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9 August 2013 Further research is needed to identify the specific source – whether animal or otherwise – of the coronavirus that is causing the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in humans, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.
“It is not yet clear how people are becoming infected, or where the virus might come from,” Juan Lubroth, FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer, said in a news release.
“We do not have enough information to identify with certainty the virus’ origin. Confirming the source and mechanisms of transmission and spread are key to developing ways to reduce the risks posed by this virus to humans or other countries.”
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that affect primarily birds and mammals. Some strains cause mild disease, while a limited number are more harmful such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The MERS coronavirus has been shown to cause acute respiratory illness in humans, but has not yet been shown to cause disease in animals.
FAO underlined that the potential role of animals in the spread of MERS required further investigation. This comes after a study led by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment of the Netherlands found antibodies for the MERS coronavirus in camel blood samples.
The samples for the study were taken in areas where human cases have not been reported, and in some cases, the tested camels have been isolated from other camels for many years.
“These antibody findings indicate that the MERS virus, or a similar coronavirus, occurs in some camels and potentially other species,” FAO said. “However, the only way to know with any certainty if the virus affecting humans is the same as the virus possibly affecting camels (or any other animal) is to isolate the virus in different species and compare them genetically.”
FAO urged countries to invest in efforts to better understand virus sources and mechanisms of transmission and spread, and said it is ready to support national and regional efforts to identify the source.
The Rome-based agency added that it is in close communication with national authorities as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and is monitoring the situation closely.
News Tracker: past stories on this issue | <urn:uuid:02ca6ec5-71ba-4290-92f6-fd860c7d9401> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45598&Cr=virus&Cr1= | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430454316482.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501042516-00077-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945594 | 488 | null | 3.3125 | 3 | www.un.org |
A digital phase-measuring interferometer with a laser-diode source has been developed that is based on a fringe-scanning technique with a stepwise wavelength change by variation of the laser injection current. The phase is changed to produce a relative phase difference between the beams in the two arms of the interferometer. Calibrated phase shifts used for a phase-extraction algorithm are derived from one-dimensional least-squares fits to cosine fringe functions to achieve accurate results. Experimental results are presented.
© 1987 Optical Society of America
Equations on this page are rendered with MathJax. Learn more. | <urn:uuid:75f6944d-b383-41a4-ba2b-d672666e3c3a> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | https://www.osapublishing.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-12-4-233 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430454316482.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501042516-00077-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909336 | 128 | null | 3.015625 | 3 | www.osapublishing.org |
(2001, Scotland) Electric trains in Glasgow collect power from the overhead cable, and transmit any excess through the rails to a solid copper cable that routes it to a power redistribution box.
Copper is a favorite target for thieves. One enterprising fellow with a good knowledge of the electrical system planned to cut the copper cable during the time between trains, when no electricity was travelling through it. His plan might have worked... but for one small flaw.
In the pocket of his charred overcoat, police found an out-of-date rail timetable. The train arrived ten minutes before he thought it would, sending hundreds of volts of electricity through the thief's hacksaw and into his body, and putting an untimely end to his career.
DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2012
Submitted by: Sam Daly
Plausible? You tell me! | <urn:uuid:83ebfe03-765f-4f76-9686-9cd66f79222a> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2001-16.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959673 | 177 | null | 2.75 | 3 | darwinawards.com |
Argonne National Lab scientists Jeff Elam (left) and Anil Mane’s work in nanocomposite charge drain coatings represents a significant breakthrough in the efforts to develop microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS. This new technology earned one of the 36 R&D 100 awards from R&D Magazine that the National Labs took home in 2013. | Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.
Every day, our National Laboratories lead the charge in fulfilling the Energy Department’s mission to use science and research to tackle our nation’s energy and security challenges. The development of these transformative solutions has great potential for direct application across the energy industry. For this reason, the process of transforming innovation into commercialization -- technology transfer -- is critical to the work at the Energy Department.
There are many ways in which the National Laboratories engage in technology transfer. CRADAs (Cooperative Research and Development Agreements) allow industry partners to share technical expertise and resources in a protected environment, access intellectual property and data emerging from the effort, and advance the commercialization of federally developed technologies.
In the Work for Others agreement, industry partners pay the National Laboratories to perform a defined scope of work that draws upon the unique facilities, equipment, and personnel of the Laboratory. Work for Others agreements typically allow these partners to retain certain intellectual property and data rights arising from their sponsored work at the Laboratory.
In other instances, some industry partners are developing unique research ideas that require facilities or instruments that only Energy Department laboratories can provide.Through User Agreements for Designated User Facilities, industry partners receive access to specific facilities and equipment available at the laboratories to conduct research and development. User facilities may be available for proprietary or non-proprietary research. Proprietary users pay the full cost of conducting the research at the lab and retain certain rights to the intellectual property and data. Non-proprietary users agree to publish the research results and are not required to cover the cost of the use of the facility.
The ways in which technology transfers occur are critical in helping to push innovation forward. The Department works to make patents easily accessible for startup companies, entrepreneurs and small businesses through initiatives like “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge,” the Energy Innovation Portal and tech transfer programs at the individual labs. To learn more, visit energy.gov/labs. | <urn:uuid:3218f697-415a-464d-95b1-decc3b3be76f> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://energy.gov/articles/innovation-commercialization-tech-transfer-national-labs | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911539 | 485 | null | 2.71875 | 3 | energy.gov |
SUSTAINABLE WATER113ecent events have placed food security atcentre stage. Unprecedented rising offood prices since 2007, the financialcrisis of 2008, the growing awareness ofthe impact of climate change on food production andconcern about the effect of political turmoil in theMiddle East on energy supplies have all put pressure onfood resources. Fundamental to this drama in manycountries, but not receiving the attention it deserves, is the quantity and quality of water available for agriculture. When world food prices increase, the poor suffer themost. The hardest hit regions are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa where 95 per cent of the world'spoverty and hunger reside. Many factors influence foodsecurity: farming practices, irrigation schemes, soilfertility, transport, trade, etc. But looking at thechallenges faced by these two regions shows how waterand food are intricately connected.In South Asia, an overwhelming 85 per cent of watergoes to irrigation in agriculture. This high consumptionis caused by inefficient practices, making waterproductivity, measured as "crop per drop", one of thelowest in the world and depriving other sectors of wateruse. In contrast, in sub-Saharan Africa, 97 per cent of agricultural production is dependent on rainfall and only three per cent of the cultivated area is under irrigation.Pressure on water resources stem from other dynamicsas well: rapid population growth, urbanisation andeconomic growth are causing changes in foodpreferences that require more water-intensive crops,meats, fish, fruits and vegetables. Yet the context isvastly different from nation to nation because ofdifferences in natural resource endowments, stages of" R"WATER IS THECONNECTINGTHREAD ACROSSECONOMIC SECTORS WHICHCAN NURTURE AND SUPPORTGREEN GROWTH development and the extent of population pressure onthe land. These local realities must be understood ifgovernments are to find credible solutions.Then there is the threat of climate variability andclimate change. Greater frequency of extreme weatherevents, warmer temperatures, increased incidence oftemperature-related diseases and pests, and increaseduncertainty from temperature and precipitationvariability are already evident.In South Asia, severe flooding in 2007 along theGanges and Brahmaputra rivers affected over 13million people in Bangladesh and the cost was overUS$1 billion; flooding in Pakistan in 2010 along theIndus River severely affected 20 million people andthe cost was nearly US$10 billion. India sufferednumerous events of extreme rainfall, flooding anddroughts. Sea level rise hurts the sustainability ofhuman settlements in low lying areas in Bangladeshand Sri Lanka.Sub-Saharan Africa already has increasedtemperatures and evaporation rates, greater rainfallvariability and higher incidences of pests and diseases.Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya and South Africaexperienced extreme flooding in 2000 and 2001, withdrought thereafter. In several African countries (e.g.,Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe), GDP and rainfall areclosely related, with GDP falling dramatically indrought years as well as in flood years. The long-term effects of climate change are not yetknown, but in all likelihood they will compoundexisting problems by increasing the difficulty ofmanaging water resources development and waterservices. Climate change will amplify the need forgroundwater to protect agriculture against droughtwhile simultaneously heightening the threat to theresource: aquifer levels are already dropping rapidly.Growing variability in precipitation will intensify theunreliability of irrigating from surface reservoirs. The likely effects include abandonment of cultivableareas, forced changes in cropping patterns to lesswater-intensive crops, forced changes in foodproduction locations, higher food imports and greatervulnerability of the poorest households -mostlywomen and children. A recent McKinsey report notedthat some solutions will require potentially unpopularpolicy changes and the adoption of water-savingtechniques and technologies by millions of farmers. The human suffering is, and will be, tragic. Millions oftonnes of food production are lost, adding an unknownnumber of food security-related deaths to thethousands of deaths already from flooding and itsaftermath, including the spread of disease.The Global Water Partnership urges, together withmany of its partners, a set of practical steps to helpAbove:In South Asia, 85per cent of water goes toirrigation in agriculture,such as rice cultivationOver page:Dr AniaGrobicki?
countries manage their response to achieving bothfood and water security:INFORMATION Greatly expand location-specific weather, soil andwater-related information on a timely, reliable andsustained basis; promote its rapid and widedissemination to vulnerable populations usingmodern technology; Redouble national efforts to address the risk to smallfarm agriculture, and to better prepare for climateresilience by improving the knowledge andinformation base on natural resources, especially soiland water;For disaster risk management, improve theunderstanding of the variability and reliability of water resources (e.g., by enhancing waterresources assessment);Monitor water resources availability in time andspace (e.g., by enhancing hydro-meteorologicalcapacity and networks);Monitor water use and the efficiency andeffectiveness of such use.INVESTMENTPromote investments to support climate-resilientagriculture; Place long-term strategies for the sustainable andequitable use of water at the heart of climateadaptation investment;Invest in preparedness for water related disasters -current and future, e.g., from the ineffective, costlyand inefficient surface irrigation systems and fromthe "tragedy of the commons" that causes rapiddepletion of aquifers; 114SUSTAINABLE WATERReduce complexity and increase flexibility indeveloping countries' access to adaptation fundsamong the myriad of climate-related funds bycreating standard, easy-to-follow requirements forborrowing countries.INFRASTRUCTUREEvaluate the appropriateness and need for large,small and natural water storage infrastructure, bothabove and below ground, in order to ensure access towater for multiple uses in an efficient, equitable andsustainable way.INSTITUTIONSDevelop regulatory frameworks that support theimplementation of both climate mitigation andclimate adaptation strategies and actions;Develop institutions that can manage inter-sectoraldisagreements;Promote regional integration, including trade in food,energy and water that will increase regional security(e.g., through hydroelectric power and its tradeacross borders);Improve policies for pricing of electricity, water, andfood procurement and distribution to protectvulnerable groups, while providing incentives toincrease agricultural production and productivityamong small farmers.Water is the medium that links food security, energysecurity, climate change, economic growth and humanlivelihoods. Making water security a top developmentpriority is one sure way to reduce countries' social,economic, political and environmental vulnerability. nThis article was prepared with the help of members ofthe Technical Committee of the Global WaterPartnership, an international network of 13 Regionaland 79 Country Water Partnerships, and more than2,300 institutional partners in 157 countries. TheGWP network is committed to the sustainabledevelopment and management of water resources atall levels.Global Water Partnership (GWP)Drottninggatan 33 SE-111 51 Stockholm, SWEDENTel: +46 (0) 8 522 126, www.gwp.orgABOUT THE AUTHORDr Ania Grobicki is the Executive Secretary of theGlobal Water Partnership. Dr Grobicki has spent mostof her working life on water-related issues, holdingpositions in the private sector as well as with NGOsand the United Nations. She has a PhD inBiotechnology from Imperial College, London. | <urn:uuid:13f7c406-a2ed-4c01-a12a-9b2b78b155c1> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://view.digipage.net/?id=g8climatechange2011&page=113 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.89482 | 1,587 | null | 3.640625 | 4 | view.digipage.net |
Australia will largely meet its target of a 5 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2020 by doing nothing more than claiming offsets from revegetation of cleared land, regional forest agreements and ending logging of native forests.
But a report to be released today by Andrew McIntosh at the Australian National University says the federal government has deliberately underestimated these offsets to justify a weak target in international negotiations. The study, commissioned by Greenpeace, shows up to 40 per cent of cuts could come from the land-use sector. Given significant cuts can be achieved with little economic effort, Australia should be aiming for a higher emission reduction target, it says.
The Australian Financial Review | <urn:uuid:f75109cc-d84b-4264-8301-6d5042148225> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.afr.com/news/policy/climate/emissions-cuts-in-the-bag-20110216-iloyy | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941014 | 131 | null | 2.703125 | 3 | www.afr.com |
Learn about the War of 1812 and Dartmoor Prison songs
NEW SCOTLAND — Folklorist Paul Mercer will use music and words to tell the little known tale of the War of 1812 prisoners of war in England’s notorious Dartmoor Prison.
He’ll speak on Tuesday, May 6, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. for the New Scotland Historical Association, at the Wyman Osterhout Community Center, off of Route 85, in New Salem. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 765-4212.
England and the United States signed the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, ending the War of 1812. The 6,000 American prisoners of war held in Dartmoor Prison were not freed until well into 1815.
Thomas Mott of New York was a 17-year-old seaman serving aboard the privateer Yorktown in July of 1813, when he was captured off the coast of Newfoundland. He was temporarily held at Melville Island Prison near Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then transported to England’s Dartmoor Prison where he spent the rest of the war.
Mott began writing songs in a small leather-bound notebook while at Melville. His satirical songs railed against prison conditions, cheered American sea victories, and simply recorded the lives of his fellow sufferers, reflecting the experience of POWs at Dartmoor and bringing a fresh perspective to the War of 1812.
Mercer has a master’s degree in folklore from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, and also has a master’s degree in information science from the University at Albany. He worked for over 30 years at the New York State Library and has published books and papers on New York State history, folklore, and popular culture. He was formerly chairman and on the board of directors of the New York Folklore Society.
Editor’s note: Ethie Moak is a member of the New Scotland Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:2c9ce37d-5a22-4c99-8f8e-149bc5ca03a2> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.altamontenterprise.com/community/community-news/04252014/learn-about-war-1812-and-dartmoor-prison-songs | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95505 | 420 | null | 2.578125 | 3 | www.altamontenterprise.com |
by Susan McGowan
"People "in the know" command powers that the ignorant lack," a thought taken from Francis Bacon, 1597. And from Samuel Johnson, c.1770, "society is held together by communication and information."
The transformation of society, from colonial to national, was a cumulative phenomenon. The population of the country in 1700 was 250,000, but by 1865 it was 36 million. Colonial society was a face-to-face culture in a time of relative scarcity of information with limited topical range. Most New Englanders were literate, driven by their Protestantism to read the Bible, but the majority of people at that time conversed, read, and attended public gatherings to satisfy personal needs and to express their sociable natures or to feed their spirituality by weekly church attendance. Word of mouth and personal correspondence were the major means of gathering information.
The rank or social stature of persons determined who would be the purveyors of information; those in power talked mainly to each other and were the ones who then made the decisions. Common folk spent their days at labor and joined in conversation with family members and neighbors of similar backgrounds. The rural poor, white or black, had little time or occasion for reading, except for the Bible and perhaps an almanac. Visits to the local tavern might bring news of a more global nature, if it were a place also frequented by travelers or tradesmen.
Even though diversified, colonial society was essentially a collection of local societies in which a coherent Christian culture was perpetuated. Both reading and oratory were dominated by religious messages; the themes of order and stability that were expressed by church and state were mutually subordinate to cooperation in both community and commercial life. As the nineteenth-century republic developed, competition began to replace coherence in public life.
Clergymen and politicians who could win the largest audiences, lyceum speakers who could sell the most tickets, authors whose works sold most widely became influential not because of any office they held or any prescribed public role, but because of their engaging public performances. In a competitive environment of regional or national dimensions, where purveyors of each type of information had to compete with others conveying similar information as well as with a multitude of entirely different sorts of information, each individual was invited to his or her own coherent culture from within the galaxy of religious sects, political parties, and reform societies that were thriving in the new republic.1
The change probably began in the Great Awakening of the 1730s with the notion of individual choice forcefully asserted. It was furthered when the consumer revolution - later in the century - which brought printed textiles, fashionable furniture forms, and improved ceramics, also brought a wealth of information to the general public.
Face-to-face communication has never disappeared and remains crucial in the everyday experience, but when the diffusion of this burgeoning of public information moved from face-to-face networks to the newspaper page, profound public influences began to replace communal ones. Face-to-face communication is personal and governed by the relationship of the speaker to the listener. Print required no such inhibitions. The speaker, to be sure, was still subject to some restraints as a writer, but the listener/reader could react privately and, therefore, more freely. He could growl, frown, or ignore the text altogether. Newspapers opted to become neutral and non-partisan with the information they printed or to become frankly partisan. In either case, once the newspaper became cheap and abundant people expressed their own individuality by choosing to read or to ignore the information contained in them. The production and distribution of newspapers, periodicals, and books - small-scale in the colonial era and reliant chiefly on imports - became big business. By 1850, 22,000 men, plus a lesser number of women and children, were printing and binding billions of items annually, plus producing ink, paper, and the type necessary to support the system. Diffusing information became a great national enterprise and "parochial ignorance was no longer legitimate."2
Nineteenth-century American society was now characterized by the movement of public information from distant, impersonal sources direct to individuals, independent of family, neighborhood or any face-to-face connections. Aided by the republican belief in a social hierarchy based on achievement rather than heredity, the information explosion marched on; the acquisition of extensive knowledge was prescribed for republican citizens in all walks of life. The widespread aspirations of gentility, which took place at the time of the American Revolution, made it increasingly attractive from a commercial standpoint to introduce books, periodicals, newspapers, and public speech to a vast audience of common people.
By the mid-nineteenth century this proliferation of printed matter was available to all citizens through public and private library societies, clubs, lyceum lectures, newspapers, and book stores which featured fiction, reference works, legal, medical, and religious texts, as well as practical manuals and the continuously-present Bibles and almanacs.
1Brown, Richard D., Knowledge is Power, The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, 296.
2Brown, Richard D., Knowledge is Power, The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, 290.
top of page | <urn:uuid:899b00e0-0b1d-42f5-905f-55153f6fbc3c> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/classroom/curriculum_6th/lesson11/bkgdessay.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970196 | 1,099 | null | 3.59375 | 4 | www.americancenturies.mass.edu |
Scrabble word: SHARPIES
In which Scrabble dictionary does SHARPIES exist?
Definitions of SHARPIES in dictionaries:
- noun - an alert and energetic person
- noun - a professional card player who makes a living by cheating at card games
- noun - a pen with indelible ink that will write on any surface
- noun - a shallow-draft sailboat with a sharp prow, flat bottom, and triangular sail
- noun - a very alert person
There are 8 letters in SHARPIES: A E H I P R S S
Scrabble words that can be created with an extra letter added to SHARPIES
All anagrams that could be made from letters of word SHARPIES plus a wildcard: SHARPIES?
Scrabble words that can be created with letters from word SHARPIES
8 letter words
7 letter words
6 letter words
5 letter words
4 letter words
3 letter words
2 letter words
Images for SHARPIES
SCRABBLE is the registered trademark of Hasbro and J.W. Spear & Sons Limited. Our scrabble word finder and scrabble cheat word builder is not associated with the Scrabble brand - we merely provide help for players of the official Scrabble game. All intellectual property rights to the game are owned by respective owners in the U.S.A and Canada and the rest of the world. Anagrammer.com is not affiliated with Scrabble. This site is an educational tool and resource for Scrabble & Words With Friends players. | <urn:uuid:4ff21dba-353a-4675-848a-35f2591cbb32> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.anagrammer.com/scrabble/sharpies | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896236 | 334 | null | 2.609375 | 3 | www.anagrammer.com |
As early as possible. In the United States, 2 to 3 in 1,000 babies are born with a significant hearing loss. That loss can lead to speech and language delays in young children, but the earlier the hearing loss is detected and addressed, the more likely a child is to reach his normal language and speech developmental milestones.
Not so long ago, experts were unable to identify most children with hearing loss until they were about 2 1/2 years old. Thanks to modern tests and technology (such as otoacoustic emissions and automated auditory brainstem response), it's now possible to screen newborns for hearing loss before they leave the hospital.
Ten years ago only a handful of states were doing any kind of newborn hearing screening. Today, all 50 states have screening programs – with or without legislative mandates. Ten years ago, the average age of hearing loss identification in the United States was after 2 years old. In 2007, the average age of identification was before 6 months. | <urn:uuid:97347ce9-a7df-4ca0-9e78-1e69ad679692> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.babycenter.com/404_when-should-my-babys-hearing-be-tested_6856.bc | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97558 | 198 | null | 3.875 | 4 | www.babycenter.com |
There is bipartisan movement toward making the most important step the nation can take to improve the quality of public education in the country, particularly in its urban cores.
It’s the growth of the idea that early childhood education holds the key to making quality gains in performance.
The latest evidence of this unifying movement in a politically divided country came this month when the National Governors Association issued a series of principles meant to encourage more state and federal partnership in improving access to quality pre-K programs for all American children.
This is a huge step. It sends a signal that states are ready to work with the federal government to help implement President Barack Obama’s goal that every 4-year-old in the country have access to a quality pre-K program.
Costly but valuable
That’s an expensive promise. Keeping it would cost at least $75 billion in federal funds, according to some estimates. But increasingly, it matches with goals set in both red and blue states.
In Missouri, the legislature this year passed House Bill 1689. It could gradually trigger funding for every school district in the state to provide quality pre-K programs for low-income children. It goes into effect in the 2015-16 school year for unaccredited districts such as Riverview Gardens and Kansas City.
Unfortunately, one of the districts that needs the help the most, the former Normandy School District (now called the Normandy Schools Collaborative) won’t qualify for immediate help. That’s because the state Board of Education took away the previous unaccredited status applied to Normandy.
Putting a different set of administrators in charge doesn’t automatically improve the district’s performance. The legislature should address this issue before 2015, assuming Gov. Jay Nixon signs HB 1689, which he should.
The early childhood education effort in Missouri has been pushed hardest by Mr. Nixon and Sen. Joe Keaveny of St. Louis — both Democrats — but passed with overwhelming Republican support.
Why? Because study after study has shown that money spent on early childhood education is a good investment. It saves taxpayer money and serves as a serious economic development tool. That’s why there is little political dissension over the issue. States as politically different as Oklahoma and Minnesota have realized that increasing access to quality early childhood education is a winner for children, for fighting poverty and for improving the business climate.
“This is the best thing that we’ve accomplished education-wise in my tenure and probably for 10 years before that,” Mr. Keaveny told the Post-Dispatch’s Virginia Young at the end of the legislative session.
The set of principles from the National Governors Association embraces the idea of spending more federal money on early childhood education while urging the federal government to give states flexibility in how they spend the money. Considering how differently each state funds public education, this makes perfect sense.
Congress should get on board the early childhood education train and pass legislation — and fund it — to encourage every state to adopt universal pre-K programs.
Copyright St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Reprinted with permission. | <urn:uuid:4cba4be7-6254-4011-ac02-79c91538c32c> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/175925/what-others-say-push-for-more-pre-k-education-has-state-nation-on-right-track/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943347 | 642 | null | 2.671875 | 3 | www.columbiamissourian.com |
President Obama announced a government consolidation plan that would involve transferring parts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA"), which is currently part of the Department of Commerce, to the Department of the Interior. NOAA oversees marine wildlife, including endangered marine species. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which is an agency within Interior, oversees freshwater species and land-dwelling wildlife. In his remarks regarding the proposed consolidation, President Obama, suggested that having the two agencies that conduct oversight over species in separate departments was inefficient.
As reported by Jason Samenow in the Washington Post, the consolidation plan is facing growing opposition. Several environmental groups, including the NRDC have spoken out against the plan arguing that it could hinder the government’s protection of the oceans and undermine the agency’s independence. The National Weather Service Employee’s Union is also opposed to the consolidation. However, not everyone thinks the consolidation is entirely bad. David Malakoff of Science quotes a former head of NOAA’s marine fisheries program as stating that "The place that NOAA sits doesn’t matter; what matters is that its operations need to be coherent and functioning" and that there are both advantages and disadvantages to the proposed consolidation. | <urn:uuid:a8bdd8a2-cd46-4131-a558-d7b97e6fcf1a> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.endangeredspecieslawandpolicy.com/2012/01/articles/congress/parts-of-national-oceanic-and-atomospheric-administration-to-be-transferred-to-department-of-the-interior/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962244 | 247 | null | 2.5625 | 3 | www.endangeredspecieslawandpolicy.com |
Process control drives almost all food safety measures, with the exception of handwashing and hand hygiene. These remain a frontier without meaningful, measureable, and manageable standards.
Operators are often content for hand hygiene to be covered in their FDA-promulgated good manufacturing practices, seeing little need for specific standards to drive enhanced hand hygiene. The FDA’s Model Food Code has been unable to provide guidance for a situation in which behavioral science is key to compliance. Codes and operational standards work best for physical measurements like temperature control or chemical factors such as pH. Logs can be easily maintained and monitored.
Solving handwashing issues in the food industry is not about knowledge, training, products, or equipment. It is all about linking best practices in a structured, sustainable solution.
Risks of Poor Hygiene
Poor hand hygiene is the most frequently mentioned contributing factor in outbreak reporting. Juxtaposing this risk with the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights the risk reduction potential in pursuing improved hand hygiene process control:
“Handwashing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection.”
The food processing industry has made amazing advances when it comes to minimizing dangerous line-worker touches. Now the risk of hand contamination comes mainly from processing speed, batch size, and food prices.
Food service continues, however, to involve many hands in the race to serve tasty, safe food. In fact, as chefs recognize the value of visuals to a satisfying dish, more hands become involved. Garnishes and plating priorities often require the skill and touch of a clean bare hand. The challenge now becomes serving food that is tasty and artful but is still safe to eat.
Measuring risk is an exercise in approximation; the fact that it is not a true science must not prevent common-sense interventions.
The media has a strong influence on operator risk assessment and priorities. Sprouts. Cantaloupes. FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Based on the headlines of the past year, one could easily put hand hygiene improvements on the back burner.
Shielding food safety from political partialities is impossible. From neighborhood issues to United Nations priorities, food safety permeates and affects our reality—from farms to the forks of the world. The recurring stories of 48 million foodborne illness-stricken Americans, the 128,000 hospitalizations, and the 3,000 deaths that occur each year are eclipsed by popularly provocative politics.
If the media were risk-based, poor hand hygiene would likely dominate, and we would be celebrating the comparative safety levels of our nation’s food processors.
A Range of Risks
Operators have a range of responsibilities, including moral, financial, and legal, when it comes to minimizing restaurant-acquired illness. And, while foodborne illness is a major part of this risk category, it is important not to minimize the risk of other illnesses that could be acquired by patrons of a restaurant, perhaps from a contaminated restroom or the table of a pathogenic patron. | <urn:uuid:c64b2900-89aa-46e0-9865-04c2ea8f6de3> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.foodqualityandsafety.com/article/a-recipe-for-hand-hygiene-process-control/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946019 | 623 | null | 3.09375 | 3 | www.foodqualityandsafety.com |
Rationing & Scrap Drives
During the Depression of the 1930s, Americans "did without" because they didn't have jobs to buy food and clothing. During World War II, Americans again "did without," this time because of the war effort. Rationing affected rural America particularly.
The federal government set up a rationing system in 1942 and limited purchases of sugar, coffee, meat, fish, butter, eggs, cheese, shoes, rubber and gasoline. Silk and newly invented nylon was used to produce parachutes, and so women around the world found it hard to get fashion stockings.
Other commodities were in short supply because trade routes were disrupted. Shellac, for instance, was produced in India and was used for building products and music record discs. Because of the war in Asia, trade with India was disrupted, and so new records were hard to come by.
The shortages became such a nuisance that they even got the attention of song writers. Jazz musician Louis Jordan was one of those who had fun with rationing when he wrote "Ration Blues." Click the jukebox to hear the song.
Farm production, however, was vital to the war effort, so farmers got extra rations of gasoline and other staples. Yet, it was hard to get new machinery as factories were retooled to produce tanks rather than tractors.
Here's how rationing worked: Each member of the household got a ration booklet, usually distributed at a the local school. Each booklet had stamps in it that translated into a certain amount of the commodity being rationed. For instance, there were only enough stamps for one person to buy 28 ounces of meat per week, 4 ounces per day. Merchants collected the stamps when you bought something, and when the stamps were gone so was the item for that week.
The challenge was to use everyone's stamps to buy the food the family needed. The Office of Price Administration gave out points that could be used to purchase goods in very short supply, but it was up to the consumer to use the coupons when buying rationed items.
Freddie Oglesby (left) remembers having to have coupons ready before she bought anything. "When you bought something," Freddie says, "you'd have to have the stamps ready to hand them because that was what our allotment was."
Kelly Holthus (right) remembers that, in a town of 600 people, everyone knew how much everyone else was supposed to be getting. So, cheating was hard to get away with. "It was all those little things that were so important," he says. "The gas rationing, the sugar stamps, the coffee stamps. The ladies couildn't get nylons."
Winton Wright (left) talks about how families adapted to rationing. "You done with what you had," he says. "Now, I often wonder if that happened again today, how people would cope with that."
Diena Schmidt (right) remembers how her family worked around the wartime shortages. "We just became more ingenious," she says. "If we could buy a box of Jell-O, we'd make a piecrust and put Jell-O in it and we had pie."
Regulating the supply of goods led to a "Black Market" the sale of items "off the records," from farm equipment to gasoline to beef and pork. The government was so concerned that they actually produced a short dramatic film encouraging people not to break the law.
Technically, Mildred Hopkins (left) sold cigarettes on the "black market," although she did it just to help out friends. She stopped after she stored a carton in a drawer with perfume and her friends complained about how the cigarettes tasted.
Millie Opitz and her husband Chris had to go on the black market to get a combine they needed in the middle of the war.
Save those scraps. With so many commodities in short supply, the government not only rationed them but also campaigned to save and reuse vital materials. Many people who were children or teenagers during World War II remember how their small towns held scrap drives. People collected scrap paper so it could be used for packing around equipment and weapons. All kinds of metal was collected so it could be recycled and made into bombs. Engine grease was saved. The government needed copper for war material and minted pennies from zinc-coated steel in 1943. Towns had paper drives, rubber drives, and scrap metal drives. Children went door to door in their neighborhoods. The drives generated a strong sense of community and a patriotic feeling that everyone was helping in the war effort. The actual savings from these drives is difficult to measure.
So today's recycling movement may have actually begun in the 1940s.
Written by Claudia Reinhardt and Bill Ganzel, the Ganzel Group. A partial bibliography of sources is here. | <urn:uuid:eb2cc49b-0daa-45ae-bfb4-8e1c2c872c6a> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/life_08.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988694 | 997 | null | 3.578125 | 4 | www.livinghistoryfarm.org |
Europe is the second-smallest continent of the world and yet the third most populated one which alone speaks volumes of its significance in the context of modern civilization. As some of the most magnificent civilizations man has ever produced, Europe is the proud home to the Greek civilization and Roman empire who made an almost unparalleled contribution to the world of art, literature, philosophy, politics and law. Overcome with an urge to dispel the ignorance of dark ages with the light of knowledge, great explorers and pioneers took off from this great continent to explore unknown parts of the world which literally set the stage for redrawing the world history. Exploration gave rise to development of trade routes which made way for a worldwide colonial era in due course of time. In this period, Europe came to play an immensely important role in shaping the course of world history.The outline Map of Europe
on this page clearly defines the geographical and political boundaries of the continent. The political boundaries of various countries in the continent are also marked on the map. | <urn:uuid:c523845f-c815-4687-8c0f-e5f3afecae8d> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.mapsofworld.com/europe-outline-map.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943955 | 202 | null | 3.609375 | 4 | www.mapsofworld.com |
In the mushroom cultivation sector the following remark is often heard during discussions about cultivation processes: ‘If the basis is good, not a lot can go wrong’. This is open to discussion as the more that is known about the basic material, the more questions are raised. The primary material meant here is compost. But to be entirely correct, what we are actually talking about is the production of the raw materials used to make compost. One of these is straw, which brings us to cereal farmers. For cereal farmers, grain is the main product and straw a by-product.
Straw production and storage
The type of cereal crop and the soil it is grown on have a major influence straw structure, but the cultivation process is also a contributing factor: is it ecological or conventional? Ecological cultivation systems allow no pesticides or fertilizers, which also means no growth inhibitors. For cereal farmers it is very important that grain kernels do not develop too high up on the stems, otherwise the first heavy storm will flatten the crop. Growth inhibitors and/or modified cereal varieties can be an option.
The weather during cultivation and harvesting are also influential to straw quality. Last summer in Europe was dry, which gave a short straw quality, i.e. the compost quality for the next season. In France the quality of dry harvested straw is good. It is too soon to speak of a good harvest as so much depends on the weather during harvesting.
High labour costs in West-Europe mean that the development of agricultural mechanization is an on-going process. With harvesting and threshing machinery, speed is becoming as important as quality, which can mean the crop is harvested more aggressively. Certain cereal varieties, where the kernel is tightly held in the ears, also have to be shaken more intensely. These measures obviously mean that the handling frequency of the straw will be higher. Some balers used to compress straw into bales have multiple blades, partly to achieve more weight per bale and to reduce transport costs. Large or small bales, the density and various suppliers all affect on compost structure.
The next factor is how the straw is stored: by the producer or the trader? Is it stored on a hard surface so that clay or sand particles are kept away from the straw, and little or no ground water can seep through? Is the stack under cover or in the open air? If straw is rained on during storage, it may later develop mould, with detrimental results during composting.
Is the straw transported after storage straight to the composting company or to a stable or riding school first?
In stables, straw is subjected to many influences, which can cause a fluctuating final quality. The structure differences in straw in horse manure is far more diverse than in straw compost. The difference in moisture content is an example.
We have now arrived at the start of phase 1. A straw bath or other pre-treatment is necessary to start decomposing the wax layer. In outdoor systems this occurs in the flat heaps belonging to the traditional methods used in our country in the past. Here too, the structure depends on the method used. When other ingredients (broiler manure, gypsum, horse manure, straw and percolate) are added in phase 1, achieving a homogenous mixture is essential. This is easier said than done.
A fundamental rule of composting is mixing but retaining structure. With outdoor systems mixing is important, but with indoor systems the shortened process time means precise mixing is even more vital. Mixing compost means the structure is changed. The question is not only the length and intensity of mixing but the type of machinery used and the type of mix. Short straw cannot be made longer. A good raw material like long straw is important to get the right compost structure.
For a good structure excellent aeration properties, in other words oxygen supplies and temperature management, are essential particularly in tunnel systems. With the development of phase 2 in tunnels, oxygen became the greatest focus of attention. An oxygen supply means fresh air in lightly filled compost with good aeration properties. Slatted or spigot floors and drag mats also play an important role.
It quickly became apparent that if the compost in a tunnel was too heterogeneous the process failed to progress optimally, with all the related consequences. This leads us back to the importance of a correct process in phase 1 so that the fresh compost supplied is of the highest quality, allowing tunnel companies to produce a selective nutrient medium in phase 2 for mushroom production.
Mixing, temperature and ammonia
In phase 1 extreme demands are placed on the product, buildings, machinery and the human element. A lot happens in a short space of time. The input materials are mixed as thoroughly as possible in a relatively short period.
However, speed should never be allowed to be at the cost of quality and structure. How often is the mixture lifted by the teeth, how often does it travel from one conveyor belt to another and how often are loaders used?
In addition to all these mechanical factors, the process itself also affects the structure. To activate the right microbiological and chemical processes the correct proportions and aeration techniques cause the temperature to rise as high as 85 degrees Celsius. An important aspect of phase 1 is softening the straw, which is achieved by this high temperature combined with a high ammonia content. The high temperature during phase 1 is beneficial for the compost; there is little decomposition of the organic matter in comparison to decomposition during the phase 2 process, namely conditioning. Oxygen use in phase 1 is less.
This high temperature destroys many micro-organisms. This in turn produces more ammonia, which remains present, as it cannot be absorbed in the lignin humus-complex. The limited fresh air cannot disperse the ammonia. The straw is in a condition where bacteria and mould can do their work effectively. Ultimately, the mushroom mycelium could also develop in the straw and not only on the surface. All these influences soften the straw, which in turn influences the structure.
When the fresh compost produced in this way is delivered to the tunnel company for phase 2 and 3 many treatments again influence the structure, such as emptying the composting tunnels, transport and pre-treatment at the phase 2 tunnel company, filling the tunnels, spawning via hauling winches, the incubation process and actual supplying.
When the spawned compost is finally delivered to the grower, expertise is needed to fill the growing room optimally. Each grower knows that structure of the compost used is a decisive factor in determining the final quality of his crop and profits. | <urn:uuid:325344f4-4383-4990-a77a-8e8ff7b77154> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.mushroombusiness.com/content/articles/detail/200/variety-of-factors-influence-compost-structure | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957004 | 1,344 | null | 3.046875 | 3 | www.mushroombusiness.com |
|December 1997||Volume XXXII--Number 4|
Laboratory observations of ice-floe processes made during long-term drift and collision experiments by Susan Frankenstein and Hayley Shen
Antarctic Treaty notes: CCAMLR's Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management meets in San Diego
Carried aboard the SeaStar spacecraft, the new orbiting satellite instrument SeaWiFS (the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor Project), views every square kilometer of cloud-free ocean every 48 hours. With each pass, it charts ocean color, which enables it to quantify the concentration of microscopic marine plants called phytoplankton. The color in most of the world's oceans varies with the concentration of chlorophyll and other plant pigments in the water--the more phytoplankton present, the greater the concentration of plant pigments and the greener the water. By charting water color against the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), shown in the key with the image, SeaWiFS can derive chlorophyll concentrations and from them determine phytoplankton concentrations. The oceanographic community uses these data about the abundance of phytoplankton and other primary producers--that is, the algae and bacteria at the bottom of the food chain that use sunlight and chemicals, rather than other organic material, as sources of energy--to study ocean processes on a global scale. The information can also be used to assess the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle and the exchange of other critical elements and gases between the atmosphere and the ocean. The SeaWiFS mission is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's "Mission to Planet Earth" project, whose goal is to help scientists and researchers gain understanding of the Earth as a functioning system by viewing it from space. (Image provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides awards for research and education in the sciences and engineering. The awardee is wholly responsible for the conduct of such research and preparation of the results for publication. The Foundation, therefore, does not assume responsibility for the research findings or their interpretation.
The Foundation welcomes proposals from all qualified scientists and engineers and strongly encourages women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to compete fully in any of the research- and education-related programs described here. In accordance with federal statutes, regulations, and NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color, age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving financial assistance from the National Science Foundation.
Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED) provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable persons with disabilities (investigators and other staff, including student research assistants) to work on NSF projects. See the program announcement or contact the program coordinator at (703) 306-1636.
The National Science Foundation has TDD (Telephonic Device for the Deaf) capability, which enables individuals with hearing impairment to communicate with the Foundation about NSF programs, employment, or general information. To access NSF TDD, dial (703) 306-0090; for FIRS, 1-800-8339.
The Antarctic Journal is a medium for information about, and related to, the U.S. Antarctic Program. NSF welcomes ideas for improvement. Send comments to Winifred Reuning at WReuning@nsf.gov (e-mail) or Editor, Antarctic Journal, Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230 (703-306-1033).
The Antarctic Journal invites contributions from members of the antarctic science, logistics, and policy communities who want to communicate their work and ideas to an audience of specialists and scientifically literate nonspecialists. The Antarctic Journal is not peer reviewed. It provides reports on U.S. activities in Antarctica and related activities elsewhere and on trends in the U.S. Antarctic Program. The September 1997 online issue contains author guidelines for submitting manuscripts to the review issue, as well as information about submitting materials for the monthly online issues. | <urn:uuid:a90f9b68-3043-4c8c-af50-f687cc2285f9> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.nsf.gov/geo/plr/antarct/ajus/nsf9850/nsf9850h/start.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890986 | 878 | null | 3.328125 | 3 | www.nsf.gov |
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1878 in Ulm, Germany- His parents Herman and Rauline Einstein were very worried about young Einstein because he was very slow to lean*1 how to speak. When he was young he had no mark of being genius. He was the worst in class. When he was young his paifents moved several times looking for a place to open businesses. His parents settled in Italy when he was 15. He soon w*ras expelled from school in Germany and joined his family in Italy. He finished high school in Switzerland; where he graduated with a teaching degree from the "Swiss Federal Institufte of Technology." However he did not find a job until 1902. At the Swiss patent office, he worked there for seven years. lfln 1903, he married Maria Marie. Albt'ert Einstein conceptualized the theories of general relativitfty and special relativity. He came to realize that the univers^e was not made up of three dimensional space as was corflnmonly accepted, but four dimensional space-time. The fouirth dimension being that of time. Einstein made other great di iiscoveries, such as the speed of light. | <urn:uuid:1fd4774a-181d-450e-8576-ef2bf0441994> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.preservearticles.com/2011082812151/189-words-paragraph-for-kids-on-albert-einstein.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99306 | 244 | null | 3.15625 | 3 | www.preservearticles.com |
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii has a new way to look at the Universe, thanks to two revolutionary instruments called HARP and ACSIS. These instruments operate together, and they recently sliced through the Orion Nebula, recording for the first time the internal movements of its star-forming gases.
Orion is one of the most famous and recognisable constellations in the sky. At its heart, it harbours a vast cloud of gas and dust, the Orion Nebula, which is undergoing a burst of star formation. Astronomers refer to this and other similar regions as "stellar nurseries". Within this cloud, gas and dust extend over vast regions and help to "feed" the star formation. Gravity takes the gas and dust in these clouds and compresses it into stars.
HARP and ACSIS allow astronomers to see the motion of this gas with a clarity and precision not previously available at these wavelengths. Together they give the JCMT the powerful ability to record information in three dimensions. Unlike the previous generation of receiver systems, HARP/ACSIS can produce camera-like images of the sky across thousands of adjacent wavelengths simultaneously; forming a three-dimensional image set called a "spectral cube". The wavelength dimension permits the telescope to sense molecular tracers as well as to detect the motions of the gas.
These slices of wavelength reveal to astronomers the chemical make-up of our Galaxy and others in the Universe. There are many gas molecules that exist in space which emit radiation at wavelengths that HARP/ACSIS can tune to. The JCMT observes in the sub-millimetre range of wavelengths, much smaller wavelengths than a typical radio station, but much longer wavelengths than light waves.
The naturally occurring emission from gas and dust in the material between the stars is particularly effective at revealing the processes of material accumulation to form stars. This process is still mysterious in its details, and the HARP/ACSIS receiver system on the JCMT is exquisitely tuned to study the precise constituents and motions of the gas and dust as it collapses to form stars. And that makes this instrument the perfect tool to examine the Orion Nebula.
The information that is recorded along the third "wavelength" dimension shows how much the gas molecules, in this case carbon monoxide, are radiating and how fast they are moving. We see gas with large motions both towards us and away from us at velocities approaching and exceeding 200 km/s (that's nearly half a million miles an hour). These velocity slices can be combined into a movie, allowing us to see that the hot nebula at the centre, where star formation is occurring most vigorously, is forcing gas out in what is called a "Champagne flow".
Dr. John Richer of the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge (UK) says: "It's taken a long time to get to this point - the first science data from HARP/ACSIS - but it's been worth the wait. For the first time, we can make large-scale maps of the warm gas in molecular clouds and so begin to understand in detail the complex and spectacular processes which occur when stars form."
HARP (Heterodyne Array Receiver Programme) is an array of 16 spectral receivers, arranged in a 4x4 grid and using superconducting junctions as the detector elements. ACSIS (AutoCorrelation Spectrometer and Imaging System) is a system of high-speed digital electronics and computers for analysing the signals produced by HARP and other instruments. It contains more than 1000 customised chips and 30 microprocessors for handling the high data rate and producing results in a form that astronomers can use. ACSIS produces data at a rate 1000 times faster than the old JCMT system. Together these instruments have turned the JCMT into a sub-millimetre-wave 3-D camera rather than just a single-point telescope.
Dr. Jane Buckle of the Cavendish Laboratory says: "Commissioning HARP and ACSIS took a lot of hard work and dedication, particularly from the JAC, the Cavendish Laboratory and UK ATC staff, but the new spectral imaging capabilities at the JCMT make this a very exciting time for star formation research."
Dr. Bill Dent of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh says:" We often find gas clouds many tens of light-years across containing hundreds of stars all forming simultaneously. With this new system, we can map the structure and measure the speed of the gas that's forming all these new stars and, furthermore, do a chemical analysis, perhaps looking for regions rich in rare and exotic molecules. Before HARP/ACSIS arrived, it was just not possible to study and understand whole clouds in this way."
"It's really exciting to see science pouring out of this instrument at long last," says Professor Richard Hills of the Cavendish Laboratory, the Project Scientist for HARP. And Dr. Harry Smith, HARP Project Manager, says: "It was great to work on what turned out to be a world-beating facility instrument."
Dr. John Richer has used the JCMT for 19 years to make spectroscopic observations of molecular clouds. "It used to be a painstaking and slow process. Now with HARP's 16 sensitive detectors, we can take data at a much more rapid rate and begin to answer much more ambitious questions about the formation of new star systems.
HARP/ACSIS is revolutionising our view of star formation in the galaxy," said Richer.
Professor Gary Davis, Director of the JCMT, said "ACSIS and HARP have been developed over the last several years by a network of instrumentation laboratories around the world. By making use of the very latest technologies, we have introduced a new capability at the observatory which cannot be matched anywhere in the world.
Astronomers will now be able to study star-forming regions such as Orion with unprecedented scope and detail. We are really excited about the science that these instruments will make possible for the first time."
Cite This Page: | <urn:uuid:539714ef-4d92-4a55-bc16-5227363ff2c5> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070519133208.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937625 | 1,251 | null | 4.0625 | 4 | www.sciencedaily.com |
U.S. Bees Succumbing to Mystery Disease
Honeybee populations in the United States are being decimated by a mysterious new disease, the Associated Press reported last week.
|A mysterious disease is killing off bees in the United States.|
Honeybee populations in the United States are being decimated by a mysterious new disease, the Associated Press reported last week. The previously unknown ailment, termed “colony collapse disorder,” is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the country, costing some beekeepers as much as 50 percent of their bees.
Dave Hackenberg of Hackenberg Apiaries in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, first reported the disease to researchers at Penn State University last November. At that point he had lost nearly 2,000 colonies, and reports of unusual colony deaths have come from at least 21 other states. A colony can have some 20,000 bees in the winter and as many as 60,000 in the summer. The president of the American Beekeeping Foundation, Daniel Weaver, has called the disease a “serious” matter, according to the AP.
Worldwatch Institute agriculture expert Danielle Nierenberg notes that the disease’s attack on already declining U.S. bee populations could have serious effects on pollination. According to researchers, bees provide crop-pollinating services valued at some $92 billion, and their diversity is also linked to that of many wild plant species. Nierenberg says this latest blight points to the importance of ongoing research on emerging animal diseases. Her upcoming work will focus on the link between disease and the increased industrialization of food and livestock production.
This story was produced by Eye on Earth, a joint project of the Worldwatch Institute and the blue moon fund. View the complete archive of Eye on Earth stories, or contact Staff Writer Alana Herro at aherro [AT] worldwatch [DOT] org with your questions, comments, and story ideas.
FEBRUARY 19, 2007 | <urn:uuid:f8ef8948-30bb-474b-9df3-3684e1ddf534> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4924 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951934 | 410 | null | 2.6875 | 3 | www.worldwatch.org |
IBM has successfully integrated two emerging technologies with the CMOS manufacturing technology, the company has said.
Complementary-symmetry metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology is used in the manufacturing of most electronic equipment. On Monday, IBM told an IEEE International Electron Devices meeting that it had demonstrated CMOS compatibility for its Racetrack memory technology and for graphene.
"Today's breakthroughs challenge the status quo by exploring the boundaries of science and transforming that knowledge into information technology systems that could advance the power and capability of businesses worldwide," IBM Research science and technology chief TC Chen said in a statement.
Racetrack is an experimental, spintronics-based memory technology that IBM first showed off in 2008, claiming it would result in even faster and denser memory than that possible using flash technology. On Monday, IBM showed off the first Racetrack memory device integrated with CMOS technology on 200mm wafers.
"The researchers demonstrated both read and write functionality on an array of 256 in-plane, magnetized horizontal racetracks. This development lays the foundation for further improving Racetrack memory's density and reliability using perpendicular magnetized racetracks and three-dimensional architectures," IBM said in its statement.
Graphene is a wonder substance, composed of atom-thick carbon lattices, that many see as a potential successor to silicon — silicon electronics will not be able to comply with Moore's Law for much longer, as they stop working at a thickness of less than 2nm.
IBM has now shown off its first CMOS-compatible graphene device: a frequency multiplier. The company says the integrated circuit "can advance wireless communications and enable new, high frequency devices, which can operate under adverse temperature and radiation conditions in areas such as security and medical applications".
The IC is operational up to 5GHz and stable up to 200 degrees Celcius, IBM said, although it acknowledged that "detailed thermal stability still needs to be evaluated" before it can be sure the device would be usable in high-temperature environments.
"New architecture flips the current graphene transistor structure on its head. Instead of trying to deposit gate dielectric on an inert graphene surface, the researchers developed a novel embedded gate structure that enables high device yield on a 200mm wafer," IBM said.
The company also showed off an advance it has made with carbon nanotubes. This nanomaterial is already lined up to be used in devices ranging from solar cells to displays.
IBM's researchers said on Monday that they had demonstrated the first carbon nanotube transistor with sub-10nm channel lengths — a scale at which silicon struggles to perform well. According to the researchers, the demonstration proves that carbon nanotubes "can provide excellent off-state behaviour in extremely scaled devices". | <urn:uuid:765c8763-1953-4e85-b702-5afbf0e8aee6> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.zdnet.com/article/ibm-integrates-graphene-and-racetrack-with-cmos-tech/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246634257.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045714-00048-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945231 | 576 | null | 2.859375 | 3 | www.zdnet.com |
Why was clemency trending last week?
1690s, from senescent + -ence. Related: Scenescency (1660s).
1650s, from Latin senescentem (nominative scenescens), present participle of senescere "to grow old," from senex "old" (see senile).
senescence se·nes·cence (sĭ-něs'əns)n. The process of growing old; aging.
senescent se·nes·cent (sĭ-něs'ənt)adj. Growing old; aging. | <urn:uuid:8b10c14d-074b-40a1-a522-42d71df18974> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/%20senescence | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641054.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00223-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.809911 | 136 | null | 2.515625 | 3 | dictionary.reference.com |
Date of this Version
On July 16, 1998, President Clinton signed the National Drought Policy Act into law. This law creates the National Drought Policy Commission (NDPC), which will examine current laws and programs and make recommendations to the president and Congress on the needs for a national drought policy. The Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will serve as the chair for the Commission, which will comprise 16 members. In addition to the Secretary of Agriculture, other members of the Commission will include the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Army, Secretary of Commerce, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, two governors nominated by the National Governors’ Association, and two persons nominated by the National Association of Counties and the United States Conference of Mayors. The Commission will also include six persons (nominated by the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of the Army) representing groups acutely affected by drought emergencies, such as the agricultural production community, the credit community, rural and urban water associations, Native Americans, and fishing and environmental interests. Numerous groups are currently requesting representation on the Commission. | <urn:uuid:f6ee10c7-c254-4ea1-adfe-81188419199f> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/droughtnetnews/97/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641054.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00223-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96127 | 238 | null | 3 | 3 | digitalcommons.unl.edu |
A vestry refers to a robing and storage room in or attached to a place of worship. It also referred in England to the committee for secular and church government for a parish which met in the vestry of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquially as the "Vestry".
A vestry is a room in a church or synagogue in which the vestments are kept, and in which the clergy and choir don these liturgical clothes for worship services. Valuable or sacred items such as communion vessels or collection plates may be kept there, usually in a secure safe, along with official records such as registers of marriages and burials.
In Welsh chapels, the room is often the location of a tea served to the congregation, particularly family members, after a funeral, when the congregation returns to the chapel after the burial or cremation.
The Vestry Committee in England
The vestry was a meeting of the parish ratepayers chaired by the incumbent of the parish, originally held in the parish church or its vestry, from which it got its name. The vestry Committees were not established by any law, but they evolved independently in each parish according to local needs from their roots in medieval parochial governance. By the late 17th century they had become, along with the County magistrates, the rulers of rural England.
In England, until the 19th century, the parish Vestry Committee was in effect what would today usually be called a parochial church council, but was also responsible for all the secular parish business, which is now the responsibility of a parish council.
The original unit of settlement among the Anglo-Saxons in England was the tun or town. The inhabitants met to carry out this business in the town moot or meeting. At this they appointed the various officials and the common law would be promulgated. Later with the rise of the shire, the township would send its reeve and four best men to represent it in the courts of the hundred and shire.
However, the independence created by the Saxon system was lost to the township by the introduction of the feudal manorial Court Leet which replaced the town meeting. The resistance of inhabitants to these changes led to a new form of township or parish meeting, which dealt with civil and ecclesiastical affairs. This new meeting was supervised by the parish priest, probably the best educated of the inhabitants, and it evolved to become the vestry meeting.
With the decay of the feudal system, the vestry meetings succeeded in acquiring greater responsibilities, they having the power to grant or deny payments from parish funds. They were later given the task of administering the Edwardian and Elizabethan systems for support of the poor. With their resumption of civil responsibilities, the ecclesiastical parishes acquired a dual nature and might therefore be classed as civil as well as ecclesiastical parishes. In England, until the 19th century, the parish vestry was in effect what would today usually be called a parochial church council, but was also responsible for all the secular parish business. Records of parish business would be stored in a "parish chest" kept in the church and provided for security with three locks, the keys to which would be held by the incumbent and the churchwardens.
The vestry had a number of legal obligations. The vestry was responsible for appointing parish officers, including churchwardens, overseers of the poor, sextons and scavengers. Depending on local arrangements the vestry could also be responsible for constables and nightwatchmen.
In 1835 more than 15,600 ecclesiastical parish vestries looked after their own: churches and burial grounds, parish cottages and workhouses, their common lands and endowed charities, their market crosses, pumps, pounds, whipping posts, stocks, cages, watch houses, weights and scales, clocks and fire engines. Or to put it another way: the maintenance of the church and its services, the keeping of the peace, the repression of vagrancy, the relief of destitution, the mending of roads, the suppression of nuisances, the destruction of vermin, the furnishing of soldiers and sailors, even to some extent the enforcement of religious and moral discipline. These were among the multitudinous duties imposed on the parish and its officers, that is to say the vestry and its organisation, by the law of the land.
At their most active, just prior to removal of Poor Law responsibilities, the vestries spent not far short of one-fifth of the budget of the national government itself. However, this was the high point of the parish vestry. During the 19th century the parish vestry progressively lost its powers to ad-hoc boards and other organisations, such as the loss of responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. From 1837 the provision of support for the poor was no longer the direct responsibility of the vestry, but came under elected boards of guardians for single parishes or poor law unions. In the London area, vestries were incorporated under the Metropolis Management Act 1855 to create civil bodies for parishes, which were distinct from the ecclesiastical vestries. In another example, Sanitary Districts were established in England in 1875 and took these responsibilities from the parish. Such replacement boards were each able to levy their own rate in the parish. Consequently the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and was abolished altogether in 1868.
However, proliferation of local bodies led to fragmentation of local government resonsibilities and became a driver for the 1894 Local Government Act. This was expressed by H H Fowler, President of the Local Government Board, who said in the parliamentary debate for the 1894 Act....
"62 counties, 302 Municipal Boroughs, 31 Improvement Act Districts, 688 Local Government Districts, 574 Rural Sanitary Districts, 58 Port Sanitary Districts, 2,302 School Board Districts ... 1,052 Burial Board Districts, 648 Poor Law Unions, 13,775 Ecclesiastical Parishes, and nearly 15,000 Civil Parishes. The total number of Authorities which tax the English ratepayers is between 28,000 and 29,000. Not only are we exposed to this multiplicity of authority and this confusion of rating power, but the qualification, tenure, and mode of election of members of these Authorities differ in different cases."
The secular and ecclesiastical duties were finally separated nationally when a system of elected rural parish councils and urban district councils was established under the 1894 Local Government Act. This replaced the parish vestry with a parish council or parish meeting to manage all secular parish matters.
Open and select vestries
A "select vestry" was an administrative committee of selected parishioners. This committee was also known as the "close vestry". The "open vestry", which selected many of those committee members, was a meeting open to the general public who were rate-paying residents. There were both open vestries or select vestries, although in practice the division was somewhat blurred. Open vestries were rather like today's parish meetings, but some select vestries acted more like the pre-Municipal Corporations Act 1835 borough councils, with co-option of members rather than by open election.
An open vestry was a general meeting of all inhabitant rate-paying householders in a parish.
A select vestry or "close" vestry was the governing body of a parish, the members generally having a property qualification and being recruited more or less by co-option. The open vestry elected the bulk of the select vestry members or, if dissatisfied, could exercise their power to do so.
Ecclesiastical use today
Following the removal of civil powers in 1894, the vestry meetings continued to administer church matters in Church of England parishes until under the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1921 Act Parochial Church Councils were established as their successor on church matters. Since then, the only remnant of the Vestry Meeting has been the Meeting of Parishioners, which is convened annually solely for the election of churchwardens of the ecclesiastical parish. This is sometime referred to as the "Annual Vestry Meeting". All other roles of the Vestry Meetings are now undertaken by parochial church councils.
The term vestry continues to be used in some other denominations for a body of lay members elected by the congregation to run the business of a church parish, such as in the Scottish Episcopal Church.
- The Vestries Act 1818 (58 Geo 3 c 69)
- The Vestries Act 1819 (59 Geo 3 c 85)
- The Vestries Act 1831 (1 & 2 Will 4 c 60)
- The Parish Notices Act 1837 (7 Will 4 & 1 Vict c 45)
- The Vestries Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict c 57)
- The Vestries Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict c 65)
- An overview of London Vestry committees at "London Lives".
- Parish Notices Act 1837
- The Companion to British History. Charles Arnold-Baker, 2nd edition 2001, Routledge.
- Parish Government 1894-1994. KP Poole & Bryan Keith-Lucas. National Association of Local Councils 1994
- Webb, Sidney; Potter, Beatrice (1906), English Local Government from the Revolution to the Municipal Corporations, London: Longmans, Green & Co.
- Arnold-Baker on Local Council Administration, 1989
- "Local Government of England and Wales Bill". Hansard 1803 - 2005. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 21 March 1893. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- Tate, William Edward (1969), The Parish Chest: a study of the records of parochial administration in England (3rd ed.), Cambridge University Press.
- - Parochial Church Councils Measure 1921
- "Churchwardens Measure 2001 No. 1". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- http://www.scotland.anglican.org/vestry-resources/] The vestry duties in the Scottish Episcopal Church
- The Short Titles Act 1896, section 2(1) and Schedule 2 | <urn:uuid:15e30657-d10a-4343-8edf-9eb090a859a6> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestry | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641054.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00223-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970546 | 2,121 | null | 3.640625 | 4 | en.wikipedia.org |
By soaking up excess CO2 from the atmosphere oceans are undergoing a rise in acidity causing ramifications across their ecosystems, most frequently highlighted in the plight of coral reefs around the world. However, a new study in Nature Geoscience shows that the acidification is affecting another type of marine life. Foraminifera, a tiny amoeba-like entity numbering in the billions, have experienced a 30 to 35 percent drop in their shell-weight due to the high acidity of the oceans.
Although incredibly small, the tiny foraminifera are vital. They play an important role in trapping CO2 on the ocean's surface and carrying it down to the ocean floor after dying, where the CO2 is stored. Scientists are concerned how the change in their effectiveness to create heavy shells may transform foraminifera's role in carbon sequestration.
“The big challenge will be how do we scale up this kind of change to what I means for the ecosystem,” author William Howard told ... | <urn:uuid:feedd48e-b4b1-442b-8074-f86e8ac603e3> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=121374 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641054.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00223-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925767 | 205 | null | 3.875 | 4 | www.climateark.org |
No antidote or vaccine is available for ricin. Regardless of the route of exposure, treatment remains mainly supportive.
If exposure is from inhaled aerosol, the person may need assistance with breathing. If particularly severe, the person who was exposed may require intubation and use of a ventilator.
If ricin was ingested, the stomach may need to be pumped (called gastric decontamination). Superactivated charcoal may also be given to help soak up the poison. To treat dehydration, intravenous fluids may be given.
Ferdinando L Mirarchi, DO
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Biological weapons include any organism (such as bacteria, viruses, or fungi) or toxin found in nature that can be used to kill or injure people.learn more >>
Injury from chemical weapon agents, known as CWAs, may result from industrial accidents, military stockpiling, war, or a terrorist attack.
Industrial accide...learn more >> | <urn:uuid:45d17ddf-9738-49b2-a3cb-77c643818ed3> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ricin/page7_em.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641054.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00223-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908149 | 201 | null | 3.140625 | 3 | www.emedicinehealth.com |
Greenpeace today released evidence that hazardous chemical residues in clothing items sold by major brands are released into public waterways when washed by consumers. Upon entering our rivers, lakes and seas, these chemicals then break down into even more toxic and hormone-disrupting substances.
The evidence is revealed in the Greenpeace report, Dirty Laundry: Reloaded, launched today by the banks of the Marikina River, with activists visually demonstrating how toxic chemicals may leach from consumer garments and into washwater. The launch is timed a day ahead of the commemoration of World Water Day, which highlights “water and food security,” this year’s theme.
The Greenpeace study measures for the first time the percentage of the hazardous chemicals nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) washed out during simulated standard domestic laundering conditions of 14 items . The results show that consumer brands, such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, are unknowingly polluting the public water supplies in regions and countries around the world, including those where there are restrictions or bans on the use of these chemicals .
“While other countries try to improve measures protecting their citizens from hazardous chemicals, the Philippines is even steps behind in terms of regulations on hazardous chemicals. Nonylphenols, for example, are banned in Europe for their endocrine-disrupting properties, and yet it is not even included in the Priority Chemicals List in the Philippines,” said Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’sToxics Campaigner.
“Filipinos are, thus, doubly vulnerable to toxic discharges – both from manufacturing processes and from consumer end-products. This is the reason why we are calling for the institution of a mechanism respecting the public right-to-know about toxic discharges, such as a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), and for the textile industry to lead the move to safe alternatives to toxic chemicals,” Baconguis added.
In 2011 Greenpeace published two reports: one investigating the discharge of hazardous substances from textiles manufacturing in China linked to major clothing and sportswear companies (Dirty Laundry) , and another detailing the presence of NPEs in clothing and footwear of 15 leading brands (Dirty Laundry 2: Hung Out to Dry) . With the publication of these reports, Greenpeace challenged these global brands to eliminate all releases of hazardous chemicals from their supply chains and products by 2020. The call has led so far to public commitments by Nike, Adidas, Puma and Li-Ning, along with fast-fashion retailers H&M and C&A .
Given the scale of the problem, Greenpeace is calling for more brands to join the Detox challenge. For the companies which have already committed, Greenpeace is demanding that they respond to the urgency of the situation by setting clear and ambitious short term deadlines for the elimination of the most hazardous chemicals
- Beau Baconguis, Toxics Campaigner, +63917 8715257, +63 2 3321807 loc 119,
- JP Agcaoili, Media Campaigner, +63 917 631 2750, +63 2 3321807 loc 109,
- Report available at http://www.greenpeace.org/international/dirty-laundry-reloaded
- For the lists of brands and products against the percentage of released chemicals check Dirty Laundry report Figure 1, page 6
- NPEs are chemicals used in textile manufacture. Even where wastewater containing NPEs is treated, this only speeds up the conversion into the toxic NP. More detailed information on these substances is available on page 12 of “Dirty Laundry II” at http://www.greenpeace.org/dirtylaundry2.pdf and on page 51, Box 2.2, of the “Dirty Laundry” report, available at www.greenpeace.org/dirtylaundry
- The tested sample consisting of 12 made of plain fabric and two samples of fabric bearing a plastisol print The items were part of the samples found containing residues of NPEs as specified in the report Dirty Laundry - Hang out to dry report is available at http://www.greenpeace.org/dirtylaundry2.pdf
- “The use of NP and NPEs in clothing manufacture has effectively been banned within the EU and similar restrictions are also in place in the US and Canada. In the EU, releases of NP/NPEs due to the washing of textile products imported from outside the EU have been estimated to constitute by far the largest source of these chemicals entering wastewater treatment facilities in some instances.” Dirty Laundry Reloaded, Executive Summary, page 7.
- Dirty Laundry report is available at www.greenpeace.org/dirtylaundry
- Dirty Laundry - Hung Out to Dry report is available at http://www.greenpeace.org/dirtylaundry2.pdf
- So far six international brands have committed to Detox. These include:
- Puma: http://safe.puma.com/us/en/2011/07/puma-is-committed-to-eliminate-discharges-of-hazardous-chemicals-2/
- Nike: http://nikeinc.com/news/nike-inc-commitment-on-zero-discharge-of-hazardous-chemicals
- Adidas: http://www.adidas-group.com/en/sustainability/statements/2011/Commitment_to_Zero_Discharge_Aug_2011.aspx
- H&M: http://about.hm.com/content/hm/AboutSection/sv/About/Sustainability/Commitments/Use-Resources-Responsibly/Chemicals/Zero-Discharge.html
- C&A: http://www.c-and-a.com/uk/en/corporate/fileadmin/templates/master/img/fashion_updates/International_Press_Releases/C-and-A_Commitment_to_Zero_Discharge.pdf
- Li-Ning: http://www.li-ning.com/info/info.html?swf=news.swf (If accessing in China). http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/toxics/Water%202011/LiNing-commitment-to-zero-discharge.pdf (if outside of China) | <urn:uuid:a5bd531b-f70e-4c56-8755-1d05022827ed> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/ph/press/releases/New-Greenpeace-Research-Washing-Big-Name-Brands-Makes-Consumers-Polluters/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641054.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00223-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.891557 | 1,385 | null | 2.609375 | 3 | www.greenpeace.org |
Translation of disaster in Spanish:
- 1 countable (flood, earthquake) (before noun) disaster fundfondo (masculine) para los damnificadosdisaster reliefayuda (feminine) en caso de catástrofe or desastreExample sentences
- Hurricane Katrina will be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history by a factor of five.
- The horrific devastation caused by this tsunami may be the worst natural disaster in recent history.
- And President Bush is offering U.S. aid and condolences to people affected by the Asian tsunami disaster.
- 2 countable 2.1 (fiasco) a catalog of disastersuna serie de desastres or de calamidades2.2 (hopeless person) [colloquial]Example sentences
- And it was fine for all the media celebs to go to a ball game but it was a total disaster for Kerry to do so.
- He's had a very hard time. His current situation is a total disaster.
- Maize, a relatively new crop, is looking like a total disaster, according to Mr Dempsey.
- But a series of personal disasters and financial ruin triggered a mental disorder that was to turn the father of two into a killer.
- The suite contains the computers and equipment necessary to help a small business function in the event of a company disaster.
- It was recognised as such by the Iraqi people, but the subsequent handling of events was a disaster.
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:d3dc1520-836c-4ee4-9714-dc7e01aa7b18> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/translate/english-spanish/disaster | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641054.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00223-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908953 | 339 | null | 2.59375 | 3 | www.oxforddictionaries.com |
America’s Cape Cod has long been celebrated as a summer paradise where vacationers enjoy swimming in the surf, digging for clams, and fishing. But there’s trouble in paradise. The Cape is essentially a large sandbar that sits over an aquifer from which residents and visitors draw their water. They have to be very careful about what they take out of the ground and put into it. Most of the houses on the Cape dispose of waste water through septic systems, and that’s causing environmental problems. Nitrogen is building up in the bays on the Cape, depleting oxygen levels and killing shellfish and beneficial plants, and producing blooms of algae. If this keeps up, the Cape won’t continue to be attractive to vacationers–who provide the financial lifeblood of the economy.
The people of the Cape are faced with some uncomfortable truths. They must address the waste water problem, most likely by building sewer systems and water treatment facilities. This will cost billions of dollars, which likely will have to come from taxes and user fees.
In an effort to head off environmental and/or financial calamities, the Cape Cod Commission, a regional planning group, has engaged with IBM to create the Smart Cape Cod initiative. The plan is to use sensing, networking, data management, and data analysis technologies to track a wide array of information related to water quality. By understanding the problem better, the commission and the governments of the 15 towns on the Cape hope to be able to address it most effectively–safeguarding the environment and easing the financial burden on residents and businesses. “We have to take innovative approaches,” says Paul Niedzwiecki, the commission’s executive director. “We have a substantial problem but not a lot of existing infrastructure. If we’re smarter about the solutions, we can do it less expensively–without breaking the backs of the year-round residents of the Cape.”
The Cape has just 220,000 year-round residents, but the population can triple during the tourist season. So the new waste water treatment systems will have to be built to handle peak demand. The commission believes that if the people of the Cape address the problem themselves and use innovative technologies and approaches, the fix-up can be done for about $3 billion. It’s possible that only about 40% of the homes will require sewers. But if the towns tarry and are forced to act by state or federal agencies, or courts, the tab could be much higher.
Here’s some nasty algae in one of the bays:
There’s another benefit that could come from the initiative: economic development. The Cape is already home to two oceanographic laboratories and a number of water quality technology startups. It received a $32 million grant as part of the Federal stimulus program that’s being combined with other funds to build a high-speed broadband network, called Open Cape. Through the combination of expertise, networks, and data analysis, the Cape could develop water management as a new growth industry.
For IBM, the Smart Cape Cod project creates an opportunity to showcase and develop the company’s Smarter Planet technologies in a high-profile location. It has already launched major water projects in Ireland, Malta, and California’s Sonoma County. “The big lesson we have learned is you want to get as many people engaged in the process as possible. You want to drive an open, collaborative process,” says Michael Sullivan, a business development director in IBM Big Green Innovations.
For Sullivan and Sharon Nunes, who heads up IBM Big Green Innovations and the Smarter Cities initiative, there are personal motivations, as well. They both live on Cape Cod.
Here’s some additional info on IBM’s water projects:
Galway Bay: http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/water_management/examples/index.html
Overview of wastewater situation on Cape: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=SPECIAL25 | <urn:uuid:896c8c4b-a999-4155-a4e3-4186243fc12c> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2010/11/smart-cape-cod-initiative-aims-at-solving-water-problems-and-boosting-the-economy.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937323 | 854 | null | 2.9375 | 3 | asmarterplanet.com |
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education developed this guide to provide information concerning your rights and responsibilities as the parent of a child with a disability as defined in the Missouri State Plan for Special Education.
MPACT is a statewide parent training and information center that serves parents of children with all disabilities. MPACT's primary goal is to assist parents in their effort to effectively advocate for their children's educational rights and services. MPACT staff and volunteers are located throughout Missouri and work with public and private agencies, parent groups, professional organizations and advocacy groups to achieve that goal.
Parent Toolkits and Training Materials
This page includes links to pertinent parent resources such as Parents as Teachers, The Missouri PIRC, helping your child with school subjects, and more.
"PACER Center’s National Family Advocacy and Supports Training (FAST) Project will provide family support leadership training to families of children with disabilities in the United States and territories."
- Getting and Keeping the First Job
- The Journey to Adulthood: What Every Parent Needs to Know
- Skills for Effective Parent Advocacy
- Working for Change: Using the Power of a Personal Story
U.S. Department of Education
"The mission of the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access."
Helpful Resources for Parents
Center for Evidence-Based Practice:Young Children with Challenging Behavior
This brochure includes eight practical tips for parents of young children with challenging behavior.
The Education Trust
The Education Trust promotes high academic achievement for all students at all levels—pre-kindergarten through college. The goal is to close the gaps in opportunity and achievement. The guide below gives parents and the public tools to collect and analyze school data to improve student achievement.
Family Center on Technology and Disability (FCTD)
FCTD is a resource designed to support organizations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities. FCTD offers a range of information and services on the subject of assistive and instructional technologies for organizations, parents, and educators to provide information that supports each in their efforts to bring the highest quality education to children with disabilities.
Learning Disabilities Association of America
Here you will find a wealth of information on understanding learning disabilities, negotiating the special education process and helping your child and yourself.
National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)
NCLD provides essential information to parents, professionals and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities.
National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
NCSET coordinates national resources, offers technical assistance, and provides information related to secondary education (high school) and transition for youth with disabilities in order to create opportunities for youth to achieve successful futures.
National ParentNet Association
This site shares the resources of many individuals, groups, and organizations working toward the goal of increasing family engagement through positive youth development.
National Center on Learning Disabilities
NCLD's goal is to help educators, policymakers, and parents understand the complexity and importance of making sound decisions regarding whether a child has a specific learning disability. Our research in this area—including studies of the role of and best practices associated with responsiveness to intervention—is the foundation underlying all of the materials available on this site.
The Sibling Support Project
The Sibling Support Project is a national effort dedicated to the life-long concerns of brothers and sisters of people who have special health, developmental, or mental health concerns.
Thompson Center, University of Missouri — Columbia
The Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri — Columbia was established on April 29, 2005 to promote research, teaching, and service innovations designed to improve the lives of children with ASD and other neurological conditions. The center serves as a resource for families and professionals, providing help today through clinical services and hope for tomorrow through research and professional training.
- Thompson Center main website
- Roadmap to the Future: Transitioning into Adulthood with ASD
The purpose of this site is to give families, self-advocates, teachers, health care providers and other professionals an introduction to the process of planning for the transition from adolescence to adulthood. It is also meant to provide resources and options to consider for the future. The resources provided here address the following:
- General guidance about the process of planning for the transition from adolescence to adulthood
- How youth can be involved in the transition planning process
- Key contacts to make during the transition process
- A roadmap of resources in the areas of community living, health and safety, emergency preparedness, education and training, employment and adult services and benefits planning | <urn:uuid:0f5e33bd-297f-4417-8c56-c446e80734ae> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://dese.mo.gov/special-education/effective-practices/parents | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940863 | 968 | null | 2.875 | 3 | dese.mo.gov |
We will start with the assumption that most people perceive musical notes as occuring in pitch classes, which differ by octaves (or factors of 2 in frequency).
The simplest music consists of just a single note, or perhaps unison octaves. Maybe the most interesting example is the One-Note Samba (Samba de uma Nota Só) of Tom Jobim.
Of course, this song really goes on to use two notes in the melody, notes separated by a perfect fifth, or a ratio of 3/2 in frequency. The Richard Strauss quote made famous by the Kubrick film 2001 also starts out using the same two notes.
A fifth is close to half an octave. If we start around the circle of fifths F-C-G, we're almost back where we started. Of course it stretches the imagination a bit to make this exact. If we make a two-note, equal tempered scale, the perfect fifth is approximated by a tritone. These examples really don't sound good.
Continuing around the circle of fifths, we find F-C-G-D-A-E and E is much closer to F than any of the previous notes have been. If we decide that E=F, then we are left with a five-note or pentatonic scale, FGACD. (Often pentatonic music on this scale is considered to be in major, minor or dorian mode if the pitch center is F, D or G, respectively.)
Many common melodies, in music found around the world, use the notes from a pentatonic scale. Examples include Camptown Races (by S. Foster) and Mary Had a Little Lamb (lyrics by S. Hale). We can hear them in a pentatonic scale tuned to have 4 perfect fifths.
If we instead try to switch to an equal-tempered pentatonic scale, the melodies again sound very different. Two-fifths of an octave is relatively close to a perfect fourth, but not at all close to the major third F-A found at one point in the true pentatonic scale.
Continuing around the circle of fifths, we find F-C-G-D-A-E-B-F# and again, F# is closer to F than any of the previous notes. If we decide it is close enough to not count as different, then we end up with a seven-note or diatonic scale, CDEFGAB. Depending on the pitch center, we can have the usual major or minor scales, or any of the seven Renaissance modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian).
Almost all common melodies use the notes of this diatonic scale. We use Happy Birthday (without permission) as an well-known example that does include all seven notes. Again, we start with the Pythagorean tuning, where all six fifths are perfect.
Now let us try an equal-tempered 7-note scale. When playing Happy Birthday this seems to lose much of the sense of a pitch center, as there are no longer the characteristic whole steps and half steps, but just seven equal steps. The melody seems to have wrong notes as well as notes out of tune. However, this scale does a surprisingly good job of rendering our earlier pentatonic melodies: they are recognizably the right notes, though not quite in tune.
If we continue further, F-C-G-D-A-E-B-F#-C#-G#-D#-A#-E#, we find that E# is much much closer to F than any previous note. In fact it differs from F only by the so-called Pythagorean comma. If we take F=E#, then we get the common twelve-note chromatic scale. It of course can be tuned in many ways, including a Pythagorean tuning with 11 perfect fifths, or an equal-tempered tuning. We will not demonstrate any chromatic melodies, but close with all the previous examples in 12-tone equal-tempered tuning.
We have not discussed equal-tempered scales with 3, 4 or 6 notes because they do not give better approximations to the fifth than the 2-note scale does. These are, of course, subsets of the equal-tempered 12-note scale. The 3-note scale gives augmented triads, and the 4-note scale gives diminished seventh chords, as demonstrated in these arpeggios.
Similarly, no equal-tempered scale between 7 and 12 gives good approximations of fifths.
The MIDI files on this pages were sequenced with Rosegarden, a public domain sequencer running under Linux and Irix. Pitch bends for the different tunings were automatically inserted by Manuel Op de Coul's Scala software, which is designed for exploration of different scales and tunings. | <urn:uuid:bfc96973-7f3b-4720-9cd5-b657c1fa7b66> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://torus.math.uiuc.edu/jms/Scales/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942555 | 1,034 | null | 3.578125 | 4 | torus.math.uiuc.edu |
Heart Bird Paper Craft
Source: Babycenter Community
In: Arts & Crafts
Instructions:Tip 1: Include the message "Loving you is such a tweet!"
Tip 2: Glue the heart animal to the front of a folded over piece of construction paper or a doily to make a cute Valentine's Day card.
Tip 3: Purchase fancy paper from the scrapbooking store and print the B&W version onto this for an extra fancy Heart Animal.
Tip 4: Scotch tape a straw or popsicle stick to the bottom to make a puppet
Tip 5: Glue a small piece of sandpaper on the back to make a felt board character
Tip 6: Cut construction paper into 4 inch wide strips as long as you can make them. Tape two together to make even longer. Measure around child's head to make a construction paper 'crown'. Glue Heart Animal to front of the crown to make a Valentine's Day hat.
Print out the template of choice. I like printing the B&W version on colored paper.
Color (where appropriate).
Cut out the template pieces. (the pieces on the template are at about the angle they will be on the finished craft. That should help you sort out which pieces belong where)
Glue pieces together:
Glue the small orange heart into the dip of the large face/body heart to form the beak.
Glue one small yellow heart at an angle onto the body to form the wing.
Stack the remaining small yellow hearts on top of each other and glue to the tip of the large heart to form the tail.
Glue the legs with heart feet onto the bottom of the bird.
Option for mass-producing - young children: Print out the B&W template. Trace the pieces onto stiff cardboard (back of paper pads works well) or margarine/ice cream container lids. Cut out to make permanent templates. Allow the children to trace these permanent templates onto different colors of construction paper to make their animal
Option for mass-producing - older children: Omit the templates. Let the children cut out heart shapes in various sizes from colored construction paper (show them how to fold paper in half and then cut to make a perfectly symmetrical heart). Let the children create their own animals by putting together hearts of different sizes (you can pre-make a few example animals to give them some inspiration).
Visit website for templates
Similar activities:Love Birds Valentine, Bird Biscuit, Paper Heart Wrappings, Love Bird Magnet, Heart Cat Paper Craft, Heart Dog Paper Craft, Heart Caterpillar Paper Craft, Heart Kangaroo Paper Craft, Heart Fish Kissing Paper Craft, Heart Monkey Paper Craft, Heart Owl Paper Craft, Valentine's Day Heart Hunt, Valentine's Day Heart Flower, Find the Hearts, Valentine's Day Birdfeeder
Tags: activities , animal , children , craft , creative , duck , family , kids , love , paper , valentines day
Coloring book pages | <urn:uuid:76f1f7d3-bc06-4bc8-bcfa-f27541c3bb1c> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.babycenter.com/210_heart-bird-paper-craft_5927.bc | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.831572 | 614 | null | 2.609375 | 3 | www.babycenter.com |
Can Red Wine Prevent Breast Cancer?
A new medical study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found that red wine consumption would help women to reduce the risk of breast cancer. A regular glass of wine is suggested to prevent the growth of cancer cell. Regular alcohol consumption raises the risk for breast cancer and other diseases, except for red wine. The study was based on a small group of 36 women, published in the Journal of Women’s health, has found that red wine has the opposite effect when consumed in moderation.
Estepa Merlot Red Wine Series
No Safe Level of Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is a known risk factor for several cancers. The use of alcohol is absolutely linked to high risk of breast cancer and breast cancer recurrence. Even a small amount of alcohol consumption may also increase the risk of breast cancer, a new study suggests. There is no exact mechanism how alcohol consumption levels affect the risk of breast cancer. However, the more women drink; the greater risk of breast cancer cases likely to happen. For more information, visit About.com click here.
Red Wine Effects on Breast Cancer
Red grapes is an excellence source of resveratrol and other polyphenols like grapes, it has been shown to inhibit the development of breast cancer. Polyphenols has been found to have the antioxidant properties to prevent breast cancer and other several cancers. Resveratrol is a type of polyphenol that shown to boost the immune system and inhibit the growth of cancer cells. More studies of red wine on animals have examined the effects as anti cancer properties. However, the study of the association between red wine consumption and cancer in humans are in their initial stages. For more information, please visit Medicinenet.com click here.
Can Breast Cancer Patients Drink Red Wine?
Probably drinking red wine would be harmful to breast cancer patients and those at high risk of breast cancer. For breast cancer patients, the cancer promoting effects of red wine outweigh its potential benefits. Drinking pure grape juice or eating red grapes and other dietary sources of resveratrol will be preferable.
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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *. | <urn:uuid:d769640a-14b3-4cd7-ad35-8050272fd455> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.breastcancercare.us/index.php/Can-Red-Wine-Prevent-Breast-Cancer/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953973 | 444 | null | 2.765625 | 3 | www.breastcancercare.us |
The views generally held about the rise of the factory system in Britain derive from highly distorted accounts of the social consequences of that system—so say the distinguished economic historians whose papers make up this book. The authors offer documentary evidence to support their conclusion that under capitalism the workers, despite long hours and other hardships of factory life, were better off financially, had more opportunities, and led a better life than had been the case before the Industrial Revolution.
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Rent Capitalism and the Historians 1st edition today, or search our site for Louis textbooks. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by University of Chicago Press. | <urn:uuid:4495e0af-f9cb-4c35-96e6-ceea1d1c0550> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.chegg.com/textbooks/capitalism-and-the-historians-1st-edition-9780226320724-0226320723?trackid=NeQTGTUb&strackid=SCc1KevN&ii=1&om_ss=1 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954597 | 134 | null | 2.59375 | 3 | www.chegg.com |
Definitions for narrow down
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word narrow down
pin down, peg down, nail down, narrow down, narrow, specify(verb)
"I cannot narrow down the rules for this game"
specialize, specialise, narrow, narrow down(verb)
become more focus on an area of activity or field of study
"She specializes in Near Eastern history"
Make more specific.
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Thanks for your vote! We truly appreciate your support. | <urn:uuid:ab134562-40bd-4290-bb48-975d48894728> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.definitions.net/definition/narrow%20down | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.79051 | 217 | null | 2.671875 | 3 | www.definitions.net |
Find the first derivative of the function:
dy/dx = (2-x)^(1/2) - (1/2)x.(2-x)^(-1/2)
You have to be careful in this matter, especially since you've encountered a square root form in the denominator.
* take the denominator, ignore the constant in front of the square root. We know that the original rule for square root that to have a non-imaginary result, the value under the root should be >= 0. However, since this form is in the denominator, the rule now becomes > 0. So:
2 - x > 0
x < 2
* now take the nominator. Since the denominator value will always be positive, nominator value will be the 'decision maker', whether the graph function is increasing or decreasing.
4 - 3x = 0
x = 4/3
To find the global extreme values, just substitute this value to the original equation to find y
As for the behaviour, test one condition. Say that you want to know when the graph of this function is increasing
4 - 3x > 0
x < 4/3
So, we can say that the function is increasing at interval [-2,4/3) or -2<=x<4/3, and decreasing at the interval (4/3,2) or 4/3<x<2 | <urn:uuid:f4a8c1de-e650-4522-a6ae-529408c885bd> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1298762685 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.872417 | 300 | null | 2.875 | 3 | www.jiskha.com |
MBARI Ridges 2005 Expedition
Juan de Fuca Leg: August 7–18, 2005
Gorda Leg: August 22–September 2, 2005
August 30 update posted by Dave Clague
Tiburon dive 891 - Exploring the central vent area of the Escanaba Trough
We completed the fifth and final dive at the NESCA eruption site today, with a dive near the inferred eruption vents. During the dive, we continued our collection of sediment cores to determine the sizes and shapes of volcanic particles in the sediment, as well as the total amount of glass deposited close to the vents. We also performed several biological transects over different type of flows to see how much variation in community structure there was between this flow and the other younger flows we have seen during this cruise.
The lava flow that we explored today surrounds several uplifted hills of sediment. We believe that these hills were uplifted by magma that flowed beneath the surface to form shallow sills. One of the small sediment hills was bounded by a lava-block talus slope rather than an in-place lava flow, which suggests that this particular hill was uplifted after the lava flow was emplaced. However, the fact that the flow also flowed around the hill suggests that the hill began to uplift before the emplacement of the flow around it. Taken together, these two observations provide evidence that the eruption and the local uplift caused by lava-sill emplacement occurred at about the same time.
In several places we observed that the early lava flows took the form of flat, folded, or jumbled sheet flows, but later flows contained more pillow lavas. This sequence is what we would expect if large amounts of lava flowed from the vent at the beginning of the eruption, but the flow rate decreased as the eruption proceeded. This eruption pattern is common for volcanoes on land, in Hawaii and elsewhere in the world.
During our transects across the lava flow, we spent a lot of time discussing what the different pillow-lava shapes and textures could tell us about the rates and styles of lava emplacement. Many of the lava pillows had thick "bread-crust" rinds. These rinds suggest that the pillows inflated slowly at first, allowing a thick crust to form, then reinflated due to a later lava surge, which caused them to split open. Other pillows were smooth-skinned.
During our five dives in the Escanaba Trough, we collected about 135 push-cores of sediment and 25 new samples of volcanic rock. These samples will be analyzed along with previously collected samples from this area to help us evaluate the homogeneity of the flow and to determine if the different flow morphologies reflect differences in lava temperature and emplacement rates. The push-core sediment samples we collected have all been sieved to separate the sand- and silt-sized grains of glass from the mud, which makes up more than 95% of the samples. Our next step will be to determine the largest grain sizes found at each location as well as the distribution of the grain sizes and the amount of glass in each sample. After we get all this done, we will be able to build computer models that relate the dispersal of the volcanic glass particles to the style and rate of the initial eruption.
At the end of today’s dive, we revisited a hydrocarbon-seep site where we had collected chemosynthetic clams in 2002. The samples from the 2002 dive smelled like diesel because they contained "cracked" hydrocarbons (essentially crude oil, which was created when hot hydrothermal fluids "cooked" the organic carbon buried in the Escanaba Trough sediments). It took us several hours to relocate the site, but when we did, all we found were dead clamshells. We also didn't see the bacterial mats or black, hydrocarbon-rich sediments that were present in 2002. This suggests that the seep stopped flowing some time during the last 3 years.
As on previous days, we observed several new and strange animals today, including “the basketball”--a large, round, bumpy, reddish-brown benthic mollusc, which we carefully scooped into the biobox on the ROV. We also collected a branched animal (a gorgonian coral?) with small balls on the end of each branch. Both are completely new to all of us. Finally, we collected several sea stars--a white one that occurred everywhere on the lava flow and a second, larger species that was unlike any we have seen previously. We also saw found additional examples of some of the new animals from yesterday's dive, including a diaphanous benthic mollusk that we collected yesterday and a large (30-cm) white polychaete worm we saw but could not collect because it was too quick for us.
On the way back to the surface, we stopped to buy a postcard showing a few more of the animals of the Escanaba trough (thanks to Janice Fong for the inspiration). | <urn:uuid:570f33cc-aab1-49c3-8b3e-702afce59744> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.mbari.org/expeditions/ridges2005/august_30.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967433 | 1,058 | null | 2.71875 | 3 | www.mbari.org |
ASK DR. PETRUSO!
Helpful Responses™ to Important Questions
(almost a blog)
SOME WISDOM TO HELP YOU GET THROUGH
YOUR DULL, DRAB AND DREARY DAY.
Q: What is meant by the phrase "We should bomb them back into the Stone Age"?
--G.W.B., Washington, DC
A: "Stone Age" is an archaeological term used primarily in the Old World to designate the era beginning with the appearance of tool-making hominids. During this long period, which began some 2 million years ago, various types of stone (e.g., flint, chert, quartzite, obsidian) constituted the primary--or at least best-surviving--raw material for tools. The Stone Age ends by convention with the emergence and diffusion of metallurgy (the working of copper and, not long thereafter, bronze), ca. 4000 BC in the Near East.
The phrase "We should bomb them back into the Stone Age" dates to the Vietnam War era. It has been attributed to U.S. Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay (1906-1990), who was, without a doubt, the scariest Cold Warrior in American history. We might note in passing that the Vietnam War inspired a number of other colorful but dark phrases, including the Vietnam-era "We had to destroy the village in order to save it [from Communism]."
But Dr. Petruso digresses. It is technically impossible to bomb an enemy back into the Stone Age. Doing so presupposes mastery of time travel, which technology (if we had it) probably would not involve the use of explosives. It is theoretically possible, however, to bomb an enemy into a Stone Age mode of subsistence (i.e., hunting and gathering/early agricultural), if enough of the enemy's modern infrastructure is "degraded," or "compromised," to use a few popular military euphemisms.
Some readers may well be wondering whether Afghanistan can be bombed back into the Stone Age. Perhaps. But Dr. Petruso is reminded of Gore Vidal's observation at the end of Fellini's Roma, when he noted that--with reference to the concept of Italian efficiency--it wasn't impossible for Mussolini to get the trains to run on time. It was pointless.
Q: What is the best cut on Steely Dan's recent Grammy-winning CD, Two Against Nature?
--D.F., Los Angeles, CA
A: "West of Hollywood," without question. Chris Potter's tenor sax solo channels Bird.
Q: What neologisms, solecisms and fad phrases do you find particularly odious?
--K.B.J., Fort Worth, TX
A: Dr. Petruso is glad you asked. Here are a few. Additions will be posted when they reach DEFCON 4 on the grating scale."on the ground," as in "My people on the ground tell me that … " This is military jargon, suggesting that the speaker is a can-do, mission-oriented, strategy-and-tactics kind of guy. Unless you happen to be Gen. Tommy Franks or some other highly-placed ops or logistics officer, please spare us this image.
"at the end of the day," a particularly silly CEO-speak metaphor used in lieu of the perfectly adequate "when all is said and done" or "in the final analysis."
"is is," as in "The problem is, is that … " Why speakers should feel obliged to reduplicate this verb mystifies Dr. Petruso. The only persons who should be permitted to get away with daisy-chaining these two words are womanizing former U.S. presidents.
"weaponize" and "weaponeer" -- a pair of truly loathsome verbs given wide currency by the current geopolitical crisis. They have been used by DoD types and journalists to refer to what can be done to anthrax and airplanes, respectively, to render them lethal.
"securitize," a word actually spoken by President W in a sentence which also contained as a bonus the word "nookyular" (weapons, that is) during his visit to Berlin in May 2002, as he attempted to rally support for the US-led war on terrorism. Dr. Petruso is not making this up.
"No problem," when the speaker means to say, "You're welcome."
"Absolutely," when the speaker means to say, simply, "Yes." There is no need to stroke the listener, at least in most cases.
"Not really," when the speaker means to say, simply, "No." Don't pussyfoot around: if the answer is no, say no.
"issue," when the speaker means to say "problem."
"out of pocket," which many use to convey the idea "out of town" (this is a common phrase in Texas). "Out of pocket" should be reserved to describe business-related expenses, typically incurred while traveling, which are unanticipated and/or which one must absorb immediately, and which might not be reimbursed by one's employer (e.g., meal and taxi tips). The phrase is usually transitive. Example: "I'm out of pocket $30."
In football, a quarterback is often described as dropping back into the pocket--a zone of protection in which he is defended by his linemen--to pass the ball. Subsequently he might venture out of the pocket, at his peril. But in this case the article provides important information, and is essential.
"feel like that," as in "I feel like that the referee made a bad call." This is another colorful Texasism (or perhaps Southernism). "That" alone will suffice in such a construction.
"might could," as in "We might could go to Luby's for dinner tonight." See above, under "feel like that."
"as far as," when not followed up by "goes" or "is concerned." This ungainly phrase leaves the listener hanging as the speaker launches off into another clause.
"very unique." Now hear this: The word "unique" is exclusive. There are no degrees of uniqueness. Something is unique or it is not unique. Period.
"If you're ... , " when the predicate is a collective noun rather than a person. Dr. Petruso first heard this nails-scraping-on-blackboard construction during the O.J. Simpson trial, when it was voiced frequently by Jack Ford (NBC's legal consultant/pundit) in such sentences as, "If you're the prosecution, you have to be worried about the testimony of that witness." Nowadays it is quite common to hear it voiced by sports announcers (e.g., "If you're the Packers, you have to wonder about that out-of-bounds call.").
Memo to Jack et al.: Syntax! Avoid nonparallel constructions! A group is not and cannot be a person. Please dummy up.
"It's about ... " This peculiar clause came to Dr. Petruso's notice in NBC's Motown 25th anniversary tribute to Berry Gordy in 1983. Diana Ross was one of a dozen or so certifiably supergalactic (not to mention superannuated) Motown stars who padded onto the stage to gush over Gordy. Her paean was terse and cryptic: "It's not about who leaves. It's about who comes back." Ummm ... huh? What's about who comes back?? This construction is especially noisome when repeated several times over. Predictably, perhaps, it has come to roost most comfortably in advertising copy.
Numbers in parentheses. Some authors love to reformat and repeat numbers to give their writing an official or authoritative air, as in "Students must complete eighteen (18) credit hours in the minor." Pay attention here: The only reason to repeat a number in a different form is to guard against the possibility that the first version might be misunderstood or (more to the point) corrupted. In the sentence above, it is far more likely that the shorter (numerical) version of the number will be corrupted. We write out the dollar amount of a check in words in order to keep unscrupulous persons from performing mischief on the numerical version (by, e.g., moving the decimal point). Thus, the only way a reduplicated construction makes sense is if the numerical version comes first, i.e., "Students must complete 18 (eighteen) credit hours in the minor." The second version confirms and clarifies the first.
"deodorancy," a word that is now featured on Arm & Hammer deodorant. It is a highfalutin neologism and a stupid attempt to turn body odor into High Concept. This is a stretch.
And while we are on the subject of advertising hype, it might be noted that the DVD of "The Last Waltz," the music documentary (let us avoid the term rockumentary) of The Band's final concert, is, as of this writing, being sold with an impressive gold sticker on the shrinkwrap proclaiming that it is a LIMITED EDITION PACKAGING product. Presumably this superamazing packaging will be available for only a short time ("Once they're gone, they're gone, folks!"), but there is nothing at all remarkable about it; nor is it clear how the next generation of this particular DVD's packaging will be any less worthy than the current one.
Here are two of the most nauseatingly overused terms in bureaucratese in the early 21st century: "moving forward" or "going forward" (when the speaker means to say "from now on") and "transparent," as in "the process should be transparent." Both of these terms spread like SARSophobia, and were touchstones of flaks in the W administration as it bumbled its way through nation-building operations in Iraq.
"Prior to" is used in temporal, never spatial, contexts. You do not see a traffic backup prior to Exit 23, you see it before Exit 23. Traffic helicopter pilots especially take note.
"Poster boy for ..." Please, can we stop using this stupid metaphor? Please?
"Wake-up call," which now signals any event that causes one to be on guard.
"Push back," to describe resistance of any sort. Nice phrase, but terminally overused.
"Having said that, ..." an idiotic expression which goes some distance to negating, or at least taking most of the force out of, what the speaker has just said. Can you say mealymouthed?
"Please RSVP," the literal translation of which, for those who have no French, is "Please respond if you please." It's redundant. Get it? It's redundant. And repetitive.
"Perfect storm," a metaphor so overused that it has by now lost all its mojo. The book and movie that inspired it are so twentieth-century.
"800-pound gorilla in the room," used by the most unimaginative newly-elected Democrats in Congress to refer to Iraq. If this is an indication of the extent of creativity and subtlety of the loyal opposition in the 110th Congress, we will be in Iraq for the long haul, no question about it.
Q: What about the whole postmodern lexicon thing? Don't some of the terms used in literary scholarship also just drive you around the bend?
--F.J., Chapel Hill, NC
A: Dr. Petruso loves questions like this. The following ultrasilly terms, which are among the most execrable flotsam and jetsam of postmodern scholarship, are to be avoided at all costs.
Other (when preceded by the article "the")
Project (as in "The project of capitalism is …")
Space (in non-spatial conexts)
Terrain (see above, Space)
OTHER OFFENSIVE EFFLUVIA:
Parentheses, underlines and slashes within words
Intentional cutesy misspellings
Quotation marks (when used ironically)
Q: Will you PLEASE tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?
--R.G., New York, NY
A: This is a tough one. Since 9/11/01 this country has been an unfathomably weird, gloomy and jumpy place. Unfortunately, however, as of this writing it's not yet clear what the hell is going on here. Dr. Petruso would like to be able to give you succor (a wonderfully archaic word that Secretary of State Colin Powell has revived to threaten nations that harbor terrorists). As an empiricist and fan of the Heisenberg Principle, however, Dr. Petruso feels obliged to reserve judgment at this time (not "at this point in time," as the dissembling three-piece-suited bagmen and assorted bottom-feeders who ran the Nixon White House were wont to say).
But please stay tuned. As soon as Dr. Petruso figures out what the hell really is going on here, he will post a sage explanation to this web page. Bookmark it.
Q: What are you sitting on that makes you so insufferable?
--N.S.P., Arlington, TX
A: We assume you refer puckishly here to Dr. Petruso's chronic case of existential dyspepsia. What it comes down to, he has concluded, is this: An exhilarating combination of the license to say just about anything--which tenure provides--and the irrelevance and pointlessness of this license in the end.
Q: The lady at the AARP office says she doesn't know where I can get a Passing Lane Camping Permit. Where did you get yours?
--M.A., Nazareth, PA
A: The first thing you need to understand here, M.A., is that Dr. Petruso is a professional. Yes, camping in the passing lane might look glamorous and all, and it certainly makes for good cocktail party conversation. But never lose sight of the fact that it is dangerous. It demands quick wits and catlike reflexes. It takes years of practice at an extremely high and sustained level of commitment to be able to do do it well. In short, M.A, passing lane camping is not for everyone.
The fact that you called AARP for information on camping in the parking lane suggests that you are one of what your PC types nowadays refer to as our "senior citizens." Far be it from Dr. Petruso to cast aspersions on the esteemed geezers of this country, but I'd suggest that you consider carefully whether you still have the mental acuity, nerves and physical stamina required to make you successful at this exciting and demanding activity.
If, upon reflection, you decide to take it up, Dr. Petruso can provide you with a PLC permit for a fee of only $100.00 (postpaid).
Q: So I was watching Monday Night Football when my worldview was shattered by the comment of one John Madden. Thanks to his acute observational powers, he had noticed that punts were not traveling very far in some less-than-conducive-to-long-punts conditions (it was a cold night in Green Bay). There were some awkward mumblings. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of rust breaking away from a hamster's exercise wheel (something has to power his brain, right?). And then came his explanation of those poor punts that challenged my conception. He turned to Al Michaels and asked, "Below 32 degrees, that's when things freeze, right?" And Michaels never responded to his question. Was he as troubled by the implications of Madden's observation as I was? So my question for Dr. Petruso is simply this: When do aforementioned "things" freeze?
--B.V., location not provided
A: Interesting that you should ask. Dr. Petruso has long pondered a related question, namely whether the wind-chill factor affects machinery. Will your car be harder to start at, say, 27 degrees with a wind of 20 mph than it will be at 27 degrees on a calm day? Dr. Petruso must admit that he doesn't know the answer to this. Perhaps they've done studies on it.
And, as it happens, Dr. Petruso was talking with a physicist colleague just the other day about why a slab of marble always feels cooler at room temperature than a wooden board--clearly they are both the same temperature, i.e., precisely "room." The physicist temporized and equivocated, and after dancing around the question for a few minutes, finally provided a thoroughly unsatisfactory answer, full of abstruse technical terms like "thermal conductivity" and "density" and "molecules." Is it any wonder that the W administration is suspicious of pointy-headed intellectuals?
But Dr. Petruso digresses. It is a safe bet that things actually do freeze below (actually, at) 32 degrees--Fahrenheit, that is. How does he know this? Because he used to own a Ford Explorer, and for several years drove on Firestone's Tires of Death before Mrs. Petruso forced him to trade it in. Anyway, it had a digital thermometer mounted above the rearview mirror, you know, 747-style, to give one the feeling that he is piloting a powerful, sophisticated vehicle. Whenever the temperature dipped below 32, it flashed "ICE", I suppose to alert the pilot to dangerous road conditions, or maybe to suggest that he call the de-icing truck to get hosed down.
So you can trust John ("Boom! Boom!") Madden on this. He is a professional. He knows a Nickel D from an audiblized bootleg.
Bottom line: Be on your guard when the temperature drops to 32.
Q: What's the deal with those machines in supermarkets that convert your coins to paper money?
--T.M., Arlington, TX
A: Long has Dr. Petruso mused over the question of whether these Coinstar® machines have any socially redeeming value. It seems that every other time he sashays into his local Tom Thumb ISO radicchio and arugula, he sees some feeb pouring a coffee can full of coins into a Coinstar® hopper. The charge for this useful service is 8.9¢ on the dollar--that is, nearly 9% of the total wad. And just check out the big bright sign on the machine, which announces, "Turn your change into cash!", suggesting that coins are not, in fact, legal tender.
Whoever thought up this idea is a cynical genius. He showed that all-American quality of generating a totally gratuitous concept--itself easy enough to do--but then he acted on it. He bought and set up in public places machines that are identical to those in banks. You know, banks, where you can get your coins counted and converted from specie to paper currency for free. Even more incredibly, at Dr. Petruso's Tom Thumb, not forty paces away, also within the store, is a Wells Fargo Bank branch.
And you wonder what makes this country great.
Q: Why does Dallas Cowboys head coach Dave Campo make such boneheaded 4th-quarter decisions?
--T.D.B., Tacoma, WA
A: Dr. Petruso (winner of an honorary Heisman Award in 1994 for Monday Morning Quarterbacking) unfortunately can't help you out here. NFL fans will recall three recent strategic muffs of humiliating proportions in the 2002-03 season alone, the end result of which arguably cost the Cowboys their playoff chances:
October 6, 2002: Down by 4 points, Campo calls for a punt in a 4th-and-9 situation on the Giants' 48. Did he think that the 2:03 remaining was time enough to regain possession and score a TD? (A field goal wouldn't have cut it.) New York runs out the clock.
November 22, 2002: It's 26-10 Denver in the 4th. Dallas scores, then opts for the extra point instead of a 2-point conversion. Then Dallas astonishingly scores again, with less than 5 minutes on the clock; but by this time they are down by 9, so even a 2-point conversion would not have helped. Denver runs out the clock. (Yo! Dave! A 16-point deficit requires two TDs and two 2-point conversions. Just to tie, Dave.)
December 8, 2002: With 2:21 to go in the game, it's Dallas's ball, 4th and less than a yard. Dallas leads San Francisco 27-24, and the 49ers have burned all their timeouts. Instead of relying on Emmitt Smith (who has been having a very good day) to make a first down so Dallas can eat up the clock, Campo calls for a 47-yard field goal from a kicker who by most accounts should not be on any NFL roster. He misses. The 49ers take over at their own 28 and march down the field for a touchdown with 12 seconds left on the clock. The Cowboys get the kickoff and, with 0:02 remaining, do the obligatory Hail Mary thing, unsuccessfully.
What was Campo thinking? A FG, even if successful, would have increased the Dallas lead to 6 points, and thus would not have been proof against the TD-cum-extra-point that Garcia-Owens ultimately put up. Final score: 31-27 San Francisco.
MEMO TO DAVE: Please notify your offensive coordinator that Dr. Petruso watches Cowboys games with his phone at his side, and is available to call in plays every Sunday afternoon. (xc: Jerry Jones)
Q: Why can’t newscasters—that is, people who read prose professionally—pronounce the name of Russia’s president correctly?
--D.S., Arlington, TX
A: One need not know any Russian to suspect that the “t” in Putin is pronounced, not swallowed. It is POO-tin, not pootin’ (as in rootin’ tootin’). In linguistics terms, the “t” is an aspirated alveolar stop. This is yet another piece of evidence, if evidence were needed, that Americans have lazy, provincial tongues.
Q: Who is the rudest, most obnoxious and most supercilious news announcer on BBC World Service radio news?
--K.P., Arlington, TX
A: Oliver Scott, hands down. His interviews are unswervingly hostile. He mercilessly interrupts his guests. He speaks in an offensive sneer, dripping contempt. He is, truth be told, the Beeb equivalent of our own Bill O'Reilly. He is absolutely insufferable.
BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!
Dr. Petruso posts below in full a turgid, bureaucratic email response from one "Graham", who purports to be on the staff of the BBC, received 2/27/04 (bracketed comments added by Dr. Petruso for purposes of clarification and/or sarcasm):
“My apologies that pressing matters such as the appointment of the new DG [Director General] of the BBC [as a result of the sordid Tony Blair/ "sexing up the WMD intel report"/ suicide of David Kelly affair] have prevented me from picking up on and responding to your comments ("Ask Dr Petruso") about Oliver Scott's presentational skills. Please be assured that your views have been noted and that Oliver's future as a presenter for the BBC World Service will come under close scrutiny as part of the wider review being conducted into delivery of the Corporation's main aims.
As you will doubtless know, the World Service dimension of the Corporation's output has been fundamental to the delivery of the founding belief that "Nation will speak unto nation". Although at times it may appear that this is best achieved by everyone speaking the "Queen's English", it must be recalled that this reflects to this day the vital role assumed by the Service during the Second World War and indeed even more so during the painful period of reconstruction that followed. The Board of Directors' decision in 1997 to "virtualise" the Service in partnership with Microsoft reflected the Corporation's desire both to maintain public confidence in a widely respected if somewhat "hoity toity" news service and to work within silly--I mean really silly--budgetary constants. The result is what you hear. Oliver Scott for instance is an amalgam of various interviewers' voices heard over the years withal a bit of Churchill, Sir John Mills and a pinch of Herr Hitler [!], I understand, thrown in. John Humphreys (currently being trialled [trialled?] on domestic Radio 4) is considered to be a better blend altogether. It really is a matter of time as the bigger the data base becomes the more reassuringly cosy it will all again be. In the Greenwich Mean time, tune in to the Shipping Forecast (Do you have Long Wave?) and just let things go "Sailing By"....... ”
Can it be? Oliver Scott not a real individual, but rather "an amalgam"? Why? To protect the actual announcer, whoever he is, from retaliation by offended interviewees? Oh, puh-leeze. "Oliver Scott" is not exactly a restaurant reviewer whose identity needs to be kept a secret.
Looks to Dr. Petruso as if the Beeb has caved, abandoning all pretense of journalistic reptuation to American-style infotainment, and more's the pity.
Not to mention the fact that this email leaves no doubt whatsoever that BBC management now has nothing better to do than troll the web for mentions of its announcers' names.
Q: Hello. My name is Muffy Merkin. I am a college student and I frequently have to write personal statements for applications for scholarships and awards. Please give me some pointers on writing these things. How can I make my personal statements stand out from the rest of the crowd?
--M.M., Cambridge, MA
A: Pay attention here. This is important stuff:
(1) Never begin a personal statement with the word "Hello." This goes for letters, too, and even e-mails, like the one you have just sent to Dr. Petruso. As long as we're on this subject: Never type the word "hello" in the subject line of an e-mail. Dr. Petruso finds that whenever he opens such messages, they are, without exception, spam ads for products which allegedly will lengthen either his love life or a certain part of his anatomy. He now consigns all such "hello" messages to the trash, even if he recognizes the name of the person who sent it. So if you want your e-mails to be read, put something pertinent and comprehensible in the subject line. But Dr. Petruso digresses.
(2) Never begin a personal statement by stating your name. The reader will already know it. If you are worried that your bio might be confused with that of some other applicant, sign the document at the end, as if it were a letter.
(3) Scholarship review committees will want to get to know who the real Muffy is, what makes her tick. Use your personal statement to make clear what exactly it is that makes Muffy Muffy. There are some tried-and-true strategies for this. For example: Readers are always favorably impressed to learn that applicants have overcome adversity in their lives. Have you completely kicked that heroin addiction? Then shout it out, proudly. Have you outgrown your desire to be a contestant on American Idol ? Did you grow up in a Republican household? (Note: Even if you yourself voted for George W. Bush in the last presidential election, most scholarship committees will regard that as a youthful indiscretion, and your lapse will not automatically put you out of the running. Keep in mind that many criteria are considered in selection processes, of which appalling stupidity in the realm of political beliefs is only one.)
(4) Muffy is a risible nickname. Lose it before sending out your next scholarship app.
Q: In reference to the list of literary terms that you feel can only be safely dealt with as biological waste, I question the inclusion of "recursive." Do you prefer the awkward "self-referential," or do you contend that works of literature are incapable of using themselves as topics? And you might consider that if a work of literature were to include itself as an element of its own narrative, describing it as self-referential may not be strong enough, leading us to such prodigies as self-inclusive and monstrosities like tail-biting and ourobouric. Do you want to encourage this sort of abuse of the language?
--J.A.W., University Park, PA
A: Works of literature have no business referring to themselves. That kind of thing is way incestuous, if you know what I mean. Haven't you ever heard of the Quaker Oats Box Syndrome? That way lies madness.
This probably goes a long way toward explaining why so many researchers who wallow in po-mo scholarship suffer from brain damage.
Q: So what do you think of the "Recycle!" brochure distributed by the City of Arlington to remind everyone of the environmental benefits of recycling?
--R.C., Arlington, Texas
A: It certainly is garish. But one of the benefits listed on the brochure is that "Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV set for three hours." Dr. Petruso asks his readers to ponder: Is there a net advantage to using the energy so conserved to soak up the drivel foisted upon the American public by the plug-in drug? Of course not.
Having learned about the unhappy relationship between aluminum and television, Dr. Petruso has decided to throw his cans into the garbage henceforth, as a public service. With humility he accepts the accolades of a grateful Arlington citizenry, whose aggregate IQ has already begun to increase.
Q: When did the polite "May I have?" become "Can I get?" Did I miss something?
--S.L.S., Arlington, Texas
A: You have identified a real Dr. P bugagoo here. We were in line at our local Starbuck's the other day (double decaf latte, half-skim, half-2%, with a dash of amaretto, thank you very much), when we heard three customers ahead of us use this ugly construction when placing their orders. It very nearly put us off our coffee for the morning. These maladroits seem blissfully unaware of the difference between permission and capability on the one hand, and accepting and grabbing on the other. Please don't do this.
Q: I am reading Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged. Have you read it? What opinions do you have of this piece of literature?
--M.C., Arlington, TX
A: Dr. Petruso surmises from your question that you are young--late teens, early twenties, tops. At least he hopes this is the case, since that would be less troubling than the possibility that you are older, in which case you should know better.
Two types of people read Ayn Rand: young idealists casting about for interesting ideologies to try on for a while, to see how they fit; and heartless old warmed-over radicals desperate to have something distinctive and unusual to believe in.
Most thinking American adolescents of the generations following WWII have gone through an Ayn Rand phase (as did Dr. Petruso his ownself, many decades ago, when he dipped rather deeply into the Rand oeuvre, and he makes no apology for it now). But, like television, facial piercings, droopy trousers that reveal your underpants, and an inability to speak a complete sentence that does not include the word "like", Dr. Petruso hopes that a fascination with Rand's "philosophy" of objectivism will eventually pass, at least for most thinking youths in this generation, as they move on to more adult pursuits.
The last time Dr. Petruso heard anything about Ayn Rand's legacy was a few years ago, in the context of a rant from her breathtakingly strident, even combative, intellectual heir, the raving lunatic Leonard Peikoff (like Rand, an addle-brained ex-Bolshevik). Among the offensive stands he took was that persons who are incapacitated physically, mentally or emotionally have no right to expect compassion, much less assistance, from either government or society; and that they should get down on their knees in gratitude for any sops and dregs they might be thrown. Shrill, brutal and, in the end, deplorable, untenable except by provocateurs and unfortunates with deep-seated pathologies.
So by all means continue your explorations for an identity, young M.C. And don't neglect to peruse the writings of Albert Camus, whose existentialist/absurdist philosophy (not to mention his persona) Dr. Petruso has always found a whole lot more fascinating than those of Ayn Rand. Not to mention the fact that Camus always looked terminally cool in a trenchcoat and fedora, sucking on a Gauloise ...
Q: I am curious about the musical genres and artists that speak to you. Is there a musician who can make tears come to your eyes? Or perhaps a singer whose words draw you so close to him/her that you feel a true connection with the person? I feel such a connection with Dave Mustaine of the band Megadeth. His lyrics, many of which are political, draw me in, as does his astonishing guitar work. What do you think about heavy metal music?
Also: what does it mean to "exchange a walk-on part in The Wall for a lead role in a cage"?
--B.B., Arlington, TX
A: Yes, B.B., there are indeed musical works that Dr. Petruso finds profoundly affecting. Here are some of them, always in heavy rotation on his iPod: Pat Metheny's more soaring and more contemplative guitar compositions (e.g., "Phase Dance," "September 15th" [the latter an hommage to Bill Evans]); Tom Waits's mid-'70s melancholy down-and-out ballads in beat verse and prose (many of the songs on The Heart of Saturday Night and Nighthawks at the Diner); Joni Mitchell's songs of loss, missed opportunity and redemption ("Don't Interrupt the Sorrow," "Shadows and Light," "Song for Sharon"—in fact, all of Hejira); Franco Corelli's over-the-top rendition of "Vesti la Giubba" from the opera Pagliacci; and Arlo Guthrie's amusing but biting "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," which brings to the surface a jumble of conflicted emotions about Vietnam (the defining event of Dr. Petruso's generation), and about war in general. Then there are Dr. P's guilty pleasures, including the works of Leon Redbone and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, which the current Mrs. Petruso unaccountably cannot abide, and forbids him to play in the house.
The lyric you quote (erroneously), actually goes like this:
"Did you exchange a walk-on part in a war
for a lead role in a cage?"
Dr. Petruso has always taken these lines to be a reference to what would later inspire The Wall, namely Roger Waters's rage at his father, who in Waters's view abandoned his family to go off and die in WWII. The Wall did not come out, though, until four years after Wish You Were Here, which is the album on which the aforementioned song appears. The anguish Waters vents, incidentally, was first expressed in literature nearly 3000 years ago by Homer, who recounts Odysseus's visit to Achilles in Hades in Odyssey XI, lines 556-58 (you can look it up). It's a very creepy scene, and it expresses a deep and remarkably unheroic, even un-Hellenic, anxiety. Be warned that Homer can suck you in, though; you just might find him more compelling than Megadeth.
Q: How does Dr. Petruso feel about ring tones? People search for that perfect ring tone in a public restaurant, movie theater, library, church, etc. As a society, we seem to be on a quest for our own special theme songs, as if to validate our identity. All this leaves me utterly confused. Please help me, Dr. Petruso!
--B.B., Arlington, TX
A: If you have carefully studied the companion piece to "Ask Dr. Petruso," you will know that he regards people who feel compelled to babble into their cell phones every waking hour--including while eating, driving, and tending to their excremental functions--as total morons whose identity should by no means be subject to validating, at least if thinking people have any say in the matter. If ennui was the malaise of the late twentieth century, the compulsion to reach out and touch someone by satellite is already a contender for the malaise of the twenty-first.
But Dr. Petruso appreciates the opportunity your question has provided to pontificate on telephone etiquette. Listen up: The perfect ringtone is "vibrate." And consider for a moment what a wonderful world this would be if everyone recorded the following message on his or her voicemail: "I am not available to take your call at this time. Come to think of it, I am not interested in taking your call. Ever. When you hear the tone, please hang up. And have a nice day, you moron."
By the way, B.B., have you finished reading the Odyssey yet? Get on it.
Got a question for Dr. Petruso? Click here to submit it (make sure you type "Q for Dr. P" in the subject line!). Because of the high volume of questions received, he cannot guarantee that all questions will receive responses, but he does promise to smirk at the naïveté of yours.
Return to Petruso Homepage | <urn:uuid:57f12674-d88a-4f22-8c97-d5730eb8b37a> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.uta.edu/honors/faculty/petruso/askdrp.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953859 | 8,079 | null | 2.59375 | 3 | www.uta.edu |
The 15th annual “State of the Air” report shows that a pollutant that recently was found to cause lung cancer, still remains as a significant health problem. Ozone is the most common air pollutant in the country, and also happens to be one of the hardest to reduce. This report shows that levels of smog in 2014 are much worse than they were in 2013.
Twenty-two of the 25 most ozone-polluted cities had more high ozone days on average this year than the year before, and thirteen of those 25 cities with the worst year-round particle pollution reached their lowest levels ever.
As previously stated, Los Angeles has the worst ozone pollution levels in the country. But, over the last 15 years, it has erased more than one third of its unhealthy ozone level days. Salt Lake City, Utah and San Diego, CA also a less amount of unhealthy ozone days.
Bangor, Maine, Fort Myers, FL, and Salinas, CA were named some of the cleanest cities because they had zero days of unhealthy levels of ozone.
Below are some tips that the American Lung Association has given to help improve the air that people breathe.
- Clean up power plants: The EPA needs to reduce carbon pollution, the ALA says: Ozone and particle pollution that blows across state lines must be controlled. In the next year, the Obama administration has pledged to set standards for carbon pollution from new and existing power plants.
- Strengthen the outdated ozone standards: The EPA needs to set a strong, health-based standard to limit ozone pollution, the association urges. Strong standards will drive the needed cleanup of ozone across the nation.
- Clean up new wood-burning devices: The EPA needs to issue strong standards to clean up new wood stoves, outdoor wood boilers and other residential wood-burning devices.
- Fund the work to provide healthy air: Congress needs to adequately fund the work of the EPA and the states to monitor and protect the nation from air pollution, ALA adds.
- Protect the Clean Air Act: Congress needs to ensure that the protections under the Clean Air Act remain strong and enforced. | <urn:uuid:c644877f-a59e-48d5-9682-24ba5aefbf3f> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | https://nhozonepollution.wordpress.com/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246651873.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045731-00085-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95828 | 440 | null | 3.15625 | 3 | nhozonepollution.wordpress.com |
It’s long been known that the undersea noise we create with our large machines — oil drilling equipment, ships and submarines — has a detrimental effect on whales, causing hearing damage and changes in feeding, mating and communication. And noise from snowmobiles has often been cited as the reason some species of animals in Yellowstone National Park are being stressed and pushed out of their preferred habitats, impacting their health and increasing mortality.
It turns out that our large machines, though, may not be our only cause for concern when it comes to outdoor noise pollution and its effects on the natural world. Our small, compact mobile phones — and the apps we put on them — have been shown to change the behavior of birds.
Will the noise we individuals are increasingly capable of imposing upon other species outdoors soon also have enough power to affect their ability to survive?
Whether you’re an avid sportsman or purely a wildlife-watcher, it’s a fact that the animals, birds and fish you endeavor to see are “paid for” mostly by hunters. Those who engage in hunting, fishing and trapping are the major contributors to conservation funds in almost every state. Surprisingly, the monies animal-viewers and birdwatchers donate to conservation efforts rarely add up to even a third or a half of what hunters put into department of natural resources funds — even though watchers greatly outnumber them.
In my own state of Wisconsin, deer-hunting licenses and permits generated $22.7 million in revenue for the department of natural resources in 2010. And in most years, an excise tax on hunting equipment provides an additional $10 million to the state for wildlife management — in one case, supplying $400,000 to study and prepare for the likely arrival of a deadly bat disease. The problem is, however, that the number of hunters — along with anglers and trappers — is declining. And it promises to keep decreasing as the population ages.
So as the economy tightens, causing state and federal budgets for wildlife conservation to continue to be cut, and if younger people are not taking up hunting and fishing, where will future environmental monies come from?
One in five Americans considers himself or herself a “bird watcher,” according to a report published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last summer. Going by the report’s guidelines, in order to qualify as a “bird watcher,” you either had to have taken a trip one mile or more away from home for the primary purpose of watching birds, or you had to have closely observed birds around your house. If you mostly spotted birds passively — while mowing the yard, for example, or while at a zoo — you would not be counted as a “bird watcher.”
As I hiked with my dog through prairie open space on a recent morning, we were both captivated by the wild creatures around us. In his case, it was the prairie dog colony; in mine, a long V of geese honking overhead. The swallows have left, and I haven’t heard a meadowlark since early September. | <urn:uuid:af055703-9036-40ab-af8d-91e55cfb8819> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://blog.gaiam.com/tag/bird-watching/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963368 | 649 | null | 2.734375 | 3 | blog.gaiam.com |
Jun 3rd, 2009 by houghtonmodern
In 1861, President Lincoln signed a bill making the United States Sanitary Commission into a government agency. Organized by thousands of women volunteers across the country, the commission succeeded in raising almost twenty five million dollars during the course of the Civil War, and worked to cut the disease rate of the Union Army in half.*
In early 1864, the USSC held a “Sanitary Fair” in Brooklyn and Long Island to raise money for their efforts. The group published a daily newspaper titled The Drum Beat from 22 February to 5 March, with an extra issue on 11 March 1864. The paper was professionally edited, illustrated, and printed, included work by leading writers and artists, and sold nearly 6000 copies per day at the fair and by subscription. While an interesting example of a Civil War publication in its own right, the newspaper holds special significance for our collection at Houghton.
In the March 2, 1864 issue, an unsigned poem titled “Flowers” (“Flowers – Well – if anybody”) appeared. A poem titled “Sunset” (“Blazing in Gold and quenching in Purple”) was published February 29, and “October” (“These are the days when the birds come back”) appeared March 11. It was not until 1984 that scholar Karen Dandurand** attributed these poems to Emily Dickinson. The Drum Beat was edited by the Reverent Richard Salter Storrs, Jr., a graduate of Amherst College and acquaintance of Emily’s brother Austin Dickinson. Dandurand believes that Dickinson voluntarily contributed these poems to the war effort, perhaps through her brother, perhaps on her own. (Prior to this discovery, scholars believed Dickinson felt ambivalent towards the Civil War, and gave up seeking publication of her work following numerous rejections.)
*See http://www.forttejon.org/ussc/ussc.html for more information on the USSC.
** See Dandurand, “New Dickinson Civil War Publications,” American Literature 56.1 (March 1984), p. 17.
US 6090.33. From the bequest of Evert Jansen Wendell, 1918. Houghton Library, Harvard University. | <urn:uuid:a28c8a59-6a83-43df-bf63-2d9c24d5873c> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2009/06/03/earlydickinson/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960227 | 481 | null | 2.859375 | 3 | blogs.law.harvard.edu |
The report has lots of detailed information about how wealth is held in financial and nonfinancial forms, trends in the last year, and trends back to 2000. I found especially interesting the discussion of what happens if we look at the distribution of global wealth not as averages across regions, as in the table above, but across individuals?
"To determine how global wealth is distributed across households and individuals – rather thanHere's a pyramid of wealth for the world economy. The 32 million people around the world who have more than $1 million in wealth represent 0.7% of the world population, and hold 41% of the world's wealth.
regions or countries – we combine our data on the level of household wealth across countries with information on the pattern of wealth distribution within countries. Our estimates for mid-2013 indicate that once debts have been subtracted, an adult requires just USD 4,000 in assets to be in the wealthiest half of world citizens. However, a person needs at least USD 75,000 to be a member of the top 10% of global wealth holders, and USD 753,000 to belong to the top 1%. Taken together, the bottom half of the global population own less than 1% of total wealth. In sharp contrast, the richest 10% hold 86% of the world’s wealth, and the top 1% alone account for 46% of global assets."
What about if we look at the top of that wealth pyramid, with a focus on those who have more than $1 million in wealth? There are roughly 100,000 people in the world with more than $50 million in wealth.
And finally, how about if we look at the ultra-wealthy, the top of the top of the wealth pyramid, meaning those 100,000 people with more than $50 million in wealth. What countries are they from? The United States is first on the list, which isn't big surprise, but I found it startling that among countries, China has the second-largest number of ultra-wealthy people. | <urn:uuid:b1b7f2b9-0cf5-45e9-85a1-43212517f209> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-global-wealth-distribution.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945985 | 415 | null | 2.828125 | 3 | conversableeconomist.blogspot.com |
Lee County, Iowa
|Lee County, Iowa|
Courthouse located in Fort Madison
Location in the state of Iowa
Iowa's location in the U.S.
|Seat||Fort Madison and Keokuk|
|Largest city||Fort Madison|
|• Total||539 sq mi (1,396 km2)|
|• Land||518 sq mi (1,342 km2)|
|• Water||21 sq mi (54 km2), 4.0%|
|• Density||69/sq mi (27/km²)|
|Time zone||Central: UTC-6/-5|
Lee County, Iowa, was established in 1836. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,862. It has two county seats — Fort Madison and Keokuk. Lee County is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA-IL-MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Fort Madison dates to the war of 1812. Lee County was the location of the Half-Breed Tract, established by treaty in 1824. Allocations of land were made to American Indian descendants of European fathers and Indian mothers at this tract. Originally the land was to be held in common. Some who had an allocation lived in cities, where they hoped to make better livings.
Large-scale European-American settlement in the area began in 1839, after Congress allowed owners to sell land individually. Members of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) fled persecutions in Missouri to settle in Illinois and Iowa. Nauvoo, across the border in Hancock County, Illinois, became the main center of Latter-day Saints settlement, but there was also a Latter Day Saints stake organized in Lee County under the direction of John Smith, the uncle of Joseph Smith, land that was sold to them by Isaac Galland in 1839.
Lee has two county seats — Fort Madison and Keokuk. The latter was established in 1847 when disagreements led to a second court jurisdiction. Lee county was named for Marsh, Delevan & Lee, of Albany, New York, and the 'New York Land Company', who owned extensive interests in the Half-Breed Tract in the 1830s.:398
Lee County's population grew to about 19,000 in 1850, the first US census, to 37,000 per the 3rd census in 1870, peaking at 44,000 people in 1960. It has continuously decreased since and as of 2010, 35,862 people lived there, comparable to the years between 1860-1870.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 539 square miles (1,400 km2), of which 518 square miles (1,340 km2) is land and 21 square miles (54 km2) (4.0%) is water. The lowest point in the state of Iowa is located on the Mississippi River in Keokuk in Lee County, where it flows out of Iowa and into Missouri and Illinois.
Lee County is surrounded by Henry County to the north, Des Moines County to the northeast, Henderson County, Illinois, across the river east, Hancock County, Illinois to the southeast, Clark County, Missouri in the southwest and Van Buren County, Iowa in the west.
As of the census of 2000, there were 38,052 people, 15,161 households, and 10,248 families residing in the county. The population density was 74 people per square mile (28/km²). There were 16,612 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.24% White, 2.80% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.39% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.03% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. 2.37% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 15,161 households out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.70% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 28.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,193, and the median income for a family was $42,658. Males had a median income of $32,286 versus $21,821 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,430. About 7.10% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.60% of those under age 18 and 9.60% of those age 65 or over.
The 2010 census recorded a population of 35,862 with a population density of 69.3133/sq mi (26.7620/km2). There were 16,205 housing units, of which only 14,610 were occupied.
- Cleng Peerson (1783–1865) pioneer settler in Lee County in 1840
- Richard Proenneke (1916–2003) naturalist subject of books and documentary
- William Elliott Whitmore (born 1978) singer and songwriter
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Lee County, Iowa
- Lee County Courthouse in use in Fort Madison Original and oldest courthouse.
- Lee County Courthouse in use in Keokuk Originally a Federal courthouse and post office.
- "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- North Lee County Historical Society, Museums USA, accessed 11 Aug 2008
- Naming of Iowa Counties. The Annals of Iowa. 36 (1962), 395-400. ISSN 0003-4827
- "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- "Population & Housing Occupancy Status 2010". United States Census Bureau American FactFinder. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- Swansen, H.F. "The Sugar Creek Settlement in Iowa". Norwegian-American Historical Association. pp. Volume IX: Page 38. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- "Alone In The Wilderness". Bob Swerer Productions. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
||Henry County||Des Moines County|
|Van Buren County||Henderson County, Illinois|
|Clark County, Missouri||Hancock County, Illinois||Hancock County, Illinois| | <urn:uuid:eeb462d2-73fa-4052-bdac-611a357b8ff6> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_County,_Iowa | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930601 | 1,660 | null | 2.921875 | 3 | en.wikipedia.org |
In the Garden:
Dahlias produce spectacular flowers, such as these unusual red-purple flowers of 'Amante'.
Whether they boast dinner-plate-sized flowers or diminutive 2-inch blossoms, dahlias offer more flamboyance per plant, and in more varied colors and shapes, than most other garden plants. If you can dream up a dahlia look, it probably exists. Choose from nearly every color under the sun (except true blue or black), including multicolored ones, and from flower types as varied in shape and form as cactus, water lily, pompon, single, anemone, peony, and more. In fact, there are thousands of named varieties.
The mature height of dahlias also varies, from about 12 inches tall to 5 feet or more, making them versatile players in the garden, from front-of-the-border standouts to stately background plantings. And dahlias make excellent cut flowers for bouquets, typically lasting about a week if cut early in the day just as they first open.
Native to Mexico, dahlias grow from tubers that somewhat resemble sweet potatoes. You can probably find both tubers and started plants at local garden stores, but for the widest selection check out specialist mail-order companies that offer dahlias in many colors and types. Short-growing dahlias, usually referred to as bedding dahlias, are usually started from seed, but the resulting tubers can be kept from year to year.
You can start tubers or seeds indoors in pots to get a jump on the season, then transplant to the garden when it's warm enough. Wait until the threat of frost has passed and the soil is about 60 degrees F. before planting outside.
In the Garden
Dahlias grow best and produce the most flowers when grown in full sun and rich, well-drained soil with a pH of about 6.5. Before planting, work some compost or peat moss into the soil as well as a complete fertilizer that's low in nitrogen. The shorter-growing types of dahlias should be spaced 9 to 12 inches apart. Those that grow about 3 feet tall are spaced 2 feet apart, while the tallest types are spaced 3 feet apart.
Prepare a planting hole 12 inches deep and 12 inches in diameter. Then partially fill the hole until it is about 6 inches deep. Place the tuber horizontally in the bottom of the hole with the "eyes" pointing upward. For taller-growing types, insert an appropriate-sized stake next to the tuber at planting time to avoid damaging the tuber later. Cover the tuber with 2 inches of soil and water thoroughly. As the sprouts emerge from the soil, gradually add soil until the hole is filled. As the plant grows, attach it loosely to the stake, adding more ties as needed.
Because dahlias have shallow roots, applying an organic mulch, such as well-aged compost, is important. Water plants during droughts but avoid wetting the leaves. Fertilize dahlias monthly until mid-August. Slugs can be a problem, so take appropriate precautions.
Dahlias begin flowering in July and continue until the hard frosts of autumn. In areas colder than Zone 7, dahlias will not survive the winter in the ground. If you choose, you can store the bulbs over the winter, then replant into the garden next summer. Wait about a week after the plant has died back before digging in order to allow new sprouts to develop for next year. Gently wash and dry the clump of bulbs, place in a box filled with sawdust or vermiculite, and store in a dry area at about 40 to 55 degrees F.
Pinching and Pruning
You can shape dahlias by pinching and pruning. On low-growing varieties, pinch back the new growth several times to promote compact, bushy growth. For the largest flowers on tall types, remove all of the side buds at the end of each branch, leaving only the central bud. Or do only minimal pruning for more flowers that are a bit smaller.
Whatever types or colors of dahlias you chose, they will surely reward you and inspire you to make them a regular addition to the garden.
Care to share your gardening thoughts, insights, triumphs, or disappointments with your fellow gardening enthusiasts? Join the lively discussions on our FaceBook page and receive free daily tips! | <urn:uuid:0f8fa33d-60dd-49ef-bca3-92acc737467f> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.garden.org/regional/report/arch/inmygarden/4498 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929697 | 930 | null | 3.046875 | 3 | www.garden.org |
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
(Росси́йская Сове́тская Федерати́вная Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика [РСФСР] Rossiyskaya Sovetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika [RSFSR]
), also called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
, the Russian SFSR
and the RSFSR
for short, was the largest and most populous of the fifteen Soviet republics
of the Soviet Union
and became the Russian Federation
after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was by far the largest sub-national entity
in the world by area and 2nd in population after Uttar Pradesh
, India. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Sichuan
, China became the 2nd most populous subnational entity until 1997 when it was divided. The capital was Moscow
, also the capital of the Soviet Union.
RSFSR was established on November 7, 1917, and on July 10 1918 the 1918 Constitution was accepted. In English, the term Bolshevist Russia is commonly used for the period 1917–1922. In Russian official documents of the time it was referred to as Russian Republic (Российская Республика Rossiyskaya Respublika) and Soviet Republic (Советская Республика Sovetskaya Respublika). RSFSR was only internationally recognized by only a few states, the Irish Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. The four last-mentioned countries recognized the Soviet Russia in the Treaty of Tartu, 1921.
The RSFSR became part of the Soviet Union in 1922, an act formalised by the 1924 Soviet Constitution.
Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR in 1955.
The Congress of Soviets of RSFSR voted to leave the Soviet Union on December 12, 1991. The country was renamed the Russian Federation on December 25. | <urn:uuid:108c18a6-f57d-4924-89d2-254c0ff214a9> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.reference.com/browse/Russian%20Soviet%20Federated%20Socialist%20Republic | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932064 | 506 | null | 3.65625 | 4 | www.reference.com |
ZUMBRO FALLS, GILLFORD AND CHESTER
Pages 113 ~ 120
From the book
"HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY, MINNESOTA"
Compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge and Others
Published Winona, MN by H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., 1920
Republished Currently by Higginson Books
Zumbro Falls is a prosperous village on the banks of the Zumbro River and the Midland Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. It is well located, the business section being near the river level, while the school and churches, and some of the older residences, are across the river in what was the original village. Zumbro Falls has a bank, two elevators, a newspaper, a creamery, a telephone company and a stock shipping association. There are two churches, the Methodist and the Congregational. An Advent church flourished for a while, but the church building erected in 1894 has now been converted into a residence.
The history of Zumbro Falls dates from the old ford across the Zumbro on the territorial road leading from Lake City to Rochester. Here the road southward wound its way from the prairie down into the valley, crossed the river a few rods from the present railroad station, continued across what is now called "Drinkwater Flat," south of the river, and then up the grade onto the level of the prairie again, and southward. To this place in 1855 came David Tibbetts, who built a substantial log house on what is now the railroad right of way, south of lot 6, block 2, south row, Whaley's Addition, and nearby established a ferry. At the same time his brother, Abner, of Lake City, secured the land south of the river, but resided on it only long enough to enable him to prove up his claim. His cabin was on the high land south of what is now the Drinkwater Flat. On the ridge north of the village, some 30 or 40 rods northeast of the present schoolhouse, James B. Glover built a cabin in 1858.
Traffic over the road and ferry increased in 1858. John Van Smith built a house on the south side of the river near the ferry, and opened a hotel, furnishing a convenient stopping-place for travelers. In 1859 Edwin Beeman built a shoe shop and Orrin Pencille a blacksmith shop. These two men had no families an lived at the Smith Hotel.
The flood of 1858 covered the flat and did considerable damage. The inhabitants took refuge on higher land, Mr. Tibbetts' family being rescued through the gable end of the roof. The cabin withstood the rush of the waters, but it was flooded nearly to the upper story. As a picture of the life in those times, it is told that Mr. Tibbetts kept his old musket hung from the rafters by leather thongs just under the upper floor and the water flooded the hammers of this old weapon.
About the beginning of the Civil War, Uriah S. Whaley bought out David Tibbetts, moved into his house and started operating the ferry. The village south of the river became quite a hamlet, given a considerable impetus by the surveying, grading and building of the railroad. Among the business houses on that side of the river were those of Charles Bryant, blacksmith shop; David Willard, harness shop; John Dale, wagon shop; Perry Card, hotel; Fidel Sugg, general store; James Burns, saloon and store; Mathias Bright, harness shop; Dr. Rogers, drug store; E. A. Harridan, general store. William Oliver erected a hall, a neat structure with mural paintings, and this became one of the social centers of the community. A Methodist church was also built.
In the meantime Benjamin Clark put in a dam at the rapids which gave the village its name, and erected a grist mill, which he operated for a number of years. When the railroad came through, Mr. Whaley platted a village on the north side of the river, and Whaley's Addition is what now constitutes the village of Zumbro Falls.
In that year, 1878, E. B. Doty erected a store on lot 10, block 1, north row, Whaley's Addition, and opened a hardware store. At the same time a duplicate of the Doty store was erected on lot 11, and William Churchill opened a drug store therein. Other business houses followed. After the cyclone of 1883, E. A. Harridan moved his store and postoffice from the old village to lot 8, block 1, north row, Whaley's Addition.
Business began to die away on the south side of the river, and that hamlet never recovered from the cyclone of 1883. Fidel Sugg and Dr. Rogers were the first to give up business there. The locality is now a residence section, with two churches, the village park, and a number of pleasant homes.
In the meantime Whaley's Addition has grown into the village of Zumbro Falls, taking the name of the former village south of the river. The station which is in this part of the village was not established until several years after the building of the railroad, as the township refused to vote a bonus. In a short time, however, the business of the hamlet demanded it and the station was established. When S. C. Welch engaged in business here in 1894, the village was already one of some size. The business was then nearly all on the north row of Whaley's Addition. The depot had been built, a hotel opened and an elevator established. J. M. Stegner, Son, John Strickland and E. B. Doty had general stores. U. J. Disney had a lumber yard and hardware store, the Stevens Opera House had been built, and G. W. Stevens was operating a blacksmith shop. The schoolhouse was near the location of the present school. The Advent church was also on this side of the river. John Strickland is still in business here. W. J. Disney but recently retired.
Mr. Welch bought in with J. M. Stegner and continued business with him for awhile before securing sole ownership. After continuing for some time alone, he took his son-in-law, L. E. Scruby, as a partner. The firm is now known as Scruby & Co.
The first crossing of the river here was by ford. Later the ferry was built. The first bridge was a pontoon structure of five flatboats, strung together on an iron rod fastened to a stone pier in the middle. The bridge was built by Samuel Doughty. This bridge was smashed by the ice, and replaced by a wooden bridge built by Horace E. Horton. This latter bridge was the one carried away by the cyclone. The structure built to replace it fell out of repair, and the present bridge was erected in its stead. Before the latter was built there was considerable agitation as to its location, many desiring it further down the river and nearer the present village. As finally built, however, it occupied the old site, with its south end leading directly to the heart of the old village.
With the increase in population and the erection of a number of new houses in the spring of 1896, there came a concerted demand for an organized village government. As the result of the work of a number of prominent citizens, a meeting was held, November 3, 1897, with Samuel Welch as chairman and Dr. Thomas R. Watson as clerk. Shortly afterward a committee of four, previously suggested by L. A. Doty, consisting of Samuel D. Welch, J. C. Strickland, W. J. Disney and Dr. T. R. Watson, consulted with attorney A. J. Green of Lake City. A census taken November 8 showed a population within the proposed limits of one hundred and ninety-three. A petition was presented to the county board, November 24, 1897, signed by E. J. Stegner, Thomas R. Watson, L. A. Doty, E. B. Doty, Baxter Doty, J. B. Glover, B. C. Disney, J. M. Stegner, William Potter, C. E. Kirkham, O. S. Clark, J. T. Ritter, H. F. Anding, N. Rosenbloom, E. J. Strickland, J. L. Strick.and, F. B. Anding, W. J. Grogan, S. Hermann, John Vogel, S. D. Welch, W. J. Disney, Henry Bielfeldt, Theo, Pfeiffer, Mike Pfeiffer, T. J. Kirkman, C. F. Scholer, Uriah Whaley, O. E. Kirkman, G. W. Stevens, David Whaley, Warren Clough, Nathan Whaley, O. R. Bint, G. H. Claflin, B. W. Disney, William H. Claflin, W. D. Little, Peter Theisen, Henry Norton, T. B. Warring, E. V. Beals, A. H. Sugg and John Carr. The petition was granted and the election ordered held February 8, 1898. At the election the proposition was carried by a vote of 49 to 11, and the following officers chosen: President, S. D. Welch; trustees, J. L. Strickland, T. B. Warring and L. A. Doty; recorder, T. R. Watson; treasurer, E. B. Doty; justices, George W. Stevens and Pratt Drinkwalter; constables, John T. Ritter and Clarence Kirkham. The first council meeting was held February 28, 1898. At an election held November 16, 1898, there were 41 votes cast for separation and 2 against . The presidents of the village have been as follows: 1898 and 1899, S. D. Welch; 1900 and 1901, Pratt Drinkwalter; 1902, L. E. Scruby; 1903 and 1904, A. Roberson; 1905 and 1906, Pratt Drinkwalter; 1907, L. A. Doty; 1908, Pratt Drinkwalter; 1909, J. C. Brinkman; 1910 and 1911, Thomas Baker; 1912, R. Warren; 1913, John A. Klindworth. The recorders have been: 1898 and 1899, T. R. Watson; 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, and 1904, B. W. Disney; 1905 and 1906, C. G. Burcher; 1907, 1908 and 1909, L. W. Disney; 1910, F. J. Sugg; 1911, L. W. Disney; 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919, B. R. Theisen.
The village improvements consist of a park, a village hall, a waterworks system and a sewer system.
The stone "watch house" was erected in 1898. The waterworks system was installed in 1907 and the village hall erected the same year. The following year the hose cart and hose were purchased. The waterworks system consists of the pumping station at the village hall, a well nearby, a tank on the hill, and a system of mains and hydrants. The sewer system was put in in 1914. In 1915 the "watch house" was abandoned, and cages installed in the village hall. The triangular park south of the bridge was laid out in 1899 and tress planted. A street light system of individual oil lamps was installed in 1899 and abandoned in 1907.
When the Farmers Elevator was established in 1900, the village appropriated $30 to help pay a solicitor for selling stock for the purpose. In 1904 a franchise was granted the Zumbro Falls Farmers Telephone Company.
The first postmaster was probably Uriah S. Whaley, who kept the office at his cabin north of the river. He was followed by E. A. Harridan, who kept it at his store south of the river. Next came John Strickland, whose successor was J. B. Glover. Under Cleveland's second administration, Mr. Strickland again served. He was followed by William J. Disney, who in turn was succeeded by A. H. Sugg, who is still in office.
The Zumbro Falls Enterprise was established October 3, 1908, by Hugh R. Smith, and by him sold to the present editor, Fred J. Barton, March 1, 1919.
Hyde Park Lodge, No. 46, I. O. O. F. This lodge was moved to Zumbro Falls, and was here continued for many years. The lodge surrendered its charter in 1914. The last officers were: Noble Grand, A. Roberson; vice-grand, J. Morrisey; recording secretary, L. E. Scruby; treasurer, A. H. Sugg. This lodge absorbed Mazeppa Lodge, No. 72, I. O. O. F.
The children in this vicinity first attended school in a schoolhouse north of the present village, built in 1850. Later a schoolhouse was erected in the village, not far from the present site. It was destroyed by the cyclone in 1883 and replaced with another. The present brick structure was erected in 1913.
The Zumbro Falls State Bank was organized June 6, 1907, and opened for business August 5, 1907. The original stockholders were: William J. Disney, B. W. Disney, E. C. Disney, L. W. Disney, Henry R. Gray, Richard Greer, F. B. Roberson, Maze F. Thierstein, Emil A. Gray, H. A. Frieheit and William Saul, of Zumbro Falls, and W. D. Marvin and L. L. Cornwell of Pine Island. The first directors were: William J. Disney, W. D. Marvin, L. L. Cornwell, Henry E. Gray and William Saul. The first officers were: President, L. L. Cornwell; vice-president, Henry R. Gray; cashier, B. W. Disney. Mr. Cornwell was succeeded as president, January 14, 1912, by William Saul, and on January 13, 1920 by C. W. Radabough. Fred C. Heise succeeded Mr. Gray as vice-president. Mr. Disney has had charge of the bank as cashier since the beginning. The present directors are: Fred C. Heise, F. B. Roberson, J. E. John Steere, J. J. Springer, William J. Disney, C. W. Radabough, William Saul and C. J. Meyers. For a time Mr. Disney operated the bank alone. H. H. Billings became the assistant cashier January 14, 1913. May Drinkwalter became assistant bookkeeper in August, 1913, and was made assistant cashier January 13, 1914. Edna L. Schultz became bookkeeper November 1, 1918. G. N. Reppe, who is still serving, became assistant cashier January 1, 1919. The bank opened in temporary quarters, the present building being completed the same year. It is admirably equipped for its purpose in every way, and it the financial and business headquarters of the village. The original capital stock of $10,000 was on March 27, 1919, increased to $20,000. December 31, 1910, the loans and discounts were $106,555.91, the deposits $134,709.24. December 31, 1915, the loans and discounts were $180,923.59, and the deposits $176,717.02. December 31, 1919, the capital was $20,000; the surplus, $5,000; the undivided profits, $1,781.94; the loans and discounts, $270,986.60; the deposits, $339,649.37.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Zumbro Falls was organized in 1875 through the efforts of the Shores and Suggs of Glasgow Township, the Sprengers of La Crosse and the Rietmanns of Hay Creek, Goodhue County. These families settled here and organized a Sunday school. From this effort grew the present church. H. E. Young was the first pastor assigned. The charter members of this organization were: Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Shores, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Sprenger, Mr. and Mrs. F. Sugg, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Reitmann, and the children of these families. The first services were held in a private home in 1876. An old building was purchased and remodeled into a small church building, the remodeling being done principally by Mr. Sugg. The following pastors have serve this church at different periods: H. E. Young, Adam Miller, L. J. Brenner, William Berg, Herman Meyer, G. E. Rabe, Frederick Hogrofe, Geo. Nedtwick and A. B. Gould, the present pastor. During C. H. Miller's term of ministry the present church building was erected ~ a neat and tasty village church. Services were held in the German language to about 1915. Since that time the services have been held in English. The present membership of the church is 66 enrolled members, with an average attendance of about 125. During late years especial attention has been given the Sunday school work, with the result that this congregation is looked to as a leader in this work throughout this section. This school, at the suggestion of J. J. Sprenger, instituted the Sunday school quarterly review which has become very popular and effective. The church is a live, working church with men and women in it having a real concern for its welfare and is an influential factor in the life of the community.
The Congregational Church of Zumbro Falls was organized November 15, 1890, with four members, Pratt Drinkwalter, E. J. Stegner, C. J. Street and E. Butruff. The early meetings were held in the Methodist Episcopal church. The congregation dedicated its own church December 14, 1890, and in the same year, on August 5, the Congregational society was incorporated, the first officers being: G. W. Stevens, president; John Vogel, clerk, and Minnie Smith, treasurer. The pastors of the church have been the Rev. Messrs. William McArthur, J. C. Huntington, A. L. Struthers, I. C. Todd, J. E. Ingham, J. C. Huntington, W. H. Moore, Frank Ferguson, J. L. Nott, Irving B. Hollman, S. T. Beattie, C. H. Moxie, Paul Albert and John Hayes Barnett. The Rev. A. B. Gould now serves both the congregational and Methodist churches.
Gillford Township occupies Township 110, Range 13. It is bounded on the north by Mount Pleasant, on the east by West Albany, on the south by Hyde Park and on the west by Chester. The land of this township has a gentle roll. It is situated midway between the original forests and rough land, bordering on the Zumbro on the south, and the similar land along the Mississippi on the north. There is an abundance of clear-running water, which renders stock-raising a profitable undertaking.
In the early part of May, 1855, Wm. McCloud, George and Seymour Fanning came to this township, and after taking claims and working through the summer season, they returned to Illinois for the winter and in the following spring they returned here with their families. The same year, 1855, Jos. Fuller took a claim near Mazeppa, but being discouraged by a heavy frost in June was about to return to Illinois when his brother-in-law, Mr. Gill, dissuaded him, and they both settled in Gillford. In the fall of 1855 Mr. Gill returned to Illinois for his family; after spending the winter there and when returning here he was taken sick and died. Mrs. Gill, however, settled in this township, and on account of her amiable character the township was named for her. Mr. McCloud was a man of very great worth to county and township. He laid out the roads in the township; he was a great patron of schools; he did his utmost to promote religious interest in the community; as regards hospitality he could not be surpassed. In the spring of 1856 Messrs. E. M. Hoyt, E. F. Hoyt, W. F. Green and F. Lamb came to this township and took claims in the northwestern part.
The first teacher in the township was Lizzie Green (Bartlett), who taught a select school in a "claim shanty," 10 by 12 feet in dimensions, in the summer of 1858, in the bounds of the district now known as No. 15. The second school was established on section 12, near the present schoolhouse No. 19, and the first teacher was Rosa Montgomery.
Until the summer of 1859 no religious services were held in the township. In that summer a Sunday school was organized at Oak Centre, and after that was in successful operation, two more were organized. As yet there was no preacher or preaching. In the spring of 1860 James Stillwell came into the township and took a claim. It was soon known that he was a Methodist exhorter, so he was waited upon and asked to preach at Oak Centre the following Sabbath. He preached, and the people were so well pleased that he made several appointments, and thus the work continued throughout the summer. In the course of several months a great revival took place, which was so widespread that three new churches were organized, which still exist.
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, commonly called the "Lincoln Congregation," was founded July 15, 1881, with eight charter members, namely: Carsten Siems, John Sass, Martin Johnson, John Boesch, Dietrich Recjmann, H. Meyer, H. Dammann and Peter Zimmerman. The first board of trustees was composed of John Sass, Martin Johnson and Carsten Siems. A small frame building was erected in which services were held up to 1901, when a church edifice was put up at a cost of $5,000. The first building is now used as a church school. This property is located in Gillford Township, two miles southeast of Oak Centre. The first pastor was the Rev. Christ Murer, who served nine years. He was followed by Rev. George Terben, whose pastorate lasted eight years. Rev. Otto Sievers, who came next, served six years, and was succeeded by Rev. Paul Beck, who remained pastor for eleven years. The present pastor, Rev. W. F. Rolf, was called in 1917. The congregation has at present pastor, Rev. W. F. Rolf, was called in 1917. The congregation has at present 191 communicants, of whom 56 are voting members. The present board of trustees is composed of Fred Heise, D. Klindworth and John Bartels. The school has an enrollment of 29 and is taught by the pastor. It is held nine months in each year. The other officers of the congregation are: George La Mont, secretary, and A. J. Siewert, treasurer.
The first marriage was that of E. S. Fanning and Hannah Fanning in the spring of 1865. The first child born was Mary Fanning, a daughter of the above. The first death was that of Samuel Fanning, in the fall of 1856.
At the time of the construction of the narrow-gauge railroad through the township a vote was taken whether the town should bond itself. It was lost by a few votes. There are six thousand two hundred and sixty-nine acres of land under cultivation. Politically the township is republican.
The first town meeting was held at the house of L. W. Manning on May 11, 1856. The result of the first election was as follows: E. M. Hoyt, L. W. Manning, David Fanning, supervisors; E. M. Rider, town clerk; James Morehead, William McCloud, justices of the peace; S. Tysdel, assessor; William Green, overseer of poor. The number of votes cast was thirty-four.
Oak Centre is a hamlet in section 5. For several years a postoffice was located in the store there. The name was given by C. C. Lowe on account of the abundance of oak trees in the vicinity.
The Oak Centre Creamery Co. was organized in 1913 with the following officers: President, George La Mont; vice-president, Henry H. Blohm; secretary, George Beaty; treasurer, A. J. Stewert. The company has a well equipped building. In 1919 the factory turned out 165,000 pounds of butter fat, which was marketed principally in Philadelphia. Chester Winters is now president of the concern, with Fred Heitmann vice-president.
Jacksonville is a hamlet near the line between sections 11 and 12.
Chester Township occupies Congressional Township 110, Range 14. It is bounded on the north and west by Goodhue County, on the east by Gillford Township and on the south by Mazeppa Township. The Zumbro river crosses its southwest and southeast quarter-sections. In the southeastern portion of the town there are several fine groves. The general configuration is quite uneven, the region being traversed by numerous valleys, but a rich prairie loam covers the whole and affords a handsome return to the tiller of the soil. A deep valley tributary to the Zumbro, with its several branches, drains the whole surface. Through this valley a bear was pursued by the early settlers, and the region became known as Bear Valley. Trout Brook flows through the southwestern part.
On section 12 of this town is a rare natural cave of large dimensions. It was discovered by Tyler Whipple, in the summer of 1856. Numerous apartments exist, and several have been entered and examined. The exterior entrance is found on the side of a small mound, and the explorer is obliged to descend a narrow passage to gain admission. The passages leading to some of the apartments are so low that one must lie on the face and creep to reach them. The labor is, however, well repaid by a sight of the beautiful stalactites which depend (to hang down) from the roof. One of these rooms is in the form of an inverted jug, the entrance being made through the mouth. In another place is found a well of limpid water; in another a deep pit has been found, whose depth is shown to be very great by the time occupied by a pebble in reaching the bottom.
On section 8, many years since, a solid piece of wood was found at a depth of sixty-four feet, in a well dug on the farm of Philip Arendt.
During the winter of 1854-55 a party of St. Paul gentlemen who were out on a trapping, hunting and fishing expedition, encamped on Trout Brook in the southwestern part of the town. Among the number was James M. Kimble, who was so pleased with the stream, filled a with fine trout, that he determined to settle there. On returning to St. Paul he secured tools and supplies and set out with only one companion to establish a claim. There were hundreds of men at Red Wing waiting for the snow to settle, but Mr. Kimble and his companion pushed on. They lived two weeks in a cloth tent on the banks of the creek, while getting out material and building a cabin. Thus a claim was established in February, on the northwest quarter of section 30, and here Mr. Kimble brought his family in April following. The next settler was probably G. Maxwell, Mazeppa, followed by Peter Bouillard, an Alsatian Frenchman, who still lives on his original claim, on section 28. He came in May, and during the same month came Joseph Caswell and four sons ~ Joseph, Jesse, Cyrus and Hiram; Edward Hunt, William Washey, William Davis, and two sons ~ Robert and James; Daniel Slaymaker and two sons ~ Reuben and Henry; Greenberry Triplett. This year also saw the arrival of Francis Jerry, W. W. Day, G. W. Judd, Wells B. Smith and Thomas Cliff.
Isadore, son of Francis and Elizabeth Jerry, was probably the first white child born in Chester, his birth dating May 13, 1857. In June, 1857, a daughter was born to Nelson B. and Margery Smith, and christened Lottie Ann. She became the wife of John McCabe, and resides in the town. On July 14, 1856, Cyrus L. Caswell and Margaret Jenkins, of this town, were united in marriage at Mazeppa. This is the earliest marriage of Chester's citizens. In the fall of the same year two persons, Edward Hunt and Sarah Washley, agreed to live together as man and wife, and had a contract drawn up to that effect. I. T. Nicholls, of Mazeppa, executed and witnessed this document. The month of May, 1857, also dates the first death in the town. At this time a ten-year-old daughter of William Davis, named Agnes, passed away.
During the winter of 1856-57, Sidney Cross taught a rate school in Caswell's house. During the following winter timbers were got out, and in the spring of 1858 Bear Valley log schoolhouse was erected.
In 1873 Evander and M. Skillman, brothers, built a gristmill on the west side of section 19 on Trout Brook. A gristmill was built on the Zumbro in the extreme southeast corner of the town by Benjamin Clark in 1866, and did a good business till it was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1882.
No stores were maintained within the limits of the town until 1877. During this year Anthony Caspar built a large store on the north line of the town, at Belle Chester. In the spring of 1883 John P. Wagner and John M. Weimar built a fine store on the northeast corner of section 5, opposite Caspar's, and put in a large general stock. This building and its contents were totally consumed by fire on the morning of November 22, the same year, causing a loss of seven thousand dollars.
The Bear Valley postoffice was established in 1856, with Joseph Caswell as postmaster, and was supplied by the Wabasha and Faribault stage line for some time. Mail is now received twice a week by the Lake City and Mazeppa stage route. Early postmasters were: Silas Cross, James M. McMillan, C. M. Bontelle, E. H. Smith, William Morris and Charles E. Buckminster.
The town was politically organized May 11, 1858. The meeting was held at the house of Joseph Caswell, Jr., and the following officers were chosen for the ensuing year: Chairman, F. M. Skillman; associate supervisors, R. H. Davis and Jesse M. Caswell; clerk John A. Slaymaker; he soon resigned and S. J. Buckminster was appointed November 11; assessor and collector, John Hunt; justices, Alfred Ambler and J. A. Skillman. N. B. Smith was appointed collector November 16. The town was originally called Bear Valley and changed to Chester.
Bear Valley Grange. Patrons of Husbandry began its existence about 1870. In 1874 a hall was built by the society on the southwest quarter of section 12.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was the first religious body to have an organization in Chester Township. There were two local elders of the Methodist Episcopal church in the town in 1856, namely, S. E. Standish and Greenberry Triplett. Meetings were held under the leadership of these gentlemen during the year 1856 in Joseph Caswell's house. About the same time, or early in 1857, Rev. Ralph Frasier, a local elder residing in Mazeppa, preached at the same place. To Mr. Standish is given the credit of preaching the first sermon in the town. Rev. Nelson Moon, a local elder, settled in Bear Valley in 1864, and at once began preaching at Bear Valley schoolhouse. The class was formed August 27, 1864, composed of: Nelson, Casandra and Emma Moon, E. H. Davis, Samuel and Emeline Converse, Mrs. H. J. Crump, Huldah Cliff, Joseph and A. B. Spaulding, Susan Merrill, Hiram, Almira and Frances Stacy, Isaac Waters, David Jones, Margaret Caswell, James A. and Mrs. A. Davis, Philo Tenyke and wife. This class was assigned to Gillford circuit.
Rev. Frederick Hill, a Baptist clergyman, who settled in Zumbro ~ then Hyde Park ~ in 1856, soon after held meetings in this town and organized a class.
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bear Valley. The Lutherans at Bear Valley organized with 20 voting members in the year 1888, and selected the above name for the church. The pastors who have served the congregation have been: Rev. Lange, 1887 to 1900; Rev. Ottomar T. Sievers, 1900 to 1906; Rev. Paul Beck, 1906 to 1916; Rev. W. C. Limpert, 1917 to the present time. There are now 21 voting members and 123 communicants.
End of Chapter | <urn:uuid:c39bcbb2-e48d-4720-b2ad-d8dc5fc02cb8> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mnwabbio/3ch15.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978136 | 7,093 | null | 2.546875 | 3 | www.rootsweb.ancestry.com |
You Paid for It: $270,000 to be spent on Relict Leopard Frogs in Southern Nevada
Clark County, NV (KTNV) -- How many tax dollars does it tax to count frogs? The answer is nearly $300,000. The law says we need to keep species from becoming extinct but when most families are just trying to keep a roof over their head, is it worth it?
Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears went frog hunting to see why you paid for it.
A Boulder City lab is obviously not the natural habitat of the Relict Leopard Frog, the wild is. But some of your tax dollars are going to help keep that lab going. Ross Haley with the National Park Service says we should be proud of how we're preserving the frog population.
"We've kept this species from becoming legally listed as endangered," explained Ross.
They're doing so through an agreement between the National Park Service and the Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management. The funding is spread over three years and one of the goals is to count the frogs.
So how do you count frogs one might ask? They started out in a tank in little nets where they are eggs and they hatch then they literally fish them out and plop them into ice cub trays so they can get an accurate count.
The tadpoles are fed and their environment studied to help them survive through a critical life stage when so many die. Years ago, biologists couldn't find the frogs and though they were gone for good. The frogs were rediscovered which is why the program exists.
Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak questions the spending.
"When you look at the report and it's itemized to set up the plan to plan to save the frogs we spent $15,000 and to manage the data about the plan the frogs or the tadpoles that was another $12,000," explained Sisolak.
The money isn't coming from general funds. It comes from a section of the Endangered Species Act and the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Program. When developers buy land, they pay a fee, which in turn is allocated by law for in this case, frogs.
"This funding is specific for this kind of work and can't be transferred easily to some other action or activity," explained Jef Jaegar, Assistant Research Professor at UNLV.
Easily meaning using it in another area would likely take an act of Congress. In addition, Jef says it would change the way developers get permits. But Commissioner Sisolak says spending taxpayer money efficiently should be the real focus.
"I'm saying no to senior citizens to get hot food and to get assistance with their heating bills but we're feeding this little frog homegrown lettuce but we can't feed a senior citizen a piece of cheese," said Sisolak.
We wanted to know what taxpayers thought about saving the frogs.
"Just like the desert tortoise they've gone overboard, trying to save the desert tortoise and they built little fences along the roads and if they're going to survive they will, it's not a problem," said Phillip Lockwood.
"It's only $270,000 what else, you can't save the economy with that, what are you going to use that for, so why not save the frogs," said Donald Engels.
The proactive approach to helping this species from being extinct is all a matter of perspective.
"I just don't think that in an economic time that we're facing like today where people have lost their homes, lost their job, their families are breaking apart, they can't afford to eat we can spend this kind of money counting frogs and tadpoles," said Sisolak.
"You either value parts of the natural world or if you don't value them then there isn't any real value to conserve them," said Jef.
there are several volunteers in the program, some from Jef's own class at UNLV. But he says you still need experts to lead the project. Commissioner Sisolak suggests privatizing the frog project and welcomes anyone who wants to jump up to the plate.
What do you think about the spending? Let us know by leaving a comment below or send an email to email@example.com | <urn:uuid:59a143f0-9be5-4eca-a7fc-982608f837f3> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.scrippsmedia.com/ktnv/news/contact-13/121105334.html?page=1 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975639 | 874 | null | 2.671875 | 3 | www.scrippsmedia.com |
Which one of the following is not a
function of the plasma membrane? The plasma membrane
is the control center of the cell
In lab, you use a special balloon that is
permeable to water but not sucrose to make an "artificial cell." The balloon is filled with a solution of 20% sucrose and 80% water and is immersed in a beaker containing a solution of 40% sucrose and 60% water. Which of the following will occur?
Water will leave the balloon
In the reaction A → B + C + heat,
the potential energy of the products is less than that of the reactant
When two aqueous solutions that differ
in solute concentration are placed on either side of a semipermeable membrane, and osmosis is allowed to take place, the water will
exhibit a net movement to the side with lower water concentration
Bacterial production of the enzymes
needed for the synthesis of the amino acid tryptophan declines with increasing levels of tryptophan and increases as tryptophan levels decline. This is an example of
Small, nonpolar, hydrophobic molecules
such as fatty acids
easily pass through a membrane's lipid bilayer.
A steer must eat at least 100 pounds of grain to gain less than 10 pounds of muscle tissue. This illustrates
the second law of thermodynamics.
Which of the following can affect the rate
of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction?
All of the choices are correct.
Which of the following is not a true
statement about diffusion? Diffusion
occurs when particles spread from areas where they are less concentrated to areas
where they are more concentrated
Diffusion does not require the cell to
expend ATP. Therefore, diffusion is considered a type of
The cholesterol associated with cell membranes
helps to stabilize the cell membrane at body temperature.
Kinetic energy differs from chemical
energy in that
kinetic energy is the energy of a moving object, whereas chemical energy is the potential
energy of molecules.
When physicians perform an organ
transplant, they choose a donor whose tissues match those of the recipient as closely as possible. Which of the following cell components are being matched?
The fluid mosaic model describes the
plasma membrane as consisting of
individual proteins and phospholipids that can drift in a phospholipid bilayer.
Which one of the following processes could result in the net movement of a substance into a cell, if the substance is more concentrated in the cell than in the surroundings?
Which of the following energy transfers
is/are possible in living systems?
All of the choices are correct.
What is the basic difference between
exergonic and endergonic reactions?
Exergonic reactions release energy; endergonic reactions absorb it.
If placed in tap water, an animal cell will
undergo lysis, whereas a plant cell will not. What accounts for this difference?
the relative inelasticity and strength of the plant cell wall
Plasma membranes are selectively
permeable. This means that
the plasma membrane allows some substances to enter or leave a cell more easily
Ultimately, nearly all animals are
dependent on __________ as their source of energy.
Which one of the following is a typical
feature of an ATP-driven active transport mechanism?
None of the choices are correct
A child is brought to the hospital with a
fever of 107°F. Doctors immediately order an ice bath to lower the child's temperature. Which explanation offers the most logical reason for this action?
Elevated body temperatures may denature enzymes. This would interfere with the cell's
abilities to catalyze various reactions
Glucose molecules provide energy to
power the swimming motion of sperm. In this example, the sperm are changing
chemical energy into kinetic energy
Which one of the following processes is
the synthesis of glucose from carbon dioxide and water
Which one of the following is true about
the ATP molecule?
It contains a nitrogenous base molecule called adenine
Some protozoans have special
organelles called contractile vacuoles that continually eliminate excess water from the cell. The presence of these organelles tells you that the environment
is hypotonic to the protozoan. | <urn:uuid:67555b2b-7f57-49c1-b108-f7f1f4fe1893> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | https://quizlet.com/10731621/chapter-5-flash-cards/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914218 | 893 | null | 3.140625 | 3 | quizlet.com |
RODEOS. Rodeo is a sport that grew out of the cattle industry in the American West. Its roots reach back to the sixteenth century. The Spanish conquistadors and Spanish-Mexican settlers played a key role in the origin of rodeo with the introduction and propagation of horses and cattle in the Southwest. After the Civil War, with the abundance of wild cattle in the Southwest and a market in the East, the era of the cattle drives, large ranches, and range cowboys began. Skills of the range cowboy led to competitive contests that eventually resulted in standard events for rodeo. With its roots deep in Southwest history, rodeo continued to evolve until it has become a professional sport for men and women that is being perpetuated by youth rodeo organizations. The Spanish conquistadors and the Mexican vaquerosqv contributed major components to rodeo. Horses arrived in 1519 in Mexico with Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes, and cattle soon followed in 1521 with Gregorio de Villalobos. As expeditions moved north transplanting the cattle and horses to the Southwest, the man working the cattle, or the vaquero, became the man on horseback who contributed many of the skills and much of the equipment and rodeo terminology used by the American cowboy. Riding, roping, and branding, along with the rope, saddle, spurs, chaps, and even the word rodeo ("roundup") are some of the contributions. Some areas, particularly in deep South Texas, had the environment conducive to the proliferation of stray cattle and horses. By the 1600s and 1700s Spanish-Mexican settlements and ranches were started in areas such as the lower Rio Grande. Some of these settlers became vaqueros for Capt. Richard King, who established the King Ranch in 1853 near Kingsville, Texas.
The 1800s was a landmark period for rodeo; the era of the American cowboy began. In the early 1820s the first Anglo-American settlers moved into Texas. As these settlers moved from East Texas to Central Texas to West Texas and other settlers moved to these areas from South Texas, a blending of the Anglo and Spanish-Mexican cultures occurred. With the Spanish-Mexican knowledge of riding, roping, herding, and branding available, events occurred that culminated in the Southwest cattle industry. The abundance of wild cattle and horses and an Eastern market for beef after the Civil War led to cattle drives to the railheads, which made ranching a profitable business for people such as John S. Chisum, Oliver Loving, and Charles Goodnight. The adventure and independence of herding cattle to market or working on the open range caught the imagination of many young men seeking jobs. They bought saddles and signed on with an outfit. The range cowboy and the cattle industry flourished in the Southwest, especially in West Texas and the Panhandle of Texas, with the establishment of large ranches such as the JA, XIT, Waggoner, Four Sixes, and Pitchforkqv, along with many smaller ranches. However, with the fencing of the open range in the late 1880s, the cattle industry changed to a more confining job for the range cowboy. When communities sprang up, social occasions, especially Fourth of July celebrations, gave cowboys a chance to challenge the bronc riding and roping skills of cowboys from other ranches. Soon, local contests became annual events. Since the cowboy's work was often seasonal, some cowboys also signed up to exhibit their skills with wild-west shows such as the first one William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) staged in his home town of North Platte, Nebraska, on the Fourth of July, 1882. Wild-west shows led exhibitions of rodeo skills in the East and eventually in Europe. By the 1890s rodeo had become a spectator event in the West. Rodeo became an annual event in many places. One of the earliest "bronco-busting contests" on record was held on July 4, 1869, in Deer Trail, Colorado Territory. Two of the earliest rodeos on record were held in Pecos, Texas, in 1883, the first to give prizes, and in Prescott, Arizona, in 1888, the first to charge admission. The first indoor rodeo took place at Fort Worth in 1917. By the late 1920s rodeo had become an annual event in some places in the East. In New York City, the Madison Square Garden Rodeo often lasted for thirty days. It was followed by a two-week rodeo in Boston. This gave rodeo national publicity.
As rodeo grew, some problems evolved. Many early day rodeos were billed as World Championship Rodeos; as a result, many early world champion titles represented winning one rodeo. More than one cowboy often claimed the title of world champion for the same year. Also, the tarnished image that early day rodeo contestants caused by using rodeo as entertainment rather than as a business had to change before rodeo would be considered a sport and a legitimate business by the public. With early rodeo and wild-west shows overlapping, the public also viewed rodeo as a show, not a sport. Most shows in this era were dominated by independent producers such as Col. William T. Johnson and Gene Autrey. An attempt to organize rodeo began in the late 1920s. In 1929 the Rodeo Association of America was organized by several rodeo committees (the people who put the rodeos on, not the cowboys) to standardize rules, establish a point system to determine world champions, monitor judges, and establish a fair practice in advertising and awarding prize money. Although the RAA helped correct some of the problems in rodeo, the idea of the cowboys' having their own organization surfaced at different times, but no permanent organization occurred until October 30, 1936, when sixty-one cowboys voted to strike in protest of the prize money offered at Boston. As a result, the cowboys were given their "fair share of the prize money." Recognizing the power in being united, the cowboys organized the Cowboys Turtle Association on November 6, 1939. The origin of the name is disputed; however, some say it was because they were slow in uniting. The main purposes of the CTA were to improve the cowboys' earnings, improve the equality in the judging, and improve the cowboys' image. In Houston in 1945 the CTA was reorganized, and the name changed to the Rodeo Cowboys Association. A national office was set up in Fort Worth with Bandera, Texas, calf roper Toots Mansfield as the RCA's first president. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standardized the events and the rules. Sanctioned events are saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, and single steer roping. Barrel racing, sanctioned by the Women's Professional Rodeo Association, is the only women's event which is standard at PRCA rodeos. The events are either timed or judged. The contestants compete for prize money, which includes the entry fees and added money. Each dollar won represents one point to the contestant; accumulated points determine the world champions at the end of the year.
Other rodeo organizations were started. The Southwest Rodeo Association was organized in 1938 primarily for the weekend cowboy who was limited in travel time because of another job. In 1942 the SRA changed its name to the National Rodeo Association, then in 1946, the NRA and the RAA merged into the International Rodeo Association. Later, the name became International Professional Rodeo Association. In 1975 the PRCA organized a circuit system composed of twelve geographical regions to meet the need of the weekend cowboy. In 1986 a circuit national finals rodeo for the season champions and the circuit finals champions was started. A new trend in rodeo is the formation of old-timers rodeo associations. The method of naming world champions was finally settled. The RAA named world champion cowboys from 1929 through 1944. On January 1, 1945, the RCA, using the RAA point system of a point for each dollar won, started naming world champions. Two sets of world champions were named until July 1, 1955, when the IRA announced that it would not longer continue naming world champions. Rodeo publications became a necessity. In 1933 Mrs. Ethel A. Hopkins bought Hoofs and Horns and began publishing it as a monthly magazine. The RAA, NRA, and the CTA used it as their official publication. In 1945 the new RCA started its own bulletin, The Buckboard. In 1952 the Rodeo Sports News became the official RCA publication. In 1975 the RCA added the word professional to its name, and the Rodeo Sports News became the Prorodeo Sports News.
For cowgirls the early years in rodeo were golden years because of the money and fame they earned. From the turn of the century through the 1930s, women competed in many roping and riding events. Popular events were the relay races, if a track was available, trick riding, and bronc riding. Occasionally, they even competed with men in events such as bronc riding. Sometimes they were contracted to appear at rodeos rather than compete. Noted for her bronc riding, Fort Worth's Barbara Inez (Tad) Lucas, born in Cody, Nebraska, earned $12,000 during 1935 in competition and exhibition. Noted roper Lucille Mulhall, born in Oklahoma Territory, once proved her expertise with a rope by roping a coyote to win a bet with Theodore Roosevelt. World War II marked a turning point for women in rodeo. In 1941 Madison Square Garden, because of dwindling numbers and scarce rodeo stock, dropped the cowgirl bronc-riding contest, and other rodeos followed this precedent. Eventually, the WPRA barrel race became the only event for women at PRCA rodeos, but they did not receive equal prize money. However, progress is being made. In 1990 only 29 of the 754 PRCA rodeos, did not have equal pay for the women. The WPRA barrel race is the only women's event that pays well enough to warrant being a full-time profession. The WPRA was started in San Angelo, Texas, on July 4, 1948, as the Girls Rodeo Association, to promote all-women rodeos and offer more events for women. In 1948 the GRA had seventy-four members; in 1990 the WPRA/PWRA (Professional Women's Rodeo Association, a separate division of the WPRA) had 1800 members. The PWRA sanctioned nine rodeos in 1990. The six standard events for the PWRA all-women rodeos include barrel racing, team roping, tie-down and breakaway calf roping, bareback bronc riding, and bull or steer riding. The fame and money of the early day cowgirls may again be achieved. In 1984 a fourteen-year-old barrel racer captured the attention of the media and the public. Charmayne James (later Rodman) of Clayton, New Mexico, won the world championship in barrel racing on her horse Scamper. By 1991 Charmayne and Scamper had won eight world titles in a row. In the spring of 1991 their accumulated earnings passed the million dollar mark, a first for women.
After World War II youth rodeo organizations sprang up because many people had more leisure time. Also, rodeo publicity "more than doubled during the fifties." The youth rodeo associations are contributing to the growth and professionalism of rodeo. In 1949 college students, many who were World War II veterans, started a college rodeo organization, which included women. The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association was chartered in Texas in 1949. Governed by the students, Texas A&M's Charlie Rankin was the first NIRA student president. In 1949 Sul Ross State University at Alpine, Texas, won the first NIRA national men's team championship, and Sul Ross's Harley May won the first NIRA all-around title. Women were not included in the first two finals rodeos, although they competed on the regional level. In 1951 Jo Gregory Knox of Midland won the first women's NIRA all-around championship. The standard PRCA events (except steer roping) are the approved men's events at college rodeos, and college women compete in barrel racing, breakaway roping, goat tying, and team roping with the men. College rodeo contestants can hold concurrent membership in the NIRA and the PRCA or WPRA/PWRA. The NIRA has "contributed enormously to the wider acceptance of the sport and its participants." By 1984 1,700 of the 5,000 members of PRCA had attended college, and only half of them had worked on a ranch. The National High School Rodeo Association was organized in Hallettsville, Texas, in 1949. The American Junior Rodeo Association is another Texas product. Private rodeo schools also expanded the field of contestants. The PRCA decided to add a national finals rodeo to complete the rodeo season. In 1959 the first professional National Finals Rodeo was held in the Dallas. The top fifteen contestants in each event were eligible to compete. From 1962–64 the NFR was held in Los Angeles, then in 1965 it was moved to Oklahoma City. In 1985 the NFR was lured to Las Vegas, Nevada, by increasing the prize money awarded at the NFR from $901,550 in 1984 to $1,790,000 in 1985. Many Texans have distinguished themselves in rodeo, including black cowboys. The black cowboy William (Bill) Pickettqv (1870–1932) from Travis County, Texas, started a method of bulldogging a steer by the lip, which led to the steer-wrestling event. Another black cowboy, Myrtis Dightman of Houston, qualified in bull riding six times for the NFR between 1966–72. However, the first black cowboy to win a world title was from Los Angeles; in 1982 Charlie Sampson won the world title in bull riding. A black calf roper, Fred Whitfield of Cypress, Texas, won the 1990 PRCA Rookie of the Year award, given "to the top money-earning rookie."
Texas cowboys began to dominate their events. Toots Mansfield won seven world calf roping titles: 1939–41, 1943, 1945, 1948, and 1950. Dick Griffith of Fort Worth won the world bull riding title four times: 1939–42. World champion bull rider Harry Tompkins of Dublin, Texas, born in upstate New York, won in 1948–50, 1952, and 1960. In 1952 Tompkins won three world titles: bareback riding, bull riding, and all-around, the first all-around to call Texas home. Don Gay of Mesquite, Texas, with eight world titles, holds the bull riding record. However, the record for most titles in a combination of events belongs to Oklahoman Jim Shoulders, with sixteen titles. The twenty-year-old 1989 world all-around champion Ty Murray of Llano, Texas, became the youngest cowboy to win the title. In 1990 he won the all-around title again and became the first cowboy to win over $200,000 in season earnings. Rarely do cowboys enter in both the timed events and the riding events. Phil Lyne of Cotulla, Texas, has the distinction of being the only cowboy to win the National Finals Rodeo average titles in three events: bull riding, calf roping, and steer roping. The prize money at rodeos has continued to grow. In 1990 Texas had three of the top seven rodeos in the United States as determined by total prize money given. The three were San Antonio Livestock Exposition Rodeo, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and Fort Worth Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show and Rodeo. In 1990 forty-two states held a total of 754 PRCA approved rodeos with total prize money of $18,163,073. The PRCA has been strengthened in several areas. The PRCA has gained financial support from corporate sponsors and started the Wrangler Pro Officials System with full-time trained judges. It has implemented PROCOM, a computer-assisted central entry system. Rodeo spans American history from the Spanish era through the cattle drives and big ranch era to take its place in the twentieth century as a professional sport and a full-time business. With its multicultural heritage, rodeo characterizes the unique traits of the place of its birth: the American Southwest.
Kristine Fredriksson, American Rodeo: From Buffalo Bill to Big Business (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1985). Teresa Jordan, Cowgirls: Women of the American West (Garden City, New York: Anchor, 1982). Official Professional Rodeo Media Guide (Colorado Springs: PRCA, 1990, 1991). Willard H. Porter, Who's Who in Rodeo (Oklahoma City: Powder River, 1982). Joyce Gibson Roach, The Cowgirls (Houston: Cordovan , 1977; 2d ed., Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1990). Clifford P. Westermeier, Man, Beast, Dust: The Story of Rodeo (Denver, 1947; rpt., Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Sylvia Gann Mahoney, "RODEOS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/llr01), accessed April 27, 2015. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:81cba0b2-cb40-47a1-9785-d36906e6944a> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/llr01 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246659319.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045739-00260-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966295 | 3,708 | null | 3.484375 | 3 | tshaonline.org |
Climate ChangeImpact on Coastal Habitation
Temperature and precipitation increase and decrease because of natural causes. However, anthropogenic changes, such as an enhanced greenhouse effect, may result in alterations in the regional climate and in relative sea level. Serious changes in climate and sea level-with adverse effects particularly along low-lying coasts-would affect millions of people. Climate Change takes an in-depth, worldwide look at coastal habitation with respect to these natural and anthropogenic changes.
No universally applicable coastal model can be used to describe climatic changes. This unique book provides individual discussions of beaches and barrier islands, cliffs, deltas, tidal flats and wetlands, reefs, and atolls. The impact of climatic change on coastal ecology and agriculture is investigated, and human responses to the effects of climatic change along the world's coasts are included.
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Recorded Sea Level Variability in the Holocene and Expected
Impact of Climatic Change on Coastal Cities
accelerated ASLR atmosphere average barrier islands basin beach Bruun Rule cause century cliff climatic change coast coastal areas coastal zone coastline coral reefs dams decrease Delta deposition dune ecosystems environments eroding erosion estimate estuaries eustasy eustatic factors Figure flooding Geol Global Change global sea level greenhouse effect groundwater growth Holocene Huanghe Impacts of Climatic increase intertidal area IPCC lagoons land landward low-lying mangrove marine maximum migration Milliman Mississippi mm/year nearshore Netherlands occur ocean precipitation predicted processes progradation protection radiation rainfall Randstad rate of sea reduced regional relative sea level response result rise in sea rising sea level river discharge salinity salt marsh sand sea level changes sea level rise seagrass seaward sediment sediment discharge sediment input sediment load sediment supply shoreline soil species storm surge submergence subsidence summer surface temperature tidal flats tidal range tide transgression transport tropical urban variability variations vegetation warming water level wetlands | <urn:uuid:11764730-c987-411b-8cf1-d367330bc9a3> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://books.google.com/books?id=3CU1OqxpGDsC&dq=087371301X | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430455162832.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501043922-00078-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.797178 | 406 | null | 3.40625 | 3 | books.google.com |
The solution to the above question is B: 12.5%
This question seems hard at the first glance, but making a Venn Diagram makes it easy to understand.
Speeding Ticket.PNG [ 8.25 KiB | Viewed 398 times ]
M represents the set of all motorists
S represents the set of motorists who exceeded speed
T represents the set of motorists who exceeded speed and got a ticket
The question says that 20% of all motorists who exceeded speed did not get a ticket.
Have a look at the Venn Diagram. Which area represents such motorists?
The orange one.
So, if orange area is 20% of the set S, then what % of S will be the red area?
It's also given that 10% of all motorists exceed speed and get a ticket. Which area of the diagram represents these motorists?
Again, the red area.
So, we get the equation:
10% of M = 80% of S
So, S = 1/8 of M = 12.5% of M.
Hence, Option B.
Please press Kudos if you were helped by my post! | <urn:uuid:c79acfd6-b0e7-4ff4-81b7-03a9eb756a9b> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://gmatclub.com/forum/at-a-certain-conference-72-of-the-attendees-registered-at-170590.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430455162832.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501043922-00078-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93683 | 243 | null | 3.390625 | 3 | gmatclub.com |
SOUTH FLORIDA RAINBOW SNAKE } Farancia erytrogramma seminola
DESCRIPTION: The rainbow snake has a glossy, bluish-black back with three red stripes going down it, in addition to yellow and red spots on its belly. It can grow to be as long as 62 inches, with small, dark eyes and a pointed tail. Male rainbow snakes are smaller than females but have relatively longer and thicker tails.
HABITAT: This is an aquatic snake that has only been found in a freshwater stream with substantial aquatic vegetation. Fisheating Creek, its only known location, is a sluggish, small to moderate sized stream flowing through a cypress stand. During drought Fisheating Creek is reduced to a series of disconnected lakes. Though the South Florida rainbow snake has only been found in creeks, it could possibly inhabit areas similar to those inhabited by other rainbow snakes.
RANGE: The South Florida Rainbow Snake is known only from a single population in Fisheating Creek, flowing into the west side of Lake Okeechobee in the southern peninsula of Florida.
MIGRATION: This species is nonmigratory.
BREEDING: Rainbow snakes lay clutches of about 22–50 eggs. Young hatch in late summer or fall but may overwinter in the nest before emerging.
LIFE CYCLE: Due to their secretive habits, relatively little is known about the ecology of rainbow snakes, including their lifespan.
FEEDING: This reptile feeds on the American eel. It eats its prey alive, usually swallowing it head first.
THREATS: The South Florida rainbow snake is threatened by development, dams and pollution, collection and drought.
POPULATION TREND: This snake has been declared extinct, with the last specimen collected in 1952. However, more recent unconfirmed sightings give reason to believe it may still survive in small numbers. | <urn:uuid:eaaa2423-3356-434a-8648-540c10088599> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/reptiles/South_Florida_rainbow_snake/natural_history.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430455162832.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501043922-00078-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956707 | 401 | null | 3.40625 | 3 | www.biologicaldiversity.org |
The number of lives lost to AIDS among 25 - 44 year old American men and women of every eace continued to increase in 1994.
The disease has become the third leading cause of death for women in that age group and the leading cause of death of white men in that group.
In 1994, there was 30 percent rise in AIDS - related women, and a 13 percent increase among black men.
The new figures are based on a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
AIDS cases among minorities and women are ofetn linked to drug use and sex with infected drug users. The two are related because drug use impairs a person's judgment about having sex and some people tarde sex fo drugs and share needles used to inject drugs.
The number of deaths from AIDS in the United States increased 9 percent in 1994 from the previous year, and has increased evey year since the epidemic began 15 years ago.
The number of new AIDS cases in 1994 was 63,000 and the number of new infections is estimated at 40,000 to 80,000. AIDS related deaths in 1994 totaled 41,930.
(CDC Clearinghouse 2/16/96)
Where do I get answers?? |
Medical Clinics and Phone Numbers |
Last updated : Saturday, October 19, 1996
by the Webmistress | <urn:uuid:647f6bfe-ef19-4fa3-96f1-00f367b6dbe6> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.guam.net/pub/arrow/v5n5p3b.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430455162832.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501043922-00078-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955957 | 274 | null | 2.953125 | 3 | www.guam.net |
The Grammar of Irish English
Language in Hibernian Style
Routledge – 1999 – 352 pages
Irish English, also termed 'Anglo-Irish' or 'Hiberno-English', as in this book, is not usually perceived as having a grammatical system of its own. Markku Filppula here challenges this misconception and offers a descriptive and contact-linguistic account of the grammar of Hiberno-English.
Drawing on a wide range of authentic materials documenting Hiberno-English dialects past and present Filppula examines:
* the most distinctive grammatical features of these dialects
* relationships with earlier and other regional varieties of English
* the continuing influence of the Irish language on Hiberno-English
* similarities between Hiberno-English and other Celtic-influenced varieties of English spoken in Scotland and Wales
The Grammar of Irish English is a comprehensive empirical study which will be an essential reference for scholars of Hiberno-English and of value to all those working in the field of Germanic linguistics.
'…conducted by one of the foremost authorities on Hiberno-English syntax…the reader of this work can be assured of an up-to-date and major analysis of the issues involved in Hiberno-English. We are, therefore, deeply indebted to Professor Filppula.' - Seanchas Ard Mhacha: The Journal of the Armagh Historical Society Vol. 18, No. 1 (1999-2000) | <urn:uuid:76e823b8-009f-464f-becd-62ddcc928075> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.psypress.com/books/details/9780415145244/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430455162832.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501043922-00078-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.877631 | 311 | null | 2.875 | 3 | www.psypress.com |
What is One Million Metric Ton of Carbon Dioxide-Equivalent?
By Joe Abraham | The University of Arizona | June 22, 2009
The amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere from U.S. landfills in 2007 was equivalent to more than 132 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, or MMtCO2-e, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates.1 To put this into perspective, about one metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced to the meet the average monthly energy demand of the typical American household.
Comparing different sources of greenhouse gases isn’t as difficult as you may think.
Credit: ©Oleg Prikhodko, istockphoto.com
Greenhouse gas emissions are typically expressed in metric tons, an international unit of measurement equivalent to approximately 2,200 pounds. Using a single unit of measurement makes it easier to communicate how, for example, various sources of greenhouse gases—diesel trains, factories, and coal-fired power plants—compare as contributors to a warmer climate.
Individuals measuring the carbon footprint of their activities—driving a car, the energy used in their home, or flying for a vacation—are more likely to use online calculators that estimate greenhouse gas emissions from those activities in metric tons or pounds. The emission reduction options discussed on this Web site, however, are estimated in millions of metric tons (MMt) because they are scaled up to an entire state or economic sector and reflect emissions reduced over a period of time (in the case of southwestern state climate action plans, 2007 through 2020).
The following examples from the EPA help put metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into a more manageable number for individuals:
- One metric ton of CO2 is released to the atmosphere for every 103 gallons of gasoline used. Using a car that gets 25 miles to the gallon, that’s just a bit more than 2,500 miles—about two months of driving for many Americans.
- About 12 metric tons of CO2 are released to the atmosphere each year as a result of the energy consumed by the average American home for heating, cooling, cooking, electricity use, and other energy needs.
- Using up 40 barbeque propane canisters is the equivalent of releasing a ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
What are CO2 “equivalents?”
CO2 equivalents (CO2-e) offer a universal standard measurement that allows for the comparison of different greenhouse gases based on their ability to trap heat in the atmosphere. There are many types of greenhouse gases, and some gases are more effective at warming the atmosphere than others because they trap heat more effectively and longer.
|Carbon dioxide||CO2||280 ppmv||385 ppmv||50-200||
Fossil fuel combustion
Land use conversion
|Methane||CH4||700 ppbv||1866 ppbv||12-17||
|Nitrous oxide||N2O||275 ppbv||323 ppbv||120-150||
|Hydrochloroflouro-carbons (HCFCs)||HCFC-22||0||210 pptv||13||Liquid coolants||125|
|Perfluorocarbon||CF4||0||110 pptv||50,000||Production of aluminium||6,500|
|Sulphur hexa-flouride||SF6||0||6.84 pptv||1,000||Production of magnesium||23,900|
ppmv = parts per million by volume; ppbv = parts per billion by volume;
pptv = parts per trillion by volume
|Credit: IPCC radiative forcing report; Climate change 1995; Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center; http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/current_ghg.html|
Scientists have estimated measures of both factors for many different greenhouse gases that together determine the “global warming potential” (GWP; Table 1) of each gas. A GWP can then be used as a multiplier to compare emissions of different greenhouse gases based on their ability to contribute to the greenhouse effect. The GWP of a greenhouse gas is relative to the warming potential of CO2, which is set at a value of 1. For example, the GWP value of methane is 21, which means that a metric ton of methane is approximately 21 times as effective at warming the atmosphere as is a metric ton of CO2.
Thus, in terms of CO2-equivalents, a metric ton of methane is the same as 21 metric tons of CO2. Similarly, a metric ton of nitrous oxide, which is approximately 310 times as effective at warming the atmosphere as a metric ton of CO2, is the same as 310 metric tons of CO2.
It is important to note there is significant variation in the amount of time each greenhouse gas will remain in the atmosphere (see Table 1), but the GWP of greenhouse gases is based on the ability to trap heat over a period of 100 years. While this helps compare different greenhouse gases using CO2-equivalents, it also introduces some potential error, especially for gases like perflourocarbons that are expected to remain in the atmosphere for tens of thousands of years. Thus, the GWP for gases that will remain in the atmosphere for more than 100 years likely underestimates the contribution of those gases to a warmer atmosphere beyond the next century.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator
| http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html |
Detailed technical discussion of greenhouse gases and their radiative forcing by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working group I (2007)
| http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-chapter2.pdf |
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2009. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 – 2007. U.S. EPA report EPA 430-R-09-004. Washington, D.C., 441
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. Site last visited June 18, 2009. | <urn:uuid:a9f0e84f-67b3-4019-9065-7e9540750192> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.southwestclimatechange.org/solutions/reducing-emissions/mmtco2-e | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1430455162832.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20150501043922-00078-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.871804 | 1,320 | null | 3.515625 | 4 | www.southwestclimatechange.org |
Frankfurt Hydrology Paper
A digital global map of artificially drained agricultural areas : documentation
- Artificial drainage of agricultural land, for example with ditches or drainage tubes, is used to avoid water logging and to manage high groundwater tables. Among other impacts it influences the nutrient balances by increasing leaching losses and by decreasing denitrification. To simulate terrestrial transport of nitrogen on the global scale, a digital global map of artificially drained agricultural areas was developed. The map depicts the percentage of each 5’ by 5’ grid cell that is equipped for artificial drainage. Information on artificial drainage in countries or sub-national units was mainly derived from international inventories. Distribution to grid cells was based, for most countries, on the "Global Croplands Dataset" of Ramankutty et al. (1998) and the "Digital Global Map of Irrigation Areas" of Siebert et al. (2005). For some European countries the CORINE land cover dataset was used instead of the both datasets mentioned above. Maps with outlines of artificially drained areas were available for 6 countries. The global drainage area on the map is 167 Mio hectares. For only 11 out of the 116 countries with information on artificial drainage areas, sub-national information could be taken into account. Due to this coarse spatial resolution of the data sources, we recommended to use the map of artificially drained areas only for continental to global scale assessments. This documentation describes the dataset, the data sources and the map generation, and it discusses the data uncertainty.
Global-scale estimation of diffuse groundwater recharge : model tuning to local data for semi-arid and arid regions and assessment of climate change impact
- Groundwater recharge is the major limiting factor for the sustainable use of groundwater. To support water management in a globalized world, it is necessary to estimate, in a spatially resolved way, global-scale groundwater recharge. In this report, improved model estimates of diffuse groundwater recharge at the global-scale, with a spatial resolution of 0.5° by 0.5°, are presented. They are based on calculations of the global hydrological model WGHM (WaterGAP Global Hydrology Model) which, for semi-arid and arid areas of the globe, was tuned against independent point estimates of diffuse groundwater recharge. This has led to a decrease of estimated groundwater recharge under semi-arid and arid conditions as compared to the model results before tuning, and the new estimates are more similar to country level data on groundwater recharge. Using the improved model, the impact of climate change on groundwater recharge was simulated, applying two greenhouse gas emissions scenarios as interpreted by two different climate models. | <urn:uuid:393ad840-7165-41d1-bd54-070b243eebf3> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/solrsearch/index/search/searchtype/series/id/16129/start/0/rows/10/author_facetfq/Petra+D%C3%B6ll/yearfq/2005 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898378 | 541 | null | 3.015625 | 3 | publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de |
Victoria, British Columbia experienced a tiny earthquake this afternoon. It poses no threat, but its location within a dense seismograph network and proximity to population centers make it an ideal case study for comparing measured and perceived shaking.
The earthquake was located just off the southeast tip of Vancouver Island at 1:37 pm local time, adjacent to Victoria and within a populated island group. The magnitude 3.0 or smaller earthquake is so small as to pose no threat to people or infrastructure. The region is densely populated with seismometers installed to track any motion in the Cascadia fault zone.
If you live within the region, please fill out a Did You Feel It? report, whether you felt it or not. Null reports are important to keep from over-estimating perceived shaking, while positive reports are useful for understanding how superficial geology and building design amplify or dampen seismic waves.
The seismic signal from the earthquake is well-recorded, with nothing all that unusual about it. It's being reported as a M2.3 or M3.0 by different sources. An earthquake that small is roughly equivalent to the rumbling of a truck going past, with the shaking lasting only a few seconds.
Seismic signal of the M3.0 earthquake near Victoria, BC on June 16, 2014.
At the time of writing, the Did You Feel It? map is based on 141 responses.
For the most part, it makes sense: people farther away didn't feel it at all. It does have one interesting feature for the moment, in that an island farther from the epicenter apparently felt the earthquake more strongly than the closer islands, and more strongly than the magnitude of shaking. This could be an over-estimate from insufficient data points, an exaggerated report from a freaked-out island, or could indicate that the island has more shake-amplifying sediment than most of the glacial-scoured bare-rock Gulf Islands.
The Pacific Northwest is bordered by the Cascadia subduction zone. The Juan de Fuca plate is just offshore of the region.
The plate terminates in triple-plate junctions with the Pacific and North American plates just offshore of northern California and the north tip of Vancouver Island. To the west, the Juan de Fuca meets the Pacific plate at a divergent junction, where a mid-ocean ridge produces tiny earthquakes and new oceanic crust. On its eastern boundary, the Juan de Fuca is subducting beneath the North American Plate, a plate boundary capable of producing massive magnitude 8 or even magnitude 9 earthquakes.
This earthquake was within the Cascadia subduction zone, but is not from the main fault, which is offshore of Vancouver Island. Its location and shallow depth indicate it's a minor shift on some smaller fault. I've previously worked mapping seismic fault lines in British Columbia. While I can't tell you anything specific about the maps I've made (not even to identify if this earthquake lines up to a known fault or not), I can tell you that I was shocked and saddened by how scarce the data is when compared to similar maps for California. Mapping the exact location of faults in Western Canada is a tricky business from both a scientific and a political standpoint.
From a scientific perspective, earthquakes in subduction zones are generally less frequent and more intense than earthquakes in transform boundaries (like California). Without many earthquakes, it's difficult to actually identify where active faults are. We can identify some historic faults that may still be active by looking for areas of offset, but sediments deposited since the last Ice Age can bury and hide faults. Western Canada is also a temperate rainforest, with a lot of trees and not much exposed bedrock for geologists to map. Unless they move, those hidden faults can lurk undetected until they activate with a new earthquake.
The next problem is political: Canada is a country with a small population, and a correspondingly small budget. Worse, it lacks a central agency tasked with disaster mitigation, so the task of studying, anticipating, and responding to natural catastrophes is split amongst many agencies with variable cooperation and communication.
While Washington state had the resources and organization to fly a LiDAR survey using lasers to create detailed topography maps and spy out offsets that identify faults, the other side of the border lacks this kind of mapping. For example, check out how many of the red fault lines terminate at the national border in the USGS basemap for their shakemap [left].
While geologists and seismologists gossip about possible faults under the Strait of Georgia, within the Fraser River's delta, hidden in the thick forests of Vancouver Island, or cutting below the major metropolitan centers of Victoria and Vancouver, we don't have the tools, resources, support, or money to actually look for those potential faults. British Columbia has a fault map, but it could really use some dedicated love, attention, and funding, preferably before a major earthquake strikes.
If you live in Victoria, southern Vancouver Island, or the Gulf Islands, give your friendly neighbourhood geologists a hand. Fill out a Did You Feel It? report, and help us gather the data that we otherwise don't have the tools to collect. And if you're a bit surprised that we don't have a detailed fault map for British Columbia, feel free to nudge your political representatives that we really shouldn't wait until The Big One to get a proper geophysical investigation of the seismic hazard near one of the biggest cities in Canada. | <urn:uuid:1e2d39f8-cf8c-4cdb-92d4-fb0f2cc206fa> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://space.io9.com/we-had-a-3-4-here-in-farmington-ut-last-week-at-10-34-p-1591944362 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945099 | 1,121 | null | 2.703125 | 3 | space.io9.com |
Options: Archetypal, Psychoanalytical, Marxist, feminist, (new) historicist, biographical. Obviously, there will one that you don’t use.
You can format these essays as one longer paper with five different subsections and one shared works cited page. There is no reason to submit five individual papers...
. Assignment Information . Assignment Information
3.2 Rhetorical Analysis Essay
3.2 Rhetorical Analysis Essay
* Use techniques for critical reading
* Evaluate how personal context influences your own and others' perspectives
compose college-level essays that are coherent, detailed, and free of serious error. In their essays, students will be asked to use a variety of rhetorical support including primary and secondary research.x
Course Learning Outcomes/CLOs:
The goals for this course are to help you develop the skills...
Pathways English 16C.003
A Rhetorical Analysis of Pre- and Post-1799 Slave Bills of Sale and the
1799 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery
1. Defining the “Rhetorical Situation”
You have read from Eric Foner that freedom is an “essentially contested”...
ideas from the journal.). Your analysis should show real depth and insight, going beyond the obvious, and beyond what we have discussed in class. Your paper should also show an awareness of the entire novel. Focusing only on one section may hopelessly distort your analysis.
Thesis: As always, you...
Writing the Critical or Rhetorical Analysis
When we hear the term “critical” or “criticism,” we often think of negative or unfavorable judgments or comments. This idea, however, makes up only one part of the meaning of criticism. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, criticism, where...
APA or MLA Format
Session 1 and Session 2 Discussion: “Which Picture Is Your Writing Process Like?”—two responses
First draft of Writing Project 1, Summary and Response
3: Summary and Response—Peer Response
Textbook, Chapter 24, “Citing Sources Using MLA Style” OR...
objectively to a controversial text and evaluate a
writer’s rhetorical strategies
Improve your understanding of how to compose an effective thesis statement, and
develop detailed, persuasive and coherent support
Improve your ability to use MLA documentation style
Summarizing and responding...
lives” (2005 – 2006 Workshop Materials 49). Students will be expected to respond to various texts in writing concerning theme, as well as purpose and rhetorical mode. In addition, each student will prepare analytical essays in which they synthesize materials reviewed and course information gained from lecture...
Language, or Rhetorical Analogy)
Include as many puns and clever wordplays as you can to help develop a satirical tone and illustrate your point.
For Example: Punishment will be doled out in a timely manner. (Word play)
This problem is a ticking time bomb! (Rhetorical analogy)
• Must be written in MLA style
• Must include: Title page with student name, instructor name, title, date
• Please number pages
• Must include citations and a bibliography according to MLA format
*Please use the resources available through the library and MLA style guides.
seven to eight luscious pages of your incredible writing), we are looking at this paper as a jumping-off point to show your strengths as a developing rhetorical writer.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism found in any assignment will result in immediate failure in the course. See me if you do not understand how to...
Literary Analysis Paper
General Requirement : A literary analysis paper based on one of the sonnets written by Shakespeare (Sonnet 18, 55 or 116)
Deadline is October 18, 2013 (Friday next week) 4 pm (hard copy)
Format : Century Gothic 12 double space, full block (double justified) Between 5-7 pages...
Profile a Place Essay
Dominant Rhetorical Modes: Analysis, Classification, Analytical Definition, Process Analysis.
Objective: The purpose of this assignment is to exercise the ability to analyze, to synthesize, and express the analysis and synthesis in a meaningful essay that has the potential...
Critical Analysis /Argument Assignment:
Option 1. Using all 3 appeals in the rhetorical triangle as discussed in class, write a 500-750-word Critical Analysis/Argument that shows how each appeal works to support the central claim (thesis) of one of the non-fiction selections.
Option 2. Using...
6. Did I proofread my draft in stages rather than all at once?
Essay Submission Checklist
□ Follows correct MLA format (see the end of the MLA section of A Writer’s Reference for what your final draft should look like): make sure to include a cover page, but you do not need an...
4-6 pages (MINIMUM 4 PAGES)
100 points possible
Rhetorical Analyses Essay
Any situation in which people consciously communicate with one another can be defined as rhetorical. As discussed in class, people use rhetorical appeals to engage their audience, which tend to fall into one of...
University of Scranton
Bonnie Lini Markowski
Limit: 5 TO BE verbs per page
This assignment asks you to analyze an argumentative article, editorial, essay, etc. using the criteria in our text. By analyzing the Ethos of the author and source...
successfully complete this essay:
Step 1: The Foundation: Choose a topic. Immerse yourself in the debate. Develop an argument. Write a draft using 5 rhetorical moves. Deliver a speech.
-Draft 1: Soapbox Speeches: Mon. 12/9 – Tues. 12/17
Step 2: The Architecture: Bolster your argument with...
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Index: Literature: Shakespeare
Rhetorical Analysis of Marck Antony's speech
Written by: Leiny
Rhetoric is perhaps one of the oldest disciplinary regimes introduced...
Essay 2: Causal Analysis Argument about the Media
In Module/Week 5, you will write an approximately 1000-word (3–4-page) causal analysis essay in response to one of the following prompts:
Select an image(s) from an electronic source that exemplifies your position on the effect of...
II. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Argument and Research (English 102) builds on the skills developed in Expository Writing (English 101) focusing on analysis, synthesis and evaluation, logical thinking, the techniques of argument, writing about literature, and preparation of the documented essay.
include the topic, purpose, audience, and the author based on a rhetorical situation. By considering these elements you let the rhetorical situation influence how you research and the conclusions that you draw from your research.
The rhetorical situation has four parts: purpose, audience, topic, and author...
Is the Common Idea of This Thing?
* Conclusion: Restate Your Impressions
Although this is a descriptive essay, pay attention to how other rhetorical strategies (such as example, comparison/contrast, narration, etc) can best support the essay’s dominant impression. To make your impression more...
are expected to demonstrate proficiency in the following academic writing skills:
• To produce a clean, readable manuscript that conforms to MLA format
• To produce a complex, well-structured, persuasive argument based on the assigned readings.
• To put into practice the skills of critically...
Third Major Essay: Researched Analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Purpose: Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is the most brilliant speech ever written and delivered by an American. It is an almost “perfect” example of conciseness, purpose, and persuasion. In this third essay...
(November 13). Remember if you do not have access to a source you wish to use, our library can use Interlibrary Library Loan to get you the item.
Format: MLA. All paraphrases and direct quotations must be cited both internally and also within the Works Cited page.
Instructions: First, you will choose...
Critical Analysis: Soliloquies in Macbeth
A soliloquy is a monologue, delivered by a character alone on stage. o Soliloquies are central to the play because in them there is only truth. There is no deception as there might be when speaking to other characters. o o Soliloquies contain the most powerful...
EN 1103 Rhetorical Analysis Assignment
Write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the use of rhetorical appeals presented in the text you chose to analyze—either “The Declaration of Independence” or “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions,” both available in Forming a Critical Perspective... | <urn:uuid:e09925cc-9c1f-4239-a822-ff33565003f6> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.brainia.com/topics/rhetorical-analysis-mla-format/0 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.868583 | 1,906 | null | 2.734375 | 3 | www.brainia.com |
Long before phones went wireless, turned small enough to fit in your pocket, and became "smart," Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant, Thomas Watson, pieced together the very first telephone in 1876. Now, more than a century after he invented the telephone, we know what Bell's voice sounded like. Researchers found early audio recordings in the Smithsonian, which were packed away for more than a century until new technology came along that allowed them to be played.
So, what did he say in the recordings? One simple command: "Hear my voice... Alexander Graham Bell."
It's as if he planned it out all along.
[via Huffington Post] | <urn:uuid:d12939b4-4344-4fcc-b6b3-8771a0744fce> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/04/listen-to-the-only-known-recording-of-the-inventor-of-the-telephone | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977561 | 135 | null | 2.875 | 3 | www.complex.com |
Here is a list of some common things that private investigators are not allowed to get without signed authorization or other official court order:
HIPAA, which was enacted in 1996, protects your medical history and medical records from prying eyes. There are federal and state laws against obtaining medical records without authorization.
Individual credit reports are protected by the Fair Credit Report Act (“FCRA”), Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (“DPPA”) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”). Private investigators can obtain credit reports, but a signed authorization or waiver from the subject of the inquiry must be obtained to get a credit report.
The Right to Financial Privacy Act prohibits financial institutions from disclosing bank records or account information about individual customers to governmental agencies without 1) the customer’s consent, 2) a court order, 3) a subpoena, 4) a search warrant, or 5) other formal demand, with limited exceptions.
Telephone Records / Cell Phone Records
In January 2007, President Bush signed the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006, which makes it a felony to fraudulently acquire telephone records. If you are the owner of the phone, it’s a different story, but you cannot access someone else’s phone records without permission.
Obtaining travel records for someone other than yourself can be done through the U.S. Department of State, provided that you have a notarized consent, court order or other legitimate document, but there is no way to publicly or legally obtain these records without permission.
Each state government has its own set of rules about obtaining birth certificates, but in general, birth certificates can only be obtained by the person named on the certificate, immediate family members or next of kin. In many states, records more than 100 years old are part of the public domain. | <urn:uuid:c3581f6f-0dd8-4f0f-b1f9-4feb3284497d> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.diligentiagroup.com/legal-investigation/private-investigators-not-allowed-to-get-without-authorization/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92918 | 386 | null | 2.546875 | 3 | www.diligentiagroup.com |
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Understanding Business Statistics is a highly student-oriented business statistics product that makes statistics understandable for students with a wide variety of statistics backgrounds. The authors provide an intuitive discussion of basic statistical principles rather than a mathematically rigorous development. They use simple examples to introduce and develop concepts and procedures. For ease of reading, chapter sections are designed to ensure easy-to-follow continuity from one section to the next. This text provides students with frequent opportunities to check their understanding of topics as they move through the chapters, with exercises included at the end of most sections. In many cases, the exercises have been designed to extend chapter discussions rather than solely provide opportunities for drill and repetition. Understanding Business Statistics is written using a modular approach, allowing students to approach the subject step-by-step with very clear instructions.
Table of Contents
Chapter 2 - Descriptive Statistics I: Elementary Data Presentation and Description
Chapter 3 - Descriptive Statistics II: Additional Descriptive Measures and Data Displays
Chapter 4 - Probability
Chapter 5 - Discrete Probability Distributions
Chapter 6 - Continuous Probability Distributions
Chapter 7 - Statistical Inference: Estimating a Population Mean
Chapter 8 - Interval Estimates for Proportions, Mean Differences and Proportion Differences
Chapter 9 - Statistical Hypothesis Testing: Hypothesis Tests for a Population Mean
Chapter 10 - Hypothesis Tests for Proportions, Mean Differences and Proportion Differences
Chapter 11 - Basic Regression Analysis
Chapter 12 - Multiple Regression
Chapter 13 - F Tests and Analysis of Variance
Chapter 13 - (part 2) Experimental Design (Online Only)
Chapter 14 - Chi-Square Tests
APPENDIX A: Tables
APPENDIX B: Answers to selected even-numbered exercises | <urn:uuid:2d1d9691-1ccc-4873-937e-a5928b89036a> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.ecampus.com/understanding-business-statistics-freed/bk/9781118145258 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.877428 | 511 | null | 2.734375 | 3 | www.ecampus.com |
Fraser fir trees grow to a height of 30 to 50 feet and spread 15 to 25 feet. Their nearly perfect pyramidal shape makes them ideal lawn specimens. Fraser fir trees are native to the Appalachian Mountains. Because they are indigenous to higher elevations, they prefer cool, moist climates and well-drained soil with a pH that is on the acid side. They are also susceptible to drought and greatly benefit from artificial watering in addition to natural rainfall.
Protect young Fraser trees from drying winds or perpetually dry sites. If possible, grow young trees in a protected nursery garden for the first 3 to 4 years of life before transplanting the trees to their final locations. Grow them in a protected area where it is convenient to water them regularly for the first few years of their lives.
Spread a 2- to 6-inch layer of high-acid, organic mulch over the soil. Mulch will keep the soil evenly moist and reduce the ability of most types of weeds to germinate and grow through the mulch. The use of high-acid organic mulches, such as peat moss, pine needles or shredded pine bark, increases the acidity of the soil, which benefits Fraser fir trees.
Water weekly during the tree's first year of life in your yard and every other week after that. When you water, water deeply so that the soil is saturated to a depth of at least 12 inches for trees that are 2 to 3 years old and to a depth of at least 18 inches for older trees. This encourages the roots to grow deep down into the soil, which will help them thrive during times of drought.
Fertilize sparingly with organic fertilizer. Remove the mulch, and then spread 1 to 2 inches of finished compost, leaf mold (decomposed fallen autumn leaves, sometimes called "leaf litter") or well-rotted manure evenly around the base of the tree, all the way out to its drip line, preferably in early spring. Replace the mulch.
Prune in mid- to late spring, only to remove dead or diseased branches. Once a branch on an evergreen is removed, one will not grow back in its place, so make your cuts carefully.
Protect against winter browning by "hardening off" the trees in autumn. Water Fraser fir trees regularly during the growing season. Stop watering after the first part of September but allow the trees to receive any natural rainfall. Give them a good watering before the first hard frost and again just after the second hard frost. This will encourage them to harden off before freezing weather sets in for good. | <urn:uuid:b2a68e23-56a4-4b42-a5f3-5547ebd32097> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.gardenguides.com/82554-grow-fraser-fir-trees.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946022 | 530 | null | 3.3125 | 3 | www.gardenguides.com |
Definition of Enoxaparin
Enoxaparin: A low-molecular-weight version of heparin that acts like heparin as an anticoagulant medication. Enoxaparin is used to prevent thromboembolic complications (blood clots that travel from their site of origin through the bloodstream to clog another vessel) and in the early treatment of blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolisms).Source: MedTerms™ Medical Dictionary
Last Editorial Review: 3/19/2012
Find out what women really need. | <urn:uuid:f561da51-679a-44a9-8310-bc37921d9bca> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3251 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.870917 | 120 | null | 3.078125 | 3 | www.rxlist.com |
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun Summary
How It All Goes Down
Set in the aftermath of World War II, the Younger family is facing its own war against racism in the Chicago slums. America’s complicated history of racial tension between black Americans and white Americans is ingrained into the Youngers’ everyday lives. Single mother (and grandmother) Lena Younger, her daughter Beneatha, and her son Walter (plus his wife Ruth and their son Travis) squeeze into a run-down two-bedroom apartment. According to our count, that’s five people in a space built for three.
Not only do these characters feel confined by their physical home space, they also feel restricted by the social roles they’ve been assigned. For example, socially-progressive Beneatha (Bennie) studies to become a doctor, despite the financial strain it puts on the low-income family. Walter works as a chauffeur for a white man, but he dreams of opening a liquor store with his buddies and making more money for his family. His wife Ruth draws no attention to her own desires, cleaning up after the rest of the family members as well as the houses where she works. Toward the beginning of the play, we learn that Ruth is pregnant, which only complicates the family situation. The family is not affluent enough to provide for another life, so Ruth prepares to abort her child.
But the Youngers have a chance at a new beginning. Ten thousand dollars is coming in the mail, and Lena must decide what to do with it. Bennie hopes for tuition money, Walter hopes for the down payment on his liquor store, and Ruth just wants her family to be happy. Then three huge events happen: 1) Lena decides to buy a house for the family…in a white neighborhood, 2) Lena entrusts the rest of the money to Walter, advising him to save a good amount for Beneatha’s schooling, and 3) Walter loses all the money in the liquor store scam. Morale goes from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
When a white man, Karl, comes to buy out the Youngers’ new house, Walter figures that giving in to The Man is the only way to get some money for his family. In the play’s climactic moment, Walter must decide between standing up for his family’s rights and standing up for his ego and role as the breadwinner of the family. Fortunately for the Youngers, and for Broadway history, Walter sides with his family’s rights and declines Karl’s offer. The family will move into their new home. | <urn:uuid:2119118a-455b-49a5-be4c-447bfadea055> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.shmoop.com/a-raisin-in-the-sun/summary.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972547 | 550 | null | 2.65625 | 3 | www.shmoop.com |
Dulce et Decorum Est
Analysis: Sound Check
This poem's not playing too many games with us. It's so deeply entrenched in the world of war that its language can't help but re-create the language and the pace of the battlefield. Starting the second stanza with a sharp cry, "Gas! Gas!" draws us smack-dab into the middle of the action (9). We're not worried about what the soldiers look like or sound like now. Thrown into a murky, misty green world of toxic fumes, we try as hard as our speaker does to make sense of language that seems to create a haze of frantic action.
Then again, there are some pretty masterful sleights-of-hand to pull straight into this world of war. Check out the first few lines of the poem: the repetition of hard consonant sounds like the hard "k" in "sacks," "knock," "coughed" and "cursed" makes our tongues perform some sharp attacks on the air in our mouths. If you listen closely, it might even sound vaguely like the machine-gun fire which was the sonic backdrop of the battlefield in World War I. Technically, that's alliteration. (Check out our "Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay" for a more detailed analysis of all the alliterative work that's going on in this poem.) For now, though, we'll say that the true-to-the-moment sound of this poem masks a technically adept poet at work.
Oh, and did we talk about the Latin? In case we didn't mention it, Latin's a dead language. It's not spoken. And it's a bit creepy to end with a language that is itself dead. So what do we make of the fact that you just can't speak the last lines of this poem? We'll analyze that in "Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay," as well – but it poses a problem to anyone who's "sounding" out this poem. How does one "speak" a language that's not spoken? | <urn:uuid:df9c9f84-98aa-4a21-9763-8f6882985d44> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.shmoop.com/dulce-et-decorum-est/sound-check.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246635547.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045715-00109-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966152 | 434 | null | 3.015625 | 3 | www.shmoop.com |
Navigating 50 years of philosophical debate—Robert Horn's Seven Can Computers Think? mapsFull-sized versions of the original maps can be ordered here.
The magnificent set of seven 3' x 4' maps created by Robert Horn and his team of researchers focuses on the philosophical debate around Alan Turing's assertion in 1950 that:
"by the end of the century... one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted"
i.e. that a computational system can possess all important elements of human thinking or understanding.Each map explores an overarching question in deep and concise detail:
...wtih more than 800 arguments advanced by over 300 protagonists in the debate.At the time of the publication of the maps, Robert Horn described the background to this Herculean endeavour as follows:"Argumentation Mapping Karl Popper, the century's great philosopher of science, suggested that science and philosophy, indeed, all of human thinking-progresses from conjecture to refutation, that is, from claim to rebuttal to counterrebuttal or new claim. In the combat of ideas, some survive and others fall. But the clash of ideas always results in new thinking, in new distinctions, new concepts, new frameworks, new ways of viewing the world. Argumentation has always been crucial to the development of ideas from Socrates in the Athenian marketplace through the debates of the new universities of the Middle Ages to the 20th Century's proliferating scientific journals. Today, however, the increasing complexity of information and specialization has relegated most scientific and philosophical argument into the seminar rooms of the academy. Debates are still carried on worldwide by hundreds of participants in different disciplines, but who often don't read each other's literature.Complexity/specialization is not only the dilemma of the modern student, however, it is a misfortune for any reader who hopes to stay informed of humanity's greatest questions. Nowadays it is almost impossible to answer the question: What is the current status of any one of these great debates? What arguments have been answered and rebutted? What points still stand at the moment? Traditionally textbooks were expected to answer such questions, but they have become simultaneously bloated and selective as well. Interdisciplinary studies are supposed to solve many of these problems, but they usually fall victim to departmental struggles over students, budgets, publications, and promotions The modern study of argumentation began in 1957 with the philosopher Stephen Toulmin's recognition that most real-life arguments did not resemble formal argumentation schemes in place since Aristotle. Toulmin, a student of Wittgenstein, showed how much of modern philosophy, especially that associated with formal logic and the so-called analytic schools, had become a technical study drifting apart from the way thinking was actually done in many other fields-scientific, technological, legal, medical, and practical. The Mapping Great Debates Project Horn started the Great Debates project in 1987. For 25 years he had been CEO of Information Mapping®, Inc an international consulting company-a company he founded. that is now a world leader in developing documentation and training for industry and technology. Its approach is based on a methodology of analyzing complex subject matters he had developed in the mid-60's while doing research and teaching graduate courses at Columbia's Institute for Educational Technology. He had written a book in the late 80's, Mapping Hypertext: Analysis, Linkage, and Display of Knowledge for the Next Generation of On-line Text and Graphics, that foreshadowed the development of the World Wide Web. With this book Horn solved many of the problems of structuring and organizing information in hypertext. He also began to devise graphic approaches to Stephen Toulmin's innovations in argumentation analysis. The Wider Vision Horn imagined a seminar room of the future that would have wall-size, electronic screens enabling students to and faculty to keep the big picture in context while exploring settled and disputed regions of the inquiry. He imagined that we would be able to ask: "What is the current status of the great philosophical and scientific debates that humanity has struggled with over the centuries?" And he imagined clicking with a TV zapper on to the debates and moving back and forth easily between the big picture and details in the papers and chapters written by protagonists. That way any interested reader could navigate the critical debates-philosophical and practical-that fascinate us today, but are beyond our reach because of information overload and time constraints. If the great debates were to be displayed on a wall, what would they look like? That question launched Horn into the argumentation mapping project. His initial idea was to use some kind of diagraming approach for a major debate, and as the project evolved the mapping metaphor seemed most appropriate. He then had to select a great question. He did not want to work on "toy problems" (problems too small to test his developing methodology.) Rather he picked an "industrial strength" argument- the Turing Debate-Can computers think (or will they ever be able to)? Can Computers Think? Horn's choice of the debate about whether computers can think was especially apt, focusing on the crucial area of our species awareness of its uniqueness. The Can Computers Think? debates raises fundamental questions about human identity, as the human species has often been defined as the rational animal. But if actual reasoning can be incorporated into silicon chips, then we humans are no longer as unique as we thought. The Can Computers Think debate surfaces regularly in the news-when the Mars robot explores the red planet on TV while hundreds of millions watch and when IBM's Deep Blue computer beats the top human Grandmaster at chess or when Hans Moravec, Director of the Mobile Robot Lab at Carnegie Mellon University proclaims that we will be eclipsed by robots in the next 100 years. "Today, our machines are still simple creations, requiring the paternal care and hovering attention of any newborn, hardly worthy of the word 'intelligent.' But within the next century they will mature into entities as complex as ourselves and eventually into something transcending everything we know-in whom we can take pride when they refer to themselves as our descendants. Unleashed from the plodding pace of biological evolution, the children of our minds will be free to grow to confront immense and fundamental challenges in the larger universe. We humans will benefit for a time from their labors, but sooner or later, like natural children, they will seek their own fortunes while we, their aged parents, silently fade away. Very little need be lost in this passing of the torch-it will be in our artificial offspring's power, and to their benefit, to remember almost everything about us, even, perhaps, the detailed workings of individual human minds." Moravec, Hans. Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1988. In 1950 the eminent British mathematician and inventor of the computer, Allen Turing, wrote in the journal, Mind: "I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted." Since then, the debate has engaged literally thousands of scholars, philosophers, cognitive scientists, mathematicians, physicists, neurobiologists and researchers from other fields. And it has engaged some of the best minds of all time: great mathematicians Godel and von Neuman; pioneer cognitive scientists Philip Johnson-Laird, Alan Newell, and Nobel laureate Herbert Simon; the inventors of the field of artificial intelligence, John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky; physicist Roger Penrose; and, of course, philosophers from Leibnitz and Descartes to such contemporaries as Hubert Dreyfus, John Searle, Daniel Dennet, Douglas Hofstadter, and Paul and Patricia Churchland, among many others. Horn initially mapped the parts of the debate that flowed out of one of Searle's moves in the argument, the Chinese Room thought experiment. (On map 4 appear over 100 arguments that have resulted from this argument). By 1994 Horn began to assemble his team of graduate students to help research and write the claims and link up the numerous, intricate threads of the arguments. Over one thousand books, articles and papers were digested and considered for possible inclusion. Criteria for ultimate selection and summary included such items as earliest or first to make the argument, non-triviality of the claim, formal publication of the argument, and falling within the scope of the map. By late 1997, the project had grown from 50 initial claims to seven maps with over 800 arguments represented."Fuller information on the original project is available via Robert Horn's website. The set of seven maps is available for order for $99 here. *** Please note that the material posted to the Artificial Intelligence debate map prior to the adoption of the Creative Commons License on 28 February 2008 was not posted under the terms of the Creative Commons License. Please confirm the current status of this material with Thoughtgraph prior to any reuse beyond Debategraph.*** | <urn:uuid:44d5b44b-32ae-4c09-90be-2925421ef6c2> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://debategraph.org/Stream.aspx?nID=75 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939202 | 1,836 | null | 2.8125 | 3 | debategraph.org |
The Blind Man and the Lame
The Blind Man and the Lame recounts how two individuals collaborated in an effort to overcome their respective disabilities. The theme is first attested in Greek about the first century BCE. Stories with this feature occur in Asia, Europe and North America.
While visual representations were common in Europe from the 16th century, literary fables incorporating the theme only began to emerge during the 18th century and the story was eventually claimed, without evidence, to be one of Aesop's Fables.
The adaptation by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian gave rise to the French idiom, "L'union de l'aveugle et le paralytique" ("the union of the blind man and the lame"), used ironically in reference to any unpromising partnership.
Western Asian sources
A group of four epigrams in the Greek Anthology concern a blind man and a lame. Plato the Younger states the situation in two wittily contrasting lines:
- A blind man carried a lame man on his back,
- lending him his feet and borrowing from him his eyes.
The three others, who include Leonidas of Alexandria and Antiphilus of Byzantium, comment that by combining in this way the two make a perfect whole.
A West Asian story based on this trope is found in a pseudo-biblical document, the Apocryphon of Ezekiel, in which the two form a partnership to raid an orchard but claim their innocence by pointing out their disabilities. A variation of the story appears in the Jewish Talmud (Sanhedrin 91) and yet another is told in Islamic tradition as occurring during the boyhood of Jesus.
That the basic situation of the two helping each other was still known in Mediaeval times is suggested by its appearance among the Latin stories in the Gesta Romanorum at the turn of the 14th century. There an emperor declares a general feast and the lame man proposes the means of getting there to the blind.
New life was given to the theme in the Renaissance when Andrea Alciato adapted the epigram by Leonidas into Latin and used it in his Book of Emblems (1534) to symbolise the theme of mutual support (mutuum auxilium). Other illustrated emblem books were to give the theme new interpretations. Jan Sadeler's Emblemata evangelica ad XII signa coelestia (Antwerp, 1585) pictures the pair crossing a plank bridge in the lower forground of a majestic landscape, with Latin epigraphs exhorting charity. In the Emblemata saecularia (Oppenheim, 1596) of Johann Theodor de Bry, the illustration is dependent on Alciato's, particulaly in the detail of the deformed leg; it also references the trope of the Elm and the Vine, another of Alciato's emblems. Combining the meaning of both, the print carries the epigraph Mutua si fuerint studia, hic servatur et illa, "Each is served where the objectives are common" (plate 46). The theme of mutual support was also carried forward into an 18th century Low Countries print titled "The Allegory of Poverty", where the blind man carrying a cripple appears once again in a rural setting, with the addition of a huntsman defending a sleeping man from a feral dog.
Though the theme was common enough in art, it does not appear in fable collections until Christian Fürchtegott Gellert included it in his verse collection Fabeln und Erzählungen (1746-1748). In this a blind man in the street asks a cripple for help and suggests how they can aid each other. The moral he draws is a wider one, that mutual support goes beyond charity to become a model for all of society:
- The gifts of others thou hast not,
- While others want what thou hast got ;
- And from this imperfection springs
- The good that social virtue brings.
When Robert Dodsley adapted the story in the "Modern Fables" section of his Select fables of Esop and other fabulists (1754), he gave it a context from which later versions of the story were to develop. In his prose version, the two meet at "a difficult place in the road" and Dodsley follows Gellert in prefacing it with the comment that "the wants and weaknesses of individuals form the connections of society". Dodsley's version was later illustrated by Thomas Bewick and included in his Select Fables of Aesop (1818). Authors up to then had been careful to mention that their collections contained fables by Aesop "and others", but during the 19th century the story was often to be ascribed simply to Aesop.
The nature of Dodsley's "difficult place" is redefined as "a dangerous place" in Jefferys Taylor's Aesop in Rhyme (1820), which the illustration reveals to be planks laid over a brook, not unlike the hazard over which the pair are crossing in Sadeler's emblem. But in Brooke Boothby's treatment of the story in his Fables and Satires (1809), the two meet at a ford and help each other across, as also happens in Marmarduke Park’s Aesop in Rhyme or old friends in a new dress (Philadelphia 1852.
New forms of the fable were also to appear elsewhere in Europe. The French fabulist Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian gives his story of L'aveugle et le paralytique a completely different urban setting in Asia. The poem is prefaced by a saying of Confucius that the sharing of trouble lightens it and tells of two beggars who enter into a pact of mutual aid. But the sceptical Polish bishop Ignacy Krasicki had given the story a completely different ending in his Fables and Parables (1779). There the blind man pays no heed to his lame guide until, after various mishaps, they fall over a precipice.
A lame beggar riding on the back of a blind makes another argumentative pair in The Cat and the Moon (1924), the mask play written by the Irish poet W. B. Yeats. The two co-operate as they search out the holy well of Saint Colman but are never reconciled. Though both are cured of their afflictions, it is in their own individual way. Coincidentally, a similar pair are miraculously cured while fleeing from an earthquake together in a Hopi traditional tale first collected in 1905, but there the similarity ends. These two act in perfect concord.
Though Claris de Florian's version of the fable achieved lasting popularity, its Chinese setting seems to have been largely ignored by illustrators. Notable exceptions include Benjamin Rabier's 1906 broadsheet with the fable accompanied by Chinese-style illustrations and Armand Rapeño's illustration in a 1949 edition of Florian's fables. Even these, however, fall short of picturing an urban setting. The fable was also given a Japanese background in an edition illustrated by traditional woodcuts published from Tokyo in 1895.
Two later Belgian treatments are notable for being set in rural locations and compassionate treatment of the subject. Eugene Laermans varies the scene by picturing the pair side by side as they cross a stone bridge, the blind man with a cane in his right hand, the lame with a crutch in his left and his own right hand hooked through the other’s arm. The Symbolist Anto Carte's painting of 1926-1930 places the pair in a Brabant landscape with the recognisable spire of the church at Ohain downslope. It was this scene which was subsequently reused on a 1954 set of Belgian charity stamps.
Previously there had been several compassionate treatments in French art exhibited over the last quarter of the 19th century. Auguste-Barthélemy Glaize's painting for the 1877 Salon was notable enough to be made part of the French exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and his own lithograph of it appeared in the programme. A contemporary account describes it as "One of the largest paintings ... and among the best of its kind. With staff in hand, striding vigorously over a rough country road, a man with sightless orbs is bearing on his back one stricken and wasted by paralysis, whose piercing and lustrous gaze gives stronger accentuation to the theme".
In the 1883 Salon there were no less than three statues of L'aveugle et le paralytique on show. The most celebrated was by Jean Turcan, whose plaster model of the subject received a first class medal. Subsequently the French state arranged for him to carve it in marble and this version was exhibited at the 1888 Salon, when it received a medal of honour. The next year it was given a further prize at the Universal Exhibition and afterwards was placed in the Musée du Luxembourg. In 1927 it was moved to Arles, Turcan's birthplace, where it has remained. A bronze version was also created for Marseilles, the city that had originally provided him with a bursary to study sculpture, but this was to be melted down during World War II. When the marble statue was photographed by the state in 1888, it is to be noted that the fable was attributed to Aesop, not Florian.
A similar fate was to come to the bronze statues of the two other exhibits at the 1883 Salon. Gustave Michel received a travel bursary for his plaster model. The bronze version was located in Paris in the Square Tenon (now the Square Edouard Vaillant) and was melted down during World War 2. The statue by Joseph Carlier was placed in a public park in his native Cambrai, a town occupied by the Germans during World War 1. It was therefore requisitioned and melted down even earlier. Turcan's marble statue is therefore the sole survivor of this period and is representative of what were somewhat similar designs.
In Germany too there were compassionate treatments of the theme by Expressionist Christian artists, both dating from 1919. Ernst Gerlach produced his Der Blind und Der Lahme as a stucco relief of two peasants. Richard Seewald published his woodcut in the Bavarian magazine Münchner Blätter für Dichtung und Graphik. In it the motif of crossing a river on a narrow plank returns and an angel hovering in the background underlines the earlier Christian connotation of the emblem tradition.
Honoré Daumier used Florian's fable for purposes of political satire in a caricature, "Blind system and paralytic diplomacy", published in Le Charivari in 1834. It pictures King Louis Philippe staggering under the weight of Talleyrand. Such treatment contributed to the emergence of the French idiom, "L'union de l'aveugle et le paralytique" ("the union of the blind man and the lame"), that drew on Florian's poem but was used ironically in reference to any unpromising partnership.
The situation was used to more positive effect during World War 1 to illustrate the care of soldiers for each other on the battlefield. Lucien Jonas pictured such a scene under the heading of Devotion in his album Les Grandes Vertus Françaises, drawing on Turcan's statue for the detail of the wounded soldier holding the blinded soldier's arm to guide him. The theme was repeated on a contemporary Belgian lapel badge inscribed on the back with Hommage aux soldats invalides (Hommage to invalided soldiers).
Turcan's statue also formed the basis for a satirical photomontage during World War 2. This depicted Joseph Stalin riding on the back of Adolf Hitler and appeared in the magazine Marianne under the signature Marinus, the nom de plume of the Danish Jacob Kjeldgaard.
- III.11, 12, 13, 13b
- Richard N. Longenecker, The challenge of Jesus' parables, Grand Rapids, Michigan 2000 pp.64-5
- Muhammad Ata Ur-Rahim, Ahmad Thomson, Jesus, prophet of Isam, Norwich UK, 1977 p.20
- University of Michigan
- Emblem 161
- French government culture site
- Albert Baskerville, The poetry of Germany, New York 1854, pp.7-8
- Fable 36
- A tailpiece adapted for British Birds II (1804)
- Fables (1792), translated by Sarah Ann Curzon (1833-1898), I.20
- See Wikisource
- Text online
- H.R. Voth, The Traditions of the Hopi, Chicago 1905, pp.151-2
- By Kano Tobonobu
- MuCity visual arts magazine
- Illustrated online
- Exhibition catalogue
- View online
- Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Book of the Fair (Chicago 1893), Ch.21, p.701
- Marseille, ville sculptée
- Government cultural site
- Government cultural site
- A postcard view
- A postcard view
- Art Sales Index
- Museum of Modern Art
- View online
- Plate 17
- Lefebure n°3222
- Musée de la Photo | <urn:uuid:36358879-cdd0-4208-a9fa-e4ee8528bfbb> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blindman_and_the_Lame | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948887 | 2,785 | null | 3.625 | 4 | en.wikipedia.org |
Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Suffolk
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2010)|
Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Suffolk, 7th Earl of Berkshire (11 June 1721 – 23 February 1783) was a British peer, styled Hon. Thomas Howard until 1779.
A younger son of Henry Howard, 11th Earl of Suffolk, he was educated at St John's College, Oxford, and received his MA in 1741. Called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1744, he succeeded his elder brother William Howard, Viscount Andover as a Member of Parliament for Castle Rising in 1747. He represented Castle Rising until 1768, when he was returned for Malmesbury; he continued there until 1774, when he sat for Mitchell. He left the House of Commons in 1779, when he succeeded his great-nephew Henry as Earl of Suffolk. He became a bencher of the Inner Temple in 1779.
On 13 April 1747, he married Elizabeth Kingscote (d. 23 June 1769), by whom he had one daughter:
- Lady Diana Howard (23 July 1748 – 20 June 1816), married Sir Michael le Fleming, 4th Baronet
Upon his death in 1783, he was succeeded by a distant cousin, John.
|Parliament of Great Britain|
|Member of Parliament for Castle Rising
With: The Lord Luxborough 1747–1754
Hon. Horace Walpole 1754–1757
Charles Boone 1757–1768
The Earl Tylney
|Member of Parliament for Malmesbury
With: The Earl of Donegall
Hon. Charles James Fox
|Member of Parliament for Mitchell
With: John Stephenson
|Peerage of England|
|Earl of Suffolk,
Earl of Berkshire
|This biography of an earl in the Peerage of England is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|
|This article about a Member of the Parliament of Great Britain (1707–1800) representing an English constituency is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:bbfb06b6-53ef-4cf3-ab16-f0cda456a9cd> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Howard,_14th_Earl_of_Suffolk | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944523 | 444 | null | 2.90625 | 3 | en.wikipedia.org |
The exact location of Ziklag has not been identified with any certainty.
At the end of the 19th century, both Haluza (by Wadi Asluj, south of Beersheba) and Khirbet Zuheiliqah (located north-west of Beersheba and south-southeast of Gaza city) had been suggested. Ziklag is generally agreed to be a significant corruption of the location's actual name; Haluza was identified as the location on the basis of Ziklag being a corruption of Halusah (slightly clearer in the underlying Hebrew script than in English), meaning fortress; Khirbet Zuheiliqah was identified by Conder and Kitchener as the location on the basis of Ziklag being a corruption of Zahaliku.
Other proposed identifications for Ziklag are:
In the Bible
The Book of Genesis (Genesis 10:14) refers to Casluhim as the origin of the Philistines. Biblical scholars regard this as an eponym rather than an individual, and it is thought possible that the name is a corruption of Halusah; with the identification of Ziklag as Haluza, this suggests that Ziklag was the original base from which the Philistines captured the remainder of their territory. It has also been proposed that Ziklag subsequently became the capital of the Cherethites.
In the lists of cities of the Israelites by tribe given in the Book of Joshua, Ziklag appears both as a town belonging to the Tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:31) and as a town belonging to the Tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:5). Textual scholars believe that these lists were originally independent administrative documents, not necessarily dating from the same time, and hence reflecting the changing tribal boundaries. (1 Samuel 30) claims that by the time of David, the town was under the control of Philistines, but subsequently was given by their king - Achish - to David, who at that time was seemingly acting as a vassal of the Philistines. Biblical scholars argue that the town was probably on the eastern fringe of the Philistines' territory, and that it was natural for it to be annexed to Judah when David became king. Since the compilation of the Book of Joshua is regarded by textual scholars as late, probably being due to the deuteronomist, it is possible that the tribal allocations given within it date from after this annexation rather than before.
According to 1 Samuel 30, while David was encamped with the Philistine army for an attack on the Kingdom of Israel, Ziklag was raided by Amalekites; the Amalekites burning the town, and capturing its population without killing them (scholars think this capture refers to enslavement). However, none of the archaeological sites which have been proposed to be Ziklag show any evidence of destruction during the era of David.
In the narrative, when David's men discovered that their families had been captured, they became angry with David, but once David had sought divination from the ephod that Abiathar possessed, he managed to persuade them to join him in a pursuit of the captors, as the divination was favourable. Six hundred men went in pursuit, but a third of them were too exhausted to go further than the HaBesor Stream. They found an abandoned and starving slave, formerly belonging to one of the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag, and having given him fig cake, raisin cake, and water, persuaded him to lead them to the Amalekite raiders. The slave lead them to the camp of the captors, and found the captors holding a feast and celebrating, due to the size of their spoil; David's forces engaged in battle with them for a night and a day, and ultimately became victorious.
Textual scholars ascribe this narrative to the monarchial source of the Books of Samuel; the rival source, known as the republican source (named this due to its negative presentation of David, Saul, and other kings), does not at first glance appear to contain a similar narrative. The same narrative position is occupied in the republican source by the story of Nabal, who lived in the region south of Hebron (which includes the Negev). There are some similarities between the narratives, including David leading an army in revenge (for Nabal's unwillingness to give provisions to David), with 400 of the army going ahead and 200 staying behind, as well as David gaining Abigail as a wife (though in the Ziklag narrative he re-gains her), as well as several provisions, and there being a jovial feast in the enemy camp (i.e. Nabal's property). However, there are also several differences, such as the victory and provisions being obtained by Abigail's peaceful actions rather than a heroic victory by David, the 200 that stayed behind doing so to protect the baggage rather than due to exhaustion, the main secondary character being the wife of the enemy (Nabal) rather than their former slave, David's forces being joined by damsels rather than rejoining their wives, and Nabal rather than the Amalekites being the enemy.
The Books of Samuel go on to mention that as a result, the people taken by the Amalekites were released, and the spoil that the Amalekites had taken, including livestock, and spoil from attacks elsewhere, were divided among David's men, including the third that had remained at the Besor. This ruling, that even those left behind would get a share, is stated by the text to have been a response by David to those who believed only the two thirds of David's men that had battled with the Amalekites should get a reward. A similar ruling is given in the Priestly Code (Numbers 31:27) and in Joshua 22:8. Scholars[who?] believe that the these rulings are derived from the decision in regard to the Amalekite spoil, rather than vice versa.
According to the text, once back at Ziklag, David sent portions of the spoil to the various community leaders within Judah; the text gives a list of the locations of the recipients, but they are all just within the Negev.
- Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica
- "Ziklag". Jewish Encyclopedia.
- "Ziklag". Easton's Bible Dictionary.
- The Zeita Excavations - project overview.
- Negev, A. & Gibson, S., ed. (2001). Sharia, Tell esh-. Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land. pp. 458–9.
- Matthew Black; Arthur Samuel Peake (1962). Peake's commentary on the Bible. T. Nelson.
- Fritz, Volkmar (May–June 1993), Where is David's Ziklag?, Biblical Archaeology Review
- "Books of Samuel". Jewish Encyclopedia.
- Blakely, Jeffrey, "The Location of Medieval/Pre-Modern and Biblical Ziklag," Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 139,1 (2007), 21-26. | <urn:uuid:9505d66d-96a3-493a-927f-198015b3cb73> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziklag | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970708 | 1,483 | null | 2.828125 | 3 | en.wikipedia.org |
The rise in human population continues to exert enormous strain on earth’s ecosystems and finite resources. Scientific American recently devoted an issue to one solution among many needed to solve this worrisome situation. The cover reads, “We have seen a brighter future, and it is urban.” People living in dense urban environments “typically have smaller energy footprints, require less infrastructure and consume less of the world’s resources per capita.” But, what is the cost? There are always tradeoffs. Alla Katsnelson, from Scientific American, notes that city dwellers suffer “higher rates of mental illnesses, including anxiety disorders and schizophrenia” than their rural counterparts. All the factors underlying this difference are not known or well understood, but some of the possible causes appear to stem from the fact that urban environments are nothing like the ancestral environments from which our sensory systems evolved. As our hunter-gather ancestors learned during the Agriculture Revolution, our biology does not take kindly to rapid upheavals in cultural evolution. In a way, their experience somewhat parallels the one we face today. Put simply, the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent urbanization has been to our sensory systems what the agriculture revolution was to our digestive system.
Around 10,000 years ago groups of hunter-gathers began primitive farming. This shift almost single-handedly changed the course of human history, but our digestive system did not make it easy. Farming “produces 10 to 100 times more calories per acre than foraging.” In lieu of this fact, “from 10,000 BC to AD 1, the world population increased approximately a hundredfold.” Of course, similar to today, the quantity of food rarely related to its quality. Early farmers began eating foods foreign, in type and/or amount, to their hunter-gather ancestors. The first farmers ate less fresh meat and more plants but with less variety. “The carbohydrate fraction of their diet almost tripled, while the amount of protein tanked. Protein quality decreased as well, since plant foods contained an undesirable mix of amino acids, the chemical building blocks of which proteins are made.” The limited set of harvested plants and scarcity of fresh meat caused vitamin shortages rarely experienced by hunter-gathers. These shortages contributed to diseases such as beri-beri, pellagra, rickets, and scurvy. The average height of humans who adopted farming dropped by almost five inches, and the poor diet can partly explain the increase in infant mortality among early farmers.
Obviously, farming did impart many advantages. If not we would still be hunter-gathers. The sheer quantity of people, regardless of health, created a qualitative advantage all its own. Jared Diamond writes, “a larger area or population means more potential inventors, more competing societies, more innovations available to adopt—and more pressure to adopt and retain innovations, because societies failing to do will be eliminated by competing societies.”
Similarly, the Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed our way of life. Prior to the Industrial Revolution we spent the majority of our lives outdoors. Our forefathers were more likely to be farmers than any other profession, which meant they needed an intimate knowledge of the natural environment including weather, pests, animal lifecycles, and soil. The great migration to the city during the Industrial Revolution ended all of that. Today we spend “upward of 95 percent of our time sealed away from anything remotely like” the ancestral environments our sensory systems were forged in. Our sensory diet now contains large portions of contemporary materials such as concrete, glass, steel, and plastics. Beyond the chemicals these materials emit, which have been implicated in Sick Building Syndrome, these materials might not have the sensory signatures we need for healthy development. Perhaps this is partly why urbanites exhibit higher rates of mental illness.
For instance, Professor Roger Ulrich found that patients recovering from a cholecystectomy fared far better if they were assigned to a room with a view of nature (trees) than one that looked out on a brick wall. Likewise, a study of two architecturally identical 16-story Chicago public housing buildings showed that the residents living in the building surrounded by vegetation more effectively coped with stress, better managed conflicts, and had higher cognitive functioning than those living in the vegetatively challenged building. More recently, a survey of 11,000 people found that those who lived within 1 km of green space reported lower levels of stress than those that lived farther away. Also, those who were more likely to actually visit a green space were the least likely to report stress. Although this study only used interviews and questionnaires to gather data, other studies measuring physiological changes suggest these findings are more than just perceived levels of stress. For example, a study recorded the performance, blood pressure, and emotional state of people who had either walked in an urban setting or a natural setting. Those walking in the natural settings experienced an increase in positive affect, decrease in anger, performed better on an attentional test, and exhibited lower diastolic blood pressure indicating less stress. These studies most likely do not tell the whole story behind the differences in mental illness, but they do suggest that the current urban environment does not provide the right type and/or amount of stimulation we need for healthy mental development (for other likely causes see note).
So, it is possible to be environmentally friendly, but not human friendly. Professor Stephen Kellert believes a prime example of this is the LEED Platinum Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management building at UC Santa Barbara. In his book Building for Life, Kellert writes “this [85,000-square-foot building] is among the nation’s best examples of low environmental impact architecture, having succeeded in reducing various adverse effects on the natural environment,” but “Much of the building lacks a positive connection to the natural environment and remains aesthetically impoverished.” It completely ignores our evolutionary past, and what constitutes healthy and needed stimulation. If all buildings were built to this standard the environment would be better for it, but our mental well-being might unnecessarily suffer.
There is reason, however, to be optimistic. If the Agricultural Revolution is an appropriate analogy to draw on then we might imagine a future where the differences in mental illness have faded away. The first farmers eventually overcame their nutritional deficiencies by cultivating a wider range of crops, adopting new methods of food preparation, and in a few fortuitous cases undergoing biological evolution, i.e. lactose tolerance beyond the age of four. They suffered tremendously during the transition, but that doesn’t have to be our story. We are unlike the first crop charmers in one distinct and sizable way; we have the advantage of knowing why they became so unhealthy. We have the opportunity to learn from our past and build a material culture based on science. Collaborating with the fields of biology and anthropology, architects now have the ability to develop healthy material pallets that capitalize on contemporary materials’ strengths without causing the needless suffering the early farmers faced with an unbalanced diet.
If you enjoyed this article check out more by Christopher N. Henry here.
Bettencourt, Luis M.A. and Geoffrey B. West. “Bigger Cities do More with Less,” Scientific American. September 2011, p 52-53.
Katsnelson, Alla. “The Stress of Crowds,” Scientific American. September 2011, p. 18.
Also see, Peen J, Schoevers RA, Beekman AT, Dekker J. “The current status of urban-rural difference psychiatric disorders,” ACTA Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2010, 121 p. 84-93.
Lederbogen, Florian; Peter Kirsch, Leila Haddad, Fabian Streit, Heike Tost, Philipp Schuch, Stefan Wust, Jens C. Pruessner, Marcella Rietschel, Michael Deuschle and Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg. “City living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans,” Nature 2011 474 p. 498-501.
Kringlen, Einar; Sven Torgersen, Victoria Cramer. “Mental illness in a rural area. A Norwegian psychiatric epidemiological study,” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2006, 41 p. 713-719.
Cochran, Gregory; Henry Harpending. The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution. Basic Books, New York 2009 p. 67-84.
Different groups of hunter-gathers and early farmers had different diets with different proportions so this explanation makes this complex subject fairly simplistic. For starters see:
Perry, George H.; Nathaniel J. Dominy, Katrina G. Claw, Arthur S. Lee, Heike Fiegler, Richard Redon, John Werner, Fernando A. Villanea, Joanna L. Mountain, Rajeev Misra, Nigel P. Carter, Charles Lee, and Anne C. Stone. “Diet and the evolution of human amylase gene copy number variation,” Nature Genetics. V. 39(10) 2007 p. 1256-1260.
Kolber, Elizabeth. “Flesh of Your Flesh” The New Yorker, November 9, 2009.
Marlowe, Frank W. “Hunter-Gathers and Human Evolution,” Evolutionary Anthropology. 14 2005 p. 54-67.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York, Norton 2005.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York, Norton 2005, p. 407.
Baker, Nick. “Human Nature” in Environmental Diversity in Architecture. Edited by Koen Steemers, and Mary Ann Steane. New York, Spon Press, 2004 p. 48.
Orr, David and Robert Michael Pyle. “The Extinction of Natural Experience in the Built Environment.” In Biophilic Design, edited by Stephen R. Kellert, Judith H. Heerwagen, and Martin L. Mador, Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, 2008 p. 214.
For amount of time spent indoors see Klepeis, Neil E., William C. Nelson, Wayne R. Ott, John P. Robinson, Andy M. Tsang, Paul Switzer, Joseph V. Behar, Stephen C. Hern, and William H. Engelmann. “The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to pollutants,” Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 2001 Volume 11, p 231-252.
For Symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome see, Godish, Thad. Sick Buildings: Definition, Diagnosis and Mitigation. London, Lewis Publishers, 1994 p. 2.
Ulrich, Roger. “Biophilic Theory and Research for Healthcare Design.” In Biophilic Design, edited by Stephen R. Kellert, Judith H. Heerwagen, and Martin L. Mador,. Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, 2008 p. 94.
Taylor, Faber, Frances Kuo, and William Sullivan, “Growing up in the inner city: Green spaces as places to grow,” 24.
Stigsdotter, Urika K., Ola Ekholm, Jasper Schipperijn, Mette Toftager, Finn Kamper-Jorgensen & Thomas B. Randrup. “Health promoting outdoor environments – Associations between green space, and health, health-related quality of life and stress based on a Danish national representative survey,” Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2010; 38: 411-417.
Hartig, Terry, Gary W. Evans, Larry D. Jamner, Deborah S. Davis, Tommy Gärling. “Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings,” Journal of Environmental Psychology 23, 109-123, (2003).
The idea that sensory differences between the urban and rural environments cause the differences mental illnesses is only one among many possible hypothesizes. A decent summary of other possible causes can be found at http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Poverty-and-Mental-Health.htm
- Studies have shown higher risk of mental disorder among persons living in urban versus rural areas.Epidemiological research has documented that associations between particular features of the urban environment, such as concentrated disadvantage, residential segregation and social norms, contribute to the risk of mental illness. Some studies have suggested a link between urban environmental factors and a higher risk of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia.
- As ever, there is the question as to whether this is causation (urbanity causing psychosis) rather than selection (high-risk individuals move into urban areas, often as part of the social drift accompanied by onset of illness). Some consider the effect of the urban environment to be conditional on genetic risk (a gene-environment interaction).
- There are important within-city variations in the incidence of schizophrenia associated with different neighbourhood social characteristics. For example, the incidence of non-affective psychoses varies widely across South East London and this is not adequately explained by looking at individual-level risks. The cause of these neighbourhood variations is unknown but may be a reflection of social fragmentation.”
The website provides a few sources if you would like to explore the veracity of these claims. With these in mind, it is highly unlikely that sensory differences are the only source of mental anguish. Consequently, we also do not know how large of a role sensory differences play. It easily could be a minor.
Kellert, Stephen R. Building for Life: Desiging and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection. Washington DC: Island Press 2005 p. 98-100.
Cochran, Gregory, Henry Harpending. The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution. Basic Books, New York 2009. For lactose tolerance see, Ingram, Catherine J.E., Charlotte A. Mulcare, Yuval Itan, Mark G. Thomas, Dallas M. Swallow. “Lactose digestion and the evolutionary genetics of lactase persistence,” Human Genetics. 2009,124 p. 579-591. | <urn:uuid:69cc2866-cd0e-4773-93ae-520d770973b8> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.archdaily.com/182923/7-billion-and-counting-homo-sensus-in-an-urban-world/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917182 | 2,972 | null | 3.5 | 4 | www.archdaily.com |
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the body in the liver and fatty tissues. Unlike the other fat-soluble vitamins, the body actually stores very little vitamin K. This makes regular dietary intake important. Bacteria in the large intestines help by making a range of vitamin K forms called menaquinones. Vitamin K is also produced by plants (phylloquinone) and is primarily found in green vegetables, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and plant oils. The man-made vitamin K found in supplements is called menadione.
FunctionsVitamin K’s functions include:
- Playing an essential role in the blood-clotting process by making the proteins that stop bleeding
- Helping your body make other proteins essential for blood, bones, and kidneys
| Age Group |
| Adequate Intake (AI) | | <urn:uuid:600d746b-d54b-4d42-9b02-50a6c570026b> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.beliefnet.com/healthandhealing/content/24861/Vitamin-K.aspx | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.847416 | 187 | null | 3.71875 | 4 | www.beliefnet.com |
Patients are usually over 40, and the average age is around 55.
Pain is the most common presenting symptom. Pathological fracture rarely occurs without a history of a few weeks or months of increasingly severe pain. In some cases the patient has tried to ignore or deny the symptoms. Sometimes a painful bone lesion is thought to be a "muscle pull" or a "sprain" and strong pain medicines are prescribed, allowing the patient to continue to tolerate very severe pain before the true nature of the problem is discovered. Systemic symptoms may also occur, such as hypercalcemia and hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy (painful thickening of the long and short tubular bones and clubbing of the fingers).
Lung cancer metastases normally appear purely lytic, with poor margination, no matrix and cortical destruction. Lung lesions in bone may also be blastic. When you see a smoker over age 40 with multiple bone lesions, think lung cancer.
There is virtually no role of curative surgery. Orthopedic stabilization of weakened bones should be done promptly, before fractures can occur. | <urn:uuid:7403ae4f-0fdc-40a9-9ff2-5de43e552535> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.bonetumor.org/metastatic-tumors/metastatic-lung-cancer | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926776 | 226 | null | 2.59375 | 3 | www.bonetumor.org |
LA: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
LA: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
MATH: Use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions.
MATH: Classify two-dimensional figures into categories based on their properties.
SCI: Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
SCI: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
SCI: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
VA: Collaboratively combine ideas to generate innovative ideas for creating art.
VA: Interpret art by referring to contextual information, and analyzing relevant subject matter, visual elements, and use of media.
VA: Explain how specific works of art or design impact our response to and appreciation of the natural and constructed world. | <urn:uuid:0ee1ee7b-be72-4397-8b2b-2ce8a0e6b966> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/tree-ring-art-lesson-plan/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.876149 | 234 | null | 3.734375 | 4 | www.crayola.com |
Do you remember Veteran's Day, Nov. 11? Do you remember your pride when you honored our solders, past and present, for their service to our nation?
Today our veterans need more than a day of remembrance; they need us proud-to-be-an-American citizens to take action by supporting Senate Bill S.6, the Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2013.
According to a 2013 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 750,000 veterans in the United States are unemployed. This is up from 689,000 the previous year. Almost a third are veterans of the second Gulf War and more than 15% are women. These figures do not include the underemployed.
In addition, about 1.4 million other veterans are considered at risk of homelessness because of poverty, lack of support networks and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing. Veterans who have aided their country should not go without a secure place to call home.
Veterans who do not receive proper assistance can plunge into hopelessness, substance abuse and suicide.
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reports that veterans make up about 13% of the country's adult homeless. Of these, roughly 40% are ethnic minorities and 8% are female. Almost half are Vietnam-era veterans, two-thirds have served for three or more years, and one-third served in a war zone.
In a National Institute of Drug Abuse study from 2011, 27% of Army soldiers screened within three to four months of returning from an Iraq deployment "met criteria for alcohol abuse and were at increased risk for related harmful behaviors."
Without programs to support our veterans, mental health-related stress may lead to "divorce, substance abuse, family violence, unemployment, behavioral problems in children and other related issues that can have a lasting, detrimental effect on family life and society," the study said.
In the 2012 Suicide Data Report conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services Suicide Prevention Program, 21 states reported 147,000 suicides — 27,062 (18.3%) of them military veterans.
Veterans Across America indicated in 2012 that many of the 400-plus unemployed veterans interviewed had been unemployed for two years, with many stating that they were considering suicide.
The Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act 2013 is a comprehensive employment package for veterans that extends and improves veterans' benefits for an additional two years.
Veterans would continue to be provided with training opportunities and unemployment support vital to securing and maintaining meaningful employment in the civilian sector. Veteran's Day should be every day.
In lieu of gifts this holiday season, please sign the Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act 2013 petition at http://chn.ge/16DmwW4. I have. I'm a proud American.
Irvine resident WENDY A. SAUNDERS is master's of social work candidate at USC. | <urn:uuid:f9d83dac-e49a-451a-bee1-2c4294a26c6e> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.dailypilot.com/opinion/tn-dpt-me-1208-commentary1-20131206,0,6999627.story | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945711 | 596 | null | 2.671875 | 3 | www.dailypilot.com |
At the start of any doctor visit, you sit down, roll up your sleeve, and the nurse straps a blood pressure cuff onto your arm. There’s a lot of squeezing, and then the machine beeps and spits out a number for the nurse to record in your chart.
So what just happened?
Blood Pressure: The Silent Killer
Health care providers track blood pressure to screen for deadly diseases. Some call high blood pressure the “silent killer” because you can have it for years without any symptoms at all, but over time it causes damage to vital organs like your heart, brain, and kidneys.
What is blood pressure?
Blood pressure measures the pressure in your arteries (blood vessels) when your heart is both beating and resting.
Why are there two numbers? What do they mean?
The top number is larger and is called the “systolic” blood pressure. This is the pressure in your arteries when your heart contracts and pushes blood out to your body.
The bottom number is smaller and is called the “diastolic” blood pressure. This is the pressure in your arteries when your heart is relaxed in between beats.
What do these numbers mean for me?
High blood pressure puts you at risk for what healthcare providers call “cardiovascular events” — such as heart attack and stroke. Individual risk varies with age, gender, and your personal health history. Ask your doctor.
Why does the cuff pump up so tight on my arm?
The cuff temporarily stops blood from flowing through the major artery in your arm (called the brachial artery). Then it slowly releases and detects the point where the pressure from your heart pump overcomes the pressure from the cuff. That point is your “systolic” blood pressure. Some people find the cuff uncomfortable, but it’s not harmful to your health.
Why do I have to sit up straight, rest my arm, and not talk while my blood pressure is being taken?
It’s important for your health care provider to use proper technique to measure your blood pressure. Good posture allows them to accurately place the cuff on your arm and ensure the correct cuff size. It also ensures that the cuff is at the level of your heart to give an accurate reading of the pressure from your heart.
Poor posture, clenching your hand or tensing your arm muscles, dangling your legs and feet, or talking can lead to an inaccurate blood pressure reading.
What YOU can do to ensure an accurate blood pressure reading
- Don’t smoke or drink caffeine for 1 hour before your appointment
Relax and sit quietly
Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor
Don’t make a fist
Read more about high blood pressure from the American Heart Association, and talk with your doctor about your blood pressure goals. | <urn:uuid:43ed60ba-daa5-413d-bc81-9e966475ba90> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.iodine.com/blog/blood-pressure-what-is-it-why-do-i-care/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918531 | 589 | null | 3.140625 | 3 | www.iodine.com |
Friday, November 25, 2011
Kinetic City: Interactives for Science
Kinetic City offers interactive science games for your SMART Board or just to enhance your lessons! Shape it Up starts by showing you two landforms. The land form on the left is your starting terrain and the one on the right is your goal. First you will select a force of nature and then you will select a time span. The objective is to determine to cause of the change and then to determine the length of time it took to transform. This activity is not only great for science but could also help with cause and effect relationships for language arts! | <urn:uuid:61aed628-fdd8-4b68-b702-55eee90bbf2d> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.kleinspiration.com/2011/11/kinetic-city-interactives-for-science.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942403 | 128 | null | 3.359375 | 3 | www.kleinspiration.com |
Freedom at Antietam, part 2
The Emancipation Proclamation also paved the way for the enlistment of black Americans as soldiers. During the summer of 1862, as Lincoln pondered emancipation, the North was facing a shortage of soldiers. Lincoln even offered volunteers enlistments for only nine months instead of the usual three years, hoping that a shorter enlistment would attract more recruits. One solution: Enlist black Americans, whether free men from the North or freed slaves from the South.
Despite deep and widespread prejudice, the Union began recruiting black Americans in earnest in early 1863. Believed to be physically and spiritually unfit as fighting men, they were initially confined to non-combat jobs. However, African-American soldiers proved their mettle on the battlefield. They distinguished themselves in May 1863 when they bravely attacked across open ground against Port Hudson on the Mississippi River in Louisiana. A month later, black troops made another valiant charge when they stormed Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C. This Famous attack was depicted in the movie "Glory."
About 186,000 African-Americans served in the Union army making up about nine percent of Union army forces. The North’s advantage in military manpower was a critical factor in its victory in the Civil War. Some northerners supported Lincoln’s measure on moral grounds. But many endorsed emancipation because they favored any action that would help defeat the enemy and end the war. | <urn:uuid:8a47538a-7089-4ef5-a1e1-0a53d4def11c> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.nps.gov/anti/learn/historyculture/freedom2.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957512 | 291 | null | 4.53125 | 5 | www.nps.gov |
The evolution of termite treatments
Published: Saturday, May 25, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 2:37 p.m.
Several years ago, I was summoned to examine a horse barn that had a number of wings — perhaps thousands — along the center aisle. It wasn't hard to conclude this was a large swarm of the eastern subterranean termite.
In Florida we deal with several types of termites, but those of primary concern currently are the subterranean termite and the drywood termite. While it is possible to have drywood termites in this central portion of the state, they are more likely to occur in coastal areas. Drywood termites live in wood in the interior of structures and are controlled by tenting the structure with canvas and applying a fumigant to eliminate the colony. I have observed over several years in Marion County that only about 5 percent of termite questions involve drywoods, while about 95 percent of the termites we deal with are of the subterranean variety. For this interior part of Florida, the subterranean is the termite of greatest concern and control methods have evolved considerably over the past 25 years.
Subterranean termites live in underground colonies and forage for cellulose, a material found in wood products. These termites serve a very productive role in nature, assisting in the breakdown of logs, lightning struck trees, etc. Their foraging is random and once they locate a food source, they leave a scent trail so other members of the colony can find their way to the meal. Understanding the nature of termite foraging activities, dietary habits and lifecycle has enabled scientists to develop methods to protect structures. Homeowners are faced with several decisions in determining which method of control will be best for their needs. Cost, expertise of the service provider (particularly the technician making the treatment application), and terms of the contract are all considerations that require careful study. One factor in this process is the method of protection which largely comes down to the choice between a barrier treatment or a baiting system.
The first of these methods is often referred to as "trench and treat" or a barrier system. A shallow trench is dug a few inches away from the foundation, the chemical is applied to the soil and the trench is covered. This places a chemical barrier between the structure and the termites, forcing the insect to pass through the barrier in order to feed. At one time repellant materials, chemicals that were unpalatable to termites, were the only option. The disagreeable nature of these repellants drove termites away from the structure and encouraged them to conduct their foraging activities elsewhere. In more recent years very effective poison materials have been developed. Termites are unable to detect these poisons and when they pass through the material the poisons adhere to their body, eventually resulting in death. Poison materials for termite control include Termidor, a material that acts on the central nervous system; Premise, a product that also acts on the central nervous system; and Altrisett, a material that paralyzes the mouthparts of the insect, making it impossible to feed. Over time these products break down in sunlight and temperature, hence replacement is recommended on a five year interval.
Another option for termite control is the use of baits. In this instance, bait stations are located on set intervals, usually ten feet, around the structure. This technology takes advantage of the foraging characteristic of the termite and offers a bait product that prevents the termite from molting. Over time the termite outgrows the hardened body shell and trapped inside, dies. Because these act slowly, termites continue to feed on the bait several days and leave a scent trail for others to follow to the bait station, eventually resulting in elimination of the colony. Initial concepts of these bait stations offered wood and replaced it with bait when there was evidence of termite feeding. This required quarterly inspection of the stations, a very expensive proposition. In more recent times, baits have been developed that are good for one year and baits are initially placed in the stations, rather than replacing wood stakes with bait once feeding is evidenced.
Extension often receives questions about do-it-yourself termite control, but this is not recommended. Products available to homeowners simply are not able to kill the large quantity of termites that make up most colonies.
The University of Florida has a publication, ENY-219/MG237: How to Buy Pest Control Services, that will provide pointers to residents on selecting a pest control firm. This may be obtained at edis.ifas.ufl.edu or you may obtain a copy by calling your local Extension Office.
Termite protection is a costly, but necessary expense in protecting your home. As in any contract, it requires a careful and thorough vetting process to insure you get adequate and effective coverage at reasonable rates.
David Holmes is Marion County extension director. Contact him at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:05f0e9e5-62c5-4ba7-b224-6c903155081f> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.ocala.com/article/20130525/COLUMNISTS/130529842&tc=ix | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953683 | 1,033 | null | 3.1875 | 3 | www.ocala.com |
On Super Bowl Sunday, Coca-Cola debuted a TV commercial that was pleasant but hardly remarkable. The minutelong ad was a celebration of the things that make America unique among nations and was seen by one of the biggest television audiences in history.
It opens with a shot of a cowboy and his horse in a picturesque valley. A voice in the background begins to sing “America the Beautiful.” The scene shifts quickly and viewers see surfers, break dancers, old people, two men (perhaps a gay couple) roller-skating with a little girl, Hispanics, Muslims, restaurant workers, children of different races and various adults going about their business in a diverse society.
The language in which “America the Beautiful” is sung changes several times until, by the end of the commercial, its lyrics are rendered in eight different tongues. What could possibly be more symbolic of an America that was and is a nation of immigrants?
Within seconds of the ad’s initial airing, social media were aflame with complaints from people deeply offended that “America the Beautiful” would be rendered in any language other than English. Racists and xenophobes called for boycotts of Coke on Twitter and questioned the patriotism of a company that would embrace diversity at the expense of the assimilation of America’s melting pot.
Because the United States is the confluence of many cultures, faiths and traditions, the symbolism of one of its patriotic anthems being sung in different languages is apropos. The Coke ad certainly doesn’t advocate the abandonment of English, but it recognizes the fact that America’s strength as a nation arises as much from our differences as from our common experience.
No real American should fear or condemn that noble reality. | <urn:uuid:4945715f-3a6d-4ba0-bade-da838a66de69> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/02/08/Real-America/stories/201402060119 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96755 | 362 | null | 2.734375 | 3 | www.post-gazette.com |
Why study English Language?
In our contemporary world, English is a leading language. It is used in everything from business, science and the internet to arts, culture and media. More than 1.4 billion people.
(one-quarter of the world's population) live in countries where English is an official language and many large international organizations expect employees to have a good level of English. An English language course will help you take your first step towards studying for a career-based qualification or degree at a University or College. It will also be a powerful tool for hundreds of careers, from creating new business opportunities in international markets to writing computer programs and teaching in different communities.
Although most people learn some English in their home country, more and more are choosing to study in an English-speaking country. They want to be surrounded by the language, not just in the classroom but all the time, and there is no better place to learn English than in the an English-Speaking Country!
There are courses to suit students of every age, level and interest. Students who go to English-speaking countries to learn English for it's own sake are attracted by the modern teaching methods and the huge choice of courses available. Others come to English-speaking countries to gain special language skills needed for studies and work.
As a student in an English-speaking country, you will add to your knowledge and experience every time you visit the shops, go to the cinema or restaurants. English will become your natural language of communication with friends from other counties and you may have the opportunity to live with a local family.
A wide range of courses:
The most popular types of English Language courses are :
- General English Language.
- English for Academic Purposes.
- Pre-University English Course.
- (ESP) English for Special Purposes.
- Learn English and have FUN at the same time.
- (TESOL) Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
- (TEFL) Teaching English as a Foreign Language.
- Exam Preparation.
- It is estimated that over one billion people are currently learning English.
- English is spoken as a first language by around 375 million people and as a second language * by around a further 375 million.
- One out of four of the world's population speak English to some level of competence and Demand from the other three-q uarters is increasing. | <urn:uuid:031774e6-0d02-4d65-8033-b6155d5b4213> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.visionedu.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=249 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246641468.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045721-00284-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952143 | 494 | null | 2.953125 | 3 | www.visionedu.co.uk |
Muslims comprise the Russian Federation’s second largest confessional group, numbering some 15 million (10 percent of the overall population), and are divided by geography, history, ethnicity and confessional differences.1 Although Islamic institutions were largely destroyed and believers forced underground under Soviet rule, Islam has experienced a quick, vibrant, variegated but still ill-defined revival since the collapse of the USSR, with various tendencies competing for the support of society and state. Since the late Soviet era of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reformist restructuring, or perestroika, the number of Islamic communities in Russia has grown exponentially. Among Russia’s Muslims, the explosion of ethno-nationalism sparked by the USSR’s implosion in the late 1980s and early 1990s has been replaced to a considerable degree by religious identification. However, only a small portion of Russia’s Muslims have Islamist tendencies, and a fraction of those have been drawn to a violent Islamism or jihadism since the period between the first and second post-Soviet Russian-Chechen wars.
The Caucasus Emirate
The main jihadist group, a network of jihadist cells (or jamaats) spread across the North Caucasus called the “Imarat Kavkaz” or “Caucasus Emirate” (CE), evolved through the radicalization of the Chechen national separatist movement community.
The CE and its predecessor organization evolved from the Chechen separatist movement that emerged as the Soviet Union began to collapse in the early 1990s. Although there were some radical political Islamic elements within Chechen society and first Chechen president Dzhokar Dudaev did implement elements of sharia law, the Chechen movement was a predominantly nationalist movement through the first post-Soviet Russo-Chechen war in 1994-1996. However, following the 1996 Khasavyurt peace agreement signed between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Dudaev’s successor, Aslan Maskhadov, the quasi-independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) devolved into a state of permanent chaos, criminality, and civil strife. The political vacuum was used by a small number of internal Islamist-oriented wartime field commanders and foreign jihadist elements, including al-Qaeda, to establish a jihadi bridgehead in the form of indoctrination and terrorist training camps.
As early as 1996, Osama bin Laden’s chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, attempted to visit incognito and establish a presence in Russia, but he was discovered and deported. In a subsequently published book, he targeted Russia for jihad and the establishment of an expansive southern Eurasian caliphate.2 At about the same time, Shamil Basaev, then a Chechen field commander, visited Afghanistan and received training there.3 Thereafter, al-Qaeda operative Abu Ibn al-Khattab arrived in Chechnya, and amid the inter-war lawlessness established camps where perhaps several hundred foreign jihadi fighters as well as locals trained in terrorist tactics. These units spearheaded the August 1999 invasion of Dagestan organized by Basaev and Khattab and aimed at creating an Islamist enclave there—an offensive which set off the second post-Soviet Chechen war.4
As during the first Chechen war, Russia deployed a brutal offensive, and by 2002 had defeated the militants in conventional war, driving the bulk of the ChRI government and parliament into foreign exile, with many finding refuge in places like Washington, London, Istanbul, Baku, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The more die-hard extremist elements retreated into the mountain forests in southern Chechnya and Georgia, where the ChRI began a classic guerilla insurgency campaign punctuated by occasional large-scale attacks. With the national separatists isolated abroad, the jihadists gradually consolidated power over the movement over the next five years.
In the summer of 2002, an expanded emergency meeting of the underground remnants of the ChRI government and armed forces convened in the mountains of Chechnya. This “shura” was attended by President Maskhadov, internationally-wanted terrorist Shamil Basaev, the ChRI’s leading field commanders, and several foreign jihadists and al-Qaeda operatives. The meeting was a coup d’etat of sorts; as a result, a sharia-based order was adopted, with the goal of expanding the insurgency across the North Caucasus.5
Thereafter, Basaev began to travel across the Caucasus seeking out young radicals and establishing a network of combat jamaats in Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachaevo-Cherkessia.6 The results of Basaev’s organizational activity soon produced a series of terrorist incidents. The most prominent was the Dubrovka theater hostage-taking in October 2002, which ended in 130 deaths when Russian forces stormed the theater. In 2003, there was a series of suicide attacks in Moscow that killed and wounded over 100.7 2004 saw a summer of terror, including the June 2004 attack on Nazran’s MVD building, the bombing of an outdoor concert, and suicide bombings (most notably the simultaneous mid-air explosions of two airliners). This terror offensive concluded with the seizure of School No. 1 in Beslan in early September—a terrorist incident in which 333 people, including 186 children, were killed. Since then, however, jihadi terrorist activity has been confined to the North Caucasus’s Muslim republics, in particular Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Kabardino-Balkaria, where mujahideen have carried out 200-400 attacks per year on civilian, police, security and military officials and servicemen.8
In March 2005, Russian forces apprehended ChRI president Maskhadov, and his bodyguards reportedly killed him so he would not fall into enemy hands. He was succeeded by Sadulaev, who quickly institutionalized the broader Caucasus jihad, creating Caucasus and Dagestan Fronts that encompassed Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachaevo-Cherkessia as well. The following months included an upsurge in jihadist violence, most prominently an October 2005 attack by approximately two hundred mujahideen in Kabardino-Balkaria’s capitol, Nalchik, that killed 47 and wounded more than one hundred.9 Then, in early 2006, Basaev called for the establishment of a council of Islamic scholars (ulema) who would be charged with selecting the emir of the Caucasus. In May 2006 ChRI president/amir Sadulaev declared the formation of Urals and Volga Fronts, institutionalizing his occasional calls for the liberation of all “Muslim lands” on Russian territory. Sadulaev in turn was killed by Russian forces in June 2006, and was succeeded by Doka Umarov, who appointed Basaev to the posts of premier and vice president, making him Umarov’s de facto top deputy and designated successor. But with Basaev’s subsequent death, and because of some Russian successes and policy adjustments (among them a broad amnesty from September 2006 to January 2007, and the creation of a national and regional antiterrorism committees), the ChRI mujahideen witnessed a major downturn in their fortunes.10 However, in Spring 2007, the ChRI rebounded thanks to a number of internal changes, from the retargeting of its operations from Chechnya to Ingushetia to a fundraising campaign conducted on Arab language sites.11
In summer 2007, Ingushetia became the spearhead of the Caucasus jihad, with more insurgent terrorist attacks occurring in that republic than in any other in summer and fall 2007, in 2008 (372 attacks total, 138 in Ingushetia), and 2009 (511 attacks, 175 in Ingushetia).12 However, since April 2010 the Veliyat Dagestan (DV), the CE’s network in Russia’s Republic of Dagestan, moved into the operational vanguard, where it remained through 2012, outpacing the Ingush mujahedeen and all other veliyats every month through at least June 2012. Thus, the DV carried out 267 of the CE’s total of 583 attacks in 2010, 315 of 546 attacks in 2011, and 140 of 214 in the first six months of 2012.13
The CE functions as a decentralized network, consisting of local combat jamaats loosely tied together and subordinate to sectors, which are in turn subordinated to the CE’s virtual ‘provinces,’ referred to by the mujahideen in the Arabic as veliyats, and fronts. Subordination is indicated by the taking of the Islamic loyalty oath (bayat). The CE includes six known veliyats: Veliyat Nokchicho (Chechnya); Veliyat Gyalgyaiche (Ingushetia and Ossetia); Veliyat Dagestan; the United Veliyat of Kabardia, Balkaria, and Karachai (the KBR, the KChR, and probably Adygeya); and Veliyat of the Nogai Steppe (Krasnodar Krai and Stavropol Krai). The CE’s new structure and organization is a complete break with the nationalist separatism of the past.14 An emir who has taken the Islamic loyalty oath or bayat to the CE chief heads each veliyat. The CE’s military structure includes: Caucasus, Dagestan, Volga, and Urals Fronts. Combat jamaats are allowed to design and undertake small-scale operations independently, but larger operations in theory require approval from a higher-ranking emir.15
The size of the CE’s network is extremely difficult to estimate. Jihadi sources are silent on the subject, except to refute the accuracy of official Russian estimates. The most reliable, recent, official estimates from the security and law enforcement bodies put the number of active fighters in a range from 400-1,500.16 Politicians put the numbers much lower and absurdly so, with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov having claimed victory over the jihadists several times over, and putting their numbers in Chechnya at just 50-60.17 The CE’s operational capacity, reflected in the number of attacks and other indicators, suggest membership may be closer to the higher end of law enforcement’s estimates. It is reasonable to assume that there may be more than 1,000 CE fighters, and thousands of additional facilitators.18
The CE retains the late ChRI’s goals of establishing a sharia-based Islamist state across the Caucasus and eventually liberating all Muslim lands in Russia. The CE has retained the Urals and Volga Fronts, which target Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and perhaps other regions where Muslim khanates existed in the past and Muslim populations survive into the present in the Urals and Volga areas. In late 2004, then-field commander and ChRI security council chairman Doku Umarov called for the liberation of Siberia, where a Tatar khanate once existed, and the Far East, and outlined a plan for the creation of three new, large sectors, mega-sectors or zones—Western, Siberian, and Far Eastern—in order to extend war and terror to Russia’s “economic heart.”19 In a February 2010 interview, Umarov vowed to liberate once-Muslim lands in Krasnodar Krai, Astrakhan and the Volga.20
In 2010-11, jihadism emerged in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan as well, with several clashes between mujahideen and security forces.21 In 2012 a CE-loyal Idel-Ural Veliyat based in Tatarstan and perhaps Bashkortostan as well openly declared itself by video.22 Its amir claimed responsibility for the first major jihadi terrorist attacks in Tatarstan history: the simultaneous attempted assassination of Tatarstan’s chief mufti and the successful assassination of his first deputy in July 2012.23 These attacks were followed by several failed attacks and a shootout in October 2012 in Kazan between police and three mijahideen who were killed.24
Ultimately, the CE’s conceptualization of “Muslim lands” in Russia is indefinite. Thus, a map of the future “Caucasus Emirate” that CE-affiliated websites circulate shows the entire North Caucasus region from the Black to the Caspian Seas, including non-Muslim republics like Krasnodar and Stavropol krais and North Ossetia, to be CE territory. Moreover, all Russian territory “proper” to the north of the North Caucasus as well as the Transcaucasus (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) to the south are labeled as “Muslim lands occupied by infidels and apostates.”25 Jihadi jamaats have allegedly been uncovered outside Russia’s titular Muslim republics, including Astrakhan, Novosibirsk, and elsewhere in western Siberia.26
In his declaration of the CE’s creation, its emir, Doku Umarov, also declared jihad against all those fighting against mujahideen in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, or anywhere in the world—a statement tantamount to a declaration of war against the U.S., Great Britain, Israel, and their allies.27 The CE’s ideology finds its inspiration in the same ideological and theological works that permeate the global jihadi movement.28 In short, the CE has ideologically and politically allied itself with the most virulent elements of the global jihadist movement, including al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and others, and repeatedly posts articles in support of their respective jihads.
Beginning in 2010, the CE was involved in at least four foreign plots uncovered by foreign intelligence sources, and two more allegedly uncovered by Russian (and Ukrainian) intelligence. In November 2010, a “Shariah4Belgium” cell and terrorist plot aimed at attacking NATO targets in Belgium and supplying the CE with finances and materiel, was uncovered in Belgium and a series of other countries. In April 2011, a cell from the Dagestan Vilaiyat (DV), the CE’s network in Russia’s Republic of Dagestan (now the leading network in the CE jihad, carrying out 65 percent of the group’s operations), was uncovered in the Czech Republic. In April 2012, Azerbaijani security forces discovered a major DV plot to assassinate President Ilham Aliev and attack targets in Baku and elsewhere in Azerbaijan, bordering southern Dagestan. In August 2012, Spanish and French police foiled an AQ plot by two Chechens—Eldar Magomedov and Mohamed Ankari Adamov—and a Turk, Cengiz Yalcin, to drop bombs on British and U.S. targets in Spain, France and/or elsewhere in Europe during the London Summer Olympic Games.
In late February 2012, Russian and Ukrainian authorities claimed to have uncovered a CE plot to assassinate then Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin. Details have been sketchy and at least the timing of the Russian government’s announcement of the plot seemed to designed to affect the impending March 4th presidential election. Also in 2012, Russian authorities announced they had uncovered a CE plot being organized from Abkhaziya to attack the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, claiming that Georgia’s secret services were involved in the plot.29
The CE’s globalization is also evident in the Syrian civil war, as several CE-tied groups joined the jihadists fighting for the Syrian rebels against the Bashar Assad regime. A Chechen jamaat of some 40 fighters under amir Abu Omar al-Shishani (al-Chechen) was fighting in Aleppo and carried out a number of joint operations with AQ’s affiliate in Syria, “Jabkhat al-Nusrah,” in summer and fall 2012.30 A combat jamaat from the CE’s OVKBK, the “Jamaat Katibatu mukhadzhirin,” was fighting in Syria around Sham at the same time and issued two video statements.31 An ethnic Tatar group, the “Bulgar Jamaat,” has reportedly left Waziristan to fight in Syria while deciding whether or not to return to Tatarstan and help extend the CE’s reach to Russia’s Volga and Urals areas.32
The CE is composed of members from each of the Muslim ethnic groups in Russia, as well as members of non-Muslim ethnic groups. Chechens, Ingush and various Dagestani (Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Nogais, Tabasarans, etc.) predominate, but the Muslim Alans (Karachais and Balkars) and Circassians (Kabards, Cherkess, and Adygs) are also well represented. In short, the CE puts into practice the jihadi principle that Islam is universal; that the “lifting of Allah’s word above all others” countenances no ethnic or national boundaries.
During the first Russo-Chechen war and in the period thereafter, the ChRI received funding from elements of the Chechen mafia, narcotics trafficking, illicit oil exports, and the lucrative hostage-taking industry run by Chechen field commander and Moscow mafia chief, Khozh-Akhmed Nukhaev.33 For the most part, these sources were cut off with the onset of the second war, the displacement of the ChRI leadership abroad, and a more aggressive international and Russian effort to combat money-laundering as a source of terrorist financing.
There is little original source material regarding the CE’s current sources of financing. It remains likely that Arab and other foreign Islamic governments, businesses, and philanthropists still provide funds, despite the Russian authorities’ efforts to put an end to such activity. It is believed that elements in local government and criminal circles, including narcotics traffickers, provide budget and illicit funds, respectively, to the CE by way of money laundering and other activities.34 According to both the Russian authorities and the mujahideen themselves, the local population provides limited financial support in the form of the Islamic zakat and considerable logistical and other material support, such as weapons, safe houses, and food provisions.35
The declaration of the CE has coincided with an upsurge in mujahideen operations. In 2008, the first full year of the CE’s existence, its mujahideen executed 372 attacks/incidents, 370 of them in the North Caucasus.36 The CE’s capacity since has strengthened significantly in potency if not in reach, with 511 attacks/incidents in 2009, 583 attacks in 2010, 546 attacks in 2011, and 214 in the first six months of 2012.37 Thus, by the five-year anniversary of its October 2007 founding, the CE had carried out approximately 2,300 attacks and violent incidents. Moreover, in 2008-09 Umarov and the CE revived the late Basaev’s unit for suicide martyrdom operations, the “Riyadus Salikhin” Martyrs Battalion. Thus, among the CE’s some 2,300 attacks/incidents since 2007, were 46 successful suicide bombing attacks: 2 in 2008, 16 in 2009, 14 in 2010, 6 in 2011, and 8 in 2012.38
Other Jihadist Groups
In the past, likely al-Qaeda operatives such as Khattab, Abu Walid, Abu Havs and now Abu Seif and Muhannad have joined the ChRI/CE, but there is no open source evidence that al-Qaeda or other foreign jihadist groups operate in Russia independently from the CE. Russian law enforcement occasionally claims that al-Qaeda operatives number among killed and captured CE mujahideen, but such claims are never documented. The only other jihadist organization recently reported to be active in Russia is the Uighur-Bulgar Jamaat (UBJ), members of which went on trial in April 2009 pursuant to their arrest the previous August after a shootout with Bashkir police in Salavat, Bashkortostan. According to Bashkir authorities, the Uighur-Bulgar Jamaat operates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and was founded by Pavel Dorokhov, a native of Bashkiria’s Baimak district, who was trained in al-Qaeda and Taliban camps.39 The UBJ may or may not be one and the same organization as the apparently ethnic Tatar ‘Bulgar Jamaat’ currently fighting in Afghanistan.40
Despite being banned in Russia, HuT maintains a presence. Many alleged HuT members are arrested annually occurring mostly in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. By 2012 HuT and other Islamists had penetrated many autonomous mosques and official Islamic institutions in Tatarstan, was carrying out public demonstrations in tandem with nationalist groups, and organized several automobile caravans flying the HuT flag.41
Other domestic groups
Several small Tatar groups have Islamist tendencies but are at least equally or predominantly national separatist in nature, confining their activity to Tatarstan and, to a lesser degree, Bashkortostan. They include: Azatlyk, Ittifak, Mille Mejlis, and elements within the All-Tatar Public Center.42 In the past year, these organizations continued to confine themselves to occasional declarations, conferences, and small demonstrations, but now do so in alliance with radical Salafi elements such as HuT. Some of their official statements and documents are sent to North Caucasus mujahideen websites.43
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Islam has undergone a revival among its traditionally Muslim ethnic groups. According to Russia’s leading mufti, Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia (CMR) Ravil Gainutdin, the number of mosques in Russia grew from 150 in 1991 to some six thousand by October 2005.44
Russia’s Muslims are divided by geography, history, ethnicity, and divergent confessional movements (Sufis, Sunnis, and Shi’ites) and legal schools (maskhabs). The overwhelming majority of Russia’s Muslims are Sunni. Shi’a are predominantly located in the southern North Caucasus, particularly among Dagestan’s rather small ethnic Lezgin population. Sufism predominates in the North Caucasus, consisting mostly of Naqshbandi and Qadiri tariqats (brotherhoods or orders). There are some 15 such brotherhoods in the Republic of Dagestan alone. Brotherhoods tend to be mono-ethnic, or nearly so. Each Islamic school of jurisprudence, or maskhab, is represented in Russia, but almost all of Russia’s Muslims adhere to the Hanafi interpretation. There is, however, a significant Shafi presence in the North Caucasus. Tatarstan’s Muslims and the Tatar internal diaspora, meanwhile, are experiencing a revival of the Islamic reformist or jadidist school of Islamic thought.
Although Muslim communities can be found all across the length and breadth of the vast federation, the largest concentrations of ethnic Muslims (ethnic groups that traditionally have adhered in overwhelming numbers to the Islamic faith) are found in the North Caucasus’s Muslim republics—Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Adygeya, Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR), and Karachaevo-Cherkessia (KChR)—and in the Volga and Urals republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. There are also large Muslim populations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but these are more Russified, urbanized, and secularized than those in other regions, especially the North Caucasus. The Muslims of the North Caucasus remain largely rural, traditionally religious, and indigenously ethnic or clan-oriented.
The North Caucasus’s Muslims are divided into three linguistic groups (Turkic, Persian, and Ibero-Caucasian) and some 40 traditionally Muslim ethnic groups. The ethnic groups are themselves divided by various administrative-territorial borders and strong sub-ethnic clan allegiances.
Russia’s other main ethnic Muslim groups, Tatars and Bashkirs, are concentrated to a great extent in the Tatarstan and Bashkortostan Republics. Tatars make up a slim majority in Tatarstan, while ethnic Russians outnumber Bashkirs in Bashkortostan (Bashkiria). Both Tatars and Bashkirs are better integrated into Russian life than are the North Caucasians. In recent years, some historically non-Muslim ethnic groups are seeing some of their members convert to Islam, including ethnic Russians.45 Ethnic Russian Muslims have organized their own socio-political organization, the National Organization of Russia’s Muslims (NORM), which purports to have 2,500-3,000 members.46 In late 2012, NORM established an alliance with the Salafi-tied nationalist Azatlyk group in Tatarstan.47
Russia’s Muslims are not strongly self-organized. Rather, they are well-organized “from above” by the Islamic clergy and the Russian state. Muslim communities must be registered with the government, and each is then incorporated into a regional Muslim Spiritual Administration (MSA), every one of which in turn is included under one of the three main Muslim umbrella organizations: the Council of Muslims of Russia (CMR), the Central Muslim Spiritual Administration (CMSA), and the Coordinating Council of the Muslims of the North Caucasus (CCMNC). The CMR at present is the most influential of the umbrella organizations, with its leader, the ethnic Tatar mufti Ravil Gainutdin, on good terms with the Kremlin. Two smaller umbrella organizations—the MSA of the European part of Russia and the MSA of the Asian part of Russia—are subordinated to two of the abovementioned. In all, there are known to be approximately 60 regional MSAs, all of which are included under one or another of the umbrella organizations.48 These various structures help organize the travel of Muslims to the hajj and to study abroad, support Islamic universities and madrassas in Russia, and recruit and train Islamic clergy. The various Muslim spiritual councils (Dukhovnyie Upravlenii Musulman or DUM in Russian) receive state funding for muftis’ salaries, university and madrassa development, and the building of mosques. Independent Muslim communities and mosques persist but are illegal and are usually discovered by the authorities and incorporated into the official administrations. Typically, these have manifested Islamist tendencies, and some have produced jihadist terrorist organizations, leaders, and cadres.49
With regard to political ideology, Russia’s Muslims are divided among democrats, conservatives, Eurasianist and Islamist reactionaries, much as ethnic Russians are divided among democrats, conservatives, Eurasianist and Russian nationalist reactionaries. However, since under Russian law political parties based on any communal identification are forbidden from participating in elections, it is difficult to attain a detailed picture of Muslims’ distribution on Russia’s political spectrum.
Political Islam, however, is in evidence at both the official and unofficial levels. Media controlled by official Islamic structures carry numerous articles on introducing elements of sharia law in Russia, including the introduction of Islamic banking and insurance.50 Also, there are strong anti-American, anti-Western, anti-Israeli, and even anti-Semitic tendencies not just among Russia’s Islamists but among Russia’s traditional Muslims as well.51
Generally, however, there is very limited support for Islamism in both Russia’s Muslim and non-Muslim populations. The country’s Islamic clergy feels threatened and virulently opposes manifestations of political Islam, and Islamists have found limited support in the Muslim community. That said, many young Muslims are increasingly fascinated by—and sympathetic toward—radical trends, including Islamism as represented by charismatic mujahjideen like Caucasus Emirate rising star Said abu Saad Buryatskii. Perhaps because of this lack of support, Muslim communities in the North Caucasus have tended to radicalize quickly, evolving into jihadist groups.52
The Russian state, federal and/or local, depending on the region, pays some part of official muftis’ salaries and finances the building of mosques, madrassas, and Islamic universities and centers. The Russian state’s alliance with the official Islamic clergy is complicated by generational and demographic factors, however. Many official muftis and imams hail from the Soviet era and may be tainted by cooperation with the atheist regime and poor knowledge of Islam. These factors and corruption, both real and perceived, among officials and allied official clergy serve to discredit both, especially in the eyes of younger Muslims. High fertility rates in places like the North Caucasus relative to the rest of the country make this a demographic critical for overall Russian political stability, and containment of the jihad that has characterized politics in the North Caucasus for two decades.53
Both the Russian state and official Islamic clergy are strongly opposed to and greatly fear any manifestation of Islamism. As a result, the state has banned political parties based on religion (as well as on ethnicity and gender), and the Islamic clergy cooperates closely with the state apparatus in combating independent Islamic or Islamist groups and supporting reformist, Euro-Islamic, and other more secularized Islamic trends as an antidote to Islamism. The leading mufti Gainutdin, as well as the leadership of the Republic of Tatarstan, has led in this effort.54
Past experience has taught Russian authorities to treat Islamists severely, and they move quickly and often illegally to put them away for long terms. Arrests of Islamists in non-violent but illegal organizations such as HuT and Tablighi Jamaat are often accompanied by official charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks and claims that searches produced not only extremist literature but also weapons and explosives.55
The extent to which these policies and practices lead to significant violations of Muslims’ civil, political, and human rights, creates a tendency of Muslim youth to leave for the forest, mountains, and jihad. Putin-era amendments to Russia’s laws “On Extremism” and “On Combating Terrorism” give the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), Justice Ministry, and General Prosecutor’s Office broad leeway in holding suspects and determining what constitutes “extremist literature.” Searches are conducted on shaky pretexts, detention can often result in beating, and some convictions are based on trumped up charges. These practices are more prevalent in the North Caucasus, especially in Chechnya under President Ramzan Kadyrov, where authorities have even carried out extra-judicial retribution against the families of suspected and actual terrorists, including the abductions of relatives and the burning of homes. It needs to be stressed that some of this extra-legal law enforcement activity, especially in Chechnya, is carried out by special battalions comprised of former separatist fighters and is driven by local Caucasus customs of blood revenge.
Federal counter-jihadism policy in recent years has emphasized more soft power than ever before. Moscow has targeted and increased federal budget contributions to budgets in republics hit hardest by the CE. In 2008, Ingushetiya was the recipient of greater budget transfers, and since 2009-10 Dagestan has been the main beneficiary. In addition, Moscow initiated a federal program to invest and attract investments for the development of a cluster of tourist ski resorts across the North Caucasus that will provide employment for the youth vulnerable to radical propaganda.
Each of the North Caucasus Muslim republics has carried out its own often very different policies to counter jihadism in the region. While Chechnya’s Kadyrov has carried out a more brutal policy, Ingushetiya’s President Yunus bek Yevkurov pioneered a continuous amnesty or “adaptation” policy that seeks to draw mujahedeen out of the forest and back to their families and civilian life by offering reduced or suspended sentences and educational and work opportunities. In 2010, Dagestan established an adaptation commission, which engages in the same work, and in 2011 Kabardino-Balkariya followed suit. In 2012 in an effort to isolate, divide and rule radical Muslims, Dagestan’s authorities helped establish a dialogue between the official Sufi-oriented Muslim Spiritual Administration of Dagestan and the republic’s growing Salafi community, the main recruiting pool for the CE. These local policies have the potential to mitigate the political effect of excesses perpetrated by the police and siloviki (security forces) and to help drain the pond from which the CE recruits in order to compensate for the rapid attrition among the ranks of its mujahideen.
Calculated in Gordon M. Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007), 9, from data produced by Russia’s 2002 census on the number of Russian citizens belonging to ethnic groups that are traditionally Muslim.
Faisal Devji, Landscapes of Jihad: Militancy, Morality, and Modernity (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005), 130-131; Dore Gold, Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2003), 137; and Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 36-37.
Michael Reynolds, “False Comfort on Afghanistan,” Middle East Strategy at Harvard, August 31, 2009; Mike Bowker, “Western Views Of The Chechen Conflict,” in Richard Sakwa, ed., Chechnya: From Past to Future (London: Anthem Press, 2005), 235.
Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 37-39 and 104-110.
“Aslan Maskhadov: ‘My sozdadim polnotsennoe Islamskoe Gosudarstvo,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, March 8. 2010, www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2010/03/08/71101.shtml; See also “Prezident ChRI Sheik Abdul-Khalim. Kto On?” Kavkaz-Tsentr, March 12, 2005,www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2005/03/12/31285.shtml; “Abdallakh Shamil Abu-Idris: ‘My oderzhali strategicheskuyu pobedu,’” Kavkaz-Tsentr, January 9, 2006,www.kavkazcenter.net/russ/content/2006/01/09/40869.shtml; and Paul Murphy, The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terrorism (Dulles, VA: Brassey’s Inc., 2004), 171-75.
Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 43, 158; Vadim Rechkalov, “’Pochemu spetssluzhby ne mogut poimat’ Shamilya Basaeva,” Izvestiya (Moscow), December 6-10, 2004; “Shamil Basaev: ‘Segodnya voyuet ves chechenskii narod’,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, August 17, 2005,www.kavkazcenter.net/russ/content/2005/08/17/36759.shtml; Aleksandra Larintseva, Timur Samedov, and Olga Allenova, “Koltso kavkazskoi natsionalnosti,” Kommersant-Vlast (Moscow), September 29—October 5 2003, 20; Valerii Khatazhukov, “Kabardino-Balkariya Crackdown on Islamists,” IWPR'S Caucasus Reporting Service no. 199, August 2003; Mayrbek Vachagaev, “Evolution of the Chechen Jamaat,” Jamestown Foundation Chechnya Weekly VI, iss. 14 (April 6, 2005); and Timur Samedov, “Podozrevaemyie iz ‘Yarmuka'," Kommersant Daily (Moscow), December 15, 2004, 4. On Basaev’s role in Yarmuk’s recommitment to the ChRI after Maskhadov’s death and Sadulaev’s formation of the Caucasus Front, see “Amir Seifulla o protsesse podgotovki k provoglasheniyu Kavkazskogo Ekirata,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, November 20, 2007,www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2007/11/20/54479.shtml.
A detailed discussion of the 2003 suicide bombing campaign can be found in Yossef Bodansky,Chechen Jihad: Al Qaeda’s Training Ground and the Next Wave of Terror (New York: Harper, 2007).
Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 49-53.
“Godovshchina myatezha v Nal’chike: versii proizoshedshego sil’no raznyatsya,” Kavkaz uzel, October 13, 2006, www.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/news/id/1078940.html.
The rise of the Ingush jihadists is reflected in Umarov’s appointment of an ethnic Ingush, Akhmed Yevloev or “Magas,” as the ChRI’s military amir. Ibidem. On Muhannad’s fundraising see “Militants Target Arabs in Massive Fundraising Campaign for Chechen Insurgents,” Defense Department Center for International Issues Research Transnational Security Issues Report, December 13, 2007.
See Gordon M. Hahn, “Russia’s Counter-Terrorism Operation in Chechnya Ends – the Jihadi Insurgency Continues,” Russia – Other Points of View, May 11, 2009,www.russiaotherpointsofview.com/2009/05/russias-counterterrorism-operation-in-chechnya.html; See also Gordon M. Hahn, “The Caucasus Emirate’s ‘Year of the Offensive’ in Figures: Data and Analysis on the Caucasus Emirate’s Terrorist Activity in 2009,” Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report 7, January 18, 2010,www.miis.edu/media/view/19071/original/iiper_7.doc; Gordon M. Hahn, “Comparing the Level of Caucasus Emirate Terrorist Activity in 2008 and 2009,” Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report No. 8, February 5, 2010.
See Gordon M. Hahn, Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report Nos. 33, 55, and 61,https://csis.org/node/33013/publication.
“Dokka Umarov podpisal Omra o sozdanii Shury IK i uprazdnenii Vilaiyata Iriston,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, May 11, 2009, www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2009/05/11/65571.shtml; “Amir Imarat Kavkaz uprazdnil Kabinet Ministrov i Parlament byvshei ChRI,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, December 10, 2007, www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2007/12/10/54917.shtml.
Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 63-64.
“MVD RF: na Severnom Kavkaze deistvuyut okolo 500 boevikov,” Kavkaz uzel, March 26, 2010,www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/167037/; “Yedelev: v Chechnye deistvuyut do 500 boevikov,”Kavkaz uzel, January 21, 2009, www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/148344; “MVD: v Chechnye deistvuyut ne menee 400 boevikov,” Kavkaz uzel, February 6, 2008, www.kavkaz-uzel.ru; and “IMARAT KAVKAZ. Moskva pereschitala modzhakhedov. Ikh okazyvaetsya 1500 boitsov,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, May 20, 2009, www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2009/05/20/65749.shtml.
“Tsyganok: dannye prezidentov Chechni i Ingushetii o boevikakh otlichayutsya ot dannykh MVD i FSB,” Kavkaz uzel, May 26, 2009, www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/154588.
Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 67-68.
Paul Tumelty, “Chechnya: A Strategy for Independence,” Jamestown Foundation North Caucasus Analysis 6, iss. 30, August 3, 2005, http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2989.
“Amir Imarata Kavkaz Dokku Abu Usman: ‘My osvobodim Krasnodarskii krai, Astrakhan i Povolzhskii zemli…,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, March 8, 2010,www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2010/03/08/71087.shtml.
Hahn, Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report No. 60, August 31, 2012,https://csis.org/files/publication/120831_Hahn_IIPER_60.pdf. For specific events see Hahn, Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report Nos. 21, 31, 37, 46, 53, and 57,https://csis.org/node/33013/publication.
Hahn, Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report No. 59, July 23, 2012,https://csis.org/files/publication/120723_Hahn_IIPER_59.pdf and “Na karte Rossii mozhet poyavitsya novaya ‘goryachaya tochka,” Novyi Region 2, December 7, 2012,www.nr2.ru/ekb/415495.html and “DJHIKHAD. V lesakh Idel’-Urala deistvuyut bashkirskie modzhakhedy,” Kavkaz tsentr, December 7, 2012, 21:25,www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2012/12/07/94788.shtml.
Hahn, Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report No. 59.
Andrei Smirnov, “Vakhkhabity vzorvalis’ vne rozyska,” Kommersant, August 21, 2012,www.kommersant.ru/doc/2006104; Svetlana Brailovskaya, “Chto sluchilos’ v Kazani,” Rossiiskaya Gazeta, October 28, 2012, www.rg.ru/2012/10/28/reg-pfo/kazan.html; and Aleksei Ovchinnikov, Kirill Shlykov, Artur Yenikeev, and Kristina Desyatova, “Vo vremya likvidatsii terroristov v Kazani spetsnazovets spas tovarishei, azkryv soboi vzryvnoe ustroistvo,” Komsomolskaya Pravda, October 25, 2012, http://komsomolka.com/daily/25973.4/2909112/.
The map can be seen at “Zaglyadyvaya vpered,” Hunafa.com, March 4, 2010,http://hunafa.com/?p=3187.
Gordon M. Hahn, Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report Nos. 36, 41, 53, and 56,https://csis.org/node/33013/publication.
“Ofitsial’nyi reliz zayavleniya Amira Dokki Umarova o provozglashenii Kavkazskogo Emirata” and “Komu vygodna provokatsiya pod nazvaniem ‘Kavkazskii Emirat’.
See, for example, “Ibn Taymiya: Glava o dzhukhade,” Kavkaz-Tsentr, August 5, 2009,www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2009/08/05/67191.shtml; See also Islamdin.com, July 7, 2009, www.islamdin.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=489:2009-07-07-13-40-34&catid=4:2009-02-04-14-07-09&Itemid=28 and Islamdin.com, July 8, 2009,www.islamdin.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=490:2009-07-08-14-28-51&catid=4:2009-02-04-14-07-09&Itemid=28.
For original sources on these alleged foreign plots see Hahn, Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report Nos. 53 (Putin assassination plot) and 57 (Abkhazia Sochi plot),https://csis.org/node/33013/publication.
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, “Syria: the foreign fighters joining the war against Bashar al-Assad,”Guardian (London), September 23, 2012, www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/23/syria-foreign-fighters-joining-war; See also Bill Roggio, “Al Nusrah Front claims suicide attack at hospital, joint operation with Chechen fighters,” Long War Journal, November 23, 2012,www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/11/al_nusrah_front_clai_8.php.
See Jamaat ‘Katibatu Mudzhakhirin KBK’s video statements at “Pryzyv is Shama,” Islamdin.com, October 18, 2012, http://www.islamdin.com/video/1415--q-q-.html and “Dzhama’at ‘Katibatu Mudzhakhirin KBK,” Islamdin.com, October 20, 2012, http://www.islamdin.com/video/1416--q-q-.html.
See Gordon M. Hahn, Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report No. 60, August 31, 2012, 9,https://csis.org/files/publication/120831_Hahn_IIPER_60.pdf; Avraam Shumlevich, “‘Skoro stanet zharko.’ Intervyu iz islamistskogo podpolya,” Agentsvo politicheskikh novostei, August 9, 2012,www.apn.ru/publications/article27003.htm.
Pavel Khlebnikov, Razgovor s Varvarom: Besedy s chechenskim polevym komandirom Khozh-Akhmedom Nukhaevym o banditizme i islame (Moscow: Detektiv-Press, 2004); Paul Klebnikov,Godfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster Capitalism (Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2001); A. Khinshtein, Berezovskii i Abramovich: Oligarkhi s bol’shoi dorogi (Moscow: Lora, 2007).
OECD Financial Action Task Force, Second Mutual Evaluation Report –Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism–Russian Federation, June 20, 2008, 17-19, www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/31/6/41415981.pdf.
“Khazbiev: chinovniki Ingushetii soderzhat boevikov,” Kavkaz uzel, July 24, 2009,www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/157053; Alexei Malashenko, “The Kremlin’s Violent Underbelly,”Moscow Times, July 29, 2009.
Hahn, “The Caucasus Emirate’s ‘Year of the Offensive’ in Figures: Data and Analysis on the Caucasus Emirate’s Terrorist Activity in 2009” and Hahn, “Comparing the Level of Caucasus Emirate Terrorist Activity in 2008 and 2009.”
See Gordon M. Hahn, Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report Nos. 33, 55, and 61,https://csis.org/node/33013/publication.
Gordon M. Hahn, “The Caucasus Emirate’s Return to Suicide Bombing and Mass Terrorism,”Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report 3, November 30, 2009, http://www.miis.edu/media/view/19031/original/iiper_3.doc; Hahn, “The Caucasus Emirate’s ‘Year of the Offensive’ in Figures: Data and Analysis on the Caucasus Emirate’s Terrorist Activity in 2009”; and Hahn, Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report Nos. 33, 55, and 61,https://csis.org/node/33013/publication
“V Bashkirii ‘shyut’ delo ‘Uiguro-Bulgarskogo dzhamaata,’” Islam.ru, April 29, 2009,www.islam.ru/rus/2009-04-29/.
For the Bulgar Jamaat’s Russian-language website, see http://tawba.info orhttp://jamaatbulgar.narod.ru.
See Gordon M. Hahn, Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report Nos. 43, 45, 47, 48, 58 and 60, https://csis.org/node/33013/publication. On the HuT’s penetration of official Islamic structures, demonstrations, and automobile caravans in 2012 see, for example, Rais Suleimanov, “Al’yans vakhkhabizma n national-separtizma v Tatarstane i ‘russkii vopros’ v regione,” RISI,www.kazan-center.ru/osnovnye-razdely/13/279/ and Rais Suleimanov, “Islamskii terrorizm v sovremennom Tatarstane: vakhkhabizm na praktike,” Agentsvo politicheskikh novostei, July 25, 2012, www.apn.ru/publications/article26923.htm; See also “V Kazani islamisty proekhali avtokolonnoi s razvernutymi flagami,” Regnum.ru, October 26, 2012, www.regnum.ru/news/fd-volga/1586886.html.
Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 213-214.
For such contacts before 2005, see Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 205-206.
Neil Buckley, “Russia’s Islamic Rebirth Adds Tension,” Financial Times, October 28, 2005.
Although there are no exact figures on the number of converts, it is clear that a Russian/Slavic Islamic community is emerging. According to one report, almost 50 thousand people, mostly ethnic Russians and young women, converted to Islam in the city of Moscow alone from January 2002 to October 2004. This figure comes from a posting on a Qatar-based website IslamOnLine citing an anonymous source from the Council of Muftis of Russia cited in “S 2002 Islam v Moskve prinyali pochti 50 tys. chelovek,” Islam.ru, October 7, 2004, www.islam.ru/press/rus/2004/10/07/. An ethnic Russian Muslim community emerged in Omsk in 2004. Aleksei Malashenko, “Shadow of Islam over Europe,” International Affairs (Moscow) 50, no. 5 (September-October 2004), 70.
Aleksandr Ignatenko, “Krovavaya doroga v rai,” Nezavisimaya gazeta-religiya 12, July 16, 2003, 1, and Dmitrii Sokolov-Mitrich, “Russkii Ben Laden,” Izvestiya (Moscow), January 21, 2005,www.izvestia.ru/conflict/1043323_print. Another organization, ‘Direct Path,’ is headed by Muslim journalist and ex-Orthodox priest Ali Polosin. Daghestan has set up a committee for converts to Islam. Just as the Afghan war produced Soviet converts to Islam, there are cases of Russian soldiers who fought in Chechnya converting to Islam. Malashenko, “Shadow of Islam over Europe,” 70.
“Russkie musul’mane poshli na soyuz s Tatarskimi national-separatistami,” Regnum.ru, 10 December 2012, 21:03, www.regnum.ru/news/fd-volga/tatarstan/1602928.html.
Shireen Hunter, Islam in Russia: The Politics of Identity and Security (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002), 54-55.
A. Zhukov, “Kabardino-Balkariya: Na puti k katastrofe,” Kavkaz-uzel, n.d., www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/analyticstext/analytics/id/1231255.html.
See, for example, Rinat Bekkin, “Esly by ne krizis… R. Bekkin o roste interesa k islamskim finansam v Rossii,” Islam.ru, n.d., www.islam.ru/pressclub/gost/esbikaznu/. Islam.ru is affiliated with the MSA of Dagestan and frequently carries articles and interviews on the subject, in particular those of a key lobbyist for the introduction of Islamic financing in Russia, Rinat Bekkin.
Gordon M. Hahn, “Anti-Americanism, Anti-Westernism, and Anti-Semitism Among Russia’s Muslims,” Demokratizatsiya 16, no. 1 (Winter 2008), 49-60.
Zhukov, Kabardino-Balkariya: Na puti k katastrofe.
Hahn, Russia’s Islamic Threat, 8-12.
Ravil Gainutdin, Islam v sovremennoi Rossii (Moscow: Fair Press, 2004), 264-297; Hahn,Russia’s Islamic Threat, 183-186.
“Rodnym obvinyaemykh v chlenstve v ‘Khizb ut-takhrir’ prishlos’ proryvat’sya v zal suda,” Islam.ru, February 27, 2009, www.islam.ru/rus/2009-02-27/; “V Chelyabinskoi oblasti predstanut pered sudom 5 ‘khizb ut-takhrirovtsev,’” Islam.ru, August 17, 2009, www.islam.ru/rus/2009-08-17/#27984. | <urn:uuid:1f2e5d75-f975-4e23-b67d-5caa8330af3e> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://almanac.afpc.org/russia | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896876 | 12,245 | null | 2.90625 | 3 | almanac.afpc.org |
Translating poetry from one language to another is tricky and often unsuccessful, as some things rarely convert correctly from one set of colloquialisms to the next. Translating Chaucer from Middle English, for example, is no easy task because English has changed considerably in the last 600 years or so, to the point that Middle English is nearly impossible to read.
The Canterbury Tales, written at the end of the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection of stories presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral; the prize being a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark upon their return.
What makes this collection so interesting- aside from being a 700-year old text- is that it is one of the most banned and controversial books in history. The Canterbury Tales was, and still is, a subject of great debate as it has been censored, challenged, and banned for centuries. Immediate reactions in England were over its criticisms against the Church and for its sexual innuendos.
It is no mere collection of racy stories and characters though; it is an illustration of society during Chaucer’s life and still very much relevant to society today, evidenced by its regular reference in media today; movies such as A Knight’s Tale, starring Heath Ledger, paid homage to this literary classic. It’s use of humor and satire as commentary for pop culture and social issues is also very much the standard that we’ve come to expect in comedic sketches such as those seen on Saturday Night Live.
Chaucer uses the tales, and the descriptions of the characters, as observations on English society, particularly the Church. This was not taken lightly by Church officials, to say the least. Part of what he was drawing attention to was that the Catholic Church was in the middle of the Western Schism and, although it was the only Christian influence in Europe, was highly controversial.
Some of the passages cited by religious institutions over the centuries include lines 351-352 in which two college students sleep with either the wife or the daughter of the miller; and in 463-467- “He saugh (saw)a mayde (virgin) walkynge hym biforn”; and lines 891-893 in which a knight rapes a maiden.
Chaucer used the “Wife of Bathe” to dispute views on gender roles and sexual stereotypes, and I find it highly ironic that the Church would attack Chaucer for discussing rape when the Bible itself is full of tales involving the heinous act:
If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. — Deuteronomy 22:28-29
And even contains passages depicting women as prisoners of war:
And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? … Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. — Numbers 31:15-18
While Canterbury Tales may have been largely censored across Europe upon its publication, the vast majority of challenges today take place in the United States.
It was heavily censored by many Colonial authorities when copies first started appearing along with the first waves of settlers, and continues to be subject to challenges in many school systems throughout the country.
It was once banned in Lake City, Florida; and it was removed from a senior college prep course at the Eureka, Illinois High School in 1995 for its sexual content, having been labeled by some parents as “inappropriate for students.”
The book was banned from being mailed for years by the U.S. Postal Service as yet another victim of the anti-obscenity Comstock Law of 1873. As a result it has been subjected to revisions over the years to sterilize it. Most modern translations and editions still have a tendency to avoid any profanity.
I am reminded of the words of John Marshall Harlan, a Supreme Court justice, who said in 1971, “One man’s vulgarity is another man’s lyric.”
What makes The Canterbury Tales so timeless and important is that it presents a true-life image of a period in history that can’t be understood or appreciated through the filter of the typical intellectually-marred school books found in the classroom. This, along with its close relevance to society today, is the strongest reason why it should be taught in more literature classes instead of less. While I can appreciate the concern over some of the subject matter, the indisputable fact is that today’s teens, especially high school students, have already been predisposed to far worse in popular media.
You’d think that somewhere in the last 700 years we as an intellectual society would grow beyond our own egocentric arrogance and puritanical self-righteousness.
For a body of work to last some 700 years and still be as popular today as it was when originally published, and for still being culturally relevant after so many years of social, political, and cultural changes worldwide, stands as the strongest testament to its brilliance. It is a cornerstone of literary history that, like so many others, should be praised, not banned.
For a complete list of titles covered and more information about the Banned Books Awareness and Reading for Knowledge project, please visit www.deepforestproductions.com
Sources: Wikipedia, Amazon, American Library Association, Cumbria County Council (UK), Abe Books, Harvard, University of Deleware
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Assessing and understanding the impact of stratospheric dynamics and variability on the earth system
Gerber, E. P., Butler, A., Calvo, N., Charlton-Perez, A., Giorgetta, M., Manzini, E., Perlwitz, J., Polvani, L. M., Sassi, F., Scaife, A. A., Shaw, T. A., Son, S.-W. and Watanabe, S. (2012) Assessing and understanding the impact of stratospheric dynamics and variability on the earth system. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. ISSN 1520-0477 (In Press)
Full text not archived in this repository.
To link to this article DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00145.1
Advances in weather and climate research have demonstrated the role of the stratosphere in the Earth system across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Stratospheric ozone loss has been identified as a key driver of Southern Hemisphere tropospheric circulation trends, affecting ocean currents and carbon uptake, sea ice, and possibly even the Antarctic ice sheets. Stratospheric variability has also been shown to affect short term and seasonal forecasts, connecting the tropics and midlatitudes and guiding storm track dynamics. The two-way interactions between the stratosphere and the Earth system have motivated the World Climate Research Programme's (WCRP) Stratospheric Processes and Their Role in Climate (SPARC) DynVar activity to investigate the impact of stratospheric dynamics and variability on climate. This assessment will be made possible by two new multi-model datasets. First, roughly 10 models with a well resolved stratosphere are participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5), providing the first multi-model ensemble of climate simulations coupled from the stratopause to the sea floor. Second, the Stratosphere Historical Forecasting Project (SHFP) of WCRP's Climate Variability and predictability (CLIVAR) program is forming a multi-model set of seasonal hindcasts with stratosphere resolving models, revealing the impact of both stratospheric initial conditions and dynamics on intraseasonal prediction. The CMIP5 and SHFP model-data sets will offer an unprecedented opportunity to understand the role of the stratosphere in the natural and forced variability of the Earth system and to determine whether incorporating knowledge of the middle atmosphere improves seasonal forecasts and climate projections. Capsule New modeling efforts will provide unprecedented opportunities to harness our knowledge of the stratosphere to improve weather and climate prediction. | <urn:uuid:aecb1fea-3f30-4d6c-9b8d-dbd79a2b6eb9> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/27448/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.858509 | 534 | null | 2.71875 | 3 | centaur.reading.ac.uk |
2007 Iberian Peninsula earthquake
|Date||February 12, 2007|
|Origin time||10:35:31 UTC |
|Magnitude||6.1 Mw |
|Depth||45 km (28 mi) |
|Max. intensity||IV (Largely observed) |
|Peak acceleration||.0001321g |
The 2007 Iberian Peninsula earthquake (also known as the 2007 Horseshoe earthquake) occurred at 10:35:31 Greenwich Mean Time on February 12 with its epicentre in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, off the coasts of Portugal and Morocco. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.1 and a maximum intensity of IV (Largely observed). The shock occurred at a plate boundary where a number of large, very large, and great earthquakes are known to have taken place as far back as the eighteenth-century. The event was captured by a network of strong motion instruments in Spain.
On its west, south, and east sides the African Plate is surrounded by spreading centers, and on the north side, the plate forms a convergent boundary with the Eurasian Plate in the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea. At the extreme northwestern boundary of the plate lies the Azores Triple Junction, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge meets the right-lateral strike-slip Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault, which is an east–west trending structure that continues toward the Strait of Gibraltar as the Gloria Fault.
The undersea earthquake occurred about 175 kilometres (109 mi) from the southwest coast of Portugal in the eastern Horseshoe Abyssal Plain, a geological feature that was the same location of the 1969 Portugal earthquake. The shock was widely felt in Portugal, Spain, and Morocco, but did not cause any damage due to its distance from the shore, and was followed by four small aftershocks of M3.5 or less.
In Morocco, intensities for the event were up to IV (Largely observed) in the coastal cities of Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, El Jadida and Safi. Slightly higher intensities were reported in the taller buildings in Casablanca. Intensities were about II (Scarcely felt) in the much more distant cities of Agadir, Ouarzazet, Errachidia, and Taza. Some of these towns were up to 650 kilometres (400 mi) away. The depth of the event was listed as one reason why the shock was felt over such a wide area.
The Instituto Geográfico Nacional operates a network of strong motion instruments in Spain. Eight accelerometers recorded the event at distances between 326–623 kilometres (203–387 mi). The three nearest stations (Cartaya, Huelva, and Matalascañas) were on relatively soft soil and recorded the highest ground motion. The station at Cartaya saw a peak ground acceleration of .0001321g.
- Jabour, N.; Hahou, Y.; Benchekroun, S.; Timoulali, Y.; Menzhi, M.; Hni, L.; Badrane, S.; Kasmi, M.; Birouk, A. (2007), The Cape St. Vincent Earthquake of February 12, 2007 Macroseismic effects, CSEM/EMSC Newsletter, European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre
- Stich, D.; de Lis Mancilla, F.; Pondrelli, S.; Morales, J. (2007), "Source analysis of the February 12th 2007, Mw 6.0 Horseshoe earthquake: Implications for the 1755 Lisbon earthquake", Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union): 12308, doi:10.1029/2007GL030012
- Cabañas, L.; Martin, A.J.; Alcalde, J.M. (2007), Recorded ground accelerations in the 2007/02/12 SW Cape St. Vincent Earthquake, CSEM/EMSC Newsletter, European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre
- Yeats, R. (2012), Active Faults of the World, Cambridge University Press, pp. 225, 237–239, ISBN 978-0-521-19085-5
- Borges, J.F.; Bezzeghoud, M.; Caldeira, B.; van Eck, T. (2007), The recent 2007 Portugal earthquake (Mw=6.1) in the seismotectonic context of the SW Atlantic area, CSEM/EMSC Newsletter, European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre
- Cherkaoui, Taj-Eddine; El Hassani, Ahmed (2012), "Seismicity and seismic hazard in Morocco 1901–2010" (PDF), Bulletin de l’Institut Scientifique (L'Institut Scientifique) (34): 45–55
- Stich, D.; de Lis Mancilla, F.; Pondrelli, S.; Morales, J. (2007), "Source analysis of the February 12th 2007, Mw 6.0 Horseshoe earthquake: Implications for the 1755 Lisbon earthquake", Journal of Geophysical Research (Wiley) 34 (12), doi:10.1029/2007GL030012
- Event page – Broadband Seismic Data Collection Center
- M6.0 - Azores-Cape St. Vincent Ridge – United States Geological Survey | <urn:uuid:dc5c39aa-77be-4665-b022-4c13e498c6ff> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Iberian_Peninsula_earthquake | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.867288 | 1,129 | null | 3.125 | 3 | en.wikipedia.org |
Transportation and assignment problems can be solved by simplex method though special purpose algorithms offer an easier solution procedure.
The total supply must equal total demand in a transportation problem in order to solve it by the transportation algorithm.
XYZ Inc. manufactures desks and chairs in all its four furniture manufacturing plants. It has 5 warehouses across the country. One transportation problem can be used to determine how to ship desks and chairs.
Transshipment problem can be solved using the transportation formulation, as long as we are assured that no material stays in the intermediate points permanently.
Transshipment problem formulation may be used in place of transportation formulation when there are two products that are being shipped, each having its own per unit cost of shipping.
In a linear programming formulation of the assignment problem, the RHS of all constraints is greater than 1.
In the transportation problem model for production planning discussed in your text, if there are 3 periods and 4 methods of manufacture in each period, how many rows will be needed?
In the linear programming formulation of the transportation problem, cost of transporting one unit of the material from a supply point to a demand point appears in
|A)||the objective function only.|
|B)||the constraints only.|
|C)||both objective function and constraints.|
|D)||neither objective function nor constraints.|
Data on cost, demand and supply for a balanced (total supply equals total demand) transportation problem is given in the table below. In the linear programming formulation of this transportation problem, with Xij denoting the amount shipped from supply point i (1 or 2) to demand point j (1, 2 or 3) the correct constraint to make sure that supply available in supply point #2 will be fully used is:
|A)||7X21 + 2X22 + 5X23 = 300|
|B)||X21 + X22 + X23 = 300|
|C)||7X21 + 2X22 + 5X23 ≥ 300|
|D)||X21 + X22 + X23 ≥ 300|
In a transportation problem with total demand equal to 1200 and total supply equal to 900, we should add a _______________ _____________ with a quantity equal to ___________ to convert it to a balanced problem.
|A)||Dummy supply 300.|
|B)||Dummy supply 2100.|
|C)||Dummy demand 300.|
|D)||Dummy demand 2100.|
In the linear programming formulation of the transshipment problem, demand at the destination points are required to be satisfied from shipment from
|C)||either origins or intermediated points.|
|D)||origins or external sources.|
A transshipment problem has 3 origins, 2 intermediate points and 4 destinations. The number of decision variables in the linear programming formulation of this problem will be | <urn:uuid:3104704a-2d38-422a-b8e8-4a1e871e44ec> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/007299066x/student_view0/chapter6/multiple_choice_quiz.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.843327 | 605 | null | 2.953125 | 3 | highered.mheducation.com |
Stanford researchers suggest how sleep re-charges the brain
STANFORD -- Why do we sleep? The answer seems obvious - to restore ourselves at the end of a long day. However, scientists have surprisingly little information about exactly what is restored during sleep. According to Stanford biologist Craig Heller, "the function of sleep is one of the major unanswered questions in biology."
Heller and a former graduate student may have found the answer to that question, at the level of individual brain cells. They suggest that only during deep, restful sleep can human brain cells replenish the energy stores they deplete during a full day of thinking, sensing and reacting.
Heller, the Lorry I. Lokey / Business Wire Professor of Biological Sciences and associate dean of research at Stanford, and Joel Benington, now a Stanford research scientist, presented their hypothesis in a recent issue of the journal Progress in Neurobiology, in a theory paper based on their research and a review of the scientific literature on neurobiology and sleep. In the journal Brain Research, they present the details of the experimental evidence supporting their ideas, from research they carried out at the Stanford Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology.
Sleep is such a fundamental need that scientists long have known it must be governed by some form of homeostatic control, a feedback mechanism like the controls that keep the body's blood pressure, temperature and other aspects of its internal environment within narrow ranges.
Benington and Heller's experiments have identified a possible controlling agent of this homeostatic feedback, a neurotransmitting chemical, adenosine, that seems to govern how deeply a laboratory rat - and presumably a person - will sleep after a period of wakefulness.
Adenosine is released by brain cells when the cells' demand for energy exceeds available supplies. Heller and Benington speculate that adenosine release is one step in the homeostatic feedback loop, signaling the cells to rest so that the essential element they need - energy - can be replenished. They speculate that the brain's only source of stored energy, glycogen, is depleted in different regions of the brain where energy demands are high during wakefulness, and is then replenished during sleep.
Understanding the biochemical nature of sleep may lead to treatments for some sleep disorders, or allow chronic insomniacs to get enough restful sleep. Heller notes that scientists ultimately may be able to intensify the depth of sleep so a full night's rest could be gained in, say, four hours. Alternatively, the need for sleep could be temporarily "put on hold" when a person needs to stay alert beyond normal physiological limits - for example, during shift work, recovery from jet-lag or combat.
The need for sleep
The need for sleep is so intense, said Benington, "it is virtually impossible to keep a sleep-deprived animal or person awake for very long periods." Other researchers have shown that lack of sleep leads shift workers to fall asleep at the factory bench, and causes thousands of over-tired drivers to fall asleep on the road each year.
The intensity of sleep need led Heller and Benington to the hypothesis that whatever is restored during sleep must be important to the brain's normal functioning.
Glycogen fills the bill.
Although glycogen supplies less than 6 percent of all the fuel needs of brain cells (the rest comes from glucose delivered via the bloodstream), it is necessary because it can be called into use very quickly to meet the needs of highly active cells in localized regions of the brain. Glycogen acts like a spare battery that keeps an electrical appliance running during a temporary power outage. Because the brain does not burn fat, glycogen is the only source of spare energy for neurons.
During normal thinking and reacting, Benington and Heller speculate, the relatively small glycogen stores in the brain gradually are used up, at least in certain regions. At this point, it becomes increasingly difficult for the brain to accommodate demands for sudden increases in regional activity.
Glycogen supplies take time to replenish; unless brain cells stop their constant business of sensing and reacting, it should be difficult to rebuild this energy store. Thus, Benington and Heller say, the individual experiences glycogen loss as a buildup of the need for a good night's sleep.
Glycogen loss also triggers the release of adenosine. Heller and Benington speculate that adenosine release increases when glycogen is depleted, and that adenosine acts as a messenger to the cells, promoting restful sleep.
Benington designed an experiment to test the hypothesis that adenosine is the messenger in the sleep homeostatic feedback mechanism. He showed that its concentration influences brain cells after the onset of sleep, and seems to determine how deeply we sleep.
A chemical similar to adenosine was injected into rats that had already fully replenished their sleep need. The rats returned to deep sleep, as measured by EEG (electroencephalographic) scans. The EEG readings closely mimicked the slow electrical waves typically seen in normal sleep after prolonged wakefulness.
The conclusion was that restorative sleep is promoted by the presence of adenosine or a similar chemical.
Previous findings on the effects of caffeine on sleep fit with Heller and Benington's adenosine hypothesis. Caffeine is known to block the adenosine receptor sites on the brain cells, preventing adenosine from acting on the cell. It masks the need for sleep, but because it does not eliminate that need, caffeine is not a substitute for restful sleep. An extra cup of coffee can combat the drowsiness that comes from sleep need, but it just can't substitute for a good night's sleep.
The clock, the homeostat and REM sleep
What about the circadian rhythm, the familiar biological clock that tells owls to stay awake all night and humans to stay awake all day?
"Circadian control is critical to sleep and wakefulness," Heller said. However,
They cite recent research by Stanford research scientist Dale Edgar that shows that the circadian clock works like an alarm, "ringing" to keep us awake in spite of an increasing need for sleep. Animals without strong day-night schedules, like cats and guinea pigs, sleep in short bursts throughout the day, whenever the sleep homeostat signals a need for rest and energy restoration. Owls and humans sleep when the internal clock stops ringing.
If Heller and Benington's hypothesis is correct, once a person's clock shuts off at night, the sleep-need feedback mechanism takes over to ensure that he sleeps long enough to restore his brain's glycogen stores.
Their research also provides some evidence that a related biochemical homeostat controls REM sleep, the restless rapid-eye-movement sleep that often coincides with dreams. The sleep cycle, the switch between REM and non-REM sleep, normally occurs several times a night in humans, and many more times during the sleep of other mammals. In another set of papers in Progress in Neurobiology and Brain Research, Heller and Benington propose that REM sleep is needed to perform a biochemical task so that the body can return to non-REM sleep.
Non-REM is the deep sleep associated with slow-wave readings on the EEG. Heller and Benington propose that this is the essential part of sleep, where the sleep debt accumulated during waking is restored. Non-REM sleep has biochemical costs: for example, brain cells are kept in this quiet state thanks to a slow leak of positive ions from the cell membrane. Benington and Heller propose that a cycle of REM sleep, when the brain is partly active, may be needed to pump positive ions back into the cells, so another cycle of non-REM sleep can begin.
What about the dreams in REM sleep? Does REM clear the memory banks or consolidate new memories? Does it help us work through deeply seated psychological problems?
If its function were purely psychological, REM sleep would likely show different patterns in different animals. But it seems to make up about 20% of total sleep time in a wide variety of animals. As Heller noted, "You can't tell me a rat is working out his Freudian problems during REM sleep".
Putting the theory to the test
While this is not the only attempt to explain the function of sleep, Heller said it is the most comprehensive and compelling so far.
For example, experimental evidence that sleep need increases when the brain is heated, such as during exercise, has led some researchers to argue that sleep serves as a temperature regulation and recovery process for the brain. This evidence also can be explained by Heller and Benington's hypothesis, since an increase in temperature boosts the brain's metabolic rate. That could cause the glycogen stores to be used more rapidly, eventually resulting in greater sleep need.
However, Benington stressed, a number of outstanding questions about glycogen metabolism in the brain must be answered before the hypothesis can be confirmed. Benington and Heller now are working with Raymond Swanson, a researcher at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, to directly measure glycogen levels during wakefulness and sleep. They want to test two questions crucial to the hypothesis: Are brain glycogen stores substantially depleted during normal waking behavior? Are they restored only during sleep?
Meanwhile, Heller and Benington's hypothesis has attracted enough attention that they shortly will begin testing the effect on sleep of certain drugs that mimic the effect of adenosine. Such compounds already have been developed by several pharmaceutical companies but until now were intended for other purposes.
Currently, there are no suitable drugs for the treatment of chronic insomnia. People rapidly develop tolerance to existing sleeping medication, leading them to take higher doses and to mix medications. This can result in bad side effects and even worse insomnia when they try to reduce the medications.
Heller and Benington expect that by manipulating the brain's own signaling system for the control of sleep, it may be possible to develop safe, effective medications that will help people achieve a good night's sleep.
Editor's note: Benington and Heller's theory paper, "Restoration of brain energy metabolism as the function of sleep," was published in the journal Progress in Neurobiology, Vol. 45 (1995), pp. 347-360. Their research report, "Stimulation of A1 adenosine receptors mimics the electroencephalographic effects of sleep deprivation," was published in the journal Brain Research, Vol. 692 (1995), pp. 79-80. | <urn:uuid:adf8301e-9169-4e5d-be30-3d6393922fce> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://news.stanford.edu/pr/96/960116sleep.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947716 | 2,152 | null | 3.296875 | 3 | news.stanford.edu |
300.3 Obsessive-compulsive disorder
An obsession is an intrusive/inappropriate repetitive thought, impulse, or image that the individual recognizes as a product of his or her own mind but is unable to control. A compulsion is a repetitive urge that the individual feels driven to perform and cannot resist without great difficulty (severe anxiety). Most common obsessions are repetitive thoughts about contamination, repeated doubts, a need to have things in a specific order, aggressive or horrific impulses, or sexual imagery. The individual usually attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts or to neutralize them with some other thought or action (compulsion).
Freud placed origin for obsessive-compulsive characteristics in the anal stage of development. The child is mastering bowel and bladder control at this developmental stage and derives pleasure from controlling his or her own body and indirectly the actions of others.
Erikson’s comparable stage for this disorder is autonomy versus shame and doubt. The child learns that to be neat and tidy and to handle bodily wastes properly gains parental approval and to be messy brings criticism and rejection.
The obsessional character develops the art of the need to obtain approval by being excessively tidy and controlled. Frequently the parents’ standards are too high for the child to meet, and the child continually is frustrated in attempts to please parents.
The defensive mechanisms used in obsessive-compulsive behaviors are unconscious attempts by the client to protect the self from internal anxiety. The greater the anxiety, the more time and energy will be tied up in the completion of the client’s rituals. First, the client uses regression, a return to earlier methods of handling anxiety. Second, the obsessive thoughts are either devoid of feeling or are attached to anxiety. Thus, isolation is used. Third, the client’s overt attitude toward others is usually the opposite of the unconscious feelings. Thus, reaction formation is being used. Last, compulsive rituals are a symbolic way of undoing or resolving the underlying conflict.
Although biological and neurophysiological influences in the etiology of anxiety disorders have been investigated, no relationship has yet been established. The mind-body connection is well accepted, but it is difficult to establish whether the biological changes cause anxiety or the emotional state causes physiological manifestations. However, recent findings suggest that neurobiological disturbances may play a role in obsessive-compulsive disorder, with physiological and biochemical factors also playing significant roles.
The individual exhibiting dysfunctional behavior is seen as the representation of family system problems. The “identified patient” (IP) is carrying the problems of the other members of the family, which are seen as the result of the interrelationships (disequilibrium) between family members rather than as isolated individual problems.
Multiple factors contribute to anxiety disorders.
CLIENT ASSESSMENT DATA BASE
(Also refer to CPs: Generalized Anxiety Disorder; Panic Disorders/Phobias.)
Pleasurable activities causing anxiety
May be very controlled from within
Pre-onset stressors (e.g., family death, pregnancy/childbirth, sexual failures) may be present
Characteristic rituals may influence/include repetitive hand-washing, intensive cleanliness, activities of daily living (e.g., dressing and undressing a number of times, placing articles in a specific order)
Obsessive thoughts may be destructive or delusional, with most frequent themes, including contamination/dirt, health/illness, orderliness or need for symmetry, aggression, morality/religion, sex (e.g., shameful/degrading acts)
Thinking processes are rigid, intellectual, and sharply focused toward tasks; may express belief that nonpurposeful and nondirected activity is unsafe and bad
Repetitive mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently)
Impaired problem-solving ability
Ritualistic speech often noted
More frequent occurrence in upper-middle class, with higher levels of intellectual functioning
Interference with normal routines, occupational functioning, social activities/relationships
May focus on details but be unproductive in work situations because of narrow scope and rigidity of ideas
Most often seen in adolescence and early adulthood (average age of onset is 20)
(Refer to CPs: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder/Phobias.)
1. Assist client to recognize onset of anxiety.
2. Explore the meaning and purpose of the behavior with the client.
3. Assist client to limit ritualistic behaviors.
4. Help client learn alternative responses to stress.
5. Encourage family participation in therapy program.
1. Anxiety decreased to a manageable level.
2. Ritualistic behaviors managed/minimized.
3. Environmental and interpersonal stress decreased.
4. Client/family involved in support group/community programs.
5. Plan in place to meet needs after discharge.
(Refer to CP: Generalized Anxiety Disorder for needs/concerns in addition to the following NDs.) | <urn:uuid:486bb069-0869-4fbe-b34f-d4f1a57bd9a7> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://nursingcareplan.blogspot.com/2007/05/ncp-obsessive-compulsive-disorder.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921288 | 1,017 | null | 3.34375 | 3 | nursingcareplan.blogspot.com |
Dementia is a group of conditions that gradually destroys brain cells and leads to a progressive decline in mental function. Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging, and most older individuals do not contract the condition. The disease is more commonly found among persons age 85 and older. It is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person’s memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate, and carry out daily activities. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, individuals may also experience changes in personality and behavior, such as anxiety, suspiciousness, or agitation. Alzheimer’s disease progresses at different rates. In early stages, areas of the brain that control memory and thinking skills are affected. As the disease progresses, other regions of the brain die. Patients in late stages of Alzheimer’s disease may need complete care.
The Impact of Dementia and Alzheimer’s on Cases of Abuse
Persons with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, may be vulnerable and, therefore, targeted by predators, who may financially exploit or abuse them. Older victims with dementia may be unaware or slow to recognize that abuse has occurred. Abusers may feel that victims are less likely to report abuse or be believed by professionals. Victims with dementia may have difficulty recounting the details of the abuse. They may be perceived as confused or recounting experiences from earlier in life. Gerontologists and experts in dementia may be able to work with law enforcement and adult protective services to gather information from a potential victim during an interview. In some cases, the case must be built without participation from the victim. Such cases should be approached like a homicide in which there is no victim to testify.
Offenders with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, present challenges to the justice, health care, and social service systems. In some stages, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease can manifest themselves in challenging, violent actions or inappropriate sexual behavior. These individuals are no longer able to control their actions due to their medical condition. Arrest and offender counseling treatment programs will not change the behavior because its source is organic rather than a personal choice. Perpetrators with dementia still need intervention to meet medical needs, manage their behavior, and provide for personal care.
However, persons in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias retain the ability to control their actions. Often persons who were abusive throughout their lives use a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease as an excuse to escalate their violent behavior, telling family and professionals that they cannot control their behavior and, therefore, should not be arrested or held accountable.
Whether offenders with dementia are able to control their behavior or not, the focus of intervention must be on victim safety. Victims can benefit from accurate medical information and safety planning. | <urn:uuid:06952e40-5abb-49a0-a195-7c275021a4ac> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://what-when-how.com/interpersonal-violence/alzheimers-diseasedementia/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950527 | 578 | null | 3.5625 | 4 | what-when-how.com |
It grows in shady, moist areas of rocky floors, overhanging ledges and rock faces in Daniel Boone National Forest. The Cumberland sandwort, a perennial herb with small, white-petaled flowers, is listed as a federally endangered plant.
Valerie Pence is helping save it.
"Valerie works with the true basket cases of plant conservation. She has done amazing things with species that otherwise would be doomed because of problems getting them established," said Kathryn Kennedy, executive director of the St. Louis-based Center for Plant Conservation.
Pence, 60, is director of plant research at CREW, which used non-traditional methods to preserve and propagate endangered plants.
"The technique we're using - the plant-tissue culture - is a cloning technique," Pence says, standing in a small incubator room with dozens of tiny plants in tubes. "We take a piece of tissue from a plant and propagate it."
Typically, the plants CREW works with produce few or no seeds in the wild; or if they do produce seeds, they are very short-lived.
With the Cumberland sandwort, a few seeds were available. Those were germinated, and shoots from the seedlings were used to start a tissue culture.
Six years ago, thanks to CREW, the U.S. Forest Service planted an experimental population of the sandwort in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
"A number of the original plants grew," Pence said. "They flowered, they produced seed and produced more plants. So we've got some clumps of these plants down there, in a pretty remote area."
It's one of 40 to 50 endangered plant species CREW works with.
"Humans get a lot of important products from plants - foods and medicines," Pence said. "It's unclear what future uses the endangered plants might hold. That's an important reason for trying to preserve everything we've got. It's sort of like if you threw away your Christmas presents before you opened them." | <urn:uuid:ebde2e2a-1337-484b-82a5-781b99fc7616> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.cincinnati.com/article/20111009/NEWS01/110090350 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958335 | 417 | null | 3.59375 | 4 | www.cincinnati.com |
It was around the 300s BCE when a sow must have had her snout near Mycobacterium intercellularae, an environmental saphrophyte that lives in soil and water. After some time, she—like many of her community—developed tubercles in her cervical lymph nodes. Aristotle noted that this happened to many domesticated animals such as pigs and oxen. Though this phenomenon was likely noted by many of the time, Aristotle’s is the first written record of it. Some time later, a physician noticed a child with similar nodes on his neck, lovingly recalled Aristotle’s pig, and called the condition scrofula, the dimunitive form of scrofa, Latin for “breeding sow”. Though the original description of the disease is Greek, the word was first found in medical literature in Latin Italian texts either fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, as sources vary.
Scrofula can be traced through human history. Readers of Shakespeare may recall in Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 3, a doctor enters. Malcolm comments that subjects come, “all swoln and ulcerous” (afflicted with scrofula no doubt), and are cured by the King’s “hanging a golden stamp about their necks, / Put on with holy prayers”; a reflection of the belief that this disease, then known as the King’s evil, could be cured by the Royal Touch.
For years, physicians reeled with whether scrofula, consumption, and phthisis might be related tubercular diseases. In an 1842 issue of the Lancet , Dr. W. Wilson—the physician to the West London Institute for Diseases of the Chest—postulates that they may be, and presents his colleagues’ opinions as corroboration. In a testament to the importance of physical examination and autopsy, they note how the cervical lympadenopathy of scrofula appears similar to the lung ulcerations of phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis), and how night-sweats and wasting are symptoms of both. They also extrapolate other findings in search for a cure. Given that herbivorous and omnivorous animals like the ox and swine often contract phthisis whereas carnivorous animals and butchers seldom do, Dr. Eager opines in the same article, a meat-predominant diet “is amongst the most effectual accessory means of cure in scrofula”. Wilson summarizes the treatments for the oft-encountered constellation of symptoms: warm cocoa for cervical nodes, quinine or iron “with tincture of opium is great value” for a cough, leeches for pleuritic chest pain, and morphia rather than an expectorant for hemoptysis.
Robert Koch, a German physician, was born at about the time of that writing; in 1882 he discovered tubercular bacilli in lymph nodes, demonstrating that these diseases were in fact related with this bacterium as the causative organism. In 2008, the authors of “Origin, spread and demography of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC)” went one step further by using genetic markers. They calculated the origin of MTBC as 40,000 years ago, around the times humans spread from Africa. They identified two clades and found that surprisingly, the ones that caused animal tuberculosis originated from the human line (and not vice versa) near the time when people started domesticating animals and plants.
Tuberculosis has punctuated human history. After over two thousand years, we see the poignancy of Aristotle’s comment about the strumous pig, though even he might not have guessed that generations before him, it was his ancestor who originally gave the sow scrofula.
Elements of this article were inspired by “History and importance of Scrofula” .
Dr. Sagar S. Mungekar is a former resident at NYU Langone Medical Center and now a fourth year resident in anesthesia at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Peer reviewed by Neil Shapiro, Editor-In-Chief, Clinical Correlations
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
1. Wilson W. On the principles of treatment of pulmonary consumption. The Lancet 1842; 38(976):227-230 (originally numbered volume 2, issue 976). http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673602851509
2. Wirth T, Hildebrand F, Allix-Béguec C, et al. Origin, Spread and Demography of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex. PLoS Pathog 2008;4(9): 1-10. http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000160#ppat-1000160-t002
3. Grzybowski S and Allen EA. History and importance of Scrofula. The Lancet 1995;346(8988): 1472-74. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673695924787 | <urn:uuid:cd598b64-df99-4506-b619-207545a33105> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.clinicalcorrelations.org/?p=7908 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935883 | 1,097 | null | 2.890625 | 3 | www.clinicalcorrelations.org |
Published November 29, 2013
Online shopping has become an attractive alternative for shoppers who don’t want to brave crowded stores this holiday season. But that convenience has a tradeoff: an increased risk of getting hacked or scammed.
“The internet has a lot of scams going on all the time,” says Bob Bunge, a security expert and professor in the College of Engineering & Information Sciences at DeVry University. “What happens during the holidays is the volume picks up because more people are going online.”
With that said, he assures consumers that shopping smart online and knowing how to identify potential scams will keep them from becoming a victim this holiday season.
Look for Deals Safely
We all want to get the lowest price possible on a purchase, but don’t let that desire lead to getting scammed. Security experts recommend only shopping on sites of well-known brands and to always verify the security on a site before making a purchase.
“A lot of online merchants haven’t really looked at the security of their websites,” says Dave Chronister, founder of Parameter Security. “When you give them your credit card number you can run into a lot of issues.” He says websites with security tags show their systems have been scanned for vulnerabilities.
Buying from smaller and unknown online retailers also puts shoppers at risk for shoddy and even knock-off merchandise, says Bunge.
“People are doing global searches driven by low low prices, but they don’t know who they are doing business with,” he says.
To verify the security of a site, consumers should only shop at addresses that start with “https” instead of “http.” “That ‘s’ at the end means the user has a trusted and encrypted connection with the website,” says Ronnie Flathers, associate security consultant for security and risk management firm Neohapsis. That means that all the data between the shopper and the website is protected and the site is legitimate, he says.
Login With Caution
Cyber criminals set up websites to look like those of legitimate banks and retailers to get people to provide their username and password. Unwitting consumers sign in, compromising their sensitive data to the criminals.
Because of the risk, Bunge says to avoid clicking on links from an e-mail and instead copy and paste the URL into a web browser to ensure the website is what it purports to be.
Use the Right Plastic
Experts recommend using a credit card over a debit card when making online purchase to get more protection. After all, it’s easier (and quicker) to dispute a charge on a credit card than getting cahs back from a debit purchase.
Whenever offered, Chronister says to use services like “verified by Visa” which can typically be found on a website’s check-out page. The service lets users complete a transaction without the merchant seeing the credit card number. “Each of the credit card providers has something like that and it really lowers your risk,” says Chronister.
If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. While most people know by now to ignore a pop up that claims “you’ve won an iPad…click here,” Flathers says cyber criminals have become more sophisticated and use more subtle techniques.
“It’s OK to mistrust emails and links,” says Flathers. “Services like PayPal and online banks will never ask for personal information over email, chat, or any avenue besides their main website. Your bank account information won’t be deleted and nothing bad will happen if you don’t immediately update your password, so take a second to make sure what you’re doing is actually legit.” | <urn:uuid:ef73da91-3098-4884-b668-ef763e38bd46> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/11/29/how-to-stay-safe-shopping-online-this-holiday-season/print | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93935 | 801 | null | 2.578125 | 3 | www.foxbusiness.com |
American eel (Anguilla rostrata)
Eels spend most of their life in freshwater. They migrate to the sea to spawn. Adults spawn in Sargasso Sea. Their eggs drift in the current, larva hatch from the eggs and gradually develop into glass eels. The glass eels migrate to freshwater streams. Eels are thought to be the host fish for eastern elliptio (Elliptio complanata). Once the eel develops pigmentation it is called an elver. These elvers, or immature yellow eels, grow in freshwater for 8-23 years. When yellow eels mature, they change in shape and color and are labeled bronze or silver eels. They migrate to the ocean south of Bermuda to spawn and then scientists think that they die.
Greenland to Northeastern South America
Back to Aquatic Species Profiles | <urn:uuid:9630be87-08ed-44cb-bb87-37985787671d> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.fws.gov/northeast/fisheries/resource/americaneel.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914463 | 177 | null | 3.328125 | 3 | www.fws.gov |
The reasons for rising obesity rates are more complex than they might appear and current health campaigns are stigmatising overweight people, writes Dr Muiris Houston.
Many readers will be familiar with the controversial research that claims obesity spreads like a virus through networks of friends.
It’s the work of Dr Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist at Harvard, and James Fowler, a social scientist at the University of California in San Diego.
The first paper reporting that obesity could spread like a virus was published in 2007 in the New England Journal of Medicine. In it, Dr Christakis and Dr Fowler used data gathered from over 12,000 subjects in the Framingham Heart Study. The data included 32 years of medical records, including details of body weight.
But the Framingham researchers also happened to know who among the subjects were friends; they had asked participants to name a friend who could be used to contact them at the time of future follow-up.
Analysing the Framingham data, Dr Christakis and Dr Fowler found that friends, and friends of friends, had similar levels of obesity, but neighbours did not. The researchers then offered three possible explanations for this: homophily, or a tendency to choose friends like one’s self; an environment shared by friends, so all are affected by the same environmental influences; or contagion, whereby a person’s idea of an acceptable weight changes when he sees how big his friends are.
In choosing contagion as an explanation, the social scientists were essentially saying obesity was a form of infectious disease in which our friends’ propensity for eating large potions of food made us eat similar amounts.
And if this contagion is real, they further argued that people who are fat should stay away from fat people in order to control their weight.
There the issue may have rested, perhaps being debated in more obscure academic journals, if it wasn’t for their decision to publish a book called Connections, expounding further on their theories as to why smoking, obesity, happiness and loneliness were essentially ‘infectious’. One of the authors also set up a company called MedNetworks, which offers to help drug companies use social networks to “increase sales force effectiveness and improve sales”.
But the concept then went (excuse the pun) viral and landed close to home when Safefood, the all-island food safety body, came up with a new obesity public health campaign.
“Two in three people on the island of Ireland are carrying excess weight, yet only 38 per cent recognise they have a weight problem. That means a great proportion of the population are in denial, putting themselves at increased risk of well-known diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. This campaign issues a wake-up call, asking people to take a hard look at themselves, to find out their own waist measurement, and to ‘stop the spread’,” the literature states.
And the campaign video is even worse. You can catch it on YouTube — complete with apocalyptic music, before the narrator tells us in a doom-laden voice: “We are all in the grip of an epidemic.” It is also claimed that Irish people “are rapidly passing it on to others”.
So, courtesy of the US contagion research, the message from Safefood is clear: the 66 per cent of us with a waist size greater than 32 inches (women) and 37 inches (men) are in denial and are rapidly passing on our weight issues to those around us.
Thankfully, the original research is now being challenged, although it’s perhaps a little late in terms of shifting the grip the original premise has on the public.
Russell Lyons, Professor of Maths at Indiana University, recently published a fairly damning review of the work on contagion of social behaviours, saying: “I know that many professional statisticians felt it was all bunk from the word ‘go’.”
His paper, ‘The Spread of Evidence-Poor Medicine by Flawed Social Network Analysis’, argues the original data is completely inadequate to ascertain the role contagion might play in lifestyle behaviours.
Other statisticians have written that it is mathematically impossible to use observational data to establish that contagion is a major reason why behaviours spread. Conclusions based on observations of how people behave are simply unreliable.
Christakis and Fowler have also ignored evidence that for a substantial minority of people, factors other than personal selfishness and laziness can contribute to extra weight.
Many people are now prescribed beta-blocker drugs to prevent them having a heart attack or stroke. But beta-blockers are known to slow down the body’s metabolism and can make it difficult to lose weight. Thousands more take psychoactive drugs, which as a side effect add to a person’s weight.
What about the many Irish people with either undiagnosed or poorly-treated thyroid disease? And do they honestly believe that genetics doesn’t have some role in obesity?
As for Safefood, it is an absolute mystery that someone on the board of the organisation didn’t see the damage that would be done by stigmatising those who are obese.
My understanding is the TV and radio campaign is set to run again soon. It would be a real sign of maturity if the organisation withdrew the obesity campaign in recognition of the dodgy statistics behind many of its public health messages. | <urn:uuid:a555f299-0c83-4660-85e5-06c963c51b52> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.imt.ie/opinion/2011/08/weighing-up-the-obesity-campaign.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963772 | 1,125 | null | 3.25 | 3 | www.imt.ie |
Latest Aurelia and Blue Moon Stories
Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars — easily the most common stars in the universe — are prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Industrial pollution could help in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), claim Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) researchers who have started looking for signs of pollutions on other worlds.
An international research team has created a map of the clouds that ensconce Kepler 7b, a distant planet outside our solar system. The studies' researchers said their findings are a step forward in determining which planets outside the solar system can host life.
A dead star, known as a white dwarf, will eventually cool down and fade away because it has no energy source. However, a new study suggests that white dwarfs can still support habitable planets.
A new study from Penn State's Department of Geosciences suggests that the number of potentially habitable planets is greater than previously thought, and that some of those planets are likely to be found around nearby stars.
A new theoretical study suggests even dying white dwarf stars may host orbiting exoplanets that are hospitable to extraterrestrial life.
LONDON, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As NASA's Kepler space telescope detects hundreds of star systems with multiple planets, the search for life in the universe is firmly "on".
Researchers from the Open University are laying the groundwork for a new equation that could mathematically quantify a habitat’s potential for hosting life, in a similar way to how the Drake equation estimates the number of intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way.
For the first time astronomers have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earth-like temperatures, a find researchers described Tuesday as a big step in the search for "life in the universe."
Xenobiology -- Xenobiology (or exobiology, or astrobiology) is the term for a speculative field within biology which considers the possibility of, and possible nature of, extraterrestrial life. It also necessarily includes the concept of artificial life, since any life form might naturally evolve elsewhere, could conceivably come out of a laboratory using a future technology. It might be difficult to tell whether a truly strange life form had in fact arisen in space, or was designed much...
Panspermia -- Panspermia is a theory (more directly described as a hypothesis, as there is no compelling evidence yet available to support or contradict it) that suggests that the seeds of life are prevalent throughout the universe and life on Earth began by such seeds landing on Earth and propagating. The theory has origins in the ideas of Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher. An important proponent of the theory was the British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle. There is some evidence to...
Extraterrestrial Life -- Extraterrestrial life is life beyond planet Earth (apart from humans travelling in space, and living organisms they bring along or send). There are many questions about extraterrestrial life, including: -- Does it exist? -- Where? -- What kind? -- Could there be non-carbon based life forms, e.g. life forms based on other elements like silicon (See Carbon chauvinism)? -- How does life differ depending on the type of structure (unicellular life,...
- An armed gangster. | <urn:uuid:20ff90a9-fdaa-4032-9908-351330764fc8> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.redorbit.com/topics/aurelia-and-blue-moon/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925166 | 697 | null | 2.96875 | 3 | www.redorbit.com |
Recently, Eben came across a story about how Theodore Roosevelt refused to allow a Christmas tree in the White House because of “environmental concerns.” A bit of research kept turning up variations on the story about the ban and how his son Archie smuggled one in against his father’s wishes, which provoked an angry reaction. Some versions of the story include dialogue between father and son, and some have the children involving Gifford Pinchot, the federal chief of forestry, to defend their actions. The incident is even the subject of a children’s book by Gary Hines which, though historical fiction, is no farther from (or closer to) the truth than the historical record as it now exists.
While the Roosevelts’ lack of a tree was not a complete break in tradition — a holiday tree in the White House did not become established annual practice until the 1920s — it was still a notable exclusion. Prior to Roosevelt, Christmas trees were a fairly rare occurrence in the White House. Legend has it that the fifteenth president, James Buchanan, had the first tree, but even that is disputed, with some sources saying Franklin Pierce had the first one in 1853. (Keep in mind that as late as the 1840s, most Americans viewed Christmas trees as pagan symbols; the day itself was treated with great solemnity.)
Though German immigrants introduced the tradition to America in the 1700s, the Christmas tree only caught on here in the mid-nineteenth century after Queen Victoria popularized the practice in England in the 1840s. Nevertheless, nineteenth-century American households typically still didn’t put one up unless there were young children in the house; they placed the presents under or even on the tree for the tykes. Presidents Grant and Cleveland both had Christmas trees in the White House only because they had young children, while presidents without young children had no tree. Interestingly, on their website, the White House Historical Association claims Benjamin Harrison had the first recorded Christmas tree in 1889 but makes no mention of any before then.
Regardless of its origins, by Roosevelt’s time, a growing opposition to Christmas trees was reaching its peak. Many among the general public opposed cutting trees for the holiday because of the injurious impact on forests, the destructive methods used to harvest them, or the overall perceived wastefulness of the practice. The U.S. Forest Service Newsclipping Files in the FHS Archives contain numerous newspaper editorials from around the turn of the century strongly challenging the practice. The Hartford Courant in 1902 commented that “the green has become a nuisance, there is so much of it. Everything from a church to a saloon has to be decorated. The result is that the woods are being stripped and an altogether endless sacrifice is going on, not in obedience to any real need but just to meet the calls of an absurd fad.” In what sounds like the debates over natural vs. artificial trees today, others called for artificial substitutes such as wire Christmas trees:
President Roosevelt himself was on record as opposing destructive lumbering practices, though he doesn’t appear to have singled out the practice of harvesting Christmas trees. (It is worth noting that Chief Forester Pinchot actually saw nothing wrong with the practice, and by 1907 was even urging the creation of businesses specifically for growing them.) A few contemporary newspaper articles claim that family tradition held that the Roosevelts never had one. Undeterred, each year the press enjoyed speculating about whether the family would have a tree. It was expected that Roosevelt — the father of five children — would have a tree in the White House. What happened in 1902 made the news, however, and soon passed into legend.
This much we know for certain: in 1901, the Roosevelt children enjoyed a tree at their cousin’s house but not in their own home. In 1902, Roosevelt’s eight-year-old son Archie stashed some sort of tree in a closet, and one of the electricians rigged up tree lights for it. Archie decorated it with gifts for each family member and even the family pets. On Christmas day he surprised his parents and siblings with the tree and presents. Roosevelt, in a letter written the next day, discussed the tree but did not offer a reaction to it.
It is not clear why Roosevelt didn’t want a tree in the White House. Many print and internet sources claim it was because of concern over the negative impacts of Christmas tree cutting on America’s forests. But there seems to be no historical record of Roosevelt publicly addressing this issue. Other contemporary reports claim that Mrs. Roosevelt preferred to celebrate as simply as possible, implying that trees would only add to the overcrowded house. I’ve gone through many TR and Alice Longworth (TR’s eldest child) biographies and memoirs; the Washington Post and New York Times from that era; and numerous histories of the White House. I have yet to find a mention of Archie Roosevelt and the secret Christmas tree beyond that one letter written the day after Christmas 1902. Incidentally, newspaper articles from 1903 to 1908 mention that there will be no tree that year but speculate about what will happen and if Archie will pull a fast one. Some articles from 1903, 1904, and 1905 claim Archie had a secret tree each of those years, with the writers essentially repeating the events of 1902 as if it just happened for the first time. Oddly, the articles are dated December 24th or even the 25th.
The myth surrounding Archie’s tree seems to have started with a description of the event in a Ladies Home Journal article from December 1903 by Robert Lincoln O’Brien, former executive clerk at the White House. In his account of the events of Christmas 1902, O’Brien claims that Quentin’s nurse suggested enlisting the household electrician to rig the lights. He also recounts the unveiling of the tree, quoting Archie as saying, “Just look here for a minute. I want you to glance into this old closet,” before pressing a button to turn on the lights and opening the closet door. O’Brien wrote, “All the family were there, as was Quentin’s nurse, but none appeared more astonished than Mr. Roosevelt himself at the sight of this diminutive Christmas tree.”
The myth expanded in a December 1909 article in the Oregonian about the history of Christmas in the White House, in which the motive for banning the Christmas tree is linked to “the wanton destruction of small evergreen trees at Christmas time.” But then, the reader is told, “Mr. [Gifford] Pinchot, the Government’s chief forester, sided with Santa Claus and showed how Christmas tree cutting did the forests good in many places. So the second [w]inter the Roosevelts spent in the White House Old Kris conspired with roguish Archie to give the family a real Christmas tree, whether the nature-loving President liked it or not.” Here, for the first time, Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot is drawn into the drama — and sides with the children by discussing the benefits of selection cutting. O’Brien is vague about who he lectures, but the message gets through to the President and he relents in the face of science.
Fast-forward 80 years, and the story is twisted even further and becomes almost fantasy. In a December 1988 article in The Northern Logger and Timber Processor, Dick O’Donnell mixes fact with fiction and errors (for starters, the story occurs in 1905, and he claims that this incident started the White House Christmas tree tradition) so egregiously that I won’t even bother further deconstructing and critiquing his account. Problems aside, O’Donnell does spin a great yarn. He tells us with a straight face that, in 1905, Archie has the idea for the tree but Quentin is worried by their father’s ban. Archie’s solution is to pay Forester Pinchot a visit and enlist their father’s friend and adviser for help. He not only sides with them, but then he proceeds to teach President Roosevelt about selection cutting, who then calls a press conference to announce a change in forest management policy on federal lands. But perhaps the conversations O’Donnell conjures up between Archie and Quentin, and between Roosevelt and Pinchot, gave Gary Hines the basis for his wonderful children’s book. So it can’t be all bad.
We are trying to answer the following questions: What were the real reasons behind why Roosevelt did not allow a tree in the White House? What are the facts concerning Archie’s tree (did he do it once or twice?) and the President’s reaction to it? And how and when did the crux of the current legend — that Roosevelt banned trees from the White house due to environmental concerns — come about? Did Roosevelt really oppose the Christmas tree due to concern for America’s forests, or is this all just a case of when the legend becomes fact, print the legend?
(This blog posted was updated in 2012.) | <urn:uuid:722a626c-3618-4b27-9c18-e11c6e354746> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | https://fhsarchives.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/president-bans-christmas-tree-from-white-house-cites-environmental-concerns/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246652631.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045732-00146-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969223 | 1,884 | null | 3.453125 | 3 | fhsarchives.wordpress.com |
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country cleanup and revitalize brownfields sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
$333,000 for hazardous substances
$267,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for a brownfields assessment coalition grant. Coalition partners are the City of Joplin, Mo-Kan Regional Council, Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council, and the Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission. Community-wide hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct 25 Phase I and 16 Phase II environmental site assessments. Community-wide petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct 23 Phase I and 15 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used for community outreach activities and cleanup planning. Grant funds will focus on areas affected by flooding, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.
For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 7 Brownfields Team
EPA Region 7 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/region07/cleanup/brownfields/index.htm)
Grant Recipient: Missouri Department of Natural Resources
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. | <urn:uuid:1e49a7da-2850-44c1-947a-cdde92c2798e> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/gfs/index.cfm?xpg_id=8093&display_type=HTML | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246660493.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045740-00008-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.879837 | 456 | null | 2.671875 | 3 | cfpub.epa.gov |
Carbon monoxide, though a poison, is found in the air around us. It makes up approximately .2 parts per million and offers no risks at that level. Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. It is capable of causing death once 2.5% of the hemoglobin in the human body is bonded to the carbon monoxide.
Carbon Monoxide is found at levles of about 0.1 ppm (parts per million) in unpolluted air. The air near the exsaust pipe of a car without a catalytic converter would have levels around 7,000 ppm.
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© Copyright GreenAnswers.com LLC | <urn:uuid:40ea82d6-85e3-44b9-a13f-4796f836c5f6> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://greenanswers.com/question/there-lot-carbon-monoxide/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246660493.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045740-00008-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940909 | 172 | null | 3.234375 | 3 | greenanswers.com |
How To Establish A PatternHow To Establish A Pattern Discover what establishing a pattern means, and how making (sometimes subtle) changes to your presentation can lead to success!
By Kevin Fitzgerald
I had been fishing for three hours under the hot August sun with only one fish to account for, and numerous follows. As I quickly reeled in the "rat" I was throwing to select another area to cast to, out of nowhere a bass hit right at the boat! Immediately I realized I had been fishing my lure with a lazy day type retrieve, slow and methodical with an occasional pause. For the next hour I caught and released five more fish. Each had taken my lure on a very fast retrieve; my lure running across the surface at the same speed one might fish a buzzbait. Maybe faster! What I realized then was that I had established a pattern within a pattern.
With the bright sunshine, and the presence of bait, I knew the bass were way back in the thick stuff. Pattern one. Discovering the bass wanted a fast retrieve was the pattern within. To complicate matters just a little more, I did some experimenting and found the bass preferred a chartreuse "rat", further fine tuning the pattern.
Another time a friend and I were fishing the tops of willow bushes in seven feet of water with the jig-n-pig. When we switched from using a pork trailer to a plastic crawfish trailer our catch rate went up substantially. We also switched from all black to black and chartreuse, further increasing our catch. We also realized that the removal of the glass rattle inserts we were using added to our success.
These illustrations are just two examples on what establishing a pattern means, and how making (sometimes subtle) changes to your presentation can lead to success!
The most important thing one can do to increase their success with bass fishing is to understand your quarry. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. In order to establish a pattern it is essential you understand how a bass lives in its environment. Knowing where the bass can be found at any given time or place is something you must develop. When a professional bass angler fishes in a tournament, they may be armed with several patterns, backup plans if you will. Always go fishing with a plan in mind. Think about the areas you plan on fishing, why you think fish may be there, and the best way to catch them.
When you do catch a fish, try to be alert to any clues a bass may give you. Did it hit on a fast or slow retrieve? Was it deep or shallow? Were you using slim or bulky lures? Were you fishing rocks, wood, weeds or some other form of cover or structure? Are the fish bumping at your bait, or inhaling it? Pay attention to every fish you catch, and ask yourself, "Why did he hit it?"
A bass that is hooked deep indicates that the bass "really liked what it saw". When fish swipe at your lure or bump it, that indicates a change is needed, be it color, retrieve speed, lure size or something else. Experiment to find out what it is. Remember that every fish you catch can reveal clues on how to catch another.
After establishing a pattern, realize that when the action slows down in the area you were fishing, you can then search for more areas that would fill the same criteria. Say for instance that you are fishing an area with a crankbait in 10 feet of water. There is a weedline present and stumps are scattered about. You notice that the fish you are catching all seem to be suspended right at the edge of the weedline, at a place where the bottom drops off from 10 - 12 feet of water. If you can locate similar areas on the body of water you are fishing, many times you can repeat your successful pattern, miles from where you first established it!
This technique is the backbone of "running and gunning". Finding areas with similar features and fishing them with established patterns could lead to success all day long! When the action slows in one spot, find another with details that matches your initial spot. It's very likely that you can pick up where you left off at a new "greener" area.
One thing to keep in mind is that the pattern you may have found can change daily, sometimes hourly, and you need to adjust your fishing techniques accordingly. Watch the weather and water conditions and pay attention to every fish you catch. They're talking to you! | <urn:uuid:0f14a539-dfe0-4ea7-a36a-05e32aa609aa> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/establishing_pattern.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246660493.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045740-00008-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962567 | 925 | null | 2.53125 | 3 | www.bassresource.com |
The discovery of “animalcules”
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutchman who spent most of his life in Delft, sold cloth for a living. As a young man, however, he became interested in grinding lenses, which he mounted in gold, silver, or copper plates. Indeed, he became so obsessed with the idea of making perfect lenses that he neglected his business and was ridiculed by his family and neighbours. Using single lenses rather than compound ones (a system of two or more), Leeuwenhoek achieved magnifications from 40 to 270 diameters, a remarkable feat for hand-ground lenses. Among his most conspicuous observations was the discovery in 1675 of the existence in stagnant water and prepared infusions of many protozoans, which he called animalcules. He observed the connections between the arteries and veins; gave particularly fine accounts of the microscopic structure of muscle, the lens of the eye, the teeth, and other structures; and recognized bacteria of different shapes, postulating that they must be on the order of 25 times as small as the red blood cell. Because this is the approximate size of bacteria, it indicates that his observations were correct. Leeuwenhoek’s fame was consolidated when he confirmed the observations of a student that male seminal fluid contains spermatozoa. Furthermore, he discovered spermatozoa in other animals as well as in the female tract following copulation; the latter destroyed the idea held by others that the entire future development of an animal is centred in the egg, and that sperm merely induce a “vapour,” which penetrates the womb and effects fertilization. Although this theory of preformation, as it is called, continued to survive for some time longer, Leeuwenhoek initiated its eventual demise.
Leeuwenhoek’s animalcules raised some disquieting thoughts in the minds of his contemporaries. The theory of spontaneous generation, held by the ancient world and passed down unquestioned, was now being criticized. Christiaan Huygens, a scientific friend of Leeuwenhoek, hypothesized that these little animals might be small enough to float in the air and, on reaching water, reproduce themselves. At this time, however, criticism of spontaneous generation went no further.
Swammerdam’s innovative techniques
In contrast to Leeuwenhoek, who was virtually unschooled, his contemporary fellow countryman Jan Swammerdam was an educated and highly systematic worker who confined his attention to studying relatively few organisms in great detail. He employed highly innovative techniques; for example, he injected wax into the circulatory system to hold the blood vessels firm, he dissected fragile structures under water to avoid destroying them, and he used micropipettes to inject and inflate organisms under the microscope. In 1669 Swammerdam published Algemeene Verhandeling van bloedeloose diertjens (The Natural History of Insects, 1792), in which he described the structure of a large number of insects as well as spiders, snails, scorpions, fishes, and worms. He regarded all of these animals as insects, distinguishing between them according to their mode of development. Although this classification was erroneous, Swammerdam did discover a great deal of information concerning insect development.
Unfortunately, Swammerdam was subject to fits of mental instability, which, combined with financial difficulties, led to periods of depression. It was while in a state of mental disturbance that he produced his classic Ephemeri vita (“Life of the Ephemera”) in 1675, a book about the life of the mayfly noteworthy for its extremely detailed illustrations. Sometime after his death at the age of 43, Swammerdam’s works were published collectively as the Bijbel der Natuure (1737; “Bible of Nature”), which is considered by many authorities to be the finest collection of microscopic observations ever produced by one man.
Grew’s anatomical studies of plants
Nehemiah Grew was educated at Cambridge and is regarded by some as one of the founders of plant anatomy. In 1672 he published the first of his great books, An Idea of a Philosophical History of Plants, followed in 1682 by The Anatomy of Plants. Although Grew clearly recognized cells in plants, referring to them as vesicles, or bladders, their biological significance evaded him. He is best known for his recognition of flowers as the sexual organs of plants and for his description of their parts. He also described the individual pollen grains and observed that they are transported by bees, but he did not realize the significance of this observation. Twelve years after the publication of The Anatomy of Plants, a German physician utilized Grew’s anatomical studies in experiments to verify sexual reproduction in plants. | <urn:uuid:0ff36c28-1732-4470-b2e6-4e76760ab512> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/66054/biology/48848/The-discovery-of-animalcules | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246660493.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045740-00008-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973461 | 1,005 | null | 3.53125 | 4 | www.britannica.com |
A group of local citizens recognizing the need for organized fire
protection, met on Tuesday evening July 10, 1888, and formed The
Volunteer Fire Company of Ellicott City No. 1, 'a bucket brigade', the
first within Howard County. Prior to this, coordinated firefighting
activities in the town were virtually non-existent. In efforts to guard against the outbreak of fires, the City Council adopted a law on
June 17, 1867 to regulate the cleaning and sweeping of chimneys. As fires were frequently caused by fouled chimneys, the Council later passed an ordinance prohibiting attempts to clean chimneys by burning them out. | <urn:uuid:b1ce11a7-bedb-469d-957c-9776b8252c81> | null | null | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.ellicottcity.net/community/ellicott_city_volunteer_fire_department/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246660493.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045740-00008-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965322 | 133 | null | 2.734375 | 3 | www.ellicottcity.net |
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