the un general assembly chose january 27 as the official day for the commemoration, as it was on this day in 1945 that soviet troops liberated the auschwitz extermination camp, the last such camp still functioning. throughout europe, tributes will be paid to the 53 million people who died during world war ii, of whom 31 million were civilians. commemoration has linked usually also to international holocaust remembrance day. auschwitz - birkenau was the largest extermination center created by the nazis. it has become the symbol of the holocaust and of wilful radical evil in our time. few people know that 3rd biggest extermination center was jasenovac. two reasons maybe explain this : 1st it is located in croatia and 2nd the main part of victims were serbs. the death tolls in extermination centres vary but rough estimations are following ( source wikipedia ) : auschwitz ii 1, 400, 000 - belzeg 600, 000 - chelmno 320, 000 - jasenovac 600, 000 - majdanek 360, 000 - maly trostinets 65, 000 - sobibor 250, 000 - treblinka 870, 000 upon the occupation of yugoslavia, the german nazis and the italian fascists formed an “ independent ” state in croatia, which was basically a nazi puppet state. immediately upon the establishment of its puppet government, the ustashe set up militias and gangs that slaughtered serbs, jews, romas and their political foes. catholic priests, some of them franciscans, also participated in the acts of slaughter. the cruelty of the ustashe was so great that even the commander of the german army in yugoslavia complained. the partisans, led by the croat communist josip broz tito, and the chetniks – nationalist serb royalists – fought the ustashe. under the leadership of the ustasha leader ante pavelic ’ s right - hand man andrija artukovic, who earned the nickname “ the himmler of the balkans, ” the ustashe set up concentration camps, most notably at jasenovac. according to various estimates, about 100, 000 people were murdered at the camp, among them tens of thousands of jews ( it is interesting to note that some of the heads of the ustashe were married to jewish women ). throughout croatia about 700, 000 people were murdered. located in croatia 62 miles south of zagreb, jasenovac was croatia ’ s largest concentration and extermination camp. jasenovac,


the ustashe were married to jewish women ). throughout croatia about 700, 000 people were murdered. located in croatia 62 miles south of zagreb, jasenovac was croatia ’ s largest concentration and extermination camp. jasenovac, was a network of several sub - camps, established in august 1941 and dissolved in april 1945. jasenovac was not the only place where serbia ’ s neighbour croatia ran several concentration camps where jews, serbs and roma have been murdered. bosnian muslims and kosovo albanians were allies of hitler as well. ( more about jasenevac in my document library under headline croatia ) in april 1945 the partisan army approached the camp. in an attempt to erase traces of the atrocities, the ustasa blew up all the installations, killed most of the internees and tried to hide all evidence about brutalities in jasenovac, all material evidence disappeared as if there had not been any camp in that place. later – during tito ’ s time – the state and the authorities tried to implement “ brotherhood and unity ” motto, with the aim of creating tolerance between the nations and the crime had to be forgotten as soon as possible. encyclopedia of the holocaust, edited by yisrael gutman, vol. 1, 1995, pp. 739 - 740 gives following description about problems to find exact numbers : “ it is difficult to establish the number of victims killed in the jasenovac concentration camp, since many documents were destroyed. the prisoners ’ files were destroyed twice ( at the beginning of 1943 and in april, 1945 ) and even if they had been preserved, they would have been of little help discerning the truth, because the ustasha often killed the newly arrived prisoners immediately, without putting their names into the files. this is particularly true of those who arrived from slavonia, srem and kozara, because it was only noted down that 9, 830, or 155 wagons had arrived. for instance, a very small number of gypsies was filed, only a few hundred, while it is known that all 25, 000 - 35, 000 of them from the ndh were killed in jasenovac. the jewish community in yugoslavia has established the number of 20, 000 jews that were killed in jasenovac. the numbers of killed serbs are truly varied. the sources from abroad mention numbers from 300, 000 to 700, 000. be that as it may, most of the people killed in jasenovac were serbs. exact number being still unknown, but it surely amounts to


killed serbs are truly varied. the sources from abroad mention numbers from 300, 000 to 700, 000. be that as it may, most of the people killed in jasenovac were serbs. exact number being still unknown, but it surely amounts to several hundreds of thousands. the national committee of croatia for the investigation of the crimes of the occupation forces and their collaborators stated in its report of november 15, 1945 that 500, 000 - 600, 000 people were killed at jasenovac. ” the yad vashem center claims that over 500, 000 serbs were killed in the ndh ( now croatia ), including those who were killed at jasenovac, where approximately 600, 000 victims of all ethnicities were killed. a documentary film “ jasenovac – the cruellest death camp of all times ” can be found from here! while for nazi - germany jasenovac was more a tool for ethnic cleansing for ustashe religious aspect played crucial role. the aim and its implementation efficiency is described differently by people who actually were in balkans during that period. ustashe leaders declared they would slaughter a third of the serb population in croatia, deport a third and convert the remaining third from orthodoxy to roman catholicism. anyone who refused to convert was murdered. one may claim that the religious motivation and the brutality of butchers were leading principles in jasenovac. the fact that 743 roman catholic priests were members of the ustashi and personally murdered serbs, jews and gypsies. jasenovac was for a time, run by fr. filipovic - majstorovic, a catholic priest who admitted to killing “ 40, 000 serbs with his own hands. ” so at one point, a franciscan monk was camp commandant of what the second largest concentration camp of the war. the jasenovac system of croatian camps also included a camp for children run by catholic nuns who used toxic soda to save bullets. roman catholic priests who participated in the killing of tens of thousands of serbs, jews and gypsies and the running of jasenovac escaped europe through the “ vatican ratline ” run by fr. draganovich, a croatian catholic priest who helped morons like clause barbe escape from europe. those catholic priests escaped to argentina where they also escaped justice. in 1999 a class action law suit was filed at a court in san franciso against the vatican bank ( institute for religious works ) and against the franciscan order, the croatian liberation movement ( the ustashe ), the national bank of switzerland and others to


1999 a class action law suit was filed at a court in san franciso against the vatican bank ( institute for religious works ) and against the franciscan order, the croatian liberation movement ( the ustashe ), the national bank of switzerland and others to recover $ 100 million in damages for the vatican ’ s participation in these war crimes and money laundering the proceeds from their serb, jewish and roma victims. the suit was filed by jewish, ukrainian, serb and roma survivors, as well as relatives of victims and various organizations that together represent 300, 000 world war ii victims. the plaintiffs demanded accounting and restitution. franciscans in rome helped smuggle the ustasha tresury and assisted ustasha war criminals in escaping justice. the vatican bank is alleged to have laundered a portion of the ustasha treasury. the vatican not only hoarded the gold the croats looted, it also helped them escape – with a nod and wink from the oss and mi6. in 1986 for example, the us government released documents that revealed the vatican had organised the ustasha leader ante pavelic ’ s safe - flight from europe to argentina, along with 200 senior officials of his regime. pavelic was given refuge by the vatican, fascist spain, and peronist argentine. the ustasha minister of the interior, artukovic, lived openly in california from 1949 - 1986 when he was finally deported to yugoslavia and convicted of murder. thousands of ustasha escaped justice for their crimes due to their wealth and influence and the backing of the roman catholic church and who along with certain rogue elements in the us and uk governments portrayed these war criminals as anticommunist freedom fighters. as the war ended, it is now known that the vatican bank and other world banks helped to launder and transfer funds out of the reich, and helped many war criminals to escape justice in what is now nicknamed the “ vatican ratline ” the vatican bank has claimed ignorance of any participation in ustasha crimes or the disappearance of the croatian treasury. the vatican has refused to open its wartime records despite requests from the us government, jewish and roma organizations. my main source about vatican connection has been “ vatican bank claims ” a class action law suit against the vatican bank to recover $ 100 million in damages for the vatican ’ s participation in these war crimes and money laundering the proceeds from their serb, jewish and roma victims is still ongoing. vatican lawyers have three times tried to get this case thrown out of court. the supreme court has rejected their claims. in


the vatican ’ s participation in these war crimes and money laundering the proceeds from their serb, jewish and roma victims is still ongoing. vatican lawyers have three times tried to get this case thrown out of court. the supreme court has rejected their claims. in us district court the case against the vatican bank ( but not the franciscan order ) was dismissed on grounds the vatican bank is an organ of a sovereign entity, the vatican, which is immune from lawsuits. the just filed appeal however argues that the vatican bank is not sovereign and engages in commercial activity in the united states and therefore should be held accountable in a united states federal court. on summer 2008 israel ’ s ambassador to croatia, shmuel meirom, harshly criticized the funeral given to a head of a wwii jasenovac concentration camp in zagreb, saying also that it insulted the memory of those killed in the camp run by croatia ’ s nazi - allied ustasha regime. “ i ’ m convinced that the majority of the croatian people are shocked by the way the funeral of the jasenovac commander and murderer, dressed in an ustasha uniform, was conducted, ” ambassador meirom said in a written statement. “ at the same time, i strongly condemn the inappropriate words of the priest who served at the funeral and said that sakic was a model for all croats ” meirom said. ( more about this in my article “ nazi ’ s funeral shadows croatias past ” ) yearly commemoration is important remainder for fair picture of history. at least one day per year is good to think what ultra nationalism can be at its worst level, what kind of interests, power game, attitudes and hidden motivations are creating possibilities for murdering civil populations or ethnic groups.


quicksand and other non - newtonian fluids share properties with both liquids and solids. non - newtonian fluids consist of tiny grains suspended in liquid, with the appearance of a solid or gel. stand on quicksand and you will sink ( though not as rapidly as movies and cartoons suggest ). but strike it quickly and it will briefly harden. previous explanations of quicksand behavior relied on the presence of containment walls and effects like grain dilation under stress. however, a new experimental study challenges prior assumptions, showing that new concepts may be needed to explain non - newtonian fluids. scott r. waitukaitis and heinrich m. jaeger at the university of chicago created a quicksand - like substance called " oobleck " out of cornflour and water, which they then struck with an aluminum rod. by measuring the position, speed, and acceleration of the rod as it interacted with the oobleck, they determined that its solidification arises from compression that propagates away from the impact point. by using a huge amount of fluid ( 25 liters ), the researchers showed the bizarre non - newtonian effects were independent of the size of the container, so the presence of confining walls is irrelevant. through x - ray imaging, they discovered a nearly cylindrical solid region forms directly below the impact point. the detailed analysis led the authors to develop a simple model for the impact, which bears striking similarity to models for objects falling into liquids, but produces very different effects. this may have been the most carefully monitored bowl of starch ever devised. in the experiment, the researchers mounted the aluminum rod using guide rails to make sure it impacted along a single axis. for different trials, they either dropped the rod ( free fall ) or used a slingshot to drive it more quickly downward. the rod was fixed with an accelerometer, and the whole process was recorded on high - speed video to measure the instantaneous position, speed, and acceleration. the grains of the cornflour in the oobleck are irregularly shaped and range in size from 5 to 20 microns ( 0. 005 to 0. 02 millimeters ), which is typical of quicksand and other non - newtonian fluids. additionally, the suspension contained tracer particles that could be imaged with x - rays ; motion within the oobleck could be tracked with the tracers. the authors positioned a force sensor directly below the rod at the bottom of the container to examine how the impact


contained tracer particles that could be imaged with x - rays ; motion within the oobleck could be tracked with the tracers. the authors positioned a force sensor directly below the rod at the bottom of the container to examine how the impact distributed itself through the fluid. they also used a laser line across the surface to determine how its shape changed. to measure the effect of container size, the researchers tested fluid containers ranging from 8. 5 cm to 20. 5 in depth. they found that the rod experienced a rapid deceleration upon impact with the surface at the same point in time, regardless of the container depth. however, shallower containers experienced a rebound effect : after a time, the rod began accelerating upward again. additionally, x - ray images showed the tracer particles didn ' t spread much to the sides in the region immediately below the rod. instead, they moved as a nearly cylindrical unit, acting almost like a second rod within the suspension. this plug of material was surrounded by a conical region where the suspension flowed outward and upward in response, lifting the surface slightly beyond the impact zone ( as shown in the image above ). after some time, the plug " melted, " restoring the suspension to its usual quasi - liquid state. combining their data, the researchers constructed a simple model for the suspension, including the size of the solid - like plug and the conical displaced mass. the equation bore some similarities to ordinary fluid displacement models, again demonstrating the hybrid nature of suspensions. it also contrasts greatly with the usual approach to non - newtonian fluids, where the walls of the container play a role and, instead of generating a nearly cylindrical plug, the force distributes itself along angles. the physical picture of the process is clear : momentum from the impact was carried directly downward, and rebounded when it hit the bottom of the container ( if it had sufficient time to do so before melting ). while the study used cornflour for simplicity and cost - effectiveness, the authors argued the similarity in grain size and shape should make their model applicable to other suspensions.


the need to sleep has long plagued scientists. why do we — and in fact every other animal with a nervous system — spend such large portions of our day sleeping? after all, there are so many other aspects of life that need our attention. studies have suggested that sleep may function to consolidate memories, help us solve difficult problems, and boost our immune system. however, there ’ s still no conclusive answer to why sleep is so vital. this week, one hypothesis is gaining ground. it suggests that sleep is a “ state of adaptive inactivity ” that conserves energy when activity is either not required or is not particularly advantageous. in the most recent issue of science, a group of scientists from the max planck institute for ornithology tested this theory by looking at a system where near - constant activity, and therefore a lack of sleep, might benefit fitness. in pectoral sandpipers, male fitness is determined by access to females, and at the high arctic latitudes in which these birds live, extremely long days enable males to engage in near - constant mating displays during periods of high female fertility. if giving up sleep to spend more time wooing potential mates increases the reproductive success of males, sleep in this species might depend more on the value of wakefulness, rather than the benefits of resting. the researchers recorded electrical activity from the brains and the muscular systems of several male sandpipers via electroencephalogram and electromyogram dataloggers, in order to determine the amount of time the males spent sleeping each day. the sleeping patterns of males varied greatly ; some males slept as little as 2. 4 hours per day, while others slept more than three times as much. males that spent the least time sleeping during periods of high female fertility were rewarded ; those that slept less interacted with more females, sired young with more females, and sired greater numbers of young overall than males that slept more. because male pectoral sandpipers generally return to their breeding grounds yearly, it was possible for the scientists to assess survivorship by using return rates as a proxy ; males that didn ' t return the next year were likely to have died. if sleep deprivation during the breeding season is detrimental to long - term health, males that give up sleep might be less likely to survive until the next year. however, the researchers found that males that were successful in breeding the previous year — those that slept less — were ten percent more likely to return the next year than other males. this suggests that males were not rendered less


to survive until the next year. however, the researchers found that males that were successful in breeding the previous year — those that slept less — were ten percent more likely to return the next year than other males. this suggests that males were not rendered less healthy over the long term by giving up sleep ; in fact, they actually returned to breed at greater rates than birds that took more time out of their breeding season to sleep. the take - home message is surprisingly simple : self - imposed sleep deprivation is positively correlated with both reproductive success and survival in male arctic sandpipers. furthermore, this study lends some credence to the theory that sleep may not be particularly beneficial when animals have something better to do. however, the period during which females are fertile is a relatively short three - week window. so males may be able to “ catch up ” on their sleep after the breeding season when females are not fertile. additionally, the study did not test any short - term health risks of this strategy, or whether sleep deprivation in these males led to any type of reduced cognitive performance. it is possible that there are ramifications for sleep loss. but, in the grand scheme of biology, reproductive success is what matters, as it determines what traits are passed on to the next generation. and for male pectoral sandpipers, sacrificing sleep for sex appears to be a good strategy.


for several million smokers around the world, cigarettes are considered almost as important as oxygen for their survival. they have fallen prey to a deadly addiction. nicotine is an active ingredient in tobacco and is present in cigarettes in large quantities. in small doses, nicotine acts as a stimulant. however, an overdose of nicotine is lethal. a large proportion of cigarette smokers suffer from a variety of disorders. from respiratory diseases and skin ailments to heart problems and cancer, the complications are many. to save the body from damage, one must quit smoking at an early stage. although they say it is never too late, letting go of the habit at a later stage is more difficult. there are several ways to quit smoking. while some methods require professional guidance and counseling, the person may practice others independently. the “ cold turkey ” method is practiced by several smokers and is quite popular. this way, a person quits smoking abruptly, by entirely giving up smoking. there is no tapering off. nicotine replacement therapy is another popular method employed by many. when a person is trying to quit, he or she might experience severe withdrawal symptoms because the supply of nicotine to the smoker ’ s blood has been taken away. in this method, the nicotine delivered through cigarettes is replaced by nicotine delivered through the skin. nicotine patches, nicotine gum and nicotine nasal sprays are the options available in this therapy. experts suggest a step tapering method when following this policy, as it eases the withdrawal symptoms gradually. cognitive behavioral therapy is probably the best way to go about quitting. this method requires a great amount of self - control and determination to ward off the urge to smoke. getting rid of external influences that promote smoking, delaying every smoke session, creating an aversive condition by smoking and focusing on the positive rewards are all part of this therapy. other methods used to quit smoking are counseling sessions, acupuncture and hypnosis. these methods, along with a firm resolve will help a person on the path to recovery. it is essential that a smoker feels the need to quit from within himself and is not trying methods to quit smoking due to external pressure. when the smoker is determined to quit, though, their chosen way to quit smoking will have a greater chance of success. quit smoking provides detailed information on quit smoking, how to quit smoking, ways to quit smoking, quit smoking tips and more. quit smoking is affiliated with stop smoking help. article source : http :


« previous pageresearch category restoration ecology processes to advance natural landscape design professor steven n. handel, honorary asla, new brunswick, nj ecological services from restored natural habitats can enhance landscape design. controlled experiments on urban landscapes, including landfills and brownfields, determined that woody species can thrive on thin engineered soils, but traditional hydroseeding must be modified, and diverse plant genotypes are needed for degraded sites. the surrounding landscape matrix contributes seeds and pollinators onto designed sites, changing the biodiversity trajectory, including non - native invasive habitat threats. these ecological links impact the future functioning of all urban landscapes. most people now live in urban areas and need the ecological services supplied by natural habitats to support our communities. the potential to restore habitats into our urban centers is difficult, challenged by highly degraded conditions, small, fragmented parcels, and political conflicts in land uses. landscape architects are increasingly interested in incorporating natural habitats into design schemes but the potential for restoring sustainable landscapes in these degraded conditions is poorly understood. most ecological work has been done in rural or wild conditions, not urban centers. pragmatic solutions are needed to make ecological restoration a functioning, cost - effective, and compatible element in our urban designed landscapes. the ecological target for practical restored habitats must be clear before design decisions can be made. a wide series of field experiments on degraded urban lands has been conducted to define ecological processes important for restoring natural habitats in the stressful conditions. what are the ecological links that can be reestablished on parcels that are often surrounded by dense populations and extensive infrastructure zones? my lab addresses this by exploring experimentally two topics, first, the limits to initiating populations of native plants on degraded urban land, and second, the impact of the surrounding matrix landscape on newly restored habitats that are part of a designed landscape. these principles were then tested for their applicability to new urban parks by partnering with landscape architecture teams wanting to incorporate ecological restoration as integral elements of design schemes. these studies were done on highly degraded urban areas within the new york - new jersey metropolitan area, including sanitary landfills, brownfields, and isolated urban lots. these types of landscapes are common in urban areas and may have the potential to be sustainable natural areas if certain hurdles can be crossed. restoration of woodland habitats on degraded soils such as landfills has been limited due to concerns regarding root penetration of protective caps. traditionally, erosion control and waste management, the narrow management foci of these sites, results in degraded monocultures of hydroseeded alien grasses. in reality, landfills have


has been limited due to concerns regarding root penetration of protective caps. traditionally, erosion control and waste management, the narrow management foci of these sites, results in degraded monocultures of hydroseeded alien grasses. in reality, landfills have the potential to be transformed into islands of biodiversity within urban centers. to test the compatibility of woodland habitats to landfills and other engineered soils, large series of native tree and shrub species were installed across the fresh kills landfill, and a control series was installed in an adjacent deep soil habitat. root dynamics were measured in both treatments after two years. similarly another landfill was explored where natural invasion of 12 native woody species occurred over the past 9 years. the second landfill soil was less than 30cm deep over the clay cap. we tested the hypothesis that woody species could persist under constrained rooting conditions without compromising the integrity of the engineered cover. in a parallel experiment we tested whether seeds of 27 native woody species could emerge and grow on a landfill that had been closed using the typical practice of high compaction and then hydroseeding with perennial grasses. we planted 15, 620 seeds on the landfill and recorded emergence and survival for three years. if direct seeding of these native species were possible, then restoration of many closed landfalls to woodland parcels would be feasible and cost - effective. smaller urban habitats are stressful in many ways, including atypical soils that are hot, relatively sterile, polluted with concrete dust, salt, or heavy metals, compacted, or highly variable over very small scales. we tested whether special plant genotypes would be needed to survive conditions in degraded soils of urban areas using the common garden technique. seeds of five herbaceous species were collected at degraded urban sites and also at a rural, post - agricultural site. these were grown into seedlings, and then out - planted in five urban test gardens. the experiment asked whether seed from urban provenances such as a landfill, a highway edge, or a railroad yard, would grow better in similar habitats than seedlings derived from non - urban sources. that is, has there been selection for plant performance at small - scales in highly stressed urban land? if so, then urban derived plants rather than routine nursery stock must be used as founders of new urban habitats. finally, all urban restorations are surrounded by modified and biotically degraded landscape matrices. to test the influence of these surroundings on the potential for sustainable new natural communities we studied which seeds and pollinators came into experimental plantings. to do this work we planted 20 patches


restorations are surrounded by modified and biotically degraded landscape matrices. to test the influence of these surroundings on the potential for sustainable new natural communities we studied which seeds and pollinators came into experimental plantings. to do this work we planted 20 patches of native trees and shrubs ( fig. 6 ), and then recorded what seeds were brought in by birds or the wind into traps in the test patches. also, we sampled the bee community visiting flowers in our test patches and compared these pollinators to those visiting flowers of the same species in natural areas. to understand the changing plant species complex around urban parcels destined for restoration, we studied data from historic floras, 129 years old, in comparison to recent floras of staten island. we also revisited a suburban woodland well characterized 53 years ago and studied how the plant species had changed in response to new habitat stresses over this half - century. to apply ecological principles based on our research, we subsequently partnered with landscape architecture teams to effectively rebuild natural habitat parcels within multi - use large public parks undergoing master planning. initiating new populations roots of the woody species tested do not pierce landfill caps ( fig. 1 ). roots of naturally occurring woody trees that grew up to 5m in height did not reach deeper than a few inches above the clay cap. our results support the conclusion that no conflict exists between increasing biodiversity through woodland restoration in an urban area and the need to protect the solid waste. in fact, woody plants become a bioengineering advantage of intercepting and transpiring water, lessening the leachate. in the direct seeding experiment ( fig. 2 ), only 1 % of native seed emerged ( fig. 3 ). seedlings were suppressed by the high bulk density soil and competition from the total fescues. traditional hydroseeding practice must be replaced by erosion control methods which allow ecological succession and a more comprehensive approach. simply introducing new seed into soils for a specific engineering purpose is not sufficient for restoring landscapes. tests with seeds from urban genotypes of species showed that what is called " urban " is a collection of diverse habitats having different soil and microclimatic conditions ( fig. 4 ). seed from any one urban source cannot be predicted to grow well in another urban setting ( fig. 5 ). although the post - agricultural site showed the highest productivity and biomass among all genotypes tested, seed source performance could not be predicted on any one of the urban sites. characterization of any one urban site is expensive and rarely possible during restoration planning. the most successful and


- agricultural site showed the highest productivity and biomass among all genotypes tested, seed source performance could not be predicted on any one of the urban sites. characterization of any one urban site is expensive and rarely possible during restoration planning. the most successful and cost - effective seeding scheme is a mixture of seed from different urban sources that allows natural selection to determine which plants eventually succeed on a specific urban site. influence of landscape matrix on fate of ecological restorations even when a restoration site is surrounded by industry or residential zones, the experiments show there is a complex interaction between these urban adjacencies and new sustainable plant communities. experiments with seed deposition showed that thousands of seeds from dozens of species would be quickly carried in during the first few years ( fig. 6 ). biodiversity of woody plant species increased from the 7 installed to over 30 after two years. nearby habitat remnants, ignored by development, are native seed sources spread by birds into new designed areas. a few species that appeared were alien species. these data show that rapid management of alien species is needed because they threaten the desired natives. tests for the reappearance of bees, as an indicator for the potential of restored plantings to reproduce and spread, were also positive after three years. over 60 bee species appeared on flowers, even up to 350 m into the site ( fig. 7, 8 ). the percentage of flowers that set seed was statistically the same as on plants of the same species in habitat reserves. this suggests that after the initial restoration, seeds are produced within the new site. my lab ' s data show that the urban habitat matrix is suffused with alien species that can overwhelm native habitats. our research into the changing flora of staten island over a century shows that the percentage of alien species is increasing in all major habitat types ( fig. 9 ). consequently all restoration designs must include management and monitoring plans that address new invasives until the preferred habitat becomes established. the focused study of 53 years of change in one old woodlot shows that significant change has occurred in all strata ( fig. 10 ). deer over - abundance and the alien plant species together yield a new habitat lacking the structure of 50 years ago. use of local remnant habitats as vegetation models may be inappropriate due to the amount of invasion. similarly, a study of the alien tree, norway maple, demonstrates that these trees restrict the growth of native shrubs and saplings more than the native canopy trees ( fig. 11 ). the dominating nature of norway maple negatively affects restoration of biodiversity. conclusions and


, a study of the alien tree, norway maple, demonstrates that these trees restrict the growth of native shrubs and saplings more than the native canopy trees ( fig. 11 ). the dominating nature of norway maple negatively affects restoration of biodiversity. conclusions and significance taken together these 15 years of experiments demonstrate ways that newly restored habitats can enhance ecosystem services of heavily degraded urban centers ( fig. 12 ). a strong interplay exists between a site design undergoing ecological restoration and its landscape matrix. planning for biodiversity and mutualistic relationships ( seed dispersers and pollinators ) will improve landscape design and insure sustainable habitats. since urban areas are suffused with alien species, in all habitats, management and monitoring of native stands it is still required to prevent alien threats. application to landscape architecture practice these findings have been applied to the master planning of new urban parks. at the brooklyn bridge park of new york city, plans for new wildflower meadows, shrublands, and woodlands have been included ( fig. 13 ). these experiments have informed this work by showing the success of many native species on urban sites with poor rooting zones. also, use of urban genotypes will help secure a low - maintenance and successful future. similarly, in california, the completed designs for the new orange county great park include large areas that will be native woodlands, meadows, and sage scrub ( fig. 14 ). these parcels are arranged in a mosaic so population expansion and contraction can occur over the decades as local climate conditions vary ( fig. 15 ). the design goal is to create a dynamic landscape that reflects and illustrates natural ecological processes, instead of static plantings requiring intensive maintenance resulting in higher costs for the future. the rapid growth of urban centers throughout the world suggests that these kinds of urban restorations will be valuable to supply ecological services that can be managed on low budgets. restoration ecology of diverse urban habitats provides added value in supplying less stressful urban microclimates, enhances biodiversity which allows for inevitable dynamics in species proportions, particularly important with ongoing climatic change. the joining of modern landscape design skills with plant community ecology will yield landscape parcels more valuable, persistent, and cost - effective than projects centered on aesthetic and recreational aims alone. rutgers university dept. of ecology, evolution, and natural resources duke farms foundation greenbelt native plant nursery george r. robinson michael van valkenburgh " well done! intriguing conclusions that provide extremely useful data for the profession, clients, and the public at large. such a usable resource. " — 2009 professional awards jury


early last week, i wrote about parallax and distance measurements. this is a follow - up post to that one. stellar parallax is very small, and thus correspondingly difficult to measure. the closest star has a parallax of 0. 772 arc - seconds ( that is nearly 1 / 4700 of a degree ). that is a very tiny angle to measure, and so it is no wonder that it took so long for astronomical technology to advance to where the measurements could be made. the capability to make such small measurements finally came in the early nineteenth century. one problem for astronomers trying to measure parallax is that the stars are vast distances away. the farther a star is from us, the smaller the parallax, and the harder that parallax is to measure. even today, most stars are simply too far away to reliably measure parallax. in the early nineteenth century, it was worse. the technology was such that only a handful of the nearest stars had big enough parallaxes to measure. but, there are a lot of stars in the sky? which ones would be the best candidates to study and to attempt to measure? the measurements would be time consuming, and an astronomer would not be able to measure many stars, so he ’ d have to pick a star and stick with it. but, if the selected star were too far away, then he ’ d never be able to measure parallax. at first, astronomers had thought all stars to be similar, so the brighter stars were presumed to be the nearer ones. but, that idea had begun to fall by the wayside by the eighteenth century. astronomers realized that brightness may not correlate at all with nearness ( and it largely doesn ’ t ). eager attempts to measure parallax inevitably resulted in failure. the stars were simply far more distant than anyone had been prepared to imagine. but, along the way, there were a lot of interesting discoveries. for example, the search for parallax led to the discovery of the aberration of starlight. but, there was another important factor, besides brightness, that astronomers looked to when trying to decide on a target star : its proper motion. edmund halley discovered that some stars had apparently shifted position over historic times. the stars are not fixed in space relative to one another. this apparent shift of the stars, as seen from earth, is their proper motion. assuming that most stars are moving at similar speeds, then the nearer stars might appear


position over historic times. the stars are not fixed in space relative to one another. this apparent shift of the stars, as seen from earth, is their proper motion. assuming that most stars are moving at similar speeds, then the nearer stars might appear to have higher proper motion than the more distant ones. you can see this same effect by looking out the window of a car as you drive down the highway. the nearer objects seem to be going past the window far more quickly than the more distant objects. but, that only really holds true when you are looking at stationary objects. other cars driving in the same direction as you may be far closer than cattle or trees alongside the road, but they will not appear to be moving very quickly with respect to your window because they have very nearly the same speed as your car. likewise, stars quite near the sun might not be seen to have a high proper motion if they share the sun ’ s motion through the galaxy. still, this seemed to be a far more promising correlation with distance than the brightness measure. so, the hunt was on. numerous astronomers were eagerly working to make the first parallax measurements. among these were thomas henderson, working in south africa, friedrick wilhelm struve, and friedrick wilhelm bessell ( both in europe ). henderson actually got the jump on the others, making measurements of alpha centauri. in 1833, he packed up and went back to england, along with his data. he was in no hurry to reduce his data, so it languished for years. when he finally did get to looking at his measurements, he found that there did seem to be what may have been a parallax shift in alpha centauri, but he did not trust his data. he had only 19 measurements, far too few to be certain or conclusive in his findings. furthermore, the instrument that he had been using had been damaged in shipping to south africa. he had painstakingly applied corrections to the measurements, but he realized that other astronomers would cast doubt on his findings. he decided to wait for better measurements made with another instrument by his successor at the far southern observatory. alpha centauri is indeed the nearest star ( actually it is a triple star system, and the closest of the three, proxima centauri, is the nearest star other than the sun ), and it really did have a large enough parallax to measure. and, as it turns out, henderson ’ s corrections to his data were approximately correct.


, proxima centauri, is the nearest star other than the sun ), and it really did have a large enough parallax to measure. and, as it turns out, henderson ’ s corrections to his data were approximately correct. however, he didn ’ t know all of that, so he held off publishing his findings until he had more data sent to him. in the mean time, bessell had acquired a spectacular and very precise instrument ideally suited for the task. it had originally been designed for measuring the sizes of features on the sun, but he expertly adapted it to measure the distances between stars. giuseppe piazzi had shown the star 61 cygni to have a particularly high proper motion. in fact, it was dubbed the “ flying star ” and at the time held the record as the star with the highest proper motion ( a record that it was to eventually lose to groombridge 1830, and then to barnard ’ s star ). this made it an excellent target star. however, after only a few months, bessell gave up the endeavor because he found the comparison star that he ’ d selected to be too dim to follow in poor sky conditions. other concerns took him away from the task for a number of years. then, in 1837, struve announced that he ’ d measured the parallax of the star vega. the number that he gave was 0. 125 ″. bessell poured over struve ’ s data, but was not convinced that it was really believable. he feverishly resumed his measurements of 61 cygni. for the next year, any clear night that he could observe the star, he did, often a dozen times per night, making measurements. after a year, he had hundreds of positions determined using thousands of individual measurements. his data showed no doubt that 61 cygni moved back and forth as the earth moved around the sun. he had found clear evidence of parallax. bessell computed the parallax of 61 cygni to be 0. 314 ″, and he published his results in late 1838. soon afterwards, struve revised his parallax measurement of vega to a value nearly double what he had originally found. that huge change cast serious doubt as to the reliability of his measurements. so most astronomers, including struve himself, ceded the first parallax measurement to bessell. with bessell and struve ’ s measurements available, henderson finally published his own findings for alpha centauri. interesting


measurements. so most astronomers, including struve himself, ceded the first parallax measurement to bessell. with bessell and struve ’ s measurements available, henderson finally published his own findings for alpha centauri. interestingly enough, despite struve ’ s uncertainty in his own measurements, his original value for vega ’ s parallax is amazingly close to the modern accepted value of 0. 129 ″. bessell ’ s parallax for 61 cygni is also not far off of today ’ s accepted value of 0. 285 ″. it really is hard to say who should get credit for the first parallax measurements. all three, struve, bessell, and henderson, were working at about the same time. henderson didn ’ t believe his measurements, so he didn ’ t publish them right away, and thus is seldom given credit. struve published his measurements a year before bessell, but his measurements were deemed somewhat uncertain, a fact that he most clearly stated himself. struve, himself, gave bessell credit for the first unambiguous measurement of stellar parallax. but, i think that all three deserve some mention. if you want to read more about this episode in the history of astronomy, an excellent resource is alan hirshfeld ’ s book parallax : the race to measure the cosmos. finder chart for 61 cygni created using starry night pro software.


dinosaur ridge is a spine of sedimentary rock about 3. 5 miles long between i - 70 and the town of morrison to the south. important discoveries have been made on this ridge, beginning in 1877 when arthur lakes first found bones from what would prove to be an apatosaurus. in 1937, when alameda parkway was being built, iguanodon and some ostrichlike tracks were discovered, then in 1992 more tracks were found. in 1989 the friends of dinosaur ridge formed a nonprofit group to protect the ridge and further develop it as an educational park. before going to see the dinosaur bones and tracks, stop at the morrison natural historymuseum to brush up on your geologic time scales and such ( 501 highway 8, on the southedge of morrison ). be sure to check out the very interesting dinosaur egg exhibit. watch a videopreviewing the history of dinosaur ridge, then watch your little ones dig in a sand pit and " discover " real fossils. or try your hand at the tedious job of removing a dinosaur bone from therock its been embedded in for the last fifty million years or so. by the way, volunteers are alwaysneeded, not only to chip away at rock but also to help with exhibits and educational programs. what a great way for the family to learn more about the dinosaurs that once roamed the areaaround interstate 70. if you have an extra hour, stop at the nearby " point of geologic interest " at the junction of i - 70and highway 26. this road cut provides a half - mile interpretive trail on which you can learn toappreciate the different layers of rock and discover life - forms that lived during thatperiod. it kind of makes your head spin to know that in half an hour you ' ve just walked throughtwenty million years of earth history! it ' s the closest thing we ' ve got to a time machine. the best way to see and understand the tracks, bones, and microfossils along dinosaur ridge is tovisit on one of the open ridge days. one saturday a month from april through october alamedaparkway is closed to traffic and guided tours are given. this activity is free if you walk the 2 - mileround - trip trail, or you can pay a small fee to walk halfway and ride the bus back. either way, it ' sa much safer way to view the ridge because the road shoulders are very narrow and there are fewsafe places to pull off. where : west of denver on alameda


thursday, august 6, 2009 why i teach the parts of speech actually, i wanted to write about phrases and clauses and about teaching them as adjectives and adverbs. however, that reminded me how many teachers i ’ ve run into over the years who disagree that the names of parts of speech should be taught to students. i argued with a publisher over this for at least three years, actually, before being “ allowed ” to teach the parts of speech in a textbook for lower - level students. so let me take a brief diversion to defend this position. the arguments against teaching the names of the parts of speech are mainly that the terms are too difficult for students to learn, and further, that they aren ’ t helpful. i disagree with both of these arguments. minimally, i think students should know noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, and article. with advanced students i might add in determiner. ok, that ’ s seven words. is that too high a vocabulary load, especially when most of those concepts exist in the learner ’ s native language? i think if they can learn seven objects in the classroom, or seven modes of transportation, or seven irregular verbs, then seven parts of speech isn ’ t going to short out the brain. a larger issue is whether they ’ re helpful. this depends, of course, on whether the teacher uses the labels. i use them all the time. i use them to talk about - different word forms ( accept is a verb, acceptance is the noun form of that verb ) ; - the placement of different parts of speech ( your sentence “ is late again, ” is missing a noun or a pronoun as the subject ) ; and - the functions of subordinate clauses and prepositional phrases and so on. and now i ’ m back to where i wanted to be... it seems to me that one of the challenges of forming correct and elegant sentences in english is in knowing where to put the different elements. where does the subject go? where does the verb go? how about the direct object? and those are the easier things to teach. where my more advanced students trip up is in knowing where to put longer elements, such as - in the morning, - running for the bus, - while on his way to the bakery, or - on the corner. the problem is that students don ’ t know what these elements are — that is, how they function. therefore, they can ’ t place them correctly in a


the bus, - while on his way to the bakery, or - on the corner. the problem is that students don ’ t know what these elements are — that is, how they function. therefore, they can ’ t place them correctly in a sentence. pretty much, they ’ re adjectives and adverbs — more correctly called adjectivals and adverbials, but i use adjective phrase and adverb phrase with my students at first, and then just adjective and adverb, once we ’ re all on the same page. suppose we have a simple sentence : - he fell. even lower - level students have probably seen the structure subject + verb + adverb, and might be able to write a sentence such as - he fell slowly. however, the most common adverbs are actually not the one - word ones that end with ~ ly, even though those are the easiest ones to identify. an adverb tells us where, when, why, or how. if students know that phrases can be used to talk about when, where, why, or how, then they can write - he fell to the ground. - he fell when he tripped. - he fell as soon as he tried to stand up. - he fell with a strange choking sound. the trick is in knowing that to the ground ( where? ) functions as an adverb, as do when he tripped ( when? ) and as soon as he tried to stand up ( both when? and why? ) and with a strange choking sound ( how? ). english allows ( and even encourages! ) one to combine adverb phrases and clauses, as in - he fell to the ground with a strange choking sound as soon as he tried to stand up. getting this concept down is huge. it doesn ’ t bother me terribly much if a student writes - * he fell at the ground. - * he fell as soon as tried to stand up. those sentences contain errors, of course, but the basic pattern of subject + verb + adverb is still there. adverbs are movable elements, more so than most others. but students need to know that adverb clauses and phrases move as units, and where they move to — for instance, to the beginning of a sentence : - as soon as he tried to stand up, he fell. to take another example : a student who is writing short, careful, simple sentences and wishes to expand them might wish to add some adjectives.


mexico city - mexican archaeologists say they have determined that the ancient mayas built watchtower - style structures atop the ceremonial ball court at the temples of chichen itza to observe the equinoxes and solstices, and they said friday that the discovery adds to understanding of the many layers of ritual significance that the ball game had for the culture. the structures sit atop the low walls of the court, where the mayas played a game that consisted, as far as experts can tell, of knocking a heavy, latex ball with their elbows, knees or hips, through a stone ring set in the walls. the bases of the structures - essentially, lookout boxes set atop the walls, each one with a small slit running through it - had been detected before, but archaeologists hadn ' t been sure what they were used for. since the ball court was built around 864 a. d., the boxes and the stairs leading to them had crumbled. the government ' s national institute of anthropology and history announced thursday that the boxes had been 90 percent reconstructed, based on the stone footings that remained. late last year and early this year, a team led by archaeologist jose huchim confirmed that the sun shone through the slit - like openings when the setting sun touched the horizon at the winter solstice. the sun ' s rays also formed a diagonal pattern at the equinox in the slit - like openings, which are about tall enough to stand up in. huchim said he knew of no similar structures at other mayan ball courts. " this is the place where we ' re finding this type of pasaje ( structure ), " huchim said. he said a stone structure atop a ball court at the nearby ruin site of uxmal appeared to have been used as a sort of spectators ' stand for elite audiences. huchim said the slits may have been used to determine when ball matches were played, given that the ball itself, as it was knocked through the air by the players, may have been seen as imitating the sun ' s arc as it passed through the sky. it may have also been used " like a calendar, to mark important periods for agriculture, " like planting the core crop of corn. finally, huchim noted that old descriptions of the ball courts sometimes depicted people atop the walls, and that they may have been acting as umpires in the game. huchim said thursday that stairways to the structures are being restored so visitors can observe the phenomenon.


people with farsightedness, or hyperopia, usually have difficulty seeing objects both at distance and at near, but especially at near. farsightedness is a type of refractive error, which means the shape of the eye does not bend light correctly, so images are blurred. in farsightedness, the eyeball is too short for light rays to clearly focus on the retina. a risk factor is something that increases your chance of getting a disease or condition. the main factor believed to increase your risk of farsightedness is having family members who are farsighted. symptoms associated with farsightedness include : - blurred vision - difficulty focusing on objects that are close - crossing of the eyes ( in children ) you will likely be referred to an eye specialist. he or she will ask about your symptoms and medical history, and perform an eye exam, which includes the following tests : - acuity — to determine the smallest letters you can read on a standardized chart - refractive errors — to see if your eye is not properly focusing on images - eye muscles - pupil response to light - peripheral vision - pressure inside the eye - lens, cornea, iris, and retina talk with your doctor about the best treatment plan for you. treatment options include : farsightedness can be treated using corrective lenses ( eg, eyeglasses or contact lenses ). your doctor will see you at regular intervals to assess your vision and determine if your corrective lenses prescription needs to change. if you elect to undergo the procedure, certain forms of farsightedness may be treated with refractive surgery. the surgeries used to treat farsightedness focus on making the cornea steeper to increase the eye ' s ability to focus. the types of refractive surgeries used to treat farsightedness include laser - assisted in situ keratomileusis ( lasik ), epithelial lasik ( epi - lasik ), photorefractive keratectomy ( prk ), laser epithelial keratomileusis ( lasek ), and conductive keratoplasty ( ck ). - reviewer : eric l. berman, md - update date : 09 / 01 / 2011 -


a customer prepares to pump gas at a filling station in springfield, ill., on jan. 29, 2010. " reducing the u. s. transportation sector ' s oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions " authors : w. ross morrow, former research fellow, energy technology innovation policy research group, 2008 – 2009, henry lee, director, environment and natural resources program, kelly sims gallagher, senior associate, energy technology innovation policy research group, gustavo collantes, former research fellow, energy technology innovation policy research group / enviroment and natural resources program, 2007 - 2008 - harder than it looks. reducing oil consumption and carbon emissions from transportation is a much greater challenge than conventional wisdom assumes. it will require substantially higher fuel prices, ideally in combination with more stringent regulation. - higher gasoline prices essential. reducing carbon dioxide ( co2 ) emissions from the transportation sector 14 % below 2005 levels by 2020 may require gas prices greater than $ 7 / gallon by 2020. - tax credits expensive. while relying on subsidies for electric or hybrid vehicles is politically seductive, it is extremely expensive and an ineffective way to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near term. - climate and economy not a zero sum game. aggressive climate change policy need not bring the economy to a halt. even under high - fuels - tax, high - carbon price scenarios, losses in annual gdp, relative to business - as - usual, are less than 1 %, and the economy is still projected to grow at 2. 1 - 3. 7 % per year assuming a portion of the revenues collected are recycled to taxpayers. oil security and the threat of climate disruption have focused attention on the transportation sector, which consumes 70 % of the oil used in the united states. this study explores several policy scenarios for reducing oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. - business as usual ( based on the department of energy ' s 2009 annual energy outlook ). - an economy - wide co2 tax, with prices starting at $ 30 / t of co2 in 2010 and escalating to $ 60 / t in 2030. ( this tax serves as a surrogate for a cap - and - trade system like that proposed in the pending american clean energy and security act. ) tax revenue is returned to consumers through income tax reductions. - the economy - wide co2 tax, plus a strong gasoline and diesel tax. ( $ 0. 50 / gal in 2010 and increasing 10 % per year, relative to the previous year and in real terms, resulting in a $ 3. 36 /


the economy - wide co2 tax, plus a strong gasoline and diesel tax. ( $ 0. 50 / gal in 2010 and increasing 10 % per year, relative to the previous year and in real terms, resulting in a $ 3. 36 / gal tax in 2030. ) - the economy - wide co2 tax, plus improved corporate average fuel economy ( cafe ) standards during 2020 - 2030, reaching a new standard of 43. 7 mpg in 2030. - the economy - wide co2 tax plus aggressive performance - based tax credits for alternative motor vehicles. - the united states adopts all of these policies. these scenarios were analyzed using the national energy modeling system ( nems ), an energy - economic equilibrium model of energy markets in the united states, maintained by the department of energy ' s energy information administration ( eia ). onlocation inc. of vienna, va assisted with modifications to the nems model required to implement our policy scenarios and also ran the model. eia itself did not provide any support or analysis for this study. as with any modeling exercise, the results rely on the assumptions built into the model and thus should be interpreted as an indication of the direction and magnitude of potential policy impacts rather than an exact prediction. present efforts to keep fuel prices low while simultaneously trying to significantly reduce oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions are inconsistent. taxing transportation fuels stimulates the greatest reductions in oil consumption and co2 emissions and is a necessary complement to strong vehicle efficiency standards. fuel efficiency standards affect only new vehicles and are subject to the rebound effect, in which some of the efficiency gain is offset by the increased use due to lower operating costs. higher fuel costs are the only policy option modeled that curtails the growth in vehicle - miles traveled. an economy - wide carbon price of $ 30 - $ 60 / t co2 alone would do little to curb emissions from cars, trucks, and the rest of the transportation sector. instead, most of the emission reductions would occur in the electric utilities — specifically, those that rely heavily on coal. note that prices in the range of $ 30 – $ 60 / t co2 are higher than the levels considered in congress in the summer of 2009. while increasing cafe standards will reduce co2 emissions, the benefits of this approach take time to accrue and decrease as people increase the number of miles they drive. this phenomenon becomes most pronounced in the 2020 – 2030 time period as population and incomes rise. tax credits for hybrid and alternative vehicles are expensive and not particularly effective


take time to accrue and decrease as people increase the number of miles they drive. this phenomenon becomes most pronounced in the 2020 – 2030 time period as population and incomes rise. tax credits for hybrid and alternative vehicles are expensive and not particularly effective at reducing co2 emissions, at least in the near term. moreover, artificially increasing the popularity of alternative motor vehicles under the corporate average fuel economy ( cafe ) standards has the unintended effect of decreasing new conventional vehicle fuel economy. because of these issues, the combined scenario does not achieve the greatest reductions in co2 emissions and oil imports, and is the most expensive scenario in terms of gdp loss relative to business - as - usual. the macroeconomic impacts of reducing greenhouse gas emissions are small, even with our relatively aggressive policy scenarios. gdp is projected to grow at 2. 1 - 3. 7 % per year through 2030 under all of our scenarios, with losses in annual gdp, relative to business - as - usual, less than 1 % for all scenarios. for the purpose of this report, we assumed that economy - wide co2 tax revenue was fully returned to u. s. consumers as reduced income taxes, an assumption that certainly contributes to the low economic impacts. revenue from the fuel taxes was not recycled directly to consumers, though it could be in reality. note that the american clean energy and security act does not recycle the revenues to consumers in the early years. insights for policymakers - even individual policies that seem radical in the present u. s. political context do not meet targets set by the obama administration or proposed in the american clean energy and security act without significant use of offsets. this is a challenge, since there is no agreement on the structure of a workable offset policy. - a fundamental insight from this study is that if one wishes to reduce u. s. co2 emissions or net petroleum imports from the transportation sector during 2010 – 2030, consumers cannot continue to drive more and more each year. the eia currently projects that vehicle - miles traveled will grow more than 30 % between 2010 and 2030 as a result of the increase in household incomes and population. in this study, higher fuel prices are the mechanism to reduce vehicle - miles traveled. higher transportation costs are also closely linked to land - use policy and development of mass - transit systems. - the strengthened energy independence and security act cafe standards, or continued increases in new vehicle fuel economy past 2020, are also unlikely to prevent significant growth in u. s. transportation - sector greenhouse gas emissions


use policy and development of mass - transit systems. - the strengthened energy independence and security act cafe standards, or continued increases in new vehicle fuel economy past 2020, are also unlikely to prevent significant growth in u. s. transportation - sector greenhouse gas emissions and oil imports by 2030. these policies will, however, prevent even larger growth from occurring. the reason is that the u. s. economy will continue to grow over this period increasing personal incomes and consumption, including increased vehicle purchases and increased driving. - the impact of energy and climate policies depends on the underlying world oil prices from now to 2030. if oil prices are $ 198 per barrel by 2030, reductions in net oil imports on the order of 5. 7 million barrels per day in 2030 are projected for business - as - usual. with high fuels taxes this can be reduced another 1. 1 million barrels per day, though gasoline prices are above $ 8 per gallon. if, however, the underlying world oil prices are below $ 90 per barrel during the next two decades, then none of the policy scenarios modeled achieves the desired targets for annual u. s. co2 emissions. an economy - wide co2 price combined with transportation sector - specific policies can reduce total u. s. greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels — a significant reduction from business - as - usual projections. however, options now being discussed in congress cannot by themselves achieve the significant reductions in the transportation sector needed to meet the obama administration ' s targets for total u. s. greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. the most effective policy for reducing co2 emissions and oil imports from transportation is to spur the development and sale of more efficient vehicles with strict efficiency standards while increasing the cost of driving with strong fuel taxes. without addressing both, co2 emissions from the u. s. transportation sector will continue to grow. statements and views expressed in this memo are solely those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by harvard university, the john f. kennedy school of government, or the belfer center for science and international affairs. for more information about this publication please contact the etip coordinator at 617 - 496 - 5584. for academic citation :


- endemic mycosis with worldwide distribution caused by the dimorphic fungus sporothrix schenckii. - the vast majority of sporotrichosis infections are lymphocutaneous or fixed cutaneous forms, although osteoarticular, pulmonary, meningeal, and disseminated sporotrichosis may occur, especially in patients with diabetes, alcoholism, aids, and haematological malignancies, but also in normal hosts. - lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis is caused by traumatic inoculation of the fungus into the skin and results in an initial nodular lesion that usually ulcerates, which is followed by ascending nodular lymphangitis. - the definitive test for diagnosis of lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis is culture of the fungus from skin lesions. - because of their non - specific presentation and relative rarity, a high index of clinical suspicion is required for diagnosis of extracutaneous forms of sporotrichosis, which is typically delayed. - lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis is not life threatening and responds well to itraconazole treatment. - extracutaneous manifestations of sporotrichosis can be life threatening, especially in immunosuppressed patients, and do not always favourably respond to antifungal therapy. last updated : may 10, 2013


demons are evil or unclean spirits ( cf. mk 1 : 23 with mk 1 : 32 - 34 ; rev 16 : 13 - 16 ), and are fallen angels, servants of satan ( mt 12 : 26 - 27 ; 25 : 41 ). there is only one devil, but myriads of demons who serve the devil and make his power practically universal. a demoniac ( mk 5 : 1 - 20 ) is a person whose personality has been invaded by one or more demons, who at will can speak and act through their human victim, deranging both his mind and body. a number of such victims of satan were delivered by the servant ( see expulsion of demons below ). the unhindered power of god working through the sinless humanity of the servant challenged the supernatural world of evil and explains the outburst of demonism during his earthly ministry. the reality and personality of demons are attested in all eras of history since the fall, as in the case of saul and the spiritistic medium of endor ( 1 sam 28 : 7 - 20 ), in the case of ancient idolatry of which demonism was the dynamic ( ps 106 : 36 - 37 ; 1 cor 10 : 20 ), in ancient divination and magic, and in ancient necromancy and modern spiritism. demons can derange mind and body ( mt 12 : 22 ; 17 : 15 - 18 ; lk 13 : 16 ). they know the deity and lordship of christ in the spirit world ( mt 8 : 31 - 32 ; mk 1 : 24 ; acts 19 : 15 ; jas 2 : 19 ), and realize their predestined fate ( mt 8 : 31 - 32 ; lk 8 : 31 ). they have a conspicuous role in the government of the satanic world system ( dan 10 : 13 ; eph 6 : 12 ), in promoting cultism and false doctrine ( 1 tim 4 : 1 - 3 ), and in opposing gods program and gods people ( eph 6 : 12 ; 1 jn 4 : 1 - 6 ). prayer is the believers resource against satan and demons ( eph 6 : 10 - 20 ).


spain designates five ramsar sites 12 june 2012 : the secretariat of the convention on wetlands of international importance ( ramsar convention ) has announced that the government of spain has designated five new wetlands of international importance, bringing spain ' s total number of ramsar sites to 73, the third highest number of sites among contracting parties. the first site, lagunas de campotejar, located in the murcia region, is important for wintering, staging and reproduction of several water bird species. the site is threatened by invasive plant species, and activities carried out on the site include research and environmental education. the second site, lagunas de las moreras, also located in the murcia region, includes a stretch of the irregular stream las moreras that discharges into the mediterranean sea. the site is an important area for wintering, staging and reproduction of many species of waterfowl, including internationally endangered and vulnerable species. activities carried out on the site, which is of cultural and archaeological significance, include sheep grazing, research, environmental education and tourism. the site faces the following threats : erosion and siltation ; agricultural pollution ; and invasive species. the third site, ria de villaviciosa, located in the asturias region, is an estuary on the cantabrian coast, and supports a wide diversity of species of flora and fauna, including internationally threatened species. activities carried out on the site, which is of cultural and archaeological interest, include tourism and environmental education. it is threatened by water contamination and invasive species. the fourth site, saladas de sastago - bujaraloz, located in the aragon region, is a complex of seasonal saline lakes, and supports a wide range of species specifically adapted to extreme saline environments, including several threatened and endemic species. activities carried out on the site, which is of cultural importance, include rain - fed agriculture, research and nature tourism. threatening factors include the possible future transformation from rain - fed to irrigated agriculture, and the use of some of the lakes as a waste dump. the fifth site, tremedales de orihuela, located in the aragon region, is a high mountain site offering habitat to over 600 different plant species, 32 of them endemic, as well as various species of amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and invertebrates, some of them threatened globally. activities carried out on the site include livestock feeding, forestry, fishing, hunting, research and recreational activities. the alteration of the hydrological regime due to water abstraction, changes in


foster apprehended kain. his celebrated quarrel with couche made him the obvious suspect. he was made to sit beside the corpse for several hours before being taken to the coroner in kingston, william j. mckay. kain freely confessed to the murder but pleaded self - defence, even castigating his neighbours for not having forced couche to pay his wages. at his trial on 3 september, kain, defending himself, pleaded not guilty. the crown, represented by attorney general henry john boulton *, called six witnesses, the defendant none. the jury required only five minutes to condemn kain, despite his claims of being goaded by couche ’ s threats and refusal to pay him. he was then sentenced to hang three days later with his body to be given over to medical dissection. “ the laws ought to punish and will punish, ” declared judge james buchanan macaulay *, “ as long as necessary, until the arm of violence shall be restrained. ” he characterized kain ’ s action as “ heedless, malicious, vindictive, and blood thirsty, ” and referred sarcastically to kain ’ s renowned strength : “ one would almost suppose that some people believed their strength given to them, for no other purpose than to abuse it. ” kain heard macaulay ’ s address with outward indifference, even the admonition that he devote his final earthly days to achieving “ a joyful immortality ” by “ weeping, by fasting and by prayer, by penitence and contrition. ” yet the judge ’ s advice or personal revelation revived kain ’ s latent religiosity, for he remained sleepless, praying, reading the bible, and performing spiritual exercises with two ministers and his former sunday school teachers. the evening before his death he was visited by archdeacon george okill stuart *, and that same night he composed a scaffold address blaming alcohol, neglect of the sabbath, and bad company for ruining his life “ just in the prime. ” he died reciting the lord ’ s prayer, apparently reconciled to his fate, repentant for the murder, confident of salvation. he was unswerving in his right to the wages he was owed by couche, earmarking the money “ to establish or support any school that may require it. ” any other funds were to be used to erect a fence around his father ’ s grave. william kain ’ s life was brief, beginning and ending in bitterness. he died in profound disgrace, in


or support any school that may require it. ” any other funds were to be used to erect a fence around his father ’ s grave. william kain ’ s life was brief, beginning and ending in bitterness. he died in profound disgrace, in front of “ a large concourse ” of curious spectators. kain was equal to this occasion as to most others, couching his personal tragedy in terms of sin and erroneous judgment. yet even his contemporaries sensed the hollowness of these explanations, and today it is difficult to penetrate the essence of the young man who was special and disturbing even to his obituary writers, and whose life embodies the age - old mysteries of the roots of criminality and violence. ao, rg 22, ser. 134, vol. 5, 7 [ i. e. 3 ] sept. 1830. the life of william kain, who was executed at kingston, upper canada, on the 6th day of september, 1830, for the murder of john rodolph couche ( kingston, [ ont. ], 1830 ). u. c., house of assembly, journal, 1831 – 32, app. : 150, 228. kingston chronicle, 4, 11 sept. 1830. upper canada herald, 8 sept. 1830.


matching 1 tags what factors should be considered in determining how to approach a passage of scripture? finding the best interpretation of a scripture passage can be a daunting task. c. s. lewis advises us to “ look. listen. receive. ” a good approach is to seek the intended meaning for the original audience before considering what it means for us today. clues to the original intended meaning can be found in the style of language, the genre of literature, the original audience, and the historical and cultural context. by studying these things, we avoid projecting modern ideas ( like science ) onto the text. what do biblical scholars today say about genesis 1 - 2? in recent decades, evangelical biblical scholars have reconsidered non - literal interpretations of genesis. the accommodation view of st. augustine and john calvin is supported by recent discoveries about ancient cultures. literature from these cultures shows interesting parallels and differences with genesis accounts. the differences are striking, such as stories where creation is a battle among many gods rather than the acts of one sovereign creator. the similarities, however, show how god accommodated his message so that the israelites could understand it. for example, the egyptians and babylonians thought the sky was a solid dome. this solid dome appears in genesis 1 as the firmament created on day 2. god did not try to correct the “ science ” of the israelites by explaining that the sky was a gaseous atmosphere. instead, god accommodated his message to their cultural context. many evangelical biblical scholars have concluded that genesis is not meant to teach scientific information. what is the genetic evidence for evolution? darwin developed his theory of evolution by looking at scientific evidence available in the mid - 1800s. since then, the whole field of genetics has developed, adding a powerful independent line of evidence in support of evolution. genes show how the physical traits of living things are handed down and modified from one generation to the next. by comparing the dna of many organisms, scientists can map the relationships between species. this map is in remarkable agreement with darwin ’ s predictions. the structure of chromosomes and particular genetic sequences point to the conclusion not just of common design, but common descent as well.


aleja wakes up very early in the morning, as she does every saturday, to go to the market and buy the groceries for the week. she takes with her the same amount of money she usually does, but to her surprise she can ’ t even buy half of the things she needs. at home, aleja has five small children waiting for her to bring them something to eat. she is a single parent, mother of two sponsored children from betel student center in the city of oruro. she was abandoned by her husband and left with her children. the family lives in a very small and dark room where they have three beds, a small table, some chairs and a small, wrecked shelf. outside of the room, they use a small space covered with old pieces of calamines as their kitchen. aleja works washing clothes. she earns around $ 21 per week, and that is how she supports her family. she uses the money to pay the rent, the water, the electricity, the gas and buy the food and some things her children need for school. bolivia is experiencing a food crisis as a consequence of many things. besides the inflation, there are other variables that are affecting the country. when we have the “ typical ” unrests, immediately some food is “ hidden, ” so people speculate, and as a consequence the prices rise. this general rise of prices in basic food has affected everybody, especially those who need it the most. “ it affects my family because i can ’ t feed my children properly, i can ’ t provide them everything they need, ” says aleja. families have had to reduce the number of meals they have every day, because what they earn and what they have is simply not enough. when people go to buy what they need for the week, they go back home with half, or less, of the things they were supposed to buy. it seems like money doesn ’ t have the same value anymore. it seems like money flies out of their hands. it seems like money falls out from holes in their pockets. sonia, the betel student center director says, “ many rather not eat bread anymore. they eat quinua ( grain ) or other things they bring from their crops. they eat chuno ( dried potato ) soup. they bring food from the country, like potatoes, chuno, grains, and that way they don ’ t have to buy things here. for example, they don ’ t eat oat, lentils or milk. things that are good


soup. they bring food from the country, like potatoes, chuno, grains, and that way they don ’ t have to buy things here. for example, they don ’ t eat oat, lentils or milk. things that are good for them, they can ’ t have because they are too expensive. ” the development centers have also been affected by this situation. suddenly, the budget they had wasn ’ t enough, so they had to take some measures that also affected the children. they had to reduce the daily provision they gave the children in order to make the money last for the whole month. sonia explains, “ we were very sad, because we started to give the children only one plate of food. one day they received soup ; the other a dry plate. we also suspended special activities for the children, like field trips. also in the material for the classes, we stopped buying some things. ” however, not everything is discouraging. thanks to special funding through the complementary intervention program ( civ ), many children who have malnutrition will be helped by receiving extra nourishment at the student center. this intervention will benefit 80 child development centers in bolivia. they will work with all of the undernourished registered children, up to 18 years old. sonia says that parents are very thankful for this extra support they receive. they were already thankful for the meals, but this extra food can be considered an extra blessing for them. they are very thankful ; they come here and say that here they can have meals and a soft drink. those are the only three days they can eat. at their home they don ’ t. children don ’ t miss a day at the center, even though many of them live far away and have to walk around one hour or more to get here. ” the children are very thankful, too. they might not express it with words, but their faces of happiness, when they receive their meals, say it all.


this is a story of two powerful rulers. they stand apart from most other rulers because of their achievements ; they differa from each othera for many reasons. one ruler was much respected, the other was feared. archaeologists know of the whereabouts of one rulera€™s tomb, although they have not excavated it. the location of the other rulera€™s tomb is unknown, but that could change. this rather enigmatic introductory paragraph refers to genghis khan and qin shi huang, chinaa€™s first emperor. genghis khan ruled over the worlda€™s largest contiguous empire about 800 years ago. ( the term a€scontiguousa€ta is important here ; as the britisha ruled over more territory during the heyday of their empire. however, those territories were dispersed across the globe ). genghis khan, or temuchin ( the spelling varies ) as he was first called, had a very eventful childhood. born in 1165 ad, he was betrothed at a very early age. his father was poisoned by the tartars and his bride was abducted. genghis was able to regain his wife with the support of other steppe tribes. temuchin officially became genghis khan in 1206. it is thought that this title means a€soceanic ruler, a€t or a€sfirm, resolute ruler. a€t | photo credit : asobitsuchiya | by that fateful year of 1206, genghis khan had united the tribes of mongolia into one tribe. the stage was set for him to embark on one of historya€™s most astonishing campaigns of conquest. historians suggest that there may have been several reasons why genghis khan went down this road : a quest for treasure, seeking revenge for past offenses, even megalomania. his conquests would take him into china and tibet, as well as farther west into the khwarazm empire which ruled over most of what is now called uzbekistan, turkmenistan, iran, afghanistan and tajikistan. in 1226, during a campaign against the xi xiaa in northern china, genghis khan fell from his horse. he died from his injuries in 1227 and was buried in a secret location. numerous scientific expeditions have been mounted to try to locate his tomb. currently yet another attempt is being mounted to find genghis khana€™s last resting place. the mongol empire continued after genghisa€™ passing and his


secret location. numerous scientific expeditions have been mounted to try to locate his tomb. currently yet another attempt is being mounted to find genghis khana€™s last resting place. the mongol empire continued after genghisa€™ passing and his descendants continued to expand it. by the late 13th century, it reached from hungary to the sea of japan. by that stage, the empire was divided into four nearly autonomous areas called khanates : china, central asia, persia, and russia. in 1294, after the death of kublai khan, the empire broke apart. there was a brief resurgence in the late 14th century when timur ( the lame ), who claimed to be descended from genghis khan, conquered persia, iraq, syria, afghanistan, and parts of russia. on the way to attack china, however, timur died, and the mongol era was finished. pre - dating genghis khan by fourteen centuries, an individual by the name of qin shi huang, rose to prominence in what is now china. in 246 bc, when he appeared in the scene, china was going through what historians call its a€swarring statesa€t period. in about twenty years, qin shi huang managed to unify the country under one ruler. qin shi huang became chinaa€™s first emperor. a the old feudal system was replaced with a central government. chinaa€™s writing and currency was standardized. commerce benefited from a vast new network of roads and canals. last but not least, gigantic construction works got started during this emperora€™s reign ; among them the great wall ( which would be extended many times in later years ) and the emperora€™s mausoleum. | photo credit : the mausoleum complex was a€ “ and still is a€ “ huge, covering approximately four square miles near the modern city of xi ’ an. while the tomb itself is not excavated yet, the accompanying army of terracotta soldiers was found and partially excavated. both men have left lasting legacies. without genghis khan, there would be no mongolia today. moreover, it is said that about 16 million men today can retrace their ancestry back to genghis khan. this has led to some people getting their 15 minutes of fame, occasionally incorrectly. china looks back at qin shi huang as its founding father. many aspects of modern chinese culture can be retraced to this time period, more than 2200 years ago. but there is more. aside from both rulers featuring in


by mike fitzpatrick, nami executive director along with so many other americans, nami members have been saddened by the tragedy in aurora, colo. in which 12 people were slain and 58 wounded in a theater at the premiere of a batman movie. nami does not speculate about mental illness or other factors that may be involved in such tragedies — or for that matter other kinds of news events. no one should diagnose through the news media. despite many public perceptions, we do know that generally the likelihood of violence from people with mental illness is low. in fact, the u. s. surgeon general has reported that “ the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in society is exceptionally small. ” there are many reasons why violence occurs in our society, many of which have nothing or little to do with mental illness. on the other hand, violence sometimes occurs. in some cases, it is because something has gone wrong with the mental health care system. at this time, that does not seem to be the case. recognizing that there is a problem is always the first step. right now, public inquiry is focused on whether or not the behavior of the person responsible for the tragedy ever caused anyone or any institution to encourage or require him to be evaluated the surgeon general has acknowledged that the risk of violence among individuals with mental illness increases to some degree in the case of substance abuse or psychosis, a symptom which typically involves a “ break with reality ” through paranoia, hallucinations or delusions. social withdrawal may precede such breaks. early warning signs of psychosis, particularly in the year leading up to the break, may include : - worrisome drop in academic or job performance - new trouble thinking clearly or concentrating - suspiciousness or uneasiness with others - decline in self - care or personal hygiene - spending a lot more time alone than usual - increased sensitivity to sights or sounds - mistaking noises for voices - unusual or overly intense new ideas - strange new feelings or having no feelings at all young adults in their 20s are the most common age group to experience the first onset of psychosis. this is a stage of life that usually challenges young people to develop more independence, establish an identity, create intimate relationships and move away from home. immediate family members, who usually are most aware of changes in behavior of a loved one, play a less central role at this time, particularly if a person has moved to another city or state, such as to attend college or graduate school. psychosis


update ( march 5, 2012 ) : as of feb. 24, the merit badge is now “ live ”! the pamphlet should be in your local scout shop, or you can order it through scoutstuff by clicking here. once it ’ s earned, scouters can click here to order the emblem. hot news : welding merit badge here! as i told you in november, the bsa turned to the american welding society to help create a new merit badge that will teach scouts about a real - world field where demand for workers exceeds supply. the image of industrial age welders toiling away in dimly lit factories is long gone. today ’ s welders must learn cutting - edge technology to create the products we use every day — cars, buildings, bicycles. with america ’ s demand for manufactured goods growing, so too is the need for new talent. by the end of the decade, it ’ s estimated that our country will have a critical need for 200, 000 new welders. talk about job security! right on cue, the bsa ’ s 128th current merit badge is scheduled for a feb. 24, 2012 release. that means scouts can now pick up a copy of the requirements book and start earning the badge. to give you an idea of what ’ s in store, check out the official, final welding merit badge requirements : welding merit badge requirements 1. do the following : a. explain to your counselor the hazards you are most likely to encounter while welding, and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, or lessen these hazards. b. show that you know first aid for, and the prevention of, injuries or illnesses that could occur while welding, including electrical shock, eye injuries, burns, fume inhalation, dizziness, skin irritation, and exposure to hazardous chemicals, including filler metals and welding gases. 2. do the following : a. with your counselor, discuss general safety precautions and material safety data sheets related to welding. explain the importance of the msds. b. describe the appropriate safety gear and clothing that must be worn when welding. then, present yourself properly dressed for welding — in protective equipment, clothing, and footwear. c. explain and demonstrate the proper care and storage of welding equipment, tools, and protective clothing and footwear. 3. explain the terms welding, electrode, slag, and oxidation. describe the welding process, how heat is generated, what kind of filler metal is added ( if any ),


welding equipment, tools, and protective clothing and footwear. 3. explain the terms welding, electrode, slag, and oxidation. describe the welding process, how heat is generated, what kind of filler metal is added ( if any ), and what protects the molten metal from the atmosphere. 4. name the different mechanical and thermal cutting methods. choose one method and describe how to use the process. discuss one advantage and one limitation of this process. 5. do the following : a. select two welding processes, and make a list of the different components of the equipment required for each process. discuss one advantage and one limitation for each process. b. choose one welding process. set up the process you have chosen, including gas regulators, work clamps, cables, filler materials, and equipment settings. have your counselor inspect and approve the area for the welding process you have chosen. 6. after successfully completing requirements 1 through 5, use the equipment you prepared for the welding process in 5b to do the following : a. using a metal scribe or soapstone, sketch your initial onto a metal plate, and weld a bead on the plate following the pattern of your initial. b. cover a small plate ( approximately 3 ″ x 3 ″ x 1 / 4 ″ ) with weld beads side by side. c. tack two plates together in a square groove butt joint. d. weld the two plates together from 6c on both sides. e. tack two plates together in a t joint, have your counselor inspect it, then weld a t joint with fillet weld on both sides. f. tack two plates together in a lap joint, have your counselor inspect it, then weld a lap joint with fillet weld on both sides. 7. do the following : a. find out about three career opportunities in the welding industry. pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. discuss this with your counselor, and explain why the profession might interest you. b. discuss the role of the american welding society in the welding profession. making of the welding merit badge check out this behind - the - scenes video below :


immigrants reform may serve as solution to specialized fields in high demand with the unemployment rate dropping to 7. 7 percent in the month of november – a four - year low – it appears as though more people are finding the jobs they need to send money to those they care for and earn a living. however, a recent report indicates that many fields are in dire need of professionals with specialized skills, such as the high - tech industry, sciences and mathematics. a new report suggests that this need can be fulfilled, however, by making it easier for foreign workers to come to the u. s. – and take care of themselves financially at the same time. in its report, " help wanted : the role of foreign workers in the innovation economy, " researchers from the information technology industry, the partnership for a new american economy and the u. s. chamber of commerce argue that immigrants are some of the most highly qualified people in the world. for instance, according to their statistics, a high percentage of all workers within science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields – otherwise known as " stem " – are foreign - born, comprising more than a quarter of all workers. because these jobs require special education, such as a master ' s or doctoral degree, the unemployment rate in stem fields is lower than for workers in non - stem positions. typically, individuals with more advanced degrees tend to be more likely to have a job. close to half of all university students taking stem classes are foreign - born but as it is already, a considerable number of immigrants are in school working to get into these highly specialized and trained positions. based on the study ' s analysis, foreign - born students comprise 41 percent of master ' s degrees and 45 percent of phds in stem courses at universities across the country. " their impact on university research, along with the impact of foreign - born professors and postdoctoral fellows, has been shown to be dramatic, " the study states. " at the top 10 patent - producing u. s. universities – a group that includes caltech, mit, georgia tech, stanford, university of texas, university of california, university of wisconsin, university of illinois, university of michigan, and cornell – more than three out of every four patents the schools received in 2011 had an immigrant inventor. " patents are titles or licenses given to people who may have invented a product or service. the patent gives them the sole right to sell or market whatever it is that they created. researchers say that these fields could be fulfilled by individuals who are foreign - born, but all


global environmental challenges from hallie seegal : there are high hopes that the natural gas extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, will boost the economy and bring the united states closer to energy independence, but if the energy industry expects to break new ground and fulfill a growing demand anytime soon, they need to make friends with the people who reside near the drilling rigs. two new reports out last week point to the potential of how fracking, the process whereby a highly - pressured mixture of water, sand and chemicals is blasted through underground shale rock formations to release natural gas, could positively benefit our economy. one study projects that natural gas will account for nearly one - third of total u. s. energy produced by 2040, and the other one, a government commissioned report which the obama administration is expected to partially base its shale gas policy on, shows natural gas exports providing revenue to the struggling economy under every condition considered. the obama administration has largely left regulation of private land up to the states, and for many landowners, the impacts of hydraulic fracturing don ’ t just hit close to home … they drill right into their backyards. last month, voters in longmont, colo. became the latest in the country to ban fracking within town limits. the ballot initiative was passed via a bipartisan vote and the town will likely follow in the footsteps a handful of other municipalities, including the upstate new york towns of dryden, middlefield and avon, that already passed bans or moratoriums and are in the midst of legal challenges to uphold them. while local ordinances may not typically make national news, the precedent set by these local governments cannot be overstated. at the most micro level, local residents came together and threw a wedge into the plans of private industry - - industry that by the way, already have allocated millions of dollars to harvest these towns ’ natural resources. no question about it : this has been a wild weather year so far in the united states, with record rains, droughts, wildfires and tornadoes. but a new study indicates that even routine weather events like rainstorms and cooler - than - normal days could pack a huge annual economic wallop. weather ’ s effect on all sectors of the u. s. economy may total $ 485 billion a year, as much as 3. 4 percent of u. s. gross domestic product, according to research published in the current bulletin of the american meteorological society. it is the first study to apply qualitative economic analysis to estimate the u