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A few months back, author Bonnie Tsui wrote a short article in The Atlantic magazine titled “The End of Chinatown.”
“I think ‘end,’ is the end of Chinatown as we know it,” said Tsui.
“So we have known it as this home for working class immigrants, you know the rural poor. It’s always been that gateway, it’s the starting point. And it has been a necessary starting point. Now if demographic conditions continue as they are and the great economic engine – this global juggernaut that is China – now continues on, maybe these vast swaths of rural poor find other opportunities in China and they don’t have to come to the US.”
This is already happening. Tsui’s cites statistics charting a slow and steady decline of Chinese immigrants from a peak of six years ago.
Tsui said, “And so the question remains: If new immigrants are no longer part of the fabric of Chinatown, then what would allow it to live on?”
This question has rattled some Chinese-American community leaders in places like San Francisco, home of America’s oldest Chinatown. I walked around the neighborhood with Gordon Chin, sort of a local celebrity and founder of the Chinatown Community Development Center.
“This Chinatown started in the 1830’s with Chinese immigrants coming over to work in the fields, and later on with the discovery of gold in the 1840’s, and shortly thereafter to work on the railroads,” said Chin as he gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of the area.
It’s easy to lose focus in Chinatown. I know these streets reasonably well. I used to walk them daily to get to work, through the crowded markets, tacky tourist shops, and brightly colored pagodas, lanterns and Oriental architecture. And the crush of people – it’s the most densely populated neighborhood west of Manhattan. It’s a place of immigrants, where English is not the primary language. But as fewer Chinese migrate here, I asked Gordon Chin: What did he think was going to happen to American Chinatowns? He said with crisis, comes opportunity.
“So in terms of opportunity with the growth of China, there’s pride with that, there’s economic opportunity, there’s socio and cultural ties.”
Chin and his colleague Gen Fujioka, who was also walking with us, know this could also happen here. But they don’t see it anytime soon. Fujioka called Bonnie Tsui’s article, “The End of Chinatown” an “over-simplification.”
“Bonnie is recognizing that it is a challenge. Communities have to recreate themselves, find relevance for today, it’s not just about the past. And I think that challenge exists for every community and I think Chinatowns are no different,” said Fujioka.
To stay relevant, Chinatowns must transition to places that attract second and third generation Chinese Americans, people like Frank Wong. Wong grew up in the Sunset District, an outlying neighborhood of San Francisco. The Sunset District is also heavily Chinese, but Wong says newer Chinese communities in outlying districts can never replace the original downtown Chinatowns.
“I would like to keep it the way it is, it’s a symbol of who I am, and my culture.”
But he said many of his Chinese-American friends from the suburbs don’t share his affinity for Chinatown. And Wong said over the past decade, he’s seen fewer Chinese Americans come visit.
“There used to be a lot more events on the weekends, for example festivals, or anything like that, that used to always be occurring all the time. But that just doesn’t happen anymore based on the fact that not as many people would show up. Over the years, they just totally eliminated those types of things.”
This trend bothers Wong both as a Chinese American and a local businessman. To combat this, restaurants throughout Chinatown, like The New Asia, are looking for ways to broaden their customer base.
The New Asia is a cavernous, but packed, room with waiters pushing Dim Sum carts through crowded passageways. Speaking through a translator, Owner Hon So said he’s worked hard to keep his restaurant busy.
So said on Christmas Eve and Day they host the Kung Pao Kosher Comedy festival. As the name implies, it’s a largely Jewish audience, laughing, and more important to So, eating his food. Last year, So said the festival brought in 600 people and that events like this are helping his business diversify and survive.
But as Chinatowns reinvent themselves and become less Chinese, at what point do they cease being genuine Chinatowns?
I boarded an elevator with Gordon Chin in Chinatown’s first public housing project – Chinese and Chinese-Americans have been living there since the 1950’s.
As we got out of the elevator, we saw several residents, none of whom were Asian. I asked Chin how he felt about the changes unfolding here.
I also asked Bonnie Tsui how she felt about the changes in Chinatown. Besides her article in The Atlantic, Tsui also wrote a book called “American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods.” Tsui has a personal connection to the one in Manhattan.
“I think back to the fact that my grandfather worked in a fortune cookie factory down in Chinatown (Manhattan) when I was growing up. And the fortune cookies that were peppering my household were little reminders of his path down to Chinatown everyday,” said Tsui.
“And I talk to my grandparents about how they feel about this place they lived in, this place for decades. And they say they’re happy they left, but they were happy that it was a home for them when they got here.”
And while Tsui writes fond portraits about American Chinatowns, she also describes the neighborhoods in stark language – dirty, overcrowded places, where immigrant families often cram into one-room apartments.
“I want to be clear that I’m not actually of the opinion that they should be preserved as is,” said Tsui.
Tsui said Chinatowns can successfully evolve. For example, she cites Honolulu’s Chinatown, now a home to a thriving nightlife scene. Art galleries are popping up in Los Angeles’ Chinatown.
“These things are not “Chinese,” but they are fitting in somehow, and they’re kind of finding a way to co-exist, or more than co-exist, with the long-time Chinese residents in the neighborhood.”
Of course that brings us back to Tsui’s original question: Is this the end of Chinatown as we know it? It’s an interesting debate, but it’s also worth remembering: people have been predicting the disappearance of American Chinatowns since the 1920’s. | <urn:uuid:9a49b7eb-63c3-4b7e-927b-6d5e0624b528> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theworld.org/2012/08/why-american-chinatowns-must-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971514 | 1,486 | 2.5625 | 3 |
We might be more charitable to 'federal rights'
To the editor:
I write in praise of Art Callaham's July 10 column in The Herald-Mail on the importance of remembering the lessons of the Civil War. His righteous advocacy of states' rights is the sort of clarion call needed to overcome such rights-denying monstrosities as the Federal Defense of Marriage Act and proposals to amend the U.S. Constitution to prohibit states from regulating abortions.
Callaham's admitted bias for the South's perspective on the Civil War leads him to several all-too-common historical errors about states' rights. Prior to the Civil War, the pro-slavery forces were strongly against states' rights. The pro-slavery forces insisted that U.S. Marshals enforce the federal fugitive slave laws in all states.
They insisted that slaves taken to northern states were still slaves, regardless of the laws of that state. The pro-slavery forces asserted that all U.S. territories must allow slavery. And when the pro-slavery forces set about to create their own confederacy, its constitution (Article 1, Section 9, Subsection 4) required that all confederate states make slavery legal.
Maybe in Texas they teach children that the pro-slavery forces in the South favored states' rights, but it's not true.
As much as one might prefer a weaker federal government, "the lessons" of the Civil War seem to require an acknowledgment that, for better or for worse, the rights of all American were greatly expanded and are today better protected as a result of the coercive, violent and, in some cases, tyrannical actions of the federal government during and following that war. While war is very costly in lives and property and generally not the preferred method for expanding or protecting rights, this is what happened after our Civil War. No pre-war or post-war preference for states' rights can deny that history.
It is true that, following the Civil War, some Americans in some states lost the previously held "right" to enslave others, to assault them, to rape them, to lynch them, to sell them, to exclude them from the protection of the law and to otherwise deny them all of the basic human rights enjoyed by other Americans. These states also lost the right to prohibit their own citizens from advocating for the abolition of slavery. This diminution of states' rights seems to be a good thing.
On this and every Fourth of July, I hope Callaham is thankful for those liberties that are enhanced and protected by a federal government strong enough to overthrow slavery, to require equal treatment before the law in every state and to protect those individual rights enumerated and not enumerated in the U.S. Constitution.
Stop the abuse of handicapped-parking spots
To the editor:
First let me say I understand the need for handicapped parking and I agree handicapped people should be allowed to park without paying the meters.
The problem is that handicapped tags and placards are being abused; they must be very easy to get because a lot of people have them. I watch the parking lots and see how many of the people who get out of "handicapped cars" are handicapped and about half of them are in better shape than I am.
I guess these tags or placards are for dear old granny who just didn't happen to make the trip. So just like every other worthwhile idea (recycling bins for instance), we have to sit back and watch as these few selfish people turn up their noses and laugh at the rest of us who try to do the right thing.
It would be interesting to know how many people have been cited in the state, county or even the city for abusing this privilege. I'd bet there haven't been many. I strongly believe we need these programs — I just think that we need better enforcement of the abuses.
If someone is found taking advantage of the program, fine them a few thousand dollars. Hey, maybe they could then donate all the fines to local handicap charities. That would sort of put things right.
Falling Waters, W.Va. | <urn:uuid:781c84ed-d6bc-4fe9-ba72-999b266c3115> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.herald-mail.com/opinion/hm-letters-to-the-editor-july-30-20110728,0,2574303.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967577 | 862 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Valley Public Radio Staff
Wed August 8, 2012
UC Merced Chancellor Calls For Off-Campus Growth
UC Merced may be less than a decade old, but the struggling economy and environmental concerns are already leading campus officials to explore the possibility of directing some of the university's future growth to off-campus locations.
Chancellor Dorothy Leland recently wrote in an op-ed for the Merced Sun-Star that the university will work with the Washington D.C. based Urban Land Institute (ULI) to identify ways to grow outside of the current site at Lake Yosemite. Campus development plans were altered in the early 2000's after environmental studies identified the site as home to the endangered fairy shrimp, which lives in seasonal vernal pools around the site, which was formerly ranch land.
With a projected enrollment of 10,000 students within eight to 10 years, UC Merced faces daunting financial challenges in meeting campus development needs beyond the current "golf course footprint." These challenges not only include the scarcity of capital dollars from the state but also significant infrastructure and mitigation costs. Thus, the continued growth of UC Merced in the constrained resource environment we face today requires us to consider development alternatives that potentially do not require significant infrastructure investment, that may reduce mitigation costs, that leverage creative financing options and that complement and support the university's academic and research missions.
Leland has charged the ULI with developing a range of scenarios for future development that would bring additional campus research, administrative and support functions to sites "where infrastructure and other public services are already in place." The campus currently has employees at a number of off campus sites, including in Merced and at the UC Center in Fresno.
The university is facing a number of issues that make expanding off-campus a potentially appealing idea. In 2011, state support for the UC system was cut by over 23 percent. And if voters don't approve Governor Brown's tax increase in November, the system could face another $375 million in cuts this year.
At the same time as state support for the system is declining, UC Merced's student population is growing. Earlier this year the campus had to limit enrollment, and the university will have a record 5,600 students this fall. But Leland says the campus needs to accommodate as many as 10,000 students in the next decade.
While construction is underway on a new science and engineering building, which is expected to be completed in 2014, the capacity of the campus remains an issue. Expanding the current campus footprint would be especially expensive, in part due to mitigation measures that are designed to avoid or offset impacts to the environment.
The change in strategy also reflects changing attitudes about development throughout the Golden State. Since UC Merced was first envisioned in mid 1990's, concerns over global warming and environmental sustainability have led to a greater focus on urban infill development, versus so-called "green field" projects far from existing urban centers. The state's so-called anti-sprawl bill, SB 375, became law in 2008 and seeks to direct local governments to reconsider plans for growth outside existing urban areas.
In 1995, the UC Regents selected land adjacent to Lake Yosemite as the site for the San Joaquin Valley's first UC campus. The Merced location won out over two other Valley sites, one in Madera County near Highway 41 and the San Joaquin River, and one in Fresno County off Highway 168 near Academy, east of Clovis. The campus opened in 2005. | <urn:uuid:b2e531d8-393d-4645-9e74-b4a2d291963d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kvpr.org/post/uc-merced-chancellor-calls-campus-growth | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960143 | 713 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Newt Gingrich: States' experience should guide health reform
Congress is on the verge of enacting the largest unfunded mandate in American history. At a time when most states are struggling with rising unemployment, declining tax revenue and the worst national economic climate in 30 years, Congress is demonstrating that it is more out of touch than ever.
The Democratic health "reform" bill in the Senate would require states to expand Medicaid to include all people earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or $29,327 for a family of four. House Democrats want to require expansion to 150 percent of the poverty level, or $33,075 for a family of four. Even Texas, which has a balanced budget and nearly $9 billion in its rainy-day fund, isn't prepared to absorb this type of blow.
Complaints from majorities of Republican and Democratic governors alike continue to fall on deaf ears. Congress seems intent on forcing a one-size-fits-all mandate on states, some of which actually have solutions to repair their health-care systems that Washington is preventing them from trying.
Texas, for example, has adopted approaches to controlling health-care costs while improving choice, advancing quality of care and expanding coverage. Consider the successful 2003 tort reform. Fewer frivolous lawsuits have attracted record numbers of doctors to the state as medical malpractice insurance premiums dropped by half. Christus Health, a large Catholic nonprofit system with a significant presence in Texas, spent about $100 million on liability defense payments in 2003. Last year, Christus spent $2.3 million on such payments. Much of that savings has gone into expanding health-care services in low-income neighborhoods.
You might think Washington would be curious about plans to provide more low-income Texans with insurance, reduce expensive emergency-room visits for basic care and make it easier to buy into employer-sponsored insurance. Unfortunately, Washington has failed for 18 months to give Texas permission to use Medicaid dollars for these policies.
Historically, the federal government has paid an average of 57 percent of state Medicaid costs. In a transparent attempt to bribe governors and state legislatures into accepting 15 million to 20 million new people nationwide onto Medicaid rolls, Congress is proposing a series of additional subsidies to states to cover 90 percent of the costs of the newly mandated populations. In true Washington form, these handouts would be debt-financed, through the generosity of foreign bankers, to be paid back by future generations of American taxpayers.
Expanding the Medicaid program in Texas alone to include an additional 2 million people would cost $20 billion to $30 billion over the next 10 years. Regardless of how that cost is shared between the federal and state governments down the road, we believe that level of new mandated spending is grossly unacceptable.
Even more stunning than this fiscal irresponsibility is Congress's disregard for the quality of the Medicaid program and the well-being of the people in it. Medicaid is the lowest payer in the health-care system. It reimburses physicians 20 to 30 percent less than even Medicare, which pays costs at a much lower rate than do private insurers. If a doctor or hospital is facing bills, staff salaries and medical malpractice premiums, it is obvious which patients will get preference.
We note with concern that the Government Accountability Office reported in January that Medicaid made an estimated $32.7 billion in improper payments in 2007, equal to a full 10 percent of the program. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) pointed out that the average improper payment rate for non-health government programs is 3.9 percent. He introduced an amendment in the Senate Finance Committee that would have prevented expansions of Medicaid until the secretary of health and human services could certify that its improper payment rate was equivalent to that of non-health programs, but that amendment failed on a party-line vote. The rate of improper payments needs to be addressed.
The Democratic health-care proposals do nothing to expand choice, lower costs and empower patients. They would add to, without reforming, bulky, overpriced programs that would in turn add to our already crushing burden of national debt. Reckless expansion would ultimately reduce the quality of U.S. medical care.
Such tragedies can be averted if the powers-that-be in Washington set aside their devotion to centrally planned, debt-financed, one-size-fits-all solutions and work cooperatively with those laboratories of innovation known as states. Otherwise, we'll end up with a one-size-hurts-all situation.
Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation, was speaker of the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. Rick Perry is governor of Texas. | <urn:uuid:75aedfae-382f-444b-8551-735222d3d262> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110504328.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957775 | 951 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Guide to Non-linear Dynamics in Accelerator Physics/Tracking
This chapter provides tools to describe tools for finding map that track particles in em fields.
There are several way of tracking a particle in accelerator physics. Each one has different goal and needs its own approximation. Here there is a possible classification.
In their evolution particles experience the following physical process:
- decay or inelastic scattering
- spontaneous or triggered by very small scale interaction with other particles. The particles are propagated using probabilistic models using QFT.
- elastic scattering
- small scale interaction of high energy particles with other particles that does not involve decays. As inelastic scattering particles are propagated using probabilistic models using QFT. A special case of elastic scattering is synchrotron radiation that may or may not use probabilistic models or approximated statistics law. The approximation used are typically neglect not probable terms, simplify the motion.
- electromagnetic field
- propagation due the interaction of particle with electromagnetic field which can be either external or generated by two or more particles.
- event generation
- for describing which kind of particle may be produced after a collision
- between an high energy particle and either another high energy particle
- in particle colliders or a low energy particles in fixed target experiment.
- The approximation used is too neglect the extension of the space time.
- Codes are dmjet, pythia.
- particle matter interaction
- for calculating the efficiency of a detector,
- the energy deposited, the radiation damage of some equipment.
- Codes are geant, mars, fluka.
- short term analysis (one turn)
- for calculating or approximating beam envelops,
- invariants of the motion and perturbation terms for periodic structures. The object
- of the study are the explicit form of the equation of motion more than the trajectory
- of the particle even though the trajectories may be use to compute or approximate the equation of motion. Matter interaction and collective effects are usually not included.
- Codes are mad, ptc, tracy.
- short term simulation for beam loss
- for calculating the trajectory of the particles in the tail of the particle distribution in the beam. These particles are usually source of losses or background noise in the experiments. Usually hundreds of turn are needed in these simulations. The motion is accurate but the interaction with matter is very simplified.
- Codes are sixtrack.
- short term simulation for collective instabilities
- for calculating the short term stability of a bunch of particle due the interaction of the particles with themselves (direct space charge) or the interaction with metallic surfaces close by (impedances, indirect space charge). The motion is accurate but not the simplecticity of the equation. This is an unavoidable approximation due the high dimensionality of the problem.
- Codes are orbit, elegant,headtail, warp.
- long term simulation
- for evaluating the long term stability of motion in circular ring due to small non-linear perturbation. Usually thousands (electron) or millions (hadron) of turns are needed to find results. Long term simulation are used either as a direct evaluation tool for the impact of machine imperfection or as a benchmark for perturbation methods (analysis of the 1-turn map, frequency map, tune footprint, tune or action diffusion). The approximation used are share by the short term analysis.
- Codes are sixtrack,teapot.
In the following, we concentrate on tracking for short term analysis and long term simulation that shares the need of keeping the mathematical structure of the equations exact.
The aim of this section is to study how to solve the motion of a single particle in a general em field without affecting the structure of the equation of motions.
If the em fields are easily approximated by discontinuous vector field occupying a well defined not overlapping region, the tracking problem can be approached by a composition of discrete steps. Each step is the exact solution of the equation of motion between the boundary of the region. The region type may be
- a region of zero volume defined by one surface
- a region enclosed by two parallel plane surfaces
- a region enclosed by two not parallel plane surfaces
- a region enclosed by general surfaces.
The program is to find out which kind of field and region allows the motion to be solved exactly and how to find those fields and regions that approximate the real field.
Equation of motion
A particle in the vacuum has four degree of freedom and the rest mass therefore can identified by the quantities:
which are the location and mechanical momentum. The conservation of rest mass implies:
The least action principle and the isotropy the space and homogeneity of time implies:
for any , where .
Instead of could have be used as well. The solution of motion is a straight line.
In case of the em , if one wants to keep the same structure for the equation of motion, one has to substitute with where is the charge of the particle.
The equation of motion are not exactly solvable in a bounded region in the general case. Solvable cases are:
The hamiltonian depends only on . The map is
A particular case is for no field in a parallel plane boundary region. The map is
is the time of flight which does not depend on because of the parallel boundaries. Assuming that the particle is sitting on one face, if the opposite face is at a distance then
Zero volume surface with infinite field. The motion is a change of momentum but not a change of coordinate:
free field region (CONJECTURE TO BE CHECKED)
If there is no field and the region is defined by
can be solved for . The map is:
Being exact, the resulting map (maybe containing infinite terms) should be symplectic by construction.
uniform type (CONJECTURE TO BE CHECKED)
Uniform em field with parallel boundaries. Examples are ideal dipoles or solenoid magnet.
Since the motion can be exactly determined, the resulting map (maybe containing infinite terms) should be symplectic by construction.
If it exists a canonical transformation that brings the field and the region in the above forms, the map
where is a map of one the type above solve exactly the motion. Example are sector bend magnets, where the canonical transformation brings to cylindrical coordinate (and may or may not cancel the bending field) and back.
In case the Hamiltonian is the sum of solvable pieces , approximate models could be built in the form of a sequence of region such that . A particular case is the kick drift approximation or the generalized Yoshida symplectic integrator.
Inclusion of Radiation
When tracking a single single particle through a magnetic field, if it accelerates, it will emit radiation. This is particularly important when tracking electrons. Actually, the effect of radiation is typically split into two distinct pieces, a deterministic energy loss, and a stochastic part resulting from the quantization of the outgoing electromagnetic field (photons).
First we describe the deterministic part. We use a high energy approximation in which the energy and momentum are related by E=P/c. The power radiated by a charged particle in a magnetic field is given by with . Now, suppose that in the symplectic integrator, we go track through a region of magnetic field of length L. In fact, the length of this section will depend on the initial coordinates of the particle. The length of the region is given by . Now, in many codes, the magnetic field is normalized by so that the integrated constant term is unitless. Define . Using the relation , one finds that the change in the energy deviation is given by , with . This is the formula used in e.g. Accelerator Toolbox and Tracy. Now that the change in energy (momentum) has been computed, the changes in the transverse momenta x', y' may be correspondingly computed. This is done by noting that don't change in the radiation process. | <urn:uuid:5bf7790f-6ceb-41da-8b2e-3567cf691feb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guide_to_Non-linear_Dynamics_in_Accelerator_Physics/Tracking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911179 | 1,658 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Apollo 11 crew recalls Armstrong's nerve-wracking moon landing
(CBS News) A private service will be held on Friday in Cincinnati for Neil Armstrong. He died Aug. 25 at 82.
Armstrong will always be remembered for taking the first walk on the moon, a feat that almost didn't happen. Armstrong himself saved the Apollo 11 mission with a white-knuckle landing.
The Lunar Lander with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard was still miles above the moon's surface when Aldrin said they got the first indication something was wrong. The alarms were going off as the Lander was about to land on the moon for the first time.
"We had not memorized all the program alarms," Aldrin admitted.
At mission control in Houston, flight director Gene Kranz already was worried about a guidance error and poor communications.
"The tough decision I had to make was, did we have good enough communications to continue the decent or should we wave off," Kranz said.
As the spacecraft came out from the dark side of the moon, Kranz said they became aware of a "peck of trouble." It looked as if the landing was going off course and might have to be aborted.
"'Abort' is not a word you use casually in mission control, and boy everybody picked up at that time. We knew we were in for a battle," Kranz recalled.
Armstrong told Ed Bradley on "60 Minutes" that the autopilot was taking them into a dangerous looking crater "with steep slopes ... covered with very large rocks about the size of automobiles."
"That was not the kind of place i wanted to try to make the first landing," Armstrong said.
Kranz remembered watching Armstrong maneuvering to find a suitable landing spot.
"Our job is just to keep them aware of how many seconds of fuel remaining they have," he stated.
But, Armstrong's detour was using up fuel.
"I was getting a little concerned," Aldrin said.
Alrdrin heard Krantz saying that the spacecraft only had 60 seconds of fuel with 100 feet to touchdown.
"I didn't want to interrupt Neil's concentration," he recalled.
Seventeen seconds before fuel ran out, Armstrong came on the radio.
"Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed," he stated.
Aldrin remembered the two men looked at each other, and he patted Armstrong on the shoulder. Armstrong recalled that two shook hands.
"This was exciting," Krantz said. "It was risky, but it was typical America. You know this is 'what Americans can dare, Americans can do."
Neil Armstrong, the American who did it, remained modest, always saying he was just part of the team, just part of the nation that made it happen.
- Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble
- Storm spotter: Oklahoma tornado "a nightmare"
- Survivors pulled from Okla. school hit by tornado
- Oklahoma tornado survivor: "Everything is gone"
- At least 51 dead after tornado strikes Oklahoma City suburb
- 5/20: Deadly tornado strikes Okla.; Fmr. Cincinnati IRS office worker speaks out
- Inside the IRS office that targeted conservative groups
- Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico
- Oklahoma governor: We need lots of prayers tonight
- Oklahoma tornado leaves residents in state of shock
- Oklahoma City manager: Tornado created "significant damage"
- 16-year-old finds a new way to detect cancer
- Lotto winners with tragic story thank "guardian angel"
- Elizabeth Smart reacts to Cleveland kidnapping
- WH Benghazi emails have different quotes than earlier reported
- Severe weather: Where is the storm headed? | <urn:uuid:7fa6135e-e623-407c-9e00-831d3fa86a55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57501325/apollo-11-crew-recalls-armstrongs-nerve-wracking-moon-landing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971823 | 785 | 2.328125 | 2 |
KALAMAZOO, Mich., June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study in the current issue of Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy concludes that 62 percent of frequent antihistamine users did not test positive for allergies. The authors recommend that objective diagnosis with an allergen-specific IgE test might yield more appropriate clinical management, reduce office visits and improve patients' quality of life.
"A specific-IgE test for allergy is an essential diagnostic tool for managed care providers and should be a first step for effective treatment of allergic disease," said Sheryl Szeinbach, Ph.D., Professor, Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration, Ohio State University, the study's lead author. "From a practical standpoint, it could be economically wasteful and medically inappropriate for patients without allergies to take prescription antihistamines frequently."
A total of 246 managed care patients who were diagnosed with allergies and prescribed low-sedating antihistamines consented to an allergy blood test. Results revealed no relation between antihistamine use and evidence of allergy though low-sedating antihistamines are indicated primarily for the treatment of allergy-related symptoms.
Among all 246 patients, 159 of them, or 64.6 percent, tested negative for allergy. Even among the 163 patients who were classified as frequent antihistamine users (three or more prescriptions in one year), 101, or 62 percent, tested negative. "Simply put, about two of three patients may not be receiving appropriate treatment," Szeinbach said.
Americans spend about 8.4 billion dollars per year on low-sedating antihistamines such as cetirizine (Zyrtec(R)), fexofenadine (Allegra(R)) and loratadine (Claritin(R)). While these drugs can be effective when used as indicated, their use for non-allergic patients is clinically and economically questionable.
About 50 percent of Americans have allergy-like symptoms associated with upper respiratory disease, such as a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing or watery eyes. Generally, they believe they're allergic, but most of the time they are not. About 35 percent of them have allergic rhinitis (allergy), about 35 percent have non-allergic rhinitis, and about 30 percent have sinusitis. Though these conditions have similar symptoms, their treatments differ greatly, and they are so difficult to diagnose accurately that even physicians can do so only about 50 percent of the time unless they test patients to obtain objective evidence.
The researchers used the ImmunoCAP(R) Allergy blood test in the study, an advanced allergy testing method that measures patients' sensitivity to common inhalant allergens such as animal dander, pollen and mold. In response to each allergen, the immune system produces a specific form of immunoglobulin E (IgE) that can trigger allergic reactions. By quantifying specific IgE, ImmunoCAP not only determines whether a person is allergic and (if so) to what, but also suggests how severe each allergy is.
An unrestricted grant from Pharmacia Diagnostics, the manufacturer of the ImmunoCAP test, supported the research.
Pharmacia Diagnostics AB, headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden, is the world leader in in vitro IgE diagnostic research and product development. Its U.S. affiliate is in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Pharmacia Diagnostics AB | <urn:uuid:62bbd0f9-db9c-471a-b56e-f529ad10962b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biospace.com/News/1-release-two-out-of-three-prescription/16610620 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921347 | 712 | 1.976563 | 2 |
In early July 2012 Desmond Tutu, Martti Ahtisaari and Mary Robinson visited Yusuf Batil refugee camp in South Sudan, calling on the international community to address the growing humanitarian crisis resulting from fighting in the Sudanese states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by fighting between the Sudanese army and the SPLM-North in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, nearly 180,000 of whom have fled into South Sudan. Thousands more continue to cross the border every week.
Near the border in South Sudan sits the two-month old refugee camp of Yusuf Batil. The camp currently hosts 35,000 people who have fled the ongoing violence in Blue Nile.
“We came to Yusuf Batil to show our solidarity to Blue Nile refugees and to underscore our call for peace,” said Desmond Tutu.
The Elders arrived at Yusuf Batil just as food distribution started. Thousands of refugees were waiting patiently for two-week family rations of sorghum, yellow split peas, salt and vegetable oil.
The women then carried these heavy loads across the refugee camp to distribute to their families.
A young woman took a moment out of her day to show Mary Robinson how to grind sorghum.
Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson and Martti Ahtisaari were deeply impressed by the commitment and professionalism of the humanitarian workers in the camp. In the space of a few weeks, they had launched a vaccination campaign and installed a field hospital, two clinics, and ten rehydration sites.
In their discussions with staff from UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) and WFP (World Food Programme), Martti Ahtisaari and his fellow Elders were dismayed to hear that aid efforts are being hampered by a severe funding shortfall.
UNHCR has received only one fifth of the US$186 million needed in South Sudan for 2012, and has already exhausted the contributions it has received so far.
It is “a truly unconscionable case of donor fatigue,” Mary Robinson said.
Despite the difficult circumstances at the camp, the Elders were struck by the resilience and kindness among people in Yusuf Batil.
Mary Robinson spoke to young women in Yusuf Batil, some no more than 20 years old, who had been bearing children since puberty.
Women and children form the majority of the population of the camp. The Elders heard that violence against girls and women is a serious problem in many refugee camps, including Yusuf Batil.
This photo blog first appeared on The Elders website. All photos Adriane Ohanesian | The Elders. | <urn:uuid:d8ddb9f0-74a0-4d12-8a91-62d4f92e1d45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trust.org/item/?map=the-elders-visit-yusuf-batil-refugee-camp-in-south-sudan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960458 | 551 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Page:Natural History, Mollusca.djvu/39
Of those species which dwell upon the land and breathe the air, most affect moist situations. The common Garden Snail, as is well known, retires to crevices and corners in continued dry weather, where it closes its shell with a temporary door to prevent the evaporation of its vital juices, and patiently waits the return of congenial humidity. The first shower prompts the sensitive creatures to venture abroad, and we see them crawling by dozens over our borders and garden walks, imbibing from the steaming surface the grateful moisture. The damp woods of warm countries are the situations which most reward the researches of the laborious collector of land-shells; but there are some which are found in the driest places, as stony plains, and the summits of arid hills. | <urn:uuid:ebc0f0b0-764b-497d-87e6-94c6e8e01130> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Natural_History,_Mollusca.djvu/39 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942209 | 177 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Which Adaptations Are Worthy of King's Name?
The recent news that Universal will be adapting acclaimed author Stephen King's short story "Gramma" into a feature film directed by Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut) — coupled with the imminent arrival of Halloween, of course — got us thinking about the contributions King has made to not only the horror genre, but to science fiction, fantasy and suspense, as well. With book sales in excess of 350 million copies and his stories having inspired well over a hundred feature films, TV movies and TV series, King shares company with such literary legends as William Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in terms of the influence his writing has had on popular entertainment.
Unlike (most) writing, however, Cinema is a collaborative medium, requiring a confluence of talented individuals to bring a story to life on screen. Sadly, far too people in Hollywood possess the vision to adequately interpret King's works, resulting in dozens of duds for every masterful adaptation. Help us sort through the schlock to find the movie adaptations worthy of bearing King's name.
Rate the Top 10 Stephen King Movie Adaptations >>
Posted 10.30.12 by BrentJS | <urn:uuid:28a2370a-8883-4f31-8d4f-3362bb6913e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reelz.com/movie/189638/the-running-man/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946213 | 243 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Narrator: This is Science Today. A therapy that made paralyzed rats walk again was developed at the University of California, Irvine and was based on work by a research team led by Hans Keirstead, who is co-director of the UCI Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.
Kierstead: What we've done is develop a means of
replacing one of the spinal cord's cells that's lost after injury. Step one was
to identify what was lost, step 2 was to take stem cells, which can make any
cell on the body and restrict their differentiation, so they become only this
spinal cord cell type that is lost. Step 3, was to replace that cell in animal
models of spinal cord injury and restore the ability of those animals to walk.
Narrator: This is the first trial in the world using human embryonic stem cells.
Keirstead: So, the importance of that - the value of that is great, far greater than this treatment alone. It paves a way for the next human embryonic stem cell treatment to get to the clinic. This is the first step along the road that we're soon going to see turn into a racetrack.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin. | <urn:uuid:58b2aab8-4012-4a94-ab30-74f5a8477dd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ucop.edu/sciencetoday/article/22037 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972344 | 263 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Large and small cosmetic and personal care companies are grappling with and investing in sustainability. This issue is becoming an integral part of the business of major beauty and personal care companies, according to Organic Monitor, a London-based research and consulting company that focuses on the global organic and related product industries.
The North American edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will take place at InterContinental New York Barclay hotel on May 17-19, 2012. The Sustainable Cosmetics Summit
will discuss major issues companies face such as measuring the environmental footprint of their products. For example, many cosmetic companies like Procter & Gamble and L’Oreal are using lifecycle analysis (LCA) tools. However, they are discovering multi-ingredient personal care products often have complex footprints that are difficult to accurately measure, according to Organic Monitor. The lack of traceability in supply chains is leading new certification trading schemes to emerge. The Summit will also highlight privately-owned natural / organic cosmetic companies and their progress with sustainability. | <urn:uuid:9c63879c-e369-41e6-bcae-fc392927ba6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beautypackaging.com/news/2012/04/13/learn_the_ins_and_outs_of_sustainability | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957277 | 205 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Brian Fong, an orthopedic surgeon at Slidell Memorial Hospital, has no plans to sue the state of Louisiana, as a group of doctors from the West Bank did last month.
But like those doctors, he is seeing more uninsured patients since Hurricane Katrina -- between one-quarter and one-half of his workload on an average night in the emergency room. For setting the fractures, cleaning the wounds and reconnecting the arteries of those patients, he receives no financial compensation.
Without the safety net of Charity Hospital, which has been closed since the storm, the region's uninsured have nowhere to go but the emergency room. There is no real system in place to compensate the people who treat them: Hospitals get a small cut of federal and state money, while doctors receive nothing.
Orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons and other specialists who take emergency calls are not salaried hospital employees. They must seek reimbursement from patients, leaving them with nothing if a person has no insurance and no money to pay the bill. Federal law requires them to treat emergency cases regardless of insurance status, so in the case of the indigent uninsured, they must eat the loss.
Fong could find ways to avoid taking a call, such as working only at private clinics that don't accept uninsured patients, which he said many of his colleagues do. But he does not want to contribute to the already critical shortage of doctors willing to respond when someone is seriously injured in the middle of the night.
"I've been up all night long working on people, then I have to go to work the next day, because everything I did all night long I didn't get paid for," Fong said. "I hate it just as much as everyone else, but the dilemma is, if my kids got hurt I would want someone there for them. That's the primary reason I do it."
'A domino effect'
Before Katrina, community hospitals like Slidell Memorial and St. Tammany Parish Hospital were already treating a large volume of uninsured patients, but many also went to Charity, where doctors were compensated by the state.
After the storm, not only did Charity stop being an option, but the mostly undamaged north shore absorbed a wave of storm refugees and workers looking for a piece of the vibrant post-storm economy.
Officials at Slidell Memorial say the number of uninsured patients who came through the hospital's emergency room went up 17.8 percent from 2005 to 2006. Kumar Amaraneni, director of the emergency room, estimates that as many as 30 percent of his patients are uninsured, compared with 27 percent before the storm.
The situation at St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington is similar. The hospital spent $21 million treating uninsured patients in 2006, its highest figure ever.
Although they haven't moved to take legal action, north shore doctors say they sympathize with their colleagues at West Jefferson Medical Center who filed a $100 million lawsuit against the state for acting as uncompensated "surrogates" for the Charity system.
"It's like a domino effect," said Dr. Richard Schunior, a general surgeon and president of the medical staff at Slidell Memorial. "Let's say a general surgeon sees a ruptured colon and gall bladder, admits the patient and operates. They need support, from an internist, from infectious diseases, from pulmonology. Well, all of those considerations means that all of those doctors will be seeing those patients, and it means they will not be compensated."
A 2006 state appropriations bill offers some relief to hospitals forced to pick up the slack after Charity closed. But HB 1's sliding scale of reimbursement, based on how much a hospital is spending on uninsured patients, has been criticized for favoring the south shore over St. Tammany.
For hospitals that spend less than 3.5 percent of their total costs on treating the uninsured, St. Tammany hospitals receive no payment, while Orleans and Jefferson hospitals get back 30 percent of what they spend.
Slidell Memorial, with 5.4 percent of its total costs going to uninsured care, received $416,158 in HB 1 financing in February, or 50 percent of what it spent during that period. Northshore Regional Medical Center received $223,177.
St. Tammany Parish Hospital received nothing because the Department of Health and Hospitals determined that its uninsured costs were below the 3.5 percent threshold.
Even at the highest reimbursement levels, the bill, which allocates $120 million to the state's nonrural community hospitals for treating the uninsured, does not allow hospitals to recoup 100 percent of their costs and provides no money for doctors.
"My argument was, look, why is an uncompensated care patient worth more in Orleans than in St. Tammany? An uncompensated care patient is an uncompensated care patient," said Sen. Tom Schedler, R-Mandeville. "There never was a logical answer. It was strictly politics and the power of those regions. We got outmaneuvered and outvoted because they have more legislators."
Uninsured rate rises
According to an LSU study sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, the percentage of uninsured residents ages 19 to 65 in St. Tammany Parish increased from 16.1 percent in July 2005 to 17 percent in August 2006.
The uninsured rate in that age group also increased in Jefferson Parish but decreased in Orleans, from 26.1 percent to 20 percent.
"St. Tammany was one of the wealthiest parishes with the highest income in the state prior to Katrina. If you look closely at the demographic data, they're showing slight increases in poverty in the parish," said Dek Terrell, an economics professor at LSU and a co-author of the study. "If an uninsured person is moving to St. Tammany from New Orleans, that reduces the amount in New Orleans."
The state Legislature is considering another uninsured financing provision to replace HB 1 when it expires at the end of June, but few observers think the new measure will be significantly more generous to hospitals or doctors.
Hospitals say they are stretching dollars from their money-making programs to make up for the shortfall, but they cannot continue to lose millions of dollars a year. The same goes for doctors, who could decide to move to places with fewer uninsured patients or better reimbursement programs.
"Physicians are on call. They come in the middle of the night to take care of patients. They're away from their families. They don't get reimbursed, but at the same time they're liable for malpractice," Amaraneni said. "They get really stressed out."
Cindy Chang can be reached at [email protected] or (985) 898-4816. | <urn:uuid:c5b93cbf-3a43-42db-a56f-288ea4f7ed30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.nola.com/topnews/2007/05/influx_of_uninsured_hits_docto.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972682 | 1,396 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Car-filter: how useful are dynamic / adaptive headlights (the ones that swivel when you turn)? Why do they appear to be going out of fashion? [more inside]
posted by meowzilla
on Dec 23, 2012 -
What are your favorite current recordings with good dynamic range, preferably jazz and blues? [more inside]
posted by thrasher
on Apr 25, 2012 -
Dynamic DNS services, PPP dialup and remote support for a technologically un-savvy relative. [more inside]
posted by thewalrus
on Feb 8, 2012 -
My father recently revealed that he got someone pregnant before he met my mother, some 35 years ago. He knew his biological daughter existed for a long time, and didn't tell anyone. Now my half-sister is looking to meet our family... [more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Aug 1, 2011 -
I'm looking for some kind of web widget that will allow me to have a dynamically updateable, embeddable spreadsheet for a website. Can you help me? [more inside]
posted by orville sash
on Jan 5, 2011 -
Bayesian Statistics & Dynamic Linear Modelling in R Filter: explain why I am getting large in magnitude (in contrast to a previous project) log likelihoods. [more inside]
posted by JoeXIII007
on Jun 22, 2010 -
I'm building a website in which part of the page remains static, and part of the page is swapped out using server side includes. Is there a way to do this that doesn't make the page jump up to the top when a link is clicked? [more inside]
posted by Phire
on Mar 13, 2010 -
Why do flatbed scanners seem to have so little dynamic range for sketches? I draw for fun, usually with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil. I do not put a lot of pressure onto the pen because it allows for more details/subtle shading.
When I scan the images, the "light" details are always blown out and no amount of fiddling xsane's settings (gamma, brightness, contrast) seems to reveal them.
Is there a trick I'm missing, or paper+scanner just really sucks and I should just use my tablet? Example scanned drawing
lacking much of the visual information that the eye can see on paper.
Scanners I have used over the years: HP ScanJet 3300C, Canon lide (briefly), and now a Brother MFC-5840CN.
posted by a007r
on Jan 28, 2010 -
Dynamic Advertising: How do I put it in an ebook?
I'd like to 1) put advertising that is
a) dynamic (and changeable from a script on my site) and
b) CPM (paid per exposure, rather than per action)
into 2) an ebook, either pdf or exe.
Any suggestions on the best way to do this? Thanks!
posted by darth_tedious
on Feb 4, 2009 -
I want to propose to my manager a system/software/configuration to dynamically graph data but I don't know what the technical terms are or what software can do this kind of thing. I need your advice. [more inside]
posted by kenzi23
on Jan 27, 2009 -
I've been tasked with creating a fillable form for invoices at work. However, I need it to be dynamic/flexible, and I'm not sure how to do that. [more inside]
posted by O9scar
on Mar 24, 2008 -
Can you recommend a relatively easy to use, customizable web portfolio template that I can easily update and reorganize to show my illustration work? [more inside]
posted by pantufla
on Mar 13, 2007 -
Does anyone know any details about the Wright Brothers' actual brotherly relationship? I'm looking for books, anecdotes, articles, or documentaries you've read/seen that actually address this aspect of the great American story, their personalities, family dynamics, etc. [more inside]
posted by np312
on Nov 22, 2006 -
I want my life to be more "sensor-y" exciting. I could get a bunch of great art works (paintings and sculptures, say) but seeing them day in and day out my brain would filter them out. In a sense, I'm trying to make my apartment as much like being outdoors as possible, using technology. [more inside]
posted by Furious Fitness
on Jun 2, 2006 -
How do I replace a failing disk in a jbod array setup using the windows XP Pro dynamic disk system? [more inside]
posted by Jezztek
on May 21, 2006 -
I want to setup a Windows 2003 server using my dynamic IP address that I have from Comcast. How can I make this happen? I have a linksys Gateway (WCG200) that has the server and a few other computers connected to it. I am trying to setup a small server for my printing/web hosting/file sharing/remote access needs. I need to see how to setup my DNS & DHCP settings for this to happen. Also I have my own domain name which I would like to use. Can I use programs from companies like no-ip.com to setup my web site so if anyone types my registered domain it will find my site? Remember that I will be using a dynamic address. Or the last straw is to get a static IP address. Where can I do so(for the cheapest price)?
posted by nserrano
on Sep 28, 2005 -
I need to convert several dynamic websites (database driven and templated) into static ones so that they can put on a CD. [more inside]
posted by Hartster
on Feb 24, 2005 - | <urn:uuid:5d92cbe2-8319-4853-855b-45e19ddf0333> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/dynamic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939286 | 1,225 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has once more claimed that Linux and open source violates Microsoft's intellectual property and patents. Canonical's CEO Mark Shuttleworth thinks Ballmer has it all wrong.
In an interview with Linux-Watch, Shuttleworth, the man behind the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, explained why he thinks Ballmer's latest claims against Linux and open source are so much nonsense.
The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the Release Candidate for version 7.10 of Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Gobuntu, and Xubuntu codenamed "Gutsy Gibbon". The Release Candidate includes installable live Desktop CDs, server images, alternate text-mode installation CDs, and an upgrade wizard for users of the current stable release.
After posting my previous tutorial on Manually Installing Firefox I noticed that the Katapult Launcher in Kubuntu was not aware of my newly installed application. Apparently you need to refresh Katapult before it’ll see the changes.
There are dozens of tools for downloading videos from YouTube and/or converting those videos to some format other than .flv. It’s hard to choose the best one, as they all have advantages and disadvantages. Here is a list of online tools allowing to download YouTube. Also you'll find a way how to covert downloaded video in Ubuntu.
In earlier articles, I compared OpenOffice.org 2.3's and MS Office 2007's word processors and slide show programs. It seems appropriate to round off the comparison with a look at spreadsheets, the third of the core programs in any office application.
Someone on the United Kingdom Ubuntu mailing list pointed out this excellent interview with Mark Shuttleworth on the show “Open Season”. I hadn’t listened to the show before but it was very well done. One thing that didn’t get quite answered was a point about how Ubuntu manages to ensure that every package is reliable despite the high proportion of volunteers who have commit access. The show’s hosts seemed totally blown away by the fact that around 50% of people working directly on Ubuntu’s core packages are volunteers not employed by Canonical.
Sure, some open source projects get all the glory, like, say, Audacity or Gallery. Everyone knows about them and they’ve been downloaded 17 gazillion times. But what about the unsung heroes? Here are 15 who deserve a bit more attention. Give ‘em some love, huh?
With the up-and-coming release of Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon coming, we’re pleased to announce another Ubuntu Open Week, this time taking place the week following the Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon launch - Mon 22nd Oct - Sat 27th Oct on #ubuntu-classroom on Freenode. The sessions take place from 15.00 UTC to 21.00UTC
Yesterday we took a look at all the handy new features of X in Ubuntu 7.10 and today we turn to Fast User Switching which allows you to easily share your computer with others.
For Distros with lots of Kernel upgrades Like Ubuntu Gutsy now that it is still in Beta, it is annoying to start every day your PC and see that your grub list keep growing and growing.
Clean this unused kernel images is not only good for haven a cleaner grub menu, but also to gain disk space, as all those kernel images uses a lot of space in your disk.
I will show you this under Ubuntu, but should work for other distros just taking care of the names of their kernel images, and also its package managers.
In this short screencast we look at various ways of connecting printers in Ubuntu. We don't look at troubleshooting printer issues, as that will be covered in a later screencast, what we do cover is:-
Cinelerra, one of the only serious video editing and compositing tools available for Linux, can cause frustration for users trying to install it on Ubuntu Studio. Fortunately, after several attempts, I found a way to install it easily.
Yes, we all know Ubuntu has strong momentum on the desktop. But what about the server? Glad you asked. There’s a growing body of evidence suggesting Ubuntu 7.10 — Gutsy Gibbon — will mark the beginning of a strong server push for Canonical.
The GIMP image editor is preparing for the start of a new development cycle, and you can have your say in the way the next version looks by submitting a mock-up to the GIMP UI Brainstorm blog. User interface designer Peter Sikking spoke with us about the project and how it fits into the larger work of creating the GIMP's UI.
So I’ve spent the last few evenings building a local Ubuntu repository mirror for localized network installations. While installing a machine today I noticed a new option within the partitioner. Encryption!
Yesterday we kicked this whole thing off and took a look at Deskbar and Tracker. Today we turn our attention to X, the graphical subsystem of any Ubuntu (or Linux or Unix machine). As any existing Ubuntu user knows, not only do you need to configure X, but breakages can happen. Thankfully with Ubuntu 7.10, there comes a few new features to help out with these problems, including better auto detection and configuration, Bulletproof X and graphical X config, for those times when you really to play with something. But first, some explanations.
In this screencast we look at the Nautilus file manager. This includes:-
Canonical Ltd., the company that supports Ubuntu Linux, is trying to work out a deal with hardware vendors such as Dell Inc. to make Ubuntu available preinstalled on servers.
I was browsing the Ubuntu questions the other day when I came across a question about changing the bootup and console screen resolution for Ubuntu server edition. The question was:
Most of modern browsers tend to eating up to tons of your memory, and think nothing of it. So here are some browsers designed for fast action, and minimal operating footprint. These are perfect for your old decrepit little computer that you have raised from the dead using some lightweight linux distro.
When Seiko Instruments said it is now offering Linux drivers for its Smart Label Printer 450 and offered to send me one to test, I was happy to hear it, because it seemed like an example of how Linux is being recognized for even non-mass-market hardware devices. While the printer does work as advertised, it is clear that Linux support is a work in progress.
Skype 1.4 for Linux after five months of testing. Now that it's officially out of beta -- along with a slew of bug fixes and new features -- developers are calling it a recommended release.
As we close in on the release of Ubuntu 7.10, codenamed Gutsy Gibbon during the development cycle, we thought we would tell you a little bit about some of the new features and improvements that make the release exciting. So over the next ten days, we will talk about one rocking feature each day until the 18th of October, when Ubuntu 7.10 goes live.
So I’ve decided that Konqueror is just not the web browser that some people want it to be. Call me spoiled / ruined for having spent so much time on Firefox, but I just can’t use it to be as productive as I want to be so I’ve installed Firefox on my Kubuntu installation. For those of you that are in similar situations keep reading and find out how to manually install Firefox within KDE.
For anyone who ever loved and played the famous Worms PC game series, then Wormux is the game for you. Even if you weren't much of a fan (like myself) of the original Works series, you'll find Wormux none the less captivating and enjoyable, and even addictive in some respects. | <urn:uuid:ebb2cca3-c7df-4234-abe3-275d623e8962> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ubuntuhq.com/?page=548&destination=comment/reply/22197%25252523comment-form | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938254 | 1,622 | 1.554688 | 2 |
I’ve been working at ChinesePod since April, 2006. I’m Jenny’s co-host in all the Intermediate and Upper Intermediate podcasts, as well as the more recent Newbie and Elementary podcasts (many with Dilu). I am also responsible for the difficulty level system used on the site, as well as most of the topics or angles we choose to create lessons.
What I’d like to share here is a collection of my thoughts about the product which may be useful to learners of Mandarin Chinese.
Where do I start?
One of the problems new users have with ChinesePod is that there are so many lessons that they can’t figure out where to begin. Many go into the Newbie archive and go all the way back to the first lesson, then proceed forward. This is not recommended. With the exception of the Intro series (1-6) and a few other short series, the vast majority of ChinesePod lessons are not intended to be consumed sequentially. This has some serious consequences (massive benefits, in fact), but the one that is most relevant to you as a new user is this: you shouldn’t consume the ChinesePod podcast archive sequentially.
OK, so now we’re back to the original question. I actually have several answers.
Pinyin Is Your Friend
If you’re not strong in pinyin, you need to be. You need to know pinyin backwards and forwards to get good at Chinese. I designed ChinesePod’s Pinyin Chart, as well as the 13-part Pinyin Program series. Here are links to those episodes, in order:
- Introduction to Pinyin
- Sections 1-2
- Sections 3-4
- Section 4: R
- Sections 5-6
- Sections 7-8
- Section 9
- Section 10
- Sections 11-12
- Sections 13-14
- Section 15
- Section 16
- The Final R Sound
Tones Are Important
Mastering tones is a long-term project, but you should be paying close attention to them from the start. ChinesePod has a 5-part series with a podcast devoted to each tone, providing some tips and examples of each tone which newbies may find especially helpful. Find them here:
- Newbie – The First Tone
- Newbie – The Second Tone
- Newbie – The Third Tone
- Newbie – The Fourth Tone
- Newbie – The Neutral Tone
After you sign up, you should see the 6 Intro lessons on your Home page. Those are definitely good to study right away and get under your belt. But then what? From my position “in the trenches,” I’d say the ten Newbie lessons you need the most right in the beginning are the following ones:
- Where’s the bathroom?: The ultimate in practicality.
- What is this called?: Supplement your vocabulary in the wild. If you don’t ask, no one’s going to tell you what it’s called. So just ask!
- How do you say…?: Many Chinese people are not fluent in English, but they know individual words. Be sure to ask them how to say those words in Chinese.
- Please speak slowly: A classic request for any language learner: SLOOOWWW DOOOWWWN.
- Please Speak Chinese: You may have to fight for your right to speak Chinese in China. (Yes, really.) This dialogue prepares you with what to say.
- Really Good Food: You’re going to have to talk about food in China quite a bit, so get used to flattering your hosts!
- I love China!: OK, so maybe it’s not entirely true, but flattery will get you everywhere.
- Too expensive!: This is Chinese Shopping 101. Since all the vendors carry calculators for haggling purposes, this is literally all the Chinese you need to get those deals.
- Do you have a girlfriend?: If you’re a young person going to China for adventure, and maybe a little English-teaching, you will be asked this. Many, many times. And probably even if you’re not young. Be prepared for it. (Note that this lesson also introduces a very simple flirting technique!)
- Asking for a Phone Number: This one perhaps follows the flirting. Regardless, you’re going to need to get people’s phone numbers, and you’re going to need them to repeat those digits.
Now hold on a second. If you think the list above must be studied from #1 to #10, then you haven’t been paying attention. The 10 lessons above can be studied in any sequence. It makes no difference. (Although the order above is designed to help minimize the possibility of you peeing your pants in China.)
Once you’re through with those lessons, start browsing the archive. Study whatever catches your interest. This is not a textbook, so forget the sequence.
This section will be periodically updated. See also John’s blog entries relating to ChinesePod. | <urn:uuid:837c1bfe-2593-437a-8881-1a0f9365ad93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sinosplice.com/learn-chinese/an-insiders-look-at-chinesepod | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928752 | 1,083 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Researching your Convict Ancestors
From 1788 – 1868, 164,000 convicts came to Australia from all other parts of the British Empire. One First Fleet couple has so far given Australia 11,000 descendants.
If your ancestors were here before the gold rush chances are they came here either as convicts or guards.
Brief explanation of records.
Understanding the convict system.
Pitfalls and what to look for and where.
Assistance with hands-on research.
Date and time of the event:
Mon, 2012-08-27 10:00 - 11:30
Genealogical Society, 1st Floor 25 Cavenagh Street Darwin (same building as NT Archives) | <urn:uuid:be45c9cb-3975-466c-ae2b-d77b56b7842e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.territoryfm.com/node/1144 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901071 | 147 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Daily Torah Reading
Today's Torah Reading
The Lord spoke to Moses: See, I have singled out by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft; to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper, to cut stones for setting and to carve wood--to work in every kind of craft. Moreover, I have assigned to him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have also granted skill to all who are skillful, that they may make everything that I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the Ark for the Pact and the cover upon it, and all the furnishings of the Tent; the table and its utensils, the pure lampstand and all its fittings, and the altar of incense; the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand; the service vestments, the sacral vestments of Aaron the priest and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests; as well as the anointing oil and the aromatic incense for the sanctuary. Just as I have commanded you, they shall do.
And the Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelite people and say: Nevertheless, you must keep My sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I the Lord have consecrated you. You shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy for you. He who profanes it shall be put to death: whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his kin. Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed.
When He finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the Pact, stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God.
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt--we do not know what has happened to him." Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." And all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. This he took from them and cast in a mold, and made it into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron announced: "Tomorrow shall be a festival of the Lord!" Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink, and then rose to dance.
The Lord spoke to Moses, "Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'"
The Lord further said to Moses, "I see that this is a stiffnecked people. Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation." But Moses implored the Lord his God, saying, "Let not Your anger, O Lord, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. Let not the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that He delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.' Turn from Your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring this whole land of which I spoke, to possess forever." And the Lord renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon His people.
Thereupon Moses turned and went down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces: they were inscribed on the one side and on the other. The tablets were God's work, and the writing was God's writing, incised upon the tablets. When Joshua heard the sound of the people in its boisterousness, he said to Moses, "There is a cry of war in the camp." But he answered,
"It is not the sound of the tune of triumph,
Or the sound of the tune of defeat;
It is the sound of song that I hear!"
From Parshat Ki Tisa. From THE TANAKH: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.
Recent Judaism Features | <urn:uuid:f8a146b0-7e0a-4840-8d14-3bf2db25f53b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/Daily-Torah-Reading.aspx?d=20130302 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977376 | 1,191 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Heard of the "Y2K" computer problem? Most planners don't really understand it, but here's why they should.
Mid-March found Steven Hacker buttonholing congressmen, senators, and aides in Washington, D.C. The top concern for the executive director for the International Association of Exposition Management? Air travel safety at the turn of the millennium.
A month earlier, the General Accounting Office had filed a congressional report stating that the Federal Aviation Administration could suffer a dramatic computer glitch on January 1, 2000--closing down every airport in the nation--because the FAA wouldn't be able to purge the "millennium bug" from its air-traffic control computers.
"Our member are dependent on seamless air travel," Hacker says. "There's a growing concern that the FAA might be dragging its feet on Y2K compliance."
What is the "millennium bug," otherwise known as the Y2K problem? It starts with a decision made in the early days of computers. In order to save memory, and because they assumed their programs would be replaced regularly, programmers decided to represent years with two digits instead of four. The first two digits--1 and 9--were assumed. But lots of those programs have not been replaced, and at one second past midnight on the first day of the year 2000, those programs will, as far as they "know," be running in the year 00--that is, 1900. So what will happen? It's not exactly clear. Some computers will freeze like a block of ice, making data and software inaccessible. Others may cancel reservations oror policies.
The bug is a gremlin with egalitarian taste. It can affect any computer that is not Y2K-compliant (although the more recent the model, the more likely its compliance), including computers used to handle air-traffic control, hotel room reservations, function space allocation, environmental controls, hotel room assignments from housing bureaus, travel reservations, and accounting.
It's not just a problem for MIS (manager of information services) personnel. Abdication by meeting planners could open an organization to liabilities. Some lawyers predict an avalanche of litigation regarding this issue. For example, let's say an exhibitor spends thousands of dollars to display products at an exposition in January 2000. But ventilation controls fail to work and the hall becomes hot. Attendees leave. The exhibitor decides to sue the organizer. Getting Y2K certification for the planner's organization and from suppliers, therefore, becomes the best safeguard against possible litigation. (See side bar on page 44.)
Fortunately, most industry suppliers are on top of the issue. Here's a rundown of some of their efforts:
Airlines: In early February, Northwest Airlines became the third airline (following KLM and Lufthansa) to say it would ground flights on January 1, 2000, if the millennium bug had not been worked out of various systems. The announcement raised eyebrows, especially when reports from the General Accounting Office were also released. The concerns were premature, according to Tom Browne, who heads up an oversight committee in Washington, D.C. for the Air Transport Association.
"Yes, we are concerned about compliance with the FAA," Browne admits. "Having said that, we also are working with the FAA and looking at its plans. The situation is not as dire as everyone once thought. The FAA has completed 8,000 hours of testing of its computers, and not one of them has experienced a single Y2K failure." He noted that the initial reports regarding the FAA's computers were based on dated information. Throughout the year, Browne will assess the FAA's Y2K compliance program and will have an industry report ready by November.
Being so dependent on computers for safety and reservations, the airline industry has pursued compliance aggressively. For example, Tom Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas, says that the airline is in good shape and that its critical functions should be compliant by the middle of this year. He also noted that the airline is confident that the FAA will have its ducks in a row by January 1, 2000.
Hotels: Most hotels have tackled the Y2K issue. They cannot afford to do otherwise. "Hotel reservation systems anddistribution systems that are not Y2K-compliant risk significant losses in revenue due to failure of these systems to book hotel rooms. Reservation data could possibly be rejected if the 2000 date isn't recognized," says Karin Wacaser, spokesperson for THISCO, which develops and maintains reservation-system software and hardware. Beginning midyear, THISCO will run Y2K compliance tests with its 100 hotel company customers, representing 26,000 properties in 150 countries.
Individual hotel companies also are hunting for the bug. Hilton Hotels Corporation, for example, has been searching for its Y2K gremlins for more than 18 months. "There's a lot to do," says Joe Durocher, senior vice president and chief information officer. He notes that the company has begun to determine which of its computer systems are Y2K-compliant and to take steps to correct those that aren't. Hilton is also contacting vendors and customers with whom it exchanges data.
Hyatt has been knee-deep in the compliance issue for two years, according to Bob Bansfield, director of MIS for Hyatt Corporation, Chicago. All the chain's primary systems will be compliant by this month, then the secondary systems will be worked on, he says. The company plans to complete its Y2K certification process by the end of this year. Hyatt has also received correspondence from customers regarding its Y2K certification program. To answer customer questions, the company is creating a document that explains its compliance program.
Convention Centers: "Our customers have asked us to certify their systems as being Y2K-compliant," says Dieter Ungerboeck, president of Ungerboeck Systems International, St. Louis. USI has installed software in more than 100 convention centers, making it one of the most widely used vendors. "Convention centers have been booking meetings into the 21st century for a long time, so the level of awareness is high," he adds. In addition to making the software compliant with the International Standards Organization's (ISO's) Y2K recommendations, the company's upgrade includes a gatekeeper that prevents anyone from transferring data to a convention center's system from a computer that is not ISO Y2K-compliant. He suggests that everyone do the same.
Individual centers are also attacking the problem. "We are in the process of upgrading and replacing any system that contained the problem, and the new systems will be in place before we hit the year 2000," says John Devona, director offor McCormick Place, Chicago.
Even small facilities are ferreting out the bug. According to Merritt Wolfe, vice president of information systems for SMG, which manages several centers in the United States, including the Centrum Centre in Worcester, Mass., "It is my objective to have all noncompliant building operation systems identified, along with the cost of making them compliant, including replacement systems if necessary, by June 1, 1998."
Planners: As these highlights show, suppliers are eliminating most of the industry's millennium bugs, but there's no MIS expert who believes that the cure will be 100 percent effective. They all fear that one computer clock or one software modification will escape notice. What would that mean for planners? Glitches will materialize mysteriously. Nor will all the glitches pop up on January 1, 2000. They could occur throughout the year. Some specialists predict that the glitches could arise even as late as 2003.
What is a planner to do? Start with the five-step program outlined on this page. By asking questions and requesting compliance certifications, you can create awareness and minimize the bug's impact. It's a matter of being forewarned and forearmed. *
FIVE-STEP Y2K PROGRAM FOR MEETING PLANNERS 1. Read. Computer experts have praised the book The Year 2000 Problem Solver: A Five-Step Disaster Prevention Plan (McGraw-Hill, New York, $29.95). The magazines InfoWorld and ComputerWorld have published easy- to-read features on the subject.
2. Get on the Internet. Check out Web sites for major vendors, such as IBM and Microsoft. There are a number of other Web sites geared to just this problem. Ones to check out: www.year2000.com; www.righttime.com; www.mitre.org/research/y2k; and www.microsoft.com/cio/year.asp.
3. Talk to your organization's MIS people as well as your hardware and software vendors. Ask if your equipment and software are compliant with ISO Y2K standards. Don't forget your homework. Be aware of any hybrid additions to your software, warns E.J. Siwek, a software designer and head of Meeting Professionals International's technical advisory committee. He notes that a solution for a general software program will not necessarily make corrections in any software added at a later date.
4. Work with your MIS people and attorneys to develop a questionnaire for suppliers--hotels, convention centers, airlines, travel agencies, continuing education unit fulfillment houses, housing bureaus, contractors, and exhibitors--to determine when they will be Y2K-compliant. If a supplier is not already tackling the problem, there could be problems down the line. Computer industry analysts anticipate a deluge of individuals and small companies bringing their computers to vendors next year, creating a shortage of experts and lengthening the lead times needed for correcting the problem.
5. Call several months prior to the meeting and make sure that various suppliers are Y2K-compliant. | <urn:uuid:fa1d64b9-74e1-4b22-8c0c-e0d01caeb29d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://meetingsnet.com/association-meetings/beating-millennium-bug | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959354 | 2,026 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Concern Remains Over Estate Tax
Republicans and President Obama seem to be in a deadlock regarding the Estate Tax - and if bipartisanship on the issue continues to lack - some of America's family farms could experience a major tax increase. Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus wants to preserve reductions in estate taxes and provide an economic cushion to family farms and ranches planning to pass their property from generation to generation. The current Estate Tax rate is 35-percent on estates over 5-million dollars. If Congress doesn't act - the rate will increase to 55-percent with a 1-million dollar exemption. One in 10 families are estimated to pay the Estate Tax in the coming year if exemption levels go untouched by Congress - many seen as asset-rich and cash-poor. Currently 96-percent of American farms and ranches are family-owned and operated - but less than 50 family farms and ranches had to pay the tax in 2011. If the 2009 Estate Tax levels are reinstated - 75-hundred estates would be required to pay the tax - compared to 36-hundred estates at current levels.
© 2013 Rural Radio Network. All rights reserved. Republishing, rebroadcasting, rewriting, redistributing prohibited. Copyright Information | <urn:uuid:eaa1bec4-1512-4360-83d9-156a8c12795c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kneb.com/news/index.php?more=9qf4te58 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952594 | 252 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The U.S. government may have closed without any prosecutions its inquiries into and investigations of CIA involvement in torture, homicide and other gross human rights violations, and convinced courts to dismiss civil accountability suits for such abuses – but across the pond, courts are holding U.S. officials criminally responsible for these very same acts. Yesterday, Italy’s highest court affirmed the convictions of 23 Americans involved in the abduction and rendition to torture of a Muslim cleric, Abu Omar, as part of the U.S. government’s notorious “extraordinary rendition” program. This case marks the first time any court anywhere in the world has held CIA officials responsible for torture and other abuses arising out of the program, which was greatly expanded under President George W. Bush and continues to be endorsed, albeit with assurances that international legal obligations will be respected, under the Obama administration.
The abduction giving rise to the convictions occurred on the streets of Milan in 2003. Abu Omar was seized by CIA agents with the help of Italian intelligence officials and flown to Egypt where he was interrogated and tortured by Egyptian officials before his release without charge or trial. The Italian court yesterday also ordered that five of those Italian intelligence officials must stand trial for their role in the kidnapping.
ACLU Human Rights Program Director Jamil Dakwar said of the decision:
The Italian ruling highlights the lack of accountability in the U.S. courts for serious crimes committed by government officials in the name of national security, such as kidnapping and torture. U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks showed that Washington tried to derail the Italian investigation instead of supporting the interests of justice. Though legal questions remain, such as the validity of trials in absentia, American officials would be wise to heed the Italian court's message that those who violate the law will be called to answer.
The ruling is likely to bolster efforts to hold European nations accountable for their role in the extraordinary rendition program. Just last week, the European Parliament called on governments to scrutinize member states’ involvement in the program. Polish prosecutors have for a number of years been investigating secret CIA prisons that operated in the country. And this fall, the European Court of Human Rights is expected to hand down a ruling in a case concerning Macedonia’s involvement in the rendition and torture of ACLU client Khaled El-Masri.
Was the trial of CIA officials in Italian court as we would have liked to see? No. Will the Americans, all of whom were tried in absentia, ever serve their sentences? Doubtful. Would justice be better served in American courts? Certainly. But – as the ACLU works to change U.S. government policy on accountability and to ensure that all perpetrators of torture and abuse are brought to justice and that victims are granted compensation – we are heartened by the fact that the Italian court has reminded the world that those who violate the law and human rights will be held to account. | <urn:uuid:dd784e3f-bff8-42e3-b96b-39bbabd5f350> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-human-rights/italian-court-upholds-rendition-conviction-cia-agents | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9669 | 592 | 2.09375 | 2 |
|Swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal|
|Original owner||Caledonian Canal Commissioners|
|Principal engineer||Thomas Telford|
|Date of act||1803|
|Maximum boat length||150 ft 0 in (45.72 m)|
|Maximum boat beam||35 ft 0 in (10.7 m)|
|End point||Fort William|
|Navigation authority||British Waterways|
The Caledonian Canal is a canal in Scotland that connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It was constructed in the early nineteenth century by engineer Thomas Telford, and is a sister canal of the Göta Canal in Sweden, also constructed by Telford.
The canal runs some 60 miles (97 km) from northeast to southwest. Only one third of the entire length is man-made, the rest being formed by Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy. These lochs are part of the Great Glen, a geological fault in the Earth's crust. There are 29 locks (including eight at Neptune's Staircase, Banavie), four aqueducts and 10 bridges in the course of the canal.
The canal was conceived as a way of providing much-needed employment to the Highland region. The area was depressed as a result of the Highland Clearances, which had deprived many of their homes and jobs, and faced with laws which sought to eradicate their culture, including the right to wear tartan, to play bagpipes, and to speak Gaelic, many were emigrating to Canada or to the Scottish lowlands. The canal would also provide a safer passage for wooden sailing ships from the north east of Scotland to the south west, avoiding the route around the north coast via Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth.
The first survey for a canal was carried out by James Watt in 1773, but it was the Caledonian Canal Commission that paved the way for the actual construction. On 27 July 1803, an Act of Parliament was passed to authorise the project, and the canal engineer Thomas Telford was asked to survey, design and build the waterway. Telford worked with William Jessop on the survey, and the two men oversaw the construction until Jessop died in 1814. The design was expected to take seven years to complete, and to cost £474,000, to be funded by the Government, but both estimates were inadequate.
Because of the remoteness of the location, construction was started at both ends, so that completed sections could be used to bring in the materials for the middle sections. At Corpach, near Fort William, the entrance lock was built on rock, but at the other end, there was 56 feet (17 m) of mud below the proposed site of the sea lock. Rock was tipped on top of the mud and was allowed to settle for six months before construction could begin. The ground through which the canal was cut was variable, and further difficulties were experienced with the construction of the locks, the largest ever built at the time. There were also problems with the labour force, with high levels of absence, particularly during and after the potato harvest and the peat cutting season. This led to Telford bringing in Irish navvies, to manage the shortfall, which led to further criticism, since one of the main aims of the project was to reduce unemployment in the Highlands. The canal finally opened in 1822, having taken an extra 12 years to complete, and cost £910,000. Over 3,000 local people had been employed in its construction, but the draught had been reduced from 20 feet (6.1 m) to 15 feet (4.6 m), in an effort to save costs. In the meantime, shipbuilding had advanced, with the introduction of steam-powered iron-hulled ships, many of which were now too big to use the canal. The navy did not need to use the canal either, as Napoleon had been defeated at Waterloo in 1815, and the perceived threat to shipping when the canal was started was now gone.
Before long, defects in some of the materials used became apparent, and part of Corpach double lock collapsed in 1843. This led to a decision to close the canal, to allow repairs to be carried out, and the depth was increased to 18 feet (5.5 m) at the same time. The work was designed by Telford's associate, James Walker and completed by 1847, but not all of the traffic expected to return to using the canal did so. Commercially, the venture was not a success, but the dramatic scenery through which it passes led to it becoming a tourist attraction. Queen Victoria took a trip along it in 1873, and the publicity surrounding the trip resulted in a large increase in people visiting the region and wanting to travel on the canal. Even the arrival of the railways at Fort William, Fort Augustus and Inverness did little to harm the canal, as trains were scheduled to connect with steamboat services.
There was an upsurge in commercial traffic during the First World War when components for the construction of mines were shipped through the canal on their way to Inverness from America, and fishing boats used it to avoid the route around the north of Scotland. Ownership passed to the Ministry of Transport in 1920, and then to British Waterways in 1962. Improvements were made, with the locks being mechanised between 1964 and 1969. By 1990, the canal was in obvious need of restoration, with lock walls bulging, and it was estimated that repairs would cost £60 million. With no prospect of the Government funding this, British Waterways devised a repair plan, and between 1995 and 2005, sections of the canal were drained each winter. Stainless steel rods were used to tie the double-skinned lock walls together, and over 25,000 tonnes of grout were injected into the lock structures. All of the lock gates were replaced, and the result was a canal where the structures are probably in a better condition than they have ever been.
The canal is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and attracts over half a million visitors each year. British Waterways, who work with the Highland Council and the Scottish Forestry Commission through the Great Glen Ways Initiative, were hoping to increase this number to over 1 million by 2012. There are many ways for tourists to enjoy the canal, whether it is taking part in the Great Glen Rally, cycling along the tow-paths, or cruising on Hotel Barges.
The canal has several names in Scottish Gaelic including Amar-Uisge/Seòlaid a' Ghlinne Mhòir ("Waterway of the Great Glen"), Sligh'-Uisge na h-Alba ("Waterway of Scotland") and a literal translation (An) Canàl Cailleannach.
|Locks along the Caledonian Canal|
- Cameron, A. D. (2005). The Caledonian Canal. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 1-84158-403-7.
- Cumberlidge, Jane (2009). Inland Waterways of Great Britain (8th Ed.). Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 978-1-84623-010-3.
- Skempton, Charles (1979). William Jessop, Engineer. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7603-9. More than one of
- Hayward, David (2007). The Caledonian Canal. British Waterways. ISBN 978-0-9556339-2-8.
- Hutton, Guthrie (undated). Getting to know... The Caledonian Canal. privately published.
- Hutton, Guthrie (1998). The Caledonian Canal: Lochs, Lochs and Pleasure Steamers. Ochiltree: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 1-84033-033-3.
- Lindsay, Jean (1968). The Canals of Scotland. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4240-1.
- McKnight, Hugh (1981). The Shell Book of Inland Waterways. David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8239-4.
- Priestley, Joseph (1831). "Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways of Great Britain".
|Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Caledonian Canal.|
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This wednesday with tears in my eyes, I proudly present a very touching story that might make you all cry too. But please have a happy day!
Thera Kumara-Kassapa And His Mother
[ Translated from Thai Dhammapada, Thai Version, by Dr. Tep Sastri ]
Once upon a time, there was a young daughter of a rich family who lived in Rajagaha City. She admired Buddha's teachings and loved to listen to his dhamma talks. Her heart was committed to joining the Buddha's Sangha Order, but her parents wanted a different life for her. They chose to marry her to a rich young man. As an obedient daughter, she complied with the parents' wish.
After having entered the matrimony for a while, she begged her husband to let her join the Sangha Order. Her husband finally gave her his blessings to become member of Buddha's Order. Thus she was ordained as a bhikkhuni and resided with lady-monks under Bhikkhu Devadatta.
Months passed by, one day the lady-monks of the community noticed that the new bhikkhuni was pregnant. They furiously disapproved of her and wanted her to be forced out of the Order. So they brought the case to Bhikkhu Devadatta who agreed that she must quit the Order. The young lady, however, argued that the Buddha should be the one to judge her and decide if she whether or not should be banished from the Order. After an intensive investigation by Upali Thera, the Buddha was counseled that the conception of her baby occurred prior to her joining the Order. Thus they concluded that she must not to be blamed or had to disrobe. This pregnancy case was so famous that even King Pasenadi and Upasika Visakha got involved.
After the bhikkhuni had given birth to a baby boy at the monastery, King Pasenadi adopted the baby and raised him as his own child in the royal palace. The babyboy was given the name 'Kumara-Kassapa'. The boy grew up and played happily with other royal children. But one day the other children were no longer friendly; they ridiculed him, mocking him for being an orphan --not a royal blood sibling. And it made him very sad and desolated. He was only seven years old then, when he went to see the Buddha and asked to be ordained as a samanera and to reside at the Buddha's place.
At the age of twenty he became a bhikku and soon asked for the Buddha's permission to go to Andhavana(Dark) Forest to meditate alone. Bhikkhu Kumara Kassapa made great progress in his meditation, dwelling in solitude. One night, while being in an intense meditative state, a superdeva named Suddhávása appeared in front of him. [The Deva once was his friend during the time of the Kassapa Buddha, and they used to practice meditation together.] Suddhávása Deva explained the reason for his appearance; it was because he had 15 questions for the Bhikkhu to ask the Buddha. ( See Vammika Sutta for the 15 questions.)
Kumara Kassapa then travelled days and nights to see the Buddha and delivered the Deva's 15 questions.
While Buddha was telling him the answers to all these questions one by one, Bhikkhu Kumara-Kassapa listened intensely to each answer such that he attained arahantship with the Four Patisambhida -- right at the end of the question #15!
Once there was a very learned prince named 'Payasi of Setavya' whose stubbornness and arrogance was well known throughout the city. But after meeting with and debating about his belief with Kumara-Kassapa, Payasi admitted in public that he was wrong in every category. He was so impressed with Kumara-Kassapa's Dhamma that he proclaimed himself a royal supporter of the Buddha and his monks from then on. Because of Kumara-Kassapa's keen knowledge of the Dhamma and his great skills in delivering it, the Buddha praised him as an "etadagga" who was foremost among those with the special gift of delivering varied and versatile discourses (cittakathikanam).
NOTE**: The mother of Bhikkhu Kumara-Kassapa was broken-hearted because King Pasenadi took her baby away to raise in his palace. She truly missed her kid through all those years and always wished that she could meet him again someday. Her wish came true one day, when she suddenly saw bhikkhu Kumara-Kassapa walking by for alms food! She was immensely happy, running to him so fast that she stumbled and fell to the ground in front of him. Bhikkhu Kumara-Kassapa realized that his mother was capable of enlightenment, but her overwhelming love has prevented her from unworldly attainments, therefore he intended to help her overcoming the worthless worldly love. So, instead of showing love and gladness, he criticized his mother that despite of her having been a bhikkhuni for quite a long time, it was shameful that she still could not let go of the wordly attachment. The ruse succeeded; his words cut through her heart like a knife. She suffered so deeply that she walked away from him and went back to the monastery. She then meditated continuously, nonstop, and was able to attain arahantship that very night.
NOTE: In the time of Padumuttara Buddha Kassapa was a learned brahmin, and having heard a monk ranked foremost in eloquence, he wished for a similar distinction and did many good deeds and merits towards the end.
NOTE: The superdeva was a deity of the Suddhávása brahma world. He was one of five friends who, in the time of Kassapa Buddha, had entered the Order and who, in order to meditate uninterruptedly, had climbed a rock by means of a ladder which they had then removed, thus cutting off their return. The eldest became an arahant in three days, the second (anuthera) was this superdeva, who had become an anágámí. The third was Pukkusáti, the fourth Báhiya Dárucíriya and the last Kumára-Kassapa. This superdeva was responsible for the arahantship both of Báhiya and Kumara-Kassapa.
Love Buddha's dhamma, | <urn:uuid:b1526835-1f86-426f-87a2-4452b2a47b32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12070&view=unread | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984462 | 1,384 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Published in SIMPLYkc magazine in May 2012 issue in parenting section
BY STACEY HATTON
As parents we all desire for our children to grow into healthy, kind adults…who won’t move back into our extra bedroom. There are extenuating circumstances for various re-nesters; but with years of parental training and molding, most kids will eventually grow wings and find the strength and desire to live a life of their own, and still want to fly home for a brief visit every so often!
In this interview, Dr. Megan Loeb, a pediatrician with Leawood Pediatrics, shares her insight on three distinct childhood developmental stages and how much freedom they should be allowed. It’s every family’s decision on what’s right for them, but Dr. Loeb offers her ideas based on experience and research explaining why elementary, middle and high school youths need their parents to assist them in obtaining overall independence.
Q: What helps grade schoolers become more self-sufficient
A: It’s important to have your kids help with food prep. An elementary age kiddo might start by preparing a snack with dry food and expand as they’re able to show they can do it…avoiding sharp knives. Ultimately, you’re giving kids the opportunity to learn about healthy eating by getting them involved, whether it’s by snack prep or helping choose family meals for the week.
Q: Do you feel chores are beneficial for this age?
A: Chores are a great way to learn responsibility. It’s important to see basic chores as just being a part of the family, rather than rewarding every chore with an allowance. An allowance should be for things above and beyond basic chores. Most inside the house chores are okay: including keeping a clean room, setting the table, (taking the laundry) to the laundry room, and feeding the family pet. (Chores are) an opportunity to teach household safety with your kids. Ironing wouldn’t be appropriate for an elementary-aged kid, but use it as a time to talk about fire/heat safety. Mowing the lawn, either by foot or riding lawn mower should be reserved for teenagers. There have been too many accidents – there’s actually an American Academy of Pediatrics policy on that alone.
Q: How do you feel about this age group walking or riding a bike in neighborhoods not chaperoned?
A: That depends on where you live and what neighborhood system you have in place. Ideally, a buddy system or a group is better! Start by walking with your child to the desired location multiple times. Talk with them about the importance of staying on their route. Map out “safe places” along the way (a neighbor’s house or store). Practice role playing stranger safety. Kids need to know to NEVER respond to a stranger, and what to do if a stranger approaches them or asks them to get into a car. Walking to a friend’s house or to school has to be a privilege that is earned, and one that can be taken away. As an aside, all of these privileges build on each other. It’s tempting to not let your child do these things, but you are establishing a system of communication, privilege, and trust…this sets the foundation for when they are older
Q: Do you consider it safe for tweens to go to the mall or movies without a chaperone?
A: It’s important to know your kids’ friends and their parents. You need to have more than a basic knowledge of who these folks are. So, before you unleash your middle schooler on the world, have her friends over. Get to know them. Talk with the parents. Learn each other’s fears and values. After this, communicate with your child that you trust them; and as part of that trust, you want them to have the privilege of being able to do some of these things on their own. Be very clear with your expectations. For a movie, know the movie times. Set the pickup time, and be there. Let her know if your trust is broken, the privilege is lost. Again, you are setting the stage for healthy expectations and good future communication. Just “hanging out” (at the mall) can easily turn into loitering. It’s better to have a defined activity (buying a shirt, having lunch), with a set time period. At this age, it would be encouraged (for parents to) be at the location as well.
Q: What age is it appropriate to get your child a cell phone?
A: That’s an individual family’s decision. Cell phones can be convenient and helpful for communication and safety purposes. Anytime a cell phone is involved, there HAS to be clear rules. There has to be an open relationship about the phones:
- The phone is ultimately the parents. It’s expected for parents to check the phone, look at text messages, and set limits on who the child can call or receive calls from.
- Set limits on when and where the phone can be used: communication and emergencies only? Is phone around during family time or at school?
- Charge phones in a public spot, and communicate it’s expected to be charging at a certain time. Have open talks with your child about technology; and how it can be helpful, but also misuse can provide harm. Talk with them about things like respecting the privacy of others, not taking unaware pictures of people, forwarding gossip, cyber bullying, and sexting.
Q: How much freedom is too much for adolescents?
A: It’s important to still have rules and expectations. Freedom should be earned and taken away when abused. Believe it or not, but your teen wants and needs that. Discuss your expectations regarding friends, going out, dating, driving, and curfews. Let them know when and how much you are proud of them for respecting you. On the other hand, communicate clearly to them what will happen when your rules are broken. That way, it’s not a surprise to her. Ultimately, your teen will know you care.
Have her call you when she arrives or if she is going to change locations. Communicate and model to your teens what you want them to be as young adults. Don’t be your teen’s friend, be their parent who loves them.
Q: How independent does the student preparing for college need to be?
A: Ultimately, parents have set the stage from even toddlerhood to slowly help children to make decisions based on their values and beliefs, and to be respectful of those around them. By doing this, hopefully the transition to college or independent living will be somewhat smooth and even natural. It shouldn’t be that suddenly when our kids graduate, a switch flips, and they need to be prepared. It’s an 18 year process!
To learn more about Dr. Loeb and Leawood Pediatrics, check out their website at www.leawoodpediatrics.com.
© 2012, Hatton. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:09aae5a4-3437-440c-840a-1808268a9418> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nursemommylaughs.com/tag/cell-phones-appropriate-for-kids/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958102 | 1,490 | 2.625 | 3 |
Primary Care Primary care is an essential element of the WVU Healthcare system. We offer several locations for primary care so people can reach top quality physicians without having to travel very far. Primary care doctors, with the help of physician assistants and nurse practitioners, act as the principal healthcare providers for individuals and families. They are usually the first contact for people with undiagnosed symptoms or concerns. They offer overall care, whether that is preventative or in response to illness or injury. Primary care providers often coordinate additional health services when a patient needs more specialized care. | <urn:uuid:c13eee49-1f37-4bf3-8974-5f681ec26491> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wvuhealthcare.com/wvuh/Healthcare-Services/Primary-Care/Primary-Care | 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 | 0.969774 | 113 | 1.890625 | 2 |
MOCMED is an entertainment platform aimed at educating patients and young Medical Practitioners / Doctors alike in the common disease types and the methodologies used to diagnose them.
What is in the name MOC MED? MOC stands for “Modality of Choice†and MED stands simply for “Medicineâ€.
Let us understand Modality of Choice better Modality of Choice actually means the various modes available for diagnosis of a particular disease or clinical condition. Want to understand it better? Let us look at this example. If you have fractured your leg the doctor / medical practitioner has to first recommend an X-Ray. This is the first Modality of Choice. After looking at the X-Ray, if the Medical Practitioner determines that the fracture is compound, he may want to recommend a CT scan. So in this case CT scan becomes the second Modality of Choice. Assuming the Medical Practitioner wants to look into the tissue and bone damage caused by the fracture, he may recommend an MRI which becomes the third Modality of Choice. | <urn:uuid:4d8f7738-d420-4e10-8c32-86e5eb3b6e4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crunchbase.com/person/mocmedgame-game | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931945 | 223 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Nearly 52 record-high temperatures for 2012 have been reached in the past seven days, according to CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.
Summer has definitely arrived in the United States with record-breaking temperatures soaring into the triple digits, and relief is slow to follow. The sizzling heat may not subside for a week, possibly longer.
From Kansas to Washington, heat warnings, watches and advisories spanned 730,000 square miles, affecting about 100 million people on Friday alone.
Excessive heat warnings were posted for 12 states, from Nebraska to New Jersey, on Friday by the National Weather Service.
As fierce thunderstorms battered their way across the Midwest to the Atlantic Seaboard on Friday night, the wicked weather caused mass power outages, leaving residents to suffer the heat without air conditioning.
Deaths possibly related to the heat are still being investigated. People are checking on their neighbors, and cities are putting cooling centers into place and extending pool hours.
The temperatures soaring above 100 degrees are nowhere near normal for this time of year in the United States, Morris said.
But we've experienced hideously hot ones before the dog days of summer officially set in before.
In its list of all-time record highs, The Weather Channel reported that Childress, Texas, climbed to 117 degrees on June 26 last year, beating any temperature on record for any month, dating back to 1893.
Borger, Texas, and Gage, Oklahoma, both hit 113 degrees on June 26, while Fort Smith, Arkansas, hit 115 degrees on August 3.
If the temperatures are climbing dangerously high in your city, be sure to check our five tips to survive extreme heat.
How are you beating the heat in your area? Let us know in the comments below. | <urn:uuid:bc23e276-f2dd-4b90-a1f7-7696c46f70f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/30/will-2012-be-the-hottest-summer-on-record/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941941 | 363 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Anti-Semitism at UC Irvine
Posted: July 27, 2010
UC Irvine (UCI) has become a center for anti-Semitic activity in recent years. Much of this activity has been organized by the Muslim Student Union (MSU), a vocal student group at UCI, which is responsible for staging large events every spring featuring virulently anti-Semitic speakers.
In May 2010, MSU held its annual anti-Israel event, titled "Israeli Apartheid Week: A Call to Boycott, Divest and Sanction." One of the speakers at the weeklong event, Amir Abdul Malik Ali, gave a speech titled "Death to Apartheid" in which he compared Jews to Nazis, expressed support for Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and called for the destruction of the "apartheid state of Israel."
MSU is currently facing a yearlong suspension after UCI concluded that the group planned disruptions of a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren in February 2010. The university's investigation into the matter uncovered evidence that MSU organized a calculated demonstration at Ambassador Oren's speech in violation of university policy against disorderly conduct, obstructing university activities, furnishing false information and other campus policies. Eleven studentsó9 from UCI and 2 UC Riversideówere arrested at the time. The group is appealing the suspension.
A version of this report was originally published in June 2007. | <urn:uuid:46b188e8-4650-45ea-acce-0ce10c377472> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.adl.org/main_Anti_Israel/Anti-Semitism+at+UC+Irvine.htm3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96935 | 281 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Mechanical Weed Control in Corn
Agricultural Engineering Sciences
Glyphosate, the main ingredient in 'Roundup' herbicide has been the mainstay in weed control for decades. We have now Roundup-Ready corn and soybeans which allows treating large fields effciently and effectively. However, in recent studies, some weed species such as Waterhemp have become resistant to Roundup. Waterhemp's inherently high genetic variability and prolific seed production are characteristics that contribute to its capacity to spread and adapt to new environments. Collectively, these characteristics present significant management problems and are among the reasons why waterhemp is currently the top broadleaf weed problem for Illinois farmers.
To address the trend of weeds becoming resistant to glyphosate and undoubtedly eventually to any other herbicide, the department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering has developed a Mechanical Weed Control system for corn. Graduate student Craig Cordill developed a machine that detects where the corn stalks are located in the row, and then uses mechanical arms that perform the mechanical weeding using harrows that avoid the corn stalks. The system as currently developed is relatively slow, and further research to boost the performance is underway. Overall, this method allows full mechanical weeding in resistant weed infested cornfields, and it may hold promise in the area of organic farming as well.
This work was funded by a grant from the Council on Food & Agricultural Research (C-FAR) | <urn:uuid:4ea72128-e7c8-42cf-ab28-d2743892aae6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://agronomyday.cropsci.illinois.edu/2009/tours/a3mech/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945514 | 288 | 2.9375 | 3 |
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adjusted for the effects of all dilutive potential equity shares.
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comprise cash at bank and in hand and short-term investments with an
original maturity of three months or less.
15. Segment Reporting
Identification of segments:
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according to the nature of products and ser- vices provided, with each
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Inter segment Transfers:
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Includes general corporate income and expense items which are not
allocated to any business segment.
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accounting policies adopted for preparing and pre- senting the
financial statements of the company as a whole.
16. Provision for Current and Deferred Taxation:
Income tax is accounted in accordance with AS-22 ''Accounting for taxes
on income'', issued by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
(ICAI), which includes current taxes and deferred taxes. Deferred
income taxes reflect the impact of the current year timing differences
between taxable income and accounting income for the year and reversal
of timing differences of earlier years. Deferred tax assets are
recognised only to the extent that there is reasonable certainty that
sufficient future taxable income will be available except that deferred
tax assets arising due to unabsorbed depreciation and losses are
recognised if there is virtual certainty that sufficient future taxable
income will be available to realise the same and are recognized using
the tax rates and tax laws that have been enacted or substantively
Current tax is determined as the amount of tax payable in respect of
taxable income using the applicable tax rates and tax laws for the
17. Provision, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets:
Provisions are recognized for liabilities that can be measured only by
using a substantial degree of estimation, if
a. the Company has a present obligation as a result of past event,
b. a probable outflow of resources is expected to settle the obligation
c. the amount of the obligation can be reliably estimated Contingent
Liability is disclosed in case of
a. a present obligation arising from a past event, when it is not
probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the
b. a possible obligation, unless the probability of outflow of
resources is remote. Contingent Assets are neither recognized, nor
Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets are reviewed
at each Balance Sheet Date. | <urn:uuid:9fdb2c78-fae7-46b5-b9aa-c953e4cedc98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneycontrol.com/annual-report/goenkadiamondjewels/accounting-policy/GDJ01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933225 | 2,179 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Beechview residents will see a grocery store open next spring to replace Foodland, which left the neighborhood lacking a supermarket when it closed late June.
State Senator Wayne Fontana says the new IGA will need “gap financing” first, in order to gut the former Foodland building and purchase new equipment.
The Senator says he will help secure the funding needed for the project, which will be routed from a state capital improvement fund to the Urban Redevelopment Authority before being channeled into the project. Fontana says that will likely be several hundred thousand dollars.
Fontana says the lack of a grocery store was more than just an inconvenience for the residents of Beechview.
“I grew up in Beechview in the 1950s. There’s been a grocery store there that whole time, and that grocery store obviously anchored the community. Not having one there certainly doesn’t help any future economic development. We feel that with a new grocery there, it will bring Beechview back to what it once was.”
Fontana says while IGA is based in Illinois, the operator of this store will be an experienced local grocer. | <urn:uuid:92796b5b-addb-495c-9321-6b3aec4644fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wduqnews.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-grocer-to-replace-closed-beechview.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957087 | 242 | 1.53125 | 2 |
President Barack Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 into law on October 13, 2010. The law requires public communications by federal agencies to adhere to clear and concise “plain writing” principles.
The new law also requires federal agencies like the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to post a compliance progress report for public viewing on their website. NCUA is pleased to report that 100% of the employees completed on-line, basic plain writing training before the May 1, 2012 deadline.
Plain Writing Act - Annual Compliance Reports:
2013 Compliance Report
2012 Compliance Report
For questions or comments, please contact us at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:602debab-ae88-4bb9-9963-8cb3a2f3aab4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncua.gov/Legal/plainlanguage/Pages/Compliance.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920454 | 135 | 1.648438 | 2 |
This article last updated January 16, 2002.
Definition and Penalties
Application of force
An assault is the intentional application of force, directly or indirectly, to another person without that person's consent.
Threat to apply force
An assault may also take the form of an attempt or threat, by an act or gesture, to apply force to another person. In this case, however, the Crown must prove you had the present ability to carry out the assault or that the victim believed you did. The degree of alarm felt by the person threatened is irrelevant to a finding of guilt as is your intent to carry out the threat.
The threat must cause apprehension of immediate personal violence; a threat to inflict harm at an unspecified time in the future is not an assault. Words alone, while they may be a threat, cannot constitute an assault.
Almost invariably, a simple assault will be prosecuted by summary conviction. If convicted following a trial by summary conviction, you are liable to a fine of up to $2,000 or 18 months' imprisonment or both. Other penalties may be imposed. For example, many judges will place you on probation, which can last up to three years. Typically, as a condition of probation you will be required to have no contact with the victim of the assault and to participate in counselling for anger control.
|Back to top||Next Page »| | <urn:uuid:210f3a75-950f-4d0f-ac57-ded3a5516ca0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defencelaw.com/textversion-assault.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94798 | 280 | 2.703125 | 3 |
By way of introducing myself here at BOOKS AROUND THE TABLE, I’m going to share this image of a postillon horn. Never heard of it? Me, either, until I went looking for something to serve as a metaphor for “beginnings” or “openings.” As a poet, I like metaphorical thinking and the sneaky way it makes its point via indirection, in the same way a magician performs sleight-of-hand, making people look at one hand while the other does the actual trick. Look, a dove!
Instinct usually tells me to go with a poem or an image, since one or the other of those will be sufficient. I generally leave explanation to the people who write fiction or non-fiction. But prose is the method of choice for blogs, so let me explain my thinking.
The horn pictured above resides in the Postal Museum in Prague. Postal carriers in the 19th century used it to “give different signals for having the town gate opened, warning the other drivers on the road to give way, calling for help in distress, announcing the post arrival and departure, changing horses, etc.” Note the horn hanging from the neck of the unabashedly jubilant postillon below. Looks like some of those letters aren’t going to make it to their destinations. I hope the news in the telegram was good news – maybe a prodigal son returning? A lost fortune regained? – and not news of cher Mama’s death. That image requires champagne after reading, no?
I don’t expect to toot my horn to warn the other drivers on this blog (Laura, Julie P. and Margaret) to “give way” – I rarely go above the speed limit, metaphorically speaking (Look, another dove!) Nor do I anticipate changing horses very often, though I’ve been known to do it, even mid-stream. But I do like the idea of a high clear note that asks for the gates of the city to open – after all, this blog is about sharing and building community among writers for children, and I hope to hear the hinges creaking, the doors opening and our voices mingling.
From time to time I might blow the horn as “a signal of distress.” Writing is a strange business, and for many of us it is both exhilarating and exhausting. There might be an occasional blast on the horn when I’m trying to figure out what keeps postal carriers – I mean writers – going when they’re bone tired. The Frenchman at the Cafe du Postillon pictured below doesn’t appear to be in a Pony Express mood. Maybe he’s a burned out writer. Some of you, I feel sure, have been there yourselves, leaning against that very door jamb.
Right now, I’m feeling energetic, and I’m here at the town gate with my trusty horn. Hope I’ve got some lovely bit of mail for you from time to time. I wish I could deliver it right to your door, and we’d have tea and talk about books around the table. But I’ll be satisfied with delivering the Books Around the Table part of that scene to your computer screen, 21st-century-style. | <urn:uuid:6ff7d5f6-04ec-4ad2-92ec-6eb83dc497ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://booksaroundthetable.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/horns-magic-metaphors-and-me-at-the-gate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944709 | 691 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Identify current abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols quickly and easily. Gain immediate access to medical terms that help you comply with the new JCAHO mandate for standardized hospital abbreviations. You'll have thousands of new abbreviations for a wide range of specialties, including anatomy, physiology, internal medicine, pathology, laboratory medicine, organisms, infectious diseases, plastic surgery, ENT, dentistry, alternative medicine, endocrinology, and more, right at your fingertips!
The 5th Edition of Stedman's Medical Abbreviations, Acronyms, & Symbols also comes with 3 months of free acccess to Stedmans Online. You'll also find a wide range of symbols, professional titles and degrees, professional associations and organizations, chemotherapy and other drug regimens, and clinical trials. Now includes highlighted dangerous and error-prone abbreviations, slang terms in red font, and more. | <urn:uuid:a7267df3-0520-4838-bfa8-278566903d1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lww.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product__11851_-1_12551_Prod-9781608316991_____PDP | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905076 | 186 | 1.664063 | 2 |
@, now at MoMA Yes... @. The Museum of Modern Art, (MoMA) acquired the @ symbol, and it was free! It is the latest acquisition to the New York City's iconic Museum of icons, and you have to admit that @ is an icon! The history of @ might surprise you, but not its use, which is typed by more than a billion people every day!
In acquiring the symbol @, which was free because it is in the public domain, MoMA made a major step in acknowledging that design can be great, indeed powerful, and be accessible, usable, and displayed by anyone. In the case of @, MoMA's Senior Curator, Paola Antonelli of MoMA's Architecture and Design department, argues that since @ became part of typography, it has changed how we communicate, changed technology, expanded social relationships and helped us express "new forms of behavior and interaction in a new world."
As I mentioned, the history of the @ sign is surprising. Scholars have discovered its use as far back as the sixth century, used to short-cut the words “at”, “to,” or “toward" into one unique pen stroke. In the16th Century, Italian merchants used the symbol @ to mean amphora, a standard size terracotta vessel, which had become a unit of measure. Even today, the symbol @ in Spain is called arroba, also a standard of measure.
The @ symbol used in 1536 in a letter from an Italian merchant: via MoMA
Arroba, the Spanish word for @, used in the 1400s here, denoting a wheat shipment from Castile: via MoMA
The symbol @ appeared on the American Underwood Typewriter in 1885; it was defined for the first time in 1894 in the American Dictionary of Printing & Bookmaking as the symbol of the "commercial 'a.'" In 1963, the ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) defined @ as the abbreviation of 'at' or 'at the rate of,' mainly used in accounting and commercial invoices.
But in 1967, a computer engineer working for Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) was asked to develop a program to enable computer users on the ARPAnet, the program that evolved into the Internet, to send messages to each other. Ray Tomlinson, was that young programmer, and he's the one who gave birth to the @ use in the Internet's email system.
"Tomlinson then sent an email about the @ sign and how it should be used
in the future," Ms. Antonelli writes. " He therefore consciously, and from the very start,
established new rules and a new meaning for this symbol."
"Tomlinson performed a powerful act of design that not only forever
changed the @ sign’s significance and function, but which also has
become an important part of our identity in relationship and
communication with others. His (unintended) role as a designer must be
acknowledged and celebrated by the one collection—MoMA’s—that has
always celebrated elegance, economy, intellectual transparency, and a
sense of the possible future directions that are embedded in the arts
of our time, the essence of modern."
The @ symbol will be displayed in different type faces and sizes at MoMA. You can be sure the Museum will do the @ proud.
Inside/Out @ MoMA via FastCompany, NPR.org | <urn:uuid:63efc59f-fea1-4e89-843a-46c86665e851> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inventorspot.com/articles/symbol_officially_becomes_icon_moma_architecture_design_39124 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959778 | 733 | 2.875 | 3 |
Scollen, Rebecca (2009) Talking theatre is more than a test drive: two audience development methodologies under review. International Journal of Arts Management, 12 (1). pp. 4-13. ISSN 1480-8986
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Official URL: http://www.gestiondesarts.com/index.php?id=2046
Test Drive the Arts (Morris Hargreaves McIntyre) and Talking Theatre (Scollen) are two successful audience development methodologies committed to building new audiences from non-attenders. This paper details the two methodologies to explain their similarities and differences, and to examine these in relation to the findings of case studies in the United Kingdom (UK), New Zealand and Australia. Although Test Drive the Arts has helped performing arts organisations in the UK to retain 30% of the new audiences who participated in their program, the New Zealand pilot of this scheme in 2007 has fallen well short of the mark. Talking Theatre has retained 30% of its participants as returning new audiences for performing arts centres in regional North-Eastern Australia by placing strong emphasis on post-performance audience reception, and by investing more in mutually beneficial relationships between new audience members and performing arts organisations.
Archive Staff Only: edit this record | <urn:uuid:7ef42e2a-100c-410b-a6f3-f460e976f00e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eprints.usq.edu.au/4695/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900694 | 299 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Greensboro Fourcivil rights activists
On Feb. 1, 1960 four black freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., and David Richmond, took seats at the segregated lunch counter of F. W. Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C. They were refused service and sat peacefully until the store closed. They returned the next day, along with about 25 other students, and their requests were again denied. The Greensboro Four inspired similar sit-ins across the state and by the end of February, such protests were taking place across the South. Finally in July, Woolworth's integrated all of its stores. The four have become icons of the civil rights movement.
Fact Monster/Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
More on Greensboro Four from Fact Monster: | <urn:uuid:d5bc04d6-62bc-48de-9552-e6af292d0046> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0900073.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968917 | 180 | 3.1875 | 3 |
-- Catholic News Agency
Catholic Couple Rescues 1,400 Chinese Orphans
BEIJING, CHINA, October 26 (CNA/EWTN News) .- An American couple living in China for 15 years says their success in rescuing over 1,000 medically-fragile orphans is due to totally relying on God, especially during trying times.
"You really have to have an absolute dependence on God that the money's gonna show up when you need it and that you're going to stay out of trouble," Brent Johnson of the organization China Little Flower told CNA Oct. 17.
Founded in 1998, China Little Flower is the parent organization of Brent and Serena Johnson's "apostolic hobby," Little Flower Projects, a charity that seeks to reach out to the most vulnerable of China's population by providing medical care to abandoned orphans and children.
While one was a student and the other a tourist, Brent and Serena met in China in 1990 and soon returned to the United States, where they converted to Catholicism and were married.
When they returned to China as teachers shortly after the 1995 birth of their eldest son, Thomas Becket, the Johnsons were confronted with the "unbelievable" conditions of Chinese orphanages.
"It was a confrontation with the truly ugly side of humanity," Johnson said. "So we said, 'We gotta do something.'"
Although conditions in the government-run orphanages have improved since the 1990s, he said around one-third of the country's roughly 700 facilities still have an infant mortality rate that hovers near 100 percent.
The Johnsons asked the orphanage leaders if they could foster one of the children in their own home and were granted permission.
"We were just kind of ordinary, young Catholics living our faith, trying to do the right thing," Johnson said. "When we started this, we didn't think of ourselves as missionaries."
>From then on, they convinced family friends in China to do the same. Eventually, they began to pay Chinese families to take in orphans as well.
"This wasn't any great leap in brilliance, this was just doing what (Serena's) parents had done," Johnson said, referring to his in-laws in Connecticut who three adopted children, had three biological children and served as foster parents for several years.
Since then, the Johnsons and those who work with Little Flower Projects have helped rescue 1,400 orphans who would have otherwise died.
In 2005, the organization also began to arrange group homes for children with physical disabilities, giving them a place where they can live and be educated in a family-like setting until adulthood.
"We feel this incredible pressure to just save as many babies as we can," he said.
Johnson, who works full-time as a start-up business manager and now has 6 children of his own, said the charity generally has only about 2-3 months of funding in the bank at one time.
"I don't know if it's bad management on my part," he said with a laugh, "or God's plan."
Johnson added, "The truth of the matter is that every time we get ahead with money, we start a new project."
While some people have called such a move financially irresponsible, Johnson generally ignores their criticism.
"I think, 'Well, I have this money now. I can save 100 babies this year that otherwise wouldn't be saved.'"
Regardless of one's opinion of China, Johnson said it is important that Americans not "forget the little people" who make up the "bottom rung" of the country's nearly 1.4 billion population.
Prayer and educating oneself about China's orphans is the best way to get involved, he added.
Those who are interested can receive updates about the organization and the children they serve by "liking" their Facebook page, which frequently adds prayer requests and photos of the children in their care.
"As I said in the beginning, I think this is God's hand at work here, and I'm not one of those kinds of Christians that says that lightly," Johnson said.
To find out more about China Little Flower, visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Flower-Projects/230680524654.
here to share this news story with a friend. | <urn:uuid:f145b3d4-1561-4f5c-89a6-c24af2b92a67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=122032 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978553 | 899 | 1.828125 | 2 |
“Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.”
- Brad Henry
The last place most of us look to be inspired…
In Monday’s Inspiration, and on the Daily Podcast all week this week, we’re talking about Family and inspiration.
We all have families. Whether the family is composed of blood-relatives, or “soul-relatives” you have a family, and those families have stories. Tons of them. When families get together and talk, laugh, eat, and “play” magic happens.
The stories and experiences that come from our families are our own personal wells of inspiration, and you can access them any time you like.
I want you to take a moment and really think back and remember all those “characters” sitting up in your family tree… Good, Bad, Ugly (just kidding) the people that pop into your head first will most likely have had an impact on you.
Now, how can you take that impact and use it as inspiration?
Share an experience from your family life that you have used as inspiration to fuel your own life. Whether it was how one of your relatives/friends conquered their circumstances (or they didn’t, but they persisted), or if it was just the way that a particular person in your life chose to live their life that you find inspiring, tell us about it.
Let’s all take a moment to share and celebrate those people in our families that inspire us. Afterwards, be sure to check out our Daily Podcast for your next installment of this week’s talk about Families and Inspiration!
A friend of mine sent me this book called, Listening Is an Act of Love by Dave Isay. It is about this very subject......families and their stories. "A tapestry of American stories, told by the people that lived them to the people they love." It is a wonderful book!!!
I am blessed to have family and friends who really inspire me.
My mother-in-law is on the top of my list, at 86 she is constantly coming up with creative ways of staying active and in touch with us all. She frequently emails and has just purchased a Nintendo Wii!
Through this I am inspired to age with creativity and love.
A good friend has just climbed Mt Kiliminjaro with consciousness and grace. She inspires me to go for my dreams and think big.
Despite personal drawbacks these special people continue to move forward with their lives - no complaints, no victim attitude, they take responsibility and laugh often and heartily.
Who inspires me most in life is Bob. he is not technically in my immediate family but he is my significant other and more a part of me than anyone in my family ever was.
He is kind, loving, and understanding. He works his but off from am till dark. He is strong and independant yet loves to spend time with me. He makes me want to be a better person. Because of him, I try very hard everyday to be the best that I can be. It has been so long since I was able to do that.
Perhaps the most inspirational person in my life was my father. Sadly, his life was cut short over 25 years ago at age 56 by cancer.
My dad was a gentle giant. He had the build of a linebacker and the soul of a teddy bear. That was totally fitting, because he was a toy designer. He was way ahead of his time as fathers go. Nowadays men walk around with snuglis and pushing strollers, but that was pretty unheard of in the 50s and early 60s. My dad was totally involved with his children unlike many of his peers. He made up inventive bedtime stories, sang lullabies, kissed our boo-boos, fed us bottles, changed our diapers and beamed with pride at our smallest accomplishments. He went to our parent-teacher conferences and helped us with school projects. He cooked us pancakes and french toast. He was both an enormously strong and sensitive man, who protected us fiercely, but was not ashamed to cry or be tender.
My dad taught his three daughters that we could be do anything and be anything in this world without limitations due to our gender. He taught us to pass and catch a football, weld, and use a drill press. He made sure I had ballerina tutus and a tool-bench, dolls, Tinkerbell wands, and a chemistry and Tinker Toy set. He rescued me from trees I'd climbed too high and clapped at my music recitals.
When my father was dying in the hospital he became very close to the young residents who were attending to him. A few days before his death he asked that they gather around his bed with his family. He thanked them for all their help. He told them he admired them for the career they were about to embark on that was so life-affirming. He told them he had spent his life trying to make the world a better place for children. He said that play was children's work. And, what inspired me most, he said that while there was great profit potential in designing guns and war toys, he was proud he never had, because his career was also about affirming life.
After my father died, I traveled overseas to see my relatives who live there. My aunt told me that when my father had lived there in the early 1950s he had been offered a position as a professor at a university that is the equivalent of MIT. In a time of horrible austerity and rationing, the university was willing to give him a car, a house and a very handsome salary. My dad had a background in industrial design and plastics. Apparently they wanted him to work on developing a plastic explosive. He thanked them for thinking of him and refused. He later moved back to the US, married, worked as a toymaker and when he was dying, he requested a veteran's funeral. He had been a WWII naval officer. He never told us about this offer.
I am quite sure the offer was very tempting on a material level, but my father was a man of integrity, who lived according to his beliefs. I don't think it's any coincidence that one of his favorite texts was The Ethics of the Fathers. He was a delightful, charming and principled man, beloved by many.
I have consciously followed my father's example by going into a career to improve children's lives. I have stumbled here and there, but I am trying my best to honor my father.
Note: My mother has been a great inspiration to me, too. When Coach Steele suggested we write an unexpected thank you letter, I wrote one to her. She treasures the letter and I am grateful for having been inspired to write it.
My children inspires me with their maturity. Darling daughter 1 is a good listener and friend to alot of people. As a stay at home mom, she started her own baby sitting business, and excells with infants and todlers. She has been through some difficulties with her childen's allergies, but never gets negative with the hope of recovery. She is positve about life, shares complaints only to look for resources, and volunteers to help the aged, other moms and of course children. She has learned to be an excellent cook, preserves food, and keeps a large yard neat and tidy. Her husband has gone through three careers in thirteen years of marriage and she supports him, too. We all call her blessed.
Darling daughter 2 had a difficult pregnancy and changed her life to accommodate the needs of the infant. She works in retail and appears to be greatly loved by her staff. One staff member went part time to help with the baby, and is like one of the family, now. She has a large sphere of influence and is often sought out for advice from young struggling women. Her husband also calls her blessed.
My son is a doer, he never stops living large and in today. HE always finds a way to get what he needs. Last year he had elective surgery on his eyes which was bungled. He has patiently waited for the time to get them fixed. He has served his country, found a great wife, and love's life.
I am inspired that my children have chosen to live life by their strengths and are caring of others... not for what they can get out of others, but for what they can contribute responsibly.
I had a friend that inspiried me she died last year of cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer twelve years ago and had a mastectomy then her cancer came back and she fought it for two years. She did not give up her driving or going to the YMCA to swim two or three times a week. She was a fighter and would not give up even durning the worst times. When she had Chemo and was so sick and lost her hair she still did what she could. It was'nt until toward the end that she had to depend on people . She was a remarkable women and missed dearly.
My parents have always been my tower of strength and inspiration for me, but mother was ALWAYS my my biggies inspiration. She was smart, funny, pretty, brillant, loving, kind, knowledgible, communicative, wise, oh the list goes on and on!
She knew how to build up my self-esteem and confidence each and every time I began to fall. She gave me wings to soar out into the world and did it in such a way that I never saw how much she might miss me in the process.
My mother encouraged me to go to college, and then continue on to university. Told me I could be anything or anyone I set my mind to be. If it weren't for her, I would not have learned how to love, share, be honest, deal in fairness, and give unselfishly. She taught me how to be strong in the face of all my health issues and adversities.
When mom died, she took the biggest part of me with her, but when dad died last year, I became orphaned and left alone to fend for myself, really for myself. I feel so very lost, uncertain, and scared in so many areas in my life.
there are two people in my life who are inspirational to me one is my mother who i lost almost 10 years ago at the age 45 to heart disease she raised my sister by herself as a single mother. she didnt ask for help she was a hard work and a good mother whom i miss evey day the other person is my daughter she has special needs right now she may have bad days but she never gives up trying and for those two people i thank god for them being in my life and how honored i am to be a part of theirs. | <urn:uuid:17313ac2-7346-4ed9-930d-27356f8a9597> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://toolstolife.com/myask/question-of-the-week/786/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990455 | 2,253 | 1.75 | 2 |
Columbia, SC (WLTX) - The number of children homeschooled in South Carolina has gone up every year since 2006 according to the South Carolina Association of Independent Homeschools.
One of those students, 7 year old Ben Hunter, is reading at a 3rd grade level. If he went to public school, he'd be placed in 2nd grade.
"We can move on when he's ready," said Kristie Hunter, Ben's mother and teacher. "If we get to a skill he's really good at, we can move forward and challenge. If we reach a point where he's struggling, we can spend more time on that. It's centered around his growth."
Kristie Hunter taught in a Richland Two public school for 8 years but decided Ben and her younger son Jacob would both be taught at home.
"We spend about two and a half hours a day doing school," said Hunter. "We do pretty much the regular subjects: spelling, reading, english, math, science, social studies. We also do bible."
The South Carolina Association of Independent Homeschools says the number of students taught at home has grown between 7%-14% every year since 2006.
"I'm not one of those people that would tell you we're going to homeschool for the rest of his life," said Hunter. "We're not opposed to them going to public school."
She says an abundance of online communities provide educational and extra curricular activities for students who do not attend a public school. The Jeep Rogers YMCA has 'Swim and Gym'.
