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Understanding this seemingly arcane process is important because dorsal closure uses molecular and cellular mechanisms very similar to those involved in wound-healing as well as those that can go awry in humans to produce the spinal malformation spina bifida.
The researchers achievements were reported in an online article in the February 6, 2003, Sciencexpress -- and will appear in the April 4, 2003, print version of Science -- by an interdisciplinary Duke research team that includes biologists, physicists and a mathematician. It was this broad collaboration, said the scientists, that enabled them to refine the laser scalpel, to perform the microsurgery to dissect the fly tissue and to model the forces involved in key developmental machinery.
Dorsal closure is a good system for studying these processes because its tractable, said lead author Shane Hutson. We only have to deal with a few different kinds of cells that are arranged in a planar fashion.
According to Hutson -- a postdoctoral fellow in Dukes Free Electron Laser Laboratory (FELL) -- dorsal closure involves the interplay of forces among three kinds of tissues in the fly embryo, which is smaller than a grain of rice. The amnioserosa cells form an inner sheet of tissue involved in knitting the closure; the lateral epidermis is the tissue layer that ultimately forms the flys outer covering; and in between these two tissues is a group of leading edge cells that form a purse-string structure that somehow tightens to contribute to closure. | <urn:uuid:3a2bc81e-ac1e-431e-9a70-05fbb2109e69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Laser-micro-scalpel-yields-biological-insights-into-tissue-dynamics-5244-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960826 | 304 | 2.890625 | 3 |
is a collaborative collection of more than 3,000 royalty-free
photos from World War II's Battle of Normandy and its aftermath. (Photos date from June 6 to late August 1944). The main link goes to the photostream. You can also peruse sets
, which include 2700+ images from the US
posted by zarq
on Mar 19, 2013 -
Robert F. Gallagher served in the United States Army's 815th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion (Third Army) in the European Theater during WWII. He has posted his memoir online: "Scratch One Messerschmitt,"
told from numerous photos he took during the war and the detailed notes he made shortly afterwards. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Nov 23, 2010 -
Postcards from Berlin
is a call from a Berlin (Germany) design studio for virtual postcards from all of the places in the US named Berlin.
posted by mkb
on Aug 20, 2010 -
admits denies making mistake!
Starts off new relationship with conservative German chancellor by personally insulting her. "We are not quite sure what was in her head."
- a senior Bush administration official, referring to Merkel. This after Condoleeza Rice gave Merkel private assurances and made a public statement
in which she said "when and if mistakes are made, we work very hard and as quickly as possible to rectify them. Any policy will sometimes have mistakes . . . we will do everything that we can to rectify those mistakes."
Obviously, Condi was mistaken. The Bush administration does not make mistakes.
posted by insomnia_lj
on Dec 6, 2005 -
U.S.-German Rift Reaches Schoolyard Level
"A Tennessee high school has called off an exchange with German students...The cancelation was another indication that the disagreement over Schroeder's anti-war stand is beginning to strain German-American friendship at its heart." [more inside]
posted by tippiedog
on Mar 26, 2003 - | <urn:uuid:5cc123d7-3367-4c00-a44b-17f9dc9c5450> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metafilter.com/tags/germany+us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962937 | 424 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Genetics as it applies to evolution, molecular biology, and medical aspects.
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
I have a question regarding to the onion skin model in Drosophila melanogaster. I understand why D. melanogaster amplificates its chorion genes etc.
I always read that the onion skin model uses an unidirectional ORI. My question: the ORI in the illustrations which i've looked at is always placed in the center of the amplification bubbles. The amplification (so as the replication?) however proceeds into two directions. So why is the origin of replication unidirectional? Are the illstrations wrong or am i missing something?
In my opinion one ORI has to be placed either at the left or the right of the "onion skins" / the chorion gene cluster. Am i right?
...and sorry for the propably creepy english
Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know the onion-skin-model, but from what you wrote I would understand, that it goes only on one strand in each point, not like in the case with Okazaki's fragments.
Cis or trans? That's what matters.
I mean the process which is described below. The paper also says that the ORI lies in the middle of the gene. The illustration looks like the replication went both ways. From my understanding a unidirectional ORI should only start a replication in one and not two directions. So it has to lie either at the right or the left of the amplification bubbles...
"Unlike the amphibian rRNA genes in Example 13.16, the eggshell genes of Drosophila can be amplified without extra chromosomal replication. A large number of follicle cells surround the egg and produce the chorion. The genes encoding the chorionic proteins exist in two clusters (one on the X chromosome and one on an autosome). Only a single copy of each somatic gene is present. A developmentally controlled origin of replication, located within each gene cluster, is programmed to fire 3–6 times during interphase within the 5 h of choriogenesis. The process shown in Fig. 13-1 usually produces a 32- to 64-fold amplification of the eggshell genes."
http://01.edu-cdn.com/files/static/mcgr ... ION_01.GIF
Part C of the following figure ist somewhat interesting regarding the topic:
http://www.google.de/imgres?start=92&um ... ,s:92,i:46
I cannot access the paper you are talking about and the picture does not explain much. The only thing I can tell from it is that it clashes with your statement: "The paper also says that the ORI lies in the middle of the gene" since it says that "replication origin near the chorion genes"...
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests | <urn:uuid:9a8caa31-da32-4b5b-8675-184797bb5c11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biology-online.org/biology-forum/about25969.html?p=144710&hilit=Egg+proteins | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919522 | 632 | 3.1875 | 3 |
March 4, 2012: Food & Health
Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 12 pm
Are politics getting in the way of women's health? Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts talks about the recent buzz surrounding contraception.
Everyone remembers the food pyramid from elementary school. Vivien Morris and Dr. Fred Opie teach us how tracing the food pyramid back to ancestral roots can lead to a healthier future.
Then, we're joined by Mark Marino the executive director of public health organization, Health Leads. It gives new ways to think about prescriptions that aren't about medication.
Show Correction:*Vivien Morris is no longer with Boston Medical Center. She is now the Chair Person for the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition.
- Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
- Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition
- Babson College
- Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America by Frederick Douglass Opie
- Health Leads
Click on the links below to watch this week's show:
Copyright 2012 by TheBostonChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:4797b71f-1836-4e2a-8c7e-76cf07b3d49c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wcvb.com/March-4-2012-Food-Health/-/9849586/11255692/-/view/print/-/15dx1g9/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914409 | 229 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Stock Status: In Stock
Note: A Chinese translation of this book is also available in ePub or mobi format.In this in-depth book, the authors address the concepts and terminology that are needed to work in the field of process control. The material is presented in a straightforward manner that is independent of the control system manufacturer. It is assumed that the reader may not have worked in a process plant environment and may be unfamiliar with the field devices and control systems. Much of the material on the practical aspects of control design and process applications is based on the authors personal experience gained in working with process control systems. Thus, the book is written to act as a guide for engineers, managers, technicians, and others that are new to process control or experienced control engineers who are unfamiliar with multi-loop control techniques. After the traditional single-loop and multi-loop techniques that are most often used in industry are covered, a brief introduction to advanced control techniques is provided. Whether the reader of this book is working as a process control engineer, working in a control group or working in an instrument department, the information will set the solid foundation needed to understand and work with existing control systems or to design new control applications.
At various points in the chapters on process characterization and control design, the reader has an opportunity to apply what was learned using web-based workshops. The only items required to access these workshops are a high-speed Internet connection and a web browser. Dynamic process simulations are built into the workshops to give the reader a realistic “hands-on” experience. Also, some information is provided on the web site that may be helpful in exploring basic and advanced control techniques. In addition to the online workshops, one chapter of the book is dedicated to techniques that may be used to create process simulations using tools that are commonly available within most distributed control systems.
As control techniques are introduced, simple process examples are used to illustrate how these techniques are applied in industry. The last chapter of the book, on process applications, contains several more complex examples from industry that illustrate how basic control techniques may be combined to meet a variety of application requirements.
All contents copyright of ISA © 1995-2013 All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:3f93a525-02fe-4dc6-8cbc-9e55bfc04dec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.isa.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_Books1&Template=/Ecommerce/ProductDisplay.cfm&ProductID=11267 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943211 | 447 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Division of Fire Prevention
Time change triggers Kentuckians to "change the batteries"
Kentuckians “fall back” this weekend to standard time, and the Division of Fire Prevention says it’s the perfect event to also change the batteries in smoke detectors to ensure they are working.
“Each year we send an important message – make it a habit that when you change the time on your clocks you also check the batteries in your smoke detectors,” said State Fire Marshal William Swope. “The first line of defense for escaping a fire is early warning. If your home doesn’t have smoke detectors, you should install them. Install one on every floor of your home, including the basement and in each sleeping area,” Swope said.
Without a working smoke detector to issue an early warning, fire can quickly spread throughout a home, blocking escape routes and filling rooms with deadly smoke, Swope said.
In fact, almost two-thirds of home fire deaths in 2005-2009 resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
“The bottom line is that smoke alarms save lives; they should be in every home,” Swope said.
The Kentucky State Fire Marshall’s office encourages Kentuckians to keep in mind the following safety tips:
- Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
- Test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button.
- Smoke rises. Install smoke alarms, following manufacturer's instructions, high on a wall or on a ceiling. Save manufacturer's instructions for testing and maintenance.
- Replace batteries in all smoke alarms at least once a year. If an alarm “chirps,” warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.
- Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they are 10 years old or sooner if they do not respond properly.
- Be sure the smoke alarm has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
- Alarms that are hard-wired (and include battery backup) must be installed by a qualified electrician.
- If cooking fumes or steam sets off nuisance alarms, replace the alarm with an alarm that has an alarm silencing button. An alarm silencing button will reduce the alarm’s sensitivity for a short period of time.
- Smoke alarms that include a recordable voice announcement in addition to the usual alarm sound, may be helpful in waking children through the use of a familiar voice.
- Smoke alarms are available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These devices use strobe lights. Vibration devices can be added to these alarms.
- Smoke alarms are an important part of a home escape plan. | <urn:uuid:d8c4295e-586f-433b-9283-4833f73ba536> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/eppc_dpp/State+fire+marshal.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911223 | 611 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The reason for making "Heat in a Box" was because we had an ice storm and lost power for 3-7 days. We had no heat for that time so our coach challenged us to make something portable that could heat one room. She said it didn't matter what we used for materials as long as we didn't lite it and burn the house down. My name is Emily and I was the only one who made the prototype and the actual "Heat in a Box."
My dad and I made "Heat in a Box" out of wood, plastic, and silicone. Inside the box is black paper and to heat it up the black paper must be in the sun. The air goes in the box through the slot and heats up. Then comes out the slot on the bottom.
I also made a prototype out of a cardboard box, construction paper, tape, glue, and two cardboard pipes. I used red, orange, and yellow construction paper that was used as fire. I put the pipes on the top. One comes straight out of the top and the other comes sideways out of the strait one on the top. That is where the smoke comes out. There was black construction paper that was used as coals. There was also gray paper that I colored for stones that I taped on the on the sides. Even though the two "Heat in a Boxes" that I made are completely different it is still good for the site. The real "Heat in a Box" is a 1/5 scale that actually works!!!! My dad and I got it out of a book and it was to big to make the actual size so we made it small enough to bring to school. It was a lot of fun to make and it was also a little hard too. All in all it was fun, and it also helps our planet!!! | <urn:uuid:7ab889e0-2be2-4650-819e-adf41373ac0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01428/heatinabox.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987863 | 374 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Monday Challenge 12/03/12 Priciples of Design
Posted 03 December 2012 - 08:06 AM
In a good piece of design, whether it be a painting or a scrapbook page, you will incorporate many, if not all of the principles and many of the elements of design. We will be focusing on one or two of the principles each week, but don't put aside the other aspects of good design.
Balance in design is similar to balance in physics
A large shape close to the center can be balanced by a small shape close to the edge. A large light
toned shape will be balanced by a small dark toned shape (the darker the shape the heavier it appears to be) (Artist John Lovett's website)
It is a state of equalized tension and equilibrium, which may not always be calm.
Types of Balance
Asymmetrical produces an informal balance that is attention attracting and dynamic.
Radial balance is arranged around a central element. The elements placed in a radial balance seem to 'radiate'
out from a central point in a circular fashion.
Overall is a mosaic form of balance which normally arises from too many elements being put on a page. Due to the lack of hierarchy and contrast, this form of balance can look noisy.
For today's challenge, I want you to give particular attention to your layout's Balance. I encourage you to read further by Googling the Principles of Design. You can do a layout of any subject with any number of photos that you wish to use.
Post your layouts in the General Message Board Gallery.
Here's mine: Lime Tree Bay Resort
Posted 03 December 2012 - 09:38 AM
Posted 06 December 2012 - 04:56 PM
Sorting through the scraps to generate the gems! | <urn:uuid:f5e20fb5-ba36-4f94-a947-d8cfab440c86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scrapgirls.net/forum/topic/58007-monday-challenge-120312/page__p__1060681 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918476 | 368 | 2.734375 | 3 |
During the recent 2010 campaign in Montana, the ultra-right-wing legislative candidate Derek Skees and his gang were accused of extremism because they appeared at Tea Party rallies wearing masks of Guy Fawkes. Fawkes, you will recall, was an English revolutionary and terrorist who tried to blow up the British parliament.
It wasn’t just Skees. The Fawkes fad was a nationwide phenomenon among the far-right, and even the Republican party got into the action. The Republican Governor’s Association, in its fundraising material, featured Fawkes-mask wearers, like in this scary video named “Remember November” by the RGA, the title being a dual reference to election day and to the November 1605 plot by Fawkes to assassinate every member of Parliament. Throughout 2010, Fawkes masks were popping up around the right-wing circuit, on Youtube, and at Tea Party rallies. Time Magazine ran a brief snippet on the whole Fawkes business, but that was about it as far as media coverage.
When confronted about this apparent endorsement of anti-government violence (which is a sensitive subject in the Flathead, where some militia members reside in the deep countryside), Skees brushed off the criticism and provided a clever answer: he and his right-wing pals who pay homage to Fawkes are not extremists, and don’t condone revolutionary upheaval such as Fawkes practiced. Rather, they are just big fans of the movie “V for Vendetta,” in which the protagonist freedom-fighter wears a Fawkes mask himself (and blows things and people up, but as a good guy).
So what shall we make, then, of the deranged and angry gunman who walked into a school board meeting in Panama City, Florida, spray painted a giant red V with a circle around it (the logo for the movie) on the wall, ranted briefly about taxes and his wife losing her job, and then opened fire on the school board members? Police later found hard-core anti-government propaganda at the gunman’s house, and also discovered that his entire Facebook page was devoted to “V for Vendetta”.
In the immediate reporting after the shooting, virtually no major news sites made the connection between the Movie, the Masks, the Right Wing and the shooter, but it is very real.
Time and again, whether at abortion clinics or in Oklahoma City or now at a school board meeting, we see the end results of the right-wing’s number one reason for existence: make ignorant, simple people as enraged at the government as possible.
Of course, when someone acts violently out of his anti-government fever as this man did, and a liberal blogger makes the claim that the Right Wing’s constant efforts at incitement are partially to blame, conservatives will promptly declare outrage not at the shooter, but at the Left. | <urn:uuid:079c48cb-6b1e-4670-a601-f8231a39102c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mtcowgirl.com/2010/12/16/v-for-vendetta-guy-fawkes-extremism-and-a-school-board-shooting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973191 | 593 | 1.625 | 2 |
What is certain is that an implosion in Europe's debt crisis is reaching the point of inevitability in much the same manner that the housing bubble came to a head and burst in the United States, but though no one knows when the debt crisis will come to a head, events are happening in September that may push the eurozone over a fiscal cliff.
If there’s one thing Europe’s seemingly interminable debt crisis has taught discerning observers, it’s that, while we can always predict where the economic follies of politicians will lead, it’s impossible to predict the timing or the severity of such consequences. Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, and other savants accurately forecast the implosion of the housing bubble, but no one could have predicted precisely when the debacle would unfold. In a similar vein, we have been predicting financial collapse in Europe and the end of the eurozone for two years, yet the Europeans continue to postpone the evil day — guaranteeing in the process that, when the moment of reckoning eventually arrives, the consequences will be all the more severe.
The latest prospect for a European financial “zero-hour” is this coming September, when a confluence of several events may finally tear the eurozone apart and drive the global economy into a dizzying new downturn. So dark do Europe’s prospects now appear that one senior eurozone policymaker, Jan Strupczewski, speaking recently to Reuters, characterized September as “crunch time.” And an unnamed EU diplomat added, “In nearly 20 years of dealing with EU issues, I've never known a state of affairs like we are in now. It really is a very, very difficult fix and it's far from certain that we'll be able to find the right way out of it.”
So what has prompted this latest round of hand-wringing? Well, if Europe was staring into the abyss at this time last year, it’s now hanging by its nails from the proverbial stubby pine tree jutting from the cliff face.
Click here to read the entire article. | <urn:uuid:c56dab55-589c-4261-ad9f-146e0e58715c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jbs.org/action-tools/is-europe-facing-a-financial-black-september | 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 | 0.948068 | 431 | 1.601563 | 2 |
A word is a sequence of letters that means something. Our list below contains over 20 different types of words. We intentionally excluded parts of speech.
Different Types of Words
|Type of Word||Definition|
|Abbreviation||A word that has been shortened.|
|Acronym|| A word formed from the first letter or letters of a
compound term and pronounced as a word.
|Anagram||A word formed by rearranging the letters of another word.|
|Antonym||Words that have opposite meanings. The antonym may be for only one meaning of a word that has other meanings.|
|Clipped Words||A word that has been shortened or clipped due to use, e.g., ad – advertisement, bike – bicycle.|
|Compound Words||A word created by joining two or more words. They do not always retain their original meaning, e.g., brainstorm.|
|Collocation||Words that are frequently used together.|
|Contractions||A word that is formed by shortening words,
replacing one or more letters with an apostrophe.
|A word that reads differently in reverse,
sometimes these words are referred to as reverse pairs.
Emordnilap is palindrome spelled backwards.
|Eponyms||A word based or derived from a person’s name.|
|Heteronym||Words that are spelled the same but have a different
pronunciation, meaning and origin.
|Homograph||Words that are spelled the same but
have a different meaning and origin.
|Homophone|| Words that sound alike, but have
a different meaning and usually spelling.
|Onomatopoeia|| A words that resembles the sound to which they refer;
the noise they depict, e.g., boom.
|Oxymoron||Words that contradict each other; clashing ideas.|
|Palindromes||A word or sentence that read the same
way forward and backward.
|Portmanteau||A word that is formed by combining two or
more words; the words morph into one word,
e.g., moped = motor + pedal.
|Sesquipedalian||A word that is very long.
The shortest word on our list has only 12 letters.
|Sight Words||Common words that are often not spelled
phonetically but must be learned, so they can be
recognized automatically on sight.
|Synonym||Words that have similar meanings.|
|Word Pairs||A pair of words that always appear in the same order.| | <urn:uuid:7ce1e33d-6887-4e44-96cc-12a1e0b9f661> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sightwordsgame.com/vocabulary-words/types-words/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925197 | 551 | 3.625 | 4 |
We at CatSynth never miss an opportunity to combine mathematics and cats. Recently, our friends at Walking Randomly posted this image:
Unlike the number theory and other mathematics we like to post here at CatSynth, the Fourier Transform is part of our stock and trade. There are many variants, including the Discrete Time Fourier Transform which one of the basic tools of signal processing and sound synthesis:
Basically, what a Fourier Transform does is decompose a signal (or any time-varying mathematical function) into separate frequencies. If you have a spectrum representation of a sound, this is output of a Fourier Transform. Similarly, if you have a graphic equalizer on your stereo, it can be seen as operating on a very low-resolution Fourier transform, as it allows one to raise and lower different frequency ranges of sound.
For images, “frequency” corresponds to detail. Highly detailed areas of image that change from pixel to pixel are high-frequency, while areas of constant color or intensity are lower frequency. Another variant of the Fourier Transform, the Discrete Cosine Transform, or DCT, is more often used with images because it tends to put more information in lower frequencies.
Theoritcally, one should not lose any information when taking a Fourier Transform of a signal (or image) and taking the inverse to retrieve the original. However, in Bennieston’s image, which applies two DCTs to the original image, results in the “ghost” that loses a bit of the original detail. Certainly, some is due to the rounding error when doing any calculations on the computer, but it seems like more than that. Most, likely, the DCT is more sensitive the boundaries, i.e., what happens at the beginning or end of a signal.
DCTs are often used in “lossy” image and audio compression, such as JPEG for images. However, I have rarely seen them used in music applications, where one tends to see more general Fourier Transformations, which correspond more closely to an intuitive understanding of musical frequency.
As such, it would be interesting to work with DCTs in a musical context and see what transpires. If we ever get around to this project, we will certainly post it here on CatSynth.
This post is part of the Carnival of Mathematics which is being hosted this weekend by Logic Nest. | <urn:uuid:0f471153-b236-411a-9de0-6f293d41e108> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ptank.com/blog/2008/07/the-fourier-transform-of-a-cat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944773 | 502 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Friday, 13 January 2012 00:00
Twenty years ago, Able Newspaper’s publisher Angela Miele Melledy wondered if there would be enough content about people with disabilities to fill a monthly newspaper. Today, she wonders how she will fit it all. Two hundred and forty issues later, Able Newspaper, based in Old Bethpage, is written for, by and about people with disabilities, is being called “my bible” by people with disabilities.”
Able Newspaper enables people with disabilities to read about people facing the same issues they are and see the possibilities that are out there. It features all the news that pertains to people with disabilities, including a calendar of events, columns written by various experts and a variety of informative articles and is printed in a larger type format for those with visual impairments.
Able also provides personal ads and boasts two marriages. Topics include court rulings, social events, public information, sports, Americans with Disabilities Act proceedings and legislative issues. Its number one priority is the input of people with disabilities. During its 20 years, Able has employed people with disabilities including writers, editors and sales professionals. Columns have covered law, civil rights, art, travel and even sex for people with disabilities.
“What’s so important about Able is that issues are aired, disagreements are public and the rights of the Disabilities Movement is its only goal,” said Jim Weissman, General Counsel, the United Spinal Association.
The interest, support and encouragement of the newspaper is not limited to people with disabilities and their families. After years of advocacy, Melledy gained the support of many non-profit groups and local and regional public officials who understand the importance of reaching out to a community made up of people who are faced with challenges everyday of their lives.
The interest, support and encouragement of Able Newspaper is not limited to people with disabilities and their families. Able has gained the support of many non-profit groups and local and regional public officials who understand the importance of reaching out to a community made up of people who are faced with challenges everyday of their lives.
“Angela is the best ambassador in the state of New York for people who are disabled and those who are developmentally challenged,” said New York state Assembly member Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach). “She is the voice of people who don’t have one and through her paper she presents an awareness for people with disabilities.”
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I decided to make an attempt at publishing a newspaper. There seemed to be a need in this community that was fairly new to me,” said Melledy. “I had no idea, at the time, how large the need was. “It is an honor for us to be able to do what we do for people who repeatedly inspire and encourage all of us at Able Newspaper.” | <urn:uuid:9dfbcf92-1d5b-4ae2-9ae6-ca125f325b62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://antonnews.com/plainviewoldbethpageherald/news/20344-the-able-newspaper-celebrates-20-year-anniversary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97735 | 608 | 1.5 | 2 |
Baby wipes were among the first wipes to be introduced to the consumer market. Today, they are a standard part of the diaper changing process and are used to clean babies' hands and faces in feeding. In general, baby wipes are valued by consumers as a handy, hygienic way to keep babies clean at home or on the move.
Toddler wipes have been developed for the growing baby. Toddler wipes allow the child to develop a newfound sense of independence by learning a new, grown-up skill as well as allow parents to have a little less bathroom responsibility. Flushable toddler wipes makes it easier for toddlers to clean up after using the toilet.
Ahlstrom commercialized the 1st dispersible wipe in 2000 for flushable applications. Additionally, Ahlstrom HYDRASPUN® dispersible wiping fabrics comply with the 2008 INDA / EDANA flushability guidelines. Our HYDRASPUN® dispersible materials also pass the biodegradable ISO 14851 test: Determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of plastic materials in an aqueous medium. | <urn:uuid:4f53a30e-d847-4c4e-8fff-4579913c2fdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tradeindia.com/fp569132/Baby-Toddler-Wiping-Fabrics.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932953 | 225 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Newspaper finds suspicious test scores nationwide
- Associated Press
- March 24, 2012 - 2:15 PM
ATLANTA - Hundreds of school systems nationwide exhibit suspicious test scores that point to the possibility of cheating, according to an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The newspaper ( http://bit.ly/GNrxOW) examined test results for 70,000 public schools and found high concentrations of scores in school systems from coast to coast.
The analysis doesn't prove cheating. It reveals that scores in hundreds of cities followed a pattern that, in Atlanta, indicated cheating in multiple schools.
The AJC reported in 2008 and 2009 about statistically improbable jumps in test scores within the 109-school Atlanta Public Schools system. Those reports led to an investigation by Georgia officials, which found that at least 180 principals, teachers and other staff took part in widespread test-tampering in the 50,000-student district.
In Sunday's editions, the AJC reports that 196 of the nation's 3,125 largest school districts had enough suspect test results that the odds of the results occurring naturally were less than one in 1,000.
For 33 districts nationwide, the odds of their test scores occurring naturally were worse than one in a million.
The AJC did not indentify any districts in Minnesota as having suspicious scores.
Standardized test scores have been at the forefront of national and local efforts to improve schools. Test performance was the centerpiece of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which demanded higher classroom accountability. Tougher teacher evaluations that many states are rolling out place more weight than ever on the tests.
But the AJC report found that the sweeping policy shifts rely on test results that may be unreliable.
While the federal government requires states to use standardized testing, it does not require educators to screen scores for anomalies or investigate those that turn up.
"If we are going to make important decisions based on test results — and we ought to be doing that — we have to make important decisions about how we are going to ensure their trustworthiness," said Daria Hall, director of K-12 policy with the nonprofit Education Trust.
"That means districts and states taking ownership of the test security issue in a way that they haven't to date."
In nine districts — Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, East St. Louis, Ill., Gary, Ind., Houston, Los Angeles and Mobile County, Ala. — scores careened so unpredictably that the odds of such dramatic shifts occurring without an intervention such as tampering were virtually zero, the newspaper found.
In Houston, test results for entire grades of students jumped two, three or more times the amount expected in one year, the analysis showed. When children moved to a new grade the next year, their scores plummeted — a finding that suggests the gains were not due to learning.
"These findings are concerning," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement after being briefed on the AJC's analysis. He added that "states, districts, schools and testing companies should have sensible safeguards in place to ensure tests accurately reflect student learning."
Many school district officials contacted by the AJC disputed any conclusion that cheating was to blame for the swings.
Some school leaders attributed steep gains to exemplary teaching. But experts said instruction isn't likely to move scores to the degree seen in the AJC's analysis.
Cheating is one of only a few plausible explanations for such dramatic changes in scores for so many students within a district, said James Wollack, a University of Wisconsin-Madison expert in testing and cheating who reviewed the newspaper's analysis.
"I can say with some confidence," he said, "cheating is something you should be looking at."
In each state, the newspaper used statistics to identify unusual score jumps and drops on state math and reading tests by grade and school. Declines can signal cheating the previous year. The calculations also took into account other factors that can lead to big score shifts, such as small classes and dramatic changes in class size.
The newspaper also developed a statistical method to identify school systems with far more unusual tests than expected, which could signal endemic cheating similar to what occurred in Atlanta. In its approach, the score analysis used conservative measures that highlighted extremes. The methodology is more likely to overlook possible indications of cheating than to suggest problems where none exist.
The newspaper's methodology was reviewed by outside experts.
The AJC's analysis suggests that tens of thousands of children may have been harmed by inflated scores that could have kept them from getting the academic help they needed.
In 2010 alone, the grade-wide reading scores of 24,618 children nationwide — enough to populate a mid-sized school district — swung so improbably that the odds of it happening by chance were less than 1 in 10,000.
Experts said the findings warrant deeper investigation at the local level.
Statistical checks for highly improbable scores are like medical tests, said Gary Phillips, a vice president and chief scientist for the large nonprofit the American Institutes for Research, who advised the AJC on its methodology.
"This is a broad screening," he said. "If you find something, you're supposed to go to the doctor and follow up with a more detailed diagnostic process."
Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com
© 2013 Star Tribune | <urn:uuid:326a16c2-42a6-43c0-847c-2852814b6785> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=144092826 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970414 | 1,102 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Download entire PDF, here.
“A treatment method or an educational method that will work for one child may not work for another child. The one common denominator for all of the young children is that early intervention does work, and it seems to improve the prognosis."
Just like the case with autism, early intervention is crucial for Asperger Syndrome/HFA. It is very important to remember that one method or intervention may not work for every child. Remember that your child is unique, and work with their strengths to help them in the best way possible. Treatment of AS/HFA can help your child navigate through social challenges, capitalize on his or her strengths, and be successful. Before we get into the types of therapies available, it is helpful to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Although research and experience have revealed many of the mysteries surrounding Asperger Syndrome/HFA, it remains a complex disorder that impacts each child differently. However, many children with AS/HFA have made remarkable breakthroughs with the right combinations of therapies and interventions. Most parents would welcome a therapy that would alleviate all of the challenges that make life difficult for their child. Just as your child’s challenges can’t be summed up in one word, they can’t be remedied with one therapy. Each challenge must be addressed with an appropriate therapy. No single therapy works for every child. What works for one child may not work for another. What works for one child for a period of time may stop working. Some therapies are supported by research showing their efficacy, while others are not. The skill, experience, and style of the therapist are critical to the effectiveness of the intervention. In their book A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism, Ozonoff, Dawson, and McPartland state that a guiding principle is learning to address your child’s difficulties, while channeling your child’s strengths. They point out that many people with AS/HFA have remarkable skills in one of the following areas:
- Memory - especially rote memory
- Superior academic skills
- Visual thinking
- Recognizing order and following rules
- Have passion and conviction
- Comfort and compatibility with adults rather than children
In fact, sometimes the symptoms of AS/HFA can instead be seen as “strengths” and can be used to help your child be successful in life. Other times, your child’s unique behaviors can be channeled into strengths given the proper support, a little creativity, and a shift in perspective. In order to determine what treatments and interventions will be most effective for an individual with AS, a thorough assessment of all symptoms must be done. The evaluation must examine a wide variety of factors including behavioral history, current symptoms, communication patterns, social competence and neuropsychological functioning. It is crucial to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the child in each of these areas in order to paint a full and clear picture. An individual with AS/HFA may have completely different strengths and weaknesses than another individual with the same diagnosis. One treatment that is the most significant and most effective for one child may be completely unnecessary and ineffective for another. As a result, treatments and interventions must be very individualized based on the information gathered from the thorough assessment.
The factor that has proved to be the most critical in terms of improvements in these children is early intervention. If behavior management and social skills training begin at a young age, the chances of progress are significantly greater.
An effective treatment program includes parents as part of the treatment process, builds on the child’s interests, promotes self-esteem, and offers a predictable schedule. Such a program also teaches tasks as a series of simple steps, actively engages the child’s attention in highly structured activities, and helps include the child in a typical social environment, and provides regular reinforcement of behavior.
Options for Treatment Include:
Parent Education and Training
Parent training can be especially beneficial to the improvement of children with AS/HFA. If caregivers such as parents, grandparents, siblings, babysitters, etc. are fully aware of and understand the strengths and deficits of the child, they will be able to incorporate aspects of successful treatment options like social skills training into the child’s life at home. The more children with AS are exposed to social skills and behavior training, the more likely they are to improve their behavior. Parents and other caregivers can learn how to effectively implement treatment mechanisms into the child’s everyday life. Treatment then becomes consistent and routine for children with AS.
Social Skills Training and Speech-Language Therapy
Children with Asperger Syndrome/HFA can expand and improve their social skills through training and therapy. Though children with AS may have strong language skills, it is important that they learn how to express their thoughts and feelings appropriately. Their ability to interact with others can improve with lots of practice and explicit teaching. Therapists often teach social skills to children with AS/HFA using visual techniques such as social stories, or using exercises that involve the children in various social situations. Social skills groups have proved to be very beneficial to children with AS in teaching them how to interact with their peers. Speech and language therapy may also help these children to communicate better. This therapy could correct awkward methods of speaking such as monotone, and help children to better understand and interpret the speech and communication signals of others such as humor, eye contact, and hand gestures.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used primarily to help individuals with AS regulate their emotions, develop impulse control, and improve their behavior as a result. In addition, some individuals with AS/HFA struggle with fears and anxiety, or may become depressed. Cognitive behavior therapy has been shown to be helpful for reducing anxious and depressed feelings and behavior by making changes in thoughts and perceptions of situations through a change in cognition. The key ingredient of CBT, which distinguishes it from regular behavior therapy, is working on this change in cognition or how thinking is processed. Therapists seek to reduce challenging behaviors, such as interruptions, obsessions, meltdowns or angry outbursts, while also teaching individuals how to become familiar with and manage certain feelings that may arise.
Cognitive behavioral therapy can be individualized for each patient, and as a result, is very effective at improving very specific behaviors and challenges in each child or young adult. Stabilizing emotions and improving behavior allows those with AS to prepare for and respond more appropriately in specific situations.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
Since the early 1960’s, Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, has been used by hundreds of therapists to teach communication, play, social, academic, self-care, work, and community living skills, and to reduce problem behaviors in learners with autism. There now is a great deal of research literature that demonstrates that ABA is effective for improving children’s outcomes, especially their cognitive and language abilities. Over the past several decades, different treatment models using ABA have emerged, all of which use behavioral teaching. They all use strategies that are based on the work of B.F. Skinner. ABA is often difficult to understand until you see it in action. It may be helpful to start by describing what all of the different methods of ABA have in common. ABA methods use the following three step process to teach:
1. An antecedent, which is a verbal or physical stimulus such as a command or request. This may come from the environment or from another person, or be internal to the subject
2. A resulting behavior, which is the subject’s (or in this case, the child’s) response or lack of response
3. A consequence, which depends on the behavior. The consequence can include positive reinforcement of the desired behavior, or no reaction for the incorrect response.
ABA targets the learning of skills and the reduction of challenging behaviors. Most ABA programs are highly-structured. Targeted skills and behaviors are based on an established curriculum. Each skill is broken down into small steps, and taught using prompts, which are gradually eliminated as the steps are mastered. The child is given repeated opportunities to learn and practice each step in a variety of settings. Each time the child achieves the desired result, he receives positive reinforcement, such as verbal praise or something that the child finds to be highly motivating. ABA programs often include support for the child in a school setting, with a one-on-one aide to target the systemic transfer of skills to a typical school environment. Skills are broken down into manageable pieces and built upon so that a child learns how to learn in a natural environment. Facilitated play with peers is often part of the intervention. Success is measured by direct observation and data collection and analysis – all critical components of ABA. If the child isn’t making satisfactory progress, adjustments are made.
Sensory Integration/Occupational Therapy
Many children with AS/HFA have problems with motor skills or issues with their senses. In sensory integration therapy, occupational therapists work with children to stabilize their senses and their reactions to external stimuli. This therapy can help children gain better control over their bodies, and thus can reduce clumsiness, instability and hand-eye coordination. SI therapy can also reduce anxiety in children with AS/HFA by improving their responses to particular sounds or touches. When children have better control of their senses, they are better able to control their movements, sounds, and emotions. This leads to reduced awkwardness and improved social skills.
No medications specifically treat Asperger Syndrome. However, some children with AS experience symptoms that can be controlled by medication: depression, anxiety, attention deficits, or hyperactivity. Though the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome can only be improved through treatments and interventions, it is important to also assess and treat associated conditions such as depression, anxiety, and attention problems as these symptoms can often be more debilitating than AS/HFA itself. | <urn:uuid:98bfa80f-53db-4559-9af9-b5ebf3ed4742> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/asperger-syndrome-and-high-functioning-autism-tool-kit/interventions-and-t | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955414 | 2,059 | 3.296875 | 3 |
When painting, try this method for getting rid of obvious stroke marks.
Popular Mechanics puts this ultimate power tool to the test.
Host Paul Ryan shares a few tips for maintaining a driveway.
Dean and Derek add a splash of color to a project using masonry paint.
This unique paint roller can reach into corners and tight spaces. Read about it here at DIY.
Can't decide what color to paint a room? Here's a trick that will help.
Check out this unique process that allows painting of Formica or laminate.
Show your cat how much you love him by grooming him regularly.
From rollers to sprayers and other painting accessories, DIYNetwork.com helps you choose the best painting tool for your next paint job...
Before you begin a painting project, put together a painting kit: paint brushes, paint roller, painter's tape, roller tray, drop cloth,...
This lightweight battery-powered garden tool really cuts it!
See why it's important to have the right high-quality brush for the job.
Give stainless steel a funky look by creating a swirl effect with a sander.
Here are the DIY Basics on selecting interior paint.
Take a look at this innovative technique for painting along the floor. | <urn:uuid:8668db18-5345-4e47-891c-f5a1470a77ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diynetwork.com/topics/brushes/index.html?No=30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92583 | 257 | 1.539063 | 2 |
"Mitt Romney doesn't get it. He recently visited a school in west Philly and told teachers he knows more than they do about what works for their students," said Nutter. "He said class size doesn't matter. Doesn't matter? If our teachers can't give our children the attention they need, that doesn't matter? If our students spend the day on their feet, or the floor, because there aren't enough desks in a crowded classroom, that doesn't matter?"
Nutter, who noted being proud to have a daughter enrolled in the Philadelphia public school system, said President Obama has invested in the nation's children by saving the jobs of 400,000 educators and giving states the flexibility to shape their schools. | <urn:uuid:4c921302-c434-4c3a-b6ee-eb2407f0ba09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.wfmz.com/wfmztv_69_news_online_dnc/2012/09/education-top-topic-of-nutter-speech.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991102 | 147 | 1.507813 | 2 |
It has been an embarrassing week for security firm HBGary and its HBGary Federal offshoot. HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr thought he had unmasked the hacker hordes of Anonymous and was preparing to name and shame those responsible for co-ordinating the group's actions, including the denial-of-service attacks that hit MasterCard, Visa, and other perceived enemies of WikiLeaks late last year.
When Barr told one of those he believed to be an Anonymous ringleader about his forthcoming exposé, the Anonymous response was swift and humiliating. HBGary's servers were broken into, its e-mails pillaged and published to the world, its data destroyed, and its website defaced. As an added bonus, a second site owned and operated by Greg Hoglund, owner of HBGary, was taken offline and the user registration database published.
Over the last week, I've talked to some of those who participated in the HBGary hack to learn in detail how they penetrated HBGary's defenses and gave the company such a stunning black eye—and what the HBGary example means for the rest of us mere mortals who use the Internet.
Anonymous: more than kids
HBGary and HBGary Federal position themselves as experts in computer security. The companies offer both software and services to both the public and private sectors. On the software side, HBGary has a range of computer forensics and malware analysis tools to enable the detection, isolation, and analysis of worms, viruses, and trojans. On the services side, it offers expertise in implementing intrusion detection systems and secure networking, and performs vulnerability assessment and penetration testing of systems and software. A variety of three letter agencies, including the NSA, appeared to be in regular contact with the HBGary companies, as did Interpol, and HBGary also worked with well-known security firm McAfee. At one time, even Apple expressed an interest in the company's products or services.
Greg Hoglund's rootkit.com is a respected resource for discussion and analysis of rootkits (software that tampers with operating systems at a low level to evade detection) and related technology; over the years, his site has been targeted by disgruntled hackers aggrieved that their wares have been discussed, dissected, and often disparaged as badly written bits of code.
One might think that such an esteemed organization would prove an insurmountable challenge for a bunch of disaffected kids to hack. World-renowned, government-recognized experts against Anonymous? HBGary should be able to take their efforts in stride.
Unfortunately for HBGary, neither the characterization of Anonymous nor the assumption of competence on the security company's part are accurate, as the story of how HBGary was hacked will make clear.
Anonymous is a diverse bunch: though they tend to be younger rather than older, their age group spans decades. Some may still be in school, but many others are gainfully employed office-workers, software developers, or IT support technicians, among other things. With that diversity in age and experience comes a diversity of expertise and ability.
It's true that most of the operations performed under the Anonymous branding have been relatively unsophisticated, albeit effective: the attacks made on MasterCard and others were distributed denial-of-service attacks using a modified version of the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) load-testing tool. The modified LOIC enables the creation of large botnets that each user opts into: the software can be configured to take its instructions from connections to Internet relay chat (IRC) chat servers, allowing attack organizers to remotely control hundreds of slave machines and hence control large-scale attacks that can readily knock websites offline.
According to the leaked e-mails, Aaron Barr believed that HBGary's website was itself subject to a denial-of-service attack shortly after he exposed himself to someone he believed to be a top Anonymous leader. But the person I spoke to about this denied any involvement in such an attack. Which is not to say that the attack didn't happen—simply that this person didn't know about or participate in it. In any case, the Anonymous plans were more advanced than a brute force DDoS.
Time for an injection
HBGary Federal's website, hbgaryfederal.com, was powered by a content management system (CMS). CMSes are a common component of content-driven sites; they make it easy to add and update content to the site without having to mess about with HTML and making sure everything gets linked up and so on and so forth. Rather than using an off-the-shelf CMS (of which there are many, used in the many blogs and news sites that exist on the Web), HBGary—for reasons best known to its staff—decided to commission a custom CMS system from a third-party developer.
Unfortunately for HBGary, this third-party CMS was poorly written. In fact, it had what can only be described as a pretty gaping bug in it. A standard, off-the-shelf CMS would be no panacea in this regard—security flaws crop up in all of them from time to time—but it would have the advantage of many thousands of users and regular bugfixes, resulting in a much lesser chance of extant security flaws.
The custom solution on HBGary's site, alas, appeared to lack this kind of support. And if HBGary conducted any kind of vulnerability assessment of the software—which is, after all, one of the services the company offers—then its assessment overlooked a substantial flaw.
The hbgaryfederal.com CMS was susceptible to a kind of attack called SQL injection. In common with other CMSes, the hbgaryfederal.com CMS stores its data in an SQL database, retrieving data from that database with suitable queries. Some queries are fixed—an integral part of the CMS application itself. Others, however, need parameters. For example, a query to retrieve an article from the CMS will generally need a parameter corresponding to the article ID number. These parameters are, in turn, generally passed from the Web front-end to the CMS.
SQL injection is possible when the code that deals with these parameters is faulty. Many applications join the parameters from the Web front-end with hard-coded queries, then pass the whole concatenated lot to the database. Often, they do this without verifying the validity of those parameters. This exposes the systems to SQL injection. Attackers can pass in specially crafted parameters that cause the database to execute queries of the attackers' own choosing.
The exact URL used to break into hbgaryfederal.com was
http://www.hbgaryfederal.com/pages.php?pageNav=2&page=27. The URL has two parameters named pageNav and page, set to the values 2 and 27, respectively. One or other or both of these was handled incorrectly by the CMS, allowing the hackers to retrieve data from the database that they shouldn't have been able to get. | <urn:uuid:968687e1-4800-47d9-87b9-41731150c5e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/02/anonymous-speaks-the-inside-story-of-the-hbgary-hack/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959579 | 1,436 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Subspecies of Beach Pine adapted to acidic soils and hard pan on coastal terraces. Mature trees were 7 feet or less tall. Lower branches were without needle bundles.
Transitional pygmy coniferous forest - huckleberry
Transitional pygmy coniferous forest - salal
landed on tree to right 8ft high then walked down to the ground to forage in the duff climbed back up same tree and flew off
I don't know how to distinguish between ovata and parvidentata.
ID'd by kueda.
Probably not identifiable, but a cute little mushroom all the same.
I'm guessing this might be P. badius since the stalk seems entirely dark, but I don't know for sure. Anyone have any tips? I foolishly neglected to take a pic of the top of the cap, but you can see a bit of the marginal coloration in the upper left of this image.
SUPER viscid cap AND stem. Very weird mushroom. Seemed to be growing in soil, but there were tanoak, redwood, Doug fir, and pine around. Seems to lack the belts on the stem of C. collinitus, though who knows, it might be a similar cort. | <urn:uuid:3a00bb0d-eced-4759-ae63-10361a4546da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?lat=39.348701856&lng=-123.8262605667 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950518 | 260 | 2.421875 | 2 |
An elementary Excel guide geared to new or very basic usersWritten in a question-and-answer format, this lowest-level beginner book covers the extreme basics of using spreadsheets in Excel. Instead of delving into advanced topics that scare most Excel novices away, the guide starts at a much more basic level, quickly providing a passable knowledge of the program and allowing users to overcome their fears and frustrations. It answers hundreds of common questions, including Can I delete data from a spreadsheet without changing the formatting? How can I merge two cells, columns, or rows? How do I use text-wrapping? How do I create custom functions? and What is a Macro and how do I go about creating it? Intended for the roughly 40 percent of Excel users who have never even entered a formula, this book will demystify the problems and confusion that prevent them from using the program to its potential.
Author BiographyTyler Nash is a college student who turned to Bill Jelen for spreadsheet help. She convinced him to compile their question-and-answer sessions into a comprehensive guide for fellow novice Excel users. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida. Bill Jelen is an Excel expert at www.mrexcel.com and the author of numerous books, including Excel Gurus Gone Wild, Pivot Table Data Crunching, and several titles in the Excel for Professionals series. He lives in Akron, Ohio. | <urn:uuid:17441842-3e4d-4530-942b-8ea10a7ccbfe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipgbook.com/don-t-fear-the-spreadsheet-products-9781615470037.php?page_id=32&pid=HMB | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928933 | 292 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The Difficulties of Consolidating Communities
Very interesting story in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal about the difficulties of consolidating local governments and local government services.
It focuses on Michigan and Governor Rick Snyder’s push to consolidate some of its many units of government (1,773 municipalities, 609 school districts, 1,071 fire departments and 608 police departments, according to the story).
Though mergers might make fiscal sense, they aren’t always popular, as the story explains:
“Over the years, consolidation proposals haven’t fared well with voters. Of the 105 referendums on city-county mergers since 1902, only 27 have passed, the most recent in 2000, when Louisville, Ky., merged into Jefferson County, according to David Rusk, a Democratic ex-mayor of Albuquerque and a proponent of consolidation. Last year, voters vetoed a merger of Memphis, Tenn., with Shelby County. In March, Memphis voters approved a merger of the city and county school systems, over strong suburban opposition. The county board of education has sued to block the merger.” | <urn:uuid:cb0f6c75-404f-4a68-94cb-fd4c4f5666ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rustwire.com/2011/06/10/the-difficulties-of-consolidating-communities/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928053 | 230 | 1.546875 | 2 |
IT MIGHT have looked like spring for the past few days, but it's going to feel like winter again from today when the mercury dips.
The mild and sunny spell is about to end as temperatures fall below zero at night-time for the rest of the week, Met Eireann is warning. But at least the rain is due to stay away for the time being.
Met Eireann forecaster Eoin Sherlock said that temperatures would be sub zero in many places at nightime, as low as -3 on Thursday, and as low as -5 on higher ground.
"It will be much lower than normal. This will be a cool, dry spell," he added.
Mr Sherlock said the cold air would be coming in from an easterly direction. The sub-zero temperatures will affect most of the country, although it will not be as cold in the southwest. Overnight temperatures were expected to drop to between -2C and 2C for much of the country, with the lowest temperatures in north Leinster and Ulster. Frost is also expected in these areas along with some patches of mist and fog.
It will turn even colder from tomorrow, particularly in eastern areas where the southeast winds will freshen.
While motorists will have to take care, the rain is due to hold off, which should reduce the incidence of dangerous ice on roads.
The cold spell, which is expected to continue through next weekend, is in contrast to the above-average temperatures recorded for January. | <urn:uuid:4e28ae33-23e1-4e69-911f-b53470f5fb7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.independent.ie/weather/subzero-temperatures-follow-spring-sun-29078957.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976649 | 307 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Pretty much everyone inside and outside of Washington is disappointed in the fiscal cliff deal. Some argue it doesn’t do enough. Others think it goes too far. There’s even disagreement on a crucial point: Does the deal increase the deficit or reduce it?
The Congressional Budget Office said it will increase the deficit by nearly $4 trillion over 10 years. It arrived at that figure by comparing the terms of the deal with the revenue the government would have raised if all of the Bush-era tax cuts and other expiring tax credits, had ended, as they were scheduled to do.
President Obama said the deal raises revenue by $620 billion over 10 years. That’s the amount gained by increasing taxes on high income taxpayers, compared with a scenario in which all of the tax cuts had been extended.
In other words, the C.B.O. and the White House are using different starting points, or “baselines” in budget speak.
Adding to the confusion, Republicans have shown a tendency to use whichever baseline helps them score political points. When it comes to their wealthy constituents, Republicans use a baseline that makes it look like the rich took a hit – which they have to some extent. But when it comes to the poor, they use a baseline that makes it look like low-income Americans have gotten a new benefit, when in fact nothing has changed.
Case in point, Republicans are staking out the position that, having made a heroic sacrifice by allowing taxes to rise on high income Americans, it’s time to slash spending. So, like the president, they emphasize that taxes have gone up (as compared with Congress extending all of the Bush-era cuts). Then they disparage the deal as spendthrift by pointing out that, according to the C.B.O., it raises spending by $330 billion (as compared with Congress extending none of the low income tax credits that were included in the deal, and which technically count as spending).
The fact that there is no agreed-upon baseline is a problem in and of itself. How do you decide what needs to be done going forward if you can’t agree on where you are? But the Republicans aren’t just choosing a different starting point from the White House: They’re trying to have it both ways. Whether from ignorance or dishonesty, that doesn’t bode well for future talks over deficit reduction. | <urn:uuid:ff7fcc46-56ba-4f86-951e-b5399749b0a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/having-it-both-ways/?ref=barackobama | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971065 | 500 | 2.078125 | 2 |
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Argentine Jorge Bergoglio has been elected pope, the first ever from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He chose the name Pope Francis.
WEB EXTRA: More pope coverage at: www.wgrz.com/pope
After announcing "Habemus Papum" - "We have a pope!" - a cardinal standing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday revealed the identity of the new pontiff, using his Latin name. Bergoglio had reportedly finished second in the 2005 conclave that produced Benedict XVI - who last month became the first pope to resign in 600 years.
The new pope, who is 76, has spent nearly his entire career at home in Argentina, overseeing churches and shoe-leather priests.
The archbishop of Buenos Aires reportedly got the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 papal election, and he has long specialized in the kind of pastoral work that some say is an essential skill for the next pope.
In a lifetime of teaching and leading priests in Latin America, which has the largest share of the world's Catholics, Bergoglio has shown a keen political sensibility as well as the kind of self-effacing humility that fellow cardinals value highly.
Bergoglio is known for modernizing an Argentine church that had been among the most conservative in Latin America. | <urn:uuid:2729ee98-6b6a-4cc7-9667-34002b549110> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/205652/413/Cardinal-Bergoglio-Introduced-as-Pope-Francis-I | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968345 | 296 | 1.976563 | 2 |
District 7 Village Planning Committees
Six of Phoenix's 15 Urban Villages are contained within District 7's boundaries. Each village has a Village Planning Committee that is appointed by the City Council. The Village Planning Committees assist the Planning Commission in the performance of its duties.
Village Planning Committee activities include: identifying areas or provisions of the General Plan text that need refinement and updating; identifying problems and needs related to implementation of the General Plan; defining in greater detail the intended future function, density and character of sub-areas of the village; and commenting on proposals for the new zoning districts or land use districts.
For more information about a particular Village, click on the appropriate image below.
Click here for information on all city of Phoenix Urban Villages. | <urn:uuid:f20a0ffa-971e-4656-8d79-54f8e0f646fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phoenix.gov/district7/d7villages.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901616 | 152 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Posted: Feb 12, 2013 9:42 AM by NBC News
A new study reveals what's in your vitamin bottle, may not match the label.
Researchers with Kaiser Permanente tested Vitamin D pills sold in five mainstream grocery stores from 12 different manufacturers.
They found the actual amounts of Vitamin D in the pills ranged from nine to 140% of what was on the label.
When testing five pills from one bottle, most averaged closer to 100%, but one-third were still too high or low.
Experts say while no pills were considered dangerous, some had too little of the vitamin to treat someone with a deficiency.
The council for responsible nutrition suggests consumers purchase well known brands with voluntary testing seals.
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KSBY is your official CA Lottery station for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties | <urn:uuid:0fc0b493-40b9-4190-bdf6-d74d3a661b03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ksby.com/news/vitamins-may-not-match-label/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924493 | 313 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 6.djvu/82
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.
of them, contain always more or less green matter, masked. They also possess the property, which the white leaves do not, of absorbing carbonic acid, and exhaling oxygen in a perceptible degree, when exposed to the sun. We lay stress on these phenomena, since it is for want of having understood them that very recent authors describe colored leaves as being usually deprived of the function of assimilation.
If we make the experiment already described with white leaves, we shall find that in the daytime they exhale a perceptible amount of carbonic acid.
Sennebier had observed that the yellow and red stripes of the Amarantus tricolor do not give off oxygen when exposed to the sun, but that the leaves of the Amarantus ruber, on the contrary, possess this property. So, too, leaves naturally green, which change color at the close of their life, entirely cease from absorbing carbonic acid and exhaling oxygen. Corenwinder has shown that faded leaves that are on the point of falling constantly give out carbonic acid. The fact seems to be universal. Here, however, it is not a phenomenon of vitality that appears, but an act of decrepitude, which goes on and increases after the leaf has fallen.
We observe the same phenomena in other plants, some of whose leaves contain no green matter whatever, especially in the striped maple, which is such an ornament of our gardens in summer. In August, 1868, M. Corenwinder gathered off one and the same maple some leaves that were perfectly white, and others that were perfectly green, and analyzed them to determine the amount of nitrogen they respectively contained, with the following results:
|Nitrogenized matters in 100 grammes, dried at 212° Fahr.||17.06 gr.|
|Nitrogenized matters in 100 grammes, dried at 212° Fahr.||13.75 gr.|
Thus we find a much larger amount of nitrogenous elements in the white leaves than in those which contain chlorophyll; on the other hand, the latter are richer in carbonaceous substances. These two observations clearly confirm M. Corenwinder's theory.
Finally, we may conclude, from all the analyses and experiments we have here detailed, that there exist in plants, at every stage of their life, two distinct functions having different centres of action. The one is respiration, which depends upon the nitrogenous organic bodies. The other is assimilation of carbon, which has its seat in special organisms, formed principally, if not exclusively, of ternary elements.
This theory gives a natural explanation of all observations upon the physiology of leaves. M. Corenwinder hopes soon to make an application of it, and will show what it is worth, by explaining, with its aid, the origin of carbon in plants. | <urn:uuid:0e0f9613-37fa-42fe-b41a-bd248a9dc207> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Popular_Science_Monthly_Volume_6.djvu/82 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946707 | 606 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Three convicted of plotting terror attack 'bigger than 7/7'
updated 12:58 PM EST, Thu February 21, 2013
- NEW: The 3 men planned to detonate backpack bombs in crowded areas, the court heard
- NEW: They traveled to Pakistan to attend a terror training camp
- Ashik Ali, Ifran Khalid and Ifran Naseer wanted to carry out a big attack, prosecutors say
- "These men had dangerous aspirations," says prosecutor Karen Jones
London (CNN) -- Three men were found guilty of plotting a terror attack they hoped would be bigger than the July 7, 2005, bombings that rocked London, UK prosecutors said Thursday.
Ashik Ali, Ifran Khalid and Ifran Naseer, all from Birmingham, England, were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court on 12 counts of committing acts in preparation for a terrorist attack.
READ: Terror trial begins in Britain
The three men planned to set off up to eight backpack bombs in crowded areas, and had traveled to a terror training camp in Pakistan for expert training and preparation, the court heard during a 14-week trial.
"Had they not been stopped, the consequences would have been catastrophic," said Karen Jones, a specialist counter-terrorism prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service. "These men had dangerous aspirations."
2 arrested in London terror probe
Terror arrests in London
Abu Qatada's deportation appeal
While their precise targets remained unclear, "the potential for damage and loss of life from their plot should not be underestimated," Jones added.
"The evidence we put to the court showed the defendants discussing with awe and admiration the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7. These terrorists wanted to do something bigger, speaking of how 7/7 had 'gone a bit wrong.'"
READ: Documents give new details on al Qaeda's London bombings
West Midlands Police said Naseer, 31, talked of "spilling so much blood you'll have nightmares for the rest of your lives."
The three men posed as bogus charity collectors within their local community to raise money to fund their plans, the police statement said.
Naseer was also found guilty of helping four younger men travel to the terror training camp after he, Khalid and Ali, both 27, returned from Pakistan, it said.
"The link to training camps demonstrates the international dimension of the threat we continue to face," said West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale.
"The numbers involved in terrorism are small but the potential impact they could have if successful is huge."
The men are due to be sentenced later this year.
The judge told them all to expect life sentences with substantial minimum terms, the police statement said.
The July 7, 2005 bombings in London, which targeted buses and the subway, killed 52 people and injured more than 700.
CNN's Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report.
Part of complete coverage on
updated 10:27 PM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
The nature of the London attack is not unprecedented, says one terror analyst. There's a track record of Islamist extremists targeting soldiers in the West.
updated 6:17 PM EDT, Tue May 21, 2013
The image of the Gaza boy and his father under a hail of Israeli bullets became a powerful symbol. Now Israel insists its military is not to blame.
updated 2:31 PM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
The tornado that ripped through Oklahoma saw teachers rise to be surrogate parents, protectors and heroes, according to LZ Granderson.
updated 1:14 PM EDT, Tue May 21, 2013
Did you know that hurricanes can also produce tornadoes? Read facts you didn't know about destructive twisters.
updated 9:01 AM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
The petite frame of 19-year-old Zoe Smith should fool nobody -- she's a weightlifting warrior who has fought stereotypes and broken a British record.
updated 12:41 AM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls women "Japan's most underutilized resource," yet traditions have been hard to overcome.
updated 10:55 AM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
According to the United Nations' mission in Iraq, 712 Iraqis were violently killed in April 2013. This is both normal and extraordinary.
updated 7:21 AM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
Myanmar's Muslims have generally coexisted with the Buddhist majority. But ethnic fault lines are exposed as it emerges from military rule.
updated 10:21 PM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
A quarter century after his death, American pop artist Andy Warhol has popped up in China again after his first and only trip to the country in 1982.
updated 10:39 AM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013
Revolutionary bionic exoskeletons like the metal suit worn by comic book hero Tony Stark may be closer than you think. | <urn:uuid:81096164-33f4-491e-afd2-70fa878599b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/world/europe/uk-terror-plot/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_world+%28RSS%3A+World%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963842 | 1,012 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The Pack Lions
A large pride of South African lions in the Singita Game Reserve, S Africa present a great demonstration of hunting using precise strategies and ambush techniques. It is a larger pride than in most parts of Africa and this means that they must continually hunt larger greater prey.
Really good filming and good narration make this an excellent documentary nature video. It's not all plain sailing for the lions but this is a good insight into life for these pack animals.
The Pack Lions, | <urn:uuid:db329c15-4cf9-48d8-ac6c-f21383c60ebf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.documentarytube.com/the-pack-lions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901267 | 98 | 1.898438 | 2 |
It has become traditional for The Royal Society of Tasmania to host a Winter Lecture Series for the public. By courtesy of the University of Tasmania these have been held at the Sir Stanley Burbury Theatre in the University Centre. The series usually consists of a series of presentations over three months, on the third Tuesday of June, July and August.
This year The Royal Society of Tasmania focussed its Winter Lecture Series on the topic of Macquarie Island because it is 200 years since the island was ‘discovered’ on 11 July 1810. This series focuses on the many fascinating elements of this small island rich in history, heritage and ecology.
The series took the form of three sessions, each of three speakers on Tuesday 15 June, 20 July and 17 August 2010. Each session was chaired by an eminent person with some association with the Island. Professor Patrick Quilty President of The Royal Society of Tasmania, of the School of Earth Sciences, University of Tasmania was overall co-ordinator.
