 4,000 metric tons of shrimp and 2,000 metric tons of wet sea cucumber annually.
The use of shellfish and seaweed to consume waste produced by fish farms, particularly in farms attached to other ocean structures, is being researched at the University of Aberdeen,
Scotland, as a means for improving and protecting the marine environment.
Researchers are also looking at how blue mussels may protect salmon from amoebic gill disease (AGD) in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. | 1,752 | 967 | 0.001043 |
warc | 201704 | This is the latest news and information for workers and managers from across the Web universe, brought to you by Monday Morning Manager writer Harvey Schachter. Follow us on Twitter @Globe_Careers or join our Linked In group.
Entrepreneur Seth Godin says that the easier it is to use a medium, the more quickly it will become noisy and cluttered. Treat Facebook and Twitter like a cocktail party rather than a direct marketing medium – an opportunity to eavesdrop and gain connection and insight. Seth’s Blog
Before the feedback, offer some praise
Based on research with students, author Daniel Coyle says feedback to employees can be more effective by beginning with this phrase: “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.” Inc.com
If the CEO asks a question, be succinct
CEO Penny Herscher says that when you’re being interviewed for a job by the top boss, don’t answer a question with a five-minute ramble. And make sure you have a number of questions to ask the CEO, since you can’t know everything about the company. Grassy Road
Quiet settings feed employee engagement
Gallup researcher Jim Harter says studies into employee engagement show it’s important staff members have a space of their own; a noisy, distracting workplace can fuel disengagement. It’s also important that they can see the outside world. BusinessWeek.com
Tech Tip: Group multiple apps into a single window
Report Typo/Error
Harvey Schachter is a Battersea, Ont.-based writer specializing in management issues. He writes Monday Morning Manager and management book reviews for the print edition of Report on Business and an online work-life column Balance. E-mail Harvey Schachter
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warc | 201704 | 1. Remember the frenzy over subliminal advertising back in the Fifties? It seems so last century: Marketers got excited about the possibility of sending a message straight to consumers’ brains – say, flashing a brief image of popcorn in the middle of a movie – while people got upset about the idea of having, um, a message sent straight to their brains. Well, it’s back – sort of. In a recent experiment, BMW’s Munich agency Serviceplan outfitted a movie theatre with a light behind the screen which, when flashed briefly, created a ghostly, negative image of the auto maker’s logo in viewer’s heads when they closed their eyes. We’re not sure it sells cars, but we’re suddenly very hungry for popcorn.
2. This week DDB Canada brought us another sort of ghostly image. On Wednesday, the agency’s Vancouver office sent three life-sized – but faceless – sculptures of homeless people onto the streets to shock passersby into thinking about the real people their charitable donations may be assisting. “Hopefully these sculptures will prompt us to engage also in personal conversation and relationships,” said Rev. Ric Matthews, executive minister of First United Church, which sponsored the campaign. Each of the three characters in the campaign has a Facebook page, which is great for educational purposes. But if the goal is to get us to actually engage with homeless people, wouldn’t it be best if we logged off Facebook first?
3. Speaking of pain in the name of a good cause, Toronto’s Zulu Alpha Kilo announced it is diverting the money it would normally spend on end-of-year client gifts into meals for clients of a local shelter. Visitors towww.zulualphakilo.com/singingzuligans are greeted with pictures of 48 staff members; clicking each brings up a brief karaoke performance of a Christmas carol – along with a pledge by the agency to provide one more meal. The performances, we’re sorry to say, are enough to make us want to kill whoever wrote
Joy to the World, but the goal of 4,000 meals had been hit within the first day, so they’ve pledged more funds if more people submit to the pain. C’mon, what’s a little masochism in the spirit of Christmas?
4. Or, for that matter, in the name of the environment? This week Starcom MediaVest Group and the U.K. environmental consulting firm Envido launched CarbonTrack, a tool that allows agencies to monitor the environmental impact of advertising campaigns. In its announcement, Starcom claimed that, “the U.K. advertising industry is thought to produce an estimated two million tonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent of heating 364,000 U.K. homes for a year.” The tool is designed to allow a marketer to immediately evaluate the environmental effects of changing a campaign – from, say, billboards to digital – and to benchmark their campaigns against others in the industry. Which makes us think we wouldn’t mind a very green Christmas, after all.Report Typo/Error
Followon Twitter: | 3,081 | 1,593 | 0.000658 |
warc | 201704 | Hey guys, Jamin here again looking to finish up what we started yesterday by bringing you 5
more easy tips to winterize your home and save a little cash. So without further ado… 1. Insulate your water heater.
This is something most people never give much thought to, but if you are going to insulate your pipes as we talked about in yesterday’s post, taking it one step further will save you even more money.
Unless your water heater already has a high R-value of insulation (recommended R-24), it is estimated that adding insulation can possibly reduce heat loss from the tank by up to 45%. In most cases this will save you around 4%–9% in water heating costs.
2. Check the insulation in the attic. It is the easiest place to add some and can save you a bunch of money. While this might be the most expensive thing we talk about, it really can make a difference. We experienced it first hand in our veranda. When we converted it from a back porch to an indoor space by building that wall, the insulation over the ceiling was not sufficient and the variation between the temperature in that room and the rest of the house was major. Once I added a little insulation the veranda leveled out with the rest of the house and we had a consistent temperature throughout our home.
The Home Depot has a great resource for understanding insulation a little more. You can check it out here. They can help you figure out what R-value you need for your region and the best type of installation.
3. Change your light bulbs. Seriously, if you are not using CFL bulbs walk a way from the computer, drive to Home Depot, buy some and install them throughout the house. We know a lot of people are a bit anti, but be sure to check out the warm tones they are available in now, if you’re not a big fan of those ‘florescent’ tones.
These little guys use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. From the minute you turn a light on you just cut your cost by 75%. If you have kids this should be first on your list because your little boogers are probably like ours and think the light switch only goes one way, “
ON”. 4. Invest in a programmable thermostat. Not only are these guys a lot of fun, but they will save you a good deal of money, more than you will spend on one.
The biggest benefit of these is control of the thermostat when you are away from home as well as sleeping. If no one is home during the day you can save heating the house, by turning it off and then remotely turning it back on an hour before you return home. You can even save money while you sleep. Simply program the device to turn off at bedtime and turn back on an hour before the alarm goes off. Grab a few extra blankets for the bed, snuggle up and save while you sleep.
You can read even more about the benefits of one of these little guys in our previous post.
5. Don’t heat areas you are not using. If you have some space that is not used daily or at night, close it off. Shut the door and close the vent. Why waste money heating a room that is only used on the weekends or at night? By closing off the space you reduce the amount of area that is being heated and thus reduce your energy bill.
We hope these 10 easy energy saving ideas we’ve talked about this weekend will help you put a little more cash back into the bank and live a little warmer this winter. Stay safe, warm, and have an inspired day, everyone! | 3,464 | 1,682 | 0.000606 |
warc | 201704 | See if this sounds familiar. Halfway through a long expansion, industrial production levels off, after years of rapid growth. This is blamed on two factors, declining oil prices and a strong dollar. I could be describing the past year, or I could be describing 1985-86:
Notice how industrial production leveled off for a couple years, before resuming its rise:
My hunch is that the dollar was more important than oil. Tight money led to a slowdown in NGDP growth and a strong dollar. NGDP growth (year over year) slowed from 12.4% in 1984 Q1, to only 4.9% 1986 Q4. Eventually the Fed eased policy, and NGDP accelerated. The 1980s boom resumed. It actually eased a bit too much in the late 1980s, which set up the 1990-91 recession.
Does this mean that history will repeat? No. But it’s an interesting comparison.
PS. While writing this I forget that Caroline Baum made a similar observation in her book “
Just What I Said“, where she pointed out:
This isn’t the first time that a change in oil prices has been regarded as a tax increase or tax cut and anointed with the ability to help or hinder economic growth. Time-trip back to early 1986, when oil prices plunged to $10 a barrel in April from $30 at the end of 1985. This was hailed as good news – a tax cut! – for consumers, which was guaranteed to boost US economic growth.
It didn’t turn out that way. Following the plunge in oil prices, gross domestic product growth slipped to an anemic 1.7% in the second quarter of 1986 . . .
Ah, recall the days when 1.7% RGDP growth was anemic, not above trend.
Tags: | 1,609 | 897 | 0.001148 |
warc | 201704 | Produce labels are increasingly important to consumers who want easy-to-read nutrition information on everything and use suggestions for less familiar imports and specialties, according to research conducted for Yerecic Label.
This fall the New Kensington, Pa., label company sought insight from focus groups consisting of primary grocery shoppers and meal preparers who bought fresh produce within a month of the research sessions, said Rich Thoma, vice president of sales and marketing.
The objective of the focus groups was to discover why consumers try some commodities but not others and to identify visual packaging attributes that encourage purchases of unfamiliar produce. Perceptions of Yerecic’s line of LabelBling! labels were also logged.
A key finding, according to the research report, was that consumers want larger type on larger labels, as long as it doesn’t completely block the view of the produce. They also want nutrition information.
Consumers are accustomed to seeing nutritional information in the center store and are noticing it is lacking in the produce aisle, the report states. The respondents were especially drawn to commodities that presented nutrition information in a simple ‘nutrifacts’ format on the front of the label.
The impact of globalized trade came through in consumer responses about unfamiliar commodities. They also want to know more about innovations such as living lettuces and herbs.
“Many respondents described the produce section as somewhat foreign due to new products they have encountered. Respondents want to learn about these products and how to use them,” the according to the research.
Respondents also wanted recipes for familiar produce. One specifically wanted to see suggestions for broccoli and cauliflower. The focus groups said high-quality, color photos of end-use ideas are helpful.
“Respondents liked the prepared pictures versus simple pictures of the raw product because in most cases in the produce department they can see the product and would rather have an idea of what they can do with it,” according to the research report.
That response highlighted the impact of Yerecic’s LabelBling! labels, which include embossed photos, holograms and sparkle ink, according to a news release from the company. | 2,329 | 1,112 | 0.000921 |
warc | 201704 | If you have owned a home, you will probably admit that the one space that is the most neglected is your garage. Often times the garage becomes the “dump-the-junk” space where everything we don’t use inside the home ends up. Aside from the cars, garages typically store sports equipment, bicycles, motorcycles, and some even have various types of boats. Throw in tools, a workbench, yard equipment, and all those items that you just cleaned out to take to Good Will -- books, children’s toys, old dishes, furniture and clothing –and you are lucky to find anything.
What if you planned for the ideal garage plan when you build your new home? Starting with your new house plan, it is not too difficult to customize your garage space early on, discussing some upgrades with your builder. There are so many different garage plans: carports, garage loft plans, one car garages, three car spaces, RV garage plans and even a garage with an attached carport. Some people even plan ahead to create a garage space that could become a studio apartment down the road for an elderly parent. You could even build a stand-alone garage that features an upstairs apartment that is ideal for everyone from your in-laws to a college student that are home for summer vacation. Some people even accrue extra income by renting out the space.
A garage apartment like this garage plan #149-1838 with 615 sq. foot of living space, including a bedroom and bath, can serve multiple purposes. The upper floor, with a 9-foot ceiling, could also be used as a studio or home office. The bottom floor features the standard two car garage. Many people never really think through the garage space when they build a new home. The average garage size in the United States is a 400 to 480 sq. ft., two-car garage, with storage cabinets above the car port area. Standard dimensions include a garage with a minimum of 20 ft. by 24 ft. for two cars at apx. 480 square ft. but his size does not leave much room for storage or a workbench, in which case you should plan on a space that is at least thirty feet wide or more.
For instance, if you are in need of a garage workshop you want it to be versatile enough to accommodate continuously changing needs and interests of your family. Choose a flexibility plan. Today’s woodworking shop for your teenage son could morph into next year’s hobby nook for his sister. The key is to make sure the initial plan can be easily modified without any major renovations.
1) The first step is to think through your current and future lifestyle needs. Families with children who are active and into various sports will require a more efficient garage space than an empty nester couple. Look at your lifestyle now and think about what it could be in five to ten years.
2) Make sure your garage plan is architecturally complimentary to the overall house plan.
3) Think resale value. What will bring the best resale value down the road when it comes time to sell your home?
4) Analyze and visualize the space and how you want it to function. What is your priority for your garage? To park your car (a big investments)? To use as a workspace? To store seasonal items and sporting equipment? Or maybe all of the above? You can have it all if you prioritize how you want to use the space.
5) Plan head to keep the garage space organized. Keep like things in the same area. As you pull things out of the garage, keep the sporting equipment together in one spot, and the same applies for the lawn gear, tools, decorations, etc. Remember the same organization process applies when you put things back into their established areas.
Visit this page for variety of garage plans from The Plan Collection. | 3,731 | 1,827 | 0.000554 |
warc | 201704 | At issue: The U.S. Senate voted on a series of control measures last week and all failed. Despite the desire by many for tougher gun laws, crafting legislation to do so without negatively impacting the vast majority of law-abiding gun owners has proven to be an elusive task.
week the U.S. Senate voted on a series of gun control proposals. They included everything from expanded background checks to better enforcement of existing legislation to a ban on assault weapons. The proposals were the result of a bipartisan compromise among senators, and many hoped that at least some, if not all, of the measures would pass. None did.
That’s not surprising, because no matter how hard the push for new gun control legislation is, many lawmakers have a hard time getting past the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.
New calls for gun control legislation often surface following tragedies involving gun violence. The shooting of Ariz. Rep. Gabby Giffords, the Aurora, Colo., movie massacre and the Newtown, Conn., school murders all resulted in calls for tougher gun laws. None of those events, however, resulted in the passage of new legislation.
Why? Most likely because no matter what type of legislation is passed, there's no way to guarantee that a gun — or some other weapon — won't find its way into the hands of someone intent on violence. The Boston Marathon bombers used pressure cookers, nails, BBs and ball bearings – all readily available items over the counter – to inflict the horrific damage done there. In the Newtown shootings, the weapons used by the shooter were all legally obtained by his mother, who became his first victim. Is there any regulation or law that could have kept the perpetrators of those crimes from getting their hands on what they used to cause so much damage?
That doesn’t mean we should stop trying to keep dangerous items out of the hands of those who mean to use them to cause harm. The problem is, how do we do it without restricting the rights of the vast majority of gun owners who use their weapons for hunting, sport or self defense? How do we keep guns out of the hands of criminals who seem to get them regardless of what laws are in place? How do we keep weapons of any kind out of the hands of those who are determined to harm others for whatever reason?
That's the challenge, and that's why last week's legislation failed. Until we can answer those questions, the quest for meaningful gun control legislation will continue to come up empty. | 2,582 | 1,268 | 0.0008 |
warc | 201704 | Written By AdminonThursday, November 10, 2016|5:51:00 AM
Egg and Aloe Face Pack
This aloe and egg face mask is one of the best solutions to the problems with come with aging. You need one egg white and some aloe gel. Whisk the ingredients until you get a smooth and homogenous paste.
Apply this paste onto the face using a brush. Make sure you apply the mask in an upward direction, meaning from the chin up to the cheek, lifting up the skin the entire time. It will tighten on your face after a while.
Finally, take some cotton balls dipped in water and remove the mask from the face. Besides tightening the face and bringing back its natural elasticity, this mask will help you remove wrinkles, freckles, and any fine lines onto the skin.
Cucumber and Egg White
For the preparation of this face mask you will need an egg white and a chilled cucumber. Peel the cucumber first and blend it in order to create a smooth paste. Add the egg white and some lemon juice to the mixture and the face mask is ready to use.
As in the previous cause, apply the mask in an upward direction, from the chin to the cheek, lifting the skin all the time. Let it work for about 20 minutes before you wash the face thoroughly with cold water. What makes this mask so effective is its ability to tighten the sagging skin on the face.
Papaya and Rice Flour Pack
For preparing this mask you will need a piece of ripe papaya, rice flour, and some honey. Mash the papaya in a bowl first; add a tablespoon of rice flour and mix well to create a fine paste. Ultimately, add three tablespoons of honey and mix the mixture once again.
Apply the mask by massaging or tapping your face. Let it work for about 20 minutes before you rinse with lukewarm water thoroughly. What makes this mask effective is a compound called papain, naturally found in papaya, which helps prevent sagging and loosening of the skin.
Banana and Cream
The banana and cream mask is amazing for any skin issue! It uses a banana and some whipping cream only. The preparation is very easy as well and all you have to do is to mash the banana in a bowl and stir in the whipping cream. You can also squeeze a vitamin E capsule in the mixture if you want to enhance its effects.
Apply the mask onto the face and let it dry. Then, rinse the face thoroughly and pat dry it afterwards. Doing this gives a natural lifting to the skin and it rejuvenates the face which is basically one of its major benefits.
Blueberry and Honey
Blueberries are excellent in reducing the wrinkles and are well known for their ability to provide natural look of the skin. When it comes to the preparation of this mask, you will need a handful of blueberries and blend them to create a smooth paste. The honey is not added into the mask, but applied onto the face before the application of the blueberry mask.
Once you have covered your face with a layer of honey, apply the blueberry mask. Let it work for half an hour before you wash the face with lukewarm water. What makes this mask effective in tightening the skin and bringing back its glow is the presence of antioxidants. In addition, this mask will erase your lip lines, tighten the cheeks, and make your skin firmer.
Instead of going through surgical procedure, opt for an all-natural solution and use of ingredients which come right from Mother Nature. Using these masks, coupled with olive oil or any other oil rich in vitamin C will give you a youthful and wrinkle free face. It sounds amazing, doesn’t it? | 3,508 | 1,584 | 0.000636 |
warc | 201704 | NZer1 wrote:THE LIPID HYPOTHESIS Corthals believes that the primary cause of MS can be traced to transcription factors in cell nuclei that control the uptake, breakdown, and release of lipids (fats and similar compounds) throughout the body. Disruption of these proteins, known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), causes a toxic byproduct of "bad" cholesterol called oxidized LDL to form plaques on the affected tissue. The accumulation of plaque in turn triggers an immune response, which ultimately leads to scarring. This is essentially the same mechanism involved in atherosclerosis, in which PPAR failure causes plaque accumulation, immune response, and scarring in coronary arteries.
This is an interesting idea. There are some reports of an association of lipid markers with multiple sclerosis activity. For instnace:
In one report on patients on beta-interferons...
1) Higher LDL is associated with new T2 lesions
2) Higher free thyroxine is associated with enhancing lesions
3) Higher HDL is associated with deseasonalised 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23595944
There has been some association of t-cell function with lipid "rafts". For instance, one investigator reports and 7-keto cholesterol reduces the "lipid order" of the cell membrance and reduces t-cell activation.
Source: http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/ ... /imt.13.19
A cross sectional study suggests a difference in [peripheral] mononuclear cell membrane composition and EDSS functional system scores (sensory and cerebral scores)
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23449275
In MS patients, oxidized-LDL correlated with higher EDSS
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23478275
In another cross sectional study, high LDL, higher total cholesterol, and higher triglycerides were associated with higher EDSS (HDL with no effect on EDSS). T2 lesion volume was not associated with these variables. The authors speculate that there may be a link between the vascular endotheleum of the blood brain barrier and multiple sclerosis, possibly through extravasation of immune cells. They also feel that cerebral hypoperfusion may contribute.
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3228782/
Of course, Dr. Swank found a benefit of a low saturated fat diet in MS [nonrandomized/unblinded trial; possible recall bias]
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1973220
Smoking [a known cardiovascular risk factor] is also associated with worse prognosis in MS.
"In the context of autoimmunity, the various risk factors for MS are frustratingly incoherent," Corthals said. "But in the context of lipid metabolism, they make perfect sense."
This goes to far I think. I wouldn't say that the autoimmune risk factors are "incoherent." It's just that no single risk factor has great significance. The same, I would argue, is true with markers of lipid metabolism. I don't think it's really fair to asay that the association of lipid metabolism of MS "make[s] perfect sense."
The problem is that a lot of the cardiovascular risk factors are not related to multiple sclerosis, so it seems silly to create an analogy to atherosclerosis.
For instance, advanced age and male sex are not linked to MS.
Hypertension is not linked to MS
coronary artery disease to our knowledge is not strongly linked to MS.
There is evidence to suggest that there is no association of premorbid lipid intake and development of multiple sclerosis.
For instance, the massive Harvard nursing study (undoubtedly a higher quality study than any listed above) revealed no significant effect, except possibly for linolenic acid (nonsignificant)
source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11117615
The benefit of statins is also questionable, as studies have had mixed results. Check out the following if you have time:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20626428
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15145635
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19487658
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19506220
The most famous of the trials is the STAYCIS trial at UCSF (statins to prevent conversion of CIS to MS) which failed to meet its primary endpoint
Source: Waubant E, Pelletier D, Mass M, Cohen J, Kita M, Cross A, Bar-Or A, Vollmer T, Racke MK, Stüve O, Atorvastatin therapy in patients with Clinically Isolated Syndrome (CIS): the STAyCIS study. 134th Annual Meeting, American Neurological Assocation; Baltimore, MD. 2010.
The SIMCOMBIN trial (statins in MS patients on beta interferons) was also negative.
I wish that we could get some very high quality preclinical evidence about what lipid profile changes are associated with multiple sclerosis to plan interventions. I think that this is very promising.
If someone is aware of such data, please let me know. | 4,828 | 2,306 | 0.000439 |
warc | 201704 | According to the latest weather forecast, itís going to be upwards of 97 degrees today in Trenton, with heat index values approaching 105 degrees.
In short, itís going to be hot.
As well it should be, being that itís the middle of July. What, you forget it gets hot? Might snow this winter also; donít throw out your snow shovel so fast.
So as a public service, allow me to list the 20 most important things to do to stay cool. This is a ďclip and put on the fridgeĒ type of column, folks. Itís so important to not overexert yourself today. Read on and be educated.
1) If deciding today is the day to finally make your world famous chicken cordon bleu, keep your oven at a steady 140 degrees. Anything higher may cause you to pass out. Cook until the chicken is golden brown. Should be ready by January.
2) When going outside, immediately turn around and go back inside and lie down. Itís very hot out there. (We could really stop here. But why should we? Read on and be dazzled by facts about Venus and non-facts about a lot of other things.)
3) If a swimming pool is an option, by all means, start digging. Youíll either have a wonderful pool by the end of the day, or a very large burial site. Win/win, I say.
4) Stay hydrated, especially if youíre working outside as a roofer.
5) Do not, under any circumstances, scream up to a roofer and say, ďHOT ENOUGH FOR YA?Ē They are liable to toss a bucket of hot tar at your head.
6) In fact, donít ask anyone if itís ďhot enoughĒ for them. You just sound like a trite, useless excuse for a human.
7) So.
8) Hot enough for ya? Because Iím dying over here. Man alive. Itís a regular Stanley Steamer out there.
9) Also, please refrain from stating the following: ďItís not the heat, itís the humidity.Ē Because as everyone knows, itís a combination of both. See, youíve got jet streams and Arctic air masses competing with the El Nino and La Nina for every high pressure system that comes down from Louisiana, and with it seven grams of Doppler for every six ounces of sweat.
10) Under no circumstances should you go to Nassau Street in Princeton around 1 p.m. and attempt to do man-on-the-street interviews for your Fox 5 New York weekly segment that usually airs on Monday nights around 10:45 p.m. Itís just going to be too hot, and you may melt into the sidewalk. (Send Gatorade. Please. A lot of Gatorade.)
11) Note this: Itís currently about 800 degrees on the sunny side of Mercury. You donít hear the Mercurians complaining, do you? Do you? DO YOU?
12) Itís also 736 degrees on Venus. (Now Iím just Googling for fun.) And get this: In the summer, on the equator, itís about 70 degrees on Mars.
13) Mars in the summer: A delight.
14)You know what? Quit complaining. When I was your age, we had to walk uphill both ways to get ice from the ice man.
15) We lived in an M.C. Escher painting, so thatís why the uphill both ways thing. It was maddening.
16) Donít do any math today. Too taxing.
17) And reading anything above first grade level, forget it.
18) See Dick sweat. See Jane nearly pass out from heat exhaustion. See Spot pant. See Dick be like, ďJane, come on, buck up. Itís not that bad.Ē See Jane Google ďdivorce lawyer.Ē See Spot pant some more.
19) Donít, under any circumstances, buy the Summer Shandy out of the beer case. Thatís beer and lemonade concoction. Youíre better than that.
And finally,
20) Just put DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Princeís ďSummertimeĒ on repeat and go with the flow. Beats the freezing cold, anyway. | 3,728 | 1,954 | 0.000547 |
warc | 201704 | Donor advised funds, also called charitable gift funds, have been around for a long time, but they have historically been used on a limited basis.
That’s changing, however.
Many folks, including brothers Gary, Pat and Bob Myers of Seymour, find that a donor advised fund simplifies their charitable donations, giving them better control of their money and a simplified deduction for their taxes.
The brothers established a donor advised fund that honors their parents, Francis “Pat” and Dorothy M. Myers, and the family’s dedication to helping the communities that supported the family business, Kocolene Marketing. It’s the second-oldest fund at the foundation, both of which were established in 1992.
“Kocolene receives many requests for charitable donations each year from within our local county but also outside since we market in three states,” Gary Myers said. “The guidelines established by the Community Foundation help us screen the requests and ensures the true worthy causes gain the strongest consideration. The donor advised program is very flexible in that we can request grants be made from the fund to any qualifying charitable organization be they local or outside the county.”
Grants from the fund have benefited countless organizations over the years, including the Seymour Area Youth Football League, Jackson County Community Theatre and Seymour Main Street.
Giving to others was something instilled in the Myers brothers from childhood.
“My brothers and I were always raised by both our father and our mother to share our blessings and help in ways one can to make the community better,” Gary said. “If we want a quality of life, we cannot sit on the sidelines and hope someone else does all the work. We each need to pitch in and share our individual gifts and talents to make our community a great place to live, work and raise a family. Getting involved in some way is also rewarding personally. I’ve gained many friends and have such good memories from my days serving on local and state boards or committees.”
When compared to a private foundation, a donor advised fund administered through the foundation offers simplicity.
Consider these facts:
No legal or accounting fees are needed to establish the fund, although it’s always good to have a legal or financial adviser go over any proposed fund agreement.
The fund is not required to file an IRS 990-PF as private foundations must do.
Funds do not pay the 2 percent excise tax required of private foundations.
No required distributions. Private foundations must distribute at least 5 percent of assets each year.
One gift can support many charities. It all depends upon the fund adviser’s wishes in a particular year.
Because the foundation is a public charity, donations may be deductible up to 50 percent of AGI rather than the limit of 30 percent for a private foundation.
Minimal cost and no recurring fees beyond an annual management fee.
Better timing and control of your charitable giving.
Gifts may be cash, mutual funds, bonds or securities that may avoid capital gains and increase the value of the gift.
At any time your fund may be used to establish another endowed fund at the foundation, such as an administrative endowment that could benefit the future of the foundation.
Establishing a donor advised fund is simple.
An initial irrevocable gift of at least $5,000 to the foundation can establish a fund.
You name the fund and designate an adviser, which can be you or someone else you designate. This can be a great way to teach philanthropy to your children, involving them in the selection process and reviewing the impact of gifts and earnings.
The adviser makes recommendations regarding grants. All grant recipients must be valid charities, and foundation staff will do the research and confirm this before grant checks are written. This preserves the charitable nature of the fund.
You may add to the fund at any time. Ideally the fund will continue to grow with earnings from investments.
To learn more about establishing a donor advised fund and how they operate, give me a call at the foundation office, 812-523-4483. And keep in mind there are other types of funds that might better suit your giving goals, such as unrestricted funds and designated funds.
Dan Davis is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County. For information about donating opportunities with the foundation, call 812-523-4483 or send an email to president@cfjacksoncounty.org. | 4,581 | 2,128 | 0.000481 |
warc | 201704 | Reef Completeª is a concentrated (160,000 mg/L) optimized blend of ionic calcium designed to restore and maintain calcium to levels found in natural seawater without affecting pH. Calcium and carbonates are essential to all coral growth. If either becomes deficient, coral growth will cease, followed by a rapid decline in coral health. To prevent this you must provide calcium (Reef Completeª) and carbonates (Reef Builderª or Reef Carbonateª). Reef Completeª also includes magnesium and strontium in amounts proportionate to typical utilization ratios (100:5:0.1, Ca:Mg:Sr). This allows one to maintain these two important elements while maintaining calcium. DO NOT OVERDOSE: Excess calcium may enhance the loss of carbonate alkalinity. Do not directly mix with any carbonate supplement. Best if calcium & carbonate additives are added on alternate days or at least 30 minutes apart. Guaranteed Analysis (Amounts per 1 g): Calcium (Ca)(min)ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ 155.0 mg, Calcium (Ca)(max)ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ 160.0 mg, Magnesium (Mg)ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ 8.0 mg, Strontium (Sr)ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ 0.16 mg, Ingredients: Calcium Chloride, Magnesium Chloride, Strontium Chloride.
DIRECTIONS:BEGINNER: Use 1 capful (5 mL) per 80 L (20 gallons*) twice a week. Check calcium every 2 weeks and adjust dose or frequency accordingly. ADVANCED: Check calcium level, then follow dosing regimen above until calcium is adjusted to 380Ð420 mg/L. Each dose will raise calcium by about 10 mg/L. Size or frequency of dose can be adjusted, but do not exceed 25 mg/L per day. Thereafter, use as required to maintain calcium. EXPERT: After determining the calcium consumption rate, set up a continuous drip system. Use the following formula to determine how much to add to your top-off water: m=0.025vc (m=mL of product to add to top off water, v=volume of tank in gallons*, c=amount to raise calcium in mg/L). For example, if you want to raise calcium by 20 mg/L in a 50 gallon* tank, then you would add 0.025x50x20=25ÊmL into the top-off water. HINTS: If used with Reef Calciumª, it is not necessary to exceed 380
Part #: ASM338 Item Name: Reef Complete 2 Liter ID: 6922-pid | 2,476 | 1,188 | 0.000975 |
warc | 201704 | Since early this year, the Twin Cities housing market has been making strong gains towards a level of what I call “peak inventory.” What I’m describing as peak inventory is the point where we see the number of houses for sale today at a level lower than last year. Well, we officially hit that in the weekly market report dated 5/5/2008 and are continuing that trend the last two weeks as well.
What does this mean? There’s approximately 600
homes for sale today than there was a year ago and if current trends continue as they have for the last few months, we could be down more than 1000 listings by early June. At the same time, fewer Pending Salesare still averaging approximately 12% behindlast year’s numbers, meaning that while supply is down slightly, average market times are still 16.7% higher.
What do I like about this data? Well, even though market times year over year are still higher, if we continue to reduce inventory at the clip we have the most recent months, we will find market times start to fall as well. Yes, this could be some time in coming, but market times can only fall if there’s a huge surge in demand or a significant drop in supply. While most agents would say they’d rather see more sales, I’m perfectly happy to accept dropping supply… what we’re looking for is balance to come to this market as quickly as possible… there seems to be a lot of people “waiting to see what happens” before they decide to do anything.
While this is a good sign, it will be MONTHS before this trend of falling year-over-year inventory makes any significant difference. The next good sign would be when Days on Market year-over-year begins to fall as well, as this would demonstrate that the market is truly absorbing the inventory faster than it is accumulating. | 1,849 | 950 | 0.001095 |
warc | 201704 | Reconstruction of molecular network from cellular big data Global landscape of metabolic regulation by insulin
Graduate School of Science / Faculty of Science
2014/08/20
The cell comprises molecules with a variety of physical properties: DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites. A group of molecules with similar physical properties is called an ‘omic layer’. A variety of cellular functions are realized by intracellular molecular networks that connect multiple omic layers. However, the molecular networks between omic layers remain largely unknown.
Katsuyuki Yugi, Hiroyuki Kubota, and Shinya Kuroda (Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo) have developed a methodology named ‘trans-omic’ analysis that enables researchers to reconstruct the entire molecular network across two omic layers that include protein phosphorylation and metabolites. This project was performed in collaboration with Tomoyoshi Soga and Kazutaka Ikeda (Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University), Keiichi I. Nakayama and Masaki Matsumoto (Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University), Hiroaki Miki and Yosuke Funato (Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University). The research group applied trans-omic analysis to metabolic regulation by insulin, dosing rat liver cells with insulin to gather information (big data) about the relationship between protein phosphorylation and metabolites. This big data analysis described the global landscape of metabolic regulation by insulin that could have been only guessed at from a patchwork of partial knowledge.
Further detailed analysis of the reconstructed network of metabolic regulation by insulin may potentially provide novel mechanisms of controlling blood glucose level. In fact, the research group discovered an important blood-sugar regulation network that functions only in the liver. Trans-omic analysis, which is established in this study, is a methodology that is applicable to reconstruction of molecular networks underlying numerous biological functions, not only the metabolic regulation by insulin. Identification of intracellular molecular networks allows not only elucidating the mechanisms of biological functions and diseases but also controlling them. Thus, future developments of trans-omic analysis may facilitate reconstruction of the molecular networks specifically activated in disease model mice, which could serve as a navigation system to search for novel biomarkers and drug targets.
Press release (Japanese)
Paper
Katsuyuki Yugi, Hiroyuki Kubota, Yu Toyoshima, Rei Noguchi, Kentaro Kawata, Yasunori Komori, Shinsuke Uda, Katsuyuki Kunida, Yoko Tomizawa, Yosuke Funato, Hiroaki Miki, Masaki Matsumoto, Keiichi I. Nakayama, Kasumi Kashikura, Keiko Endo, Kazutaka Ikeda,Tomoyoshi Soga and Shinya Kuroda,
“Reconstruction of insulin signal flow from phosphoproteome and metabolome data”, Cell Reports Online Edition: 2014/August/15 (Japan time), doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.07.021. Article link (publication, UTokyo Repository) | 3,089 | 1,410 | 0.000719 |
warc | 201704 | Written by
Anthony Moujaes
The campaign to get churches involved in the fight against childhood obesity is picking up steam heading into 2013, with a little help from New Year’s resolutions. Barbara Baylor, the United Church of Christ’s minister for health care justice, wants to see children get or remain active by starting 2013 with achievable, fun goals that encourage health on a variety of levels.
“Usually you say you want to lose 10 pounds,” Baylor said. “Think about broadening the goal beyond physical health. You have to be healthy on a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social level. They all come together. If you feel good about yourself spiritually, it impacts your physical health.”
The United Church of Christ is helping children fight childhood obesity through a partnership with the White House in a nationwide initiative, the Campaign for Healthy Kids, started by first lady Michelle Obama.
The UCC and other mainline denominations are working with the Campaign for Health Kids project (CHK) and Faith United to End Childhood Obesity to assist the first lady expand grassroots participation in the Let’s Move! initiative. The UCC was one of the first faith groups to join the national movement two years ago, an effort to end childhood obesity and increase awareness among adults about diseases (diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and cancer, for example) associated with weight gain.
The White House is concentrating on seven states, (Ohio, Colorado, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and Wisconsin) organizing participation of 1,000 faith leaders from a number of faith congregations, including the UCC. Those leaders are charged with promoting nutrition and physical activity to get kids to understand and embrace a healthy lifestyle.
Baylor says UCC churches in Wisconsin, Colorado and Ohio have had “great participation” in the program and she’s working with conference ministers to arrange and encourage UCC participation at future Let’s Move! events.
Baylor says there are also ways congregations can encourage healthy lifestyles. “What is it in a congregation that helps keep people well?” she asks. “Churches can keep in mind to have more people walking and being mindful of their health in their lives.”
Childhood obesity rates in America have tripled in the last three decades, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. The numbers are higher in African American and Hispanic communities, and if the problem isn’t addressed, one-third of all children born after 2000 will likely develop diabetes.
To sign on as a Let’s Move Faith Community and make 2013 a healthier year for children, visit the UCC’s Let’s Move website. Registrants should list ‘United Church of Christ’ as the denomination, and enter ‘Faith United to End Childhood Obesity’ in the comments section.
A Let’s Move toolkit is also available for download. | 3,041 | 1,467 | 0.000713 |
warc | 201704 | Bucksbaum Institute’s Second Annual Symposium Friday
April 25, 2013
Jerome Lowenstein, MD, founder and director of the Program for Humanistic Aspects of Medical Education at New York University, will be the keynote speaker at the Bucksbaum Institute of Clinical Excellence’s second annual symposium on Friday, April 26.
Lowenstein’s address, titled “Shifting Paradigms: The Oldest Art Became the Youngest Science,” will discuss the importance of maintaining humanistic thinking in an increasingly complex science-based medicine. The symposium also will highlight work by the institute’s scholars and underscore its ongoing commitment to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and enhance communication and decision-making through research and education.
A distinguished physician-scientist as well as an accomplished medical humanist and prolific author, Lowenstein started New York University’s program in 1979. His goal was to encourage medical students to examine their clinical experiences at a time when education was increasingly focused on the extraordinary achievements of the past 50 years.
“Our keynote speakers are distinguished physicians who have made major contributions in the areas of doctor-patient relationship, improving patient care and bringing humanism to medical practice,” said Mark Siegler, MD, the Lindy Bergman Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and executive director of the Bucksbaum Institute.
Following Lowenstein will be Arnold Gold, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics and neurology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and founder of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which seeks to place people and relationships at the center of every health care interaction and to improve patient care and outcomes by training doctors in the “habit of humanism.”
The afternoon event also includes research presentations from the Bucksbaum Institute’s faculty and students scholars, including Ross Milner, MD, Bucksbaum’s inaugural Master Clinician. Bucksbaum announced earlier this month that Michael Bishop, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program, will be the institute’s second Master Clinician, joining Milner.
The winners and runners-up in the 2012/2013 Pritzker Poetry Contest -- Lindsay Poston (MS1), Gini Fleming, MD, Julia Mosqueda and Sandra Shi (MS3) -- will read their poems during the program.
Presentations by the Bucksbaum’s scholars include:
“Potential Roles for the Master Clinicians and Senior Faculty Scholars in the Bucksbaum Institute,” Ross Milner, MD (Department of Surgery) “Engineering Patient-Oriented Clinic Handoffs (EPOCH),” Amber Pincavage, MD (Department of Medicine) “Endometrial Cancer Survivorship: A qualitative approach to understanding healthy lifestyle change in African American endometrial cancer survivors and their support network,” Nita Lee, MD (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) “Operationalizing the Virtues for Good Doctor-Patient Relationships,” John Yoon, MD (Department of Medicine) “Psychiatric Disorders, High-Risk Behaviors, and Chronicity of Homelessness in Chicago Youth,” Anne Lauer, MS2 (Pritzker School of Medicine) “Prognostication in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit,” Elizabeth Rhinesmith, MS2 (Pritzker School of Medicine) “Shared Decision-Making Preferences and Behaviors Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Patients with Diabetes,” Robert Sanchez, MS2 (Pritzker School of Medicine)
The program wraps up with an advisory board panel discussion featuring:
Jordan Cohen, MD, professor of medicine and public health, George Washington University, and president emeritus of the American Association of Medical Colleges Laura Roberts, MD, chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford University Arthur Rubenstein, professor of medicine, former dean and EVP for the Health System (2001-11), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
The symposium will be held 12:30 to 5 p.m. in Room 115, Biological Sciences Learning Center, 924 E 57th St. RSVP online or for questions please call (773) 702-3247.
The University of Chicago Medicine Communications 950 E. 61st Street, Third Floor Chicago, IL 60637 Phone (773) 702-0025 Fax (773) 702-3171 | 4,415 | 2,092 | 0.000496 |
warc | 201704 | There are two types of non-invasive technical analysis which, using Xe gamma radiations, provide information on the chemical composition of pigments. These are x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) together with PIGE.
XRF picks up information on the heavier materials; PIXE and PIGE on lighter materials. PIGE introduces gamma detectors as a way to regain the clarity of analysis lost by the interference of varnish present on the top layer of a painting.
Under PIXE and PIGE examination, the following interesting points were revealed:
· The use of an ink-like substance was detected in the brown rocky areas of the painting. This suggests a very unusual approach that is quite in keeping with Leonardo’s experimental nature.
· The high presence of iron in the pigment on the area around the Madonna’s knee suggests that the possible indication of a basket in the underdrawing may actually have been partially painted, thereby raising it above the status of mere underdrawing. The surface colour of the painting in this area is covered in blue. (Iron is not associated with blue pigment, except in modern pigments such as Prussian blue, which was not available when Leonardo was painting.) · The abundance of lead white suggests that, even under close analysis, it may actually have been part of the original preparation for the painting and not a result of the transfer process. This was a truly innovative approach for the time. | 1,492 | 785 | 0.001301 |
warc | 201704 | Sports help prevent drug abuse
2 April 2008 - More than 2,000 young people, aged 15-29, recently gathered at a youth conference in Brazil's capital, Brasilia. For the first time in this region, youngsters discussed youth-related issues and proposed policies. Drugs and violence were among the participants´ top priorities. UNODC Brazil partnered with the Global Sport Fund to promote drug abuse prevention and to gather ideas for future youth-related regional and national policies.
"It is a unique democratic experience to listen and learn from the youngsters´ demands," said the Federal District's Sub-Secretary for Youth, Luciano Lima. "This is particularly relevant for a country that went through more than 20 years of dictatorship during which youngsters lacked freedom of expression and were denied basic human rights," added Governor Jose Roberto Arruda.
Besides the Federal District of Brasilia, 26 other states are holding local conferences where young delegates are elected to represent the states at the National Youth Conference to be held in late April 2008. According to the National Youth Secretary, Beto Cury, two thirds of the states have already held their events with over 300,000 participants. Brazil has more than 50 million youth aged 15-29.
UNODC helped coordinate a group of 50 youngsters who discussed problems related to violence and drugs. "There is a distinct lack of programmes that use sports and culture as a means to prevent drug abuse and violence," the group said in a statement. "Kids have to keep their minds and bodies busy in order to prevent problems with drugs and crime," they added.
"The family also needs to be factored into social policies for drug abuse and violence prevention." One of the group's suggested proposals was to increase extra-curricular activities that include the family, focusing on drug abuse prevention through sports and culture.
The group s tressed that authorities often perpetrate violence against youngsters from low-income backgrounds. "I lived on the streets and was dependent on crack. At rehab, the people who should have helped me overcome my problem beat me up. I ran away. Policemen also beat up kids living on the street," said 18-year old Wilson Fonseca, who has overcome his drug dependency and is now an active member of an NGO for youngsters living on the streets. To counter this problem, the group proposed increasing awareness on human rights amongst the youth, and disseminating contacts of state-related agencies and toll-free numbers to denounce crimes. The group stressed the importance of training authorities and encouraging colleagues to report abuses.
Participants also discussed such topics as sexuality, diversity, education, media, environment, democracy and employment. Proposals emerging from the event will be discussed at the National Conference and will support the development of a National Plan for the Youth.
A total of 15 delegates were elected by participants to represent the Federal District. Among them are representatives from special needs groups, youth living on the street, scouts, freemasonry, lesbian gay bisexual and transgender person (LGBT) movements, student unions, and political parties. | 3,240 | 1,584 | 0.000638 |
warc | 201704 | By Military Health System Communications Staff
The Defense Department is grappling with many complex decisions as they transform a post-war military force. One of the more immediate actions the department is undertaking to shape the future is to establish a Defense Health Agency – an organization that will stand up on Oct. 1, 2013.
The fundamental responsibility of the new agency is to better integrate healthcare delivery among Army, Navy and Air Force health operations along with the vast network of private-sector health providers who supplement military hospitals and clinics. Working closely with the Service Medical Departments, the agency will establish more common clinical and business processes across the system. This includes greater joint purchasing of medical supplies and equipment, greater integration and oversight of health technology systems and services, and approaches to customer service that improve access to online and telephone support. Maj. Gen. Douglas Robb, DO, has been named the head of the new agency, and he will be promoted to lieutenant general prior to taking the helm.
The military health system is one of the largest and most complex health systems in the world. It provides combat casualty care on the battlefield; routine health and dental services to servicemembers, their families and military retirees at home; public health services on a global scale; a comprehensive education and training system that features a military medical university, as well as a joint medical education and training center; and a medical research and development program that provides cutting-edge insight into some of the most vexing medical challenges encountered around the world.
With 56 hospitals, hundreds of clinics, 160,000 employees and worldwide private-sector healthcare networks to supplement the military delivery system – the military health system encapsulates a budget that now exceeds $50 billion a year.
Similar to the civilian sector, healthcare costs have increased within DoD at a faster rate than general inflation. Military health costs have more than doubled in the past decade, increasing from $19 billion in 2001 to $51 billion this year, and health costs now account for more than 10% of the department’s budget. Left unaddressed, that figure is expected to grow, with the cost reaching $77 billion by 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
While these resource investments have helped produce some exceptional results on the battlefield, leaders acknowledge there are opportunities to streamline services in a way that benefits everyone. “There was evolving pressure on how to reorganize the military health system to continue to provide superior health services on the battlefield and, at the same time, be more efficient,” said Allen Middleton, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs who has overseen the stand-up of the new agency, and will serve as acting deputy director of the Defense Health Agency. “We think there’s a huge opportunity here for us to move forward on all of our strategic objectives – improve readiness, improve quality and save money.”
“Each Medical Department certainly brings incredible expertise to both the clinical and business side of our enterprise. And we need to preserve that expertise, and strengthen the manner by which we share information across our system. The Defense Health Agency is going to help us do that,” Middleton said.
“But, there is also redundancy that we don’t need. Our headquarters have much more in common than not,” Middleton said. “Just to cite a few examples, each has an operation that oversees pharmacy programs; each Military Department operates their own public health office. Over the last nine months, we have been diving deeply into each of these organizations and determining what can benefit from consolidation and what needs to be preserved within each Service.”
“It’s been a fully collaborative process – the Services and OSD are in synch on this approach,” added Middleton. “In many ways, our people in the field are pushing us to become even more joint. They see the value that can be gained from working even more closely together.”
A central operating principle of the Defense Health Agency is to establish a “shared services” model for delivering support services. The idea is that common services can be organized under one roof, providing the opportunity for both improved service and reduced cost. To start, the Defense Health Agency will assume responsibility for health information technology, medical logistics, pharmacy operations and facilities planning.
In addition, the agency will manage the TRICARE health plan for the military’s 9.6 million beneficiaries. TRICARE Management Activity, which currently oversees the health plan, will be dissolved, and its staff of 800 will be absorbed into the new agency. Another 500 or so Army, Navy and Air Force staff – mostly IT professionals – also will move to the Defense Health Agency.
By Oct. 1, 2015, the agency also will oversee contracting, medical education and training, public health, resource management, and medical research and development as shared services in addition to its initial areas of responsibility. And new ones may be added over time, Middleton said. | 5,434 | 2,459 | 0.000418 |
warc | 201704 | Chris Weider
Ken Weiss
Distributed searching tools have proliferated in the absence of any standards for query syntax or resource discovery. As a result users must become familiar with both the contents and query rules for interacting with a variety of search engines. While there is some commonality provided by the general adoption of HTTP/HTML for managing the interaction with the user, this does not extend to the user interface itself.
URNs provide some of the framework for handling the resource identification aspects of this problem, but no architecture now exists to implement URNs across a broad spectrum of networked servers. A few projects have attempted to address the problem of mapping a standard query syntax into multiple information servers, but generally only within a single protocol (for example, Willow and Z39.50). There is some work going on at Berkeley as part of the digital library initiative there to generically map queries into servers, but the work is still in its infancy.
An architecture incorporating client query proxies can address many of the problems inherent in a distributed network of search engines. The query proxy can use HTTP/HTML to communicate with the user. Each user registers with the proxy server and provides information on his/her query syntax preferences. The preferences are stored on the query proxy, and discarded after a preset period of inactivity. When the user issues a query, the syntax is based on that user's preferences. The query submission also includes the server to search. The proxy then launches a process that contacts the server, downloads (and optionally caches locally) that server's query syntax, performs mapping from the user's syntax to the server's syntax, and issues the query. Query results are returned to the proxy, and passed back to the user. A block diagram of the architecture is available separately.
This approach requires the definition of a protocol for proxy-to-server communication, and standards for the definition of preferred query syntax. Ideally this would be handled similarly to Whois++, where the server can be queried for its templates and help files. However, in the short term it should be possible to agree on a port that will dump the necessary configuration information in a predefined format in response to a telnet connection from the query proxy.
To ease the problem of hand-coding the client query proxy with the
query capabilities of the target server, it should be quite possible to
add a function to search servers to describe, in a common vocabulary, the
search and query capabilities of the server, to make the collection of
this information feasible for machines. This dovetails nicely with the
ideas described in our second position paper on
indexing
proxies. | 2,794 | 1,334 | 0.000754 |
warc | 201704 | Home Environmental Label "Blue Angel" | wallcover.com Environmental Label "Blue Angel" |
WALLCOVER
In 1978, the Environmental Label “Blue Angel” was developed through the initiative of the Federal Minister of the Interior and by the decision of the Minister of the environment of the Federal and State Governments to identify products and manufacturers of particularly environmentally friendly products.
Thus the Label “Blue Angel” is the first and oldest mark that characterizes companies being particularly commuted to environmental protection. The Blue Angel label is awarded mainly to manufacturers which thus may label their environmentally friendly manufactured goods and products on a voluntary basis.
This labeling offers to the consumer better insights to which products were produced in an environmentally friendly manner and can thus support the ecology-minded consumption. So far, about 11,500 products and services doe bear the Blue Angel label. About 90 categories of goods are checked – whereas food is excluded.
Wallpaper that has been granted the Blue Angel label is produced particularly environmentally friendly, because it does mostly consist of recycled waste paper. By using recycled raw materials, natural resources are saved and pollution resulting from the pulp production is reduced. Particularly, the production of paper is a water polluting and energy consuming sector, which must be actively supported. The origin of wood used for the used primary fibers must be proved for this kind of wallpaper. The trees have to originate from forests managed according to the principles of ongoing forestry. These forest enterprises should ideally operate according to high social and ecological standards and should be adequately certified. Here, trees of local forest enterprises are preferred as transportation distances are environmentally beneficial.
But also in respect of health, wallpaper with the Blue Angel Label is recommended, since the requirements for the composition of this kind of wallpaper are very high. Among other things, this wallpaper is checked thoroughly referring to heavy metals (here a certain limit must not be exceeded) and other pollutants. The variety of waste paper being used is checked regularly and it is paid attention that they contain very little formaldehyde. Production process does use very less bleachers, whereupon halogenated bleaching chemicals, chlorine and biologically persistent complexing substances are completely forbidden. Also the use of dying, finishing and coating materials is subject to exact basis of requirements, which are checked carefully. For production and finishing of this kind of wallpaper, no optical brighteners are allowed.
In environmental option, woodchip wallpaper is particularly recommendable. Because this kind of wallpaper is extremely breathable, it is especially suitable for a healthy room climate.
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warc | 201704 | Banks and Energy Companies Rig Currency Markets
But the banks not only shared confidential information with
each other … they also shared it with a giant oil company.
Bloomberg reports this week:
With revenue of almost $400 billion last year and operations in about 80 countries, BP trades large quantities of currency each day. Traders at the company regularly received valuable information from counterparts at some of the world’s biggest banks — including
tips about forthcoming trades, details of confidential client business and discussions of stop-losses, the trigger points for a flurry of buying or selling— according to four traders with direct knowledge of the practice.
***
“The Cartel” that was set up by Usher [the former JPMorgan Chase trader at the center of a global investigation into corruption in the foreign-exchange market] and included dealers at JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc. (C), Barclays Plc and UBS Group AG. (UBSN)
The information offered an
insight into currency moves minutes, sometimes hours before they happened.
***
Usher participated in at least one chat room with [Andrew White, a currency trader at oil company BP].
***
In the clubby, lightly regulated world of foreign exchange,
traders passed around tips to their circle of trusted contacts like candy. The victims: mutual-fund investors, pensioners and day traders who took the other side of a transactionat a lower price than they would have if they had the same information.
***
Within hours of regulators announcing probes, the chats between BP and the banks were shut down, people with knowledge of the matter said. Soon after, a compliance officer was placed on the desk for the first time, one of them said.
***
[BP’s] trading unit’s primary role is to manage the firm’s exposure to financial risks, including fluctuations in interest rates and foreign exchange, according to the company’s website. Unlike at most corporations, it also is run as a profit center, which means that in addition to hedging risks, traders can place their own bets on the direction of markets.
***
In an undated message seen by Bloomberg News, a trader at a bank told BP he would be buying U.S. dollars against Australian dollars at the WM/Reuters fix at 4 p.m. in London, the one-minute window during which traders around the world exchange billions of dollars of currency on behalf of pension funds and asset managers. The message was received at BP about 30 minutes before the fix.
By tipping his hand, the sender was telling BP about a potential fall in the Australian currency.
At about 3 p.m. in London on a different afternoon,
BP traders were informed that banks were selling dollars against the yen at 4 p.m. In a third message, this one arriving as the oil company’s traders drank their first coffee of the morning, a trader at a bank said he had just sold a quantity of an emerging-market currency, to whom and the price he received.
The four banks in the Cartel controlled about 45 percent of the global spot-currency market, according to a survey by Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc, so information about their plans was valuable. Some days they
worked together to push around the 4 p.m. fix, settlements with the banks show.
***
Sometimes they also
agreed to work together to push exchange rates around to boost their profits–- something they called “double-teaming.”
The collateral damage of their actions and those of other traders was the $30 trillion held in investment funds around the world whose daily value is calculated based on the 4 p.m. WM/Reuters benchmark. Passive funds managing $3 trillion transact at the fix, so their investors lost or gained depending on how much the rates were manipulated.
Derivatives Are Manipulated
Reuters noted in September:
A Manhattan federal judge said on Thursday that investors may pursue a lawsuit accusing 12 major banks of violating antitrust law by
fixing prices and restraining competition in the roughly $21 trillion market for credit default swaps.
***
“The complaint provides a chronology of behavior that would probably not result from chance, coincidence, independent responses to common stimuli, or mere interdependence,” [Judge] Cote said.
The defendants include
Bank of America Corp, Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Citigroup Inc , Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG , Goldman Sachs Group Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc , JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS AG.
Other defendants are the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and Markit Ltd, which provides credit derivative pricing services.
***
U.S. and European regulators have probed potential anticompetitive activity in CDS. In July 2013, the European Commission accused many of the defendants of colluding to block new CDS exchanges from entering the market.
***
“The financial crisis hardly explains the alleged secret meetings and coordinated actions,” the judge wrote. “Nor does it explain why ISDA and Markit simultaneously reversed course.”
In other words, the big banks are continuing to fix prices for CDS in secret meetings … and have torpedoed the more open and transparent CDS exchanges that Congress mandated.
And today, the managing director at Graham Fisher & Co. (Joshua Rosner) said that the big banks are frontrunning CDS trades … and manipulating decisions on whether a the party “insured” by CDS has defaulted on its obligations, thus triggering an “event” requiring payment on the CDS.
By way of analogy, whether or not an insurance company pays to rebuild a house which has burned to the ground may turn on whether it finds the fire was arson or accidental.
This is a
big deal … while hundreds of thousands of dollars might be at stake in the home fire example, many tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars ride on whether or not a country like Greece is determined to have suffered a CDS-triggering event.
Rosner notes:
The potential use of CDS to artificially manipulate corporate solvency, the imbalances in the amounts of CDS outstanding relative to referenced debt and ongoing allegations that ISDA’s Determinations Committee is deeply conflicted and “operates as a
quasi-Star Chamber or cartel”, are finally being scrutinized.
As one source recently suggested, “It would be a surprise if determinations of default, made by a committee of interested parties, don’t lead to findings of manipulation similar to those found in LIBOR and FOREX”.
***
The fact that Pimco’s Chief Investment Officer criticized the determination that Greece had not triggered its CDS, even though Pimco was part of the unanimous vote making that determination, is profoundly troubling to say the least.
***
The fact that the [ISDA’s Determinations Committees] has no obligation to “research, investigate, supplement or verify the accuracy of information on which a determination is based” and members “may have an inherent conflict of interest in the outcome of any determinations” only
adds credence to suggestions that the “CDS market is being manipulated and gerrymandered by the all-powerful investment banks”. Energy Prices Manipulated
Energy markets are manipulated as well …
For example, oil prices have been manipulated for many years.
And the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says that JP Morgan has massively manipulated energy markets in California and the Midwest, obtaining tens of millions of dollars in overpayments from grid operators between September 2010 and June 2011.
And Pulitzer prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston noted in May that Wall Street is trying to launch Enron 2.0.
Commodities Are Manipulated
The big banks and government agencies have been conspiring to manipulate commodities prices for decades.
The big banks are taking over important aspects of the
physical economy – including uranium mining, petroleum products, aluminum, ownership and operation of airports, toll roads, ports, and electricity – to manipulate market prices. Gold and Silver Are Manipulated
Last month, Switzerland’s financial regulator (FINMA) found “serious misconduct” and a “clear attempt to manipulate precious metals benchmarks” by UBS employees in precious metals trading, particularly with silver.
Reuters reports:
Swiss regulator FINMA said on Wednesday that it found a
“clear attempt” to manipulate precious metals benchmarksduring its investigation into precious metals and foreign exchange trading at UBS …
Gold and silver prices have been “fixed” in daily conference calls by the powers-that-be.
Bloomberg reported last year:
It is the participating banks themselves that administer the gold and silver benchmarks.
So are prices being manipulated? Let’s take a look at the evidence. In his book “The Gold Cartel,” commodity analyst Dimitri Speck combines minute-by-minute data from most of 1993 through 2012 to show how gold prices move on an average day (see attached charts). He finds that the spot price of gold tends to drop sharply around the London evening fixing (10 a.m. New York time). A similar, if less pronounced, drop in price occurs around the London morning fixing. The same daily declines can be seen in silver prices from 1998 through 2012.
For both commodities there were, on average, no comparable price changes at any other time of the day. These patterns are consistent with manipulation in both markets.
Interest Rates Are Manipulated
Bloomberg reported in January:
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc was ordered to pay $50 million by a federal judge in Connecticut over claims that it rigged the London interbank offered rate.
RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in April pleaded guilty to wire frauda s part of a settlement of more than $600 million with U.S and U.K. regulators over Libor manipulation, according to court filings. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in New Haventoday sentenced the Tokyo-based unit of RBS, Britain’s biggest publicly owned lender, to pay the agreed-upon fine, according to a Justice Department statement.
Global investigations into banks’ attempts to manipulate the benchmarks for profit have led to fines and settlements for lenders including RBS, Barclays Plc, UBS AG and Rabobank Groep.
RBS was among six companies fined a record 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) by the European Union last month for rigging interest rates linked to Libor. The combined fines for manipulating yen Libor and Euribor, the benchmark money-market rate for the euro, are the largest-ever EU cartel penalties.
Global fines for rate-rigging have reached $6 billion since June 2012 as authorities around the world probe whether traders worked together to fix Libor, meant to reflect the interest rate at which banks lend to each other, to benefit their own trading positions.
To put the Libor interest rate scandal in perspective:
The big banks have conspired for years to rig interest rates … upon which $800 trillion in assets are pegged Local governments got ripped off bigtime by the Libor manipulation Even though RBS and a handful of other banks have been fined for interest rate manipulation, Libor is stillbeing manipulated. No wonder … the fines are pocket change – the cost of doing business – for the big banks Everything Can Be Manipulated through High-Frequency Trading Manipulating Numerous Markets In Myriad Ways
The big banks and other giants manipulate numerous markets in myriad ways, for example:
Shaving money off of virtually every pension transaction they handled over the course of decades, stealing collectively billions of dollars from pensions worldwide. Details here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here Charging “storage fees” to store gold bullion … without even buying or storing any gold . And raiding allocated gold accounts Committing massive and pervasive fraud both when they initiated mortgage loans and when they foreclosed on them (and see this) Pledging the mortgage same times to multiple buyers. See this, this, this, this and this. This would be like selling your car, and collecting money from 10 different buyers for the same car different Cheating homeowners by gaming laws meant to protect people from unfair foreclosure Pushing investments which they knew were terrible, and then betting against the same investments to make money for themselves. See this, this, this, this and this Engaging in unlawful “frontrunning” to manipulate markets. See this, this, this, this, this and this Participating in various Ponzi schemes Charging veterans unlawful mortgage fees The Big Picture
Why? Because the system is rigged to allow the big banks to commit continuous and massive fraud, and then to pay small fines as the “cost of doing business”. As Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz noted years ago:
“The system is set so that even if you’re caught,
the penalty is just a small number relative to what you walk home with. The fine is just a cost of doing business. It’s like a parking fine. Sometimes you make a decision to park knowing that you might get a fine because going around the corner to the parking lot takes you too much time.”
Indeed, Reuters pointed out recently:
Switzerland’s regulator FINMA ordered UBS, the country’s biggest bank, to pay 134 million francs ($139 million) after it found serious misconduct in both foreign exchange and precious metals trading. It also
capped bonuses for dealers in both units at twice their basic salary for two years.
Capping bonuses at twice base salary? That’s not a punishment … it’s an
incentive.
Experts say that we have to prosecute fraud or else the economy won’t ever really stabilize.
But the government is doing the exact opposite. Indeed, the Justice Department has announced it will go easy on big banks, and always settles prosecutions for pennies on the dollar (a form of stealth bailout. It is also arguably one of the main causes of the double dip in housing. And there is no change in the air.)
“
The banks have been allowed to investigate themselves,”one source familiar with the investigation told Reuters. “The investigated decide what they want to investigate, what they admit to, and how much they will pay.
And they will keep on doing so until the Department of Justice grows a pair.
The criminality and blatant manipulation will grow and spread and metastasize – taking over and killing off more and more of the economy – until Wall Street executives are finally thrown in jail.
It’s that simple … | 14,906 | 6,708 | 0.000155 |
warc | 201704 | Studies have shown that mobile devices are influencing points of purchase for consumers more and more, while shopping online or in-store. During the 2011 holiday shopping season, 41% of consumers made purchases directly on their smartphones, 46% noted that they picked out their item on their smartphone, and completed the purchase in-store, and 37% said they researched their item on their phone, and bought it online. In light of this evolving form of business, a new survey commissioned by MasterCard has shown that consumers generally demand a more simple shopping experience, mainly when it comes to checkout.
The survey of over 2,000 U.S. consumers was conducted by Harris Interactive, and reports that the main concerns of shoppers are as follows:
U.S. consumers identified “entering payment, billing and shipping information” as one of the main pain points of the online shopping experience, topped only by not knowing how an item fits or looks in-person.
Almost three-in-five (58%) of online shoppers indicated they would prefer one place where their account information can be safely stored and easily accessed to simplify the online check-out experience, no matter where they are shopping online.
Among Americans who shop online, whether from a computer or mobile device, nearly one out of every four acknowledged having abandoned a shopping cart at least once a month before completing their purchase.
It would appear that the main concern shoppers have lies in slow and complicated checkouts, which at times prompts them to change their minds while in the middle of a purchase, whether it be not clicking through at Amazon while online, or leaving their cart near the shampoo aisle at Wal-Mart. It would appear that a good solution to some of these consumer concerns would be the adoption of MasterCard's PayPass system, which the company says will likely work with Apple's upcoming iPhone 5, which is rumored to incorporate near field communication technology. As more and more merchants install NFC capabilities, systems like MasterCard's Tap & Go will come to solve some of these consumer issues. | 2,129 | 1,080 | 0.000933 |
warc | 201704 | Green Tea Lowers Cholesterol, Improves Blood Sugar
Byron J. Richards, Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist
A University of Southern California study of 103 postmenopausal women found that green tea lowered LDL cholesterol and improved blood sugar metabolism over an eight-week period.
The most active component of green tea is the antioxidant catechin called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). In the study, 1/3 of the women consumed 400 mg of EGCG per day, 1/3 had 800 mg of EGCG, and the other 1/3 were the control group. It is well known that metabolism in postmenopausal women can go on the blink; thus, the lowered LDL cholesterol and improved blood sugar metabolism study results show that green tea can be quite helpful.
I have previously reported that green tea can help lower cholesterol, explaining various mechanisms in my article How Green Tea Improves Cholesterol Metabolism.
This study also indicates improvement in blood sugar metabolism. It is well established that green tea reduces the risk for diabetes. Researchers continue to try to understand how green tea improves glucose metabolism.
One animal study shows that green tea protects pancreatic beta cells and helps preserve normal pancreatic insulin production. Another study reveals that green tea improves the fitness of fat, helping glucose metabolize normally within white adipose tissue, while reducing inflammation in fat tissue. Yet another study shows that green tea boosts adiponectin, a key hormone that prevents insulin resistance.
The science supporting the health benefits of green tea keeps coming. Each new study helps paint a picture of the multiple ways in which green tea improves both cholesterol and blood sugar. It is now clear that EGCG is an effective nutrient for keeping your metabolism running smoothly.
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warc | 201704 | - Pre-anesthetic Considerations:
- in spine injured patients, anesthesia is necessary even if the extremity is insensate inorder to prevent spasm and automatic dysreflexia
;
- need to monitor for automatic dysreflexia (spinal anesthesia preferred);
- be aware that acture high paraplegics, because of generalized venous dilation, may require larger than usual volumes of fluids to maintain
adequate blood pressure;
- consider Swan Ganz monitoring
;
- be aware that chronic SCI pts have low intravascular volumes and are usually sensitive to further losses of volume;
- wrap the lower extremity to prevent blood loss;
- protect pts in the prone position with bilateral rolls from increased
- Technical Pearls:
- carry out awake, fiberoptic intubation w/o moving neck;
- No Sellick Maneuver !
- although use of succinylcholine is contraindicated several days after denervation injury, there is no evidence of muscle membrane instability
in the first few hours;
- Post Op Considerations:
- 5% of myelopathic patients who undergo anterior C-spine surgery will require re-intubation;
- risk is increased by surgery on multiple levels;
- risk is decreased by fibro-optic intubation and by keeping the head of the bed elevated to 30-40 deg postoperative (to reduce edema)
Original Text by Clifford R. Wheeless, III, MD. | 1,334 | 750 | 0.001356 |
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Building on the extensive interest in company law and corporate governance development in post-communist transformation, this book examines the legal regime for protection of company investors in the CIS. The different contributions focus on issues such as basic shareholder rights, shareholder rights in special circumstances, cumulative voting, and protection through securities markets regulation. The discussion centers on the problems of domestic legal reform and the extent to which international legal standards and best practice are reflected in the process. In doing so, it offers a thorough comparative law analysis covering all twelve CIS countries. Importantly, the book accords a special place to the contribution that the model legislation adopted within the CIS framework makes to the process of legal reform and voluntary legal harmonization. | 1,075 | 606 | 0.001666 |
warc | 201704 | Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/7/2012 (1656 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Parking outside the box
Re:
Parking rates that pay off (Editorials, July 9) and Over two hours at a city meter: $60 ticket (July 7). Whenever it seems that a problem continually needs fixing, perhaps we need to turn it over and look at it from the other side.
How about free parking? All the time and everywhere. That would put Winnipeg on the map and ahead of its time.
No one would have to waste time and gas moving his or her car every two hours. No one would waste land on surface lots or building parkades. (In fact, I daresay we would fast find more creative ways to develop spaces downtown.)
Parked cars do not use up gas, do not pollute, cannot hurt pedestrians or have accidents and do not make noise. Parked cars are environmentally friendly.
If the Winnipeg Parking Authority really wants to encourage people to carpool, use transit or ride a bike, they would change their focus and become the Winnipeg Driving Authority. They could ticket idling cars (polluting, wasting gas, bad for engines) and have tolls at intersections to charge drivers if they do not have passengers.
All the current parking-patrol ticket-writers could be shifted into these new roles, and more jobs would be created.
TIM BRANDT
Winnipeg
Held back by discipline
Re:
Spanking has a place (Letters, July 9). I for one concur with Tracie Afifi's study results. I am in my 60s and was spanked as a child. I do suffer from depression and anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. My first memory is fear and anxiety.
I, too, am a fine upstanding citizen, but I did not reach my potential or become the person I should have become mentally, emotionally or spiritually. I was held back by discipline, fear of discipline and fear of doing something wrong.
ELFRIEDA GUENTHER
Morden
Identifying the problem
Regarding letter writer Don Halligan's belief Canada should abolish political parties (
Validating an argument, June 30), I remind you that when the Canadian colonies were first talking about confederation, political deadlock was one of the major frustrations.
There were so many independents and small parties all looking to further their own agendas that nothing got done. Major decisions could not be made, and the country as a whole could not move forward. Abolishing political parties is not the answer.
Instead, perhaps we need to look to ourselves and ask why we allow today's governmental outrages to go on. Who elected these people? We did. Perhaps, before we go to the polling station, we should do some homework and really understand who we will vote for and why.
KATHY SLOVINSKY
Winnipeg
There's a trend here
Re:
Mountie probed over bondage, torture scenes (July 6). A little over two years ago we were reading about two teachers from Churchill High School simulating sex in front of students and other staff members. To the best of my knowledge, they were suspended but never disciplined and eventually resigned after the video went viral.
Shortly thereafter, headlines revealed that an associate chief justice of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench had posed for nude bondage photos, which were posted online for the world to view. She was temporarily relieved of duties as a sitting justice but remains employed in an administrative capacity while the Canadian Judicial Council reviews her case.
Currently we are reading about a corporal in the RCMP in Coquitlam, B.C., whose photos have been posted online depicting sexually explicit bondage and torture. He has been suspended, probably with pay, while a code-of-conduct investigation takes place.
These are just three recent examples of people in public office practising unacceptable behaviour with their superiors being aware of the situation and doing nothing until the incident becomes public. School teachers, judges, police officers and others who must have the public trust in order to perform their duties should be expeditiously removed from service once unacceptable moral behaviour is confirmed.
TERRY MEINDL
Teulon
Maybe he's engaged
Re:
Team to study belugas' habits (July 9). A few years ago I was fortunate enough to be in Churchill when the whales were in the bay. I went out in a Zodiak and we matched our speed to beluga speed.
These wonderful critters swam alongside the boat and liked to be patted. I think the belugas are studying us. When I got back to Churchill, I had a tiny tag on my finger.
ROBERT FOSTER
Winnipeg
Arm's length is needed
Gordon Sinclair's July 7 column,
Poor care caught on tape?, documents another example of how patients are not receiving quality care in Manitoba's health-care facilities. There needs to be a patient advocate office not affiliated with Manitoba Health.
The Protection for Persons in Care office, located at Manitoba Health and staffed by Manitoba Health employees, is obviously not the answer. The health minister has put on blinders and cannot see the forest for the trees.
If she could, she would acknowledge an arm's-length body is needed to randomly monitor health-care facilities. How would she feel if she were Anne Dash's granddaughter and witnessed the lack of care?
JACQUELINE JOSS
Winnipeg | 5,295 | 2,715 | 0.000372 |
warc | 201704 | Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/6/2013 (1303 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain -- Under the fierce Andalusian sun, a class of novice matadors strode into an empty bullfighting ring, arching and flourishing through moves meant to slay a beast in its tracks. Yet during their breaks, the teenagers spoke of an adversary in their path to glory even greater than a raging toro:
Europe's economic crisis.
In Spain, the plot of man against beast captured by Ernest Hemingway is now one of a sport struggling against the financial odds. In a time of harsh government austerity, cash-strapped municipalities across Spain are abandoning financial support for festivals involving bullfights and running of bulls, disrupting a chain of economic activity from breeders and transporters to costume-makers and bullfighters.
Amid plummeting demand, more fighting-bull breeders are dispatching their stocks to the butcher rather than the spectacle of the ring. In increasingly hard times, bullfight organizers are engaged in highly public disputes with matadors and creditors over wages and overdue payments. One of the most publicized fights has kept the form-fitted silhouette of Julian Lopez Escobar -- the star matador known as "El Juli" -- out of Madrid's Las Ventas bullfighting ring for the better part of a year.
Tickets to privately sponsored bullfights have long cost as much as a rock concert. But prices jumped even higher last year after the government hiked the sales tax on cultural events. In a country where a debt crisis, budget cuts and an ever-worsening real estate bust has left one out of every four Spaniards out of work, industry officials say higher prices have only exacerbated the 40 per cent drop in attendance at major bullfighting events from 2007 to 2012.
Spanish bullfighting was already stung by growing opposition among animal rights activists, as well as a ban on the sport that went into effect last year in the autonomous region of Catalonia, where anti-bullfighting feelings run deeper than anywhere else in Spain. But the strain of the economic crisis on the industry, bullfighting advocates say, has been far more deadly. Last year, the total number of major bullfights fell to 1,014 -- a 51 per cent drop since 2007, according to industry statistics.
The crisis, aficionados here say, is underscoring the extent to which Europe's economic woes are goring a hole in the national identities of the region's hardest-hit countries. Among traditionalists, bullfighting -- a dance to the death between man and beast -- remains the highest expression of Spanish sport, with a cult of celebrity surrounding the biggest-name matadors. Voraciously covered by bloggers and sportswriters, leading matadors can pull in six-digit purses for major bouts and regularly compete with soccer stars for tabloid ink.
Although the largest events in Madrid and Pamplona still draw large crowds, bullfights in smaller towns and mid-size cities such as Jerez de la Frontera are becoming increasingly rare.
"Bullfighting is confronting a crisis from Spain's financial difficulties," said Sandra Moscoso, a 27-year-old with a crushing grip who beat the odds in a macho sport by rising to the top ranks of this nation's professional matadors. Yet, the declining number of bullfights has led her to follow other professional Spanish bullfighters who are now largely competing in Latin America. Three years ago, she found work at five major bouts in Spain, compared with only one last year.
In this city long famed for its sherry but now plagued by a host of empty storefronts and "For Sale" signs on apartment buildings, she watched from the wings as her 18-year-old brother -- eager to follow in her footsteps -- kicked up the dirt as he trained hard in the still-intense heat an hour before sunset.
"It was hard for me," she said, "but every year with the crisis, it's getting harder to find fights in Spain, and it's going to be even harder for him now."
Equally alarmed about the future of a sport is the centre-right government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, which is supporting a bill that would declare bullfighting part of Spain's "national patrimony" and potentially undermine Catalonia's ban on bullfights. The government is also studying other ways to boost the sport, including funnelling more resources into promotion, reversing the recent sales-tax increase on tickets as well as state aid for struggling young bullfighters in training.
"Everyone involved in our great national pastime is being impacted," said Carlos Nunez, head of Spain's Bull Breeders Association, who recently sat in a drawing room on his ranch, decorated with bovine horns and sepia posters of great bullfights past. "When we sell a bull to the butcher, we're getting" $750 a head. That's compared, he said, with $1,350 to $20,000 per bull typically fetched for fights.
Animal rights groups say the bad economy has driven home the point bullfights should no longer take up the resources of small cities and towns that still spend millions of euros annually to subsidize such events.
"The crisis has helped our cause," said Aida Gascon, director of the animal rights group AnimaNaturalis in Madrid. "There are more people who have decided to stop going to bullfights and it's been harder for breeders to raise fighting bulls. The industry is getting desperate."
Here in Jerez de la Frontera, the cash-strapped city government is sponsoring only three bullfights this year, fewer than in years past. Nevertheless, the municipal bullfighting school has seen an uptick in the number of students enrolling, mostly from newcomers with socially depressed backgrounds.
"In times like these, their dreams of escaping their lives, of helping their families through success in the ring, only gets stronger," said Antonio Lozano, 53, the school's director who, as a professional in the 1970s and 1980s, once challenged bulls in some of Spain's greatest arenas.
On a recent afternoon, Lozano barked critiques as half his students moved theatrically with capes and swords while the other half played the bull with horns in hands.
One of his students, Sandra Moscoso's 18-year-old brother, Antonio Moscoso, said even now it was not in the spirit of the sport to give up.
"Because of the crisis, I know it will be harder," said Moscoso, who grew up with posters of great matadors pinned to his bedroom wall and was inspired by his sister to try to go pro. "But there is nothing like the feeling I get in my stomach when I stand in front of the bull. This just means I have to try harder and not give up."
-- The Washington Post | 6,722 | 3,267 | 0.000308 |
warc | 201704 | Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
Precious stones, also known as gemstones, are minerals or rocks that that become collectible when they are cut or faceted and polished. Many are commonly used in jewelry.
These stones can occur naturally, or they can be laboratory simulated. Natural stones come directly out of the ground or mine and are cut or faceted to the desired shape and size. They are usually the most popular among collectors and consumers, as well as the most expensive. Laboratory simulated versions are created in a lab. These manmade stones can still be considered precious stones, but are easier to come by and usually less expensive than their natural counterparts.
There are also organic gemstones, including amber, which is made from fossilized tree resin; and jet, which is a form of coal. There are some precious stones that are too soft or fragile to be used in jewelry, such as single-crystal rhodochrosite. Although they cannot be used for jewelry, they are exhibited in museums and sought by collectors because of their beauty.
Gemologists use technical specifications to differentiate between stones. The first consideration when identifying a gem is the chemical composition. Diamonds, for example, are made of carbon, and rubies are made of aluminum oxide. Most precious stones are actually crystals, which are classified by a crystal system as
cubic, trigonal, or monoclinic.
These stones are also classified into different groups, species, and varieties. The ruby, for example, is the red variety of the species
corundum, which belongs to the spinel or hematite group. The emerald, aquamarine, bixbite, goshenite, heliodor, and morganite, on the other hand, are all varieties of the mineral species beryl.
Separating precious stones into these types of groups helps to identify their composition, their color, and their origin. They also have a refractive index, dispersion, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, fracture, and luster. Each of these features is important when assessing the value of the stone.
anon219282
Post 4
I have a lot of jewelry and don't know the real from fake. I would like to sell it, but I'm afraid they will fool me. What do I do? A lot of it is old.
anon194998
Post 3
I am S.U. revjithm a student. I would like to know the different types of precious stones related to health factors. I am very much interested in these stones. And I need a picture of an aqeeq stone and its related information. I hope you will help me to get this valuable information.
dkarnowski
Post 2
My favorite semi-precious stone is lapis lazuli. I know that the quality can differ greatly depending on which region of the world that it is mined from but I have never seen a piece of the stone that I did not like.
Maybe it is the glittering pyrite that is mixed with the deep blues that attach my eye. While I used to wear a necklace of small cut stones of lapis.
cmsmith10
Post 1
Stones are normally classified into two categories, precious stones and semi-precious stones. The value of a stone is gauged on these types. Many collectors prefer the rare to the beautiful.
The precious stones are the emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. Although not a stone, pearls are often classed as precious stones.
The lesser expensive jewelry are often made with semi-precious stones. The most popular of these are zircon, opal, amethyst, turquoise, aquamarine, jade, coral, garnet, and malachite. The different colors and varieties of the semi-precious stones make them very valuable to the jewelry industry.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | 3,821 | 1,813 | 0.000555 |
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A floating rate income fund represents an investment that carries a floating interest rate for items in the fund. Common investment examples for these items include mutual funds or grouped bond investments, all with floating interest rates. The purpose of these investments is to provide diversification in low-grade investments; for example, only a portion of the floating rate income fund goes into these investments, with the other portion in others such as money markets, cash, or securities. The floating rate comes into play as the fund primarily includes debt loans made to noncreditworthy companies. These floating interest rate loans allow the income fund to offer floating rates that prevent the fund from paying out more money than the loans gain in interest.
Though a floating rate income fund can provide portfolio diversification, it does not mean it is any less risky than other investments. In fact, a floating rate fund often has more risk associated with it as the items inside the fund are low-grade bonds and loans made to risky businesses. The diversification comes from the fact that not all monies invested into the fund are placed in these risky items. The upside can be quite rewarding, however, as the floating rate can increase over time, making the investment profitable. Other conditions may also be present that restrict the benefits of this investment.
Another benefit to a floating rate income fund is the seniority it provides to investors. In short, this fund typically takes precedence over other invested stakeholders, such as preferred stockholders and common stockholders, and in some cases, individual bondholders. The fund may also be secured by assets in a company’s business. For example, risky loans made to a business often have a specific purpose, such as a new building, vehicle, or land. When a floating income rate fund consists of these loans, the investors then have a share in these assets, which makes them senior investors over stockholders.
Investors may not usually have long-term income funds in their portfolios. The purpose of the floating rate income fund is to take advantage of short-term interest rate changes. In most cases, these funds have interest rate adjustments every 30, 60, or 90 days, though the investment may last a few years in terms of maturity. In short, the floating rate income fund is not really a standard buy-and-hold investment medium. Investors may be able to get in and get out of these funds as terms of an overall investment strategy.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | 2,823 | 1,265 | 0.000794 |
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Super G is short for Super Giant Slalom and is an alpine skiing event combining downhill skiing with navigation through slalom courses. The sport first become popular in the 1970s, and premiered as a World Cup event in 1982. It requires skill in both downhill skiing and slalom, and is perhaps one of the most intense alpine skiing contests. Significant speed and accuracy in turns are important, since missing a turn around a gate, made of two poles, immediately disqualifies the racers.
There are some differences between Super G and slalom. The angle of a slalom course is less severe than that of downhill. Further, skiers must ski part of the race in a tucked or downhill position in order to increase speed. Gates are farther apart since the higher speeds means gates too close together would be missed. Slalom skiers are allowed two runs with a combined score, while Super G races are scored based on one run only. There are additionally fewer gates: usually about 35 for men and 30 for women, as opposed to up to 70 gates for men, and 55 gates for women in traditional slalom.
Super G also has differences from downhill. Though the race is on a downhill course, this is shortened for the event. Skiing in tucked position at all times is impossible to navigate turns appropriately, so speeds tend to be slower. As in slalom, skiers may inspect but may not take practice runs of the course prior to any competition.
Expert skiers from Europe, with Hermann Maier of Austria considered by many to be the best, quickest and most accurate skier who has ever attempted the event, have dominated the sport of Super G. Maier’s skiing has garnered an Olympic gold medal, a gold medal at the World competition, and an impressive 23 wins at the World Cup.
The most expert skiers, like Maier, Peter Muller, and Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who has won three Olympic Super G gold medals, ski at speeds that are almost incomprehensible when the added factor of getting around gates is applied. It’s not unusual for a practiced athlete in this sport to reach speeds of 55- 60 mph (88.51-96.56 kph) as they fly down the hills. This is still slower than downhill speeds, which can approach over 90 mph (144.84 kph).
Unlike many other sports where only the young, those in their teens or early twenties, remain strong enough to win, there are many Super G skiers that have remained in the sport for numerous years. Aamodt won his most recent gold medal at the age of 35 at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
ivanka
Post 1
This is a relatively new sport, introduced to the Olympic games only in the late 80's.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | 2,892 | 1,468 | 0.000687 |
warc | 201704 | With Pope Francis in the US this week, we examine why pundits try so hard to assess the pontiff’s remarks through the lens of 2016 politics. Plus: why the AP is scrapping the term “climate change denier” – and a new collection of fiction gives voices to figures sidelined by history.
Discuss on Twitter: #OTMpope, #OTMclimate, #OTMpolling, #OTMhoax, #OTMnarrative
Transcript
******** THIS IS A RUSHED, UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT ********
BOB: One Roman Catholic congressman, Republican Paul Gosar of Arizona, was so disturbed by reports that the Pope might discuss climate change (and he did) that Gosar actually boycotted the address to Congress. The climate, Gosar reminded the Pontiff in his statement, quote, “has been changing since first created in Genesis.”
You might be tempted to call Congressman Gosar a “climate change skeptic” or “denier” -- but the Associated Press would advise against it. This week, the AP announced a change to its stylebook on “global warming.” In a guide that dictates usage for the AP and many US news organizations, the editors suggest “climate change doubters” or the wordier: “those who reject mainstream climate science.” Avoid the terms “skeptics” or “deniers.”
Seth Borenstein is a science reporter for the AP. He provided guidance on these Stylebook changes. Seth, welcome to On The Media.
BORENSTEIN: Thank you for having me.
BOB: Why doubters instead of deniers?
BORENSTEIN: Well this is all about precision. We at the AP hadn't used deniers, skeptics, or doubters in any regular way, there was no Stylebook entry there. So when we were deciding to not use skeptics, the logical decision is what to use. And if you go through the possibilities, one of the problems with denier is that it has a connotation. A connotation that is associated with the Holocaust in many ways.
BOB: If the subject is precision, it strikes me that obscuring clear language because of negative associations is a very dangerous accommodation. And secondly, doubt means a feeling of uncertainty or a lack of conviction. Deny is to state that one refuses to admit the truth or existence of. And those who deny human responsibility for global warming are doing just that. They're not expressing "I'm not really sold on this," they're expressing "no this doesn't exist." Wrong word, Seth.
BOB: As someone who has covered climate change for more than 20 years, the trouble is the spectrum of those who reject mainstream climate science is not a simple binary thing. It's not deny/accept. Let me give you one good example. John Christy is a professor at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. He acknowledges that the world is warming, he acknowledges that it is manmade. Where he differs from mainstream climate science is how bad it is. How much of a threat it is. So can you call him a climate denier? No. So the best phrase overall, the most precise phrase, is those who reject mainstream climate science. But you have to shorten that at some point, especially in a headline. Climate rejecter sounds like an engine part.
BOB: (Laughing) Yes it does. And maybe we need 474 words for snow. But it's just hard for me to get my head around the idea of substituting a word that is insufficient for one that does most of the job pretty well.
BORENSTEIN: It does most of the job pretty well according to one side. Granted that side has the majority of science on it.
BOB: Seth, I apologize, I'm going to cut you off here. One side? This is the very definition of false balance.
BORENSTEIN: No one has accused me of false balance so don't you go there. All you have to do is Google my name, Seth Borenstein, look at the images and see what the group that you call deniers, we call doubters, look at what they've done to me personally and to the AP. To say that I'm giving in to them is just not something that's ever happened. It's not something I've ever been accused of before.
BOB: May I say that there are two sides to the political debate. But if there's fundamentally no scientific debate, why would you think of this in terms of both sides that require fair treatment any more than you would treat Holocaust deniers as having one side in the issue of history? I just don't get it.
BORENSTEIN: There is no false balance in the way AP covers the science. But there's a difference between the science and the semantics. We're not talking, you and I, about the science right now. We're talking about the semantics. And there are different sides on the semantics. I've been using climate doubter for months and no one has said anything.
BOB: Seth I hate to rub your nose in this, but if the AP's deliberations on this matter began with the complaints by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, it issued a press release this week which congratulated the AP for getting the work "skeptic" out of the conversation but which once again registered discomfort with the term "doubter" which they said "remains problematic and confusing."
BORENSTEIN: They're not satisfied... I don't think the AP's job is to satisfy the Center for Inquiry. They raised a legitimate question in the use of skeptics. And it's triggered this whole thing. And we went for the more precise language. Climate denial is the phrase invented by advocates and used by advocates. So are you, Bob, suggesting that we should adopt an advocacy role here?
BOB: I don't believe that just because a correct word is embraced by advocates makes the word any less correct. I'm not sure that the solution is to take from our quiver a very good arrow. If someone is merely a doubter in the continuum of thought on this subject, so be it. But if someone is an outright denier, call a thing by its name. | 5,793 | 2,760 | 0.000371 |
warc | 201704 | Residential model reengineering results in compact size and lower cost
AquaLiv Technologies Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Aistiva Corporation, has released two redesigned models of its popular AquaLiv Water System.
The AquaLiv Water System is a home water purification and enhancement device that restores tap water to a "better than spring water quality." The system boosts alkalinity naturally, decreases water's oxidative strain on the body and increases water's hydration capability. Such enhancements surpass the 'purification-only' concept seen in most water systems today.
Refinement and evolution of the AquaLiv Water System have allowed for an increased water volume enhancement capacity within a more compact system size. The new systems are available in a Residential Model designed for families or small groups of up to six adults and a Commercial Model for larger groups.
One notable difference between the new systems and former system is the price. Due to lower production costs, the Residential Model now retails for $687.95 and has the same capacity as the former system that retailed for $1676.
"The new system is easier to install, takes up less space, has the same enhancement capacity as the former system and costs less. This 40% price reduction is significant for several reasons. Not only can many more families afford the system, but we are also selling in a completely different and larger market now. The market size for water enhancing devices is still quite small. At the new price point, we are competing directly with high-end reverse osmosis (RO) purification systems sold in kitchen and bath showrooms, a vastly larger market serviced by thousands of showrooms across the country," stated Aistiva Corporation CEO, Craig Hoffman
Hoffman continued, "Reverse osmosis systems are great at removing impurities but, unfortunately, they also remove beneficial minerals—up to 92-99% of calcium and magnesium. Additionally, because RO water doesn't have enough minerals, it attaches to the nutrients consumed in food and vitamins which are subsequently flushed out of the body, thereby compounding the problem. The AquaLiv System removes fluoride and toxins while preserving the beneficial minerals. Consumers understand this difference immediately and the system is competing well at the new price point."
Hoffman concluded, "While we have focused on a direct to consumer sales model in the past, we've already begun transitioning to a wholesale business model and seeing great interest in our products. The AquaLiv System accounted for nearly $415,000 in 2012 calendar year sales. We expect that figure to grow markedly with our new systems and wholesale business model."
With the addition of the commercial model, the AquaLiv Water System can now be sold to offices, health clubs, clinics, etc. that were beyond the capacity of the former system. Future plans include drinking fountains with integrated AquaLiv enhancement technologies and large-format filling stations to be installed in grocery stores that allow consumers to fill 1, 3 and 5-gal bottles with AquaLiv Water. | 3,131 | 1,499 | 0.000672 |
warc | 201704 | Question 1.
A broker has advised you not to invest in oil industry stocks because, in her opinion, they are far too risky. She has shown you evidence of how wildly the prices of oil stocks have fluctuated in the recent past. She demonstrated that the standard deviation of oil stocks is very high relative to most stocks. Do you think this broker's advice is sound for a risk averse investor like you? Why or why not? Explain briefly.
Question 2
The Downtown Company has an equity beta, of 1.6 and 50% debt in its capital structure. The company has risk-free debt that costs 6% before taxes, and the expected rate of return on the market (including the value of imputation tax credits) is 18%. Downtown is considering the acquisition of a new project in the peanut-raising agribusiness that is expected to yield 15% on after-tax net operating cashflows.
The Carternut Company, which is in the same product line (and risk class) as the project being considered, has an equity beta, , of 2.2 and has 80% debt, that costs 10% before taxes, in its capital structure. If Downtown finances 50% of the new project with debt, should it be accepted or rejected? Assume that the effective tax rate for both companies is 25%. | 1,220 | 673 | 0.001493 |
warc | 201704 | Keeping the Dead Alive The Holocaust was one of the most tragic events to happen in modern time. Millions of people fell victim to anti-Semitism at the hands of the Nazi regime. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, stated that "We could not save those who died, but we can save them from dying again." By educating the entire world on the actual facts and events of the Holocaust, record and broadcast the stories of Holocaust survivors, but at the same time, keeping alive the other events that took place during the same time as the Holocaust, the world will never forget the Holocaust.
By spreading the actual facts and events that happened to every civilized nation in the world, one can be sure the Holocaust shall never be forgotten. A very good start was the Holocaust memorial in Washington D.C.. American will most likely never forget the events of the Holocaust, our country lost many men in the battle to stop the atrocities that were taking place.
America lived up to its name as peace keeper of the world. American schools are packed full of literature and other information on events from the Holocaust, but other countries are not so fortunate. Books should be sent to countries that had no lasting effect from the Holocaust. Countries such as Brazil or Zimbabwe, which really played no role in the events of WWII and the Holocaust, may eventually forget all about it, and go about lives their own way. Although the Holocaust will never be entirely forgotten, it is good to teach everyone about this era, and the events that triggered the Holocaust. By doing this, modern man can be sure that a second Holocaust will never happen.
Even though millions of people lost their lives in concentration camps or other Nazi... | 1,738 | 847 | 0.001185 |
warc | 201704 | Chapter I INTRODUCTION Background of the Study
With the emergences of diseases brought about by different changes in the environment and advancement of technology rise also the need for more effective and efficient nurses that can respond to the demands not only of the patients but also the family and relatives of the patients.
In the earlier years nursing profession was left to the women with the thinking that nursing and nurturing are minimal jobs intended for the weaker gender. This was stressed by Blakely as she was interviewed by Meyers (2003) who said: "When people think of nursing, they think of women in nurturing roles, as handmaidens to doctors."
Many would frown on men taking up nursing with the thinking that a man who goes to the nursing profession is a homosexual-a gay one. And yet whoever believes such is misinformed. Readings have pointed out that even before the coming of Christ, nursing profession was intended for the male population.
Geocities (2008) attests on this fact:
The first nursing school in the world was started in India in about 250 BC. Only men were considered "pure" enough to become nurses. The Charaka (Vol I, Section xv ) states these men should be, "of good behavior, distinguished for purity, possessed of cleverness and skill, imbued with kindness, skilled in every service a patient may require, competent to cook food, skilled in bathing and washing the patient, rubbing and massaging the limbs, lifting and assisting him to walk about, well skilled in making and cleansing of beds, readying the patient and skillful in waiting upon one that is ailing and never unwilling to do anything that may be ordered."
Nursing must not be considered as the prime duty of women. It is both the responsibility of men and women. Earlier studies... | 1,801 | 970 | 0.001039 |
warc | 201704 | Running is a popular way to stay fit. But finding the right running shoes can make you want to throw a fit instead. Many stores now offer customers high-tech evaluations using treadmills, cameras and other methods that purport to help find the right shoes to match a runner's physiology.
To test these evaluations, we visited four running stores, including Seattle-area locations of the Fleet Feet Sports and Road Runner Sports chains,... | 441 | 286 | 0.00352 |
warc | 201704 | Following social unrest, Argentine government grants police wage hikes By Rafael Azul 31 December 2013
Following a wave of protests and strikes, and in an attempt to stave off social unrest, Argentine governors agreed to substantial raises for provincial police. The protests had begun in the province of Córdoba on December 3 and quickly extended to other Argentine provinces. They ended on December 9.
The following day, Argentina observed the 30th anniversary of the return of civilian rule following the end of the military regime that ruled between 1976 and 1983.
The elected governments since 1983 have alternated between various factions of the Radical Party and of Peronism. The three decades since the ignominious collapse of the dictatorship have been marked by one economic and political crisis after another.
The last 11 years, under the stewardship of the late president Nestor Kirchner and his widow, current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, began with a currency crisis and a social explosion and the collapse of the Fernando de la Rua government at the end of 2001, followed by the brief appointed presidency of Eduardo Duhalde.
President de la Rua had relied on the police to savagely repress the wave of supermarket looting in Buenos Aires and the massive demonstrations of December 19 and December 20 of that year. During those two days, police killed 39 protesters.
This is the outcome that the Argentine ruling establishment was trying to prevent when earlier this month it caved in to police demands for higher wages. On December 3, police in the central province of Córdoba warehoused themselves in their stations, and their action was followed by similar protests in other provinces. Given the desperate state of many Argentine families, 27 percent of whom exist below the poverty line, the police were counting on what happened next: looting of supermarkets and other stores. Twelve people died, and scores were injured.
Provincial governments quickly agreed to the police demands, with the federal government left to bail out the cash-strapped governors. Córdoba police received a 100 percent increase.
The government of president Fernandez de Kirchner seized on the nature of some of the looting, involving youths on motorcycles brandishing weapons, to suggest that the events had not been spontaneous, but rather were part of a coordinated operation by police and their allies in organized crime to destabilize the government.
“I am not naïve,” declared Fernandez at the December 10 commemoration, “I do not believe in coincidences.” The president went on to charge that all of the looting had been pre-planned. For his part, investigative reporter Tomás Méndez, who in September had helped uncover links between the Córdoba police and organized crime, voiced his suspicions that police were trying to make up for the drying up of bribe money; “the cash box is closed,” said Méndez.
In a preemptive move, Buenos Aires police (who had not joined in the protests) received a 90 percent raise, lest they also walk off their jobs. The fear was that the inhabitants of shantytowns (
villas miserias—misery villages) that surround this capital city would join in the looting, sparking a repeat of the social explosion of December 2001.
The Argentine ruling class is right to worry. The country has become a tinderbox. Conditions for the Argentine working class today approximate those of 2001. Many lare worse off than they were then. In Argentina, as in Greece, Spain and elsewhere, the more social tensions rise, the more governments rely on the police as an occupation force in working class neighborhoods, veritable guard dogs for the bourgeoisie.
On November 16, the Coordinating Committee against Police and Institutional Repression (CORREPI), a Buenos Aires human rights watchdog organization, issued a report indicating that police have assassinated 4,011 people in the last three decades. The statistics indicate that the pace of killings has accelerated since 2001 to about 200 per year. As of last year, 213 people abducted by police are still missing. The report also reports on scores of victims of police torture. CORREPI uses the term
gatillo fácil (easy trigger) to describe the casual use of firearms by police, particularly against the youth, crimes that mostly go unpunished.
The latest such killing took place on Christmas Eve, when a 40-year-old worker was shot in cold blood by an off duty police officer. The victim was part of a protest against rolling electricity blackouts in the middle-class Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
The Kirchner wing of the Peronist movement took power in 2002, promising to end the unrestrained free market “modelo” of Menem and De la Rúa and replace it with so-called “serious capitalism.” The changes proved to be largely cosmetic. The “modelo” continues, as it did prior to 2003, subordinating the needs of the working and middle classes to the profits of privately owned industries and banks.
Twelve years after the 2001 protests, fully half of the workers in the private sector are employed informally: part time, or as contract workers. They are exploited through “junk contracts,” fraudulent work cooperatives and precarious employment schemes. Such “labor flexibility” is now making its way into the public sector. Roughly 50 percent of the working class households earn less than the basic minimum of 7,000 pesos for a family of four; an increasing number earn less than the national minimum wage.
Struggles over wages and working conditions have been constrained by the “paritaria” system (negotiated between the trade union bureaucracy, the government and employers), effectively eliminating strikes. In combination with income taxes and cuts in social programs for the vast majority, wages are being devastated by the country’s high inflation rates.
At the same time, prices for basic necessities skyrocketed this year. The price of bread rose by 133 percent; noodles went up by 75 percent; maté tea rose by 70 percent. Prices also shot up for virtually every supermarket item, including milk (30 percent), chicken (36 percent), beef (40 percent). In all, supermarket prices are 33.2 percent higher than they were in January 2013. The impact on poor households, which depend on refined wheat flour products was even higher, the equivalent of an increase of between 40 and 50 percent.
These economic conditions make a social explosion inevitable. | 6,623 | 3,120 | 0.000329 |
warc | 201704 | By Robert Carry
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has raised interest rates by 25 basis points taking the current cash rate from 3.25% to 3.50%. It's the second consecutive 0.25% rate increase introduced since the beginning of October. The latest move lifted the average variable rate to 6.26%, which is still well below its July and August 2008 peak of 9.6%.
Tim Lawless, head of research at RP Data said that a slowing in house price value growth in September may have prevented the RBA from implementing a 0.50% increase. RP Data's results for September revealed property values increased by just 0.1% over the month.
"The residential property sector had been surprisingly strong over the first eight months of 2009 and a further surge in values in September would have almost certainly resulted in double the rate rise," he said.
Lawless added that rising mortgage rates will have a dampening effect on the market, particularly in the mortgage belts of Australia's capital cities. "First home buyer demand is already winding back, as evidenced by the number of housing finance commitments which fell for first home buyers by 23% in August," he said.
RP Data also believes that the rise in rates is likely to hit the price sensitive segments of the market the hardest. "First home buyers and low income households will feel the rise the most, whereas less price sensitive mortgage holders and prospective buyers will be less affected. In fact, investors are probably welcoming the rise in the mortgage rates as it means less competition in the market place," said Lawless.
The move suggests the RBA is becoming increasingly confident that the Australian economy is through the worst of the global economic crisis.
The RBA's rate rise has been widely predicted by experts after the group said in the wake of the last increase in October that the cash rate was at an "unusually low level", adding that there was a necessity to return to a "more normal setting".
The rate hike will spell a significant increase in monthly repayments for people with variable rate mortgages. Mortgage holders can expect to pay an extra $57 a month on a $300,000 loan spread out over 30 years.
Looking ahead, economists including Craig James of CommSec and Shane Oliver of AMP Capital Investors believe that RBA is likely to stick to a gradualist approach in raising interest rates given the potential vulnerability of the economy to a too hasty removal of stimulus and given that the September quarter inflation figures were not bad enough to justify a more aggressive approach.
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warc | 201704 | Research has shown time and time again that regular exercise is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This message has been picked up and popularized by almost every media outlet in the world today. You see it on television, hear it on the radio, and read it in the daily newspaper. What is …[Read More]
As a psychologist, I think a lot about creating and maintaining mental health. It’s a challenge that each of us face daily. For example, how do we:
keep our stress at healthy levels?
maintain strong relationships? utilize good communication skills with friends, co-workers, and neighbors? manage conflict when it arises? understand our moods, what affects them, and how they affect others?
Creating …[Read More]
We expected to see many blog posts during our Mental Health Month Blog Party. But we also read a lot of conversation on Twitter and Facebook, where you also shared your posts. We’ve compiled those tweets and Facebook updates. Enjoy!
The weather outside is getting warmer, the days are growing longer, events like graduations and weddings and outdoor barbeques are looming on the horizon. People expect you to be happy right now, but instead you actually feel more depressed and irritable than in the winter. Why? Despite what you think, you aren’t alone feeling this way. In …[Read More] | 1,357 | 786 | 0.001309 |
warc | 201704 | Famous Forecasting Quotes
"Those who have knowledge, don't predict.
Those who predict, don't have knowledge. " --Lao Tzu, 6th Century BC Chinese Poet
Wise words from a long time ago.
"I have seen the future and it is very much like the
present, only longer." --Kehlog Albran, The Profit
This nugget of pseudo-philosophy is actually a concise description of statistical forecasting. We search for statistical properties of a time series that are constant in time--levels, trends, seasonal patterns, correlations and autocorrelations, etc. We then predict that those properties will continue to look the same in the future as they do today.
"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about
the future." --Nils Bohr, Nobel laureate in Physics
This quote serves as a warning of the importance of testing a forecasting model out-of-sample. It's often easy to find a model that fits the past data well--perhaps too well!--but quite another matter to find a model that correctly identifies those features of the past data which will be replicated in the future.
"The best qualification of a prophet is to have a good memory.
" --Marquis of Halifax,
This quote is very applicable to statistical models which require long periods of past data in order to be reliably estimated.
"Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them.
" --Leo Rosten in Rome Wasn't Burned in a Day
This is particularly relevent to non-stationary processes such as the the climate and the business world. For example, the appearance of the Antarctic ozone hole in the mid 1970s was quite a surprise.
"An unsophisticated forecaster uses statistics as a drunken man uses
lamp-posts - for support rather than for illumination.
" --After Andrew Lang
Careful application of statistics is essential for obtaining and judging predictions and can provide much insight into the assesment of skill in the predictions.
"An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he
predicted yesterday didn't happen today.
" --Evan Esar
Post-analysis of predictions is often very revealing especially concerning model weaknesses.
"If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow
and which will not, speak then unto me.
" --William Shakespeare
The Bard's elegant demand for a good prediction.
"A good forecaster is not smarter than everyone else, he merely
has his ignorance better organised.
" --Anonymous
Prediction involves maximising the ratio of signal to noise, with the signal being the predictable component and the noise been unpredictable events.
"My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest
of my life there.
" --C.F. Kettering
This is not completely true since C.F.Kettering spent most of his life in the present !
"To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.
" --Oscar Wilde
A classic one-liner from the master of wit.
"This is the first age that's ever paid much attention to the
future, which is a little ironic since we may not have one.
" --Arthur C. Clarke
A touch pessimistic perhaps ?
"I always avoid prophesying beforehand because it is much better
to prophesy after the event has already taken place.
" --Winston Churchill
A shrewd remark about hindcasting from a shrewd politician.
"Prophesy is a good line of business, but it is full of risks.
" --Mark Twain in Following the Equator
A truism that many have experienced personally.
"Forecasting is the art of saying what will happen, and then explaining why it didn't!
" --Anonymous (communicated by Balaji Rajagopalan)
The converse is also true: saying what WON'T happen, and then explaining why it DID happen ! See the large El Nino of 1997 for a recent example.
"Cutting up fowl to predict the future is, if done honestly
and with as little interpretation as possible, a kind of randomization.
But chicken guts are hard to read and invite flights of fancy or corruption.
" --Ian Hacking in The Emergence of Probability
Maybe chickens aren't the easiest of models to use for prediction.
"Wall Street indices predicted nine out of the last five recessions !
" --Paul A. Samuelson in Newsweek, Science and Stocks, 19 Sep. 1966.
False alarms are an embarassing subject for those involved in prediction.
"He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass." --Edgar R. Fiedler in The Three Rs of Economic Forecasting-Irrational, Irrelevant and Irreverent , June 1977.
A cautionary career note based on past experience.
"The herd instinct among forecasters makes sheep look like independent thinkers.
" --Edgar R. Fiedler in The Three Rs of Economic Forecasting-Irrational, Irrelevant and Irreverent , June 1977.
Maybe we should let sheep have a go at forecasting ?
"If you have to forecast, forecast often.
" --Edgar R. Fiedler in The Three Rs of Economic Forecasting-Irrational, Irrelevant and Irreverent , June 1977.
A useful survival tactic.
"It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all.
" --Henri Poincare in The Foundations of Science, page 129.
A pragmatic remark from one of the foundation builders of chaos theory.
"It is said that the present is pregnant with the future.
" --Voltaire in The Portable Voltaire.
This remark about child birth is particularly relevent to the problem of predicting El Nino climatic events.
"Forecasting future events is often like searching for
a black cat in an unlit room, that may not even be there.
" --Steve Davidson in The Crystal Ball.
Future events, like cats, can prove to be elusive !
"Foreknowledge of the future makes it possible to manipulate both enemies and supporters.
" --Raymond Aron in The Opium of the Intellectuals.
... and also funding agencies !
"The future isn't what it used to be !" -- anonymous (supplied by Joseph Silling)
Believed to be a comment made by an IBM executive concerning predicted future trends in personal computing around 1992.
"I foresee that man will resign himself each day to new abominations, and soon that only bandits and soldiers will be left.
" --Jorge Luis Borges in The Garden of Forking Paths.
A rather pessimistic prediction for the future.
"
It is often said there are two types of forecasts ... lucky or
wrong!!!!
" -- in "Control" magazine published by Institute of Operations Management
An interesting binary approach for classifying all forecasts.
"
The lily shall remain in a merry world; and he shall be moved against the seed of the lion, and shall stand on one side of the country with a
number of ships. Then shall the Son of Man, having a fierce beast in his arms, whose Kingdom is the land of the moon, which is dreaded
throughout the world. With a number shall he pass many waters, and shall come to the land of the lion, looking for help from the beast of his
country, and an eagle shall come out of the east, spread with the beams of the Son of Man, and shall destroy castles of the Thames. And there
shall be battles among many kingdoms. That year shall be the bloody field, and lily F.K. shall lose his crown, and therewith shall be crowned the
Son of Man K.W., and the fourth year shall be preferred. And there shall be a universal peace over the whole world, and there shall be plenty of
fruits; and then he shall go to the land of the Cross.
" --
Mother Shipton a famous 15th century prophet
In the days before computers, this is how predictions were often made.
"
I never think of the future, it comes soon enough.
" -- Albert Einstein
The final word on the subject ? If you have any other quotations relevant to forecasting, then I would love to see them. Please drop me a line HERE !!
Copyright ©
1997,1998
D. B. Stephenson
Permission is granted to make
copies for individual use, but not for redistribution.
Last Updated: 28 December 1998. | 7,900 | 3,757 | 0.000272 |
warc | 201704 | Inaugural Symposium
Challenge Convention. Change Our World. The Great Recession and Its Impact on Families Friday, September 24
Razzo Hall, 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.
In 2009, Clark University was accepted as the Massachusetts participant in the National Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars program. The first seminar for Massachusetts legislators, "The Great Recession and Its Impact on Families," was held at the State House in March 2010. This panel is based upon that seminar, and emphasizes a family perspective on the Great Recession that began in 2007. Panelists presented reviews of research on the impact of the recession in terms of job loss as a stress on family health and stability, the changing occupational structure, especially from the perspective of women heads of households and blue-collar job loss, and the connection between job loss and family violence.
Introduction William S. Mosakowski '76, Chair of the Clark University Board of Trustees; President and CEO, Public Consulting Group
Moderator James Gomes, Director of the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise at Clark University
Alumni/ae and Faculty Panelists Laura Faulkner '10, Clark University Graduate Student Laura Faulkner received her B.A. in Political Science from Clark University and is currently working towards a Master's in Public Administration. As an undergraduate student, Ms. Faulkner was very involved in the university community by serving in a number of roles, including Student Council member (Off-Campus representative), Grants Committee Chair, Peer Advisor, and as a group leader of the Alternative Spring Break New Orleans in 2008. She was also a member of the Gryphon and Pleiades Senior Leadership Honor Society, and Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society. She was the recipient of the Rose M. Sachs Award, presented annually to a senior woman who best exemplifies "the spirit of Clark University" through her accomplishments and activities. As a graduate student, Ms. Faulkner serves as Research Assistant for the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise and as an Administrative and Research Assistant at the Bowditch Institute for Women's Success at Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, working for former trustee Lauren Rikleen. She recently participated in Academic Spree Day, giving a collaborative presentation of the Impact of the Recession on Families. She also received the "Who's Who Among American College Students 2010" award. Denise Hines, Research Assistant Professor of Psychology, Clark University Dr. Hines received a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross in 1995, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Boston University in 1999 and 2004, respectively. From 2003 until 2005 she was an NIMH Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Family Research Laboratory and Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, and from 2005 until 2007 she served as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Currently she directs the Family Impact Seminar (FIS) series, which is funded by the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise and is part of a national network of colleges that host FIS. She also co-directs the Clark Anti-Violence Education Program, which is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice. Finally, she is the Principal Investigator of a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the mental health of men who sustain partner violence from their female partners and seek help. Robert J. S. Ross, Professor of Sociology, Clark University Dr. Ross received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1963, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1966 and 1975, respectively. He has been at Clark since 1972. Since the 1980s, Dr. Ross has worked on the political economy of urban development and the analysis of global capitalism. He is Director of the International Studies Stream and among the founders of the program in Urban Development and Social Change, and an affiliate of the Community Development and Planning program. In 1995, he began research on the resurgence of sweatshops in the U.S. and global apparel industry, and he has given over 100 public lectures on the issue. His work on this topic has been published in The Nation, Foreign Affairs, Dollars and Sense, as well as a number of edited collections of research on globalization. His book, " Slaves to Fashion: Poverty and Abuse in the New Sweatshops," was published in 2004. In August 2010, he keynoted an international conference in the United Kingdom on "Social Labelling in the Global Apparel Industry." | 4,715 | 2,198 | 0.000457 |
warc | 201704 | American Friends Service Committee and Human Rights Defense Center For Immediate Release
PHOENIX, AZ – Last Friday, the
Arizona Republic reported that House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh had inserted $900,000 in additional funding into the House state budget for the GEO Group, the nation’s second-largest for-profit prison company.
Rep. Kavanagh stated that lobbyists for GEO, which operates two correctional facilities in Florence and one in Phoenix, had requested the extra funds.
The company’s lobbyists apparently felt comfortable approaching Rep. Kavanagh with their request for more money, perhaps because he had received at least six campaign contributions from GEO executives and officials during the last legislative election cycle.
In fact, Rep. Kavanagh received the maximum amount of individual campaign donations from GEO Group CEO George Zoley, senior vice presidents Thomas Wierdsma, John Bulfin, Jorge Dominicis and Stephen Fuller, plus GEO employee James Black. The donations, each in the maximum allowable amount of $424, were all made between June 29 and July 9, 2012.
This is in addition to contributions from lobbyists hired to represent GEO Group in Arizona. Pivotal Policy Consulting is GEO’s current lobbying firm; previously, Public Policy Partners had lobbied for the corporation. Two of the lobbyists for Pivotal, Kristen Boilini and Nicholas Simonetta, made political donations to Rep. Kavanagh during the last election cycle.
“When elected lawmakers bestow gifts of taxpayer funds on companies that give them campaign contributions, members of the public must wonder whether there is a
quid pro quo arrangement and if legislators are acting in the best interest of the public or protecting the special interests of their corporate donors,” said Alex Friedmann, associate director of the Human Rights Defense Center and an expert on prison privatization.
This is not the first time that Rep. Kavanagh has gone to bat for for-profit prison corporations in Arizona. In 2011, after the
Arizona Republic reported that a state statute requiring biannual quality comparisons of public and private prisons had not been enforced, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) sued the state, forcing the Department of Corrections to pull an RFP for 5,000 private prison beds. The following year, Rep. Kavanagh inserted a provision during the state budget process that repealed the quality comparison statute.
When questioned in the past about his receipt of campaign contributions from private prison firms, Rep. Kavanagh has insisted that he accepts money from many sources and that such funds do not influence his decisions. However, Caroline Isaacs, director of AFSC’s Arizona office, said the special appropriation for GEO Group proves that private prison money talks in Arizona, and legislators listen. “The hubris, both on the part of GEO and Rep. Kavanagh, is astonishing,” she said. “To think he could give away almost a million dollars and nobody would bat an eye.”
GEO Group operates facilities that house Arizona prisoners under contracts with the state, and the compensation the company receives is specified in those contracts. The additional funding included in the FY 2015 House budget by Rep. Kavanagh is over and above the contractually-agreed payments that GEO already receives from the state.
Notably, the
Republic reported that a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Corrections had stated flatly that the department did not request extra funding for GEO. Spokesman Doug Nick was quoted as saying, “We had nothing to do with it.”
According to a report released in September 2013 by In the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that conducts research on privatization of public services and advocates for responsible contracting, Arizona’s contracts with GEO include “bed guarantees” of up to 100%. Such bed guarantees mean the company receives per diem payments for a minimum number of prison beds even if they are not being used to hold prisoners.
“GEO already receives giveaways of taxpayer money in the form of contractual bed guarantees, which allow the company to profit even when beds in its for-profit prisons remain empty,” noted Friedmann. “The additional money that Rep. Kavanagh has so generously offered to GEO Group is simply taxpayer-funded frosting on the company’s private prison cake.
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) combines advocacy for incarcerated people and their families with statewide policy change to document and improve prison conditions while working to reduce the number of people incarcerated in Arizona. The Human Rights Defense Center, founded in 1990 and based in Lake Worth, Florida, is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC publishes Prison Legal News (PLN), a monthly magazine that includes reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners’ rights and criminal justice issues. PLN has around 9,000 subscribers nationwide and operates a website (www.prisonlegalnews.org) that includes a comprehensive database of prison and jail-related articles, news reports, court rulings, verdicts, settlements and related documents. For further information, please contact: Caroline Isaacs, Program Director | American Friends Service Committee
(520) 256-4146 | cisaacs@afsc.org
Alex Friedmann, Associate Director | Human Rights Defense Center
(615) 495-6568 | afriedmann@prisonlegalnews.org | 5,609 | 2,551 | 0.000401 |
warc | 201704 | Information security is hard. Really hard. But all too often the face of ourfailure is not cutting edge research with intricate implementation, but rathertrivial buffer overflows, databases with plaintext passwords, or binaries named
tacos_and_malware.exe.
'tis a bleak and barren landscape of horrors and awful things untold.
That said, amidst our dystopian present, there are a few critically important projects doing great work to push the needle forward on security, and I'd like a moment in this festive Thanksgiving season to recognize their outstanding work:
u2f: Universal second factor. This is a standard for hardware devices which provide a "second factor" for logging into websites, replacing "Google Authenticator" on your phone. The thing that makes u2freally outstanding is that not only does it protect against password theft, but also protects against phishing. Phishing is one of the most pernicious attack vectors, as it's demonstrably impossible (to say nothing of fundamentally unreasonable) to ask people to stop clicking links in their email. A widely deployed cryptographic solution to phishing would be a tremendous victory. u2fdevices are currently available for sale. letsencrypt: Lets Encrypt is a new certificate authority launching in just a week. It will provide free certificates to website operators, as well as an API and tooling for automaticcertificate provisioning. The price point and the automation will be a huge help to getting more websites deployed with HTTPS, bringing us to a world where MITM-free is the default for web browsing, not the special privilege of banks. It's targeting a launch on December 3rd, and is accepting donations. Rust: Rust is a new programming language, whose development is being funded by Mozilla. Rust is important because it combines the low-levelness and performance of Cwith the safety of a higher-level language. A ton of software vulnerabilities are still caused by memory-unsafety and Rust goes a long way to obliterating those. Rust's 1.0 release was earlier this year. X25519/Ed25519: X25519is an elliptic curve key exchange algorithm, and Ed25519is an elliptic curve signature algorithm, both designed by Dan Bernstein. They are important for two reasons: a) they remove concerns that some have about a theoretical NSA backdoor in the current crop of elliptic curves (notably P-256), and b) they are easier to implement correctly and provide increased resistance against all manner of side channel attacks. Uptake of elliptic curve cryptography is important because algorithms such as RSA are proving weaker than we expected, due to advances in "index calculus". They are currently working their way through IETF standardization and will hopefully find their way into a TLS stack near you shortly. (There's also X448and Ed448which are similar, but have a larger key size). Chromebook: It's the holiday season, which means I just spent an hour de-malwaring my family's computers. Chromebooks bring to the desktop much needed sandboxing, preventing malicious content for taking over things like your bank's website. Chromebooks achieve this by moving everything to run under the web's security model, whereas iOSachieved similar ends using native sandboxing. Chromebooks are available for sale now. | 3,289 | 1,741 | 0.000576 |
warc | 201704 | Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have seen evidence of a massive geyser of water erupting from the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. This plume of water extends as high as
200 kilometers(about 125 miles) above the surface.
Wow!
This is pretty amazing news. We’ve known for a while that Europa has liquid water under its surface, but this is the first direct evidence of it. Not only that, it changes how we think the water and surface interact. It’s hard to say whether this makes it more likely that there are little Europan fishies swimming around down there, but it does mean it’ll be easier to take a look.
(Note: The observations here strongly indicate this geyser exists—it’s the best explanation for what’s seen—but like everything in science, we can’t be 100 percent sure. However, this observation looks pretty good to me. To make it easier to write and understand, from here on out I’ll assume the geyser is real, but bear in mind there is some small uncertainty about it.)
[More]
This is really cool to see. A lot of water. We have thought there might be more water on Europa than exists on the Earth. (Click on the image above for some more.) Yes, more water than on Earth. Now we have more confirmation of the existence of water there. I’d rather see more work done getting here than getting to Mars. Ion engines might get us there in 3 years. And some fusion engines might get humans there in less than 4 months. Besides, this is where the Monolith is located. | 1,554 | 827 | 0.00126 |
warc | 201704 | How often did doctors communicate well with patients? What It Means
The percentage of patients who reported that their doctors "always" communicated well with them during their hospital stay. "Communicated well" means doctors explained things clearly, listened carefully to the patient, and treated the patient with courtesy and respect.
Why It Is Important Research shows that good communication between patients and their doctor(s) is an important element for patients in evaluating hospital quality - and their hospital experience. Studies show that good communication with caregivers is related to positive healthcare outcomes, as well.
Close Window | 662 | 363 | 0.002793 |
warc | 201704 | Written by David Wilcock
Friday, 13 January 2012 13:13
THE MAGIC PRINTING PRESS
The greatest victory of the Federal Reserve cabal has been the ability to print money out of thin air. Creating 26 Trillion dollars of bailouts for their own banks and financial institutions was quite a stunt — as we discussed.
This “magic printing press” technology did not come easily. The only way you can print money out of thin air and have people
use it is to confiscate most of the world’s gold and treasure first — so no one has access to it in the open market.
Individuals and nations will not give up their gold easily. As we will see, it takes something on the scale of a World War — make that
two World Wars — in order to fully accomplish such a stunning feat of financial engineering.
Despite my deep involvement in researching these subjects since 1992, I only learned about this aspect of the Federal Reserve agenda very recently — but it nonetheless is of vital importance in understanding the Big Picture.
In this section I will reveal highly classified information that has only rarely been made public — in the interest of securing a better future for everyone. Also, by revealing all my secrets on this subject, I am no longer a threat — as there is nothing left to hide.
A 786-PAGE HISTORY LESSON
This meticulously researched 786-page monster document formed the intellectual, philosophical and economic argument behind the creation of the current “free market” global financial system — and is well-known to insiders.
This document also helped to establish the criteria and reasoning for creating the secret, “off-market” central-bank trading platforms that were backed by all the hidden, stolen gold. [I will explain how these platforms work as we go on.]
Several university websites offer a PDF version of this document for download. Here is Penn State’s version:
SMITH’S VISION WAS MISUSED
Though at its core, Smith’s masterwork had positive ideals, intended to create a better world for everyone, most nations of the world now feel Smith’s vision has been wildly distorted and misused within the current economic system.
This entire “Illuminati” financial system is finally breaking open and becoming public — for the first time since its inception.
Most scholars who are aware of Smith’s work focus on his defense of “free market” economics — which is still a cornerstone of many political arguments today.
Smith argued that
government tariffs and oversight will restrict economic growth. Politicians can be bought off and manipulated by big corporations, keeping prices high and quality low.
However, without government restrictions, the people will democratically “vote with their wallets” for whatever is best — and in a truly fair and open game, they will ultimately get better products at better prices.
We do
not have a “truly fair and open game” at this time. As we saw in Section One, an “interlocking directorate” of 147 corporations, headed by the top Federal Reserve financial institutions, apparently earns and controls 80 percent of the world’s wealth.
DEMOLISHING THE GOLD STANDARD
Smith’s core argument is rarely discussed in the public world.
In his monster document, Smith argued — quite convincingly — that
no country could legitimately remain on a gold standard if we wanted world peace.
It is astonishing to remember that this was all laid out in 1776 — which, interestingly enough, was the same year Adam Weishaupt was financed to start the Illuminati in Bavaria. Smith was likely paid very well for his work — as was Weishaupt.
Although there may well be truth in Smith’s argument, there was a deeper agenda hidden behind it — which was the exact opposite of what he seemed to be saying.
If no country or group is left with any gold, then no country or group can financially oppose the ruling cabal.
Even if a world leader of typical intelligence could only make it through the first 44 pages of this book, he or she would already have a strong sense of inevitability regarding Smith’s ultimate position on gold.
Here are four of Smith’s most compelling arguments that emerge just within the first 44 pages. It’s important to understand the logic behind this plan, and how far back it goes in history.
1. INFLATION IS INEVITABLE ON A GOLD STANDARD
First of all, if a country only has a certain, fixed amount of gold,
massive inflation is inevitable.
More people will be born, and those people will produce more goods and services. Immigration also increases your population — and you may end up with a lot more people.
All of this forces you to print more money — but the problem is that you
don’t have more gold.
The more money you print, the less gold anyone can actually get for it. This makes their money worth less and less over time.
Everyone who has paper money in the bank — or stashed in their closet — will find it continually decreasing in purchasing power.
This problem would inevitably cause suffering, riots and ultimately mass casualties as the public realizes their money is worthless — and / or when other nations refuse to honor their currency.
This could ultimately choke off an entire nation from needed survival supplies, because they can’t afford to buy them — causing grave humanitarian disasters by the sheer force of market economics.
2. A COUNTRY CAN BE DESTROYED BY SIMPLY MOVING THE GOLD
Second of all, what if someone within a given country feels they either own the gold or could successfully steal it — including the ruling party or some of their minions?
This individual or group — which may just be a warring, pissed-off faction within the overall power structure of the nation — could mount a sting operation, take the gold out of the country, bring it somewhere else and then defend their actions with military force.
How hard is it, really, to transport a few thousand tons of this shiny, yellow metal? How many soldiers and guards do you need to kill, in the middle of the night, as your teams swoop in and move it out — in massive shipments?
Ask Hitler. He did it all over Europe. We’ll be talking more about that later on.
Thanks to the invention of the wheel, and the inevitable availability of large groups of mercenaries to do the work, you just send in a bunch of guys and haul it the hell out of there. With enough planning and logistics, it could all happen in one night.
By simply moving the gold from one nation to another, by whatever violent means were required, someone could instantly and completely destroy the nation they took the gold from.
3. ANY COUNTRY WITH GOLD IS A PRIME TARGET FOR INVASION
Thirdly, if one country has gold reserves and others do not, they become a target for invasion.
Natural human greed and violence would inevitably doom the people in that country to invasion by others wishing to steal it.
The only way to solve that problem is to
insure that no one nation has gold-backed currency.
That way the game is fair for everyone… all across the board.
4. THE COUNTRIES WITH GOLD WILL ONLY BECOME MORE AND MORE POWERFUL AS TIME GOES ON
Lastly, any country who
does have a gold-backed currency will have an unfair advantage over other nations.
The people of the world will naturally want to invest in a gold-backed currency rather than one that is just “worthless paper”.
Why take a piece of paper that is backed by nothing when you can have a piece of paper that is literally “as good as gold” — and you can go get the gold out of a bank in exchange for the paper?
The “Golden Rule” is “He who has the gold… makes the rules.”
Therefore, on a gold standard the powerful will only get more powerful, while the weak become systematically weaker.
The nations with the gold will quickly scoop up all the world’s investments, as everyone wants gold-backed currency.
SMITH DOES SOUND A LITTLE TOO DESPERATE IN SOME PLACES
The above four arguments are definitely compelling. However, when you read
The Wealth of Nations with a discerning eye, there are places where Smith sounds a little desperate — and seems to be trying a bit too hard.
On page 40, and again on page 44, he implies that coins should not be used for money because they degrade over time from “rubbing and wearing”. Smith argued that merchants would offer less for degraded coins than they would for fresh ones.
40:
“The silver coin still continues in the same worn and degraded state as before the reformation of the gold coin. In the market, however, one-and-twenty shillings of this degraded silver coin are still considered as worth a guinea of this excellent gold coin.”
44:
“But if, by rubbing and wearing, forty-four guineas and a half generally contain less than a pound weight of standard gold, the diminution, however, being greater in some pieces than in others, the measure of value comes to be liable to the same sort of uncertainty to which all other weights and measures are commonly exposed….
In consequence of a like disorder in the coin, the price of goods comes, in the same manner, to be adjusted, not to the quantity of pure gold or silver which the coin ought to contain, but to that which, upon an average, it is found, by experience, it actually does contain.”
I was interested in numismatics for a while and held modest numbers of gold and silver coins. Gold bullion coins, even going back to the Napoleon III era in the 1800s, when 1/5th-ounce coins were in widespread circulation, hardly ever show any significant wear and tear.
I did have some American silver coins that had worn down — but these dated back to the early 1800s, and you could still make out what they said. Once they get that old, you wouldn’t use them as typical money to pay for something anyway.
THIS IS HOW IT HAPPENED
In summary,
The Wealth of Nations was used to tell the leaders of the world that eliminating gold-backed currency was the only way they could be safe — and insure world peace. Instead of a gold standard, money could be issued via fiat.
Though the term “fiat” is akin to saying “the Devil’s Pitchfork” to anyone who reads this sort of material, the original idea behind fiat currency was simply that it would be backed by the wealth created by the people.
Adam Smith made this point right from the beginning in
The Wealth of Nations — as we can see here in a quote from page 31.
31:
“It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all the wealth of the world was originally purchased; and its value, to those who possess it, and who want to exchange it for some new productions, is precisely equal to the quantity of labour which it can enable them to purchase or command.”
In its ideal form,
a nation calculates the actual amount of wealth created by its people, and then issues currency in proportion to that equity. With the Internet, this could be openly calculated and audited by the public with complete transparency.
In this setting, no economic collapse ever needs to happen again — and the more motivated a country is to produce wealth, the more wealth it can generate for itself. This, according to Smith’s vision, could not be accomplished with the gold standard.
However, as you’re about to see, the world
is still on a gold standard. It’s simply been kept very, very secret — and has been highly abused. Those who wish to straighten it out have been opposed at every step with deadly force.
PLANS TO INVADE AND PLUNDER ASIA
According to Benjamin Fulford, the former Asia-Pacific bureau chief for Forbes Magazine who broke open this whole investigation for the public, fully
eighty-five percent of the world’s gold ended up in Asia — over thousands of years of time.
Historically, Asia was the only place to buy fine silks, elaborate vases, gorgeous china, exotic spices and plenty of opium. The Roman Empire and later the Spanish Empire splurged on Asian goods. The Asians would only accept payment in gold.
The Spanish Empire and other such groups had acquired their gold and treasure by various means — including robbing and plundering every nation they could manage to conquer, such as the Mayan and Aztec Empires.
By the 1700s it was well known that much of the world’s gold had ended up in Asia. Adam Smith, and the people financing him, obviously were well aware of the massive storehouse of treasure that was hidden there.
Asia was the number-one enemy to creating a worldwide fiat currency. The gold had to be withdrawn and hidden away in order to create this new economic system. The only way to do this would be to invade and plunder China — as well as its neighbors.
This plan ended up requiring over 150 years to be fulfilled — but the amazing part is that
it actually did work.
JAPAN WAS KEY
The British Empire, secretly headed by the Rothschild clan, saw Japan as the best nation for establishing a beachhead — so they could ultimately grab all the Asian gold. It was a medieval country, with very little technology, but a huge population center.
As Fulford indicated in our interview,
the Satsuma and Choshu clans in southern Japan were outfitted by the British with modern weapons and military strategies — and they quickly subdued the rest of the country.
This led to the “Meiji Restoration” of 1868, in which young Japanese people were put in power.
The term “Meiji” means “Enlightened Rule” — and as I said in the original article,
which now has over 700,000 views, the name “Meiji” is therefore interchangeable with the Western term “Illuminati”.
It took time, effort and a great deal of money to make Japan powerful enough to invade and plunder China. Japan was a very, very large bet — financed by the most powerful and secretive entity in the world.
This is apparently why Japan experienced the fastest economic boom and Westernization in recorded history — beginning directly after the Meiji Restoration. They went from utterly medieval to highly modern and competitive in the span of less than 40 years.
Japan was very active in World War One. Great atrocities occurred on an absolutely unprecedented scale — but the situation in the world was no different afterwards. The same tensions still existed, and no conflicts had been truly resolved.
ORIGIN OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE AND BANK OF INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS
The Federal Reserve began on December 23, 1913. President Woodrow Wilson expressed grave concerns about the seriousness and the danger of what had just occurred — the overthrow of the American economic system by a group of private bankers.
The first major spark to begin World War I occurred the following June, when Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne, was assassinated — along with his wife.
As we revealed in Section Two,
World War One had been planned by Guiseppe Mazzini, the head of European Freemasonry, and Albert Pike, the head of American Freemasonry, back in 1871. Their plans were proudly displayed at the National Museum Library in London.
In June 1914, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by a nationalistic member of a different country — Serbia. Then, most likely thanks to press manipulation, the public was whipped up into a frenzy — and they were told that this was an act of war.
Assassinations are very easy to stage. That appears to have been a key part of how Pike and Mazzini’s plan to start World War One was realized in practical terms.
The outrage from this assassination spread throughout Europe. The controlled press in different countries most likely contributed by manipulating their people into taking sides.
Germany quickly sided with Austria and Hungary. Germany then declared war on Serbia and her ally, Russia, seeking vengeance for the murder of Archduke Ferdinand.
IT SOON SPIRALED OUT OF CONTROL
Germany’s declaration of war was on August 1, 1914 — and very soon afterwards, the whole world began spiraling out of control.
Germany invaded Luxembourg, declared war on France and invaded Belgium to have an attack point against France. Britain declared war on Germany in defense — and even Canada joined the fight.
This all occurred in 1914,
and the battle raged on until 1919 — with several other countries getting drawn in along the way. Germany was crushed at the end of the war, and the Treaty of Versailles was drawn up to help rebuild their economy.
By 1921, it was clear that nothing had really changed in the world. The rich still got richer, the poor still got poorer, and no one really “won” the Great War — as it was called back then.
Within the insider circles of the international community, much of the problem was blamed on the gold standard — for the reasons outlined in Adam Smith’s
The Wealth of Nations from 1776.
The degree of atrocity that was suffered from the gold standard was sufficient to convince Emperor Hirohito of Japan to travel to the United Kingdom and sign a secret pact, in 1921, to create the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).
The BIS was created by the founders of the Federal Reserve, which had started about seven years earlier. We will learn a lot more about them — and
read from their own official documents — in Section Five.
The BIS was intended to expand the powers of the Federal Reserve into a truly global reach…
and it worked.
HIROHITO ACCEPTS THE PLAN TO START THE BANK OF INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS
The plan Hirohito accepted was also secretly agreed to by several other nations in the 1920s. It took time, but a consensus was reached within less than a decade — and they eventually went public about their new alliance.
Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, all the most significant supplies of gold and silver in the world were turned over to the Federal Reserve and Bank of International Settlements and “blacklisted” — that is, taken off-market.
The idea was obviously not to destroy all the gold and treasure — that would be a stupid and needless tragedy. Instead, the various leaders were told they merely had to put all their gold on deposit.
Secret deposit.
Everyone still got to keep their gold — only the public would be told it was missing, or it had never existed in the first place. The Asians certainly hadn’t gone public with how much they really had, so that whole story could be easily kept secret.
BONDS WERE ISSUED IN EXCHANGE FOR THE GOLD
Each country that handed over its gold — and / or had its gold forcibly taken — was given certificates of deposit, or
bonds, in exchange for what they gave up.
The bonds were issued by the Federal Reserve, through their various banks in major cities of the United States. These bonds were considered to be as valuable and as redeemable as cash.
The problem was that the Federal Reserve printed
vastly, vastly, vastly more money in these bonds than existed in the open, honest economy — trillions upon trillions of dollars’ worth, beginning in the 1920s.
Remember — the amount of gold that
actually existed was much greater than anyone could have ever imagined, since the Asians had kept it all very secret.
Had the public found out how much gold there really was, it would have created a massive economic shock. Gold would have become practically worthless overnight.
The world leaders needed to know that the gold they put on deposit was still worth its actual value in conventional dollars. Otherwise, they would be really pissed off about not getting “fair market value” for what they were “depositing” with the Federal Reserve.
EVERYTHING WAS PACKAGED VERY NICELY — AND VERY SECURELY
The bonds looked very sexy — and had huge numbers on them.
There were 100,000-dollar gold certificates, million-dollar gold certificates, 100-million-dollar bonds and even billion-dollar bonds.
That’s right. Single sheets of paper were allegedly worth a
billion dollars in some cases.
I am aware of how crazy this sounds, but the intel on this is very good — including pictures that David and Mackie Hutlzer may have given their lives for us to see.
As an investigator, my job is to pass along the information to you. I cannot assume that I know everything, or that every piece of data is correct. However, when I have multiple, totally independent sources tell me the exact same things, I listen.
Though there were several different types of storage containers, many of these bonds were put into 8.5×11-sized boxes carved out of a single piece of durable wood — about two and a half inches deep, making them almost as big as a typical ream of 500 sheets of paper.
THEY NEEDED TO STAY SECURE FOR 60 YEARS
The wooden boxes were then glued shut. That way, the bonds were much less likely to get moldy — after being stored in a chest and buried underground in a secure location for 60 years.
After the 60 years, the Asian countries were told they could dig up the chests, cash out the bonds and get their money back if they wanted to.
This is a key aspect of the trillion-dollar lawsuit we have been discussing.
In response, the United States issued massive amounts of 1934-series Federal Reserve bonds — carefully sealed in boxes, which were then sealed in locked chests — and handed them back to China as collateral.
THE 60 YEARS WERE UP IN 1998 — AND THE FEDERAL RESERVE LOST THE CASE
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warc | 201704 | 11/4/2013
Professional Practice Network News Members of the Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) were recently surveyed about their favorite spaces. Responses were varied and had many insightful comments and suggestions, which have been shared and discussed with everyone here over the past few months.
Favorite iconic space
• “Can't pick one. Every space has its own spirit if it is done well. Many appeal to me for different reasons.”
• “Edible landscapes: love the change in seasons, being able to reach something to eat, experiencing the creeping bugs and winged insects.”
• “Paley Park, New York City. When I stumbled upon this space, as a 17-year-old, it was an epiphany! I decided on the spot that I wanted to devote my life to creating elegant public spaces. I was particularly struck by how unprepossessing this small vacant lot—a lot dwarfed by nondescript buildings—must have seemed prior to the realization of the designers’ vision.”
• “Central Park is the heart of New York City and allows it to function without exploding!”
• “The city of Paris. There’s nothing you can’t see or do in Paris—you can see amazing art, eat great food, wander in little out-of-the-way neighborhoods, AND see great landscape architecture, too.”
• “Yosemite Valley. Words cannot describe.”
Designed space
• “The Champs-Elysées, Paris. Are you kidding? Have you been there? It is a place where people become part of the landscape. The cafés spill out on to the streets. Every tiny detail regarding aesthetics has been attended to. The experience of walking the corridor is entertaining. There are things to do and people to watch. There is no hurry. There are no fears for safety. The buildings create enclosure and they have continuity of architecture. The plant material has a delicateness to it. There are magnificent focal points.”
• “Machu Picchu. Because the Incas knew how to plan and build better than we do today.”
• “The piazza in Siena. It is one of the most pleasant and functional urban spaces on earth. The scale is perfect, the design is elegant and understated, the coffee is superb.”
• “Central Park…[because] it is designed, not naturally occurring.”
• “TBD.”
Space every child should experience
• “A zoo. Lions and tigers and bears and...an interactive outdoor experience for children of all ages.”
Space you are most worried about losing
• “Ellis Island, New York City. This is the iconic doorway to America and the real image of our country to much of the world.”
• “Keller Fountain, Portland. It's a thrilling place—scaled for the West Coast and reflective of the region’s natural environment. Its potential danger is part of the thrill—the power of nature demands respect. But today the public fear of injury and litigation puts severe limits on designers (not all bad). The concrete and blocky forms are no longer in fashion, and some fail to see its majesty. We have lost other Lawrence Halprin-designed spaces already.”
Space for lingering
• “Anywhere there are trees and benches is good enough for me.”
Small, but mighty space
• “Highland Hammocks State Park, Florida. Eerie, mysterious marsh boardwalks through native Floridian landscape of the state’s interior with beautiful views of native trees.”
• “Indian Rock in Berkeley, California. Distinctive rock that people of all ages climb up to see the view of the San Francisco Bay and watch the sunset. Rock climbers play on the faces. A long history of famous climbers learning there.”
• “The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C. For those of us who lived through the Vietnam War, this space creates a lump in the throat, a pause in our everyday lives with a minimalist palette.”
• “On top of Glastonbury Tor, England. The small grassy area at the top of this naked, high, steep hill, springing up from countryside that is completely flat for miles around, is reached by a winding trail with origins in Neolithic British peoples. Sheep graze; legends of King Arthur and Jesus are entwined here. The tiny box of a ruined chapel with carved graffiti from centuries ago does not spoil the 360-degree view. Beneath, forbidden to visitors, lie monks’ cells carved into the Tor. You can examine the blades of grass, watch for oncoming armies miles away, lie on your back and watch the clouds. It’s big and little, historic, layered, beautiful!” | 4,704 | 2,364 | 0.000461 |
warc | 201704 | UI-First Software Development
We're currently in the midst of building the new web property I alluded to in a previous post. Before I write a single line of code, I want to have a
pretty clear idea of what the user interface will look like first. I'm in complete agreement with Rick Schaut here:
When you're working on end-user software, and it doesn't matter if you're working on a web app, adding a feature to an existing application, or working on a plug-in for some other application, you need to design the UI. first
This is hard for a couple of reasons. The first is that most programmers, particularly those who've been trained through University-level computer science courses, learned how to program by first writing code that was intended to be run via the command line. As a consequence, we learned how to implement efficient algorithms for common computer science problems, but we never learned how to design a good UI.
Of course, UI is hard, far harder than coding for developers. It's tempting to skip the tough part and do what comes naturally -- start banging away in a code window with no real thought given to how the user will interact with the features you're building.
Remember, to the end user, the interface
is the application. Doesn't it make sense to think about that before firing up the compiler?
It's certainly true that there are limitations on how the UI can be built based on the technology you're using. Just because some pixels can be arranged a certain way in Photoshop doesn't mean that can magically be turned into a compiling, shippable product in any sane timeframe. To ameliorate that problem, take advantage of visual design patterns. If you're building a GUI application, use a palette of widgets common to your GUI. If you're building a web application, use a palette of HTML, CSS, and DOM elements from all over the web. Let the palette enforce your technology constraints.
It shouldn't be difficult to sit down with a few basic tools and slap together a rough mockup of how the user interface will look. However, it is extremely important at this point to
stay out of technical development environments when mocking your user interface, or the temptation to turn the model into the product may be too strong for your team to resist. Try to avoid the prototype pitfall.
So how do we prototype the UI without relying on our development tools? One way is simple paper prototyping.
The book Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy way to Design and Refine User Interfaces is an excellent introduction to paper prototyping. You can interactively browse sections of this book at Amazon, through Google Books, and the book's own dedicated web site.
There's a certain timelessness to paper prototyping that holds a deep appeal, as Jacob Nielsen points out:
Paper prototyping has a second benefit, besides its impact on your current design project's quality. It will also benefit your career. Consider all the other books you've read about computers, Web design, and similar topics. How much of what you learned will still be useful in ten years? In twenty years? In the immortal words of my old boss, Scott McNealy, technology has the shelf life of a banana.
In contrast, the paper prototyping technique has a shelf life closer to that of, say, paper. Once you've learned paper prototyping, you can use it in every project you do for the rest of your career. I have no idea what user interface technologies will be popular in twenty years, but I do know that I'll have to subject those designs to usability evaluation, and that paper prototyping will be a valuable technique for running early studies.
Paper prototypes are usually pitched in terms of doing low-fi usability studies, and rightly so. But I find a paper prototype tremendously helpful even if I'm the only one that ever sees it. I need to create an image in my mind of what I'm building, as it will be seen by the world, before I start pouring the concrete to make it real.
If you need any more convincing that paper prototyping is an incredibly valuable tool-- even for mere developers-- consider the advice of Jared Spool's company, User Interface Engineering:
Paper Prototypes: Still Our Favorite (1998) Five Paper Prototyping Tips (2000) Looking Back on 16 Years of Paper Prototyping (2005)
I also recommend reading through Common Concerns about Paper Prototyping if you're still on the fence.
But what happens when you
outgrow paper prototying? Jensen Harris, one of the principal UI designers on the Office 2007 team, first introduced me to PowerPoint prototyping:
We use PowerPoint as kind of a better version of [Office 2007] paper prototypes. This technique has several advantages: prototypes can be made to feel somewhat interactive, because the content is electronic it can be modified more easily than paper, and (best of all) the usability participant uses the mouse and is on the computer, so it feels natural to them.
Of course, it doesn't have to be PowerPoint. Use whatever tool you like, as long as it's
not a development tool. You don't want something too powerful. What you want is mild interactivity while remaining simple and straightforward for quick iterative changes. That's the logical next step up from paper prototyping.
It's a lot easier to share this digital artifact on a distributed team than it is to share a bunch of physical paper. If you're curious about the nuts and bolts of PowerPoint prototyping, dig in:
Wireframe prototyping using PowerPoint 2007 (Manuel Clement, 26 minute video) Step-by-Step Guide to PowerPoint Prototyping (Jan Verhoeven) PowerPoint Prototyping Toolkit (Long Zheng)
The pursuit of UI-First software development is more important than any particular tool. Use paper, use PowerPoint, use Keynote, use whatever makes sense to you. As long as you avoid, in the words of Manuel Clement,
pouring concrete too early. How does your team practice UI-First software development? | 5,957 | 2,807 | 0.000358 |
warc | 201704 | There was a time when best execution to some on the buy side merely meant calling three or four banks on the telephone, asking each for the same price and hitting the best bid or offer. Indeed some institutions still use this method as their best execution policy.
More recently, however, thanks to events, regulatory interference and the structural changes taking place in the FX market, more firms are re-assessing their best execution policy.
More buy side firms are considering the use of
algorithmic execution strategiesand tools as part of this process, but even those who aren’t willing to go that next step are re-evaluating their approach to FX markets.
“Significant structural changes in the FX market are underway. These changes are the product of broad and deep regulatory reform stemming from the Global Financial Crisis as well as the LIBOR and WM/Reuters fix scandals.” Joe Hoffman, director, equity derivatives and foreign exchange at Russell Investments.
New approach?
Iskandar Vanblarcum, head of EMEA FX new business at Thomson Reuters agrees that issues surrounding the benchmark fix have played a role in the re-evaluation, he also believes that to be only part of the reason.
“The asset managers know that only a relative few were involved in the fix issue,” he says. “But the revelations around what happened have led to questions from the asset owners and oversight functions over how the managers treat FX. Historically the answer has been as a by-product, but that is changing now.” Iskandar Vanblarcum, head of EMEA FX new business
New venues
The headline issues when it comes to
reform of markets are conduct and, inevitably, best execution. The re-evaluation that has accompanied these issues has led people to ponder not only how they execute, but where.
“We have seen a surge in adoption of multi-dealer platforms at the expense of the single dealer platforms (SDP),” says Vanblarcum, “There is an understanding on the part of customers that they cannot rely upon an SDP to fulfill their enhanced best execution policies.” It’s not just about best execution, however. He continues, “These customers have high volume processing needs when allocating across thousands of accounts, and that requirement is complicated even further when the execution has taken place with multiple liquidity providers. They need a multi-dealer platform that offers workflow efficiencies while allowing them to meet the needs of their best execution policy.”
Fragmentation
A fundamental change within the market structure – fragmentation – also represents a challenge to best execution. “Fragmentation is an outcome of
fully automated trading, we see it in equities, treasuries and now FX,” says Isaac Lieberman, principal at Aston Capital Management. “The talk in markets is very much about the extreme moves we have seen, but that misses the point that there are little mini moves happening all day long, and this can impact execution quality.” New ideas
With the challenges facing market participants inevitably comes innovation. And while some participants are content with how they operate, they also remain open to new ideas, as expressed by Colorado PERA’s Komon:
“While I don’t foresee any substantial changes in our execution process in the near term, we strive to stay informed about developments in the FX marketplace and will implement changes we deem valuable in the future,” he says. “Enhancements we may consider include third-party execution analysis, the use of new platforms or venues, or the incorporation of new data.”
Simon Jones, director at Pierrepoint FX, sums up the challenge:
“The challenge is staying on top of all that is new out there and the many different directions change is coming from. The opportunities right now are limitless, the key is turning those into legitimate commercial realisations people benefit from.” | 4,052 | 1,923 | 0.000547 |
warc | 201704 | This posting explains briefly how drug abuse affects the workplace.
Solution Preview
As you explore how drug abuse impacts the workplace, please allow some of these ideas to guide you in this vast topic:
Drug abuse negatively impacts the workplace both on personal and professional levels. In terms of professionalism, please not that research suggests that "as many as three to five percent of the employees of a medium- to large-sized plant may be dependent on drugs as a way of life" (http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6152743). In terms of detrimental effects of ...
Ramifications are listed about workplace drug abuse. | 660 | 406 | 0.002493 |
warc | 201704 | Your next filling may do a little more to keep your teeth healthy. Researchers at the University of Maryland have created the first cavity-fillers also kill bacteria and re-grow layers of tooth, the university announced yesterday (May 1). Huakun Xu and his colleagues created a cavity-prepping mouthwash, a filling and a filling cement that include tiny, nano-size particles of silver and calcium that have a diameter roughly 1/1000th as wide as a human hair. The researchers reported on the prepping fluid in the Journal of Dental Research in April. The University of Maryland's tech transfer office now has patents pending for the new materials and is open to licensing. If a company takes up the offer , it will probably test the inventions in people and try to earn U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to use the inventions widely.
Over the past few years, manufacturers have added nano-size silver particles to surgery instruments, bandages, home air filters and more because nanosilver kills bacteria and other microbes. Scientists haven't fully discovered how nanosilver works yet, but they think it works in part by anchoring to cell walls, which some types of bacteria cells have, but human cells don't. The nanosilver induces the cell walls to let in all kinds of junk and contaminants from the environment around the bacteria cells, eventually killing them.
Xu and his team added nanosilver to the new prepping wash and filling adhesive because the main complications of fillings happen along the edges of the original cavity, Xu said. The new filling adhesive and prepping fluid kill bacteria in the vulnerable area before dentists add the filling. "These are the first things that cover the internal surfaces of the tooth," Xu said. The primer and adhesive also flow into tiny spaces inside the tooth, he added.
Meanwhile, calcium phosphate nanoparticles in the adhesive and in the filling itself add important minerals to the teeth, Xu said.
The research team members hope their nano additions will help fillings last longer than the usual five to 10 years, though they haven't yet tested if that's true. So far, they've only tested the new materials on bacteria harvested from people's teeth and grown in lab. They plan to study the primer, adhesive and filling in animal teeth and human teeth next.
14 Crazy Patent Applications The Perils of Small Stuff: What We Know About Nanotech Safety Today Top 10 Future Food Sources
Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | 2,607 | 1,323 | 0.000759 |
warc | 201704 | There are several things I need to tell you.
Place of Origin is a ‘landscape as art’ project, which recently received a Saltire Award. It is located in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, in the North East of Scotland.
Image © John Maine
Images of the work on Glen Onwin’s web site
I need to tell you about the context.
The three artists who collaborated on Place of Origin were John Maine RA, Brad Goldberg and Glen Onwin RSA. I invited Maine to lead a project which addressed the history of granite quarrying in the North East of Scotland as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of John Fyfe Ltd. I was at that time just taking over from Fred Bushe OBE as Director of the Scottish Sculpture Workshop. I took advice from Board Members and colleagues. My aim from the outset was that the project should be artist-led. By this I mean that, where previous symposia had simply been artists sharing space and facilities but pursuing their own projects, in this case there should be an artist who led a group of artists. At that stage I did not envisage a collaborative project such as resulted, rather that there be some dialogue and planning around the relationship between works and to the site.
The Scottish Sculpture Workshop had had a long relationship with John Fyfe Ltd, working with them on a number of international granite symposia during the 80s and early 90s. Place of Origin was a revitalising approach to working with artists, material, place and industry.
Maine invited Brad Goldberg, an artist with a significant public art practice in the US, and Glen Onwin, then Principal Lecturer in Painting at Edinburgh College of Art and a noted conceptual artist, to collaborate with him. Maine had met Goldberg at a sculpture symposium in Japan, but had never met Onwin, though they had both had work in From Art to Archaeology, a group exhibition at the Southbank Centre, London, in 1991.
John Fyfe Ltd operated the quarries at Kemnay as well as a number of other major quarries, including Correnie and Tom’s Forest, in the North East of Scotland. Granite from the North East of Scotland not only gives Aberdeen its nickname, the Silver City, but it was also exported and used for the Thames Embankment, the piers of Tower Bridge and Electric Avenue in Brixton, all in London, amongst other locations across the UK. More recently granite from Kemnay has been used for the new Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh . Workers from the quarries of the North East of Scotland also emigrated to other parts of the world and contributed to the development of the industry, particularly in the USA.
The village of Kemnay grew up as a result of the quarry. The village is fast becoming a dormitory for Aberdeen, and the connection with the industrial history is less visible. Kemnay Quarry is a substantial hole in the top of Paradise Hill adjacent to the village, but is largely invisible from the settlement.
I need to tell you about the process.
Maine, Goldberg and Onwin first met together in 1996 and developed an initial approach to the context of Kemnay Quarry. Their focus was from the outset to draw attention to the historic quarry workings. They set out a master plan for a number of key focal points around the rim of the Quarry.
Working with John Harrison of Harrison Eastwood Engineers, Maine, Goldberg and Onwin proposed the construction of a viewpoint over the quarry, using methods and processes common to the quarrying industry. Fortuitously (or perhaps thanks to Jonathan Young, then Deputy Director of Planning at Aberdeenshire Council) RB Farquhar, the property developers, allowed an area of community woodland between one of their developments on the edge of Kemnay and the Quarry, to be designed as part of Place of Origin. The artists worked closely with the Greenbelt Group, who were contracted by RB Farquhar to deliver the woodland and other green spaces in the development. This area of developing woodland, shaped by the artists, provides public access to the viewpoint on the rim of the Quarry.
Over the 10 years of the project Maine, Goldberg and Onwin met approximately annually to design and supervise construction of the viewpoint and the landscape, with Maine visiting and directing work on the ground during the intervening months between group sessions. The artists and Maine in particular worked closely with the quarrymen – Robbie Finnie and Mike Kinghorn – and the managers – Alistair Bremner, Sandy Argo and others. The commitment of these individuals was central to the success of the project. The local community, including Mavis Wainman and more recently Chris Honeyball have taken on supporting the project as it has moved from being part of the quarry to being part of the settlement.
Maine, Goldberg and Onwin drew on a wide range of knowledge and expertise. I particularly remember the contributions of local and national archaeologists (Ian Shepherd – regional archaeologist and Richard Bradley of Reading University), as well as Duncan Downie, the local historian.
The viewpoint, constructed out of some 100,000 tonnes of quarry waste and other subsoil material, takes its cue from a number of key visual characteristics of the locality. These include most obviously Bennachie, a range of distinctive hills, surmounted by an iron age hill fort, that forms a major landmark in Aberdeenshire. The work also draws inspiration from the Quarry itself, and in particular the construction of retaining walls and platforms.
More generally Maine, Goldberg and Onwin looked at the North East and Highland landscape including neolithic recumbent stone circles typical of the North East, the Brochs on the Western Isles, and other man-made marks on the landscape characterised by the use of stone. I’ll return to these sources.
Image © John Maine
I want to tell you what this project reveals about collaboration.
The nature of the collaboration between Maine, Goldberg and Onwin is, I believe, almost unique. Place of Origin is the result of all three artists, not a work by Maine next to a work by Goldberg and a work by Onwin. This is most obviously manifest in the extensive archive of drawings and photographs where you find the same aspect drawn in three hands, the same issue explored by three different pairs of eyes. Design emerges from shared visual investigation and visual dialogue.
Some of this visual material was used to keep the project moving forward. Following occasions when all three artists worked together Maine would draw together a visual diary using key drawings and photographs. These A3 landscape books were made with colour copies and there were only ever 5-10 copies of each. They contain a short text authored by Maine, but the emphasis is on images. They were distributed to key individuals as ‘gifts’ and acted as updates on progress.
As a brief aside I have noticed recently that the artists’ photography of the project is very important. My attention has been drawn to this because of the poor photography in both the Aberdeenshire Design Awards and on the Public Art Scotland web site. The fact that they failed to capture this work effectively highlighted for me the importance of the artists’ attention to making a good record of the work and the process. Just about every meeting was focused by the resulting books of images, and whatever publication eventually emerges needs to have this as its backbone.
Although these books certainly performed a role in keeping the artists’ thinking coherent over extended gaps, I believe this collaboration developed, at least in part, because of the approach Maine took to bringing the team together. From arriving in Aberdeen and meeting together for the first time, it took five days to get to the site. As the crow flies it is perhaps 15 miles, but the journey was taken as a huge spiral from Aberdeen across the North East of Scotland, into the Highlands to Ullapool, With what was to become a regular feature of the 10 years, we took a diversion around Assynt, an area known to Onwin, before crossing to Lewis to visit Callanish. From Callanish we went on to explore other parts of Lewis and Harris. Back on the mainland the three artists went on down the Great Glen, and only arrived in Kemnay after a process of, yes, getting to know each other, but also building up a shared visual experience. This included ancient sites and modern forms of land management, as well strange experiences – standing on the edge of an absolutely still sea loch, looking across at a faerie island (in fact the peninsula on the other side), with the sun and its dog in front of us, reflected in the water creating four sources of light, and our multiple shadows behind us.
I want to tell you what this project reveals about making sculpture.
Maine talks about Place of Origin as ‘like a studio project’. The height of the final platform was established in 1997 by using a cherry picker and a tape measure. Engineering drawings were developed from this initial empirical observations. The question was ‘How high up and how far away from the edge will give us a safe vantage point?’. Maine describes working with the process of construction in the same terms of shaping material in the studio, directing huge earth moving machines to adjust the form of the viewpoint as an artist shapes clay. Each massive stone that forms the upper structure of the viewpoint was selected and placed individually, drawing on the expertise of the quarry men and the judgement of the artist. In describing the project Maine talks about ‘making the landscape as art, rather than placing art in the landscape’.
In this description it becomes apparent that this project is not ‘land art’ particularly as articulated by Robert Morris whose methodology based on precise information to be constructed by others. Of course the substantial work supervised by the engineer John Harrison and supported by companies doing compaction testing and so forth is ‘plan based’, but Maine’s description of shaping the hill being like working clay in the studio indicates where he sees heart of the process.
In the recent film (Tom Maine 2006-07) there is a fascinating discussion between the artists about making the paths across the community woodland, which reinforces this point. The Greenbelt Company had employed a landscape architect to set out the site. Graciously they allowed the artists to set aside that design and implement their own. Although many drawings were done, as well as contour models of the site, in the end the artists went out with the JCB and cut the path network intuitively based on their walking the site in front of the JCB, and their understanding of the contours and desire lines. Some weeks later Maine flew into or out of Dyce Airport over the site and was able to take a photo through the window of the plane. The artists were startled by the image they had created with these paths. In the discussion they describe how the results of their own intuitive work on the ground amazed them when seen from the air. Within the paths they had formed two circles and connecting lines which clearly resemble the sort of symbols used by Picts to represent mirrors. As they comment to each other, they would never have planned or drawn a path network with such an image: it would have seemed too obvious and literal, but to find it emerging out of their walking the landscape clearly thrills and amazes them.
Coincidentally it appears that the aerial photograph currently available on multimap must have been taken about this time, and it clearly shows the paths and the furrows for planting trees, as well as heavy machinery constructing the viewpoint.
I want to outline how we can understand this work in relation to other large scale landscape works.
There are a number of works that I would reference to contextualise Place of Origin. Firstly and inevitably we might look at the work of Robert Smithson. Smithson’s works were a subject of discussion between the artists, a reference point for all of them. Although Spiral Jetty (1970) is the most well known work, the Amarillo Ramp (1973) would also be a useful reference point. It is interesting that Spiral Jetty apparently used 6,550 tons of rock, took 6 days, was part financed by the Virginia Dwan Gallery in New York with $9000. From this we can infer that on one level it too is a sketch or a studio work.
In Scotland we have Patricia Leighton’s Sawtooth Ramps (1993) on the M8 motorway. This major earthwork has a far more formal aesthetic and does appear to be something put onto the landscape, in keeping with its environment of industrial parks and motorways.
Charles Jencks’ Landform Ueda (2001) at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh is different again. The work draws on Jencks’ interest in cosmology and complexity. It is pre-figured by the garden at Portrack in Dumfriesshire which Jencks created with his late wife, Maggie Keswick. Interestingly, Jencks’ work, although apparently landscape, is most frequently considered in the context of architecture. And in terms of construction is has more in common with architecture, the form being created from cast concrete structures overlaid with earth and sod.
Both Leighton’s and Jencks’ works came into existence as what one might call ‘products’ being commissioned by institutions (Sawtooth Ramps was commissioned by Motorola, and Landform Ueda by the National Galleries of Scotland). The latter forms part of the collection of the National Galleries, and the former part of the M8 Project initiated and managed by Art in Partnership.
Richard Cole’s Windy Nook outside Newcastle-Gateshead has more in common with Place of Origin that these others. Windy Nook was constructed in the 1980s and completed in 1986. Windy Nook involved the transformation of a colliery slag heap. There are a number of common features including the use of local materials and the creation of a new point from which to experience a locality.
All of these works might be referred to in a discussion of site specific work, and all clearly change places and modify our understanding of their contexts. None except Windy Nook emerge so specifically from their context. Place of Origin could only be where it is, tied to its location by sight lines to Bennachie, by the form of the landscape and the form of the land ownership, built substantially out of material from the immediate vicinity by processes used in that specific industrial context.
John Latham‘s APG placement in the Scottish Office, though fundamentally different, does shed some light. His proposal to designate bings as monuments, an action which involved no aspect of shaping the landscape, operates at the level of ‘drawing attention to’, a phrase Maine also uses. In this way Place of Origin, though a sculptural exercise, is more significantly an exercise in drawing attention to the context, the surrounding landscape, the human intervention in that landscape. For all the effort, for all the massiveness of the sculptural project, as an experience it directs our attention to the quarry and to Bennachie, to the line of the river and to the settlement. Bear in mind that there are photographs from the early part of the 20th century that show bings of quarry waste material at Kemnay in the same location on the quarry rim.
Our physical experience of these different works is also informative. I’ve never seen anyone on ‘Sawtooth Ramps’, nor have many people actually visited ‘Sprial Jetty’ (although those that do do walk on it). Landform Ueda is ‘walked on’ at SNGMA, and some of the bings are heavily used. Place of Origin is a walk, taken by people with their dogs, and kids on bikes, as is Windy Nook. They are physically experienced, perhaps more than viewed or seen as an aesthetic object.
There are also another set of reference points.
Maine, Goldberg and Onwin suggest that Place of Origin shares an aesthetic with a Japanese garden – it reflects the larger landscape it sits in. In the film made recently, I think it is Goldberg who talks about this Japanese concept translated as ‘borrowed landscape’. This concept is used in Japanese garden design to bring the larger landscape into the garden. .
As I mentioned above, the form of the viewpoint borrows from Bennachie, the dominant hill on the horizon. But there are a number of additional borrowings and references. The artists set out the tree planting to mirror the larger landscape. So at the bottom of the site we find willow, and in the middle birch and oak, and in the upper areas pine and larch. The rise across the whole site is perhaps 30m, but as you walk, once the trees reach maturity, you will have the experience of passing through a much greater range of environments, foreshortened. Finally and perhaps most subtly, I have a very strong visual impression of the raked curving patterns in the gravel in Japanese gardens. Working with the man ploughing the ground in preparation for the tree planting, Maine guided him in curves that follow the contours of the landscape. Normally this ploughing is simply done in straight lines. So embedded within the structure of the site is a very careful patterning to accentuate the landscape’s own shape.
Japanese garden design and traditional culture places particular emphasis on mountains: mountains have religious significance. It is generally thought that Bennachie had religious significance in prehistoric times, and this is indicated by the number of stone circles in its vicinity. Some people believe that this is in part because Bennachie’s most prominent ‘top’, the ‘Mither Tap’ is shaped like a female breast. Some traditional Japanese gardens structure a route to a particular viewpoint, often within a tea house. Aspects of the surrounding landscape, including mountains, generally visible from the locality, are blocked from view within the garden, until you reach the key viewpoint. Place of Origin conforms in some respects to this structure, with both the quarry and Bennachie being out of sight as you walk through the woodland and ascend the hill. Both are revealed when you reach the summit. Though the summit does not ‘frame’ the view in the way that windows in the traditional Japanese tea house might, it does provide a special view, and Place of Origin conforms to the more general statement, “the garden was planned for the sake of enjoying scenery.”
In conclusion.
Place of Origin took 10 years and is a project which I am very proud to have initiated. Its not often that anyone has the opportunity work with such interesting people over such an extended period on a project of such ambition.
You will have noticed that I have offered several different perspectives, from the practical to the art historical. At the time my role was clear – I was Director of the Scottish Sculpture Workshop, we were doing this project, and we did what was necessary. Since then I have had to think about my role, and I would now, retrospectively, describe it as ‘producer’. One point of reference for this term is the recent publication ‘The Producers’ (Jerwood, 2008). One characteristic highlighted by the interviews in that book is the close working relationship between the artist(s) and the ‘producer’. So, with John, I was negotiating with many partners, securing funding (and writing the attendant reports), setting up events for the community to find out more about the project. I learnt more about the area I lived in travelling Aberdeenshire with John going to meetings and taking frequent diversions exploring the landscape. There were points, particularly when a mobile phone mast was being sited on the rim of the quarry, where I thought I was going to be left with half a work of art.
In the end the relationship between ‘I’ and ‘we’ is loaded. ‘I’ seems egotistical, but ‘we’ conflates everyone into a unity: different roles, skills and personalities are obliterated. So if I can suggest that this project was like going for a walk. I ‘initiated’ it only in so far as I suggested to some people (an artist and some quarrymen) that we might go for a walk. We were only able to go for a walk because they also wanted to go for a walk. In practice we were led further and to more interesting places by the artist. Many people joined the walk for periods. Not many did the whole of it.
Ideally some of those other voices would also tell this story, since I am sure they also have several things to tell.
I am sure there is also more I can tell you. I’ll probably add bits later.
Background: The Artists
Maine is known for working in stone, and has been commissioned to make formal public works outside the Southbank Centre in London, for both Standard Life House and the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. But he is also known for his landscape works such as on Portland with Common Ground and more recently in the sea defence works on the Isle of Wight.
Goldberg has been lead artist for a significant number of public projects across the US including parks, mass transit systems, and museums.
Onwin is known for his conceptual works using natural materials and processes. He explores the physical properties of essential materials including salt. His work appears in galleries and on sites. His work, As Above, So Below, was commissioned as part of the programme at the Henry Moore Studios in Halifax.
The other key supporters
Place of Origin was possible because of the vision and commitment of a number of key individuals: the vision of the artists, the support of people working at Kemnay Quarry in particular, as well as members of the community in Kemnay. Sadly John Harrison, the engineer, who became a member of the team, and shares responsibility for the project with the artists, died in 2006. Alistair Bremner, Estates Manager for, first, John Fyfe Ltd, and then, following a merger, for Aggregate Industries, supported the project throughout its evolution. Robbie Finnie and Mike Kinghorn built most of the viewpoint. The Greenbelt Group allowed the artists to redesign the landscape they were responsible for, and worked closely on the implementation of the design.
Place of Origin was supported financially and in-kind by John Fyfe / Aggregate Industries as well as the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery; the Scottish Executive’s Aggregate Levy scheme, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation; The Hope Scott Trust, and other trusts and foundations; RB Farquhar Homes; and Aberdeenshire Council.
This article has been published on the PAR+RS web site.
Peter Robinson has explored the geology, botany and landscape of Place of Origin on his web site.
Downloads:
Image © Simon Harbord | 23,071 | 9,366 | 0.000109 |
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warc | 201704 | BKM120+Abiraterone Acetate for Metastatic CRPC
Tracking Information First Received Date
ICMJE December 3, 2012 Last Updated Date January 25, 2016 Start Date
ICMJE November 2012 Estimated Primary Completion Date November 2016 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure) Current Primary Outcome Measures
ICMJE Safety Profile and MTD for BKM120/Abiraterone/Prednisone [ Time Frame: 2 years ]
Determine the safety profile and MTD for the combination of BKM120 and abiraterone plus prednisone
Original Primary Outcome Measures
ICMJE
Same as current Change History Complete list of historical versions of study NCT01741753 on ClinicalTrials.gov Archive Site Current Secondary Outcome Measures
ICMJE
Original Secondary Outcome Measures
ICMJE
Same as current Current Other Outcome Measures
ICMJE Not Provided Original Other Outcome Measures
ICMJE Not Provided Descriptive Information Brief Title
ICMJE BKM120+Abiraterone Acetate for Metastatic CRPC Official Title
ICMJE Phase Ib Study of BKM120 Combined With Abiraterone Acetate for Docetaxel-pretreated, Castrate-resistant, Metastatic Prostate Cancer Brief Summary
This research study is a Phase I clinical trial. Phase I clinical trials test the safety of an investigational drug, in this case an investigational drug combined with standard drug therapy. Phase I studies also try to define the appropriate dose of the investigational drug to use for further studies. "Investigational" means that the drug is still being studied and taht research doctors are trying to find out more about it. It also means that the FDA has not approved the drug for use in patients, including people with your type of cancer.
BKM120 is a drug that inhibits the ability of tumors to grow and survive, which may lead to better outcomes in many types of cancer.
Abiraterone acetate is a drug that is approved for the treatment of prostate cancer, and works by inhibiting an enzyme found in prostate tumor tissue. While taking abiraterone acetate, individuals must also take a glucocorticoid such as prednisone.
Most patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer will receive treatment with docetaxel, after which treatment with the combination of abiraterone and prednisone has been shown to be effective. Evidence has shown an interaction between the pathways through which BKM120 and abiraterone act on cancer. Therefore, it is thought that the treatment of castrate-resistant prostate cancer will be enhanced by combining BKM120 with abiraterone plus prednisone. The purpose of this study is to determine a safe dose for the combination of daily oral BKM120, abiraterone acetate, and prednisone in patients with castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer who have received prior treatment with docetaxel.
Detailed Description
You will undergo a screening process to determine if you are eligible to participate in this trial. This process will include the following procedures: Tumor Biopsy, including a bone marrow biopsy, which is used to determine the kinds of cancer cells in your tumor and a Physical Examination, including weight, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate and body temperature.
Since we are looking for the highest dose of the study drug that can be administered safely without severe or unmanageable side effects in participants that have docetaxel resistant CRPC, not everyone who participates in this research study will receive the same dose of the study drug. The dose you get will depend on the number of participants who have been enrolled in the study before you and how well they have tolerated their doses.
If you take part in this research study, you will be given a study drug-dosing calendar for each treatment cycle. There will be a 14 day lead in phase of BKM120 alone to assess for toxicity from this agent. After the lead in phase, the standard dose of abiraterone and prednisone will be added to the BKM120 treatment regimen. Treatment cycles will last 4 weeks (28 days), during which time you will be taking the study drug in combination with the standard drug therapy once daily. Your time of participation in the study will be based on how well you tolerate the experimental drug. You could be participating in the study for a period of days, or years, depending on the course of your cancer.
During each treatment cycle, you will be required to return to see your research doctor for a study visit on Day 1 of each cycle. For Cycle 1, you will also need to return on Days 8, 15 and 22.
The following procedures will be performed and samples will be collected at 1 or more study visits: Evaluation of side effects, Vital sign measurement, Heart function tests, Neuropsychologic exams, Performance status assessment, Tumor biopsy, Assessment of tumor, Blood samples.
We would like to keep track of your medical condition for the rest of your life. We would like to do this by calling you on the telephone once a year to see how you are doing. Keeping in touch with you and checking your condition every year will help us look at the long-term effects of the research study. You will be required to return to see your research doctor for an end of study visit, which will take place 4-8 weeks after you undergo prostatectomy.
Study Type
ICMJE Interventional Study Phase Phase 1 Study Design
ICMJE Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Open Label
Primary Purpose: Treatment
Condition
ICMJE Prostate Cancer Intervention
ICMJE
Study Arms Experimental: Treatment Arm
BKM120+Abiraterone+Prednisone
Interventions:
Publications * Not Provided
* Includes publications given by the data provider as well as publications identified by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) in Medline.
Recruitment Information Recruitment Status
ICMJE Terminated Enrollment
ICMJE 4 Estimated Completion Date September 2017 Estimated Primary Completion Date November 2016 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure) Eligibility Criteria
ICMJE
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Sex/Gender
Ages 18 Years and older (Adult, Senior) Accepts Healthy Volunteers No Contacts
ICMJE
Contact information is only displayed when the study is recruiting subjects Listed Location Countries
ICMJE United States Removed Location Countries Administrative Information NCT Number
ICMJE NCT01741753 Other Study ID Numbers
ICMJE 12-121 Has Data Monitoring Committee Yes U.S. FDA-regulated Product Not Provided Plan to Share Data Not Provided IPD Description Not Provided Responsible Party Glenn Bubley, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Study Sponsor
ICMJE Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Collaborators
ICMJE Not Provided Investigators
ICMJE Not Provided Information Provided By Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Verification Date January 2016
ICMJE Data element required by the
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the
World Health Organization ICTRP | 6,902 | 2,889 | 0.000349 |
warc | 201704 | Marketing Directors and CMOs we meet are concerned about gaining audience attention, increasing consumer engagement and boosting campaign effectiveness.
• Consumers are switching to new channels, especially mobile, checking their mobiles 1500 times a week!
• Smartphones are now used for entertainment, in idle moments and with friends With such a dramatic shift of channel and media consumption it’s hardly surprising that traditional marketing is less effective. For example, Precision Marketing found that:
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