"A lot of people think homeschool kids are kind of isolated and stuff but the kids that I see here, absolutely not," said Heather Tarnawsky who runs the program. "They're being active and with the way obesity levels are today, this is our way of trying to promote a healthy lifestyle."
The Hunter kids also take karate lessons twice a week and with their other activities, Kristie Hunter says her kids are more social than most.
"I think homeschooling provides better socialization than public school. Public school kids are shut in a room with 20 kids their age, one adult, all day long. My children and lots of other homeschool children are exposed to kids of various ages, adults, learning that interaction, respect, how to get along with someone you may have just met," said Hunter. "I'm not against public school. I don't think public schools are bad. I think you just have to do what's best for your family." | <urn:uuid:ded31c86-5a26-4d26-a3b0-47ae0129fa4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=203406 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984602 | 528 | 1.632813 | 2 |
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Get started with your 2012 bracket strategy today!
Final Four/Champ Rules model - Use the rules identified in the "Picking your Final Four and champion" article: 1) Automatically advance top seeds three rounds, two seeds two rounds, and three and four seeds one round; 2) determine your Final Four and champion based the conditions outlined in the article and fill them into your bracket; 3) advance any other Final Four qualifiers as far as possible; and 4) use upset/toss-up rules for all remaining matchups
Pulse Check model - After advancing one seeds two rounds and two, three and four seeds one round, I analyze teams based on 14 key stats that will be featured on the blog. In remaining matchups, I advance the team with fewer disqualifiers. When two teams are tied, I advance the lower seeded team on the assumption that a) any higher seed with that many disqualifiers has issues, and b) this is supposed to be a crazy dance, darn it...so let's have at it. From the Sweet 16 on, if the two teams are within two disqualifiers of each other, I knock off the team whose worse disqualifier yields the lowest PASE. For instance, one seeds like Kentucky that didn't go to the previous dance are -.869 PASE underachievers. Meanwhile, West Virginia's worst disqualifier, shooting lower than .450 from the field, only yields a -.440 PASE for two seeds.
Upset/Tossup - Resolve all games with the Upset and Toss-up rules defined in the two series under "Feature Articles"; only allow upsets if the conditions yield better than 50 percent odds of the Cinderella winning. Caution: Because this strategy allows more upsets, its results are volatile.
You'll have to wait until Selection Sunday before all these models get unveiled. But you can get started forming your 2012 bracket strategy today by figuring out which Bracket Building Attack Plan suits you best.--> | <urn:uuid:7d77e6c7-9481-48a1-aaf8-71ec7690aea6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bracketscience.com/models.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919732 | 506 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Airport Code: TXN
Location: Huangshan Airport is situated in the Tunxi District, Huangshan, Anhui Province, about 5 km (3.1 miles) to the downtown Huangshan. And it is over 70 kilometers (about 43.5 miles) from the airport to Huangshan Scenic Area.
Brief Intro: The airport won the name of Huangshan Tunxi Airport for its location in Tunxi District, Huangshan City. Established in 1958, Huangshan Tunxi Airport owns a 2600-meter (2843.4 yards) airstrip, a 4C standard flight area, a 48,800-square-meter (58,366 square yards) parking apron and eight gate positions, etc. The airport offers airlines from Huangshan to Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xian, Zhuhai, Guilin, Jinan, Hefei, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Chengdu, etc. and two regional airlines to Hong Kong and Macau.
Lounge: There are two lounges in the airport, one is a 2,200-square-meters (2,631 sq yards) Regional Service Lounge and the other is a 10,000-square-meter (11,960 sq yards) Domestic Service Lounge with a 900 thousand person-times year throughput. The VIP Lounge offers tea and newspapers for free.
Airport Inquiring Tel: 0559-2934144
Inquiring Tel. of Airport Ticket Office: 0559-2934111
From Huangshan Airport, tourists can take the buses or a taxi to Tunxi downtown. The flat rate fare of taxis in Tunxi is about 5 Yuan for the prior 3 km (about 1.9 miles) and the distance surcharge is around 1.5 Yuan per kilometer. Passengers can take a taxi in the ground floor of airport lounge. As for the public buses, No. 18 and 19 are the best choices, the running time of them are from 07:00 to 17:30. That is to say if your flight reached Tunxi after 17:30, you can but take a taxi. If you want to visit Huangshan Scenic Area from Tunxi District, please refer to By air under Huangshan Transportation.
Located in east-central China, Huangshan City offers efficient transportation by air, train, bus and ship.
Huangshan Airport (TXN) is in west Tunxi District, 5 kilometers (about 3.1 miles) from the downtown area with flights to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hefei, Tianjing, Haikou, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xian, Guilin, Kunming, Xiamen, Zhuhai, Macau, etc. There is no international flight from Huangshan City.
From Huangshan Airport, tourists can take the airport bus or a taxi to Tunxi downtown. From the downtown take a bus to the gate of Mt. Huangshan (RMB 13). Then transfer buses to access one of the two entrances to Mt. Huangshan - Merciful Light Pavilion (RMB 10) and Cloud Valley Temple (RMB 10).
Huangshan Airport Consultation: 0559-2934111
Wan-gan railway line (from Anhui Province to Jiangxi Province) runs through Huangshan City. Many trains run directly to Beijing (about 19 hour's journey), Shanghai (eleven or twelve hour's journey), Guangzhou (about 19 hour's journey), Nanjing (five to eight hour's journey), Hefei, Jingdezhen, Nanchang (eight or nine hour's journey), Xiamen (about 23 hour's journey) and Fuzhou (14 or 15 hour's journey). If you visit southern China first, you can transfer at Hangzhou. If you come to Huangshan City from northern China, Nanjing is your best transfer stop.
Huangshan Railway Station is in Qianyuan North Lu, downtown Tunxi District. Bus in Huangshan Railway Station is set out once per five minutes to Mt. Huangshan Scenic Spot Bus Station during the daytime.
Huangshan City Bus station is near the railway station in Huangshan East Lu - 10 minutes on foot from the railway station. Huangshan City is connected with Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Hefei, Mt. Jiuhua and Jingdezhen by national highways, and also Hui-Hang (from Anhui Province to Hangzhou City) highway, Hefei-Tongling-Mt. Jiuhua-Mt. Huangshan highway, Mt. Huangshan-Jingdezhen highway and the round-Mt. Huangshan-highway form an efficient network for Huangshan City.
Huangshan City is located on the south bank of Yangtze River. From Sichuan or Hubei Province in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, travelers can cruise to Guichi City, Anhui Province, then take a bus from Guichi to Huangshan City. Tourists may, however, find travel by ship slow. | <urn:uuid:d3ba8f31-82b9-401a-8e42-031361231134> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chinauniquetour.com/arts.asp?id=3319 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907223 | 1,103 | 1.625 | 2 |
The purpose of providing references is to close the deal. It isn t to discover if you are telling the truth about your dates of employment, verify that you ve demonstrated the proper skills for the job or even to assure the hiring authority that he s making the right decision to hire you, though each reason contributes.
If a company is having difficulty deciding which of two individuals to make an offer to, references are usually the deciding factor. If more job seekers understood this, they wouldn t view the references provided upon request phrase so casually.
What constitutes a reference? Primarily, they are people to whom you have reported in your previous jobs. Secondarily, if you ve been in your current position a long time, a reference is someone who has left the company or someone you trust who has reported to you, or with whom you have worked closely. In some industries, providing a reference from outside the company vendors or long-time customers supplies an additional perspective that a former employer cannot.
A reference is neither personal nor generic. Your friend on the neighborhood baseball team may say you re a great team member, but baseball doesn t equate to the corporate world. References addressed to to whom it may concern aren t of much value either because they re non-exclusive. By their very nature, generic references are positive, or they wouldn t have been written and handed to the departing employee. Employers want to speak to the reference themselves and ask their own questions without the candidate knowing what was said.
Finding your perfect job is about selling a product and that product is you. If you want your references to help you close the sale, you need to help them, help you. The standard method of most reference preparation goes as far as the job seeker calling the references and asking each person if he ll act as one, then failing to cue them in during the process as to who will be calling. Providing your reference with the name of the company and the person phoning removes the unknown and makes the call more likely to be returned, faster. More than one job offer has been held up for need of references.
And if those two reasons aren t enough to ask their permission, also remember it s the respectful thing to do. Some candidates don t even think to track down their references and ask for permission. The names and numbers are simply listed on a sheet of paper and given to the hiring authority. Would you like to know how many times I was provided with contact information only to find the person was long gone from that company? Better me, a recruiter, than a prospective employer.
Additionally, failing to provide the person with a copy of your most recent r sum so that he has both your dates of employment and your accomplishments in front of him when the hiring authority calls is to deal yourself the ultimate wild card. And failing to tell your reference about the position for which you re interviewing and what the company is looking for in their new hire compounds that. When you provide this additional information, you not only prompt his memory, but you give him information with which to work. It helps him speak directly to what you want addressed.
Now you ve provided the prospective employer with verified information from a credible, objective and informed source. Effectively, you ve eliminated the chance of your previous boss saying, Well, he was a great employee. And he met all his goals, as far as I can remember. Sure, I d rehire him. About all that reference does, is tell the prospective employer that you weren t great enough to stand out in your previous boss s memory.
All of this is equally applicable if you were fired. Under most circumstances, truth is the only path and making sure that a reference doesn t backfire on you is all the more reason to contact that supervisor. Just because a person or company isn t on your reference list, doesn t mean people don t know others in that same industry.
It s difficult to summon the courage to ask your previous employer to provide you with a reference when you were fired. But many of those references come out better than you d suppose; the only negative tends to be the one surrounding the reason you were discharged.
When you realize the power of references and the influence they can have in securing your perfect job, then you understand how important it is to stay in touch. Then when you need them, you know where to contact them.
Put the extra work into helping your references be a reference. Since you ve made it this far in finding your perfect job, why gamble and leave the home stretch to chance?
Judi Perkins, owner of Bethel, Conn.-based VisionQuest, has been a search consultant for 25 years. You can sign up for her free newsletter at www.FindThePerfectJob.com
By Judi Perkins
Copyright CTW Features | <urn:uuid:b4d315a0-61fd-4fba-a5b6-bfec704df6b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toledoblade.com/frontpage/2007/04/10/Reaping-References-Rewards.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972746 | 977 | 1.671875 | 2 |
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immigration. The age structure of the white population, for example, has less momentum for future growth, whereas the Asian and Hispanic populations will continue to grow, even if they receive no further immigrants.
But net immigration is unlikely to be zero, and it will significantly affect population growth in two ways. First, the level of immigration matters. Each immigrant directly adds one new person to a racial/ethnic group. Second, beyond simply their numbers, the procreativity of immigrants—that is, their ages and fertility rates—matters, for succeeding generations. A young immigrant in a group with generally high fertility rates will add the most descendants, whereas an elderly immigrant will add few. Beyond this, exogamy and the self-identification of multiple-ancestry persons influence the racial/ethnic composition of the population. Hence, the future growth of racial/ethnic groups will be a complex product of several interacting factors.
Given our assumptions—that the current level and composition of immigration, of exogamy, and of kinds of racial/ethnic identification will continue, the racial/ethnic composition of the population will experience a pronounced shift in the next decades. In 1990, according to the 1990 census, 75 percent of the population was white. The remaining one-quarter was divided thus: 12 percent black, 9 percent Hispanic, 3 percent Asian, and about 1 percent American Indian. If we assume medium net immigration levels, constant exogamy conditions, and the medium level of racial/ethnic attribution for multiple-ancestry persons, the white population will increase from 194 million in 1995 to a peak of 211 million in 2025 and then start to fall (see Figure 3.11 and Table 3.7). By 2050, the white population will have become relatively less numerous and drop from 75 percent of the total population to only 50 percent.45
The black population, meanwhile, will increase substantially, from 32 to 54 million. Its share, however, will change only a little, from 12 to 14 percent of the population. The black population will grow primarily because of higher fertility rates and very high attribution rates (children with one black parent are more likely to report themselves as black). Immigration will play a secondary role for population change for the black population. The range of the projected black populations for 2050 varies only from 52 to 56 million for the low to high net immigration assumptions.
In contrast, both the Asian and Hispanic population will grow rapidly under current immigration policy. The Asian population will expand at annual rates
The white population is likely to change little in the future, compared with the growth of other ethnic groups. The white population is characterized by slightly lower fertility, low immigration relative to its population size, and attribution rates that are below 50 percent. Nevertheless, over one-fifth of immigrants add to the white population, and variations in net immigration levels matter. The range of population size for the white population varies from 191 to 211 million in 2050, based on low to high net immigration, compared with a population of 194 million in 1995. | <urn:uuid:f35345e0-f066-4540-bf58-169585637685> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5779&page=114 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916943 | 652 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Crappy "free" software that does HALF of what's available for free on the pc/laptop. SOOO many examples. Gimp, OpenOffice, Compilers and IDEs. On the PC Free means no annoyances. On android, Free (mostly) means marketing gimmicks.
Are you talking about free as in beer or free as in speech? Two of those you listed fall into both. Most Android apps don't follow GPL or similar. Anyway, yes, free usually means ads, but they're usually out of the way or there are no ads because it's included (Polaris Office Suite for instance). Not to mention you mentioned three of the four programs that work well with a keyboard, which a tablet is not expected to use as a "primary" interface.
As a few examples of where ads are out of the way (and I'm usually weary of ad based content)
- On the loading screen of many applications.
- For a game, at the start of a round, usually out of the way. For instance, in Angry Birds, ads usually appear center bottom... where 5%-10% of vertical space is dedicated to the ground.
- If you're in a menu, usually on the top or bottom. In the MX Video player ads only appear when you're selecting your stuff or sometimes if your movie is paused. It never shows when you're watching a movie.
Lack of multitasking ability - android isnt' a great multitasking environment. Even if windows were help side by side as in samsung's touchwiz, it's only visual effect. The "background" windows isnt' really updating.
Well, the problem here is that usage patterns of tablets and smartphones aren't the same as desktops. Background content isn't updated because the expectation is that you're only going to run one thing, and that one thing should be where the CPU spends most of its time. Besides that, even in my case with desktops, the most "multitasking" I ever do is sit in a chatroom while I go watch a movie or play games.
That and current multitasking interfaces on desktops don't lend themselves very well in small real estate where the precision of your "pointer" is now 20px at best. I guess the best thing we could do is Mac OS's Dock or Ubuntu's app bar.
Current lack of power - Arm is a relative newcomer in the performance race against x86.
I'd argue it's the other way around. x86 is a newcomer in the performance/power ratio against ARM. Mobile devices are not
meant to replace desktops and laptops like all the marketers want us to think. It's to supplement
them. This is where I think people have a problem. Tablets and smartphones can cover what most of the world uses a computer for anyway: go online, connect, and consume media. Those are very basic things and even the latest Pentium processors I would consider overkill for such a use-case. I ran a laptop with a ULV 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo, and it did just fine for surfing the web and stuff.
Content creation should be left to desktops and laptops. Content consumption however, can go either way, and tablets just make this more convenient.
The Penis mighter! But noone really seems to want to use a pen. See the finger isn't that accurate. it means when your laptop is utilizing high resolution for finer text since your mouse can click with pixel precision, your tablet's interface looks like a 10 foot hdtv GUI, not making the best utilization of space.
I'd really like you to comfortably read text meant for 96ppi on a 300ppi+ display.
If certain apps get ported without ad fluff (or if you pay for better apps) maybe that would work for you?
Sure. But are those certain apps free as in beer to begin with? Free as in speech sometimes isn't free as in beer, as Red Hat will show you.
How about a pen/mouse for more accurate selection?
Why carry an extra peripheral around? There's a reason why laptops have trackpads/nubs to begin with. And again, try to work with 96ppi content on a 300ppi+ screen. That means everything is 10x-14x smaller. Even with a ~250 screen, that's still something like 6x smaller. To go play around with this, screen cap your desktop, then shrink it by about 25%-38%. Tell me that's legible.
More powerful chip? Krait is about as powerful as it gets today. Not a full on cortex A15, but close.
Power comes with two things: energy consumption and heat. I think I saw that Krait's still pretty good with both, but still. There's no free lunch. Besides that, power also comes with cost.
Or is it simply you just gotta have keyboard and mouse?
I've come to realize that a majority of people suck at UI design to begin with, myself included. It's doable, but people are too damn lazy, stubborn, etc. to do anything about it.
But again, at the end of the day, tablets are marketed towards users who consume
content. You want something to create content? Don't buy a tablet. Do you grill steak with a salad fork, or with tongs? Do you eat a salad with tongs? | <urn:uuid:359cc88f-4573-4813-ada9-e504d129c376> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&p=1208096 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963478 | 1,130 | 1.703125 | 2 |
I have just installed and configured Apache, MySQL, PHP and phpMyAdmin on my Macbook in order to have a local development environment. But after I moved one of my projects over to the local server I get a weird MySQL error from one of my calls to mysql_query():
Access denied for user '_securityagent'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
First of all, the query I'm sending to MySQL is all valid, and I've even testet it through phpMyAdmin with perfect result. Secondly, the error message only happens here while I have at least 4 other mysql connections and queries per page. This call to mysql_query() happens at the end of a really long function that handles data for newly created or modified articles. This basically what it does:
- Collect all the data from article form (title, content, dates, etc..)
- Validate collected data
- Connect to database
- Dynamically build SQL query based on validated article data
- Send query to database before closing the connection
Pretty basic, I know. I did not recognize the username "_securityagent" so after a quick search I came across this from an article at Apple's Developer Connection talking about some random bug:
Mac OS X's security infrastructure gets around this problem by running its GUI code as a special user, "_securityagent".
So as suggested by Frank in the comments I put a var_dump() on all variables used in the mysql_connect() call, and every time it returns the correct values (where username is not "_securityagent" of course). Thus I'm wondering if anyone has any idea why 'securityagent' is trying to connect to my database - and how I can keep this error from occurring when I call mysql_query(). | <urn:uuid:a62b827a-8a7e-4692-a25e-f0b39e9e7e2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://facebook.stackoverflow.com/questions/1203253/php-mysql-on-mac-os-x-access-denied-for-gui-user | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90078 | 365 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Fish Magic, 1925 by Paul Klee
|Click Image to view detail.|
In Fish Magic, Paul Klee creates a magical realm where the aquatic, the celestial, and the earthly intermingle. A delicate black surface covers an underlayer of colors, which the artist revealed by scratching and scrawling designs in the black paint. At the center of the painting, a square of muslin is glued onto the canvas. A long diagonal line reaching to the top of the clock tower is poised as if to whisk off this subtle curtain.
Paul Klee's Fish Magic is set squarely within the tradition of German Romanticism, with its blend of fantasy and natural empiricism, of poetry and pragmatics. In this painting, made in the middle of the artist's period at the
Bauhaus, the aquatic, celestial, and earthly realms intermingle. They do so in an inky black atmosphere of indeterminate scale and scope, where fish and flora float among human beings and clock towers. The delicate black surface
that washes over the entire canvas covers an underlayer dense with multicolored pigments. Klee scraped and sanded the black paint to reveal mysterious specks and passages of glowing color underneath, a sophisticated version of the
games children play with wax crayons. The artist also ingeniously conceived a device to imply that there are more mysteries waiting to be unveiled: Fish Magic is actually a collage, with a central square of muslin glued on top of
the surface of the larger rectangular canvas. A long diagonal line reaching to the top of the clock tower from the side seems poised to whisk off this subtle curtain. For Klee, art was always theater, and, like all his paintings,
this one offers a promise of more acts to follow. | <urn:uuid:38203806-96f7-450f-9713-d2f63bcc7776> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paulklee.net/fish-magic.jsp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930616 | 367 | 2.359375 | 2 |
I am stuck in the A-Declension for feminine nouns. Any help would be appreciated! I felt like I was on roll in the A-Declension for feminine nouns! But then I got to this point:
"The gender of a noun is indicated by placing it after the corresponding form of the definite article, as αγορα, ας, η, where η signifies that αγορα is feminine."
This has been confusing me, and there's no further explanation or ... | <urn:uuid:9a98a809-762c-472c-aeac-5b82c727c3e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.textkit.com/greek-latin-forum/map.php?forum=21&news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962364 | 108 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Video via Dvice
While we wish we could have this guy’s job, we can at least pretend we’re Lego Master Model Builders. And this watercraft is a good project to launch our fantasy career. After all, there are plenty of land-based Lego vehicles out there. It’s about time someone took the plastic bricks to sea.
Just like a water strider–those creepy long-legged insects that can skim along water–this Lego “Omniboat” combines Legos, plastic bottles, a motor, and even a camera to create the most graceful Lego ship around. Complete with a Minifig captain, of course.
For once, we have no instructions to share with you, but that makes this more fun, right? Get to it, Makers! Then share your own water-based Lego creations with us here or tweet us at @WIREDInsider. Watch the Omniboat in action at Dvice.blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:d0937e95-ede4-471d-9932-83f5d963ab3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wiredinsider.tumblr.com/post/21161631012/this-weeks-top-lego-project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930109 | 208 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Over the Summer, "All You" Magazine gave it's readers a challenge asking who could feed their families best on a limited budget. The winner of the contest was Sara Vanderzee of Grand Rapids Michigan.
When you watch Sarah in the kitchen today, it's hard to imagine that until recently this mother of 3 was a stranger to culinary creation.
"A year ago, I never cooked or baked and we ate out a LOT" said Sarah.
Those bad habits were adding up, not only that but the Calories, the sugar, and expecially the cost.
Sarah and her husband were $16,000 in debt and their $200 a week food budget wasn't helping matters.
Then she discovered the "All You" Magazine grocery challenge. Sarah's task: find ways to eat better while spending under $125 per week, almost overnight!
"I have a lot of fresh produce in here right now. That's the new norm." said Sarah, "It's like a challenge to see how cheap I can make something from scratch."
Instead of stopping in the cookie aisle, Sarah now buys fresh produce on sale.
Rather than eating out, she's dusted off her crock pot and bread-maker. She also found other ways to save.
Freezing fruits and vegetables for later use, searching online for recipes, instead of buying cookbooks, and when mixing a meal, she doubles the batch.
"To make this, to make this whole container, was probably less than two dollars. So yeah, very, very cheap."
During the challege, Sarah spent just $60 a week, less than half her budget and a third of what she used to spend.
While the Vanderzee family certainly welcomes the $1,000 prize, their real reward is a more beneficial way of eating.
"It took me a while to get here, but I'm finally starting to realize that cooking and baking from scratch, it saves a lot of money but is definitely offering healthier choices, too." said Sarah. | <urn:uuid:a5621e76-77ed-434a-bae5-8cf5d918b09b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigcountryhomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=305336 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97649 | 416 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Obama Singes Critics at US Solar ‘Epicenter’
(BOULDER CITY, Nev.) -- President Obama on Wednesday powered-up his pitch for more investment in renewable energy technology during a stop at the nation’s largest solar plant, calling Republican opposition out of touch and out of date.
“Now you’d think, given this extraordinary sight, given the fact that this is creating jobs, generating power, helping to keep our environment clean, making us more competitive globally. You’d think that everybody would be supportive of solar power,” Obama said before a backdrop of thousands of solar panels soaking up the desert sun.
“And yet, if some politicians have their way, there won’t be any more public investment in solar energy,” he said.
“One member of Congress, who shall remain unnamed, called these jobs ‘phony.’ Called them ‘phony jobs.’ Think about that mindset, that attitude, that says because something is new it must not be real. You know if these guys were around when Columbus set sail, they’d be charter members of the flat earth society.”
Obama was referring to Rep. John Fleming, R-La., who during a speech in the House chamber last year criticized the clean energy subsidies the administration favored, saying the benefits were not what they claimed.
“POTUS uses flat earth society line again. Witty, but no help for folks paying $4/gal thanks to his failed energy policy. #phonygreenjobs,” Fleming retorted in a post to his Twitter account following Obama’s speech.
The Energy Department has estimated that the Obama administration loans for renewable energy projects have created or saved at least 44,000 jobs since 2009, though some critics say the figures are much lower. The administration also says renewable energy sources have doubled over the same period.
Obama took a tour of the Copper Mountain facility, the largest field of photovoltaic solar panels in the country, located an hour south of the famous Las Vegas Strip. Its one million panels generate enough electricity to power about 17,000 homes, officials said.
“It’s the epicenter for solar energy development in the United States,” Scott Crider, a spokesman for Sempra Generation, which operates the plant, told ABC News. “There are more than 320 days of sunshine coupled with a lot of flat, available land.”
The site was also a beneficiary of more than $40 million in federal tax credits for construction, which employed 350 workers at its peak. The plant now has 10 permanent employees, Crider said.
“This is an industry on the rise,” Obama heralded.
“It’s a source of energy that’s becoming cheaper. We all know it’s cleaner. And more and more businesses are starting to take notice. They’re starting to look around for more places like Boulder City to set up shop,” he said.
U.S. solar industry officials say government incentives and tougher enforcement of international trade laws are essential to thriving businesses because of stiff competition abroad.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department set new fees on solar panels made in China after concluding the government has been providing subsidies to their domestic manufacturers in violation of international trade laws.
The solar panels at Copper Mountain were built by Arizona-based First Solar, Crider said. That company has received more than $1.6 billion in federal loans from the current Energy Department and has been under fire from Republicans for its handling of the funds.
The Republican National Committee called Obama’s Nevada visit little more than “energy spin.”
“It’s clear the president is on defense on energy thanks to higher gas prices, and no amount of campaigning is going to change that,” said RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski.
“From having no energy policy to his false promises on production and Keystone, President Obama has a lot of work to do to convince voters he cares about their pain at the pump,” she said. “Obama loves to say he doesn’t have a silver bullet when it comes to gas prices, but the fact is doing nothing isn’t an option.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio | <urn:uuid:8b319ec2-a0ca-47cf-b2f4-affa460d1e54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastidahonews.com/2012/03/obama-singes-critics-at-us-solar-epicenter/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965033 | 901 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Five months after losing her brother, Victor, to cancer of the pancreas, Maureen Shul received another bit of devastating news: her mother had it, too.
Shul, a former mayor of Castle Pines, had remained at her brother’s side during his four-year battle with the disease and she was equally as attentive during the three months that her mother, who also had Alzheimer’s disease, suffered from it. When Blanche Shul died in the summer of 2009, she passed not knowing that her son had also died from pancreatic cancer.
“When pancreatic cancer barges into your family with no forewarning and little available information from which to draw upon, you are left with horrendously sobering statistics and little else,” Shul states, adding that she and her family were stunned as to how little there was in the way of early diagnostic testing for pancreatic cancer.
“Just as shocking,” she said, “is that the five-year survival rate has remained unchanged at just six percent for the last 40 years and only two percent of the National Cancer Institute’s federal research funding is allocated to pancreatic cancer.”
The double tragedy spurred Shul to action. In cooperation with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, she started Wings of Hope, an aviation-themed benefit held at Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum. It was held just days before the start of National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.(November)
There was a silent auction, cocktails and appetizers, followed by dinner and a talk by Shul’s other brother, Brian, who had been shot down and left for dead while serving as a fighter pilot in Vietnam. His story didn’t end in the jungle; following his rescue, he went on to become a SR-71 pilot of the top-secret Blackbird, the world’s fastest and highest-flying jet aircraft.
“My desire is that Wings of Hope will raise awareness, as well as research funding, to mount a viable assault on this disease,” Shul said. “When you suffer through losses this profound you are compelled to do something to honor your loved ones in ways that will hopefully result in more awareness and tools to help the many others whose lives have been or will be impacted by this horrific disease.”
Guests at Wings of Hope included Walt Imhoff, who lost his wife, Georgia, to pancreatic cancer; Robert and Marilyn Olislagers (he’s executive director of Centennial Airport); Aircraft Performance Group co-founder Rogers Hemphill and his wife, Lorraine; Linda Goto, event planner with The Denver Hospice; Richard and Judith Kleiner; Linda Michow and Sam Realmuto; the John Buffington family; Anne Ricker and Bill Cunningham; Jennifer Havercroft and Greg Miller; Dr. Gregg Dickerson; Steve Mithuen; and Chip and Debbie Coppola. In addition, Judge Patricia Hartman was there from Albuquerque, N.M., while Joseph and Connie Via came in from San Diego, Mary Jamison from Las Vegas and Jeannine Erickson from Vail. | <urn:uuid:a57fafde-9d0c-4ff6-8abc-019e2e68e587> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.denverpost.com/davidson/tag/pancreatic-cancer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976664 | 657 | 1.734375 | 2 |
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with Mike Gourley
Sunday nights at 7:06pm, repeated Tuesdays at 12:30am
Disability Studies conference a first for New Zealand
An upcoming Disability Studies conference has the theme 'Every Body In'. And according to one of the organisers, Dr Gill Rutherord it'll be the first time that anybody who has an interest or involvement in disability issues and social justice can come together. The conference, to be hosted in Dunedin in November, will feature keynote speakers, including Dr Tom Shakespeare, and will provide an opportunity for a variety of presentations and papers. Abstracts are now being sought with a closing date at the end of June.
Trialling the Health Passport
Disabled people covered by the Capital & Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs now have an opportunity to try out using the Health Passport. That's a Health & Disability Commissioner sponsored project to see whether patients will get a better deal from health services if they carry key information about themselves, with that information being available to doctors and nurses. Rosie McLeod and Dr Pauline Boyles (right) talk about their hope that by making disability needs known at the outset, a trip to the doctors or hospital won't be such an ordeal.
Produced by Carol Stiles and Katy Gosset
The issues and experience of disability.
Copies of past programmes of One in Five can be obtained from Replay Radio. CDs are $30 each. Email Replay Radio or telephone 0800 737 529.
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A selection of music interviews, reviews, videos, concerts, sessions, and performances.
Downloads and podcasts are available for selected programmes. Our podcast page has a complete list of feeds.
Help on using online audio: formats, software, podcasts, downloading, and troubleshooting. | <urn:uuid:04a8d283-28bc-4211-9f23-ef7b67912aa3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/oneinfive/20110529 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92277 | 465 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A Pakistani scientist has successfully invented a nano catalyst for production of bio-diesel with the help of spent tea for the first time in the world, opening up new avenues for alternative environment-friendly energy resources.
Dr. Syed Tajamul Hussain, a nano scientist working at National Center for Physics (NCP), and his research team members after untiring efforts during last one year proved with their laboratory tests that used tea can be utilized to produce bio-diesel almost free of carbon emission on commercial basis. The results of their research is going to be published in world reputed Journal of Bio-Technology in its January 2010 issue.
According to the data bio-diesel generally refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl propyl) or ethyl esters. Bio-diesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g. vegetable oil, animal fat with an alcohol. Bio-diesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils to fuel converted diesel engines. Bio-diesel can be used alone, or blended with petro-diesel.
In an interview with ‘The News’ Syed Tajamul Hussain said Pakistan is the third largest importer of tea after UK and China as it is spending $8.8 million annually for import of tea.
“The nano particles help produce 560 ml of bio-diesel from one kilogramme of used tea and if the process is carried out on commercial basis it can be a giant step towards production of alternative energy resources in the country,†he said. He said there is a global ban on production of bio-diesel with the use of edible products so they started research work on spent tea and finally they succeeded in their endeavours to use this non-edible product to prepare bio-diesel.
Tajamul Hussain said the newly invented technology can be used on commercial basis after establishment of pilot plant at the initial stage to get first hand practical experience at comparatively low capital. He said emission of carbon has become one of the grave concerns in the modern world so they tried their best to invent any new process that ensures production of bio-diesel without any chance of carbon emission.
Tajamul said if the environment ministry or any other government department extended its financial support then the plan to produce bio-diesel with the use of spent tea could be translated into reality. “The chances are also ripe for the private sector because the project would not only provide profit, but also enable the investors to claim prize money given for those projects that help reduce production of Carbon dioxide (CO2),†he said. He said petrol and diesel are produced with small and big molecules respectively and bio-diesel also falls in the category of those products that utilises big petroleum molecules.
Tajamul said the research work also showed that spent tea can also be used for production of alcohol that is quite new because spent coffee had been widely used for the purpose, but no one tried to utilise used tea even in the countries like UK and USA where tea users are in large number.
Via The News | <urn:uuid:20bbd736-c953-41b9-b1a5-581f1bba5e33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://guidepk.info/tag/invention | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950878 | 669 | 2.875 | 3 |
The staff report to Senator Charles Grassley written by Pattara and Barnett [PDF] deals primarily with tax status of four items:
- Pastoral housing allowances
- Love offerings
- For-profit integrated auxiliaries
Today I want to deal with the history of pastoral housing allowances; in a later post I’ll deal with some of the problematic uses of the pastoral housing allowance.
Congress first excluded from gross income the rental value of parsonages furnished to ministers of the gospel in the Revenue Act of 1921. (page 11)
The authors go on to say that this was intended to treat pastors who received a housing allowance the same as those who got use of a church property (a parsonage) instead. I might gently suggest that in the current climate if we were facing the same inequity the recommendation might go the other way, and the recommendation would be to tax the pastor for his use of the parsonage. I say this on the basis of current discussion of e.g. tax-free insurance premiums [link]. Also, I would note the use of the language “minister of the gospel” here; in this document and elsewhere it serves as the point of entry for discussing revoking this exemption on the basis of Establishment Clause issues. On which more later.
In 1954, Congress adopted section 107(2) [of the Tax Code], thereby allowing a minister of the gospel to designate a portion of compensation as a housing allowance and exclude that amount from income. (page 11)
The authors cite the language used by Congressman Peter Mack [link] to justify the extension:
Certainly, in these times when we are being threatened by a godless and antireligious world movement, we should correct this discrimination against certain ministers of the gospel who are carrying on such a courageous fight against this foe. Certainly, this is not too much to do for these people who are caring for our spiritual welfare. (page 12)
Mack also claimed that preachers made less money than average workers:
Of our clergymen, 55 percent are receiving less than $2,500 per year. This is some $256 less than the $2,668 annual median income for our labor force. (page 12)
So the justification the Grassley staffers cite in Mack’s comments is basically this: preachers are poor and they’re our allies against godless Communism. Remember, this was 1954, early in the Eisenhower Administration. I would be inclined to cite this as an example of a step in the process of the American conservative Church being co-opted into, well, a certain segment of the American political Right, let’s say. In retrospect it’s hard not to see Congressman Mack’s comments as a quid pro quo.
The original intent, that the tax break would benefits “ministers of the gospel” is problematic nowadays, too, since many religious figures would not self-identify this way. I have a hard time believing that this language would pass Constitutional muster today. See discussion here and elsewhere. The alignment between preachers and “godless Communism” is not a going concern in quite the same way it was during the Eisenhower Administration; in fact it might be argued that the alignment between some preachers and some politicians makes the housing allowance more of a political football than it was then.
That brings us to the issue of whether preachers are poor and in need of a tax break. The staff report deals mostly with cases where preachers clearly are not poor and are not using the tax break for its intended purpose.
They don’t attempt to project Mack’s numbers forward; they do mention how many churches there are in the States:
the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reports that there are 331,000 church congregations in the United States (page 59)
But they don’t break this down into the useful number: how many people take the housing allowance exemption? How many of these have annual incomes below the median?
I think this is mostly because the Grassley staffers are mostly interested with six particular ministries, none of which are anywhere near the median income line. Or at least wouldn’t be by any reasonable measure of income, we suspect, if we knew what they actually made.
Parts IV and V conclude that, as the parsonage allowance exclusion is not required for genuine clergy to exclude legitimate rental values of furnished parsonages as part of their compensation under section 119, Congress should scrap the exclusion entirely.
So it is important to keep in mind what’s at stake here: that the behavior of what we hope are a few outliers could be used as justification for revoking the exemption altogether.
As fundamentalists becoming evangelicals we got involved in politics because of fear stories.
At its heart each story was about losing rights we thought we were guaranteed as Americans under the Constitution: freedom of religion, conscience, assembly, etc. The details varied by issue and story: tax exempt status, government oversight of church organizations and functions, school prayer, religious expression at public occasions, etc. They took place against a background of Cold War church persecution stories, particularly behind the Iron Curtain. We told ourselves these stories for several reasons, including to cultivate a feeling of kinship with the modern persecuted Church, but they tended to galvanize our sense of ourselves as American Christians (or “Eisenhower Christians”), blending our two identities and seeing an assault on one as an assault on the other. We had in a sense participated in the Cold War ideologically, taking our stand against godless Communism, and and somewhere along the line got our American identity mixed up with our sense of ourselves as Christians.
In retrospect a lot of our sense of kinship with the Cold-War-era persecuted Church was pretty shallow; it had a lot to do with reading books about real bravery in the face of persecution (Brother Andrew) and fictional portrayals of persecuted Christians. In my case in particular, Myrna Grant novels about young believers in the Ukrainian underground church helped reinforce the impression that the Cold War was primarily a struggle for religious freedom.
As a result, though, we chose our political affiliation because we were afraid of the ACLU, because they sued to stop school prayer, and certain elements of the federal government because of the ongoing case against Bob Jones University, not for preaching the Gospel, but for violations of civil rights. There were at least a handful of other cases as well, including the case against Lester Roloff, where we saw religious persecution but the legal question was more about government oversight of non-religious functions of religious institutions: health and safety, corporal punishment, fire codes, etc.
But I think I would argue that what had happened was that we had hyphenated our Christianity and our nationality, and we got involved in politics not because of doctrinal or moral issues, but because we believed our rights as Americans had been violated.
The other issues that became hot-button issues: the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, political correctness, gay rights, etc. were initially other people’s issues, and we adopted them as we got more involved politically. They were part of the process of becoming the Religious Right, and making common cause with people we suspected were going to Hell: Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants first, then later Jews and Mormons. Our political handlers sold us on the importance of these issues as they tried with mixed success to turn us into a coalition. | <urn:uuid:452a6caa-b79a-4f74-851d-47d28f55e9cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://halfabridge.wordpress.com/tag/eisenhower-christianity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971035 | 1,533 | 1.875 | 2 |
I Have... Who Has? Place Value Game
Here's another very useful Place Value game. This one focused primarily on reading numbers and recognizing 'place value'. The game follows the familiar "I have... Who has?" format.
The children are given a selection of cards, each with a "I have..." statement, a number and then a "Who has...?" question.
Any person can start by reading out the "I am..." statement and then the question, other players listen carefully and respond if they have the appropriate answer at the top of their card. For example, these 4 cards would all follow each other:
Whoever asks the question on the final card will find that the corresponding answer is on the first card - completing the circle.
There are 30 cards in the file and you need to have all of the cards 'in play' for the game to work. You may need to give some children more than one card, or ask others to work in pairs. However, it is also useful (and can help to keep all children motivated and engaged throughout) if the children work in groups and have a small collection of cards between them. Playing this way means that no one is 'out' at the beginning of the game, and everyone can keep checking the cards throughout.
We know not everyone uses the vocabulary of 'Units', so have duplicated all of the cards using the term 'Ones'.
The complete set of 60 cards are in one downloadable pdf file - see the link below.
We would love to hear what you think of this in the comments and would also very much appreciate your Likes, tweets and Pluses! | <urn:uuid:0ed920e3-1906-45c7-9eab-125e3d58d902> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mathsticks.com/resource/1302/i-have-who-has-place-value-game | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962553 | 336 | 3.3125 | 3 |
TAKING OF BODY SAMPLES
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
—(1) In this Part —
“appropriate consent” means —
in relation to a person who has attained the age of 16 years, the consent in writing of that person;
in relation to a person who has not attained the age of 16 years but has attained the age of 14 years, the consent in writing of both that person and of his parent or guardian; and
in relation to a person who has not attained the age of 14 years, the consent in writing of his parent or guardian,
given to the authorised officer in charge of the case after the person concerned or his parent or guardian (as the case may be) has been informed by the authorised officer of the purpose for which a body sample is required from such person and the manner by which such body sample is to be taken from him;
“authorised analyst” means a person appointed by the Commissioner of Police to be an analyst for the purposes of this Part;
“body sample” means —
a sample of blood;
a sample of head hair, including the roots thereof;
a swab taken from a person’s mouth; or
such other sample as may be prescribed under subsection (2);
“intimate sample” means any body sample that is obtained by means of any invasive procedure;
“registered medical practitioner” has the same meaning as in the Medical Registration Act (Cap. 174) and includes a dentist registered under the Dental Registration Act (Cap. 76);
“volunteer” means a person who voluntarily gives his consent under section 13D for the taking of a body sample from him.
(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the Minister may prescribe additional types of body samples that may be taken under this Part.
(3) The additional types of body samples that may be prescribed under subsection (2) shall not include body samples to be obtained from —
the genital or anal area of a person’s body;
a person’s body orifice other than the mouth; or
the breasts of a woman.
(4) Where the Minister prescribes an intimate sample under subsection (2) as an additional type of body sample which may be taken under this Part, the provisions of section 13C (which requires consent for the taking of a sample of blood) shall apply in respect of the taking of such intimate sample in the same manner as they apply in respect of the taking of a sample of blood.
—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a body sample may be taken for forensic DNA analysis from any person who, on or after the date of commencement of the Registration of Criminals (Amendment) Act 2002 —
is arrested and accused of a crime;
is convicted of a crime; or
is serving his term of imprisonment in connection with a crime of which he has been convicted.
—(1) No sample of blood shall be taken from a person who is arrested and accused of a crime unless the appropriate consent is given for the taking of the sample.
(2) If the appropriate consent required under subsection (1) for the taking of a sample of blood from a person is refused without good cause or cannot be obtained despite all reasonable efforts, that person may be taken before a Magistrate and the Magistrate may, if satisfied that there is reasonable cause to believe that the sample may confirm or disprove whether that person was involved in committing the crime, order that the person provide the sample required.
(3) Where it is shown that the appropriate consent required under subsection (1) for the taking of a sample of blood from a person was refused without good cause, the court, in determining —
whether to commit that person for trial in connection with the crime of which he is accused of committing;
whether there is a case to answer against that person; or
whether that person is guilty of the crime with which he has been charged,
may draw such inference from the refusal as it thinks proper and, based on such inference, may treat the refusal as corroboration or amounting to corroboration of any relevant evidence against that person.
—(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), any person who —
was present at the scene of a crime when it was committed; or
is being questioned in connection with the investigation of a crime,
may voluntarily consent to a body sample being taken from him for forensic DNA analysis.
(2) No body sample shall be taken from a volunteer under subsection (1) unless the appropriate consent is given for the taking of the sample.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), if the consent of the parent or guardian of a volunteer who is below the age of 16 years is refused without good cause or cannot be obtained despite all reasonable efforts but the volunteer is still willing to give the body sample, the body sample may be taken from the volunteer with the sanction of a Magistrate.
—(1) For the purpose of this Part, a body sample may only be taken by —
a registered medical practitioner;
an authorised officer who has received training for the purpose; or
any other suitably qualified or trained person who is authorised by the Commissioner of Police for the purpose.
(2) Before taking any body sample under this Part, the person authorised under subsection (1) to take the sample must satisfy himself that the taking of the sample does not endanger the person from whom it is to be taken.
(3) The fact that a body sample has been taken under this Part shall be recorded by the person who took the sample in such form or manner as may be required by the Commissioner of Police.
(4) Every body sample taken under this Part shall be sent to an authorised analyst for forensic DNA analysis.
(5) Where a person from whom a body sample is lawfully required under this Part refuses, without reasonable excuse, to give the sample or to allow the sample to be taken from him, or otherwise hinders or obstructs the taking of the sample from him —
that person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both; and
the person authorised under subsection (1) to take the sample may, with such assistance as is required, use such force as is reasonably necessary for the purposes of taking the sample.
—(1) The Registrar shall maintain (whether in computerised form or otherwise) a DNA database in which shall be stored all DNA information derived from a body sample taken from a person under this Part.
(2) Any information stored in the DNA database may be used for any of the following purposes:
for forensic comparison with any other DNA information in the course of an investigation of an offence conducted by a police officer;
for any proceedings for any offence;
for administering the DNA database for the purposes of this Part; and
for such other purposes as may be prescribed.
13G. Where any body sample has been taken under section 13B(1)(a) from a person who is under arrest and accused of a crime, or under section 13D from a volunteer, and —
investigations reveal that he was not involved in the commission of any crime or, in the case of a volunteer, he is not suspected of committing any crime;
it is decided that he shall not be charged with any crime and he has neither admitted to, nor been dealt with by way of being cautioned by any police officer in respect of any crime;
the charge or all the charges against him in respect of any crime or crimes (as the case may be) is or are withdrawn;
he is discharged by a court before conviction of the crime or of all the crimes (as the case may be) with which he has been charged;
he is acquitted of the crime or of all the crimes (as the case may be) with which he has been charged, at trial or on appeal; or
the authorised officer in charge of the case shall immediately inform the Registrar of the occurrence of the relevant event and the Registrar shall immediately remove the DNA information of that person from the DNA database. | <urn:uuid:92fc4a25-841d-4877-a10a-28653aaaca9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/printView.w3p;ident=e03aa39e-e599-4381-90e4-796f0e7ed6b2;page=0;query=Id%3A%22e4c71dab-41fb-454a-943d-0cbc2b8825cb%22%20Status%3Ainforce;rec=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961054 | 1,713 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Rick Hanson, PhD began meditating in 1974 and has practiced in several traditions. A neuropsychologist, writer, and teacher, he co-founded the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom (see www.WiseBrain.org) and edits the Wise Brain Bulletin. First author of Mother Nurture (Penguin, 2002), he has authored the books Buddha's Brain and Just One Thing. He started sitting at Spirit Rock in 1993 and served a nine-year term on its Board. A graduate of the Community Dharma Leader training program, he leads a weekly meditation group in San Rafael.
The latest brain research has begun to confirm the central insights of the Buddha and other great teachers. And it’s suggesting ways you can help your brain to enter deeper states of mindfulness, quiet, and concentration.
Suffering, joy, and freedom all depend on what happens within your nervous system. Skillful practice thus means being skillful with your own brain.
This experiential workshop will offer user-friendly information with lots of practical methods. No background in neuroscience or mindfulness is needed, though teaching are also appropriate for health care professionals. We’ll cover:
--- Implications from brain research for steadying the mind... quieting it... and bringing it to singleness
--- The brain during the jhanas or other states of deep concentration
--- How to help lay the neurological foundation for liberating insight | <urn:uuid:c601920c-e5c8-4b05-a9eb-09e429c7c599> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/312/talk/18870/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919614 | 293 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The following are eight of the most important leadership principles I have learned as a senior leader over the past three decades. I have found that each of these leadership principles is vital to the success of any organization, whether it be faith-based or not.
1. They Continually Cast a Compelling Vision
The Bible teaches us that without a vision the people perish (Prov. 29). This means that people are like sheep and will scatter and/or lose focus if they are not continually motivated and guided as to the mission and purpose of the organization or church they belong to.
Every executive leader must be personally empowered and full of passion so he can continually remind the people of the vision and purpose of their existence. An organization without a compelling vision is going to lose momentum and membership. Leader without a compelling vision don’t know why they are leading, which will result in their organization experiencing a lack of cohesion and power.
2. They Set Practical Goals to Attain Their Vision
Having vision without practical goals to implement the vision is tantamount to merely having a dream that disappears once you wake up. Even if your vision was given to you supernaturally by the Lord, goals are necessary to take it from the mystical realm to the practical realm. For an effective goal I like using the acronym SAM. Each goal should be:
If a goal is too ambiguous then it is no good. For example, “This year our church will grow larger” is too ambiguous. If a goal is too lofty and not attainable then it is a pipe dream. For example, “This year our church will grow by 50 percent” when it has never grown more than 5 percent in the past 20 years. If a goal is not revisited to evaluate if you achieved the desired results, then it was not measured and is worthless.
Eventually, when the principles of SAM are not followed, the people in the organization become discouraged and believe that the vision of the leader is nothing more than rhetoric and good oratory, and they will cease following him or her.
3. They Build Strong, Competent Teams to Perpetuate the Vision
Every leader needs to process the vision and mission of the church with a competent team that will have ownership over its fulfillment. When leaders merely give out direction and orders to their team, then they are creating followers who can’t think for themselves. Thus, as the organization grows, the leader will have more and more burdens upon his shoulders, which will eventually become a bottleneck.
However, when leaders build a team around their strengths and/or weaknesses they will have people around them who will compensate for the gifts and abilities the leader doesn’t have. A leader doesn’t have to be the smartest or most capable person in the organization; leaders' greatest job is to surround themselves with the smartest and most capable people and get them to work together to accomplish the task before them.
For example, macro directive leaders need micro operational people around them, as well as team builders, to fulfill their vision. When macro leaders don’t have micro leaders then there aren’t proper systems or people in place to carry out their directives.
Finally, effective leaders are constantly encouraging and building the confidence of their team which counteracts all the negative things they either think about themselves or the negative information they are bombarded with via media and relationships. One of the greatest things an effective leader does is build faith, confidence and courage in their team so they come to the place where they believe they can achieve great things!
4. They Put First Things First
Effective leaders are continually grounding themselves in their core values of faith, family and personal renewal. Those who are not grounded will either burn out or disqualify themselves because they will eventually fail to have integrity either within themselves or in their families.
In regards to their organizations, effective leaders have learned to put their finances and time toward empowering the people with the most potential so they can bear the burden of the work and expand the capacity of the organization. They have also learned not to have transactional relationships that objectify people, so that people only feel valuable if they are contributing to the success related to fulfilling their goals. When executive leaders treat people with dignity and respect, they will get more output than if they merely use and abuse people.
5. They Constantly Recruit Emerging Leaders
The greatest baseball teams are the ones with the best farm systems that continually replenish the major league team with high-caliber players. Effective leaders are continually looking to recruit onto their team the best talent and most capable people who are also trustworthy.
One of the most important things I have done over the years is to have a primary leadership group that I meet with at least once or twice per month, and an emerging leaders group of newer people who have the potential to lead in the next generation.
Without doing this, an organization and/or leader will be stuck with people who have already flatlined and will limit the ceiling of the vision. When you continually empower the next generation of leaders then it is easier to replace the team members who move on to other organizations or who disqualify themselves from remaining on the team.
6. They Create a Culture of Accountability and Trust
There is an old saying: “People won’t do what you expect, they only do what you inspect.” This is true. Many leaders are shocked when they find that what they say and teach is not being practiced or followed by the top leaders on their team.
Ronald Reagan once said, in relation to how he dealt with the Soviet Union and their nuclear arms treaty with the USA: “Trust but verify.” I have learned that if you don’t hold people accountable they will lose focus and not follow through on their tasks because of the many distractions that come their way. It is also good to require regular reports from your staff so that you can gauge the amount of work and productivity for each person.
Just as important as accountability is to create an atmosphere of trust with your top team members so there is an ability to share weaknesses, temptations and even moral failure. A culture of trust will build greater capacity for love and teamwork, and will empower all to move mountains and achieve great things!
7. They Put the Mission of the Organization Before Their Own Personal Agenda
Many leaders who obtain power and affluence begin to think that the organization, ministry or church they founded exists merely to serve their own personal needs. When leaders put their own personal needs and agenda before the mission and vision of their organizations it creates a culture of self-centeredness, which will eventually backfire because it will spread to all the secondary leaders who will in turn poison the rest of the organization and its members. Self-focused entities do not have long shelf lives; if they do survive they will not be effective.
In regards to pastors, God says very harsh things to shepherds who merely feed themselves and do not minister to the flock of God (read Ezek. 34 and Jer. 23), who think the flock exists just to feed them.
8. They Continually Devise Strategies to Finance the Vision
As we read 2 Corinthians Chapters 8 and 9 we see that the apostle Paul devoted much of his time to fundraising for the vision of planting and establishing local churches.
It doesn’t matter how much of a great speaker you are, how great your team is, and how talented you are; if you are not effective at fundraising you will never be able to accomplish God-given goals and vision! Money and goals serve as the bridge between vision and reality.
Joseph Mattera has been in full-time ministry since 1980 and is currently the presiding bishop of Christ Covenant Coalition and Overseeing Bishop of Resurrection Church in New York, a multiethnic congregation of 40 nationalities that has successfully developed numerous leaders and holistic ministry in the New York region and beyond. Click here to visit his website. | <urn:uuid:602fa24a-73d6-498d-93cd-2c9283b03507> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/ministry-leadership/preaching/19768-8-power-principles-for-transformational-leadership?showall=1&limitstart= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966885 | 1,623 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Awhile back my mother-in-law lamented about my youngest, Khalen, being a “follower.” She said that she wished Khalen would be more independent instead of just following her big sister who often leads her into trouble. Now, while it is true that she sometimes copies her sister to her own detriment, I think that for the most part that is highly normal, and something that you encounter with siblings. My Khalen certainly has a mind of her own and will loudly protest doing anything she doesn’t actually want to do. Besides which, she is two years old and doesn’t understand what it means to be a follower, anyway!
I have said it before but I believe it bears repeating. I find it incredibly dangerous to stereotype children. When I was growing up I was the “fat” one of the family at one hundred and twenty pounds in my high school years. At five two I was definitely not fat. In fact, it is well within normal weight range. (I envy that girl today, let me tell you!) But compared to my sister, also five foot two and barely a hundred pounds I looked downright chubby. My mom and her shared clothes (and still do) so…yes, I guess it fell to me to fill our need for a “fat” one.
I can not express how much that stereotype hurt me. It made me not care about what I ate, either. After all, I was already “fat” so what was the worst that could happen? That’s the danger in stereotyping: children tend to fulfill our prophecies, whether we truly want them too or not. I tell my girls many things about themselves: I tell them they are silly, they are smart, they are beautiful, they are sweet. May the words fat, ugly, stupid, or bad never leave my lips. (My husband, in fact, once remarked that my youngest was being “bad” and now she constantly reports to us, “Sissy bad. Sissy bad!” We have to be so darn careful around these little parrots with big ears!)
All I want is for my girls to grow up confident in themselves. Confidence is the greatest gift you can give a child besides your love, and both are affected by the words you say. | <urn:uuid:d39fc501-9dbe-4be1-a738-b14be5ee3fcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diaperswappers.com/diaper-blog/stereotyping-children | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985803 | 486 | 1.5 | 2 |
The influenza virus can survive on paper money for 10 or more days — suggesting that when we shop, spend and bank, there’s more than cash that is changing hands.
The link between flu virus and paper currency is explained this week in a story on SmartMoney.com. The findings don’t mean we should fret about handling currency — but it does illustrate why health officials repeatedly tell people to wash hands frequently. From the SmartMoney report:
Generally speaking, scientists interviewed by SmartMoney estimate the lifetime of a plain flu virus deposited on money at an hour or so. But mix in some human nasal mucus, and the potential for the virus to hang on long enough to find a victim increases, according to one of the few scientific studies done on flu transmission through cash.
In a study conducted at Switzerland’s Central Laboratory of Virology at the University Hospitals of Geneva, researchers tested to see what would happen when flu virus was placed on Swiss franc notes. In some of these tests, researchers placed flu virus mixed in with nasal secretions from children on banknotes —and saw some unexpected results.
When protected by human mucus, the flu cells were much hardier—in some cases, lasting up to 17 days on the franc notes. The virus that persisted for 17 days was a form of influenza A called H3N2. In an e-mail interview, Dr. Yves Thomas said samples of an influenza A strain called H1N1 also endured for quite a bit — in some cases, up to 10 days. That bug was similar but not identical to the virus at the center of the current swine flu outbreak, which is considered a new strain of H1N1.
The story goes on to explain how money could theoretically spread a virus.
Three things must happen for a flu virus to be transmitted from one person to another via money. First, a person who is infected with the swine flu must sneeze or cough onto the bill or blow their nose and leave remnants of their mucus on the currency. Next, an uninfected person would need to touch the money while the virus is still present.
Finally, that person would need to put their contaminated hand in their mouth or pick their nose, says Dr. Murray Grossan, an otolaryngologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
A 2002 report in the Southern Medical Journal showed that money can be a vector for more than just flu. Dollar bills collected in western Ohio were tested. The researchers found pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, on 94 percent of the bills.
The SmartMoney story is packed with additional insights about money and germs, explaining why new U.S. dollars may be more resistant to germs than used money (the ink in new bills contains a fungicide), how coins are more likely to be virus free, the development of cash-cleaning ATM machines and why plastic credit cards are a better option during a pandemic. To read the full story, click on “Can You Catch Swine Flu from Money?”
And to read the full study on influenza and Swiss francs, check out “Survival of Influenza Virus on Banknotes,” in the May 2008 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. | <urn:uuid:bc6684f0-eda3-4643-bed6-085e2507db18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/catching-flu-from-money/?apage=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955845 | 690 | 3.28125 | 3 |
An email from the US District Courts for the Northern District of California has been sent to iPod buyers, who purchased the device between 2006-2009, notifying them of their involvement in a mass class action suit against Apple for alleged anti-competitive conduct in 2004.
The anti-trust lawsuit contests a firmware update released by Apple eight years ago, that prevented music not from iTunes from playing on the iPod. The class action automatically includes all US consumers who bought an iPod directly from Apple between September 12, 2006 and March 31, 2009.
The case was first lodged back in 2004 by company RealNetworks when it launched a new service called Harmony that enabled DRM’d music bought from the RealPlayer Music Store to play on the iPod. At the time (and still in effect today) Apple had placed restrictions on the iPod that meant users could only play FairPlay DRM’d music from iTunes or unprotected formats, such as MP3. Harmony offered a workaround to the filter, providing users with open access. Apple was unhappy with the move and later responded by releasing a firmware update for the iPod, which blocked RealNetwork’s new service.
The software update angered several iPod buyers who filed a suit against Apple at the time, accusing the company of illegally blocking competition, which in turn, hiked the prices of its iPod line. For years the case was held up by processing in the legal system, until November 2011 when the District Court granted it class action status. Despite reports of Apple entering into settlement talks last month, the case is now forging ahead.
In the District Court’s email, the board advises iPod owners of the class action, the pending case and their subsequent involvement in the proceedings, reports Ars Technica.
The iPods models that are included in the class definition include iPod nanos (first, second, third and fourth generations), iPod touches (second and third generations), iPod shuffles (first, second and third generations) and standard/classic iPods (fifth generation, U2 Special Editions, and iPod Classics).
Apple had not commented on the case at the time of publication. | <urn:uuid:0d5876a4-d7d7-4628-937d-cee269535516> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macworld.com.au/news/ipod-owners-join-class-action-in-anti-trust-lawsuit-against-apple-53590/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957875 | 431 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Bringing the Violence Home
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As thousands of soldiers start streaming home from Iraq, families and communities are bearing the burden of their wounds of war. At Fort Carson, Colorado, where some 12,000 soldiers have already returned from Iraq, many are displaying a vast range of serious mental health problems. Kaye Baron, a clinical psychologist in Colorado Springs with the Department of Veterans Affairs told UPI, "The pattern I'm seeing is that they are not being evaluated very thoroughly."
Over the past two years, several returning soldiers have turned their guns on their families and themselves. In mid-March of this year, Army Special Forces soldier Bill Howell, home just three weeks from the frontlines of Iraq, assaulted his wife, and then pulled out a .357-caliber revolver and committed suicide. A month later, another Iraq veteran at Fort Lewis, Washington, turned himself after killing his 28-year-old wife.
The link between domestic violence and post-war trauma has been well documented in previous wars. During a six-week period in 2002, three soldiers recently returned from Afghanistan at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, killed their wives in similar incidents. Two of the accused men committed suicide, while the third did the same nearly a year later.
In Iraq, while the war itself was brief in Iraq -- seizing Baghdad within weeks -- the prolonged occupation has meant lengthy tours of duty for the troops. Moreover, soldiers that might well have died in previous wars have been kept alive because of better equipment and intensive battlefield medicine. As a result, many are returning home with serious injuries that require not just physical rehabilitation but also long-term psychological counseling. Dr. Gene Bolles, who served for two years as the chief of neurosurgery services at Landsthul Regional Medical Center in Germany, recently told a Boulder, Colorado audience that thousands of GIs have been admitted to Landsthul for psychiatric care.
Even without physical injuries, soldiers have a hard time leaving war behind. The term 'post-traumatic stress disorder' was first used to describe the symptoms of soldiers returning from a combat zone after the Vietnam War. The diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder tends to be invoked only when the symptoms such as anxiety, sleeplessness and depression interfere with a person's ability to function on a daily basis.
While the Pentagon is offering some psychiatric help to soldiers and their families, all too often they are not receiving timely or adequate domestic violence prevention or counseling services. Even where there are support-groups at various military bases, many are hesitant to attend their meetings, fearing the stigma attached to psychological problems. Sara Corbett, in an article for the New York Times Magazine, writes of hundreds of soldiers who "by choice or by circumstance, are gutting out the effects of their injuries without the help of peers or mental health counseling."
The burgeoning demand for services at the Miles Foundation underscores the military's failure to adequately address domestic violence. Since its founding in 1996, this Connecticut-based private, non-profit organization has offered assistance to victims and survivors of domestic violence in the military community.
There has always been a significantly higher incidence of domestic violence among military families than in the civilian population, which has 3.1 incidents of domestic violence per 1,000 people. According to Dept. of Defense figures, however, these incidents have been decreasing steadily. The rate of reported domestic violence incidents in the military was 18.6 to 25.6 per 1,000 military personnel between 1990 and 1996; it decreased to 16.5 per 1,000 in 2001.
Kate Summers, director of services at the Miles Foundation, says that the military's latest numbers are deceptive. "The numbers were lower in 2001 because the Dept. of Defense changed their methods of counting incidents, and revised the severity levels of incidents. They are only counting spouse abuse, not intimate partner violence involving fiancées, boyfriend/girlfriend situations, or former spouses," she says
The Pentagon has taken some steps in recent years to address the problem. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 required the DoD to establish a Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence, whose purpose "is to improve the military's responsiveness and effectiveness in addressing matters relating to domestic violence."
In October 2002, the Congress approved an amendment to the final version of the Defense Appropriations Bill that provided $5 million -- cut back from the original amount of $10 million that was proposed -- to fund victim advocates within the military services. But as Summers points out, "Victim advocates in the military help those affected by abuse navigate the system. None of the money was earmarked toward prevention."
Congress is also currently considering an authorization bill that includes a provision requiring the Pentagon to address sexual violence in the military. There is no specific funding figure attached to it; the DoD is supposed to report back to Congress in March 2005.
While these steps are encouraging, the military -- both the leadership and the soldiers -- remains staunchly resistant to acknowledging domestic violence as a serious problem. The Miles Foundation has come under fire from some in senior military leadership who describe its members as "unpatriotic" and "traitors." But as the soldiers come home, groups such as these may be the only hope they have of avoiding Bill Howell's fate.
Bill Berkowitz is a freelance writer covering right-wing groups and movements. | <urn:uuid:6c30aab6-ce18-4ceb-ba12-0cd00ec1714b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alternet.org/story/18857/bringing_the_violence_home?qt-best_of_the_week=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968379 | 1,093 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Lisa D Faria, a licensed clinical social worker who works with children with autism, sent this along and I thought I'd share. Please pass it along to anyone you think might benefit.
Free Parent Workshop on Floortime™ & the DIR® model – San Jose, CA Sat., Feb. 28, 2009, 10 am -12:45 pm. Sponsored by The Creekside School. Parents of children with Autism or other special needs are invited to learn how to meet, reach, and promote your child's social-emotional-cognitive growth using Floortime, a developmental play-based approach. Speakers include Lisa deFaria, LCSW, Faculty, Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders, Yana Peleg, PhD, Children’s Health Council, Lynette DiLuzio, SLP, Director, The Creekside School, Moira Sullivan, M.S., OTR/L and Matt McAlear, Easter Seals, P.L.A.Y. Project, Santa Clara. Reservations strongly encouraged, as space is limited. To register please call Anne Ernst at 408.933.8910 or email: [email protected] (*Adults only. We regret we cannot provide childcare at this event.)
Heather has three kids, one of which, Ian, has autism. When Ian was small, she read one of Pamela Wolfberg'sbooks and was captivated by the idea of developing a program to demystify autism and help children with autism learn social skills from their typically developing peers (and, as it turns out, vice versa).
Today the Friend 2 Friend society has done over 1,700 autism demystification programs.
The model seeks to enhance reciprocal social interaction. Says Heather,"the key to these friendship between children on the autism spectrum and their peers is to foster understanding, acceptance and empathy in an age-appropriate and sensitive manner."
Here are a few tenets of the model.
Demystication is a process that supports a general understanding of autism. A big part of demystification is "normalizing" behaviors such as hand-flapping or toe-walking by explaining it in a personal context.
Here's an example: Heather likes twirl her hair. She does this when she's stuck in traffic. When she's late, she does it faster. It doesn't get her where she's going, but it makes her feel better. We all have things that we do: toe tap, hair twirl, chew a pencil eraser--whatever--when we want to calm our bodies and our minds.
So the process of normalization is to model (demonstrate the behavior), label it, explain it and, in this way, dissolve the boundaries that divide people with disability or difference from those without.
Another tenet is that, just because children with autism may have language processing difficulties, it doesn't mean they're not understanding what you say when you talk about them. So Heather's rule is this: if they can't be part of the conversation, they shouldn't be hearing the conversation: it's a question of respect.
Not about me, without me.
So many of us grew up not knowing kids with special needs, and the idea of opening up the conversation--of asking about difference--seems almost painfully wrong. "It's not polite to stare," I was told as a child, and I'm sure you were too. But Heather's belief is that asking is important, because it opens up the conversation, which leads to understanding, accepting, and ultimately, friendship.
For more on the Friend 2 Friend Social Learning Society, check out the website here.
If you are a parent, relative, teacher or otherwise involved with a child with autism, I highly recommend you take a look at The Marin Autism Lecture Series. Talks occur monthly and focus on topics as diverse as causation (presented by representatives from The M.I.N.D. Institute at UC Davis), social skills development, Applied Behavior Analysis, the Floortime method, and others.
I have seen, met or otherwise know most of the speakers, and you can't go wrong. These are some of the best of the best, and represent a diverse range of views and some of the most thoughtful and compassionate autism treatment options in the Bay Area.
If you would like to register or would like additional information, visit The Marin County Office of Education or email Karen Kaplan, Marin Autism Lecture Series Coordinator, at karensupportsU [at] comcast [dot] net. Fee waivers may be available in some cases, so please ask Karen if you would like to attend but are unable to afford the registration fee.
New parents look forward to their child’s first words with great anticipation. We want to hear that cute little voice, and start to understand better what our child is thinking about. We dream about how easy parenting will be when our child is able to tell us what he wants with words rather than cries.
But what does it mean when the child in your life is the last one in the playgroup to utter those first words? What if you are the only one who understands those first words? What if he starts to stutter all of a sudden at age 3? And what about that 1st grader who is still lisping? When is it normal and when does it require remediation? How do we know when we should become more concerned?
“Einstein didn’t talk until he was four,” well-meaning people are fond of saying. Then there’s the other playground stand-by, “He’s a boy--boys are slower than girls to talk.” And finally we have the pediatrician’s response, “Let’s just wait and see,” which does many children a huge disservice because it delays critical early intervention so often.
Interesting piece in the New York Times today about Sensory Integration Disorder. It's such a minefield: is it or isn't it a "real" disorder? Should or shouldn't it go into the DSM? Do or don't therapies work? Should or shouldn't insurance companies have to pay for it? Should or shouldn't classrooms accommodate the sensory needs of their students? It's enough to make you want to close your eyes, put your hands over your ears, spit out your orange juice and yank off that scratchy sweater.
Susan asked an excellent question of the Family Room contributors recently: How do we as therapists talk to parents about a child’s prognosis?
Yes, parents do sometimes ask, “What is my child’s prognosis?” and that is understandable. As a parent, I am sure I’d be asking it myself. However, it may be as difficult for therapists to answer as it is for parents to ask. For one thing, what do parents mean by “prognosis”? Does it simply mean, “What will the outcome be for my child after all this therapy? What will his future look like?” Or is it a way of asking, “How close to typical do you think my child will become?” Although the latter is a perfectly fine (and understandable) goal for one’s child, I always bear in mind just how broad the range of “typical” really is; it’s a moving target. Is your typical the same as my typical? Is “quirky” as okay with you as it is with me? I like to think more in terms of “How comfortably will this child be able to socialize, play, and learn with others? How can we help him be his best self and be happy with who he is throughout childhood and into adulthood?”
The short answer is, we don’t know. I always begin my answer to that question with the “I don’t have a crystal ball” response. And I do wish I had a crystal ball. I wish I could look a parent in the eye and say with confidence, “Oh, your child will be just fine. Simply do x, y, and z!” But I can’t.
Over the years, I’ve occasionally started working with a child who appeared to have everything in place to succeed and yet the progress was slower than I expected. Conversely, there have been times when I doubted in my heart how far I could get with a child and then was happily surprised to see him gain new skills quickly. Without a doubt, I am better at predicting this than I was when I started out as a therapist; experience makes a tremendous difference. But I can still be surprised, because children with special needs are as unique as anyone else, and each has to follow his or her own developmental path. If only we had the map ahead of time!
What I feel I can say with confidence is that I pay attention to a cluster of “good signs” for a positive prognosis, which to me means that the child will have the best shot at growing to his or her fullest potential, no matter what the diagnosis is or how old the child is at the time. I’m sure we all have different internal criteria to determine prognosis, depending on the way we look at and think about the children we serve.
When a parent asks me, these are my top concerns:
1) Involved caregivers. Now, hold on a minute! You do not have to quit your job, no matter what that mom told you in the waiting room at OT. But you do need to be very involved with your child’s intervention program. You do need to make sure your child’s IFSP or IEP has appropriate, attainable goals and addresses your concerns. You do need to know all of his therapists and what they are working on. You do need to hand pick your private therapists and be as involved in sessions as you possibly can be. Organize team meetings with therapists. Have regular communication with them. Ask lots of questions. And you need to know what you can work on at home – and do it! It’s a lot of work, whether you are working outside the home or not.
2) Quality therapists. Another key to a positive prognosis is going to be the quality of your child’s intervention team rather than the quantity of therapists. You need to hear from the therapists on a regular basis; if you don’t see the therapist every week, be sure you are getting notes or regular phone meetings to discuss how things are going. I’d prefer to see a child working with just a couple of excellent therapists rather than running around to see many different people who are working on different goals in different ways. Because if your child is doing that, how on earth can you as a parent keep track of what each therapist is doing, and generalize the goals at home (see #1)? And also, isn’t everyone stretched too thin? In the long run, who does that benefit?
3) A developmental program. Yes, this is closely tied to #2, but cannot be stressed enough. If I see a child with a therapeutic program that is focused on teaching skills without foundational skills truly in place (e.g., joint attention, referencing, reciprocity, emotion-sharing, perspective-taking, strong non-verbal communication skills), I won’t feel that the child has as good a prognosis. Perhaps he will succeed academically in school, at least up until 3rd or 4th grade, but not socially. And believe me, when it comes time for your grown-up child to get a job, it is not going to be those academic skills that pay off in an interview or help him keep the job. It is going to be his ability to interact with others and work as part of a team. Without an appropriate developmental program, his future success will be tremendously impacted.
4) An integrated team. Your child’s team, whether it is made up of public therapists, private therapists, or both, must communicate with each other. Team meetings are an excellent way to do this, although they can be very difficult for parents to coordinate. I have seen many families in Chicago set up Yahoo! Groups for their child’s team, and this has been an excellent forum for therapists and parents to communicate notes, reports, comments, and questions. These are private and you can have an email sent to you each time there is a new post; I highly recommend it. A coordinated team is a committed team. And a committed team is working hard on behalf of your child. Therefore, integration of services will naturally lead to improved prognosis.
Every child is different. But until someone hands me that crystal ball I’ve been asking for, I’m going to have to rely on these other factors.
Remember when I said that my worlds were colliding? My colleague Martha sent me a link to Robert Scoble's blog today in which he interviews Sridhar Vembu, CEO of a company called Zoho. After the interview, they went for coffee and their conversation took a detour into a frank discussion of Sridhar's experiences as the parent of a child with autism. I never expected to find something like that in the course of a normal work day, and I just wanted to extend my thanks to both Robert and Sridhar for sharing this story in such an unexpected and visible place--especially on a day when the Internet is abuzz with rumors that Microsoft will buy Yahoo! (Robert is an ex senior guy at Microsoft). Talk about having your priorities straight!
Thanks to Jordan for passing this along: Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to changing the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders, has created a music video of the Five for Fighting song, "World," which features images of children with autism, and their families. It is a truly moving video and was the work of Bill Shea. The band is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please click here and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.
On a similar topic, it seems that we are moving beyond the Rain Man era to a more nuanced (more, not perfect) depiction of life with autism. Here are two that I know of: I actually saw Magnificent Seven (no, not the one with Yul Brynner), on a plane ride back East with my family. I kind of liked it, actually, with several rather significant reservations, not the least of which was how fresh and gorgeous Helena Bonham Carter managed to look despite raising three special needs boys and three typical girls--with no visible source of income. And today I heard about another BBC movie called After Thomas that apparently aired last night. It's going to run again, so you might want to check it out if you haven't seen it. And if you have seen either of these, let us know what you thought.
Yesterday I went to the Support for Families of Children with Disabilities 2007 Information & Resource Conference. It amazes me what this group, which seems to be run on about five dollars and sheer will, can pull off. They ran 14 workshops in two tracks, ranging from "Adaptive Sports" to "Planning for Inclusive Transitions Across School Levels" to "Legal Rights of Public School Students with Disabilities." I chose two subjects that are near and dear to my heart these days: "Food & Eating Issues for Children with Autism" and "Toilet Training Children with Special Needs," the latter of which was run by Melissa Willa of Gateway Learning Group. Both sessions took a behavioral approach, and I could again see how these new ways of conducting ABA can open up whole worlds for children: a new degree of independence, the tolerance for--even interest in--new types of foods. The initial approach in these specific instances may be more adult led, but the consequences ultimately empower the kids to make a broader range of choices for themselves over time. So again that difficult balance between ABA and Floortime, between the child's agenda and the therapist's.
Both sessions reminded me that too often we rush into our kids' programs without really getting enough of the context behind what our providers plan to do. As a result, things that you think of as kind of optional (switching reinforcers, or forgetting to tell your school what you're doing at home) can have an impact and stretch out the learning process. And things that you slowly begin to disagree with (for example, the degree to which your child is pushed in a particular session), can become a real source of tension. So it was helpful to have an opportunity to sit down and start from the very beginning.
I can't possibly do justice to each session, but I do have one suggestion, and it's pretty simple. Even if you do team meetings already, try to find some non-therapy, non-IEP time to talk to your providers individually, even for a few minutes, so you can discuss what's on your mind and start to work it into your child's program. I realized yesterday that I had been worrying about Isaac's somewhat limited food repertoire, but in the chaos of everything else I wasn't even aware of it until I saw this class on the agenda. So now I'll approach his case manager to talk about it, and probably even add it to the IEP. (Tip: you CAN add eating and potty objectives to your child's IEP...I didn't realize that before).
Last thing, since I'm apparently on an advice kick today: take a breath. Not every minute of our lives should be a learning opportunity, or a heroically therapeutic moment. Autism may be a communication disorder, but there's plenty of communication in stillness, and silence, too. (Not to mention the guilty pleasure of sharing a pizza while you watch "Dancing with The Stars" together.)
Tomorrow, Support for Families will be hosting their annual “Info Fair” at John O’Connell High School in San Francisco. This is a free event for families of children with special needs, the professionals who work with them, and the community at large. The fair will feature a variety of workshops on a range of topics including adaptive sports, toilet training children with special needs, legal rights of public school students with disabilities and food and eating issues for children with autism. I'll be there and will post on what I learn later this weekend. Stay tuned.
In other completely unrelated news, Isaac now seems to be a big fan of Bollywood music. We had a little dance party at home tonight: just the three of us, plus the incomparable sights and sounds of Chaiya, Chaiya. Lifts your spirits on a drizzly Friday night, after a long and stressful week. | <urn:uuid:98f32105-d1a3-450e-bad8-237443280932> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://susanetlinger.typepad.com/the_family_room/resources_and_education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970175 | 3,959 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Marty Podskoch, a retired reading teacher from Delhi and now living in Colchester, CT, became interested in fire towers after climbing Hunter Mountain in the fall of 1987 where he met an old observer and Podskoch wanted to find out more information about the history and lore of the fire towers. Purple Mountain Press then asked him to write about the history of the Catskill fire towers and the restoration project that was occurring in the Catskills.
After interviewing hundreds of observers, rangers and their families, he was able to gather their stories and pictures of the 23 Catskill fire towers. In 2000 his first book, Fire Towers of the Catskill: Their History and Lore, was published by Purple Mountain Press. In 2003 his second book, Adirondack Fire Towers: Their History and Lore, the Southern Districts, was also published by Purple Mountain Press. It describes the 32 fire towers in the southern Adirondacks. Marty’s next book, Adirondack Fire Towers: Their History and Lore, the Northern Districts (2005), documented the 25 fire towers in the northern Adirondacks.
His latest books, Adirondack Stories: Historical Sketches (2007) and Adirondack Stories II: 101 More Historical Sketches (2009), contains a few more fire tower stories that are illustrated by Sam Glanzman and can bee seen at this web site.
All of these books are now published and sold by Podskoch Press. | <urn:uuid:a7eabf62-1586-4a61-bf4e-e868b05d631b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.firetowerstories.com/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956759 | 305 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The Lost Button
This morning, the shop windows look drab.
People hurry straight past the gaudy dresses.
Mirrors lined-up on the pavement wait for reflections.
The streets still deserted,
the sticky palms of passers-by are lined with sleep.
Then a solitary shirt
gapes wide open on the path -
what cast you in front of these mirrors?
Morning lifts from the heavy eyes of those wandering
Only the shirt knows their face.
Only the shirt -
yet their only pleasure is bargaining.
The shirt shivers in anticipation,
longing for someone who cares nothing for prices,
who knows nothing of sucking the desire from a button,
a button half-hidden, stitched to a label, lost in the folds
the button touches itself and lets out a sigh of relief.
It was when her hand moved across the window
that she found this lost button.
Alert, lost in thought, she forgets the strangers passing
She flushes with tenderness, with the secret aftermath
dazzling the window.
The literal translation of this poem was made by Anna Murison
The final translated version of the poem is by Sarah Maguire
We made two attempts at this poem: one in a workshop where we got half-way through and then had to call it a day, and then later on in our small group of translators from Arabic comprising Anna Murison, Sara Vaghefian, Samra Said and Worod Musawi. As ever, Worod was particularly helpful.
This is a highly eroticised poem, as are a number of Faten's other poems - a daring stance for a woman poet from Gaza writing in Arabic. It was Worod who enlightened us as to what 'the lost button' actually might be. Once we understood that, the rest of the poem gradually fell into place.
Non-native speakers of Arabic find it almost impossible to discern the pronouns used in poetry - which, of course, makes translating Arabic poetry all but impossible.
© Poetry Translation Centre 2004-2013 | <urn:uuid:c0bdea94-9c5b-44af-84b7-05c1667b2c8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.poetrytranslation.org/poems/191/The_Lost_Button | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94137 | 429 | 1.90625 | 2 |
In this sermon, Bishop von Galen attacks the state's practice of euthanasia and condemns the Nazi doctrine that permits the murder of individuals deemed "unproductive' and of no use to the state.
My Beloved Brethren,
In today's Gospel we read of an unusual event: Our Saviour weeps. Yes, the Son of God sheds tears. Whoever weeps must be either in physical or mental anguish. At that time Jesus was not yet in bodily pain and yet here were tears. What depth of torment He must have felt in His heart and Soul, if He, the bravest of men, was reduced to tears. Why is He weeping? He is lamenting over Jerusalem, the holy city He loved so tenderly, the capital of His race. He is weeping over her inhabitants, over His own compatriots because they cannot foresee the judgment that is to overtake them, the punishment which His divine prescience and justice have pronounced. Ah, if thou too couldst understand, above all in this day that is granted thee, the ways that can bring thee peace!' Why did the people of Jerusalem not know it? Jesus had given them the reason a short time before. Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often have I been ready to gather thy children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings; and thou didst refuse it! I your God and your King wished it, but you would have none of Me. . . .' This is the reason for the tears of Jesus, for the tears of God. . . . Tears for the misrule, the injustice and man's willful refusal of Him and the resulting evils, which, in His divine omniscience, He foresees and which in His justice He must decree. . . . It is a fearful thing when man sets his will against the will of God, and it is because of this that Our Lord is lamenting over Jerusalem.
My faithful brethren! In the pastoral letter drawn up by the German Hierarchy on the 26th of June at Fulda and appointed to be read in all the churches of Germany on July 6th, it is expressly stated: According to Catholic doctrine, there are doubtless commandments which are not binding when obedience to them requires too great a sacrifice, but there are sacred obligations of conscience from which no one can release us and which we must fulfil even at the price of death itself. At no time, and under no circumstances whatsoever, may a man, except in war and in lawful defence, take the life of an innocent person.'
When this pastoral was read on July 6th I took the opportunity of adding this exposition:
For the past several months it has been reported that, on instructions from Berlin, patients who have been suffering for a long time from apparently incurable diseases have been forcibly removed from homes and clinics. Their relatives are later informed that the patient has died, that the body has been cremated and that the ashes may be claimed. There is little doubt that these numerous cases of unexpected death in the case of the insane are not natural, but often deliberately caused, and result from the belief that it is lawful to take away life which is unworthy of being lived.
This ghastly doctrine tries to justify the murder of blameless men and would seek to give legal sanction to the forcible killing of invalids, cripples, the incurable and the incapacitated. I have discovered that the practice here in Westphalia is to compile lists of such patients who are to be removed elsewhere as unproductive citizens,' and after a period of time put to death. This very week, the first group of these patients has been sent from the clinic of Marienthal, near Munster.
Paragraph 21 of the Code of Penal Law is still valid. It states that anyone who deliberately kills a man by a premeditated act will be executed as a murderer. It is in order to protect the murderers of these poor invalidsmembers of our own familiesagainst this legal punishment, that the patients who are to be killed are transferred from their domicile to some distant institution. Some sort of disease is then given as the cause of death, but as cremation immediately follows it is impossible for either their families or the regular police to ascertain whether death was from natural causes.
I am assured that at the Ministry of the Interior and at the Ministry of Health, no attempt is made to hide the fact that a great number of the insane have already been deliberately killed and that many more will follow.
Article 139 of the Penal Code expressly lays down that anyone who knows from a reliable source of any plot against the life of a man and who does not inform the proper authorities or the intended victim, will be punished. . . .
When I was informed of the intention to remove patients from Marienthal for the purpose of putting them to death I addressed the following registered letter on July 29th to the Public Prosecutor, the Tribunal of Munster, as well as to the Head of the Munster Police:
I have been informed this week that a considerable number of patients from the provincial clinic of Marienthal are to be transferred as citizens alleged to be "unproductive" to the institution of Richenberg, there to be executed immediately; and that according to general opinion, this has already been carried out in the case of other patients who have been removed in like manner. Since this sort of procedure is not only contrary to moral law, both divine and natural, but is also punishable by death, according to Article 211 of the Penal Code, it is my bounden obligation in accordance with Article 139 of the same Code to inform the authorities thereof. Therefore I demand at once protection for my fellow countrymen who are threatened in this way, and from those who purpose to transfer and kill them, and I further demand to be informed of your decision.'
I have received no news up till now of any steps taken by these authorities. On July 26th I had already written and dispatched a strongly worded protest to the Provincial Administration of Westphalia which is responsible for the clinics to which these patients have been entrusted for care and treatment. My efforts were of no avail. The first batch of innocent folk have left Marienthal under sentence of death, and I am informed that no less than eight hundred cases from the institution of Waestein have now gone. And so we must await the news that these wretched defenceless patients will sooner or later lose their lives. Why? Not because they have committed crimes worthy of death, not because they have attacked guardians or nurses as to cause the latter to defend themselves with violence which would be both legitimate and even in certain cases necessary, like killing an armed enemy soldier in a righteous war.
No, these are not the reasons why these unfortunate patients are to be put to death. It is simply because that according to some doctor, or because of the decision of some committee, they have no longer a right to live because they are unproductive citizens'. The opinion is that since they can no longer make money, they are obsolete machines, comparable with some old cow that can no longer give milk or some horse that has gone lame. What is the lot of unproductive machines and cattle? They are destroyed. I have no intention of stretching this comparison further. The case here is not one of machines or cattle which exist to serve men and furnish them with plenty. They may be legitimately done away with when they can no longer fulfil their function. Here we are dealing with human beings, with our neighbours, brothers and sisters, the poor and invalids . . . unproductiveperhaps! But have they, therefore, lost the right to live? Have you or I the right to exist only because we are productive'? If the principle is established that unproductive human beings may be killed, then God help all those invalids who, in order to produce wealth, have given their all and sacrificed their strength of body. If all unproductive people may thus be violently eliminated, then woe betide our brave soldiers who return home, wounded, maimed or sick.
Once admit the right to kill unproductive persons . . . then none of us can be sure of his life. We shall be at the mercy of any committee that can put a man on the list of unproductives. There will be no police protection, no court to avenge the murder and inflict punishment upon the murderer. Who can have confidence in any doctor? He has but to certify his patients as unproductive and he receives the command to kill. If this dreadful doctrine is permitted and practised it is impossible to conjure up the degradation to which it will lead. Suspicion and distrust will be sown within the family itself. A curse on men and on the German people if we break the holy commandment Thou shalt not kill' which was given us by God on Mount Sinai with thunder and lightning, and which God our Maker imprinted on the human conscience from the beginning of time! Woe to us German people if we not only licence this heinous offence but allow it to be committed with impunity!
I will now give you a concrete example of what is taking place here. A fifty-five-year-old peasant from a country parish near MunsterI could give you his namehas been cared for in the clinic of Marienthal for some years suffering from some mental derangement. He was not hopelessly mad, in fact he could receive visitors and was always pleased to see his family. About a fortnight ago he had a visit from his wife and a soldier son who was home on leave from the front. The latter was devoted to his sick father. Their parting was sad, for they might not see each other again as the lad might fall in battle. As it happens this son will never set eyes on his father again because he is on the list of the unproductives'. A member of the family who was sent to see the father at Marienthal was refused admission and was informed that the patient had been taken away on the orders of the Council of Ministers of National Defence. His whereabouts was unknown. The family would receive official notification in due course. What will this notice contain? Will it be like all the others, namely that the man is dead and that the ashes of his body will be sent on the receipt of so much money to defray expenses? And so the son who is now risking his life at the front for his German compatriots will never again see his father. These are the true facts and the names of all those concerned are available.
Thou shalt not kill.' God engraved this commandment on the souls of men long before any penal code laid down punishment for murder, long before any court prosecuted and avenged homicide. Cain, who killed his brother Abel, was a murderer long before courts or states came into existence, and plagued by his conscience he confessed, Guilt like mine is too great to find forgiveness . . . and I shall wander over the earth, a fugitive; anyone I meet will slay me.'
Because of His love for us God has engraved these commandments in our hearts and has made them manifest to us. They express the need of our nature created by God. They are the unchangeable and fundamental truths of our social life grounded on reason, well pleasing to God, healthful and sacred. God, Our Father, wishes by these precepts to gather us, His children, about Him as a hen shelters her brood under her wings. If we are obedient to His commands, then we are protected and preserved against the destruction with which we are menaced, just as the chicks beneath the wings of the mother. Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often have I been ready to gather thy children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings; and thou didst refuse it!'
Does history again repeat itself here in Germany, in our land of Westphalia, in our city of Munster? Where in Germany and where, here, is obedience to the precepts of God? The eighth commandment requires Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour'. How often do we see this commandment publicly and shamelessly broken? In the seventh commandment we read, Thou shalt not steal'. But who can say that property is safe when our brethren, monks and nuns, are forcibly and violently despoiled of their convents, and who now protects property if it is illegally sequestered and not given back?
The sixth commandment tells us, Thou shalt not commit adultery'. Consider the instructions and assurances laid down on the question of free love and child-bearing outside the marital law in the notorious open letter of Rudolf Hess, who has since vanished, which appeared in the Press. In this respect look at the immorality and indecency everywhere in Munster today. Our young people have little respect for the propriety of dress today. Thus is modesty, the custodian of purity, destroyed, and the way for adultery lies open.
How do we observe the fourth commandment which enjoins obedience and respect to parents and superiors? Parental authority is at a low ebb and is constantly being enfeebled by the demands made upon youth against the wishes of the parents. How can real respect and conscientious obedience to the authority of the State be maintained, to say nothing of the Divine commandments, if one is fighting against the one and only true God and His Faith?
The first three commandments have long counted for nothing in the public life of Germany and here also in Munster . . .. The Sabbath is desecrated; Holy Days of Obligation are secularized and no longer observed in the service of God. His name is made fun of, dishonoured and all too frequently blasphemed. As for the first commandment, Thou shalt not have strange gods before me', instead of the One, True, Eternal God, men have created at the dictates of their whim, their own gods to adore Nature, the State, the Nation or the Race. In the words of St. Paul, for many their god is their belly, their ease, to which all is sacrificed down to conscience and honour for the gratification of the carnal senses, for wealth and ambition. Then we are not surprised that they should claim divine privileges and seek to make themselves overlords of life and death.
And as He drew near, and caught sight of the city, He wept over it, and said: "Ah, if thou too couldst understand, above all in this day that is granted thee, the ways that can bring thee peace! As it is, they are hidden from thy sight. The days will come upon thee when thy enemies will fence thee round about, and encircle thee, and press thee hard on every side, and bring down in ruin both thee and thy children that are in thee, not leaving one stone of thee upon another; and all because thou didst not recognize the time of My visiting thee."'
Jesus saw only the walls and towers of the city of Jerusalem with His human eye, but with His divine prescience He saw far beyond and into the inmost heart of the city and its inhabitants. He saw its wicked obstinacy, terrible, sinful and cruel. Man, a transitory creature, was opposing his mean will to the Will of God. That is the reason why Jesus wept for this fearful sin and its inevitable punishment. God is not mocked.
Christians of Munster! Did the Son of God in His omniscience see only Jerusalem and its people? Did He weep only on their behalf? Is God the protector and Father of the Jews only? Is Israel alone in rejecting His divine truth? Are they the only people to throw off the laws of God and plunge headlong to ruin? Did not Jesus, Who sees everything, behold also our German people, our land of Westphalia and the Lower Rhine, and our city of Munster? Has He not also wept for us? For a thousand years He has instructed us and our forbears in the Faith. He has led us by His law. He has nourished us with His grace and has gathered us to Him as the hen does her brood beneath its wings. Has the all-knowing Son of God seen that in our own time He would have to pronounce on us that same dread sentence? Not leaving one stone of thee upon another; and all because thou didst not recognize the time of My visiting thee.' That would indeed be a terrible sentence.
My dearly Beloved, I trust that it is not too late. It is time that we realized today what alone can bring us peace, what alone can save us and avert the divine wrath. We must openly, and without reserve, admit our Catholicism. We must show by our actions that we will live our lives by obeying God's commandments. Our motto must be: Death rather than sin. By pious prayer and penance we can bring down upon us all, our city and our beloved German land, His grace and forgiveness.
But those who persist in inciting the anger of God, who revile our Faith, who hate His commandments, who associate with those who alienate our young men from their religion, who rob and drive out our monks and nuns, who condemn to death our innocent brothers and sisters, our fellow human beings, we shun absolutely so as to remain undefiled by their blasphemous way of life, which would lay us open to that just punishment which God must and will inflict upon all those who, like the thankless Jerusalem, oppose their wishes to those of God.
O my God, grant to us all now on this very day, before it is too late, a true realization of the things that are for peace. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, oppressed even unto tears by the blindness and sins of men, help us by Thy grace to seek always what is pleasing to Thee and reject what is displeasing, so that we may dwell in Thy Love and find rest in our souls. Amen.
General MacArthur made this dramatic radio broadcast to the Filipino people a few minutes after he and his troops landed in Red Beach, Leyte. The words "I have returned" references the now-iconic pledge he made in 1942 ("I shall return"), when ordered to leave his command post in the Philippines and head for Australia.0 people like this | <urn:uuid:017f6b8e-f69d-47cc-b55a-2e494148dfc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sweetspeeches.com/s/2275-clemens-von-galen-the-third-sermon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971966 | 3,744 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Advertisement for White Motor Company
This White Motor Company advertisement appeared in the May 24, 1941 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Through the twentieth century, numerous advertisements touted their products’ association with the mail service, hoping that the positive public opinion of the postal system would help reflect a positive image on their products. Occasionally a new postal transportation system appeared that demonstrated a new use for an old product. In 1941 the American highways bus was turned into a traveling post office. Using the then long-running Railway Post Office service as a model, the White Motor Company fitted a highway bus with mail sorting equipment. The buses helped bring mail to areas that were losing railway mail service connections.
In this advertisement, the White Motor Company boasts about the new service, reaching into history to compare it with the colorful and famous Pony Express.
Text: (which extends into the graphic)
"ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WHAT A BETTER TRUCK CAN DO / The Modern Pony Express / A modern Pony Express has opened a new epoch in the colorful annals of the U.S. Mail Service. Soon, post offices that roll on rubber will be a familiar sight on the Main Streets and highways of America. / Recently in Washington, D.C., the first U.S. Post Office of the Highway inaugurated mail service between the nation's capital and Harrisonburg, Va. Mounted on a White Chassis, the new rolling post office is equipped with every facility for sorting, handling and dispatching all classes of mail. The first route serves 33 communities, all without rail service, on a daily round-trip schedule of 280 miles. Since there are more than 48,000 communities entirely dependent upon highways for their transportation, this unique type of White is pioneering an improvement in mail service of nation-wide significance. Wherever there are highly specialized transportation tasks to be performed, Whites are found."
Two inset photographs are included. One showing the route is captioned "This first highway route out of Washington, D.C. may some day be as historic as the first Pony Express route westward out of St. Joseph, Mo. Towns without rail service...there are more than 48,000 in the U.S. ... are especially affected by this modern extension of the U.S. Mail Service."
The second inset shows men working in a HPO. "With an interior pattered after that of a standard railway mail car, the first U.S. Post Office of the Highway provides every facility for writing and handling all classes of mail enroute." | <urn:uuid:5c15beaa-c18f-4eac-a9df-207214d76a40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2&cmd=1&id=181809&img=1&pg=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939121 | 519 | 2.6875 | 3 |
ESPARZA, JOSE MARIA
ESPARZA, JOSÉ MARÍA (1802–1836). José María Esparza, better known as Gregorio Esparza, defender of the Alamo, was born on February 25, 1802, in San Antonio de Béxar, the child of Juan Antonio and Maria Petra (Olivas) Esparza. He married Anna Salazar, who bore him a daughter and three sons, one of whom, Enrique, was an eyewitness to the siege of the Alamo. Esparza enlisted in Juan N. Seguín's company in October 1835 and participated in the taking of the squares on the north side of the city during the siege of Bexar, December 5–9, 1835. He served until the capitulation of Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos on December 10, 1835.
On the arrival of Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna in February 1836, Esparza and his family were advised by John William Smith to take refuge in the Alamo, since they had been friendly with the Americans. They arrived at twilight and entered through a small window in the church of the compound. Although Col. William Barret Travis, through James Bowie's influence, was allowing local citizens to leave if they so desired, Esparza elected to stay and fight, and his family to remain with him. He tended a cannon during the siege and died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
Francisco Esparza, Gregorio's brother, by his own admission a member of the local Mexican "presidial" company of the Alamo until the capitulation of Cos, requested and was granted permission to enter the Alamo and search for his brother's body after the siege. In company with his two brothers, he took the body and interred it in the Campo Santo on the west side of San Pedro Creek. Thus Gregorio Esparza received a Christian burial, unlike the others slain in the battle. Gregorio's heirs were instrumental in founding San Augustine, southeast of Pleasanton in Atascosa County.
Enrique Esparza, Deposition, August 26, 1859 (Texas General Land Office, Austin). Manuel Flores, Deposition, December 13, 1858 (Texas General Land Office, Austin). Gregorio Hernández, Deposition, December 27, 1858 (Texas General Land Office, Austin). San Antonio Daily Express, May 12, 19, 1907.
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Reynaldo J. Esparza, "ESPARZA, JOSE MARIA," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fes02), accessed May 19, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:95e7fd79-90d9-4eda-9324-1524de2d8e5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fes02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960736 | 606 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Most of the pains that people will go through in Lagos as the Third Mainland Bridge is being fixed are avoidable. They are part of the larger lessons about the consequences of poor planning. It is a great idea to maintain the bridge, but more thoughts should have been invested in minimising disruption of life.
Obviously, the loss to the economy makes no meaning to those who took the decision without adequate plans about movements while the repairs lasted. They tell people to use public transport, board the ferry or stay at home. Our rights to movement and safety are important.
The fixing of the bolts and cracks on the Third Mainland Bridge is not the cause of these pains. We are suffering from years of failed plans. The suffering would continue since governments think only in terms of "fixing eroded bolts and cracks".
For starts, two bridges are not enough for a Lagos that is bursting at its seams. When the bridges were built, they were barely adequate for the population and economic activities the city supports. It is almost a miracle the bridges have survived the heavy trucks that move goods daily from the ports.
The heavy traffic in Lagos and the heavier containers that are a feature of its roads have worsened over the years without the rails to bear part of the burden. Plans for a fourth bridge have withered under other considerations.
Maintenance of public facilities is commendable, but they could be done without benumbing consequences we are facing. The welfare of the people is important. It is insulting to tell people "to stay at home if they cannot bear the traffic snarl".
Commuters - many of who are on their way to work - are expected to be productive after going through the stress. Security on the routes thieves normally rob motorists remains an issue. We have to go through these to repair a bridge?
The alternative routes we are offered are no alternatives. What the authorities are doing is simply divert traffic away from the construction. Ordinarily, Third Mainland Bridge has its traffic jams, same for Ikorodu Road, which now bears most of the diversions. Commercial buses are exploiting the situation, charging fares to match the wastes in time and fuel. How will people make the extra money to see them through the next five months of this agony?
Government should note that ferry services were used in Lagos more than 30 years ago. Lateef Jakande's Baba Kekere served Lagos well then. If government had built on that effort, Lagos would have had a viable alternative means of transportation. Hopefully, by the next repair we would not witness these pains. | <urn:uuid:293123eb-c756-4729-b5e9-16d0877a8882> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allafrica.com/stories/201207110119.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979148 | 527 | 1.640625 | 2 |
AN INSTRUMENT OF YOUR PEACE: A Tribute to the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, poems by Helen Steiner Rice, paintings by John A. Ruthven, compiled by Virginia J. Ruehlmann (includes music CD). Revell. 96 pp. $16.99.
Reviewed by MARY JO DANGEL, an assistant editor of this publication.
THIS BOOK ARRIVED when I desperately needed an instrument of peace: Last April, race riots broke out in the neighborhood where I work. Then in September, my oldest son, Tim, died unexpectedly 11 days before my country was attacked by terrorists.
The book looks like the illuminated manuscripts of St. Francis' time; this lovely presentation is a gift in itself.
The book jacket notes that a CD is enclosed. Two of the 10 inspirational songs were sung at my son's funeral: "In This Very Room" and "On Eagle's Wings." When I listened to the CD, I was comforted to hear the inclusive "neighbors all are we" sung in "Let There Be Peace on Earth." (As a woman, I always feel excluded when the rest of the congregation sings, "brothers all are we.")
The CD is the perfect accompaniment while reading the book, or it can be listened to independently. Its inclusion makes the $16.99 price for the duo a real bargain.
The music is soothing, as are the poems of Helen Steiner Rice, which follow the themes of St. Francis' prayerpeace, love, pardon, faith, hope and joy. Steiner Rice was known as the poet laureate of the greeting-card industry. Thus, her verses might be too sweet for some, but for those of us longing for some quick comfort food, this book satisfies our cravings. In addition, the short poems fit our rushed lifestyles: We don't need lots of time to read a few poems.
Also soothing are John A. Ruthven's wildlife illustrations. His art has been compared to Audubon's. It is the perfect choice to illustrate a tribute to the saint who loved animals. My desired spot for reading the book would be in the midst of a peaceful forest. But when that isn't possible, Ruthven's artwork brings the outdoors in.
Virginia J. Ruehlmann, who has compiled nearly 50 volumes of the author's inspirational poetry, includes a verse from Scripture and a meditative thought after each poem. Each section of the book is introduced with a line from the Peace Prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. Father James Bok, O.F.M., a friar from St. John the Baptist Province, which publishes this magazine, wrote about St. Francis in the Foreword.
Royalties from the sale of this book go to the Helen Steiner Rice Foundation, which awards grants to programs that assist elderly and needy people. Some of those grants have been awarded to Franciscan-affiliated ministries in the neighborhood where I work.
You can order AN INSTRUMENT OF YOUR PEACE: A Tribute
to the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi from St.
A WORLD ON ITS KNEES: Honest Prayers in Uncertain Times, compiled by Madonna Therese Ratliff, F.S.P. (includes music CD). Pauline Books & Media. 151 pp. $12.95.
FROM MOURNING TO MORNING: Healing in America's Time of Crisis, by Leo G. Frangipane, M.D., and Gary Kunkelman, Ph.D. Executive Books (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania). 100 pp., plus appendix material. $11. (Also available as a two-cassette book on tape, $11.)
Reviewed by MARK M. WILKINS, a religious education teacher in his 26th year at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.
EVENTS LIKE THOSE of September 11, 2001, create the perception that the world has forever changed. In reality, what has changed for now is our perception of the world in which we live.
The flag and the sense of patriotism are unifying Americans rather than dividing us. Now our spending money on anything and everything is deemed an act of political defiance. Shopping after the terrorist attacks was presented as bearing deeper political, social and patriotic overtones. "We Shall Not Be Moved" was all but appropriated by the malls to get our attention and our business.
"God Bless America" seems to be at the heart of a renewed ecumenical movement. Our faith and will as a nation seem stronger than ever. But faith in what? What are we resolved to do? More shopping?
Numerous books have already been published which try to recapture the events of that horrible day. Other books are trying to make sense of the events and help people cope with the tragedy. Here are two books that look at the tragedies of that day from different perspectives.
One takes a transcendent approachcalling out to God to help us heal and make sense of the events. The other takes a more immanent approach in helping people cope with sorrow and loss in the here and now. One puts faith in the divine and the other in the human.
A World on Its Knees is a collection of short prayers and reflections that the author has collected in the last few months. She has combined these with Scripture selections (and music on a CD) to create an atmosphere for healing broken hearts and working to bring healing to a broken and wounded world.
The wounds were always there. But now they have faces and stories with which we Americans can identify more readily. And the gaping hole in the ground is in New York City. We now have a vivid image to live with and a link to what the rest of the world has known for generations.
The prayers and reflections come from all over the world. Interspersed throughout are selections from Scripture. The accompanying music CD has both sung and instrumental music to set a reflective and prayerful mood.
The point of the work is to promote healing and understanding by spending time in prayer, in the presence of God who is Lord of all.
The second book is a collaborative effort, dedicated to the families of those who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Leo Frangipane, M.D., is a surgeon, author, health-care consultant and lecturer. Gary Kunkleman, Ph.D., is a writer, university religious studies teacher and historian. They explain that sometimes seemingly disparate views end up with the same conclusions.
The four short chapters emphasize these points. Each person should embrace the grief to gain perspective. Then we should look inward, past the things that clutter our lives, to calm ourselves and gain focus. Through this we can let go of our fears, connect with others and use love's power to heal. This will help us find meaning in the events by helping us to get past the unanswerable "Why did this happen?" to find answers to "What is to become of us?" and "How can we go on?"
These books are suitable for readers who are still caught in the immediacy of the events of September 11 and are struggling to make sense of their grief. They may help people find the words or the direction they need in coping with the attacks.
It seems that both works are general enough that they might help someone deal with the loss of a loved one in some other tragic circumstances. They both can be read piecemeal or as a quick-read whole.
I would suggest that readers keep a journal handy to write down their own response to the prayers and ideas, thereby finding their own voice and their own sense of God's presence.
These are not answer books, but guidebooks. The military response is but one piece of the long-term solution. With God's grace, we can tap our inner resources and find our way together. Frangipane and Kunkelman suggest that this healing will be a living memorial. Perhaps facing the hole in the heart of Manhattan can enable us to fill ourselves up with real meaning and make us better people and a better nation.
You can order A WORLD ON ITS KNEES: Honest Prayers in
Uncertain Times and FROM MOURNING TO MORNING: Healing
in America's Time of Crisis from St.
INSPIRED LIVES: Exploring the Role of Faith and Spirituality in the Lives of Extraordinary People, by Joanna Laufer and Kenneth S. Lewis. Skylight Paths Publishing. 227 pp. $16.95.
Reviewed by MARY LYNNE RAPIEN, wife, mother, grandmother, clinical counselor, bereavement minister, catechist and homily writer for St. Anthony Messenger Press.
ONE OBVIOUS FACT in reading of the inspiration of God shared by the 43 "extraordinary" men and women in Inspired Lives is that the Spirit of God is not limited to one faith tradition. While at least one of the authors is a Catholic, those interviewed come from many religious persuasions: Christians of many denominations, Jews (Orthodox, Reform, Conservative), Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu.
They come from many professions, like writers, artists, musicians, sports figures, rabbis, priests, surgeons and psychiatrists. Authors Joanna Laufer and Kenneth S. Lewis interviewed all 43 persons quoted.
Laufer and Lewis link their interviewees' short sharings to the themes presented. In these introductions, they quote many other famous persons (living and dead) who have spoken on the topic of inspiration. Sacred Scripture is heavily woven into the fabric of the book beginning with the first sentence in Genesis, which ends with "...a mighty wind swept over the waters."
That Hebrew word for "wind" is ruach. It is the same word used for "breath" and "spirit." The wind in Genesis 1:1 is described as the creative breath of God. Inspiration is described as God breathing divine life into us. Jack Polak, a Holocaust survivor, says in the book, "How much life is in our life without the breath of life?" The ways that "breath" is manifested in the lives of the 43 contributors at key points in their lives speak for themselves.
To categorize these "ways," the authors group their sharing under six headings: The Breath of God; Loss, Grief and Healing; Revelation; Creativity; Prayer; and Ritual. The one- or two-page sharings from each contributor focus on one aspect of inspiration as it impacted his or her life. Some of those interviewed, like author Madeleine L'Engle, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and classical guitarist Christopher Parkening, are featured in more than one section.
It is always exciting for this reviewer to read soul sharings of people who were awakened to the presence of God in their lives. The "before" and "after" accounts in the lives of those who experienced God's presence with them and in them in dramatic ways is itself inspiring.
The book offers the reader a deeper understanding of inspiration, what it is and what it isn't. At times, there is repetition, but it wasn't bothersome.
Two welcome features come at the end of the book. The first is a brief biography of each contributor. Since their sharings are focused on a thin slice of their lives, it helps to have a broader background. Second, the au-thors provide a detailed index, including contributors, topics and Scriptures.
A bonus is four blank pages for notes. Some may find this too much of a good thing.
You can order INSPIRED LIVES: Exploring the Role of Faith and Spirituality in the Lives of Extraordinary People from St.
HEAVEN: A History, second edition, by Colleen McDannell and Bernard Lang. Yale University Press. 358 pp. $16.95.
Reviewed by the REV. MICHAEL P. ORSI, Ed.D., a priest of the Diocese of Camden with a broad background in teaching and educational administration. A member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, he presently serves as chaplain and research fellow in law and religion at Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
IN THE AFTERMATH of September 11, there has been a renewed interest in life after death. In particular, the human need for consolation has raised questions about heaven, such as: "What is it like?" "What do people do in heaven?" "Who is going to be there?" In the second edition of Heaven: A History, Colleen McDannell and Bernard Lang provide a timely study on how humans have envisioned heaven in the context of Western civilization.
Using a bottom-up approach that focuses on the interaction of religion and culture, the authors build a case for heaven as a human metaphor in which the best hopes and values of an era have been reflected. They show how earthly ideas and things have shaped the vision of heaven for over two millennia. According to the authors, a perennial tug-of-war between the rational and affective parts of human nature has influenced both the spiritual and physical concepts of heaven found in Judeo-Christian thought.
The book's new Preface contains a moving exchange between the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner and his friend Luise Rinser that demonstrates the ongoing vacillation between the mind and heart that makes a definitive response to the above questions less likely. Their dialogue effectively sets the tone for the major themes and amorphous images of heaven that tell its history in the pages that follow.
The details of heavenly life are at best sketchy, even in the Bible. Although the Old Testament begins to allude to a life after death, the full expression of eternal life comes about only in the New Testament, which presents two conflicting pictures: the spiritual one where Jesus tells the Sadducees that there is no marriage in heaven because we become like angels (Luke 20:27, 34-38) and the material one portrayed by the heavenly court in the Book of Revelation.
Throughout the recorded history of heaven, the authors show how social needs, the perception of good and the prevailing philosophy of an epoch have shifted the human concept of heaven. The theocentric model most familiar to traditional Catholics and Protestants has the saints focusing on God's Beatific Vision, which promises to fulfill every human longing.
The Renaissance's positive vision of man, on the other hand, caused a shift to an anthropocentric heaven that emphasized social relationships and the reuniting of families in perfect cities and gardens. A desire for activity and human progress inherent in the philosophy of the Enlightenment found the ideal expression of heaven in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg, who envisioned heaven to be a place for the perfection of knowledge which would be unveiled in stages.
Combining the anthropocentric model with the human activity model, the Mormons provide a vision where marriage and procreation continue in order to populate other worlds. A good deal of 20th-century thought, however, moved away from heaven as a place of otherworldly survival; for example, the Social Gospel movement believed humans were called to make heaven on earth, while the liberal Catholic and Protestant symbolists denied a personal survival and simply said that all would merge into God.
Nevertheless, a strong presence of fundamentalism throughout the century continued to paint vivid pictures of heaven and "the Saved" being with God forever in their resurrected bodies.
At the root of these variations of heaven pictured throughout history is the human need for meaning and hope in the face of evil and the threat of extinction. Human spiritual and emotional health depends on optimism, good overcoming evil and life overcoming death. For these basic needs, heaven has always served humans well. During times of crisis, fear and confusion require explanations of death and the consolations of eternity.
Heaven: A History provides a rich opportunity for theological reflection. This book can help in constructing a language for the hereafter that will encourage the best hopes of the living and, heaven knows, perhaps guide the reader to a vision of eternal bliss.
You can order HEAVEN: A History from St.
Books can be obtained through St.
Francis Bookshop at www.StFrancisOnline.com
or 1618 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45210, phone
1-800-241-6392. All orders must be prepaid. Add $4 for postage
and handling. Ohio residents should also add 6.0 percent
for sales tax. The Bookshop offers a free catalog. | <urn:uuid:77527f0a-a201-4795-b55d-f3424097cfba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Apr2002/books.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948913 | 3,396 | 1.507813 | 2 |
CAMBRIDGE - Follow in the footsteps of brave and resourceful former slave, Harriet Tubman, and her fellow abolitionists who led more than 70 enslaved African Americans to freedom before the American Civil War along Maryland's Underground Railroad, which was not a true railroad but rather a secret network of roads, waterways and hiding places.
Born an enslaved woman in Dorchester County, Maryland around 1821, Tubman fled to the North in 1849. She returned many times to lead others to freedom, with great danger to all involved, earning her the name "Moses of Her People." This byway brings to life the stories along the Underground Railroad on Maryland's eastern shore, along with stunning scenery and great seafood.
This video features glimpses of local scenery and features local residents and Harriet Tubman supporters, like Donald Pinder. | <urn:uuid:20e0913e-b53f-4f1c-b904-8c07713f4aef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://maryland.newszap.com/entertainment/112381-94/the-harriet-tubman-underground | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941457 | 170 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Construction is under way on a line that runs down the E Street corridor in San Bernardino, from northwest of Cal State San Bernardino to the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center in Loma Linda.
The middle portion of the E Street corridor features dedicated lanes for the buses running down the middle of the road, and ticketing platforms in the middle of key intersections that include Marshall Boulevard, Highland Avenue, and Base Line Road.
Substantial completion is anticipated for early 2014, with testing and training taking place at that time, said Omnitrans spokesman David
Below is a map with current construction information for the sbX Project, as updated by Omnitrans:
Source: Omnitrans, Google
The brand name for the rapid bus system is sbX, which stands for San Bernardino Express, Rutherford said. The E Street corridor is the first sbX line to be constructed. It's part of a larger sbX network of corridors envisioned to run on key thoroughfares throughout the San Bernardino valley and as far west as Rancho Cucamonga.
Rutherford called the project a "light rail experience on wheels," citing loading platforms that mirror ticketing platforms for rail projects such as the Gold Line.
"We want to reduce traffic congestion, and we think that by making a service available that is faster, or a more frequent service, that will attract a bigger ridership than we've had in the past with these BRT lines," Rutherford said. "We're developing the corridors and our goal is to provide connectivity with the other Omnitrans routes, as well as other transit services."
Bus rapid transit, officials said, is faster, and has fewer stops. The buses will also have traffic signal priority capability, allowing them to change stoplights to green for speedier travel.
Goals include mitigating increasing traffic on the region's freeways, increasing bus ridership, fostering transit-oriented development in the west end of San Bernardino County, and providing better transit links between the Omnitrans system, Metrolink, the Gold Line, and the LA/Ontario International Airport.
Potential sbX corridors include the east to west streets of Foothill Boulevard and Holt Boulevard, and north-south streets of Mountain Avenue, Haven Avenue, Sierra Avenue, and Riverside Avenue. The overall vision for an sbX system was approved by SANBAG in 2004.
Construction for other corridors is dependent on funding, and Omnitrans officials hope potential success with the E Street corridor will serve to bring money for the rest of the system.
"Before we even pursue (development on the other corridors), we have to complete this (E Street) project," Rutherford said. "If the (Federal Transit Administration) is satisfied with this corridor then, I think that will lead to funding for future corridors."
An 18-month study on the Foothill corridor is ongoing, while a preliminary study on Holt, to investigate stops and bus paths, is set to begin in January.
Rancho Cucamonga city officials met this past week to discuss planning for a line on Foothill Boulevard and Haven Avenue.
"The takeaway from the meeting I think is a recognition that it's a long-term project, and it's not going to get done in the next year or two, but (city leaders) asked that as we go along, we carefully analyze it, and we'll bring more details back to them for further review," said Jeff Bloom, deputy city manager for economic and community development.
City leaders, Bloom said, indicated desire to maintain bus stop or station designs consistent with the city's overall aesthetic.
"In Rancho, they've very carefully made the bus terminal fit the development," Bloom said. "They're very nicely done. They didn't want the BRT to adversely change that in a bad way."
According to the city's general plan, seven stops are envisioned, for a bus route that could conceivably run down the middle of Foothill Boulevard. The BRT would also connect to a route down Haven Avenue to the Ontario International Airport.
"I think bus rapid transit really is the future of transit," said Rohan Kuruppu, director of planning for Omnitrans.
"That's how we can most efficiently and effectively meet the mobility needs of this region. It is sustainable because as traffic conditions increases as congestion increases, we will still be able to maintain the operating speed because of dedicated lanes, stations and signal priority."
Reach Neil via email, call him at 909-483-9356, or find him on Twitter @InlandGov. | <urn:uuid:d8733955-a590-46f0-8c83-41a293ad7d62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_22249930/regional-rapid-bus-system-moving-forward-san-bernardino | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959242 | 948 | 1.625 | 2 |
|San José State University|
& Tornado Alley
and Intensities of Tropical Cyclones
(Hurricanes and Typhoons) and Tornadoes
Tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons) are the natural events at the top of the scale for natural disasters. With a concern for the consequences of an increase in global temperatures it is natural for people to be concerned about any effect of global warming on either their frequency and/or their intensity. However, whatever global warming means there is one thing it does not mean and that is that temperatures area increasing uniformly everywhere on Earth in all seasons of the year at all times of the day and night.
The first question to ask on the issue of global warming and tropical cyclones is whether there has been a temperature increase in the regions where they form and develop during the times of the year where they form and develop. The regions where they form and develop is over the ocean during the later summer at about 30° of latitude north and south.
The following displays from the website of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies show estimates for the seasonal as well as the global average trends.
The above information illustrates the fact that the global average temperature has increased over the last half century because of an extraordinary increase in temperatures in central Siberia and Northwest Canada during the winter. If the information separated day and nighttime temperatures the role of central Siberia and northwestern Canada would be even more sharply delineated. The places in the northern hemisphere which have the coldest temperatures are becoming less cold. This is not an adverse development.
The displays reveal that the sea surface temperature has not increased notably in the regions and in the seasons where tropical cyclones form and develop. The color scale is not linear so it is hard to discern precisely how much the temperature has increased in the relevant areas and how that compares with the natural variation.
Such information is available for land temperatures in the relevant latitude zones. This is shown below.
The t-ratios indicate that the observed temperature trends are not significantly different from zero at the 95 percent level of confidence.
After having reviewed the temperature trends in the region where tropical cyclones form and develop it is now appropriate to look at the time series statistics on hurricanes.
Visually there does not appear to be any significant trend in the total number of hurricanes on the number of category 3 or higher. The visual impression is confirmed for a compilation of the averages by decades, as shown below.
The trend in the more severe hurricanes is biased by changes in observational accuracy over time. Hurricanes fluctuate in severity over their life cycle. They are classified according to their maximum severity. Over time the tracking and observation of hurricane characteristics has improved so that over time there has been a greater opportunity to catch a hurricane in a higher level of severity.
The wind speed statistics for hurricanes in the Atlantic definitely do not show a perceptible upward trend. In fact, if anything according to Landsea's data they are decreasing.
Although both tropical cyclones and tornadoes are vortices there are distinct differences which indicate quite different mechanisms for their formation and development. Tornadoes are much, much smaller in spatial extent than tropical cyclones and their wind speeds are much higher than those of tropical cyclones. The wind speeds of the hurricanes are awesome but most of their damage and loss of life comes from the storm surges accompanying them.
The statistics on tornadoes demonstrates the effect of improved surveilance. The time series on severe tornadoes shows no trend, as illustrated below:
But the observed numbers for all tornadoes do show an upward trend:
The most likely explanation for this trend is that the increased effort for providing advanced warning is picking up weak tornadoes that otherwise would not be observed.
HOME PAGE OF Thayer Watkins | <urn:uuid:7308e98c-fd03-4de2-bf7a-0c5c83d0701f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://applet-magic.com/GWcyclones.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940084 | 762 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Reduced fetal activity may be discovered earlier if pregnant women systematically keep track of the activity pattern of the fetus by counting movements.
"This may help pregnant women to get check-ups faster," says midwife and researcher at Oslo and Akershus University College (HiOA).
Saastad recently wrote a doctoral thesis on fetal movement counting. She has several years of work experience with stillbirths and quality assessments of antenatal and obstetric care.
"Reduced activity in the belly may be a sign of the fetus being in a vulnerable or threatened condition, thus the risk of complications become greater the longer you wait to contact the health services," she points out.
There is litte research on the use of fetal movement counting and that is why it has been important to map possible negative effects of this method, for instance unnecessary maternal concern.
Saastad has reviewed the effects of fetal movement counting among 1123 pregnant women at nine Norwegian hospitals from 2007 to 2009.
Half of the participating women were instructed to register the time it took to feel ten movements from the baby, the average time being 10 minutes. The women did the count once every 24 hours from the third trimester.
The remaining participants were going to follow the antenatal care in accordance with Norwegian guidelines where fetal movement counting is not encouraged.
Saastad emphasises that the research showed that fetal movement counting stimulated the pregnant women’s vigilance and sensitivity towards the baby. However, it did not result in an increased amount of consultations at the health services due to concern for reduced fetal activity.
In the study, maternal concern was mapped in different ways. 43 percent of the control group and the group performing movement counting had less than once during the pregnancy been concerned about too few movements. 11 percent went to a check-up at the hospital due to concern for reduced activity.
However, the group of women performing movement counting had lower score on general antenatal-related concerns such as concerns about delivery and their own health. 79 percent of the women said that they would use fetal movement counting during their next pregnancy.
The conclusion of the thesis is that fetal movement counting is a useful and safe method, helping women to keep track of the activity pattern of the baby.
However, more research is needed to find out whether fetal movement counting with fixed number limits for reduced activity should be recommended in antenatal care, either as routine for all pregnant women or just for pregnant women with risk pregnancies.
There is a lack of knowledge on what normal fetal activity is.
"We need more research in order to provide pregnant women with better information. The essence of our research in fetal activity is to raise awareness among pregnant women so that they are in a better position to understand how their baby is doing," Saastad concludes.
She believes that the need for more guidelines will be even more important now that the Norwegian health authorities have recommended reducing the number of antenatal check-ups. | <urn:uuid:28c4a939-28ec-4115-964f-33904d05cf52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sciencenordic.com/counting-fetal-movement-may-reveal-low-fetal-activity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968819 | 598 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong. Every time I try to shape a traditional loaf of bread this is what I get.
this happened to me before I started really pressing down on the seam while rolling up the dough. That is, rolling it up a bit, pressing down the seam where the rolled and unrolled dough meet, then repeating until it's all rolled up. Creates better surface tension, too.
But I avoid that issue in most cases these days, as my favorite panned loaf is in the "sharing loaf" style, formed by making two or three small boules and setting them side-by-side in the pan.
In any event, that's a fine-looking loaf you have there! Looks very tasty :-)
I stopped rolling the dough into a loaf because that is exactly what happened to me.Some people do this and never have the problem. If you look at your crumb, there is a very faint swirling patterns and the texture is slightly different in the different layers.
The holes stopped when I started "pre-shaping" for lack of a better work. When I prepare the dough to go into its first rise, I shape into a boule and get a good tight skin or "gluten cloak".
Form the dough into a ball, and then, holding the ball in two hands, tuck the surface of the ball into the bottom of the ball, which will cause the surface of the ball to stretch and form a gluten cloak on the outside of the ball of dough. Don't stretch the dough so much that you tear the dough.(http://sourdoughhome.com/100percentwholewheat.html)
Form the dough into a ball, and then, holding the ball in two hands, tuck the surface of the ball into the bottom of the ball, which will cause the surface of the ball to stretch and form a gluten cloak on the outside of the ball of dough. Don't stretch the dough so much that you tear the dough.
When my dough has doubled,I tip and scrape it out of the bowl, handle it very gently and use a sharp knife to cut it into loaf-size portions. I tuck the edges of the top of the dough underneath to form a boule and then a batard from there. It's really hard to explain without pictures but the idea is to keep the small,finely distributed bubbles intact and use the surface of the dough almost as a wrapping around it. Proof and bake.
My recommendation is to watch videos here on shaping and keep practicing.For me the key was the idea of shaping the outside over the inside without layering it by rolling.
This is a great video of Julia Child and Chef Danielle Forestier making french bread-it's classic and very instructional.
Jstreed1476 - Yea, me too...the small boules placed around the sides of a cast iron skillet with one in the middle is how bread was baked when I was a kid. Who knew we were having sharing bread? I make my usual loaves that way too but I would really like to be able to make a traditional loaf once in a while without all the holes.
Clazar123 - I'll give that a try...thank you.
Crider - I live in rural Texas and all we can get out here is dial-up...I can't watch YouTube but thanks anyway.
mark sinclaire videos are also very helpful in this i find :)
Don't feel bad, Betty. If you look closely at many slliced commercial white and wheat bread loaves you'll find a "baker's bedroom" in some of those too. | <urn:uuid:cd9fcb57-f6d2-47a9-8765-7d87f2274ea5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16147/need-help-shaping-loaf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961495 | 756 | 1.90625 | 2 |
STATE LAW REGULATING MOTORBOAT EXHAUST NOISE LEVELS IN EFFECT
Complaints from other boaters, lake users impetus for change in state law
Before 1994, Kansas boating laws required motorboats with above-water exhausts to have a muffled system and motors with exhaust stacks to have water-induction systems to reduce noise. The law was difficult to enforce, and when the boating laws were rewritten, the regulation on noise was left out.
However, legislation was passed two years ago that readdresses the issue of motorboat noise levels. K.S.A. 32-1120, which went into effect on state waters January 1, 2007, states that “the exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any motorboat on the waters of the state shall be effectively muffled by equipment so constructed and used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust.” Muffler is defined as “a sound suppression device or system designed and installed to abate the sound of the exhaust gases emitted from an internal combustion engine and which prevents excessive or unusual noise.”
The law specifically states that motorboats shall not be operated on the waters of this state under any condition or in any manner whereby the motorboat emits a sound level in excess of 86 decibels on the “A” weighted scale, when measured from a distance of 50 feet or more from the source of the sound. The standard for measuring sound levels was adopted from those prescribed by the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Kansas’ standard is consistent with boat noise level laws in other states, including Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Iowa and was put in place to protect the recreation interests of all boaters and lake users. Exhaust noise is the number one cause of complaints against noisy boats and was the impetus for the new law.
So what does this mean to boaters? Most pleasure boats expel exhaust gases through the propeller hub and won’t be affected. By expelling the exhaust below the water’s surface, the problem of noise is eliminated as the water acts as a natural muffler.
However, boats with above-water exhausts are up to four times louder than those with sub-surface exhaust systems. Consequently, these boats must have some form of exhaust muffling. The law prohibits operating a motorboat on state waters if it is equipped with an altered muffler, muffler cutout, muffler bypass, or any other device that continuously or intermittently bypasses the muffler system or that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of the muffler system. The law does not apply to motorboats officially registered and competing in or while on trial runs 48 hours preceding a regatta, race, marine parade, tournament, or exhibition that has been authorized or permitted by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP).
There are several different types of add-on muffling systems available that would still allow high motor performance while keeping noise within the state’s legal standards. All boaters are responsible for ensuring their boats are in compliance. KDWP law enforcement officers, using special sound measuring equipment, may request boats to submit to an onsite test to measure noise level. | <urn:uuid:4a4c8b8b-4d6d-4c91-b4ad-31ef65e621e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/News/News-Archive/2007-Web-News/October-2007/STATE-LAW-REGULATING-MOTORBOAT-EXHAUST-NOISE-LEVELS-IN-EFFECT | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957234 | 659 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Troubleshoot wireless (Wi-Fi) and wired (Ethernet/LAN) network connection problems and Internet connectivity issues in Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP.
After a power outage, I cannot connect to wireless (cannot even connect with the wired ethernet cable); keep getting message
I'm trying to print on a corp network printer. This has previously worked. All network printers indicate Unable To Connect. This occurs when on the wired LAN. When on the corp. wireless LAN, the
Original Title - have Cisco router, Belkin wireless adapter whisch was working perfectly. I was using Network Magic software. Now, I can't open the wireless connection to connect. My add a device is
If a computer is connected to a wireless network with an IP address scheme of let's say 192.168.1.0/24 and then also connects to a wired network with a different IP address scheme let's say | <urn:uuid:20b7e936-8740-49b0-bed9-96b16092da4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://support.microsoft.com/find-solutions/windows/windows-xp/connect-to-the-internet-networks/networks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920951 | 193 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Clouds thwart Angels in Teton photo shoot
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.
August 25, 2007
Clouds obscured the main Teton peaks when the Blue Angels flew through Jackson Hole for a photo opportunity on July 25, ruining a chance for a picture of the F/A-18 Hornet jet fighters in front of the iconic mountains.
The U.S. Navy photographer, who accompanied the squadron in a chase jet, managed to get some pictures with mountains south of the main peaks in the background, but it was not the image hoped for. Nevertheless, one of those shots could run in the squad’s yearbook or be made into a lithograph.
Jackson Hole Airport Manager Ray Bishop just got that news from the Navy, along with a couple of electronic files of photographs of the six jets flying in the Delta formation over the airport. One of those is reproduced above.
News of the demonstration squad’s pending arrival in Jackson Hole in July brought hundreds of rubberneckers to the airport, many of whom were disappointed because the squad’s arrival was delayed. The jets came several hours late, flew past Jenny Lake, over the towns of Jackson and Wilson and then low over the airport before departing for an air show in Montana. | <urn:uuid:d05927cb-af8c-499d-ae22-eb0e27c2a82b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=2124 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950705 | 259 | 1.59375 | 2 |
“Do whatever you want, but do it with a condom,” is the message to young gay Brazilians from a new campaign against HIV and AIDS.
Government officials have defended targeting gay men, citing statistics that found there are 1.5 million gay men who have sex with men (MSM) aged between 15 and 49 out of a total population of 184 million.
The director of the National Programme of HIV and AIDS, Mariangela Simao, said:
“These groups are more susceptible to HIV infection.”
A survey of sexual attitudes and behaviour from 2004 is the source of the figures quoted by the Brazilian Health Ministry.
Other stats show that MSM aged between 13 and 24 in the country made up 24% of people with AIDS in 1996, but 41% on 2006.
The figures jumped from 26% to 37% in the same time period among 25 to 29-year-olds.
The posters were inspired by the advertising for the Hollywood film American Beauty.
In Britain the Department of Health had a similar idea in February as part of their “Condom: Essential Wear” Valentine’s campaign.
Pop star Alesha posed in a bath filled with (unopened) condoms.
The Brazilian government is to distribute half a million leaflets and 100,000 posters about how to use condoms and information about STDs, including HIV, in gay bars and health access points.
Julio Moreira, head of HIV prevention programmes at gay health group Rainbow, told InterPress Service that gay men are 18 times more likely to be infected with HIV.
“With the availability of the anti-retroviral AIDS drug cocktails and the longer survival of people with AIDS, the new generation have not seen their friends die and haven’t experienced the pain of the loss of someone very close, so they have become careless about using condoms,” he said.
But the Rio de Janerio government’s STD and AIDS prevention programmes director Alexandre Chieppe, said:
“Actually, the trend toward more AIDS cases in the young gay population is generally the same as is seen among heterosexual men of the same generation.
“Among the general population, the AIDS epidemic is stabilising, but cases are still increasing among young men in general and, within that group, gays.”
Homophobia has been blamed for the lack of previous campaigns targeted at gay men and the trans population. | <urn:uuid:85980af0-943a-4383-9cee-2edfa4eb6ccc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2008/04/16/brazil-takes-movie-inspiration-for-condom-campaigner/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957816 | 504 | 1.851563 | 2 |
The National Research Council of the National Academies has empanelled a blue-chip committee to study "Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Past 1,000-2,000 Years". The chairman will be Gerald North. The request came from the House Science Committee – I presume that they are trying to assert possession over this piece of turf. 8-10 speakers are being requested to address the panel on March 2-3 with a reception on Thursday night. Mc-Mc have accepted an invitation to appear.
The reception should be interesting. I’ve played interclub squash leagues in Toronto for nearly 40 years and one of the things that I like about them is that you have drinks and dinner with your opponents. I’ve always thought that English traditions for sports in that respect were very civilized. When I played rugby in England (I played for Corpus Christi College at Oxford), you’d have beer afterwards with your opponents and exchange beers with the guy that tackled you the hardest. I think that I overlapped with Bill Clinton by one year, but don’t recall meeting him. I guess Mann and I will have to swig down a few and maybe join in some rugby songs. Anyway here’s the invitation:
Dear Dr. McKitrick and Mr. McIntyre,
The National Research Council of The National Academies of the United States is empanelling a committee to study "Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Past 1,000-2,000 Years". The committee will be asked to summarize the current scientific information on the temperature record over the past two millennia, describe the proxy records that have been used to reconstruct pre-instrumental climatic conditions, assess the methods employed to combine multiple proxy data over large spatial scales, evaluate the overall accuracy and precision of such reconstructions, and explain how central the debate over the paleoclimate temperature record is to the state of scientific knowledge on global climate change. I have attached the complete study proposal.
As you are intimately aware, this issue has been the subject of considerable debate. Hence, we have taken great care to assemble an unbiased panel of scientific experts with the appropriate range of expertise to produce an authoritative report on the subject. The committee slate will be formally announced tomorrow, but I can tell you that Jerry North (Texas A&M) will be chairing the committee, and NAS Members Mike Wallace, Karl Turekian, and Bob Dickinson will be on the panel, in addition to a half-dozen other scientists with expertise in statistics, climate variability, and several different types of paleoclimate proxy data.
The committee would like to invite you to come to Washington DC on Thursday, March 2nd to speak about your work in this area and to discuss your perspective on the issues noted above and in the study proposal. The committee will be familiar with the relevant peer-reviewed literature, but is also interested in any recently submitted or accepted papers. We will be inviting 8-10 other experts to speak; a complete agenda will be made available prior to the meeting, and the meeting will be open to the public. Speakers will be reimbursed for travel expenses and invited to stay for the entire open session of the meeting (which includes a reception on Thursday evening and will extend into Friday morning).
Thank you in advance for your time and interest, we view your participation in this meeting as critical so I hope that one or both of you are available and willing to meet with our committee. If neither of you are available on March 2nd (or the morning of March 3rd), as a worst case we could arrange for you to speak to the committee via teleconference. We are trying to finalize the meeting schedule by Friday so please let me know if there is a particularly convenient time that I could call you this week to discuss details and answer any questions you might have (or feel free to call me directly).
Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
National Research Council of The National Academies | <urn:uuid:096d7dd4-748e-41c1-82f7-7c6fd02b30f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://climateaudit.org/2006/02/07/national-academies-panel-on-temperature-reconstruction/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=0619346065 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954524 | 811 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Pakistan and al-Qaeda’s Future
Anjum Naveed/AP Photo
For three decades Osama bin Laden, the tall, shy, lanky, but mesmerizing Saudi, has gripped the imagination of tens of thousands of Muslims and became the bane of the world’s armies and intelligence agencies. Now he has been killed in a US commando raid on his safe house thirty miles from Islamabad, ten years after he carried out the worst attack ever suffered by the United States and the worst terrorist atrocity in human history. His ideology of global jihad and his acts of terrorism changed the way we all live, our security concerns, and how we conduct politics and business while deeply scarring relations between the Muslim world and the West; his death will have similarly large-scale effects. Many of the security challenges we now face will be more subtle and intricate than the threats posed by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in the past.
The repercussions for nuclear-armed Pakistan and its relations with the US and the rest of the world are immense. Given the circumstances of bin Laden’s death and his apparently lengthy sojourn in a fortified mansion near a military garrison well inside Pakistan, it seems more and more likely that some members of the Pakistani security services or military—or militant groups who have been supported by the state in the past—may have been involved in protecting him. Yet we should also remember that the same Pakistani security forces have killed or captured over 400 al-Qaeda members since 2001, lost over 3,000 of their own soldiers and policemen fighting militant groups in Pakistan, and, at times, cooperated closely with US and Western intelligence. Moreover, al-Qaeda tried to kill former president Pervez Musharraf at least three times.
Understanding these longstanding contradictions within Pakistan’s armed forces and the security services is an enormous challenge for both Pakistan and the West. But clearly answers are now needed, and paradoxically, bin Laden’s demise, though a victory for the fight against extremism in Pakistan—one that Pakistani leaders have welcomed—has made the problem more urgent than ever. There have been demonstrations in several cities condemning the government for allowing the American incursions.
The crisis is far worse for Pakistan than a previous national security embarrassment, when the world discovered that Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had been selling nuclear weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. At that time, the Bush administration chose to cover it up because Pakistan’s cooperation in the war on terrorism was deemed to be of paramount importance. However unlike A.Q. Khan, bin Laden and his followers have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people since the September 11 attacks, Muslims and non-Muslims, from Iraq to Afghanistan to European capitals like London and Madrid. The victims of these atrocities and the dozens of governments whose countries have been attacked are not likely to be as forgiving as Bush was about Khan if any Pakistanis are found to have been protecting bin Laden all these years.
The question of how Pakistan and its Western allies will deal with the badlands on the border with Afghanistan which remain largely under the control of a variety of terrorist groups, despite huge efforts by the Pakistan army to get rid them, is now even more pressing. Al-Qaeda and its Pakistani extremist allies need these badlands more than ever after bin Laden’s killing and they will fight to the death to defend them. Pakistan is now a much weaker and more vulnerable state than it was when the hunt for bin Laden began, with multiple political and economic problems it has failed to deal with. But on top of these problems, it will have to face up to this intractable threat from the tribal areas, and it will need international help and support.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan and beyond, hundreds of dedicated extremists are in mourning and swearing to seek martyrdom and give their lives to avenge the killing of their hero and leader. There is no doubt that multiple acts of terrorism will follow, and Western and Muslim states are already bracing themselves for it. However it is vitally important that the surge in terrorist attacks, should it come, is dealt with in a sober fashion by Western governments and does not lead to fresh tensions with Muslim nations or new repression against Muslim migrants in the West.
There will be a leadership struggle inside al-Qaeda, and terrorist acts among factions within the organization could spread to several countries as militants choose to support one or another candidate. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who was chosen by bin Laden to be his No. 2 and who has escaped at least several US drone attacks in the Pakistani mountains, is disliked by many within the al-Qaeda family for his domineering leadership style, his arrogance, and his desire to promote fellow Egyptians above those of other Arab nationalities.
It is unclear how this leadership change will occur because it is the first time since the 1980s that Arab extremists will be faced with actually choosing a new leader, while the pressure of the US and NATO intelligence will not allow al-Qaeda members to communicate easily with one another. While this struggle plays out, however, there will also be ample opportunities for Western forces and intelligence agencies to degrade and dismantle al-Qaeda further, for example by catching other leaders.
Still, we should remember that al-Qaeda has adapted extremely well to its changed circumstances since September 11 and it could adapt again to cope with the new pressures it faces after bin Laden’s death. Al-Qaeda has transformed itself over the years from a highly centralized organization, with recruiting, training, policies and planning all coming from its top leaders, to a far looser and more amorphous terror network. For many years it has promoted itself as a franchise, willing to lend its name to extremist groups around the world whom it has no control over and whose policies it does not run.
As a result, al-Qaeda does not need another September 11 to sow mayhem and make its point. One bomb in Times Square placed by a single suicide bomber or a bomb in a New York subway—both attacks were attempted over the past two years—would be more than enough for the new al-Qaeda to demonstrate that it is still a threat.
The most immediate political challenge for al-Qaeda will be how to respond to the Arab awakening and the youth movement that has spread across North Africa and the Middle East, leaving it on the sidelines as young people oppose autocratic Arab governments with demands for democracy and freedom rather than martyrdom. So far al-Qaeda’s response has been to fuel attacks on Christians and other minorities in Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan in a bid to foster a religious war and gain the high ground among Sunni Muslims, but clearly this is not enough to win a strong following in the new Arab world.
But the ideology of global jihad that bin Laden espoused will not quickly disappear, for it has taken root in far too many Muslim fringe groups. Beyond al-Qaeda’s immediate adherents, it has had broader effects, successfully breeding intolerance in some Muslim societies against Christians, Jews, and other minority religious groups, and even against some Islamic sects, like the Sufis and the Ahmadis in Pakistan. In the decade since the September 11 attacks, al-Qaeda has also voraciously expanded its global network, setting up branches in every single European country, penetrating Muslim communities in the United States, spreading widely across the African continent. All this would imply that it will not quickly allow itself to be destroyed or implode through rivalries.
Bin Laden’s death is a watershed moment. But it does not spell the end of al-Qaeda.
May 3, 2011, 1:30 p.m. | <urn:uuid:59f99f17-a6b3-4373-b583-139f5f8925d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/may/03/pakistan-and-al-qaedas-future/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969324 | 1,569 | 2.21875 | 2 |
As most of you probably know, biotechnology company Serono, based in Geneva, Switzerland, agreed in October to pay $704 million to the United States federal government to settle charges that it illegally marketed its AIDS drug Serostim. According to newspaper reports, the settlement was the third-largest ever recovered by the government in a healthcare fraud case.
As part of the settlement, Serono Holding Co. entered into what is called a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector General (OIG). While the corporate integrity agreement has clear ramifications for drug companies'efforts, it also will likely have an effect on relationships between CME providers and commercial supporters, as it requires Serono to develop thorough policies and procedures for commercial support of CME.
Under the agreement (available online at http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/cia), Serono must spell out key processes for the awarding of grants. Detailed records need to include disclosure of the financial support and any financial relationships Serono has with the , speakers, or organizers of the activity. The activity Serono finances must be nonpromotional, educational in focus, and independent of any input from the supporter (unless specifically requested in writing by the CME provider.). While the Accreditation Council for CME-suggested letter of agreement does cover the above points, you can expect that the letters of agreement used by Serono and other supporters will become more thorough in these areas. Here are the key points relevant to CME.
Letters of agreement for CME grants must be signed by all relevant parties, including a joint sponsor. (This is also anrequirement). The agreements must include clauses stipulating that applicable contractors and subcontractors comply with Serono's compliance program (Serono will attach a copy of its Code of Ethics and other applicable policies and procedures) and that all parties agree not to violate the federal anti-kickback statute or relevant FDA requirements. Providers must state that they will maintain records relating to the activity and that they are subject to an audit by the supporter or its agent.
The lesson: Be sure to determine how long those files are to be kept, as rules may conflict with ACCME guidelines. The ACCME requires files to be kept until the completion of the next self-study review. Assume that everything you put in a file is “discoverable,” and train yourself to be appropriate in your written communications. Document what is required and eliminate extraneous materials not germane to the educational or commercial support process.
The corporate integrity agreement states that only the CME provider may have control over an educational activity receiving support. It specifically prohibits Serono from directing the content, influencing the CME sponsor regarding content, and scripting or emphasizing certain content. The agreement also says that only the CME provider may have control over faculty selection. The supporter is forbidden from making speaker suggestions unless the request is initiated by the CME provider, and when responding, Serono must suggest more than one name, provide speaker qualifications, disclose financial and other relationships between the supporter and suggested faculty, and provide this information in writing.
The lesson: Do not endear yourself to supporters by quietly collaborating with them on content development. Maintain a defensible planning process that is controlled by your staff and faculty experts. Clearly document this process. Assume that any form of communication with the supporter may be audited at a later date. A compliant supporter will want to keep their distance from involvement in content, and your standards in that regard should be above reproach.
The funding process should include legal review of all policies and procedures relating to compliance with anti-kickback statutes and FDA requirements. Such reviews are required for any grant in excess of $5,000 or where the aggregate amount of grants to a single CME provider exceeds $10,000 in the reporting period (typically one year). The company's compliance officer shall conduct reviews of records for grants twice each year.
The lesson: Compliance officers, when concerns arise, may opt to audit the records of the CME provider. Such audit requirements will start to appear in letters of agreement. If CME providers are maintaining their files in accordance with ACCME requirements, then there should be no concern. CME providers should consider a fee for responding to audit requests that is reasonable and consistent with staff time needed to prepare and ship materials, or to compensate for staff time for an on-site audit.
Raise the Bar
To summarize, we advise all CME providers to take the following steps:
Only plan CME activities that are truly based on need, that are important for the profession and the quality of patient care, and that are cost-effective. If this is done, then the grant request is pure and defensible. Don't forget that the anti-kickback statutes refer to the advocacy or promotion of processes that unnecessarily increase the cost of medical care for federal programs (Medicare and Medicaid are universal and therefore can be connected to all education). This doesn't mean that you shouldn't provide education for something that is truly important to quality AND also may increase cost. The key is “quality.” You should be able to state (and do so in your grant application) why the grant is important to the public interest.
Validate the content of all CME activities. This should be done by an independent reviewer. It is important to be able to document both for the supporter and the public interest that funds have been wisely spent, that the content of the activity was not commercially biased, that patient care recommendations were appropriate, and that studies used were scientifically rigorous. Written content review must be maintained in files.
Do outcomes studies on all CME activities. At a minimum, document that physicians actually implemented practices that were highlighted in your learning objectives or that desired patient care results were achieved. Many grantors today are recognizing the value in outcomes measures and are insisting on such measures in grant applications. Indeed, such emphasis on realistic outcomes measures that are tied to needs and objectives are increasingly the mark of a well-qualified CME provider.
Implement an aggressive conflict-of-interest management and resolution process. By spelling out your process in your grant application, you will provide assurance to the supporter that your CME program is functioning appropriately and is defensible should there be an inquiry. In case of an audit, your files should have detailed information on conflicts of interest and how they were resolved.
Implement a rigorous quarterly in-service training program to assure that your staff understand the full set of regulations governing the CME enterprise — from those promulgated by the ACCME and the American Medical Association to the Office of Inspector General and FDA guidelines.
Steve Passin is president of Steve Passin & Associates, LLC, a CME and pharmaceutical consulting firm based in Newtown Square, Pa. Reach him at [email protected]. Susan O'Brien, senior associate, SP&A, contributed to this article. | <urn:uuid:231663bd-c743-44a0-8382-0db2eebf6909> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://meetingsnet.com/medicalmeetings/mag/meetings_serono_effect | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953665 | 1,420 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Building AMERICA’S Largest Plane (Jul, 1930)
Building AMERICA’S Largest Plane
Alfred W. Lawson, pioneer figure in aviation, who built the first commercial cabin passenger plane and the first tri-motored ship with heated cabin and sleeping berths, reveals to Modern Mechanics readers his plans for a 125-passenger air liner weighing 50 tons which he is now building in his New Jersey factory.
Editor’s note: Known as one of aviation’s keen-visioned pioneers, Alfred W. Lawson is one of those few men who, back in the earliest days of flying, dared to look into the future and predict that the day was coming when giant ships of the air would carry passengers comfortably, safely, and swiftly to destinations throughout the world. Not content with mere prediction, he has been quietly working out the design of a gigantic passenger airplane which will be the largest in America when completed. In this interview, one of the very few he has ever accorded, he reveals interesting facts concerning his past and present work in aviation, and explains in detail features of his huge 125-passenger air liner.
BACK in aviation’s uncertain pioneering days in 1908, when I was editor of Fly, then the national aeronautical magazine, I was regarded as a prophet of doom. The general public, which is always skeptical at the appearance of engineering innovations, sneered and scoffed at my forecasts for flying. Everywhere I was regarded as a crank. It is a wonder I wasn’t condemned to the stake for witch-craft, now that I reflect on turbulent days that have gone.
During the twenty-two years that I have now completed in the field of aviation, sticking tenaciously and doggedly to my theories and principles through periods of time when the future of aviation seemed doubt- ful, I have seen that industry rise from a struggling business to the most thriving enterprise on the great American commercial scene. Today, no less enthusiastic in my belief in aviation than I was twenty-two years ago, I am the advocate of the air-liner. My disciples are legion, at this time, however. The Graf Zeppelin’s round-the-world flight, the incarnation, so to speak, of one of my ideas, has demonstrated that my ideas are not so fantastic as they once were thought to be.
Rarely have I come from behind the scenes to be interviewed for publication. My mission and my work in aviation has at all times been that of the quiet producer. On this occasion I have been induced to enter the limelight for a brief moment in the interests of the industry which has occupied my attention night and day for twenty-two years. I am pleased to tell about my super air liner and the future which is in store for this branch of aeronautics.
At the present time I am building in my factories’ at Trenton, New Jersey, an enormous double-tier super air liner which will carry 125 passengers. It is only partly finished and will require another year for completion. It will cost in the vicinity of $500,000.
It was back in 1909 that the first air liner was born in my brain. I saw the idea in the crude Bleriot fuselage. However, it was not until 1919 that the industry had developed sufficiently to allow me to build an air liner. During those intermediate ten years my mind was thinking about big, practical air carriages. At the same time I was quietly accumulating the knowledge and experience necessary to build them.
In 1919 I first demonstrated the practical usage of the air liner in a successful flight from Milwaukee through New York City to Washington and return, personally acting as captain and navigator, and with nothing but a map, a compass and my sense of direction for guidance. On August 27,1919, without any advance notice, I covered the first lap of the trip from a point ten miles north of Milwaukee to Chicago, a distance of more than 100 miles, in less than an hour.
Betting ran high in Milwaukee that day and few imagined that the weighty machine would ever soar from the earth. They called me a drunkard of dreams. But today I sit back in my offices at 1819 Broadway, New York City, and during odd moments there flash across my mind the spectacles of my types of commercial airplanes flitting across the American and European continents—all dreams which have come true.
When the Lawson 125 seater air liner proves to be the success which I expect, I shall enlarge my factories and build planes of this type in mass production. We will be able to turn them out as fast as flivvers once we get started.
In the latest Lawson air liner now under] construction, the front section of the cabin, rounded out to reduce wind resistance, will be devoted to the pilots and mechanics. Two pilots will sit up front at the dual controls. Beneath them space has been provided for the mechanics. They will remain there until some emergency makes it necessary for them to crawl out on the wings to the motors.
On either side of the cabin and half-way back trap doors have been built in the sides through which the mechanics will pass to reach the engines. It will not be necessary for the ship to descend to make repairs.
Directly behind the extreme front compartment and next to the cabin are the officers’ quarters, where the conductor can count his tickets and discuss with the pilots whether or not they will arrive on time.
The next section is the main passenger cabin itself. There is an aisle through the center and double seats on both sides. Above is another tier of seats which are reached by steps located at intervals. Inside, the cabin resembles the ordinary Pullman car made up for the night, except that seats take the place of berths.
The passengers will make the trips in chairs, although the liner can be converted into a sleeper in two hours. A porter in the customary white coat will serve light lunches and put up tables between seats for card games, or for passengers who elect to spend the time writing letters.
The compartment behind the cabin will be used for freight and mail and the sorting of mail during the trip. Two lavatories will be installed in this part of the ship.
The ship will be equipped with twelve motors. Only eight of them will be necessary to keep the plane, weighing fifty tons, in the air. Each of these motors will develop 400 horsepower. The four reserve motors will insure the safety of the ship.
Six men as a crew will be all that will be needed to man the new Lawson super air liner, so the operating expenses will be low. By the way, the fuselage is 100 feet long and the wing spread is 200 feet wide. As I designed this giant airplane, I had in mind not only safety and economy but also speed. I have calculated that my ship will make 100 miles an hour easily and steadily.
When I speak of air transportation, and it is my remotest notion ever to over-leap the bounds of modesty, I unhesitatingly say that I know whereof I speak. In 1913 I was christened the first air commuter when I flew daily from my New Jersey home to my New York office. In 1918 I built the first commercial cabin passenger plane, in which people could actually stand up and walk around. In 1920 I built the first three-engine air liner with sleeping berths, heated cabin and mail chutes.