Sir Guy Green presided over the first session. Altogether apart from his formal roles in Tasmanian and Australian society, he has a strong Antarctic/sub-Antarctic interest and has visited the island while Governor of Tasmania. He instigated and guides a biennial international forum on the sub-Antarctic and the third of that series is to be held in Hobart early in August 2011.
The first session was chaired by Sir Guy Green, AC, KBE, CVO and had three speakers:
Davidson reviewed what is known of the geological history of Macquarie Island, the people involved in unravelling the history, the uniqueness of the island because of that history, and how what we now know contributes to, and is influenced by, the modern understanding of the way ocean basins evolve. It drew out the strong Tasmanian and international links in the story. Macquarie Island gains its distinctness because it is a piece of uplifted seafloor, and the best place on earth to study the composition and structure of the seafloor which is normally inaccessible while covering 70% of the earth’s surface. But it is true that the Island may not be typical seafloor and our understanding of where it fits in tectonic terms has changed significantly over the last ten years. Work continues.
Kellaway, in a shorter timescale (roughly 1820-1900), outlined the history of governance of the Island. It is still unclear, and no paperwork seems to exist, how the Island was first placed under the responsibility of the Governor of Tasmania (as Macquarrie Island) in 1824. By 1890, the Colonial Office in London had lost any memory of that record and cheerfully agreed that New Zealand could attempt to claim the island (for good management reasons). While New Zealand and most Tasmanian bureaucracy was happy with a transfer to New Zealand, the lower house in Tasmania rejected the idea because of the island’s good harbours, possible timber industry, and potential for use as a whaling base! It is a funny story and was well told.
Hull, who knows his Mawson well, drew out many little-known facets of the Mawson expedition – how his staff were appointed so late, how planning was not as good as it appears, that Macquarie Island was not part of his plans at all until needed as wireless relay station, and that Tasmanian approval to visit the island came very late. He reviewed the history of the main players on the Island at the time, both prior to and following their involvement, including Prof. T.T. Flynn about whom some less-than-complimentary comments were made by many. Many rare images were used and it presented aspects of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) in a new way.
The interesting aspects of the evening were the progression in timescales from geological, through 200 years of ownership history, to the much shorter human timescale of Mawson and his people. An unexpected and highly satisfying feature was that all speakers humanised their talks with discussions of the people.
Another gratifying aspect is that not all speakers knew each other beforehand but are now in contact.
The lectures will be made available, in part at least on the University of Tasmania website, at the Antarctic Division, for Macquarie Island, and through The Royal Society of Tasmania. A two-page summary of each of the talks will be bound together and made available at minimal cost.
Patrick G. Quilty AM
President, The Royal Society of Tasmania
Authorised by the Director of Marketing
19 May, 2011 | <urn:uuid:497fd22b-7df1-44ad-80c8-91bea35ec44b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utas.edu.au/channel-utas/media/transcripts/lecture-1-macquarie-island-on-the-world-stage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973992 | 943 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Renewable Energy in Power Systems
September 2008, ©2006
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This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 5-6 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
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This is an unusually clear and helpful volume that should be a bonus to those working in the field of electric power generation, transmission, or management. Summing Up: Highly recommended. (Choice, April 2009)
By the end of this excellent text the reader has a much wider view of the whole system problem. (International Journal of Ambient Energy, January 2009)
"Freris and Infield s new volume is a useful addition to the library .Readable and should be seriously considered as part of the basic research process for anyone." (Engari, December 2008) | <urn:uuid:ee64cbdc-b757-4b29-9e65-59c3cda34b40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047001749X,descCd-reviews.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901217 | 196 | 1.554688 | 2 |
IN ESTABLISHING Marxism as a major intellectual current in the country, the contribution of a select band of scholars and academics can hardly be exaggerated. Professor Susobhan Chandra Sarkar, who passed away on August 26, 1982, was an outstanding member of this band. Professor Sarkar was no armchair Marxist. His commitment to Marxism led him logically to a life-long association with the communist movement in the country. His commitment to Marxism moreover was an integral part of his commitment to scholarship. He was a dedicated teacher and influenced generations of students not by any narrow-minded preaching of Marxism but by inculcating in them a profound regard for scrupulous and meticulous scholarship. One cannot be a good Marxist intellectual without being a good scholar, because Marxism is not a set of religious beliefs or catchwords but a scientific endeavour to explain the movement of society in its entirety, for which even thoroughly anti-Marxist views and apparently contradicting facts constitute not uncomfortable objects to be swept under the carpet, but phenomena to be analysed and explained with integrity and objectivity. Professor Sarkar's commitment was to this endeavour; therin lay the strength of his impact as a Maxist intellectual.
Today when, in the name of Marxism, a disdain, on the one hand, for the live communist movement, and, on the other hand, an equally marked disdain for scholarship, for a thorough acquaintance with ideas, including those contrary to one's own, are by no means uncommon, the life and outlook of a man like Susobhan Sarkar deserve, more than ever, close attention and study. We are glad to be able to publish as the lead article of this issue a very personal tribute to the memory of Professor Sarkar by one of his distinguished students. Professor Barun De, the eminent historian.
Kapil Kumar's piece on Gandhi and the peasant movement in Oudh in the early 1920s is an attempt to find a solution to the perennial puzzle: how does one account for the undoubtedly enormous popularity that Gandhi acquired within the peasantry when he indicated in no uncertain terms his opposition not only to | <urn:uuid:fb3a29a3-2755-408f-9b3f-cb00f236c680> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/socialscientist/text.html?objectid=HN681.S597_117_003.gif | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966652 | 426 | 2.125 | 2 |
What’s in a name? Depending on where you live, it can mean a whole lot of difference, especially when it comes to government documents such as birth certificates.
Many sponsored children, aging friends and their family members in our Kisumu, Meru and Nairobi projects in Kenya do not have birth certificates.
The reasons for this vary. Sometimes parents cannot afford to deliver their children in hospitals.
Because there’s no one to notify the government when births occur at home, many of these children end up without a birth certificate.
A birth certificate is a copy of an official government document that proves you exist. It gives you an identity and validates your importance to society.
It can be difficult, if not impossible, for those without birth certificates to gain formal employment, open bank accounts and own property.
CFCA has undertaken an initiative to help families obtain official birth certificates. Through this initiative, we’re taking steps to empower them to take control of their futures and create a positive self-identity.
Read more about how Kenyans are obtaining birth certificates despite tremendous obstacles. | <urn:uuid:4c239d98-b86a-4612-9eac-9058a527a913> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.cfcausa.org/2012/04/11/backgrounder-on-birth-certificates-for-sponsored-children/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=f5309b4960 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921707 | 231 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Tag Archives: vitamins
Olive oil is the pure oil obtained from the fruit of olive trees. No oil obtained using solvents, re-esterification processes, or mixed with other vegetable oils qualifies under this description. Fats and oils are an essential part of a balanced….
The foods in this group are important sources of protein, vitamins and minerals, and are particularly rich in calcium, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth. This food group includes milk and milk products – cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais –….
Besides neutralizing skunk spray or polishing metals and coins, tomato juice provides tremendous benefits for a healthy human body. Tomato juice contains high levels of many important vitamins and antioxidants. Vitamin C Tomato juice contains over 50 percent of the….
Eat a Balanced Diet Eating a balanced diet helps ensure you’re getting the proper amount of nutrients and vitamins and will help you avoid overeating, which can lead to excess weight gain or even obesity. Exercise Regularly The good news…. | <urn:uuid:1fc34e07-3b29-4583-ad96-ccfa18889927> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://infotravel.com/vitamins/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923476 | 207 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Collective Advocacy by Professional Performers
ACTRA is member-driven union working to secure rights and respect for the work of professional performers. Our efforts include consultation and lobbying with the provincial and federal governments as well as public education efforts.
"For far too long artists have subsidized Ontario culture by accepting very low incomes, often without access to the rights and benefits enjoyed by other workers."— Report on the Socio-Economic Status of the Artist in Ontario
Status of the Artist in Ontario
Artists' work is crucial to the economic and cultural well-being of our province, whether the work is done by actors, musicians, writers, dancers or visual artists. We continue ask that artists be able to benefit from some of the basic protections enjoyed by other workers.
A Collective Bargaining Regime for Artists
Teresa Tova, Spirit Synott and other members rally at Global's season launch.
ACTRA and other artists' unions have a long history of achieving rights and benefits for their members through collective bargaining. Many other artists have not been so fortunate. In the absence of a legal framework within which to compel bargaining by engagers, those artists have very little bargaining power. This needs to change so that artists can benefit from their collective strength just as other workers can do. | <urn:uuid:d26a2f87-adf1-4342-b8df-bd3f69ab0a96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.actratoronto.com/about/advocacy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971096 | 260 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Residents of Oro Valley might consider a compilation of photographs, locations and information about the community's public art to be "a coffee table book that relates to where they live," according to artist, photographer and compiler Gail Munden.
"Excellence by Design: A Visual History of Public Art in Oro Valley, Arizona," also serves as chronicle of more than 70 pieces of public art installed in community spaces since the town adopted its public art mandate more than a dozen years ago.
The work of more than 50 artists is displayed in "Excellence By Design," produced by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance with the help of several major contributors.
"It's in no way comprehensive," Munden said.
"We believe more than 100 pieces of public art have been created over the years," said Ty Bowers, the part-time SAACA employee who helped Munden finish the book. "What Gail was able to do, generously volunteering her time the way she did, is she got the first-ever catalogue of public art. We look at this as a first sketch. There are so many more."
Part of the project consisted of "searching for art," Munden said. There are few formal records for Oro Valley public art, so Munden assembled a list of the pieces she knew.
"The nature of these projects is that they're all project-specific," Bowers said. Contractors might have records … and might not.
In addition, while some of the town's public art is obvious, and the artists identified, the rest required "Google, gossip and calls" to find, Munden said.
There's one piece she never found. "Somewhere down in a ditch," Munden said, there is a sculpture of a little girl with a dog.
Munden, a photographer and artist – she painted the desert scene at Oro Valley Hospital's surgery center – was keenly focused on photographing the works.
"I tried to make them come out of their surroundings," whether they sit at gas stations, in parking lots or at other routine places in daily existence. "I like to try to capture the moment, with the light."
"The Spirit Within," a sculpture outside a gas station in Rancho Vistoso, has but a few minutes of light on it each day. Munden went to the scene, blocked off any access by others, and caught the last beams of daylight on the piece. Her picture brings new majesty to a sculpture people walk past or drive by without looking every day.
"All of these consisted of four or five visits," Munden said. She volunteered 20 hours a week for two years, her family forced to eat store-bought sandwiches and carry-out dinners.
The journey to capture public art, and the production of the book, is bringing new realization to the sheer number of public art installations in the community. So many works of art are "right there, and people don't even realize it," Munden said.
People look at the book and say "oh, oh, I recognize that," Bowers said. "More often than not," though, they say "I didn't realize it was there. A lot of these things are hiding in plain sight."
"One of the things I learned through her" and the book is the intent to make art visible and accessible for everyone, Bowers said. With the book, "new people come to appreciate something maybe they've overlooked before," he said. When people read the book, or go on one of SAACA's public art tours, "they realize these things do add some value to the community."
That reflects well on town leaders who enacted an ordinance requiring 1 percent of a project's cost go toward public art, he said.
"The town saw it was important," Bowers said. When Oro Valley is listed as a great place to raise a family, or to do business in, or to live in, "art plays into that," he said. "It shows off the aspect that Oro Valley has done very well over the years. It's a shot across the bow at what you can do to draw attention to the arts."
As she visited public art installations, Munden was startled by the level of "disrespect at some locations;" namely, the number of cigarette butts around and pieces of gum stuck on public art. On SAACA's public art tours, people have "recognized it's not as respected as it should be."
She's been further surprised by some reactions to public art. At Oro Valley Audiology, the town insisted a wire sculpture of a woman be moved from the front of the building to one side. "This is not a naked woman," Munden said. "It's the image of a female. It borders on ridiculous, it's ridiculous that could be offensive."
Feedback on "Excellence by Design" has been positive. People say "they didn't know there was so much," she said. "It's mind-numbingly slow to edit something," Munden said, and it's not easy when the book had to be reduced from 120 to 100 pages. Bowers came in late in the project to edit copy. "Gail did this thing almost single-handedly," he said.
More than 1,000 of the paperback books were published. The initial printing of hard-cover volumes was more than 100. SAACA's intent is to have "as many of the artists as possible sign those," Bowers said, and many have come forward.
"I'm proud of it," Munden said. "I don't hate it." She learned a great deal. "I could actually get a degree with this book," she said. "I get nothing out of this but to volunteer in a field I love, and to make a difference."
'Excellence by Design'
$80, hard-bound and autographed
On sale at the Oro Valley Book Festival, Feb. 13, and the Tucson Festival of Books, March 13-13 | <urn:uuid:fc225944-2803-4be5-90d0-c5cf498e0c4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://explorernews.com/el_sol/article_553a35c5-d78e-5fdc-95e7-65819a3dec99.html?mode=story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983422 | 1,244 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The Kripke Center is dedicated to facilitating scholarly activity in the areas of religion and society. Special attention is given to promoting understanding between and among faith communities, including especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Kripke Center’s primary audience is the academic community, but its scholarship and services are available to all who seek them.
The Center is named in honor of Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke.
Read more about about the Center.
The Kripke Center is directed by:
Ronald A. Simkins, Ph.D.
Creighton faculty interested in religion and society are invited to become Faculty Associates of the Kripke Center. For more information, see the Faculty Associate Profile.
Applications for the Kripke Center Grants are accepted each month. For details, see Research Grants.
October 3: Science as Myth: Ecospirituality in the Anthropocene Age
Rescheduled for the Fall: “Marriage Is Half of Your Religion”: Negotiating Gender, Sexuality, and Matrimony in American Muslim Communities
For more information, go to Center Events. | <urn:uuid:920ad615-41a3-47c8-815b-8552fa37d101> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moses.creighton.edu/csrs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929328 | 232 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Last week, the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety announced that it has released a new handbook on "Design and Renovation Guidelines for Healthcare Facilities," which aim to help security managers build security into new hospital construction and renovation projects.
The guidelines, which were developed by the Healthcare Facility Security Design Task Force, took 13 months to compile and cover numerous areas of a healthcare building including; impatient facilities; emergency rooms; parking lots; pharmacies; infant and pediatric facilities; area with PHI; behavioral and mental health areas; cashiers and cash collection areas; utility and mechanical areas; and, biological, chemical and radiation areas. Approved and supported by the IAHSS board of directors and the International Healthcare Security & Safety Foundation, the task force was comprised of both U.S. and international security experts.
According to IAHSS Executive Director Evelyn Meserve, these guidelines are the first of their kind to be specific to the healthcare sector.
"This project was started because many of our members and one of our members who headed up this task force, Tom Smith, really felt that there was a need out there to get information to the individuals that were doing renovation and design to try to be proactive when adding security equipment in instead of being reactive after the fact," Meserve explained. "Quite often, in healthcare, security is not at the table when the first conversations are occurring about the design of a new emergency room, a new pharmacy, etc. Our hope is that (the guidelines) would get out there to the individuals and provide the information, as well as really show that it's imperative that security be at the table to be discussing this."
Having the security department be part of the planning process on new construction and renovation projects is advantageous for several reasons, according to Meserve. Not only does it allow hospitals to see where they may need to deploy various types of technology solutions, it can also reduce the installation costs of that equipment.
"It provides a better overview of what's needed to protect the area at an early stage and it also helps with cost containment," she said. "Pulling wires when there are open walls is a lot of easier than when you're having to cut through walls."
Being that many hospitals across the nation are under budget constraints, Meserve added that getting security involved in the beginning stages of design can help them reduce their costs as well.
"As I mentioned, installation is significantly more expensive after the infrastructure area has already been put up. If the security products are installed during the building phases of the project, it is less expensive for the facility," she said.
While there may be other parts of healthcare facilities that the IAHSS may need to address in the future, Meserve said that the aforementioned areas are the critical areas that hospitals should be focusing on in their security design planning.
"This is a great collective example of the areas that people really need to focus on when they're doing renovations and designs," she said.
The guidelines, which were approved by the IHSSF and IAHSS boards in December, are available free to IAHSS members on the member's only section of the organization's website. They will also be available free of charge to non-members who request them on the IAHSS website until May 31, 2012. | <urn:uuid:7d926758-a205-4472-9857-3686eb6cd99c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.securityinfowatch.com/article/10658265/iahss-releases-design-and-renovation-guidelines | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978483 | 671 | 1.875 | 2 |
This is the last part of the series on the Consumer Protection Act, covering in particular sections 48 to 79.
The CPA contains wide-ranging prescriptions aimed at eliminating unfair, unreasonable or unjust contract provisions and ensuring that special notice is given to the consumer in respect of various terms which may appear to be unusual or disadvantageous to the consumer. Sections 48 and 49 of the CPA will prevent suppliers from limiting their liability or obtaining indemnification against claims from the consumer. While these restrictions even the playing fields, it may ultimately lead to increased transaction costs for the consumer since the supplier will have to factor in higher provisions for possible returns and insurance costs when determining its prices. The supplier may also not include anything in its standard terms and conditions which purports to limit or circumvent the applicability of the CPA.
Right to demand quality
Another prominent feature of the CPA is the protection of the consumer’s right to demand quality services and goods contained. The supplier must be careful to listen to the consumer’s individual requirements and the purpose for which the consumer intends to use the goods or services before concluding the sale and should ensure that such special considerations are recorded since they form a basis on which the consumer may return the goods in question. Included in such goods are also second-hand goods and the supplier of such goods will need to ensure that a proper inspection of such goods is done prior to selling same. The CPA in effect extends the common-law implied warranty against defects to importers, distributors and retailers and provides for the consumer to return any goods within six months after delivery, without penalty and at the supplier’s risk and expense. The supplier must then either, at the direction of the consumer, repair or replace the goods or refund (to the consumer) the purchase price. Section 57 provides the consumer with a warranty on any repaired part for a period of at least three months after the date of installation, ordinary wear and tear excluded.
Disposal of waste
Where the goods or any part thereof are prohibited from being put into the normal waste collection, the supplier of goods must accept return of those goods or parts thereof.
The producer, importer, distributor or retailer of any goods is liable for any harm caused wholly or in part as a consequence of supplying any unsafe good or goods with defects or hazards or insufficient instructions, unless the unsafe product characteristic, failure, defect or hazard:
- is wholly attributable to compliance with any public regulation;
- did not exist in the relevant good at the time of its supply;
- (in the case of a retailer or distributor) could not have been expected to have been discovered;
- is wholly attributable to compliance with instructions provided by the person who supplied the goods;
- can no longer be pursued due to prescription.
The consumer’s recourse
The consumer may not be penalised by the supplier should the former exercise any rights in terms of the CPA and the consumer has various options of raising disputes, such as with the consumer tribunal, the consumer court, the applicable ombud with jurisdiction, an industry ombud, an alternative dispute resolution agent and with the consumer commission. Certain of the aforementioned institutions can in turn refer complaints to each other and provisions are even made for special damages in some instances. The CPA also allows for accredited consumer protection groups to protect the interests of the consumer or to intervene in a matter before any forum contemplated in the CPA. How these institutions will interpret the CPA and give effect to its provisions still has to be seen and the attorney profession is eagerly awaiting the first precedents in order to give guidance with regard to the conduct of the proceedings and the applicable standards which Consumers can expect and suppliers need to guarantee.
A supplier’s choice of business name is limited to the person’s full name as recorded in an identity document or such name as may have been registered in terms of a public regulation or has been filed with the Registrar of Companies. Any non-compliance with this section could lead to a compliance notice being issued against the business at the instance of the tribunal. Non-compliance with such notice may result in an administrative fine being levied or a referral to the National Prosecution Authority.
Disclaimer: Although Hildebrand Attorneys is committed to furnishing reliable and accurate information, this article is intended as a general reference guide only and does not constitute legal advice. Hildebrand Attorneys cannot take any responsibility for the accuracy or currency of the information and if you require particular information you are advised to consult with the article’s author or a qualified legal authority. This article may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author and Hildebrand Attorneys accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage that may be occasioned as a result of the reliance by any person on the information contained herein | <urn:uuid:13c3d2df-1a2f-4b79-a215-830d5d7b8a5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hildebrandattorneys.co.za/the-new-consumer-protection-act-an-overview-part-3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94609 | 978 | 1.640625 | 2 |
In an agreement with the University of British Columbia (UBC) Elsevier recently agreed to allow researchers there to text-mine Elsevier content for a number of purposes. The agreement came about through the efforts of Heather A. Pinowar, a post-doc at UBC whose “work depends on text mining, using computers to automatically pull certain kinds of information from large amounts of text, including databases of journal articles.” See details in Jennifer Howard’s article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Open Data Category
The ninth Berlin Open Access Conference, and the first to be held in the US, concluded last week in Bethesda, Md. See http://www.berlin9.org/ for details on the program. The Conference follows on the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, “issued in 2003 by international research, scientific, and cultural institutions, to promote the Internet as a medium for disseminating global knowledge.”
Some interesting quotes from the meeting from Jen Howard’s coverage in the Chronicle of Higher Education:
“One or two people in this room will die in the next five years because of research that didn’t make its way to clinics fast enough,” one presenter, Cameron Neylon, told the crowd. Mr. Neylon, a biophysicist, is a senior scientist at Britain’s Science and Technology Facilities Council. He spoke at a session on how open access can create new opportunities for business as well as for scholarship. “This is not about ideology anymore,” it’s about creating the best, most efficient mechanisms for getting research to those who need it, he said.
“To me this is a design challenge,” said Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University. In an ideal world, knowledge would be as evenly distributed as sunlight, he said, recommending that universities need to be redesigned so they don’t work on exclusivity.
Dr. David Rosenthal, engineer and co-creater of LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) recently spoke on the topic of Open Access at the University of British Columbia.
He choseto look at five audiences where OA may have an effect: general public, researchers, libraries, publishers, and software developers. He discusses his thoughts on peer-review or in his opinion bad peer-reviewing and whether or not open access increases or decreases bad research publishing; the creation of the big deal journal bundling by publishers to fight off the cost decrease due to the transition to Web publishing and lack of library initiative to fight off the big deals; and how the increase of OA data versus OA articles might be more beneficial for researchers. Essentially, he believes a combination of reducing publication costs, finding new technology driven publishing models, less restrictions on intellectual property and publishing of better quality articles may be the issues that face the future of research and that OA may just be a way to work on those real issues.
The full transcript of this talk can be found on his blog: http://blog.dshr.org/2011/10/what-problems-does-open-access-solve.html.
There have been several interesting articles of late on open science.
Scientists Embrace Openness, by Chelsea Wald, Science, April 9, 2010
History is replete with stories of scientists who hid their ideas from their competition; consider Leonardo da Vinci, whose odd backward writing may have been partly motivated by fear of thieves, or Isaac Newton, who concealed one idea by writing it in the form of an anagram. Science has long been a dog-eat-dog world.
So it may seem odd that a handful of scientists are going to similar lengths to share not just their results but also, sometimes, their raw data — even their lab notebooks — often in real time. They’re part of a movement called Open Science, or, more specifically, Open Notebook Science, whose motto is “no insider information.”
At first glance, going “open” would seem like a serious career risk — years of work could be for nothing if a competitor uses your work to beat you to publication — but many practitioners of openness say the benefits outweigh those risks. The benefits include increased opportunities for collaboration, more feedback from colleagues, and a greater likelihood that the research will get to the people who can use it. Counterintuitively, practitioners say that being open supports their claims of priority and relieves their anxiety about getting ripped off.
Open science: policy implications for the evolving phenomenon of user-led scientific innovation, by Victoria Stodden, Journal of Science Communication, volume 09, 2010, Issue 01, March 2010.
From contributions of astronomy data and DNA sequences to disease treatment research, scientific activity by non-scientists is a real and emergent phenomenon, and raising policy questions. This involvement in science can be understood as an issue of access to publications, code, and data that facilitates public engagement in the research process, thus appropriate policy to support the associated welfare enhancing benefits is essential. Current legal barriers to citizen participation can be alleviated by scientists’ use of the “Reproducible Research Standard,” thus making the literature, data, and code associated with scientific results accessible. The enterprise of science is undergoing deep and fundamental changes, particularly in how scientists obtain results and share their work: the promise of open research dissemination held by the Internet is gradually being fulfilled by scientists. Contributions to science from beyond the ivory tower are forcing a rethinking of traditional models of knowledge generation, evaluation, and communication. The notion of a scientific “peer” is blurred with the advent of lay contributions to science raising questions regarding the concepts of peer-review and recognition. New collaborative models are emerging around both open scientific software and the generation of scientific discoveries that bear a similarity to open innovation models in other settings. Public engagement in science can be understood as an issue of access to knowledge for public involvement in the research process, facilitated by appropriate policy to support the welfare enhancing benefits deriving from citizen-science.
My Data, Your Data, Our Data, by Amy Dockser Marcus, Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2010
Declan Butler, Publish in Wikipedia or Perish, Nature News, Dec. 18, 2008
Journal to require authors to post in the free online encyclopaedia.
Wikipedia, meet RNA. Anyone submitting to a section of the journalRNA Biology will, in the future, be required to also submit a Wikipedia page that summarizes the work. The journal will then peer review the page before publishing it in Wikipedia.
The initiative is a collaboration between the journal and the RNA family database (Rfam) consortium led by the UK Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton. “The novelty is that for the first time it creates a link between Wikipedia and traditional journal publishing, with its peer-review element,” says Alex Bateman, who co-heads the Rfam database. The aim, Bateman says, is to boost the quality of the scientific content on Wikipedia while using the entries to update the Sanger database.
…The goal is to encourage more scientists who work on RNA to get involved in creating and updating public data on RNA families, while being rewarded by the traditional method of a citable publication, says Sean Eddy, a computational biologist at the Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, Virginia, and a co-author of the nematode article.
Lawrence Liang, Free/Open Source Software, Open Content, United Nations Development Programme, 2007. Under a CC-BY license. Excerpt:
…The Open Content model of knowledge creation and dissemination has emerged as a significant way in which we can move beyond the barriers of restrictive licensing. At the same time, it enables us to rethink our relationship to the world of knowledge and cultural production. Inspired by the Free Software movement, Open Content seeks to move away from the traditional user/producer binary in favour of a more participative process of knowledge creation and usage.
This e-Primer introduces the idea of Open Content by locating it within the larger historical context of copyright’s relation to the public domain. It examines the foundational premises of copyright and argues that a number of these premises have to be tested on the basis of the public interest that they purport to serve. It then looks at the ways in which content owners are increasingly using copyright as a tool to create monopolies, and how an alternative paradigm like Open Content can facilitate a democratization of knowledge and culture….
The argument of this e-Primer will be that policy makers across the world, and particularly in developing countries, should take note of the advantages of the Open Content paradigm as a way of overcoming barriers which restrict access to information, knowledge and culture. There are also significant economic advantages for developing countries which shall be detailed, for instance in relation to the cost of learning materials….
We…use the phrase ‘Open Content’ to primarily refer to content that provides the greatest freedom (the right to modify), since other kinds of content which do not provide the right to modify may actually be covered by the Open Access movement….
Some of the key areas for policy makers to consider include:
* Open Content policy to enable access to publicly funded research;
* Access to primary material such as research data;
* Financial, technological and other support for Open Access and Content repositories; and
* Support for publications based on Open Content resources….
It is also important to note that the problem does not merely lie with government policies but also with educational institutions, which are supported – either in full or in part – by public funding….In other words, there is a serious and urgent need for all public institutions to examine the public availability of the knowledge that they produce, and the most effective strategies for further dissemination. For the reasons already outlined in this e-Primer, it would make immense sense for them to start moving towards an Open Content/Open Access paradigm….
Organized by the Ancient World Mapping Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, U.S.A., Pleiades brings together a global community of scholars, students and enthusiasts to expand and enhance continually the information originally brought together by the Classical Atlas Project (1988-2000) to support the publication of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (R.J.A. Talbert, ed., Princeton, 2000). Pleiades is an international research network and associated web portal and content management system (CMS) devoted to the study of ancient geography.
Last month they released the first batch of their data, and what a great job they’re doing. The material is impeccably laid out, in particular:
* They’ve ensured there’s a proper open license on each collection of material (in this case a CC Attribution license)
* They’ve made the material available in bulk as well as through a search facility
More information about the datasets available as well as links can be found on the Pleiades site. This really is a perfect example of what an open knowledge project can be and so a big well done to the pleiades team for the work so far (and long may it continue!).
Open Access News, Nov. 15, 2007 | <urn:uuid:ca906a59-f7d0-4220-94f6-0fba66f92497> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/transitions/?cat=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924516 | 2,335 | 1.71875 | 2 |
“Mapping Fate” by Alice Wexler
Length: 321 pages
Summary: In ”Mapping Fate: A Memoir of Family, Risk, and Genetic Research”, Alice Wexler reflects on her personal and academic experiences with Huntington’s disease. Wexler and her sister, Nancy, watch as their mother slowly deteriorates after her HD diagnosis in her 50s, while they are confronted with their new at-risk statuses. Then Nancy, motivated by HD’s constant presence in her life, joins forces with her impassioned father to organize scientists to find the gene and potential therapies for HD. Wexler details the decades-long process to find the gene, all while intertwining this research with her and Nancy’s struggles with reproductive decisions and, ultimately, whether or not to get tested once the HD gene is found.
This book addresses a variety of questions that could apply to people at risk for HD, family members of patients with HD, scientists, and academic scholars interested in the implications of HD. It explores what it means to be a woman at risk for HD, especially in light of having potentially received the gene maternally. The politics behind fundraising and researching are closely analyzed, as many often assume these two activities are fairly straightforward when closely connected to a serious disease. Wexler gives a firsthand account of the decline of a loved one with HD, evaluating her and her family’s rage, grief, and love as her mother’s death approaches. Most critically, this book repeatedly brings up the choices of whether or not to have children if one is at risk and whether or not to get tested for the gene. | <urn:uuid:79d300fc-8767-4e3b-986c-4e1dfad92c7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/cgi-bin/wordpress/2013/02/mapping-fate-by-alice-wexler/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96039 | 346 | 1.960938 | 2 |
By Matteo Pistono | The Washington Post
March 21, 2012
China is on high alert in Tibet every March due to sensitive political anniversaries. Tibetans commemorate the March 1959 uprising against Chinese rule and the flight into exile of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Beijing annually deploys a massive military force to discourage Tibetans from demonstrating any form of dissent, peaceful or otherwise.
2012 has been different.
The entire Tibetan region has been effectively under martial law for months as China rolls tanks and stations paramilitary throughout the region.
Tibetans are burning themselves to death in protest of China’s iron grip on their homeland.
These fiery protests are because Tibetans feel their identity, language, and religious faith is under assault by the Chinese government.
The method of self-immolations has been essentially the same. Dousing themselves in gasoline, Tibetans set themselves alight standing in town squares and in front of Chinese government buildings. As they become a human torch, they shout, “Return the Dalai Lama to Tibet,” “Freedom in Tibet,” and “We want human rights.” Most have succumbed to a gruesome death; others have been taken away by Chinese security personal.
Self-immolations as a form of protest had not occurred in Tibet until two and a half years ago. Since then, thirty Tibetans, mostly monks and nuns, have set themselves on fire.
These extreme forms of protests are a response to China’s extreme repression of Tibetans. For a Mahayanist Buddhist perspective one can examine a letter written over fifty years ago by Thich Nhat Hahn, a leading Buddhist monk fromVietnam, to Martin Luther King, Jr. explaining the self-immolations by Vietnamese monks in 1963. These searing images haunted the world, and Nhat Hahn’s words offer insight into the mind of the protestor.
“The Vietnamese monk, by burning himself, says with all his strength and determination that he can endure the greatest of suffering to protect his people. What he really aims at is the expression of his will and determination, not death. To express will by burning oneself, therefore, is not to commit an act of destruction but to perform an act of construction, that is to suffer and to die for the sake of one’s people.”
The self-immolations have a pattern. They have occurred where China has spent the most money on security, which is attempting to strangle Tibetan nationalism, and where China is implementing stringent patriotic re-education in monasteries. This “education” promotes loyalty to the Chinese party-state and vilifies the Tibetans’ leader, the Dalai Lama, as nothing other than a terrorist in a monk’s saffron robe. In other words, where Tibetans have been pushed to the edge, some have decided to jump into fire.
Graphic video smuggled out of Tibet and China has shown policemen standing over still smoking monks and nuns with their skin charred black, still alive, waiting to make arrests. In two cases, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, police have reportedly beaten, and even shot, monks after extinguishing the flames.
China’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the self-immolations and accused the Dalai Lama and Tibet support groups in the West of encouraging them. Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu has called such alleged support “violence and terrorism in disguise.”
The Dalai Lama has said China’s “ruthless policy” in Tibet is driving Tibetan monks and nuns to such extremes measures.
The Tibetan government-in-exile inIndiahas described the self-immolations as tragic, and called for pressure from the international community on Beijing to open a dialogue on its policies in Tibetan regions of China.
Demonstrating solidarity with the Tibetans inTibet, three Tibetans in the U.S.began a hunger strike on February 22 outside the United Nations headquarters inNew York asking for the UN to send a fact finding mission toTibet, among other demands.
After two weeks, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern for the health of the hunger strikers, but said nothing of the situation inTibet. A few days earlier, Assistant Secretary General Ivan Simonovic met with the three hunger strikers who told him they want “concrete action” by the Chinese authorities to ease the ongoing crackdown inTibetbefore they would consider ending their hunger strike. Mr. Simonovic said he would convey the group’s concerns to Geneva.
This Monday, day 27 of the hunger strike, the New York Police Department removed one the eldest of the protesters, Dorjee Gyalpo, and admitted him to a hospital. Gyalpo pleaded unsuccessfully with the police to allow him to continue his hunger strike until the UN responded.
As Shingza Rinpoche and Yeshi Tenzing, the two remaining hunger strikers inNew York, approach nearly a month with no food, the tepid UN response has not convinced them to stop their protest.
Tibetans who are lighting themselves on fire, and the few Tibetans refugees who are willing to starve themselves to death in front of the UN, are under no illusions that international pressure will succeed. Yet, they continue.
Sobha Rinpoche, an esteemed Tibetan teachers who died onJanuary 8, 2012after drinking gasoline and self-immolating in easternTibet, left an audio testament in which captures the essence of the latest protests inTibet, and inNew York.
“I am giving away my body as an offering of light to chase away the darkness, to free all beings from suffering.”
Matteo Pistono is a writer, practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, and author of “In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet.”
Filed Under: Commentaries & Opinions | <urn:uuid:f9377864-e565-45b6-8ae0-dbfd536bdf40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tibetoffice.org/media-press/commentaries-opinions/why-are-tibetans-burning-in-tibet-and-starving-in-new-york | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953986 | 1,244 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Courtesy LCE Systems Inc.In Motion Smart Weigh, a check weighing technology developed by LCE Systems Inc., sizes up cherry cartons on a California packing line. (CORRECTED) An automated check weighing system created by LCE Systems Inc. for California cherry packers has been adapted for other commodities.
The company developed the technology, In Motion Smart Weigh, over two years in partnership with Rice Lake Weighing Systems. It went public in April.
“We saw a need in the cherry industry to give our customers a way to check weigh each pack,” said Daniel Cannistraci, president of Linden, Calif.-based LCE Systems. “Some estimated they were giving away 1.5 pounds per box. When they pack 1.5 million boxes, it adds up.”
The system confronts another problem — giving buyers too little.
“One customer would send out a 16-pound box at 15.25,” Cannistraci said. “That can get your orders kicked or your retail contract canceled.”
Accuracy on Smart Weigh is pegged to within a hundreth of a pound.
It processes 80 to 85 cartons a minute.
“We wanted to double what people are currently doing,” Cannistraci said.
Lines running cans handle about 900.
He declined to name cherry clients. The machinery has also been used in walnut packing, and lately LCE Systems is targeting oranges and other commodities.
The technology was based on an existing idea of Rice Lake Weighing Systems, Rice Lake, Wis.
“They’ve done in-motion weighing before, but not at the speeds we’re doing it now,” Cannistraci said. “We added a few elements they hadn’t considered before, like a 45-degree eject.”
Ejects remove underweight or overweight cartons from the conveyor for repacking.
“When you’re kicking cartons off at 90 degrees as is common, it can be a shock to the fruit inside and lead to bruising,” he said.
Smart Weigh uses a pneumatic air ramp to cut friction during eject.
Most packing sheds have multiple places for loading cartons on lines. LCE Systems uses varying speeds on conveyors to create sufficient gaps for check weighing.
“If a client doesn’t have the time or space to gap the products, we can use an indexing belt to take care of some of that spacing requirement,” Cannistraci said.
The company’s other products include industrial scales, box fillers, produce traceability technologies and software. Information is online.
Note on correction: The original article misstated the accuracy of the product. | <urn:uuid:e4b8f08a-65d2-4452-a26d-580fe8a97468> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thepacker.com/commodity-fruits/cherries/LCE-Systems-targets-fast-weight-checks-171040311.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924084 | 588 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The only way out of
the yard that I now was in was
stairs that led up into the centre (A) of an underground
the winding of which I must pass before I could take my leave by the
But I knew full well that in the great darkness of this dreadful
place I might well wander for hours and yet return to the place from
which I set out.
How was I then to reach the door with
plan of the maze it is but a simple matter to trace out the route, but
how was the way to be found in the place itself in utter darkness? | <urn:uuid:dbf6ff60-21f6-489b-9a33-21f66b3eb3d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pedagonet.com/puzzles/mazes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973676 | 123 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Those who wrestle with the kind of publishers who think narrative is the ONLY way to get readers involved and who believe that poetic image or metaphor is just frippery that can only justify itself with shock content, are busy with only one corner of the “how to write” world. In fact, there is a whole mozaic. At seminary I discovered a schism within the nonfiction category between rational deduction and the analysis of emotional truth. (Reflecting the division between Ph.D. professors and D.Min. ministers.) It was particularly problematic because traditional theology is a kind of offshoot of mathematics with theorems that must be proven with deductive evidence not necessarily drawn from life -- but ministry is about life itself. No footnotes available. Sometimes mistaken for “self-help” instead of true inquiry.
When I realized this and understood that this assumption could prevent me from achieving my MA from the U of Chicago Div School (which has a Ph.D. skew), off I went to the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore and bought an armload of books about how to think, most notably by Stephen Toulmin, like “The Uses of Argument” and “An Introduction to Reasoning.” And that took me back around to Dean Barnlund’s “The Dynamics of Discussion” and “Language and Thought” from my undergrad years in the School of Speech at NU. Without this crash course I could not have survived, but it was not because I picked up so much skill. It was that I realized what the Div School meant by choosing your method and stating it clearly. No muddling.
One of the main reasons that public conversation about religion consistently ends up in a tangle, knotting up emotions so impossibly that no one can get sense out of it, is that it rules out emotion. “Feelings” are defined as a kind of irrelevant fantasy. How on earth did we get this way? The way to clear thinking is NOT to eliminate emotion, though that’s been the premise for a couple of thousand years. Rather it is to really FEEL the emotion as fully and as accurately as you can. Emotion is evidence. It is valid. It is not recreational.
Since my basic undergrad training was in theatre/acting, I knew this, and I went to a thinker who took it into account as “feelings” or “felt meaning:” Suzanne Langer, “Feeling and Form.” Since she was female, she offered no advantage -- couldn’t even save herself, much less me. I hung on tight to Richard Stern, the novelist, with his love of “modernity” which means psychoanalytical-style unconscious poetic concepts and their investigation in narrative. Those who are devoted to what they take to be “objective” rationality, enforce their point of view by mocking anything outside rationality as either deluded fantasy or contaminated personal interest -- both of which are taken to be weakness and over-sensitivity (lack of tough-mindedness) that justify stigmatizing and walling those folks out. Money, of course, can buy one’s way back “in,” even if it is acquired through the use of that same “over-sensitivity.” There is also a quiet willingness to pay for therapists to care for the victims of barren relationships that come from preoccupied rationality.
All this is outside what is discussed in Quentin Smith’s “felt metaphysics.” Smith, writing in 1984, is also outside the conversation powered by the relatively recent understanding of how brains work, both as pre-conscious complex organs and on the molecular/neuron level. He was too late for me at the Div School, but too early for today’s neurology discussions. In fact, there is so much to talk about, so many distinctions to be made, such a hunger to convert this all to practical uses in the search for bliss, that it’s necessary to constantly exclude this or that. Over and over I find myself searching for definitions and divisions, having to ask myself what it is I’m really try to understand and to what extent I’m only justifying my pre-existing self. Smith is clear that not everyone wants to think about metaphysics -- they have enough to do to keep up with the mundane tasks of their practical world. But also I find that people have a nagging worry that if someone (like me) really concentrates on metaphysics and thinking, that it’s a kind of access to power or somehow a “put-down” of their own choices.
Again, money is the enforcer. There’s no money for dreaming. Even on a campus the funding goes to the effective (technological) and the edge is cut off, unfunded. People in minority studies find this out the hard way. What was once an attempt to be “rational” and objective has hardened now into a callousness and intolerance. Or rather, the other way around, the amazing uprooting of boundaries that once justified the invasion of campus authority-figure offices, has now been ruled childish madness. Those in charge pit what they claim is reasonable conservation of resources against the demands of humanities. Confusingly, the real and verifiable limits of resources become a justification for the hoarding of them, further limiting them in the name of preventing waste. Students are told they are precious (a feeling) and then urged to go into five-figure debt (a fact).
My mother-in-law had a fine collection of family silver which she kept wrapped and stored, never finding any occasion grand enough to justify its use. In other words, it was the same as though she had no silver at all. Just so, in the minds of some academic administrators, feelings are an extravagance and therefore feelings are suppressed, even as sources of energy. As one of my classmates used to say, “This seminary would be a great place for learning if we could just get rid of all these pesky students.” (They’ve figured it out now: they call it “distance learning.” ) So our churches rule out-of-order all differences of opinion on grounds that they will lead to heresy; they suppress tragedy in the name of order. This, of course, can be so frustrating that the result is enough anger to overthrow the standing order, one of the practical uses of emotion now familiar to Middle Eastern authorities.
My key guide to my reading about ritual is whether the ideas are helpful to liturgical design for nice Christians, free-range Unitarians, and the oldest Blackfeet Bundle Keepers I ever knew -- the whole range. It’s a practice, therefore practical, combining emotion and reason. | <urn:uuid:a829af40-7360-49b8-81b6-ee3939fa5c27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prairiemary.blogspot.com/2012/12/when-rational-suppresses-emotional.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969592 | 1,422 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Santa Monica Police Department To Crack Down On Bicyclists Breaking Law
Posted Dec. 3, 2012, 1:15 am
Brenton Garen / Editor-in-Chief
For the month of December, Santa Monica Police Department motor officers in addition to their normal duties, will focus on bicyclists who fail to follow the rules of the road.
From Jan. 1, 2012 through Nov. 22, 2012 the SMPD has investigated 129 collisions involving bicycles.
Each month, the SMPD's Traffic Enforcement Unit focuses on different driving behaviors that are the primary causes for traffic collisions.
California Vehicle Code Section 21200 identifies laws applicable to bicycles:
A person riding a bicycle or operating a pedicab upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle.
In a majority of these collisions, the bicyclist was determined to not be at fault for the accident.
However, when bicyclist have been found to be at fault, the common causations have ranged from failure to stop at traffic signals and stop signs, failure to ride upon the right-side of the roadway, unsafe turning movements, riding under the influence and unsafe speed.
Bicycle Liaison Officer Peter Lashley wants to remind all bicycle riders that rules of the road pertain to bicycle riders also.
Further, bicyclists are not permitted to ride upon any sidewalk in the city of Santa Monica and doing so is a violation of the city's municipal code. | <urn:uuid:d9ca35e5-202a-4b7f-bf3e-50f5d26a91cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smmirror.com/articles/News/Santa-Monica-Police-Department-To-Crack-Down-On-Bicyclists-Breaking-Law/36218 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926833 | 304 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Justin Lincoln's notational productions. Thoughts, text, images, sounds, and videos.
And this was one of the things I said to K-Punk in the exchange on his blog, or at least one of the things I was trying to say (I haven’t read that debate since it was posted). If we say that “capitalism” (or fuzzier still, “late capitalism”) has paralyzed the political imagination, it still does not follow that all capitalism oppress the imagination while all Left academic activity liberates it. As I asked K-Punk rhetorically, is Fredric Jameson really more imaginative than Steve Jobs? We may live in a world dominated by “late capitalist” enterprises such as Apple, Amazon, Starbucks, and Facebook. And these companies can usually be found to have some blood on their hands, simply because you can’t grow that large without taking advantage and cutting corners (who wasn’t disturbed by the New York Times exposés on Apple’s metal-polishing practices in China?). Nonetheless, when that much money is poured into something, it’s not just a sign of exploitation and the sickening concentration of wealth, but also the sign of vitality. “Follow the money” is not just a maxim that allows us to point fingers at the morally corrupt. It is also a desperately needed reality principle that shows us where the energy can be found, not all of it bad. And like it or not, Apple and Amazon are stirring up more interest, even among intellectuals, than most academic critiques of capitalism. Is that just because we are all a bunch of brainwashed idiots locked in on our own trivial conveniences? Hardly. It’s because these companies are also doing something exciting that addresses where consciousness really is today, and which it didn’t know that it wanted. Did I know in advance that my brain would catch fire as soon as I had a smartphone and a tablet computer? Not at all. I initially thought both of these things were consumerist pseudo-needs, just like the academic Left still does. But I was wrong, and so were they. To have the right electronic device in your hands can sharpen your brain as much as the discovery of an important new author. We should of course be aware of how the relatively cheap availability of such products leads to explosions, lung disease, and suicides among Chinese factory workers, and it’s a terrible failure of imagination if we close our ears to such reports. But it is also a grievous failure of imagination to be always on the side of the critics and the grumblers. Life has to be optimistic, or it becomes merely reactive. And I really fear that the Left is becoming the permanent homeland of the critics and the grumblers.
I keep coming back to this interview. Lots of good stuff in here. | <urn:uuid:585ad0e7-9a6b-4b1d-91b8-ff03d1e6f50a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://notational.tumblr.com/post/24783370832/and-this-was-one-of-the-things-i-said-to-k-punk-in | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971399 | 594 | 1.5 | 2 |
Congregation T'chiyah is an inclusive, egalitarian, participatory Reconstructionist synagogue that provides for the expression, observance, study, and enjoyment of Judaism, Jewish culture, and Jewish tradition. Our members come together to enhance their lives with weekly Shabbat services, holiday observances, lifelong education experiences, and life-cycle events that blend tradition and innovation.
In keeping with Reconstructionist values and philosophy, Congregation T'chiyah includes members of varied backgrounds and practices who have a strong commitment to social justice. Our community is enriched and strengthened by the diversity of our members. Our synagogue welcomes Jewish singles and families, including LGBTs, interfaith couples and families, and Jews of patrilineal descent and all races and national origins.
Congregation T'chiyah is affiliated with the national Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (www.jrf.org),the fastest growing Jewish movement in North America. Reconstructionism recognizes that Judaism changes within the framework of tradition. The movement strives to create a Jewish way of life that encompasses the legacies of Judaism and of contemporary American life. | <urn:uuid:586f8b65-548a-40e0-9370-d67ebc7e355e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tchiyah.org/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914344 | 220 | 1.546875 | 2 |
I didn’t find more objects in the Kuiper belt every morning I looked, but that previous night seven years ago had been a good one. I quickly found two of the typical debris chunks moving slowly across the sky, and I was about ready to walk over to give my lecture, when, with only about a minute to spare, the outer solar system seemed to change before my eyes.
There, on my computer screen, was a faint object moving so slowly it could only have been something far more distant than what I was just going to walk into the classroom and declare to be the edge of the solar system. Maybe. The object was so faint that I didn’t know whether to believe it was real or not. If you look at enough sky – and, really, I had – you are bound to find some chance alignment of blips of noise or variable stars or cat hairs that looks just like something real.
I went into the classroom, delivered the lecture as I knew it, but stopped short at the end.
“Here is the way I was going to end this lecture,” I told them.
I proceeded to talk about how nothing existed beyond the edge of the Kuiper belt (yes, yes, you sticklers, the Oort cloud is way out there, but that is not supposed to start up until 100 or 200 times further out than the edge of the Kuiper belt).
“But I’m not sure I believe this anymore,” I said.
I told them about that morning’s blip. I couldn’t promise them that it was real, but I told them that if it was, the solar system might be very different place than I was just telling them.
That little blip, far more distant than what was supposed to have been the edge of the solar system, was indeed real. It was Sedna.
A few weeks later, after confirming that Sedna was real and determining its unprecedentedly strange orbit around the sun, I came back, told the class all about it, and wrote down a few simple equations on the blackboard to show just how strange the orbit is and also the many different ways it might have gotten that way.
“Come back and take my class again next year, and I’ll have it all figured out,” I confidently told them.
That was seven years ago. Any poor student taking my advice would have sat through the last six years of lectures and still not learned what put Sedna where it is, since I still don’t know the answer.
What makes Sedna’s orbit so strange?
The exception to this rule is, of course, Sedna. Sedna has one of the most elongated orbits around, but it never comes anywhere close to Neptune or to any other planet. Indeed, the earth comes closer to Neptune than Sedna ever does. And the earth is not in danger of being kicked out of its orbit by Neptune anytime soon.
Something had to have kicked Sedna to have given it its crazy orbit. But what?
The answer is: something large that is no longer there, or that is there, but we don’t know about yet.
This answer is astounding. The orbit of every single other object in the entire solar system can be explained, at least in principle, by some interaction with the known planets (and, again, for you Oort cloud sticklers out there, the known galactic environment). Sedna alone requires Something Else Out There.
What is it? Seven years out, we still don’t know. The hypothesized culprits have included passing stars, hidden planets, Oort cloud brown dwarfs, and, of course, Sumerian-inspired alien conspiracy theories. Whatever it is, it is bound to answer profound questions about the origin and evolution of the solar system, as well as inspire many new questions we had never known to ask.
(Read part 2) | <urn:uuid:dc2bebb7-436a-42f8-a8c5-7bdb1a1efcf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/2010/10/there-is-something-out-there.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978014 | 825 | 2.578125 | 3 |
David Herman, Joshua Steskal
A pressing task for researchers who seek to build systems capable of emulating intelligent narrative agents is to develop a basis for ascribing situationally appropriate (and thus believable) emotional states to participants in storyworlds. In this paper, we use a natural-language narrative to examine discourse processes by which storytellers in face-to-face communication construct themselves as emotionally involved agents in narrated events, arguing that closer study of these processes may afford heuristics for system design. Drawing on techniques for analyzing emotion discourse developed in the field of discursive psychology, we describe how narratives both recruit from and contribute to emotionologies, or systems of emotion terms and concepts deployed by participants in discourse to ascribe emotions to themselves as well as their cohorts. Studying how such terms and concepts figure in the discourse of expert storytellers can provide a basis for enhancing the emotional intelligence of virtual narrative agents, while suggesting how end-users' emotional states might also be factored into system design.
Subjects: 4. Cognitive Modeling; 8. Enabling Technologies
Submitted: Sep 12, 2007 | <urn:uuid:530f5ead-e902-49ff-ab64-061b3147ad44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aaai.org/Library/Symposia/Fall/2007/fs07-05-009.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927326 | 228 | 1.882813 | 2 |
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 12, 2012 -- In response to the recent violence in Egypt and Libya, and the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other colleagues, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
"I am appalled and so deeply saddened this morning to learn of the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other colleagues at the U.S.consulate in Benghazi. On behalf of the Reform Jewish Movement in North America, the largest segment of North American Jewry, I offer our deepest condolences and sympathies to the families of those killed. This act of violence, and the violent protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, must be condemned unequivocally. While the actual killings of 4 diplomats seem to have come from a group looking for an opportunity to target the U.S. on 9/11, the loss of life in this manner is an affront to the values of humanity and tolerance that are at the core of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I also stand here today to condemn the video that apparently spurred protests in Libya and Egypt. While we defend the right to engage in free speech, even repugnant speech, such anti-Muslim Internet postings are clearly crafted to provoke, to offend, and to evoke outrage. The denigration of religion, the mocking of religious figures and the intentional framing of religious texts and tenets in this manner must likewise be repudiated by all religious leaders.
The video and the views it espouses do not reflect the views of the overwhelming majority of Americans and people of faith. It is, purely and simply, a creation of those on the fringes of American society whether they are Christians or Jews or Muslims. Two years ago, it was Evangelical leaders who persuaded Rev. Terry Jones from burning the Koran. And it was the leaders of all the major religions in America that expressed universal condemnation of such religious hatred - in that case as now, anti-Muslim hatred. I appeal to the religious leaders and to the media in the Muslim world to denounce violence in the name of their religion to make clear to the citizens of their nation and their co-religionists the wall-to-wall condemnation of America's religious leaders of religious hate speech, and thereby help to bring an end to the violence before further tragedy occurs.
We must all oppose efforts to divide people - in the United States, in Egypt, Libya and around the world - along religious lines. Small violent groups of extremists, no matter their religious identity, cannot be allowed to define their religions or their nations. Instead, let us lift up those who appeal to the best in humanity, those who seek to build bridges over longstanding divides, and those who speak the language of peace and tolerance." | <urn:uuid:7f4a6295-0fea-4bd3-b66e-7a6200c60007> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rac.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=22882&pge_prg_id=15928 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945894 | 560 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Faith Comes by Hearing donors continue to send BibleSticks to
"It's just a small digital audio device about the
size of a pack of chewing gum so soldiers can have the complete New
Testament in a dramatized format," explains Bill Lohr, who heads
the project. "They can have that and carry it with them
wherever they are and listen to it whenever they get a chance."
"It's been a project that's gone on since about 2008," he
continues, "and believe it or not, since that time, we have
deployed almost 235,000 units. And we continue to get requests from
chaplains for more military BibleSticks."
A form is included with the device, giving soldiers the
opportunity to provide a home address in the states so
that their families can receive additional materials from
Comes by Hearing.
"We will send the family an MP3 disc to play the audio Bible,
and we also have a kids' Bible that we send to their
kids," Lohr details.
His organization continues to get thousands of requests
from chaplains who say it is one of the most widely requested
items that they have ever had.
"We're also seeing this in Virginia hospitals dealing with
troops who are suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress
disorder), and it's being used in a number of different ways for
our wounded warriors who are coming home -- some who have seen war
action over a decade," Lohr adds.
The BibleSticks are especially handy for people with
sight problems; they can plug it in and listen to the pure Word of | <urn:uuid:6ff212a9-f33e-4459-b63a-b6376ec83000> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onenewsnow.com/missions/2012/11/17/audio-bibles-an-asset-for-the-military | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961885 | 351 | 1.632813 | 2 |
From Galileo's moons to galaxies far, far away
Where Galileo spotted four tiny dots orbiting Jupiter, some 484 million miles away, the Very Large Telescope in Chile is picking out individual star clusters in a galaxy 12.9 million light years away.
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is now underway. It marks, among other things, 400 years since Galileo turned his tiny telescope on the heavens and began a revolution in humanity's understanding of its place in the cosmos.Skip to next paragraph
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The first questions were simple: What orbits what in our solar system? What is fixed and what is truly moving? Today astronomers and astrophysicists are using observatories on the ground and in orbit to peer to the very dawn of the universe and answer some of the most fundamental questions about the structure of the cosmos, its origin and future.
Recent results from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) – four mammoth eight-meter "eyes on the sky" on a mountaintop in northern Chile's Atacama Desert – give a tiny taste of how far scientists have come in their ability to observe the heavens and glean its history since Galileo's day.
And the high-tech approaches they are taking are helping to solve a mystery: Why do some galaxies shine far more brightly in infrared radiation than do other galaxies, such as the Milky Way?
Galileo spotted four tiny dots orbiting Jupiter, some 484 million miles away; this ground-based observatory is picking out individual star clusters in a galaxy 12.9 million light years away.
The galaxy is known as NGC 253. Caroline Herschel, wife of the other well-known astronomical Herschel (William), picked it out of the southern sky in 1783 as she hunted for comets.
Astronomers now know it as a "starburst" galaxy – where stars are being born at a faster rate than is typical for a galaxy at this point in the universe's evolution. It also gives off far more of its light in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum than the Milky Way does. This has earned it a place in the ranks of so-called ultraluminous infrared galaxies.
Deep, deep images of the cosmos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope show what scientists interpret as starburst galaxies in the early universe. But these objects are too far away to study in detail. So astronomers and astrophysicists use galaxies like NGC 253 as stand-ins.
What's turbocharging the emissions?
One question astronomers are trying to answer: What drives these turbocharged infrared emissions? Scientists have a couple of theories. The emissions could erupt as material falls into a supermassive black hole at the galaxy's core, with heavy dust clouds ensuring the emissions appear to us only as infrared radiation. Or the emissions could be coming from young massive stars hidden in the dust. Or it could be a bit of both.
In NGC 253's case, the VLT picked up roughly 37 glowing knots of light in the infrared spectrum. They sit fairly close to the galaxy's core – nearly 1,000 light years from its center. (It's 60,000 to 70,000 light years across.)
The VLT can spot these features at a level of detail similar to the high level of detail achieved by far-flung radiotelescopes when their antennas are linked together as an interferometer. By combining the VLT's optical observations with radio observations, the team concluded that eight of knots were clusters of massive young stars ready to emerge from the dusty nurseries that surround them.
Radiotelescopes have scanned NGC 253 and found evidence of an enormous black hole at its center with a mass some seven million times greater than that of our sun. The VLT observations, however, show that the black hole has no signature in visible light, or at near- or mid-infrared wavelengths. Thus, the team concludes, NGC 253 has a sleeping giant – a dormant black hole – at its core (as does the Milky Way), rather than an active one.
Galileo would be stroking his beard with delight.
No single post can span the broad spectrum of cool images astronomers are pulling in from their ever-more powerful telescopes. If you have a favorite image, share a link in the comments section. If the muse speaks, feel free to include a comment or two on why the image caught your fancy. | <urn:uuid:98304d1f-638a-4037-85e7-9366e978e4f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2009/0120/from-galileos-moons-to-galaxies-far-far-away | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94299 | 908 | 3.78125 | 4 |
If you have a can of Bumble Bee tuna fish in your pantry, don't eat it because it could make you sick.
Bumble Bee Foods, based in San Diego, California, is recalling some of its 5-ounce canned tuna because of a risk the fish could spoil.
Company officials say the cans' are loose and could let in pathogens and taint the tuna.
So far there have been no reports of any illnesses.
The cans were distributed to retailers across the country between Jan. 17 and Feb. 28 and have "best by" dates that range from Jan. 16, 2016 through Jan. 18, 2016.
The products subject to the recall include Bumble Bee brand and Brunswick brand 5-ounce cans of chunk white albacore in water and chunk light tuna in water and vegetable oil.
Consumers who think they may have purchased one of the recalled products can contact Bumble Bee to get their money back and throw away the canned tuna. | <urn:uuid:ef5964a8-52ac-4bdb-81d9-6feab29c6a9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arklatexhomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=308512 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965219 | 200 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Is Being Nice a Nudge From Our Genes? University at Buffalo Study
4/11/2012 6:56:16 AM
Researchers have found that some people are kind and generous in part because their genes nudge them toward it. Michel Poulin, assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo, is the principal author of the study “The Neurogenics of Niceness,” published in this month in Psychological Science. | <urn:uuid:e4a30248-7f80-4c99-8963-461214430923> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biospace.com/news_print.aspx?NewsEntityId=256014 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93962 | 91 | 2.234375 | 2 |
The European Union is to formally ask the US to clarify reports that it ran secret CIA prisons in eastern Europe.
Spain said the allegations if true could damage ties with the US
The US has refused to confirm or deny the reports, which surfaced in the US earlier this month.
A European investigator is seeking satellite images of Romania and Poland, alleged sites of the secret prisons.
Spain, Sweden and Iceland are looking into separate reports that CIA planes stopped in their territory while transporting terror suspects.
The European investigator, Swiss Senator Dick Marty, is looking into what he called the suspicious movement patterns of flights in the region.
"This is absolutely not a crusade against America," he said.
"I think all Europeans agree with Americans that we must fight terrorism.... but this fight has to be fought by legal means," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.
"Wrongdoing only gives ammunition to both the terrorists and their sympathisers."
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed that Britain will be writing to the US, on behalf the EU, to clarify the reports of secret prisons, which were reportedly set up after the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Denials and investigations
The Washington Post newspaper first reported on 2 November that the CIA had been using Soviet-era camps in eastern Europe to detain and interrogate terror suspects.
It did not name the countries, but a day later Human Rights Watch said it had evidence indicating the CIA transported terror suspects captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania.
Poland and Romania have denied the allegations.
Last week, the Swedish government began an investigation to establish whether CIA prisoner flights had used Swedish airports.
Spain is investigating similar claims about secret flights from Majorca while Iceland says it has asked the US for an explanation and is still awaiting a satisfactory answer.
The CIA's controversial "extraordinary rendition" programme involves removing suspects without court approval to third party countries for interrogation. | <urn:uuid:07dd5d1b-36dc-4110-ac3b-a1dd33f7873a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4461470.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964719 | 386 | 1.625 | 2 |
Posted by Marina on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 12:36am.
"The large dog ran quickly."
The simple subject is "dog," while the complete subject includes the adjectives that modify it, "The large dog."
The simple predicate is the verb, "ran," whiile the complete predicate includes the adverbs that modify it, "ran quickly."
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
Can you tell me what the simple subject of this sentence:
Several of the caves are open to the public.
I say it is caves. My teacher said it was several. I thought that several would be the complete predicate. Can you help
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For Further Reading | <urn:uuid:6584e3b9-6256-4073-a452-9a5f9c713fa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1252557378 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929746 | 303 | 3.0625 | 3 |
By Jonathan O. Hirsch
Take-out boxes have been wreaking havoc on dining hall budgets in recent years. The cost of compostable boxes, introduced for the fall 2008 semester, was between three and four times that of the Styrofoam boxes they replaced. The introduction of compostable boxes also corresponded with an increase in take-out box use. Pam Franco, General Manager of Collins at Claremont McKenna, estimates that the dining hall distributed over 80,000 take-out kits last year at a net loss of just over 50 cents each.
In addition to the cost of the take-out boxes themselves, administrators were concerned about the environmental and labor impact of distributing so many take-out boxes. Collins keeps three to five days worth of take-out boxes in stock at a time; there are frequent deliveries, each of which has both a delivery charge and labor costs. There is also a cost to removing each box from campus. Seeing the sheer volume of take-out boxes in campus trashcans prompted CMC Vice President and Dean of Students Jefferson Huang to “think a little bit about the building attendants who are hauling out 80,000 containers of food that’s just nasty.”
Finally, there was the problem of take-out box abuse. Debra Wood, Vice President and Dean of Students at Scripps College, said that students on the eight meal plan, students at Claremont Graduate University, and staff from all five colleges would abuse the all-you-can-eat system. Abusers, who indirectly raised costs for all diners, would come through Scripps’s Mallot Commons, eat a meal in the dining hall, and then load up their take-out boxes with food for later meals. With each of these factors pressuring costs, a change was needed.
Scripps started looking into purchasing reusable take-out boxes over a year ago but found no products on the market that satisfied their requirements. Without any viable reusable options, the deans and treasurers of the 5Cs met and agreed to start charging 50 cents per take-out kit, effective this fall. The 50-cent rate was below cost, but CMC Treasurer Robin Aspinall still targeted approximately $65,000 in savings from the new policy. Franco says that in addition to the added revenue, take-out use is down over 50 percent since the surcharge was added.
The deans and treasurers also agreed that Pitzer would take the lead in researching and gradually implementing a reusable take-out program as suitable products became available. The implementation was supposed to be similar to the staggered conversion to trayless dining. Nonetheless, as Wood noted, “whenever human beings are involved, there are miscommunications.”
While Huang said that he “heard nothing through the whole summer until the very end,” there were a range of back and forth discussions at the other colleges. During the summer, Sodexo, the food service provider at Scripps, Pomona, and Harvey Mudd Colleges, presented each of the schools with a box intended to meet the needs of the colleges’ respective dining halls.
Wood and Sodexo tested the proposed box, soaking it in various acidic foods and putting it through the dishwasher many times. Wood devised a durability test herself, in which she “stood on it and bounced up and down.” Based on Sodexo’s testing as well as her own, Wood determined that the proposed box was suitable for use at Scripps.
Meanwhile, the then Food Service Director at Harvey Mudd thought he was authorized to purchase and distribute free take-out boxes to HMC students and was preparing to purchase the Sodexo-recommended box. Wood also believed that Pitzer had decided to use the Sodexo-recommended box based on conversations between representatives of Pitzer and the food service director at Scripps. With this information, Wood emailed the deans at the other colleges to inform them of Scripps, HMC, and Pitzer’s desire to use the Sodexo box with the hope that it could become standard across the 5Cs. Things appeared to be on the right track, but within 48 hours, Wood said, “it all blew up.”
An HMC dean emailed Wood saying that HMC’s food service director had been mistaken and that HMC would not be using reusable take-out boxes. Pomona indicated that they might purchase the Sodexo box but ultimately decided against it. Pitzer confirmed that they were in fact planning to implement a reusable box this fall and communicated to the food service director at Scripps that it would be the Sodexo box. Wood explained, “We thought we were picking the same box as Pitzer, only to learn after each of us had invested in thousands of them, that they were close but no cigar.”
The Port Side requested comment on Pitzer’s take-out decisions; however, Pitzer’s chef did not respond to written questions and Pitzer’s treasurer declined to make himself available.
Meanwhile, Pomona decided to purchase a reusable box that was similar in design to the compostable boxes they had been using. Pomona Vice President and Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum explained the decision to use smaller containers. “This size can reduce the amount of food wastage,” she said, and both staff and students “thought that the larger containers could lead to increased food wastage.” Price was also a factor. The reusable boxes used at Pitzer and Scripps cost about $6 each, while the smaller boxes Pomona chose each cost about $3, thereby saving students money if they need replacement boxes.
While other schools were purchasing different take-out boxes, Huang was taking the wait-and-see approach at CMC. He had concerns about the durability of the reusable boxes and did not want to make such a large investment until he could see the program in action at other colleges. After seeing the success of the program at Pitzer and hearing from CMC students who wanted a similar program, Bon Appétit approached CMC about using reusable take-out boxes at Collins. Bon Appétit considers itself to be a “socially responsible” catering service; as part of its commitment to sustainability, Bon Appétit agreed to cover the cost of a take-out box for each CMC student on the meal plan. At the other 5Cs, it was the school that footed the bill.
After examining the Sodexo and Pitzer boxes, CMC and Bon Appetit opted to buy the model currently in use at Pitzer. The Bon Appetit boxes can be used at both Collins and McConnell.
While the 5Cs now have four different take-out policies, there is hope that one day students will be able to get take-out from each dining hall regardless of their home college. Wood says that goal “would be wonderful… our students do enough cross-dining that they need the flexibility.” Huang expressed the same sentiment: “I think it is in everyone’s interest in the long run if we work towards something together…but we are not ready for that yet.”
According to Wood, “the biggest problem [with integration] would be with Pomona,” whose boxes are significantly cheaper than those at other schools. She added that “some schools may be more concerned about how much food can fit in a take-out container and the amount of abuse that may exist” than the benefits of having a single 5C system. Wood pointed out that the Sodexo box is about twice as expensive as the box at Pomona and slightly more expensive than the box being used by Bon Appétit. Because of this, she worries that if take-out systems were to be integrated without the use of a common container, some colleges would end up paying a disproportionate share of take-out costs. Huang says that he has spoken with his counterparts about using the Bon Appétit boxes at other dining halls, but has not yet been able to reach an agreement.All parties agree that no technical issues prevent integration of the programs; each box can withstand trips through each campus dishwasher without incident. As soon as the deans come together, communicate, and forge an agreement, students will be able to return to the days of free and convenient take-out throughout the Claremont Colleges. | <urn:uuid:4596dca2-b09e-40eb-a81f-1aabdd3b3dbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.claremontportside.com/print-edition/october-2009-issue/behind-the-sneeze-guards-testing-take-out-boxes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970875 | 1,755 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Why, you ask, is it important to keep your sperm healthy? It's not a question to dwell on, but there are certain times in most of our lives when we feel the urge to propagate the species and it is then that the importance of delivering the goods in great condition makes sense.
50 million sperm are discharged during just one ejaculation in a normal healthy male. It can take that many to begin the journey to the vagina, the cervix and on to the fallopian tubes. From all those millions only one or two will make it to a mature egg that is ready to be fertilized.
Until recently the health of sperm was identified by microscopic observation of their speed and shape. Advances in genetics looking at the composition of sperm are leading to more accurate identification of healthy sperm.
Current research indicates that male sperm counts are declining in many parts of the world, including America and Europe. In one Danish study a 1 per cent decline per year in the sperm count has been recorded over the last 50 years. Such findings have their critics particularly in the face of more recent studies that suggest no such decline. On balance however the current wisdom suggests there is some decline in sperm counts and there seems to be consensus on at least most of the causes; the most important of which are listed below:
what can you do?
It is important to remember that there is still a lot to be learnt about male fertility. We do know that a lot of the things that make sperm healthy are the things that are healthy for men anyway. So even if it takes a while for your partner to get pregnant you are not wasting your time!
- Tight trousers and underwear, synthetic material and heat. It has been suggested that all these effect fertility so get out those baggy cotton boxers! Keep the family jewels cool. It is known that the scrotum area needs to be 4 degrees lower than body temperature.
- Climate. Some experts suggest that climate and seasons, countries, regions and different years may all have an influence on sperm counts and fertility. One piece of research showed the sperm count in New York was much higher than Los Angeles, that Finland's was higher than Britain.
- Hot Tubs. Frequent hot tubs have been shown to cause a low sperm count. Have a shower instead.
- Alcohol. Alcohol can damage sperm. Limit your alcohol intake when you are trying to improve your fertility.
- Drugs. There are a number of drugs that affect fertility, amongst them are steroids, cytotoxic drugs used in cancer treatments and opiates. Contact your family doctor if you are on any long term medication that you are worried may affect your fertility. Doctors should always inform you of any side effects but it is always easy to check if you have forgotten.
- Environmental Toxins. There is quite a lot of conflicting evidence about the substances that may cause damage to sperm. It is known that radiation causes damage and birth defects. Other substances thought to have a detrimental effect on sperm are some perfumes containing phthalates, some types of pesticides, organic mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, estrogens in water supply. Many of these substances are still the subject of on-going research.
- Supplements. Folic acid in combination with zinc sulfate has been shown to have often dramatic effects on sperm counts. Some men when taking these supplements increased their sperm count by as much as 74 per cent.
Paul Ellis - Men's Health | <urn:uuid:4333479f-64f8-4b46-a321-41c4860590f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.4-men.org/sperm-health.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969617 | 705 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Don Johns was a leading motorcycle racer in the early era of the sport. He competed as a professional from 1912 to 1916 and is the racer most closely associated with the Cyclone, considered the fastest racing motorcycle of its time. Johns was an ace at board track, dirt track and road racing and won a number of FAM championships as well as numerous regional titles.
Johns began riding motorcycles when he was 11. As a youngster, Johns swept up the grandstands at racing venues around Southern California. Indian’s legendary rider Jake DeRosier took a young Johns under his wing and helped Johns learn to race. Later, when Johns set amateur speed records, it was on DeRosier’s factory Indian. In fact, a few weeks after Johns set these marks, DeRosier rode the very same machine in his famous match races with British star Charles Collier.
Johns won his first race at a track in San Bernardino, California, in 1909, riding a Thor. He became known as being a sometimes scrappy and aggressive rider. Once, he was suspended from competition for six months after punching another rider in the nose while the two were racing. Fisticuffs were not uncommon in the rough-and-tumble Southern California racing circuit.
Johns became prominent in 1911 when he beat Hap Alzina and Clarence Briggs in a try-out on a factory Indian. By beating these other top amateur riders, Johns was given the chance to ride DeRosier’s factory machine in record-setting attempts at the Playa del Rey board track. DeRosier set a slew of speed records that day for amateur riders, although it was argued by other amateurs of the day that Johns having the opportunity to ride a full-factory Indian was an unfair advantage.
Johns turned expert in 1912, but in one his first races outside of Southern California, Johns was suspended under the most bizarre circumstances. While racing at a bard track near Chicago, rider Dave Kinney crashed. Johns stopped to help Kinney and actually fainted while trying to help Kinney pull out a large splinter. The race referee suspended Johns for fainting on the grounds that if he fainted by simply pulling out splinters, then he wasn’t fit for the rigors of racing. Johns sat out almost a year before the factories applied pressure to allow him to come back.
After being reinstated Johns promptly won the Western Championships in San Jose, California, riding a factory Excelsior. At the end of 1913, Cyclone hired Johns to ride its bright yellow racer. The Cyclone had many features that were ahead of its time and was by far the fastest, albeit often unreliable, of the Class A factory racing machines of the era.
In a 1941 magazine interview, Johns recalled some things about the legendary Cyclone.
"The yellow rig attracted a great deal of attention wherever I raced it. It used special Swedish precision bearings and was very light and very powerful. The motor was so powerful that I would wear out a set of tires in just a few laps. I switched from U.S. Tires to a newly designed Goodyear and that helped. It was the first racer to turn over 5,000 rpms. It had a unique sound and was often five to seven miles per hour faster than the other factory rigs."
One legendary victory for Johns on the Cyclone was a winner-take-all one-lap race around a mile dirt track in Phoenix on November 18, 1913. The promoter offered the princely sum of $1,000 to the vehicle that could lap the mile the fastest – that included planes flying just above the mile oval. Johns and the Cyclone beat out automobile ace Barney Oldfield and barnstorming pilot Lincoln Beachly to win the prize.
The Cyclone, while often the fastest motorcycle at a race, suffered from reliability problems. Johns easily turned the fastest lap times and many times built big leads only to suffer mechanical problems with the bike. The most infamous race for Johns and Cyclone was the epic 1915 Dodge City 300. A total of seven manufacturers fielded factory teams in the event. Harley-Davidson, debuting in the classic race, and Indian each had eight riders.
Johns, on the Cyclone, turned laps over two mph faster than Dave Kinney’s qualifying speed in the early laps and was heavily favored to win the race. He opened a large lead, lapping a number of riders in the first fifty miles. Then the bike began to fade and he lost the lead just before the 100-mile mark and later dropped out of the running. Johns also lead similarly in the 100-mile national at Ascot Park until the Cyclone again failed before reaching the checkered flag.
Johns did win a number of shorter races on the Cyclone, including the one-mile FAM National held in Sacramento in July of 1915.
Johns left Cyclone and closed out his racing career riding an Indian. In 1916, Johns’ last full year of racing, he again was victorious in the one-mile national, this time held in Columbus, Ohio. Like many riders of the era, World War I brought a close to Johns’ racing career. Few of the factories returned to racing and Johns faded from the scene taking up a career as an oil-drilling toolmaker in Texas.
In all, Johns rode for Thor, Excelsior and Indian, but he will always be remembered for his exploits on the Cyclone.
Inducted in 1998 | <urn:uuid:109bf35d-532e-4c4e-b359-e04538d6b593> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ama-cycle.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=202 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97579 | 1,133 | 1.695313 | 2 |
BP Makes 'Small' Gas Discovery in North Sea
by Jon Mainwaring
|Wednesday, July 18, 2012
BP has made a "small gas discovery" near the Marulk gas field in the Norwegian North Sea, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
The NPD reported Wednesday that the wildcat well 6507/3-9S, operated by BP under production license 212E, found recoverable gas estimated at between 42 and 81 billion cubic feet.
The well is located around 13 miles north of the Cormorant field and three miles east of Marulk. It was drilled to a total vertical depth of 9,590 feet, found the gas in Upper Cretaceous reservoir rocks in the Lysing Formation.
Marulk is a gas and condensate field that was discovered in 1992 and demarcated in 2008. This field is currently in production and operated by Eni Norge.
The 6507/3-9S well is now being plugged and abandoned, while the Polar Pioneer (mid-water semisub) rig used to drill it will move on to work on production wells in the nearby Cormorant field.
BP holds a 30-percent interest in production license 212E, while Statoil also holds 30 percent, E.ON has 25 percent and PGNiG holds the remaining 15 percent.
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Jobs that may interest you | <urn:uuid:5a15faf1-0a30-41b0-a489-ca6f71a7171e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/119412/BP_Makes_Small_Gas_Discovery_in_North_Sea | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954199 | 343 | 1.8125 | 2 |
A $225,000 federal grant will help the Ventura County Transportation Commission look at current and potential issues involving land use in and around Naval Base Ventura County.
The study will cover issues including civilian and military air traffic, noise, sea lane traffic and port access involving Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Naval Base Ventura County Port Hueneme, San Nicolas Island and surrounding communities. It will provide information on potential land-use conflicts to help protect public health and safety, according to commission officials.
The cities of Camarillo, Oxnard and Port Hueneme; CSU Channel Islands; and other agencies and special districts have been invited to participate in the study. A consultant team from Matrix Design Group will provide an overview of the study during a kickoff meeting March 13 at the Camarillo Library.
“This is something we want to have input on,” said Camarillo Mayor Charlotte Craven during a City Council meeting last week.
Council members briefly discussed the study and expressed an interest in attending next month’s meeting.
Assistant City Manager Dan Paranick on Wednesday called the council’s interest a “positive step” that will help land-use planning.
“It’s a planning process, and getting involved in good planning efforts is always a positive step to take,” Paranick said. “We hope the process will lend itself to good land-use planning in Ventura County, Camarillo, the naval base and unincorporated areas of the county.”
Transportation commission staff were notified in late August of the grant award from the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment. The grant will pay for the consultants to complete the study.
The public meeting will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. March 13 at the Camarillo Library, 4101 Las Posas Road. | <urn:uuid:5e283826-cdf9-4fcf-922c-354cb5a6353a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/feb/20/grant-to-help-county-study-land-use-around-navy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927863 | 384 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Quote of the Day
I think we're about ready for a new feeling to enter music. I think that will come from the Arabic world.
The rise to prominence of the Saudi novel in Arabic is the great man-bites-dog of recent world literature. Saudi Arabia is a country without a free press, where European styles and forms are distrusted and where the female half of the population became literate only in this generation.
I might do something in Arabic. I might do something in Hebrew.
When my job was attempting to predict future economic developments for the Shell oil company, I was frequently reminded of an Arabic saying: 'Those who claim to foresee the future are lying, even if by chance they are later proved right.'
One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.
I do not use the language of my people. I can take liberties with certain themes which the Arabic language would not allow me to take.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
I have a lot of nice Italian winter clothes that make me look like a sophisticated Lebanese professor, so my friend Robert and I go around pretending to be experts in Arabic politics. It doesn't work in the summer though. I don't have the right clothes.
I began thinking there should be an American phrase book, 'cause I've got an Italian phrase book, and an Arabic one... now a British one. I think it'd be pretty good to have an American phrase book.
I wrote those poems for myself, as a way of being a soldier here in this country. I didn't know the poems would travel. I didn't go to Lebanon until two years ago, but people told me that many Arabs had memorized these poems and translated them into Arabic.
It is my great good luck the words I use are English words, which means I live in a very old nation of open borders; a rich, deep, multi-layered, promiscuous universe, infused with Latin, German, French, Greek, Arabic and countless other tongues.
I think my dad is the only Arabic descendent who is an unsuccessful businessman.
Present-day Spain translates as many books into Spanish, annually, as the Arab world has translated into Arabic in the past 1,100 years.
'Khalifa' is Arabic, it means successor, leader, shining light. My granddad is Muslim and he gave me that name.
Everybody needs to understand that I learned Arabic from the United States Army as a second language. I never spoke it at home.
But my Arabic is pretty good. It's good enough to have conversations with people, to understand what they say, to understand what they're feeling.
Math and science fields are not the only areas where we see the United States lagging behind. Less than 1 percent of American high school students study the critical foreign languages of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Russian, combined.
I listen to a lot of alternative types of music: I listen to a lot of Chinese music, I listen to a lot of Asian music. It might surprise you, but I listen to a lot of Arabic music. And I don't care - music is music.
I've got Arabic music in my blood.
I'm shy, but sometimes my voice is so clear and strong. Your tongue moves, and the Arabic language is so beautiful.
A small film from a small country, in Arabic with nonprofessionals: It was practically impossible. Just to make it was like a dream to me.
I want the Arabic Granada, that which is art, which is all that seems to me beauty and emotion.
I haven't spoken English with native speakers in several months. I've been speaking Arabic.
John Walker Lindh
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Nature Quote Feed | <urn:uuid:6b7334a6-3344-4806-88c8-39244ac81593> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/arabic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933654 | 867 | 1.804688 | 2 |
A new polymer-metal material that has sensory properties makes it possible to produce plastic component parts that monitor themselves. This material can be combined with various others and used in a variety of different ways. Researchers at Fraunhofer will be unveiling this polymer-metal composite at the ELECTRONICA 2010 fair (Nov. 9-12 in Munich, Germany).
When the storm winds blow, wind turbines have to show what they can stand up to. The wind blows hard against mills with the force of tons as the tips of the blades plow through the air at more than 200 kilometers per hour. But natural forces not only tear at wind turbines; machine components made of plastic or airplane wings must with stand substantial loads as well.
These days, we normally use sensors to measure whether these components are strained beyond capacity, and it requires a lot of effort to install them into the component parts or glue them onto their surface. Because these monitoring sensors usually only register tensile or pressure loads in a small range, we link several individual sensors to create a single network if we want to record greater areas on the component. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Material Research (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany, are now making it measurably easier to inspect these large-scale components because they have come up with a new composite material especially for components made of plastic. It has sensory properties that can be directly worked or installed into a synthetic component when it is manufactured. This material also meets design requirements.
This new composite material is a blend of plastic and metal better known as polymer-metal composite material. There is a wide range of plastics that are suited as a matrix material for manufacturing this composite, which means that it can easily be tailor-made for a whole series of purposes. But it also has other advantages. First of all, due to its synthetic character, this material can be easily processed. Beyond this, it is lightweight and conducts current and heat very well due to the high proportion of metal in it. What is especially fascinating about this material is the fact that it can be processed with conventional machines used in plastics manufacturing among other things, in extruders or in injection-molding machines in which the heated liquid plastic is injected into a form where it hardens immediately. Finally, this material can be laminated as a type of mat on large surfaces. In the future, researchers want to use nozzles to apply this conducting plastic as a viscous liquid to geometrically complex surfaces.
This polymer-metal composite material has its high proportion of metal and a special mixing technique to thank for its excellent sensory properties. As Arne Haberkorn, the project manager for composite developments at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Material Research, points out, "we reach a metallic filling proportion of as much as 90 percent in weight in this composite when needed," with the composite's electrical resistance changing if there are loads during operation. The signals can be drawn off with cables on the component part and passed them onto a measuring instrument for analysis.
It was a special challenge for Haberkorn and his colleagues to come up with a technique for evenly processing different metallic substances in liquid plastic. This new technique functions with a whole range of synthetic materials, for instance with polypropylene just as well as with polyamide. Haberkorn is happy to say "this means we can combine our polymer-metal composite material with various synthetics and process them into a wide range of component parts. That includes not only solid and heat-resistant, but also soft-flexible workpieces." Researchers have used various prototypes to demonstrate that the method functions and are now searching for potential industrial users.
Explore further: Student-built innovations to help improve and save lives | <urn:uuid:62102a50-d392-4444-8917-d926daca4479> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news/2010-10-plastic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945057 | 766 | 3.0625 | 3 |
When Jason Webb joined the Army in 2004, he hoped his assignment as a telecommunications operator would keep him at arm’s length from combat. Though Webb, now 24, wanted to serve his country, he felt uneasy about killing another human being. He hoped a desk job would save him from a crisis of conscience.
It didn’t. After seven months stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, Webb decided he could no longer live with himself if he stayed in the Army, so he applied for honorable discharge as a conscientious objector (CO) under Army Regulation 600-43. Several weeks later, with his CO application still in process, Webb was deployed to Iraq. A graduate of The Master’s College, an evangelical Christian school in California, Webb knew his family wanted him to fulfill his term of service. He also knew he couldn’t fire a gun at another person. So although he deployed to Iraq as ordered, Webb would not carry a working weapon on patrols. Now he had nothing but conscience to protect him.
“The reason God has given [humans] a conscience is to be a moral compass,” Webb wrote in his application for classification as a CO, “to serve as a guide to what is right and what is wrong. It is for that reason that I cannot kill, participate in warfare, or support any organization that does.”
Webb’s transformation from enlister to objector is not an aberration. Since the start of operations in Iraq in March 2003, a growing number of American soldiers have been seeking CO discharges. How many remains disputed. According to an Army Public Affairs spokesperson, 188 soldiers applied for CO discharges between January 2003 and December 2005; of those applications, 87 were approved.
Michael Sharp of the Military Counseling Network, a Germany-based group that provides education and counseling about military discharges, cautions that the statistics issued by the military aren’t guaranteed to be reliable. “The Army will release some numbers and then the Department of Defense will give out completely different ones a week later,” he says.
J.E. McNeil, executive director of the Center on Conscience & War in Washington, D.C., agrees that the numbers issued by the military do not tell the whole story. Before 9/11, she says, her office received one to two inquiries a month about how to apply for conscientious objection. Today, she receives two to three a day.
Critics accuse COs of being cowards trying to get out of their contracts. But applying for a 1-0 conscientious objector classification is not for the faint-hearted. “Conscientious objection is a hard way out,” McNeil says. “If you’re lucky, it takes a year.” If you’re not lucky, you wind up with a rejected application, a court-martial for refusing to obey orders, and a possible prison sentence. In May, the Army sentenced Spc. Katherine Jashinski to 120 days in prison for refusing to deploy to Iraq; she became the first female CO to be jailed in the current war. But for soldiers whose convictions clash with Army requirements, there may be no other option. The conscientious objector’s struggle to leave the military in an honorable manner is also a struggle to uphold the rights of conscience.
Joining up. Before a soldier becomes a conscientious objector, he or she is first a soldier in a volunteer force. The reasons why some become COs cannot be separated from their initial reasons for joining the Army.
Webb enlisted, in part, for his family. His brother, a Marine, was the family hero; his conservative Christian parents saw patriotism and faith as united. “I saw the current conflict as a war against non-Christians,” Webb wrote in his CO application.
Deshawn Reed, a former human resource specialist stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany, joined the Army in March 2000 because, in his words, “it was a job.” The Army promised money for college, medical care, and opportunities to see the world. Reed, now 26, had dropped out of UCLA after his third semester, partly due to financial pressures. He dreamed of a stable income and finishing college; he also dreamed of becoming a hero.
Former armor crewman Clifton Hicks enlisted in 2003 at age 17. (His mother had to sign a consent form.) He joined because he wanted to go to war. “I didn’t think through what the experience would be like,” he says. Hicks assumed he would work in an armored tank; instead, commanders had him operate a machine gun from the top of a Hummer and patrol for snipers on foot.
When Kevin Hicks (no relation to Clifton Hicks) joined the Army on March 19, 2003, the day the Iraq war started, he says he wanted “to blow things up.” Now a decorated combat engineer, Kevin, 31, came from a long line of soldiers. He subscribed to the Augustinian just war theory and hoped that he could make a difference in Iraq not only through demolitions but also through rebuilding the national infrastructure—he had studied mechanical engineering in college. But when he got to Iraq, nothing was being built. “That was part of my naïveté,” Kevin says. “When I joined I actually believed that the Army was about more than just warfare.”
A change of heart. Army Regulation (AR) 600-43 stipulates that for soldiers to receive a CO discharge, they “must establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that ... their beliefs are sincere.” They cannot apply for CO status because they oppose a particular war; they can apply only if they have become opposed to all wars since the time they enlisted. This moral, ethical, or religious opposition must be so entrenched that the soldier’s conscience “allows him or her no rest or inner peace if he or she is required to fulfill the present military obligation.”
How does one prove a lack of inner peace? Before soldiers can be classified as conscientious objectors, they must provide a narrative of their conversion—or as the application puts it, an explanation of “what factors caused the change” in their beliefs.
Although Kevin Hicks engaged in 18 continuous days of combat that earned him an Army Commendation Medal with valor device, his turn to conscientious objection had additional catalysts. An elderly man approached him on the street and asked why the U.S. had not left Iraq. “This old man looks me in the eye,” Kevin recalls, “and he says to me, ‘Why are you still here?’” Kevin’s response sounded strained. “I thought, he’s not going to buy this,” he says. “And you know what? I wouldn’t buy it either, if I was him.” If Kevin could not justify the U.S. presence in Iraq to an Iraqi, then he could no longer justify that presence to himself. Gradually, he came to view all war—including the first and second world wars—as a refusal to take seriously the power of peace.
Clifton Hicks’ disenchantment with war unfolded in a combat environment. He joined the Army as a self-described “bloodthirsty” recruit. Then on Feb. 20, 2004, Hicks’ armored vehicle came across an Iraqi wedding party that another U.S. patrol had shot up by accident after mistaking the celebratory rifle fire from the wedding for a nearby ambush. Two civilians had been wounded and a young girl killed, Hicks reports. After the other platoon reported this incident to the chain of command, Hicks’ vehicle moved from the scene. “We simply continued our patrol and nothing much was ever said of this incident again,” he wrote in his application.
This event and others like it convinced Clifton Hicks that war was a quagmire in which he was implicated. “I hated the air that I breathed, the food that I ate, the rifle that I carried; I was disgusted by my own reflection,” he wrote. “I have destroyed the livelihood of innocent people, I have seen men rejoice in the torment of other men ... I pray that I may never live to endure such things again.” Hicks applied for honorable discharge as a CO at 19.
Deshawn Reed wonders if his story will measure up to those COs who saw combat. Though he would have refused to deploy to Iraq if the order came through, Reed never confronted a Middle East tour of duty. But the ethical and moral questions about war haunted him. He scrutinized past wars and wondered if they could have been avoided; he studied Muhammad Ali and Rep. John Lewis, conscientious objectors during Vietnam; he reflected on the civil rights movement. Eventually, he realized he could no longer continue in the Army, even as a sergeant in Germany. The dream of being a hero wasn’t worth the loss of integrity. “It didn’t matter if I had a direct participation in this war or if my job was just to support those who were fighting,” Reed says. “This is not what I wanted to do with my life.” He submitted his CO application after more than four years in the Army.
A turning point in Jason Webb’s outlook was the funeral of his brother’s best friend, a Marine killed in action in Fallujah. For Webb, that funeral drove home the essential nature of war: senseless death. It also prompted him to think that he could not witness for Christ so long as he wore a soldier’s uniform. Christ taught forgiveness, not vengeance. Webb applied for honorable discharge over the objections of his family, including his father whom he had hoped to make proud. “I have chosen to obey my conscience,” Webb wrote in his application. “I know that I am never alone so long as my faith in God does not falter.”
Getting out. When soldiers apply for a CO discharge, they undergo interviews with commanders, investigating officers, chaplains, and psychiatrists. The assessment is rigorous, weeding out all but the most tenacious. “There are probably a lot more soldiers who think the way we do about the war but who believe it’s impossible to get out,” says Reed.
Soldiers who do navigate the application process often have help. The Military Counseling Network and the Center on Conscience & War provide aid to soldiers who are trying to obtain release as conscientious objectors. Staff can set them up via e-mail with a network of current and former soldiers who have knowledge of the process. This kind of support helps COs make their way through a tedious and unnerving application procedure.
When Kevin Hicks and a friend, Purple Heart recipient Vincent LaVolpa, applied at the same time for conscientious objector status, their applications became bogged down in red tape. In one instance, a departing general left their applications for his replacement—and the incoming general set them aside as low priority. On another occasion, investigating officers realized that Hicks’ application included an account of an unreported war crime. “They had to stop my packet right there and open up an investigation into the incident I had described,” Kevin says.
Months after Webb applied, he learned that the commanding general in Heidelberg had disapproved his application. Army regulations give soldiers 10 days to write a rebuttal; this was Webb’s last chance. From Iraq, he wrote his rebuttal and sent it to Army headquarters. The CO Review Board approved his application. Webb obtained a release in April 2006, more than seven months after filing.
Some wonder if the military is making the application process unduly difficult. In May, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the 2007 Defense bill outlining a potential solution; the amendment is now headed to the Senate for a vote. Sponsored by Rep. Cynthia McKinney, it would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study of conscientious objection procedures and numbers in the military. In addition, the Center on Conscience & War is working for the introduction of a Military CO Act that would protect the rights of conscientious objectors during the application process. For now, however, soldiers need support to navigate what remains an unpredictable process.
Even with support, becoming a conscientious objector can be isolating. Reed didn’t talk to anyone on base about his convictions until he had filed an application. When Webb told friends in his unit, they resented his decision. “We don’t really talk any more,” he says.
Kevin Hicks and his friend LaVolpa faced less isolation than most. When they announced their decision, he says, their commanders and fellow soldiers were as supportive as possible. “They didn’t harass us about leaving because we had already fought,” he says. Both men had exemplary combat records. “No one’s going to call you a coward if you’ve saved another soldier’s life in combat.”
Going home—and speaking out. AR 600-43 states that persons that the Army has determined meet the criteria for a 1-0 conscientious objector classification “will be discharged for the convenience of the Government.” When a soldier receives the approval notice, the Army puts him or her on a plane home. Whether or not they saw combat, for these soldiers life changes in an instant.
Reed, who has been back from Germany for a year, remembers being plagued by self-doubt in the early days. Having chosen to enlist, he initially wondered if he deserved to get out. Today those doubts are gone; Reed is proud of his decision and thanks God for freeing him from what felt like an impossible situation. Clifton Hicks is glad to be home but not ready to look for a career. He’s living off his dwindling Army savings, traveling, and trying not to get ahead of himself. Webb is looking for IT work to support his wife and child. Kevin Hicks is reconnecting with friends in Portland, Oregon, and thinking about “counter-recruitment,” a movement to teach teens about opportunities outside the military. He’s done some volunteering for a peace group, but not as much as he expected. When he talks about his combat experiences, he has a day or two of depression afterward.
Difficult though their stories may be, these COs insist the message is worth the effort. “No one really knows about conscientious objection in the military,” Hicks says. He urges soldiers to educate themselves. “At some point in your life, you have to take a stand, even if you’re not perfect,” says Reed. He thinks Americans who put “Support the Troops” bumper stickers on SUVs are refusing to look at hard truths and hold America’s leaders accountable.
Political theorist José de Sousa e Brito has defined conscientious objection as “the right to refuse a legal duty in the name of individual conscience.” Army Regulation 600-43 bears out this definition: In certain situations, the “inviolability of conscience,” as de Sousa e Brito calls it, takes precedence over the obligation to fulfill a contract.
Just when conscience can prevail in this manner—and how a soldier’s sincerity can be proven—remains disputed. But the Army does concede that in certain situations, conscience is the higher law. Webb hopes others will take this window of opportunity to heart. “If you believe it, file a claim,” he urges. “Don’t be afraid of standing up for your convictions.”
Kevin Hicks says that if more soldiers started standing up for conscience, peace might be seen not as an option but as a necessity. “I get so angry when I hear people say, ‘War is awful, but ...,’” he says. “There is no ‘but.’ War is awful.”
Stacia M. Brown was a doctoral candidate in religion at Emory University and a freelance writer when this article appeared. | <urn:uuid:5eafc3ee-5b5e-4bcc-97e2-db23bf9a987d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sojo.net/magazine/2006/09/valor-honor-conscience?quicktabs_web_extras=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978692 | 3,395 | 2.109375 | 2 |
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Welcome to our world of fun trivia quizzes and quiz games:
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness weddings from different religious traditions. Can you answer ten trivia questions about these ceremonies? Speak now or forever hold your peace!"
15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit
Is pure joy possible in this world, and in this day and age? This religion teaches that it isn't, and so a couple getting married will temper their joy with sorrow by breaking a wineglass at the climax of the ceremony. What faith is this?
Most Buddhists consider marriage to be a secular matter; it isn't a religious sacrament, as it is in many other faiths. However, it's always appropriate to cite religious guidance in a wedding ceremony. If a Buddhist couple derives their vows from the Digha Nikaya, a collection of sayings and sermons from the Pali canon, to what school of Buddhism do they likely belong?
Wedding ceremonies typically involve vows: solemn promises that the couple makes to each other, to society, and to the divine. Films and television shows have helped standardize one form of these vows, in which each person promises to take the other as a spouse, "to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part..." In what Christian book did these vows originate?
The King James Bible
The Book of Common Prayer
St. Joseph's Missal
When a Muslim couple gets married, the groom is supposed to provide his bride with something called a mahr. Which of these best describes a mahr?
His own personal Quran
An elaborate design painted in henna
Money or another tangible asset
Three ritual kisses
Zoroastrian weddings are filled with symbolism. Relatives might rub rock-sugar cones together to symbolize hopes for a life of sweetness; the families of the happy couple might plant saplings to represent fertility. At what time of day are Indian Zoroastrian weddings usually performed?
Soon after sunrise
Soon after sunset
Pagan and Wiccan couples often solemnize marriages and betrothals in outdoor ceremonies, performed by a priestess and priest or by the couple themselves. The name for these rituals is taken from the common practice of binding together the couple's clasped hands, symbolizing their union. So tell me: what is the name for this kind of wedding?
At a Sikh wedding ceremony, the happy couple makes four circuits around the Guru Granth Sahib, while four sacred hymns are sung. Who or what is the Guru Granth Sahib?
The local priest
The Sikh holy book
An image of the first Guru
An offering of food and money
You'll see a chuppah at just about any Jewish wedding, although one chuppah may be very different from the next. Which of these is the best description of a modern chuppah?
The specifics of a Hindu wedding often vary from region to region. One near-universal feature, however, is an homage to the god Agni. In this ritual, the couple walks seven times around what object?
A portrait of an honored ancestor
In many faiths, readings from a holy book form a big part of a wedding ceremony. Sometimes, every wedding uses the same classics; sometimes, the couple chooses their favorites. The following quotation is from an extremely popular reading at weddings in which religious tradition?
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud ... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
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Probabilistic Graphical Models
10-708, Fall 2007
Many of the problems in artificial intelligence, statistics, computer systems, computer vision, natural language processing, and computational biology, among many other fields, can be viewed as the search for a coherent global conclusion from local information. The probabilistic graphical models framework provides an unified view for this wide range of problems, enabling efficient inference, decision-making and learning in problems with a very large number of attributes and huge datasets. This graduate-level course will provide you with a strong foundation for both applying graphical models to complex problems and for addressing core research topics in graphical models.
The class will cover
aspects: The core representation, including Bayesian and Markov
and dynamic Bayesian networks; probabilistic inference
algorithms, both exact and approximate; and, learning methods for both
parameters and the structure of graphical models. Students entering the
should have a pre-existing working knowledge of probability,
algorithms, though the class has been designed to allow students with a
background to catch up and fully participate.
It is expected that after taking this class, the students should have obtain sufficient working knowledge of multi-variate probablistic modeling and inference for practical applications, should be able to fomulate and solve a wide range of problems in their own domain using GM, and can advance into more specialized technical literature by themselves.
Students are required to have successfully completed 10701/15781, or an equivalent class. | <urn:uuid:b6a4c4db-b049-4e83-b5a6-8efa15b7689c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~epxing/Class/10708-07/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909194 | 309 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Collection of modern, minimalist, and eco friendly architectural design for your home inspiration
Chadbourne + Doss Architects has recently completed the Wood Block Residence contemporary house design built of concrete, metal and wood.
Adding up the luxurious state of the contemporary house, comes the floor-to-ceiling glass, a screened patio, the clean interior with a wooden deck and a rock garden to the side. Via.
With tons of blueprints (over 16,000!) for different furniture designs and outdoor woodwork projectsyou can have a great insight into how to build different things with wood. In it, they tell you about wood, how to design projects, the detailed photographs, patterns, blueprints, materials list and step by step instructions on how to put build them.
The second part shows you the different tools and how to use them, and a complete guide to woodwork carpentry. And the color photographs and drawings are beautiful and show a lot of detail.
Copyleft © 2012 Home and House Design | 27.76 MB
All materials, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain. In the event that there is still a problem or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof | <urn:uuid:b374962c-0284-42a1-8230-574df3162815> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nhit-shis.org/contemporary-wood-block-residence-by-chadbourne-and-doss-architects/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928815 | 271 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Arizona Church Records
From Ancestry.com Wiki
This entry was originally written by Dwight A. Radford and Nell Sachse Woodard in Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
The oldest denomination in the state is the Roman Catholic Church, and it remains the largest today. Spanish efforts to plant missions in Pimeria Alta (Arizona) were abortive well into the 1800s. The Jesuits fell out of favor and were followed by the Franciscans, who fared no better. In 1833 the missions yielded to the Mexican Act of Secularization and succumbed to decay. Only a tiny fraction of vital and historical records are extant. In modern times, the state is served by two dioceses. The Diocese of Phoenix is located at 400 E. Monroe St., Phoenix, AZ 85004-2336; and the Diocese of Tucson: 111 S. Church Ave., P.O. Box 31, Tucson, AZ 85702-0031, Archives: 880 E. 22nd St., Tucson, AZ 85710. The websites for both dioceses have links to individual parishes.
The second largest denomination in the state is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, who came to the state originally as missionaries from Utah to the Native Americans. However, permanent Mormon colonies were not established until 1877, when settlers arrived and founded towns throughout the state with a major center growing up in Mesa (a modern suburb of Phoenix). These colonies provided the bases from which a predominant Mormon population in parts of the state developed and remain today. All congregation records, mission reports, and genealogical sketches for church members are on microfilm at the FHL. The Church also operates the huge Mesa Family History Center, which has its own building adjoining the Mesa temple grounds and is open to the public. This has developed into a major genealogical library in the state.
The Episcopal Church in the state is served through the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, 114 W. Roosevelt St., Phoenix, AZ 85003-1406. The Episcopal presence in the state dates from 1865 when Arizona and Nevada were constructed as a missionary jurisdiction. In 1874 Arizona was separated out. The diocese website has contact information and links to parishes throughout the state.
The United Methodist Church is served through the Desert Southwest District, 1550 E. Meadow Brook Ave., Ste. 200, Phoenix, AZ 85014-4040. This district office should be contacted as a starting place for Methodist records.
The Jewish presence in the state has also been strong. The Arizona Jewish Historical Society, 4710 N. Sixteenth St., Ste. 201, Phoenix, AZ 85066 seeks to record the Jewish contribution to the state in areas of politics, economics, social, and cultural history. There are also several major collections that should be considered in Jewish research. The Leona G. and David A. Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives at the University of Arizona Library in Tucson holds a wealth of information on the Jewish experience in West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California. The University of Arizona Library also holds the Rochlia Collection of Arizona Jewish History, which has oral interviews and historical material. Arizona State University holds the Shema Arizona: The Arizona Jewish Historical Society Oral History Project. | <urn:uuid:2023851e-35a4-4e4e-835e-3d5baff7b7b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Arizona_Church_Records&oldid=1411 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957109 | 680 | 2.609375 | 3 |
In the light of today’s rampant globalization, there is an increasing need for developing a system of antitrust that serves to regulate the world market. This article describes the problems relating to the globalization of antitrust in the face of differing, and often conflicting, aims of domestic antitrust law and argues that a globally applicable system of antitrust needs to treat all state players in the global market equally by taking into account the needs of each domestic economy.
Since domestic antitrust law is aimed at protecting domestic interests, a globally applicable system of antitrust must recognize the dissymmetry between the goals of antitrust in developed and developing countries, and will require a single global antitrust policy which should inform the domestic jurisprudence of all states, thereby forcing domestic authorities to also take into account the interests of foreign jurisdictions so as to not impede economic development abroad.
Harmonization of antitrust should reflect the interests of the global market, which would be best regulated by a system based on a global antitrust policy that addresses the specific needs of developing economies and aims at establishing a more level playing field in the global economic arena.
Owing to the self-interest inherent in state actions and domestic systems of antitrust, a neutral international body such as the World Trade Organization will need to establish a globally applicable antitrust policy, and facilitate both its initial negotiation and its enforcement. | <urn:uuid:04f08be3-1cab-4172-aa55-3db2778a39e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econpapers.repec.org/article/bpjajlecn/v_3a2_3ay_3a2011_3ai_3a3_3an_3a3.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938433 | 269 | 2.53125 | 3 |
In a welcome display of bipartisanship, the Senate voted, 78-22, last week to renew the Violence Against Women Act, the two-decade-old law that has shielded millions of women from abuse and helped reduce national rates of domestic violence.
Now, it’s the House’s turn. Last year, House Republicans blocked renewal of the law because they objected to extending the law’s protections to Native American women, lesbians and illegal immigrants. Those women, including thousands here in Western New York, also deserve to be protected against domestic violence.
While this country has come far in accepting some things that were once unthinkable – gay marriage in many states, a black president – it remains clear that there is much work to be done.
Of course, things have changed since the last election, in which Republicans bungled many issues important to women. Suddenly, there seemed to be a renewed interest in issues involving both women and illegal immigrants.
Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, said that the act “just naturally moved up the priority list for a lot of members.” And he’s right that this is the sort of issue where politics has to be set aside.
This year, opposition in the House is centered on the proposal to allow tribal courts to render justice on white men who abuse their partners on Indian land.
Support for the bill should have been a no-brainer, given that the Violence Against Women Act has enjoyed bipartisan support since its original passage in 1994.
The legislation funds social service agencies that provide housing and counseling to victims of domestic violence, along with money to train police departments. This critical support cannot be lost.
And although the bill’s $650 million in funding for programs to combat domestic violence is down by 17 percent from the previous level, that’s still much better than nothing. And if the impact of a 50 percent reduction in domestic violence nationwide in the last decade is any indication, it’s money well spent.
There’s already been some compromise on the legislation, with the elimination of a controversial piece of last year’s bill that would have granted more visas to abused immigrants. However, this deference should not be allowed to weaken the provision for white abusers of Native American women on Indian land. While the idea of tribal court jurisdiction over non-Indians is unthinkable to some Republicans, a worse outcome is allowing those abusers to slip through the system entirely.
Seventeen House Republicans wrote to party leaders last week urging them to back the legislation.
We hope the efforts by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R.-Va., to come to an agreement with Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican and one of three Native Americans in the House, will lead to an acceptable solution.
Further delay on legislation to reduce domestic violence is not acceptable. The law has to be swiftly reauthorized. | <urn:uuid:11c46e16-50e0-460c-b97d-b0b5d1cff156> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130219/OPINION/130219150/1032 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959769 | 594 | 2.03125 | 2 |
These days it less of a question of what dimensions but what aspect ratio do you like? The standard dimensions a HDTV has
is 1,920 x 1,080 and btw, that is an aspect ratio of 16:9 so, really that should be your absolute minimum small sized image.
But, you really should be creating much larger images than that.
What about printing? Printing requires larger dimensions than 1,920 x 1,080 to be able to output a good looking print. And, believe
me, if you spend any amount of time working on a piece of art, you are going to want a great looking print sooner or later.
Now, let me get this out of the way as far as concerning DPI, here’s what I have always done; pretty much EVERYTHING on this
planet that prints has a standard of 300dpi, whether it is a home printer or a giant room of massive printers that create newspapers
or even magazines. I have NEVER thought in any other DPI other than 300, period and that is my suggestion to you. You will
have way less headaches if you do this. Trust me.
Most people have a home printer, of which most print out on a 8.5″ x 11.0″ piece of paper. Now 11.0″ at 300 dpi equals 3,300 pixels
so, you could create your images at 3,300 pixels and your second dimension depends on what aspect ratio you want. If you want to
stick to a 16:9 ratio and give it that cinema looking structure than you would create images at 3,300 x 1,856 pixels.
(A full 8.5″ x 11.0″ sheet of paper would equal 3,300 x 2,550 pixels)
Now, lets go one small step further. Lets say you want to paint something that could be used for film. Film is projected right now either
at 2K or 4K. What that refers to is the width of the image and 2K means 2,048 pixels and 4K is double that at 4,096 pixels. So, for a further
suggestion here, I would suggest painting a little larger and embrace the 4,096 pixels wide. It gives you a little more room to paint detail
in and most film industry painters create images twice as big as they need even if it needs to be re-sized down to 2K.
One more step, since I myself create with printing in mind;
Some of you have asked why I create images in a length of 5,700 pixels. Two reasons;
- For commercial printing; a standard 24″x36″ poster has a trim/bleed on all sides of 1″
which makes it 26″x38″ and at 300dpi, (*but at half-resolution) that would be 19″ tall which is 5700 pixels.
- For home printing, the largest print that can be made out of a consumer model is 13″x19″
and again, 19″ at 300dpi is 5700 pixels. So, 5,700 pixels is a good compromise for me.
- Images can be printed out at twice their original size and still look “decent”, especially images that have a lot of
of little detail/noise/chaos going on throughout the image.
- And, because I haven’t yet attempted to create a full sized (26″x38″) painted poster which (knowing me, would be many layers)
and at 7,800 x 11,400 that would most likely be around a 10gb sized file. In short, it would make my current computer
cough and fall over, dead. I’ll leave that adventure to a future computer that has SSD’s and at least 32gb of ram. | <urn:uuid:fd158401-d467-435a-b558-a0ccc37d3a62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kirkdunne.com/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943481 | 798 | 2.234375 | 2 |
With the chewing gum industry already making their product out of pure plastic, and making over $3 billion dollars in the process, local retailers are starting to take notice.
“We figure that since they make chewing gum out of plastic, why not make our hamburgers and milkshakes out of plastic, too?” said restaurant owner Daren Rains of local Shakes ‘N Burgers in Peroria.
“We figure that we can save an extra 10 cents per semi-happy meal that we offer by going plastic. Now the toys are plastic, the hamburger, fries, and milkshakes will all be plastic. And they taste just delicious, I hear.”
With the Chinese already making plastic rice, plastic hamburgers were not far behind. This has the potential to really make a real difference for the businesses bottoms and lines.
If you’d like to try out the new improved plastic hamburger, head on over to Shakes ‘N Burgers on the west end of Peroria today. | <urn:uuid:91d263be-1431-49ed-924e-18e1495245bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kyrunews.com/hamburgers-and-milkshakes-to-be-made-of-plastic-saving-money-and-time-for-restaurant-owner/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946596 | 217 | 1.648438 | 2 |
There are two ways that I view taijiquan. One is comprised of the various forms and styles that are practiced as Tai Chi today, such as Yang style, Chen style, Wu style, etc. Included among these are some writings like “Yang’s Ten Points” or other descriptions of Tai Chi movements which serve as guidelines in practicing these forms.
The second and IMO more meaningful way to look at Tai Chi is a philosophical paradigm for practicing and categorizing martial arts as a whole. This framework is know as the 13 postures. Each of the 13 postures are what librarians might call metadata in that they describe general ways of moving in a martial arts context. I will talk about this more later, but the point is that martial artists of different styles can use the 13 postures as a way to further develop their training without actually having to learn a Tai Chi form. | <urn:uuid:64b81608-1df4-403d-b2c6-410c6dd52749> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yieldturnpush.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/two-views-on-tai-chi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964606 | 185 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The techniques and examples in MySQL Cookbook, Second Edition, are based on two software distributions that contain scripts, sample data, and support files. Both distributions are available as a tar file or a ZIP file.
recipesdistribution is the main distribution. It contains more than 700 files, but most of them are quite small, so the overall size of the distribution is modest.
mcb-kjvdistribution is used for the KJV
FULLTEXTexamples discussed in the book.
The information in the
mcb-kjv distribution is derived from the
King James Version available from the Unbound Bible project at Biola University.
site for more information. | <urn:uuid:a98f8bd2-078a-441f-8d88-382ef6c2a4fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kitebird.com/mysql-cookbook/downloads-2ed.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901291 | 140 | 2.015625 | 2 |
June 18, 2010
Three Mile Island Hits the Trifecta!
Three Mile Island attracts rare birds
LONDONDERRY TWP. Pa. (June 18, 2010) – Three Mile Island Generating Station (TMI) and the 382 acre island it sits on is fast becoming a haven for endangered and rare birds. This spring, a pair of bald eagles built a nest on TMI and they now join an existing pair of peregrine falcons and osprey at the nuclear station site.
“This is very unusual, I am not aware of any other location in the state where these three species are cohabitating so close to each other,” said Jason DeCoskey, Chief, Special Permit Enforcement Division, Pa. Game Commission. “TMI’s ability to attract and support all three species is a tribute to the abundance of unique food sources and the overall environmental friendliness that exists there.”
Not only does Three Mile Island have all three species but it has one of the most unique nesting sites for peregrine falcons in the state – the side of the TMI reactor building. Once again this spring, the falcons have given birth to two new fledglings. DeCoskey was able to band one of the fledglings last week. The peregrine falcon is widely known as the world’s fastest flying bird.
“We collaborate with the folks at Three Mile Island to protect the well being of the birds,” said DeCoskey. “They do a wonderful job supporting and enriching the site to support the birds.”
“All of us at Three Mile Island are excited to share the island with the eagles, falcons and osprey,” said Bill Noll, Three Mile Island Site Vice President. “Our employees have formed an environmental committee that has conducted island clean up days, erected wood duck boxes and performed other activities to enhance the environment.”
While the falcons nest on the reactor building, the ospreys have built a nest high atop Three Mile Island’s meteorological tower. The tower offers them a great view of the Susquehanna River, where they fish. The eagles have nested in a tree on the south end of TMI. Eagles are fishers and scavengers.
In addition to the birds, Three Mile Island is home to deer, fox, blue heron, geese, wood ducks and many more species.
Exelon Corporation is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities with approximately $17 billion in annual revenues. The company has one of the industry’s largest portfolios of electricity generation capacity, with a nationwide reach and strong positions in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Exelon distributes electricity to approximately 5.4 million customers in northern Illinois and southeastern Pennsylvania and natural gas to approximately 486,000 customers in the Philadelphia area. Exelon is headquartered in Chicago and trades on the NYSE under the ticker EXC. | <urn:uuid:1a84d848-3eea-4b53-9428-bc9e97430cd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.exeloncorp.com/Newsroom/Pages/pr_20100618_genco_TMI.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938977 | 632 | 2.359375 | 2 |
After midnight yesterday, the Senate voted 90 to 1 to express the "sense of the Congress" as weighing in on the debate about what red lines the U.S. should declare against Iran. You'll remember this issue as the one roiling the relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama at the moment. On the Hill, almost everyone—including most of the Democrats—just sided with Netanyahu.
The resolution, initially introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the Spring, laid out a non-binding position that "strongly supports United States policy to prevent the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability" and "rejects any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran." Obama has set his red line at Iran producing nuclear weapons rather than the "capability" to do so, a phrase loaded with a special yet ill-defined meaning in proliferation matters.
The "capability" debate was initially framed as one over "containment" in February, and hawks like Graham found little bipartisan support until their position became a centerpiece of the AIPAC policy conference in March. But the initial resolution from Graham in May stalled. Then things rose into the national consciousness.
This month, an unprecedented campaign by Benjamin Netanyahu to get Obama to shift his Iran red line drew jeers from liberals and even Members of Congress. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) upbraided Netanyahu for interjecting himself in American politics. AIPAC took notice, e-mailing its members last week with articles on Obama's refusal to lower his threshold for war and Netanyahu's denials of interference. The debate seemed, for now, over, with Obama victorious. Then this week, Majority Leader Reid suprised everyone by re-introducing the Graham resolution.
In the end, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) cast the only vote against the measure and two Democrats—Boxer and Washington's Patty Murray—abstained along with seven Republicans (one being the convalescing Senate hawk Mark Kirk). Insofar as Mitt Romney can pick and hold onto any position, the Congress sided with him too. (Someone forgot to tell the Democrats that Republicans have already politicized Iran red lines.)
This top bipartisan Senate priority—spurning Obama's Iran polcy—came as a final act of the chamber before it joined the House in the earliest pre-election recess in half a century.
Matthew Kalman broke the story of physicist Stephen Hawking’s boycott of Israel. Then Cambridge University tried to falsely deny it. | <urn:uuid:b251d1a9-4723-4eaa-a6c4-a7ed7a4ac352> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/22/sense-of-the-congress-with-bibi-over-obama.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954902 | 532 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Oscar Niemeyer, the architect whose soaring buildings form the heart of Brasilia, the instant modernist capital built in the wilds of Brazil in the late 1950s, has died. He was 104.
Niemeyer, who had outlived his contemporaries to become the world's oldest practicing architect of international stature, died Wednesday at a Rio de Janeiro hospital. The cause was a respiratory infection, a hospital spokeswoman told the Associated Press.
During his long and productive life, Niemeyer was revered as well as ridiculed for his daring designs, but the creativity and sheer volume of his works ultimately spoke for him. In 1988, at 80, he shared architecture's biggest prize, the Pritzker.
Niemeyer, a diminutive, soft-spoken man, worked well into his 90s in a Rio de Janeiro penthouse office with a stunning view of Sugar Loaf Mountain and overlooking Copacabana Beach. Hundreds of projects came into being kindled by this view.
Many of his designs began with a quick sketch that embodied his love of the curve — from Einstein's universe, to the sinewy white beach that he gazed at nearly every day, to the voluptuous women he so loved to watch walking along that beach.
These women, he often said, were his inspiration.
"Curves are the essence of my work because they are the essence of Brazil, pure and simple," Niemeyer told the Washington Post in 2002. "I am a Brazilian before I am an architect. I cannot separate the two."
A passionate man, he lived in protest of the right angle "and buildings designed with the ruler and the square." His politics were also those of protest — he became a communist in the 1940s because of his anger over the inequality he saw around him, and he was a longtime friend of Cuba's revolutionary, Fidel Castro. His designs — especially of Brasilia — were partly an attempt to push his country toward egalitarianism, bringing rich and poor together through housing projects and public spaces.
A few years after Brasilia was completed, when a rightist military coup in 1964 not only destroyed Niemeyer's dreams of a just society in Brazil but also took away his sponsors, he fled to Algiers and then Paris. In the city, he had an office on the Champs Elysees and met Pablo Picasso, Jean-Paul Sartre and many other notables and, he later recounted, lived a hedonistic life far away from his wife, Annita. He returned to Rio in the late 1970s.
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida de Niemeyer Soares was a Carioca — a native of Rio — whose heritage was Portuguese, Arab and German. Born Dec. 15, 1907, he was the son of a businessman and his wife who lived in Laranjeiras, a quaint, hilly neighborhood within the city.
While at the National School of Fine Arts, from which he graduated in 1934, Niemeyer worked with architect and urban planner Lucio Costa, who would lead Niemeyer to projects that would make his name in international architecture.
Costa, the master planner of Brasilia and an early proponent of Brazilian modernism, at first was unimpressed when the young draftsman joined his firm. Before long, they were working with Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier — who was in Brazil as a design consultant to the government — on the defiantly modern design for the Ministry of Education and Health Building in Rio. The building, which incorporated Le Corbusier's signature "brise-soleil" louvers to shield it from Brazil's intense sunlight, became a symbol of the new architecture in Brazil.
Le Corbusier would greatly influence Niemeyer, instilling in him a sense of fluidity, spontaneity and what David Underwood, writing in "Oscar Niemeyer and Brazilian Free-form Modernism" (1994), called jeito — "the lightness of touch, the graceful elegance of form and the movement inherent in the sauntering 'Girl from Ipanema' celebrated in the best of Brazilian modernism."
While Le Corbusier opened doors to creativity, however, Niemeyer saw his work as very distinct from his mentor's. As he told The Times: "He posited the right angle. I posit the curve."
In bringing to life his sensuous designs, he relied on what was then a new and versatile material — reinforced concrete — which he pushed to its limits, especially at load-bearing points, he wrote in a 2003 essay for Deutsches Architektur Museum, "which I wanted to be as delicate as possible so that it would seem as if [they] barely touched the ground."
The first Niemeyer structure built was a maternity clinic in Rio in 1937. His first major project, commissioned in 1940, were buildings for Pampulha, a then-new suburb of the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, including a yacht club, casino and a church so avant-garde in design that church officials refused to consecrate it for 16 years.
With Costa, Niemeyer also designed the Brazilian Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1939, and Niemeyer influenced the ultimate design of the United Nations headquarters while serving as Brazil's design consultant in 1947.
In time, his portfolio would include a postwar housing project in Berlin; the universities of Constantine and Algiers in Algeria; the French Communist Party headquarters in Paris; the Cultural Center of Le Havre, France; and the Mondadori headquarters in Milan.
He also designed the Strick House in Santa Monica— thought to be his only residential commission in the United States. | <urn:uuid:a6471640-c518-49ab-9aca-b72a8716013e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/cityscapes/la-me-oscar-niemeyer-20121206,0,7462057.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981744 | 1,196 | 2.796875 | 3 |
You expect your homeowners insurance policy to help you recover from a catastrophe by providing you with enough cash to replace anything damaged or destroyed in such an event.
However, read your policy carefully. You may not have the protection you think you do.
"It is standard for most homeowners policies to cover only the actual structure of the house -- not its contents -- for replacement cost value," says Don Griffin, assistant vice president of business and personal lines at the National Association of Independent Insurers.
Unless your policy specifically states otherwise, your home's contents usually are covered only for "actual cash value."
So what's the difference?
Replacement cost or actual cash value?When you file a homeowners claim, the insurance company calculates how much to pay you by evaluating the cost to replace your property with new property of the same kind and quality. But here's the critical distinction: If your policy covers your personal property (your home's contents) for its actual cash value, the insurance company deducts depreciation from your personal property's overall value before arriving at a figure.
Your check will usually be less, sometimes significantly less, than the amount it will cost to restore, repair or replace the damage or loss. However, if you have replacement cost coverage, the insurance company will pay what it costs to repair or replace your damaged possessions at today's prices without deducting for depreciation.
While actual cash value language is standard, most insurance companies offer replacement cost coverage as an option.
"Cost depends on the individual insurance company and its experience in a given area," says Griffin. "Generally replacement cost coverage runs about 10 percent more per year than actual-cash value coverage, depending on the type of property. Renters replacement cost coverage, for example, can be about 20 percent more than actual cash value coverage."
"Going with actual cash value coverage is a way to save some money at the front end for the homeowner, if that's the homeowner's key concern. However, in this day and age, most agents recommend (replacement cost coverage)," Griffin says.
You need to weigh the additional cost of replacement coverage against the potential for additional cash outlay should disaster strike. Without it, you will have to cover the gap between the cost of replacing a damaged item and the amount the insurance will pay toward that total value, once it has deducted for depreciation. The longer you own your house or personal property, the more depreciation becomes an issue and replacement cost coverage becomes more critical. | <urn:uuid:0f3ae9e4-7fd7-42a8-ba2c-df8e092063a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/does-homeowners-insurance-protect-you--1.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941878 | 501 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Unix Server Use Growing in Enterprise: Gabriel Consulting
Despite soaring sales of x86 servers, Unix systems continue to be a cornerstone in enterprise data centers, according to Gabriel Consulting. In addition, most enterprises use systems from multiple vendors.
Servers running x86 chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices may be the fastest-selling in the market, but Unix systems continue to play a key role in enterprise data centers, according to a survey by market research firm Gabriel Consulting Group.
Among the 306 enterprise data center managers surveyed in the annual report, more than 80 percent said that half of their Unix workloads are mission-critical, half said that three-quarters of the applications on their Unix systems are mission-critical and almost 90 percent said their Unix servers were "strategic" to their organizations, according to Dan Olds, principal analyst at Gabriel Consulting.
"I think most people underestimate the importance of Unix-based systems in enterprise IT because Windows and Linux server sales are much higher and are growing faster," Olds said in a June 20 statement. "But these Unix systems fulfill a different role in most enterprises: They run mission-critical applications that are vital to the functioning of the business. Just because the sales of small, fuel-efficient cars are skyrocketing worldwide doesn't mean that the need for dump trucks has gone away."
The results from Gabriel Consulting echo what other analysts are finding: That many enterprises are continuing to look at Unix systems as key technologies to handle many of their critical workloads in the data center, despite soaring sales of x86-based servers.
IDC analysts in May said that revenue from Unix servers sales in the first quarter jumped 12.5 percent-to $2.6 billion-over the same period last year, the first time in 11 quarters that revenues grew year over year. The top three Unix server vendors-Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Oracle-all saw revenue increases during the quarter, and Unix server revenue accounted for 21.8 percent all server revenue worldwide during those three months.
"The Unix server marketplace is seeing new market dynamics centered on technology refresh for mission-critical workloads, a new provider in Oracle, and a new product set across all of the top 4 Unix server vendors," Jean Bozman, research vice president of enterprise servers at IDC, said in a statement.
Bozman added that despite the global recession and continuing competition from non-Unix platforms, businesses are again refreshing their Unix servers.
Gabriel Consulting's Olds said he expects the use of Unix systems to grow. Almost half of those enterprise data center managers surveyed said they will use more Unix in the near future, while 21 percent said they are reducing their use of Unix. That number has declined since 2007, according to the report.
In addition, only 20 percent said they had standardized on a single brand of Unix.
"Commercial Unix usage is pretty stable, with modest growth on the horizon," Olds said. "While some commercial Unix systems are still being replaced by x86-based Windows or Linux systems, the number of new Unix systems being installed is quite a bit greater than the number being taken offline."
He also said that while HP, IBM and Oracle "are constantly trying to entice customers into standardizing on their brand of Unix, but we still don't see this having much effect. Most customers have at least two Unix brands in their data centers, and almost half have all three."
The report comes at a time when former partners HP and Oracle are taking swings at each other. Oracle entered into the hardware business last year when it bought Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion. Through the deal, Oracle inherited Sun's SPARC hardware business, bringing it into direct competition with HP and IBM. The competition was heightened in March, when Oracle announced it would no longer support Intel's Itanium platform.
Oracle executives said the chip platform was coming to an end, but HP-which relies on Itanium to power its high-end Integrity and NonStop systems, which run the HP-UX operating system-accused Oracle of ditching Itanium to prop up its own struggling SPARC systems, and now is suing Oracle for breach of contract. HP and Oracle share about 140,000 customers, many of whom run Oracle database software on HP servers.
A key beneficiary of the HP-Oracle turmoil is IBM, which already had been stealing customers from HP and Oracle and now could be seen as the only stable vendor in the market, according to analysts.
Gabriel Consulting's survey also found that while Unix server users had adopted virtualizaton over the past few years, they were finding diminishing returns from the technology. Almost 70 percent said that more than half of their Unix systems are running multiple workloads, and 71 percent said they are seeing higher utilization rates of their servers.
However, about half said virtualization is making it easier to meet service-level agreements, and fewer than half said the technology had cut into their management chores.
"Almost every customer using commercial Unix has adopted virtualization to some extent, and they're seeing benefits from it," Olds said. "As virtualization use and utilization rates rise, customers are saying that systems and workload management is becoming more difficult. Virtualized systems are supposed to make management and hitting SLAs easier, but that's not happening today."
Enterprise data center managers also are taking a slow approach to cloud computing, according to the survey. Fewer than one-third are using public clouds, while half are building their own private cloud infrastructures. Half say cloud computing will increase IT flexibility and speed, while less than half say it will significantly reduce IT costs. | <urn:uuid:e673128d-bdd0-463e-b9fa-e8ee4865c21c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/database/Unix-Server-Use-Growing-in-Enterprise-Gabriel-Consulting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963588 | 1,158 | 1.5 | 2 |
GRID-Arendal is taking part in national consultations about the future of development once the Millennium Development Goals are retired in 2015. The consultations will held in collaboration with a network of national UN-affiliated institutions and will build on the concept of Sustainable
Development Goals that came out of Rio+20.
Through a series of workshops and meetings, the consultation process will engage Norwegian stakeholders in an international discussion about development post-2015. Contributions from each collaborative session will be incorporated into a joint position paper that will be handed over to the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs on October 24, 'UN Day', in 2013.
View PDF flyer: English | Norwegian | <urn:uuid:414dd52a-6f32-454b-a72c-80fbbd6613b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grida.no/news/default/5337.aspx?p=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920271 | 131 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Watching soaps, reading tabloids and turned off by politics - the children of International Migrants in Britain show a high degree of cultural assimilation compared to their European Neighbours, according to a new study by Lancaster University.
Children of International Migrants in Europe presents the results of an international project that examined the situation of the children of international migrants in Britain, France and Germany.
The findings are based upon a survey of over 2500 young adults. These included Indians and Pakistanis in Britain, Maghrebians [North Africans] and Portuguese in France, and Turks and former-Yugoslavs in Germany.
The research not only provides new evidence but also challenges some of the popular assumptions made about children of international migrants living in Europe today.
A new book based on the research (Children of International Migrants in Europe) reveals:
- Powerful evidence of cultural assimilation. Young Pakistanis and Indians in Britain preferred TV shows like EastEnders and Coronation Street. Most read the Sun and the Mirror.
- There was no evidence of political radicalism. Rather, there was a general indifference to politics amongst all groups. Children of international migrants in Britain expressed very little interest in the politics of their parents' country. 71% of Indians and 43% of Pakistanis expressed 'no interest'. This contrasted particularly with Turks in Germany and North Africans in France.
- Arranged marriages remained common amongst young Indians and Pakistanis in Britain. Indeed they were generally well accepted by them. However, such marriages took place at a significantly older age than in the Indian subcontinent.
- Pakistani and Indian young women in Britain preferred to wear the salwar/kameez when outside the home but Pakistani and Indian men overwhelmingly preferred jeans and trainers.
- Ethnic disadvantages within education were pronounced in Germany but far less evident in Britain. Indians and Pakistanis in Britain experienced much better relative educational outcomes than children of international migrants in France and Germany. Turks in Germany and North Africans in France fared poorly in the German and French educational systems. In Britain Indians and Pakistanis were three times more likely to enter a university than their counterparts in France and Germany.
- All groups were multilingual: they could understand their parents' home languages as well as films and TV in such languages [eg Punjabi and Gujerati in Britain]. However, they generally used the host language [ie English in Britain] with their friends and their brothers and sisters.
- Religion remained an important aspect of the day to day lives of children of international migrants. Amongst Muslim groups [Indians, Pakistanis, Turks and Maghrebians] there was limited evidence of secularisation. The general picture was of a complex religious mosaic in all three countries.
- Religious differences remain more significant in Britain. 59% of Indians attended a place of worship regularly as did 38% of Pakistanis. However very few were members of religious organisations [15%of Indians and 8% of Pakistanis]
Professor Penn said: "Perceptions of discrimination were lowest in Britain and highest in Germany, reflecting the failure of the German model of exclusive 'ethnic nationalism'.
"Britain's model of multiculturalism is proving far more effective for the incorporation of ethnic minority groups than French 'assimilationist' or German 'ethnic nationalist' ones."
ROGER PENN is Professor of Economic Sociology and Statistics and Director of the EFFNATIS project at Lancaster University, UK. He is author of Skilled Workers in the Class Structure; Class, Power and Technology; Social Change and Economic Life in Britain.
PAUL LAMBERT is Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, UK.
Children of International Migrants in Europe, Comparative Perspectives, Roger Penn and Paul Lambert. To be published in Hardback on August 21st 2009. | <urn:uuid:a2f95564-290d-421d-aa35-a2e76dd635cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/clippings/research-shows-multiculturalism-is-working-in-the-uk(81b07701-28f6-4ac3-9523-f9e0165827e4).html | 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 | 0.953892 | 787 | 2.71875 | 3 |
- Compassionate fashion
May 11, 2013
What you put on your face or drape across your body should conform to your philosophy of life.
- After you, sir!
May 11, 2013
It is the vacuum, the great yawning space at the heart of the game, once occupied by Alex Ferguson.
- No child's play
May 11, 2013
The National Policy for Children has finally taken a stance on the age issue. But will this make difference to the lives of all 430 million children…
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The demand for a separate Jammu state has existed since the early 1950s, when Jammu and Kashmir was granted special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. Elements within the saffron-backed Praja Parishad, in a violent reaction to the granting of this status, were the first to demand statehood for Jammu. Balraj Madhok had founded the Parishad on the RSS's existing base in Jammu.
The Parishad spoke about the golden days of Dogra rule over J&K and sought public support "to get rid of the Kashmiri domination". The Kashmiri leadership dismissed the agitation as "a reactionary and communal revolt by a handful of feudal lords and parasitic classes that opposed agrarian reforms for having removed the social base of their power". Jawaharlal Nehru, too, opposed the Parishad's "narrow communal approach".
Academic Navnita Chadha Behera notes that the movement did not acquire a mass character "owing to its limited social base, especially in the rural areas (that had benefitted from the land reforms even in Jammu..."
Outfits like the Jammu Mukti Morcha (JMM), founded in March 1990, too have championed the cause. They believe that it is the only way to address "regional political and economic imbalances" and argue that Jammu's geography also supports the idea. They say it is a well-defined natural region, bound by the Ravi in the south and Pir Panjal in the north, with a distinct cultural and historical identity.
Behera in her book Demystifying Kashmir notes that the JMM failed to mobilise mass support for its cause, "in part because the organisation is of recent origin and its founders, a group of intellectuals, have confined their activities mainly to processions, strikes and memorandums..." Behera notes that the Union home ministry is believed to have propped up the outfit to "counteract the Kashmiri demand for independence. "
The JMM joined hands with the RSS and was renamed as the Jammu State Morcha to contest the 2002 elections. It lost 10 of the 11 seats that it contested.
Ladakhis have also been seeking union territory status for the region since 1947. The Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) revived the demand after communal tensions broke out in the region following a minor scuffle between a Buddhist and some Muslim youth in Leh in 1989. The LBA called for a boycott of Kashmiri Muslims and for freeing Ladakh from Kashmir. "The social boycott against Kashmiri Muslims was soon extended to the local Muslims, rupturing the centuries old bonds of amity, " writes Behera.
The LBA dropped the demand in favour of an Autonomous Hill Council in October 1989 on the lines of a similar council in Darjeeling. The arrangement provided a mechanism of self-governance.
But an umbrella group - the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) - was formed in 2002 to revive the demand yet again as the council remained hamstrung. Two LUTF members were elected unopposed to the state assembly. The front broke in 2005 and dealt a blow to the unified fight for the demand.
Communal undertones have frustrated the efforts to wangle separate statehood for Jammu state and union territory status for Ladakh. In fact, J&K's division has been a sensitive issue since it would involve the state's trifurcation into a largely Hindu Jammu, Muslim-majority Kashmir and Buddhist-dominated Ladakh.
Sumit Ganguly echoes the belief in his book The Kashmir question : Retrospect and Prospect. He writes, if the demand is conceded, it could lead "to violent social disruptions in the state, polarise the community. . . and unleash perilous consequences for communal relations in the rest of India".
The argument is premised on the fact that J&K has long stood as a refutation of the two-nation theory and its trifurcation essentially on communal lines would compromise the basis of how India defines its nationhood. "... trifurcation would forever end the possibility of reviving the plural traditions of communal harmony in the state that was once a symbol of the very idea of India, " writes Ganguly. "It is no coincidence that the only group in the Kashmir Valley that has supported the idea of the division of the state is the Jamat-e-Islami. "
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Don't have a Facebook Account? Sign up for Times Crest here. | <urn:uuid:a8f81e15-1439-4dd5-8005-044e77f719b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timescrest.com/society/threes-company-6726 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953373 | 1,067 | 1.960938 | 2 |
- Sareks National Park
- Drottningholm Palace (Stockholm)
- Skokloster Slott Castle
- Lapland Ethnic Region [with Finland]
- Museum of National Antiquities
- Gripsholm Castle
- Skansen Historical Village
- The Nordic Museum (Stockholm)
- Gota Canal
- The Kingdom of Crystal
- Stockholm's Old Town
- Visby's Medieval Town & Port
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Hunted Facts on sweden
- Sweden shares a hilly land boundary with Norway to the west, and it touches Finland to the northeast.
- To the south and southwest lie the waterways separating Sweden from Denmark: the Skagerrak, Kattegat, and Öresund straits.
- Sweden is famous for its mixed economy, a system in which the government plays an active role in guiding economic life.
- Sweden was first mentioned in the 1st century, by Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote that the Suiones tribe lived out in the sea and were powerful in both arms and ships.
- In the south of Sweden leaf-bearing trees are prolific, in the north pines, spruces and hardy birches dominate the landscape.
- Sweden is known for having an even distribution of income, with a Gini coefficient at 0.21 in 2001 (one of the most even income distributions in the industrialized world).
- Sweden falls into two main geographical regions: the north (Norrland), comprising about two thirds of the country, which is mountainous (except for a narrow strip of lowland along the Gulf of Bothnia); and the south (Svealand and Gtaland), which is mostly low-lying and where most of the population lives.
- Sweden was a member of the European Free Trade Association from 1960 to 1994; in 1995 it joined the European Union.
- Sweden entered the United Nations in 1946, and Dag Hammarskjld, a Swedish diplomat, was secretary-general of the organization from 1953 until his death in 1961.
- Sweden until she left for an exchange program in America when she was 17. | <urn:uuid:0b4913b4-addd-4003-8e70-1e22cbe3f3b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.movingplanets.com/world/countries/sweden/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92915 | 458 | 3.125 | 3 |
It was announced by Attorney General Holder that the Obama administration will no longer defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between and a man and a woman, so if they choose not to defend that law, what laws will they defend? All federal laws should be defended by our President and his cabinet members, whether they support the law or not.
The President should push for a bill that will void the Defense of Marriage Act instead and put the decision where it belongs, with the states.
The constitution does not give the federal government the authority to regulate marriage, so the responsibility should revert to the states to decide. States are their own governmental entities that better reflect the priorities, personalities, and characteristics of their citizens.
States are designed to be governmental laboratories. Massachusetts proved that government-only-run health care doesn’t work and Oregon gave us the example of welfare reform that was instituted by President Clinton.
Associate Justice Louis D. Brandeis wrote, “A single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” | <urn:uuid:d6b10619-01d2-4792-9dd5-18db5ae4ca5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lakestevensjournal.com/letters/article.exm/2011-03-08_your_letters_march_9__2011 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971067 | 232 | 2.0625 | 2 |
U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for January 26
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Following is the daily “Profile America” feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26: LOTUS 1-2-3
Profile America — Saturday, January 26th. On this date 30 years ago, the infant personal computer was empowered to become something much greater than a glorified word processor, with the release of the spreadsheet program Lotus 1-2-3. The popular program drew acclaim as the first “killer application.” Finance and accounting workers were thus freed from hunching over ledger books and switched to hunching before a computer screen. The name “1-2-3″ stemmed from the product’s integration of three main capabilities — spreadsheet, charting and graphing, and rudimentary database operations. Today there are over 8,200 packaged software development firms in the U.S., employing almost 390,000 people. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at www.census.gov.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2012, p. 100
2007 Economic Census, NAICS 511210
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for “Multimedia Gallery” by the “Newsroom” button).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau | <urn:uuid:8c249a6f-71cd-4968-bceb-f31d02c6f5ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/entertainment/1112771212/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-january-26/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926729 | 353 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Later this month in Scottsdale, Ariz., the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), an industry alliance organized by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, will hold its annual International Conference. The world's experts will gather to discuss a specialized topic: analyzing the risks of, and protective measures against, runaway reactions, process upsets, spills and vapor cloud emissions that are unique to the process industries.
It could hardly be more timely to address some of the issues of a worried nation. "Risk" has taken on a new dimension in these terror-tinged times. Billions of dollars have been spent since 9/11 to harden the perimeters around high-risk buildings, including chemical plants. To chemical process safety professionals, the possibilities of a hostile attack might have changed, but the consequences,"a runaway reaction, a spill or a vapor cloud,"are the same.
"We ask ourselves, what is the likelihood of a particular release scenario," notes Irv Rosenthal, outgoing board member of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, a federally chartered agency that conducts investigations of major plant accidents. "Once a release occurs, we have the tools to analyze those consequences."
The point is an important one, because the concerns over catastrophic releases ," accidental or not,"have generated several efforts in Congress to mandate, in some fashion, so-called "inherently safer" technologies. For the most part, industry resisted this push.
Risk assessment has been part of the chemical engineering scope for years. The Environmental Protection Agency has been responsible for the regulatory review of risk management plans (RMPs) since 1996, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has mandated the development of process safety management (PSM) plans since 1992.
"A concept like inherent safety requires a proper understanding of risk, hazards, and the consequences of losing containment or control of hazardous materials and energies," says Robert Johnson, a principal with Unwin Co.,Columbus, Ohio, and a speaker at the upcoming CCPS meeting. In essence, the risk of an event must be weighed both in terms of its severity of consequences and its likelihood of occurrence. "Under such programs as PSM, many companies have successfully made their facilities inherently safer by reducing inventories of hazardous chemicals," he notes.
However, he cautions that hazard reduction is not synonymous with risk reduction. A company could have one large chlorine storage vessel (high-consequence), or could use many smaller cylinders (lower-consequence). However, the likelihood of an accidental release is usually greatest when storage containers are being hooked up or disconnected from processes; these connections are more frequent when smaller containers are being used. "Inherent safety does not automatically translate into lower risk," Johnson concludes.
Both the PSM and RMP regulatory programs, which deal with risk assessment and safety improvements, borrow from the Responsible Care program of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), which originated in the post-Bhopal years of the late 1980s. ACC was at work on an expansion of Responsible Care around 9/11, and was able to publish its Site Security Guidelines for the U.S. Chemical Industry in October 2001. By the beginning of 2003, all 120 "highest priority" chemical plants among the ACC membership completed security assessments; approximately 500 ACC-member facilities had done so through July, 2003.
Meanwhile, ACC has supported Senate bill S.994, the Chemical Facilities Security Act under current consideration, mindful that it may bring the new Department of Homeland Security into the risk-assessment mix.
Are the process industries safer today? The answer is not clear-cut. While workplace accidents and illnesses have declined in recent years, there is not a one-to-one correspondence between plant safety and worker safety, say industry experts. Databases of actual industrial spills or explosions are complicated by transportation data, natural disasters and other incompatible results.
"Major companies have had to come to terms with reactivity hazards and risk assesment," says CCPS director Scott Berger. "Smaller companies sometimes don't know what they don't know when it comes to hazards." says Scott Berger, director of CCPS. "The tools are out there; it's a matter of applying them."
Nick Basta is editor at large for Chemical Processing magazine. E-mail him at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:364cc6cf-a89e-43a8-a96c-36cfca90be83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2003/34/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962485 | 887 | 2.4375 | 2 |
School Notes 3/11/2013
With 11 district students participating, the Abington Heights Robotics Team made it to the finals at the Mid-Atlantic District Competition.
The students in attendance were Matt Galaydick, Chris Ferrario, Rishi Mulloth, Amogh Prahalad, Sean Salmon, Spenser Lionetti, Stephen Sokalsky, Tyler Vangorder, Daniel Neary, Celeste Neary and Nick Skierkowski.
In April, the team will visit Lehigh University to compete for a chance at the regional championship.
Eighth-grader Darren Davies rides dirt bikes.
Darren suits up in a helmet, riding boots, gloves and goggles to compete in Hare Scrambles, a form of off-road racing that challenges riders racing through dangerous terrain. Most scrambles are against eight to 10 other riders and don't require a license to compete.
This is Darren's second year participating in the races. He rides a CR-85 dirt bike.
Darren says he was introduced to the scramble by his uncle and plans to keep racing.
Off the bike, Darren enjoys watching dirt-car racing and hunting, fishing and archery.
Frank Regal prefers to learn by doing.
The Science in Motion program allows the junior to do just that.
The district works with Wilkes University to provide students a chance to work on science labs with materials and equipment that wouldn't normally be accessible. It's funded through the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
"I think it's fun because it's all hands-on and helps to explain the lecture better than you would understand it just by taking notes on the subject," Frank said.
Senior Erik Decker was honored with a first-place award March 2 at Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science's regional meeting at King's College.
He researched how brainwaves are converted into music. He will be advancing to the state level of Pennylvania Junior Academy of Science at Penn State in May.
Sophomore Mary Ferguson has spent hours preparing for one of the lead roles in the high school's spring musical, "Anything Goes."
She'll be playing Reno Sweeney, a New York nightclub singer looking to settle down. In addition to learning her lines, Mary has taken tap dance lessons for the play.
"It's really funny with high energy and it involves everyone," Mary said about the play. "It's a comedy, but it also has a meaning."
This is Mary's second year in the drama club and her fourth play as a high school student. After she graduates, Mary plans to attend college and major in theater.
The Dunmore High School Crimson Company will present "Anything Goes" at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and March 20-23 at the high school auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students/seniors, and $5 for children under 5.
Sophomore Lauren Vermeulen, a member of student council, presented a talk at a District 9 Student Council Conference hosted at the high school last week.
"I presented a workshop ... called 'Fun in the Sun,' but it was about field day. I know that lots of schools don't have field day, and my adviser suggested it," Lauren said.
She is involved in track, volleyball and basketball cheerleading and is also a member of the National Honor Society.
Forest City Regional
Evan Smith just wanted to see what it would be like to participate in the SkillsUSA competition.
The junior surprised himself when he finished in second place in the automotive technology category.
"I wasn't expecting to get second because I'd never done it before," he said.
The experience allowed him to demonstrate the skills he has developed working at the Career Technology Center.
"I just really like what I do down at Tech," he said. "I really like working with cars, so I wanted to see how it would go competing against other people."
On his 5th birthday, Frank Kocsis got his first set of drums.
The now-sixth-grader hasn't stopped playing since. His talents were recognized at the PTA Reflections competition this year, earning him a gold medal.
He performed for the musical composition category at the Northeastern PTA Council banquet. He earned a silver medal during the regional competition, and he is waiting to hear the results of the state competition.
"I was really surprised because it was the first time I ever entered the Reflections contest," Frank said.
Frank also plays with the high school marching band and the jazz band. He said the experience has inspired him to practice and get even better.
Sixth-grader Danny Tran took part in the Knowledge Master Open at the school's computer lab.
Danny, who was on a team of six students, competed with other schools in the area and other states over the Internet.
The opportunity came up by surprise, Danny said, explaining that, "One of the teachers handed me a paper telling me to be at the computer lab by a certain time."
Two West Scranton High School students were honored for combining foreign language skills with literature.
Sophomores Devinne Scott and Dany Huanira received first-place awards in the school's annual Spanish Poetry Recitation contest, held among the Spanish 2 classes of Linda Cerra.
Senior Regina Coyle is in her fourth year of Latin at Prep.
"I really like it," she said. "I've always been lucky to have excellent Latin teachers."
With plans to major in biology in college and the goal of becoming a doctor, Regina said knowing Latin will definitely be to her benefit.
At Prep, Regina plays soccer and softball and has participated in Kairos retreats and Science Olympiad.
Susquehanna's senior class president is top of her class.
Melissa Kukowski holds the top spot for academics.
The Scholar of the Year recipient is a member of the National Honor Society. She also runs cross country and track, manages the boys basketball team and participates in ski and Spanish club. Melissa is also on the yearbook committee.
Outside of academics, Melissa enjoys photography and horseback riding.
After graduation, she plans to attend college to major in biology with specialization in neurobiology.
The residents of the Elmcroft Nursing Home were surprised with roses for Valentine's Day.
The red roses were handed out thanks to the efforts of the health and physical education club and organizer Anna McElroy.
"It was such a joy to see the look on the residents' faces," she said. "I was happy I chose to be involved in this project. I made their day as well as mine."
The senior is also involved in Red Cross Club, Italian Club, SADD, National Honor Society, basketball and softball.
A Wayne Highlands Middle School student has become the second sixth-grader to become the school's National Geographic Geography Bee champion in 16 years.
Lindsay Daub said she had a blast participating in the competition, designed to spark interest and awareness in geography.
"I was very excited to win and would love to be able to compete at the state level next year," Lindsay said.
She also participates in band, softball and basketball in school. | <urn:uuid:369995cc-c5a6-4d35-85ce-5e0d98ff7abc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/school-notes-3-11-2013-1.1456513 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973723 | 1,502 | 1.59375 | 2 |
IOWA (USA) HAS HUGE SITE OCCUPIED C. 1700 YEARS AGO
Some 1,700 years ago, the people who live in what is known officially as archaeological site 13LA582 west of Oakville, Iowa (USA), were hunter-gatherers who also grew native crops like sunflower seeds. They lived in a doughnut-shaped village around a communal area and occupied 20 to 25 tree branch and bark wigwams capable of housing up to 10 people each.
The group is believed to be part of the Weaver culture located not far from the confluence of the Iowa and Cedar rivers in Louisa County where fish and game were plentiful, said Dave Benn, a research archaeologist. "They ate a huge number of fish, and we also found turtle and deer bones," Benn said of the diet of the people about whom little is known. "They lived well, they ate well, and there was a lot
of food here."
A team of archaeologists toiling under a plastic canopy off Louisa County Road H22 are carefully unearthing remnants of the village from a 10-foot-by-213-foot trench cut right through the middle of it. They are hoping to gain a greater insight into the lives of these prehistoric people who once flourished throughout the region.
"There were villages up and down the banks of rivers all through the area," said Benn. "This one is a particularly good find, probably the best I've seen in a decade." In eight weeks of meticulous digging and cataloging, the site has yielded 100,000 artifacts, Benn said. Many are unrecognizable bone fragments and pottery shards, but there are also stone arrowheads and spear points, stone axe heads and pits laden with ancient trash that give a glimpse of how the village lived.
The digging is expected to wrap up in about a week, said James Ross, an archaeologist for the Army Corps who has been overseeing economic and environmental impact of construction of a new levee. The site was discovered as an archaeological survey was done in anticipation of construction of the levee and is one of only three of its kind known to exist.
"The site will be covered over. We will have all the artifacts, and we will know where everything is. Covering it over will protect everything just as it is," Ross said. The artifacts are expected to find their way to the curator's office of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Iowa, where they could end up in an exhibit open to the public.
Source: Quad-City Times (17 February 2009) | <urn:uuid:94e19a01-81c5-4b57-80b7-a9e037eed433> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976158 | 531 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Two weeks ago the U.S. Joint Forces Command published its "Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008)" report, which projects global threats and potential next wars. The report stated that Mexico and Pakistan are two countries that "bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse,"
"The Mexican possibility may seem less likely, but the government, its politicians, police and judicial infrastructure are all under sustained assault and press by criminal gangs and drug cartels. How that internal conflict turns out over the next several years will have a major impact on the stability of the Mexican state. Any descent by Mexico into chaos would demand an American response based on the serious implications for homeland security alone."
While Mexico's collapse may not be imminent, the report underlines the seriousness of the current drug wars in Mexico, which represent an urgent problem to the US.
This is not a new problem: Last May Stratfor had posed the question, Mexico: On the Road to a Failed State? in one of its Geopolitical Intelligence Reports that expressed the similar concerns to that of the JOE report. Stratfor also points out state failures in Mexico's past.
The most reliable and concise background study on the seriousness of the problem is the 2007 CRS Report for Congress on Mexico’s Drug Cartels, which provides an overview of Mexican drug cartels and their operations, their ties to gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and Mexican cartel presence and their drug production in the US. The cartels - Juárez, Sinaloa, Gulf, Nuevo Laredo, Guerrero. Valencia and Michoacán - form alliances and work together (like Sinaloa-Juárez-Valencia Federation), but remain independent organizations, which operate throughout Mexico and branch into the United States.
Police corruption and the emergence of multiple, well-armed groups further complicate the problem.
Yesterday's AP article on the arrest of a dozen high-ranking officials with alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel (currently the most powerful of the cartels) illustrates the corruption problem :
Over the last five months, officials from the Mexican Attorney General's office, the federal police and even Mexico's representatives to Interpol have been detained on suspicion of acting as spies for Sinaloa or its one-time ally, the Beltran Leyva gang. An officer who served in Calderon's presidential guard was detained in December on suspicion of spying for Beltran Leyva.
Gerardo Garay, formerly the acting federal police chief, is accused of protecting the Beltran Leyva brothers and stealing money from a mansion during an October drug raid. Former drug czar Noe Ramirez, who was supposed to serve as point man in Calderon's anti-drug fight, is accused of taking $450,000 from Sinaloa.
Most of such tips are coming from a Mexican federal agent who infiltrated the U.S. embassy for the Beltran Leyva drug cartel. No such infiltrators have been found for the Gulf cartel, which controls most drug shipments in eastern Mexico and Central America. Sinaloa controls Pacific and western routes.
A year into the Calderon goverment's crackdown on the cartels, the Mexican government continues to increase its efforts against the cartels - for instance, sending 2,000 troops to Juárez
this month - but the extent of the violence ravaging the country is immense.
El Universal has a webpage of drug war related articles; there have been 312 deaths in 2009 so far. This article from El Universal lists 34 killings in one day, all related to the drug wars. El Universal and the BBC report the arrest on Friday of Santiago Meza López, a.k.a. "Teo's wellman", No. 20 in the FBI's most-wanted list, who allegedly decomposed in acid 300 bodies of people murdered by the Sinaloa Cartel and Teodoro Eduardo García Simental, alias “El Teo”.
The cartels are waging war on journalists, too, including an attack on Televisa's affiliate in Monterrey on January 6.
The New York Times last Friday wrote about Juárez, Mexico and El Paso,Texas. In Juárez
the killings have become more frequent, more brazen and more gruesome. One body was beheaded and hung from a bridge.
In contrast, the article describes
El Paso... is made up mostly of new immigrants or their children, who tend to be cautious, law-abiding and respectful of authority.
Many Mexicans who previously lived in small villages near the American border had to leave for the US or be killed
. Another big difference between the two cities is that the Mexican military and police are understaffed and untrained, while in Texas Fort Bliss and the heavy police presence continue to make El Paso safe.
Presidents Obama and Calderón met prior to Obama's inauguration and, while the American media described the meeting in general terms, Calderón stated in a press conference after the meeting that Obama offered help in fighting the narcos. The NY Times article also reports that
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the Bush administration had laid plans to send a surge of federal agents and soldiers to trouble spots if the violence spilled over.
According to TIME
Anti-drug officials believe the uptick in clashes between the police and gunmen of the cartels is a sign that Mexico's long-running drug violence has entered a new phase. Until recently, most fighting had involved rival traffickers battling over turf, but today most of the violence is between the federal government and the gangsters. The year-long government crackdown has seriously rattled the cartels, the officials say, and they are making an orchestrated attempt to get the government to back off.
The scenario in which a breakdown of institutions where the state becomes an instrument of criminals in Mexico would bring millions of war refugees into the US, and neighboring Central American countries would also collapse. Mexico, the world's 14th largest economy, has over 100 million people
The JOE 08 report, along with the 2007 CRS Report for Congress on Mexico’s Drug Cartels, should be the starting point for the discussion of what we need to do here in the US: Strenghthening the Merida Initiative (whose purpose is to train and professionalize Mexico's military and civil forces), paying special attention to immigration and drug enforcement in the border states, increasing the National Guard, making other defense contingency plans in the US, and educating the public on the level of threat are a few suggestions.
Mexico's descent into chaos, while not imminent, is a real possibility.
Fausta Wertz also blogs at faustasblog.com. | <urn:uuid:d8de9056-3728-43d1-84a2-51b626b66c39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2009/01/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952139 | 1,373 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Justice Bertha Wilson: One Woman's Difference
Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University; Monash University - Faculty of Law
December 4, 2009
JUSTICE BERTHA WILSON: ONE WOMAN'S DIFFERENCE, Kim Brooks, ed., Vancouver: UBC Press, 2009
Bertha Wilson was the first woman to be appointed to Canada's Supreme Court in 1982. Her appointment capped off a career of firsts. She had been the first woman lawyer and partner at a prominent Toronto law firm and the first woman appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal. Her career and passing in 2007 have provoked reflection on her contributions to Canadian society and caused many to reflect on the question she herself posed: what difference do women judges make? What follows is an excerpt from the introduction to the book. The chapters of the book explore a broad range of Justice Wilson's contributions, including her contributions to the evolution of research departments in law firms, judicial education, commercial and contract law, alongside her more controversial and famous decisions in constitutional, family, and criminal law.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 7
Keywords: feminism, social justice, judging, gender
JEL Classification: Z00Accepted Paper Series
Date posted: December 9, 2009
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This page was processed by apollo2 in 0.360 seconds | <urn:uuid:6f2f0f53-b4f1-4a58-9cc3-e5c46aaae43f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1518411 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921481 | 290 | 2.46875 | 2 |
A magnitude-8 earthquake hit the Solomon Islands Wednesday, triggering a small tsunami and placing much of the South Pacific on alert.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck near the Santa Cruz Islands in the Solomons at a depth of about six kilometers.
Following the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami measuring .9 meters hit the Solomons. There were no immediate reports of major damage from the quake or the tsunami.
A powerful aftershock of magnitude 6.4 also was recorded.
A tsunami warning remains in effect for all of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami watches also were up as far afield as Hawaii, and New Zealand also was on guard. But early reports said no threat to Australia was anticipated.
The Solomon Islands are part of the so-called "Ring of Fire," a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific Ocean that is subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. | <urn:uuid:16f04e43-5c20-4e6b-b274-b3948f71fd1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voanews.com/content/tsunami-hits-solomons-following-major-quake-region-on-alert/1598018.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958001 | 238 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Get moving and improve your healthBy Mayo Clinic staff
Original Article: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/physical-activity/MY01779
- With Mayo Clinic preventive medicine specialist
Donald Hensrud, M.D.read biographyclose window
Donald Hensrud, M.D.Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.
Dr. Donald D. Hensrud is chair of the Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine with a joint appointment in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, & Nutrition at Mayo Clinic. He is an associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Hensrud directed the Executive Health Program at Mayo Clinic for more than 10 years.
He received his B.S. from the University of North Dakota, M.D. from the University of Hawaii, M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota and M.S. in nutrition sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic and completed a clinical nutrition fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Hensrud is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Preventive Medicine and the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists, of which he is a past president.
His career interests have combined nutrition, weight management, and prevention. He is the author of many scientific articles and book chapters and was editor of Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody; The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook, which won a 2005 James Beard Foundation award; The Mayo Clinic Plan: 10 Essential Steps to a Better Body & Healthier Life; and The Mayo Clinic Diet, published in January 2010.
Dr. Hensrud says healthy lifestyle habits in diet and physical activity are extremely important as evidenced by a large body of scientific evidence. He also says implementing these lifestyle habits is realistic, sustainable and enjoyable. A primary goal of his work is to help people achieve this.
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March 6, 2013
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- Fewer calories, healthy food best weight-loss plan
Nov. 5, 2011
The Mayo Clinic Diet blog
June 3, 2011
Get moving and improve your health
By Donald Hensrud, M.D.
We all know it's important to be physically active. However, knowing and doing are 2 different things and putting that into practice in our daily lives can be challenging.
Physical activity can be divided up into exercise and activities throughout our daily lives. As discussed in our book "The Mayo Clinic Diet", any activity is good activity. Whether it's exercise, walking, taking the stairs, whatever — it's all good. It helps us burn calories, decrease our health risks, and feel better along with many other benefits.
Some recent studies have provided us with new information about the health risks of being sedentary. One study ("Journal of the American College of Cardiology", Jan. 18, 2011) totaled up all the time that people spent sitting while watching television, working on a computer, etc, over a period of years. In this study and others, the people who sat the most had the highest risk of heart disease and dying — a pretty important outcome.
What was most fascinating, however, was that this was true regardless of how much exercise someone did. In other words, even among people who exercised, those who sat the longest had higher mortality.
What does this mean? Let's say 2 people exercise vigorously 5 days per week for 30 minutes per session; a good amount of exercise by anyone's standards. One of these people has a desk job and sits most of the day. The other one is in sales and is on their feet most of the day. According to these new studies, the person who is on their feet most of the day has fewer health risks even though they both exercise the same amount.
We all know we should try to be active some of the time. But this new information suggests we should also try to not be sedentary the rest of the time. And while they sound the same, technically they aren't. How can we do this?
Well, certainly continue to exercise. If you have a desk job, consider taking frequent breaks to stand and move around. When talking on your cell phone, for example, stand up and move about. If you have to meet with someone, consider a walking meeting.
Perhaps the most important thing to do at home is not sit in front of the television for hours on end. Standing and minimally moving around burns 2 1/2 times more calories than sitting. As I'm typing this, I'm getting used to standing at my desk (and thinking about how I can raise it higher!). Awareness is the first step in solving any problem. Realize it's important to both move and not sit around. Both of these strategies will help burn calories, manage weight, and improve health. Please share your ideas.blog index | <urn:uuid:529f5768-a5e3-4e47-8141-4e9e8bb60b7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/physical-activity/MY01779/METHOD=print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956767 | 1,096 | 1.734375 | 2 |
If that proves not to be the case, one explanation is that heretofore underappreciated symmetries of the Standard Model keep the Higgs mass finite, as Bryan Lynn of University College London suggested last year. Others say Lynn’s idea would provide at best a partial explanation, leaving a vital role for physics beyond the Standard Model—if not super-symmetry, then one of the other strategies that theorists have devised. A popular plan B is that the Higgs boson is not an elementary particle but a composite of other particles, just as protons are composites of quarks. Unfortunately, the LHC simply does not have enough data to say much about that idea yet, says CERN’s Christophe Grojean. More exotic options, such as extra dimensions of space beyond the usual three, may forever lie beyond the LHC’s reach. “Right now,” points out Gian Francesco Giudice, another theorist at CERN, “every single theory has its own problems.”
As ATLAS and CMS continue to accumulate data, they will either discover superparticles or exclude wider ranges of possible masses. Although they may never be able to strictly disprove supersymmetry, if the collider fails to find it, the theory’s usefulness may fade away, and even its most hard-core supporters may lose interest. That would be a blow not just to supersymmetry but also to even more ambitious unified theories of physics that presume it, which include string theory and other approaches [see “Loops, Trees and the Search for New Physics,” by Zvi Bern, Lance J. Dixon and David A. Kosower]. LHC physicists take this uncertainty in stride and expect the collider to find some new and exciting physics—not just the physics theorists had expected. Hinchliffe says, “The most interesting thing we will see is something that nobody thought of.”
This article was published in print as "Is Supersymmetry Dead?"
This article was originally published with the title Is Supersymmetry Dead?. | <urn:uuid:fe534385-d692-4620-b778-5be99ad5c942> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-supersymmetry-dead&page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940272 | 438 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The working document for October’s synod on the New Evangelization is up at the Vatican’s web site. The practice for recent gatherings of the world’s bishops has been to publish the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, in advance, presumably to facilitate input from bishops and others.
Thanks to the modern function ctrl-F, I can locate multiple mentions of the letters “liturg” and see what the initial thoughts among the bishops might be. In 169 numbered sections, the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops mentions worship often, and it might be good to take a peek at how it sees Catholic worship contributing to the cause of the New Evangelization.
As I excerpt sections, I’ll mention that all numerical references are to section number, not page number.
Chapter II addresses a basic question to the bishops and all the Church: Is it “time for a New Evangelization”? (cf. nos. 41ff) What are the “sectors” into which the tasks can be assigned?
Addressing the religious “sector” of the present situation, many bishops reflected on the “silent apostasy,” Christian believers drifting away from the practice of the faith. Liturgy is singled out as one of several possible contributors:
Some responses complained of the excessively formal character of liturgical celebrations, an almost routine celebration of rituals and the lack of a deep spiritual experience, which turn people away instead of attracting them. (69)
This is a twofold problem, I’d say. An excess of formality I would interpret as distancing the worship experience from the people, a disruption of their participation. Previous generations coped by bringing their devotional life to the Mass. The modern Roman Rite is geared to participation. I don’t think it functions with any sort of quality unless the faith community is engaged by the Scriptures and the other opportunities for encountering Christ. A casual approach by the ministers will also fail to communicate the depth of spiritual experience of which the Roman Rite is capable.
The bishops are spot on with this assessment. People have no lack of spiritual experiences these days, and they range from sexual expression to encounters with nature to the culture of sport and the fine arts, or even twelve-step groups and the experience of psychological therapy. And that doesn’t begin to acknowledge what other religions have to offer in terms of a relationship with God. Some Catholics are loathe to admit that real experiences of God are readily found outside of the Church and its liturgy. This is why people drift away. Not because they are unwilling to engage the demands of God, but simply because the liturgy fails to communicate Christ. Parishes must become places for “propagating and bearing witness to the Christian experience and places for attentively listening to people and ascertaining their needs.” (81)
In Chapter III, Transmitting the Faith, the synod preparers take a fair look at liturgy and the sacraments. Take a look at sections 97-99, “The Church transmits the faith which she herself lives.” Leading off this subheading, the preparers channel Pope Benedict and Vatican II:
The best place to transmit the faith is a community nourished and transformed by the liturgical life and prayer. An intrinsic relationship exists between faith and the liturgy: “lex orandi, lex credendi. “Without the liturgy and the sacraments, the profession of faith would lack efficacy, because it would lack the grace which supports Christian witness.” (Porta Fidei 11) “The liturgy, ‘through which the work of our redemption is accomplished,’ most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.” (SC 2, 6)
Sections 97 and 98 affirm the positive efforts in liturgy over the past few generations. It notes the importance of liturgy in each of the last two synods (Eucharist, the Word of God). It calls out lectio divina not only as a spiritual practice for individuals and groups, but “a natural setting for evangelization.”
Another tidbit, the definition of liturgy as “divine worship, the proclamation of the Gospel and love in action.” Proclamation and love, kerygma and caritas. The bishops have been drinking deep of Avery Dulles, it would seem.
Problems were noted, but not given much space:
(S)ome responses (from bishops) emphasized the complex character between the celebration of the Christian faith and various forms of popular piety. While recognizing some mutual benefits, they also noted the danger of syncretism and a degradation of the faith.
Lacking the context of particular submissions, we can’t be totally sure where these comments are based. Is popular piety such a problem for the expression of faith? Is it an obstacle for lassoing back inactive believers?
There’s a bit more in the document, which I’d like to take some time to read in more detail. You may find it of interest, and I’d invite your comments on liturgy or any other sub-topic pertaining to the New Evangelization. I may post one or two more observations on this document in the next few days. But for now, I’ll leave it to you to further the commentary. | <urn:uuid:67f42cd4-c640-4ead-b966-47ff824cd52b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://catholicsensibility.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/liturgy-in-the-new-evangelization/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943941 | 1,157 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Compare is the second step of A Private Eye Nature for good reason (see The Basic Steps.) So much of what is learned and then what is created comes from this step.
The comparisons are really two-fold. First, specimens are compared to others we've looked at, or to other parts of the same larger specimen. During our Signs of Spring project, Ds#3 looked at a rhododendron bud and an acorn on two separate occasions. The differences are striking since one becomes a flower while the other is a seed. However, Ds#3 did notice something they had in common: they both sprouted or opened at the narrow end. Most of the projects are centered around comparisons of this sort.
The second kind of comparison is through analogy. In this case, children are comparing their specimens to other objects they have encountered in their lives. This is often harder for younger children because of their limited experiences in this world, or for those who have trouble turning on their imagination upon request. Good analogies are those in which the two objects have two or more features in common, and the more common features the better the analogy. Ds#3 thought the acorn looked like a brown cat with a long, curled tail. I though a better analogy would be a brown mouse because it also adds in smallness, and because the overall shape was more like a mouse than a cat (though I didn't suggest that to him since they were his analogies and he is just starting out.)
By looking through the loupe, children are better able to focus on details. Drawing and comparing gives two reasons to sharpen those observations skills. Children improve analytical skills by comparing objects; by making analogies, they improve their descriptive skills. Together they make for a better nature writing and scientific exploration, and for a better Habit of Attention overall.
We study nature through a loupe and draw what we see. We compare and contrast, make analogies, and consider why things are structured as they are. This simple process opens the door to scientific investigation, richer writing, and creative art. See The Basic Steps to find out how.
Primarily I am a Catholic homeschooling mom to 3 boys with a Charlotte Mason educational philosophy. I teach for Homeschool Connections and I'm a community college paramedic instructor. I spent 16 years as a physician assistant in a busy emergency department.
I will clearly state in my reviews if I received promotional material from any books or products I review.
Thanks for visiting!
Parents, teach your children to see nature, respect and protect it as a magnificent gift that presents to us the grandeur of the Creator! In speaking in parables, Jesus used the language of nature to explain to his disciples the mysteries of the Kingdom. May the images he uses become familiar to us! Let us remember that the divine reality is hidden in our daily lives like the seed in the soil. May it bear fruit in us! | <urn:uuid:2462b17d-8ed6-4967-bb1e-6c6d1280f989> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aprivateeyenature.blogspot.com/2010/06/from-observe-to-compare.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973 | 603 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Taking the Lead
Rosko Forestry Operations uses innovative approaches and equipment to become a forestry leader.
By Tony Kryzanowski
In 22 years, Rosko Forestry Operations has gone from owning one log skidder to becoming the largest forestry contractor in the Kirkland Lake, Ontario area with more than 45 pieces of equipment. That kind of success only comes from having an edge and the advantage in this case is having the proper tools to meet customer demand.
One of the most dramatic changes in forestry over the past decade is the transition to year round logging. Consequently, contractors interested in capturing the lion's share of the logging market have had to shape their equipment fleets so that they can log economically in summer as well as winter.
The main challenge in many parts of Canada is how to capture timber in soft ground. Rosko Forestry has addressed this hurdle using Caterpillar's 527 tracked skidder. During summer logging in the Canadian Shield north of North Bay, the company frequently encounters cutblocks with a mixture of hard and soft ground. "If we had all hard ground to work in, we'd stick to hard ground in summer and soft and sensitive sites in winter," says company president Joe Rosko. "But that's not a reality. So in order to operate in the summer months, you have to have the flexibility to be able to operate in some of the sensitive areas." The company's Cat 527 tracked skidder is outfitted with 35- inch pads, and operates like the lead runner on a relay team. It skids logs to hard ground where they are picked up by conventional skidders and transported to roadside.
Because the 527 is equipped with such wide pads, Rosko Forestry is careful to ensure that it stays in soft ground. "We do not travel across to hard ground because the maintenance is too high on the tracks at this point," says Rosko. "Plus the production isn't there. It's not a long distance machine. It's meant for short distances." While it has less grapple capacity than bigger wheeled skidders, the 527's swing boom has delivered outstanding results, particularly in careful logging situations, because of its ability to reach to the side and centre of the grapple load, thus redistributing the weight. Rosko says his ultimate tracked skidder would have a 527 swing boom, but with the large capacity grapple of a wheeled skidder.
His decision to adopt the tracked skidder method came after testing other log transportation methods. He says the company tried transporting logs over soft ground using a forwarder, but it caused too much site damage and had poor flotation. The company also experienced maintenance problems with the forwarder, and it required a more skilled operator. In addition to working year round, Rosko Forestry also harvests timber for a variety of forestry companies. It helps to be versatile. Over the past year, the company harvested 350,000 cubic metres, but it was in a highly diverse working environment.
"We deal with all the boreal species, and recently we've had experience with the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence species," says general manager Russell Williams. "When we're in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence area, there's multiple species and multiple products coming from each piece of wood." For example, a recent assignment had them harvesting eight to 10 species of two to three products per species, resulting in 20 to 25 different sorts. The boreal forest side of the business is a bit saner, where they merchandize wood to only eight, 14 and 16 foot lengths. The company's area of operation requires them to harvest and process both hardwoods and softwoods, so Rosko Forestry has depended a great deal upon their Target and newer 825 Hornet processor/delimbers.
The Hornet, manufactured by Votec Innovation Ltd in Calgary, is attached to a Tigercat 860 carrier and spends about 90 per cent of its time processing timber in the bush. When shopping for a processor/delimber, Rosko says he wanted operational ease, quick adjustments to produce various lengths, machine productivity and reliability. Since the Hornet has a similar design to their Target processor/delimber - a machine they have had positive experience with - the company opted to stick with a proven product. Rosko Forestry purchased the Hornet last year and it has 4,500 hours on it. The older Target has 8,500 hours. Both have performed well. The bottom line was cost per operating hour.
The company needed a processor/delimber that was long lasting while processing large volumes of hardwood, such as poplar, with the least amount of maintenance. The Hornet 825 weighs in at 8,725 lbs with an overall length of 194 inches. The rotator has a maximum lifting capacity of 100,000 lbs. The butt saw has a maximum cutting diameter of 30 inches and 18 inches on the topping saw. The saw motors are VOAC F11- 19 models, and the chain speed operates at 9,500 to 10,900 rpm. Its linear measuring system comes standard, but Votec offers an optional measuring system with 10 preset lengths.
The processor/ delimber feeding force at 3,675 psi is 12,000 lbs, and the feeding speed is 10 to 14 feet per second. "The only concern we had with the Hornet was that the measuring system was not as accurate as we'd like it to be," says Rosko, "but they quickly responded with a larger diameter cylinder to hold more pressure on the measuring wheel. This solved the problem." The maximum opening between the rollers is 32 inches and the minimum is 1.5 inches. It uses 25.75-inch steel feed rollers, each with 795 half-inch steel spikes. Rubber feed rollers measuring 26.5 inches in diameter are also available.
The cast delimbing arms have a maximum opening of 28.5 inches with the ability to completely surround a 22 inch tree. The arms have a minimum opening of 2.5 inches, and can delimb down to that size. Rosko says his strategy behind operating his processor/delimbers in tandem with conventional feller bunching is to remain competitive with the harvesting and processing capabilities of cut-to-length systems. "My idea was to process either behind the machine, whether it be at roadside or at the stump," says Rosko. "The Target and Hornet can do it in both positions. That's why we went with the Tigercat carrier because that machine is designed to work in the field."
He says by the time money is spent converting an excavator to a forestry application, the cost in purchasing a purpose-built Tigercat were similar. "I'd rather buy a purpose-built machine, and that's exactly what we did," he says. Rosko Forestry has shown that the key to keeping clients happy and to business growth is to keep your eyes and ears open to harvesting trends.
Secondly, investigate the equipment market so when it comes time to get a piece of the annual allowable cut, your company can earn a bigger slice of the pie. The contractor with the right mix of equipment soon finds himself in great demand.
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Sentence one: Lois Lane believes that Superman can fly. Sentence two: Lois Lane believes that Clark Kent can fly. Sentence one is true. Sentence two is false, because Lois Lane doesn't know that Superman and Clark Kent are one and the same person. From this, it seems reasonable to conclude that it's the substitution of the name "Superman" for "Clark Kent" that changes the sentence from true to false. Let's call that our intuition. And let's call the truth or falsity of a sentence its truth value Simple enough. But trust a philosopher to make trouble with even the simple things, as UCSD philosophy major Andre Niemeyer is about to do here. And it's not even as if he's some young rabble-rouser out to mess with the system. (In fact, he's 28.) Instead, he's presenting what he terms "a well-worn problem in the philosophy of language."
To begin his assault on the seemingly obvious, Niemeyer lays out three generally accepted ideas about language. The first: Proper names that refer to the same thing have the same meaning. In this case, "Superman" and "Clark Kent" mean the same thing, since they both refer to the same person. The second principle: "Embedding a proper name in a belief context does not change its meaning." That is, putting "Superman" and "Clark Kent" in sentences about Lois Lane's beliefs doesn't change the meaning of "Superman" and "Clark Kent." Got it. And for principle number three: "The meaning of a sentence comes from its structure and from the meaning of its parts."
Now -- "If we accept that sentences with the same meaning must have the same truth value" -- a reasonable claim in Niemeyer's opinion -- "then the truth value of the sentences must be one and the same." So, because sentence one and sentence two mean the same thing, they must have the same truth value. But our intuition was that they did not have the same truth value. Figure that one out, Man of Steel.
Niemeyer is presenting all this as his contribution to the 2006 UCSD Faculty Mentor Program Research Symposium. "I was already doing some work related to this as part of my honors thesis," he explains to his fellow presenters, gathered in Gallery A of the University's Price Center (the gallery is more of a spacious conference room, adjacent to the computer lounge). "I got the McNair Fellowship" -- a PhD-preparation program funded by the Department of Education -- "and said, 'Hey, I'd like to do something around this field.' "
This particular group is one of several gathered throughout the Price Center. Niemeyer's fellows are a pretty motley collection, hailing from the realms of philosophy, arts, and cultural studies. One student is studying computer music and improvisation in the jazz department and has been researching sound descriptors. A philo/communications major has made a study of deadpan performances on film, focusing especially on Bill Murray in Broken Flowers and Johnny Depp in Dead Man. A Filipino girl is examining the "contested debate over tradition and innovation in cultural forms," while a psych/Judaic studies major is looking at rationality in the ancient world. Andre Niemeyer is digging into brain teasers about Superman. And tonight, they're all making presentations based on their research, with a short Q&A after each.
Superman is up second, after the film presentation. It's a tough segue -- even if few people in the room have seen the films in question, everybody knows Murray and Depp, and everybody has at least a passing familiarity with cinematic analysis. But Niemeyer admits up front that "my research is on a very technical subject. I tried to get rid of as much jargon as I could, to make it intelligible to nonphilosophers. I'm not sure if I was successful in doing that." His tone is polite and self-deprecating, bordering on apologetic. To help matters, he's even brought a handout, "but I also expect that to be Greek to you, and that's assuming that you don't speak Greek."
You see, laying out the problem is just the beginning. Next up is a proposed solution, put forth by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill, one that embraces the semantic principles and rejects the intuition. Niemeyer proceeds carefully, even ploddingly -- he doesn't want to lose his audience. The result is that, by the time he finishes laying out the Millian solution -- which concludes that the content of sentences is not always the same as the content of the assertions made by the speaker of those sentences -- the moderator is telling him to wrap it up. That wouldn't be a problem, except the whole point of his presentation is to critique the Millian solution. As it is, all he's able to do is read off his three objections: the Millian solution gives you problems with iteration. Also, multiple assertions may be made by the same sentence. Finally, "Even if you try to motivate the theory by looking at metaphors, there is a major disanalogy between metaphoric and nonmetaphoric uses of sentences."
Mary Corrigan, retired USCD theater professor and panel moderator, opens the Q&A. "You know, I was just thinking during the first part: if you look at people who are rigid -- any rigid extremist religious group -- the interpretation of the Bible... This would seem to fit within the context of assuming certain things were absolutely true, based on the juxtaposition of words in the sentence. That just struck me. And it also struck me that this kind of syllogistic thinking, if you make those assumptions..."
Niemeyer jumps in, and I get the feeling that he is trying to affirm what he can, before syllogistic thinking comes under attack. "Right. Say that someone takes a biblical text out of context. The text as a whole might be trying to assert more than simply the content of the sentence. This is something that actually happens, and the Millian is trying to take this thing that actually happens and apply it to a very particular phenomenon of language." | <urn:uuid:aba73693-b008-4996-84eb-e3ccafd5f8b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2007/jun/14/philosophy-majors-sit-around-and-think-about-thing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971264 | 1,290 | 3.765625 | 4 |
The story of Man & Woman
Posted by Rita on November 12, 1997 at 11:45:54:
In response to Why IS Jane Austen so relevant in today's society?, written by kat n. on November 10, 1997 at 22:26:53
Essentially a lot of Art is about life, but also about men and women. Some things change but our basic needs do not, so in this respect at a simple level a relation remains.
Also, life in a lot of the wprld in terms of relationships has/have lost an essential part. No matter how "good" you are people are always trying to tell you to follow a level of "jugular" philosophy(go for!). So sponatanoeus and innocent life seems to be dissapearing.
On a surface level we may think that Austen too is not spontaneous. But, her stories are about belief,values, spirit and good. We all like happy endings!
It also reinforces a need in us to see the good "win".
Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one. | <urn:uuid:152bf391-4d4e-4792-b40c-632469e62de2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pemberley.com/pemb/adaptations/sands/archive/messages/896.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947738 | 242 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits