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Boeing Against Slot-controlled Airports? posted Thu Aug 19 2004 16:24:43 by Kl911 |
Putting your worst foot forward: When bad is good |
Thursday - 3/14/2013, 2:00am EDT |
Normally the job of federal agency public affairs offices is to inform the public, help/handle the media (and Congress) and (most importantly) make the secretary, director, administrator or chairman look good. That way the big boss can make the President look good. Which is good. |
Making the boss look good is bipartisan. It has been that way for a long, long time regardless of whether POTUS is a Republican, Democrat or Whig. |
Makes sense. At least to them. |
So, most of the time, federal agencies try to look good. Worth their cost. Put their best foot forward. Most of the time... |
But there are times, like now, when the best thing an agency can do is to point out what a lousy job it is doing, or is about to be forced to do. This is when the area of putting-your-worst-foot-forward comes into play. |
Normally, government agencies talk about how much good they are doing, how many bad people they caught or put away, how many good, sick or elderly people they have helped, the children they have saved, how much money they've collected or not wasted, etc. Services get better each year, they assure us, even as they opera... |
However, when faced with across-the-board cuts, as detailed in the 158-page Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, things go to heck in a handbasket. Fast. |
For the past couple of months we, the public, have been bombarded by dire warnings from almost every federal agency of what will happen to them — meaning us — because of sequestration. |
The Navy has parked one of two aircraft carriers slated for duty in the Persian Gulf in Norfolk. The Air Force has cut tuition assistance to personnel. The Pentagon says almost all DoD civilians will be furloughed up to 22 days. The Labor Department says it can get by with only seven furlough days in six months. |
Many agencies have announced that whatever they do that impacts the taxpayer the most (like National Parks), will be curtailed or closed. Those who haven't put up a "closed" sign will before this is over. |
The National Institutes of Health held a rare public meeting at which local politicians said that if one hair of the highly-regarded, world-famous NIH is harmed, the consequences will be dire. At the very least. |
The FAA said there will be chaos in the air (or on the ground) if they are forced to furlough air traffic controllers. |
The TSA said there will be longer lines at the airport and said small knives (bigger than box-cutters) can now be carried aboard flights. What could possibly go wrong? |
Even the FBI is talking furloughs. |
Sequestration may be the dumbest thing the White House and Congress have agreed to in a long time. Or it may be totally justified. Either way, it is hard for the average American, who must live within a much smaller budget, to imagine that federal services that directly impact people — from White House tours to shutter... |
Furloughing federal employees may be the way to go. After all, many in the private sector have been furloughed, fired or hit with pay cuts. But isn't it possible that if law enforcement or inspections agencies have to furlough people maybe they could spread it around so that crooks wouldn't figure out that Thursdays ar... |
Critics of the sequestration plan (which was designed by the White House and happily embraced by congressional Republicans) say that there is no wiggle room in it. That is, that things like direct military combat operations must be cut the same amount as PR operations like appearances of the Navy's Blue Angels or the A... |
In addition to hurting the public (taxpayers, voters), the sequestration scares make federal workers (who are about to be furloughed) look bad. Unlike some sequester-proof members of Congress, who sleep (with maid service) at their offices, the feds have to pay rent or mortgages. A one-day-per week furlough for them re... |
Array mbira |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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Patrick Hadley playing an array mbira |
The Array mbira is a hand-crafted modern musical instrument with a unique harp or bell-like sound. It is made in the United States by its inventor Bill Wesley and manufactured by Wesley with Patrick Hadley in San Diego, California, United States. It is a radical redesign of the African mbira and is part of the lamellap... |
The metal tines are grouped into multiple octaves. Sounding each grouping of octaves in a left-to-right direction runs through the circle of fifths, and sounding each group in a right-to-left direction runs through the circle of fourths (unlike a piano which runs through the chromatic scale). Usually, the Array mbira c... |
Generally, the Array mbira is large enough to allow two people to play on the same instrument at once, side by side. It is a sturdy instrument, requiring only occasional care. Sounds are made by manually pushing down gently and releasing bent metal tines with a grasping fist movement of the fingers. Some contact with t... |
Two types of Array mbiras are available, a hollow body and a solid body. Both models have dual piezoelectric pickups that produce two separate channels, one for the left side of the instrument and one for the right side. The hollow body is an acoustic instrument that utilizes a sound box, which can be made from a varie... |
Arrangement of the Array System[edit] |
The notes are arranged according to the array system, developed by musicologist, performer, and author Bill Wesley. The Array system of organizing the notes is similar to the Wicki-Hayden note layout, while offering the advantage of being able to play multiple octaves of the same note with one finger. |
The Array system is a specific pattern of arranging musical tones. It is both isomorphic and unimorphic (meaning that harmonious notes are grouped adjacently, excluding dissonant notes). There is only one unimorphic planar (as opposed to linear) system available on a lead instrument at this time, and that is the system... |
Because the Array system is isomorphic, any given chord, scale, or song, no matter how complex, can be played in any one of the 12 keys immediately after the player learns to play it in one key. Because it is unimorphic, common chords tend to fall close together. In the key of C, for example, the F and G major chords c... |
There is a row for every possible musical interval, not just fifths, fourths, and octaves but also whole tones, minor thirds, etc. The Array system can be thought of not only as being based on the circle of fifths, but as being based on rows of whole tones. Each whole-tone row is separated by a fifth/fourth. |
The experience of playing an Array mbira is that less shifting around of movement is required for playing a given chord progression. Because of the duplications of all notes available (two to three times for every octave of every note), complex rhythms and fast melodies are easier to play. The Array system allows the p... |
The shorter tines sound higher in pitch. This means that any ascending scale travels away from the player toward the back of the instrument. An ascending major scale is played by playing a "three-four" pattern: do-re-mi, fa-sol-la-ti, do-re-mi, etc., going higher and higher until you run out of notes. The visual/tactil... |
One possible playing position places both hands over the notes F, C, G, D, A, E, and B, the notes of the C major and A minor scales as well as many other scales and modes. Accidentals (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#) fall immediately between and outside of the hands. This position emphasizes consonant intervals. Moving the hands f... |
The Array mbira is played by a number of notable musicians, including Ry Cooder, Emil Richards, Pharoah Sanders, Zakir Hussain (musician), Mileece, Shannon Terry, and Imogen Heap. Array mbiras are also being used by a variety of TV and film composers. The Array mbira has been used on popular TV shows such as "Breaking ... |
External links[edit] |
Bestiaire (2012) |
Type Feature Film |
MPAA Rating None |
Runtime 1hr 12mins. |
Genres Foreign, Documentary, Historical |
Status Released |
US Release Date |
Name Credit Credited as Role Id Sort Order |
Denis Côté Director n/a 2 2000001 |
Sylvain Corbeil Producer n/a 3 3000001 |
Denis Côté Screenplay n/a 120778 4000001 |
Vincent Biron Cinematographer n/a 402 6000001 |
Nicolas Roy Editor n/a 172 7000001 |
In medieval Europe, "bestiaries" were catalogs of beasts featuring exotic animal illustrations, zoological wisdom, and ancient legends. Unfolding like a filmed picture book, humans and animals are both on display. As we observe them, they also observe us and one another. |
Special town meeting on wind moratorium Monday |
CARTHAGE — Residents will have a chance Monday to decide whether to approve a six-month moratorium on the development of industrial wind farms. |
The special town meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Community Building at the intersection with Route 142. |
The town meeting was prompted by a citizens' petition with more than 150 signatures calling for a moratorium. |
Patriot Renewables LLC of Quincy, Mass., wants to build 13 turbines along a ridge that includes Saddleback Mountain, and another four turbines if the town succeeds in getting clear title to about 320 acres along the same ridge. |
Patriot Renewables Chief Executive Officer Todd Presson and project developer Andy Novey made a presentation on the project last week. About 70 people from Carthage and several nearby towns attended. |
On Thursday, Mathew Eddy of Eaton Peabody Consulting Group presented some possibilities for a tax-increment-financing package that could affect the town if the project goes forward. |
First Selectman Steve Brown said Friday that Michael Rogers of Maine Revenue Services had been scheduled to make a presentation as well, but was unable to attend. Brown said Rogers will provide MRS information at a later time. |
The moratorium would allow selectmen to determine the most appropriate methods to regulate industrial wind turbine projects. |
The proposed moratorium states that because the town has no local land use regulations, except for shoreland zoning, “there exists the potential for serious public harm and adverse financial impact.” |
The developers must undergo a lengthy permitting process through the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. |
Brown said that because the town has no comprehensive plan or ordinances, the state DEP may take on the responsibility and liability for the planned project. |
“If the moratorium passes, we'll go on from there,” he said. |
If a credit enhancement-agreement is worked out with Patriot Renewables, Brown said the town could gain a number of financial benefits, as well as conservation easements for public recreation. |
Those who have questioned or opposed such a plan have said that noise could have health implications. Others are concerned with the potential visual or wildlife impacts. |
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Rob Pforzheimer's picture |
Ask them this too - |
When wind developers compare all the energy they claim they'll make to so many thousand cars being taken off the road. |
Ask them if they will be some of those turning in their cars. |
If anyone thinks it's worth a few crumbs from these lying thieves to industrial and forever divide your community you are either delusional or getting bribed. |
Industrial scale turbines will soon be oil leaking, rusting hulks, with broken blades, that aren't worth fixing - monuments to stupidity, gullibility and greed that the town will have to pay to remove. Once these mountain ridges are industrialized they will forever be subject to the next developement fad. |
Evidence of communities ruined by big wind are endless. There is also ample evidence of families abandoning unsalable properties. |
Use Less |
Brad Blake's picture |
Vote for the Moratorium! |
There are many reasons why people live in hamlets like Carthage. Its usually for the appreciation of quiet country life, living away from industrial and commercial hubub. It includes enjoying wildlife and things you do in the country, like hunting, fishing, picking berries, being close at hand. Beautiful vista are impo... |
All of that will be lost when hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of Saddleback Mt. get blasted away to erect turbines, shattering the mountain, forever changing it's profile. Wildlife habitat gets fragmented, as hundreds of acres are permanently clearcut. What isn't gravelled over gets treated with herbicides and the ... |
Towering over town will be huge industrial machines with the dull roar of a low flying jet overhead that never goes away as long as the blades turn. Worse, is the effects on humans and animals of low frequency infrasound that has negative effects on health. Just ask people in Mars Hill and Freedom. Wind turbines are no... |
Not only does this impact Carthage directly, but the sweeping vistas from Mt. Blue State Park and the Tumbledown Mt. Public Reserve will be marred by the scalping of Saddleback and the hideous cluster of 400 foot tall trubines. |
Is this what we want for a peaceful, beautiful part of Maine? For a company whose sole purpose is to gather government subsidies and sell credits, rather than actually sell electricity? Industrial Wind sites in Maine produce only 25% of nameplate capacity and it is an unpredictable, unreliable, ineffective, and costly ... |
Dan McKay's picture |
the expense of wind |
Let’s get real now. Wind turbines of the scale proposed for the destruction of the Western Maine mountaintops and environmental repercussions downhill and downwind do not last 20 years as everyone seems to take for granted. These machines have many parts to them : gears meshing with each other, blade tips whipping at 1... |
If as a country, we are hell-bent to have these wind machines as a way off foreign energy dependence, be prepared to pay and pay dearly. Imagine how many wind turbines it will take to produce the energy requirements to adapt to electric vehicles and electrically heating our homes and businesses. There simply is not eno... |
The money to keep this going has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is from the pockets of the taxpayers and electricity users. Money spent to sustain an unsustainable dream. This is no different than the dream scheme of giving every American the opportunity of buying a house whether they could afford it or not.... |
This is the next bubble to burst in our faces. Business models based on 20 years which expire in 10 to 15 years create bankruptcy . Will we be paying for their bailout with our government exclaiming they are too big and too important for our future to fail ? |
The path to failure is already under way. The behind the scenes manipulation by greedy profiteers is occurring now. The government, as the main proponent for this scheme, prepares to protect it’s arrogance , never admitting to producing a failed policy. They will do this at all costs and we will pay the price. |
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