And if I may be permitted another admission, those who have followed the glowing pages of aviation’s history will recall that on August 10, 1918, I appeared before War Department officials and proposed a trans-oceanic float system, installing landing stations in relays along the route from America to Europe. Today such a float system is actually in the course of construction. | <urn:uuid:29c6a329-fc67-4aa3-bb04-b9c0c9109f52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.modernmechanix.com/building-americas-largest-plane/3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964118 | 1,610 | 2.6875 | 3 |
MORGANTOWN, VA — Interactive video games could help improve the fitness level of children. Preliminary results of 12 weeks of an at-home clinical study indicate significant improvement in arterial function and fitness levels among the 7- to 12-year-old participants of a program that uses interactive video games.
Two West Virginia University (WVU) professors studied Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) and Choosy Kids Club, an after-school health program for children that is part of the West Virginia Motor Development Center in WVU's School of Physical Education.
After the trial period, participating children were more willing to participate in other physical activities, had higher self esteem and better coordination. Additionally, many parents and siblings got involved in DDR with their participating child.
The university showcased the study at WVU's Mountaineer Fan Center at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel in Jacksonville, FL, two days before the Toyota Gator Bowl on Jan. 1. Professor of physical education and study researcher Linda Carson gave fans a facilitated lesson at the top of each hour, followed by group participation. The Fan Center featured four DDR TV-monitored set-ups with dance mats, along with one giant screen projection of the game for multiple users. | <urn:uuid:853723cf-46b7-457b-99e7-dc787ea40810> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clubindustry.com/mag/get-your-groove | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935702 | 258 | 2.46875 | 2 |
SEATTLE — June 4, 2001 — Why do couch potatoes face a significantly higher risk of colon cancer than those who are more physically active? Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are embarking on the first study of its kind to find out.
This four-year, $6 million National Cancer Institute-funded initiative will investigate the reasons why moderate to vigorous exercise has been shown to lower the risk of developing colon polyps and colon cancer, a disease that strikes more than 100,000 Americans each year and kills 50,000.
Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., an international leader in research on exercise and cancer prevention, leads the effort.
"Epidemiologic studies that have measured physical activity indirectly have indicated that a higher activity level is associated with as much as a 50 percent reduction in colon-cancer risk," said McTiernan, an associate member of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division and a faculty member at the University of Washington schools of Medicine, and Public Health and Community Medicine. "We've observed an association between exercise and colon-cancer risk, even defined risk factors. Now we want to look at the mechanisms to explain these research results."
Called APPEAL (A Program Promoting Exercise and Active Lifestyles), the study seeks the participation of 200 healthy, sedentary Seattle-area men and women between the ages of 40 and 75. All must have undergone a colonoscopy within the past three years.
Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to an exercise group and half will serve as a control, or comparison, group. The exercisers will engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity six days a week for one year, working out both on their own and at an exercise facility under the supervision of a trainer. Those in the control group will be asked to maintain their current activity level for a year, after which they will have the opportunity to exercise for two months at no cost with a personal trainer at one of the study facilities.
Participants can choose to work out at the Washington Institute of Sports Medicine in Totem Lake or at a brand new, state-of-the-art exercise facility at the Hutchinson Center's Metropolitan Park campus in downtown Seattle. Equipment for this facility was provided through significant donations from The Seattle Foundation and Precor Inc. of Bothell.
All participants will undergo screening to rule out heart disease or other underlying conditions and ensure that it is safe for them to participate in a vigorous exercise program. If any cardiac irregularities are detected, participants will be referred to their primary-care provider for further evaluation.
Before and after completion of the intervention, participants also must undergo a flexible sigmoidoscopy, a procedure that allows for visual inspection of the rectum and lower colon, and the collection of tissue samples from the mucosal lining of the colon. This procedure will be performed at Harborview Medical Center or the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
"Basically, we want to examine the amount of cell growth and cell death. occurring at the lining of the intestine," said study coordinator Angela Morgan. "Polyp formation is a sign that there is excessive growth and too little cell death. We want to determine if the balance between these parameters becomes more normal after the exercise intervention."
In addition to assessing cell growth and cell death, researchers will track the effect of exercise on other markers for colon-cancer risk, from frequency of bowel function to the production of a hormone called prostaglandin E2, which at increased levels has been associated with the formation of colon polyps.
While the connection between exercise and colon cancer is not new, it is unclear whether exercise itself is responsible for the reduced risk, or whether it's because people who exercise tend to eat healthier foods and live generally healthier lives.
"There have been a lot of observational studies demonstrating that exercise can reduce colon-cancer risk," Morgan said. "But it hasn't been clear in those studies whether other lifestyle factors might be involved. APPEAL is the first study to look at the direct effect of exercise on certain risk factors associated with the formation of colon polyps and colon cancer."
Those who would like to participate can call the APPEAL study information line at (206) 667-6444.
# # #
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home of three Nobel laureates, is an independent, nonprofit research institution dedicated to the development and advancement of biomedical technology to eliminate cancer and other potentially fatal diseases. Recognized internationally for its pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation, the center's four scientific divisions collaborate to form a unique environment for conducting basic and applied science. Fred Hutchinson, in collaboration with its clinical and research partners, UW Medicine and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Pacific Northwest and is one of 40 nationwide. For more information, visit the center's website at www.fhcrc.org. | <urn:uuid:c9995ede-0ff5-4f07-9a5b-cf08598fdc3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fhcrc.org/en/news/releases/2001/06/Colon-cancer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940843 | 1,013 | 2.21875 | 2 |
The discussion about the EC and Microsoft has a number of themes. I see these themes reflected in the response to my post and in the discussion in general. Some have been raised by Mozilla contributors. I’m going to try to respond to these general themes, although not every comment specifically. I’m going to start by addressing the themes in separate messages; I think that will make the discussions easier.
The themes I see so far are:
- Private responses, such as building Firefox, are the only appropriate response.
- Microsoft should be able to do whatever it wants; there’s no reason to treat Microsoft differently than anyone else.
- Government should have no role in technology, and Mozilla should not spend time with the EC.
- People can choose an alternative browser, so there’s no problem.
- All the remedies I can think of all have some serious problem: they are too late, they are backward-looking, or the don’t seem likely to help the consumer.
There may be other themes that appear or that I’ve missed with this first pass. Or two may show up as part of the same message, I’m not sure yet since I haven’t written them. But these are the topics I know now that I want to address. | <urn:uuid:11cf3e55-9156-4438-bf51-4373c21b1f73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lizardwrangler.com/2009/02/10/ec-and-microsoft-discussion-themes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950168 | 272 | 1.554688 | 2 |
At the recent conference of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Westfield High School senior Olivia Pecora (back row left) and Roosevelt 8th grader Isabella Gelfand (bottom right) met with Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who led the women’s peace movement that brought an end to civil war in Liberia. They are joined by fellow Girls Learn International (GLI) delegates who, with Olivia and Isabella, were among the 19 chosen to represent the 1,250 members of GLI across the nation. Credits: Westfield Schools
Beyond the Classroom: Westfield Students Advocate for Global Gender Equality and Human Rights
Monday, May 14, 2012 • 6:50am
WESTFIELD, NJ - Two Westfield students recently joined decision-makers from around the world at a United Nations conference aimed at improving the status of women globally.
Olivia Pecora, a Westfield High School senior and Isabella Gelfand, a Roosevelt Intermediate School eighth grader, were selected among 19 delegates from across the US to represent the 1,250 members of Girls Learn International (GLI) at the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women.
GLI was founded by Westfield resident and former Board of Education member Lisa Alter in 1993. The organization has provided thousands of students the opportunity to explore issues affecting girls within the context of global human rights, and has trained a new generation to be leaders and activists for social change.
At the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Pecora and Gelfand actively participated in six full days of workshops, panels and presentations in and around the UN. They spoke directly with UN officials on girls’ human rights, and drafted position statements for the CSW, outlining their stances and suggestions on universal girls’ education, violence prevention, and human rights issues.
At the CSW, Pecora helped girls from rural Africa and Asia document the girls’ personal stories about being victims of, or witnesses to, human rights violations such as early marriage, human trafficking, or physical brutality. Together they prepared speeches that were presented at panels attended by journalists, activists, ambassadors and community members.
“I admired the passion and courage of each of these nine girls, as I listened and learned about what life is like for women who are denied access to education and denied basic human rights,” Pecora said.
During the CSW, Pecora was invited to speak at the League of Women Voters session which focused on the importance of girls’ involvement in politics, as well as the need for grassroots organizations like Girls Learn International.
The week following the CSW, Pecora was presented with the “Outstanding Human Rights Activist Award” at Kean University’s 5th Annual Human Rights Institute Conference. She shared with an audience of approximately 1,000 high school and college students her experience at the United Nations. Pecora, a member of Girls Learn International since her sixth grade year at Roosevelt Intermediate School, is currently president of the Westfield High School GLI chapter and the GLI Junior Board President for the New York region.
Gelfand worked with a small group of young women delegates to draft the CSW’s 2012 Girls Statement, which was read on the floor of the General Assembly at the end of the Conference. Gelfand also participated in the Girls Caucus event which developed advocacy points, strategies, and key language suggestions related to girls’ rights.
Additionally, Gelfand interacted with girls from Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Northern Ireland, El Salvador, Taiwan and Mozambique.
“My participation in the CSW has made it clear to me that there is no excuse for the rights of any man, woman or child to ever be taken away," Gelfand said. "More often it is women and girls who have been particularly victimized. In order to enable women to rise above this, it is critical for all to be on board. The equalization of the sexes simply cannot be labeled as a ‘women’s issue.’ It requires the involvement of all.”
Gelfand also participated in the awards ceremony of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s 25th Anniversary Luncheon in Washington, DC, honoring Senators Barbara Mikulski and Barbara Boxer, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Arlene Holt Baker, a supporter for women workers.
Gelfand is currently co-president of the Roosevelt Intermediate School’s GLI chapter. The Roosevelt Intermediate School’s (RIS) GLI chapter is the first and the longest continuously running GLI chapter. Karen Lust, a sixth grade social studies teacher at RIS, has been the GLI chapter’s dedicated advisor since 2005. Over the past seven years, Lust has led the RIS chapter in developing numerous projects and in attending a variety of global events focusing on human rights.
The RIS chapter has created quilts with the themes of human rights and empowerment that have been sent to partner schools in Uganda and Afghanistan. The RIS chapter has written and illustrated a book that was published on the Help the Afghan Children website and was used to promote literacy in their partner school. A resounding success has been the Hoops for Hope Basketball clinic fundraiser that both Westfield chapters have organized. For the past three years, the Kean University Women’s Basketball Team has provided skills training for elementary and middle school girls in honor of women in sports. Currently, the partner school for both Westfield chapters is Abdullah bin Omar School in Afghanistan. Westfield Chapter Advisor, Lust has orchestrated day-long workshops for GLI members that included guest speakers, simulations, documentaries and discussions on human rights and the history and culture of Afghanistan.
A total of 23 Westfield GLI chapter members had the opportunity to attend one day of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, and observed a panel discussion highlighting the economic benefits of educating adolescent girls and also toured the United Nations.
Currently, GLI has 90 U.S. Chapters in 16 states and 45 partner schools in 10 countries. | <urn:uuid:ed9b6a0d-c9a9-4351-b008-9a9752650e42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thealternativepress.com/articles/beyond-the-classroom-westfield-students-advocat | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95872 | 1,266 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Thousands of truck drivers in the Chinese city of Shanghai staged a third day of protest Friday over rising fuel prices they say are crippling their businesses. Truck drivers blockaded part of the city's port — China's busiest — disrupting the flow of goods.
The protests that began on Wednesday are the latest sign of rising public anger over surging inflation that the country's leaders have failed to tame. They come amid a government crackdown on intellectual and political dissent of any sort.
The international community has focused on the continued detention of well-known Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and other political activists. But for the ordinary people of China, there are more mundane concerns than political reform.
Near one of Shanghai's main port areas, where the Yangtze River meets the sea, groups of truck drivers milled around Friday near a long line of trucks parked bumper to bumper and side by side. They were unafraid to speak, though unwilling to give their names for fear of reprisals.
They can't even afford to eat because the price of gasoline is now so high, one man says, looking warily over his shoulder.
China has raised fuel prices several times in the past year, blaming the rising cost of crude oil. This month gasoline and diesel prices hit a record high after the government raised them by as much as 5 percent. The drivers are also angered at new fees introduced by warehouse operators.
Another man says the police have responded with violence — beating up many truckers. One of his friends was beaten and another arrested, he says.
The man claims that some 20,000 truckers have gone on strike. It's a number that is hard to confirm. The likelier number of about 2,000 protesters is still a major event in China.
A woman interrupts to urge that news of the truckers' protest be spread far and wide, so that the government pays attention. That's something that has already been happening on the Internet.
China has banned foreign microblogging sites that it cannot control, such as Twitter, but news of the recent strikes in Shanghai leaked out through the Chinese equivalents of Twitter, known as Weibo and used by many urban Chinese. Word about the strikes initially appeared there, before being deleted by the authorities.
"The microblogs [have offered] an alternative platform for people to communicate," says Ying Chan, a professor of journalism at Hong Kong University. She says the government has decided it cannot stop such new platforms developing, and so must try to channel and control them.
"I think they are very concerned," she says. "That's why the Weibos are monitored very closely by various methods."
Chan says it is not the political issues that are the most threatening to the government, but bread-and-butter economic issues.
"People are concerned with their basic livelihood issues," she says. "Inflation's [a] real issue, so people react."
Back near the docks, the drivers say they have heard that truckers at other ports around the country are striking too. They deny they are in contact with drivers elsewhere.
That is a huge concern for the government — that the new forms of communication could cause disenfranchised elements of society across the country to link together, and form some kind of organized opposition. Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. | <urn:uuid:21dd4ede-35d6-45a8-a8af-a801f940ec95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbez.org/story/2011-04-22/chinese-truck-drivers-block-road-over-gas-prices-85582 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976245 | 687 | 1.875 | 2 |
Dextrous coordination compilation
Among other things, I've been working on the weevil sculpture. I'm happy with how it's coming along and most excited to see my improvement in skill with the polymer clay medium. Not long ago I had sculpted a relatively big ant. I found it hella' frustrating detailing the ants legs. Now, working on the weevil, sculpting the legs wasn't nearly as hard, with better results (but still hella' time consuming). On the whole, I spent almost 4 hours sculpting the 6 legs to my liking. Not to mention that those 4 hours were hella' spread out over a few days (the child just... keeps... growing).
The truth is, repetition can be a good teacher in and of itself. Although, if I had to choose just a few new techniques that caused the improvements, it'd go a little something like this:
First off, with the ant, I built, posed, and secured the armature to a base before adding any clay. Comparatively, I had a much easier time adding clay and detail to the weevil's body by leaving the leg wires long and undetermined. In fact, it wasn't until after I baked and cooled the body that I spread the legs to decide their correct length and pose.
With the ant, I flattened the clay and wrapped it around each entire leg. From there I began sculpting the leg segments right onto the leg wires. The weevil's legs began as clay rolled into a sheet with a pasta roller (which is the same exact thing as a clay conditioning machine). The even sheets of clay makes it simple to mark and cut into pieces that are exactly the same size. I sculpt each piece into the rough shape of a leg segment. After sculpting the weevil's leg segments I gently sliced open each one and sandwiched them onto the leg wires. The fact that they're all the same size is a big improvement when I look back at the obvious varying sizes of ant legs.
You may have noticed that I slid small black beads onto the leg wires at the elbow. It worked well for keeping a uniform size at each joint; in fact, I plan to make and bake polymer beads to use for this same function in similar future projects.
As I had mentioned, simple repetition is worth the time. It's the only way I can see to improve... hmm... what's the opposite of heavy-handed... graceful coordination? As you may already know, before it's baked, polymer clay is soft enough to deform by merely holding it. With enough experience it's easier to determine the proper hand pressure.
That's as far as I've gotten with the weevil. One more... what-cha-ma-callem on the bug... a paw? foot? Tarsus... of course. One more group of tarsus to sculpt on the raised leg. Which reminds me, I based the pose off the Little Leafnotcher Weevil below (not to be confused with our guy, the Sri Lanka Weevil).
Thanks to the wifey-poo, I'm still waylaid with beadings, but on the up-side I've had a couple jewelry ideas of my own... *thwack* OH, I just remembered... Alan (the writer) came up with this one: The solar system bracelet! Part fashion statement, part learning aid, but all cheat-sheet! I DID come up with the little rocket beads. It's going up for sale on Etsy as soon as I finish Jupiter. The colors are true-to-life (or as true-to-life as I can be sure of without a telescope) and Uranus is a light-turquoise, for real... you're welcome. | <urn:uuid:ad38b753-0fb4-4492-99f8-f217a291948f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://solafar.com/?p=4585 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967061 | 774 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Apparently, India’s food safety rules and regulations are just as stringent as those in other, more developed countries. And that’s according to a proper source, one who should know his onions.
But it’s all a load of rubbish. As a journalist who knows this industry inside and out, when I read this sort of guff, I feel like hitting my head against the wall. Repeatedly.
At the same time, there are plenty who buy into this incredible self-appropriating myth of security - how many Indian mothers are flashing a smile of relief and reassurance now they have heard the news?
No matter what rubbish we are told, we know the reality. We are Indians. Even we don’t trust what we are given to eat much of the time.
But speaking at a conference in Kerala, N Anadavally, a food safety consultant with the United Nations, reassured India’s consuming public that the country’s food safety rules and regulations are just as thorough as you would expect to find in New York, London or Paris.
And of course we should believe her, just like we should believe a cricket commentator when he lauds a young Indian batsman who makes a fifty on a flat track at home against a poor string of medium-pacers. Brilliant job that.
Indian food standards on par with the West? That’s the kind of headline that would make us all, as patriotic Indians, feel warm and snug inside. Or rather it isn’t, as far as I’m concerned.
I have two problems with what Anandavally said. She might have included a bit of truth in her statement, but there is a big difference between a modicum of truth and what we all want to hear.
India may have regulations, but when it comes to enforcing and implementing them, the government machinery is not even close to efficient. A Western nation? I wouldn’t be surprised if Bangladesh has a better food safety mechanism than India, to be frank.
In this country, food safety rules exist only on paper, and then only in a twisted little way—for those who have the money.
You don't need to be an expert to dig out the problem. For instance, think about whenever you go down to the market on a Friday. You fancy some chicken? Sure, go to the nearest bunch of rusted, ramshackle cages and the guy nearby will happily sell you something squawking and scrawny sat in its own faeces.
Even though the trusty milkman delivers you milk each morning, you are still aware that his cowshed is next to the railway tracks, by the drain the poor migrants go for their morning ablutions.
And then there’s your fresh vegetables, of course. They might can come from far-out farms in the villages, but it is more than likely that they are still doused in the same chemicals that the West used when Kennedy was still alive.
Those crisps you’ve been picking up from the kirana store for years? Well, they have probably been fried in the same vat of oil for the same length of time.
What’s more, the chances of you getting by unharmed from all this increase as you continue up the social ladder. If you are somewhat wealthy, in the way that you can pay US$500 a month in rent and have a decent set of wheels: chances are that you will get by with just a dose of food poisoning at home at the very least, once a year. Of course, you can't speak for the places you eat out at.
India’s rich takes the route that has been helping sustain many multinational food companies here—they buy packaged food.
Right from frozen chicken to that Tetra Pak milk, all of which are together easily 40% more expensive than those products that are bought loose or from the local market.
In a perverse way, food processors in India are actually in the business of selling food safety. If you can understand the local language, you could just about read through any marketing campaign for a packaged food product and bet your bottom dollar on seeing the word “safe” somewhere in there - just as if all other foods were unsafe.
Well, that wouldn’t be 100% off the mark.
I know there are people in the sector out there who think that things should get better with the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) coming around, but I would like to call the bluff on that. A new all-powerful authority? More permissions? They called this the lets-chuck-a-licence-at-that approach during the British Raj of the last century.
Believe me when I say that there are enough licences out there, and there have been for the last three decades at least. But for every new licence, there is of course a new way to subvert it. It’s the Indian way—called jugaad locally—and Indians are ostensibly proud of it thanks to the way Western management gurus have feted the whole principle behind its madness.
It would be clichéd to say the system will not change as long as people and their attitudes likewise do not change, but there is no other way to put it.
Changing things, though, is a stretch, and therein lies the reason behind my other problem from Anandavally's statement: did you notice how she said “as good as any developed country”?
This is a new form of jingoistic emotion, whereby we have to peg everything in comparison to the West and be as good—if not better—at anything they can do.
Overall, it is a step in the wrong direction when it comes to changing attitudes.
It is also the same emotion that lets people in this country believe that Ayurveda can cure cancer. It is dangerous.
Have your say: Do you agree with Ankush? Let us know in the comments below. | <urn:uuid:4902f7ab-8806-4153-a8ff-95768747ba68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Markets/Call-it-anything-but-food-safety | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970885 | 1,251 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Kulak is a word that means "fist" in Russian, and was theoretically used to describe rich peasants in the countryside of the Soviet Union; the "fist" was of course the fist with which they supposedly oppressed the poorer peasants.
But in reality, the word ended up getting applied to any peasant which the Soviet regime took a dislike to. The Communists were almost all workers from the cities who had little understanding of rural areas - after the Russian Revolution, the people of the cities had to effectively re-conquer the entire countryside, which had escaped into self-rule; this is the event we know as the Russian Civil War. The gap of understanding was so large that after the Bolsheviks changed their name to the "Communist Party", many peasants declared themselves for the Bolsheviks and against the Communists; they had no idea they were referring to the same entity.
This split between countryside and town was problematic for the towns because all the food came from the countryside, and the Communists were worried that the peasants would effectively be able to starve them out. So, they launched an aggressive attempt to impose their control on the countryside by the program of collectivization, which essentially meant tearing up everyone's land deeds and reorganizing the peasants into huge, controllable farms. These farms weren't very efficient, but they were much easier to understand for the Soviets than the social structure of the traditional village, and easier to extract food from.
Anyone who opposed this attack on their way of life was branded a kulak and was shot as a "saboteur", because it was presumed only those under the influence of capitalism and the West could not desire what was good for the Soviet state, however catastrophic it was for themselves. | <urn:uuid:9e82b510-964f-43f0-bbde-ce6eea583ee9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everything2.com/title/kulak | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990461 | 353 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Tag: "fries" at biology news
Scientists ID molecular 'switch' in liver that triggers harmful effects of saturated and trans fats
...ine, baked goods, and the oils used to cook french fries
and other fast food. Studies have shown that trans fats not only raise LDL levels in the bloodstream but lower high-density lipoproteins (HDL, or "good" cholesterol) and may have even stronger adverse effects than do saturated fats. The researchers r...
Highlights of August 2005 Journal of the American Dietetic Association
...aked goods not low in fat (68.3 percent) 3) French fries
(52.4 percent) 4) Salty snacks not low in fat (44.9 percent) 5) Carbonated beverages (42.3 percent) 6) Water (36.6 percent) 7) Ice cream or frozen yogurt not low in fat (36.1 percent) The researchers also found: Nearly 60 percent of the schools r...
Highlights from the December Journal of the American Dietetic Association
...s Researchers at Texas Tech University say french fries
prepared in non-hydrogenated cottonseed oil are si... lower in trans fatty acids and saturated fat than fries
prepared in partially hydrogenated canola oil or soybean oil, the two most commonly used oils in dee...
Prenatal genistein in soy reduces obesity in offspring
...other words, it may not only be the hamburgers and fries
we are eating, but also what our parents consumed or encountered in the environment that predisposes us to various conditions." Jirtle said a mechanism called DNA "methylation" is increasingly identified as the trigger for environmentally-caused gene...
Research provides clues to obesity's cause and hints of new approach for curbing appetite
Pittsburgh Hot fudge sundaes and french fries
aside, new research suggests obesity is due at least in part to an attraction between leptin, the hormone that signals the brain when to stop eating, and a protein more recently associated with heart disease. Reporting in Nature Medicine, University ...
Loss of central vision with age may be linked to quality of dietary carbohydrates
...h-glycemic-index foods like white bread and french fries
has a higher overall glycemic index than a diet based more heavily on low-glycemic-index foods, such as lentils and yams. Taylor is cautious in his interpretation of this data, but he believes that further research is critical, as it may ultimately p...
Lab bits -- August 2006
...ods such as wine, dried fruit, potatoes for French fries
and even local anesthetics such as lidocaine, by adding sulfite. However, they may be causing a lethal lung constriction in a specific subset of people. Why these people respond this way and how sulfite causes this constriction is unknown. Dr. Antoin...
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac -- August 9, 2006
...levels in food. The highest levels occur in French fries
and potato chips.Efforts to reduce acrylamide in food in the United States may depend on the fate of a proposed Federal law, according to the C&EN article. The law would restrict state efforts to regulate acrylamide and other food compounds more str...
Microwave pre-cooking of French fries reduces cancer chemicals
Microwaving your French fries
before you fry them reduces the levels of a cancer... 170 and 190oC respectively. "Microwaving French fries
before cooking takes little time and in fact, microwave pre-cooked samples fried to the same degree ...
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac -- Dec. 13, 2006
...In addition to being tastier, for instance, French fries
made from the new Ranger had lower levels of acrylamide, a compound that has been a source of health concerns about fried foods. ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "Improving Potato Storage and Processing Characteristics through All-Native DNA Transfo...
Free public events at the 2007 AAAS Annual Meeting
...ions such as how vegetable oil used to make French fries
can be transformed into biodiesel fuel. PLENARY LECTURES Thursday Sunday, 15-18 February, 6:30 p.m. Monday, 19 February, 8:00 a.m. Hilton Fan Francisco, Ballroom Level Continental Ballroom 4-6 (See http://www.aaasmeeting.org → Program an...
Highlights from the July 2007 Journal of the American Dietetic Association
...eek were more likely to consider large portions of fries
and small portions of vegetables to be usual, as did children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families and those who frequently ate while watching television. This study demonstrates that a great deal can be gained by expanding nutrition educa... | <urn:uuid:c6ea2552-0615-4a55-bb7e-ae9f09fbff82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/tag-2/fries/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93631 | 994 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Fort Nelson is a town of approximately 5000 residents in British Columbia's northeastern corner. It is the seat, and only municipality in the Northern Rockies Regional District. Fort Nelson is primarily a natural resource industry town, with the majority of economic activity in oil and gas and forestry. The forests surrounding Fort Nelson are part of Canada's great boreal forest. Fort Nelson is the centre of the Greater Sierra oil field.
The town lies east of the Northern Rocky Mountains in the Peace River region, along the Alaska Highway, where it is known as "Mile 300". Year round, the town is home to over 4,500 residents while 1,600 additional residents settle in the surrounding Northern Rockies Regional District area including the Fort Nelson First Nations reserve. There are about 500 members living on the reserve, yet across the region, as a whole, Aboriginal people make up approximately 15% of the total population.
The community also experiences seasonal population increases. In winter, logging and oil rig activities bring in another two to five thousand additional people. And during the summer tourism season -April through September- about 140,000 visitors travel through the area.
Greyhound Canada operates a bus depot in the town. | <urn:uuid:43a867cc-7d46-4cb1-9bd2-7e81e75eb264> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Fort_Nelson%2C_British_Columbia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959248 | 239 | 2.1875 | 2 |
|Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, |
speaks at a news conference Sept. 29 at St. Paul University in Ottawa.
Programs pushing contraception and abortion on the developing world under the guise of women’s health care and “reproductive rights” may have an underlying racist agenda, Cardinal Peter Turkson said in a Sept. 28 interview.
“The program being pushed does not reflect the true situation of women in the third world,” the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said. “It derives from a certain thinking that you deal with poverty by eliminating the poor.”Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website. | <urn:uuid:ac5037fb-f90d-4e45-badc-8ecd6c79f267> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://busycatholic.blogspot.com/2012/10/racist-agenda-may-underlie-push-for.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928399 | 155 | 1.765625 | 2 |
ADVERTISING¾ LEGAL ARTICLES AND ATTORNEY IDENTIFICATION IN TRADE JOURNALS. An attorney who edits a bar journal or who writes legal articles for a trade journal may be identified by name only and may not ethically permit the publication of his picture, his identification as an attorney, biographical data showing his legal qualifications, his firm connection or address.
Canons 37, 24. A.B.A. Canons 40, 27.
An attorney desires to conduct a business of publishing a monthly trade journal which will contain articles of general interest to real estate brokers on various legal subjects. The publication will not answer inquiries with respect to individual rights and will carry a notice to the effect that each reader should consult his own attorney regarding his personal legal problems. The articles will be dignified and instructive treatments of the law, its history and philosophy. The editor will be an attorney.
1. May the editor identify himself in the publication as an attorney at law?
2. May the editor include in the publication a brief biographical sketch, showing his education, degrees and firm membership?
3. May the author of legal material in such journal permit the publishing firm to identify him as an attorney at law in its advertising thereof?
4. May the editor permit the publishing firm to use a brief biographical sketch of him (presumably including his identity and qualifications as an attorney) in its advertisements seeking subscribers?
An attorney is asked to write a column of general nature on legal subjects for a trade journal. The column will not answer inquiries with respect to individual rights and will be a dignified and instructive treatment of the law, its history and philosophy. The editor of the trade journal desires to publish at the head of the column a picture of the attorney, his name and the fact that he is an attorney.
May the attorney ethically permit the publication of his picture, name and identification as an attorney?
Texas Canon 37 and A.B.A. Canon 40 expressly provide that a lawyer may write articles for publication in lay publications in which he gives information upon the law but he should not accept employment from such publications to advise inquirers in respect to their individual rights. Thus, it appears that the proposed articles and column are within permissible limits. See Texas Opinion 90 (November, 1953), adopting A.B.A. Opinion 92 (May 2, 1933), and A.B.A. Opinion 162 (August 22, 1936).
The ethical questions relate to advertising.
In Case 1 the attorney proposes to engage in a business of publishing a monthly trade journal. In Opinion 91 (November, 1953) we ruled that an attorney may engage in any business and advertise that business so long as he does not directly or indirectly advertise in his professional capacity. We further ruled in Opinion 194 (March, 1959), modified somewhat in Opinion 249 (June, 1962), that an attorney who has withdrawn from law practice and is engaged entirely in other business may advertise in connection with that business and show as one of his qualifications therefore that he is a licensed attorney. The present case, however, does not fall within the narrow confines of those opinions. On the contrary the identification of the editor and/or author as an attorney at law the publication of biographical data and his identification as a member of a law firm would be calculated to advertise the attorney in his professional capacity and therefore is prohibited by Texas Canon 24 and A.B.A. Canon 27. All questions are answered "no." (8-0.)
Case 2 presents a somewhat closer question. The attorney himself is not involved in the business of publishing the trade journal and there is thus less likelihood of direct advertising, but the majority of the Committee are of the opinion that the publication of the author's picture and his designation as an attorney at law in the trade journal would violate Texas Canon 27 and A.B.A. Canon 27.
It is common practice in legal journals for an attorney-author to be identified by name, profession, picture and even firm name, and in A.B.A. Opinion 141 (May 9, 1935) the use of an attorney's picture in connection with his legal article in a law fraternity's journal was expressly approved upon the ground that the picture was not used for advertising but rather to create interest in legal subjects and friendly relationships among members of the fraternity. We approve that reasoning and see no danger of either direct or indirect solicitation in the publication of pictures, biographical data, etc., within the bounds of good taste, in connection with articles appearing in legal journals.
We recognize that in lay trade journals also, attorney-authors are frequently identified by name, profession and picture, and two members of the Committee feel that so long as the attorney-author is not identified by firm name or address the "solicitation" aspect is too remote and inconsequential to justify condemnation. Citing 39 A.B.A.J. 301, one member says "There is no real merit in disciplining a lawyer for sneezing or blowing his nose in public." The majority of the Committee, however, feel that trade journals and other lay publications stand on different ground from legal journals and while lay readers no doubt are interested in the identification and qualifications of authors whose works appear therein, there is a real likelihood of indirect (if not direct) solicitation which outweighs the interest of the lay readers. A.B.A. Informal Decision 743 (March 12, 1964) holds that an attorney who writes for a trade journal should authorize only the use of his name and not his picture or office address. We approve that opinion and rule that the identification of an attorney-author in a trade journal or other lay publication should be limited to name only. (6-2.) | <urn:uuid:c442a662-72b0-4149-8643-976435c617a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/ethics/Opinions/301-400/o329.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96304 | 1,178 | 1.609375 | 2 |
TAMURA/KAWAUCHI, FUKUSHIMA PREF. – An exclusion ban was lifted Sunday for parts of the city of Tamura and the village of Kawauchi in Fukushima Prefecture, allowing residents to enter freely without taking measures against radiation exposure.
But residents from these areas, which are close to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, will not be allowed to stay overnight, although radiation levels remain relatively low.
It was the first revision to the evacuation zone banning entry to areas within 20 km of the plant since the nuclear disaster triggered by the earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11 last year.
Eimasa Tsuboi, 72, from Tamura said the first thing he wants to do is rebuild his family’s collapsed ancestral grave.
“I have to fix the grave,” he said. “And today, I will open the door of my home and let the wind in.”
In Kawauchi, Katsutoshi Kusano, 67, and his wife, Shigeko, 66, visited their homes. “We hope we can clean our garden,” they said.
Under the government’s revision, zones where radiation exposure exceeds 50 millisieverts per year and that are expected to stay at or above 20 millisieverts over the next five years, will be designated as difficult to return to. The current yardstick for evacuation is 20 millisieverts a year.
In zones with radiation levels between 20 and 50 millisieverts, residents will be permitted to return only on a limited basis.
In areas with 20 millisieverts or less, preparations will be made for lifting evacuation orders.
In these latter zones, the order will be lifted as soon as infrastructure is restored and enough progress is made in decontaminating schools and other public facilities.
Soon after the nuclear disaster, the government issued an evacuation directive for residents within 20 km of the plant. Later, however, it designated areas with high radiation levels outside the no-go zone as “emergency evacuation preparation” areas where residents were required to evacuate within one month.
Opposition mulls restarts
Opposition leaders were divided Sunday over the ruling party’s apparent intention to restart suspended reactors in the face of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
“I have to allow it under present circumstances. Otherwise, factories will not be operated and it will lead to the loss of employment,” Sadakazu Tanigaki of the Liberal Democratic Party said in support of resumption on a TV program on NHK.
New Komeito’s Natsuo Yamaguchi, meanwhile, expressed caution. “Standards need to be set up for resumption to ensure safety,” Yamaguchi said.
The leaders of the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party flatly opposed restarts.
“It’s absolutely absurd. We need to make a decision toward zero reactors,” said JCP leader Kazuo Shii.
“The accident at the Fukushima complex has not yet concluded. We are not in a situation to restart the reactors,” the SDP’s Mizuho Fukushima said.
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s policy chief, Seiji Maehara, suggested last week the government is likely to decide to restart the idled reactors by the time all 54 commercial reactors have suspended their operations in early May. | <urn:uuid:30bc2247-2876-484e-b5f0-44063ec19ccd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/04/02/news/entry-ban-lifted-in-parts-of-hot-zone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94729 | 727 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Only two major exhibitions from the fabled Chinese Palace Museum collections have been seen in the West—the first in London in 1935–36 and the second in the United States in 1961–62. These two exhibitions provided an extraordinary stimulus to the study of Chinese culture, revolutionized Asian art studies in the West, and opened the eyes of the public to the artistic traditions of Chinese civilization. Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei is the publication that accompanies the third great exhibition of Chinese masterworks to travel to the West. Written by scholars of both Chinese and Western cultural backgrounds and conceived as a cultural history, the book tells the story of Chinese art from its foundations in the Bronze Age and the first empires through the rich diversity of art produced during the Sung, Yuan, Ming, and Ch'ing dynasties, contrasting China's absolutist political structure with the humanism of its artistic and moral philosophy. Synthesizing scholarship of the past three decades, the authors present not only the historical and cultural significance of individual works of art and analyses of their aesthetic content, but a reevaluation of the cultural dynamics of Chinese history, reflecting a fundamental shift in the study of Chinese art from a focus on documentation and connoisseurship to an emphasis on the cultural significance of the visual arts.
National treasures passed down from dynasty to dynasty, the works of art that now form the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, originally constituted the personal collection of the Ch'ien-lung emperor, who ruled China from 1736 to 1795. Two centuries after Ch'ien-lung ascended the dragon throne, when the Japanese invaded China in 1937, the nearly 10,000 masterworks of painting and calligraphy and more than 600,000 objects and rare books and documents—which had earlier been moved from Peking to Nanking following the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931—were packed in crates and evacuated to caves near the wartime capital, Chungking. It was not until after World War II that the crated treasures were moved to their present home in Taiwan, where today they represent a major portion of China's artistic and cultural legacy.
Drawing on this extraordinary collection, the authors explore in depth four interrelated themes: a cyclical view of history, the Confucian discourse on art, the social function of art, and possessing the past. The last theme, from which the volume takes its title, refers both to imperial China's possession of its past through the art of collecting and to the broader cultural tradition of embracing change through the creative reinterpretation of the past.
This major scholarly publication will expand our understanding and deepen our appreciation of works of art that over the centuries have emerged from a remarkable and, in the West, still largely unexplored culture. | <urn:uuid:daec0e75-e89e-4853-8cc0-6b570d23c1f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Possessing_the_Past_Treasures_from_the_National_Palace_Museum_Taipei | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940928 | 572 | 2.578125 | 3 |
January 17, 2013
Cape Town museums: where to discover South African history
As the oldest city in South Africa, spanning more than three centuries, Cape Town has a rich and diverse history.
Many of the colonial-style buildings in Cape Town, as well as many of the wine farms, date back hundreds of years. As a result of the many layers of the Mother City's history, there are several museums across the city with exhibits ranging from natural to cultural history. Visit one of the city's museums and experience a history lesson you'll never forget. | <urn:uuid:8ee9aca2-a8c8-47b8-ac55-d613114a47ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.capetown.travel/blog/entry/museums-exhibit-cape-towns-history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971084 | 114 | 2.25 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits