wild city : a guide to nature in urban ontario, from termites to coyotes wild city is generally used as a paradoxical phrase, often to describe the seeming juxtaposition of animals associated with the wilderness turning up or living in built - up areas. the scope of this book, however, is much broader, and we use wild in the sense of all those aspects of nature that, though near at hand, are not domesticated and directly controlled by us. we also cover the most common street and yard trees that, though intentionally planted and tended, play a central roll in urban ecosystems. cities are commonly thought of as being outside of nature, and certainly there is no landscape more altered and intensely dominated by humans. nature, however, has adapted to and evolved with urban settlement for perhaps 10, 000 years. pigeons, dandelions, house mice, starlings, house flies and an assemblage of other familiar species, together with domestic garden plants, grasses and trees, form a cosmopolitan urban ecosystem. individual cities are a combination of that basic framework on top of the natural habitat on which they are placed. certain native species, such as squirrels, crows, blue jays and raccoons, have learned to prosper in the new, human - structured environment. many others persist in the less disturbed, protected or neglected spaces within cities. their number and diversity may not rival that found in the near - pristine wilderness or even the rural countryside, but for the more than 80 percent of us in ontario who live in urban environs, it ’ s the nature most immediate to us in our everyday lives. many people ask, upon hearing about a book on urban nature, whether it will tell them how to get rid of their garden - and bird - feeder - raiding squirrels, garbage - dining raccoons or eaves - nesting sparrows and starlings. such information is featured seasonally in almost every daily newspaper and is available in great detail in public information handouts from all three levels of government and on innumerable internet web sites. this book, rather, is intended as a handy guide to some of the most common wild urban plants and animals that, like them or not, will always be with us and may, on occasion, find their way into places where they ’ re not wanted. we ’ ve tried to answer some of the most oft - asked questions about their natural lives and look into their place in folklore, culture and history. with the vast majority of ontario ’ s urban population living in areas south and


re not wanted. we ’ ve tried to answer some of the most oft - asked questions about their natural lives and look into their place in folklore, culture and history. with the vast majority of ontario ’ s urban population living in areas south and east of the canadian shield, wild city concentrates on the plants and animals found primarily in those regions. many introduced and common native species habituated to urban life also occur in the north, as well as in cites across canada. northern cities, though, also have more immediate and frequent experiences with animals such as moose, bears, porcupines and many birds, commonly associated with remote wilderness. for ease of use, we have followed the same format in wild city as in our previous two books, up north and up north again, which covered the mixed forest hinterland region of central ontario. there are three main sections : “ animal kingdom, ” “ plant kingdom ” and “ the heavens. ” subsections within the chapters are arranged alphabetically ; thus, “ birds ” comes before “ creepy crawlies. ” finally, within each subsection, individual entries are arranged alphabetically by common name. vital statistics and tidbits of information are featured in a sidebar with each entry, and included in the entries on featured subjects is information on many other species. their names appear in bold wherever mentioned in some length. at various points throughout the book, we ’ ve also included a dozen special entries on selected urban nature subjects and habitats. finally, there ’ s an index for quick reference at the back. we hope the book will help illuminate the commonplace and everyday experiences of nature in the city.


transcription of the 1851 new brunswick provincial census, victoria county ( today ' s victoria and madawaska counties ) the 1851 census was the first full nominal census of the province of new brunswick, and the first to include the names of every member of every household. previous censuses had gathered aggregate information for each parish or township. as craig walsh notes on his new brunswick census legislation website, " the original 1848 act [ calling for a census ] had been nearly identical to the earlier census acts of 1824, 1834, and 1840. fortunately, the 1849 amendment also added a requirement to record people ' s names - - the first time this had been done in the history of the new brunswick censuses. " this was not however the first census of the madawaska settlements ( which in the 1851 census covered the parishes of st. francis, madawaska, st. basile and st. leonard, and were at that time part of victoria county ). new brunswick had conducted a head - of - household census of madawaska in 1833 ( on both sides of the st. john, including in present - day aroostook co., maine ), while the us had, in 1820, 1830, and 1840, conducted censuses of both sides of the st. john, including what is today in new brunswick. ( the state of maine had also conducted a survey of the area in 1831. ) thus the 1851 census was the fifth time the residents of the north bank of the upper st. john river valley ( what became the new brunswick side of the river by the 1842 treaty between the us and britain ) had been enumerated. the " 1851 census act ii ", passed by the provincial general assembly in april 1849, called for a census to be taken using two schedules ; schedule i, with information about each individual in every household, and schedule ii, with information about each parish or township. schedule i of the census asked for the name of each member of the household ; his or her sex ; whether head of household, and if not, the relationship to the head of household ; and age. the census also asked for the " race " of each person. this term had a different meaning at that time, and in this context referred to nationality, usually in ethnic terms ( though people born in new brunswick were often listed as " native, " americans were listed as " american ", and one person with a scottish last name is listed as " french, " with the remark that he was of " scottish origin " ). the


people born in new brunswick were often listed as " native, " americans were listed as " american ", and one person with a scottish last name is listed as " french, " with the remark that he was of " scottish origin " ). the form also asked for the rank or occupation of those persons who were employed. it asked the date on which they entered the colony ; persons born in new brunswick usually have written " birth " in this column, while others who were born elsewhere and moved to the province have the date indicated, usually by year. in the original, this column is sometimes left blank. the form also asked whether the person was sick or infirm ; in this column is listed the illness or infirmity. finally, there is a remarks column ; most of the remarks consists of information on that person that the census taker wrote somewhere on the line, though not necessarily in the " remarks " column. schedule ii was meant to gather information on each parish or township such as numbers and types of buildings, crops, livestock, and industries ( for andover parish alone the census taker gathered information about land, animals, buildings, etc. for each household, in schedule ii. ) apparently this information was meant to be collected for each parish, but the census taker for andover misunderstood and, to our benefit, gathered it for each household. i have transcribed schedule ii for andover parish and included it here. the entries for each household in schedule ii can be reached by a link in the " remarks " column for the head of household for each household in andover. the transcription presented here is an exact copy of the returns from that census for victoria county, today ' s victoria and madawaska counties, as preserved in the microfilm copy of the original held in the national archives of canada ( microfilm reel number c - 996 ). victoria county was in 1851 divided into six parishes, four of which ( madawaska, st. basile, st. francis and st. leonard ) make up present - day madawaska county. ( it seems that the part of andover parish called " french settlement " is also part of today ' s madawaska county, making up st. andre municipality. ) each parish ' s returns were enumerated by a different census taker ; pages were numbered consecutively for each parish, with a number stamped, usually in the upper left - hand corner of the page, apparently by the government. the microfilm copy of the returns retains those numbers, and unlike the us census,


in page numbering at times. the returns from st. basile in particular are confusing in that regard ; the quality of st. basile ' s returns is also at times poor, with some pages being so dark as to be almost illegible. i have in the transcription put asterisks ( * * ) in places where writing is illegible because of this problem. although the census law stipulated that the census takers were to turn in all of the completed returns by november 1, 1851, only three of the parishes of victoria county met that deadline. the dates are indicated in the notes on each parish below. the returns have been microfilmed in alphabetical order by name of parish, rather than in chronological order of when they were done, or in geographical order. here are some notes on the six parishes that made up victoria county andover. the divisions within andover parish are given in the transcription. although they were not indicated on schedule i, which is the listing of households with members ' names, etc, they were included on schedule ii, which lists heads of households and farm and real estate assets. in the transcriptions of the population schedule, i have broken andover out into the subdivisions as indicated in schedule ii. unlike the other parishes, for andover the census taker included the detailed information of schedule ii for each household. the actual instructions were to gather the information by township or parish, but the census taker for andover mistakenly gathered it for each household, and that information is included in the microfilm copy of the 1851 census, and is transcribed here, as pages 27 - 31 of andover. some of the land in andover and perth was set aside in 1817 for soldiers who served in the war of 1812. see the page on " military settlement survey " for instructions to the surveyor as well as for a list from 1822 of those soldiers who had been granted land, with links to their places in the 1851 census. the enumerator for andover, adam j. beveridge, turned in the completed returns of that parish on 8 oct 1851 at colebrook. the census in andover thus probably took place over the months of august and september. madawaska covered the area between st. francis and st. basile, and includes the area up the madawaska river, edmundston, and the banks of the st. john. michael tighe enumerated this parish probably in november 1851 ; he turned in the returns on 21 nov 1851. perth. the area covered in the parish of perth is described thus


, edmundston, and the banks of the st. john. michael tighe enumerated this parish probably in november 1851 ; he turned in the returns on 21 nov 1851. perth. the area covered in the parish of perth is described thusly : " the parish of perth, county victoria, on the east side of the river st. john, extent 30 miles settled 16 miles up the tobique river. " the area covered includes today ' s arthurette. additionally, the totals at the end of the perth returns note the presence of " 14 indian families, " including 41 males and 43 females. the totals of males and females written on the page ( not including " indians " ), is 541, the number of persons actually counted in the returns. the census therefore did not include the native peoples living in the parish of perth, a large part of which which had in 1801 been set aside by the provincial government for members of the maliseet ( wulustukieg ) nation. much of the land in perth was surveyed in 1817 for soldiers who served in the war of 1812. see the page on " military settlement survey " for instructions to the surveyor as well as for a list from 1822 of those soldiers who had been granted land, with links to their places in the 1851 census. the census taker for perth, charles mclauchlan, turned over the returns on november 8, 1851 ; the census in perth was thus probably conducted over the course of the month of october. st. basile. the area in this parish is between madawaska and st. leonard. the census taker, william d. kearney, under the column " dwellings ", instead of numbering them listed whether the dwelling was a house or a camp. i have numbered the dwellings ( the numbering is mine, and not in the original ) and as you can see many of them include a number of households. in the " remarks " column, i have included the information that in the original is under " dwelling. " kearney turned in the returns around 1 november 1851 ; he probably enumerated the inhabitants of st. basile during the month of october. st. francis. the area in this parish seems to be everything west of madawaska. as with st - basile, the census taker, william kearney, under the column " dwellings ", instead of numbering them listed whether the dwelling was a house or a camp. i have numbered the dwellings ( the numbering is mine, and not in the


- basile, the census taker, william kearney, under the column " dwellings ", instead of numbering them listed whether the dwelling was a house or a camp. i have numbered the dwellings ( the numbering is mine, and not in the original ) and as you can see many of them include a number of households. in the " remarks " column, i have included the information that in the original is under " dwelling. " in addition, the pages as numbered on the microfilm copy seem not to be in the original order of the census taker. for example, stamped page number 3 clearly follows page number 13. i will attempt to reconstruct the original order if possible. in going through the st. francis returns from 1851 and comparing them to 1861 and 1871 returns, i ' ve found a number of families who are there in 1851 and 1871 but not in 1861. i am assuming that the 1861 census taker missed those families. because of this, i have included the location of families who appear in the 1871 census of st. francis in the annotations ( based on jean - guy poitras ' s book recensement 1871, comte de victoria / 1871 census of victoria county ). william d. kearney turned in the returns of st. francis on 30 january 1852 ; the census was thus probably conducted over the course of the month of january 1852. st. leonard. this parish covers the area east of st - basile down to andover parish, in particular the " french settlement " ( now called st. andre ). as with st. francis, the census taker, william d. kearney, under the column " dwellings ", instead of numbering them listed whether the dwelling was a house or a camp. i have numbered the dwellings ( the numbering is mine, and not in the original ) and as you can see many of them include a number of households. in the " remarks " column, i have included the information that in the original is under " dwelling. " kearney swore the accuracy of these returns before the justice of the peace on 12 sept 1851 ; he probably enumerated st. leonard during august and the first half of september. sign the upper st. john valley guestbook visit the website message board return to the upper st. john valley communities page this page is maintained by last revised 25 aug 2004


social activism and r. haskel lookstein ( from rav chesed : the life and times of rabbi haskel lookstein, page 55 - 56 ) political or social activism was hardly the hallmark of american orthodox rabbis in the 1960s. while a number of conservative and reform rabbis participated in the civil rights movement or protested u. s. involvement in the vietnam war, their orthodox counterparts typically regarded such causes as too far removed from jewish concerns to justify their involvement. haskel lookstein, while not personally active in those battles, early on recognized a connection between traditional jewish concepts and modern social struggles. in a may 1966 sermon, which was the subject of a sizable article in the new york times, he argued that the talmud advocated principles similar to that of the civil rights movement. " it is the talmud that says that no man is free if he must live in a segregated community, whether that segregation is the creation of law or the result of informal social consensus, " he declared. " it is the talmud that states that no man is free unless he has economic opportunity, a chance for employment, the social possibility to work in any geographical and economic area in accordance with his god - given and acquired talents. " in 1971 he was one of the few orthodox rabbis to publicly endorse cesar chavez ' s battles for the rights of farm workers, he urged his kj members to boycott nonunion lettuce. technically, all lettuce was kosher, he acknowledged, but lettuce produced " under exploitative conditions " should be regarded as nonkosher. years later, during his tenure as president of the new york board of rabbis, r. haskel engineered the adoption of a resolution urging " all rabbis and their congregants " to boycott nonunion grapes, declaring such produce to be in violation of " ethical kashrut. "


in this medical video learn how doctors are studying a way to prevent asthma attacks without drugs. jennifer matthews : carol burke has lived with severe asthma since she was six months old. carol burke : i didn ' t learn to ride a bike until i was 12 and never learned how to swim. jennifer matthews : and she is still struggles with it. carol recently moved from a house to a one - floor condo because it ' s easier to get around. and she bought new furniture to keep her home dust - free. carol burke : because of my asthma, my life has been probably restricted to a certain extent. jennifer matthews : like most asthmatics, carol takes a variety of medications. ali i. musani : go ahead and start, blow, blow, blow, blow. jennifer matthews : now researchers are hoping a new procedure called bronchial thermoplasty, it will help patients get rid of some of their meds and live healthier lives. ali i. musani : this is the first ever, non - pharmacological approach. by non - pharmacological, i mean no medicines are involved. jennifer matthews : asthma attacks happen when allergens cause smooth airway muscle to contract or narrow. in bronchial thermoplasty, doctors insert a tube in the lungs through the nose or mouth. it releases a wire basket which delivers bursts of heat, destroying the smooth muscle responsible for the attacks. patients in the first clinical trial had fewer attacks, reduced their meds and didn ' t visit the emergency room as often. that ' s great news for people like carol. carol burke : it ' s a procedure that would assist in less medication, probably the ability to do more things physically. jennifer matthews : and she hopes to one day live wherever she chooses, not where her asthma lets her. this is jennifer matthews reporting.


| ( federated states of faeland ) | | motto : | | cedant arma togae. | ( let violence surrender to law. ) | anthem : | | beethoven ' s 9th symph., 4th mov. | | official languages : | | de jure : | | government : | | federal parliamentary republic | | federal chancellor : | | faelan blair | harry s. donnelly vicki cavazos elizondo joshua l. faulkner adelaide pelland ( vc ) isaac l. perry kian b. ryan | last election : | | march 10, 2011 | 2 february 1921 48, 911. 12 sq. mi. faeland, officially fael, is a country in western europe. it occupies the entirety of the island of faeland and its smaller surrounding islands, bordered to the west and north by the atlantic ocean and the celtic sea respectively, and to the east and south by the bay of biscay, approximately 150 miles from both france and spain. the territory of the country covers the entirety of the island and the surrounding islets, totaling 20, 594 sq. miles and has a temperate seasonal climate. faelish territory also includes the corioles islands in the north atlantic. with approximately 18, 040, 756 inhabitants, it is a rather densely populated country for its size. the island of faeland has been inhabited since prehistoric times. there was a large population surge in the 5th millenium bce ; around 2000 bce, however, the population dropped inexplicably and remained extremely low and sparse until the 3rd century b. c. since that time, many different ethnic groups have established a presence. the result is a culturally diverse country that until modern times only rarely saw peace among its inhabitants. faeland is a directorial federation comprised of nearly autonomous states, considered to be constitutionally sovereign and independent of each other. while the states do operate nearly independently, there is much cooperation between all polities, and citizens of any state are granted full rights to travel to any other member state of the federation. while the constitution provides the only official name as " fael " ( the ancient indigenous name for the island ), a constitutional act provided an official description of the country as the federated republics of faeland in 1935, amended in 1955 to the federated states of faeland, to account for the re - establishment of a monarchy in one of the member states ( cf. kingdom of faeland ). faeland is a member of the united nations but, as


, amended in 1955 to the federated states of faeland, to account for the re - establishment of a monarchy in one of the member states ( cf. kingdom of faeland ). faeland is a member of the united nations but, as a staunchly neutral country, has opted out of inclusion in the european union. despite this, it has adopted the euro alongside its national and local currencies, and conforms occasionally to many of the economic practices of the e. u. it should be remembered, however, that where some states may conform, others may not, creating for a patchwork of economic laws ( oddly, free trade within the country largely negates the ill effects of some states ' practices ). while some in faeland see joining the e. u. as a necessity to progress, no steps can be taken until there is unilateral consensus among the member states, which is not easily achieved. the federated states have a long history of neutrality — they have never been in a state of war internationally since 1925. faeland comprises several linguistic and cultural regions. faels, fallones, irish, spanish, english, portuguese, norwegians, and french are all present. the federated states therefore do not form a nation in the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity. the strong sense of belonging to the country is founded on the common historical background, shared values ( socialism, direct democracy, neutrality ) and a proud sense of self - determination for their long - occupied island. the establishment of the federated states then, was an act of anti - colonialism and sodality more so than nationalism. the earliest recorded name for the island of faeland ( as a whole ) was listed by the greek geographer hecataeus of miletus in the 5th century bce in his περιοδος γης ( " travels round the earth " or " world survey ' ) as " bounessos, " meaning " mountain - island. " this name was given over by the massaliotes — greek colonists of southern gaul — as a calque from the gaulish name đliapoelen. during the period known as the washing, celtic tribes called it fhaehlann ( gen., " of the " ), after its common totem, the wolf. this term led to the latin name valania and medieval names for the island ( fael, fohln, fel, foalnah, etc ). with the coming of the british


, after its common totem, the wolf. this term led to the latin name valania and medieval names for the island ( fael, fohln, fel, foalnah, etc ). with the coming of the british in the early nineteenth century, the english term " faeland " became increasingly popular, and has currency there even today, as english remains a lingua franca for the diverse population. when independence was achieved from the united kingdom in 1925, the constitution referred to the new country as fael. it was thought that this would help forge a common link among all the various ethnicities that currently inhabit the island. later, by further constitutional acts, the official description of the state was agreed to be the federated states of faeland. the wording of the description is meant to imply that the whole of the country is really not in itself a complete body politic, but in fact an amalgam of sovereign and separate nation - states. the federal government sees itself as the administrative apparatus of a federation, not a fused and unitary government for a nation - state. main article : history of faeland the history of faeland can be divided into five major periods based on political developments. the first is the classical period, running from prehistoric times until the 3rd century bce ; the second is the revival period marked by colonization from la tene culture through to the collapse of the roman empire in the west ( some scholars put the end of the revival period nearer to the 10th century a. d. with the coming of the vikings ) ; the medieval period, following through until the early 16th century ; the colonial period, which lasted from the first spanish settlements until independence from the united kingdom in 1925 ; and finally the modern period, marred by costly civil war and followed by rapid growth and modernization that continues today. geography, climate, and environment main article : geography of faeland coastal mountains surround central plains, and the northern of the two largest peninsulas is mountainous nearly to its coast. the highest peak is mt. ryan in the faelca mountains in the riocht fil ( kingdom of faeland ) at 4, 712 ft. the river verdan, which bisects the great faelic plain, is the longest river in faeland at 320 miles. the island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall. there are many lakes in a crescent formation from the northwest of the island to the north - northeast. the largest of these is lake athloa.


miles. the island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall. there are many lakes in a crescent formation from the northwest of the island to the north - northeast. the largest of these is lake athloa. faeland ' s least arable land lies in the southeastern vincennes basin. this area is largely mountainous and rocky, with dramatic vistas overlooking dry plains. main article : climate of faeland the climate is generally one of cool winters and mild summers, with mild winters and warm summers along the southern biscay coast. there is much regional variation, however, as the island on its western shore borders the gulf stream and polar jet stream. main article : environmentalism in faeland faeland is ranked 3rd in europe and 9th globally on the environmental performance index. after unification in 1935, the kingdom of faeland initiated a far - reaching land reform initiative aimed at dismantling the british plantation system that had been imposed on the interior. as the cultural mores of the 60 ' s began to unfold, the land reform took on an somewhat radical environmentalist character, and ever since the kingdom has led the way within faeland in environmental protection, preservation, and restoration. many of the other states have also begun their own initiatives. as they catch up to the kingdom ' s standards, faeland could likely supersede its european rivals for environmental responsibility. faeland is a federal parliamentary republic comprised of eleven member states. the system is highly decentralized, and the top level government functions more as a coordinating and administrative body between autonomous regions than as a legislating government. faeland ' s political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1935 constitutional document known as the organic law. by calling the document organic law, rather than constitution, the authors expressed the intention that it should be understood as a binding cooperative agreement between sovereign nation - states. although ambitious, this bottom heavy framework has had some drawbacks, with sovereign states having the ability to veto " federal " legislation. amendments to the organic law generally require a three - fifths majority of the diet. the articles guaranteeing fundamental human rights, the federal structure, and the right to resist attempts to overthrow the constitution are valid in perpetuity and cannot be amended. main article : general government the federal chancellor, is the head of the general government and exercises executive power, similar to the role of a prime minister in parliamentary democracies. federal legislative power is vested in the diet and the directory, which together form a unique


: general government the federal chancellor, is the head of the general government and exercises executive power, similar to the role of a prime minister in parliamentary democracies. federal legislative power is vested in the diet and the directory, which together form a unique type of legislative body. the diet is elected through direct elections in the various states, yet abiding proportional representation. the members of the directory represent the governments of the eleven autonomous states and are generally members of their respective governments. the respective state governments have the right to appoint and remove their envoys at any time ( how this is done varies from one state to another ). although laws binding on all members can be created, in general the diet discusses matters of finance related to funding the initiatives of the directory, which coordinates internal activities and external relations ( e. g. transportation, defense, diplomacy ). matters such as health care, education, taxation, and to some extent even military matters, are generally the province of the autonomous states within the federation. more recently, in 2006 faeland and all of its member states agreed to bring the government " online. " since then, most elections and legislation can be accessed via the internet, facilitating near universal access to government data and services. additionally, this has reduced the paper waste of the government significantly. devolved national administrations main article : member states faeland comprises 11 states which are classified as pages or forals, and a territorial protectorate : the corioles islands. - federated dhiall - the dhiall - caudian republic - cauda - dominion of litus - lito - federation of the latin coast - pentapoli - riocht fil - kingdom of faeland / midlands - democratic republic of the aroes - aroes - a cidade livre do vila do infante - vila do infante - sovereign city of new norwich - new norwich - principaute de nouvel aix - new aix - santiago de fuelaterra - santiago - respublica falciana - falx law and criminal justice main article : foreign relations of faeland faeland avoids alliances that might entail military, political, or direct economic action and has maintained official neutrality since 1935. faeland maintains diplomatic relations with almost all countries and has recently served as an intermediary between other states. despite unofficial discourse, faeland is the only european country to not recognize the united states of america as part of its policy towards nations which it deems have or have operated systems of genocide, ethnic cleansing


served as an intermediary between other states. despite unofficial discourse, faeland is the only european country to not recognize the united states of america as part of its policy towards nations which it deems have or have operated systems of genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, etc. interestingly, many american indian and first nations tribes have embassies in cathir na fil. main article : military in faeland the national defense of faeland is the responsibility of the directory. since faeland is neutral, the top level command structure has not been tested thoroughly in wartime. each state contributes either money or trained forces to the collective military, with the chiefs of staff being the top level military commanders of the respective nations, headed by the current chancellor. how well this command structure would work in a large scale conflict has not been tested. men and materiel sent on joint expeditionary forces are often placed under the command of an allied officer. administratively, each state supplies a " regiment, " independent in supply, command and training, to the national force. historically, the pentapoli and fil have provided the bulk of the infantry, lito and falx the bulk of the naval forces. main article : economy of faeland faeland is one of the world ' s wealthier nations, with a high per - capita income, a member of the organisation for economic co - operation and development ( oecd ). faeland is a mixed market socialized state, ranking lower than the u. s. but higher than most western european nations on the heritage foundation ' s index of economic freedom. since the early 1990s, faeland ’ s economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. today faeland closely resembles canada in its market - oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. the economy of the federated states is modern and trade - dependent with growth averaging a robust 10 % in 1995 – 2000. agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 38 % of gdp, about 73 % of exports, and employs 32 % of the labor force. although exports remain the primary engine for faeland ' s robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in the technology sector. main article : transportation of faeland the bureau of transportation is the executive agency responsible for trunk roads, motorways, rails, air, and public transit systems in faeland apart from the locally owned and operated transport systems of towns and cities


technology sector. main article : transportation of faeland the bureau of transportation is the executive agency responsible for trunk roads, motorways, rails, air, and public transit systems in faeland apart from the locally owned and operated transport systems of towns and cities. the bureau states that traffic pollution is the most serious concern of the government. according to the directory - sponsored wellington report of 2008, pollution has been dramatically and rapidly reduced, however, the goals for carbon reduction still remain out of reach given the time constraints placed on the bureau. the main initiatives have been in placing tolls on most highways, extending the train network, and sponsoring and promoting public transit and cycling in cities. one of the main impediments to the latter initiatives has been that the roads themselves have had to be massively rebuilt to accommodate environmental protection laws. across the island, there is a radial road network of of some 19, 445 miles of main roads with a motorway network of 1, 173 miles. the rail network is extensive and carries over 13, 000 passenger trains and nearly 1, 000 freight trains daily. urban rail networks are well developed in most of the capitals and other cities. unlike most countries which tore up rails with the ascendancy of automobiles, many defunct lines in faeland were left intact. it is these lines that are being rehabilitated over increased car use. new norwich international airport, located in the city, is the busiest airport and has the most international passenger traffic of any airport on the island. it is the hub for the flag carrier faellair. main article : demography of faeland census data is collected from all parts of faeland every ten years. the directory is responsible for collecting the data from each state within the federation. how and when the individual states conduct their censuses varies, but all data submitted to the faelish general government must be the most recent information available. according to the most recent census, the total population of the federated states of faeland was 18, 040, 756. current population growth is due equally to net immigration and a rising birth rate and increased life expectancy. estimates revealed that faeland is now home to more people of pensionable age than children under the age of 16 ( it is the general opinion of the nation, however, that the country could benefit from a population decrease ). | vila do infante | | 69, 435 | | 0. 4 % | see also : faelish people indigenous faelish people were thought to be descended from the varied ethnic stocks that settled


that the country could benefit from a population decrease ). | vila do infante | | 69, 435 | | 0. 4 % | see also : faelish people indigenous faelish people were thought to be descended from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before recorded history ; the celts and then the romans were the next largest groups, followed by galicians, english, irish, and norse, among others. genetic research suggests that the first settlers of faeland came through migrations from iberia following the end of the most recent ice age. after the mesolithic, the neolithic and the bronze age, migrants introduced celtic la tene culture and languages. these later migrants from the neolithic to bronze age still represent a majority of the genetic heritage of the native faelish people. culture spread throughout the island, and the gaelic tradition became the dominant form in faeland. today, faelish people are of various ancestries, including some of italic, norse, english, french and galician ancestry, as well as irish. faelic culture forms an important part of national identity, especially in the kingdom of faeland. research also suggests that the faelish natives broadly share a common ancestry with the etruscan people. faeland has a history of small scale, regional immigration, with the coasts having the oldest and most extant non - native concentrations, dating back to at least the iron age. small numbers of african migrants are recorded as living in the area of lito and cauda during queen elizabeth ' s reign. in 1950 there were probably fewer than 20, 000 non - white residents in the f. s. f., almost all born overseas. since 1945, substantial immigration from europe has ebbed to a trickle, mostly from the benelux. migration from new eu member states in central and eastern europe since 2004 has resulted in growth in these population groups, but, as of 2008, the trend is reversing and many of these migrants are returning home, leaving the size of these groups unknown. as of 2001, 96. 1 % of the population identified themselves as white, leaving 3. 9 % of the population identifying themselves as of mixed race or ethnic minority. main article : education in faeland education in faeland varies widely. all member states are, by right, in control of their own educational systems. while this provides extreme variance in curricula, all of the member states enjoy high literacy rates and excellent school systems. the country has several noted universities, most dating from the 18th and 19th century, but


, in control of their own educational systems. while this provides extreme variance in curricula, all of the member states enjoy high literacy rates and excellent school systems. the country has several noted universities, most dating from the 18th and 19th century, but a few from as far back as the late middle ages. globally, faeland is known for producing excellent graduates in the fields of environmental research, political science, linguistics, international communications, information technology, and archeology. less glamorous but equally acknowledged, faeland has also produced a large number of renowned classical scholars. faeland did not exist as a state until the country ' s unification in 1935. due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the island of faeland, many traditions, customs, and cultural attributes that are now recognized as distinctly faelish can be identified more accurately by their regions of origin. despite the political and social separation of these regions, faeland ' s internal intercourse is very affable. a native poet once wrote, " at home i am cadiano ( [ sic ] cf. caudiano ), abroad, i am fael. " languages of faeland main article : languages of faeland the term " languages " is used because unlike many countries, faeland has no unifying common root language that is used across all of its lands. the lingua franca of the nation, english, is in fact an import. the faelish language is native only to riocht fil, elsewhere it is considered a second language. the constitution of faeland states that all languages have equal value and protection, therefore all languages are granted freedom of use and propagation. even though there are official languages, faeland has become a virtual archive of languages, with minority communities establishing themselves across the island. this is due to a strong government policy of language preservation. language preservation strives to prevent languages from becoming unknown. this can happen when a language is no longer taught to younger generations, and the elderly people who do speak the language fluently die. in cases where there are not enough children for a language to be taught in schools, and the government sees that less young people are learning a language than older people passing away, state " banks " are set up to archive as much written and oral material as possible, and typically offer free classes for most comers. main article : religion in faeland see also : freedom of religion in faeland the government is legally prohibited from recognizing any religion ( except for legacy statutes like those


much written and oral material as possible, and typically offer free classes for most comers. main article : religion in faeland see also : freedom of religion in faeland the government is legally prohibited from recognizing any religion ( except for legacy statutes like those of military chaplains ). instead, it merely recognises religious organizations, according to formal legal criteria that do not address religious doctrine. conversely, religious organizations should refrain from intervening in policy - making. tensions occasionally erupt about alleged discrimination against minorities. the highest estimates for the number of vians in faeland is 62 %, representing the last " pagan " population of europe ( in reality a henotheist faith ). however, these estimates are based on people with an association with the religion, rather than the number of people truly following the religion ( i. e. cultural association, not necessarily spiritual belief ). professor robert martin suggests that only 30 percent of the entire population profess belief in a deity. by far roman catholicism had the largest influence and impact on faelish beliefs and customs after the departure of the romans until the advent of christism. nevertheless, religion in faeland tends to be syncretic in nature, and this results in a variety of practices, such as parents and children celebrating vian rituals, attending mass, couples holding a wedding at a christian church and funerals being elaborate and ceremonial in vian nature. the roman catholic church officially disapproves of the syncretism, but there is little they can do to stop the tradition of tolerance and incorporation, which is a part of faelish culture. approximately 2. 4 million jews live in faeland, primarily in new norwich and the surrounding area. less than one percent in faeland profess other religions and possibly less than one - half of one percent. main article : faelish literature faelish literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the renaissance to entertain the masses of literate faels. the introduction of widespread printing by movable type rapidly spread written knowledge throughout hte island ' s history and culture. in more modern times, the literature has been analyzed as a cohesive unit where previously the linguistic divisions were recognized academically ; but the fact is that many authors and readers are multilingual, thus influencing each other. the literary traditions represented on the island vary widely, and each region has its own attributes and volume of work that has uniquely contributed to the faelish corpus. even though there is a disproportionately


faeland artists from poland, including famous composers like kowołski or henderson and traditional, regional folk musicians, create a lively and diverse music scene which continues traditions from all over europe. as of 2006, faeland is one of the few countries in europe where rock and hip hop dominate over pop music, while all kinds of alternative music genres are encouraged. popular sports include football, and in certain regions gaelic football and hurling. stadio di???? is the largest stadium in faeland and was the venue for the 1987 fifa world cup final. faeland also hosts the annual faelish tour, a road bicycle race modeled on the three grand tours. faeland is also famous for its cafe racing association ( the only cafe - style motorcycle racing association in the world ). although varying widely due to external cultural influences, traditional faelish dress dictates that men almost always wear headgear and layers. traditionally, men and women both wore cloaks and / or capes that denoted status. throughout the centuries these have taken many forms and styles, and often, within institutions ( such as the military ), they were highly distinct and reflective of rank. - faeland is perhaps the only modern country that still walls its cities. due to a long tradition of civic independence along the lines of the continental " right of crenelation " and more recent developments in environmentalism, many cities have historic or modern walls. while usually not defensive in nature, they traditionally signify the city ' s status ; and in modern times provide a sharp boundary beyond which urban sprawl is not permitted. unlike most urban landscapes, faelish municipalities end abruptly. one can often walk a dozen yards and encounter at first urban, and then natural environments. - zoos are so unpopular in faeland that at the most recent opening in 1968, it was burned down in protest. - the shade of green known as " lime " was invented in vintum, county sloan, in april of 1913. funds from licensing have paid for the town ' s expenditures since the 1980 ' s, when the color ' s popularity skyrocketed. town residents have no local taxes because of this. - the omri caves are the only apparent example of a " time tunnel " on earth. - there are 249 articles about faeland on this website, a number of no significance whatsoever. main article : philosophy in faeland


how writing improves reading skills - - study reading has long been recognized as a way to improve a student ’ s writing. a new study says the reverse - - that writing can improve reading skills as well as content learning - - is equally true, and identifies three ways that teachers and even parents can help students make the connection. the study, published by the alliance for excellent education, comes at a time when many students are not reading and writing well enough to meet grade - level expectations. recent results from the national assessment of educational progress, the national standardized test sometimes called “ the nation ’ s report card, ” showed that nearly 70 percent of the nation ’ s eighth graders do not read at the proficient, or highest level. “ poor reading and writing skills not only threaten the well - being of individual americans, but the country as a whole, ” said bob wise, alliance president and former governor of west virginia. “ ensuring that adolescents become skilled readers and writers is not merely an option for america — it is an absolute necessity. ” the study, conducted by the carnegie corporation of new york, is called “ writing to read : evidence for how writing can improve reading, identifies the following three related instructional practices that are effective in improving reading skills : 1 ) have students write about the texts they read. writing about a text enhances comprehension because it provides students with a tool to visibly and permanently record, connect, analyze, personalize, and manipulate key ideas in text. students ’ comprehension of science, social studies, and language arts is improved specifically when they : - - respond to a text in writing - - write summaries of a text - - write notes about a text - - answer questions about a text in writing, or create and answer written questions about a text. 2 ) teach students the writing skills and processes that go into creating text. students ’ reading skills and comprehension are improved by learning the skills and processes that go into creating text specifically when teachers ” - - teach the process of writing, text structures for writing, paragraph or sentence construction skills - - teach spelling and sentence construction skills - - teach spelling skills. 3 ) increase how much students write. students ’ reading comprehension is improved by having them increase how often they produce their own text. the process of creating a text prompts students to be more thoughtful and engaged when reading text produced by others. the act of writing also teaches students about the importance of stating assumptions and premises clearly and observing the rules of logic. students also benefit from using experience and knowledge to create a text as well as


water : underground injection control questions and answers on using the class v experimental technology well classification for pilot geologic sequestration projects - what is geologic sequestration ( gs )? - why is epa issuing guidance on co2 injection? - why are class v wells being used for gs? - what information does the guidance contain? - who should use the guidance? - where can i get additional information? what is geologic sequestration ( gs )? geologic sequestration, the process of capturing carbon dioxide ( co2 ) from an emission source ( e. g., a power plant ) and injecting it into deep subsurface rock formations, is part of a portfolio of technologies and technical approaches ( e. g. fuel efficiency measures, use of biomass and alternative fuels, etc. ) under consideration for reducing greenhouse gas ( ghg ) emissions to the atmosphere. the u. s. department of energy ( doe ), through its regional carbon sequestration partnerships, is sponsoring research at a number of projects that will test the effectiveness and safety of co2 gs in various geologic settings. why is epa issuing guidance on co2 injection? the purpose of the guidance is to assist state and epa regional uic program managers and permit writers in evaluating applications for gs projects and writing appropriate and safe permit conditions for these projects. the guidance also encourages communication and data sharing to support a nationally consistent management approach, increase understanding of technical issues related to gs, and promote public confidence in an emerging technology with a potentially large - scale application. why are class v wells being used for gs? injection of fluids, including solids, semi - solids, and gases ( e. g., co2 ) into the subsurface falls under epa ’ s authority under the safe drinking water act ( sdwa ) to ensure that injection activities do not endanger underground sources of drinking water ( usdws ). the uic regulations address the siting, construction, operation, and closure of injection wells to protect human health and the environment. the uic regulations define five classes of injection wells. of these five classes, epa has determined that the class v experimental technology well subclass provides the best mechanism for authorizing pilot gs projects. class v experimental technology wells are intended to demonstrate unproven but promising technologies. wells that inject co2 for the purposes of enhanced oil recovery ( eor ) and enhanced gas recovery ( egr ) are considered to be class ii injection wells. while there are similarities between co2 injection for the purposes of oil and gas extraction and


that inject co2 for the purposes of enhanced oil recovery ( eor ) and enhanced gas recovery ( egr ) are considered to be class ii injection wells. while there are similarities between co2 injection for the purposes of oil and gas extraction and for gs, there are important differences as well. for example, co2 injection for gs will eventually involve much greater volumes of co2 which will be stored in the subsurface for very long periods of time. the class v experimental technology well subclass is the best mechanism for testing the efficacy of co2 injection for gs, while ensuring an appropriate level of groundwater and public health protection. what information does the guidance contain? the guidance provides information for uic program managers and permit writers to consider as they evaluate gs project applications and assess the appropriateness of the proposed injection site, the area of review ( aor ), and the well ’ s design and construction. it also provides information for permit writers to consider in writing permit conditions related to mechanical integrity testing ( mit ) ; measuring, monitoring, and verification ( mmv ) ; and site closure. who should use the guidance? the guidance will assist uic program managers and permit writers in state primacy agencies and epa regional direct implementation programs that are responsible for issuing permits for gs projects. gs project operators, including the regional carbon sequestration partnerships, would find the information in the guidance useful as they consider injection sites and prepare permit applications. the guidance may also be of interest to operators of eor and egr wells, state oil and gas boards, and the interstate oil and gas compact commission. ( some eor and egr operations may be converted for gs when the oil and gas reservoirs are depleted. ) the guidance also provides information for environmental groups, the public, and interested members of congress. where can i get additional information? for further information, or questions relating to the guidance, please contact lee whitehurst, epa office of ground water and drinking water, drinking water protection division, prevention branch, at ( 202 ) 564 - 3896 or lee whitehurst ( email @ example. com ).


fr. ron rolheiser, omi april 25, 2011 each year on good friday the passion of jesus christ according to john is read aloud in our churches. john ' s gospel, as we know, was written later than the other gospels, perhaps some 70 years after jesus died, and those years gave john plenty of time to reflect upon jesus ' death and highlight a number of aspects that are not as evident in the other gospels. what are those special aspects? john ' s narrative of jesus ' death highlights his trial. the bulk of john ' s account focuses on jesus ' trial and the eventual judgment that he be put to death. but it is ingeniously written. john writes up the trial of jesus in such a way that, while jesus is the one being tried, everyone else is on trial except jesus. pilate is on trial, the jewish authorities are on trial, jesus apostles and disciples are on trial, the crowds watching are on trial and we who are hearing the story are on trial. jesus, alone, is not on trial, even as his trial is judging everyone else. hence when pilate asks jesus : what is truth? jesus ' silence puts pilate on trial by throwing pilate back on his own silence, the truth of himself. it ' s the same for the rest of us. next, john emphasizes jesus ' divinity in his passion account. john ' s gospel, as we know, emphasizes jesus ' pre - existence with god and his divinity rather than his humanity. this shines through in his narrative : the jesus being crucified in john ' s gospel is always in control. he is unafraid, shows no weaknesses, carries his own cross, dies in serenity and is buried like a king ( with a staggering amount of myrrh and aloes, wrapped in clothes saturated with aromatic oils ). john ' s jesus does not need any simon of cyrene to carry his cross, nor does he cry out in agony and abandonment. john writes up the passion of christ from the point of view of jesus ' divinity. john then employs some powerful images to help score these points : he has judas and the soldiers arrive to arrest jesus carrying " lanterns and torches. " he intends strong irony here : jesus is the light of the world and so the irony should not be missed in the fact that those opposing him come to him guiding themselves by artificial, flimsy lighting - lanterns and torches. this suggests, among other things, that they prefer darkness to light and that they know


world and so the irony should not be missed in the fact that those opposing him come to him guiding themselves by artificial, flimsy lighting - lanterns and torches. this suggests, among other things, that they prefer darkness to light and that they know that what they are doing can only be done at night because it would be shamefully exposed in the full light of day. the powers that oppose god need the cover of darkness and artificial light. next, at the end of the trial, pilate brings jesus out to the crowd and asks them whether they want to accept him as their king. they respond by saying : " we have no king but caesar! " historically, for a jewish believer to say this at the time of jesus would have been, in effect, a renunciation of his or her messianic hopes. that is true for us too : every time we do not recognize the power of god in the one who is being crucified we are renouncing our own messianic hope and admitting that the powers of this world are, for us, the deepest reality. eve of passover further, john ' s passion narrative emphasizes that jesus was sentenced to death precisely at noon, the hour on the eve of passover when the temple priests would begin to slaughter the paschal lambs. the inference is clear : jesus is the real lamb who dies for sin. finally, in john ' s account of the passion, after jesus dies, soldiers come and pierce his side with a lance. immediately blood and water flow out. this is a rich image : first of all, it symbolizes birth. when baby is born, blood and water accompany the delivery. for john, jesus ' death is the birth of something new in our lives. what? christians have sometimes been too quick to take this image to infer the sacraments of baptism and eucharist, with the outflow of blood symbolizing the eucharist and the outflow of water symbolizing baptism. that may indeed be valid but there is, first, something more primal in that image : blood symbolizes the flow of life inside us. water both quenches thirst and washes dirt from our bodies. what john wants to say with this image is that those who witnessed the death of jesus immediately recognized too that the kind of love which jesus manifested in dying in this way created a new energy and freedom in their own lives. more joy, more meaning they felt both an energy and a cleansing, blood and water, flowing from jesus ' death. in


study finds the bulk of shoes ’ carbon footprint comes from manufacturing processes. now and then, an ambitious graduate student will decide to tackle a particularly sticky problem in science or engineering. one such student, douglas ricket, created the women ' s technology program as a partial solution to a tough problem with social rather than technical roots. ricket, a 23 - year - old graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science, discovered a deeply entrenched difficulty in his field while teaching an electronics course for high school students. he came up against it again as a teaching assistant in an artificial intelligence course. the problem : few women go into electrical engineering and computer science ( eecs ). women majoring in computer science peaked nationally in 1984 at 37 percent, but dropped to 28 percent by 1994. last year at mit, more than 40 percent of undergraduates were women, but women made up only 20 percent of eecs majors, which is the largest major at the institute. by contrast, 52 percent of undergraduate men majored in eecs. " those two teaching experiences got me thinking about the issue of women in computers and engineering. i hated to think i was perpetuating a male - dominated system, so i drew up some plans for the program and got the ball rolling, " said ricket, who added that women, long excluded from the professions, now make up roughly half of all medical and law students. ricket, who is from saratoga, calif., asked professor leslie kaelbling of eecs to be faculty advisor for the innovative program last november. next he got the approval of professor john guttag, head of the department of electrical engineering and computer science. guttag " enthusiastically supported the idea, though scaled down to 25 students for four weeks from my original 80 students for eight weeks, " said ricket. " i was delighted that he supported the residential aspect, since i think that creates a much richer experience. " the women ' s technology program is the first of its kind. ricket put together a summer program on the mit campus to teach 10th - and 11th - grade girls math, computer science and electrical engineering in a way that conveys the excitement of the field and boosts the students ' self - confidence in their technical abilities. he looked at carnegie mellon ' s experience in addressing gender discrepancies in computer science. a study there found that computer programming experience in high school was not an indicator of success in college. recognizing this, the school changed its computer science admissions criteria. it also changed the introductory


s experience in addressing gender discrepancies in computer science. a study there found that computer programming experience in high school was not an indicator of success in college. recognizing this, the school changed its computer science admissions criteria. it also changed the introductory computer science courses to help students who had no experience. the changes had a remarkable effect : the percentage of women in the carnegie mellon computer science department went from 7 percent in 1995 to 42 percent in 2000. looking for a few good women for the mit summer program, ricket received 225 applications. the 25 young women selected come from 15 states as well as cairo, egypt. in late june they moved into an mit dormitory, where they ' ll live through most of july under the supervision of a graduate student residential director and five undergraduate teaching assistants. they will be taught by graduate students. the young women immersed themselves in mit right away. in her first week on campus, elena glassman, a 15 - year - old from doylestown, penn., said, " you ' re exposed to so much here. i just want to absorb a tiny bit of some of the stuff that goes on. i want to get ideas, to talk to the people doing this stuff and understand the breadth of ai [ artificial intelligence ]. " glassman has been a frequent visitor to the artificial intelligence lab ' s web site for several years. while browsing the mit site, she found the women ' s technology program and jumped at it. she said her father, an electrical engineer, showed her the ai lab ' s web site when she was in sixth grade trying to build a " cat brain " program that could " differentiate between a dog bark and a mouse squeak. " ( glassman sounded embarrassed when describing the simple program : " don ' t write about that. it was just a little thing for a science fair, " she said. ) " most of my science and math training comes from my dad. he worked in neural networks for speech. we have this policy we both agree on : he never tells me what to do. if i come to him with a question, he ' ll say, ' o. k. let ' s talk about it. ' and i eventually come to my own conclusions, " she said. glassman, who has clear blue eyes, a friendly and casual style, and speaks with a mature self - assuredness, calls herself the " techo fixit gal " at central bucks high school west. when she transferred there a few years ago, " everyone knew this one


blue eyes, a friendly and casual style, and speaks with a mature self - assuredness, calls herself the " techo fixit gal " at central bucks high school west. when she transferred there a few years ago, " everyone knew this one guy as the techo fixit guy, " she said, the guy who could help with homework and technical questions and gadgets. " i was really envious because at my old school, i was the techo fixit gal. after half a year, we became really good friends ; we became a team. but the guy eventually moved away and doesn ' t like science anymore, " said glassman, who plays the trumpet, an instrument associated with male musicianship. " a lot of trumpet players kind of have the attitude that if you ' re a girl, you can ' t play trumpet. you just have to show them you can play, and it all goes away, " said glassman, who also plays ultimate frisbee. mit a ' dream school ' kyung chang, an 18 - year - old korean national living in cairo, egypt, called mit a " dream school. i can ' t believe i ' m here taking classes, " she said. she found the women ' s technology program while searching the internet for a summer program. " because the mail takes a long time to get to cairo, i thought i didn ' t get in. it was one day before the final date that we ' d find out and i hadn ' t heard. " so she e - mailed ricket, who told her the good news. she said she comes from a family of business - oriented people. " my father ' s side and my mother ' s side - - we ' re all into business and economics. even my older sister. i ' m the only one who stands out as interested in science, " said chang, a high school senior at cairo american college. " i still don ' t have a focus [ in science ]. i ' m very open. " her father ' s work at a bank has taken the family from korea to los angeles, back to korea and now to cairo, where chang spent the past two years. she credits her interest in science partly to a physics class she took at seoul university in seventh grade. her group made a model of a water clock by studying one, trying to grasp the principles and then building their own. chang, who was wearing pink pants and had barrettes in her long dark hair, calls herself a


adamweinberg : in october of 1929, the stock market crashed, and with it went the optimism of the 1920s. eddiecantor : nowadays, when a man walks into a hotel, and requests a room on the 19th floor, the clerk asks him, ‘ for sleeping or jumping? ’ adamweinberg : movie theaters — like the one in this painting by reginald marsh — offered a temporary escape from the hardships of everyday life. in the 1930s, more than half of all americans went to the movies every week. this is the lyric theater in times square. at the theater ’ s entrance, colorful posters appeal to popular fantasies — “ stripped bare, ” “ joys of the flesh. ” glamorous hollywood film stars hover overhead. on the sidewalk, the artist has captured a representative cast of characters, who are themselves straight out of the movies — the glamorous blonde, the don juan with a rakish hat, a gangster - type smoking a cigar, and a pair of working girls. american artists like marsh took a new interest in the small dramas of city life. in this room, you ’ ll see depictions of people on the subway, young women at a dance hall ; sailors and unemployed men. this work had new, political content ; american artists of the period believed that their work had the power to effect change and combat injustice. having lost their jobs, many found employment under the federal works progress administration. the wpa encouraged artists to create murals and monuments commemorating america ’ s history, workers and traditional values. other artists, such as thomas hart benton — whose work you can also see in this gallery — praised the merits of rural life.


tue july 3, 2012 when ice cream attacks : the mystery of brain freeze originally published on tue july 3, 2012 2 : 12 pm if it hasn ' t happened to you, count yourself as lucky. for many people, eating ice cream or drinking an icy drink too fast can produce a really painful headache. it usually hits in the front of the brain, behind the forehead. the technical name for this phenomenon is cold - stimulus headache, but people also refer to it as " ice cream headache " or " brain freeze. " the good news is that brain freeze is easy to prevent — just eat more slowly. the other bit of good news is these headaches don ' t last very long — a minute at the outside. jorge serrador studies brain freeze headaches, not just because he wants to make the world a safer place for ice cream eaters, but also for what they can tell him about how and why the headaches occur. he ' s hoping that will lead to better ways to treat or prevent them. serrador is the associate director of research at the war related illness and injury study center, which is part of the department of veterans affairs in east orange, n. j. he says many veterans suffer from severe headaches after their deployments. it turns out it ' s hard to study headaches, and a brain freeze headache is one of the few types that can be conjured up on demand. serrador says no one really knows yet what causes them. but there are some theories. for example, serrador has shown that just before the brain freeze hits, there ' s an increase in blood flow to the front of the brain. " that ' s increasing the volume and therefore increasing the localized pressure in that area, " he says. the brain may be interpreting that increased pressure as pain. " another theory that ' s been put out there is that the cold actually stimulates a nerve in the roof of the mouth, " says serrador. that stimulated nerve in the mouth goes into overdrive. it sends off a barrage of signals to the brain that once again the brain interprets as " ouch. " why the brain gets " ouch " from the cold and not " brrrrr " is a mystery. harvard medical school headache researcher elizabeth loder says it ' s not all that surprising to think scientists may learn something important from studying ice cream headaches. " some of these things that people think of as silly or whimsical, they ' re actually really fascinating, " says


loder says it ' s not all that surprising to think scientists may learn something important from studying ice cream headaches. " some of these things that people think of as silly or whimsical, they ' re actually really fascinating, " says loder, who is also president of the american headache society. like the enduring mystery of why a sweet treat prompts pain. this article is part of joe ' s big idea, an npr project to explore how innovations come about. renee montagne, host : a cool thing to do on a hot summer day is to have an ice cream bar. and i ' ve been up for several hours. it ' s not that hot yet, but it ' s plenty hot enough. so, you know, i got myself a box here of chocolate - covered ice cream bars. think i ' ll have one right now. ( soundbite of opening and crunching on ice cream bar ) montagne : umm. yum. joe palca, byline : renee. renee, hang on. montagne : hi, joe palca. palca : are you aware of the danger you face eating one of those ice creams? montagne : yeah. right. gaining weight? palca : no. i mean ice cream headache. montagne : a brain freeze? montagne : yeah. you know, i ' ve always wondered about brain freeze. i mean, i get them. i get them when i drink a really cold drink really fast out in the heat. but joe, you ' re a science correspondent, what generally causes a brain freeze? palca : well, i ' m so glad you asked that because that ' s the question i ' m going to address in this installment of our series summer science. yes, isn ' t it? palca : anyway, if we ' re going to look at this scientifically, we ' re going to need to be precise about what we mean by brain freeze. so i consulted jorge serrador. he ' s with the department of veterans administration and he studies headaches. he says a brain freeze is what you get when you eat or drink something really cold, really quickly. dr. jorge serrador : you get this localized pain, usually sort of in that forehead area. palca : and the pain can be quite intense. but it doesn ' t last very long. stop eating or drinking the cold stuff, and the pain goes away in 30 or 40 seconds. and guess what, you remember your mother was always


. palca : and the pain can be quite intense. but it doesn ' t last very long. stop eating or drinking the cold stuff, and the pain goes away in 30 or 40 seconds. and guess what, you remember your mother was always telling you not to wolf down your food. she was right. serrador : drink slow, or eat slow, and you probably won ' t get the associated brain freeze. montagne : joe, but you were going to tell us why you get brain freeze when you eat an ice cream bar, like i am right now, or some cold drink. palca : exactly. so that ' s the question i put to jorge serrador. serrador : that is a tough question. palca : hmm. helpful. anyway, it turns out no one really knows for sure, but there are some theories. for example, serrador has shown that just before the brain freeze hits, there ' s an increase in blood flow to the front of the brain. serrador : that ' s increasing the volume therefore ; it ' s increasing sort of the localized pressure in that area. palca : and the brain may be interpreting that increased pressure as pain. serrador : another theory that ' s been put out there is that the cold actually stimulates a nerve in the roof of the mouth. palca : and that stimulated nerve in the mouth goes into overdrive. it sends off a barrage of signals to the brain that once again the brain interprets as ouch. although why the brain gets ouch from the cold and not brrr is a bit of a mystery. serrador isn ' t studying brain freeze to help the world become more comfortably when they eat ice cream or drink slurpees. it turns out it ' s hard to study headaches, and a brain freeze headache is one of the few you can conjure up on demand. and scientists like serrador are hoping understanding brain freeze will help them find better treatments for people with chronic headaches or brain injuries. dr. elizabeth loder : some of these things that, you know, people think of as sort of silly or whimsical phenomena, they ' re actually really fascinating. palca : that ' s elizabeth loder. she ought to know. not only is she a headache researcher at harvard medical school, but she ' s also president of the american headache society. so renee, how ' s the ice cream? did you get a headache? montagne : the ice cream ' s delicious. but


location and general description types and severity of threats justification of ecoregion delineation this ecoregion is equivalent to the dmeer ( 2000 ) unit of the same name. it consists of montane middle to southern hemiboreal pine forests, atlantic dwarf shrub heaths, and one area of ombrotrophic mires in northcentral scotland ( bohn et al. 2000 ). bohn, udo, gisela gollub, and christoph hettwer. 2000. reduced general map of the natural vegetation of europe. 1 : 10 million. bonn - bad godesberg 2000. davis, s. d., v. h. heywood, and a. c. hamilton. 1994. centres of plant diversity. vol. 1 : europe, africa, southwest asia and middle east. wwf and iucn, washington dc. digital map of european ecological regions ( dmeer ), version 2000 / 05 heath, m. f., and m. i. evans, editors. 2000. important bird areas in europe : priority sites for conservation. 2 vols. birdlife international, cambridge, uk. iucn 2000 : the global redlist of species, of the international union for the conservation of nature. url : < http : / / www. redlist. org > ozenda, p. 1994. vegetation du continent europeen. : delachaux et niestle, lausanne, switzerland. stanners, d., and p. bourdeau, editors. 1995. europe ' s environment : the dobris assessment. european environment agency, copenhagen. wheatley, n. 2000. where to watch birds in europe and russia. princeton university press, princeton, new jersey.


thu october 4, 2012 the accountant who changed the world originally published on fri october 5, 2012 4 : 04 pm the story of the birth of accounting begins with numbers. in the 1400s, much of europe was still using roman numerals, and finding it really hard to easily add or subtract. ( try adding mcvi to xciv. ) but fortunately, arabic numerals ( 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. ) started catching on, and with those numbers, merchants in venice developed a revolutionary system we now call " double - entry " bookkeeping. this is how it works : every transaction gets entered twice in financial records. if one day you sold three gold coins ' worth of pepper, you would write that the amount of cash you had went up by three gold coins. you would also write in that the amount of pepper you had went down by three gold coins ' worth. before double - entry, people just kept diaries and counted their money at the end of the day. this innovation allowed merchants to see every aspect of their business in neat little rows. jane gleeson - white wrote the new book double entry : how the merchants of venice created modern finance. she explains how significant this new accounting was : " you could itemize the profits in each account, so you knew which products you were doing well in and which you weren ' t. then you could start to think about how you would change your business activities. it was just a whole revolution in the way of thinking about business and trade. " luca pacioli was a monk, magician and lover of numbers. he discovered this special bookkeeping in venice and was intrigued by it. in 1494, he wrote a huge math encyclopedia and included an instructional section on double - entry bookkeeping. thanks to the newly invented printing press, his book was mass produced and became a big hit. one of the first readers was leonardo da vinci, who at the time was painting the last supper. pacioli ' s encyclopedia had a section on the mathematics of perspective painting which fascinated da vinci. " they were hanging out together.... i think they were probably lovers. they certainly spent a lot of time together, and definitely luca pacioli was there in the church when leonardo da vinci was there in the actual church when leonardo da vinci was painting the last supper, " said gleeson - white. what pacioli is known for today, though, is that tiny section of the book about accounting. today, every country


da vinci was there in the actual church when leonardo da vinci was painting the last supper, " said gleeson - white. what pacioli is known for today, though, is that tiny section of the book about accounting. today, every country and every business uses double - entry bookkeeping. audie cornish, host : from npr news, this is all things considered. i ' m audie cornish. melissa block, host : and i ' m melissa block. we don ' t do too many stories about accounting, for good reason - even accountants admit it ' s boring. but that wasn ' t always the case. david kestenbaum, with our planet money team, has this story about an accounting trick that rocked the world some 500 years ago. it involves a man who was a magician, a mathematician, and possibly the boyfriend of leonardo da vinci. david kestenbaum, byline : this is the story of the birth of accounting. and if you think about it, before you can have accounting, you really need something else. you need numbers. and in the 1400s, much of europe was still using roman numerals. jane gleeson white : i thought roman numerals must have gone out with roman empire. but no, they lasted well into the renaissance. kestenbaum : this is jane gleeson white, author of the new book " double entry : how the merchants of venice created modern finance. " white : the problem with roman numerals is, as any school child knows if they tried to work with them, is you can ' t add or subtract with them. you have to... white : they ' re like a written language for recording numerals. i mean, you might as well carve them into rock, that ' s how useful they are. well, we still do that, don ' t we? kestenbaum : fortunately arabic numerals : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, those are catching on in europe. and with those numbers, merchants in venice are keeping very detailed financial records, using a revolutionary system we now call double entry bookkeeping. it ' s what students learn in accounting 101. it ' s unclear who invented it but it works like this. every transaction gets entered twice in your financial records. if one day you sold, say, three gold coins worth of pepper, you would write that the amount of cash you had went up by three gold coins and the amount of pepper you had went down by three


gets entered twice in your financial records. if one day you sold, say, three gold coins worth of pepper, you would write that the amount of cash you had went up by three gold coins and the amount of pepper you had went down by three gold coins worth. before this, people just kept diaries and counted their money at the end of the day. now you could see every aspect of your business in neat little rows. white : it just became, for want of a better word, much more scientific. you could itemize the profits in each account. so you knew which products you were doing well in and which you weren ' t. and then you could think about how you would change your business activities. it was just a whole revolution in the way of thinking about business and trade. kestenbaum : this great idea, though, it needed a way to get out to the world, which is where the accidental hero of our story appears - a man named luca pacioli. and pacioli ' s great role in history is just that he wrote it down. he writes down how to do this. pacioli is a monk and a magician but really, his love is numbers. in 1494, he writes this huge encyclopedia of math, which today would be over a thousand pages long. and tucked inside, he includes a little instructional section on double - entry bookkeeping. thanks to the newly invented printing press, the book can be mass - produced and it ' s a big hit. white : one of first readers of luca pacioli ' s encyclopedia was leonardo da vinci. leonardo reads the book and thinks it ' s the coolest, latest thing. it is the coolest, latest thing in mathematics. kestenbaum : da vinci at the time is painting " the last supper. " and conveniently, pacioli ' s book has a section on the mathematics of perspective painting. the two men became friends. it is possible, jane gleeson white says, that pacioli, and his book helped leonardo da vinci complete " the last supper. " white : they were hanging out together. you know, they lived together after they left milan. i think that they were probably lovers, they certainly spent a lot of time together. and definitely, luca pacioli, he was there in the church when leonardo da vinci was painting " the last supper. " kestenbaum : what pacioli is known for today, though, is that tiny section of his book about accounting. today,


greenland ice a benchmark for warming core data greenland was about eight degrees warmer 130, 000 years ago than it is today, an analysis of an almost three - kilometre - long ice core in greenland has revealed. the finding by an international team of 38 institutions from 14 nations provides an important benchmark for climate change modelling and gives an insight into how the natural world will respond to global warming in the future. the study, which involves csiro researchers, also suggests antarctica ' s ice sheets may be more vulnerable to warming than previously thought. published in today ' s nature journal, the results flow out of a four - year expedition known as the north greenland eemian ice drilling operation ( neem ). dr david etheridge, principal research scientist with csiro marine and atmospheric research who has worked on the project, says the neem program is the first to successfully reach down into greenland ' s ice core into the eemian period, which stretched from 130, 000 years to 115, 000 years ago. " it has been something of a holy grail for greenland work to achieve this … we are getting to ice close to the bedrock where you get melting and mixing of the ice layers. " etheridge says in a process similar to assembling a jigsaw puzzle, scientists used comparisons with gas elements in antarctica ' s deep ice core records to re - assemble the layers in their original sequence. deep ice drilling in the antarctic has reached as far back as 800, 000 years. past and future it is important to understand what happened in greenland during the eemian period because the temperatures experienced then are " within the realms of where we are heading ", says etheridge. however, he says the previous warming was due to the earth receiving more of the sun ' s radiation due to its orbit at the time, while today ' s warming is being driven by increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. nature paper co - author dr mauro rubino, of csiro marine and atmospheric research, says it had been previously estimated that greenland ' s temperature was about 4°c warmer during the eemian than now. but this latest work used analysis of water - stable isotopes to estimate " the temperature 130, 000 years ago was up to 8°c warmer [ in greenland ] than what it is today ", says rubino. it also shows sea levels were on average 6 metres higher. the results provide " important benchmarks for future climate change projections " in temperature and the contribution of the two main ice sheets to sea level rises, rubino says.


, says rubino. it also shows sea levels were on average 6 metres higher. the results provide " important benchmarks for future climate change projections " in temperature and the contribution of the two main ice sheets to sea level rises, rubino says. he says the study also reveals the greenland ice sheet did not melt as much as previously thought so was not the major contributor to sea level at that time. " it shows the major contribution to sea level rises was not coming from the greenland ice shelf, " he says. " it was previously believed that greenland melted entirely [ during the eemian ], but in fact the ice sheet was not that much different from what it is now. " most of the contribution to sea level rise comes from these two big ice reserves [ in greenland and the antarctica ] so one of the possible interpretations is antarctica is more susceptible to climate change than we thought. " etheridge agrees. he says the work shows the greenland ice sheet survived during the eemian - although it was about 400 metres thinner. " from that figure you can deduce how much it contributed to the sea level rise and it is not as much as was thought. " that throws things back to antarctica... previously the thought was antarctica was too cold and too stable to be impacted. " etheridge says csiro was invited by lead institution, the university of copenhagen, to be involved in neem at its formation because of its expertise in analysing air composition in air bubbles trapped in deep ice. rubino says their team began analysis of gas bubbles from the first 80 to 100 metres of ice core down to the final 2540 metre depth. this helped track changes in climate and temperature on a year - by - year basis. he says the concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the air bubbles from the eemian was much lower than what it is today.


cynthia kenyon, a researcher into aging at the university of california, claims that sugar is the new tobacco. " we gave our worms a tiny bit of sugar and it shortened their lifespan by revving up the insulin pathway. i didn ' t go home, " she laughs, " i went straight to the store and i bought a book on low - gi ( low - glycemic - low sugar ) diets and found a recipe and that was it, i changed immediately. " kenyon now avoids all sugar, except dark chocolate, as well as bread, and sticks to low - gi foods. cynthia kenyon, the lead researcher, now avoids all sugar. apparently the link between sugar, insulin and aging is the over - stimulation of receptors related to the aging process. disabling the daf - 2 gene resulted in worms living twice as long and appearing healthy up until their deaths. the link between diet and aging makes sense when you consider that the gene daf - 2, which was partially disabled in kenyon ' s worms, activates receptors that are sensitive to two hormones – insulin and a growth hormone called igf - 1. later experiments shed more light on the effect of weakening daf - 2 activity, which triggers a sequence of events within the cell, including the activation of a second gene, foxo. this receptor is normally activated by insulin, and too much sugar in the diet, which may have the opposite effect, overstimulating these receptors, says kenyon, who warns that " sugar is the new tobacco ". apparently, while the tests were carried out on worms, the link with humans is strong. people who live much longer are likely to have a mutated daf - 2 for those who doubt the relevance to humans, kenyon points to studies showing that people who live to be 100 are more likely to have mutations in the daf - 2 gene. there are also variants in the foxo gene that are more frequent among people who live to be 100. so if i understand this correctly, eating sugar over stimulates receptors related to speeding up the aging process. in worms, disabling a gene involved in this process led to the worms living twice as long and remaining healthy. the link to humans is strong in that long lived people often have a mutation of that gene. cynthia kenyon, the leading researcher responsible for this discovery, no longer eats sugar. i ' m not sure i ' m going to look at sugar in quite the same way ever again. this is quite a


macular degeneration is a chronic and usually progressive disorder that affects the central part of the retina ( the macula ) and causes reduced ability to see. macular degeneration causes a gradual loss of sharp, central vision. copyright © nucleus medical media, inc. macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the united states. the frequency of this disorder increases with age. the majority of affected people are between 75 - 80. females are slightly affected more than males. adult macular degeneration ( amd ), which is the most common form of macular degeneration, occurs in two main forms : dry macular degeneration ninety percent of people with amd have this type. an area of the retina is affected, which leads to slow breakdown of cells in the macula and a gradual loss of central vision. dry amd sometimes occurs in one eye first, but usually affects both eyes eventually. wet macular degeneration although only 10 % of all people with amd have this type, it accounts for 90 % of all blindness from the disease. as dry amd progresses, new blood vessels may begin to grow and cause “ wet ” amd. these new blood vessels often leak blood and fluid under the macula. this causes rapid damage to the macula that can lead to significant loss of central vision in a short time. american macular degeneration foundation website. available at : macular degeneration foundation website. available at : national eye institute website. available at : last reviewed [ under medical review ] by christopher cheyer, md please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. it is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. call your healthcare provider immediately if you think you may have a medical emergency. always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. copyright © ebsco publishing. all rights reserved.


| december 16, 1997 | embargoed : 11 : 30 am ( aest ) report on australian youth the australian bureau of statistics ( abs ) released today youth australia : a social report which highlights changes and trends in australia ' s 15 to 24 year - old population group, including living arrangements and housing, health, education, working life, income, social participation, crime and safety. in 1997, people aged 15 - 24 years made up 14 per cent ( 2, 667, 700 ) of the total population but this is projected to fall to about 12 per cent by mid next century as the population ages. some features of australia ' s youth highlighted in the report include : further details are in youth australia : a social report ( cat. no. 4111. 0 ) available in abs bookshops in all capital cities. - in 1996, 88 per cent of 15 - 19 year - olds and 46 per cent of 20 - 24 year - olds were still living with their parents. - among 20 - 24 year - olds, 20 per cent were in a partnership and 50 per cent of these were de facto relationships. - over the last 10 years retention rates in schools to year 12 have risen from 49 per cent to 71 per cent and participation in tertiary education has risen to 29 per cent of the 20 - 24 age group. - in august 1997 the youth unemployment rate was 16 per cent compared with 8 per cent for all persons and unemployed young people accounted for 37 per cent of all unemployed persons. - youth incomes were generally low as a result of their delayed entry to the full - time work force and over the last ten years full - time earnings of young people have declined relative to those of people aged over 25 years. - young people spent more of their leisure time on social life and entertainment, 2. 3 hours per day compared with 1. 5 hours per day for persons 25 and over. young people play more sport and attend more sporting events than older people, with males more involved than females. - deaths of young males outnumber those of young females by a factor of 3 : 1 and the leading cause of death in 1996 was motor vehicle accidents followed by suicide. - young people are over - represented in the criminal justice system and they made up 29 per cent of the prison population in 1995, although this is down from 39 per cent in 1985. - young women are more at risk of violence than older women and in 1996, 16 per cent of women aged 18 - 24 years had experienced incidents of violence in the previous 12


due to the on - going global recession and economic uncertainty, governments are looking to environmental taxation as a possible way to bolster tax revenues. acca says that for this to happen successfully, governments need buy - in from business and their electorates. chas roy - chowdhury, author of the report and head of taxation at acca says : ' tax shifting to environmental taxation cannot both solve the environmental crisis and raise significant tax income long term. this is because a system aimed at reducing what it is taxing, if successful, will eventually destroy its own tax base. ' acca ’ s paper offers a number of recommendations about green taxation, asserting that first and foremost a global approach to green taxation is needed. chas roy - chowdhury explains : ' environmental taxes are an efficient but controversial way for governments to raise revenue. most agree that making the polluter pay should be a principle of a modern tax system. but this needs to be done with care – especially to avoid companies relocating and taking the pollution problem with them. ' recommendations in acca ’ s s paper include : - incentivise environmental goals, for example by reducing vat on sustainable products - governments should be as transparent as possible about green taxation, and they need to run public awareness campaigns to influence and speed up change – for instance with energy efficiencies - governments should also consult widely before any policy changes are made, and prepare to reverse any changes if unintended consequences happen - environmental taxes should be made more explicit and transparent, with costs and benefits analysed and assessed chas roy - chowdhury adds : ' acca questions how resilient environmental taxes will prove to be in the future. but we also believe that governments must use tax policy as an instrument of positive change by incentivising investment in new cleaner technologies across a wide range of industries. ' this can only be of benefit to business – it has to remembered that cutting carbon usage can also create competitive advantage for business. even in the midst of a financial crisis, consumers view environmental issues as important to their purchasing decisions and a business ’ s credentials on environmental issues has a significant impact on consumer buying choices. ' chas roy - chowdhury concludes : ' environmental taxation, which was almost unheard of 25 years ago, is now being widely used to assist in the fight against climate change, with taxes around the world on everything from emissions trading, plastic bags to energy consumption, car use and waste disposal. business understands that ‘ business as usual ’ is no longer