consuming sports and energy drinks is comparable to ‘ bathing your teeth with acid ’ according to scientists who have unleashed their findings on how these beverages may be destroying the health of your teeth. in their research, the study team members revealed that serious damage occurs to tooth enamel when exposed to sports and energy drinks, which is especially concerning when examining the high rate of consumption across the country — particularly in teenagers. published in the may / june edition of the journal general dentistry, researchers observed the acidity levels present in 13 sports drinks and 9 energy drinks. looking to examine how the sugar - laden beverages would affect tooth enamel, scientists placed samples of tooth enamel into each drink brand for a total of 15 minutes. in order to note the differences, they also placed tooth enamel samples in artificial saliva for 2 hours for 4 times per day over a period of 5 days. what they found was that not only did many brands and flavors vary in acid levels, but as little as 5 days after limited exposure to both sports and energy drinks, the team reported enamel damage. what ’ s more, energy drinks actually lead to twice as much damage as sports drinks. about 30 to 50 percent of teenagers have stated that they consume energy drinks, and a shocking 62 % of teens say that they consume at least one sports drink per day. this means that these damaging liquids are being chugged down on a daily basis, and in many cases it is a matter of how many — not if at all. thankfully, there are natural alternatives that actually improve your health. coconut water is one of the most popular and beneficial options, as one 2007 study found sodium - enriched coconut water to be as effective as commercial sports drinks in overall hydration with far less stomach pains. and of course it does not contain high levels of acid and sugar, but instead can help to naturally lower your blood pressure. google plus profile anthony is the editor of naturalsociety, producer, consultant, and seeker of truth. anthony ' s work has been read by millions worldwide and is routinely featured on major alternative and mainstream news website alike, like the powerful drudge report, naturalnews, infowars, and many others. anthony has appeared, oftentimes routinely, on programs like russia today ( rt ), the alex jones show, coast to coast am, and others. anthony is also a founding member of natural attitude and the creator of the independent political website storyleak


honoring and respecting the lives and accomplishments of our founding fathers once again we have just completed our twelfth tour of important american history sites on the east coast. our group was made up of 31 high school juniors and seniors and ten adults. the week - long tour included monticello, williamsburg, mount vernon, washington dc, gettysburg, hershey, valley forge, and philadelphia. i am convinced that the detailed and intense study of the founders ' lives is one of the best ways to help our young people think correctly about so many things in today ' s world. if we can make true history come alive for them and help them to see that those who lived 200 years ago were real people with real challenges, it seems to help them want to be more achieving in their lives. our last evening on the tour is always reserved for a time of reflection and expression of what impressed them the most during the week. without fail, the young people comment on how the founders have come alive for them. they express the thought that if those people, living 200 years ago in conditions quite primitive compared to our conditions today, can accomplish so much, then surely we can rise to a much higher level of accomplishment in our own lives. when this is felt and expressed, the goal of an american history tour director has been reached. the richness of the spirit of thomas jefferson our visits to monticello and to the jefferson memorial are always highlights of the trip. we make sure the students take time to read the inscriptions on the memorial in washington, d. c., which reflect the heart of the life and mission of thomas jefferson. said he : " i have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. " " we hold these truths to be self - evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. we... solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states... and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. " " almighty god hath created the mind free. all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens. are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion. no man shall be compelled to frequent or support


our sacred honor. " " almighty god hath created the mind free. all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens. are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion. no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. i know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively. " " god who gave us life gave us liberty. can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of god? indeed i tremble for my country when i reflect that god is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. commerce between master and slave is despotism. nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than these people are to be free. establish the law for educating the common people. this it is the business of the state to effect and on a general plan. " notice these four inscriptions speak of jefferson ' s conviction that the plan of the almighty in the lives of his children on this earth includes the necessity of them being free in every way to choose for themselves. monticello reflects jefferson ' s love of learning and his love for nature and agriculture. a serious student could spend hours at monticello on any one of the following subjects that was developed by jefferson on his mountaintop plantation : agriculture, american indians, ancient greece and rome, archaeology, architecture, art, astronomy, bibliophile, botany, cuisine, economics, education, engineering, geography, languages, law, medicine, music, natural history, paleontology, religion, riding, surveying, weather, weights and measures. at williamsburg, we make sure our students tour the house of burgesses or the old capitol building of virginia. in the main room where the delegates met, one can envision patrick henry giving his famous " caesar - brutus " speech against the stamp act on may 29, 1765. it happened that day that a young lawyer named thomas jefferson listened to this impassioned plea and later claimed that this was " the day that changed my life. " additional delegates who served as representatives in this virginia assembly included george washington, george mason, george wythe, and richard henry lee. it was also in this room that james madison, after the revolutionary war, tried to convince the delegates to agree to a stronger union than then existed under the articles of


assembly included george washington, george mason, george wythe, and richard henry lee. it was also in this room that james madison, after the revolutionary war, tried to convince the delegates to agree to a stronger union than then existed under the articles of confederation. he was met with stiff opposition from those who insisted they were virginians first, then americans. this episode is portrayed in the nccs film, a more perfect union. the saintly example of george washington who can compare with the magnificence of george washington? students are exposed to him on four occasions on our tour : mount vernon, the washington monument, the capitol rotunda, and valley forge. our first exposure to him was at mount vernon. there in the magnificent dining room, especially built to entertain guests from near and far, is where washington finally agreed to serve as our first president. we make sure the students understand that this was done the way the founders wanted it to be done - no campaigning, no political parties, no speeches containing promises to be fulfilled. in fact, several unsuccessful attempts were made to convince washington to serve until finally he was visited by the secretary of congress in this very room and told that he had been selected, unanimously, to serve as president. he, of course, reluctantly agreed. in spending a few hours at mount vernon, it is not difficult to see why washington did not want to leave again. to sit on his back porch and overlook the potomac river is stunning. it was here that he had many conversations with domestic and foreign dignitaries and convinced them that his ideas were worth pursuing. to view his plantation layout, his agricultural insights and innovations, and even his self - selected tomb site, leaves one with a feeling he is walking on sacred ground. as most americans look at the washington monument, few realize that the crowning capstone of the monument is a single piece of aluminum weighing 100 ounces. it has four triangular sides which meet at the top point. no one sees it from the ground, or even from the lookout near the top of the monument. it is the highest point of all of washington d. c. rising 555 feet from the ground. on the west face of the capstone is inscribed : " corner stone laid on bed of foundation, july 4, 1848. first stone at height of 152 feet laid august 7, 1880. capstone set december 6, 1884 " ; and the east face ( which faces towards the capitol ) reads " laus deo " which is translated, " praise be to god. " of


at height of 152 feet laid august 7, 1880. capstone set december 6, 1884 " ; and the east face ( which faces towards the capitol ) reads " laus deo " which is translated, " praise be to god. " of course the most central painting in the capitol rotunda is the apotheosis of george washington - apotheosis meaning the raising of a mortal to the rank of a god ; or the glorification of a person as an ideal. we have included a discussion of this in previous letters. independence hall - a place of reverence how fitting it is to end our week - long tour of american history at this special site in philadelphia. of course it was built as the pennsylvania state house, but has become known for two events in american history which have better defined america ' s destiny than perhaps any other site on the east coast. it always has a sacred significance to me. i have been to a limited number of places where i believe communication from the heavens were manifestly given and described. this is one of those places. dr. skousen wrote also of those feelings : some of the founders sensed the presence of heavenly inspiration at the constitutional convention a great many of the founders confessed their dependence on god for the success of the constitutional convention. this was especially true of franklin, washington and madison. we have ample evidence that during his long life, benjamin franklin had come to depend upon this outside intelligence in a time of crisis. we have reason to believe this was precisely why franklin wanted the convention to have regular prayers. they needed help from a higher source. he saw them wrestling with problems so complex that solutions were completely beyond the experience and intellectual capacity of the delegates. franklin ' s plea for prayer at the convention notice that he gives this as his main reason for the suggestion that they start having regular prayers at the convention. here are franklin ' s words : " the small progress we have made, after four or five weeks ' close attendance and continual reasonings with each other... is, methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. " this tells us two things about franklin. first of all, he recognized the human limitations of every person at the convention, including himself. secondly, he quite obviously knew from experience where to go to ask for a gentle sprinkling of inspiration. therefore, he said : " in this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it


from experience where to go to ask for a gentle sprinkling of inspiration. therefore, he said : " in this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the father of lights to illuminate our understanding? " franklin then pointed a finger of shame at the members of this convention by reminding them that in their great struggle with great britain during the revolutionary war the meetings of the continental congress were always opened with prayer. then why haven ' t prayers been held now? just to refresh their memories he said : " our prayers, sir, were heard - - and they were graciously answered. all of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of superintending providence in our favor. " franklin concluded his plea - - which is one of the most eloquent speeches of the entire convention - - with a proposal. he said : " i therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business ; and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service. " ( the majesty of god ' s law, pp. 444 - 7 ) even though the convention eventually did not adopt franklin ' s motion for public prayer, it seemed to have enough effect on the private lives of the delegates that caused washington to later reflect : " it appears to me, then, little short of a miracle, that the delegates from so many different states ( which states you know are also different from each other, in their manners, circumstances, and prejudices ) should unite in forming a system of national government. " james madison also wrote, saying it was " impossible to consider the degree of concord which ultimately prevailed as less than a miracle. " i personally consider independence hall as one of those places where the inspiration of heaven was made manifest to man and i try to communicate this to our tour participants. our visit there is short, but usually makes a lasting impression. it represents the culmination of our tour of meaningful places where the great and wise of america once trod. earl taylor, jr.


a hernia occurs when a section of intestine protrudes through a weakness in the abdominal wall. a soft bulge is seen underneath the skin where the hernia has occurred. an inguinal hernia occurs in the groin area, when a section of intestine pushes through a weak spot in the inguinal canal - - a triangle - shaped opening between layers of abdominal muscle near the groin. as a male fetus grows and matures during pregnancy, the testicles develop in the abdomen and then move down into the scrotum through the area called the inguinal canal. shortly after the male is born, the inguinal canal closes, preventing the testicles from moving back into the abdomen. if this area does not close off completely, a loop of intestine can move into the inguinal canal through the weakened area of the lower abdominal wall, causing a hernia. although females do not have testicles, they do have an inguinal canal and can develop hernias in this area, as well. obesity, pregnancy, heavy lifting, and straining to pass stool can all be causes of inguinal hernias. the following are the most common symptoms of an inguinal hernia. however, each individual may experience symptoms differently. symptoms may include : - lump in the groin near the thigh - pressure or pain in the groin - partial or complete blockage of the intestine ( in more severe cases ) that may lead to nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite the symptoms of an inguinal hernia may resemble other medical conditions or problems. always consult your doctor for a diagnosis. in addition to a complete medical history and physical examination, diagnostic procedures for an inguinal hernia may include the following : - blood tests - x - rays and / or ct scan - - diagnostic tests which use invisible electromagnetic energy beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film ; to check for blockage of the intestine. specific treatment for an inguinal hernia will be determined by your doctor based on : - your age, overall health, and medical history - extent of the condition - your tolerance of specific medicines, procedures, or therapies - expectations for the course of the condition - your opinion or preference the main treatment for an inguinal hernia is a surgical procedure known as herniorrhaphy. in this procedure, the opening in the muscle wall is repaired. sometimes, in a procedure known as hernioplasty,


on 1 may, 2003, voters will go to the polls to elect the members who will form the second scottish parliament session of the modern era. pressure to cut the number of msps ( members of the scottish parliament ) in line with a scheduled reduction in those sent to westminster has been resisted. there will be 129 msps who will sit for a fixed four - year period. the members will be elected in two ways. - 73 members will represent individual constituencies and will be elected under the traditional first - past - the - post system. these are the same as the 72 scottish constituencies at westminster with the exception that orkney and shetland is divided into two, each electing its own msp. - in addition, 56 members selected from " party lists " in the country ' s eight electoral regions. these regions each will elect seven msps through the additional member system, a form of proportional representation. electors will therefore have two votes on separate ballot papers. one is for a candidate in their constituency and the second is for a party list in their region. parties will be keen to dispel the common confusion over the two separate votes. some people mistakenly believe that they must vote for the constituency candidate belonging to the same party they supported at regional level. members of the scottish parliament there will 129 msps elected from constituencies 73 elected from regions 56 others wrongly think the opposite, that the regional vote is a " second choice " and that they must therefore vote for a different party to the one they voted for in their constituency. both these views are wrong. it is up to individual voters to decide whether or not they " split " their votes. they can vote for the candidate at constituency level who represents the same party or a different party to the one they voted for at regional level. the additional member system the constituency msps are chosen according to the traditional system used in westminster elections. a candidate needs simply to poll more votes than any other single rival to be elected. the system for electing the additional members is more complex. electors will cast their second vote for a " party list ". this is a list submitted by registered parties with their candidates in order of preference. if the party succeeds in winning one of these " top - up " seats, the person named as first on its list will be elected. if it wins two top - up seats, then the first two will be elected, and so on. some think that their two votes must be for same party others think their two votes must be for different parties in fact, voters can cast


elected. if it wins two top - up seats, then the first two will be elected, and so on. some think that their two votes must be for same party others think their two votes must be for different parties in fact, voters can cast their two votes however they wish it is important, therefore, for candidates to be near the top of their party ' s list for them to stand a realistic chance of being elected. there are two complications to the lists. first, a " party list " can be an individual person who is standing at the regional level rather than in a constituency. secondly, a candidate can stand both in a constituency and on a regional top - up list. if they succeed in a constituency this takes priority and their name will be removed from the regional list so they cannot be elected twice. the all - important divisor the formula for deciding which parties win regional top - up seats is known as the d ' hondt system and is used widely across europe. first, party list votes are totalled from each of the constituencies making up the region. these totals are then divided by the number of seats each party has won - plus one. the party with the highest resulting total elects one additional member. the regions for additional member seats highlands and islands mid - scotland and fife north east scotland south of scotland west of scotland that party ' s divisor is then increased by one ( because of its victory ) and new figures calculated. again, the party with the highest total wins a seat. the process is then repeated until all seven additional members are elected. the aim of the system is to compensate parties which pile up votes in constituencies but fail to win many msps. under the d ' hondt system, they are much more likely to gain additional members. conversely, parties which do well in constituency elections will do less well in the top - up seats.


much as a hybrid bicycle is a cross between two bikes - - a road bike frame with mountain bike handlebars, for instance - - this hybrid compound is a cross between two molecules. one is a traditional anticancer drug, a small molecule that targets cancer tumors. the other is a type of antibody, which is a protein produced in great abundance by the bodys immune system and found naturally in the bloodstream. the hybrid of the two, described in an upcoming issue of the journal proceedings of the national academy of sciences, was found to have a profound effect on the size of tumors in mouse models - - shrinking tumors of both kaposi ' s sarcoma and colon cancers in these preclinical studies. moreover, this approach is general enough that it could be used to design hybrids against any number of cancers. " a single antibody can become a whole multiplicity of therapeutics simply by mixing it with the desired small molecule, " says tsri professor carlos f. barbas iii, ph. d., who is janet and w. keith kellogg ii chair in molecular biology. barbas conducted the research with tsri president richard a. lerner, m. d., and several colleagues at tsri ' s skaggs institute for chemical biology. steering and support, joined at the hip the tsri team built the hybrid molecule with a " catalytic " antibody, a small drug molecule, and a linker molecule that joins the two. the hybrid thus formed borrows the wheels and the frame of the antibody for supports and the handlebars of the small drug molecule for steering ability. also called immunoglobulins, antibodies are proteins produced by immune cells that are designed to recognize a wide range of foreign pathogens. after a bacterium, virus, or other pathogen enters the bloodstream, contact : jason bardi scripps research institute


true, it cuts down on your gas bill and reduces your carbon footprint, but the most obvious reason for leaving your car in the garage tomorrow for bike to work day is right under your nose — or at least several inches below your nose : your heart. aerobic exercise strengthens the heart muscle at the same time that it helps keep weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure at healthy levels. it may also reduce arterial inflammation, which increases heart - attack risk, and slow the progression of heart disease. need another reason to bike? it can stave off arthritis. a recent study suggests that women with stronger quadriceps ( the muscle at the front of the thigh ) are less likely to get painful knee arthritis. thirty minutes of moderate - intensity exercise most days of the week can start with a brisk walk or a jog — but if walking bores you and running is hard on your knees, biking might be just the thing that helps you start or re - start a healthy habit. a word on safety : helmets are one of the most effective ways to avoid injury while bike riding, yet many americans go without one, according to a consumer reports national research center survey. eighty - two percent said they felt it was " very " or " extremely " important to wear a helmet while cycling, but only 44 percent said they would actually wear one. put safety first. before you hit the road or bike path, strap on your helmet. it should sit flat across your head, with the front edge about an inch above the eyebrows. a properly adjusted helmet should stay in place when pushed upward from the front. if you ’ d rather keep your workout indoors, there ’ s a bike for you, too. see our report and ratings ( subscribers only ) on stationary exercise bikes. and for 60 benefits of biking, visit the international bike fund website.


