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Designer legend Kenneth Grange – who has designed everything from the Kenwood mixer to Parker pens and the Anglepoise lamp – kicked off proceedings by explaining how retail has a big impact on how design is perceived, determining its character in the process. While we are edging towards increasingly globalised (ie, homogenised) design – which, as Knoll’s Vice President, Graham Jones pointed out, is often dictated by manufacturers, it is the national peculiarities that make design interesting. Governmental trade bodies are grasping that a country’s national identity is a great marketing tool.
A lot of British design tends to verge on the provocative and subversive rather than being aesthetically pleasing – which perhaps reflects the UK’s melting pot of creative talent. But what’s with the industry’s obsession with British made design anyway? Most people don’t particularly care where the clothes are made. As with most consumables, the key purchasing factors, particularly in the current economic climate, are aesthetics and price. Furniture companies might have ‘made in Italy’ stamped on their designs, but much of the manufacturing process is increasingly being farmed out further east (which goes some way towards explaining the tedious three to four month wait when you buy such a piece).
Closing the debate, Grange implored designers to look at the ‘small matters’ and ‘local problems’ to make anything ‘immensely better’. Walking around 100% Design, there was little evidence of this being heeded.
When 100% Design was launched in the mid-nineties – it was the first trade show to focus on contemporary design and took great lengths to showcase good design by companies large and small, from individual designer makers to established furniture manufacturers. The show’s impact on the industry was widespread – with the mushrooming of design galleries, including Haus, Mission, Same and Space, and design trails including the Westbourne Design Route and satellite events at Selfridges and Habitat… Knoll celebrated its 60th anniversary with a party that was the talk of the town… and Wallpaper* magazine hit the newsstands. These were heady times in the design community, with a great sense of optimism and collaboration. (The London Design Festival was formed nearly a decade later).
So what has gone wrong? Walking the aisles of 100% Design, some of the UK’s most talented and respected designers and manufacturers were conspicuous by their absence – replaced by foreign pavilions representing the likes of Argentina, Austria, France, Greece, Norway and Taiwan – countries hoping to carve out a design reputation with their own home grown talent.
Then there were the exhibitors aiming at London’s growing segment of society; the newly wealthy from Moscow, Beijing and beyond… with serious money but precious little taste. Cue the Animal Chair collection by Maximo Riera; chandeliers by I-dogi (I kid you not) and Nef (surely a typo?) – a Turkish developer that is moving into interior and product design. What could their luxury properties possibly need? Why some musical instrument-shaped speakers of course. Architects who are working with Nef – including Fosters, SOM and Studio Dror – probably weren’t banking on their names being writ large on an exhibition stand closer to home.
100% Design illustrates how London is splintering into two communities; wealthy foreigners with a lack of time or imagination to furnish their multiple residences around the world – and the rest of us, who bit by bit, turn our hard-earned pad into a home.
What makes the offerings at 100% Design all the more surprising is that the show still has a Selection Committee – this year’s luminaries included Wallpaper* editor Henrietta Thompson, Sebastian Wrong of Established & Sons and Rhonda Drakeford, co-owner of the wonderful concept store Darkroom – who presumably are appointed to help provide an expert edit and quality control compass?
There were a few gems – mostly in the 100% Futures section, where subsidised spaces are offered to emerging designers. Highlights included Jay Watson’s thermochromatic ‘Linger a Little Longer’ table and bench, which aims to make entertaining more fun, while commenting on how precious we can be about our furniture and its impact on our surroundings… and Michael Thomas’s angular tables and stools, inspired by his local Cumbrian landscape.
Geometry was a dominant trend, as was leaning furniture (possibly addressing the growing band of renters in the UK who might not want or be able to screw items into the wall) – as witnessed with the quirky ‘Leaning Man’ table collection by Frank Flavell and the Nottingham venture &Then Designs; and a fashion-design crossover – with pinstripe upholstery and mixing materials, such as rubber, leather, faux fur and silk.
The piece de resistance was quite possibly Czech design studio, Process CZ’s ‘Princess’ dressing table. A sublime solution for an item which gets scant attention from most furniture designers. Paul Kelley is another name to watch. His affinity with graphic designers, such as Peter Saville and Jamie Reid, is evident in his work, such as his striking coloured side tables, inspired by the paintings of Josef Albers.
As the founder of 100% Design, Ian Rudge – who went on to create the more edgy design showcase TENT – makes preparations for his new show HOME (debuting in January 2012). Without the more individual exhibitors, 100% Design risks becoming a showcase for foreign pavilions, over the top kitchens and sliding glass door manufacturers. Perhaps it’s time for the original catalyst for bringing together the UK’s design community (before being commandeered by the LDF) – to take up the challenge and re-establish its rightful position? | <urn:uuid:9c0eb5b5-00df-46ac-bc18-98cb9811f32a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://futurespacemagazine.com/events/100-design-the-original-catalyst-for-londons-design-fest/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966118 | 1,220 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Click on any phrase to play the video at that point.Close
Ladies and gentlemen, and more importantly, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas — (Laughter) — for the next 17 minutes, I'm going to share with you my Movember journey, and how, through that journey, we've redefined charity, we're redefining the way prostate cancer researchers are working together throughout the world, and I hope, through that process, that I inspire you to create something significant in your life, something significant that will go on and make this world a better place.
So the most common question I get asked, and I'm going to answer it now so I don't have to do it over drinks tonight, is how did this come about? How did Movember start? Well, normally, a charity starts with the cause, and someone that is directly affected by a cause. They then go on to create an event, and beyond that, a foundation to support that. Pretty much in every case, that's how a charity starts. Not so with Movember. Movember started in a very traditional Australian way. It was on a Sunday afternoon. I was with my brother and a mate having a few beers, and I was watching the world go by, had a few more beers, and the conversation turned to '70s fashion — (Laughter) — and how everything manages to come back into style. And a few more beers, I said, "There has to be some stuff that hasn't come back." (Laughter) Then one more beer and it was, whatever happened to the mustache? Why hasn't that made a comeback? (Laughter) So then there was a lot more beers, and then the day ended with a challenge to bring the mustache back. (Laughter)
So in Australia, "mo" is slang for mustache, so we renamed the month of November "Movember" and created some pretty basic rules, which still stand today. And they are: start the month clean-shaven, rock a mustache -- not a beard, not a goatee, a mustache -- for the 30 days of November, and then we agreed that we would come together at the end of the month, have a mustache-themed party, and award a prize for the best, and of course, the worst mustache. (Laughter)
Now trust me, when you're growing a mustache back in 2003, and there were 30 of us back then, and this was before the ironic hipster mustache movement — (Laughter) — it created a lot of controversy. (Laughter) So my boss wouldn't let me go and see clients. My girlfriend at the time, who's no longer my girlfriend — (Laughter) — hated it. Parents would shuffle kids away from us. (Laughter) But we came together at the end of the month and we celebrated our journey, and it was a real journey. And we had a lot of fun, and in 2004, I said to the guys, "That was so much fun. We need to legitimize this so we can get away with it year on year." (Laughter)
So we started thinking about that, and we were inspired by the women around us and all they were doing for breast cancer. And we thought, you know what, there's nothing for men's health. Why is that? Why can't we combine growing a mustache and doing something for men's health? And I started to research that topic, and discovered prostate cancer is the male equivalent of breast cancer in terms of the number of men that die from it and are diagnosed with it.
But there was nothing for this cause, so we married growing a mustache with prostate cancer, and then we created our tagline, which is, "Changing the face of men's health." And that eloquently describes the challenge, changing your appearance for the 30 days, and also the outcome that we're trying to achieve: getting men engaged in their health, having them have a better understanding about the health risks that they face.
So with that model, I then cold-called the CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. I said to him, "I've got the most amazing idea that's going to transform your organization." (Laughter) And I didn't want to share with him the idea over the phone, so I convinced him to meet with me for coffee in Melbourne in 2004. And we sat down, and I shared with him my vision of getting men growing mustaches across Australia, raising awareness for this cause, and funds for his organization. And I needed a partnership to legitimately do that. And I said, "We're going to come together at the end, we're going to have a mustache-themed party, we're going to have DJs, we're going to celebrate life, and we're going to change the face of men's health." And he just looked at me and laughed, and he said, he said, "Adam, that's a really novel idea, but we're an ultraconservative organization. We can't have anything to do with you." (Laughter) So I paid for coffee that day — (Laughter) — and his parting comment as we shook hands was, "Listen, if you happen to raise any money out of this, we'll gladly take it." (Laughter)
So my lesson that year was persistence. And we persisted, and we got 450 guys growing mustaches, and together we raised 54,000 dollars, and we donated every cent of that to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, and that represented at the time the single biggest donation they'd ever received.
So from that day forward, my life has become about a mustache. Every day -- this morning, I wake up and go, my life is about a mustache. (Laughter) Essentially, I'm a mustache farmer. (Laughter) And my season is November. (Applause) (Applause)
So in 2005, the campaign got more momentum, was more successful in Australia and then New Zealand, and then in 2006 we came to a pivotal point. It was consuming so much of our time after hours on weekends that we thought, we either need to close this down or figure a way to fund Movember so that I could quit my job and go and spend more time in the organization and take it to the next level.
It's really interesting when you try and figure a way to fund a fundraising organization built off growing mustaches. (Laughter) Let me tell you that there's not too many people interested in investing in that, not even the Prostate Cancer Foundation, who we'd raised about 1.2 million dollars for at that stage. So again we persisted, and Foster's Brewing came to the party and gave us our first ever sponsorship, and that was enough for me to quit my job, I did consulting on the side. And leading into Movember 2006, we'd run through all the money from Foster's, we'd run through all the money I had, and essentially we had no money left, and we'd convinced all our suppliers -- creative agencies, web development agencies, hosting companies, whatnot -- to delay their billing until December. So we'd racked up at this stage about 600,000 dollars worth of debt. So if Movember 2006 didn't happen, the four founders, well, we would've been broke, we would've been homeless, sitting on the street with mustaches. (Laughter) But we thought, you know what, if that's the worst thing that happens, so what? We're going to have a lot of fun doing it, and it taught us the importance of taking risks and really smart risks.
Then in early 2007, a really interesting thing happened. We had Mo Bros from Canada, from the U.S., and from the U.K. emailing us and calling us and saying, hey, there's nothing for prostate cancer. Bring this campaign to these countries. So we thought, why not? Let's do it. So I cold-called the CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada, and I said to him, "I have this most amazing concept." (Laughter) "It's going to transform your organization. I don't want to tell you about it now, but will you meet with me if I fly all the way to Toronto?" So I flew here, met down on Front Street East, and we sat in the boardroom, and I said, "Right, here's my vision of getting men growing mustaches all across Canada raising awareness and funds for your organization." And he looked at me and laughed and said, "Adam, sounds like a really novel idea, but we're an ultraconservative organization." (Laughter) I've heard this before. I know how it goes. But he said, "We will partner with you, but we're not going to invest in it. You need to figure a way to bring this campaign across here and make it work."
So what we did was, we took some of the money that we raised in Australia to bring the campaign across to this country, the U.S, and the U.K., and we did that because we knew, if this was successful, we could raise infinitely more money globally than we could just in Australia. And that money fuels research, and that research will get us to a cure. And we're not about finding an Australian cure or a Canadian cure, we're about finding the cure.
So in 2007, we brought the campaign across here, and it was, it set the stage for the campaign. It wasn't as successful as we thought it would be. We were sort of very gung ho with our success in Australia and New Zealand at that stage. So that year really taught us the importance of being patient and really understanding the local market before you become so bold as to set lofty targets.
But what I'm really pleased to say is, in 2010, Movember became a truly global movement. Canada was just pipped to the post in terms of the number one fundraising campaign in the world. Last year we had 450,000 Mo Bros spread across the world and together we raised 77 million dollars. (Applause) And that makes Movember now the biggest funder of prostate cancer research and support programs in the world. And that is an amazing achievement when you think about us growing mustaches. (Laughter)
And for us, we have redefined charity. Our ribbon is a hairy ribbon. (Laughter) Our ambassadors are the Mo Bros and the Mo Sistas, and I think that's been fundamental to our success. We hand across our brand and our campaign to those people. We let them embrace it and interpret it in their own way.
So now I live in Los Angeles, because the Prostate Cancer Foundation of the U.S. is based there, and I always get asked by the media down there, because it's so celebrity-driven, "Who are your celebrity ambassadors?" And I say to them, "Last year we were fortunate enough to have 450,000 celebrity ambassadors." And they go, "What, what do you mean?" And it's like, everything single person, every single Mo Bro and Mo Sista that participates in Movember is our celebrity ambassador, and that is so, so important and fundamental to our success.
Now what I want to share with you is one of my most touching Movember moments, and it happened here in Toronto last year, at the end of the campaign. I was out with a team. It was the end of Movember. We'd had a great campaign, and to be honest, we'd had our fair share of beer that night, but I said, "You know what, I think we've got one more bar left in us." (Laughter) So we piled into a taxi, and this is our taxi driver, and I was sitting in the back seat, and he turned around and said, "Where are you going?" And I said, "Hang on, that is an amazing mustache." (Laughter) And he said, "I'm doing it for Movember." And I said, "So am I." And I said, "Tell me your Movember story." And he goes, "Listen, I know it's about men's health, I know it's about prostate cancer, but this is for breast cancer." And I said, "Okay, that's interesting." And he goes, "Last year, my mom passed away from breast cancer in Sri Lanka, because we couldn't afford proper treatment for her," and he said, "This mustache is my tribute to my mom." And we sort of all choked up in the back of the taxi, and I didn't tell him who I was, because I didn't think it was appropriate, and I just shook his hand and I said, "Thank you so much. Your mom would be so proud." And from that moment I realized that Movember is so much more than a mustache, having a joke. It's about each person coming to this platform, embracing it in their own way, and being significant in their own life.
For us now at Movember, we really focus on three program areas, and having a true impact: awareness and education, survivor support programs, and research. Now we always focus, naturally, on how much we raise, because it's a very tangible outcome, but for me, awareness and education is more important than the funds we raise, because I know that is changing and saving lives today, and it's probably best exampled by a young guy that I met at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, at the start of the year. He came up to me and said, "Thank you for starting Movember." And I said, "Thank you for doing Movember." And I looked at him, and I was like, "I'm pretty sure you can't grow a mustache." (Laughter) And I said, "What's your Movember story?" And he said, "I grew the worst mustache ever." (Laughter) "But I went home for Thanksgiving dinner, and pretty quickly the conversation around the table turned to what the hell was going on." (Laughter) "And we talked -- I talked to them about Movember, and then after that, my dad came up to me, and at the age of 26, for the first time ever, I had a conversation with my dad one on one about men's health. I had a conversation with my dad about prostate cancer, and I learned that my grandfather had prostate cancer and I was able to share with my dad that he was twice as likely to get that disease, and he didn't know that, and he hadn't been getting screened for it." So now, that guy is getting screened for prostate cancer.
Now to the funds we raise, and research, and how we're redefining research. We fund prostate cancer foundations now in 13 countries. We literally fund hundreds if not thousands of institutions and researchers around the world, and when we looked at this more recently, we realized there's a real lack of collaboration going on even within institutions, let alone nationally, let alone globally, and this is not unique to prostate cancer. This is cancer research the world over. And so we said, right, we'd redefined charity. We need to redefine the way these guys operate. How do we do that? So what we did was, we created a global action plan, and we're taking 10 percent of what's raised in each country now and putting it into a global fund, and we've got the best prostate cancer scientific minds in the world that look after that fund, and they come together each year and identify the number one priority, and that, last year, was getting a better screening test. So they identified that as a priority, and then they've got and recruited now 300 researchers from around the world that are studying that topic, essentially the same topic. So now we're funding them to the tune of about five or six million dollars to collaborate and bringing them together, and that's a unique thing in the cancer world, and we know, through that collaboration, it will accelerate outcomes. And that's how we're redefining the research world.
So, what I know about my Movember journey is that, with a really creative idea, with passion, with persistence, and a lot of patience, four mates, four mustaches, can inspire a room full of people, and that room full of people can go on and inspire a city, and that city is Melbourne, my home. And that city can go on and inspire a state, and that state can go on and inspire a nation, and beyond that, you can create a global movement that is changing the face of men's health.
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Adam Garone has an impressive moustache, and it's for a good cause. A co-founder of Movember, Garone's initiative to raise awareness for men's health -- by having men grow out their moustaches every November -- began as a dare in a bar in 2003. Now, it's a worldwide movement that raised $126 million for prostate cancer research last year.
A co-founder of Movember, Adam Garone aims to change the face of men's health. Full bio » | <urn:uuid:38dd1c4b-a6e3-428d-a4bc-e96b67d70bb1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_garone_healthier_men_one_moustache_at_a_time.html?c=557852 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980234 | 3,623 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Obama's $787 billion stimulus went mostly (in the form of tax breaks) to corporate favorites and rich elites already with too much. QE II followed QE I, then Operation Twist, and now QE III.
The Fed provided generous back door funding for troubled European banks. Its balance sheet exploded. At over $2.8 trillion and rising, if it was a country it would be the world's fifth largest.
One failed program followed another. Economic duress deepens. Current US median income is lower than when the National Bureau of Economic Research declared recession over in June 2009. Perhaps for Wall Street, not Main Street.
Record numbers of Americans need food stamps. More join their ranks monthly. Real unemployment approaches 23%. Average unemployment duration is near a record high.
Jobs for millions wanting them aren't available. Most that are don't pay enough to get by. At the same time, vital benefits are eroding when they're most needed.
Instead of constructive policies that work, money printing madness that won't substitutes. Ellen Brown does some of the best financial analysis around. On September 21, she discussed why QE III won't stimulate growth and what will.
Boosting "aggregate demand" is needed. Getting it takes putting "money in the pockets of consumers - but QE3 won't do it." Better alternatives aren't chosen.
QE goes "straight into bank reserve accounts, and banks can't lend their reserves." They sit there helping no one needing it most. Bernanke's plan is buy mortgage backed securities (MBS) till the cows come home.
Doing it won't help homeowners. Bank balance sheets won't change nor will circulating money amounts. QE takes "something on the asset side of" bank balance sheets (MBS or other toxic junk) "and replaces it with electronically-generated dollars."
They become excess reserves. They're not spent or extended in loans. They're mostly "lent to other banks that need reserves"."
In other words, money sitting in bank reserves can't stimulate growth. Since QE I, the monetary base rose, but circulating money supply increased no "faster than in the previous decade." At the same time, loans declined.
QE II was no different. Why expect QE III to turn around failure. At the same time, workable alternatives aren't chosen. What about QE for small business, troubled states and municipalities, low-interest student loans, and help for troubled homeowners.
Get it in the coffers and pockets where it's most needed and will do the most good. Imagine the difference these alternatives could make. Whenever they're adopted, or variations thereof, they work as intended. Why not now.
Money into the economy in any amount for growth and job creation has little if any effect on inflation. Why not do what works. It's not rocket science. It's simple truth, and Bernanke knows it.
Of course, he's Wall Street's man. They hired him. He does what he's told. His concern is their interests. Serving them leaves ordinary people high and dry. Don't expect that leopard to change its spots, except perhaps when the house he built collapses if he's still around and accountable.
On September 21, the London Telegraph quoted former Fed chairman Paul Volker saying QE III won't work. Nor will ECB money madness. He addressed a Gleneagles, Scotland conference. | <urn:uuid:f3e92abc-f85c-4cae-873b-8dc455773c00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opednews.com/articles/2/QE-Shell-Game-by-Stephen-Lendman-120923-871.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959936 | 706 | 1.59375 | 2 |
By Lorrie Moore
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780307277282, 240pp.)
Publication Date: March 13, 2007
Other Editions of This Title: Paperback
Gerard sits, fully clothed, in his empty bathtub and pines for Benna. Neighbors in the same apartment building, they share a wall and Gerard listens for the sound of her toilet flushing. Gerard loves Benna. And then Benna loves Gerard. She listens to him play piano, she teaches poetry and sings at nightclubs. As their relationships ebbs and flows, through reality and imagination, Lorrie Moore paints a captivating, innovative portrait of men and women in love and not in love. The first novel from a master of contemporary American fiction, Anagrams is a revelatory tale of love gained and lost.
Lorrie More is the author of the story collections Birds of America and Self-Help, and the novels Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? and Anagrams. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards. She is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
"An extraordinary, often hilarious novel." —The New York Times Book Review"From the very start, Lorrie Moore's generous gifts as a writer have been clear: A wry, distinctive voice, a gift for telling detail." —The New York Times“Anagrams has all the wit and inveigling playfulness of Self-Help, plus an organic sophistication astounding in a first novel.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer"A rare novel. . . . Its surface sparkles with wit and humor, but underneath there's a keen intelligence at work, a seriousness of purpose that's deeply touching. Read Anagrams. It will bowl you over." —The Plain Dealer | <urn:uuid:5b0a2f89-c492-4823-9c68-817374c83a5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307277282 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931978 | 388 | 1.53125 | 2 |
While on one of the birding trips for the Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds, we visited Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. There had been a woodcock nesting right off a trail near the Nature Center. As we walked towards it, the female appeared to have moved to right on the trail. The refuge staff suspected [...]
I was archiving some photos and found this photo from this year’s Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds of a great horned owl nest with 2 chicks. I figured the least I could do is post this photo after yesterday’s link to a flycatcher eating what appears to be Cthulu.
This year’s Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds was more challenging than in the past. Due to the long winter, migration was about two weeks behind, so instead of warblers dripping from trees and the shorebirds crowding the mudflats we really had to work to get participants their target birds. This year, the organizer added [...]
We birded Glendalough State Park during the Detroit Lakes Bird Festival. There were common yellowthroats singing on territory all over. I even managed to get video of them through my spotting scope and digital camera. They are usually described as having a song that says, “witchety, witchety, witchety” but sometimes they can be a little [...]
This was a yellow-bellied sapsucker doing some territorial drumming on an old rusty drum during the Red Lake trip of the Detroit Lakes Bird Festival. For those not familiar with sapsuckers, they have a distinctive drumming sound. Note how it starts and then kind of peters out. When you hear that sort of drumming, you [...]
Just back from the Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds–more to report on that when I am a bit more rested. I’ve been trying to upload some video I took on YouTube, but for some reason it keeps failing–is it perhaps because I’m using “sapsucker” in the title? I’m not sure, but Non Birding Bill is [...]
We saw a totally funky oriole today on the Glendalough field trip. There should only be Baltimore orioles here, but this one kind of looked like a hooded oriole (although not quite).
So, this bird is either a hybrid between the two, a second year male oriole who hasn’t quite molted into his adult plumage, [...]
Last year, the Felton Prairie was a magical field trip: the sun made the prairie glow, you could hear a symphony bird songs: marbled godwits, chestnut-collared longspurs, bobolink, western meadowlarks, etc. It was chilly but not bad. This year, it was cloudy, cold, and windy. I was totally unprepared and forgot my gloves. The birding [...]
When I drove up for the Detroit Lakes Bird Festival, it was very hot and warm. Friday while birding at Agassiz, it was cooler, but by afternoon it was very hot. That night some incredible storms moved in. Jeff Bouton and Ben Lizdas and I headed to Hamden Slough for a scan of birds and [...]
Sandhill cranes flying off the road as our jam packed 57 passenger bus was creeping along Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. That place is definitely worth the hype.
Well, I learned an interesting tid bit at the festival–the field trip to Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge sold out before the field trip to go birding with David [...] | <urn:uuid:afd21d0e-4594-4fab-a649-818eac1f1d97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.birdchick.com/wp/category/detroit-lakes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967672 | 740 | 1.5625 | 2 |
“Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing …. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3–4).- 2 Peter 3:3–4
As we saw yesterday, the apostle Peter wrote his second letter in order to help the church recognize and stand against false teaching. He does this not only by describing the false teachers and their heresies, although that is a component of his letter (chap. 2, for example). He also helps his audience stand against false teaching by pointing them to the basic doctrines and predictions given in the writings of the prophets and apostles (3:1–2).
In today’s passage, Peter points us to the predictions of the prophets and apostles in order to give us confidence that false teaching is in fact no surprise to God. For the apostles and prophets did predict that in the last days scoffers will arise deriding the promise of Jesus’ return (vv. 2–4). The questions and assertions of the false teachers described in verse 4 were not innocent inquiries regarding the second coming; rather, the teachers in question mocked the orthodox belief in Jesus’ return as Judge.
However, this should not be surprising to us. Peter does tell us that the scoffing of the false teachers is predicted by the Word of God. In view here are passages such as Malachi 2:17 where the prophet warns the people that they have wearied the Lord by speaking as if God is not concerned with justice. As false teachers do the same in these last days, Malachi’s warning is fulfilled and made all the more intense because those who deny judgment while living under the revelation of the new covenant are even more guilty of sin.
Peter’s quotation of the prophet Joel in Acts 2:16–21 makes it clear that the entire time between the first and second advent of Christ is to be regarded as the last days. As such, we are not to be surprised at the presence of false teaching throughout church history, nor are we to assume necessarily that the seeming proliferation of false doctrine in our own day means that Jesus will return in our lifetime. Jesus could return at any time, and yet the entire period between His two advents is indeed the last days. Thus, we must not be surprised that the predictions about the rise of false teachers (Matt. 24:11) are fulfilled in every generation of the church.
Are you distressed by what appears to be an increasing amount of aberrational teaching in the church? While in one sense it is good to be disturbed by false doctrine, we must never think that its presence surprises God or can thwart His plan. Moreover, we cannot let the fact that false teaching will certainly arise make us complacent in fighting against it. Ask the Lord to increase your trust in Him so that you may stand firm and not worry when you encounter false doctrine.
Passages for Further Study
2 Tim. 3:1–9
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Dear Abby: I am a 13-year-old girl in junior high. I'm being harassed at school by three boys. I'm not popular, attractive or fashionable. I am athletic, quiet and a straight-A student.
These boys are jocks, so they have everyone wrapped around their little fingers. They call me terrible names, take things from me and treat me like dirt. It has gotten to the point where I come home crying. I have tried everything -- ignoring them and just walking away. My few friends won't help me because they like these boys.
When I told my parents, they said I should just ignore them, and repeated it when I told them it wasn't working. Abby, it's impossible to ignore them because they get louder and meaner until they are hitting me or poking me, trying to get me to respond. I am at my breaking point, and I don't think I can take it any longer. I don't know whom to turn to. Please help me.
-- Hurt in Ohio
Dear Hurt: No one has the right to touch you without your permission. Doing so could be considered a form of assault. Many schools have a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of behavior.
I'm sorry to say that no one can prevent bullies from name-calling if it's done out of earshot from adults. However, because their behavior has escalated to hitting and poking, bring it to the attention of a school counselor or your principal. Your parents should accompany you when you do it because the bullying won't stop without intervention. Please tell them I said so.
Dear Abby: I have a suggestion for folks who are wondering what gifts to buy for small children -- especially those they don't see often.
Last year I did something that family members did for me when I was little. I bought books from the dollar store for my three grandchildren and videotaped myself reading to them. I made sure to include bits and pieces of family history and funny stories.
It wasn't expensive. It will help them learn to read, get them to go to sleep and give Mom and Dad a break. It helped my grandchildren become familiar with my voice, and clarified family relationships by connecting them to stories and family trees.
The 1-year-old's mother said the child loved her books.
-- Annie In Georgia
Dear Annie: That's a delightful, creative idea -- not just for the children. A gift like yours could become a family treasure. Thank you for sharing.
Dear Abby: How do I tell my best friend that her husband wants a physical relationship with me? My husband is in prison, and my friends have been wonderfully supportive, but her husband has made it plain he's after me.
-- Not Interested in Florida
Dear Not Interested: Tell the husband that you consider him and his wife to be dear friends, but you're not interested in a physical relationship and if he doesn't stop coming on to you, you'll tell his wife. If that doesn't cool his ardor, stop seeing them as a couple.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. | <urn:uuid:98bd3876-2d4a-4825-9bb3-45103afdc835> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-12-08/entertainment/0712070261_1_dear-abby-bits-and-pieces-straight-a | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983545 | 691 | 1.515625 | 2 |
A top advisor to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be New York’s new “energy czar,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in his State of the State on Wednesday.
Richard Kauffman, Chu’s senior advisor, will join Cuomo’s cabinet as chairman for energy policy and finance. One of his top priorities, Cuomo said, will be to “plan and execute” a strategy to bolster the state’s energy infrastructure and curb its contribution to climate change while keeping rates down.
Cuomo unveiled his “Charge NY Plan” during the address, increasing the number of plug-in, electric vehicles on the road in New York. The plan calls for installing 3,000 charging stations across the state in hopes of supporting 40,000 electric vehicles.
Cuomo also emphasized investment in “clean tech”—including solar energy and lowering emissions. He proposed creating a $1 billion “green bank” to offer state incentives for investing in green energy. | <urn:uuid:9f027d5f-9279-47bc-9cdd-f8a5cca78a1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2013/01/09/cuomo-pushes-clean-energy-taps-new-policy-czar/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955593 | 212 | 1.515625 | 2 |
“Efforts have been underway for the last year to find a solution to our dwindling water supply,” Ballí said. “It is the intention of the City Council to ensure that we secure water for our future in the most cost-effective way and in the most objective manner.”
Ballí said water is not readily available at Chase Field. It would take much more than signing an agreement to have access to wells on the property.
“The reality is that the city would be required to rehabilitate an existing well, drill three additional wells, pay to tie the wells into an existing 14-inch line, pre-treat the well water, construct a 250,000-gallon storage tank and then pay additional funds for all the water pulled out,” the city manager said.
Ballí also questioned the $0.62 per 1,000 gallons charge that BDA Executive Director Joe B. Montez would want for the water.
The city manager did not question the notion that purchasing water from Chase Field would provide money for creating jobs in the community.
“Residents should ask why they should pay for something they indirectly already own,” Ballí said.
“The city deeded the land to the BDA and they have control of the land as long as they exist. The land could eventually revert back to the city if the BDA no longer existed,” Ballí explained. “Their proposal would have the city pay all upfront costs and then pay an additional $295,000 per year.”
Ballí also addressed Montez’s claim that the BDA knows of investors interested in developing the project.
“If that is the case, the city would gladly pay the $0.62/1,000 gallons. But that is not the offer currently on the table.”
Even then, the development of wells at Chase Field would not solve the city’s problem.
“Our current average demand is 3.5 million gallons a day (mgd),” Balli said. In the summer that peaks at about 5.2 mgd.
“A million gallons a day would help, but we would still have to look for additional water supplies,” Ballí said.
The city manager also said she wants to set another aspect of the city’s position straight. The city is not flush with cash. There is no $12 million cash reserve set aside for utility infrastructure projects.
“The Utility Fund currently has $2 million in cash for operational purposes. Utility rates have barely kept pace with increasing costs. Utility Fund revenues are generated based on service rates charged to their customers for utility services the city provides.”
Ballí said if a city the size of Beeville ever had $12 million in cash reserves, residents would be asking why rates are so high.
The city manager said the only reason the city has not acted on the offer of using the Chase Field wells is that the staff and the City Council have been looking at all alternatives.
“A project such as this is complicated and built on costly assumptions,” Ballí said. “We have been told that we have a two-year supply of water if the area does not get another major water event.”
Fast-tracking the reverse osmosis and 1,700-foot well into the Jasper aquifer “gets the city additional water within one year,” Ballí said.
The solution proposed by engineer Bill Norris of NorrisLeal Engineering Water makes sense because it provides the city with a stable, long-term water supply with a minimum economic effect on the community. Also, it allows the water source to be in the control of the residents of the city.
“Long-term water solutions must make sense in both drought and non-drought conditions,” Ballí said.
“When you compare the two alternatives, wells in the aquifer recommended by the BDA can only pump 200-300 gallons a minute,” Ballí said, “and would require 10 wells to produce the same amount of water projected by one well inside the city limits.”
Also, wells drilled on the BDA property would be subject to drawdown restrictions and limitations set by the Bee County Groundwater District. The proposed well inside the city would not be held to the same restrictions.
Ballí said experts who have been consulting for the city have said taking 1 mgd from one well at Chase Field would violate the drawdown restrictions.
To get around those restrictions the city would have to drill four wells spaced a quarter mile apart so that the water would be taken from different parts of the Goliad aquifer.
Even then, taking that much water out of the Goliad aquifer could, over time, cause the level of the water in the sands to drop and affect other users of that aquifer.
There is no other known local user of the water in the Jasper aquifer, Ballí said. That means there would be little likelihood that the well could have an environmental impact.
The Jasper well and reverse osmosis plan could meet up to half of the city’s water needs if the demand remains as it is.
If Corpus Christi has to reduce or eliminate Beeville’s use of surface water from Lake Corpus Christi, the city could drill additional wells and expand the process equipment at the RO plant to provide 100 percent of the current demand.
“The projected cost of the city well is $12.3 million for 3 million gallons of water per day vs. $4,827,000 for 1.3 mgd without pretreatment,” Ballí said.
The estimates are based on an engineer’s analysis of both alternatives. The bottom line results in $1.60 per 1,000 gallons for 3 mgd with the well drilled in the city instead of a projected $2.34 per 1,000 gallons for 1.3 mgd from the Chase Field well.
The city well also could produce a cost savings, depending on the amount of water pumped, that could reach $800,000 a year.
The city plans a series of town hall meetings for discussion of the project with the first one scheduled for Thursday, March 28, at 6 p.m. at the Community Center.
Ballí said everyone who has concerns should attend the meetings.
“Availability to water is the most important issue facing the City of Beeville,” Ballí said. “Staying informed allows residents to make decisions based on truths and facts. Decisions today will affect the future of our children and future generations.”
Gary Kent is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 120, or at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:89b80a40-c013-4933-a92c-a97bbcc96412> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysoutex.com/view/full_story_refugio/21986337/article-City-Manager-counters--BDA-water-well-not-the-answer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961625 | 1,429 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Given it’s name, San Andreas, from Bellwether Farms, is far more subtle and smooth than the geological fault line for which it is named. You probably won’t experience any earthquakes in your mouth, but you will enjoy yourself as you consume it.
San Andreas is a raw sheep’s milk Pecorino-style cheese, made with the milk of East Friesian Sheep on the Bellwether farm, along the Pacific Coast in Sonoma County, California. Owned by the Callahan family, Cindy and Ed started the cheesemaking operation, before their son Liam came on board and took over the job of crafting their fine cheeses. Cindy and Ed spent time in Italy, working with farmstead cheesemakers, and it shows in their product.
Made in the style of a Tuscan Pecorino, with a smooth golden rind, the paste is ivory-hued and scattered with eyes, smooth and creamy in texture. The flavor is mild, sweet and tangy, with the trademark sheep’s milk gamey characteristics, nutty and grassy notes, and a pleasantly sour finish.
Bellwether Farms also makes sheep’s milk yogurt in a variety of flavors. While it is in no way “diet” food (sheep’s milk has close to twice the fat and protein of cow or goat’s milk, which is why it’s so great for cheesemaking), it is delicious!
Purchased at Murray’s. | <urn:uuid:ca2cbe79-2c04-4dbe-b778-858dfcc7e307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cheesenotes.tumblr.com/post/32882222954/san-andreas-bellweather-farms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958397 | 321 | 1.828125 | 2 |
View Full Version : Nicholas Roerich
09-27-2003, 08:07 PM
I'm curious to know if anyone else on the list has followed the work of Nicholas Roerich (a.k.a. Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh), a talented painter, mystic, and seeker who founded the Nicholas Roerich Museum (http://www.roerich.org/) in New York (at 319 West 107th St.) His books include Shambhala (1930) and Heart of Asia (1930). He has a tremendous following in eastern Europe.
[ September 27, 2003, 09:12 PM: Message edited by: John Hoopes ]
09-27-2003, 11:30 PM
It is funny - I grew up on the Upper West Side, went to school on 112th Street, and never heard of Roerish until I read about him in one of Arguelles' books. I will have to visit his museum soon. The photo of him is great. Why is he so significant for you?
09-28-2003, 04:33 AM
Thanks for mentioning Roerich!
Count me in the Roerich fan club!
His paintings are really beautiful- especially
when seen in person at the Museum.
I first heard of him when I saw some of his
paintings reproduced on the covers of several
books by Elizabeth Clare Prophet- The Lost Years
Of Jesus- and it also included stories of Roerich
recounting his travels in Tibet, where he met old
Llamas who told him stories of Jesus
spending time in the Himalayas, learning 'stuff'!!
In 1930 Roerich wrote a peace agreement,
which was signed by President Roosevelt among others,
and as a result Roerich was nominated
for the Nobel Peace Prize.
He worked closely as an inspiration to Stravinsky
when he was composing 'the Rite Of Spring'..
So much to this man, without even
looking at his beautiful art!!!
Thanks for the introduction to someone new for me – looks very interesting. The paintings remind me a lot of reading James Hilton’s ‘Lost Horizon’ – the common origin of Shangri-La – I think they’re pretty much of the same period.
In recent years the experts have pinned down Shangri-La to a place rather than a myth – near Lijiang in Yunnan Province, China, ‘discovered’ by the Austrian naturalist Joseph Rock. Hilton read his accounts in National Geographic back in the 20s. I was there about 5 years ago – very peaceful. Perhaps Roerich and Rock shared a few high altitude drinks.
06-15-2004, 12:27 PM
Gosh, I wish I'd returned to this thread sooner! Thanks so much for the tip about Joseph Rock and National Geographic! I actually went back and found the original article: "Banishing the Devil of Disease Among the Nashi" in the National Geographic Magazine for November 1924. It was followed by additional articles: "The National Geographic Society's Yunnan Province Expedition", by Gilbert Grosvenor (April 1925) and "Through the Great River Trenches of Asia" by Joseph F. Rock (August 1926). The last article is subtitled, "National Geographic Society Explorer Follows the Yangtze, Mekong, and Salwin Through Mighty Gorges, Some of Whose Canyon Walls Tower to a Height of More than Two Miles" (sound like Shangri-La?)
According to the article by Grosvenor, "In February, 1923, the National Geographic Society took over from the U.S. Department of Agriculture the expedition into Yunnan Province, southwest China, headed by Mr. Rock... The Society provided Mr. Rock with funds which enabled him to extend the scope of his work in Yunnan, with the result that during the succeeding eighteen months he made researches and explorations which... have increased our knowledge of a little-known part of China, inhabited by many diverse tribes..."
In March 1925, Nicholas Roerich began his famous Central Asia expedition, a 3-year trip which took him from India up into the Himalayas and into the Altai, Mongolia and Tibet, where he had an audience with the Dalai Lama. It was also sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose Secretary Henry Wallace had a fascination with Eastern religions. The stated purpose of Roerich's expedition was to collect drought-resistant grasses, but he was also collecting art, studying ancient ruins, and searching for the legendary Shambala. He was undoubtedly assisted in his ability to obtain USDA funding on the basis of Rock's successful expedition. (He may also have hoped to find Shambala before these other groups did!)
Roerich played a central role in the stimulation of mystical pursuits during this period. His legacy includes the idea of the pyramid with the Eye of Providence on the obverse of the Great Seal, which Henry Wallace helped persuade FDR (himself a Freemason) to approve.
Roerich had a direct influence not only on art of the period, but literature. His frequent visitors in New York included the writers H.P. Lovecraft and A.A. Merritt, both of whom wove stories of expeditions in search of ancient mysteries into their short stories and novels, influencing a generation of seekers and fans of fantasy literature. It's said that Lovecraft's allusions to "nameless" entities, as well as his use of Asian place names, were inspired by Roerich.
[ June 15, 2004, 01:30 PM: Message edited by: John Hoopes ]
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Magical mystery tax cuts
By John Williamson
It is no surprise to Canadians that politicians routinely exaggerate accomplishments and overlook inconsistencies. Even so, a mid-July press release from the Conservative Party boasting of "almost $41 billion in tax relief over three years for individuals, families and businesses" deserves scrutiny. Particularly since Prime Minister Stephen Harper cited the upbeat tax cut number in early August to journalists while touring the Maritimes. The problem for taxpayers is the amount is not correct and is overstated by at least $8.8-billion.
An examination of the '06 and '07 budgets reveal the three-year tax reductions total $32-billion, not the $41-billion cited by Conservative lawmakers. Three tricks were used to arrive at the larger -- and more impressive -- figure. The Conservatives magically credit themselves $500-million for enacting measures announced in the 2005 Liberal budget; they include an income supplement program for the working poor worth $1.2-billion as a tax cut instead of properly classifying it as an expenditure; and mysteriously calculate the 2006 budget's half point personal income tax increase as a multi-billion-dollar tax reduction.
There are three good reasons to rebuke the government for its embellishment. Truth in budgeting is a concern for all taxpayers regardless of partisan stripes, and $8.8-billion is an enormous exaggeration of the government's tax relief package. If Canadians cannot trust what politicians tell them about tax and spending levels, their faith in government and its officials will fade. This is never a good thing in a representative democracy. In fact, the overall tax burden is decreasing, but not to the extent the Conservatives would like Canadians to believe.
Second, Prime Minister Harper has said he is hesitant to offer further tax relief. His ambivalence was revealed when he recently explained to reporters he would very much like to announce a big tax cut, but cannot because the Conservatives will not risk running a deficit. He tried to dress up timid leadership as being prudent when the government continues to amass another sizable surplus. Two years ago it was $13.2-billion and last year $9.2-billion. The 2007 budget forecast the surplus at $3.3-billion this year. Yet in July, the finance department reported the budgetary surplus had already hit $3.5-billion only two months into the fiscal year. If Mr. Harper wants to boast of a $41-billion tax cut, his government will first need to deliver one.
Third, the government's tax relief is adequate, but not great. Canadians hear more talk than action from the Conservatives. Take Jim Flaherty: the finance minister claims a deep commitment to reduce taxes. Yet Mr. Flaherty's tax relief record is second to Paul Martin's. The former Liberal finance minister implemented broad-based personal and business income tax cuts in 2000, which exceed Mr. Flaherty's total.
Minister Flaherty has instead offered a series of boutique tax cuts that benefit some, but not all taxpayers. As a result, he has complicated the tax code, kept marginal tax rates high, and done very little to improve Canada's competitiveness or the investment climate. In July, the C.D. Howe Institute said Ottawa should rethink its policy of micro tax breaks for specific groups because "the accumulation of targeted tax relief measures will have a significant fiscal cost, which could be better used to finance broad rate reductions. Tax rate reductions encourage greater work effort, investment and risk-taking without governments putting themselves in the position of picking winners from losers, a task at which they rarely succeed."
By targeting tax relief rather than lowering income taxes paid by all Canadians, the governing Conservatives are squandering an opportunity to strengthen the economy. By exaggerating the size of the tax relief, Prime Minister Harper is likely hoping an impressive sounding figure will boost poll numbers. Yet voters are shrewd and can often sense when a fast one is being pulled on them. This is especially true when taxpayers compare the tax relief dribbling into their pockets with the political "tax cut" rhetoric.
In March, 2004, then-Opposition leader Harper dismissed the Liberals for spending wildly and not reducing taxes. "There's more to good financial management than just balancing a budget at excessive spending levels," he said.
Call it Stephen Harper's magical, mystery transformation.
John Williamson is the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Get weekly updates about new issues of ESR! | <urn:uuid:8f19bc46-5fb2-401c-ba30-5b24be355d94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0807/0807harpertaxcuts.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962356 | 904 | 1.53125 | 2 |
"As an engineer working for NASA, I can tell you that your dad had much to be proud of. He contributed a great deal to making a better life for all of us "potato eaters," and furthered the manufacturing and production capability of the US with his ingenuity. Being an engineer in the space program is frustrating and unfulfilling, and I'm sure that he didn't spend his life that way. You should be very proud of him."
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The picture was taken on his friend, Phil's sailboat. He loved to sail with his friends, Phil and Dick. They are all gone now. I hope they are sailing together—somewhere.
Dad was a mechanical engineer. At the end of the war (WWII) he and his brother bought a machine shop in Pocatello, Idaho. They were both engineers and they had an engineering business and the machine shop where they built the machines they designed. They did work for all kinds of businesses. I remember Dad doing a lot of work for the Coca Cola bottler in Pocatello. But being where they were—Idaho—"famous potatos"—and when—the '50s and '60s when the processed food industry boomed—most of their work came from the potato processing companies. My Dad was the French fry guy. If you've eaten a french fry from McDonald's or Burger King, or bought them frozen in the supermarket, these were all made by machines designed by my Dad. He invented the crinkle-cut french fry machine. (more surface for extra crunch) He also designed machines for frozen hash browns and all kinds of frozen foods. One time a group I belong to asked us to bring an item that was significant to our family history for a program. I took a potato. I figured it was potatoes that sent me to college, straightened my teeth and provided the good life I knew as a child. Dad enjoyed the creative challenge of his work, but he never thought it was that much—not like the engineers at NASA, for example. Wouldn't he have loved being involved in the space program?
He must have had faults. Too much inside his head? A little absent-minded? Not a great cook? But who could fault his modesty? His soft-spoken humility. His love for his family. His love of knowledge and learning and reading. His sense of humor. The sweetest, best Dad ever.
Every year he called on my birthday and he always said the same thing. "I can't believe you are __ years old. You were the most beautiful baby I have ever seen." For the past 10 years I have only been able to imagine that phone call.
When he was dying, we flew to Salt Lake City, then rented a car and drove to Pocatello. I called on the way and my sister-in-law said, "hurry, he is fading fast." When we arrived he seemed to know we were there. I sat and held his hand as he left us. For months I was in a fog of grief. One evening I saw a white-haired man wearing a plaid shirt just like one of my Dad's, crossing the street as I drove home from work. I cried all the way home.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Speaking of the livingroom—I spent the other day cleaning it all up. We've had a tarp down for months and it was full of paint cans and ladders. I put all that away and spent some time cleaning the floor. I was pleased at how well the wood floor cleaned up. We were uncertain about whether it would need refinishing. I think not right away.
By the way, Reva, the aloe plant you gave me seems to be loving its new home there in the window.
My latest project has been the little bathroom off the utility room. This is the one that used to open to the dining room. It will be a real utility bathroom and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, but wanted it to be pretty. It had a good toilet, which we kept.
It needed storage, so we used one of the cabinets we took out of the kitchen and I built shelves next to the cabinet. I love how that worked out.
The sink that was there was an ugly little molded sink in an uglier little vanity. I banged my hipbone on the corner of the vanity everytime I came around the corner into the bathroom. It had to go. I found this cute little pedestal sink, gently used, on Craigslist.
I replaced the old "Hollywood" light bar with a new one from Lowe's and found the towel bars, glass shelf and toilet paper holder cheap at the new Homegoods store. The mirror was also inexpensive from a local department store. I reused the window shade that was in the bathroom. I plan, eventually, to paint a big flower on the wall that you can't see in any of these pictures. The floor is inexpensive adhesive backed tile in a stone pattern. I really like everything except the toilet paper holder. It is just a dumb design. It does not stick out far enough from the wall to allow the roll of paper to roll and it wiggles on the wall despite all efforts to tighten all the screws well. I'm disgusted with it and on the lookout for a better replacement.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
It's a string of some kind of nuts or seed pods that make a wonderful hollow, "konk, konk" noise when you rattle them together. We brought it back from Mexico last year. Here's a closer look at the nuts, or whatever they are. (They seem to be completely hollow—nothing rattling around inside)
The sound is nice and I like the way they look and feel.
Ray is a drummer and loves all things percussive. He has a really great collection of percussion instruments from all over the place, (remember this find?) so this was something he just had to have. Here's a picture taken in Mexico. I think this is actually the shop in Tepozlan, where we got "the thing." That's Ray checking out the sound of that drum.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
You may remember back in February I wrote this post about my beautiful Talavera bowl that was broken. Many of you sympathized. Then I got an email from Kelley Wilkinson, someone I have never met, nor even know from blogging or email lists. She said, "I live in Dolores Hidalgo. I will send you another bowl." We corresponded. Her intent was to find one as close to the other as possible or even arrange to have one made to copy the old one. Time went by and I didn't hear from her. I assumed life had gotten in the way or that her initial generous impulse had come to its senses! But last week I got another email and she said she was sending the bowl. She said she had not been able to find one the same shape as the original, but hoped I would like the one she was sending. It arrived yesterday. That's it in the picture above.
The bowl is extraordinary. It is larger than the original—a little more than 12" in diameter. It is beautifully painted and a graceful shape. It will look fabulous in our new house, and it will be a constant reminder of just how generous and lovely people, even complete strangers, can be. What a gift. Thank you, Kelley.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Wife, mother, teacher, sister, daughter. She is a gift to all of us.
Have a happy day and fun weekend celebrating your birthday!
PS. Happy birthdays to my nieces, Melissa and Jessica, as well. It's a big birthday in our family!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Cayo saw the article about the show and wanted to see it. I enjoyed it immensely. I don't know if Sofia enjoyed the art, but she was happy to be out and about.
The information said that Jess lived in an apartment filled with files of images culled from old books and magazines, that he used in his work. The results are dreamlike and surreal. The exhibit contained many of his original "paste-ups" as well as the prints he had made from the originals.
Sofia and her Dad discuss the art
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Rayna, me, Jane, June
We had such a good time. Rayna and Jane were both here in Portland for Quilt Market and I got to meet Rayna a couple days ago for breakfast. Meeting Jane was another real treat for me. We have corresponded by email and blog comments for a long time. She is as bright and lovely and interesting as I knew she would be. (Small world sidenote: Jane's brother lives here. I looked at the map today to see where his house is—right up the road from our new house.) After we finished our dinner we got the good-natured waitress to take our picture, while the table full of rowdy guys behind her mugged and coached her on the picture-taking. Behind us you can see outside, the end of a beautiful Portland day and silhouetted trees and bridge across the river.
Rayna was heading home early today. Her husband developed a detached retina in her absence and I know she was worrying about him. I hope all goes well. I think Jane is heading home tomorrow. I remember what hard, exhausting work Quilt Market is. I'm so glad they were able to set aside a little time to share with June and me.
Friday, May 16, 2008
It seems like all everyone is talking about it is the price of gas. It's pretty depressing. We are driving back and forth from our old to our new house every day. We try to take one car, but sometimes that just doesn't work, some some days we are each driving both ways. I am filling my tank nearly weekly and this last fillup was the big one. $50. It finally took $50 to fill my tank with discounted Safeway gasoline. Man.... (shakes head slowly) what has this world come to?
A paradigm shift—that's what. Fifty bucks used to be significant. A really nice dinner out for two of you, for example. A generous gift, tucked into your birthday card. Now it's a tank of gas. I am wrapping my head around that idea and I find it has its uses. Yesterday I mentioned that I bought a nice pair of sandals. They are a good brand, marked down to $55. When I was deciding whether or not to buy them, the deciding factor was the price of gas. I said to myself, "that's only a little more than a tank of gas costs" and they seemed too good to pass up.
A tank of gas, plus change
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Rayna headed off for the Convention Center and I wandered into the Nordstrom Rack before heading back out to the suburbs. As I told Rayna, the Rack is a crap shoot, but I won today—found a great pair of Clark sandals that I can walk in. (I am sparing you a photo of my feet.)
I finished up some painting in the small bathroom at the house, then went outside, to enjoy the wonderful weather. Today it was in the '80s—our first really warm day this year. It was green and cool by the creek.
Ray is planning to plant native plants near the creek and bought a couple of trilliums, at my request.I was tired of working at the house, so I called my son-in-law and asked him if he'd like to come and help Ray hang a cabinet and intall a toilet. In exchange I went and took care of Sofia. Win-win. Sofi was dressed for summer weather and looked awfully cute in her shorts and summery top. Oh, those knees and elbows! We had a good time out in the yard until I insisted that she couldn't eat the pinecones. That didn't sit well.
She didn't stay mad for long and accepted a baby cookie as a peace offering. When I asked her if she wanted a cookie, she went straight to the cupboard where they are kept and pointed up at the door. I think she's pretty smart. Good survival skills. I always think it's good to know where the cookies are.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
I have to admit I am a big fan of American Idol. Tonight the adorable David Archuleta sang this bittersweet Billy Joel song. (You can hear Billy Joel's version here) I think he did a beautiful job with the song, though I am probably rooting a little harder for the other David than for David A.
And So it Goes. You may suppose that the name of my blog, And Sew it Goes, was chosen mainly because of the corny "sew/so" pun, but I go back a ways with that phrase.
I am a fan of Linda Ellerbee, the journalist, who ended her newscasts, always, with the phrase, "And so it goes." Her writing and delivery were so eloquent, so beautifully expressed. For me she brought compassion and humanity to the news in a way that no one else ever has. She has gone on to produce childrens' news programming and having survived breast cancer, has become a speaker and activist for breast cancer research and treatment. Her autobiography was titled "And So it Goes." She is one of my heros.
Many years ago (1993, to be exact) I found my way onto the internet and discovered the Quiltnet listserve, which was my first exposure to what has become the amazing online community of quilters and artists. At that time the internet and listservs seemed very impersonal since there were no ways of posting photos easily at that time and no one had web sites or blogs. There were several Terrys/Teris/Terries on Quiltnet and I wanted a way of distinguishing myself in my posts, so I started using "And Sew it Goes . . ." as a signature line. It seemed a natural choice when I named my blog.
For me it means we are all in the river of life—where we started doesn't really matter, where we are going is too far ahead to see. We are in the stream—and so it goes . . .
Saturday, May 10, 2008
(It looked something like this)
Deborah said, "Oh, this must have been your studio—what a wonderful space!" I had to admit that I had not even been aware of the room and had worked all these years in the tiny bedroom next to it. I felt so foolish and was suddenly filled with regret that I had squandered such an excellent resource and now I was leaving it behind for someone else to enjoy. When I woke up it took me a couple of minutes to realize that I had not actually sold the house or found the hidden room.
You can never go home again . . . or can you?
This tale was not a dream. It really happened.
Last week I had a voicemail message from a woman who wanted information about the house. I called her back and she told me she had been driving around looking at houses and had seen that our house was for sale. She said she lived in our house in the '80s and loved the house. When I told her the price, she said it was out of her price range, but to call her if we decided to lower the price.
I had actually met her once years ago, when a package, addressed to her family, was delivered to our house. Rather than return it to sender, I looked them up in the phone book and called them. She and her husband and children all came to pick up the package, eager to see their old house again. We walked through the house then and she and her husband pointed out changes and the improvements they had made during their residence in the house.
A couple days after I talked to her, she called me again. She said she was close to closing a deal on the house she was selling and had decided she would like to see our house after all. She came over and we walked through the house together. She and her husband are divorcing. Her children are grown and she is looking for a house for herself. She said she had been very happy living in this house. She seemed to like the small changes we have made and enjoyed seeing, once again, the changes they had made to the house. She told me about the old linoleum that they had removed from the livingroom and diningroom and was glad to see that we had put in oak floors. (I have to think this discussion was the source of the linoleum floor in my dream!) She was especially pleased to see that the old lilac (see previous post) was still there, despite the damage to it and it is blooming right now.
She said she had other houses to look at and thanked me. A couple days later she sent a realtor friend to see the house. We may hear from her again, we may not, but what an interesing twist to our house-selling saga. I have always felt this house has good vibrations and has been well-loved by its former residents.
Deborah, you're not planning to move to Portland, are you??
If any one out there is planning a move to Portland, you can see more of the house here.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I think this is a very old lilac. The tree was as tall as our roofline when we moved in, which is quite tall, but it was badly damaged in an icestorm a number of years ago. We thought we might lose it, but it has recovered. I hope we can take a start of this lilac to our new house
This is a more standard kind of lilac, but fragrant and beautiful as well.
We've been curious to see what would bloom at the new house. The first bloomer is this large rhododendren near the creek. You can see Ray's makeshift planting station set up under the tree.
Closer view.And a slightly different rhodie just starting to bloom near the house.
I just can't resist taking flower pictures.
Monday, May 05, 2008
I thought I might add this to the "water" themed piece, but it doesn't really fit in. Still, making it was a nice diversion this morning and I will pin it up on the bulletin board and maybe one of these days I will find a nice use for it. When I ironed it, it smelled like cedar.
I visited my friend at the hospital today. She is so much better, but still so weak. She was a little crabby today, which seemed like a good sign.
Friday, May 02, 2008
My friend of more than 50 years is very ill. We were little girls, in the fourth grade when we met. Friends come and go through life, but some friends stay and she is one—a dear and funny and generous friend. Out of nowhere, quite literally, a deadly virus, then a complication almost more evil than the virus. She is a survivor and the greatest danger is past, but what she has endured is unthinkable and it goes on.
I once heard a scientist talking about viruses and he said his theory was that human life exists on earth to serve as hosts for viruses. That viruses are at the top of the food chain, as it were—the ultimate life form. Having lost friends to the AIDS virus, I have seen the power of an invisible enemy. My friend has been fighting a different virus, but it has been a battle for sure.
Again I am grateful for modern medicine. I am grateful to be able to have time with my friend. I am grateful for sunshine and the beautiful spring flowers in my garden. And mixed into that feeling of gratitude is the recognition of how little control we really have and how fragile we are. | <urn:uuid:44d4acfe-3990-4834-be49-c6d142bcce23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988743 | 4,218 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Judicial clerkships are a prestigious option for the first year or two out of law school. These are graduate positions for which you apply during your second or third year of law school. Clerkships are available with the federal and state courts, at both the trial and appellate levels. Clerkships are extremely competitive. Conventional wisdom is that the higher the court, the higher the prestige and, therefore, the better the credentials of the applicants.
The duties of a clerkship are defined by the needs of the individual judge and depend on the nature of the cases that are before the court. Typical clerk duties might include performing legal research, preparing memos and draft orders, and writing draft opinions. A clerk works closely with the judge and will often be used as a sounding board to prepare for arguments or discussions. A clerk may also sit in on trials, hearings or conferences.
Most judges hire recent law school graduates to fill clerkship positions. A clerk position may last one or two years, depending upon the court.
The CPDC Resource Room has a number of directories and books about judicial clerkships. We also have a Judicial Clerkship notebook containing additional information about current hiring for clerkship opportunities. For more information about judicial clerkships, consult your CPDC manual. As a Willamette student you also have access to Northwest Consortium Judicial Clerkship Database. (Contact CPDC for login information). | <urn:uuid:c76f5d6e-f581-474a-b763-cfb6ed777818> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.willamette.edu/wucl/careers/students/clerkships.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949669 | 291 | 1.671875 | 2 |
He soon found out his mistake. In the first place the solicitor, who had a powerful and hereditary interest in the affairs of Hunsdon, was shocked beyond expression at the idea of such a voyage being undertaken at all. Here, he would have said if he had spoken his thoughts, was a young man just come into a fine estate, a magnificent estate in fact, and one of the finest positions in the country, and the very first thing he thinks of, is to hurry off on a long sea-voyage to a half-barbarous country, without once stopping to consider that if he were to be drowned, or killed in a railway accident, or lost in the woods, the estate might fall into Chancery, or at the best go to a woman. Mr. Payne mentally trembled at such rashness, and he expressed enough of the horror he felt, to make Maurice aware that it really was a less simple matter than he had supposed, and that his new fortunes had their claims and drawbacks. Mr. Payne followed up his first blow with others. He immediately began to ask, “If you go, what do you wish done in such a case?” And the cases were so many that Maurice, in spite of the knowledge Mr. Beresford had made him acquire of his affairs, became really puzzled and harassed. Finally, he saw that a delay of a week would be inevitable; and the solicitor, having gained the day so far, relented, and allowed him to hope that after a week’s application to business, he would be in a position to please himself.
Next day Maurice was left alone at Hunsdon. He wrote his last letter to his father, and being determined to follow it himself so shortly, he sent no message to the Costellos. Then he set to work hard and steadily to clear the way for his departure.
One day Maurice rode over to Dighton, and told his cousin he was come to say good-bye. She was not, of course, surprised to hear that he was really going, but she could not help expressing her wonder at the lightness with which he spoke of a journey of so many thousand miles.
“You talk of going to Canada,” she said, “just as I should talk of going to Paris—as if it were an affair of a few hours.”
“If it were six times as far,” he answered, “it would make no difference to me, except that I should be more impatient to start; and yet most likely when I get there I shall find my journey useless.”
Somehow or other there had come to be a tolerably clear understanding, on Lady Dighton’s part, of the state of affairs between Maurice and Lucia—she knew that Maurice was intent upon finding his old playfellow, and winning her if possible at once. She naturally took the part of her new favourite; and believed that if Lucia were really what he described her, she would easily be persuaded to come to Hunsdon as its mistress; for, of course, she knew of no other barrier between the young people than that of Maurice’s newly acquired importance. She thought Mrs. Costello had acted in a prudent and dignified manner in wishing to separate them; but she also thought, in rather a contradictory fashion, that since Maurice was intent upon the marriage, he ought to have his own way. So she was quite disposed to encourage him with auguries of success. | <urn:uuid:8354b392-687b-49ed-b5f4-78c92e3d1876> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/18132/10.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994382 | 726 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The Orange Leader
ORANGE — Commissioner Court became more informed on Monday.
Community Development Education Foundation Chairman/CEO Duane Gordy gave an informational speech about what implementing a Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) and what it could mean for Orange County.
A public hearing at 1 p.m. Monday explained the shortage of funding for TxDOT which means there is $0 funds or new roads in 2013.
A RMA is a local, independent transportation agency that can finance, build, operate and maintain toll roads and other transportation projects. The Texas Legislature authorized the creation of RMAs in 2001 to provide a new, more flexible way to address local transportation needs and get projects developed more quickly than through traditional funding.
Individual counties can form a RMA, or multiple counties can come together to create a single RMA entity.
There are eight RMAs in Texas to date.
“Projects slated for 5-6 years down the line are now being pushed back to 15-18 years out,” Gordy said.
Gordy also said under the current system $1.4 - $1.6 billion a year is being generate for a $10 billion a year need to maintain the current flow of transportation.
The current fuel tax is not indexed (for inflation) and based on the number of gallons consumed. Car manufacturers are set with a 2025 target of a 54.5 mpg fleetwide average. That includes a 5 percent mpg increase every year from 2017 to 2025. This also means 45% less funds will be raised by the fuel tax than today.
RMAs were created by legislation using TxDOT as an administrative role.
“RMA’s are a mini-TxDOT,” Gordy said. “They are created and administered at a local level.”
There are two RMAs in Texas that operate as a sole county, but most are operated by multiple counties to help spread the cost of the projects.
“It allows the cross subsiding of projects across the region,” Gordy said.
It is suggested Jefferson, Hardin and Orange County form a RMA.
The board would be appointed by the county and the governor appoints the chairman.
The RMA has to generate the revenue for the projects and usually takes 120-180 days to create.
County Judge Carl Thibodeaux asked, “Can it be disbanded?”
Gordy said it could if the RMA went broke or another board was formed for the purpose of shutting the RMA down.
Every road would still have a designation such as Farm to market road, interstate, state highway. Whoever originally would have been responsible for the roadway would become responsible for it again if the RMA dissolved.
“Port and channel work could fit in the program as wheel,” Gordy said.
A decision to form a RMA or to join Jefferson and Hardin county in forming a RMA was not decided. The hearing was informational only.
Dawn Burleigh is a reporter at The Orange Leader. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @DawnBurleigh | <urn:uuid:98f8f073-12fa-431c-be91-e87807ca254f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://orangeleader.com/local/x2056583790/Regional-Mobility-Authority-topic-of-public-hearing/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965014 | 660 | 1.625 | 2 |
IN an old episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the cast of the iconic Seinfeld TV show get together for a reunion.
The year is 2009, and we learn that George Costanza has made a fortune by developing an iPhone app called iToilet, which tells you the location of the nearest public restroom. Sadly for George, he loses all his money by investing it with the king of ponzie schemes, Bernie Madoff—a cautionary though hilarious tale for technology entrepreneurs who hope to hit it big by creating the next killer app.
Of course, the thought that even a loser like George can strike it rich by developing a phone application isn’t all that far-fetched these days, with smart phones outselling PCs since 2011, and with our growing obsession to share everything over the Internet. All you need is a good idea and the determination and skills to pursue it.
For 24-year-old Garrett Gee, a Filipino-American now based in San Francisco, that meant being able to start his own company with two school buddies in Provo, Utah, while he was still studying industrial and graphic design, computer science and entrepreneurship, and playing soccer at Brigham Young University. His idea: using mobile transaction technologies such as QR codes (similar but more versatile than barcodes) to connect the real and digital worlds.
At a recent roundtable discussion organized by the US Embassy in Manila, Gee shared his story and some early lessons he learned after scaring up $1.7 million in initial funding from the likes of Google and other Silicon Valley investors.
“When I first came across QR codes about a year ago, I thought it was brilliant. I thought it was some sort of magic that information was on a piece of paper and now it’s in my phone,” Gee said. “I thought it was so cool that I decided to do a little research on it.”
What Gee found was that while the QR technology (invented by a subsidiary of Toyota of Japan) was versatile, applications that used it were poorly designed and difficult to use.
“You had cool technology but poor design, so my goal was to create a product that was as beautiful and simple to use as the technology was brilliant and cool.”
In early 2011, Gee and university friends Kirk Ouimet and Ben Turley founded Scan Inc., and created two products: a Web site (http://www.scan.me) that could create customized QR codes for individuals and companies, and a free iPhone application that could read the codes.
The application grew far more popular than Gee expected.
“I remember the day Scan went live in the Apple App Store and I took a picture of it so I could show my friends and jumped up on a table at a party telling everyone there to download my app. And I was very excited because I got 12 people to download my app, thinking that’s not bad for one night.”
The next day, however, Gee and his partners found that 2,000 people had downloaded the app. The next day, it was 5,000, and by the end of the week, 10,000 a day.
By the end of the year, it became clear that Scan would overshoot its modest goal of 1 million downloads by a mile. Today, the company has 10 million users in 77 countries, and made the application available on Android devices as well.
The application’s popularity made it possible for the “three young kids from a small town in Utah” to generate $1.7 million in seed money in exchange for 20 percent of the company. This, in turn, has allowed them to hire more people and move to a fancier and more strategically located office in San Francisco.
Gee had three lessons to share from his first year as a technology entrepreneur: be yourself, do what you love, and develop real skills.
“Be yourself. Potential investors would look at me and say, ‘Omigosh, you’re just a kid.’ So in some meetings, I tried to act more experienced than I was, and they could see right through me and turned us down,” Gee said. “They were more likely to say yes when I was true to myself.”
“Do what you love,” Gee continued. “This is the most blessed part of this experience because while my friends and family think I’m working 24×7, I feel I have not worked a day in my life because I’m doing what I love.”
Finally, Gee urged budding technology entrepreneurs to develop real skills.
“This is near and dear to me. Do your best to develop real skills because that’s your plan B,” he said, recalling how he honed his skills as a freelance Web designer before starting Scan Inc.
With more enthusiasm than any hardened cynic might curb, Gee also encouraged local startups to pursue their dreams.
“[Information to build] 99 percent of the skills we needed could be found online. All you need is access to the Internet. If you want to build something and sell it to the world, you can do it. Nothing I’ve done can’t be done by a student here.” | <urn:uuid:ad17ca79-f65e-419c-884e-1e4c7312f379> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chinwong.com/killer-app/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97631 | 1,113 | 1.804688 | 2 |
GRADUATE nurses hired by the HSE through a new recruitment scheme will be paid less than €85 per day.
It's emerged that the Government is temporarily lifting the ban on recruitment in the health service in a desperate bid to take on 1,000 additional nurses and midwives.
HSE bosses have announced the creation of new two-year contracts in an attempt to dissuade college graduates from emigrating.
The agency said that the scheme will result in savings of €10m next year.
But the move has been described as "greedy and opportunistic" after it emerged that the candidates will be paid 20pc below the current nursing salary.
Those who are successful will earn a basic pay of €22,000 per year -- the equivalent of just under €85 per day.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said there was no reason the recruited nurses should be handed a reduced salary.
"There is a rate for the job and that rate should be applied to these people because these people will be required to undertake the full range of duties and responsibilities of a registered nurse or midwife," according to INMO General Secretary Liam Doran.
"They won't be doing anything less and they deserve the right rate of pay and they've tarnished and a sullied a good idea, which they will save money with anyway, by trying to be over greedy and opportunistic," he added.
The HSE announced that it had received Government approval to roll-out the initiative -- which will see the new staff deployed across a range of specialities in the health service.
"The graduate nurses will receive a two-year contract and will be paid at a rate of 80pc of the first point of the salary scale for a staff nurse. Those recruited can earn approximately €26,000 per annum including basic pay and premium pay."
However the agency emphasised that the scheme will provide opportunities to graduates to further their careers.
"It also gives nursing and midwifery graduates an opportunity to gain substantial clinical experience to further their career and professional development, with the security of a two-year contract and salary," a spokesman added.
Recruitment groups in countries such as Australia and Canada have upped their bid in recent years to lure nursing graduates away from Ireland.
Some newly qualified nurses are reported to have found jobs abroad on starting salaries of €40,000.
Staffing levels in Irish hospitals have also been damaged by the HSE's incentivised retirement scheme which has seen nurses retire without being replaced.
A survey by the INMO showed that nurse staffing levels in Ireland are critically low and below those of comparable wards in the UK. | <urn:uuid:1bd3ae5d-e7e1-46ae-a805-081bb34e0f43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.herald.ie/news/greedy-hse-to-offer-new-nurses-less-than-85-a-day-28962726.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978096 | 552 | 1.75 | 2 |
By Israel NewTech–Not many cleantech start-ups can claim a 40 million dollar deal only a year and a half after founding. But WateRevive, which was selected as one of the most promising Israeli cleantech start-ups by Calcalist newspaper in 2012, and which is active in water purification through constructed wetland, just closed such a deal in China. The Company is also negotiating additional projects in China and Mexico valued at over $20 Million.
WateRevive was founded in 2012 in Israel in order to treat drinking water, and grew out of “Ofra Aqua Plants.” Treatment of constructed wetlands means biological treatment of water through water plants and aggregates (stones and different algae). It is a completely “green”, environmentally friendly treatment with no use of chemicals.
Ofra, the more mature company, deals with water treatment in wastewater plants, for agricultural and municipal uses, as well as treatment of industrial wastewater and ecological pools. Its activity continues a tradition of water treatment through water plants, however WateRevive, which was born out of Ofra, signals a breakthrough. WateRevive uses similar technologies in order to create drinking water, which is the highest level of water treatment. Behind both companies stands Yael Ben-Zvi, an agricultural industry and management engineer, who also holds controlling shares in Ofra. Both companies are also connected to Limor Grover, a marine ecologist.
According to Weizer, the Company developed different applications in the area of drinking water treatment through constructed wetlands: purification of stream and lake water for drinking water; removal of nitrates from well water; purification and improvement (through use of minerals, vitamins and proteins) of water from different sources for bottled water; post-desalination treatment and treatment of pig farms.
The agreement in China is on one of the Company’s applications for treatment of municipal waste heaps – the Leachate Landfill. The treatment is geared to bringing the polluted liquid up to a level which can be treated at wastewater treatment plants (the level of sewage water), or even to the level of water for agricultural irrigation.
The agreement in China was signed with the dedicated support of the Israeli Foreign Trade Administration and the Israeli Export Institute and, according to Weizer, “Danny Tal, the Israeli Economic Attache in China, was with us every step of the way.” The agreement provides the Chinese integrator Dowell exclusive representation of the The Company’s application in China, in return guaranteeing the Company projects totaling at least $40 Million, over 5 years.
Additionally, the Group is in advanced negotiations on a deal worth millions of dollars in China with a large real estate firm, as well as with two additional projects in Mexico valued at over $9 Million.
Up until now a few million Israeli shekels have been invested in the Company, by local angels and the three partners, and now, in order to finance the accelerated development of the Company, additional financing is required. The Company is now in the process of raising $1.2 Million according to a worth of $7 Million, and is considering offers from Israeli, Chinese and American investors. | <urn:uuid:359d2278-e0e8-458f-88f9-08f65df89e84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://israelstrategist.com/2012/07/19/israel-newtech-the-40-million-dollar-baby-waterevive-breaks-through/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966016 | 657 | 1.828125 | 2 |
BAMAKO, Mali -- Soldiers arrested Mali's prime minister and forced him to resign before dawn on Tuesday, showing that the military remains the real power in this troubled West Africa nation, even though officers made a show of handing back authority to a civilian-led government after a coup in March.
The development underscores the deep volatility at the heart of the once-stable nation of Mali, and reveals the rotten core which is its military. The events come at the very moment that the United Nations is considering backing a military intervention, which would use these same soldiers to spearhead an operation to take back Mali's north from Islamic extremists.
Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra, dressed in a dark suit, his forehead glistening with sweat, went on state TV at 4 a.m. to announce his resignation, hours after soldiers stormed his house and forced him into their vehicle.
"Our country is living through a period of crisis. Men and women who are worried about the future of our nation are hoping for peace," he said on television. "It's for this reason that I, Cheikh Modibo Diarra, am resigning along with my entire government on this day, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. I apologize before the entire population of Mali."
After they taped his resignation, the soldiers allowed the 60-year-old to return to his residence Tuesday, where he is now under house arrest, said a spokesman for the junta, Bakary Mariko.
The shake-up in
Already the United States and France are at odds on the best way forward, with France pushing for a quick intervention in order to expel the extremists, while the U.S. is arguing for a more gradual approach, starting with negotiations.
Diarra's forced resignation and arrest makes Western countries wary of getting involved in a military incursion, Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, a member of the U.N. Security Council, warned Tuesday.
"One thing is clear: Our offers of help come with the condition that the process of restoring constitutional order in Mali be conducted credibly," Westerwelle said in a statement. "And it is only that way that the crisis in northern Mali can be resolved ... All the country's political leaders must now act responsibly so that Mali returns to stability."
Despite the events, however, a European Union military training session aimed at giving the Malian military the ability to oust the Islamic extremists is proceeding as planned, said Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Hours before he was forced to tape his resignation statement, Mali's prime minister was arrested at around 10 p.m. Monday by the military at his home, forced into a car and driven to the Kati military camp, the sprawling base where the March 21 coup was launched. Two security officials, including a police officer and an intelligence agent, confirmed that coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo had ordered the prime minister's arrest.
At the moment of his arrest, the aging civilian leader was getting ready to leave for the airport for a medical trip to Paris, said the police officer who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
"The plane that was to take the prime minister to France was on the point of departure," said the policeman who was on duty at the airport at the moment of the incident. "It was stopped by people from the Yerewoloton group who invaded the airport," he said, naming the civilian organization believed to be backed by Sanogo.
This same group in May invaded the presidential palace, as soldiers looked on, and beat the country's interim president Dioncounda Traore, until he lost consciousness. That incident brought the international community down like a hammer on the head of Mali's junta.
Sanogo signed a lengthy accord, agreeing to step down, and retreated from public life, although there were signs that the military still called the shots in Bamako.
Junta spokesman Bakary Mariko acknowledged that soldiers allied with Sanogo arrested the prime minister, and are now holding him under house arrest. Mariko said that Diarra was "not getting along" with either the interim president, or the coup leader Sanogo.
"He says he's going to Paris for medical tests ... but we know better and realize that he is trying to flee in order to go and create a blockage in the Mali situation ....It's the reason why Mali's army has taken things into their own hands and told Cheikh Modibo Diarra to resign for the good of Mali," Mariko said.
Human Rights Watch's senior researcher for West Africa, Corinne Dufka, condemned the military's intervention, saying it fits with the pattern of abuse by the soldiers ever since the coup eight months ago.
"They've arrested, beaten and intimidated journalists; tortured and disappeared military rivals; and now, apparently, arbitrarily detained the prime minister. None of these incidents have been investigated and those responsible appear to have been emboldened by the shameful lack of accountability," said Dufka.
Diarra, an astrophysicist who previously led one of NASA's Mars exploration education programs, was initially seen as in-step with Sanogo. Critics lambasted him for frequently driving to the Kati barracks to see the coup leader, long after Sanogo was supposed to have handed power to civilians. In recent weeks though, Diarra has taken stances that sometimes conflict with Sanogo.
Bamako remained calm on Tuesday, as the capital awoke to what some are calling a "mini-coup." People went about their daily lives, but with a sense of deep disappointment in this nation once held up as a model democracy in Africa.
Aboubacrine Assadek Ag Hamahady, a professor at Bamako's university said: "I really am struggling to understand -- so if the prime minister is not doing his job properly, it's up to the junta to come and arrests him? So what's the purpose of having a President? ... Based on what law, on what legal text can the junta justify this arrest?"
Callimachi reported from Dakar, Senegal. AP writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Don Melvin in Brussels and Jamey Keaton in Paris contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:8023381f-171b-4830-8b51-75fbd2b2b594> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_22168495/mali-coup-leaders-force-prime-minister-resign | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977106 | 1,301 | 1.507813 | 2 |
If a student receives outside scholarships, they will be used to meet unmet financial need and where applicable, offset/reduce loans and Work Study.
Institutional grants and scholarships will not be reduced due to the receipt of outside scholarships unless one of the following occurs:
- If student receives federal grants or loans, these funds, in combination with any other grants/scholarships, cannot exceed student's financial need.
- All outside scholarships, in combination with all aid received, cannot exceed student's cost of attendance.
Outside scholarships are not from federal, state or institutional (university) sources, such as a Federal Pell Grant or SEOG. Examples of outside scholarships are: Coca Cola, Gates Millennium, Rotary scholarships, etc. | <urn:uuid:5b7aa7dc-2b58-4350-a292-ec06563efe31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cmu.edu/finaid/scholarships/outside/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935645 | 152 | 1.703125 | 2 |
March Madness In The White House
March Madness In The White House
The Bush Administration's secret policy review is the work of an unhinged March Hare. Though sent by the Department of Defense to congress in January, the leak to the press in March is most fitting. The comic book lunacy of ordering the Pentagon to draft contingency plans for the use of nuclear weapons against the seven targeted countries of China, Russia, Libya and Syria, and including the Lex Luthor-like "Axis of Evil," Iran, Iraq, North Korea could be amusing if it weren't so real.
These countries represent a wide variety of governmental structures. Most of them are our partners in international treaties and trade agreements. Some of them possess nuclear weapons and some do not. Threatening these countries with possible use of "tactical nuclear weapons" will only destroy what little remains of U.S. credibility, deepen the divide and accelerate the build-up of nuclear weapons throughout the world. North Korea has already warned that if the American "nuclear fanatics" launched a nuclear strike, this would mean their ruin in nuclear disaster."
In 1941 the Japanese government attacked an American military base in Pearl Harbor. Ultimately, the United States government responded by dropping two atomic bombs which killed more than 210 thousand civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Countless other Japanese civilians who have since died of radioactive contamination. According to a recently released progress report from the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 15,000 American civilians have died form cancer related to the above ground nuclear testing of the 50s and 60s. Regardless of the nature of national and international conflicts, any use of nuclear weaponry is not only an unacceptable solution for the United States, but an affront to basic human decency.
The Bush Administration's secret policy review demolishes the existing international treaty framework which is intended to control, reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Like National Missile Defense, though far more aggressive and threatening to the rest of the world, this policy will violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. It would annihilate the U.S. commitments under Article VI of the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to "...pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament..."
In order to combat the hatred that engenders terrorism we must review the US corporate and military foreign policies that have been long firing these flames. We must have the courage to recognize and admit that perhaps the enemy is us. We must dedicate ourselves to the painstaking task of working with other countries, including the targeted nations, to eliminate terrorism. Unlike the instant gratification of dropping a bomb, this work will take genuine respect for all cultures and all people, patience, a willingness to share the wealth and natural resources of the planet and a long, long time.
We must urge the Bush Administration to abandon the secret policy review. We must urge all members of the US Senate and Congress to work toward legislating a halt to the enactment of this policy. We must urge all legislators to work toward the adherence to, and strengthening of, existing treaties intended to control, reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons and other weapons of war. | <urn:uuid:aae5b7df-88f4-4e0d-af1e-f9d3674d1031> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/march-madness-in-the-white-house-by-laura-santina | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940761 | 649 | 1.5 | 2 |
Since the era of Jim Crow, black people could be more outspoken — to a point, particularly if they were female. To illustrate this, sassy "Mammy" figures could scold the family they worked for and playfully berate their employers (to show that Blacks were not being oppressed). As the Civil Rights movement came up in the '60s, black people in media could be more outspoken. And because of feminism, the same thing applied for women. Combine these, and you get the sassy black woman. It started with the heroines of blaxploitation movies, like Coffy and Foxy Brown (both played by Pam Grier), and continued into the 1980s.
She's defined by her vivaciousness, humor and joie de vivre, and can make a good counterpoint to the more grim or snarky members of the cast. In complete contrast to her other variation, is not only a pleasure to be around, but is also so the go to girl for advice and help. These characters usually make good leaders, because though generally fun, insightful, they are still firm in decisions, trustworthy, and speak their minds. Also like the Spicy Latina, the character will usually be sexually liberated and have no qualms acting in a sexual manner, though usually in a less pronounced manner. The positive version is now portrayed a lot more than the negative version, mainly because of the Unfortunate Implications, that portraying black women in only this way had. It's also rather common for the positive variant to be the Only Sane Woman of a group, in which case her "sass" will be more like "exasperated sarcasm".
The odds that she's a Fag Hag are directly proportionate to her weight. Arguably the Distaff Counterpart to the Scary Black Man, though she can be quite scary herself when pissed off. Might also be a white character's Black Best Friend. Close cousin to the Spicy Latina.
It's quite easy for the character to become an Ethnic Scrappy, especially if she is the Token Minority.
And no real life examples puh'leese, 'cuz I ain't accepting them, a'ight?
Strong, Independant Examples That Don't Need No Man! *snap*
open/close all folders
A fried chicken restaurant in Philadelphia invokes this trope by having the cashier be a sassy black lady who'll insult you if you take too long in ordering, amongst other things. The place has loyal customers, and tourists go just for the experience.
Queen Latifah in most of her roles. Hell, make that every female rapper who ever appeared in a movie.
However, this is Inverted in the start of Last Holiday. Georgia Byrd is shy and timid, and it's her petite (white) friend, Rochelle, that is constantly trying to push her out of her shell with antics like yelling her crush's name across the department store. Once Georgia's Character Development kicks in, though, this trope is in full swing.
Domino had a whole crew of bank-robbing sassy black women.
This was played deadly straight with the health insurance lady in 2004's Crash (played by Loretta Divine, another actress famous for this role). Granted, the way the racist policeman treated her, this wasn't "sassyness" so much as perfectly reasonable behavior. However, even the most enlightened viewer couldn't help but wince at the name "Shaniqua Johnson".
Wanda Sykes in any role she's ever played. She's a lot like this in real life as well.
Abernathy and Kim from the latter part of Grindhouse: Death Proof qualify, Kim more than Abernathy.
Don't forget Jungle Julia.
The 2008 drama Fireproof has an entire posse of these characters working at the hospital. Of course, they spend an inordinate amount of time gossiping about the (white) heroine's love life.
Lula in the Stephanie Plum novels is a fellow bounty hunter. She's a larger woman who wears tight, brightly coloured spandex, and tends to provide running commentary on what's going on. Her attitude can annoy Stephanie at times, but she's always there when the chips are down.
Older Than Print: Perhaps the most unlikely example of this is the eponymous Brunhild the Moor, official prosecuting attorney for the goddess Venus, in a 15th century German poem, Die Mörin, who spends most of the poem shamelessly abusing the author-hero, Hermann von Sachsenheim.
Ray Epps' wife in the novelization of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen fits this. Also a bit of a Crowning Moment of Awesome in that she managed to get the good guys a piece of very vital, hard-to-relay-without-getting-caught information under the guise of wanting her husband to pay for plastic surgery.
Kyra Davies from the Allys World series fits the trope, but is portrayed almost unwaveringly positively.
The Jeffersons: Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs), who was outspoken and not afraid to speak her mind ... especially to her boss, George. Much of the humor came from the chemistry between Sherman Hemsley and Gibbs. To a lesser extent, Louise (Isabel Sanford) also stood her ground, particularly to George.
There was a Saturday Night Live skit about The View where "Barbara Walters" was calling out all the stereotypes that the hosts fit into. Star Jones was "a sassy black woman like I've seen on TV."
Maya Rudolph has been known to play this type of character. She tends to go beyond merely being "sassy" and just be downright rude.
Harriet Winslow, the elevator operator, in Perfect Strangers. Family Matters was originally supposed to be a show centering on her, since she was a particularly popular Sassy Black Woman. Itdidn'twork. Seems to be a family trait, because both Estelle Winslow ("Mama" Winslow) and Laura are textbook examples of the Sassy Black Woman Syndrome.
Heylia in Weeds. One episode begins with her busting Conrad's balls about something and segues directly into Nancy lecturing Shane. It's made clear that Heylia gives Conrad less space than Nancy gives Shane, even though Shane's eleven and Conrad's a grown man.
Two episodes of Frasier feature "Dr" Mary Thomas, initially hired as a part-time producer for Frasier's own show but whose witty interruptions, humorous asides and home-spun wisdom quickly come to dominate his show. Much mileage is wrought from Frasier's procrastination over putting a stop to this as he's terrified of being thought of as racist.
Arguably, Clarice from Boston Legal - even though Clarice was just a persona (and costume) adopted by super-shy manClarence, Clarice was pretty much a stereotype of a sassy black woman.
Shirley in Community (when she's not overdosing on cute). Unlike most Sassy Black Women, she's quite well-rounded (especially for a half-hour Sitcom). Referred to as such in S01 E22 . "Oh No! Sassy Black Schmitty is out of the group"
Angie, Tracy Jordan's wife on 30 Rock, is one in spades.
From what little we see of Doakes' family (his mother and sisters) in the TV version of Dexter, they're all sassy.
One of the earliest examples on TV was Geraldine Jones, a recurring character played by Flip Wilson (in drag) on his 1970s sketch comedy show. She originated the expression "What you see is what you get."
Tasha Mack on The Game. In a rare display on this trope, she's repeatedly called out and mocked for her behavior. Though everyone who does is only doing it in jest, there is at least one example of her sassyness causing her multi-episode relationship to fall out.
Also to be noted is that Tasha Mack is easisly the most negative version of this trope there is. Not only is she loud, she's also negative, jeolous, profane, ignorant, racist, over bearing, and generally a Bitch, as stated above.
Pretty much any sitcom with a predominently African-American cast(I.E.-Moesha, All Of Us, Eve, My Wife And Kids, The Bernie Mac Show, The Hughleys, For Your Love, One On One, Half And Half, etc) has at least one example of this trope.
The black women on Reality Shows tend to be of this variety, especially those on MTV (Gladys from Road Rules: Latin America stands out in particular, as she was booted early in the show for fighting). It's harder to find black female roommates/contestants who don't fit this stereotype.
Other Survivor alums of note include Sherea of China, Ghandia of Thailand, Candace of Tocantins, Yasmin of Samoa, and three-time competitor Cirie, though Cirie tends to be portrayed more often as friendly and sweet but quippy than outright sassy, and is also given considerable character depth.
Naonka of Nicaragua is one of the extreme negative versions, having taken an instant and vocal (to the Confession Cam) dislike to Jud (dubbed "Fabio" by his tribe, a male Dumb Blonde but a nice guy) and Kelly (who had her leg amputated at birth).
Mother and daughter Mary Lou and Ivy are both Sassy Black Women on Good Luck Charlie though Ivy has a bit of an edge on her mother since Mary Lou likes jigsaw puzzles and likes to sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" in German.
Cheryl, Kenan's mother on Kenan & Kel is fairly mellow but she shows signs of this in the episode where Chris moves into the house.
In "Kill the Messenger" we get a grandmother who's this.
Monday Mornings: One Patient of the Week from the pilot episode is an obese black woman, and very outspoken, sometimes downright rude. It seems she's a hypochondriac and a chronic complainer, but Dr. Napur, who is a surgeon and doesn't really have to deal with this case, pushes doctors into other tests or looking for possibilities. The sassy patient was indeed seriously ill. She thanked Dr. Napur for saving her life before the surgery, but was as outspoken and rude-ish as ever.
The band role of Scary Spice aka. Mel B of the Spice Girls.
Sister Chantelle from Bare A Pop Opera The Virgin Mary who is also portrayed by her is played as this as well.
Sharmell Huffman, Booker T's wife, was this in her initial face persona. "Can you dig it, sucka" sounded so much better when coming out of her mouth.
This made it all the funnier when, after Booker became King of the Ring, the two of them tried to pass themselves as Upper Class Twits.
Naomi Night on NXT season 3 who went so far as to call out Michael Cole. This was later flanderized at FCW in their latest effort to turn the fans against the popular wrestler, partnered with Tough Enough loser Cameron Lynn(previously described as a valley girl) for good measure. Never mind the attitude got Naomi over in the first place.
Jacqueline Moore, when she actually spoke, managed the cigar smoking, beer chugging, poker playing APA and joined in just as well. In TNA she was also with their carbon copies Beer Money Inc.
Jazz, who was inspired to become a wrestler after watching Jacqueline and was just as hammy and sassy.
Black Rose in the WWC, during her role as a rude one anyway. Since joining the NWA it has started to bleed into her face persona as well.
ToeJam & Earl III features Latisha, who's a Sassy... Blue Alien, which is close enough, since she's from a planet whose hat is Funk/Hip-Hop culture.
Sagitta Weinberg/Cheiron Archer from Sakura Wars can be this at times.
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream has Ellen, whose sassy vernacular creates considerable cognitive dissonance in an incredibly bleak game about the end of the world. When confronted with a disembodied jumpsuit taking on the identity of her former rapist, Ellen calls him a "muthuh" and punches him out, to considerable Narm effect.
In Baten Kaitos OrginsHalf of Guillo's voice is composed of one, the other half being a Samuel L. Jackson sound-alike. This works rather well for Guillo's near constant snark.
Jade from Mortal Kombat can be a variation of this, especially in the ninth installment.
Tigerlily Jones in Skin Horse. "When she goes into the truck, she's in Institute Grey. We let her out, she's Foxy Brown. We have no idea how."
Trixie in American Dragon Jake Long.note Odd bit of background on this one: the executives tried to tone her down, but most of her characterization came from her voice actress, Miss Kittie. The execs didn't have the sheer Balzac it took to ask a black woman to act less like herself to her face, and dropped the issue.
The Muses in Hercules fit this trope: especially Thalia, the short comic relief.
Lana Kane of Archer Sassy? Yup. Black-ish? Yuup. Can snap your neck with her man hands? Yuuuuuup!
Lance gets one of these as a driving instructor in Sym-Bionic Titan when he is trying to get his license. Hilarity Ensues as he has to not only keep her happy, but deal with the gang leader harassing him in the middle of the test, then the Monster of the Week trying to kill them. However, she has nothing but praise when Lance manages to survive all this and keep her alive in doing so, and passes him.
Roger: What's goin' on? I can't hardly see! Hey Easter Island, move your fat head!
Also in an episode, they made fun of the sassy black woman in the workplace stereotype. An overweight black woman named Lorraine, displays all the negative stereotypes in an extreme sense, resulting her throwing acid in Francine's face. | <urn:uuid:aea7a69d-e056-4325-804c-57346248e0f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SassyBlackWoman | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966439 | 3,031 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The Charles Copeland Morse Residence --The "House that seeds built" was constructed in 1892 by Charles Copeland Morse, co-founder of one of the largets flower and vegetable seed companies in the world, The Ferry-Morse seed company. This outstand Queen Anne residence is the most elaborate Queen Ann Victorian structure still remaining in the City of Santa Clara.
From the Web Site: This house is a classic Queen Anne Victorian. Rising three stories over a raised basement, the twin gables, witches' hat turret, decorative shingles, trims and stained glass windows all contribute to the grand effect. The entry is distinguished by an ornate front porch. Inside the mansion are rich wood molding, stained glass windows and chandeliers. A unique chandelier is found in the old dining room. This brass fixture came from the family of the founder of the Bank of America, A. P. Giannini. About 1975, Caroline and Vaughn Nixon bought the house and restored the ornate mansion to its original grandeur. The Morse Mansion presently hosts law offices but the interior retains an air of elegance."
The Morse Mansion has been used as a law office for the last 20 years and is not open to the public
The house is located at 981 Fremont St., Santa Clara, on the corner of Fremont and Washington sts.
SpeedRing - This place has been open since December of 2001 and I just heard about it this week. SpeedRing is a go kart track unlike any other I have been to. The first major difference is that it's indoors. I have also never had to put on a jumpsuit and sit through a briefing before driving a go kart. It's very fun and can be very competitive and on days like today, it can be uncomfortably hot. None the less, we had a great time. For more info check out the link | <urn:uuid:e07a7275-bfca-4a9e-baf4-a0d74a1f44dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/California/Santa_Clara-755547/Off_the_Beaten_Path-Santa_Clara-TG-N-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954161 | 388 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The Time Is Now: Public Art of the Sustainable City, is now available for purchase online at Kinokuniya Book World.
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2012.
We want to forward to you this great opportunity from Terreform ONE:
BLIGHT to MIGHT: Open International Design Competition for Transforming Cities with Innovation
ONE Prize 2012 is a call to put design in the service of disenfranchised communities, to reinvigorate deindustrialized and depressed urban areas, and to repurpose spaces for economic growth and job creation. Situated in the context of a struggling U.S. economy and the tension of stagnant unemployment, ONE Prize 2012 aims to explore the socially, economically, and ecologically regenerative possibilities of urban transformation and design. The competition is powered by the idea that social, ecological, and economic struggles can simultaneously be addressed through collaborative action and innovative planning.
The ONE Prize seeks architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, engineers, scientists, artists, students and individuals of all backgrounds:
- Can we rework the skeletons of 20th century manufacturing for 21st century innovation?
- Can former plants in Detroit become greenhouses, schools, theaters?
- Can mill towns be revamped as digital fabrication hubs?
- Can vacant parking lots become farms or parks?
- Can abandoned strip malls be reinvented?
- Can we reboot the American economy?
For more information on ONE Prize 2012: Blight to Might, this year’s competition jury and to submit your ideas visit: www.oneprize.org.
A company called SEFE says that it will soon be able to generate a limitless supply of renewable energy by converting static electricity from the atmosphere into direct current.
Ever since Benjamin Franklin and his kite, we have been aware of the electrical power that is statically and consistently present in great magnitude between the negatively charged earth and the positively charged atmosphere.
This Wikipedia entry has a lot more information on where this energy comes from.
But no one has been able to harness it in a practical way…until now perhaps? From the (nicely designed and informative) SEFE website:
SEFE has developed a proprietary technology which aims to harvest the constant and powerful static electricity that is continually formed in the earth’s atmosphere. Through a series of patented and patent-pending devices, SEFE’s Harmony system is designed to draw the static electricity in direct current form from the atmosphere, converting it to alternating current for immediate power consumption. And, the system can reconvert the alternating current back into direct current form for longer-term storage in banks of batteries. The system’s design employs an airborne carrier, which can be a high-altitude weather balloon or blimp, to send a conductive cable into the atmosphere, where it is suspended and tethered in constant contact with a ground unit. Attached to the conductive cable is a “black box” which converts the naturally occurring electricity into usable form. The electricity is sent down the conductive cable to a power generator, which, in turn, can send the power to an existing electric company’s infrastructure and grid for commercial and residential consumption. This platform generator also can convert the electricity for longer-term storage.
SEFE’s flagship product is called the Harmony III and it incorporates an electrostatic motor that operates as a generator when it is supplied with a high voltage/low current power source, such as that which is in abundant existence in the atmosphere. So far SEFE has received four patents for its system and has more pending approval.
One of the questions in their online FAQ pertains to the aesthetics of the system:
Q: Wind farms take up the entire countryside and blot out the landscape. Wouldn’t that be true of balloons in the sky?
A: In a word, no. To maximize electricity collection, the SEFE system hoists the airborne device hundreds of feet into the atmosphere, well out of typical line of sight. Also, since each unit can generate an abundance of electricity, there are less units needed in collaboration with each other. So, fewer units dot the landscape. By contrast, solar or wind systems need a significant amount of space; hence, these “farms” take up real estate in the production of electricity. Instead, we harvest electricity, right from the source.
You may not be able to see the collection devices, but it would make an interesting study to take a look at the artistic possibilities for the ground-based equipment and the tethering systems.
The name SEFE derives from the meteorological phenomenon called St. Elmo’s Fire, where coronal discharge from a grounded object causes light to form at the end of sharp corners of that object. It is most often witnessed emanating from ship’s masts during thunderstorms when atmospheric voltage is very high.
It sounds too good to be true, but after looking through the copious amount of information on their website, we are very optimistic that SEFE is really on to something with this. They are a publicly traded company and their stock price has been rising steadily since March, with some extreme activity in the past couple of weeks. | <urn:uuid:db994c19-7bc6-4a58-926c-b8a838d9fe71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://landartgenerator.org/blagi/archives/date/2012/05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939791 | 1,069 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Dog-training program prepares pups for new homes, inmates for new lives
By RICHARD WALKER
North Kitsap Herald Editor
June 10, 2011 · Updated 10:42 AM
POULSBO — Indy, June Cotner’s 13-month-old chocolate lab/Doberman mix, broke character when Marcia Hilberg leaned close to him and patted his head.
She said the word “cookie” — as in, “I’m sorry I don’t have a cookie for you” — prompting a big wet kiss on the cheek from the otherwise calm, well-behaved pup.
Turns out, this dog is quite a charmer. Cotner, a member of the Poulsbo Lions Club, told of working a fund-raising event for the Lions Club. With Miss Poulsbo Natasha Tucker at her side, the donations were steady. “But when Indy joined us, the donations really came in,” Cotner said.
That’s quite a testimony. But Indy’s story is even bigger testimony to the benefits of the program in which he was trained.
Indy was trained by an inmate at Stafford Creek Corrections Center, in a program run by the Aberdeen state prison and North Beach PAWS, or Progressive Animal Welfare Society.
The program is called Freedom Tails, which trains inmates in basic dog-obedience training. Dogs selected for the program live with their inmate trainers for eight weeks, staying with them in their cells and, as they progress in their training, accompanying their inmate trainers to recreation and work.
According to PAWS: The process starts by selecting dogs to participate in the program. Debra Thomas-Blake, a volunteer at Stafford Creek, works with North Beach PAWS to gather dogs from various shelters in Grays Harbor and surrounding counties. “The dogs obtained for the program are usually strays or owner released to the shelters for various reasons,” according to PAWS. “When the dogs arrive at (Stafford Creek), they typically have kennel stress, no manners, and sometimes medical issues. The Freedom Tails program gives them structure in their lives, good grooming, housetraining, medical care, some socialization, and the ability to trust humans again.”
Breeds that have gone through the program recently include a wire-haired terrier mix, a golden retriever mix, a boxer mix, and a Beauceron/Shepherd mix. Here's what one adopter wrote about Duke in January 2010, early in the program: “Duke is doing beautifully. He is getting along well with the other dogs, especially our pointer. I just adore him. His trainers did really great with him — definitely a well-behaved animal. I can't thank you enough for arranging the adoption and being so flexible with everything.”
Cotner said the program has made a big difference in the lives of inmate trainers as well. For some inmates, the relationship with their canine charge is their first exposure to unconditional love. The program gives them a sense of purpose and responsibility, and they receive skills that are useful when they are released.
“The program teaches the (inmate) dog trainers responsibility, compassion and patience,” according to PAWS. “The (inmates) feel good about giving back to the community while utilizing their newfound skills.”
Cotner visited Stafford Creek and inmate trainers. She said one inmate teared up as he told her about Skeeter, a lab he trained; Skeeter came into the program as an owned dog who needed some strong training for a woman with medical special needs. Another prisoner was anti-social and didn’t communicate with others until he became an inmate trainer; his dog helped him break out of his shell.
Cotner said she interviewed Thomas-Blake for a possible future book. Thomas-Blake told her, "A dog's unconditional love, coupled with an offender's responsibility for that dog, accomplishes more in days than man is able to accomplish in years."
The program has been expanded from eight to dogs in one housing unit per class, to 16 dogs in two units.
Dogs are adopted through North Beach PAWS; the $200 fee supports the program, as well as spaying and neutering.
For information about dogs available for adoption, visit North Beach PAWS' website or call (360) 289-4350.Contact North Kitsap Herald Editor Richard Walker at [email protected] or 1-360-779-4464. | <urn:uuid:6dec9c2b-1ac2-4f37-9f52-798673a01c13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northkitsapherald.com/community/123344978.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967942 | 955 | 1.601563 | 2 |
A survey of Python IDEs
dalke at acm.org
Fri Aug 17 00:03:43 CEST 2001
Alan Green wrote:
>5. PythonWorks Pro
You left out
8. Wing IDE from http://archaeopteryx.com/
>All of these IDEs have a debugger.
>None support multi-threaded
>debugging :-(, although the VisualPython documentation threatens to.
They also threaten it, at
I also understand that
9. Emacs has a usable debugger.
>Despite these IDE's, it seems that most Python developers use a text
>editor to program Python.
I used an IDE with Turbo C 2.0 and Pascal 5.x days. Then I
moved to unix, which didn't have any IDEs that I could afford.
So I learned to use print statements. I got good at it, so that
I knew just the right place to put in a print statement to get
Now I'm in a rut. There's the time hit to learn how to use an
IDE (and evaluate the different ones). It's been so long since
I used an IDE that I don't even recall why they're useful.
Plus, I would lose my street cred if I started using an IDE :)
>a. Python is the kind of language that doesn't need a lot of tool
There is something to that. I develop my code so I can work
with it in the interactive mode. Isn't that one of the more
advanced features of most IDEs?
>b. The IDEs that are there are fairly primitive compared to VC++ (the
>yardstick against which all other IDEs seem to be measured)
Cf. "Turbo C 2.0", so that can't be it. Actually, I've tried
using VC++ and admit to being overwhelmed by everything. Doesn't
help that I didn't know an OLE control from a bullring cheer.
>c. Python programmers are the kind of people that don't use IDEs.
I wasn't using an IDE with my unix-based C/C++ code either. Or
my Perl code. Or my Tcl. Maybe it's more that Unix programmers
aren't IDE people, and Python had a large unix audience up until
Mark started working on .. COM and IDE support.
dalke at dalkescientific.com
More information about the Python-list | <urn:uuid:8c9a5518-2880-42ed-ae91-07467ff92f0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2001-August/074069.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942099 | 522 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Professor Jeffrey Bale, director of the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP) has recently given several media interviews regarding extremist and terrorist activities and threats in Europe and the United States.
41 Students from 17 Countries Attend Annual Cross-Cultural Retreat
October 17, 2011
It’s hard to think of a more inspiring setting for a day of structured intercultural activities than the natural beauty of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in the fall. Every year Professor Peter Grothe invites students in his popular course in intercultural communication—as well as students from all degree programs at MIIS—for an all-day retreat in Big Sur.
This year 41 students from 17 countries and four continents, speaking 26 languages, participated in the event. The day was filled with a variety of cross-cultural activities and exercises, as well as a hike among the ancient Redwood trees in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. The event ended with a celebratory dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
This is the fifth year Professor Grothe has hosted the cross-cultural retreat at Big Sur. He reports “The feedback strongly suggests that not only do the students learn a great deal about other cultures represented at the event, but also that it supports efforts at community-building at MIIS.”
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The Monterey Institute of International Studies and Language Services Associates, a global translation and interpretation service provider, recently announced the establishment of a new scholarship fund for language scholars at MIIS. | <urn:uuid:4b111a11-2adf-43e8-9404-1da41ddeb632> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miis.edu/about/newsroom/stories/node/24233?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94984 | 315 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The officials marked the occasion at Pittsburgh's SouthSide Works, where the $13 million J&L Tunnel project will soon become the latest Phase One project to increase the vertical clearance on CSX rail lines to accommodate trains carrying double-stack intermodal containers.
Phase One is creating double-stack rail access between CSX's state-of-the-art intermodal terminal in northwest Ohio and its new modern intermodal terminal in Chambersburg, Pa. It is scheduled for completion next spring.
The J&L Tunnel clearance project is upgrading an existing tunnel built in the 1880s that runs directly through the SouthSide Works complex. The work will help alleviate pressure on regional highways and lower the cost of doing business in the Pittsburgh region by improving access to intermodal freight shipping options, CSX said. Funding for the tunnel upgrade comes from CSX, the federal government, and a Pennsylvania Transportation Assistance Program (TAP) Grant. Ohio also iscontributing $30 million to this first phase of clearance work.
"We are proud that we have been able to work with our partners in the federal and state government, communities and the private sector to invest in strategic transportation infrastructure that will alleviate highway congestion and enable our customers to better leverage rail, the most environmentally friendly way to ship goods over land," said Ward. | <urn:uuid:4ff16073-757f-431b-b53b-45a4545f7fa5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/intermodal/csx-pennsylvania-celebrate-national-gateway-phase-one-progress.html?channel=59 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93223 | 269 | 1.734375 | 2 |
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A Year in
Part 2 of 3- July 1st to December 31st 1901
This morning early a Boer came into our camp, under cover of a ‘white flag’ – with a note to our General from Commandant Kemp – with whom we had the tussle yesterday – asking for bandages and medicine for their wounded. These were at once sent. Column left Rudival noon, travelling over rough, but beautiful country, till 7.30 p.m. when we camped near a very large Kaffir village; the name of which I have not yet learned.
These natives do not live in such squalor, as do our Australian blacks.
Their little conical shaped huts, tho’ simple structures of mud and thatch, are kept scrupulously clean. In front of each house is a walled in area, semicircular in shape; within this area, the mistress of the house performs her household duties; does the cooking -such as it is- and feeds her little family. This latter interesting performance is simple in the extreme. The dusky materfamilias places a certain number of wooden bowls (corresponding with the number of ‘little ones’) at certain intervals around the arena. These bowls contain “mealie-meal” which forms the principal food of the Kaffir. The hungry ‘juveniles’ then “file in” in order of seniority, and without argument, apply themselves assiduously -per hand- to the apparently congenial task of reducing the contents of the wooden bowls. It is a novel sight, as pleasing as it is instructive, and I think these young gentlemen would not mind how many times a day they had to rehearse it for the stranger’s edification.
Left camp 6.30 a.m. reaching Ebenezar 3.30 p.m. A little skirmishing took place ‘en route’.
Convoy remained in camp. Mounted Column went out 6 a.m. with empty waggons to bring in Boer families from Waterval. Returned 6 p.m., with quite a large number of people, - also a fine piano- the property of one of the ladies present. Being a beautiful moonlight night it was decided that we should have a concert – the fair owner of the piano graciously giving her consent; indeed many of the Dutch ladies honoured our humble concert with their august presence. I have an idea, however, that they were not very favorably [sic] impressed with our vocal capacities. There are certain songs always trotted out on every such occasion, notable that one which deals with the pathetic subject of “Plucking a flower from my “oingil” mothers “groive”.
This doleful song is sung at every military ‘chivoo’, and generally by about the worst singer present. (On this occasion we had abundant material to choose from).
Then follows a few recitations including always a stirring rendition of “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. The “Hard Case” of the company, - whose real talents for comedy by the way– seem to be reserved for the edification of a few intimate friends, in the seclusion of his own tent– then steps jauntily forward amid vociferous cheering, and chants something in rhyme about the impossibility of a man “livin ‘appy with ‘is wife, when she’s alwis chewin’ biscuits in the bed”.
He then goes on – still in rhyme- to explain that “Biscuits has drove him off his chump”, and it appears that he “gave his darlin’ warnin’ ”, that he’d got the “bally-ooly ‘ump”, and was ‘orf to–morrow mornin’. -At this juncture someone in the audience rudely asked if it wouldn’t be better to start at once? which remark was treated with the contempt it deserved. But we had a few musicians in the company to whom the Dutch piano proved an acquisition, and to these few our hearty thanks are due for having upheld the prestige of our race in front of the strangers.
Left Ebenezar 6 a.m., reaching Elands River 4 p.m.
Column left camp 6 a.m. Early in the afternoon Boers were sighted on the hills round Wanderfontein. On coming within rifle-range we had a brisk Encounter. Our artillery got to work, and was soon pumping shell and shrapnel in thick and fast.
I have never seen such a display of artillery. The shells literally tore up the tops of the kopjes. We had no casualties. It is said the Boers lost 13 killed, besides many wounded.
The country round here is very mountainous, and affords very good shelter for the Boers, who seem to be pretty numerous in this district.
Column left Wanderfontein about dawn. Shortly afterwards the enemy attacked our Left Flank and Rear Guard; After a time they were repulsed. One of our officers, Lieut Battye – was wounded in the thigh. We also had several horses shot. In the afternoon we captured a Boer Convoy in the bush, three miles north of Magozastad. In one of the waggons were some boxes of clothing marked “Mrs P. Botha”. Besides some beautiful silk dresses, the boxes contained some jewellery.
It is quite possible that Mrs. B– will have some difficulty in getting her trinkets together again, should she require them for the grand ball which “Kruger” is going to give when they finish the war.
Column reached Kopval 9 a.m. Here we camped for the day.
Can hear heavy cannonading on our Left – probably Lord Methuen’s Column engaged. – Was made a corporal today.
We reached Zeerust this afternoon.
It is a small town, rather pretty, - also rather unhealthy. At the present time there are six columns camped here comprising in all nearly 10,000 men.
It was here, that Sir F. Carrington, - for certain reasons- burnt a greater portion of his convoy last year. He may have been in the right, but it does seem a pity to have burned so much valuable stuff, when there was (apparently) no urgent need for such a course of action.
Remained in camp today, getting in supplies for return ‘trek’ to Klerksdorp.
Several horses died this evening from the effects of a poisonous weed, which grows plentifully round here. This poisonous plant grows from a bulb, and in appearance is like the daffodil.
Local horses will not touch it.
Column left Zeerust 6 a.m. by the
There is no water for either horse
or man to-night, and a stretch of 25 miles tomorrow before we reach any.
This portion of the
Left camp before dawn, reaching Kroenhoek (and water) about noon. The poor horses were famished, and we were glad enough to get a drink.
Left Kroenhoek 6 a.m. About 9 o’clock, a little firing took place on the Flank.
Reached Leufontein 2 p.m.
Moved off camp 6.30 a.m. Outspanned at 10 for 2 hours. Reached Hartebeesfontein 6 p.m. With commendable forethought, our Colonel has selected a newly-burned piece of country for our camp. What with the tramping about, and a fine breeze blowing, we will all be like Kaffirs in half an hour.
Left camp 6.30 trekking South. Reached Klerksdorp at noon. Shortly after arriving, an Australian mail was given out. Little work is done when a mail comes, everyone is too busy reading home-letters.
Received a “Pay” – first since we
Left Klerksdorp travelling Westward (we never know were we are going) – Camped at Hartebeesfontein 4.p.m.
Left camp 6 a.m. When nearing Leufontein, Hasler’s Australian Scouts saw a party of possibly 200 men, approaching. They wore “khaki” and rode in the usual “extended order” of British troops.
Captain Hasler, being doubtful, gave the Column signal, whereon, one of the advancing party held his hat out in his left hand (our pre-arranged signal denoting “Friends”) This being considered sufficient, they were allowed to approach. When within a hundred yards the Boers – (for such they were) suddenly dismounted, and fired a volley into our men, killing Sergeant Seymour, wounding Captain Hasler, and hitting several others. Our Squadron-Officer hearing the firing gave us the order to gallop, and not needing a second telling, away we went, racing almost up to the Boers. Then the bullets began to fly. “W-h-i-n-g, whing!” how they whistled through the air, tearing up the ground with a savage “Zip!”
The Boers, however, not wishing to quarrel with our particular squadron elected to retire, and were soon tearing across the veldt as fast as their good little horses could carry them; but, five of them remained and will never ride over the great plains and kopjes of their native land again.
We are all sorry for poor
“Dulce et decorum [est] pro patria mori” sayeth the proverb. Perhaps so. It is right enough to “go down” in a fair, open fight, but not in this cold blooded fashion.
Our men have received great praise from the General, who promised to have our “Gallant fight” mentioned in his dispatches to the Commander-in-chief.
Captain Hasler is badly hit, and will probably be invalided home. He will be a loss to our Column, as no braver man ever entered the field of action.
Column reached Holfontein 2 p.m. Southern Cossack Post – under Corporal Johnson – saw 14 Boers advancing towards their ‘Post’. Lying flat down they allowed the enemy to approach within two or three hundred yards, then opened fire, killing three. The rest fled. All the afternoon Boers were seen hovering about the skyline, but they kept at a respectful distance. “Long Elsie” – our Elswick Gun – fired 3 shots at a farm house -3400 yards range-; First two struck close, the third lodged fair on the roof. Almost instantaneously Boers could be seen emerging from the house, thinking probably that it was no place for them.
Reached Doornklip 4 p.m. “Cossack Post” was attacked, and came tearing into camp about 5, overwhelmed, they said by numbers. All that could be seen from camp, however, were hardly sufficient to cause alarm.
Left Doornklip 6 a.m. reaching Rooibuilt 3.30 p.m.
Reveille 6.30 a.m. Seems like a day in camp. Out comes the “washing”.
About noon the Scouts belonging to Col. Hickeys Column, mistaking our Outpost for Boers, fired on them.
The bullets came whistling past them, right into the middle of our camp, one striking within a yard of where our “select” party was seated having lunch.
Fortunately we had not much furniture to shift, but what we had was removed I believe, in record time.
At 2 p.m., the convoy, with an escort left camp. We remained until dusk. After lighting fires, to make believe we were camping for the night, we moved off silently in the darkness. At midnight we halted, tied our horses up, and prepared to go to sleep. At 1 we were turned out again, the Intelligence Staff having brought in word that a Boer Convoy was close at hand.
By a quarter past one, we had saddled up, and on the move. It was a glorious moonlight night. No talking was allowed, and nothing save the steady tramp of our horses feet on the grassy veldt broke the stillness of the perfect night.
Suddenly the voice of a Boer sentinel rang out “Wei dar!” (Who goes there.) A flash of fire leapt to someone’s rifle and a bullet sped through the air, and that was the only reply the poor chap got.
We were ordered to charge, and down to the Boer’s camp we raced. – It was grand.
The march had been well planned; we had surprise them, but still some shooting took place. A lad near me was hit, and died afterwards. Some surrendered, many escaped, and a few were killed. In all we had captured 32 waggons, and 70 prisoners; besides a fine herd of cattle. A good nights work.
We went on till daylight, then camped, - glad of a rest.
It is a blazing hot day, and there is no water here- the nearest being Hart’s River – 20 miles distant.
We tried to sleep until the sun roasted us out. No shade to be got anywhere. Everyone looking “only middling”, heavy eyed, dust-begrimed, and thirsty. How is it that one is always thirsty when there is no water procurable? The Convoy rejoined us about noon. They have had a long heavy march, and the mules must have a spell. We go on at mid-night.
Reached Hart’s River at day-break and pleased we were to get there. It is over 40 hours since we had aught to drink. The poor horses I pity most. They have been dropping out at intervals throughout the night, and had to be left to their fate. More than one tired solder tramped wearily into camp, sorry enough to have left his equine companion behind him to die. Nothing is sadder than this silent parting with one’s horse. You feel, and rightly too – that you have lost a friend. What friend could be more faithful than this poor dumb creature? – Perhaps you owe your very life to the horse you leave to die by the wayside; but we have come to understand that “War” is no great picnic.
Left camp 3.30 a.m., reaching the
deserted town of
Had a cricket-match this afternoon, the townspeople having been good enough to leave the requisite utensils behind them. We appreciate their thoughtfulness.
Column left Swatz-renike 3.30 a.m. travelling through sandy, desert country until 3 p.m. Camped at “Guidplaats” which name translated into English means “Good-place” The Dutchman who named it thus, must have been of a decidedly optimistic turn of mind.
Left camp 4.45 a.m. Farewell Guidplaats!
We had a brisk skirmish shortly before noon, resulting in the capture of 15 prisoners, 12 waggons and 500 cattle. Only 1 man wounded on our side.
After a long, weary, march over barren sandy ground, we reached a place by the stylish name of Lowsblaake. No water again. A man wants to be like a camel for travelling in this country.
Left camp early, crossed the
Arived at the town of
Column left Taungs 4 p.m., travelling in a South Easterly direction till dark.
Reached Scaapfontein 6 p.m.
11 Remained in camp all day. “Dulce far niete”
12 Column left Scaapfontein 6 a.m.
The country we are passing over is rough and hilly, and -we are told- nearly all gold-bearing. It is the opinion of practical miners amongst us, that there is gold in large quantities about this district.
Re-crossed the Transvaal border 10
a.m. Passed ‘Christiana’ on the
Christiana was the first
Camped at Uitspanning 5 miles North of
Christiana, also on the
Left camp 4.30 a.m, reaching
Matlabanstad about noon, having travelled up the
The Mounted Column, taking with them one blanket, and two days rations per man left camp at midnight.
A large Boer Convoy passed here two days ago, travelling north -so the local Kaffirs say. After having travelled about 25 miles, we camped.
Reveille, midnight. Away again.
This morning we overtook six ox-waggons belonging to a Convoy. Pursued a party of Boers, but could not get a shot at them. We can see fresh tracks, as of a large convoy, so things are improving. The Boers we saw this morning were probably acting Rear-Guard.
Reveille 5.30 a.m. Rejoined our
supply-waggons at 9. They have been travelling along up the river. Drew
more rations and set off again in pursuit- of our (?) Convoy. After a long
day’s ride we halted near the town of
Left camp again, at midnight. About 3 p.m. we came up with the Boer Rearguard and our sprits rose. After a short exchange of pleasantries, we drove the enemy forward, and raced down on their convoy. Here we met with a stubborn resistance, but we have ridden so far, that we were determined not to go back without something for our trouble, and they, probably thinking that it was of no use wasting time with such unreasonable folk, kindly withdrew, leaving us in possession of 105 waggons; 1500 cattle; and 30 prisoners of war, besides many Boer famlies. This may be considered a splendid capture. Darkness was closing in on our triumph, and the return march of 25 miles had yet to be made, over unknown country. We had neither forage for our weary horses, nor rations for ourselves, so must reach our camp somehow.
I will not attempt to describe that long, homeward night march. Most of the Transport Waggons had to be driven by our men, -the Kaffir drivers having cleared out during the fight. However, all things good and bad come to an end, and we reached our camp at “Palmeitfontein” at midnight. We had ridden over 70 miles, and had been in the saddle 22 hours since our last brief halt. Most of us slept soundly, I believe, when once we got to bed.
Reveille 7.30 a.m. A day in camp.
This morning our General sent a message round, congratulating the Flying Column on its well-earned capture. Such a feat, he declares, could not have been successfully accomplished by any other but Colonial troops.
He made special reference to what [he] characterised as “marvellous powers of endurance” on our part, and expressed himself highly pleased with the manner in which we piloted the waggons along in the dark.
Amongst the Dutch families, are two young ladies, - nieces of the Boer General Delarey. –They are pleasant, refined girls, pretty, well dressed, and speak English fluently – almost too fluently, we thought.
During a conversation one remarked that we “Australians seemed to prefer making war on the ladies, to fighting the men”. What could one do but suggest that where such as they were concerned it was rather the more dangerous occupation of the two. Perhaps some of us, really thought so too, at the time.
Column left camp 6 a.m., reaching Rhenoster Spruit 3.30.
A “white flag” incident occurred here. A party of Boers holding out a “token of surrender”, on being interviewed by a member of the Intelligence staff, stated that they wished to see an Officer, to arrange with him terms of surrender. Captain Vandaleur went out to meet them. Imagine his surprise on being surrounded by armed Boers, stripped of all his valuables -including a gold watch- and even his clothes. A mean trick, and a favourite one of the Boers, but it will yet cost them dear.
Reached the Afrikander Mines 5.30. One of the richest gold mines in the Klerksdorp District, and prior to the outbreak of war, was worked by a British Syndicate. -Some splendid machinery going to ruin here.
Reached Klerksdorp shortly after mid-day. More news from home. The papers and letters are about six weeks old, but are very welcome, never-the-less.
In camp, Klerksdorp. Getting in supplies for next trek.
Column left Klerksdorp 6 a.m. trekking out in a north-easterly direction. Camped at Brakspruit 4.30.
Reached Klip-plaats Drift 4 p.m.
Column reached Ventersdorp 6 p.m.
All the gardens and fields round the town are enclosed by hedges of peach trees. These are all out in full bloom at present, and they look lovely. It is a great fruit growing place, being well adapted for peach, fig and apricot. Quinces, also, grow well, and oranges and lemons, to perfection.
Left Ventersdorp 7 a.m. camping three miles north of town. A dozen, or more of our men, have been sent into the local Hospital with “enteric”.
Aug-30 to 31-01
Remained in camp until moon rose about 6.15 p.m. Travelled north till 11; Outspanned till 3 a.m. then on again reaching Kaallaagte 9 a.m. Remained in camp for the rest of day.
Mounted Column left camp 4 a.m. reaching Cypherhoek 4 p.m. We are once again on the verge of the great valley of the Maghaliesberg.
Some of our men came in contact with
Boer Scouts this afternoon. The result of the interview was that one of
our scouts came back shortly after with a bullet in his leg.... Five other
Columns are working in conjunction with us, namely
It is said that we have Delarey and Co “hemmed in”- down in the valleys below. We are a bit incredulous, knowing how many times that gentleman has been ‘hemmed in’ before; moreover the country out here is exceedingly rough, and between our own Column, and our closest operating neighbour, is a distance of over five miles.
It is impossible for a few sentries to guard such an extent of country, more especially as the nights are now dark. Patrols are being sent out tonight, but men such as the Boers are have no difficulty in evading a ‘patrol’, and making good their escape. This has been done before, and will continue to be done, so long as we stick to the present inadequate system of ‘patrolling’. Long lines of well-entrenched outposts would possibly (?) prove more effective.
Nothing occurred during the night, -at least the “patrol” ‘saw’ nothing. Moved over to Courtfontein, which place we reached at 5 p.m.
Our supply-waggons rejoined us in camp this morning. Some of the Troops -“Right Wing and Bushmen” – went out on a reconnaissance, returning 4 p.m. with half a dozen prisoners and a few waggons.
The “Left Wing”- that is, our Squadron, and “D”- went out on patrol early.
In one of the rough mountain gullies -so numerous about here – we surprised, and captured 12 Boers. These gentlemen were enjoying their noon-day “siesta” in the shade of some fine trees, and appeared to resent our unmannerly intrusion.
They had quite a variety of rifles, “Mauser”, “Krag-Jorgensen” and “Mannlicher”. These we promptly confiscated, but had to eventually hand them over to the “Provost Marshal”.
More “patrols” and more prisoners. This ‘patrolling’ is rather exciting work, and, for those who have a fancy for such things, there is an element of danger about it, which makes it fascinating. In parts, the country is so rough, that to get along, we are forced to go in “single-file”. How the Boers could ‘slate’ us in such places!
Left Courtfontein this morning early, reached Ebenezar 4 p.m. (This is where we held our concert on a recent memorable occasion.)
Troops went up 7 a.m. About 9 o’clock, as we were crossing a deep valley, the Boers opened fire on us. They were completely hidden in the crags of the hillside.
In the first volley, they killed two of our horses, and wounded a trooper.
The rapidity with which our men dismounted, (without orders), sent their horses back to shelter by the “horse-holders”- that is one man in each four- and themselves took “cover”, does them credit. I was sent in charge of an ammunition waggon to a certain spot, having to cross, what the war-correspondents call the “zone of fire”. I did not think of war-correspondents at the time.
“Ammunition Carts”, being objects of interest to Boers, I came in for a prodigious amount of attention. I never hope for a “warmer” reception than those honest burghers accorded me.
The Kaffir ‘boys’ began to show unmistakeable signs of “white feather” in spite of their natural duskiness.
Bullets were ripping up the dust in fifty places -big “Marlinis” falling with a heavy thud. One of the “boys” lay down in the bed of the waggon, while the other did a ‘break’, leaving “Yours truly” to get out as best he could. This was safely accomplished in an incredibly short space of time.
Those mules were never swung round so suddenly before, I’ll warrant. By this time our men had located the hidden enemy, and by means of a well-directed, continuous fire, were gradually shifting them.
Half an hour afterwards, we got orders to search the kopje, and up the sides we swarmed. We were rewarded by finding half a dozen “snipers”, whom we rooted out like Gorillas. These baboon-like men had made the cliffs and crags their home, and a fine home it was too, from a strategic point of view, tho’ I must admit, the comfort and refinement of an ideal home was somewhat lacking. All day long, we rode through these lovely, fertile valleys. We saw some splendid crops of barley, and oats. In one field, a stalwart Dutchman was ploughing most unconcernedly. He seemed greatly surprised when we intimated our desire that he should accompany us back to camp. Said he thought the war was over... The ignorance of these people is marvellous, and their “predicants” (or priests) cram them full of lies. To this fact their dogged persistence in continuing a hopeless struggle, can, in a measure, be attributed. The oranges down here are very fine, and though it is but early in September, many of the farms have green peas growing in abundance.
Putting the question of propriety aside, these delicacies make a very welcome addition to our limited larder.
Returned to camp an hour after dark.
Column left Ebenezar 6 a.m., reaching Eland’s River 5 p.m. We found a number of cases to-day, hidden in a small cave. These cases, were found, when opened, to contain ammunition, 33000 rounds in all. There can be no shortage of ammunition about this part.
Left camp 6 a.m., reaching Cypherfontein early in the afternoon. The wild flowers here are magnificent. I have rarely seen such a fine display.
Our supply convoy rejoined us at Leufontein 3 p.m. Glad enough to make its acquaintance again. We have been on ½ rations for the past three days.
“Intelligence” reported, late to night that a Boer Commando was camped at Tafelkop, 12 miles to Southward.
Mounted Column moved at 3 a.m. reaching Tafelkop just at dawn, but no sign of Boers. Convoy rejoined us at Witplaats 5 p.m.
Column reached Ventersdorp 3 p.m. camping within Garrison boundaries.
“Men may sleep with their boots off to-night”. (Extract from Column orders 13/9/01)
Left Ventersdorp 11 a.m. Camped at Elandskuil, -10 miles south of town. All waggons sent in to Potchefstroom for rations.
In camp. Heavy rain falling to-day. This is practically the first rain we have seen since landing. Some of the “old soldiers” are shacking their heads knowingly, and assuring us that we are “in for it” now, and telling, for our edification, how, in this country, it sometimes rains whole months without ceasing.
In camp. Still raining heavily. We have been provided with tents, so don’t care. Our camp is pitched on a fine slope, so whatever water runs in at the top side of our tent, quickly runs out again at the bottom.
Weather fine again. Squadron Target
Practice in afternoon. Eight of our men sent to
No 479 Trooper J. S----- received this day, by Field General Court-Martial, 18 months Imprisonment with Hard Labor, [sic] for sleeping whilst a sentry on duty. Being a volunteer, - and not a “Regular” – the unfortunate lad was “let down lightly”. The extreme penalty for this offence is Death.
Moved at 8 a.m. this morning to a camp 3 miles North of Ventersdorp. Sent all surplus stores back to town. Issued to Squadron, - 40 Head collars; 60 Reins; 60 Nosebags; 42 pairs Boots and 30 water-bottles, Left camp 6 p.m. travelled all night, northerly direction.
Reached Kaallaagte 8 a.m. Remained in camp rest of day.
Mobile Column left camp 6 a.m. N.W. travelling light. Halted at Ottofontein 25 miles distant. Boers were seen about 4 p.m. We had a ‘brush’ with them. Our Regimental Sergeant-Major had his horse shot in three places, simultaneously.
I was twenty paces behind him at the time, - wondering what would happen next. He merely said, (looking ruefully at his favorite [sic] ‘grey’) “No use a man having a good horse in this uncivilized country”. He is, -by-the-way- absolutely the gamest man I have seen out here, -a splendid soldier.
Left Ottofontein 6 a.m. reaching DoornKorn about noon. Convoy rejoined us here.
Troops went out reconnoitring, and ran into a number of Boers, before they knew where they were. One man was knocked over, but not killed. Deeming discretion to be the better part of valor” [sic], the patrol wisely withdrew.
I spent a very pleasant and profitable day “banging” dirty clothes down in the river.
Mounted Troops went out in force 6 a.m. taking a 15 pounder, and a “Pom-pom”. About 9 o’clock we could see Boers in large numbers, holding the kopjes in front of us. As a preliminary ‘the gunners’ sent them a few ‘messages’ by way of thanking them for the kindly interest they seemed to be taking in our movements.
Then we got the order to charge the position. The lead was flying about cheerfully, but mostly well overhead. In “extended order” we raced up the hillside, our excitement rising higher and higher as we went. When we reached the top, the Burgher gentlemen were over on the next kopje. All day long we were “taking positions”, and yet we only scored ½ dozen mean-looking and ill-mounted prisoners, but we drove them, - that is the bulk of the Boers, right into Colonel Kekewich, who was five miles in front of us.
We captured a fine herd of cattle, however, which is something.
Column remained in camp.
Left DoornKorn 2 p.m. reaching Leufontein 6 p.m.
Flying column sent out 4 a.m. Rejoined convoy at Cypherwater noon.
Troops went out on patrol. I went with Provost Staff to search farmhouses and to bring in all the families in the neighbourhood. One old “vrow” flatly refused to come with us, unless we took her wash-tubs, (3 in number) also. After a heated discussion a compromise was affected – the largest tub was allowed to accompany its affectionate owner, and we went on our way rejoicing.
Returned to camp at dusk, with over 200 women, children and old men.
Left camp 9 a.m. Country exceedingly rough. About noon, had a skirmish with enemy, resulting in the capture of 14 Boers with their rifles and horses. Later on we had a more serious engagement.
A squadron of us made an attack on an orchard, full of ripe oranges, – and bees. Three hives had been overturned, and the plucky occupants rushed out in millions, on vengeance bent. I never saw so many bees before, - and, by the same token, I think I never felt so many-. For a while we held our ground manfully, but the enemy’s repeated and ferocious onslaughts at last caused us to beat a hasty and undignified retreat in search of cover. One senseless youth had taken his horse in. The bees made a vicious attack on the poor animal. Two others and myself rushed in to the rescue, but the poor wretch mad with pain, would neither lead nor drive, in fact, would do nothing but kick at everyone and everything. By dint of main strength, and shoving, and pulling we got him out, but he died ten minutes afterwards.
Column camped at Kopperfontein 4 p.m.
About daybreak this morning we were roused by the booming of big guns in the direction of Rustenburg. We knew Colonel Kekewich to be camped Northwards. In the first light of the sun a “helio” could be seen flashing incessantly, away in the distance. Our “signallers” were hard at work writing down the message, which was from Kekewich saying that his camp had been attacked by a large force of Boers under General Delarey, Commandants Kemp and Boshoff, and a good deal else besides, which they would not tell us. The outcome of that message was a very hurried breakfast, and shortly after we were all “under way” as we believed, to the rescue.
Owing to several large ‘spruits’, and some exceedingly mountainous country, we were obliged to take a very circuitous route. After a weary, troublesome march we reached a large Kaffir village called “Ratsegai’s Kraal”. It was nearly midnight, so we camped till morning.
At dawn we were off again, but not before we caught a glimpse of a certain black freak—(or rather “streak”) of nature, a Kaffir fully seven feet in height. He was not built in like proportion, however, being exceptionally thin. This longitudinal dusky phantom strode about the village with the air of a man of some importance. Probably he held a “high position” in the estimation of these villagers. We were also favoured with a glimpse of some great ‘chief’ – with a long name, and (it is said) 24 wives.
We did not wait to ascertain the veracity of this statement but marched rapidly to Moedwil, - the scene of the late engagement. On reaching the camp a ghastly sight met our eyes. The Field Hospital was filled to overflowing with wounded soldiers, and the dead were being buried. We saw 60 officers and men laid in the one grave.
The few horses and mules left alive were being used to drag their late equine comrades to the rear -a gruesome sight. The rocks all round were literally splashed with human blood. Poor Colonel Kekewich (himself badly wounded) was indeed in a predicament, and seemed greatly relieved to see our Column, as they were dreading a return of the Boers - and a similar attack.
It appears the Column had come into camp late on the evening of the 29th, choosing the rising ground a few hundred yards north of the river’s banks, as a site on which to pitch their camp. The position, as after events proved, was not a good one, from a defensive point view.
Kekewich, - almost out of provisions- had sent the greater portion of his convoy to Rustenburg, under a strong escort, for supplies. This of course, weakened the camp considerably.
The Boers, thanks to an excellent scout system, were aware of the British Column’s every movement, and decided that this would be a good time to make an attack on the camp. The wily Delarey laid he [sic] plans- in something of the following manner: - The attacking party- consisting of 600 men under General Kemp, were to creep quietly up the river, overpower the “outposts”, and rush the camp.
Another party went round to the rear of the camp, to prevent escape in that direction. Delarey himself, kept a reserve force of 500 men on a kopje near by in case of emergency.
Just before dawn Kemp and his men crept up the river, hidden by rocks and mimosa –shrubs, to within a few yards of where the Southern Outpost – (consisting of 13 men) was stationed. The sentry on hearing men approaching gave the alarm to his sleeping comrades. Together they made a stand, but not for long; they were soon cut down, -12 of the 13 being killed where they stood and the 13th only saved his life by lying flat down, feigning death.
On rushed the Boers, gaining a rocky ledge within 150 yards of the Camp. By this time the Camp was standing to arms... Imagine the position.... The enemy under excellent cover, within a stone throw of the camp, - the British with practically no cover at all. Volley after volley from the Boer rifles swept through our lines, riddling the tents and ploughing up the dust. Officers and men were being killed; horses and mules were falling fast. Our men were making a stubborn resistance, yet it seemed as though they must be over powered; the guns were disabled, and most of the gunners shot. Colonel Kekewich was wounded in three places. Something must be done. The Boers must be ousted out of their position, or all would be lost.
At last the order rang out “ Fix bayonets”! “Charge”! The Gallant “Derbyshires” (who saved the day for Dixon at Vlakfontein, and than whom no braver men ever left England’s shore) rushed forward with one bound, with bayonets fixed, and a fixed determination to do or die.
Down the hill they tore, right in amongst the hidden enemy. For a very short while the conflict was waged fiercely, but it is a noteworthy fact that the Boer never did relish cold steel, and soon began to find out they had a more important engagement elsewhere, - but not before they had lost heavily. Commandant Boshoff was killed within 50 yards of the camp, - riddled with bullets. Many others also met their death by steel and lead.
Thus they were forced to abandon their charitable intention of capturing the camp and guns, but they had wrought sad havoc in our lines. Over 500 horses and mules lay dead; - worse still 60 men killed and 80 wounded. On other hand, the Boer casualty list was indeed a heavy one. A few prisoners were taken, amongst whom was a young German, caught deliberately firing with a “white flag” tied to the end of his rifle. He will have to answer for his treacherous conduct, before a Court-martial tomorrow.
Column remained in camp. The above-mentioned prisoner tried by Court-martial this morning; found “Guilty”, and condemned to be shot at sunrise tomorrow morning.
A “patrol” from our column sent out to reconnoitre neighbourhood. Saw no sign of Boers.
I was up betimes this morning, awaiting anxiously the rising of the sun. Another I guess, was also watching that sun rise, which he would never see set.
Just as the fiery orb of Apollo rose slowly over the horizon, a small party of men might be seen marching solemnly out of camp. This was the doomed man escorted by the “firing party”.
I followed at a respectable distance, unseen, yet seeing. When about 400 yards from camp, the little cavalcade halted. The prisoner was placed in a chair with his back to the firing party.
This party consisted of eight men, and an officer. Of the eight rifles which they carried, four were loaded with ‘blanks’ – so that the men might not know who did the killing. Everything being ready the men were marched back 15 paces. The condemned man held a prayer-book in his hand, but did not appear to read. “Shoulder Arms! Pre-sent-arms!! Fire!!!” A volley rang out, and the curtain dropped on the life of yet another foreign traitor.
Mounted Column went out 7 a.m. returning to camp 4 p.m.
Boers reported in force at Rudival, 15 miles South-East. Troops went over 5 a.m. Saw abundant evidence of a large camp, recently vacated, -but nothing else. Returned to camp 5 p.m.
Column remained in camp to-day Enteric Fever is becoming very prevalent, and the sooner we leave this camp the better for us.
The heat, the dust, and above all, the stench from the dead horses, is almost unbearable. Ten of our men have just been sent into Rustenburg with fever. Our Field Strength is being rapidly reduced.
Column left Moedwil 6 a.m. escorting Colonel Kekewich. Reached Kostafontein 3 p.m.
Left camp early, reaching Kleinfontein 5 p.m. Some of our oxen died to-day. “Vet” says he thinks from ‘rinderpest’.
Remained in camp to-day. Heavy rain fell all afternoon, terminating in a violent thunderstorm about 10 p.m. The wind blew a hurricane, and “all-hands” were obliged to “stand to the mast” to keep our tent up at all.
Mounted Column went out in the direction of Eland’s River. Party of Boers were sighted at DoornKorn. Shots were exchanged. Saw a bullet pass clean through a large ant-hill proving that these much sort-after-mounds can not be relied on for shelter, though many people argue differently.
After half-an-hours firing Boers retired. We captured five. It was after mid-night when we got back to camp.
Column remained in camp. Heavy rain still continues. The level country is under water.
Troops went out on a reconnaissance 9 a.m. returning to camp 4 p.m. A few Boers were seen, but these kept at a very respectful distance.
Column left Kleinfontein 5 a.m. reaching Waterhoek 5 p.m.
Left camp 4 a.m. reaching Ventersdorp 10 a.m.
Boers were here last night, and took a mob of 200 cattle from the garrison. How they; of the boasted British blood, can allow such things, I know not. We were sent out about 10 miles, but saw neither Boers nor cattle. Don’t worry “Tommy”, don’t put yourselves about you “One and tuppenny” heroes of the garrison, we “blanky Orstralians” get five bob a day for gathering these cattle which you gentlemen show such an aptitude for losing.
Left camp 11 a.m. travelling as far South as ‘Klip-plaats’ Drift, which place we reached 4 p.m.
Reached Doornfontein early in afternoon.
Column reached Klerksdorp noon.
Oct-17 to 22-01
In camp. Horses are rather low in condition, and we are using every endeavour to get them fit again. Plenty to eat, plenty [of] rest, and good attention is what they require, and what they are getting.
There is a very large Concentration Camp a mile from here. (I have made mention of it before)
Being anxious to see for myself, how these camps are conducted, I got past the sentries to-day (no matter how) and took a stroll through the lines.
As far as I could see, there was absolutely nothing to complain of, and I think it is only people of the “Miss Hobhouse” type – coming with the intention of finding fault – who can pass disparaging remarks about the management of these camps. The “site”, is generally the best procurable, and the drainage good. The occupants of each tent are made to keep their canvas house clean and tidy, and if the infant mortality is great, it is not due to negligence on the part of the British Authorities, who spare no pains to make these unfortunate Dutch people as comfortable as possible under admittedly trying circumstances.
Let it be also remembered that the death rate amongst Boer children has ever been abnormally high, accelerated, no doubt, by a lack of medical knowledge. Now that medical aid is within their reach, their natural aversion to using anything British prevents them from making use of it; their narrow-minded prejudice is stronger than their love for their own children. Thus, in many cases, a Boer mother has seen her child die, unaided, sooner than take it to the English camp-doctor.
It is to be feared, that the mortality among the children, -regrettable as it is- will continue, in spite of all efforts to reduce it, on the part of the authorities, while ever the little ones are unavoidably kept in these Concentration Camps.
Miss Hobhouse (and others) have said that the people are being slowly starved. There is no truth, whatever, in that odious statement. Indeed, these Dutch women, have themselves told me that they have plenty to eat, in fact, some of them admit they never lived so well before.
Certainly, their liberty is in a manner curtailed, in-as-much as they are confined to the limits of the camp, but could they be allowed to roam about at will?
I came away, like many others, with the impression that England is treating these people with more consideration than is usually the case in warfare, and twenty times more, than these Boers would treat our families, if similarly situated.
At 6 a.m. this morning, orders came from Headquarters for the column to entrain at 7, and shortly after that time we were all aboard, rolling away towards the Eastern Transvaal.
All unfit men, and weak horses have been left behind at the Depôt in Klerksdorp, So we anticipate some excitement ahead.
Travelling through the night, we passed Potchefstroom, Krugersdorp, Johannesburg and Pretoria, reaching the small town of Erste-Fabrieken, (15 miles east of Pretoria, on the Delagoa Bay Line) just at daybreak. Here we detrained and camped, -awaiting supplies from Pretoria....
Left Erste-Fabrieken at midnight, reaching Twefontein 9 a.m. We were here, joined by a detachment of Gordon Highlanders and the “Canadian Scouts”; under Major Ross – a welcome addition to our small column. The ‘Gordons’ have a reputation second to none, and the hard-faced, wiry looking Canadians look fit for anything.
Combined Column, - under our Colonel – left Twefontein at midnight. Reached Kalfontein 10.30 a.m.
Mounted Troops went out Westward on a reconnaissance, returning to camp at noon, with 14 prisoners. Prisoners all belonged to the now-disbanded ‘Staats Artillerie’, and are all smart, soldierly-looking men.
A large number of Boers have been camped here recently.
While down at the creek bathing this afternoon, we saw for the first time the South African frog, and were astonished at its size, for they are three times as large as our ordinary ‘big green frog’. When a number of them start croaking in the marshes, the noise is deafening.
We have been warned that there is an important move on to-night, and to get as much rest as possible. This we are always willing to do, if given the opportunity.
At 9 p.m. we got the order to “saddle-up” and leaving the gallant Gordons to guard camp, we moved silently out, carrying one blanket and a day’s rations each. We marched rapidly all night.
About an hour before dawn, we ran on to a small party of Boers, probably an “outpost” of a Commando. These gentlemen gave us a volley, by way of salute, and raced away for their lives.
We guessed they would “give the alarm” to their mates, so lost no time in following them. Just at dawn we came in sight of a Boer ‘Laager’ (Müller’s), and rushed down on it with shouts of “Hands up, you Dutchmen, hands up!”
Their Mausers rang out in reply, and the bullets whistled cheerfully about our ears. The enemy appeared to be preparing for a stubborn fight, but our artillery sent a few shells crashing down amongst them which seemed to have a wholesome effect on them, inasmuch that they promptly left their convoy, and made for the shelter of the hills. We quickly annexed the abandoned waggons, together with 47 prisoners, 500 cattle, and many Dutch families. Taking these along with us we pushed on over rough, picturesque country, camping at noon under some trees on the cool, shady banks of Kamelsford Spruit. We ‘offsaddled’ and let the tired horses graze about. The men, -weary, with their long night’s march, were not slow in availing themselves of the chance to snatch a few hours rest. By 1 o’clock most of them were asleep, - “dreaming of home faces; of the old familiar places, of the gum trees and the sunny plains, ten thousand miles away”. A few others and myself had just made a successful attack on a pot of tea, and with feeling of great content, - such as one feels after having performed his duty manfully– we were about to join the drowsy “Somnus” sleeping host, when -K-r-r-r-bang! came a shell from a Boer Gun on the hillside 2000 yards away; then another, and another, fair into the camp.
The sleeping camp was quickly in motion. Tired men, and habitually lazy fellows, sprang up with the agility of athletes. By this time the shells were coming thick and fast, and our guns were replying. A couple of our men went down, and a few horses were killed. For a time nothing could be heard but the scream of shells as they tore through the air. Over 80 fell in, and around our camp. The horses became frightened, and stampeded, not away, -but towards the fire. My old horse, strange to say, came up to the saddle, and stood there trembling. I volunteered (in a reckless moment) to bring the stampeders back, and in so doing, had a few very narrow shaves; --once a fragment of shell grazed my face- but that’s a detail. Our guns, however, - being more powerful perhaps, besides being well-directed -soon silenced the barking on the hillside, and we could see the Boers retiring to the kopjes further back. Our General gave the order to saddle up and follow on. This we did, finding the enemy shortly after, holding a fine position at the head of a remarkable pass, known as Wit-Nek.
They allowed us to approach to within 800 yards, then opened a heavy cross-fire on us. Fortunately there was plenty of ‘cover’ available.
For about an hour the firing was tremendous. The Canadians showed great dash and gallantry, in taking a kopje held by the Boers, but they lost a Serjeant – killed – and several wounded in doing so, more’s the pity.
While the men from Canada were engaged with the Boers “Left”, we rushed their Right Flank, successfully taking the position. Being dislodged, on both sides, they retired, and we went on through the “Nek” untroubled, camping on open country 8 p.m.
Our rations are all gone; we cannot even get water enough to make tea of, but we are tired, and glad enough to lie down beside our saddles, and go to sleep, trusting the Boers will not trouble us tonight... We have been nearly 22 hours in the saddle, and started out with only a pound of biscuit, but it is generally supposed by the British Authorities that we Colonials live exclusively in the saddle when at home, and as far as getting hungry, -well, most of us wear belts, and we can pull them up a few holes, when we feel that way. Pshaw! the very thought of hunger and fatigue is discreditable to the true Australian. The “wiry Colonial” never gets tired.
Left camp 3.30 a.m., rejoining convoy at Kaalfontein 10.30 a.m.
Left camp same night at 10 o’clock. Surrounded a farm-house about midnight. Capturing Commandant Wolmarans, and a few others who were hiding therein. Wolmarans, by-the-way, is the head of a “train-wrecking” gang out this way, and ‘wanted’ on several charges.
Column reached Waggon Drift noon.
Left camp 3 a.m. reaching Erste – Fabrieken 9 a.m.
The late “trek” has been the hardest we have yet done, but we succeeded in breaking up Müller’s Commando, for which purpose we set out.
Marched to Pretoria. Commander-in-chief Lord Kitchener inspected column as we came in, expressing his satisfaction in his characteristically brief language. “Splendid men, and very good horses” was his ‘summing up’. He is a big man with keen, grey eyes, and character written in every feature of his face. It takes but one glance to tell he is a great man. He paid us the high compliment of sending a Military Band out to meet us, and we marched into camp to the stirring sounds of martial music – the first we’ve heard since leaving Randwick.
In camp... A general view of the surrounding country gives one the impression that the Boers might easily have held Pretoria, much longer than they did. The town, with lofty chains of mountains running completely round it, with the aid of a few pieces of heavy artillery, could be made almost impregnable. At the present time there is a ‘fort’ every half-mile round the chain of hills, and I think an enemy would have the greatest difficulty now, in effecting an entrance to the town.
Went into Pretoria this morning with two other “non-coms”. The town is very pretty; - the ornamental green trees, the bright flower–gardens and the pretty, clean little pink–and–white cottages looked beautiful, after the monotony of the great, far-stretching, silent veldt.
We first went to the Public Baths, -a very necessary step to take-, then to the Raad-Stad (Parliament House) which place we were shown through by an obliging official. Everything remains exactly as when the last Parliament (a Boer one) sat. Kruger’s chair is still in its old place. From here we went to those magnificent public buildings, known as the “Palace of Justice”. We were also shown over these, - by one of the clerks, - an ex-Victorian Contingenter.
We next explored Kruger’s (or as it is pronounced here Kreer’s) residence. The building itself is a low, and unpretentious structure; the two great ‘lions’ in the front forming the most note-worthy feature of the ex-President’s house. We saw Lord Kitchener’s residence, (got a few roses from his garden, in fact) and also the little cottage in which Rider Haggard wrote his book “Jess”.
It was noon by this time, and imagining we had earned lunch, we went to the ‘English’ Restaurant (kept by a Jew) and had a very fair dinner. One of our party tendered a sovereign for payment asking for the change in ‘silver’. Imagine his surprise when the gentleman from Jerusalem politely informed him that it was “de gorrect amound” for three dinners. War!! We other two consoled our ‘would-be-generous’ companion by taking him to a photographer’s to have his photo taken. The result I fancy, will not be very good; our friend did not appear to have his most cheerful expression on; he appeared to be thinking of something.
During the afternoon we saw a cricket match played. “Johannesburg – V – Pretoria”, resulting in a win for the latter.
After tea we took a ‘cab’, and got back to camp well pleased with our day’s outing. (Cabs, by the way, are worth 7/6 an hour, and not over comfortable at that.)
Column entrained for Bronkhorst Spriut 7 a.m., which place we reached 4 p.m. Camped near Railway Station.
Left Station 8 a.m. travelling West. Reached Blesbokfontein 1 p.m.
Convoy remained in camp. Mounted Column went out 4 p.m. Patrolled all night in a South Westerly direction visiting many houses, but found no Boers. Rejoined convoy 8 a.m.
Column left Blesbokfontein, returning to Bronkhorst Spriut – Heavy rain falling 6 p.m.
Reveille 2 a.m. this morning.
Travelled East, along the Line, camping at Wilge River noon.
9 p.m. Most vivid lightning I have ever seen in my life. Down South a ball of electric fire hangs stationary for, sometimes, 30 seconds, and the chain lightning is grand. Flash after flash lights up the heavens to such an extent as to cause our nervous tent-mate (usually a typical Australian as regards language) to solemnly suggest that we should discontinue swearing – till the storm was over at least. – We did, (because we went to sleep).
Left Wilge-River 4 a.m., reaching Balmoral 9 a.m. A very appropriate place to be on King’s Birthday. Outspanned till 1 p.m., reached Brug Spruit 5 p.m.
Left camp 4 a.m. in heavy rain. Had much difficulty in crossing several ‘drifts’ now running “bankers”. Reached ‘Groot Oliphant’s Rivier at dusk.
8 p.m. Real tropical rains falling to-night.
Column reached Middelburg 5.30 p.m. Lieut. Griffiths, with 18 men, arrived from Detail Camp, Klerksdorp, 6 p.m.
In camp. Recvd a good many “remounts” from the Depôt here.
Eight men sent to local Hospital with fever; 5 rejoined, from hospital.
Force left Middelburg 4 a.m., travelling South-East. Reached Bankfontein noon.
Shortly after leaving camp this morning our Rear-Guard was attacked by a small force of Boers. There were no casualties. Reached Leufontein noon.
Column left camp 6 a.m. Again Boers, -this time in greater force – came on to our Rearguard. Our artillery opened fire, and the enemy retired. Reached Middel Kraal 5 p.m.
General Botha is reported to be in this district with a large force.
Reveille 3 a.m. Mounted Troops left camp 4 a.m. to reconnoitre surrounding country, leaving Convoy in charge of the Gordon Highlanders. We did not come in contact with any Boers -though we saw plenty in the distance.
“C” Squadron sent out on patrol 3 a.m., returning to camp early in afternoon.
Column remained in camp. Heavy rain falling to-day.
Left Middel Kraal 8 a.m. The ground is saturated with rain, and it is with difficulty that the Convoy can get along at all. Camped at Wolmefontein.
Column reached Middelburg at noon.
Left camp early this morning going out as far as Wolmefontein.
Reached Middelkraal 5 p.m. Boers were seen on the Right Flank but did not approach within rifle range.
Blockhouses are being built out here connecting the “Pretoria – Delagoa Bay Line” with the Elandsfontein – Natal Line.
The Boers are swarming out here, doing their utmost to retard building operations.
Mounted Column went out on patrol at midnight. About 9 a.m., we surprised and captured a small party of Boers.
Left Middelkraal 6 a.m., travelling East, over magnificent grazing country. This is said to be the finest horse-breeding district in the Transvaal, and judging by some we have caught, running wild it certainly would seem well adapted for that purpose. Some cattle we have captured about here show, also, some quality, and are in excellent condition. Camped at Klip-fontein 5.30 p.m.
Left camp 5 a.m. Boers attacked Rear Guard, - capturing one of Major Carrington’s Bushmen.
Camped at Kaal –Spruit 4 p.m. The captured Bushman strolled into camp 6 p.m. minus horse, saddle, rifle and most of his clothes; his feelings hurt, otherwise uninjured.
Column reached Wanderfontein, a railway station out on the Delagoa Bay Line.
Remained in camp, taking in Supplies. Six of our men sent to Hospital – four rejoined, -convalescent. “Gordons” left for Belfast this morning. They will be replaced by the Shropshire Light Infantry. We are sorry to lose the Scotchmen -they are fine fellows.
Left Wanderfontien 3.30 a.m., reaching Lilliefontein 4 p.m.
Reached the pretty, but now deserted town of Carolina 2 p.m. The Boers, it said, held a dance here last night. Quite romantic. Very mean of them not to have invited us. Perhaps they will dance to the music of our rifles ‘ere long (and maybe, we to theirs).
Column left Carolina 3 a.m., reaching Smutzhoog about noon. Got a fine mob of sheep to-day, - some of them quite recently shorn, (and carefully shorn too, judging by the “even cut”). A better class of sheep too over this side, than in the Western Transvaal.
The wild flowers here are magnificent, and together with the vivid green of the veldt, make a lovely picture, - a veritable “Fairy-land”. One could never tire of the great plains of S. Africa at this season of the year.
Our mounted men, and the Canadians left camp 2 a.m. this morning. By 9 o’clock we had reached the high country looking down upon Trichard’s Fontein. Here we met with a surprise. Down in the valley below lay a big Boer ‘Laager’ guarded, (it is said) by Botha’s 2000 men. We didn’t find out their full strength, until after we had received orders to take the convoy. Racing down, in our usual wild fashion, with the Canadians close by on our right, we succeeded in getting 50 or 60 waggons away for a few hundred yards, getting a pretty warm time in doing so. The Boer women in the vans were firing at us as we approached. Fortunately, their aim was not equal to their enthusiasm. But now the Boers let us have it. The hills all round seemed alive with armed men (and artillery too).
The shriek of their15 pounder and the deep incessant growl of a “Krupp” on our ‘Right’ was enough to strike terror into the hearts of most men, to say nothing of the cracking of a thousand Mausers, and the horrid thud of bullets as they tore up the dust about us.
At times the very air seemed to sing with the rushing and whistling of lead. It seems marvellous how bullets can miss you. One of our fellows had one pass through his coat; the pommel of another’s saddle was cut away; a third got his hat ear-marked, and so on.
Our Squadron alone -comprised as it was of less than 60 horsemen- had eight horses shot, and yet not a man of us hit. But it was getting too hot. With a few regrets (very few) we abandoned all the waggons, (excepting eight, which were well forward and almost out of range of the Boer rifles) and ‘cut’ for our lives. My word we did ride. . When our little column was well out of range of Boer fire, our General coolly ordered a halt, and, -securing a good position quietly offsaddled. This admirable bit of coolness, on the part of our Commander, probably saved our Column from a severe “cutting up” or capture, as the Boers seeing us camp must have taken it for granted, that we were awaiting re-inforcements, or else, sufficiently strong to repel an attack. As a matter of fact, our strength was but one quarter of theirs, and our horses tired. The enemy gradually retreated and at
4 p.m., we started on our homeward march, camping shortly after dark at Leu-Kop.
We have neither forage, blankets nor rations. Our Colonel expected to be back to camp tonight. He didn’t calculate on having to sit four hours on a hill-side waiting for the horrid Boers to go away.
Reached camp 10.30 a.m. Picked up a fine herd of cattle as we came in.
Force left Smutzhoog 6 a.m. travelling South-West. Reached Nooitdecht 3 p.m. 9 p.m. outposts fired on some figures, - probably Boer spies – creeping stealthily through the long grass, towards the camp.
Reached Kalabashfontein 6 p.m.
Column remained in camp. Supply waggons, escorted by 3rd Bushmen went over to Colonel Fortesque’s Column -12 miles distant-, for 3 days supplies.
Our mounted Coloum, in conjunction with the W. Australian Mtd. Rifles and 19th Hussars (Col Wing’s Column) left camp 4 p.m. on a big move. Sir H. Rawlinson with his 2000 M.I. is to operate 10 miles to Westward. We travelled all night in a Southerly direction. ‘Dark’ would not covey any idea of what the night was. The inky blackness was such that one could not even see the outline of the man riding next [to] you, though he may have been only a few feet away.
The troops, as may be imagined under the circumstances, got very much mixed up on one or two occasions. At intervals a tremendous flash of lightning would flash over the scene, and then there’d be a rush for places. The Hon-Rupert was kept busy riding up and down our lines enquiring if there were any of his “Bushmen” there, and so on.
At 4 a.m. our advance struck a Boer outpost. A mile behind lay a fine ‘laager’. (Grobelaar’s) and a large herd of cattle. We could hear the latter bellowing like cattle will do when being hurriedly mustered. We bore down on the camp at full speed, the Canadians yelling and riding like madmen, the Hussars quiet and determined, like the ‘old soldiers’ they are. The Boers were, no doubt, surprised. They stood for a while, then retired hurriedly, leaving us in possession of 30 waggons, and all the cattle 5000 head; besides nearly 100 prisoners.
We had not quite finished with them yet, however. They had doubled back and were attacking our Right Flank.
In the action which ensued, one of our best officers (Lieut. Forster) was killed; Lieut. Eyre and two troopers wounded. The Boers lost more heavily.
At 9 a.m. we halted; offsaddled; had breakfast and two hours rest.
At 11 a.m. started on our long, homeward march, taking our fine mob of bovines along with us. Most of us have travelled with cattle out in Australia, but never under such novel conditions.
The Boers followed in up the rear, sniping, which made the ‘tail-end’ drovers desirous of putting up a pace record.
We reached our convoy at Bethel a small garrison town, 20 miles North of Standerton – at 5 p.m., having been 25 hours away, 23 of which were spent in the saddle. I think this is about a record, even for Colonial Troops.
Column remained in camp today. Buried poor Mr Forster at noon. Officers and men feel that they have lost friend, and spare no pains in making a neat enclosure round the popular soldier’s last resting place.
Our Column has been officially attached to Major- General Bruce Hamilton’s Brigade.
Left Bethel 5 a.m. travelling East. Halted at Spion Kop 8.30 a.m.
Mounted Brigade left camp again 6 p.m. travelling through the night in an Easterly direction. Information has been received that Viljoen, with a strong Commando, is at “Bushman’s Hoek”, - 35 miles distant.
At dawn, we reached Bushman’s Hoek. As we approached, the enemy, -probably 500 strong- retired, taking up a strong position 800 yards in front, on a range of hills. Orders were given to charge the position. Our Squadron was in front. As we raced across the plain, in extended order, the hill in front seemed ablaze with fire, made more apparent by the peculiar half-light of the misty, early morning.
For the first time, I heard bullets cracking like stockwhips. Whether these are “explosive” bullets, I know not, but certainly they make a most peculiar noise, and by no means a pleasant one. The “Hussars” were on our Right and the West Australians on our Left, and forward we raced.
Some of the Boers, we noticed, were beginning to leave their positions; some remained too long, and were captured.
Flying Dutchmen could be seen, in small groups, riding for dear life. Three others (- who were a trifle in advance of the rest-), and myself followed one of these groups, 13 in all, an unlucky number. -For whom? – It was a fine chase. Five miles, or more we pursued the flying burghers. Three of them surrendered to us. Leaving them in charge of one of our number, we raced on after the others, firing as we went. “It was grand to see those practiced horsemen ride”. Through meer-cat-holes, and boulders, over rough and broken ground, down the hillside at a racing pace they went. Once we got within a hundred yards of them, - so close in fact, that some of our fellows away behind took us for Boers also, and were emptying their ‘magazines’ at us with marvellous rapidity and zeal.
Finding we could not gain on the well-mounted men in front, we dismounted, fired a few volleys and succeeded in “winging” three of them as they raced over the brow of the hill in front. Having had enough chasing for one day, we rejoined the column at 8 a.m., where a halt was made, and breakfast partaken of.
One hundred and eight prisoners fell to our lot, besides a “Field Gun”, one of three captured by the Boers from Colonel Benson a few months back at Braken-laagte. We had one man killed, and several wounded. At noon, our march was resumed, campwards. I Shall never forget the overpowering Sultriness of the afternoon. I Sneaked off to an orchard en route, and got some green peaches – which revived my drooping Spirits. Others were falling asleep in the saddle.
Heavy masses of black clouds loomed up to Southward. Long low rumbles of distant thunder might be heard now and then. This, and the occasional “click-clock” of a hidden ‘sniper’, were the only sounds which broke the awful stillness. But shortly after dark, a thunderstorm- the heaviest I have ever experienced – broke overhead, coupled with the most terrific lightning. During one ‘flash’ almost every man in the column, felt he was lightly struck; some of the horses fell on their knees. It was one of those storms which Rider Haggard, describes so well. We could see the lightning actually running round in circles, where the most ironstone abounded.
Our convoy had moved on to the Garrison town of ‘Ermelo’, which place we reached at 8 p.m., - tired hungry and wet. I don’t think I was ever more truly thankful for the sight of camp in my life. Little wonder that we feel weary, for during the last 26 hours, we have only had four hours rest, and that under a scorching sun, on the shadeless plain at Bushman’s Hoek.
The horses look bad this morning after their recent hard work. We hear the Column is to remain in camp for three days, in which case they’ll have time to pull round a bit.
Australians are lost with out their horses, and I must say they look after them well, when they have the chance. There is a forage depôt less than a mile away, and the quantity of the oats that finds its way into our lines, unaided -, is surprising.
Message from Lord Kitchener received this morning, congratulating Colonel E.C.Williams and his column, on the splendid work they have recently done. Since December 1st over 300 prisoners have been captured besides 30 killed; 21 wounded – 7000 cattle; 290 horses; 60 wagons; 80 carts; 8000 rounds of ammunition, and 1 Field Gun.
So many captures, he (Kitchener) thinks, are due to the manner in which the Colonials charge when once they sight the enemy.
This the first Sunday we’ve had in camp for a very long time. We celebrate it by a church parade in afternoon.
Shifted camp to fresh site, the one on which we have been is damp and unhealthy. More men sent to Hospital today. The Field Strength of our Squadron is now barely 70, when we landed in Africa it numbered 125. All the other Squadrons of the Regiment have suffered in a like manner.
Our Mounted Column, in conjunction with Colonels Rawlinson and Wing, left Ermelo 6.45 p.m., travelling South–East, towards the Swazi-land Border. We crossed the ‘Vaal’ at midnight. Shortly after heavy rains fell, delaying us considerably. We reached Smutz-farm ½ an hour after daylight, only to see where a fair sized Commando had been camped a few hours prior to our arrival. No Boers now in Sight. The country around is rocky and exceedingly rough and rugged.
Returned to Onverwacht, where our convoy awaits us, noon. Heavy rain still falling.
Column left camp again at mid-day going again Eastward. Reached Brank-Kop 6.15 p.m. Had supper; saddled up, and left camp 7.30 p.m.
Daylight found us amongst the great gloomy mountains which form the Swaziland Border. There is a certain rugged picturesqueness which we cannot help but admire, in spite of the fact that we are wet to the skin, cold, and hungry. Such is Natures power over poor mortals.
Great masses of rock, hundreds of feet high, rise up on every side, - excellent places for Brother Boer to hide.
At 8 a.m. we had breakfast, and rested until noon, then home by a circuitous route. About 3 p.m. we ran on to a fine herd of cattle, guarded by a few hundred Boers. After a sharp little skirmish we succeeded in annexing the bovines (nearly 800); a small mob of sheep; four waggons, and 11 prisoners.
It rained in torrents all the afternoon, and showed little signs of abating when we reached our camp about midnight. Once in the blankets, “our troubles!!”
A day in camp.... The sheep captured yesterday are the best I have yet seen in South Africa; large framed; well-woolled, and in good condition. They appeared to have been breed by some-one with a knowledge of sheep-breeding.
The cattle are also above the average Transvaal breed, which generally develop tremendous horns, and (tho’ large) are narrow, ill made brutes, and judging by the coarse, low set heads and high withers, - have a big dash of buffalo in them.
A Transvaal butcher told me once, that a bullock in this country, when ‘dressed’, rarely exceeds 800 pounds in weight. This, - considering their huge frames, - is a very poor weight, indeed, and may be attributed to the breed, not the country.
Column left camp on return to Ermelo 5 a.m.
Our Squadron formed the Rear-Guard. The country is rough and treacherous. To avoid surprise from the rear, I was sent, with 3 men to the top of a big kopje to act as “Observation Post”. Our instructions were to stay up there until every man of the Column had crossed the difficult spruit at the foot of the hill... When we reached the summit we could see numbers of Boers coming across our late camp, and making for the kopje which we held.
A vigorous rifle-fire from our little party kept them for a while in check, but not for long. The Column appeared to be crawling along. On came the Boers. We were watching them with one eye, and the spruit with the other. By the time the last of our men had crossed, the “Jackies” were within 400 yards of us.
I thought we had remained long enough, (and I fancied a little to long) so mounting our horses with commendable alacrity, we commenced our descent. By the time a distance of 200 yards was traversed, fully 20 Boers had raced across the level ground on top and were now on the brink of the hill, giving us a practical demonstration of their marksmanship, which, - fortunately for us – is not faultless. Some bullets went close, - very close-, but we did not stop to argue with the shooters about such trifles as “windage”, “fine sight” and “coarse sight”, but were content in just showing those poor ignorant fellows how we could ride.
Soon after our “pom-pom” got to work on them, and they scattered in all directions. We had, however, to fight a rear guard action all the way to the ‘Vaal’, which we reached at noon.
Owing to recent heavy rains, the river is in flood, so we must camp till the Ermelo Pontoon Bridge Section is sent for, to construct a bridge across the muddy waters. The message was sent by means of a Field Telegraph line, which General Hamilton always lays on his marches. The innocent-looking little wire runs through the long grasses often unnoticed by the enemy, and proves a blessing in emergencies such as the present.
It has turned out a lovely day, and this is a pretty camp. To Eastward, as far as the eye can reach lay the great plains, (now covered with waving grass) stretching away to the Swazi border.
The mighty mountains of Natal, - the giant, snow-capped Drakenbergs loom out dimly in the Southern haze; in front like a great grey snake, glides the silvery Vaal, and beyond the river lies the great expanse of the Transvaal.
It is Christmas Eve. “Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men”. Two thousand years ago when “Herod-the-Great” ruled, and there was strife throughout the Land of Egypt, the shepherds of Judea saw the wondrous Star hanging low in the sky above Bethlehem, and first heard those oft-repeated words; and “they were afraid at the things they saw and heard, but the Angel Gabriel came down to them and said “Fear not”! For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” “ Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, [sic] which is Christ-the-Lord”. The herald spoke not again, but departed in a ray of light. The shepherds on the hillside standing mute could hear “voices as of a multitude chanting in unison. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men”!!!
The great blue vault of heaven overhead; the glorious wild flowers; the flutter of bright winged butterflies, and the vast expanse of Solemn, silent veldt, all seem to whisper words of “peace and goodwill to men”. It is pleasant to stretch out, in the warm sunshine, and think (for awhile) of better things than a despot’s pride, a Nation’s quarrel, war and strife.
Who would think to look at the peaceful scene beyond, that for 3 consecutive Christmas Eves, the gloomy clouds of war have been hanging like a pall over the once bright and prosperous Transvaal? Who would think that even a few hours ago, we were engaged in actual warfare with a stubborn, brave and resourceful enemy, who are even now lurking in the vicinity of this camp? But then who would think to look at yonder river, that beneath its placid surface, runs a wild fierce undercurrent, - wilder and stronger than any other in South Africa? So taking no notice of outward appearances, we will sleep, as usual, with our boots on to-night, and our rifles close by. “Santa-Claus himself, if he should visit us, will need to have the proper “Countersign”. *** We are on ¼ rations tonight
A merry Christmas to you all! If not a very merry one, it certainly possessed the charm of novelty. Up at 5.30. Half through a breakfast of fried meat, army biscuit and black coffee, when orders came down from Head Qts. to saddle up at once, as the Pontoon Bridge was completed and we were to cross first. We were soon on the move. The bridge, we found, was a simple construction; - three large punts with planking laid on top. It carried our whole column over, however, and that too in good style, waggons and all.
Here by the banks of the rushing ‘Vaal’ we ate our Christmas Dinner, untroubled with visions of antiquated turkey and sodden pudding. One burglar-proof and fire-resisting biscuit and a pot of “café-noir” was the extent of our festive board. We enjoyed our modest repast, and I don’t think any of us will be sick after it. Our Scouts were in action about mid-day.
After a long, heavy march, we reached Ermelo about dusk. So ended XMAS.1901-
In Camp. No Boxing-Day celebrations to attend, so spent most of the day quietly writing to friends across the sea.
Our magnanimous Commander-in-chief has ordained that the British Army in South Africa , and members of over-sea Contingents, shall not be deprived of Xmas luxuries.
The said luxuries, reached our Column about noon, and were quickly issued to the clamorous soldiers.
1 lb of plum-pudding, and a pint of beer per man. That’s what it was. The pudding was exceedingly rich, -and the beer – well, it was exceedingly poor, and the two together, swallowed as they were, then and there, did not prove an unmixed blessing, and tarried not with the receiver. There were, however, some with cast-iron constitutions, who repressed, - by dint of firmness, and courage -, any rebellious risings, and were able to show their appreciation of the Kings goodness.
I was among their limited ranks and was duly respected, by my less fortunate comrades for my valiant conduct.
General inspection of horses by O.C. who expressed himself satisfied with their condition. No 698 Trooper---- was this day awarded by Field General-court- martial, 42 days Imprisonment with Hard Labor, [sic] for stealing rations belonging to his Squadron. When “Hard Labor” [sic] is given, the recipient forfeits his wages for the whole term of imprisonment, -which in this case, means a forfeiture of £10.10
Column left camp 7.30 p.m. going East. We reached the ‘Vaal’ at dawn, and found it still in high flood. As time appeared of more importance than the feelings of the men, we had to do a “swim”. It was fine, - after you had crossed – to see others take their bath in the swift cold waters. All safely over, we pushed on. (The waggons will follow later by pontoon.) Visited some farm house in a secluded valley, bagging 15 armed Boers. Reached Brank-Kop mid-day. .... 6 p.m. Heavy rain falling. No sign of convoy coming; no horse-feed, no rations, and no blankets; every prospect of a pleasant night, - sitting on the side of a wet hill, holding our horses till morning.
Ugh! Never so glad in all my life to see daylight. We have been alternately lying, sitting and standing in 6 inches of water throughout the long, cold night.
The other fellows look pictures. I expect I do too, but I’ve got no mirror, to see.
Convoy came up at noon. They too have had a rough time, travelling, or trying to travel all night.
Up went the tents. With the sanguine temperament, characteristic of the soldiers, we fully expected a snug night in camp. The rain, which has been hanging off all day, is again coming down in an incessant grey drizzle, but, with the exception of the poor chaps on outpost, we are comfortably ensconced in our canvas homes, and what care we?
Imagine our surprise, when at 11 o’clock the “turn-out” sounded; also imagine the ‘language’ as the men reluctantly saddled up, in the inky blackness of the drizzling, murky night. I expect our General knew what he was doing, but the general concessus of opinion was against that idea. Had a vote of censure been taken at the time, The Opposition would have had a glorious victory, but it was not to be.
Away we went creeping along through the evil blackness of the night, - our hearts too full for utterance. Peal on peal of thunder echoing on the ironstone hills, like the dull booming of heavy artillery; terrific lightning, dancing fantastically along the barrels of our rifles, showing in ghastly relief the weird procession creeping over the silent veldt, and to finish all the pitiless rain streaming down, as tho’ there was no restraining power in heaven. Most of us, I fancy, were busy making mental comparisons about seeing New Years in happier times, and better places. So passed the Old Year-01
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That's the beauty of knowing that you are right, you never have to check the validity of your decision making. At this stage I could make a snide comment about President Bush's and Prime Minister Blair's Iraq "policy", but that would be a tad off topic.
Anyhoo, it seems that Nanny's followers are getting themselves into a right "two and eight" (rhyming slang for "state") over wireless networks.
It seems that some parents and teachers (remember Nanny comes in many forms; "Nanny is a Nanny does") are forcing some schools to dismantle wireless computer networks.
Well these people, despite having no hard scientific evidence, are of the belief that wireless networks pose a danger to their precious childrens' health.
The fear is that the low levels of microwave radiation emitted by the transmitters could be harmful, causing loss of concentration, headaches, fatigue, memory and behavioural problems and possibly cancer in the long term.
Nanny's followers lobbied hard at Prebendal School, in Chichester West Sussex, and have persuaded the headteacher, Tim Cannell, to remove the wireless network in October.
Mr Cannell said:
"We listened to the parents' views
and they were obviously very concerned.
We also did a lot of research.
The authorities say it's safe,
but there have been no long-term studies to prove this."
The key part being that there is no evidence to say that it is dangerous, yet they remove it anyway; a decision based purely on ignorance and fear.
Vivienne Baron, who is bringing up Sebastian, her 10 year old grandson, said:
"I did not want Sebastian exposed to a wireless computer network at school.
No real evidence has been produced
to prove that this new technology is safe in the long term.
Until it is, I think we should take a precautionary approach and use cabled systems."
How does she know that cable technology is safe?
How does she know that pc's are safe in the long term?
They have only been with us for 20 years or so, damage caused by serious long term exposure to pc's might not be evident for another 20 years or more.
You see folks, what we think of as safe is based more often than not on our prejudices and fears, rather than hard reliable scientific fact.
At Ysgol Pantycelyn, a comprehensive in Carmarthenshire, parents put paid to the wireless network there too.
I would make the following observations; based on my own prejudices, fears and ignorance:
- Were we to have had this fuss when fire was invented, we would still be eating raw meat and huddled together in animal skins. Fire is dangerous, it has a habit of burning things and killing people. Yet we have used it for thousands of years.
- I wonder if Sebastian's granny, or the parents of all the other "Sebastians" allow their sprogs to use mobile phones?
I bet many of them do.
Aren't these meant to be slightly dubious as well? Don't these emit low level microwave radiation?
Do I smell the faint whiff of hypocrisy here?
- Do these same parents of "Sebastians" have pc's, wireless networks, tv's etc at home?
I bet many do?
Again, there is a whiff of hypocrisy in the air.
What do you think is dangerous and should be banned?
Remember folks, don't worry about using facts to justify your campaign or arguments; blind prejudice and ignorance is all we need in Nanny's Britain! | <urn:uuid:540229d4-348b-4300-8193-8bcdc1532dee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nannyknowsbest.blogspot.com/2006/12/nanny-bans-wireless.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968929 | 753 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Geddes (WSYR-TV) -- Kids boasting giant stuffed animals they won at a game by the Midway is a classic sight at the Fair, but many people are convinced the games are rigged so most of us can’t win.
Debbi Bowshier has been working fairs for more than 30 years. She says she never likes to see kids lose and often hands over extra darts for a second chance at a prize.
“The fair is to make sure the kids are happy. Where else can you go and play all day and get paid to work? It's long hours, but we get paid to have fun,” Bowshier said.
Others working the games say they don't like to end the Fair with too many stuffed animals left.
“It’s easier on me when we tear down. It’s less work I have to do when it’s not here, you know, of course I want you to win,” said another games attendant at the Fair, Corey Castleberry.
Castleberry says he's always dispelling pessimists who believe his game is rigged.
“There’s no tricks…It's just, you got to know what to do and how to do it. That's all it is. I didn't know how to do this when I first jumped in, but the more you play with it the better you get,” Castleberry said.
He even turned the game around to prove it's not easier from his side, which is a common myth.
The games that are completely rigged, we actually found to be in your favor and there really are some games where kids always win. | <urn:uuid:713ac79d-c973-4882-8d01-fa0a8bdf4564> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.9wsyr.com/content/news/fair/story/Fair-games-not-as-tricky-as-they-seem/fgQsXSAEh0yDxsPZ6loNSg.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983673 | 353 | 1.65625 | 2 |
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Take Action : Serious concern for health of Uzbek human rights defender Mutabar Tadjibaeva
Front Line is gravely concerned following reports of the deterioration in the health of Mutabar Tadjibaeva, human rights defender and Chairperson of the human rights organisation “Plammenoe Serdtse” (Fiery Hearts Club) in Ferghana city. Mutabar Tajibaeva was arrested on 7 October 2005 and subsequently sentenced to 8 years in prison on 6 March 2006. She is currently being detained at Tashkent Prison. Front Line has previously expressed grave concern at the continued detention of Mutabar Tadjibaeva and her deteriorating health, most recently on 28 March 2007.
On 6 July 2007, members of Mutabar Tadjibaeva's family, including her brother and her daughter attempted to visit her at Tashkent Prison, but were informed by prison officials that she was being held in solitary confinement as punishment for violating prison rules and would not be able to meet with them. Relatives of Mutabar Tajibaeva have been denied the right to visit her in detention since 9 January 2007, despite numerous attempts to bring her medication and food, which the prison officials have allegedly refused to give to her. Her family has allegedly been told that her health is deteriorating and that she is in urgent need of medical assistance as she suffers from hight blood pressure and is suffering from kidney-related illness caused by the cold conditions in solitary confinement. Despite such reports, delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been prevented from seeing her to provide medical treatment.
Mutabar Tadjibaeva has been in detention since 28 March 2005, seven months of which were spent in solitary confinement. She was also held in a psychiatric unit for mentally ill and drug-addicted persons, located in a women's detention centre in the Mirabad district of Tashkent.
Front Line is extremely concerned that Mutabar Tadjibaeva is not receiving adequate medical treatment and believes she has been detained and subjected to ill-treatment due to her legitimate and peaceful activities in defense of human rights. | <urn:uuid:e0fb4e71-fce3-4fd2-a171-e4a2d5d051a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1109 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984996 | 449 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Obama Capitalizes On Emerging Voter Groups
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
On the day after Election Day, it's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
One analysis of President Obama's re-election is that he won not by going after Independent voters, but by going after emerging groups in the U.S. population. By race, age and gender, voters made clear that America is made up of many parts, and the Obama captured more of them and delivered more of them to the polls. For a closer look at how the electorate's split, we're joined by Cokie Roberts.
COKIE ROBERTS, BYLINE: Hi, Renee.
MONTAGNE: So, Cokie, all year one group we've been talking about are Latinos, Hispanic voters and their potential as a voting bloc. So this did play out - big.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. For the first time, they broke double digits in showing up at the polls. Ten percent of the electorate was Hispanic. And they broke 71 percent for Barack Obama. That is the biggest margin he's ever gotten - anybody's gotten. It is huge.
MONTAGNE: And beyond the Latino vote, African-Americans have been solidly Democratic since the civil rights bills of the 1960s, but there was some concern on Democrats this year that the president's support for gay marriage might turn some of that voting bloc off, depress that vote. What happened?
ROBERTS: It didn't happen. About 13 percent of the electorate was African-American and they went 93 percent for President Obama.
And on that question of gay marriage, Renee, it is fascinating. Up until now, anytime gay marriage was on a referendum, on a ballot for all the voters to decide, it lost. Not so yesterday. Anyplace it was on the ballot, gay marriage won. That is a huge change.
And part of that change comes from young people. And part of the reason that the Democrats went after promoting gay marriage so much was to attract young people, with fear that those young people wouldn't be showing up this time the way they did last time. And so that was one of the tactics for getting to them.
MONTAGNE: And, in fact, Cokie, did they show up in the same numbers as 2008?
ROBERTS: Yes, they did. In fact, slightly more - one tick up. Nineteen percent versus 18 percent of the electorate was people 18 to 29 and 60 percent of them went for Barack Obama. You're beginning to see the problem here for the Republican Party.
Now, the flip side is that voters over 45 went for Romney and voters over 65 went for him by 12 points. And that is a very significant and growing part of the electorate, as that huge pig in the python, the baby boom, moves into retirement age.
MONTAGNE: Well, let's turn to one other group in these last few seconds here - women. The president's gender gap seems to have held up much better than it was even expected to.
ROBERTS: That's true. He won women by 13 points last time, 11 points this time. The big difference is he lost men this time. He won them by one point last time, lost by seven points this time. So there are big divides, Renee, and we haven't even mentioned regional differences, religious differences. By the way, the Catholic vote stayed with Obama.
There's a lot of talk today about Republicans reaching out for the future. But President Obama has to reach out for the immediate present, because we have such enormous divides in this country right now. He was able to take advantage of the future, of the growing minority, young and to some degree female vote. But it is a divide where he's lost whites, he's lost Southerners, he's lost the people of a certain income and age. And he's really got to do something fast to deal with that.
MONTAGNE: OK. Well, thanks very much. NPR's Cokie Roberts.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio. | <urn:uuid:35c4bd47-c5ed-47c3-b5c9-909781b6bc6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/2012/11/07/164582496/obama-capitalizes-on-emerging-voter-groups?ft=1&f=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972927 | 930 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Documentary Studies Specialization
What do Man on Wire, An Inconvenient Truth, The Fog of War, The March of the Penguins, Born into Brothels, and Bowling for Columbine have in common? They are all Academy Award winning documentaries. They are all powerful and compelling stories based on real life ideas and issues and people, and they move us and enlighten us in ways that fiction film does not.
Have you ever looked at the photographs of Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, W. Eugene Smith, or Henri Cartier Bresson ? Have you visited magnumphotos.com? Check them out, and be prepared to be blown away.
This is the documentary tradition, and MSU now offers a specialization in Documentary Studies that will prepare you to be a part of that tradition. Our focus is on the history, theory, and production of Documentary forms and modes of expression. That means film, video, audio, web, photography – any medium with which you can examine the wonder and complexity of the real world.
Our focus is on bringing high level production and analysis together to produce theoretically informed work. Students will gain a cutting edge understanding of the challenges of representing reality. We will screen the best works of the present and the past, work in teams to create short and long form documentaries, and interact with the best of contemporary documentarians. Graduates of the specialization will be prepared for success in the world of the documentary, whether it is in Journalism, Public or Cable Television, or Independent or Feature films.
Offered By: The specialization is administered jointly by the College of Arts and Letters and College of Communication Arts and Sciences. The College of Arts & Letters is the lead administrative unit.
Who is the Specialization for?
Students enrolled in bachelor's programs at Michigan State University are eligible to apply for the specialization if they are sophomores in good standing.
The primary pool of students that the specialization will draw from will be in Media and Information in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media; The School of Journalism; The Department of English; and the Department of Writing Rhetoric, and American Culture. However, students in other academic disciplines are encouraged to apply.
Eligibility & Applying
You must apply and get accepted into this program in order to complete the specialization. Students will apply for the Specialization in Spring of their sophomore year. To apply, students must submit an application. The application is available on the CAS Academic and Student Affairs website.
Applications will be reviewed and decisions made before the start of annual enrollment of the Spring semester by a subset of the core faculty from both colleges who will teach in the specialization.
Example Student Work
- Eligibility, Program Requirements, and Application for the Documentary Studies Specialization (on the CAS Academic and Student Affairs website)
- Schedule an appointment with an Undergraduate Academic Advisor | <urn:uuid:4c9163f5-9884-4832-a3a3-361c34ee20b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tc.msu.edu/tism/documentary-studies-specialization | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933814 | 591 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Monday, July 2, 2012 – George Lucas
“A lot of people like to do certain things, but they’re not that good at it. Keep going through the things that you like to do, until you find something that you actually seem to be extremely good at. It can be anything.”
“Everybody has talent, it’s just a matter of moving around until you’ve discovered what it is.”
“Part of the issue of achievement is to be able to set realistic goals, but that’s one of the hardest things to do because you don’t always know exactly where you’re going, and you shouldn’t.”
“Star Wars” is fun, its exciting, its inspirational, and people respond to that. It’s what they want.”
“Whatever has happened in my quest for innovation has been part of my quest for immaculate reality.”
“When you are a beginning film maker you are desperate to survive. The most important thing in the end is survival and being able to get to your next picture.”
“Working hard is very important. You’re not going to get anywhere without working extremely hard.”
“You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead.”
“Dreams are extremely important. You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.”
“Luke, there is no try, there is either do or not do.”
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
“In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.”
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
“Yoda: Ready are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless.”
“[Luke has seen a vision of Han, Leia and Chewie being tortured in Cloud City]
Luke: I saw – I saw a city in the clouds.
Yoda: [nods] Friends you have there.
Luke: They were in pain…
Yoda: It is the future you see.
Luke: The future?
Luke: Will they die?
Yoda: [closes his eyes for a moment] Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.
Luke: I’ve got to go to them.
Yoda: Decide you must, how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could; but you would destroy all for which they have fought, and suffered.”
“C-3PO: Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1.
Han Solo: Never tell me the odds. “
“[Luke can't levitate his X-Wing out of the bog]
Luke: I can’t. It’s too big.
Yoda: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”
“Yoda: I am wondering, why are you here?
Luke: I’m looking for someone.
Yoda: Looking? Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm?
Yoda: Help you I can. Yes, mmmm.
Luke: I don’t think so. I’m looking for a great warrior.
Yoda: Ohhh. Great warrior.
[laughs and shakes his head]
Yoda: Wars not make one great.”
“Luke: All right, I’ll give it a try.
Yoda: No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.
“[Using the Force, Yoda effortlessly frees the X-Wing from the bog]
Luke: I don’t, I don’t believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail.”
“Yoda: Yes, run! Yes, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.
Luke: Vader… Is the dark side stronger?
Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
Luke: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
Yoda: You will know… when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack.
Luke: But tell my why I can’t…
Yoda: No, no! There is no “why””
“Luke: I won’t fail you. I’m not afraid.
Yoda: You will be. You… will… be.”
“Luke: There’s something not right here… I feel cold. Death.
Yoda: [points to a cave opening beneath a large tree] That place… is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go.
Luke: What’s in there?
Yoda: Only what you take with you.”
Wikipedia: George Lucas | <urn:uuid:74341f0d-01d7-4833-a3eb-ab68f53de9b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coacheshotseat.com/coacheshotseatblog/archives/14127 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940772 | 1,390 | 1.617188 | 2 |
After he had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him.
Suddenly a man with a virulent skin-disease came up and bowed low in front of him, saying, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me.'
Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' And his skin-disease was cleansed at once.
Then Jesus said to him, 'Mind you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence to them.'
When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him.
'Sir,' he said, 'my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain.'
Jesus said to him, 'I will come myself and cure him.'
The centurion replied, 'Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured.
For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, "Go," and he goes; to another, "Come here," and he comes; to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.'
When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, 'In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this.
And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven;
but the children of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'
And to the centurion Jesus said, 'Go back, then; let this be done for you, as your faith demands.' And the servant was cured at that moment.
And going into Peter's house Jesus found Peter's mother-in-law in bed and feverish.
He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.
That evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He drove out the spirits with a command and cured all who were sick.
This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: He himself bore our sicknesses away and carried our diseases.
When Jesus saw the crowd all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side.
One of the scribes then came up and said to him, 'Master, I will follow you wherever you go.'
Jesus said, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.'
Another man, one of the disciples, said to him, 'Lord, let me go and bury my father first.'
But Jesus said, 'Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.'
Then he got into the boat followed by his disciples.
Suddenly a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep.
So they went to him and woke him saying, 'Save us, Lord, we are lost!'
And he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened, you who have so little faith?' And then he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
They were astounded and said, 'Whatever kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?'
When he reached the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs -- they were so dangerously violent that nobody could use that path.
Suddenly they shouted, 'What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?'
Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding,
and the devils pleaded with Jesus, 'If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.'
And he said to them, 'Go then,' and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water.
The herdsmen ran off and made for the city, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Suddenly the whole city set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave their neighbourhood.
The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.
Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.
Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.
Ten Commandments | Books of the Bible | Buy a Bible
Reading 1, Sirach 1:1-10:
All wisdom comes from the Lord, she is with him for ever. The sands of the sea, the drops of ... Psalm, Psalms 93:1, 1-2, 5:
Yahweh is king, robed in majesty, robed is Yahweh and girded with power. The world is indeed set ... Gospel, Mark 9:14-29:
As they were rejoining the disciples they saw a large crowd round them and some scribes arguing ... Read More | <urn:uuid:057dda13-b8da-4050-bb8e-60fdd769f76b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=47&bible_chapter=8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980171 | 1,256 | 1.734375 | 2 |
...in SE you can do research to improve the capacity of your hulls, thus allowing you to stick more components into the hull instead of having to use better components.
This is poorly defined, but if you mean that improving hull capacity should be a many-stage, ongoing incremental process, this is not a good idea. Suppose each time you researched an improved hull capacity, you got something like 10% more space on that hull type. This would have many of the same problems as miniaturization as a refinement for ship parts: in particular, it would mean that every time you refine a hull type, you would have to redesign all your ships to make use of it. This would not be not a good system, as it would require lots of busy work redesignings, produce lots of similar but slightly different ship designs to keep track of, and make it more difficult to define equilvalence for ship upgrade purposes
It's unlikely that we'll have a great variety of hull sizes, or a continuum of hull sizes. More likely, there will be a small number of discrete, fixed, fizes... perhaps 4 or 6, with names like Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Colossal. This has the advantage of making the choice of size significant when designing a ship. It becomes necessary to pick between a small number of choices, each with well-defined and easy-to-understand properties, benefits and penalties. There is no way to incrementally enlarge hulls, so there's no need to change the layout of parts to do upgrades; instead, each part can be replaced with the newer version, when avaialble.
As to whether there are hull layouts separate (but within) the discrete sizes, which determine what type or layout of slots are avaiable, this is undertermined and up for debate. Having lots of hull layouts would likely mean having fewer sizes (likely just 4) to compensate. Each layout would be a distinct upgrade path for ship designs; you could upgrade the parts within a particular layout, but not change the layout of the hull. Each layout would have a set number of slots of particular types, with would never change for a particular layout.
Another issue is, assuming we base ship design around filling slots, where the slots have restrictions on the types of parts (engine, gun, armour) that can go in them, and or part size (small, medium, large), what's the rough number of slots in a design? There are two extremes:
1) SMAC-like designs with 1 weapon/functional, 1 defense, 1 engine, and 2 "special" slots. Each slot would have a size, and each part would have a size. The number of the chosen part on a ship would be qual to the size of the slot divided by the size of the part.
2) Effectively unrestricted, with (technically), limited slots, but in practice there are 30 or 50 slots on a ship, with these being all generic, with no per-slot restrictions. In this case, slots would essentially be stand-ins for mass or volume limits in the ship. Each part would require some number of slots to be added (ranging 1 to 5 to maybe 10 for really big parts). Ships would be required to have an engine, and perhaps one or two other "essential" parts, but there would be no restrictions other than this. It might not be necessary to even keep track of individual slots' contents in this case, with just a total number and number of occupied slots.
Somehting in between these extremes is also possible.
There could also be geometric restrictions, where each part consume some number of slots in some geometric configuration, with the available slots laid out in some hull-layout-specific pattern.
Also, note that as in the first post, long lists of how you'd like to put this or that type of turret on or descriptions of how turret size relates to chance to hit and ship size, etc. are not very useful. Please provide reasons for your proposed designs, or at least a few alternatives to consider. | <urn:uuid:b095b2fe-e932-4129-adc8-359b50f4ebb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freeorion.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=26096 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961558 | 838 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Saturday, October 6th 1956, was a rather special day for a certain young man who was just approaching his 19th birthday, which would be celebrated on the following, Thursday, October 11th. He was at that time, serving his country doing two years National Service with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Shropshire. Manchester was his adopted city and home, and he had first arrived there in 1953, from his home town of Ashington, in Northumberland. He was a very shy, fresh faced, good humoured type of person with a mischievous smile. But most importantly, when not tied down by the rigours of his mandatory military life, he was employed by a very special establishment, that just a few months earlier had won the hearts of the English nation, when they lifted the First Division Championship title of the Football League, with a football team that had an average age of just 22 years each. That establishment, was of course, Manchester United. The person we are talking about had been a schoolboy prodigy, and his signature had been courted by a myriad of First Division clubs, including the team that he supported and who were his local team - Newcastle United. The village of Ashington, where he lived, was a mining village deep in the heart of the Northumberland coal field, and not unexpected, his father was a miner. His mother, ‘Cissie came from the famous north-eastern footballing family, the Milburns. The Milburns, I would think that it would be true to say, are probably the most famous family in the history of the game of football and are synonymous with the north east of England. The very first Milburn was named Jack. He played for Shankhouse, and also Northumberland, during the early pioneering days of the game. After him came a real feisty character who went under the name of ‘Warhorse’ Milburn and was famous in local football throughout the Northumberland area. This fellow had thirteen children and several of them went on to play football at a decent level. ‘Tanner’ Milburn was one of these children and he appeared for Ashington during their Football League days, and the Milburn family tree grew further branches when this particular Milburn had four sons, as well as three daughters. Inevitably, the boys played football. One of ‘Tanner’s’ brothers was named Alec and he also played for Ashington, after turning down the chance to travel south and play for ‘Spurs. It was Alec who produced the son who later, was to become so famous, and idolized on Tyneside, and known as ‘Wor Jackie.’ ‘Tanner’s’ four male offspring also all turned out in League football. Sons George, Jim, and Jack all turned out for Leeds United, whilst Stan made his name as a tough tackling full-back with Chesterfield and Leicester City, and he also appeared for the Football League. ‘Cissie Milburn was one of ‘Tanner’s” daughters and she married a miner named Bob and they too had four sons. Of these sons, two were to become famous in the football world in their own right, and one of them is the young man that you are reading about today– he is of course, Sir Bobby Charlton. Bobby Charlton was first recommended to Manchester United by a headmaster from a different school to the one which he attended. The headmaster was in fact the principal at his brother Jack’s school and was named, Mr. Hemmingway and little did he know at that time, that he was helping write as big a sporting history page as any masterpiece produced by the famous American author of the same name! In local Northumberland circles, it was widely believed that Bobby Charlton would join either of the big north-eastern clubs, Sunderland or Newcastle United. The ties with the Milburn family strongly supported that theory. However, on a cold winter’s morning, in the north-eastern town of Jarrow, something happened that was to write a glorious chapter in the later history of Manchester United Football Club. Jarrow Boys were playing Hebburn Boys in a youth game that morning, and was normal, it was ‘Cissie Charlton who had gone along to watch her son play. As he left the field of play, Bobby noticed a dapper little fellow talking to his mother. It was said in the dressing room that the person his mother was seen talking to, was a Manchester United scout. It proved to be that the scout was none other than little Joe Armstrong who had traveled up to the north-east to watch Bobby after receiving Mr. Hemmingway’s recommendation. Manchester united were in fact the first Football League club to show an interest in Bobby. The list of interested parties grew longer after Bobby scored a couple of goals for England Schoolboys at Wembley Stadium just a few months later! That Joe Armstrong had taken the trouble to travel up from Manchester to watch him play, and that it was United who first showed interest in signing him, made a big impression upon the young Charlton. His mother ‘Cissie, also turned to her famous cousin, ‘Wor Jackie’ for advice as to which of the clubs pursuing Bobby’s signature, would be best suited for her boy. Jackie Milburn didn’t even hesitate, and recommended that she send Bobby to Manchester United! His reasoning was, that with the youth policy put into place by Matt Busby, Bobby would have a better chance of progressing to League football with United, and that they were a club who had a big reputation for looking after their young players and giving them every chance to succeed. Bobby’s own words on joining United, sum it up. “I must have been smitten by whatever bug bites you here at Old Trafford. At that time, the cream of youth was here and I wanted to match myself against them. Wonderful young people like Duncan Edwards, Jeff Whitefoot, Wilf McGuinness, Albert Scanlon, Eddie Colman and many others. Duncan in fact became a great pal and he looked after me like a father! He was a lovely person, naïve in many ways; not crafty. He just loved life, and lived for United and his football, at which he was more gifted than any other player that I have everseen. Yes, that’s why I joined United. I just wanted to. It was as simple as that.” So in the summer of 1953, he joined United. For the next three years he worked exceptionally hard and listened intently to what the coaches drilled in to all the young players. Manchester United Football Club was awash with young talent and Matt Busby was at last starting the conveyer belt that took players to the first team. Bobby played in the junior, ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams, and these teams played in open age football leagues, often against players much older than they were. They were subjected to a lot a physical treatment as well as verbal abuse when they played, but it was all part of the toughening process. The surfaces that they played on back in those days would make people gawp in amazement in this modern day. But all those junior teams were successful – especially the Manchester United Youth team who from the inaugural competition started in 1952-53, made that trophy their own. The youngsters were also encouraged to join in some of the ad-hoc kick-abouts with the senior players that used to take place on the gravel, outside the ground, at the back of the Stretford End. These games certainly weren’t for the faint hearted! Jimmy Murphy would often cast an eye over these games and would watch the youngsters with a view to judging their temperament and heart and ‘bottle.’ Many a youngster failed the acid test on that area of gravel and the back of the Stretford End saw the demise of many a young career before it even got started! Bobby relished the challenge. He had a wonderful temperament and a huge big heart. In 1955 he had made it through to the Reserve team and it was here that he started to make people outside of the club begin to take notice. He had a thunderbolt shot in either foot and his name began to appear regularly on the scoresheet. His reputation at Reserve team level began to grow, and to the United fans of that era who went to watch the Reserves play (and back then it wasn’t uncommon for there to be 10,000 or more fans to be present) it was obvious that young Charlton was knocking on the door for selection to the first team. Already from his youth team days, Colman, Edwards, Whelan, and Pegg, were established in the first team. Although he was doing his National Service, he was getting plenty of football, not only turning out for United’s teams at weekends, but also playing in mid-week for his Regimental team, and when necessary, also for his Command and full Army teams. International football was played on sporadic weekends throughout the season back in those days, and clubs were not allowed to postpone League games because they had players who would be away with their respective international teams. If you had 4 or 5 players away on international duty, so be it – players from the reserve team were promoted to the first team to fill their places. So it was for the 6th October, 1956. Fixtures for the Home International Tournament were scheduled for that day, and England were away in Belfast, to play Northern Ireland at Windsor Park. Selected for England (there were no substitutes allowed in those days) for that fixture were three players from Manchester United; Roger Byrne, Duncan Edwards, and Tommy Taylor. Manchester United also had a Division One Football League fixture to negotiate that day against Charlton Athletic at Old Trafford. Busby pondered his selection for this fixture knowing that he was without three crucial first team regulars. At full back, he drafted in young Geoff Bent in place of Roger Byrne. At left half-back, he drafted in Edwards’ regular replacement whenever he was injured, away on international duty, or playing at inside-left; Wilf McGuinness. The final selection was the one that most of the fans had been waiting to see! In place of the great Tommy Taylor at centre-forward, he selected Bobby Charlton! Busby had privately let Charlton’s parents know that he would be playing against Charlton Athletic that weekend, and both Bob and ‘Cissie slipped into Manchester on the Friday afternoon. Bobby traveled up from Shropshire also that afternoon and wasn’t aware of his selection until Busby called him at his digs the following morning. I attended the game against Charlton Athletic that afternoon and have fond memories of it. The United team lined up; Wood; Foulkes and Bent; Colman, Jones, and McGuinness; Berry, Whelan, Charlton, Viollet and Pegg. 41,439 fans turned up to watch that afternoon, and little did we all know back then that we were watching the start of a real piece of soccer history. Johnny Berry was Captain of the team in Roger Byrne’s absence. Charlton were no match for United that day, and they had already made a dreadful start to the season, which was to end in relegation for them. I cannot clearly recall the sequence in which the goals were scored but do remember the moment that every young player dreams about. United were attacking the Scoreboard End, and Charlton received the ball pretty central to the goal and just outside of the area. Without any hesitation, the ball was dispatched as though fired from a canon, and high into the Charlton net past a stationary Willie Duffy (I think that was his name) the Charlton goalkeeper. Old Trafford erupted in appreciation, and it wasn’t too long after that that young Charlton got his second goal in a similar way. Billy Whelan and Johnny Berry also scored that afternoon and United were winners by 4-2. To say that the fans were delighted was an understatement. Another tremendous young player had emerged off the conveyer belt of youth. United were reigning Champions, and were on course to retaining their title. I can clearly recall the newspaper reports the day after the match, and in one of them, the headline ran; “W’or Bobby Will Do!” It was a quote from his father’s reaction the previous afternoon after the game had finished. From the day of his debut onwards, that “W’or Bobby” would do, was never in doubt. What we didn’t know at that time was the tragedy that was lying in wait for us all less than 18 months hence. His playing career at United was to last for another 16 years after his debut, and during that time, he was only ever “booked” once – for a confrontation with of all people, Jimmy Scoular, the craggy, hard, Scot who captained Newcastle United. In a long career he carved a name as a chivalrous, scrupulous opponent. Yet for me, it will be the explosive facets of his play that will always stay fresh in my memory. To see him in full flight, was akin to watching a China Clipper cut its way through a tempestuous sea. That jinking run, the sudden swerve and change of foot and direction as he would turn so elegantly on the ball as he accelerated through a gap surrendered by a confused defender – he could be gone like a ship in full sail. Less than five years after he joined United, he was to suffer the agonies of the Munich tragedy. He lost those that were closest to him, namely; Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor, and David Pegg. He was a veteran before his time and in the immediate aftermath of that tragedy his nerves were shattered. When he did come back, he played like a man possessed. Some of the goals that he scored had they been captured on video tape, would make today’s fan salivate at the sight of them. His first international goal was at Hampden Park, Glasgow against the ‘auld enemy’. 134,000 partisan Scottish fans packed the old stadium that April afternoon, and saw probably the greatest goal ever scored there, and certainly the hardest shot. Standing centrally and just inside the penalty area, he watched as Tom Finney jinked around the full back. Finney’s cross was inch perfect and above waist height. A slight movement to his left, and Charlton took off in mid-air, swinging that lethal left foot of his at the ball. It connected full on the volley and the ball thundered past Tommy Younger in the Scottish goal with such force, that it almost ripped the net pegs out of the ground. The Hampden Stadium thundered its applause and Younger, who had been left motionless and rooted to the spot, proceded to run half the length of the field to shake Charlton’s hand. He suffered internally after Munich and his character did change. It also happened to Bill Foulkes and Harry Gregg. He has often given out an impression of aloofness, but to those that really do get to know him, it couldn’t be further from the truth. His face can wear that elusive look of anxiety or fun, and as much as he wants to endure relaxation, he finds it hard to find. He is also difficult to get to know and get inside of, but that is not to say that he doesn’t care. He does, and passionately. His heart is genuinely betrothed to United, irrespective of what is said about him today. I’ll finish this article with a quote from his own words back in 1978; “I’ll always have a great affection for this place. I suppose that I have put a lot of blood and tears into it. And to see the place as it is now as opposed to when I first arrived here, makes me fully realize that I did have a little part in all that change. I find that so rewarding. Look at it now – it must be the envy of every club in the country. As for the man on the street, the guys on the terraces, they’re everything. They’re not a part of the backroom politics and all the in-fighting that goes on. They don’t really understand that side of it. What they do understand is that they have their team and their whole lives revolve around coming down here to Old Trafford. They are a part of a never ending story. They are a Theatre of Dreams!” He celbrates the 50th anniversary of his league debut today. And he’ll be 69 years of age come next Wednesday. I hope that he sees many more birthdays to come because he has given so much to Manchester United. . | <urn:uuid:2e0959f6-7351-4bd1-9afc-a293737aab41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/october-6th-1956.548432/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991938 | 3,520 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Submitted by hipparchia on Mon, 12/10/2012 - 4:21am
Or if Christmas isn't your thing, there's Hanukkah (holy cow!) or Yule or Kwanzaa or any number of other Winter Solstice observances that you may never have heard of (I hadn't).
Corrente | If you have "no place to go," come here! is an apt description of how I got here in the first place, being at the time (the 2008 primaries) a Hillary supporter surrounded by Obama Fan Club members, on the internet, at least, but I found other like-minded people here.
This was followed closely by the Financial Meltdown and there really was no one place where you could find good information - except here. And too, I was a new convert to the idea of single payer, but who was talking about that? Nobody - except Corrente.
All this has to be paid for somehow, and I knew that the US printed its own money, but beyond sort of fuzzily realizing that, how did that work? Ha! Some Correnteans not only wrote about it here, they even organized a conference.
And where else are you going to find live blogs on single payer advocacy (here! here! here!) or being a Green Party candidate (here!) or how to be a guerilla projectionist (here!)?
But life is not all politics and economics and activism, and neither is Corrente. Read below the fold...
Submitted by hipparchia on Sat, 12/08/2012 - 12:30am
Submitted by hipparchia on Thu, 11/29/2012 - 10:28pm
Submitted by hipparchia on Wed, 11/21/2012 - 12:29am
Hey, I didn't make up that blog post title, somebody else did. It's a nice explication of how flu viruses work, and includes a salutary bit of browbeating too.
h/t to athena1 for reminding me that i don't read nsfwcorp often enough. Read below the fold...
Submitted by hipparchia on Sun, 11/04/2012 - 10:32pm
Submitted by hipparchia on Wed, 10/31/2012 - 8:28pm
Submitted by hipparchia on Wed, 10/17/2012 - 12:03am
Okay, so part 3 will just have to wait another day or two... this popularity of Medicare Advantage is related, actually.
From the article that lambert links to:
In New York, Medicare Advantage is even more popular, particularly in New York City, where more than one-third of eligible seniors in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx are signed up. Read below the fold...
Submitted by hipparchia on Mon, 10/15/2012 - 2:44am
Submitted by hipparchia on Sun, 10/14/2012 - 3:37pm
Submitted by hipparchia on Thu, 10/11/2012 - 10:56pm
As I was reading this at PNHP's Quote of the Day, I was thinking: this could be the most important blog post ever written about health care. Sure enough, at the end, Don McCanne wrote: Howard Waitzkin's article is too important to edit it for Quote of the Day. It is presented here in its entirety. No comment necessary.
So here it is. Read below the fold...
Submitted by hipparchia on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 1:35am
... is apparently going to start killing Medicare as we know it in 2013.
If you have Medicare now and are reasonably prosperous and healthy, you'll get to keep your benefits, your choice of doctor and hospital and pharmacy and so forth.
But if you have the audacity to become expensively sick and very, very poor, so sick and so poor as to require not only Medicare but Medicaid too to pay for your health care, you are in danger of essentially being pushed out of Medicare and shoved into Medicaid, whether you like it or not. Read below the fold...
Submitted by hipparchia on Wed, 07/18/2012 - 7:43am
Submitted by hipparchia on Fri, 07/13/2012 - 11:00pm
Submitted by hipparchia on Mon, 06/25/2012 - 11:55pm
And find is perhaps the operative word here, because they're each going to have to come up with their own (probably wildly diverging) reasons for supporting it.
My impression tallies with this one, the justices in order from most conservative to less conservative are: Thomas, Scalia, Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor, Ginsberg. Read below the fold...
Submitted by hipparchia on Sun, 06/24/2012 - 11:46pm | <urn:uuid:b712016e-dcd4-4939-bc24-f0bf711f3577> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.correntewire.com/blog/hipparchia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956201 | 1,037 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The Berkeley Law Foundation (BLF) is an income-sharing organization comprised of Boalt students and alumni who are dedicated to providing legal services to historically under-served communities. Started in 1976 by Boalt students, BLF was the first organization of its kind in the nation.
The BLF’s primary goal is funding public interest law through summer fellowships for current Boalt students and year-long fellowships for law graduates and new attorneys from around the country. Our grants enable the recipients to work on innovative and critical projects that provide desperately needed legal services to communities all around the nation.
Besides providing crucial funding for legal services, BLF works to ensure diversity in legal education and the profession. To this end, BLF created the Phoenix Fellowship, which provides several outstanding Boalt students of color funding to do public interest legal work. | <urn:uuid:7a26c5f2-a86a-49a2-a946-996c02fb3b9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.berkeleylawfoundation.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959779 | 171 | 1.65625 | 2 |
MYRTLE BEACH — Animals in Horry County that have been mistreated or abused by their owners and are turned over to animal authorities have a good chance to survive and live the rest of their lives protected from the things they suffered before, according to officials.
That could be the case for two dogs brought to the shelter this week if a judge rules that the woman charged in their mistreatment can’t have them back, said Kelly Bonome, assistant director of the Horry County Animal Care Center, on Tuesday.
Jacqueline B. Moore of Conway has been charged with ill treatement of animals in general, and torture for allegedly leaving them behind when she moved from a house near Conway that she was renting, according to police.
Bonome said that authorities are seeing more animal abuse cases than they did five or 10 years ago. But she’s not sure if it’s because more people are abusing their animals now or if the training to spot abuse has become so sophisticated that it is identified more often.
Also, she said, “What was acceptable 10 years ago is not necessarily acceptable today.”
Occasionally, one will be brought in with issues too severe for it to be saved. But others find people awaiting them who are dedicated to giving them a better life.
“Once we make a commitment to work with them,” Bonome said, the animals will find services available to them that are not offered to other animals that end up at the center.
For instance, Bonome said she recalls a dog brought in last year with its collar embedded in its neck. “It was just horrific,” she said.
But that dog now has been rehabilitated and adopted.
In this week’s mistreatment case, police were first called to the house by a neighbor who told them he feared the dogs had been abandoned. Police saw the two dogs -- one confined in a small cage and covered with its own feces -- and contacted the owner, ordering her to move the animals.
When they returned two days later, the two dogs were still at the house. There was no evidence that either had been fed and there was no food or water near the caged dog, a white, long-haired terrier. The other, a pit bull, appeared weak and hid under a porch from authorities.
The police charged Moore and took the dogs to the Animal Care Center, where they are on a legal hold awaiting Moore’s trial.
Bonome said that since abused animals are usually ordered held for a trial, authorities have more time to work with them and can do things, such as deworming, that can take months and couldn’t be done without the extra time.
“Generally,” Bonome said, “we move the animals at too fast a pace.”
Bonome said sometimes it can be difficult for authoritiesto determine if an injured animal has been abused or if its problems are the result of something else, such as being hit by a vehicle.
Some abused animals arrive with long-term issues, and Bonome said keepers find it better to have them transferred to a rescue group where they will get more one-on-one attention and specialized care for an extended period.
Those that spend lengthy visits also the Animal Care Center also get the time needed to find a new family. The center tries to find sponsors for its long-term visitors, place them with a groups or lower fees to make it easier for them to be adopted.
Contact STEVE JONES at 444-1765. | <urn:uuid:8e873eee-4fc6-4f96-8227-ea4acfc6df84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/10/02/3093047/woman-in-jail-for-torturing-animals.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982089 | 742 | 1.554688 | 2 |
InterventionsInterventions is a feature in Middle East Report Online offering critical reviews of important Middle East-related books, films and other cultural production. Click here for past Interventions articles.
Behind the Battles Over Middle East Studies
An ideological campaign to reshape the academic study of the Middle East in the United States has begun to bear fruit on Capitol Hill. In late 2003, the House of Representatives passed legislation which would, for the first time, mandate that university-based Middle East studies centers “foster debate on American foreign policy from diverse perspectives” if they receive federal funding under Title VI of the Higher Education Act. The new legislation, which the Senate could consider in 2004, came after conservative allegations about abuse of Title VI funding by “extreme” and “one-sided” critics of US foreign policy supposedly ensconced at area studies centers across the country. In June 2003, the Select Education Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce convened brief hearings on “International Programs in Higher Education and Questions of Bias.” There, the conservative writer Stanley Kurtz repeated charges he had leveled in the National Review: Title VI centers for the study of the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere are infested by anti-American acolytes of the late Palestinian-American scholar and cultural critic Edward Said. The resulting bill, HR 3077, provides for the creation of a new International Higher Education Advisory Board with the power to “monitor, apprise and evaluate a sample of activities supported under [Title VI] in order to provide recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress for the improvement of programs under the title and to ensure programs meet the purposes of the title.” Four of the board’s seven members would be appointed by Congress and at least two of the remaining three members would represent government agencies concerned with national security.
The fate of this particular bill is uncertain, and the Senate’s crowded docket may not permit its discussion before the current session of Congress ends. But the provision in HR 3077 for an advisory board, which could be revived in subsequent draft legislation, raises the specter of an unprecedented degree of partisan political intrusion into university-based area studies. Should this advisory board come into being, Middle East studies centers seem likely to be the prime targets of its investigations.
Kurtz’s criticisms of area studies before Congress bore a remarkable resemblance to a well-publicized indictment of Middle East studies, Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle East Studies in America, penned by Martin Kramer. Kramer’s slim volume, published by the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy just after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, depicts academic Middle East studies as a cesspool of error, fuzzy thinking and anti-Americanism. Due to stifling political correctness, the book asserts, the output of scholars in the field is no longer of much use to the state or to the cause of national security.
Shortly after it appeared, Ivory Towers was favorably blurbed in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Washington Post, and prominently featured in the New York Times. It was also the inspiration for a spate of critical articles on the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), the main North American professional association of Middle East specialists, in such magazines as the National Review, Commentary and The New Republic. Echoing Kramer, commentators from the right attacked MESA because its annual meetings allegedly feature too many scholarly panels on topics they deem esoteric and irrelevant, and not enough panels on al-Qaeda, Palestinian suicide bombings and "anti-American incitement." As the motivating spirit of HR 3077 is found in the pages of Ivory Towers, and indeed Kramer specifically recommends (in the book and in subsequent columns) enhanced federal oversight of Title VI programs, the arguments of the book are worth examining in some detail.
Causing Eyes to Roll
“America’s academics,” Kramer writes, “have failed to predict or explain the major evolutions of Middle Eastern politics and society over the past two decades. Time and again, academics have been taken by surprise by their subjects; time and again, their paradigms have been swept away by events. Repeated failures have depleted the credibility of scholarship among the influential public. In Washington, the mere mention of academic Middle Eastern studies often causes eyes to roll.” To explain how this came about, Kramer offers his interpretation of the development of Middle East studies in America, portrayed as a fall from (relative) grace largely attributable to the pernicious influence of one bad doctrine, chiefly propagated by Edward Said through his 1979 book, Orientalism.
As Kramer tells the story, despite promising beginnings, things were already going poorly for Middle East studies soon after the US assumed a superpower’s role in the region during World War II. Too many scholars were in the grip of overly optimistic notions like modernization theory, which posited that the entire world, including the Middle East, could and would be remade in the self-image of 1950s America. In the 1970s, the Lebanese civil war and then the Iranian revolution shattered this illusion, revealing the field’s intellectual bankruptcy and leaving it without a dominant paradigm. Even worse, scholarly standards were appallingly low, which allowed "tenured incompetents" to secure scarce academic positions, breeding resentment among new graduates and graduate students. Government and foundation funding dropped, exacerbating the sense of crisis in the field.
For Kramer, this crisis accounts for the success of Said’s Orientalism, and the transformation it almost single-handedly wrought in Middle East studies. Despite that book’s grave flaws, it served perfectly as a weapon in the hands of insurgents pushing a radical political and theoretical agenda. Attacking established scholars and providing an alternative theory and politics, Orientalism helped the academic left -- and especially the Arabs and Muslims among them -- achieve intellectual and institutional hegemony in US Middle East studies. Kramer attributes what he sees as the abject failure of most scholars to resist the onslaught of Said’s ideas to a loss of self-confidence, stemming from the failure of the models in which they had earlier put so much faith.
The damage Orientalism wreaked on US Middle East studies is considerable, in Kramer’s assessment: "Orientalism made it acceptable, even expected, for scholars to spell out their own political commitments as a preface to anything they wrote or did. More than that, it enshrined an acceptable hierarchy of political commitments, with Palestine at the top, followed by the Arab nation and the Islamic world. They were the long-suffering victims of Western racism, American imperialism and Israeli Zionism -- the three legs of the orientalist stool." Said’s Orientalism also allegedly licensed political and ethnic tests for admission to the field: One has to be a leftist or, even better, an Arab or Muslim, whose numbers in the MESA membership rolls have increased dramatically. Despite their pretensions to intellectual superiority, however, the disciples of Said who seized control of important faculty chairs in the 1980s have failed to do any better than their discredited predecessors in predicting or explaining the dynamics of Middle Eastern politics, precisely because their predictions are driven by their radical politics and trendy post-modernist theorizing, not by careful observation of the real world.
For example, Kramer argues, the Saidian left utterly failed to anticipate or account for the rise of Islamism; all they could manage were denunciations of purported American bias against Islam and Muslims. In the 1990s, liberals like John Esposito of Georgetown University, who understood that Said’s radical message and tone were off-putting for the American mainstream, developed an upbeat, softened image of Islam and Islamism, downplaying their violent and threatening dimensions. Esposito and others seized on a string of would-be “Muslim Luthers” who could be touted as the forerunners of an imminent Islamic "reformation," all the while failing to notice the ways in which authoritarian Arab states were successfully promoting secularization and blocking the Islamist challenge. Similarly, because they were convinced that the Arab regimes were fragile and lacked legitimacy and social roots, liberal and leftist scholars grossly underestimated those regimes’ durability. All the scholarly attention and foundation funding devoted to the study of “civil society” in the Arab world were thus based on vain illusions.
Most of Kramer’s jibes in Ivory Towers are aimed at university-based academics interested in theory, such as the “post-orientalist fashion designers” (as he puts it) who teach about the Middle East and Islam at New York University. But he also derides the Social Science Research Council for its alleged failure -- even refusal -- to use the government funding it received to support policy-relevant research, and MESA for its rejection of the terms of the National Security Education Program, which originally required recipients of its scholarship aid to undertake a period of government service. The “new mandarins” who have assumed leadership of the field have lost the confidence of official Washington because of their haughty disdain for policymakers and their squandering of public funds on empty theorizing and worthless research projects. “In the centers of policy, defense and intelligence,” Kramer avows, “consensus held that little could be learned from academics -- not because they knew nothing, but because they deliberately withheld their knowledge from government, or organized it on the basis of arcane priorities or conflicting loyalties.”
Think Tanks Ascendant
The self-inflicted crisis of academic Middle East studies is further manifested, Kramer argues, in the growing recourse that government and the media have to Middle East experts based at think tanks rather than at universities. The “intolerant climate” in academia -- poisoned by blind obeisance to the ideas of Edward Said and his left-wing emulators -- led many talented people to gravitate to the think tanks, where their work “often surpassed university-based research in clarity, style, thoroughness and cogency.”
It would seem that Kramer’s ideal model of the proper relationship between the world of scholarship and the world of policymaking, wherein scholars produce research that is directly relevant to the immediate needs of the state, comes from his own past and current institutional affiliations. After receiving his doctorate from Princeton University, Kramer moved to Israel, where he served as a research associate at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and then as the center’s associate director (1987-1995) and director (1995-2001). According to his website, he returned to the Dayan Center from the US in December 2003. The Dayan Center, which describes itself as “an interdisciplinary research center devoted to the study of the modern history and contemporary affairs of the Middle East,” is named after the famous Israeli general and politician, but it incorporated and superceded an older institution, the Shiloah Institute, named after Reuven Shiloah, the founder of Israel’s intelligence and security apparatus. Both the old and new names reflect the Center’s ongoing role as not merely an scholarly institution (though there have certainly been some serious scholars associated with it), but also as a key site where senior Israeli military, foreign policy and intelligence officials can interact with academics working on policy-relevant issues.
While in the US, Kramer has held fellowships at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a think tank founded in 1985 which has sent a succession of associates -- a well-known example being former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk -- straight into the ranks of government. In the same year that Ivory Towers appeared, Kramer assumed the post of editor of Middle East Quarterly, published by the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, a small think tank directed by Daniel Pipes, another hawkish commentator. Pipes established the Middle East Forum to "define and promote American interests" in the Middle East. Those interests are defined on the Forum’s website as “strong ties with Israel, Turkey and other democracies as they emerge,” human rights, “a stable supply and a low price of oil,” and “the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes.”
Kramer is clearly correct to point to the greatly increased importance of think tanks in advising government and shaping public opinion about the Middle East. The leap to prominence of WINEP in the 1980s ended the status of the Middle East as a relative backwater for the Washington think tank industry, even for those institutions with the lengthiest pedigrees. Particularly following the September 11 attacks and continuing through the Iraq war, the large think tanks have significantly stepped up their Middle East-related activity. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, founded in 1910 to advance international cooperation, regularly hosts Middle East scholars as research fellows and produces an electronic newsletter called the Arab Reform Bulletin. The Council on Foreign Relations, established in 1921 as a sort of elite dinner club, publishes frequent Middle East-related articles in its influential journal Foreign Affairs and in July 2002 produced a widely read report on US public diplomacy in the Islamic world. The liberal Brookings Institution, established in 1927 with Carnegie and Rockefeller family funding, opened the Haim Saban Center for Middle East Policy, under the direction of Indyk, in May 2002. The conservative American Enterprise Institute, founded in 1943 to promote “limited government,” “free enterprise” and a “strong foreign policy and national defense,” arguably has been the most influential of the older think tanks upon the second Bush administration in matters related to the Middle East.
Other players include private contractors like the huge RAND Corporation, which entered the field after World War II to produce or fund research for the military and intelligence and other government agencies concerned with foreign policy. Still more competitors for the ear of power are based at what one observer calls “advocacy” think tanks, like the Center for Strategic and International Studies (1962), the Heritage Foundation (1973) and the Cato Institute (1977), which combine “policy research with aggressive marketing techniques.”
But there can be little doubt that WINEP, a member of the “advocacy” generation, has been the most successful advocate among the smaller group of Washington outfits that concern themselves solely with the Middle East. In its annual survey of media citations of think tanks, the liberal media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting counted WINEP among its top twenty for three years running in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In each of these years, WINEP was the only institution listed that focuses on a single global region outside the US. The Middle East Institute, founded in 1946, publishes a journal and organizes conferences but exercises relatively little political clout. Organizations established more recently, like the Middle East Policy Council, also do not have a powerful audience inside the government. However, the influence of research and the merit of that research are not necessarily one and the same thing -- Ivory Towers on Sand being a case in point.
Some of the criticisms of US Middle East studies which Kramer sets forth in Ivory Towers are not entirely off-base. For example, Kramer depicts modernization theory as flawed, though he ignores the Cold War context which produced it and explains its popularity in psychological terms, as the product of Americans’ missionary zeal and naïve optimism. Some of the prognoses offered by scholars in the early and mid-1990s about the moderation and fading away of Islamism were indeed overly broad and facile, though it is worth noting that in some countries (Turkey, for example) Islamist parties did in fact evolve in a democratic and moderate direction. Kramer is correct to note that both mainstream and political economy-oriented Middle East scholars generally failed to anticipate the rise of Islamist movements in the 1970s, though his book ignores the sophisticated analyses subsequently advanced by scholars, for example in Political Islam, edited by Joel Beinin and Joe Stork, Islam, Politics and Social Movements, edited by Edmund Burke III and Ira Lapidus, or Sami Zubaida’s Islam, the People and the State.
Kramer also poses legitimate questions about whether large donations to Middle East studies programs come with strings attached, visible or invisible, that might affect faculty appointments, curriculum and programming. Several US universities have in fact accepted donations from wealthy Arabs, including members of some of the ruling families of the oil-rich Gulf states, to fund chairs or programs in Arab or Islamic studies. But it is not clear that these donations have exercised any untoward influence on scholarship or teaching at those institutions, and in any case American universities have also accepted, without much controversy, large donations for Jewish and Israel studies programs from people (Jews and non-Jews) strongly supportive of Israel.
Overall, Kramer’s approach is deeply flawed as a history of Middle East studies as a scholarly field. Kramer blames Edward Said and Orientalism for everything that he believes has gone wrong with Middle East studies from the late 1970s onward, ignoring both the extensive critiques of modernization theory and Orientalism that preceded the publication of that book and the complex and often critical ways in which Said’s intervention was received and developed. As Ivory Towers tells the story, every scholar in Middle East studies either slavishly embraced every pronouncement that fell from Said’s lips, or else cringed in silent terror. But, for the most part, scholars in the field did not simply swallow Said’s take on Orientalism hook, line and sinker but engaged with it critically, accepting what seemed useful and rejecting, recasting or developing other aspects. Kramer’s psychologizing account of why so many scholars and students in Middle East studies were receptive to critiques of the field’s hitherto dominant paradigms is shallow and tendentious.
Kramer claims in Ivory Towers that US Middle East scholars have repeatedly made predictions that did not come true. His accusations are sometimes on target, though he is rather selective. He does not, for example, take his colleague Daniel Pipes to task for inaccurately predicting in the early 1980s that Islamist activism would decline as oil prices fell. Nor, in his writings since the Iraq war, has he faulted Fouad Ajami of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies -- who is a favorite of the Bush administration -- for claiming that all Iraqis would enthusiastically welcome US occupation. More broadly, Kramer’s fixation on accurate prediction as the chief (or even sole) gauge of good scholarship is itself highly questionable. Most scholars do not in fact seek to predict the future or think they can do so; they try to interpret the past, discern and explain contemporary trends, and, at most, tentatively suggest what might happen in the future if present trends continue, which they very often do not. Of course, governments want accurate predictions in order to shape and implement effective policies, but Kramer’s insistence that the primary goal of scholarship should be the satisfaction of that desire tells us a great deal about his conception of intellectual life and of the proper relationship between scholars and the state.
Just as many of the Israeli scholars associated with the Dayan Center have seen themselves as producing knowledge that will serve the security and foreign policy needs of Israel, so American scholars of the Middle East should, Kramer suggests, shape their research agendas to provide the kinds of knowledge the US government will find most useful. His book demonstrates no interest whatsoever in the uses to which such knowledge might be put or in the question of the responsibility of intellectuals to maintain their independence, or indeed in what scholarship and intellectual life should really be about. His real complaint is that US Middle East studies has failed to produce knowledge useful to the state. Yet by ignoring larger political and institutional contexts, Kramer cannot understand or explain why so many scholars have grown less than enthusiastic about producing the kind of knowledge about the Middle East the government wants -- or conversely, why it is that the government and the media now routinely turn to analysts based in think tanks, along with former military and intelligence personnel, for policy-relevant knowledge.
But there is a larger issue at stake here. At the very heart of Kramer’s approach is a dubious distinction between the trendy, arcane “theorizing” of the scholarship he condemns as at best irrelevant and at worst pernicious, on the one hand, and on the other the purportedly hard-headed, clear-sighted, theory-free observation of, and research on, the “real Middle East” in which he and scholars like him see themselves as engaging. Kramer is not wrong to suggest that there has been some fashionable theory-mongering in academia, including Middle East studies. But in Ivory Towers he goes well beyond this by now banal observation, and beyond a rejection of post-structuralism, to imply that all theories, paradigms and models are distorting and useless, because they get in the way of the direct, unmediated, accurate access to reality that he seems to believe he and those who think like him possess.
This is an extraordinarily naïve and unsophisticated understanding of how knowledge is produced, one that few scholars in the humanities and social sciences have taken seriously for a long time. Even among historians, once the most positivist of scholars, few would today argue that the facts “speak for themselves” in any simple sense. Almost all would acknowledge that deciding what should be construed as significant facts for the specific project of historical reconstruction in which they are engaged, choosing which are more relevant and important to the question at hand and which less so, and crafting a story in one particular way rather than another all involve making judgments that are rooted in some sense of how the world works -- in short, in some theory or model or paradigm or vision, whether implicit or explicit, whether consciously acknowledged or not. Kramer’s inability or refusal to grasp this suggests a grave lack of self-awareness, coupled with an alarming disinterest in some of the most important scholarly debates over the past four decades or so.
It is moreover a stance which Kramer does not maintain in practice. His assertions throughout the book are in fact based on a certain framework of interpretation, even as he insists that they are merely the product of his acute powers of observation, analysis and prediction. It is, for example, striking that at the very end of Ivory Towers Kramer explicitly lays out a political and moral judgment rooted in his own (theoretical) vision of the world: his insistence that a healthy, reconstructed Middle East studies must accept that the US “plays an essentially beneficent role in the world.” He does not bother to tell readers why they should accept this vision of the US role in the world as true, nor does he even acknowledge that it may be something other than self-evidently true. The assertion nonetheless undermines his avowed epistemological stance and graphically demonstrates that it is untenable.
In Search of Heroes
“What will it take to heal Middle Eastern studies,” Kramer asks in his conclusion, “if they can be healed at all?” Here Kramer explicitly counterposes the theorizing in which too many academics have indulged to the empirical study of “the Middle East itself,” while also advocating renewed attention to “the very rich patrimony of scholarly orientalism.” “Orientalism had heroes,” Kramer continues. “Middle Eastern studies have none, and they never will, unless and until scholars of the Middle East restore some continuity with the great tradition,” a continuity ruptured by the foolish social science models of the 1950s and 1960s and then by the destruction wrought by Said and his post-modernist devotees. In the longer run, despite the resistance of the radical mandarins, “breakthroughs will come from individual scholars, often laboring on the margins. As the dominant paradigms grow ever more elaborate, inefficient and insufficient, they will begin to shift. There will be more confessions [of failure] by senior scholars, and more defections by their young protégés.”
To hasten this shift, Kramer suggests that the federal government reform the process it uses to decide which Title VI-funded national resource centers, including centers for Middle East studies, receive funding, by including government officials in the review process and encouraging more attention to public outreach activities. More broadly, Congress should hold hearings “on the contribution of Middle Eastern studies to American public policy,” with testimony not only from academics but from government officials, directors of think tanks and others as well. While such steps might help, Kramer concludes, ultimately the field will have to heal itself by overcoming its irrelevance and its intolerance of intellectual and political diversity. Its new leaders will have to forge a different kind of relationship with “the world beyond the campus,” based on the aforementioned principle that “the United States plays an essentially beneficent role in the world.” Such lines are the basis of worries within and outside academic Middle East studies that HR 3077, the bill which resulted from the June 2003 hearing Kramer called for, is an attempt to stifle critical voices and diminish the autonomy of American institutions of higher education and long-established principles of academic freedom.
Good Cop, Bad Cop
These worries are heightened by other activities of Kramer’s employer, the Middle East Forum, activities which can be seen as complementary to the intellectually simplistic critique of US Middle East studies in Ivory Towers. One might even go so far as to portray Kramer and Forum director Daniel Pipes as, respectively, the “good cop” and “bad cop” of the far right end of the Middle East studies spectrum.
A year after the September 11 attacks, the Middle East Forum launched a new initiative directly targeting academic Middle East studies. This is a website called Campus Watch, ostensibly established to “review and critique Middle East studies in North America, with an aim to improving them.” Campus Watch initiated its campaign by attacking eight professors of Middle East or Islamic studies from institutions around the country for what Pipes deemed unacceptable views about Islam, Islamism, Palestinian rights or US policy in the region; the website also cited 14 universities for similar sins. Campus Watch also invited college students and others to monitor their professors and send in classroom statements which they deemed anti-Israel or anti-American, helping Campus Watch compile “dossiers” on suspect faculty and academic institutions.
The website prompted a storm of protest: over 100 professors from around the country sent messages denouncing Campus Watch for its crude attempt to silence debate about the Middle East and the airing of critical views by insinuating that the scholars under attack had been apologists for terrorism or were somehow unpatriotic. To show solidarity with their beleaguered fellow scholars, many of the protesters demanded that they too be added to Campus Watch’s blacklist. Campus Watch thereupon compounded the damage it had already done by listing the names of those who had written to protest its smear campaign under a heading which stated that they had done so “in defense of apologists for Palestinian violence and militant Islam.”
This was of course an egregious falsehood, because those who had written Campus Watch in protest did not for a minute accept Campus Watch’s original allegation that the first eight scholars it had attacked were apologists for terrorism. They had written to denounce Campus Watch for launching what they saw as a vicious attack, by means of distortion and innuendo, on respectable scholars and to uphold academic freedom, the right of free speech and the importance to a democratic society of open discussion of issues of public concern.
The protests and considerable media interest (and criticism) apparently led Campus Watch to remove the web pages attacking the eight scholars as well as pages containing dossiers on individual professors. Throughout the flap, defenders of Campus Watch ridiculed critics who used the word “McCarthyism” to describe the website’s self-appointed mission to expose “the mixing of politics with scholarship.” But, speaking at right-wing activist David Horowitz’s Restoration Weekend in November 2003, Pipes hinted that Campus Watch has its own trouble keeping them separate: “I flatter myself perhaps in thinking that the rather subdued academic response to the war in Iraq in March and April may have been, in part, due to our work.”
Martin Kramer, Pipes’ partner in the campaign to reorient the politics of US Middle East and area studies in a rightward direction, mocks Middle East scholars suspicious of the advisory board which Senate passage and presidential signature of HR 3077 would create, if the bill is not amended. If they do not like outside scrutiny of their activities, he remarks, they can “get off the federal dole” and eschew Title VI monies entirely. The advisory board will not intimidate professors who disapprove of US Middle East policy, adds Kramer, because the “full range of views” the board is designed to protect “necessarily includes every view and excludes none.” Of course, one needs to accept the major premise of Ivory Towers -- university students are not currently exposed to a “full range of views” -- to consider such a board necessary. Moreover, in light of other hostility expressed toward academic Middle East studies since the September 11 attacks, the concerns of Middle East scholars are not so surprising.
Some right-wing critics have gone beyond Kramer’s proposals for “reform” of the Title VI program and called for federal funding of Middle East studies to be reduced or cut off. Others have urged that the secretary of education use his control over Title VI funding to mandate “balance” and “diversity” in teaching about the Middle East, and particularly about the Arab-Israeli conflict. In the present context, “balance” and “diversity” seem to be code words for pressuring colleges and universities to muzzle critics of US and Israeli policies and promote viewpoints more congenial to those of the Bush administration and the Sharon government. This was made explicit in proposals put forward by a number of members of Congress. In April 2003, for example, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) announced plans to introduce legislation that would cut off federal funding to American colleges and universities that were deemed to be permitting faculty, students and student organizations to openly criticize Israel, since Santorum seems to regard all such criticism as inherently anti-Semitic. Meanwhile, Santorum’s colleague Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) proposed the creation of a federal commission to investigate alleged anti-Semitism on campus -- again defined rather broadly to include virtually all criticism of Israeli policies.
“Diversity” as defined by Kramer and his fellow conservative Stanley Kurtz, the main champion of HR 3077, ideally means inclusion of “supporters of US policy” on the faculties that are supposedly now turning American students against their own country. But Kramer and Kurtz realize the government cannot force the alleged legions of leftist professors to abandon their control of departmental hiring as they once abandoned the barricades. So, as Kurtz put it at a WINEP forum on HR 3077, the bill offers “gentle” incentives for academics to mend their wayward ways. The proposed advisory board, he hopes, will recommend funding increases for Title VI centers whose graduates go on to government service and whose outreach programs present “many viewpoints of foreign policy.” Given that the “diversity” of Title VI centers’ output is in the eye of the beholder, and given the clear predilection of the board’s proponents for anti-intellectual ways of thinking, the composition and activities of the advisory board would likely become the bone of endless contention. Should HR 3077 or something like it pass into law, the ideological battles within and about Middle East studies in the United States will have entered a new phase -- but they will be far from over.
See Stanley Kurtz, “Studying Title VI,” National Review Online, June 16, 2003, at http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz061603.asp and Stanley Kurtz, “Reforming the Campus,” National Review Online, October 14, 2003, at http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200310140905.asp.
The term “think tank” seems to go back to World War II and originally referred to a “secure room or environment where defense scientists and military planners could meet to discuss strategy.” See Donald E. Abelson, “Think Tanks and US Foreign Policy: An Historical Perspective,” US Foreign Policy Agenda, November 2002, at http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/1102/ijpe/ijpe1102.htm. By the end of the twentieth century, there were an estimated 2,000 organizations engaged in policy analysis based in the US, a substantial proportion of them focused on foreign policy and international relations. The 1970s also witnessed the establishment of “a new generation of professional graduate schools of public policy,” many of whose graduates went on to work for policy-oriented think tanks rather than in colleges and universities. See Lisa Anderson, “The Scholar and the Practitioner: Perspectives on Social Science and Public Policy,” Leonard Hastings Schoff Memorial Lecture, Fall 2000, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University (unpublished), p. 21.
I should note that I was one of those who wrote Campus Watch in protest and asked that my name be added to its blacklist, in solidarity with the scholars under attack. | <urn:uuid:c967e870-da2c-4bf8-992c-959d389a941f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.merip.org/mero/interventions/behind-battles-over-middle-east-studies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957502 | 6,942 | 1.71875 | 2 |
LONDON — With all the fanfare and hullabaloo surrounding Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee (celebrating sixty years as the British monarch) wrapping up this past Tuesday, I was reminded of another ancient British tradition that is taking place now, too: the Royal Academy of Art’s (RA) summer exhibition.
Begun in 1769, soon after the RA was founded, the summer show accepts submissions from Academicians (as the members of the RA are called) and non-academicians alike. William Blake, a student at the RA for a short time in the 1770s, had harsh words for Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Academy, referring to him as “Hired by the Satans for the Depression of Art.” But the worst that can be said about the summer exhibition nowadays is that: a) the salon style of hanging all the work from floor to ceiling is still a bad way to display paintings, and b) it’s just not as hip and cutting edge as, say, Frieze, the main London art fair extravaganza.
As far as b) goes, that can be a point in its favor. This year, the summer exhibition’s main coordinators are two very fine senior British painters, Christopher Le Brun and Michael Craig-Martin. Craig-Martin is represented by one of his characteristic paintings of furniture, done in a diagrammatic style with flat colors. One of the galleries curated by Craig-Martin is, for the first time, devoted solely to photography and includes a piece by “honorary RA member” Cindy Sherman.
I don’t know if anyone still considers it particularly an honor to be a member of the Royal Academy, whether permanent or temporary. But despite the annoying display format, there’s something touching about seeing work by Per Kirkeby, Tacita Dean and other art stars hanging next to the work of totally unknown artists. The fact is, the Royal Academy summer exhibition is like the Queen herself: ancient, somewhat creaky, but a venerable and permanent fixture that somehow reassures by the fact that it is always there, no matter the changes in political or social fashions.
The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition 2012 at Burlington House (Piccadilly, London) runs through August 12. | <urn:uuid:6f7a5608-783d-4b21-b24c-81386dadc5d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hyperallergic.com/52501/royal-academy-summer-exhibition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94756 | 486 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Persecution at Tatsunokuchi
Shijo Kingo-dono Go-shousoku (Letter to Shijo Kingo)
I cannot adequately express my gratitude for your frequent letters. At the time of my persecution on the twelfth of last month,1 you not only accompanied me to Tatsunokuchi2 but declared that you would die by my side. I was deeply moved!
How many are the places where I died in past existences for the sake of my family, lands and kin! I have given up my life on mountains, seas and rivers, on the seashore and by the roadside, but never once did I die for the Lotus Sutra or suffer persecution for the daimoku. Hence none of the ends I met enabled me to reach enlightenment. Because I did not attain Buddhahood, the seas and rivers where I died are not the Buddha's land.
In this life, however, as the votary of the Lotus Sutra, I was exiled and almost put to death-exiled to Ito and nearly beheaded at Tatsunokuchi. Tatsunokuchi in Sagami Province is the place where Nichiren gave his life. Because he died there for the Lotus Sutra, how could it be anything less than the Buddha
land? A passage from the sutra reads, "In all the Buddha lands of the universe there is but one supreme vehicle,..."3 Doesn't this bear out my assertion? The "one supreme vehicle" is the Lotus Sutra. There is no true teaching other than the Lotus Sutra in any of the Buddha lands throughout the universe. The Buddha's provisional teachings are excluded, as the sutra explains elsewhere.4 This being so, then every place where Nichiren meets persecution is the Buddha land.
Of all the places in this world, it is at Tatsunokuchi in Katase of Sagami Province where Nichiren's life dwells.5 Because he gave his life there for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, Tatsunokuchi may well be called the Buddha land. This principle is found in the Jinriki chapter, where it states, "Whether in a grove, in a garden, on a mountain, in a valley or in a broad field,...the Buddhas enter nirvana."
You accompanied Nichiren, vowing to give your life as a votary of the Lotus Sutra. Your deed is infinitely greater than that of Hung Yen,6 who tore open his stomach and inserted the liver of his dead lord, Duke Yi, to save him from shame and dishonor. When I reach Eagle Peak, I will first tell how Shijo Kingo, like Nichiren, resolved to die for the Lotus Sutra.
Secretly I learned that I am to be exiled to Sado by order of Regent Hojo. Of the three heavenly gods, the god of the moon saved my life at Tatsunokuchi by appearing as a shining object, and the god of the stars descended four or five days ago to greet me.7 Now only the god of the sun remains, and he is certain to protect me. How reassuring! The Hosshi chapter states, "[The Buddha] will send gods in various guises to protect the votary of the Lotus Sutra." This passage leaves no room for doubt. The Anrakugyo chapter reads, "Neither swords nor staves will harm him." The Fumon chapter states, "The sword will instantly be broken into pieces." There is nothing false in these quotations. Strong and steadfast faith is the vital thing.
With my deep respect,
The twenty-first day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun'ei (1271)
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin; Vol. I, pp. 13-15.
Designed by Will Kallander | <urn:uuid:3ba1daf7-4b3f-4b97-af29-f69526d61e95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nichiren.info/gosho/PersecutionTatsunokuchi.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94412 | 802 | 1.6875 | 2 |
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Probably more than in any other industry, networking applications for the military market mandate superior uptime, performance and reliability. That’s pushed manufacturers of server solutions to continually evaluate, develop and enhance integrated technologies and components to match the needs in this demanding industry. Adding to the challenge, it is incumbent on server solution suppliers to also deliver products that meet system longevity requirements of five years or longer.
Although not specifically required for military applications, systems designers may opt for carrier-grade server solutions that meet strict NEBS (Network Equipment Building Systems) requirements, which have been established for the telecommunications or central office market. Carrier-class features in these servers are very applicable for systems deployed in the extreme and space-constrained environments of military aircraft, ships and field datacenters. Servers designed to these stringent specifications help ensure highly reliable operation under rugged conditions such as wide temperature variations, high altitude and increased exposure to shock and vibration.
With the ability to be used as standard building blocks for a broad range of military, aerospace and government market applications, communication rackmount servers have consistently demonstrated long life reliability under harsh conditions. These NEBS-3-compliant servers can be an optimal solution for a variety of military network infrastructure systems, including switching, storage, content delivery, intrusion detection and prevention, VPN/firewall and unified threat management. The critical importance of the communication infrastructure to today’s military demands the highest quality components.
Testing and Analysis
Servers that meet NEBS standards are an excellent choice for many military applications since they are designed to endure environmental extremes far beyond that required of standard enterprise-class equipment. While these systems are likely not appropriate for ultra-extreme environments such as tanks and fighter aircraft, there are many ground-based, ship-based and even large aircraft-based installations whose environmental requirements are similar to those defined by the NEBS specifications (Figure 1). These specifications address issues that are likewise critical to military equipment including temperature and humidity, shock and vibration, fire suppression, safety and emissions and airborne contaminants.
An example of systems whose environmental requirements are similar to those defined by the NEBS specifications are large aircraft-based installations like the E-8C Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft.
It is crucial that military systems contractors look to experienced, trusted server suppliers for equipment designed from the start to meet these rugged requirements. Contractors that try to use equipment originally built for standard commercial installations but “hardened” in certain aspects of the design will generally find that they do not fully meet the requirements and often result in added costs and delays in their program as these deficiencies are discovered. Instead, they benefit from suppliers that can demonstrate their server’s rugged design features through a rigorous testing and analysis process. Contractors can be confident that the capabilities claimed by NEBS-compliant systems are legitimate as they are backed by extensive testing conducted by an independent test lab and documented in a detailed test report.
Vibration and Reliability
Many system designers have only recently become aware that vibration can significantly affect system reliability and performance. At one time, vibration was seen as a problem that manifested itself on the purely mechanical parts of a system: fasteners coming loose, cable intermittents or disconnections, boards unseating and so forth. But a new culprit has arisen in the form of reduced disk drive and overall system performance. Since shock and vibration are such an expected part of most military installations, contractors must be sure the equipment they specify can tolerate vibration from sources like heavy equipment, vehicles, generators, engines or other types of machinery that operate in or near network installations.
So can vibration really have a noticeable impact on system performance? As part of ongoing analysis and through internal testing by Kontron engineers, it was found that systems were experiencing an unexpected performance loss when subjected to extreme temperatures. After comprehensive testing, the cause was narrowed down to the operation of the hard drives, which were experiencing excessive re-syncs of the drive’s heads due to the added vibration caused by the system’s fan speed increase in response to the temperature changes.
An extensive evaluation was done on how vibration affects hard drives, to identify the sources of vibration, and to determine the best solutions to reduce the negative impact vibration has on system performance. If the vibration within the system was interfering with sensitive hard drive performance, imagine how external vibration that is commonplace in military settings could threaten systems?
The Cause and Detrimental Effects
System fans used for thermal management are the primary source of internally generated vibration. Because today’s higher-power systems require increased thermal management that is typically accomplished through greater airflow, fans have had to markedly increase their rotational speeds, with some fans now spinning at over 18,000 RPM. Higher fan rotation speeds have resulted in both increased amplitude and frequency of system vibration in order to maintain system cooling specifications.
Today’s hard disk drives are more sensitive than ever to vibration, which has led to greater performance issues. Hard drive sensitivity comes from their increased rotational speeds and higher bit densities making them more susceptible and vulnerable to shock and vibration. When you couple high-capacity hard drive vulnerability with higher speed thermal management system fans, it is clear that today’s networking equipment must consider vibration as a real threat to system performance.
Performance issues resulting from increased vibration may not be immediately obvious. A degradation in system performance can be caused by a long list of other hardware or software problems. What pinpoints the cause of vibration is if the degradation occurs when the fans are running at high speeds, such as when the system responds to increased ambient temperatures. The user may note that as the ambient temperatures rise, the system performance falls. Or they may notice a correlation of performance loss with the operation of nearby equipment that produces significant vibration. They may further note that at certain limits the system can degrade to a point where a drive goes “offline” or worse, the system crashes. This is certainly not an acceptable response for a mission-critical system.
For this reason, new, innovative vibration suppression technologies are now integrated into communication rackmount servers that significantly reduce the effects of vibration within the chassis. These new techniques benefit customers by allowing denser systems to operate at higher temperatures or in areas subject to external vibration thus enabling the customer to deploy their solutions in environments not previously possible. In addition, they benefit from being able to use a greater variety of hard disk types and sizes instead of being limited to a few “extra rugged” devices. It is expected that the next-generation hard drives will likely be even more sensitive to vibration given the increase in areal bit density and reduction in overall drive mass. By employing these vibration suppression technologies, servers have greater “headroom” to accommodate these new drives.
A proprietary vibration suppression approach has been developed for the company’s line of communication rackmount servers (Figure 2). The approach was to significantly reduce the amount of vibration by isolating both vibration-generating devices and vibration-sensitive devices. By utilizing vibration-absorbing material, both the fans and hard drives can be isolated from direct contact with the system’s metal infrastructure so they literally “float” inside the chassis. To be fully effective, vibration suppression needed to be a key requirement in the initial design methodology. For example, the design of a typical enterprise server tightly integrates a hard drive “cage” to the main chassis walls and/or floors. From a design and cost point-of-view, this may seem efficient, but it allows vibration to be transmitted directly from the chassis to the hard drives. To help eliminate this particular vibration issue, it is better to create a self-contained drive cage. Isolating the entire cage from the chassis is shown to greatly reduce vibration-induced performance loss of the drives over drive isolation alone.
Vibration suppression technologies have been integrated into this communication rackmount server to ensure system performance and reliability.
More than the Sum of Components
System reliability is a dynamic equation that can change under varying operational circumstances. Troubleshooting a server design is more than the sum of its components, and simply putting off-the-shelf rubber grommets everywhere will not guarantee an optimal solution. The size, shape, number, location and most importantly the type of material selected, will all affect the magnitude of the vibration reduction. In reality, the challenge is to attenuate certain frequencies that hard drives are particularly sensitive to rather than the overall reduction in vibration. Plus, frequencies that affect system performance vary from drive to drive, so there is no simulation technique that exists that would accurately model a system’s vibration patterns.
Kontron has developed a proprietary software program that accurately measures hard drive performance related to drive type, fan speed, system configuration and external vibration sources. Using this software, server designs can be analyzed under various vibration reduction techniques, looking at the effects of system fans and the effects of vibration from the spinning hard drives on themselves and on neighboring drives. It also allows designers to analyze vibration from sources external to the system such as those often found in military installations.
Analyzing Other Components
Solving the issues associated with vibration does not stop at isolating the problematic components. In fact, isolation may not always be the best solution. The best solution may be in changing the mass of a structure for better attenuation of vibration. If the design has many smaller, lighter, independent structures, it actually may be more sensitive to vibration than one monolithic structure. Only careful experimentation and testing can identify the best solution.
Employing high-quality fans with carefully balanced blades and high-quality bearings is another step in meeting specific vibration limits. As systems become more powerful, it is important that there be a continual evaluation process of new fan and disk drive products in the industry to ensure that systems continue to deliver the best performance and reliability possible.
Before and After Comparison
Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the test results of system vibration from a server before and after vibration suppression technology has been integrated into its design. Affecting the performance and reliability of crucial military networking applications, vibration is certainly an issue that needs careful attention by contractors specifying equipment containing sensitive hard disk drives. Testing, thorough analysis and good design methodologies employed by server suppliers have enabled the development of innovative vibration suppression technologies to alleviate many of these issues. Military systems that integrate servers with these technologies can be assured of systems that operate reliably in demanding and rugged environments.
Without vibration suppression technology, reading performance is reduced, but writing performance is reduced to zero when fan speed is toggled between normal and high speeds. The user sees an hourglass or error message that indicates the hard disk drive is not available when performance is at zero Mbyte/s throughput.
Integrating vibration suppression technologies shows in this test that reading/writing performance is improved and writing is no longer at zero when the fan speed is toggled between normal and high speeds. That means hard disk drives are always available and with the expected performance.
As hard drive suppliers continue to offer higher density drives, and the cost per usable gigabyte of rotational drives is expected to remain lower compared to solid-state drives for the foreseeable future, server suppliers will need to stay diligent in their development of new technologies for the reduction of vibration-induced hard drive performance degradation. For future designs, lower-vibrating fans and reduced sensitivity hard drives plus new isolation and support materials will be required so that military systems continue to reap the benefits of continued server technology advancements. | <urn:uuid:c98c93e2-bba3-41d5-a588-6e4aa65d426a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cotsjournalonline.com/articles/view/101315 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936963 | 2,349 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The rear view
The Volt features a less fuel-efficient but speedier "sport" mode, making it quite a bit zippier than the average hybrid or electric car. It does, however, max out at about 100 mph.
Because it's an electric car, the Volt is extremely quiet and raises subsequent safety concerns: pedestrians, particularly the visually impaired, might not be able to hear it coming. As a result, the Volt has a "pedestrian alert" that can be set off by tugging on a control next to the steering wheel.
March 13, 2010 9:59 AM PST
Photo by: Caroline McCarthy/CNET
| Caption by: Caroline McCarthy
Conversation powered by Livefyre | <urn:uuid:1fa2a8b2-8929-4531-b791-22d2e287a30e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/2300-13577_3-10002790-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933824 | 150 | 1.695313 | 2 |
CHAMPAIGN — The city council could decide this week if it wants to give more public access to food trucks looking to sell treats on the streets.
Officials launched a pilot program this summer that allows registered trucks to operate on public property for longer periods of time than city laws would normally allow.
Although city officials have yet to say specifically what the changes might be, council members could give administrators the green light to start drafting a new law that is more accommodating to mobile restaurants when they meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Champaign City Building, 102 N. Neil St.
"I'm happy that food trucks can work with the city and that they're starting to work with food trucks," said Zach Ware, owner of the Crave Truck, a mobile "street waffle" vendor.
The existing city ordinance treats food trucks as peddlers — meaning if they want to operate on public property, they have to move to a different location every five minutes or so.
Several food trucks already operate in the Champaign-Urbana area, including Hawaiian Ice and Mas Amigos, which operates primarily on private property zoned for commercial purposes where the trucks do not have to move every few minutes.
And then there's Derald's, which operates at parking meters in Urbana on the University of Illinois campus. That city has an ordinance similar to Champaign's, but without the five-minute restriction.
But of all the mobile restaurants in Champaign-Urbana, Ware's Crave Truck may have taken the most advantage of Champaign's pilot program.
Ware said he thinks the accommodations the city has arranged are great, and he hopes they stick around.
However, according to a memo to the city council, food trucks can sometimes conflict with "brick-and-mortar" restaurants.
The two businesses often work in direct competition with each other, and "mobile food trucks do not pay real estate taxes, and their use of city streets and public parking lots might be considered a 'public subsidy,'" according to the memo.
Sometimes food trucks are noisy, and they can occupy needed parking spots, it said.
The memo also lists benefits, and city officials have said food trucks can add another layer to the downtown and Campustown areas.
"Mobile food trucks often add to the vibrancy and street life of an area (especially an entertainment district like a downtown)," according to the memo, "and provide a festive feel for visitors to the area." | <urn:uuid:b30dca3d-9ac6-4ee2-8919-fb9e4f52bf86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news-gazette.com/print/1039411 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959426 | 511 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Life Insurance Education
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Beyond the Basics
More advanced topics are featured in our library of articles, addressing insurance needs at different life stages.
Types of Life Insurance: | <urn:uuid:44eb2f83-46ca-43a7-bfc1-6547736ecb44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifeinsurance.net/education.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937481 | 1,192 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Peak oil review - Feb 20
1. Oil and the Global Economy
Oil prices moved up steadily last week on the strength of optimism over the state of the US economy, the prospects for a Greek bailout, and the Iran confrontation. NY oil hit $104 a barrel in post-settlement trading Friday, up nearly $8 a barrel from early February. In London oil hit a high of $120.70 on Friday before settling at $119.58, the highest close since last June.
While US gasoline futures traded in a range just over $3 a gallon last week, retail prices continued to steadily creep higher. While the national average is currently $3.52 a gallon, an unusually large spread in retail prices between the mountain and coastal states has opened up with cities in California and the Northeast pushing or above $4 a gallon while some cities in the mountain states are selling for less than $3. If this spring's price run-up looks anything like 2008, the arithmetic says we could see a national average of $4.70 a gallon by the 4th of July with some cities along the coasts 40 or 50 cents a gallon higher. This seems unlikely to happen as high prices will curtail driving. Gasoline consumption in the US so far this year is down by 5 percent (MasterCard) to 7 percent (EIA) over last winter. The big unknown is just how the closure of so many refineries that supply the East Coast will affect prices this year.
The 50 cent a gallon price increase since mid-December is starting to show up in US inflation figures. This is turn is raising concerns as to whether the on-going "economic recovery" will be jeopardized. Should the high prices continue beyond the spring, the Federal Reserve may be forced to decide between stimulating the economy and fighting inflation.
Natural gas prices climbed a bit last week as news that Encana, another major producer, was curtailing production rather than continue to sell gas below cost and a larger than expected drawdown of inventories. The weekly drilling rig count shows rigs drilling for natural gas fell by 25 the week before last while those drilling for oil increased by 18. Analysts are suggesting that some utilities may be switching from coal to natural gas in order to take advantage of the unusually low prices.
2. The Iranian Confrontation
There were numerous twists and turns in the nuclear standoff that kept oil traders nervous all week and contributed to the steadily increasing price of crude. The week started with Tehran announcing that it was imposing an embargo on oil shipments to six European countries. Upon further inquiry it turned out that the decision to start the embargo was on hold, once again demonstrating the disorganization that has overtaken Iranian policymaking. On Wednesday the Iranians announced with much fanfare that their nuclear program was making great strides as they now had many more centrifuges in operation and could make their own nuclear fuel rods. This was dismissed as nothing new by Western governments and was intended for domestic consumption in the face of rising economic hardships.
This news was followed by unsuccessful attempts, apparently by Iranian agents, to assassinate Israeli diplomats in India, Georgia, and Thailand in retaliation for the purported Israeli involvement in the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists. The attack in New Delhi, which seriously wounded the wife of an Israeli diplomat, did little to endear Tehran to the Indians who are one of the few countries that still wants to buy Iranian oil. Adding in the deteriorating situation in Syria, in which Tehran seems to be deeply involved, and you can see it was not a good week for the Iranians.
Despite the widespread skepticism that sanctions could ever bring about a change in Iranian behavior, the skeptics apparently did not fully appreciate the economic pressure that the US, EU, and the rest of the OECD could bring upon a country if they really tried. Despite the reluctance of China and India to support the more extreme sanctions, a stream of reports suggests that the Iranian economy is suffering far more than is generally realized. Many major shipping companies will no longer visit Iranian ports for fear of running afoul of sanction rules that would prevent their ships from visiting US or EU ports.
Another development in the offing is a plan to ban Iranian banks from using the international system for electronic banking known as SWIFT. Should this sanction go into effect, Iranian financial institutions would no longer be able to transfer funds electronically and would in essence be blocked from much of their foreign trade.
Given the mounting economic and political problems, it came as no surprise when Tehran announced late last week that it was ready to resume negotiations over its nuclear program. While Western diplomats were skeptical that the announcement was a diplomatic breakthrough, the Iranians did drop previously unacceptable conditions for talks and declare they were ready to start at the "earliest possibility." Many noted that this could be another effort to stall for time or to delay even harsher restrictions; others noted that in reality the Iranians had little choice but to negotiate or face such economic hardships that the regime would be in jeopardy.
The week's events were topped by Tehran's announcement on Sunday that it would no longer sell oil to France or Britain. This move is largely meaningless as the UK stopped importing Iranian oil in September and France, which had been importing 75,000 b/d of Iranian crude in the third quarter of 2011, halted nearly all imports in December.
Tehran has clearly backed itself into a corner. If present trends continue, the country seems on course to have serious economic problems by summer. The Iranian military undoubtedly will have great troubles opening the doors to its secret nuclear programs to international inspectors so there is likely to be prolonged debate in Tehran over what concessions the country can make to ease the sanctions. It seems too early to call last week a turning point in the confrontation, but movement, for good or bad, is clearly taking place.
3. The Greek Bailout
From a peak oil perspective, the EU's lumbering sovereign debt crisis seems rather tame in comparison to the Middle East where mobs rule the streets, assassins stalk, and governments threaten Armageddon. The problem here is the fear that a cascade of defaults by countries and financial institutions will trigger a global depression that in turn will lead to a substantial reduction in the demand for oil.
A week ago, Greece's parliament agreed to the austerity program that should trigger a $170 billion bailout from the EU. The problem is that the parliamentary vote was accompanied by much turmoil in the streets, leading most to believe there is little chance that the Greeks can or will live up to their pledge of austerity. Recent polls show that 60 percent of the Greeks believe they will go bankrupt anyway so why agree to the EU's austerity demands. On the eve of the crucial Eurozone meeting to decide on the bailout, crowds were still demonstrating against the agreement in front of the Greek parliament.
All week, market sentiment swung back and forth between hopes that a bailout will be successful and concerns that it will not take place. Currently the balance of sentiment seems to favor the idea that a bailout, perhaps a partial one, will be agreed to on Monday and the problem will be pushed further down the road.
The good news of the week was that China seems to be coming around to the idea that a global depression would be bad for exports so that Beijng might be willing to spend some of their massive financial reserves helping Europe out of its problems. On the downside, the EU's economy continues to slow and Moody's announced that it is planning to cut the credit ratings of 114 European financial institutions. Increasing world oil prices and the up-coming sanction of Iranian oil imports are certainly not helping the problem. It seems likely, however, that some sort of bailout will take place during the Eurozone finance ministers meeting on Monday to forestall a Greek default on March 20th. The twists and turns of this situation are likely to have a continuing impact on oil prices for the foreseeable future.
Quote of the week
"...there is good reason to be skeptical that the world's oil production can be forever buoyed by new technology... oil production from existing areas like the North Sea or Alaska declines steadily, meaning the industry must run just to stand still."
-- James Harren, Wall Street Journal
The Briefs (clips from recent Peak Oil News dailies are indicated by date and item #)
- Saudi Aramco plans to re-open the kingdom's oldest oil field and produce there for the first time in 30 years as the company boosts output of heavy crude. (2/18, #11)
- South Sudan's 3-week-old shutdown of its oil industry in a dispute over oil revenues with the state's former leaders in Khartoum is likely to drag on and push up global oil prices. (2/18, #4, #5)
- In May, Iraq is expected to offer a dozen oil and natural gas blocks up for auction in its fourth licensing round. Exxon Mobil is prohibited from taking part, however, because it has contracts with the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. (2/17, #8) (2/18, #10)
- Coal India, the world's biggest producer of the commodity, may revive plans to import the fuel to comply with Prime Minister Singh's order to increase supplies to utilities and avoid paying penalties. (2/18, #15)
- A bill that would require approval of TransCanada's Keystone pipeline project passed the US House of Representatives by a vote of 237-187. (2/18, #17)
- Shell's plans to drill exploration wells in Alaska's Chukchi Sea this summer advanced when the US Interior Department approved the company's oil spill response plan. While Shell must still file individual permits for the six wells it proposes to drill over the next two years, approval of the response plan is a major step. (2/18, #18, #19)
- The government of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is emerging as a supplier of diesel to Syria, potentially undermining Western sanctions and helping the Syrian government fuel its military in the middle of a bloody crackdown on civilian protests. (2/17, #11)
- China faces worsening water shortages, a government official warned. The country's water shortages, along with serious river pollution and a deteriorating aquatic ecosystem, pose a growing threat to economic and social development. (2/17, #12)
- India's Reliance Industries estimates that natural gas output at its east coast block would fall over the next two financial years due to reservoir complexity, a natural decline in reserves and delays in developing satellite fields. (2/17, #14)
- ConocoPhillips agreed to sell its assets in Vietnam to French oil and natural-gas company Perenco SA for $1.29 billion. Conoco is amid a three-year effort aimed at improving its balance sheet and making itself more attractive to investors. (2/17, #15)
- As many of the world's biggest energy companies vie for shale-gas assets, a top executive at Russia's OAO Gazprom said it doesn't plan to join the frenzy. (2/17, #23)
- The International Energy Agency lowered its estimate of Saudi Arabia's productive capacity from 12 million b/d to 11.88 million b/d in its latest February report. Aramco estimates it could produce as much as 12.5 million b/d. (2/16, #13)
- A Japanese power utility has begun using Russia's ESPO crude as direct-burning fuel for power generation in at least one of its oil-fired plants, as part of efforts to diversify its feedstock. (2/16, #19)
- US lawmakers hosted meetings with senior executives of firms potentially interested in purchasing the three northeast refineries that are scheduled to close. (2/16, #22)
- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar told the House Natural Resources Committee that regulations covering hydraulic fracturing on federal lands are necessary, and will be developed after full consultations with state and Indian tribal governments. (2/16, #23, #24)
- Canada's Talisman Energy is making even heavier cuts to its rig count in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale natural gas play and will not increase drilling until gas prices return to $4/Mcf. (2/16, #25)
- Italian oil and gas group Eni said it had made a new giant offshore natural gas discovery in Mozambique with a potential capacity of 212.5 billion cubic metres . (2/15, #15)
- With just three years to go before Belgium is due to begin phasing out nuclear power, the country is still grappling with basic questions about its plans, including whether the 2015 deadline has to be adjusted to ensure electricity supplies remain reliable. (2/15, #21)
- A.P. Moeller Maersk, the world's biggest container ship owner, is leading its industry in developing biofuels made from organic waste that could cut its carbon emissions and reduce a $6 billion-a-year fuel bill. (2/15, #22)
- A study conducted for the National Wildlife Foundation and the Southern Environmental Law Center concluded that using wood for large-scale power plants could lead to higher levels of atmospheric carbon for the next half century. (2/15, #23)
- The Scottish government announced it gave approval to its first commercial wave power array, which could deliver power to more than 1,000 homes. (2/15, #25)
- The estimated resources of Israel's Dolphin offshore gas field have been sharply reduced, according to a statement by the Israeli partners in the license. (2/14, #9)
- University of California, Berkeley, chemists are reimagining catalysts in ways that could have a profound impact on the chemical industry as well as on the growing market for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. (2/14, #21)
- Iraq, seeking to maximize crude oil exports, opened the first of four planned offshore mooring facilities in the Persian Gulf and intends by March to add 200,000 barrels a day to its capacity for loading tankers there. (2/13, #9)
- A gasoline shortage in Egypt has led to long queues at fuel stations and raised suspicions among drivers that it may be a prelude to a cut in subsidies, despite official reassurances that there is no plan to hike prices. (2/13, #10)
- The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States fell last week to the lowest level in 28 months as producers continued a rapid cut in activity in the face of ultra-low prices. The gas rig count fell for the fifth straight week, by 25 to 720, completing the biggest two-week drop in three months. (2/13, #24) | <urn:uuid:7c99357f-a2a3-4ed5-881d-b0ec2b740764> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.resilience.org/stories/2012-02-20/peak-oil-review-feb-20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968695 | 3,025 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Two years ago, most of Wall Street’s economists believed interest rates had bottomed out. But not Priya Misra, a top investment strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
She was one of few to argue that the sputtering U.S. economy and the European debt crisis would knock long-term interest rates to record lows in 2011.
“I was called quite crazy at that point,” she says.
Her forecast looks clear-sighted today: The rate on the 10-year Treasury note, an all-important anchor for mortgage rates and other loans, seems stuck under a historically low 2 percent.
So what does Misra think now?
Long-term interest rates will creep higher, she says, as the economy gradually gains strength. The wild card is Washington, where talks are under way to avert tax increases and government spending cuts scheduled to start in January.
Most on Wall Street are confident that congressional Republicans and the White House will stave off the full “fiscal cliff” because the stakes are so high. Economists say the tax hikes and spending cuts could trigger a recession early next year.
“Our assumption is that a deal will get done,” Misra says. If the two sides fail to strike a bargain, “politicians know that the markets will take it very badly and blame Washington for it.” | <urn:uuid:f121fd9a-61dc-455f-abcf-128457e74a6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/21151748/article-Could-budget-fight-rattle-bond-market- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96751 | 285 | 1.820313 | 2 |
This post has been updated (see below).
The video below was taken by Palestinian photographer Bilal Tamimi in Nabi Saleh on June 1, 2012. I received it from the spokeswoman for the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, an umbrella organization for various local unarmed resistance initiatives in the West Bank (like the ones in Bil’in, Ni’lin and many other places).
The video was taken during the weekly unarmed protest in the Nabi Saleh. It clearly shows an IDF officer throwing stones and shooting at two Palestinian stone throwers. The delay between the shots and their sound can be explained by the fact that the photographer is standing on an opposite hill. You can see the dust rise next to the Palestinians, from the bullets fired at around 1:20, and again later in slow motion. According to local testimonies, the officer was shooting live ammunition (that’s what the video seems to indicate as well). I will update this post later with an IDF spokesperson response, if and when I get one.
UPDATE: Israeli media is reporting that the officer seen in the video was suspended until the completion of the army’s investigation into the event.
Palestinians in the tiny village of Nabi Saleh have been holding weekly demonstrations since 2009, protesting the seizure of a local spring by settlers from the nearby settlement of Halamish. So far, one protester was killed, and dozens suffered serious injuries by IDF soldiers during the Nabi Saleh demonstrations. Hundreds, including Israelis and internationals who take part in the protest, have been arrested.
The struggle in Nabi Saleh is so important, because it’s one of the only efforts taking place right now to directly confront Israel’s policy of settlements and land confiscation, which had such enormous effects on the Palestinian population in the West Bank’s rural areas. The measures against the people of Nabi Saleh are not limited to the demonstrations: There are night raids, long prison terms, and what seems like arbitrary punishment against the residents, like the one caught on camera here.
I highly recommend reading this post, which gives some context and history of the events in Nabi Saleh. | <urn:uuid:2da94771-f79d-4e24-a6d7-ee49c61efae5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://972mag.com/watch-idf-officer-throws-stones-shoots-at-palestinian-protesters/48148/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966669 | 447 | 1.71875 | 2 |
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210
Since the station is accessible only by boat, we maintain a fleet of 15 boats and motorized rafts to move equipment and people across the 5 miles of Cranberry Lake to CLBS. Students make the trip in a larger vessel, the Forester, capable of carrying up to 40 persons. Students, faculty, and Station personnel leave their private vehicles at the College-operated marina on Columbian Road on the west side of Cranberry Lake. The marina is about 2 miles south of Route 3 which is the only highway through the region. It skirts the north end of the lake, passing through the village of Cranberry Lake. The village is 70 miles east of Watertown and 30 miles west of Tupper Lake, the latter being the largest village in Adirondack Park (about 10,000 residents).
The student cabins are simple, unpartitioned and unheated. Each cabin is equipped with a bunk and mattress for each student, assorted desks, bureaus, chairs, and 2 or 3 clothes closets. Usually, students study either in the classrooms, which are left open in the evening, or in the dining hall. Each student cabin houses 6-8 students. The washhouse is divided into "male" and "female" sides. Each side has 4 toilets and stalls and several wash basins and showers. Hot water is plentiful. A coin-operated laundry is available to students during designated hours under the north wing of the Faculty Lodge.
There are 4 classroom buildings. Classroom No. 1 is arranged as a lecture room and seats 50 people. There are partitioned labs in the back of the building, which house computer facilities for student projects. The other 3 classrooms are equipped as typical biology labs with electricity, water, microscopes and supplies for the particular courses taught in each lab. One lab houses a complete herbarium. Sanderson Lodge, a comfortable log cabin lecture room with large fireplace, is the site of weekly lectures and seminars. It also serves as an informal gathering place for students to talk, play guitars, and sing.
There is no TV at the Station and use of radios is strictly controlled. The station office is the base of operations for the Director, business manager and faculty. The radio telephone is located here for student and faculty use. Here too are the stockroom and a modest library. The station is equipped with all of the modern amenities needed to do sophisticated field work. Our microscopes are state of the art dissecting and compound scopes brought up from Syracuse each summer. We have modern electronic balances, centrifuges, PH, O2, and conductivity meters, and even power supplies and spectrophotometers for biochemical analyses. In addition, we provide personal computers for student data analysis and word processing. You are free to bring your own lap top computer if you wish.
We all eat in a dining hall capable of comfortably seating about 120 people, each table seating 8 to 10 people. A large bell at the entrance calls everyone to meals, a common tradition at field stations. Meals are prepared by an expert staff. The meals at CLBS, including meatless dishes daily, have earned a reputation for being tasty and very adequate. Other facilities supporting the CLBS program include the Faculty lodge, several faculty cabins, the Cook's Quarters, Caretaker's Cottage, 2 boat houses, one containing a workshop, an emergency power generating plant, numerous boat docks and utility buildings.
A fleet of canoes is available to students and Station residents for official projects or personal enjoyment. Paddles are checked out at the Boat House. A volleyball court is heavily used during both sessions, while the open lawn area in the center of the Station campus is used for soccer, frisbee or just plain laying about. On the first Saturday of each Session, a Field Day is held with woodsmen's events, canoeing, soccer, tug-of-war and various other contests. A barbecue caps the day. | <urn:uuid:a394f9c8-65d7-426d-9ec9-d2c61f65e6b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.esf.edu/clbs/facilities.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96091 | 823 | 1.570313 | 2 |
HONORING THOSE WHO BATTLE CANCER
How many people are battling cancer today?
How many fear what the doctor will say?
Cancer claims victims who are both young and old
The battle starts off slowly until chemo takes its toll
Losing weight, muscle tone, energy and hair
Are mild in comparison to its nausea, fear and despair
Will the treatment work? Will the cancer go away?
Will you live life with apprehension or is this the only way?
Will the evil cells take control of your body, mind and soul?
Will you celebrate another birthday; will you get the chance . . . → Read More: Honoring Those Who Battle Cancer
Have you or a loved one been touched by Cancer? Probability tells me that your answer will be yes and if it is not, you are truly blessed. My friends, Cancer, regardless of what part of the body it invades, is devastating and frightening. It levels the playing field between those without material wealth with those who have accumulated much. The demand it makes upon the person battling the disease is beyond comprehension for its physical and psychological challenges are huge. The uncertainty, the fear, and yes, even the guilt that the afflicted individual must contend with can be . . . → Read More: Touched by Cancer?
Webster’s dictionary defines hope as “a desire based on expectation of success and or fulfillment”. The power inherent in “hope” is huge, just as the power in a lack of hope can be crippling. Providing children with “hope” , wishes for success, desire for acceptance, dreams of fulfillment, thoughts of greatness, and the feeling of being considered worthy and wonderful by others is a gift that should be shared with kids each and every day. Hope motivates and enhances our experiences and instills self confidence necessary to tackle life’s challenges, those big ones as well as those little hurdles . . . → Read More: Hope | <urn:uuid:c87272bb-0b47-492e-af72-682ddbb23b46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.magicalms.com/category/health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942239 | 410 | 1.703125 | 2 |
SNSD met the dangerous boys for the first time.
On December 16, jTBC introduced its new program, SNSD and Dangerous Boys, which will start air on December 18. SNSD and Dangerous Boys is a TV program that SNSD members become mentors of five boys to change them.
It has been reported that SNSD members were very surprised by the five boys’ rough life before they met. Also, the five boys showed various responses when they met SNSD because they didn’t know SNSD were their mentors.
One of the boys surprised Yoona by asking a mischievous question, and Yuri didn’t know what to do because of her mentee’s cold eyes. Seohyun, who is nicknamed as “good girl,” got angry when she met the boys.
Seohyun kept having a stern look while watching the boys’ daily life through a monitor. She expressed her sad feelings about the boys, saying, “I think the boys are living without any thoughts or dreams.”
As one of the boys kept insincerely responding, “No, I don’t,” when he was asked about his dream or future plan, Seohyun eventually got angry, saying, “You can’t live like this,” and surprised others. | <urn:uuid:7103e04b-1f89-4602-8e4b-57e20017f4fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.korea.com/snsd/news/snsd-meet-the-dangerous-boys-and-seohyun-gets-angry/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97423 | 290 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The change wouldn't affect the size of planes using the airport, at the corner of State Street and Ellsworth Road.
It would improve safety, says Mark Perry, chairman of the seven-member Airport Advisory Committee.
Now 3,500 feet long, the runway requires pilots to make a much steeper descent than recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Lengthening the runway by 800 feet would enhance safety without changing the airports' FAA classification, says Perry, a private pilot.
Five planes have overrun the runway since 2000. The airport handles about 75,000 takeoffs and landings a year and is home base for 170 aircraft.
The airport property extends to Lohr Road and there's ample room to add to the southwest end of the runway, Perry says.
In addition to lengthening the landing strip, airport officials plan to make second change - this one a response to the Washtenaw County Road Commission's interest in widening State Street, along the airport property.
The Road Commission would like to replace the existing roadway - a single lane in each direction - with a boulevard-style road.
The new corridor would have two lanes of traffic in each direction, divided by a center median. The widening would move State Street closer to the existing runway.
To adjust for that, airport officials plan to close 150-foot section of runway closest to State Street and add that distance to the opposite end of the strip.
Under the new configuration, the runway would still be about half a mile from Lohr Road, Berry says.
The FAA will pay for most of the work. The state will also contribute. The city will contribute 2.5 cents of each dollar spent.
The city generates revenue from various rental fees and a surcharge on aviation fuel sold at the facility.
A new the airport layout plan including the planned changes was put in place last year. The next step is an environmental assessment.
That assessment takes noise and any social or economic impact into account and includes public hearings, Berry says.
The City Council is being asked to sign off on about $550,000 worth of spending related to the assessment and preliminary engineering for the runway changes.
Reach Judy McGovern at 734-994-6863 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:5d0eadbd-486b-4ef3-bf8c-399c09fb5bde> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.mlive.com/judy_mcgovern/2009/02/ann_arbor_airport_runway_exten.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944547 | 471 | 1.507813 | 2 |
While the holiday season is traditionally a time to be with family and friends, it also tends to be hectic times that can make any shopper feel harried. When shopping during the holidays, the Better Business Bureau provides the following tips to consider:
- Plan ahead: Set a realistic budget and stick to it. Also make a list of the gifts you would like to give. This helps you to avoid buying impulse gifts that may be inappropriate or too expensive.
- Compare prices and shop carefully: Holiday "sales" and "markdowns" sometimes are not the bargains they appear to be.
- Ask about refund and exchange policies: Before making a purchase, ask the merchant about its refund and exchange policy. A store is not obligated to accept items for refund, exchange, or credit unless the item is defective or was misrepresented.
- Know your rights: Be informed about your rights when placing orders through catalogs, mail order, TV shopping networks or online venues. Additional information on mail and telephone order shopping is available from the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov). Ask about delivery times, delivery costs and how returns are handled. Contact the BBB to obtain a report on the company.
- Be aware of your surroundings: Be on your guard at all times when shopping. Never leave your wallet, credit card or purse on a counter. Do not get overloaded with packages. Survey the parking lot for suspicious persons. Shop with a companion or ask for a security escort to your car.
- Give but give wisely. If you are approached in person for a donation, do not give if you are pressured or if the solicitor is vague. Ask for written information to review. If the appeal is legitimate, your donation will be just as appreciated after the holidays as before the holidays. Check with the BBB Wise Giving Alliance www.give.org for additional holiday giving advice and information on charities meeting CBBB ethical guidelines. | <urn:uuid:6c916242-8635-4952-90e9-a9e62bfe7bc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/533403/Shopping-tips-for-the-holiday-buying-rush.html?nav=5052 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933828 | 394 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Darien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. A relatively small community on Connecticut's "Gold Coast," it is one of the most affluent towns in the United States. The population was 19,607 at the 2000 census. Situated between the small cities of Norwalk and Stamford, the town is a bedroom community with relatively few office buildings. Most workers commute to the adjacent cities, and many also work in New York City. Two Metro North railroad stations — Noroton Heights and Darien — link the town to Grand Central Terminal and the rest of the New Haven Line. Although Darien has an increasingly vibrant downtown, residents often shop at the big-box stores and chain stores in neighboring Norwalk and Stamford. For recreation, the town includes four small parks, two beaches on Long Island Sound, four country clubs, a hunt club, and two yacht clubs. With a median home price of approximately $1 million, Darien is one of the most expensive places to live in North America, and was rated one of the best places to live in America by CNN in 2005. The public library in Darien, the Darien Library, has consistently ranked in the top ten of its category in the HAPLR (Hennen's American Public Library Ratings) Index of libraries. | <urn:uuid:cae8503e-d534-4138-9973-62aeb33944d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://openjurist.org/law/rollover-accident-litigation/connecticut/darien | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961388 | 262 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Gov. Eddie Calvo submitted his administration's proposed budget for fiscal 2014. The governor said it was a balanced budget, but at the same time openly acknowledged that all agencies won't receive enough money "to meet their mandates or service levels."
Those messages are conflicting. The budget can't be balanced if it doesn't allot enough money for all agencies to fulfill their missions and provide services to the public.
The rationale behind the budget was to prioritize services important to the taxpayers, Calvo said. That means there will be additional funding for the Guam Fire Department and the Guam Police Department, as well as four other agencies. And $113 million is budgeted to ensure all tax refunds can be paid, as well as bond payments and other obligations.
But the fiscal 2014 budget will leave a lot of agencies on their own in figuring out how to best spend their limited allotments. There don't seem to be any guidelines for how the inadequate funding will be prioritized.
Are agencies going to cut employee hours or lay off workers? Will directors be able to decide which services to cut back on, such as limiting the days and hours of availability?
The government of Guam budget should be balanced. Spending must be limited so it matches up to expected revenues. The budget needs to be examined regularly in the fiscal year, to best determine if there will be less or more revenues than expected, with spending adjusted accordingly.
And there need to be plans made ahead of time so that agencies focus on how best to spend their limited budgets, or else directors will be going to the governor or the Legislature at some point to ask for more money, probably with the threat of looming payless paydays.
This is especially true when the governor openly says that all agencies won't be adequately funded.
Elected officials need to get to work immediately to ensure spending priorities, and that any necessary cuts are planned for now. | <urn:uuid:cf921df3-4fea-4ffe-9641-6b2ca9f54dd8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guampdn.com/article/20130202/OPINION01/302020302/Plan-now-Fiscal-2014-can-t-balanced-agencies-will-lacking-funds?odyssey=nav%7Chead | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971734 | 384 | 1.84375 | 2 |
David Hausman also was fined $28,000 in federal court on Thursday for breaking laws intended to protect endangered black rhinos.
The Manhattan resident said in pleading guilty last summer he knew the horns needed to be more than 100 years old to be legal sales. He admitted he double-crossed the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service by first offering to help fight illegal sales of rhinoceros horns, then buying some himself.
Hausman was arrested in a nationwide crackdown on the black market trade.
Rhino horn carvings are considered good luck charms or health enhancers in some cultures. Authorities say persistent demand for the carvings has devastated the world's rhino population. | <urn:uuid:c623eb8b-2c17-4837-9add-87e2ad57676b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_22594000/ny-man-gets-prison-time-fine-rhino-horn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935128 | 144 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Kimble Electric Motor
Recently, I had my ancient 1hp GE motor totally repacked and restored. I am considering having the same thing done to the Kimble motor for the 10x15 by the same folks, but my suspicion is that restoring a fairly modern motor from 1960, and resurrecting a variable speed motor suffering the ravages of nearly a century, which means at least half of that time, no climate control was available - in Florida - might be a "3/4 horse" of a different colour! So, for the benefit of the folks that may - or may not choose to take this project on, I took some photos and made a short video of this motor, still on it's mounting shaft. The photos show the specs indicated on the face plate, the video shows the movement and some of the interior dynamics, some of the wire corrosion, etc.
As a former restorer of communications equipment from the 1920s and 30s, I was personally impressed by the lack of oxidation and corrosion that I can see from my perspective, the contacts need cleaning, but are overall in much better shape than rigs I've had to restore that were much newer and coming from a more protected environment! But I am not a motor expert, and I may have an unpleasant surprise coming, so I'll not get my hopes up. I can say that the rotor spins freely, there does not appear to be bearing noise when slow turning by hand, the speed control armature glides freely, and the rotor contacts look pretty clean.
The saving grace may be a phenomena I observe with most old press-room equipment: a thin sheen of oil, or grease, seems to collect on this equipment when stored in shops over time, and while it collects dust like a magnet, which requires a lot of elbow grease to get off, it does one thing pretty well - slows down penetration of humidity. Very often I've cleaned these machines off to find the iron or steel beneath clean as a whistle! In fact, clean enough to run and operate almost immediately.
Here are close-up shots of the Kimble itself, and it's brass face-plate:
Here's the motor itself, on it's C&P mount and attachment arm.
Plate reads: "Kimble Electric Company, 3/4 hp., continuous duty cycle, 1(single) phase, 110/220 volts,
12a (@110vac) / 6a (@220vac), 60 cycles."
"Speed (rpm): 500 - 2000, Serial No.: 44785"
The newest patent date reads 1915.
A full shot of the face-plate, which, I think, is either copper or bronze.
Bottom center has that cool Kimble Motor Company, Chicago Logo.
That about does it for this installment. Apart from this we have designing and printing banquet announcements, more wedding announcements, and we may be doing more coaster work if all the links fall into place! We've been pretty busy.
On a personal note, all the while I've been operating G. Johanson, Printer - largely a labor of love - I have also maintained a full time management position in a local optical clinic. I am stepping down from management of that facility in order to pay more attention to Letterpress. I think it holds great things in store, despite a turned-down economy and standard printing operations going belly up to the tune of two-thousand per year. These are huge operations. But . . . Letterpress printing is not 'standard'! It is an artisan craft that produces a finely crafted product that you don't get at Hallmark or from China-based corporation.
I've heard "They don't make 'em like they used to."
Well, I'm here to tell you they do! WE do! Still by hand and eye. Still by utilizing ancient skills and equipment. Still by touch, one print at a time. American manufacturing is alive and will in the World of Letterpress!
-Gary Johanson, Printer & Proprietor
G. Johanson, Printer
Letterpress Printing & Design. | <urn:uuid:bbfd0969-4751-4562-bb88-d92a7f78312b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gjohanson.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955826 | 846 | 1.546875 | 2 |
CHARLESTON (AP) - West Virginia legislators began a legislative session Wednesday that's expected to be dominated by proposals to improve the state's schools and ease its overcrowded prison system.
The 60-day session began just after noon and quickly adjourned to prepare for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's State of the State address in the evening.
Tomblin called for legislation to address the state's public schools, which are highly funded by national standards but also underperforming. West Virginia ranks eighth nationally in education spending relative to income, but students rank well below average on national standardized testing.
A recent audit of the education system concluded that the state's schools are burdened with a rigid central bureaucracy and inflexible rules. Among the potential changes being discussed is reorganizing the Department of Education to eliminate redundancies and giving local communities more control over how best to structure the school schedule. State law mandates a minimum of 180 days of instructional time, although the education audit found that last year students averaged only 170 days of instructional time.
Jim Phares, the new state superintendent of schools, told a group of lawmakers on Tuesday he was working on easing burdensome regulations.
"We are committed to removing layers of bureaucracy and barriers to enable local initiative," Phares said.
Other bills are expected based on a recent report that recommended releasing some state prisoners six months early into supervised programs. It also recommended spending $3 million on new substance abuse programs. It's estimated that the crimes of 80 percent of state inmates are somehow drug-related.
The state's prison commissioner has said overcrowding is at "crisis level." Every one of the state's 5,400 prison beds is filled, and an overflow of about 1,700 state prisoners are being housed in regional jails that are meant for convicts with shorter sentences on less serious crimes.
Making the changes recommended in the report would save the state $116 million over five years, according to budget estimates.
House Minority Leader Tim Armstead has said that he agrees prisoners need more supervised release, but sentences should not be cut short. Armstead said last week that he would not support making all the changes recommended by the report.
Tomblin can expect to face reinvigorated Republican opposition in the House of Delegates. Republicans gained 11 seats in November's elections and are now just five votes short of a majority. Just five years ago, only 28 of the 100 delegates were Republicans.
While the first day of the legislature is largely ceremonial - both the House and the Senate adjourned after less than 30 minutes - there was one substantive piece of business: The Senate created a special committee to study ways to address childhood poverty. One in four West Virginia children lives in poverty, according to census data.
The committee is the brainchild of Senate President Jeff Kessler, who will appoint its members. The committee, which will meet year-round and not just during the legislative session, likely will be chaired by Senate Majority Leader John Unger. In introducing the committee on the Senate floor, Unger told a story of visiting his wife's third-grade classroom in Berkeley County and finding a majority of the students who would have liked an extra lunch so that the rest of their family could have more to eat at night.
"Here is the wealthiest country in the world, and this is happening," Unger said. | <urn:uuid:5ddac3a1-d84f-4103-ae32-90a84033d475> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/581324/Legislators-Begin-Session.html?nav=515 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96596 | 683 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Passengers will be able to check emails, browse the internet and even attempt to watch live TV on their mobiles, tablets and laptops while waiting for trains at 80 stations across the network. Another 40 will be connected by the end of the year.
The service, which will be free to everyone for the whole summer, is expected to come online at some stations, including King's Cross, Leicester Square, Oxford Circus and Stratford, within the next couple of weeks.
Virgin Media, which is providing the service in partnership with Transport for London (TfL), said passengers would be able to connect to the internet in ticket halls, on escalators and platforms and from inside trains waiting in stations.
Coverage will be lost when trains enter tunnels, but Virgin said customers would be automatically reconnected upon arrival at the next station.
"Your pages will update as soon as you enter a new station, so you will be able to tweet your journey," a Virgin spokeswoman said.
The first tweet from the underground was posted by Rory Cellan-Jones, the BBC's technology correspondent, who managed to stream an episode of The Apprentice on the BBC's iPlayer on his iPad.
Ordinary users, however, will struggle to get speeds anywhere near fast enough to stream video as the service is likely to be overloaded by the number of passengers trying to connect.
Virgin said speeds would be "comparable" to the planned 4G mobile phone internet.
The service will only be free for everyone until the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Customers of some Virgin broadband packages will continue to receive free access; pay-as-you-go access will be available to others.
The Virgin spokeswoman said she hoped passengers would be considerate to others and refrain from accessing inappropriate or noisy sites.
The Wi-Fi move follows several unsuccessful attempts to bring mobile phone coverage to the London Undergound. The latest attempt fell through last year even though the state-owned Chinese company Huawei offered to provide £50m worth of technology as a gift between Olympic nations.
Mobile coverage is already available on several underground networks, including Glasgow's Subway, but TfL claimed London would be the first deep-level network to be connected.
Passengers travelling to the Olympics through the Channel tunnel will also be able to use their mobiles despite being 75 metres under the seabed after French operators extended mobile coverage along the entire 23-mile link.
Mobiles will not work on the return journey, however, because British mobile operators, who hold the rights to the Folkestone-Calais tunnel, failed to agree on how to finance the project. | <urn:uuid:226180ef-f1dc-4477-bd6c-5d1da5b41101> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/01/london-tube-stations-wi-fi?newsfeed=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957016 | 537 | 1.796875 | 2 |
What is your Goal?
As a software engineer, my key goal is to CREATE software. A lot of the time, creating will mean WRITING software (i.e. typing out a program), but that isn't always the case. Many pieces of code have large amounts of boilerplate, or contain elements that are repeated again and again across the code base. Usually this means that the code could have been derived from some description of the end result that was simpler than the code itself. And wherever that is the case, the code is a candidate for being tool-aided or tool-generated.
What is a Tool?
Now, tools can take many forms. Sometimes you just need to abstract a super class from some existing code, rather than copying code, and that base class becomes a tool for solving any similar problem. If you have a similar problem across a number of different applications, you might pull code out into a library that can be reused across those code bases.
I'm using a pretty loose definition of 'tool' here. Basically I consider anything a tool if it has no function by itself, but can be used to create things which can perform a function. Base classes and libraries definitely fit this definition, but I hope that for the majority of developers this kind of reuse is bread and butter.
The kind of tool-creation I think we should aspire to is a little more high-level than this. At regular points in the creation of software, every programmer, and sometimes even whole teams, will come across problems where they feel awkward with the solution and with the process for creating it. So what I'm advocating is that developers and teams need to have the courage in these situations to put down the normal tools and say, "This isn't working. We need better tools for this task." Sometimes there will be existing tools for solving your problem, and sometimes you'll have to create the right tool yourself. But the key quality is to be on the lookout for situations where the productivity of your code creation is being hampered by something, and to be ready to say out loud, "let's take the time to fix this". The problem might be irrelevant boilerplate, repetetive details, or it may even be something not directly related to coding, like a randomly failing build or an automated process that sends you too many emails. Anything that's stealing time away from value creation and could potentially be semi-automated can become the target of tooling.
What's the Catch?
Of course, there's common sense to be used in deciding when to employ a tool or create one. If you're going to write your own tool, you need to make a really honest (i.e. pessimistic) estimation of the ROI (return on investment): Could the time it will take you to write the tool end up being longer than the time it will save you? Is this problem (and hence the tool to solve it) happening again and again or is it just a one off? Will the tool require ongoing maintenance that will significantly offset the gain it provides? You also need to have the discipline to create just the tool that YOU need, and to not try to solve the larger, generic set of problems that are like yours, but which you don't have. Remember: the purpose of creating a tool is to get you to the finish line faster, not to divert you from the race entirely because you're finding it uninteresting.
Are Your Eyes Open to Opportunities for Greater Productivity?
At the end of the day, though, I believe there will often come times for every developer where they find a problem that justifies the creation of a custom tool. If this hasn't been your experience, I'd like to challenge you to think about this: is the charge of your occupation to write lines of code as fast as possible, or to deliver working solutions as fast as possible? Assuming you're not paid by the line, you're really being paid to be a Code Creator, not just a Code Writer. That means you have a responsibility to use the right tools for the job, and hence a mandate to create them if they don't exist.
Want to learn more?
|From Amazon...||From Book Depository...| | <urn:uuid:e767832c-7806-4d84-9017-64f0ca6617cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://grahamhackingscala.blogspot.jp/2011_09_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959809 | 867 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Today I made a 'to do' list. I don't usually do that anymore. I used to be a big list maker but don't need to do that anymore. I use mental lists. Seeing long 'to do' lists on paper which never get finished actually makes me feel like a failure or gives me various negative feelings about myself, so I avoid doing it!
Anyway the ideal list today had 20 items on it. I have already done three which are for me to go to church/kids go to Sunday School, go to the bagel shop to get a dozen bagels, and get a few needed items at the grocery store on the way home from church.
My main project today is to input books into my book inventory Excel spreadsheet. I will be working from some bags and boxes of books which I have bought in the last three months here and there that are sitting in the corner of our home library gathering dust and waiting to be put away in an organized and sorted manner. I also will be working off of my old paper list system, transposing handwritten lists of the books we own into Excel.
The reason that we own so many books is that I used real and good aka "living books" as a main part of our homeschooling curriculum. I have been buying a lot of used books from library sales in the last couple of years. I also love to book hunt at used book shops. I design our own science program using living books as the content. I also use a lot of living history books to round out our world history lessons (our spine is "The Story of the World" and the four year chronological world history sweep as recommended in "The Well Trained Mind". We also read a lot of children's fiction picture books and chapter books including classics.
If I have to label our homeschooling method it would be classical with strong influences and use of Charlotte Mason's methods. Since we combine different companies curriculum and use living books and since I tailor some of the plans to my children's unique interests and since I don't do everything that various 'experts' recommend be done if one is 'to teach a classical curriculum', the label 'eclectic' is a better fit for us.
(Note some things on the 'to do' list that probably won't happen will be to clean everything in the bathrooms from the shower to the mirrors to the toilets. Today I am putting books as a higher priority than cleanliness.)
I need to get a grip on having an inventory of what I own so that I don't purchase duplicate books. I am trying to avoid wasting money on that.
There is a library sale coming up in two weeks which I am feeling an internal pull to attend. The library sale is in a wealthy town and the donations they receive are often high quality including new/never read books and also high quality content books such as non-fiction children's books, classics and other non-twaddle books. I am telling myself that I cannot go to that sale unless I make a concerted effort to input our current inventory onto one usable list.
Someday I want to also move that data into LibraryThing. However I have decided that my first priority is to have a base list. Since I already have 3400+ books in Excel I think I should finish up that listing and get it complete before I continue working on my LibraryThing account which has about 200 books in it. Right now I am not happy that LibraryThing is not yet loading categories of books, they rely on tags. For example if they know a book is a children's nonfiction science book then it should, in my opinion, somehow be categorized by them as a children's nonfiction science category book. Furthermore I would like it to say whether it is a picture book or a chapter book or for what age range the publisher categorizes it as. These things are known to Amazon and to the Library of Congress and the other sources which LibraryThing pulls their information from. Right now LibraryThing is relying on customers/users/members to input their own tags, their own categories. Since I have an Excel spreadsheet in which I have already loaded the categories of over 3400 books, which is a searchable document, I think I should continue working on it.
Update: As of 5:30pm: I am going cross-eyed from doing data entry on the computer. I surpassed book #4100. I need to take a break! I think I did enough for today. I also am thinking that I have a lot of great books that I have not yet read and that I should use what I have rather than buying more stuff. I was just doing data entry of books and stuff that I bought at a homeschooling conference in March 2004 which I still have not used. Yikes.
Technorati Tags: books, home library, LibraryThing, Library Thing, used books, homeschooling, living books, classical homeschooling,Charlotte Mason. | <urn:uuid:1a40d5a8-0e13-4242-b429-d848edab51af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2006/02/home-library-maintenance-work-today.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972607 | 1,021 | 1.757813 | 2 |
John Townsend (American, 1733–1809) and William Tomlinson (British, active 1730s)
Newport, Rhode Island
Mahogany, chestnut, tulip poplar, maple
98 1/4 x 22 x 11 1/8 in. (249.6 x 55.9 x 28.3 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1927 (27.57.2)
This clock case, with its arched top and block-and-shell door, is of a type widely popular in the late eighteenth century in Newport and Providence, Rhode Island. However, it is exceptional in the elegance of its design and the precision of its execution, qualities readily explained by the presence inside of the label of John Townsend, one of the most accomplished of Newport cabinetmakers. The workmanship is entirely consistent with that of Townsend's other documented case furniture, such as his chest (27.57.1). The brass clock dial bears the name of William Tomlinson, a London clockmaker active in the 1730s. Presumably, his clockworks were first housed in an early eighteenth-century case until, in 1789, Townsend was commissioned to make a new one. | <urn:uuid:0268a392-890c-43fb-befb-fc15beaca314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/27.57.2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951501 | 245 | 1.507813 | 2 |
I都市伝説(toshi densetsu) is initially just a story which has been told among people. As the time passes, the story becomes more scary and always involves “the ghost,” or something we can’t explain.
I do not really know how this transition occurred, but it is not hard to guess that people tend to make stories more exciting or memorable by adding scary elements. Also, there is an advantage that when it comes to “the ghost”- others cannot really argue the credibility of the story since there is not any scientist has a complete explanation of it.
There are a couple websites which have updates on all of these Toshi Densetsu, as well as books that have been published in order to explain the history and formation of Toshi Densetsu.
This is a blog website where people update and comment on all the Toshi Denstsu they have heard and “seen.”
There is no book about Toshi Densetsu that is specifically famous, and most of them try to explain the truth of Toshi Denstu, which does not work very well.
Though my college professor of Sociology is a big fan of studying the formation of Toshi Densetsu and the effectiveness of Toshi Densetsu to the society, and he is enthusiastic enough to put these questions on our final exam, so maybe he will publish a book about it someday. I will surely introduce it to you.
However, there is one TV show I’d like you take away from here.
It called 世にも奇妙な物語(Yonimo kimyou na monogatari), and it is not necessarily to say they all come from Toshi Densetsu, but both of them have a creepy character.
This is the beginning preview of Season 2006/Fall and the first one could be listed as one of the creepiest stories in the show. There are also many other interesting stories that can be found on youtube, so I highly recommend you take a look of those, though I have to apologize that I could not find any English subtitle one.
This one is a story about all the suicide people have been “recycled” by the government. It is worth to take a look at because I think it well presents the combination of Japanese ecological idea and don’t-bother-others cultural elements. | <urn:uuid:60cc18fa-ab3a-4669-b32b-8eb9093ab5f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.willamette.edu/worldnews/2009/11/13/%E9%83%BD%E5%B8%82%E4%BC%9D%E8%AA%AC-toshi-densetsu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958803 | 507 | 1.828125 | 2 |
TOLEDO – Students will ultimately be the winners of a promotion by a local auto dealership that put many of their parents behind the wheel to test drive a car.
Through Chrysler’s Drive for the Kids program, Denny Amrhein of Grogan’s Towne presented a $1,500 check Thursday morning to Douglas Road Elementary School Principal Carol Perz.
The money will be used to support a hands-on science curriculum that students in grades kindergarten through five use at the school, Ms. Perz said.
“We already have the science program,” she said. “Now, we can purchase some non-fiction books to go along with it. It will be nice for the students to be able to learn through the hands-on side of it, then read about it.”
It’s the second time the Chrysler’s Drive for Kids program helped earn money for the Bedford Public Schools’ district. Earlier, money was given to the Bedford wrestling program.
The school earned the donation after recruiting people to test drive Chrysler vehicles. Chrysler provided the vehicles, Grogan’s Towne provided the cars and the Parent-Teacher Association helped provide the parents to drive the cars. Chrylser gave $10 for everyone who took a test drive.
“You get the parents in the cars, behind the wheels, and hopefully something hits their hot-button,” Mr. Amrhein said.
Katie Roe represented the PTA at the ceremony, held in the showroom at Grogan’s Towne.
“This is nice because its something parents can do to show they support the school, without having to buy gift wrap or candy or something,” Ms. Perz said. | <urn:uuid:c06f910a-7fe3-4e41-b55d-5e85c35518dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bedfordnow.com/news/2012/nov/08/douglas-rd-gets-1500-donation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959095 | 371 | 1.523438 | 2 |
I got an email from a young lady in a panic because she had encountered an owl. She was apoplectic about it because she thought Owls were a bad omen or a sign of death.
Nothing could be further from the truth as you can see from my email response on the deeper meaning of owl:
Utter nonsense – the owl is no more a symbol of death than I am (and I assure you, I am not!).
Yes, in certain cultures (China, Egypt, India) the symbolic meaning of owl is associated with death, but you must understand that the owl is nota symbol of death per se. Rather – it was revered (honored) as being the guardian of the after-life – a highly respected emblem indeed.
Throughout many cultures, the symbolic meaning of owl deals with:
Ancient Athenians made the owl an emblem of wisdomand even emblazoned the image of the owl on their coinage. To the ancient Greeks, the owl is a symbol of Athene who is goddess of foresight & knowledge.
Taking symbolism from the owl directly, it is noteworthy that it is a creature of the night. Nocturnal creatures are symbolic of inner-knowing, psychic ability, and intuition – so too is the owl.
If an owl has visited you, an incredible gift has been bestowed. Also, keep in mind that animals are only called to those who share the same energy. In other words, you hold within you some of the very same symbolic attributes the owl represents.
To illustrate, you may have abilities to know things that others do not know. It may be likely you have very strong intuitive abilities that can be fine-tuned. Further, you may be strong-willed person, and/or have a protective side to you. I can already tell from your email that you are mentally sharp – so we know you have this in common with the owl already.
These owl sightings may be messages for you to develop your education further. Or, the owl may be trying to tell you to develop your intuition further.
Owls also show themselves as a sign of warning (no, not of death). You simply need to pay close attentionto people around you – owls are incredibly perceptive – you are probably perceptive too – use your powers of perception around new people you may meet. Not everyone is as nice, or “cool” as they seem to be.
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to dispell a common misunderstanding about the owl being a harbinger of death. With a little more research and contemplation upon the noble owl we see there is much more to this creature than this. You can read more of my thoughts about the symbolic meaning of owl here.
As I do most everyone who writes in asking for symbolic meanings, I would encourage you to meditate upon the owl. I’ve found that animals are quite willing to share their knowledge with us when we are open and willing to receive them.
Soar into Higher Symbolic Skies! Check out these relevant pages:
Owl Symbolism (in general) | <urn:uuid:6c11f0fd-6890-4ea5-8e5f-03f8d594db8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.symbolic-meanings.com/tag/owl/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9676 | 637 | 1.671875 | 2 |
INTERNATIONAL. Legendary global investor and chairman of Singapore- based Rogers Holdings, Jim Rogers said the lack of supply in agricultural products is especially concerning.
This cycle may last for many years as no one is bringing new supply on stream, Rogers said.
In a Yahoo Finance video clip Rogers explains the reasons he is bullish on agricultural commodities. As he sees it, "most agricultural products are still depressed on a historic basis."
"The story is not over, not for a while," he said.
"I don't see any reason it's going to be over for a few years because no one is bringing new supply on stream."
"A catastrophe is looming," he says. "The world is going to have a period when we cannot get food at any price in some parts of the world.”
Rogers on Rice and Cotton
Rogers believes Rice and cotton prices are likely to soar in the coming decade as prices of agricultural commodities boom because of declining inventories and production disruptions.
“If we start having problems, weather problems, production problems, the price of rice is going to skyrocket over the next decade,” Rogers said in a Bloomberg interview.
"When it happens I don’t know. But I know that the fundamentals are ripe," he added.
Agriculture production needs to expand by 70% through 2050, as the global population rises to 9.1 billion from 6.7 billion, Jacques Diouf, director-general at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, said October 12.
World food production will face increasing competition from the biofuel market “which has the potential to change the fundamentals of agricultural market systems,” with production set to climb by almost 90% over the next 10 years to reach 192 billion liters by 2018, said Diouf.
“Global agriculture will have to cope with the effects of climate change, notably higher temperatures, greater rainfall variability and more frequent extreme weather events such as floods and droughts,” Diouf told a food forum in Rome.
“Rice is a basic food stuff for much of the world,” Rogers said. “We know that inventories are low. I would not buy rice today necessarily. But I expect rice prices to be much higher over the next decade.”
“We have a gigantic problem developing in the agriculture market,” Rogers told Bloomberg.
Increasing demand for biofuel may encourage farmers to switch to corn and other crops from cotton, which would support prices of the fiber, he said.
“When cotton is going to explode in price, I don’t know,” he said. “But I’m sure it will, just as will everything during a bull market.
“I’ve owned commodities since 1998,” said Rogers.
“I still own them all. Some day, I presume, there’s going to be a wild hysteria at the end of the bull market. Hopefully, I’m smart enough to sell if and when that happens.”
Does this mean Rogers is no longer bullish on Gold?
"I am quite sure gold will go over US$2,000 per ounce during this bull market, Rogers said in a Yahoo Finance video clip this week, adding that the yellow metal will continue to rally as the US dollar is on its way to losing status as the world's reserve currency.
"Is it going to happen? Yes," Rogers says. "I don't like saying it [and] I'm extremely worried about it but we have to deal with the facts. America is not getting better [and] the dollar is going to be replaced just like pound sterling [was]."
Still, "I wouldn't buy gold today," Rogers says.
He said he still owns gold though it's not his favorite metal. "Gold is mystical to many people."
I think I'll make more money in other commodities that are more useful and which are cheaper, he said. | <urn:uuid:cd870346-6874-4810-bcde-3d2c3d153852> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=41114&t=1&c=36&cg=4&mset=1041 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969769 | 830 | 1.6875 | 2 |
One may also not set himself as a wizard, using potions and brews like something out of Harry Potter. Such behavior is not only deceptive, it contains an aspect of idolatry (which is why witchcraft is a capital offense - see Mitzvah #62, “Do not permit a sorceress to live…”).
It's actually not so simple what may or may not be witchcraft. If taking a pill for aches and pains is medicine and wearing an amulet is sorcery, what is wearing a copper bracelet? The question is whether something actually has natural curative abilities or relies on supernatural hocus-pocus for effect. People aren't always 100% sure of why they're doing what they're doing. If you don't know why crystals, aromas or the arrangement of your furniture are supposedly beneficial, it might bear looking into.
As we have said, such things are prohibited because they steal people's minds and turn them away from God in favor of nonsense.
This mitzvah applies in all times and places. It is discussed in the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin (pages 67a-b). It is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the eleventh chapter of Hichos Avodas Kochavim. This mitzvah is #34 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos and #168 of the 194 negative mitzvos that can be observed today in the Sefer HaMitzvos HaKatzar of the Chofetz Chaim. | <urn:uuid:159c03ba-41d2-4ce7-b194-63b85301b39c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ou.org/index.php/torah/article/mitzvah511/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930479 | 328 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The Company’s Projects
Plant Growth Hormones
- Actinogen completed initial pot trials in 2011 on a series of actinomycetes that produce plant growth hormones
- The pot trials, which were conducted in 2010 and 2011 showed significant increased root growth and leaf and stem growth (Actinogen AGM Presentations 2011 and 2012).
- Independent pot trials have been set up to begin tomorrow and will test the ability of the growth hormones to increase the root, leaf and stem growth of wheat and peas.
- The independent trials are being run for approximately six to seven weeks and results should be available at that time.
Actinogen Limited (“Actinogen”, ASX:ACW), has discovered actinomycetes that produce plant growth hormones. Actinogen tested the growth hormones in pot trials and recorded significant extra root and leaf growth in broad bean plants (Actinogen Annual Report 2012 page 9 and Actinogen AGM Presentation 2012).
Actinogen is pleased to announce that independent trials have been set up in order to further test the performance of the growth hormones. Pot trials at an independent laboratory have been set up for the trials to begin tomorrow.
The trials will test the effectiveness of the growth hormones on wheat and peas. The trials will be conducted in controlled greenhouses and measure the amount of root, leaf and stem growth. The results of the trials will be available in approximately six to seven weeks.
Actinogen will keep the market fully informed of all developments in relation to the growth hormone trials.
Actinogen Limited (“Actinogen”, ASX:ACW), has discovered a series of actinomycetes that can produce Shikimic acid. Shikimic acid is a main component used in the production of Tamiflu that has on occasion been in short supply globally.The production of Tamiflu is complex and one of the most expensive components is Shikimic acid.
Tamiflu is an oral antiviral treatment that can significantly reduce an influenza virus from spreading inside the human body, if taken within 48 hours of the onset of influenza symptoms. In the event of a pandemic, Tamiflu will be in major demand and will continue to be so globally for use in treating influenza and will be in particular demand in the foreseeable future. In 2006 and 2007, the H1N1 avian influenza became a global concern. The World Health Organization recommends treatment with antiviral drugs within the first 48 hours of symptoms appearing, however at the time, there was a shortage of Tamiflu as governments around the world attempted to stockpile the drug. The H1N1 virus remains a global concern, as do other strains of the influenza virus.
Currently, Shikimic acid is mainly produced from the star anise fruit and from a fermentation process using an Escherichia-coli bacterium. The star anise tree only grows under certain climate conditions (humid, hot weather and high altitude) and takes 6 years to mature.The Shikimic acid is then extracted from the pods of the star anise. Thirty kilograms of star anise is required to produce approximately one kilogram of Shikimic acid.
Actinogen is producing Shikimic acid from actinomycetes grown at room temperature in aerobic conditions. As the threat of a global influenza pandemic continues to be a real possibility, Actinogen is focusing on developing their process in order to produce Shikimic acid in commercial quantities for use in antiviral drugs.
Actinogen is now looking for partners to help develop this process and will keep the market fully informed of all developments as they occur.
On 9 November 2011, the Company announced that it can produce cellulase(s) from actinomycetes that can break down cellulose from plant materials, newspaper or industrial waste glycerol. Cellulase(s) are an important step in the production of second generation bio-ethanols. Second generation bio-ethanols use waste or plantation plant material (such as sedge grass), straw or paper wastes to make motor fuel. Unlike some other methods that use oils, sugars and costly foodstuffs as a feedstock. Thus Actinogen’s process can be potentially much cheaper and not use dwindling food stocks that populations can need. This traditional method of producing cellulase(s) is usually performed in an anaerobic environment at high temperatures, which is usually costly. The Company can produce cellulase(s) in an aerobic environment at room temperature, which can potentially be lower cost.
Actinogen has received samples of waste glycerol from a biodiesel plant and has begun testing these samples to produce cellulase(s). After this, the Company plans to construct a test pilot plant to produce glucose and other sugars. Glucose and some other sugars are used to make bio-ethanol in a simple distillation process. Once the Company can produce glucose and other sugars from waste glycerol and waste plant material then it is relatively simple to convert the sugars into bioethanol.
Reasons why we expect that Actinogen will soon have the ability to make motor fuel (bio-ethanol) cheaper at the pump and produce profits for the Company (subject to final feasibility studies, provisional patent lodged):
- Actinogen’s ability to produce cellulase(s) has been confirmed in scale at fermentation trials by CSIRO. Samples of the cellulases produced during the CSIRO proving have been compared to two commercially available preparations and all Actinogen’s preparations have been shown to be more active using a well diffusion assay.
- CSIRO has completed independent tests on Actinogen’s method of producing cellulase(s) and has confirmed that Actinogen can produce cellulase(s) in volumes of up to at least 10 litres.
- Actinogen is now doing tests with an actinomycetes that produces lignase that can break down the woody stems of plants similar to cellulase that breaks down cellulose materials in plants, material or paper.
- Some industrial plants around the world have a problem with excess waste glycerol. Actinogen’s process can use this waste glycerol and other cheap materials to produce cellulase(s) which are usually costly to produce. Cellulase(s) are enzymes that break down cellulose materials. The have traditionally been a very large fraction of the cost of bio-ethanol production from cheap forest waste and grassy materials. Cellulase(s) which are produced from Actinogen’s method are potentially much cheaper to produce and can potentially cut the cost of commercial bio-ethanol production by a great deal.
This “green” industry will not be required to pay carbon tax and Actinogen may be able to apply for the current government subsidy of 38.14 cents per litre of bio-ethanol produced. (As well as other government grants and subsidies that are or become available).
The government subsidy is a grant from the Federal Government. They are currently offering a grant under the Ethanol Production Grants program where grants are payable to ethanol producers at a rate of 38.143 cents per litre for eligible ethanol. The Company is currently investigating other possible government grants.
Actinogen has engaged Dr Karne De Boer, a renewable energy engineer, to produce an independent report which outlines recommendations for developing Actinogen’s research into a commercial bioethanol plant. Dr De Boer has recommended that the Company conduct further bench top trials to optimize the plans for construction of a test pilot plant. The Company intends to use funds from the rights issue to implement these recommendations with the end goal of producing bio-ethanol in large scale commercial quantities.
Recently Actinogen has acquired Celgenics, a company advanced in the research on Cancer Stem Cells. Current theory suggests that Cancer tumours may contain a tiny proportion of Cancer Stem Cells and that they may be resistant to current chemotherapy. Cancer Stem Cells may remain after primary chemotherapy and subsequently replicate to give rise to fatal secondary cancer development.
Actinogen plans to search its extensive Actinomycetes libraries and elsewhere for new agents that may specifically kill or inhibit Cancer Stem Cells that may remain inside the human body and could develop into secondary cancer tumours, after chemotherapy has killed the cancer cells
Actinogen has an ongoing series of screening programmes designed to discover new bioactive anti cancer molecules produced by actinomycetes isolated, mainly, from soil in Western Australia.
The basic programme screens the supernatants from liquid cultures of the actinomycetes for the presence of bioactive molecules that are either cytotoxic or cytostatic for a series of cell lines derived from various human and animal cancers.
The cell lines used are representative of human epithelial adenocarcinoma of the cervix, human epithelial carcinoma of the lung, murine melanoma (to be replaced over 2012 by a human derived melanoma cell line), murine neoplastic subcutaneous fibroblast (to be replaced over 2012 with a human fibroblast cell line.
Secondary screening begins to determine the mode of action of positive supernatants that can induce cell death by simple cell necrosis or via apoptosis, or cell suicide. Concurrently HPLC analyses of the active supernatants are compared to Actinogen’s chemical compound library to determine whether or not the preparations contain previously discovered or currently used anti cancer molecules as well as other compounds.
Recently Actinogen has acquired Celgenics, a company dedicated to search for bioactive molecules directed towards a specialized group of cancer cells thought to be derived from adult stem cells and known as Cancer Stem Cells (CSC). Actinogen’s cancer screening programme is to be expanded to incorporate cancer cell lines( a human epithelial glioblastoma and a human glioblastoma- astrocytoma) believed to express on their surface the CD 133 stem cell epitope. The CSC cells are detected using tests that locate the so called CD 133 marker which is considered to be a definitive marker for the CSC.
Current dogma suggests that human tumours may contain a small proportion of CSC (2%) and that these cells may be resistant to currently used chemotherapeutic agents. It is these cells that may remain after primary chemotherapy and subsequently replicate to give rise to often fatal secondary cancer development.
There is a need to find new agents that can specifically kill these CSC thus providing another step forward for the control through bioactive molecules that may be specifically directed towards the killing of the CSC and also to pin-point the stage of the cell cycle that the bioactive molecules are directed against.
Furthermore through an agreement with Celgenics and the Human Ethics Committee of the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Actinogen now has access to human tumour material, if it wishes.
There has been a recent development in fluorescent based equipment that is geared to powerful integrative automated image cytometry. This equipment performs rapid cell analyses for up to four channels simultaneously and provides a wide range of information on cell viabilities, cell cycle analyses, modes of cell death including detailed analyses of apoptosis or suicidal cell death.
Using computer based integrative software detailed analyses of cell cycles can determine at which stage of the cycle a bioactive molecule, such as that found in actinomycetes, has induced cell death or a cytostatic response.
The machine performs the tests very rapidly often down to a few seconds, thus it should increase Actinogen’s throughput for all its cell lines.
The equipment can also be used to detect the CSC- CD 133 marker. This will allow studies to be carried out specifically on these cells in a mixed culture by gating processes to favour these cells.
It will also allow Actinogen to study the dynamics of the presentation of the CD 133 marker at the cell surface during the course of the cell cycle under normal circumstances and under chemotoxic stress.
It is anticipated that results forthcoming from this major development in the R&D capabilities of Actinogen’s cancer screening programe, will enable it to not only rapidly gain information in its general screening programme but will also provide a major input to the discovery of actinomycete bio-active molecules directed specifically to the CSC.
Actinogen intends to use part of the funds raised in the rights issue for the purchase of this machine which it considers will provide a major boost to its anti cancer screening programme.
Actinogen runs a major screening program designed to discover new soil actinomycetes that synthesize bacterial antibiotics. Actinogen is advanced in its research of antibiotics directed against the Methicillin resistant Staphloccus aureus (golden Staph) [MRSA] and new antibiotics directed against the anaerobic gut pathogen, Clostridium difficile. Actinogen has discovered a small number of actinomycetes that produce antibiotic activity directed against Clostridium difficile but which do not kill normal gut flora in vitro. There is believed to be a pressing world shortage of such new antibiotics.
The details of the Offer of New Shares are described in this Prospectus. You should have received a personalised Entitlement and Acceptance Application Form with this Prospectus, but if you are in any doubt, please contact the Company’s Share Registry.
Please note that the Closing Date for acceptances is 5.00 pm WST on 24 April 2012. If you wish to participate in this Rights Issue of New Shares and New Options it is essential that your Completed Entitlement and Acceptance Application Form reaches the Company’s Share Registry by this time.
If you have any questions or queries regarding the details contained in this document, please contact your financial adviser or our Company Secretary, Mr Suraj Sanghani, on (08) 9225 4815.
Actinogen has recently discovered a completely new way to produce pure Anacardic Acid, currently offered by others for sale at around $1,000.00 per gram!
Anacardic Acid has many varied uses such as in anti-corrosives and new potential growing uses in the nanotechnology area.
The company has lodged provisional patents and/or had significant results for new anti-fungals, antibiotics and bio-degradation of plastic and paper, as well as research in the areas of new organic dyes and extracting metals from ores.
Equally exciting is that we are also now moving to commercialise a range of biodegradable nappies and other products, containing actinomycetes that should biodegrade much faster than current products. THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR DISPOSABLE NAPPIES ALONE IS ESTIMATED IN EXCESS OF $25 BILLION. CURRENT DISPOSABLE NAPPIES REPRESENT A LANDFILL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM. They are believed to sometimes take centuries TO BREAK DOWN IN LAND FILL. Even current biodegradable plastic bags, paper and packaging products without bioactives added, may still take centuries to break down. We believe this has inhibited the widespread take up of biodegradable products. With Actinogen eco-friendly actinomycetes included in products in the future this could change very dramatically.
The Company has commenced research into the detection and isolation of soil actinomycetes found in the Western Australian environment and the Company intends to become a forerunner in this field in Australia. The Company believes that this is an exciting concept in the field of biotechnology in Australia. The Company is directing its efforts to the isolation of actinomycetes by selection techniques developed by the Company and using the isolates to locate, through selective screening processes, those producing biologically active compounds of potential medical, agricultural and industrial significance. The isolates are then broadly classified and catalogued. Site histories from soil sampling are also maintained in order that repeat sampling can be easily carried out if apparently unique bioactive compounds are identified from a particular site.
The Company intends to partially characterize bioactive compounds that have the potential for use as antibiotics directed specifically against the clinically important Methicillin Resistant Staphylococci Aureus (MRSA) and the Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) bacteria and/or as antifungal agents specifically directed against clinically important Candida yeasts and Taphrina deformans. DNA sequencing techniques will provide more precise information on the genera and/or speciation of the selected organisms. These compounds and their source actinomycetes will then either be offered for sale or the Company will seek to enter into joint venture programs with other companies for the proving and seeking of commercial applications.
The company has identified a series of isolates that are capable of tolerating saline solutions that may have application for the rehabilitation of salt affected soils.
The Company also intends to actively seek specific cooperative programs by approaching companies with industrial and environmental problems which might be suited for rectification by actinomycetes from the Australian environment.
Several of the Company’s screening techniques have widespread application. For example, the Company has developed a “Bench Manual” for the detection and isolation of unique bioactive compounds. This manual provides for the practical requirements for the detection and isolation of unique bioactive compounds which includes initial soil sampling techniques, isolation procedures and specific screening tests to locate actinomycetes with the required characteristics.
The Company has established an arrangement with the PathWest laboratories at the QE II Medical Centre, Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital, Shenton Park, Perth, Western Australia, to utilise laboratories and equipment for carrying out its research into the detection and isolation of the desired actinomycetes and their bioactive compounds.
The bench protocols are now well established and the Company has isolated 2 actinomycetes [streptomycetes] that are producing significant antibiotic activity against the Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and the Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) bacteria.
The Company has also identified a series of isolates which produce bioactive compounds that are active against clinically important fungal infections and some common agricultural diseases.
Currently the Company’s initial screening assays are simple and rapid to perform. Using these techniques the Company’s laboratories can screen between 100-200 actinomycete isolates a day as required.
Any actinomycetes that appear to be producing antibiotic and/or antifungal activity against the Company’s target organisms are then screened against a panel of 10 further MRSA bacteria with a wide range of antibiotic resistance patterns and also against a panel of 10 Candida yeasts of clinical importance, some of which are resistant to currently used antifungal chemicals.
Actinomycetes that prove to be active against these panels are then moved to the second level of the Company’s screening program. In the second level of the Company’s screening program the identified active actinomycetes are grown in liquid cultures and their supernatants tested for the excretion of antibiotic activity. The stability of the bioactive compounds produced are tested at room temperature, +4C, -18C and -80C over time.
The Company has commenced research into the detection and isolation of soil actinomycetes found in the Western Australian environment.
The supernatants are also screened for bacteriostatic and fungiostatic properties as well as bactericidal and fungicidal properties.
The Company intends to conduct further tests using liquid chromatography and centrifugal analysis to determine if more than one bioactive compound is present in the supernatants. Preliminary molecular weight analyses of the identified bioactive compounds will also be determined.
In the future the Company intends to conduct in vitro and in vivo tests to obtain information on toxicity and intestinal absorption of the identified bioactive compounds. Any compounds that successfully pass these tests will then be reproduced in quantities large enough for
chromatographic purification and structural analysis.
Concurrently with these tests a more detailed analysis of the actinomycetes producing the bioactive compounds will be carried out. A wide range of biochemical substrate analyses will be conducted along with DNA sequencing to better delineate the classification of the actinomycetes under test.
The Company also has the capacity to test for the ability of actinomycetes isolated from West Australian soils to digest 3 types of plastic currently in use in the domestic market and to screen for the capacity of the actinomycetes to tolerate different concentrations of saline. Salt tolerant actinomycetes form a separate sub library of microorganisms which may be of use in the rehabilitation of salt affected soils.
In addition to the specific activities described above there are numerous potential commercial applications for the bioactive compounds that may be identified by the Company through selective screening techniques.
Those applications include other antibiotics and anti– fungal, anti-viral and anti-cancer agents.
It is anticipated that the Company’s screening techniques may be extended to identifying micro-organisms that have application for bio-remedial control of environmental and mining pollutants. Examples include microorganisms that may digest various sources of cellulose, domestic wastes, toxic chemicals in polluted ground or water, plastics and the treatment of salt affected soils.
The Company intends to partially characterize bioactive compounds that have the potential for use as antibiotics.
Other potential applications for actinomycetes and the compounds which they produce may include the concentration and extraction of various metals in the mining industry, the discovery of new fluorescent dyes for paints and colour directed pH indicators, the discovery of new methods of production of amino acids and the discovery of new sunscreens.
Recent developments by other researchers unrelated to the Company have led to the discovery of bioactive compounds produced by actinomycetes which are capable of alleviating clinical conditions such as blood clots and obesity in humans. | <urn:uuid:7ebe9cf9-20cb-41cd-8960-9f491fad0061> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.actinogen.com.au/projects/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933916 | 4,609 | 1.625 | 2 |
12% of U.S. adults currently own an e-reader; Hispanics are the largest demographic in that group with 15% owning an e-reader. Though there are many Spanish-language options available for this reading community, mainstream offerings still cater to a largely English language community. Smithsonian Institution Libraries (SIL), as part of its efforts to move beyond page image presentation of library content, is making a focused effort to bring quality, scholarly and other materials in Spanish to the e-reading community. With a grass-roots effort to identify appropriate materials, SIL hopes to build a space where there are "Libros digitales para todos".
9th–13th March 2012 | <urn:uuid:42b1513e-c3b8-4d60-99a8-8899f18caf37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lanyrd.com/2012/sxsw-interactive/schedule/?day=mar-11&session_type=panel&topics=sxswlam,e-books,libraries,language | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930088 | 138 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Former President Jimmy Carter addressed the Democratic Party convention via a televised address, former President Bill Clinton addressed the DNC with a key speech, but former Vice President Al Gore and candidate for President was no where in sight. The leading advocate for global warning will be conspicuous in his absence, but that doesn’t mean that the greatest hoax of modern times will not be mentioned. It has been a consistent theme of the Obama administration, particularly to justify the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to attack the energy and business sectors of the nation’s economy.
Former President Jimmy Carter addressed the Democratic Party convention via a televised address, but former Vice President Al Gore and candidate for President was no where in sight.
The leading advocate for global warning was conspicuous in his absence, but that doesn’t mean that the greatest hoax of modern times wasn't mentioned. It has been a consistent theme of the Obama administration, particularly to justify the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to attack the energy and business sectors of the nation’s economy.
Before the start of the Democratic Party convention, one might have wondered if the tired, thoroughly debunked claims that carbon dioxide (CO2) is causing a warming that does not exist and that humans are also causing it would be mentioned. But, in his speech to the convention, Obama made only a passing reference to global warming with, "... my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet".
On the night that Obama had won his primary victory over Hillary Clinton’s bid to be the party’s presidential candidate, among his promises and claims, he said, “This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” You cannot get more absurd than that. It would translate into the administration’s push for cap-and-trade legislation (regarding CO2 emissions) that was rejected by a Democrat-controlled Senate.
Obama’s claim did not go unnoticed by Mitt Romney who, during his acceptance speech, said, “President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.” The global warming hustlers were apoplectic in their denunciations of Romney, but his promise received a standing ovation.
The administration has become famous for the billions wasted on so-called green jobs, green energy, and controlling greenhouse gases. It is essential to understand that CO2 has never caused any of the warming cycles the Earth has been through over 4.5 billion years. It shows up after climate cycle change occurs. Moreover, the oceans that cover 71% of the Earth surface both stores and releases CO2.
Prior to Earth Day in 2011, a Gallup poll revealed just how Americans felt about various environmental issues. Asked about a variety of concerns, the respondents rated global warming dead last with 48% saying they were either not much or not at all concerned about it.
June 11, 1986 - Milwaukee Sentinal
The decades of apocalyptic claims and warnings have given way to reality. There have been no massive famines, no complete melting of the north or south poles, no increase in natural phenomenon such as hurricanes, no mass extinctions of various species. By 1998, the planet began a new cooling cycle, one that panicked the perpetrators of the global warming myth.
In 2009, the leak of emails between the researchers whose deliberately false “data” was the basis for global warming claims revealed that the cabal behind the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports were plotting to suppress the truth. The leak would become known as “Climategate.”
Just prior to the Democratic Party convention, President Obama issued yet another Executive Order, this one calling for “investment”, i.e., more spending, on cogeneration plants in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by deploying “cleaner and more efficient energy production in the country by working around political resistance to climate change and ‘green’ energy legislation on Capitol Hill.”
In reality, you cannot “save” energy. You can only use less of it and the Obama administration has done everything in its power to ensure that there will be less by deterring the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada—estimated to generate 20,000 new jobs—and by waging a war on coal. Coal mines and coal-fired plants are being closed. Oil continues to be discovered in the U.S. but not on federally controlled lands, nor can it be explored and extracted offshore where billions of barrels exist.
In effect, the Obama administration has been the most anti-energy administration in recent times while, at the same time, wasting billions on solar energy companies that have gone bankrupt and on wind power which, combined, represent less than 3% of the electricity generated nationwide and which would not exist were they were not, like ethanol, completely dependent on government mandates and subsidies.
It was interesting to note how few of the convention speakers made any reference to global warming, carbon dioxide, or the real sources of energy, coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power..
Throwing a bone to the environmentalists, President Obama made a passing reference to global warming and energy, but it is not likely that the “planet will begin to heal” as it grows colder in a completely natural cooling cycle that threatens to tip over into a new ice age.
There are real problems to be addressed, high unemployment, a lagging “recovery”, a fiscal crisis that will occur on January 1st unless Congress acts to extend tax cuts and puts off a massive sequestration of funding to defense and other sectors. In the end, it is likely we will be told that the last four years were all George W. Bush’s fault.
Alan Caruba is the founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns designed to influence public opinion and policy. A veteran public relations counselor and professional writer, Caruba has emerged as a conservative voice through his weekly column, "Warning Signs", posted on the Center's Internet site (www.anxietycenter.com) and widely excerpted on leading sites including this one.
A member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and a charter member of the National Book Critics Circle, Caruba applies a wide-ranging knowledge of business, science, history and other topics as he examines issues that include protecting our national sovereignty, environment and immigration, education and international affairs.
Residing in New Jersey, Caruba formerly served in the US Army, has been an advisor to corporations, trade associations, universities, and others who continue to utilize his public relations skills. He maintains a business site at www.caruba.com.
Caruba also finds time to offer a monthly review of the best in new fiction and non-fiction via Bookviews.Com, a popular site for news of books of merit that do not necessarily make it to the mainstream bestseller lists. | <urn:uuid:3e54c028-f18e-4611-a6d2-36a6b1b1a5d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=carubaa&date=120910 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96659 | 1,450 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Facts, video, betting odds and what the critics say about Oscar Best Director contender
Steven Spielberg must be considered one of the foremost figures in his field, with his films having grossed over $8 billion dollars to date.
The legendary director’s entry for this year’s awards, Lincoln, is sure to bag a number of Oscars and has been nominated for 12 of them.
Here are some facts you need to know about him.
1. Steven Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, in 1946, to a concert pianist and an electrical engineer.
2. Film composer and longtime collaborator, John Williams, has won four Oscars while working with Spielberg, the most recent being for 1993’s Schindler’s List.
3. Spielberg eventually settled on attending California State University, after being rejected by the University of Southern California’s Cinema school twice.
4. He is the godfather of Gwyneth Paltrow and Drew Barrymore. Gwyneth Paltrow calls him Uncle Morty.
5. After being offered the script for American Beauty (1999), he passed it off to Sam Mendes, who went on the win the Academy Award for Best Director for it that year.
6. When Spielberg received his undergraduate degree (about 35 years after he had first entered college), the orchestra played the theme from the Indiana Jones series of films as he walked up to the stage.
7. He is reportedly a brilliant shot with a shotgun. Actor Shia LaBeouf said, “He's an Olympic shot. The hand-eye co-ordination of that man is unlike anything I've ever seen”.
8. He has a phobia of "furniture with feet".
The Observer’s Philip French says that Lincoln is “the most brave and, for the audience, most demanding picture in the 40 years since his [Spielberg’s] emergence as a major director”.
Empire’s Ian Nathan says that “Spielberg demands your concentration, but his film is not a slog; it is compelling, full of beauty, and overflowing with personality,” calling Spielberg’s direction “virtuoso work”.
“Spielberg's moral masterpiece,” according to Salon.com’s Andrew O’Hehir , showcases a director “crafting a thrilling, tragic and gripping moral tapestry of 19th-century American life”. | <urn:uuid:8e35cc1c-8783-47fe-bd0d-731627593db1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-previews/oscars-2013-steven-spielberg-facts-1720779 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961391 | 517 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The lawyers representing a class of Native American farmers and ranchers say they are confident the claims process that is part of a $760 million settlement will not have the same problems that plagued a similar suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the earlier suit, where a class of African American farmers sued the government over alleged discrimination in federal lending programs, thousands of plaintiffs missed out on compensation because claims were submitted after deadline. The Obama administration is seeking congressional approval for $1.15 billion to compensate black farmers who were excluded from the settlement in a case called Pigford I.
Last week, Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington’s federal trial court asked the attorneys in the Native American farmer discrimination case Keepseagle v. Vilsack to address how the proposed settlement avoids the Pigford issues.
On Monday, Justice attorneys and the lawyers for the plaintiffs filed a joint submission to try to alleviate Sullivan’s concerns. Click here for a copy.
The lawyers in Keepseagle, including Joseph Sellers of Washington’s Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll and Jenner & Block partner Paul Smith, said in the court papers that the claims process is not adversarial—unlike the one in Pigford. In Keepseagle, the attorneys said, the claims decisions are meant to be final with no right of appeal. The plaintiffs’ lawyers describe the Keepseagle process as “simpler” than the one used in Pigford.
In Pigford, the government paid claims with no limit on the total amount payable. The attorneys in the Native American discrimination suit said the settlement establishes a $50 million cap on total claims for class members who opt for a particular track. Under that scheme, which is more rigorous than a separate track, individual awards are capped at $250,000.
Also, the plan to notify potential claimants in Keepseagle differs from the plan used in Pigford.
The Keepseagle plan calls for spending more than $2 million on media advertisements to spread the word about the settlement—more than double the amount spent in Pigford. The plan calls for Internet advertising and publication in media that target Native Americans, farmers and ranchers.
A hearing in the Keepseagle case is scheduled for Friday afternoon, where the plaintiffs’ attorneys will make their pitch to Sullivan to approve the deal. | <urn:uuid:dce7a32f-4c83-4a97-8bc1-2794414d01b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/10/judge-will-claims-process-in-native-american-farmers-suit-work.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934321 | 479 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Tracking error in exchange traded funds is a factor that should be studied when selecting a fund. This can be a drag on total returns.
“Before we even consider an ETF’s expense ratio, we look at its tracking error. It gives us a more complete picture,” Chuck Simko, a senior portfolio manager at MainStreet Advisors, said in a recent report.
An ETF that does not track its intended benchmark correctly can wind up costing investors more than a fund that is priced higher. Tracking error is a measure of how well, or not so well, an ETF tracks the selected index. Most experienced investors and advisors will consider how well an ETF tracks its benchmark, and gravitate towards those with the lowest tracking error, reports Murray Coleman for The WSJ. This ensures that liquidity will remain in the ETF, too. [Risks to Consider When Investing in ETFs]
“We’ve found that comparing expense ratios should come later in the selection process,” Gene Goldman, who serves as research director at the Los Angeles-based brokerage Cetera Financial Group, with about $20 billion in advisory assets. At first glance, putting tracking error over expenses might sound a bit counterintuitive. As Mr. Goldman notes: “Since raw index returns don’t need to deal with expense ratios, an ETF’s performance in an ideal world should equate to its benchmark return minus its expense ratio.”
Tracking error is a measure of how well an investment is performing relative to the selected benchmark. It does not indicate if a portfolio is outperforming or underperforming its benchmark. [Four ETF Cost Factors to Weigh Beyond Expense Ratios]
An ETF must execute trades in such a way as to hold hundreds or thousands of securities precisely in proportion to their weighting in the constantly changing target index. In theory, when an investor buys or sells the ETF, trades for all of these different securities must be executed simultaneously at the current price. This is not the reality. Although these trades are automated, the fund’s buy and sell transactions may be large enough to slightly change the prices of the securities it is trading. This is when tracking error can occur. [Low Fees are Important but Consider Other Factor When Picking ETFs]
Themes such as volatility patterns or return comparisons over a period of time are common ways investors measure tracking error. To decide which method is right for you, it is important to do the necessary homework. Many investors measure tracing error differently and can come to different conclusions about the same ETF.
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product. | <urn:uuid:183ea989-d528-4100-b034-33711a5ba059> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://finance.yahoo.com/news/etf-tracking-error-162032253.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931031 | 590 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The senses come together in these gardens, where sight, sound, smell, and touch create a kaleidoscopic wonder. The Garden Club of Savannah knows this, and they invite you to eight private walled gardens, each chosen for its historical significance, landscape design, or features such as fountains and sculptures. The selection is new every year, and each is as different as its owners.
Put on Your Walking Shoes
The club sells tickets and maps to the 10 sites (8 private spaces plus 2 public) for $30. Because the historic district never has enough parking for residents and visitors, you'll want to leave your vehicle behind and stroll between the locations.
"No, this isn't my house," says the hostess at the first garden on the tour. "I'm just planted here today." The tiny space, no more than 20 x 20 feet, mesmerizes us with its beauty.
"Size is not important," she notes. "Visitors like to come into a small garden and say, 'I can do that.' "
Miniature grasses create little sculptures before us. Confederate jasmine cascades over the walls alongside loquat trees heavy with fruit. Along the ground, shady borders hold thick cast-iron plants.
James Morton, a museum designer, antiques dealer, and expert gardener, opened his gate to the tour last year. (Although not in this year's event, it's open to his antiques shop customers on East Jones Street.) A stone walk meshed with formal brickwork leads into a paradise where statues of cherubs peek out among his bonsai collection. The middle point of the garden features a topiary compass. Nearby little tufts of ferns grab a toehold on the base of a fountain, enjoying every drip of cool water. "My garden gives the feeling of holding back nature to form civilization," James says. We see what he means with the delicate lichens growing on a 17th-century Italian olive oil urn exhibiting the crest of the Medicis.
Two public facilities remain on the tour each year. The Massie Heritage Interpretation Center, once Georgia's oldest chartered public school, offers two simple gardens out back--one for the boys and one for the girls--and restrooms inside.
The most popular spot, the Harper Fowlkes House Museum, serves afternoon tea. Tasty cookies, candies, and pastries made in the kitchens of the garden club members delight guests. Before sipping your tea, however, you get an informative guided tour of the 18th-century mansion.
For More Information
NOGS (North of Gaston Street) Tour of the Hidden Gardens by the Garden Club of Savannah, P.O. Box 13892, Savannah, GA 31416-0892; (912) 961-4805 or www.gcofsavannahnogstour.org. Dates: April 22-23. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Teatime: 2-4 p.m. Cost: $30.
Tips for a Great Tour
This article is from the April 2005 issue of Southern Living. Because prices, dates, and other specifics are subject to change,
please check all information to make sure it's still current before making your travel plans. | <urn:uuid:d40d5010-2b02-4a50-8d82-7878449ed79e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southernliving.com/travel/south-east/savannahs-secret-gardens-00400000009446/print-index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938083 | 683 | 1.703125 | 2 |
After more than a month of organization and testing, the Everbridge emergency alert system goes live today in Upson County. Funded by a federal grant, the system will send emergency alerts to every citizen or business with a listed landline telephone number in the county 9-1-1 system. It will also send text, voice or email messages to those who sign up for the program and want to list their cell phone to receive messages. To date, more than 600 people have registered to put their cell phones into the system.
Over the last two weeks, the system has been sending test messages to the numbers in its system. Martha Anne McCarty, Chief of Operations for the Upson County Emergency Management Agency, said the emergency alert system uses the number 706-647-5600 to send the alerts, and anyone receiving that number on their Caller ID should recognize it and realize the alert system is calling.
“Everbridge will ring your cell phone and provide a message about what is occurring, be it severe weather, utility outages, road closures, evacuations due a hazardous material incident, crime alerts, missing persons, whatever the problem may be,” said McCarty.
Those who have not registered their cell phones yet can still do so by going to the Upson County website at www.upsoncountyga.org. Click on the registration link, and once there, step by step instructions will be listed on the page. | <urn:uuid:b8cb7c8a-7fd2-481c-ae0d-f43a170171ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thomastontimes.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Emergency+alert+system+goes+live+today%20&id=21844974 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934949 | 295 | 1.539063 | 2 |
What is Sexual Harrassment? What is Sexual Assault? What to do if you're assaulted Sexual Assault Support Team Common reactions to sexual assault How to support a friend LBGT individuals and sexual assault Alcohol and sexual assault Study away and sexual violence Healthy sexuality Rape Myths
RECOVERY AND SUPPORT
Sexual Assault Support Team (SAST)
What is the Sexual Assault Support Team? VIEW MEMBER PROFILES»
SAST is a group of Macalester College faculty and staff who are trained to respond to students who have concerns about sexual assault, sexual harassment, partner violence, and intimidation. Any student who seeks consultation will receive non-judgmental support and all conversations will be confidential. They are willing to listen to your experience and provide you with the community and campus resources you may need in this difficult time.
What can I expect if I speak to a member of SAST?
Any student who seeks consultation will receive non-judgmental support and all conversations will be confidential. They are willing to listen to your experience and provide you with the community and campus resources you may need as you make a plan for your recovery. They may review campus sexual assault procedures, accompany you to meetings with police, administrators, or other appointments, and help ensure that you are getting the support you need in this difficult time.
If I speak with one of the SAST members, am I committing myself to taking a certain action?
No. The SAST member will provide each student with options for resolving his/her concern. The student might choose to do nothing. The member will support the student in whichever option he/she chooses for resolution.
What kinds of situations can SAST help me to resolve?
SAST can help resolve issues around acquaintance sexual assault, sexual harassment, partner violence, and intimidation. For example:
- If you've been forced to have sexual contact by a date or an acquaintance without your consent.
- If your partner has been physically abusive.
- If you've been the target of unwelcome verbal or physical advances, persistent leers, or lewd comments.
- If you are not sure whether what happened to you constitutes sexual misconduct.
What if my concerns are about something that is not a recent occurrence?
Sometimes people have a delayed reaction to sexual misconduct. Please feel free to contact a SAST member even if the incident happened a while ago.
Can I contact SAST if I've been accused of sexual misconduct?
Yes. SAST is available to help clarify your understanding of sexual misconduct and to provide support and appropriate referral for those accused of sexual misconduct.
How do I reach a SAST member?
You can contact a member directly or talk to someone in the Student Affairs Office who could help connect you to an appropriate SAST member. | <urn:uuid:7da11531-d7bc-425f-8ec3-8ff58f709f75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macalester.edu/sexualassault/recovery.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934068 | 569 | 1.757813 | 2 |
They are the true originals, although Bob Coker will remind you that he is not only an original, but also the instigator.
After 40 years, Coker and Clyde Bennett continue to play in the Saturday morning tennis league out of Tennis Rhode Island West Bay on Centerville Road. The league, which starts play in next month and runs through May, began shortly after Toll Gate High School opened.
The school’s tennis coach, Coker, was faced with a dilemma. The back end of the Toll Gate courts were built on fill and tennis was a bit of up and down play. He sought other courts and contacted the Kent County YMCA, just up the road from the school, and its indoor facility with six courts not far from the school’s entrance.
Eventually, he worked out something with the Y but, as a result of his contact with the Tennis RI, the idea of a faculty league that would use all of the club’s six courts from 7:30 to 9 Saturday mornings was hatched. Coker needed 24 players. When he couldn’t round up enough Toll Gate teachers, although Principal Robert Shapiro signed up, he extended his reach and recruited Clyde Bennett.
Bennett wasn’t a tennis player.
“They were hunting to get 24. They were shopping,” recalled Bennett. And he remembers what he was told, ‘It’s just for fun,’ and I said, ‘OK, I’ll give it a shot.’”
Forty years later, Coker and Bennett are still playing tennis. Furthermore, they’ve signed up for the league’s 41st season starting next month.
As the instigator, Coker was the league’s first “commissioner,” a title that most players would just as soon not have; the commissioner works out the schedule, ensures everyone has paid the fee so there’s a new can of balls for every court, has a list of substitute players and addresses any issues that might arise with the club. The commissioner also has the dubious role of setting policy, such as what happens when a player shows up late or can’t complete three sets because of an injury.
“I wish I had kept a list,” Coker says, when asked to name the originals.
In addition to Bennett and Shapiro, Coker got a strong response from the math and science departments. Grace Freeman, who taught chemistry, was an original. Others included Edward McElroy, librarian Dorothy Stevens and Jack Cooper, who taught carpentry at the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center, and his wife, Doris, who taught physical education. Also among the band of originals were Maurice Blais and Julius Breit.
Bennett’s “shot at tennis” turned into an obsession.
“That’s how I got the bug,” he says. He owned a boat but, after using the runabout only five times in a summer, it went.
“I spent my time trying to hit the ball,” he said.
He’s not the only one. Over the years the league has transitioned from casual to competitive play.
When it started, players would rotate so that everyone played with everyone else over the course of the winter. Coker said that worked because better players could be paired with weaker ones and the Saturday morning play was between a group of people who knew and worked with each other. Coker even produced a weekly bulletin recapping the events of Saturday play. It changed, however, as substitutes were brought in and people outside of Toll Gate and the School Department became interested. After about five years, Coker implemented a more structured regimen. A scoring system and ladder were introduced whereby after six weeks of play, depending on the number of sets won, a player either moves up, down or stays where they are on the ladder. In a course of a morning, a player plays one set with each of three other players assigned to a particular court. One of the other players is always at the same level while the other two may be at the same level or one above or below.
It makes for some competitive tennis that has seen women drop out of the league. It has also resulted in a waiting list of people looking to become regulars. Today, people in a number of professions, including physicians, lawyers, judges and bankers outnumber teachers.
The old days evoke fond memories.
Of the many players Bennett remembers is the late superintendent of schools, Domenic DiLuglio.
“He was the Bermuda traffic cop,” Bennett said with a laugh. Like Bermuda traffic cops, who stand on pedestals in the middle of intersections, DiLuglio was planted in one spot on the court and would swing his arms around. He didn’t chase balls.
“He would call, “That’s your ball,’” Bennett said.
McElroy, who left the school system and went on to become the president of the National American Federation of Teachers, was accused of never winning a point; he negotiated them.
And Blais, Coker remembers, always ducked down below the net and held his racket above his head.
Strong friendships have also come out of the league.
When the late Manny Gorriaran, who played the upper levels of the ladder, started showing signs of Alzheimer’s, he was urged to keep playing. He was the commissioner for many years.
Even after he ceased playing tennis, Gorriaran would return on Saturdays and join the guys for breakfast at their frequent haunt, the Miss Cranston Diner on Quaker Lane.
Many who play Saturday continue play later in the week, or even the summer. Matches would be held at Richard and Florence Sousa’s home or, as Coker and Bennett have been, on courts where Bennett lives.
As for his tennis, Bennett says, “It’s been a huge bubble.”
To his recollection, he never got higher on the ladder than a 3. But that doesn’t matter.
The league has been 40 years of a good thing and there’s no reason to think it won’t continue.
The originals know. | <urn:uuid:d42e69ab-8c1d-4da9-8086-a65bb8a2df12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://warwickonline.com/stories/For-the-originals-its-a-great-racquet,74186 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981224 | 1,316 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Tatsuo wrote:This sounds like a great practice to do. Which Sutras are you copying? I guess that originally shakyo was not only a practice to accumulate merit and developing a deeper understanding of the texts, but also to spread the teachings by making them more accessible. In that way a modern form of shakyo could also be useful. As there are many Buddhist texts, which are not yet available online, one could also copy sutras and upload them. Though I am not sure, if there would be a copyright problem.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests | <urn:uuid:4168931e-f7ce-471b-8d3d-8ef5b45ecd51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?p=89423 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974734 | 123 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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Age of Obama
Barack Obama's presidency
Bush End Game
George W. Bush's presidency since 2007
Bush - Second Term
George W. Bush's presidency from 2005-06
George W. Bush's presidency, 2000-04
Who Is Bob Gates?
The secret world of Defense Secretary Gates
Bush Bests Kerry
Gauging Powell's reputation.
Recounting the controversial campaign.
Is the national media a danger to democracy?
Behind President Clinton's impeachment.
Pinochet & Other Characters.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon and American politics.
Contra drug stories uncovered
America's tainted historical record
The 1980 election scandal exposed.
From free trade to the Kosovo crisis.
Petraeus Spins the Afghan War Mess
A few weeks ago, Gen. David Petraeus pulled off a flawless remake of Gen. William Westmoreland’s 1967 performance in which the Vietnam War commander detected “light at the end of the tunnel” – just months before the Viet Cong launched its Tet offensive, proving the resistance was very much alive and well.
This time, the geography is Afghanistan. But Gen. Petraeus’s upbeat claims on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and elsewhere — that U.S. and NATO troops have ousted some Taliban from conflicted areas, helped reform the corrupt Afghan government, and trained Afghan security forces to fight on their own — are equally phony, according to a former senior U.S. government official.
In an interview, Matthew Hoh, an ex-Marine commander in Iraq who took a high-ranking State Department job in Afghanistan before resigning a year ago because he “couldn’t stand the BS of it anymore,” disputed each Petraeus claim.
First, rather than the U.S. having ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan’s south and east, quite the opposite is true, Hoh said.
“Villagers still turn to their Afghan brothers to rid their towns of carpetbaggers,” Hoh said. “These include not only U.S. or NATO forces, but also the Afghan government that … is staggeringly corrupt and its troops are mainly from different ethnic groups or regions.”
These areas of Afghanistan are so anti-outsider that U.S. congressional and other delegations can’t venture there.
According to Hoh, nothing has improved, even though “the number of NATO troops soared from under 30,000 in 2005 to the current 150,000, and we’ve spent about $350 billion for the military and $50 billion for reconstruction programs, which include training and equipping Afghan forces.“
Also, recent press reports indicate that in the north, which was stable until recently, security is deteriorating.
As further proof of a downward spiral, Hoh pointed to the Pentagon’s failure in its Marjah campaign this past winter to evict the Taliban and impose the authority of the central government. Thus, the generals had to postpone the next offensive planned for the same purpose in Kandahar Province in early spring. As of now, it’s still on hold.
Hoh said colleagues in Afghanistan tell him that fighting in parts of Marjah is still intense and about 2,000 Marines are stuck there. He said locals in the south and east, who are rural, traditional Pashtuns, still hate the central government, which consists mainly of the more urban Uzbeks, Hazaras and Tajiks.
“Think of it like the feuds between the Hatfields and McCoys, only it’s a civil war that’s been going on since the 1970s, where we’ve propped up one side,” Hoh said.
Hoh also cited an International Council for Security and Development from July, which found that 76 percent of Helmand residents and 88 percent of Marjah villagers see the Taliban groups as having a legitimate role in their communities’ governance.
As for Afghanistan’s legendary corruption, there’s little evidence it’s been curbed, Hoh said. Daily press reports tell of high-ranking Afghans soliciting bribes, carting off cash to Dubai, and the need to install “U.S.-developed currency counters” at Kabul airport to stanch the flow of millions diverted from drug proceeds and foreign aid.
On Aug. 22, a Washington Post article estimated the money being diverted at over $1 billion a year. The situation is so bad that a congressional panel is threatening to withhold $4 billion in aid — until the country cleans up its act.
While Afghan President Hamid Karzai promises to support anti-corruption teams, he actually does the exact opposite.
Recently, when two U.S.-backed law enforcement teams arrested a top security advisor, Mohammad Zia Salehi, on corruption charges, Karzai released him immediately, accusing the teams of “violating human rights” and being “un-Islamic” and “unconstitutional.”
Hoh said the continued inflow of billions of dollars only worsens the corruption and deepens rivalries between those with their hands in the till and those who are left out.
Finally, as for an improved Afghan army, despite Gen. Petraeus’s assurances, success stories are hard to find.
The U.S. Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction wrote in July that, despite the $27 billion-plus that the U.S. has spent to train and equip the Afghan army, it still can’t operate without U.S. forces planning and leading the fight.
Possibly to deflect the growing skepticism, Gen. Petraeus claimed that the war plan was only recently fine-tuned and given the resources it needed.
However, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whom President Obama fired in late June, got the 40,000 extra troops he requested (30,000 from the U.S. and 10,000 from allies) and the extra billions to support them as far back as December, to launch his Afghan version of the Iraq “surge.”
Petraeus seems to be trying to re-start the clock to when he took over, even though he had been head of the U.S. Central Command and – as McChrystal’s boss – helped develop the counterinsurgency plan that McChrystal was implementing.
Meanwhile, the war’s price in blood and money continues to climb. This past year, 468 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan, with 66 in July alone, making it a grim record-setting month.
Perhaps Petraeus has come to believe all the power-point-presentations that paint glowing pictures of progress in Afghanistan. To Hoh, however, they’re “dog and pony shows, just like the Potemkin villages the Soviets used to show success, while one kilometer away the war rages and the scene is devastated.”
Barbara Koeppel is a free-lance investigative reporter based in Washington DC.
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Matt Commons graduated from Colorado’s Boulder City High School in 1999. He was eager to enlist. His great-grandfather had been a Navy seaman in World War I. His grandfather had served as a Marine in the Pacific in World War II.
But Commons’ father, Greg, who had guarded embassies in Eastern European as a Marine during the Cold War, encouraged him to go to college first so he could become an officer. Commons followed his advice, somewhat. As his father put it, “he sort of perfected his snow boarding skills his first year of college instead of his academic skill.”
After being academically suspended, Matt Commons called his father, who is a history teacher living near the George Washington Parkway in Mount Vernon, and asked if he could leave Colorado, where he had grown up with his mother and younger brother, and live with him in Virginia. Greg Commons said sure, but warned him he would be on the 1960 plan. “You’re 19 years old you’ve got 60 days to get a job.”
Matt called back a few days later, Greg Commons recalled. “He said, ‘Well I’ve got a job. I enlisted in the Army.’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s a job.”
“I didn’t have a problem,” Commons added. “This was June of 2000.”
Matt Commons passed through basic training, then the elite and grueling Ranger School. He was assigned to 1st Ranger Battalion, based in Savannah, Ga. Greg Commons would make the seven or eight-hour drive every few months. After terrorists based out of Afghanistan flew passenger airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, Commons arranged a visit with his son. They spent the weekend of Oct. 5, 2001 in a hotel, playing golf. “We talked about the possibility he would go overseas,” Commons said. “I told him, ‘Do your job. Keep your head down you know, but do your job. And depend on your buddies.”
When war in Afghanistan became a certainty and the 1st Rangers were issued their deployment orders, Matt Commons was given 20 days of leave in December 2001. He spent some of those days with his father, who was teaching at Carl Sandburg Middle School. One day, father and son came to school together. Matt Commons wore his camouflage fatigues. He and his father had a conversation with then-principal Donna Pasteur, then Matt spoke to his father’s students. He described the missions of a Quick Reaction Force, like low-altitude parachute drops. His students were enthralled, Greg Commons recalled. They quizzed Matt on his training and his weapons. At the end of class, the two men walked out into the parking lot.
“That was really cool,” Matt Commons told his father, who replied, “Yeah, you did a great job.”
“I thought about staying in the Army,” Matt Commons said. “But I think after I get out I’m going to go back to college and become a history teacher.”
FROM OVERSEAS, Matt Commons would call his father every Sunday. He could not say where he was, but he would talk about the cold. He asked for warm socks. His father made a trip to REI and bought half a dozen pairs. He was told to send packages to his son double-wrapped. The first layer was addressed to Matt’s base in Georgia. The second had no address. The Army took care of it.
Over the phone, Commons heard his son change. “He was learning how to be a young man. In a lot of ways at age 20-21 he was still a kid at heart, like we all are. You think you’re so old… the reality is that you’re not.”
“He never said it, but I think he realized that what he was doing, there was a price, a price to your naiveté. [In one of his last phone calls,] he was much more serious. He had probably seen some of the conditions that the Afghan people lived under. [He said] ‘Dad you just wouldn’t believe it.’ I could tell in his voice there were things he was seeing and hearing about that were making him grow up.”
There was no phone call on Sunday, March 3, 2002. That evening Greg Commons watched television in the den, then went to bed. He had to be up at six to go to school. At one in the morning he awoke from what he thought was a nightmare.
He had been on a military helicopter, dressed in an everyday shirt and blue jeans and holding the M-16 rifle he had trained with as a Marine. The soldiers that crowded beside him in the belly of the helicopter were wearing the desert fatigues that were standard issue in Afghanistan. His son was among them. When the helicopter was hit by a round of heavy ammunition then smashed into the side of a mountain, Greg Commons, his son and the other soldiers fell to the floor in the graceful physics of the dream. The soldiers arose and deployed from the back of the helicopter, taking fire. The father and his son ran together from the dark belly down the ramp into the high-altitude light of the mountainside. Each was firing his weapon.
“There was a momentary lull,” Greg Commons said. “I looked at him and he looked at me and had this, ‘I don’t know Dad,’ this look of doubt, and I smiled at him and in my mind said it’s going to be all right. Peace came over his facial expression. The doubt disappeared. And then he got hit.”
THE DOORBELL RANG late the next night. An Army Captain told Greg Commons that his 21-year-old son had been killed on the 10,469-foot peak of Takur Ghar, a mountain overlooking a strategic valley in southern Afghanistan. Matt Commons’ platoon had been sent to rescue a fallen Navy SEAL. Their helicopter had been hit and forced to crash land. As Commons rushed from the belly of the helicopter, he was hit in the forehead by a rifle round. He died four hours before his father’s dream.
Greg Commons called his ex-wife Patricia Marek, who had just moved to Alexandria, and told her to come over. Then he called his son Aaron, Greg’s younger brother, a college freshman in Colorado. “That was one of the more difficult things to do, to tell him that his brother had been killed.” Over the phone, Aaron cried and screamed. His father gave him his credit card number and told him to book a plane ticket to Virginia. Then he called Father Ronald Escalante, then parochial vicar at Good Shepherd Catholic Church. When his ex-wife arrived, Commons and his wife Linda met her outside. The three stayed up all night, talking about Matt.
Five years later, Aaron Commons is getting a graduate degree from Virginia Tech. Marek is back in Colorado, but still close with her ex-husband and his family. While Greg and Linda Commons’ older son, Patrick, has strong memories of his half-brother, their younger son Thomas, 13, is still learning to cope with the loss of a brother he barely remembers.
Wherever he goes, Greg Commons, now a teacher at Annandale High School, wears a gold star, signifying a family member lost in war. “Families are devastated by this loss,” he said. “I know we were. And people tend to forget. People ask me why I wear this gold star, [and] I can see people who look at it and don’t ask.”
“People were forgetting the fact of the sacrifice, not only that Matt made, but what we as a family have to live with.”
On Tuesday, Commons celebrated a small victory in the fight against forgetting. In 2005, he’d read about a woman in Massachusetts who successfully lobbied for a gold star license plate, to be issued to anyone who lost an immediate family member in war. He contacted his state representatives, Del. Kristen Amundson (D-44) and Sen. Toddy Puller (D-36), and asked them to introduce legislation for a similar plate in Virginia. The bill passed in 2006, and the DMV called Commons for help designing the license plate.
He requested two motifs: a gold star on the side, and a triangular flag box – given to families after the ceremonial folding of the coffin flag at a military funeral, superimposed with a soldier saluting, a design Commons borrowed from a California group called “Honor the Fallen.”
Tuesday, in Richmond, on the floors of both the House and Senate chambers, Commons was presented with a gold star license plate mounted on a plaque: it reads MATT. It is dated March, 2002.
TOM HARVEY, who owns Hollin Hall Service Station, is a friend of Greg Commons. His oldest brother Butch died in Vietnam in 1970. The Marine reconnaissance officer was in a helicopter trying to rescue a five-man patrol that had been surrounded. Under enemy fire, they tried three times to pull the men from the jungle canopy. The third attempt worked. The helicopter rose above the jungle with the last man still clinging to the rescue ladder. But as it sped off in bad weather, the helicopter crashed into a mountainside.
Harvey said he planned to surprise his mother with a gold star plate as soon as it became available. “It’s been 37 years and it is still a very emotional, raw wound for her. She talks about it very often.”
But her son’s sacrifice is also “an incredible source of pride.” When Butch Harvey’s body came home, Tom Harvey said the county’s soured attitude toward the military discouraged any expressions of pride in his sacrifice. “You spend 30 seconds with Greg and you can tell the pride he had in his son, and the same with my mother,” Harvey said. “It would educate the public as to what that means, it just gets them thinking.”
The license plate will “serve as a reminder to the rest of us,” said Joe Burkhardt, a retired Ranger who became a close friend of the Commons family after serving as a liaison officer in the days after Matt Commons’ death. “When somebody dies, it’s a number you see on the news. But that is somebody’s son or daughter … the war is personal.”
“The number itself is an impersonal thing. When you tie that number to a name or a family… it’s no longer just a number.”
Burkhardt invited the Commons family to his wedding one year ago. Nine people at that ceremony are now in Iraq. “For many of us, it’s personal.”
In a few weeks, the Burkardts will meet the Marek and Commons families at Arlington Cemetery. It will be the fifth time. “I’m a lucky guy,” said Greg Commons. “I got to tell him I loved him [in a phone conversation on Feb. 25, 2002,] and the last thing he said to me was, ‘Dad I love you too.’ And I don’t have to wake up in the morning wondering why my son’s dead. He died trying to save somebody's life. I have three more wonderful boys to raise.” | <urn:uuid:1d01d689-d8ab-4880-81be-b007d193a96f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2007/feb/15/a-fight-against-forgetting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986815 | 2,476 | 1.734375 | 2 |
LEEDS, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - Route 219 through Leeds has reopened, but crews are still repairing the tracks that has shut down the road for most of the morning after a train went off the tracks around 5:30am.
The derailment happened near the intersection of route 219 and 106. Crews from PanAm Railways are still working to repair the tracks and get the train running.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but a spokesperson from PanAm railways says the train was delivering grain to a customer in the area.
There were no injuries, but it has been a big job to clean up. PanAm had to send for a large crane in Massachusetts to help move the five cars back on the tracks.
Traffic had been shut down on this stretch of 219, but DOT crews opened the road around 10:30.
PanAm crews are expected to be here into the afternoon trying to repair this track. This is part of a network that runs thought New England, into New York and up to Canada. PanAm owns and operates the track and the train -- so this investigation will be handled internally. | <urn:uuid:39697e54-7c69-4cec-882a-60f0afa0a16b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/232246/2/Route-219-in-Leeds-reopens-after-train-derailment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974016 | 234 | 1.570313 | 2 |
SACRAMENTO - Nearly half the state Assembly is switching to hybrids as their choice for state-leased vehicles - a marked change from the gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and luxury sedans long favored by lawmakers.
Of the 80 Assembly members, 39 drive hybrids, up from 27 last year. Of the 40 senators, 13 opted for hybrids, three more than last year.
Wheels: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, has two Hummers that use alternative fuels, and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, left, drives a hybrid.
MAX WHITTAKER, REUTERS
State lawmakers choose their official vehicles, which are subsidized by taxpayers.
Legislators have been criticized for backing clean air laws while driving higher polluting vehicles.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, for instance, was driving a 2003 Ford Explorer last year as he pushed passage of AB32, the law to fight global warming. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has two Hummers converted to use alternative fuels, is seeking to tighten tailpipe emissions again this year.
"I do believe in the notion that you have to practice what you preach. In my case, the alternative is here," said Nuñez, who now squires a new Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
Some hybrids use as much or more gas as a standard vehicle.
The all-wheel-drive 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Hybrid assigned to freshman Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, gets about 18 mpg in the city and 20 mpg on the highway.
"I don't fit into a small car. It's just not comfortable," said Adams, who weighs about 300 pounds. "Besides, in my district, I have mountain communities, desert communities and suburban communities, and a truck fits my needs better in reaching my constituents." | <urn:uuid:639c5ac5-6e0c-4df9-93e4-b17866ecd46b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hybrids-189673-year-vehicles.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945603 | 376 | 1.539063 | 2 |
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) — A long-published election guide is being banned from polling places in Bernalillo County and elsewhere.
The League of Women Voters says Bernalillo County has ordered the
LWV voter guides removed from polling places.
The League says the county clerk ordered the guides be taken away after Secretary of State Dianna Dur n's office said the law prohibiting campaigning and electioneering near polling places may apply to the publications.
Dur n told KRQE News 13 her office received complaints, and a new law went into effect last year.
Las Cruces ,
Santa Fe , and
Los Alamos also are affected by the change.
The League describes itself as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to voter education.
The group's guide includes voter information, candidates and candidate statements and ballot questions including constitutional amendments and bond issues. Analysis and pro and con arguments for the constitutional amendments are provideed by the Legislative Council Service, an administrative branch of the state Legislature.
Copyright 2013 KRQE TV. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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New Mexico is located in the southwestern region of the U.S. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, New Mexico has also been part of Imperial Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. | <urn:uuid:1796a507-6731-4616-9d26-9716a27aab88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newmexico.onpolitix.com/news/181500/election-guide-ousted-from-polling-places | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946291 | 302 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Dos and Don’ts for Student Organization Advisors
Advice taken directly from Macalester student leaders
- Is there to guide members and oversee the organization, but doesn’t exactly ‘create’.
- Is flexible and expects org members to reciprocate that flexibility.
- Knows how their org has functioned in the past and provides insight to new leaders, executive boards, and members, especially at the being of the year.
- Helps to make the org better, but doesn’t feel the need to change it’s core goals and values.
- Knows that they won’t always be needed.
- Understands they’re just as important to the organization as its members.
- Ask questions and get clarification from the org members.
- Attend the orgs events (for at least part of the time) to show your support.
- Have a clear line of contact with the executive board via email, phone, office hours, or scheduled meeting times.
- Let the org know what kind of time commitment you can make and share your schedule with them at the beginning of each semester.
- Work closely with the executive board to give insight and feedback.
- Let students take the more active role in your relationship. The org is primarily their responsibility.
- Use the contacts you already have on and off campus to the benefit of the org.
- Hold members accountable for their own goals.
- Stand up for the ideas of the organization even if you don’t agree with them.
- Do know, understand, and inform on college policies.
- Make goals, decisions, or agreements for the org without their prior consent.
- Forget students are students! They have class, homework, and maybe even a social life.
- Tell the org how they should run their meetings or events. Instead, you can occasionally offer suggestions.
- Be the first person org members go to for questions/decisions.
- Keep the group from making mistakes. (That’s part of working as a group.)
- Fail to hold members accountable if they don’t keep promises or fail to show up for meetings.
- Plan events and run them.
- Expect a meeting every week at the same time.
- Be a stickler for rules (find loopholes when appropriate).
- Make assumptions about the org or its members
- Be a gatekeeper when it comes to financial decisions.
If you are interested in becoming an org advisor or have questions, please contact Allison Greenlee, [email protected] | <urn:uuid:f50d2b3f-b418-4f54-b2f8-b01f75b3e493> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macalester.edu/campusprograms/studentorganizations/advisors/advisordosanddonts.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93087 | 542 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Halloween Scared Away This Year?
Some local and state authorities wish to ban trick-or-treating at the end of this month, reports Friday's Wall Street Journal. The officials, says the paper, fear that emergency response teams, already overworked from having to hunt down reports of anthrax and other contaminants, would be overwhelmed by Halloween pranks and genuine threats. "We're working on the answer to the question, 'Do we have Halloween?' " said Stephen C. Robinson, director of the Indianapolis Emergency Management division. Besides the recent anthrax contamination in network news offices in New York, where Gov. George Pataki's Manhattan office was also struck, Congress has also received letters laced with anthrax. Around the nation, notes the Journal, thousands of false alarms -- instigated by mysterious white powders that have ranged from soap detergent to talcum powder -- have been reported. Crisis experts fear that 911 lines could be overrun come Halloween. This week, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee asked parents in his state to limit children's celebrations of the holiday to strictly supervised parties. Federal authorities are said to mulling over a similar proposal. "I know that the subject is in the air, and that people are considering it," said Campbell Gardett, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also noted Rex Archer, director of the Kansas City health department and chairman of the bioterrorism committee of the National Association of City and County Health Officials: "Canceling Halloween would be a good way of saving dental cavities."
On Newsstands Now
- Angelina: Inside Her Brave Choice
- New Details on the Ohio Three
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Pick up your copy on newsstands
Click here for instant access to the Digital Magazine | <urn:uuid:4d335aea-831d-4682-be8f-e2d985d76e47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,622850,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941892 | 367 | 1.78125 | 2 |
This is an excerpt from Seth Ferranti’s new book, Gorilla Convict: The Selected Prison Writings of Seth Ferranti. The book is published by Strategic Media Books. To buy the book or for more information go to strategicmediabooks.com or Amazon.com.
By Seth Ferranti
The Abu Graib photos exposed torture, humiliation, degradation, sexual assaults, assaults with weapons and dogs, extortion and blood sports. The world, the media and the public were appalled and outraged at the images captured- prisoners with nylon bags over their heads, naked prisoners spread-eagled on wet floors in isolation, handcuffed to the wall, deprived of sleep and being kicked in the stomach repeatedly by guards. Prisoners were shocked and stunned that, with no regard for human decency, they were burnt or branded and their family members threatened. These images that emerged from Abu Graib made the headlines but in reality all they did was expose the brutal underbelly of the beast and the procedures practiced regularly by guards in U.S. jails. All of the above are the modus operandi of the lawful, state-of-the-art prison. Nowhere is this more clear than in the growth over the past 25 years of what’s known as supermaximum imprisonment.
On the cutting edge of technology,.supermaxes are known for their strict lockdown policies, lack of amenities and prisoner isolation--techniques. Originally set-up in 1972 at USP Marion to house the most violent, hardened and escape-prone criminals, they are now used for leaders of criminal organizations and gangs, serial killers, persistent rule breakers and political prisoners like spies and terrorists. With limited access to visits and phone calls, supermax prisoners are confined alone in tiny cells up to 23 hours a day. They are isolated yet under intense surveillance. Their keepers want to know when they sleep, when they eat and when they shit. Every aspect of their lives is under official control. They're offered one hour of recreation in a small cage that’s often referred to as a dog kennel. They have no communal eating areas, no opportunities to work or to attend educational programs. There are no windows, only solid doors with slots for passing food trays and cells with the lights kept on 24 hours a day. The cells are designed to keep the sound out, so prisoners rarely hear another human voice. The isolation is total, and these underground control units often referred to as Admax, she, adseg or imu are constructed with fortified tunnels, double doors, remote control locking mechanisms and furnished in concrete and steel equipped with around the clock audio and video surveillance The most infamous of the Supermaxes is ADX Florence, the federal Bureau of Prisons maximum security prison.
USP Marion replaced the notorious Alcatraz and ADX Florence replaced USP Marion, which was put of indefinite lockdown from 1983 to 1994, demonstrating the need for a permanent lockdown prison. Hence the construction of ADX Florence, which has been called the Alcatraz of the Rockies„ "We just needed a more secure facility," said Tracy Billingsley, a BOP spokeswoman. "We needed to bring together the most dangerous who required the most intense supervision to one location.” And many states followed the feds’ lead. California copied the concept with Pelican Bay and now there’s over 57 other Supermaxes with over 13,500 beds in the U.S. Bob Snelson, a union leader at ADX said, “Most of our inmates are very violent. They have short fuses. We are dealing with people who can go from reading the bible to trying to kill you.”
People like Luis Felipe aka King Blood, leader of NY Cities Latin Kings, Larry Hoover the leader of Chicago’s Gangster Disciples, Mexican mafia leader Ruben “Nite Owl” Castro and Aryan Brotherhood commission members Barry “The Baron” Mills and TD “The Hulk” Bingham who were all charged with running their gangs from their ADX cells after receiving natural life sentences for their prior offenses. But the list goes on-- notorious DC hitman Wayne Perry, Lorton prison kingpin Keith “Fly” Gaffney, B-More druglord Anthony Jones, NY City street legend Peter “The Pistol” Rollack and mob turncoats Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso and Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. There’s also a literal bombers row at ADX, with Richard Reid, the shoe bomber; Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber; Eric Rudolph, the Olympic Park bomber; Ramzi Ahmed Yousef who planned the 1993 WTC attack; Timothy McVeigh’s partner Terry Nichols and 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. The father of actor Woody Harrelson, Charles Harrelson, who killed a federal judge, is there, as well as white supremacist Mathew Hale who tried to kill a federal judge, Robert Hannen, the FBI agent who spied for Russia and Yu Kikumura, the Japanese Red Army member who plotted to bomb the NY Navy Rec Center. Krista Rear an ADX spokesperson said, “Sometimes we receive inmates here at ADX as a direct court commitment. The rest of our inmates are here from other penitentiaries where they were unable to be safely and securely housed in a more open population setting.” And with only 490 beds only the worst of the worst make it to ADX.
Terrorist, big-profile mobsters, gang leaders and white supremacists are imprisoned there along with political prisoners, prisoner organizers, prisoners who file lawsuits and voice other complaints about the system. And there have been many complaints from critics and former ADX prisoners that the Supermax is inhumane and cause its occupants to go crazy. The attorney for Luis Felipe aka King Blood said that his client broke down from the stress of isolation and requires medication. Christopher Boyce a convicted spy who was at ADX said, “You’re slowly hung. You’re ground down. You can barely keep your sanity.” And Eric Rudolph, the Olympic Park bomber wrote the following words to a newspaper, “Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible. It’s a closed off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli. It’s a political prison. The government not only uses it to house problem inmates, it also uses it to add an extra measure of punishment for those inmates who have been convicted of politically motivated offenses.”
To get the real deal about ADX we reached out to penitentiary veteran and DC Blacks gang member Little Ceaser who’s been doing time in the federal system since the 70s, with stints at both USP Marion during the 80s and ADX Florence in the late 90s. Of his time in the Supermaxes, Little Ceaser says, “It’s like being in a tunnel for years where your radio and communication frequency has gone out, where you can’t reach out to anyone and it seems no one can reach you but you’ve got to navigate through the darkness with hopes that there is really a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Little Ceaser was first sent to lockdown at USP Marion after an attempted murder charge “on a rat that was trying to make bones to join the AB’s by cutting a borderline retarded brother’s throat,” he relates. “I pled out on the case and got a fresh 37-month sentence.” And a one way ticket to the toughest penitentiary in America at the time. “Marion was the toughest in regard to psychological effects. The early 80s was an era of aggression, an ear of murder as well as malicious wounding,” he says. “It was different then. Back then a motherfucker had to have good game on how to get out on the pound, be prone of violence or under somebody’s wing in some kinda way. I was fortunate enough to be around a lot of men…. convicts.” And as part of the feared DC Blacks gang Little Ceaser mad his way.
Little Ceaser says the convict who eventually ended up in ADX Florence in the late 90s has been locked up with a who’s who of American gangsters. “Nicky Scarfo, John Gotti, Jeff Fort of El Rukns, Big Naughty, Rayful Edmonds before he turned rat, Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff and many other kingpins and gang leaders. He reveals that the worst part of ADX Florence was the mental abuse. “The psychological abuse administered by staff was a key mind controlling factor.” Little Ceaser asserts. “There were subtle as well as overt battles of the mind, and with the state of chaos being what it was, you always needed a source to stabilize your thinking to keep you from crossing the line of psychological to physical warfare because the circumstances were so unusual. The underlying conflict between races and the different gangs and territorial factions was constant and kept both inmates and officers alike off balance. They constantly had to worry that the next incident might surely erupt in violence.”
Little Ceaser eventually completed the three-year step program that keeps inmates in their cells 23 hours a day for the first year and then gradually socializes them. In the last year, prisoners can come out of their 7-foot by 12-foot cells into a pod like area with other prisoners to see how they act. “It was a matter of coming to grips with the fact that people were just people,” Little Ceaser says. "That shit will make or break you. It’s incumbent upon each individual to either build themselves up or allow themselves to fall deeper into the folds of the system. The longer you’re in a situation like that the more you become a part of the environment, and the more you become a part of the environment, the harder it is to sustain ones sense of purpose and sanity relative to societal norms." And we know that the feds bury undesirables at ADX with no chance of ever coming out or completing the step program.
Undesirables, political prisoners and those convicted of continuing criminal activity from prison that the feds want to hold limbo incommunicado just like the war detainees at Abu Graib and Guantanamo Bay are housed at ADX—that is, whoever the government wants to keep on ice and away from the public eye. In ADX rehabilitation is not an issue. Punishment, control and cutting the individual off from the rest of the world is the MO. Every occupant is kept in near total solitary confinement. Beds, desks and stools are all made of poured concrete. Toilets have a valve that shuts off the water in case flooding occurs (prisoners are notorious for flooding their cells with water) and the sinks have no taps just buttons. A 42-inch window four inches wide looks out on a one man rec yard, and a 12-inch black and white TV shows closed circuit classes in psychology, education, anger management, parenting and literacy. The extreme isolation is the way the BOP achieves extreme control over the individuals incarcerated there. But recently there have been numerous problems at ADX.
Opened in 1994 to replace USP Marion where 20 prisoners and two guards were killed by the likes of AB member Thomas "Terrible Tom" Silverstein the preceding decade, ADX Florence was hailed in corrections as the safe new model for high-security prisons. But after 11 years with no murders, there have been two since February 2005. Clearly things at ADX are heating up, and critics are attacking the Supermax structure from all angles. With budget cuts forcing 3,147 critical shifts left unfilled in the last couple of years, a CNN report called it Superlax. A report by the inspector general found that the BOP "is unable to effectively monitor the mail of terrorists and other high risk inmates in order to detect and prevent terrorism and criminal activities. Inmate cells are no longer being searched on a regular basis, and the fact that the Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia gang leaders ran their criminal empires from isolation make it worse.
“Every thing is changing-- the laws, the penalties, the technologies and the old methods for controlling communication are passé, caput," says Little Ceaser. And he's right. When gang leaders in the most secure facility in the U.S. can smuggle out instructions and direct their organizations from their prison cell, something is definitely wrong. "They have cut the staffing budget so short that it’s just a matter of time before we have a riot." Union rep Mike Schnobrich said. And ADX union leader Bob Snelson reiterated this, "When they are supposed to get an hour of recreation a day and they get none for weeks, or they can't make a phone call for weeks, they go into a killing fury." And with threats of violence or murder against guards doubled from 55 in 2004 to 110 in 2005, there is room for concern. Officers are regularly pelted with urine and feces, and one counselor was attacked by a prisoner with a papier-mâché spear and nearly had his eye cut out. But the pendulum can swing both ways, and it does.
"Prisoners have been gassed, beaten, pepper sprayed, 4 pointed to the bed, strip searched constantly and extracted from their cells forcefully. Mind control, medications and chemical weapons are used to incapacitate prisoners. A guard at ADX said, "Its chilling to walk down the cellblocks and glance through the Plexiglas sally port chambers into the cells and see the faces inside. It’s a bunch of terrorists and psychopaths. Inmates run showers all day and night and scream for hours when the water is cut off. Other prisoners yell that CIA agents are monitoring their thoughts. It’s sad. Many have lost all hope." With the routine excessive force, tasers, chemical sprays, shotguns, sensory deprivations and overload, pacification with drugs and violent cell extractions, Supermax looks more and more like the feds are waging war, a security war.
Over the past 10 years, prisoners’ political and civil rights have been severely disabled. The language of security has authorized Supermax imprisonment by treating it not as punishment but as a set of administrative procedures for managing high-security populations. The procedures now legally sanctioned were once considered violations of the U.S. constitution’s eighth amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. "These are the most dangerous of people, Attorney General Roberto Gonzales said. But does that justify the way they are treated? The militaristic aspects of policing have intensified the use of lethal force inside the Supermaxes. The sophisticated weaponry and surveillance equipment- metal detectors, x-ray machines, leg irons, waist chains, black boxes holding cages and all the rest have dehumanized the prisoners. So how should we expect them to act?
“I have seen them rot," prison expert James Aiken said. "They rot." And maybe that is what our government wants. Or maybe it’s like the former warden of ADX ,Robert Hood, who was remembered as especially restrictive and sadistic by former prisoners, said, "No ones getting out of Supermax, period, end of story."
If that’s the truth then out society has truly degenerated. If a man doesn't deserve to live in society, then why not put him out of his misery? Why this sadistic nature for the ultimate retribution? Is that what all the tough on crime rhetoric is about?
This is an excerpt from Seth Ferranti’s new book, Gorilla Convict: The Selected Prison Writings of Seth Ferranti. The book is published by Strategic Media Books. To buy the book or for more information go to www.strategicmediabooks.com or Amazon.com.
Copyright © www.gangstersinc.nl & Seth Ferranti | <urn:uuid:54079bce-1f28-4893-bd86-705e359509dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-prison-writings-of-seth-ferranti-supermax | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962957 | 3,349 | 1.539063 | 2 |
An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Bryce Dallas Howard
Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is handicapped with the lowest salary constraint in baseball. If he ever wants to win the World Series, Billy must find a competitive advantage. Billy is about to turn baseball on its ear when he uses statistical data to analyze and place value on the players he picks for the team. Written by
Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)
During the course of the film's theatrical release, Ron Washington, an Oakland Athletics Coach seen in the movie, was Managing in the World Series for the Texas Rangers. See more »
In one of the film's flashbacks, Billy Beane is shown as a New York Met playing at Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers. As a player, Beane never played a game at Dodger Stadium, nor did he ever play a game against the Dodgers. See more »
It's hard not to be romantic about baseball. This kind of thing, it's fun for the fans. It sells tickets and hot dogs. Doesn't mean anything.
Billy, we just won twenty games in a row.
And what's the point?
We just got the record.
Man, I've been doing this for... listen, man. I've been in this game a long time. I'm not in it for a record, I'll tell you that. I'm not in it for a ring. That's when people get hurt. If we don't win the last game of the Series, they'll dismiss us.
I know ...
See more »
Well, when purchasing my ticket I expected to see a good movie about
baseball. I was rewarded with just that. Overall I thought the film
excellent, both as a finely crafted film and as a representative of
baseball. To demonstrate that I had no preconceived prejudices, I can
say that I'm not really a fan of professional sports any longer. My
fond memories of baseball are mostly from playing the game when I was a
kid. We lived in a neighborhood with a lot of boys, all of whom were
involved in sports and we played baseball a lot. But, that was the
1950's and times have changed. No one now days can hold a candle to The
The film centers around the Oakland A's in the early 2000's and it's
controversial General Manager, Billy Beane, skillfully played by Brad
Pitt. The premise is the real story of how, with an extremely small
budget for a professional sports team, he managed to win a surprising
number of games, including setting an all-time major league record of
20 consecutive wins. The method used by Beane was not of his invention,
having already been around in theory and known as "sabermetrics". The
crafting of the team into that form is credited to have been begun by
Beane's predecessor, Sandy Alderson. Beane himself was thrust to the
forefront as the focus of a successful 2003 best-selling book
"Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game"; which ultimately led to
The film was very well done, really succeeding in sucking in the
audience to it's ebb and flow. The audience I was in clearly enjoyed
the film, there was a lot of laughter in the right places and applause
at the end, which is rare enough. The setting had the look and feel of
realism and the same with regard to the actors portraying the players.
There was a fairly long list of good character actors peppered
throughout the film, all of whom added considerably to the film's
But the lion's share of the film, and the credit for it's quality, goes
primarily to it's major stars, Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman
playing Team Manger Art Howe, and Jonah Hill, as the fictional
character Peter Brand who is said to have been based on Paul DePodesta
who was Beane's assistant during the period covered by the film.
Hoffman is great as usual but played his character a bit understated.
Jonah Hill nearly ran off with the attention altogether while he was on
screen. But Pitt clearly controlled the central attention and did so
with ease and excellence. He managed to make the character look smart,
fair and quite human.
Pitt's humanity was helped by the presence of tidbits of his family
life, mainly focused on his relationship with his 12 year old daughter,
well represented on screen by the young Kerris Dorsey as Casey Beane.
The interplay between them added a lot of humanity to the film that
would have otherwise been lacking. There was a small part played by
Robin Wright as Beane's ex-wife Sharon. It was the closest anything in
the film came to a romantic involvement.
Many of the character actors made important contributions, such as
Stephen Bishop as David Justice, Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg and
Brent Jennings as Ron Washington. There was even a cameo by Joe
Satriani playing his guitar as superbly as usual.
Leaving the theater I thought that one would have to have at least a
working knowledge of the game of baseball to get the most out of the
film. I wondered how it would play to someone without that knowledge
and I think a lot would be lost, but it would still be enjoyable for
it's basic story of struggling to overcome long odds to achieve
something good and the exploration of the people and personalities
involved. That's a pretty good accomplishment for any film to make and
this one does it with a lot of fun and class.
58 of 84 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you? | <urn:uuid:cd8190fb-4d1f-4bb7-a411-120451c86fdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981297 | 1,235 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Five Principals of Schools Where Teaching MattersSubmitted by Lynette Guastaferro on Tue, 06/26/2012 - 9:43am
Public voting has closed for the 2012 Elizabeth Rohatyn Prize for Schools Where Teaching Matters and the following five Finalists have been determined!
Evelyn Finn, Lavelle Preparatory Charter School, Staten Island, NY
Extensive and intensive training program for newly hired teachers emphasizing behavioral strategies, core content, pedagogy and more.
Cynthia Fowlkes, Academy of InnovativeTechnology HS, Brooklyn, NY
Peer observation process whereby teachers collaborate in content and grade level teams to improve student outcomes using Danielson Rubric (teacher evalmetric). Teachers regularly observe peers and make recommendations related to practice.
Rose Kerr, Staten Island School of Civic Leadership, Staten Island, NY
"Triad Model," a teacher effectiveness initiative puts three teachers in charge of comprehensive instruction of two classes, allowing them to share responsibility to analyze student performance, develop interventions and create learning opportunities.
Christopher Lehmann, Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia, PA
Inquiry-driven and project-based approach, using tech tools to allow all members of the school community to learn - students, teachers, parents.
Shimon Waronker, New American Academy, Brooklyn, NY
Unique human capital model that incorporates a career ladder for teachers anddaily collaboration in teams led by a master teacher.
The public began voting June 13th for a principal from the New York metropolitan area that could win the 2012 Elizabeth Rohatyn Prize for Schools Where Teaching Matters. The voting narrowed down the list of ten Semi-finalists down to five and in the coming weeks the impartial selection committee will select the final winner. The winner will be announced at the 2012 Summer Forum for Principals with Paul Vallas. If you would like to register for this event please click here.
"Leading principals understand that effective teaching is the lynchpin to closing the achievement gap," said Lynette Guastaferro, Executive Director of Teaching Matters, a nonprofit educational organization that sponsors the prize. "They are rethinking time, creating effective teaming strategies, and positioning effective teachers to lead the charge. These leaders deserve recognition and they need more flexibility."
The projects launched by the finalists include: creating a career ladder where teachers advance from novice to master level; reorganizing the school day so teachers have time to collaborate; and helping teachers film their classroom instruction so that they can improve their teaching strategies.
“Participating in the discussion of innovation in New York schools reminded me once again how so many are committed to positive change,” said Fred Frelow, Program Officer for the Ford Foundation, who is one of the judges in the competition.
The Rohatyn Prize is underwritten by the Elizabeth Rohatyn Innovation Fund. Driven by the belief that teachers are the most important school-related factor in raising student achievement, Mrs. Rohatyn, a champion of innovation and education, joined forces with former teachers, principals, and technology experts to found Teaching Matters in 1994. | <urn:uuid:7923291e-47c6-48d4-bb0f-c6dc0b66e49f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teachingmatters.org/blog/voting-has-closed-2012-elizabeth-rohatyn-prize | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933631 | 636 | 1.601563 | 2 |
a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)
|An American mathematician attends a conference in Poland, the country in which his grandparents were killed in a Nazi concentration camp. This is during the Cold War, and the American consul warns him that Polish spies will try to obtain information about math or mathematicians from him, but Nachman does not take these concerns seriously. He is given a tour by a young, female mathematician who attended his talk. She makes a few encouraging remarks about his lectures and tries to steer him clear of a con artist who now works at the synagogue that Nachman's grandfather probably attended.
This story, the first of Michaels' "Nachman" series, was published in the Spring 1998 issue of the Three Penny Review. It can also be found in the collection Collected Stories of Leonard Michaels which appeared shortly after the author's death. In addition, Arion Press published The Nachman Stories in a separate and very expensive book.
|Buy this work of mathematical fiction and read reviews at amazon.com. |
|(Note: This is just one work of
mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more
works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)|
Your Help Needed: Some site visitors remember reading works of mathematical fiction that neither they nor I can identify. It is time to crowdsource this problem and ask for your help! You would help a neighbor find a missing pet...can't you also help a fellow site visitor find some missing works of mathematical fiction? Please take a look and let us know if you have seen these missing stories anywhere!.
(Maintained by Alex Kasman,
College of Charleston) | <urn:uuid:7475ad20-87b1-4400-8665-956ef0189706> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?callnumber=mf671 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970079 | 356 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The Great Debate UK
(Photo: Tunisian protester with political demands on a banner that reads
"No to a government born of corruption" “Ben Ali is in Saudi Arabia and the government is the same (hasn’t changed)” in Arabic and "RCD, clear out!" in French. The RCD is the party of former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. In Tunis January 18, 2011/Zohra Bensemra)
The absence of Islamist slogans from Tunisia's pro-democracy revolt punches a hole in the argument of many Arab autocrats that they are the bulwark stopping religious radicals sweeping to power.
Ousted strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali spent much of his 23-year rule crushing Islamist opposition groups who opposed his government's brand of strict secularism: after Sept. 11 2001, he was an enthusiastic backer of Washington's "war on terror".
But the evidence of the past week is that the protest slogans that rang out before his fall demanded not an imposition of Islamic sharia law but fair elections and free speech.
"The lesson from what's happening in Tunisia is that (Arab leaders) won't be able to hide any more behind the Islamist threat argument," said Amel Boubekeur, a North Africa specialist at social sciences school EHESS in Paris.
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
For everyone trying to understand the implications of Salman Taseer's assassination, this essay from 2007 is good place to start (h/t Abu Muqawama). "The Politics of God" is about why Europe decided, after years of warfare over the correct interpretation of Christianity, to separate church and state. But it is also relevant to Pakistan, where the killing of the Punjab governor over his opposition to the country's blasphemy laws has shown that what was left of Pakistani secularism, is, if not dead, at least in intensive care.
Read the opening paragraph to understand why it resonates:
"For more than two centuries, from the American and French Revolutions to the collapse of Soviet Communism, world politics revolved around eminently political problems. War and revolution, class and social justice, race and national identity — these were the questions that divided us. Today, we have progressed to the point where our problems again resemble those of the 16th century, as we find ourselves entangled in conflicts over competing revelations, dogmatic purity and divine duty. We in the West are disturbed and confused. Though we have our own fundamentalists, we find it incomprehensible that theological ideas still stir up messianic passions, leaving societies in ruin. We had assumed this was no longer possible, that human beings had learned to separate religious questions from political ones, that fanaticism was dead. We were wrong."
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
In one of the more anguished posts about the murder of provincial governor Salman Taseer, Pakistani blogger Huma Imtiaz wrote that his assassination "is not the beginning of the end. This is the end. There is no going back from here, there is no miracle cure, there is no magic wand that will one day make everything better. Saying 'enough is enough' does not cut it anymore ..."
It was a sense that permeated much of the English-language commentary about Taseer's killing in Islamabad by one of his own security guards. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Taseer, governor of Punjab province and a leading politician in the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was killed because of his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws. A sense that the forces of religious intolerance are becoming all but unstoppable; and that those who oppose them by promoting a more liberal vision of Pakistan occupy an ever diminishing space.
(Photo: Pope Benedict XVI blesses a nativity scene at the Vatican December 15, 2010/Tony Gentile)
Pope Benedict voiced the Catholic Church's deep concern over "hostility and prejudice" against Christianity in Europe on Thursday, saying creeping secularism was just as bad as religious fanaticism. In the message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, marked on Jan. 1, he also reiterated recent condemnations of lack of religious freedom in countries in the Middle East where Christians are a minority, such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
He said Christians were the most persecuted religious group in the world and that it was "unacceptable" that in some places they had to risk their lives to practise their faith. But he reserved his strongest words for Europe, where the Church says it is under assault by some national governments and European institutions over issues such as gay marriage, abortion and the use of Christian religious symbols in public places. | <urn:uuid:f77c2972-55a1-4d7d-bd0d-60ad1657f7ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate-uk/tag/secularism/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96672 | 959 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Early last month I wrote about the Festa Day For San Biagio In Marta and included in the post were some photos of a statue of San Biagio outside the Church of The Crucifix on the corner of Piazza Umberto which has only recently reopened after extensive renovations.
I also took some photos of the church interior that same day which I am now sharing with a little background information
These are the same two photos I included previously of the Statue of San Biagio but larger showing more detail.
The following two photos of the church pre-restoration and information are taken from an online article I found here but the rest of the photos are my own.
La Chiesa del Crocifisso - The Church of the Crucifix was originally built around the sixteenth century outside the city walls of the historic centre of Marta. Next to it on the left hand side there were in earlier times two other churches, San Biagio which was demolished in the late nineteenth century and SS Sacramento which was demolished in the twenties of the last century.
The church was closed in October 2002 as it was in danger of collapse. The renovation and expansion began on August 28, 2007 and was completed towards the end of last year. Festa Day was the first opportunity we have had to view the restoration of this delightful little church. I am so glad we took the time to do so as it is beautiful in its simplicity.
I took this photograph in September last year the front door as seen above is still there but closed off inside the church.
The Church has an altar with only two stucco columns that support an entablature above which are placed the dove of the Holy Spirit surrounded by rays of light and two decorative elements shaped amphora. The bottom part of the altar was was rebuilt when some earlier restoration took place in 1963.
The Church has a single nave, in the vault of the nave there is a fresco, partly covered and partly damaged, depicting the Last Judgement, probably the residue of a wider cycle of paintings that experts date from around the end of the sixteenth century. My photo is rather poor I intend to go back one day and try to get some better ones.
In the middle of the church on the left hand side there is a small chapel which can be seen in the external photos. It was here I photographed this beautiful icon and the casket below.
This plaque is commemorating the family whose contributions I assume enabled, or at least were a very important help towards the restoration being completed last year. | <urn:uuid:362ce060-f91a-4443-987c-89471f2d2656> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lindyloumac.blogspot.com/2011/03/la-chiesa-del-crocifisso-church-of.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985889 | 529 | 1.640625 | 2 |
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Residence Hall Association (RHA) is an organization of students interested in improving the overall quality of life within the Residence Life community. RHA is primarily a programming board, which serves the student residents by organizing various academic and social events throughout the year.
RHA also serving as a liaison between residence hall students and the Office of Residence Life, RHA provides input and recommendations regarding a variety of policies, supports departmental improvements, creates and promotes leadership development and growth, creates and reviews budgets affecting residence hall students, and assists in improving the quality of the on-campus living environment.
In addition to programming, RHA also offers students leadership opportunities, such as attending conferences.
Each student resident is a member of RHA, and all floors in Pike River Suites and Ranger Hall and all building in University Apartments have a representative.
Participation in programs by all residents is key to the development of a successful Residence Hall Community, so student residents are encouraged to get involved!
The National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) is the only nationwide organization that exclusively recognizes leaders in the residence halls. As an organization of the National Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH), each collegiate institution affiliated with NACURH and NRHH forms a chapter. One of NRHH's main goals is to give local, regional, and national recognition to students making outstanding contributions to their campus and residence halls. In addition, each chapter firmly believes in the value of student involvement in residence hall life through community service, community building, advocacy, and educational programming.
Realizing the value of participation, leaders have contributed vast amounts of their personal time in an effort to make their own college experiences more meaningful to them. This effort not only benefits them; it benefits their campus and entire residence hall system at their school as well. NRHH exists to honor these leaders. They work hard and all too often go unnoticed without even so much as a thank you. That is the fundamental purpose of an NRHH Chapter.
Membership in chapters is limited to 1% of your school's residence hall population, or 20 members, whichever is greater. NRHH is a very select group of leaders. Thus, being selected into the membership is an honor in which one can take a great amount of pride. | <urn:uuid:bf1b080b-6ea8-4745-a99e-c40395fefc9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uwp.edu/departments/residence.life/involveLIO.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96555 | 479 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Middle East roils in crisis as a U.S. aircraft carrier entered one of the world’s most important choke point for oil shipments, the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has threatened to close if the United States raises sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The deployment of thousands of U.S. troops in Israel has raised speculation of an imminent war.
On December 20, the Jerusalem Post reported that Lt.-Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the U.S. forces based in Germany, said that there will be a deployment of several thousand American soldiers in Israel.
An Egypt-based military expert, major general Jamal Mathloum, said that “there is a military strategic cooperation between the U.S. and Israel since the 1980s and there is definitely mutual understanding.” He added that the U.S. troop deployment might not necessarily mean a direct signal of war, but that it could be read as Israel and U.S. readiness in case of a conflict arising in the region.
“There is already a U.S. radar station in southern Israel, and might contain from 500 to 700 American soldiers operating there,” Mathloum said.
But for Abdulaziz Sager, chairman and founder of the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, the deployment of U.S. troops in Israel is “definitely to send a clear signal to Iran.”
Sager said that there is a U.S.-Israel defense agreement that makes defending the Jewish state an obligation to the United States. In addition to that, U.S. President Barack Obama said in his last AIPAC meeting that the United States does not rule out any option against Iran.
According to debka.com, an Israeli website that provides political and security analysis, about 9,000 U.S. soldiers have already arrived in Israel. But Mathloum said this figure remains insignificant compared to the more than 100,000 American soldiers dispersed in 1,000 U.S. bases worldwide.
Lt.-Gen. Gorenc’s announcement came as he was visiting Israel to finalize plans for the upcoming drill. There will also be an establishment of American command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of establishing joint task forces in the event of a large-scale conflict in the Middle East, the newspaper reported.
But according to Elias Henna, a Lebanon-based expert in military issues, the deployment of 9,000 U.S. troops in Israel goes back to the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and to support U.S. presence in the region and not to leave the “Arab field” open to further Iranian influence.
Asked why the United States did not increase its troop numbers in its military bases in the Persian Gulf, Henna said that both countries [Israel and United States] have far more compatible militaries, are bound with military agreements and that the United States has more freedom in Israel.
“Israel does not mind even if one million U.S. soldiers to be deployed in the Jewish state,” he added. As the U.S. and Israel continue their cooperation in light of the crisis looming around Iran, the Islamic Republic appears to remain unyielding.
On Sunday, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun, Abbasi Davani, reportedly said that Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facility will go on stream soon. Davani said that the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant will be operational in the near future and that around 20 percent, 3.5 percent and four percent enriched uranium can be produced at the site.
“There is no third party to verify about the site [Fordow] and truth about the announcement,” said Sager, adding “they can say all they want to say but there is no confirmation or verification.” | <urn:uuid:4988870d-aa09-4d34-9ecb-749ee3e7737d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/08/187141.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963506 | 808 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Scope, Varmint or Target
Varmint scopes are generally much larger and of higher magnification than big game scopes. They can be larger than the big game scope as varmint rifles are seldom carried great distances. Most varmint scopes have parallax adjustment, fine reticles and many have sun shields which prevent unwanted light from entering the scope.
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Order Online 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week, 365 Days a Year | <urn:uuid:6f2b73ce-400e-4a9d-9337-054e4b70b297> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huntingblades.com/scvaorta.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935002 | 134 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Swiftwick Pursuit Merino Wool Socks and Swiftwick Aspire Socks
We're dedicated to the idea that all of cycling deserves careful analysis. Some time ago, we decided that socks aren't merely a foot covering that protects your skin from your shoes, but a clothing item that, when done right, improves performance.
So it is that we now turn our attention to Swiftwick socks. Swiftwick makes a point of calling their foot covers "compression socks," and the melding of socks with compression alone is one worth investigating. We picked up two pair: the Aspire and Pursuit. The Aspire is the jewel of their line. The sock is heavy on the Olefin fiber, a polyester fiber that is light, stretchy, durable, and retains .01% of its weight in moisture—it wicks and never saturates. The Pursuit is their Merino wool-mix sock. In both cases, they use "200 Needle Construction," meaning the socks are produced on looms with 200 needles. This means that the weave is denser than many other socks, where 144- or 168-needles are more common. A denser weave can create a more compressive sock if you work the right fibers.
On the packaging, there is the claim, 'Managed Compression™' -proven to reduce swelling, improve blood circulation and increase your endurance.' The claim is correct in that there have been tests that have shown compression leg wear to do all those things, but these socks haven't been put through a lab. These are, however, tighter than your average sport sock. You might scoff at the idea of experiencing such a difference, but it is noticeable from the moment you try to tug on the socks. The cuffs definitely have greater resistance to expanding to get the tops around our feet and over our ankles. The body of the socks needed to be tugged into place. We'd stretch the socks over our toes and get the cuff to the back of our arch. Then we'd pull the rest of the sock over so that the front of the socks were abutting the toes. From there we'd work to get the cuffs over our heels and ankles. Taking them off was similarly more work than the average sport sock. Having the socks on for a few hours left an impression on our lower legs; you could see that the cuff had compressed the area of the leg around the ankle.
In both socks, we went with the Four model. This refers to a four-inch, doubled-over cuff. The doubling-over of the cuff helps with compression. The cuff is also different from the rest of the sock, not only in how it is knit, but the fibers. With both models, the cuff loses most of the advertised fibers that make the Aspire and Pursuit what they are, and use a nylon-dominated blend for strength, compression, and durability.
The Pursuit is a sock dominated by Merino wool. We're fans of the sheep hair, have bought several pair of socks dominated with this natural fiber, and have tested out Merino offerings from Assos, Curve, and Rapha. In general, we've been able to use Merino-dominated socks in weather hot and cold. The issue with this is the density of the knit rather than the fiber. The Rapha and Curve socks are sufficiently thin all around that they work in the cool and the hot equally well. The Assos is knit thicker and as a result, is a good deal warmer. The Pursuit is similar to the Assos in the padded (some might call it "lofted") sole and thicker top coverings, though the doubled-over cuff feels a bit warmer. It is a warm sock, one we'd be reluctant to pull out on warm days. And we'd be similarly leery of the thicker sole taking on too much water on a rainy day.
Because of the padded sole and our custom shoe insole, the Pursuit was hard for us to wear for any length of time in our cycling shoes. If you're wearing shoes that provide you a 'slipper fit,' the Pursuit probably isn't your sock. But, if your shoe has some room in it, and/or you're using insoles with little to no arch support, you can probably wear this sock for cycling. The people at Swiftwick told us this sock is more popular with mountain bikers, possibly because they tend to wear larger shoes. All the same, Swiftwick is releasing a new Pursuit that will have a similar sole thickness to the Aspire. We're looking forward to it.
Since we didn't log much riding time in the Pursuit, we logged many walking miles in it underneath a waterproof shoe. It's a really comfortable sock. And, just to test the anti-stink strength of Merino, we used them several days in a row without washing. They resisted odors well.
If the Pursuit can be knit as thin as the Aspire, we'd probably love it for riding, as the Aspire fits great. It's thin all the way around and even has a waffle-knit on the sole that feels thin and relatively airy.
The Aspire is actually harder to pull over our feet than the Pursuit; the cuff is more compressive feeling and perhaps the polyester is not as easy to slide on as the Merino. The sole has a waffle-knit while the top has a pinstripe knit. Around the arch is a more densely-knit band. This band is also present, but less apparent, on the Pursuit socks.
We did rides long and short in both cool and warm weather. Never did the sock feel too cold or too hot, but the temperature range we were riding in was from 42-72 degrees Fahrenheit. When we first started using them, we had this funny feeling. It was as if when we flexed the foot when pushing down on the pedals, the knit of the sock was helping our feet back to a more neutral position. While we doubt this saved any energy, it was a nice feeling.
In terms of the socks' compression aiding performance, we can't find any direct link. However, the socks are really comfortable. They've never slipped, nor have we experienced any bunching. We never felt ourselves distracted or uncomfortable as a result of the socks. And they are snug in the way that the right compression tights feel snug. All these things are small, but small things add up. A little more comfort could mean you're fiddling with shoe straps less, not thinking about overheating feet, not slowed by a desire to take off all your clothes (this happens to everyone on hot, humid days, no?), you'll probably go a little faster.
An interesting side effect of wearing the Aspire socks was switching back to regular socks. We found, in comparison, that in some of our older socks that probably have 'tired' cuffs, the socks felt uncomfortably loose.
The people at Swiftwick say that if you want the socks to last a long time, wash them in cold water and either air dry or dry on low heat. They're right that the socks air dry fast, but we're generally too lazy for sorting out socks. We generally washed on cool and either dried on low- or medium-heat, depending on what was being washed. After several washes, the socks are fine.
Our only beef with the socks is the color, or rather the lack thereof. Black socks are pretty boring. Grey socks are equally dull. We'd love something more colorful. Our guy at Swiftwick told us that compression is harder to control with different colors as they could have different compression. As an example, he offered that their custom sock program, they only offer 168-needle construction. There's also a bit of an oddity. Taking a really close look at the Black Aspire sock, it's apparent that the black of the body is a different color value that the black of the cuff. This is a result of the different fiber composition of the two segments.
Our one worry about the socks is that the area between the heel and the cuff will wear out fast, as that seems to take the most stress when mounting the socks. Now that Memorial Day is around the corner, we're thinking White Aspire socks are in our future. And a shorter cuff for more skin exposure. | <urn:uuid:e7f7dcfb-9030-4584-ab8a-37aaded4738e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=PRODUCT_REVIEW&ARTICLE_ID=4421&RETURN=Swiftwick%202012%20Swiftwick%20Pursuit%20Four%20Socks%20page&RETURNLINK=%2Fza%2FCCY%3FPAGE%3DBUY_PRODUCT_STANDARD%26PRODUCT.ID%3D10129%26CATEGORY.ID%3D0%26MODE%3D%26TFC%3DTRUE | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966235 | 1,731 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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