" basically what has happened by introducing the toads is it has created really strong evolutionary pressure both on the toads themselves and on animals that interact on the toads, " shine said. for example, shine and his colleague benjamin phillips previously showed that two native australian snake species have evolved smaller heads and are no longer able to eat the toads, which carry a lethal toxin. other studies have shown that some would - be toad predators have altered their diets to exclude toads, while others have evolved resistance to the cane toad toxin, shine said. " these studies tell us a lot about the evolutionary process, " said jonathan losos, an evolutionary biologist at washington university in st. louis, missouri. " invading species are a huge problem, and cane toads are a classic example of that, " he added. " but they also represent an inadvertent evolutionary experiment, the sort of experiment you couldn ' t [ normally ] conduct. " rules and regulations prohibit scientists from purposely confronting native species in the wild with a non - native competitor or predator to see how natural selection works, he explained. the evolutionary processes spawned by the cane toad invasion have occurred in a span of just 70 years. this adds to evidence from the past two decades that populations can adapt quickly when selection pressure is strong. " we ' re taught evolution occurs over these very, very long time frames. but in systems like these, it ' s incredibly fast, " shine, the study co - author, said. according to losos, the unusual aspect of the toad leg length adaptation is the mechanism that drives it. in most instances rapid evolution occurs when an organism enters a new environment and some variation that was previously irrelevant becomes favored. that variation is repeatedly selected until it becomes more common, he explained. in the case of the cane toads, longer legs make the toads faster, and the fastest toads are always at the invasion front. the lead toads mate, passing their long legs to their offspring. as long as there is no disadvantage to being the first into a new territory, this process should allow the toads to " evolve faster and faster rates of movement, " shine said. cane toad management according to shine, as scientists learn more about cane toad biology, they can devise strategies for eradicating local populations, such as changing the character of a breeding pond or staking out toad migration routes. but the toads are likely to be permanent fixtures in australia and will continue their spread, he said. while shine is optimistic that ecosystems will


dr. harry demos and dr. del schutte, both associate professor of orthopedics at musc, and specialists in joint reconstruction recently joined dr. marcy bolster to record a podcast to address concerns regarding metal - on - metal joint replacement devices. below, please read a summary of their thoughts on device implants and you can listen to their podcast as well. total hip arthroplasty is one of the most commonly performed and effective surgical procedures currently in use. nearly 200, 000 hip replacements are performed annually in the united states. recent data reveals hip replacement to be one of the most cost - effective of all surgical procedures in terms of quality of life per health care dollar spent. unfortunately, newer technology has not always led to an improvement in patient outcomes. a recent hip replacement design has been associated with an unacceptably high early failure rate. by now almost everyone with a newspaper or television set has seen the advertisements by attorneys soliciting patients with “ metal on metal ” hip replacements. while the majority of metal on metal hip replacements may function well for many years, two specific designs have shown significant failures as soon as the first few years. the eventual outcome of other designs remains concerning, recently prompting the fda to mandate postmarket surveillance to 21 metal on metal hip replacements manufacturers. unfortunately these failures if not caught early enough, are associated with significant destruction of the muscles and bone in and around the hip joint. increased concentrations of metal ions in the blood as well as in the surrounding soft tissues can be readily identified in most of these patients. some patients, however, have normal metal ion levels and still have problems, while others may have high levels with well - functioning hips. the cause and effect relationship of metal ions and failure remains to be determined, but it is clear at this point that certain designs of metal on metal hip replacements are having a higher than expected rate of failure. one of the most widely used metal on metal implants that has recently been recalled is the depuy asr hip replacement. approximately 37, 000 of these implants have been inserted in patients in the us and 93, 000 world - wide. to date, revision rates are around 10 %. the revisions associated with failure of the asr implant can be much more difficult than others and should be performed by surgeons and joint replacement centers who routinely perform revisions. the loss of bone and soft tissues around the hip joint can make reconstruction much more difficult. the implant manufacturer has an aggressive patient care program in place to facilitate and fund revision of any


should be performed by surgeons and joint replacement centers who routinely perform revisions. the loss of bone and soft tissues around the hip joint can make reconstruction much more difficult. the implant manufacturer has an aggressive patient care program in place to facilitate and fund revision of any failures of these implants. as with any device failure, this has not happened in the majority of patients with this implant and patients with this implant may have aches and pains which do not in any way portend failure of the implant but are a normal part of life, even with a hip replacement. we have not recommended the use of metal on metal hip replacement at the musc joint replacement center. in the past decade of performing thousands of hip replacement procedures, only two were metal on metal hips ; both for very specific indications, both of which are currently doing well. our lack of embracing this technology is based on our experience with and concern over metal ions — years before these implants were available in the u. s. while marketing of this technology and patient demand have been high, we have continued to use metal or ceramic on crosslinked polyethylene as our implant bearing surface of choice. this bearing combination, along with stem and cup designs with a proven track record of 96 - 99 %, has led to a very low revision rate for our patients. as a tertiary referral center, we frequently perform revision hip replacements. while we are pleased to provide this service to patients who are having problems, we are especially pleased to know that we have not yet performed a single revision hip replacement for a bearing - related issue in a patient who has a metal or ceramic on crosslinked polyethylene hip replacement that was originally performed at musc. if you are suffering from hip or other joint pain, please make an appointment today to see one of our orthopaedic specialists.


field and modelling studies to assess the risk to uk groundwater from earth - based stores for livestock manure gooddy, d. c. ; hughes, a. g. ; williams, a. t. ; armstrong, a. c. ; nicholson, r. j. ; williams, j. r.. 2001 field and modelling studies to assess the risk to uk groundwater from earth - based stores for livestock manure. soil use and managment, 17 ( 2 ). 128 - 137. 10. 1111 / j. 1475 - 2743. 2001. tb00018. xbefore downloading, please read nora policies. boreholes have been constructed at eight sites on the permo - triassic sandstone and chalk aquifers to assess the extent of chemical and microbiological contamination emanating from unlined farm manure stores. slurry along fracture faces in the chalk was found on cores taken from beneath two stores. porewaters from the chalk sites and one of the sandstone sites were discoloured and showed high concentrations of nitrate, ammonium and organic carbon to depths in excess of 10 m. although cryptosporidia and escherichia coli o157 were found in many of the cattle slurry lagoons, neither were found in the aquifer material beneath. the self - sealing of unlined slurry stores is seen as a crucial step in minimizing leakage. a simple mass balance shows farm boreholes near to contaminant sources are at greater risk than public supply wells. contaminant modelling shows discontinuing use of an unlined farm manure store will lend to little difference in solute concentrations over the short to medium term. groundwater is most at risk where the water table is shallow since direct hydraulic connection between the lagoon base and the water table considerably increases the rate of vertical migration. this is of greatest significance for pathogens that are thought to be relatively short lived in the subsurface. under the majority of situations minimal threat is posed to potable groundwater drinking supplies. | programmes : | | bgs programmes > groundwater management | | additional keywords : | | groundwaterbgs, groundwater, point source pollution, groundwater modelling | | nora subject terms : | | agriculture and soil science | date made live : | | 24 jul 2009 10 : 15 | actions ( login required )


a comparison of gray ' s reef and savannah scarp september 10, 2001 reed bohne, manager gray ' s reef national marine sanctuary dr. jack mcgovern associate marine scientist south carolina department of natural resources view a video of one of the sea ' s most fascinating creatures, the octopus. ( 5. 6 mb, quicktime required ). for those of us from the gray ' s reef national marine sanctuary, the exploration of the savannah scarp is a trip to a realm closely related to, but significantly different from, the familiar waters of the sanctuary. at the surface, the endless expanse of water with sargassum weed drifting by is familiar, but at this depth and proximity to the gulf stream, the water is a deep cobalt blue. at gray ' s reef, 40 mi shoreward, the water over the reef 60 ft below is often a jade green, rich in nutrients and influenced substantially by sediments washing off the coastal plain in georgia and out the rivers and estuaries along the shore. at the scarp we are riding the edge of the gulf stream, with its clear, tropical water, which is less rich in nutrients, but carries the tropical species that spin out in eddies and populate gray ' s reef with its more hardy and temperature - tolerant individuals. a look at the bottom of savannah scarp descending 200 ft to the sea floor, the ambient light levels remain strong. visibility is about 30 ft, but we notice that we can see features in the distance best if we leave the sub lights off. the scarp presents a very different vista from the one at the sanctuary. at gray ' s reef, extensive sand flats are interrupted by large, rocky ledges and diffuse patches of live bottom habitat. our view at the scarp reveals broad boulevards of broken, rocky rubble, sloping gradually, from 190 to 225 ft, into open sandscapes. of course, we have but a snapshot of this environment, which may not be fully representative of the diversity of habitat here, but is clearly different from the topography at gray ' s reef. at the scarp, we know the rock formations are considerably older than those closer to shore. as the continental shelf gradually slopes downward offshore, the rocks that emerge represent earlier geologic eras. while we must await the detailed geologic analysis of the rock samples to characterize them properly, these rocks appear darker and more porous than formations at gray ' s reef. the analysis will also reveal whether these rocks were part of an ancient shoreline. the physical environment governs which species


geologic analysis of the rock samples to characterize them properly, these rocks appear darker and more porous than formations at gray ' s reef. the analysis will also reveal whether these rocks were part of an ancient shoreline. the physical environment governs which species will be successful in colonizing the hard substrate of the scarp and gray ' s reef. the rock environment of the scarp, unlike gray ' s reef, is sparsely populated with sponges, tunicates, mossy bryozoans, and cnidarians. the rock at the scarp appears to be considerably more barren. not surprisingly, the scarp holds more tropical invertebrate species than we find at gray ' s reef. greg mcfall, the sanctuary research coordinator, recovered species of tube and finger sponges that are familiar in florida but rare in the near - shore waters of georgia. the scarp is well - known as a haven for snappers, groupers, and porgies of commercial and recreational importance. during our dive, we encountered many groupers, such as gag and scamp. large numbers of red snapper, vermilion snapper, some red porgy, and knobbed porgy occurred during transects across the bottom. greater amberjack followed the submersible and seemed to swarm around it whenever it stopped. we also saw many small, colorful species, such as tattler, blue angelfish, several species of butterflyfish, cardinalfish, wrasses, and damselfish. many of these species, as adults, are found less frequently at gray ' s reef, but reside at the sanctuary during larval or juvenile stages of their life histories. our most obvious reef fish at the sanctuary, the black sea bass, is absent at the scarp. dr. george sedberry, chief scientist on this cruise, reports that long - term trapping data indicate that black sea bass are rarely found in waters deeper than 150 ft. harvey walsh, of noaa ' s beaufort lab, is using a small beam trawl to capture early life stages of fishes at the scarp, and he will compare his finds with what he has discovered at the sanctuary. through his work for the sanctuary, we will have a good characterization of the early life histories of these fish species across the continental shelf off georgia. furthermore, video footage obtained during submersible dives at the scarp will be compared to video obtained at gray ' s reef to describe differences and similarities in the composition and abundance of invertebrate and ve


across the continental shelf off georgia. furthermore, video footage obtained during submersible dives at the scarp will be compared to video obtained at gray ' s reef to describe differences and similarities in the composition and abundance of invertebrate and vertebrate species. university of charleston, cchebr / nccos / nos graduate student, submersible observer this was one of the most spectacular expeditions in which a young scientist could participate. the geology and ecology of the area are so interesting, and one learns so much more by experiencing it firsthand. i also learned a great deal from the day - to - day interactions with the media by observing how science and the media can work together toward the same educational goals. on our way out to the savannah scarp ( ~ 70 mi offshore ), we saw a waterspout far off in the distance, which was a spectacular sight. we then came upon a large pod of pilot whales that rode along the bow of our ship for quite a while. they appeared to be as interested in us as we were in them. at certain times, you could even hear them making noises with one another on the surface. we also saw a pod of spotted dolphin on the second day. once we reached our destination, we began to prepare for the first submersible launching. it was an amazing sight to see the clelia lifted above the stern of the ship, and dangle in the air before being launched into the water. once the clelia was at the bottom, the sub pilot was able to communicate with the surface, where the crew navigates the sub in the direction of the target areas. i participated in a dive on saturday to an area known as " the sampler, " where we descended to a maximum depth of 250 ft. the experience was amazing, especially when we first plunged into the water. it was similar to scuba diving, but without having to worry about buoyancy control or breathing through a regulator. once we reached the bottom and allowed the sediment to settle, the visibility outside of our observation window was about 30 ft. the sediment was fine, but too compact to allow us to take a sediment core sample. chris koenig and sandra brooke, scientist observers in the clelia, reported that the habitat looked reasonably good in this location with no signs of bottom - trawling activities. they reported seeing " tons " of amberjack. while some ocean scientists may argue that manned submersibles will one day be replaced by rovs or even by autonomously operated vehicles


this location with no signs of bottom - trawling activities. they reported seeing " tons " of amberjack. while some ocean scientists may argue that manned submersibles will one day be replaced by rovs or even by autonomously operated vehicles ( vehicles without tethers ) that can be programmed to navigate by an on - board computer, many others would argue that there is a role for the human observer and that manned submersibles are here to stay. judging from the interest of the scientists aboard this expedition, everyone wants to get beneath the surface to have a look for themselves, whether exploring through a video screen linked to an rov or peering through the porthole of a submarine. compared to the other dives on this leg of the expedition, we saw relatively little relief, and no schools of large pelagic fish, such as greater amberjack. when we came upon some relief, however, it was only a few inches high and was surrounded by life. each rock we encountered seemed to be occupied by either a juvenile snowy grouper or short bigeye, and oftentimes one of each. we also saw many tattler, yellowtail reeffish, butterflyfish, scamp, gag, and a large red snapper. we saw many vermilion snapper schooling just outside of our lights. at one point, we turned off all of the external lights, and used sonar to locate areas of reef. unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. just prior to our ascent, we came upon a rocky area surrounded by shell hatch and inhabited by two octopii ( see photo in log, above ). it was interesting to observe them as they interacted with the suction tube that the submersible pilot positioned nearby. during the nights, i helped with the deployment of beam trawls and the sorting of catches. this was an interesting supplement to the information we were obtaining from the videos taken during the submersible dives. the goal of this part of the study was to observe the diversity and abundance of organisms, primarily fish and shrimp, that used areas outside of grays reef, just inshore of the shelf - edge ( ~ 120 ft ), as a nursery ground. we collected many interesting specimens, including rock shrimp, a seahorse, many octopii, juvenile moray eels, juvenile filefish, juvenile puffers, and various species of grouper and sea bass. the trawls were conducted on the bottom and brought with them many pen shells, oculina fragments, and


octopii, juvenile moray eels, juvenile filefish, juvenile puffers, and various species of grouper and sea bass. the trawls were conducted on the bottom and brought with them many pen shells, oculina fragments, and shell hatch. the knowledge i gained on this research cruise has been extremely valuable in bringing a greater field component into my master ' s thesis work. i analyzed approximately 30 yrs of fisheries - independent data from a database, called marmap, in the continental shelf and upper slope of the southeastern atlantic coast for trends in abundance, biomass, and diversity. one of my primary observations from this expedition is that it brought some more evidence to the result i found, from the historical trawl data, of the highest fish diversity occurring in depths from 40 - 80 m ( 120 - 240 ft ). the high diversity and the presence of many tropical fish fauna in this area of the shelf edge are a result of the proximity to the warm, stable waters of the gulf stream. september 10, 2001 chief scientist, r / v palmetto south carolina department of natural resources during this savannah scarp leg of the islands in the stream - south atlantic bight mission, the r / v palmetto was also on station. the palmetto conducts annual fishery surveys of reef fishes from north carolina to florida. savannah scarp is not one of its frequent sampling locations, so this project provided an opportunity to learn more about this important fishery habitat. the collected data will be incorporated into a long - term regional database compiled by the south carolina department of natural resources on reef fish distribution and relative abundance throughout the region. aboard the palmetto, we made observations of fishes and fish habitats using an rov ( remotely operated vehicle ). six deployments were made with the rov in two areas of the savannah scarp : sow pen reef and sandwich reef. all six deployments observed hard, rocky bottom. the bottom was predominantly flat hard bottom except for scattered rocky outcrops that were still low compared to the rocky outcrops normally associated with the southeastern shelf - edge reef. most of the usual reef fishes associated with the southeastern coast were abundant here. among these are several species of groupers : gag, scamp, speckled hind, and juvenile snowy grouper. red snapper, vermilion snapper, gray triggerfish, soapfish, porcupinefish, tattler, queen and blue angelfish, cubbyu, and black sea bass were all observed with the rov. black sea


red snapper, vermilion snapper, gray triggerfish, soapfish, porcupinefish, tattler, queen and blue angelfish, cubbyu, and black sea bass were all observed with the rov. black sea bass and vermilion snapper were two economcially valuable species that were not observed from the submersible dives conducted on these sites during the same time period. perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this area were the holes or small burrows scattered throughout the area that were heavily guarded by bigeyes ( glasseye snappers ). these looked similar to deep potholes in pavement, and were a haven for eels and cardinal fish in addition to the bigeyes. plenty of the smaller, colorful reef fishes also make this hard, sparse, and not - so - tropical reef their home. among these are the butterflyfishes ( bank, spotfin, and reef ), damsels, wrasses, beaugregories, yellowtail reeffish, and two - spot cardinal fishes. the r / v palmetto also deployed chevron fish traps to compare the catches with that observed with the rov. we intended to tag these fishes, release them, and then observe them with the rov and submersible clelia. the depth ( 200 - 230 ft ), however, was simply too great to expect much survival of the tagged fish. we also wanted to observe the fish traps at work, but conditions at sea made it impossible to anchor close enough to the trap to be able to observe with the rov. the catches in the traps were similar to those we observed with the rov. scamp, juvenile snowy grouper, porgies, and black sea bass were all part of the catch, with vermilion snappers being predominant. the abundance of vermilion snapper was particularly interesting, as they were not observed by the submersible clelia, which conducted dives in the same area. clearly, a variety of methods are needed to assess reef fish populations on deep reefs such as the savannah scarp. sign up for the ocean explorer e - mail update list.


a kontakion ( also kondakion, kondak, and kontak ; plural kontakia, kondakia ) is a type of thematic hymn in the orthodox church and other eastern christian churches. originally, the kontakion was an extended homily in verse consisting of one or two proemia ( preliminary stanzas ) followed by several strophes, usually between 18 and 24. the kontakia were so long that the text was rolled up on a pole for use in the services - - the genesis of the name kontakion, which means " from the pole " in greek. it is typical of the form that each of the proemia and strophes end with the same refrain. acrostics are also a hallmark of this hymnographic form. in current practice, the kontakion has been greatly abbreviated. only the ( first ) proemium and first strophe are sung or read after the sixth ode of the canon at orthros. the proemium alone is sung at the divine liturgy, following the troparia, and most other services of the daily cycle. the kontakion is not sung at vespers. according to tradition, saint roman the melodist wrote the first kontakion, the kontakion for the birth of our lord, by divine inspiration. legend aside, roman established the kontakion in the form it retained for centuries, and he is the most famous composer of kontakia. - today the virgin gives birth to the transcendent one, - and the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable one! - angels with shepherds glorify him! - the wise men journey with a star! - since for our sake the eternal god was born as a little child! - — kontakion for christmas, roman the melodist - find kontakion on orthodoxwiki - see the pages on saints or feast days for other kontakion.


alfred tennyson ( 1809 - 1892 ) was born in somersby, lincolnshire, the third surviving son of a rector whose violent alcoholism blighted the family home. tennyson went to cambridge where he met arthur henry hallam whose early death was to prompt tennyson to write his great elegy of mourning, in memoriam. tennyson had begun writing as a child and published some of his best - known poems, including ' mariana ', when he was only twenty. however, success was slow to come and the years between hallam ' s death and 1843 when tennyson began to receive an annual government grant were difficult, financially and emotionally. his situation changed with the publication of in memoriam which brought him lasting fame and success and for the next forty years he was the dominant figure in english poetry, being made poet laureate in 1850 following the death of wordsworth. later work such as the idylls of the king were held in high esteem and sold well. by this time he was married to emily sellwood after a prolonged ten - year engagement due to financial difficulties and his fears over his mental state, the ' black blood ' of the tennysons. this darkness informs much of his poetry which tends to focus on loss and mortality : t. s. eliot called him " the great master... of melancholia ". he was made a peer in 1884 and died in 1892. since his death his critical reputation has had its ups and downs : w. h. auden described his genius as essentially lyrical and the general consensus has been that the longer narrative poems he spent so much time on are less successful, though this view has begun to be challenged. however, he remains the defining english poet of the victorian era, nowhere more so than in his famous archive - featured poem ' the charge of the light brigade ' ( 1854 ) which commemorates an infamous incident from the crimean war. in the course of this action, undertaken in error due to misinterpreted orders, the light brigade ( that is cavalry bearing only light arms ) attempted to capture the russian gun redoubts at balaclava with disastrous results. of the six hundred and seventy three men who charged down " the valley of death " only a hundred and ninety five survived unwounded. news of the charge and its bloody consequences reached london three weeks later and there was an immediate public outcry. the news affected tennyson who wrote his poem in commemoration of their courage only a few minutes after


five survived unwounded. news of the charge and its bloody consequences reached london three weeks later and there was an immediate public outcry. the news affected tennyson who wrote his poem in commemoration of their courage only a few minutes after reading an account in the times. it was immediately popular, even reaching the troops back in the crimea where it was distributed in pamphlet form. less well - known is tennyson ' s celebration of a more successful action during the same battle, ' the charge of the heavy brigade '. this was written much later in 1882 at the prompting of a friend which is perhaps why it fails to capture the white - hot creative burst of the first poem. the " three hundred " mentioned are the men of the heavy brigade and their commander, sir james yorke scarlett, but the poem never caught the public ' s imagination. nevertheless, it is of historical interest to hear the two poems side by side which we ' re able to do thanks to a remarkable recording made in 1890. these poems and eight others were recorded on a set of twenty three soft wax cylinders. although their age and the primitive technology sometimes renders a word inaudible, tennyson ' s voice comes through clearly, intoning the pounding dactylic rhythms of the verse which gives it a breathless momentum.


a new york times story on iceland provides a good opportunity to discuss the asymmetry in reporting on government budget deficits and national current account deficits. while news of the budget deficit routinely appears prominently on the front pages ( in addition to occupying considerable space on editorial and op - ed pages ) discussion of the current account deficit is generally relegated to the inner pages of the business section. since the long - term impact of the two on the economy is comparable, there is little justification for the difference in treatment. this is another econ 101 story. a budget deficit is supposed to be bad because it pulls money away from other more productive purposes. specifically it is supposed to raise interest rates and thereby crowd out private investment. ( the deficit hawks have a hard time telling this story at present, with real interest rates in the u. s. at near post - war lows. ) the result is slower growth and a poorer country in the long - term. there is also a secondary concern, that when the annual deficit and / or debt grow sufficiently large relative to gdp, lenders could begin to question the government ' s creditworthiness and then demand very high interest rates. this would have serious consequences for investment and growth. a current account deficit means that the united states is selling off assets ( e. g. stocks, bonds, real estate ) to foreigners. as a result, in the future, income from these assets will go to foreigners rather than people in the united states. in other words, the united states will be poorer, just like with a budget deficit. there is also a secondary concern, that when the annual current account deficit and / or foreign debt grow sufficiently large relative to gdp, lenders could begin to question the country ' s creditworthiness and then demand very high interest rates. this would have serious consequences for investment and growth. okay, i shouldn ' t have used the exact same words to describe the nature of budget crises and current account crises. the latter will typically take the form of a plunging currency, leading to higher inflation ( import prices rise when the currency falls, leading to higher prices generally ) and higher nominal interest rates. the result is likely to be a recession, with several years of stagnation and high unemployment ( e. g. the east asian financial crisis in the 90s ). a budget crisis is likely to be resolved with sharp cuts in spending and / or large tax increases, also likely to lead to a period of stagnation and high unemployment. ( the discussion of both deficits must be


crisis in the 90s ). a budget crisis is likely to be resolved with sharp cuts in spending and / or large tax increases, also likely to lead to a period of stagnation and high unemployment. ( the discussion of both deficits must be filled with numerous caveats, which i am leaving out for brevity. ) while there are good grounds for concerns about the u. s. budget deficit, the current account deficit is considerably larger and is growing rapidly. the unified budget deficit for 2006 is projected at 2. 6 percent of gdp ( 4. 0 percent of gdp, including the money borrowed from social security ). by comparison, the current account deficit is 6. 2 percent of gdp. the iceland story is an occasion to mention the current account deficit because iceland presents the most extreme case of a rich country with a large current account deficit. its deficit was almost 15 percent of gdp last year. new zealand comes in second at 9. 0 percent, followed by the united states and spain, both at just over 6. 0 percent. iceland appears to finally be hitting the wall, its currency fell by 15 percent in the last year according to the article. this is pushing inflation up, with interest rates rising as well. the same factors that are causing problems for iceland, most importantly diminished capital outflows from japan and possibly china, are likely to also cause problems for the other big deficit countries in the not distant future. when this happens, the media will have to explain why it devoted so little attention to the growing current account deficit and the crisis that would almost certainly be implied by its reversal. you need to be logged in to comment. ( if there ' s one thing we know about comment trolls, it ' s that they ' re lazy )


robert fisk : the forgotten holocaust the killing of 1. 5 million armenians by the ottoman turks during the first world war remains one of the bloodiest and most contentious episodes of the 20th century. robert fisk visits yerevan, and unearths hitherto unpublished images of the first modern genocide the photographs, never before published, capture the horrors of the first holocaust of the 20th century. they show a frightened people on the move – men, women and children, some with animals, others on foot, walking over open ground outside the city of erzerum in 1915, at the beginning of their death march. we know that none of the armenians sent from erzerum – in what is today north - eastern turkey – survived. most of the men were shot, the children – including, no doubt, the young boy or girl with a headscarf in the close - up photograph – died of starvation or disease. the young women were almost all raped, the older women beaten to death, the sick and babies left by the road to die. the unique photographs are a stunning witness to one of the most terrible events of our times. their poor quality – the failure of the camera to cope with the swirl and movement of the armenian deportees in the close - up picture, the fingerprint on the top of the second – lend them an undeniable authenticity. they come from the archives of the german deutsche bank, which was in 1915 providing finance for the maintenance and extension of the turkish railway system. one incredible photograph – so far published in only two specialist magazines, in germany and in modern - day armenia – actually shows dozens of doomed armenians, including children, crammed into cattle trucks for their deportation. the turks stuffed 90 armenians into each of these wagons – the same average the nazis achieved in their transports to the death camps of eastern europe during the jewish holocaust. hayk demoyan, director of the grey - stone museum of the armenian genocide in the foothills just outside yerevan, the capital of present - day armenia, stares at the photographs on his computer screen in bleak silence. a university lecturer in modern turkish history, he is one of the most dynamic armenian genocide researchers inside the remains of armenia, which is all that was left after the turkish slaughter ; it suffered a further 70 years of terror as part of the soviet union. “ yes, you can have these pictures, he says. “ we are still discovering more. the germans took photographs and these pictures even survived the second world war. today, we want our museum to be a


terror as part of the soviet union. “ yes, you can have these pictures, he says. “ we are still discovering more. the germans took photographs and these pictures even survived the second world war. today, we want our museum to be a place of collective memory, a memorisation of trauma. our museum is for turks as well as armenians. this is also [ the turks ' ] history. ” the story of the last century ’ s first holocaust – winston churchill used this very word about the armenian genocide years before the nazi murder of six million jews – is well known, despite the refusal of modern - day turkey to acknowledge the facts. nor are the parallels with nazi germany ’ s persecution of the jews idle ones. turkey ’ s reign of terror against the armenian people was an attempt to destroy the armenian race. while the turks spoke publicly of the need to “ resettle ” their armenian population – as the germans were to speak later of the jews of europe – the true intentions of enver pasha ’ s committee of union and progress in constantinople were quite clear. on 15 september 1915, for example ( and a carbon of this document exists ) talaat pasha, the turkish interior minister, cabled an instruction to his prefect in aleppo about what he should do with the tens of thousands of armenians in his city. “ you have already been informed that the government … has decided to destroy completely all the indicated persons living in turkey … their existence must be terminated, however tragic the measures taken may be, and no regard must be paid to either age or sex, or to any scruples of conscience. ” these words are almost identical to those used by himmler to his ss killers in 1941. taner akcam, a prominent – and extremely brave – turkish scholar who has visited the yerevan museum, has used original ottoman turkish documents to authenticate the act of genocide. now under fierce attack for doing so from his own government, he discovered in turkish archives that individual turkish officers often wrote “ doubles ” of their mass death - sentence orders, telegrams sent at precisely the same time that asked their subordinates to ensure there was sufficient protection and food for the armenians during their “ resettlement ”. this weirdly parallels the bureaucracy of nazi germany, where officials were dispatching hundreds of thousands of jews to the gas chambers while assuring international red cross officials in geneva that they were being well cared for and well fed. ottoman turkey ’ s attempt to exterminate an entire christian race in the middle east – the armenians, descended from the


of jews to the gas chambers while assuring international red cross officials in geneva that they were being well cared for and well fed. ottoman turkey ’ s attempt to exterminate an entire christian race in the middle east – the armenians, descended from the residents of ancient urartu, became the first christian nation when their king drtad converted from paganism in ad301 – is a history of almost unrelieved horror at the hands of turkish policemen and soldiers, and kurdish tribesmen. in 1915, turkey claimed that its armenian population was supporting turkey ’ s christian enemies in britain, france and russia. several historians – including churchill, who was responsible for the doomed venture at gallipoli – have asked whether the turkish victory there did not give them the excuse to turn against the christian armenians of asia minor, a people of mixed persian, roman and byzantine blood, with what churchill called “ merciless fury ”. armenian scholars have compiled a map of their people ’ s persecution and deportation, a document that is as detailed as the maps of europe that show the railway lines to auschwitz and treblinka ; the armenians of erzerum, for example, were sent on their death march to terjan and then to erzinjan and on to sivas province. the men would be executed by firing squad or hacked to death with axes outside villages, the women and children then driven on into the desert to die of thirst or disease or exhaustion or gang - rape. in one mass grave i myself discovered on a hillside at hurgada in present - day syria, there were thousands of skeletons, mostly of young people – their teeth were perfect. i even found a 100 - year - old armenian woman who had escaped the slaughter there and identified the hillside for me. hayk demoyan sits in his air - conditioned museum office, his computer purring softly on the desk, and talks of the need to memorialise this huge suffering. “ you can see it in the writing of each survivor, ” he says. “ when visitors come here from the diaspora – from america and europe, lebanon and syria, people whose parents or grandparents died in our genocide – our staff feel with these people. they see these people become very upset, there are tears and some get a bit crazy after seeing the exhibition. this can be very difficult for us, psychologically. the stance of the current turkish government [ in denying the genocide ] is proving they are proud of what their ancestors did. they are saying they are pleased with what the ottomans did. yet


exhibition. this can be very difficult for us, psychologically. the stance of the current turkish government [ in denying the genocide ] is proving they are proud of what their ancestors did. they are saying they are pleased with what the ottomans did. yet today, we are hearing that a lot of places in the world are like goldmines of archive materials to continue our work – even here in yerevan. every day, we are coming across new photographs or documents. ” the pictures demoyan gives to the independent were taken by employees of deutsche bank in 1915 to send to their head office in berlin as proof of their claims that the turks were massacring their armenian population. they can be found in the deutsche bank historical institute – oriental section ( the photograph of the armenian deportees across the desert published in the independent today, for example, is registered photo number 1704 and the 1915 caption reads : “ deportation camp near erzerum. ” ) a german engineer in kharput sent back a now - famous photogaph of armenian men being led to their execution by armed turkish police officers. the banking officials were appalled that the ottoman turks were using – in effect – german money to send armenians to their death by rail. the new transportation system was supposed to be used for military purposes, not for genocide. german soldiers sent to turkey to reorganise the ottoman army also witnessed these atrocities. armin wegner, an especially courageous german second lieutenant in the retinue of field marshal von der goltz, took a series of photographs of dead and dying armenian women and children. other german officers regarded the genocide with more sinister interest. some of these men, as armenian scholar vahakn dadrian discovered, turn up 26 years later as more senior officers conducting the mass killing of jews in german - occupied russia. computers have transformed the research of institutions like the yerevan museum. poorly funded scholarship has been replaced by a treasure - house of information that demoyan is going to publish in scholarly magazines. “ we have information that some germans who were in armenia in 1915 started selling genocide pictures for personal collections when they returned home … in russia, a man from st petersburg also informed us that he had seen handwritten memoirs from 1940 in which the writer spoke of russian photographs of armenian bodies in van and marash in 1915 and 1916. ” russian tsarist troops marched into the eastern turkish city of van and briefly liberated its doomed armenian inhabitants. then the russians retreated after apparently taking these pictures of dead armenians in outlying villages. stalin also did his


van and marash in 1915 and 1916. ” russian tsarist troops marched into the eastern turkish city of van and briefly liberated its doomed armenian inhabitants. then the russians retreated after apparently taking these pictures of dead armenians in outlying villages. stalin also did his bit to erase the memory of the massacres. the armenian tashnag party, so prominent in armenian politics in the ottoman empire, was banned by the soviets. “ in the 1930s, ” demoyan says, “ everyone destroyed handwritten memoirs of the genocide, photographs, land deeds – otherwise they could have been associated by the soviet secret police with tashnag material. ” he shakes his head at this immeasurable loss. “ but now we are finding new material in france and new pictures taken by humanitarian workers of the time. we know there were two or three documentary films from 1915, one shot approvingly by a kurdish leader to show how the turks “ dealt ” with armenians. there is huge new material in norway of the deportations in mush from a norwegian missionary who was there in 1915. ” there is, too, a need to archive memoirs and books that were published in the aftermath of the genocide but discarded or forgotten in the decades that followed. in 1929, for example, a small - circulation book was published in boston entitled from dardanelles to palestine by captain sarkis torossian. the author was a highly decorated officer in the turkish army who fought with distinction and was wounded at gallipoli. he went on to fight the allies in palestine but was appalled to find thousands of dying armenian refugees in the deserts of northern syria. in passages of great pain, he discovers his sister living in rags and tells how his fiancee jemileh died in his arms. “ i raised jemileh in my arms, the pain and terror in her eyes melted until they were bright as stars again, stars in an oriental night … and so she died, as a dream passing. ” torossian changed sides, fought with the arabs, and even briefly met lawrence of arabia – who did not impress him. “ the day following my entry into damascus, the remainder of the arab army entered along with their loads and behind them on a camel came one they called … the paymaster. this camel rider i learned was captain lawrence … captain lawrence to my knowledge did nothing to foment the arab revolution, nor did he play any part in the arab military tactics. when first i heard of him he was a paymaster, nothing more. and so he was to


captain lawrence … captain lawrence to my knowledge did nothing to foment the arab revolution, nor did he play any part in the arab military tactics. when first i heard of him he was a paymaster, nothing more. and so he was to prince emir abdulah ( sic ), brother of king feisal, whom i knew. i do not write in disparagement. i write as a fighting man. some must fight and others pay. ” bitterness, it seems, runs deep. torossian eventually re - entered ottoman turkey as an armenian officer with the french army of occupation in the cilicia region. but kemalist guerrillas attacked the french, who then, torossian suspects, gave weapons and ammunition to the turks to allow the french army safe passage out of cilicia. betrayed, torossian fled to relatives in america. there is debate in yerevan today as to why the diaspora armenians appea r to care more about the genocide than the citizens of modern - day armenia. indeed, the foreign minister of armenia, vardan oskanian, actually told me that “ days, weeks, even months go by ” when he does not think of the genocide. one powerful argument put to me by an armenian friend is that 70 years of stalinism and official soviet silence on the genocide deleted the historical memory in eastern armenia – the present - day state of armenia. another argument suggests that the survivors of western armenia – in what is now turkey – lost their families and lands and still seek acknowledgement and maybe even restitution, while eastern armenians did not lose their lands. demoyan disputes all this. “ the fundamental problem, i think, is that in the diaspora many don ’ t want to recognise our statehood, ” he says. “ we are surrounded by two countries – turkey and azerbaijan – and we have to take our security into account ; but not to the extent of damaging memory. here we must be accurate. i have changed things in this museum. there were inappropriate things, comments about ‘ hot - bloodied ’ people, all the old cliches about turks – they have now gone. the diaspora want to be the holders of our memories – but 60 per cent of the citizens of the armenian state are “ repatriates ” – armenians originally from the diaspora, people whose grandparents originally came from western armenia. and remember that turkish forces swept though part of armenia after the 1915 genocide – right through yerevan on their way to baku. according to soviet documentation in 1920, 200, 000 armenians died


originally from the diaspora, people whose grandparents originally came from western armenia. and remember that turkish forces swept though part of armenia after the 1915 genocide – right through yerevan on their way to baku. according to soviet documentation in 1920, 200, 000 armenians died in this part of armenia, 180, 000 of them between 1918 and 1920. ” indeed, there were further mass executions by the turks in what is now the armenian state. at ghumri – near the centre of the devastating earthquake that preceded final liberation from the soviet union – there is a place known as the “ gorge of slaughter ”, where in 1918 a whole village was massacred. but i sensed some political problems up at the yerevan museum – international as well as internal. while many armenians acknowledge that their countrymen did commit individual revenge atrocities – around van, for example – at the time of the genocide, a heavy burden of more modern responsibility lies with those who fought for armenia against the azeris in nagorno - karabakh in the early 1990s. this mountainous region east of the armenian state saw fierce and sometimes cruel fighting in which armenians massacred turkish azeri villagers. the independent was one of the newspapers that exposed this. yet when i arrive at the massive genocide memorial next to the museum, i find the graves of five “ heroes ” of the karabakh war. here lies, for instance, musher “ vosht ” mikhoyan, who was killed in 1991, and the remains of samuel “ samo ” kevorkian, who died in action in 1992. however upright these warriors may have been, should those involved in the ghastly war in kharabakh be associated with the integrity and truth of 1915? do they not demean the history of armenia ’ s greatest suffering? or were they – as i suspect – intended to suggest that the karabakh war, which armenia won, was revenge for the 1915 genocide? it ’ s as if the israelis placed the graves of the 1948 irgun fighters – responsible for the massacres of palestinians at deir yassin and other arab villages – outside the jewish holocaust memorial at yad vashem near jerusalem. officials later explain to me that these kharabakh grave - sites were established at a moment of great emotion after the war and that today – while they might be inappropriate – it is difficult to ask the families of “ vosht ” and “ samo ” and the others to remove them to a more suitable location. once buried, it is difficult to dig


the war and that today – while they might be inappropriate – it is difficult to ask the families of “ vosht ” and “ samo ” and the others to remove them to a more suitable location. once buried, it is difficult to dig up the dead. similarly, among the memorials left in a small park by visiting statesmen and politicians, there is a distinct difference in tone. arab leaders have placed plaques in memory of the “ genocide ”. less courageous american congressman – who do not want to offend their turkish allies – have placed plaques stating merely that they “ planted this tree ”. the pro - american lebanese prime minister rafiq hariri left his own memorial less than a year before he was assassinated in 2005. “ tree of peace, ” it says. which rather misses the point. and yet it is the work of archivists that will continue to establish the truth. in yerevan you can now buy excellent witness testimonies of the genocide by westerners who were present during the armenian holocaust. one of them is by tacy atkinson, an american missionary who witnessed the deportation of her armenian friends from the town of kharput. on 16 july 1915, she recorded in her secret diary how “ a boy has arrived in mezreh in a bad state nervously. as i understand it he was with a crowd of women and children from some village … who joined our prisoners who went out june 23 … the boy says that in the gorge this side of bakir maden the men and women were all shot and the leading men had their heads cut off afterwards … he escaped … and came here. his own mother was stripped and robbed and then shot … he says the valley smells so awful that one can hardly pass by now. ” for fear the turkish authorities might discover her diaries, atkinson sometimes omitted events. in 1924 – when her diary, enclosed in a sealed trunk, at last returned to the united states, she wrote about a trip made to kharput by her fellow missionaries. “ the story of this trip i did not dare write, ” she scribbled in the margin. “ they saw about 10, 000 bodies. ” anatomy of a massacre : how the genocide unfolded by simon usborne an estimated 1. 5 million armenians died between 1915 and 1917, either at the hands of turkish forces or of starvation. exact figures are unknown, but each larger blob – at the site of a concentration camp or massacre – potentially represents the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. the trail of extermina


either at the hands of turkish forces or of starvation. exact figures are unknown, but each larger blob – at the site of a concentration camp or massacre – potentially represents the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. the trail of extermination, and dispute about exactly what happened, stretches back more than 90 years to the opening months of the first world war, when some of the armenian minority in the east of the beleaguered ottoman empire enraged the ruling young turks coalition by siding with russia. on 24 april 1915, turkish troops rounded up and killed hundreds of armenian intellectuals. weeks later, three million armenians were marched from their homes – the majority towards syria and modern - day iraq – via an estimated 25 concentration camps. in 1915, the new york times reported that “ the roads and the euphrates are strewn with corpses of exiles … it is a plan to exterminate the whole armenian people. ” winston churchill would later call the forced exodus an “ administrative holocaust ”. yet turkey, while acknowledging that many armenians died, disputes the 1. 5 million toll and insists that the acts of 1915 - 17 did not constitute what is now termed genocide – defined by the un as a state - sponsored attempt to “ destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group ”. instead, ankara claims the deaths were part of the wider war, and that massacres were committed by both sides. several countries have formally recognised genocide against the armenians ( and, in the case of france, outlawed its denial ), but it remains illegal in turkey to call for recognition. as recently as last year, the turkish foreign ministry dismissed genocide allegations as “ unfounded ”. one authority on extermination who did recognise the armenian genocide was adolf hitler. in a 1939 speech, in which he ordered the killing, “ mercilessly and without compassion ”, of polish men, women and children, he concluded : “ who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the armenians? ”


individual differences | methods | statistics | clinical | educational | industrial | professional items | world psychology | see also : conjoint analysis ( in marketing ) why conjoint in heathcare market research? edit pharmaceutical manufacturers need deeper and deeper market information they can rely on to make the right decisions and to identify the most promising market opportunities. they can obtain great benefits from understanding physicians ’ prescription preferences and opinions, as these are the key people in prescribing medical treatments. consequently, conjoint analysis research projects might represent a remarkable help for pharmaceutical companies during the development of new drugs, and if properly conducted they might even allow the estimation of product sale and market share. conjoint analysis is a multivariate statistical technique based on the study of the joint effects on consumers of the elements that compose a product or service ; it allows eliciting the relative importance of such elements. therefore, by an additive model, it allows the estimation of the total utility of different profiles or combinations of attributes, and consequently, it allows the identification of the optimal configuration for a new or existing product or service. this technique was first developed in the early 1970s by green and rao. since then, it has received increasing academic and private sector attention. traditional conjoint modelsedit one of the most important statistical problems concerning conjoint studies lies in the design. the choice of the design depends strongly on the characteristics of the study, such as the number of variables involved, the potential presence of interaction effects among the variables, the ability and the motivation of the target respondents to the conjoint survey, the statistical ability of the researcher, and last, but no least, the availability of software. for the time being, healthcare researchers have been used most of the widespread conjoint collection models ( i. e., full profile, partial / incomplete profile ), designs ( i. e., full factorial designs, fractional factorial designs, resolution iii designs, etc ), and evaluations approaches ( i. e., ranking, rating, choice from a set, paired comparison ) available in the statistical literature. software available for traditional conjoint analysis : - spss conjoint add - on module ( http : / / www. spss. com / conjoint / ) - sawtooth software ( http : / / www. sawtoothsoftware. com ) - r ( programming language ) ( http : / / www. r - project. org ) prescription - based conjoint modeledit these models are adequate


- sawtooth software ( http : / / www. sawtoothsoftware. com ) - r ( programming language ) ( http : / / www. r - project. org ) prescription - based conjoint modeledit these models are adequate when respondents ’ evaluations apply to products or services to be used by themselves ( fmcg, durable goods, financial products, etc ). however, for some projects, respondents have to provide evaluations for products or services to be used by a group of people, that is the case of physicians with respect to their patients, when they are asked to assess the preference for a new or existing drug or medical treatment. the healthcare researcher wants to assess what physicians will do for a number of patients. more precisely, he / she intends to elicit the preference for a new treatment and to estimate in the most precise way the related preference share that eventually will lead to the estimation of the market share for such a treatment. consequently, a prescription - based model seems to be an appropriate tool for this research situation. basically, it consists in exposing physicians to several treatments profiles at - a - time, where all current treatments appear next to the new treatment ( conjoint task ). physicians are then asked to assign some points to each treatment in the task. more precisely, in this exercise they are asked to think of the next 100 patients with the disease of concern and to record the number of prescriptions that they would prescribe for each of the treatments outlined in the task presented. consequently, all treatment assignments in the task add up to 100 points or more. more than 100 points are allowed for projects involving treatments that could be co - prescribed. this framework is especially appropriate for a deep understanding of the relationships between the current medical treatments for a particular disease and different definitions for the product to be launched. software available for allocation - based conjoint analysis : - demia r - sw conjoint : an ms excel add - on interface ( http : / / www. demia. it ) - conjoint analysis ( in marketing ) - new product development - marketing research - quantitative marketing research - chakraborty, g., r., ettenson, & g., gaeth. 1994. how consumers choose health insurance. “ journal of health care marketing ”, 14, 21 – 23. - furlan r., corradetti r. ( 2006 ), “ aspects of experimental design in the allocation - based conjoint analysis model ”, proceedings of enbis


journal of health care marketing ”, 14, 21 – 23. - furlan r., corradetti r. ( 2006 ), “ aspects of experimental design in the allocation - based conjoint analysis model ”, proceedings of enbis 6, 2006, wroclaw, poland - green p. e., rao v. r. ( 1971 ) conjoint measurement for quantifying judgemental data, “ journal of marketing research ”, 8, 355 - 63. - green p. e., srinivasan v. ( 1978 ) conjoint analysis in consumer research : issue and outlook, “ journal of consumer research ”, 5, 103 - 123. - gustaffson a., herrmann a., and huber f. ( 2001 ) conjoint analysis as an instrument of market research practice, in : “ conjoint measurement : methods and applications ”, gustaffson a., herrmann a., & huber f. ( eds. ), berlin : springer, 5 - 46. - scottish office department of health. 1992. “ the patient ’ s charter : what users think ”. tech. rept. hmso, edinburgh. - sculpher, m., bryan, s., fry, p., dewinter, p., payne, h., & emberton, m. 2004. patients ’ preferences for the management of non - metastatic prostate cancer : discrete choice experiment. “ british medical journal ”, 328, 382 – 385. | this page uses creative commons licensed content from wikipedia ( view authors ). |


the year of the rabbit today marks the first day of the chinese new year. it is the year of the golden rabbit, and the celebration lasts for 15 days. the chinese new year starts with the new moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. the entire chinese calendar is based around solar and lunar movements. the chinese zodiac consists of 12 animal signs, and the rabbit is the forth sign. the rabbit has some of the following characteristics : - the rabbit is very lucky - individuals whose sign is the rabbit are private and introverted, and will avoid confrontation at all costs, but are also very friendly and enjoy good company - rabbits are good teachers, communicators and counselors, but tend to need their own space - rabbits are wise, keen, fragile, serene, considerate, fashionable and kind - being intelligent and quick, like a rabbit, they can often talk themselves out of any situation - despite disliking hostility of any kind, rabbits happen to be very strong - willed and strong - minded - they do things slowly and in a precise manner due to their characteristic of being cautious in all situations according to chinese tradition, the rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves. it is a time for negotiation. don ’ t try to force issues, because if you do you will ultimately fail. to gain the greatest benefits from this time, focus on home, family, security, diplomacy, and your relationships with women and children. make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise. the year of the rabbit ends on january 22, 2012, in which the dragon will then take over that following february. to read more about chinese zodiac, go here. to view a video of the new year celebrations, go here.


submitted by mrs. alexander ' s class to keep droppings from piling up on the ground we thought of a little vacuum that sucks the droppings into a net. once each day when the astronauts check on the cage they will empty out the net and throw it into the garbage. it will only take a minute or two to do this simple job. to keep the smell from going around the cage we came up with a clever idea. we would use an unscented spray which is talked about in our smell paragraph. for the smell problem we thought that you could send an unscented deodorizer down. when the substance goes down to the stench it will absorb it. you could attach a container to the top to hold it. then you could put a switch on the container. this switch would allow it so that a ray of deodorizer hits the stench. then there would be no stench problems. the astronauts could push the switch during their ten - minute period oftime with the animal. this would allow the deodorizer to take effect whenever you want. the water problem was hard but we have thought of a way to recycle and the rat has enough to drink! you take the leftover water from the cabin during your 10 minutes and add it to the water tank below the cage like on the picture. the water tank will pump the water it has to the 3 water bottles around the cage. when the rat drinks and it drips it will go through the screen on the bottom of the cage to the water tank centered below it. then the water tank will pump that water back through the pipe leading into the water bottle and you have a cycle also you are recycling the water because rats will eat or drink anything. our thought on how to handle the food is to have a bowl with flaps the rat can lift up. this bowl will be basically a regular bowl. the only thing different about this bowl is it will have a lid with flaps all over the place, with a little bit of them sticking out so the rat can lift them up and get food. this way the rat ' s head will be in the hole grabbing food so the food will not float out. this is a good way to feed the rat because it is easy for the rat to get food and it won ' t let the food float around and disturb the astronauts. the bowl will be velcroed down to the cage so that the rat can get to it easily and won ' t have to float around until it bumps into the


food and it won ' t let the food float around and disturb the astronauts. the bowl will be velcroed down to the cage so that the rat can get to it easily and won ' t have to float around until it bumps into the bowl. one more thing, the astronauts will have to fill the bowl up if it gets low during their ten - minute period. this is a very convenient way to feed the rat without a lot of hassle. our habitat has a little dimming light bulb on the ceiling. it ' s on a timer set for every 12 hours so it dims in like a sunrise and dims backout like a sunset. this way the rat gets the full 12 hours of sunlight on earth and the normal amount of nighttime so it ' s sleeping habits aren ' t disturbed. for the window problem of the 90 - minute intervals outside we have thought of a way to keep that from happening. what you do is make the cage out of tinted windows like in the laboratories where they test things. when you look in the rat doesn ' t get scared because he can ' t see out but you can see in! that way you can study the rat and he won ' t get scared. gravity - to keep the rat from floating around his cage we have decided on using the botex system which will simulate earth gravity. for exercise we thought you could have an exercise ball. see picture below. the ball would have a hole in it. there it will have a strip. he could crawl in either side. see picture below. then you could have a stand. you could have a little metal piece attached to the ball. then you could have a wire. the wire will be set next to the ball. the wire on the other side would be attached to a generator. when the wire hits the metal piece it will create energy for a light and a fan. click on picture to see more detail


agricultural co - operation has long been recognised as an important institution in the development of western australia ’ s agricultural sector. charles harper ( 1842 – 1912 ) has long been considered the founding father of agricultural co - operation in western australia. harper was instrumental in founding the western australian co - operative producers ’ union in 1902 which, among other things, eventually became wesfarmers ltd. harper was also a long standing member of parliament, a newspaperman, an explorer, a founder of schools, a philanthropist, and an agricultural experimentalist. he was also able to pass his legacy on to his son walter who led the co - operative movement after harper senior ’ s death in 1912 and saw to its integration into the mainstream of western australian political and economic systems. in considering harper ’ s contribution to the economic and social development of western australia, it is difficult to determine the extent to which his economic thinking in relation to co - operation or other economic questions conformed to such socialistic ideas represented by owenite co - operation or colonial socialism. harper was neither a protectionist nor a free trader. indeed, in this paper, i will discuss harper ’ s position in relation to a number of economic questions – tariffs, dumping, fair trade, land alienation - with a view to showing that harper was a pragmatist focused on economic development and determined to place all resources and apply all leavers, regardless of source and political niceties, toward that end. gilchrist, d. ( 2010 ). antipodean owenite or colonial socialist : charles harper ’ s economic thought. paper presented at the history of economic thought society of australia conference. university of sydney, nsw, 7 - 9 july.


" if this business was easy, it would be a sin. " - hayao miyazaki, animerica magazine. 1993 animation is the youngest medium of art that mankind has created. spanning barely over one hundred years, its history is as rich and dramatic as any other. starting as the simple idea of an illusion of moving art by a couple clever innovators at edison ' s film company in the early 1900 ' s, it soon boomed into a mega - corporate commercial venture that employed thousands and captivated millions only decades later. it spread outside of america and took many different forms in many different countries and cultures. today, the face of animation is very different than it ever was. computers, corporate chokeholds and the death of the innovators of animation has left a doubtful future for the preservation of animation ' s defining age. the 1910 ' s saw the rise of animation as a serious medium and the first studios began to appear in the united states. winsor mccay, a masterful draftsman and artist, had created two cartoons with ink on rice paper - " little nemo " in 1911 and " gertie the dinosaur " in 1916, which contained over 10, 000 individual drawings. unlike the largely experimental and detached experiments in animation before them, mccay ' s cartoon creations had a sense of weight and character to them, and they captivated audiences wherever he showed them. knowing it was unrealistic for one person to create these on their own time repeatedly, studios began to make their way into the limelight. fleischer brothers, terrytoons, warner brothers, mgm, disney, and leon schlesinger to name a few. for 50 years animation flourished as an art form. it was unhinged and wild, allowing its creators to put to work anything their imaginations were willing. the artists ran the show - it wasn ' t about the money, it was about the story. the spectrum of animation being produced ranged from the wildly bizarre, akin to bob clampett ' s " porky in wackyland " ( 1938 ), where the audience takes witness to porky pig ' s oncoming insanity - to silent and stirring social commentaries like " black & white " ( 1933 ), a short music - driven cartoon by ivan ivanov - vano dealing with racism. their styles differed from the simple, yet smart designs of from pat sullivan ' s 1920 ' s studio with characters like felix the cat, to the painstakingly detailed epic worlds of walt disney ' s money -