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The Toll of Poverty
In spite of various economic strengths, Guatemalans are still struggling. Poverty, poor nutrition, sub-standard water and sanitation facilities, and low levels of formal education are facts of life for vast numbers of Guatemalans. According to UNICEF, 47% of children under 5 suffer from stunted growth, 19% of the population are illiterate, and the average income per capita is $8,310 (compared to $9,980 in Mexico and $47,580 in the United States).
Wars and Disasters
Guatemala suffered through 36 years of warfare between leftist guerrilla insurgents and the army and government security forces. This is said to be the longest civil war in the history of the western hemisphere. Largely as a result of this warfare, approximately one million Guatemalans live outside the country—mostly in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Belize. The war officially ended with a peace treaty signed in December 1996. The governments since 1986 have been democratically elected.
Because of its location between two oceans and along at the convergence of two tectonic places, Guatemala has suffered from numerous natural disasters. In recent decades alone, the country has dealt with:
- An earthquake in 1976, which killed over 23,000 people and left over 1 million homeless
- Massive flooding and devastation from Hurricane Stan in 2005
- Disastrous eruptions of the Pacaya and Fuego volcanoes in 2010 and 2018 respectively. | <urn:uuid:88347c12-9762-40b2-a3a0-aecf23379d38> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://advanceguatemala.org/about-guatemala/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.950429 | 299 | 3.21875 | 3 |
We all love our celebrities. But would you name your car after one? Your boat? A fire engine? In nineteenth-century America, theatre fans did this all the time. You can see one example in the picture above, which is named after Edwin Forrest, who’s been called “the first star of the American stage” by biographer Richard Moody.
Forrest was used to having people name things after him. Historian Bruce McConachie notes that the actor found his name attached to “steamboats, racehorses, fire engines, and locomotives,” amongst other such “objects of power and danger.” (Melodramatic Formations, p. 70-1) You can get a sense of why this was so when you look at the above caricature of Forrest as Spartacus. To put it in technical scholarly terms, dude was jacked.
In fact, many people made fun of Forrest because it sometimes seemed that his muscles were pretty much all he had going for him in terms of theatrical ability. He didn’t make much of a hit when he crossed the pond to England, and the resulting hurt feelings eventually contributed to one hell of a disaster back in New York (I’ll be writing a post about that incident in May, closer to the anniversary of said disaster). Forrest had a bunch of Shakespearean roles in his repertoire, but the roles in which he really seemed to excel were melodramatic ones, like Spartacus (no, not this Spartacus) and especially Metamora, a doomed but heroic Native American chief.
At any rate, it was these roles in melodrama, which mostly emphasized displays of Forrest’s rugged physicality rather than his acting ability, that were his bread and butter. Not everyone liked him, but those who did tended to identify with his brand of strong masculinity (to get a good sense of what it was like to see Forrest in his prime, and on home turf, read this reminiscence by Walt Whitman). Fire companies, in particular, tended to support Forrest. These were rough-and-tumble guys, whose methods could be more than a little shady (don’t believe me? take a look here), but they embraced the man who played Metamora as one of their own.
Forrest wasn’t by any means alone in having things named after him – the English expatriate actress Fanny Kemble, who was about as far away from Forrest as one could get in terms of refinement and femininity, had at least a few racehorses here and there named after her. The wider phenomenon, though, is something that hasn’t really survived into our present day. Sure, if you’re ever able to afford a private yacht, you may fantasize about naming it the “Chris Hemsworth” (“BECAUSE HE’S A DREAMBOAT!” you say), but for legal and other reasons (I mean, it’s a little stalker-y, right?), that’s not something people do nowadays.
Perhaps this is the case because celebrity culture pervades our lives so thoroughly these days that we don’t need these points of contact to make us feel that sense of closeness to our favorite actors, singers, or other notables. It also reflects other changes in our society: those fire companies, for instance, were private, volunteer organizations, and they could collectively name their engine whatever they wanted.
So that particular tradition is dead and gone, along with that racehorse named “Edwin Forrest”. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the passing of time, to the accompanying strains of a memorial to another notable horse. Take it away, Andy Dwyer: | <urn:uuid:8097803c-c11c-4c86-a4f8-fb1cfb67995e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://theatrehistorypodcast.net/tag/edwin-forrest/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.981727 | 789 | 2.109375 | 2 |
The phrase "monumental architecture" refers to huge human-made stone or earthen constructions utilized as public buildings or community areas, as opposed to ordinary private dwellings. They are usually identified by their size and weight, and often include large open spaces. Monumental buildings serve as landmarks and give a sense of scale to cities.
Monuments can be found all over the world in different cultures with various materials used for their construction including marble, granite, sandstone, brick, and cement. Some monuments reflect a culture's history while others display the power, wealth, or imagination of a ruler or society.
One example of a monumental building is the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. It was built between 1792 and 1800 in the Georgian style, which is typical of government institutions at that time. The design of the building is based on John Adam's proposal for the new capital city; however, Adam died before it could be completed. The final design was made by his apprentice Benjamin Henry Latrobe. The Italian word "gloria" means "glory" or "honor", and Latrobe wanted to create a monument to honor the American people who had just declared their independence from Great Britain. It is estimated that this project took five years to complete at a cost of $60,000 ($1 million in today's dollars).
This is far larger than human scale and is meant to be stunning, such as public buildings, memorials, religious structures, and so on. Proportion: This relates to the connection between two items of various sizes, or the relative size of pieces of a whole. There are several ways to describe this relationship. The most basic is that they are equal in scale; a monumental scale building is one that is as large or larger than any single person would be. A more precise definition states that the total mass of a structure is proportional to its height. So, for example, a structure that is eight times as tall as it is wide is still only eight times as heavy to lift, because the mass of anything with volume is proportional to its height.
Monumental-scale buildings are not easy to construct. First, there is no standard way to build them. Second, they require very strong materials. Because these structures are so big, they must be made of very thick walls or else they wouldn't be able to support themselves. Third, they use unusual methods for construction sites commonly found at smaller scales. For example, the top three floors of the D'Angelo Staircase in New York City are completely empty except for stairs!
A historic building is commonly defined as a building or structure with "historic significance," i.e., people in the present are related to it in some manner via previous events. This value requires attention in any planning choices that must be made regarding it. For example, if a building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, then it is likely to be eligible for preservation tax credits and other incentives that may help finance its restoration.
Sometimes, buildings become known as "historic" even though they were not originally constructed with such significance in mind. For example, many old churches have played an important role in their communities for hundreds of years after their construction, so they should not be dismissed as merely functional buildings. However, because they lack the protection afforded by being included in a museum or national park, it is recommended that you use your best judgment when evaluating these types of structures.
It is also possible for buildings to lose their historic status due to changes made during a renovation. If part of a house exhibits characteristics of early American history while another part does not, then it is appropriate to call it a historic house rather than a home. However, if all that remains is the foundation, then it is only a structure without legal protection in most states.
Finally, some buildings are considered historic even though they do not fall within the above definition.
Architecture is both the process and the result of planning, designing, and building. The term "architecture" can refer to both buildings and other physical constructions. The architectural style of buildings and other physical things The process of building buildings and other physical structures. The profession of an architect is to design such structures.
Only human beings can see beauty. It is up to an architect to convey the beauty he or she sees in a building project through design elements such as proportion, symmetry, light, and color. A beautiful building can make someone feel good about him-or-herself and their place in the world. This is why all architects aim to create buildings that are appealing to look at.
A house is considered one type of architectural structure. Houses come in many different shapes and sizes, but they all have four basic components: a roof, walls, a floor, and a door opening (or window). A house can also have additional features such as porches, gables, and attics. A hotel is another type of architectural structure. Hotels usually contain multiple floors with separate rooms that share common space for kitchens, dining rooms, lounges, etc.
An office building is another type of architectural structure. It includes such items as shops, schools, churches, museums, libraries, theaters, and government offices. An office building may have only one floor, but it can be very large. | <urn:uuid:732f4a80-bb31-4157-80d3-f27a6636f658> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://bindleyhardwareco.com/what-is-monumental-building | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.976596 | 1,087 | 4.21875 | 4 |
A Mother to Her Waking Infant (1790)
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Links Off
Now in thy dazzling half-oped eye,
Thy curled nose and lip awry,
Uphoisted arms and noddling head,
And little chin with crystal spread,
Poor helpless thing! what do I see,
That I should sing of thee?
From thy poor tongue no accents come,
Which can but rub thy toothless gum:
Small understanding boasts thy face,
Thy shapeless limbs nor step nor grace:
A few short words thy feats may tell,
And yet I love thee well.
When sudden wakes the bitter shriek,
And redder swells thy little cheek
When rattled keys thy woes beguile,
And through thine eyelids gleams the smile,
Still for thy weakly self is spent
Thy little silly plaint.
But when thy friends are in distress,
Thou’lt laugh and chuckle n’er the less,
Nor e’en with sympathy be smitten,
Tho’ all are sad but thee and kitten;
Yet little varlet that thou art,
Thou twitchest at the heart.
Thy rosy cheek so soft and warm;
Thy pinky hand and dimpled arm;
Thy silken locks that scantly peep,
With gold-tipped ends, where circles deep,
Around thy neck in harmless grace,
So soft and sleekly hold their place,
Might harder hearts with kindness fill,
And gain our right good will.
Each passing clown bestows his blessing,
Thy mouth is worn with old wives’ kissing:
E’en lighter looks the gloomy eye
Of surly sense, when thou art by;
And yet, I think, whoe’er they be,
They love thee not like me.
Perhaps when time shall add a few
Short years to thee, thou’lt love me too;
and after that, through life’s weary way,
Become my sure and cheering stay;
Wilt care for me and be my hold,
When I am weak and old.
Thou’lt listen to my lengthened tale,
And pity me when I am frail–
But see, the sweepy spinning fly
Upon the window takes thine eye.
Go to thy little senseless play;
Thou dost not heed my lay.
Poem © Out of copyright | <urn:uuid:f1e5306b-c281-469f-9077-7995addae90e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/a-mother-to-her-waking-infant/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.769508 | 543 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Subtitle: Jeu des trois dimensions - Lettres, Chiffres, Images Contents: 72 cards of which three jokers and 69 cards containing a letter, a number and a picture of art belonging to the Louvre museum. (e.g. there is a card depicting Mona Lisa, containing letter R and number 11) The target of the game is to make up the name "musée du louvre", taking into account the three dimensions of the game: lettres => the word "musée du louvre" must be laid out in order numbers => the first card must have number 1, the second number 2 etc. This is only important for letters that occur more than once, e.g the u and e pictures => no picture may appear twice while constructing the word A turn consists of picking up a new card, and putting one down, either on the discard pile or for constructing the word "musée du louvre". You are also allowed to replace a card already laid out with another one from your hand. Players start with 4 cards in their hand. Jokers can be used to replace a card TEMPORARILY, i.e. by the end of the game a player must have replaced all his jokers with the corresponding cards. First player to make the word is the winner, other players total the numbers in their hand; after a few rounds, the winner is the player who accumulated the least points. | <urn:uuid:7e489766-cfe1-418e-9387-319d2dd08672> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.yihubg.com/game/19421 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.943525 | 302 | 2.640625 | 3 |
MicroDose Mammography is a type of X-ray machine for low-dose mammography used in more than 24 countries worldwide. It uses a unique technique called photon counting, based on research at the CERN in Geneva, Switzerland and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. This provides excellent quality images at low dose and offers several benefits for a woman undergoing mammography. It was designed in close collaboration with both clinical staff and patients to provide high ergonomics.
A mammography examination with Philips MicroDose Mammography means a dose reduction of 18 to 50% compared to that used on other digital mammography systems, with an average dose reduction of 40%, while providing your doctor with outstanding quality images, So your doctor can make a confident diagnosis, and you can feel confident that you are getting a low radiation dose.
Low dose mammography can enhance the efficiency of screening programs by increasing the diagnostic confidence of clinicians and also by avoiding unnecessary radiation exposure. Also MicroDose Mammography has a slightly curved surface where the breast is placed for the X‐ray. Because you will be leaning into the machine a little, this provides comfort since the surface fits the curvature of the upper body and ribs better, compared to other systems which have a completely straight surface.
Furthermore, the contact area with your breast is nicely warmed to body temperature. The benefit of this is not only that it provides comfort for you as a patient, but since you may be more relaxed, it will facilitate the staff in taking care of you to position you correctly and get a good quality image. This may help to avoid having to do extra images, which sometimes is the case when the breast is not positioned correctly the first time.
What’s more, MicroDose not only provides comfort, it also makes exams easy for your doctor and the other staff working at your breast clinic. Examinations are quick and the system is easy to work with, benefiting both you and the radiographer.
This type of mammogram is for women who have no symptoms. A baseline, or starting point for comparison, is performed for women at age 40. Then it is recommended that mammograms be performed every year after that.
This type of mammogram is performed when some kind of unusual or abnormal condition has been detected. This could be a lump or unusual breast condition that you may have found during your own breast self-exam, following a routine screening mammogram, as a result of something your doctor detected during your breast examination or as a result of your own breast history. These types of mammograms generally take a little longer than screening mammograms, as they often include additional special angulation or compression views.
This type of mammogram is for women who have no symptoms. A baseline, or starting point for comparison, is performed for women at age 40. Then it is recommended that mammograms be performed every 1 to 2 years after that. If there is a family history of breast cancer or other risk factors, your doctor may recommend a screening mammogram at a younger age.
When scheduling your appointment provide us with your email address and we will send you your personalized forms with your information already filled in. If your email address is not provided, you can still save time by downloading the Registration forms and completing them prior to arriving at the office. Present your prescription, insurance card and completed forms at the front desk. If any additional forms are required, they will be given to you at this time.
After changing into a gown, you will stand in front of a special x-ray machine. The technologist will place your breasts, one at a time, between two plates. The plates will move to compress and flatten your breast, giving a very uniform breast thickness so that a clear picture of your breast tissue can be taken. You will feel a little pressure, but it is only for a few seconds. The flatter your breast tissue, the better the picture. For screening mammograms, multiple images are taken of each breast from above and from different angles.
A mammography takes about 15 minutes.
One of our board certified radiologist specializing in breast imaging interprets your mammogram, compares them to any previous studies and dictates a report which is transcribed, proofread and signed. You will also receive an email or a letter directly from Stockdale Radiology within one-to-two weeks of the mammogram. If our radiologist feels you need additional views, we will contact you to schedule an appointment and we will also notify your doctor. You will also receive yearly reminders for your annual screening mammogram. | <urn:uuid:983105e4-b0b7-48b4-9e27-dfba1cc62ad0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://stockdalerad.com/mammogram/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.956174 | 934 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Volume 12, Number 2, May 1990, pp.15-16
Nine members of a Hamilton County Ohio grand jury have charged the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and its director, Dennis Barrie, with two separate misdemeanor counts, in presenting an exhibition which contains obscene material. "The Perfect Moment" has once again proven to be too hot to handle. "The center knew that the exhibition would cause a storm in conservative Cincinnati. It was the same exhibition that was canceled by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington last June amid a furor over public funding of "obscene or indecent" art works. To avoid that particular controversy, the Contemporary Arts Center voluntarily withdrew from the Cincinnati Arts fund, which last year provided the center with $300,000 of its $1.2 million budget. The center also sought to head off Cincinnati authorities who have made prosecuting smut a popular local crusade. On Friday, however, a county judge rejected the center's request for a preliminary ruling that the exhibition was not obscene." Local support for the center is running strong, membership had risen 40 percent in the 10 days before the indictment.
This lengthy pictorial article of the cleaning of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, encompasses many aspects of fresco restoration, and the immense importance of this work.
Four murals created by Los Angeles artist Hugo Ballin in 1934, for the Globe Lobby of the Times building in Los Angeles, have been uncovered and are in the process of being conserved. Scott M. Haskins, Director of Conservation for Fine Art Conservation Laboratories is undertaking this work with a scheduled completion date of mid-March.
Simon and Schuster, Random House, Doubleday and Bantam publishing houses have agreed to begin publishing the first printings of quality hard-cover trade books on acid-free paper. This would result in at least 50 percent of all trade hard-covers being printed on acid-free paper. Since the mid 1880's the paper produced has been of poor quality. In 1960 a process for creating durable paper produced from wood was engineered, and only now have costs become competitive enough to allow for this conservation minded agreement.
Mr. Romer writes a basic yet thorough history about the beginning of color photography in the early part of the 19th century. He touches on the many innovative uses of chemicals to produce color pictures. The author ends the article by saying, "There is much worthy of remembering in the photographic techniques of the past that may still contribute to the ongoing evolution of photography."
An extensive history of a painting, attributed to Rembrandt, which has come to be called "The Polish Rider," is presented in this lengthy article about the painting's genuineness. The author not only presents the painting's history, but also discusses the formation of the Rembrandt Research Project, (R.R.P.); its history; its members; the groups investigative techniques; and their accomplishments.
This study takes a well-characterized building of modern construction and, with computer simulations, determines the cost sensitivity of operating that structure at various locations around the United States with different baseline environmental parameters." Findings conclude that, "The museum environment's largest energy requirements are bundled into the operations of environmental control for temperature and relative humidity. This reality forces energy conservation and fine art conservation to reconcile their differences and seek common solutions. One such solution, suggested in the present study, is to allow the more expensive environmental plant to maintain cost-effective mid-range conditions and let the less expensive microclimatological solutions deviate above and below this range when necessary.
In 1984, the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) embarked on a program of museum environmental research covering air pollution generated outdoors and indoors, and microenvironmental studies. These three branches are further divided into surveys of pollutant concentrations in buildings containing cultural and natural history collections, assessment of damage to materials, and control strategies. In the microenvironment, the targeted issues are humidity control and monitoring, low-cost sealed display cases, biological control and selected topics in lighting. In separate but related areas, the GCI conducts research on the effects of vibration and shock, fumigation research, and on bringing the conservator and mechanical engineer closer together in the process of designing and retrofitting air conditioning systems for buildings. | <urn:uuid:0aa26b29-f19e-4e33-9849-55206056db09> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://cool.culturalheritage.org/waac/wn/wn12/wn12-2/wn12-209.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.94916 | 871 | 2.109375 | 2 |
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South Street Maltings (Triad Centre)
Filling the skyline behind Rhodes Centre, and standing on land once called South Street Field, are three of the finest remaining maltings left in the town, each erected at various times in the 19th century and all once owned by Messrs HA & D Taylor (See Guide 11).
The earliest and smallest of these malthouses, built in 1843 of brick and weatherboard with two slated cones, is currently part-occupied by a nightclub. The more substantial southern-most building, with arcaded brick walls and weatherboarding at the front, was built in 1856, and sitting between the two is the largest of the three maltings. Built of stock bricks with massive slate roof tiles, it was added in 1897. The buildings are officially known as Millar’s 1, 2 and 3, to commemorate the original maltser, Joshua Miller. (different spelling is correct!)
During the Second World War, women helped with manual tasks in the maltings and American servicemen based at Stansted airbase regularly took away truck loads of ash for use as roads and paths. The maltings continued production until the mid 1900s.
In 1970 the Hertfordshire and Essex Malthouse Trust converted the buildings into The Triad arts centre and concert hall, but with support difficult to maintain they were later sold to a developer who adapted them for mixed usage that now includes light industry and leisure facilities. Between 1979 and 1998 the centre was home to the SNAP Theatre Company (National Educational Touring Theatre), founded by Andy Graham.
(Lower) South Street East
South Street continues through the town centre to where it joins Potter Street at the junction with Church Street. Because it would be confusing to note the history on either side of this road, this section only covers South Street between this point and Station Road; starting with the East side.
For most of its length South Street runs parallel with the river Stort. In the 18th and 19th century it was this easy access to the river and its barge transport that led to the building of many maltings and warehouses here. These, along with much of old Stortford in this area have long since disappeared, but many of the place names along the way are associated with the working river and prominent people from the town’s past.
The first example of this is Braziers Quay, a modern residential development built in the 1990s that takes its name from the original quay named after Joe Brazier (See Guide 6 – Chequers Hotel). This was also the site of the Hat factory, demolished the early 1900s. A few Victorian terraced houses still survive in Wharf Road, but beyond is the modern development of Duckett’s Wharf, built on land and a wharf originally named after Sir George Duckett (formerly Sir George Jackson), co founder of the Stort Navigation (See Guide 11).
Since the early 1990s, National Tyres has occupied the town’s former bus garage built in 1921 by Eastern National – just one of many private companies that came into being after the First World War to serve this area with passenger transport. After gaining control of the smaller companies, Eastern National began the first regular long distance bus route between Bishop’s Stortford and Epping in 1926.
The premises of KwikFit is built on the former site of Burtons Mill; a 19th century five-storey high, timber-clad malting that once dominated South Street’s skyline. Although it survived town redevelopment in the 1970s, its age and general condition left little doubt it would eventually be demolished. That expense was spared in 1983 when a ‘mysterious’ fire razed it to the ground.
Modern development now covers the land between this point and the Victorian house that is No 77 South Street, but in the early 1800s this area was commonly known as Phipp’s Yard, owned by brewer and beer retailer, Thomas Phipp. In 1814, John Phipp, 1738–1818, (possibly Thomas’s father) was granted a licence to hold the first Baptist meeting in Bishop’s Stortford in his own home, but shortly after a barn at Phipp’s Yard was hired for use as a chapel until 1819 (See Guide 14 – The Baptist Church).
Born in Ware, Thomas Phipp married Sarah Miller in St Michael’s church on 20 April 1792, and between them they had at least eight children, all born in Bishop’s Stortford. His business made him a wealthy man and it seems likely that one son, Thomas Phipp jnr, probably ran the business for his father or was handed it when Thomas snr moved to Warren Lodge, Mildenhall, Suffolk. There he became a Warrener and died in 1854. By coincidence, or not, it was about this same time that Thomas jnr’s involvement in Phipp’s Yard ceased.
*Additional information regarding the Phipp family is courtesy of Thomas Phipp jnr’s great, great, great, grandaughter, Shirley Lawrence.
Adjacent to No 77 stands a large featureless building housing three shops, one of which was once the renowned Baxters fish shop. Long before Take-away restaurants invaded Bishop’s Stortford, this was the town’s only fish & chip shop and the place to go for a Friday night supper. Baxters retired from business in the 1990s but the premises still trade as a fish & chip shop – albeit greatly modernised.
An opening between this building and the next (a car sales showroom that defies any architectural merit or further comment) once led to Swan Yard and Swan Wharf – later to become Philip Churche’s coal depot. An opening on the other side of this building gave access to Newman’s Ferryboat crossing that operated in the 19th century (See Guide 11).
At that time this area was better known as Catherine Wheel Alley and was a popular haunt of men who worked the river, known as bargees. Small timber clad buildings from that era still stand at the start of the alley. In the 1990s, modern utilitarian structures housing shops and businesses were built in the yard here and given the 21st century title of ‘South Road Trading Centre.’ They generated little trade though and the site closed in 2006. Housing development is now proposed for the area
As commercialisation in the town increased early last century, many private houses were converted for use as shops. Two such examples can be found here; their ground floors converted to form not only shops but also a ‘colonnade’, of sorts, giving more space to pavement and pedestrians.
Adjoining these shops, and filling the entire corner at South Street’s junction with Station Road, is yet another example of 1950s architecture at its lowest ebb. Currently occupied by two restaurants, it was built in 1958 by the Co-operative Society and named, not surprisingly, Co-operative House. The Co-op had maintained a presence in the town since the late 1800s, but this department store on two floors was a radical move for them. Unfortunately, changing times led to a downturn in business and in the early 1980s the Co-op departed the town for good.
Long before that, houses had stood here and before that it was the site of the Catherine Wheel public house, demolished in 1870. Nearby Catherine Wheel Yard no doubt took its name from the pub. | <urn:uuid:9148ad5f-43f4-414e-bed3-3a75bd7a54d8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.stortfordhistory.co.uk/guide13/the-maltings/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.97817 | 1,595 | 1.867188 | 2 |
RIYADH: Chairman of the board of the Gavi vaccines group, José Manuel Barroso, said Saudi Arabia has played a vital role in the global response to COVID-19 and has made crucial efforts to help bridge the gap. global vaccine equity gap.
COVAX, the global COVID-19 vaccine initiative, co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, alongside UNICEF , a key delivery partner, raising urgent funds to support low-income countries. COVID-19 vaccination needs, and Barroso has held a number of virtual meetings with senior Saudi officials to discuss them.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Barroso, who is also the former Prime Minister of Portugal and President of the European Commission, said: “I have indeed had the pleasure of attending virtual meetings with key officials from the Ministry of Finance in Saudi Arabia and the leadership of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center to discuss COVAX’s ongoing fundraising effort. Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley spoke with Ministry of Health officials to discuss how Saudi Arabia’s support could help our efforts to break COVID in 2022.
Decades before the pandemic, Saudi Arabia invested in its healthcare systems and focused on increasing the number of healthcare workers. This investment and preparation meant that when the pandemic hit, Saudi Arabia was better equipped than most countries to deal with the virus.
Jose Manuel Barroso
“I also had a very positive virtual meeting with Dr. Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, where we agreed to work together on common goals for global good and solidarity,” said he added.
“Saudi Arabia has played a vital role in the global response to COVID-19. In November 2020, as chair of the G20 summit in Riyadh, the country succeeded in mobilizing donors to commit significant funds to respond internationally to the COVID-19 pandemic, amounting to more than 825 million, including vaccines, medical supplies and medical equipment for 33 countries. .
“This money has helped protect millions of lives, but the pandemic will continue to evolve and we need to be prepared.”
There is enough supply to meet countries’ demands for COVID-19 vaccines, but with a new COVID variant emerging every four months, it is absolutely essential that the world avoids the 2020 scenario where the money had to be collected before the doses could be secured, Barroso mentioned.
“We have learned the importance of securing funding in advance, particularly if variant-matched vaccines are needed or if additional annual boosters are required. To mitigate this risk, COVAX is seeking contingent financing of $2.7 billion so that we are ready to place orders for additional vaccines as they are needed.
“This ability to act quickly is essential not only from a vaccine equity perspective, but it is also necessary from a health security perspective. Our goal is also to help countries protect as many people as possible, which is why we are seeking $1 billion for in-country delivery, to improve both vaccine deployment and uptake.” , Barroso said.
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia, along with the rest of the GCC states, can also provide stronger support to the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
“Of the 92 countries eligible to receive donor-funded vaccines under the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment, 37 are OIC Member States and more than 740 million, or more than 60% of all COVAX vaccine doses have been delivered to these countries. With the start of Ramadan, it is an opportune time to show solidarity with low- and middle-income countries,” he said.
“Saudi Arabia has allocated $150 million to support the Gavi COVAX Advance market engagement, $5.3 million has been pledged by KSrelief, and we have also received $2.3 million from the Saudi Esports Gamers Without Borders initiative.This support, combined with funding from other donor countries, has enabled COVAX to provide more than 1.4 billion doses worldwide, protecting millions of lives in 144 countries, including 83 and low-income areas.
“Efforts like this help close the global vaccine equity gap, and there has been an increase in global vaccine coverage in recent months.”
However, the world urgently needs to ensure that vaccines find their way into weapons at a faster rate, so as not to leave space for the virus to mutate, he added.
With additional support, he said, Gavi and COVAX can help countries break down barriers to immunization by providing technical assistance, funding for vaccinators and health workers, and support to build systems. delivery, as they have done in recent months by disbursing over $600 million in delivery financing.
Regarding Saudi Arabia’s successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barroso said: “Decades before the pandemic, Saudi Arabia invested in its health systems and focused on increasing the number of of health workers. This investment and preparation meant that when the pandemic hit, Saudi Arabia was better equipped than most countries to deal with the virus.
“This is a big lesson for the world and demonstrates the importance of investing in our health systems and preparing for future pandemics and epidemics. With over 62 million doses of vaccine administered and strong community awareness to COVID-19, Saudi Arabia’s response to the pandemic is to be applauded.
Adding that the pandemic is far from over, he noted: “We are living through the worst pandemic in a hundred years, and although the global vaccine equity gap has started to close, there are still big gaps. differences in vaccination coverage between the poorest and the poorest. highest income countries. There have been over 6 million official deaths from COVID-19 and the global economy has shrunk by $12.5 trillion.
“Now is not the time for the world to become complacent; we have seen a new variant emerge every four months. In fact, a subvariant of the highly transmissible omicron version of the coronavirus, known as BA.2, is now dominant worldwide, causing outbreaks in many countries in Europe and Asia,” said he added.
Barroso said COVAX has established a global procurement, shipping and delivery system to improve vaccine equity and bring COVID-19 vaccines to low-income countries, resulting in the delivery over 1.4 billion doses to 144 countries.
Transparency has been a fundamental part of COVAX’s management process, he added, adding that COVAX regularly updates and consults with key partners and governments, and holds targeted briefings. | <urn:uuid:7fbfb253-5160-488b-b8bc-1c3ad7e54383> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://gobozzi.com/first-instructor-to-teach-saudi-women-to-drive-receives-gender-equality-award/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.955287 | 1,420 | 1.570313 | 2 |
In 2019, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) introduced BIM standards. These standards provide the necessary framework to help designers and contractors from different countries collaborate efficiently on all phases of construction projects. The introduction of these standards also encourages BIM’s wider use.
Facilities Management (FM) data standards are another set of standards, but these are typically developed by contractors and consultants project by project rather then by and for the owner to support all projects. FM data standards in summary define required facility data and asset types, naming conventions, data details, industry classifications, when data should be assembled the data source as well as capture why each asset type is selected for inclusion.
Both sets of standards are impactful, but today FM data standards are largely taking a back seat to BIM standards.
What’s the problem?
Presently, data standards are deprioritized and this is costing the industry big time. BIM standards are lengthy and very specific and the cost to implement can vary greatly. We spend a lot of time on BIM standards and BIM execution plans because that’s the typical expertise involved in the pre-construction phase of the project. While BIM standards and BIM execution plans are necessary and offer significant value to the construction process, the use of BIM post construction is not yet widely adopted. Conversely, the need for and use of FM data post construction is an absolute necessity. The costs associated with the lack of or incomplete FM data are well documented both during and post construction. However, the level of effort and attention allocated to defining FM data standards and related execution plans is a fraction of that afforded for BIM.
Largely, this is a result of owners struggling to define what they want, contractors shying away from getting involved because it’s not their area of expertise and a lack of functional tools to support FM data standards and execution plans. The impact of this is insurmountable in terms of both cost and time wasted. According to Navigant Construction, the average total cost to review and respond to a single request for information is $1,080. Further, according to PlanGrid, not only is 52% of rework caused by poor data and miscommunication, the construction industry spends $65 billion annually on rework.
How do we ensure FM data standards get a seat at the table?
It’s time to give FM data standards the attention they deserve, and we can start by acknowledging the excessive costs associated with collecting FM data without a standard or defined process. Then ask yourself how do you know everything you desired to be delivered was actually delivered. The simple answer is if you don’t set expectations you can’t measure the final deliverable. Once you accept the necessity of an FM data standard the next step is to assemble the right expertise at the table before or during preconstruction. With the right expertise and tools FM data standards can be assembled in a few simple steps.
Once you have a standard in place for FM data then it is time to consider whether that standard is to be integrated into your BIM execution plans moving forward. There is no right or wrong here it really comes down to what makes sense for your organization. I believe that in projects where BIM is an essential tool integrating your FM standards with the BIM execution plan is a good idea. At a minimum the workflows for assembling your models should incorporate the implementation of your FM data standards as assets and locations are beginning to be defined.
By introducing FM data standards in parallel with BIM standards and BIM execution plans, it’s possible to significantly reduce the time and effort required to assemble and verify FM data throughout the construction process. Understanding the data requirements and workflows ensures efficient management of the process from the beginning and significantly reduces the overall cost while ensuring the FM deliverable is as complete and accurate as possible.
BIM standards are helpful and important, but FM data standards are a necessity if you want stay efficient and effective in the construction data management processes. Download this checklist to further explore how your organization can begin creating and introducing data standards to streamline the handover process and reduce the potential for errors. | <urn:uuid:92c6f892-d49f-4de4-b159-8f8865fa7581> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://blog.ktrack.com/why-do-fm-data-standards-take-a-back-seat-to-bim-standards | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.9375 | 853 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Edited by: Thomas W. Durso
SEEKING STATs: Anne-Marie O’Farrell, left, and Alice Mui of DNAX found STAT5, a protein that responds to the cytokine interleukin-3.
Comments by Alice L.-F. Mui, DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Palo Alto, Calif.
Interleukin-3 (IL-3) is a cytokine that regulates hemopoiesis, the formation of blood cells in the body. In this paper, Alice L.-F. Mui, a senior research associate at the DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology in Palo Alto, Calif., examined what happens after IL-3 binds to its receptor. "I wanted to find out what the next step in the signal-transduction cascade was," she states. "How does receptor activation lead eventually to... | <urn:uuid:07180f12-9082-4c94-820f-643b3de677d3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.the-scientist.com/hot-paper/signal-transduction-57446 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.892663 | 186 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Australia mulling heavy fines, five years in jail for travelers circumventing flight ban from Covid-19 hotspots – reports
The Australian government is reportedly considering fining and jailing its citizens if they return home from Covid-ravaged countries under biosecurity rules that would give authorities sweeping new powers.
The development comes after two Australian cricketers who had been in India arrived in the country on Thursday after transiting through Doha, Qatar, bypassing a government ban instituted earlier this week on all direct flights from India until mid-May.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government was said to be looking into criminalizing such repatriation dashes by people who had been in a Covid-19 hotspot in the past two weeks. The punishment could involve up to AU$66,000 (US$50,908) in fines or five years in prison, according to 9News Australia.
Reports said Health Minister Greg Hunt would invoke the Biosecurity Act (2015) – previously used to close the borders in March 2020 – as soon as Saturday. Emergency powers under the act allow Hunt to determine any requirement deemed necessary to prevent entry or spread of disease.
“India is the first country to meet the threshold of a high-risk country,” Morrison said in a statement after his ministerial cabinet met on Friday.
The statement appeared to warn of “further measures to mitigate risks of high-risk travellers entering Australia” but did not explicitly refer to taking criminal action against returnees.
By the Foreign Affairs department’s count, as many as 36,000 Australians are stuck overseas – at least 9,000 of whom are in India with over 600 classified as vulnerable – and cannot go home due to strict quarantine limits on the number of people entering the country each week.Also on rt.com China accuses Australia of ‘economic coercion’ amid escalating tensions
Nearly 20,000 people have returned to Australia from India since March 2020.
Earlier on Friday, Morrison admitted there was a “loophole” in the travel restrictions, through which the India flight ban could be circumvented – as the cricketers did – by transiting through a third country. That gap was supposedly closed on Wednesday evening.
“That flight that those cricketers were on managed to get away just before that,” Morrison told Sydney radio station 2GB. “We had information on Monday that that wasn’t possible.”
Under biosecurity control rules, authorities can require an individual to provide contact information, regularly update an officer of their health status and remain at their place of residence for a specified period of time or be isolated at a medical facility.
People can also be compelled to undergo decontamination, provide body samples for diagnosis, undertake treatment or receive a vaccination and remain in Australia for up to four weeks. Failure to comply with a control order draws the same penalties as above.Also on rt.com Covid-19 could cause strokes among young & healthy people, including in asymptomatic cases – study
The opposition’s home affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally, said Morrison owed an explanation to the 9,000 citizens “left stranded in India.”
“If he had kept his promise and got all the stranded Australians home by Christmas, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Keneally told local media.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! | <urn:uuid:b8fdb09e-6ad2-4f9a-8728-d8743c43d8ad> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.rt.com/news/522627-australia-fines-travelers-covid19-hotspot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.969072 | 722 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Rebecca, the Silent Child
Rebecca Novis was nine and a half when she was admitted to the Hospital for Sick Children on the 17 April 1871. She lived in nearby Canonbury (part of Islington), had one sister, and her father earned his living by dispensing medicines at the huge Islington workhouse. Rebecca had survived two deadly diseases – measles and smallpox – but she was generally a very healthy child, if rather nervous. Two years before, she had developed a hard, dry cough that was so violent her doctor prescribed a chloroform inhalation so that she wouldn’t suffocate. The reason she was taken into the hospital was that she had hardly spoken, moved or opened her eyes for four months.
At Christmastime she had fallen into a stupor, and refused to eat for a fortnight. After two weeks, she sat up in bed, and spent her days reading. As long as her mother was by her bedside she was quite happy, but still refused to speak and walk. Her father, however, claimed to have seen her walk round the table one evening when she thought no-one else was in the room. Two weeks before she was taken to the hospital she closed her eyes, and would not open them. She spent her days crying quietly, although she stopped long enough to eat, before starting again. When the doctors first saw her, she hid her eyes behind her left arm, and the rest of her body trembled constantly. They tried to make her smile, which she eventually did, but not without a lot of effort on the part of the admitting doctor. They tried to get a reaction from her by pinching her arms and legs very hard, but she put up with this without making a move or a sound. The harder they tried to part her eyelids, the tighter they were closed. She understood everything that was said to her, and nodded or shook her head whenever questions were put to her.
On admission, Rebecca was put on a diet of beef tea, milk and wine – and laxatives. In order to get her legs moving and her eyelids open, she was given warm showers and galvanic baths, and the nurses lavished a great deal of attention on her. Passing electricity through her body seems to have persuaded her to begin to speak, and certainly, who wouldn’t say almost anything under this sort of treatment? By the 6 May she was running about the garden with other children, but they kept her in under observation until the end of the month. On returning home she once more began to have problems walking, and was readmitted to the hospital on 3 July for ten days, after which she was sent to the hospital’s convalescent home in Highgate. She stayed there for three weeks, being finally discharged, well, on 3 August 1871.
So, what was wrong with Rebecca? Was she really hysterical? The doctors were clearly fascinated by her case, as she was not only allowed to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks and subsequently re-admitted, but she was photographed in her best clothes – with her eyes open and closed – and became something of a Great Ormond Street celebrity. Therein lies a possible answer. Rebecca went silent and still at Christmas, and her immobility ensured her mother’s attention and constant care at this festive time – and beyond. She no longer had to go to school. The hard dry cough may have been part of the same pattern, but how much more dramatic to lie like the Sleeping Beauty for months on end? Perhaps by April she really had forgotten how to walk and talk, and had kept her eyes closed for so long that this had become their ‘natural’ state. The inconvenience of purgatives and the experimental electrical therapy may have been a small price to pay for the benefits of being an in-patient at the Hospital for Sick Children. How gratifying to puzzle eminent medical minds for weeks on end. How wonderful to have the attention of the nurses, to be offered beautiful books, and to have the pick of the ward toys and the use of a big garden as her playground? Life may have seemed a bit dull back at home in Islington, and so the symptoms returned, ensuring another little holiday at the hospital and a few weeks at the lovely old house in Highgate. Was Rebecca suffering from a strange disorder or was it all in the mind a little girl who enjoyed being the centre of attention – what do you think? | <urn:uuid:6f465499-3191-48cf-88f0-02711b1378e1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.hharp.org/library/gosh/patients/rebecca-novis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.992745 | 919 | 2.5 | 2 |
Mezzeria (Italian); metayer (French).
In China an oil is procured from the seeds of vernicia montana, which, by the addition of alum, litharge, and steatite, with a gentle heat, easily forms a valuable varnish which, when mixed with resin, is employed in rendering the bottoms of vessels watertight. P. Champion, Indust. Anc. et Mod. de l'Emp. Chinois." 114.
Petzholdt ("Caucasus," i. 203) mentions that in Bosslewi the price of a clay vessel is determined by its capacity of maize.
As usual these abuses spring from the non-enforcement of a statute passed in 1848 (Leg. ult., i. 144), which prohibits usurious conracts with servants or assistants, and threatens with heavy penalties all those whom, under the pretext of having advanced money, or of having paid debts or the poll-tax or exemption from service, keep either individual natives or whole families in a continual state of dependence upon them, and always secure the increase of their obligations to them by not allowing them wages sufficient to enable them to satisfy the claims against them.
Formerly it appears to have been different with them. "These Bisayans are a people little disposed to agriculture, but practised in navigation, and eager for war and expeditions by sea, on account of the pillage and prizes, which they call 'mangubas,' which is the same as taking to the field in order to steal."—Morga, f. 138.
Ill-usage prevails to a great extent, although prohibited by a stringent law; the non-enforcement of which by the alcaldes is charged with a penalty of 100 dollars for every single case of neglect. In many provinces the bridegroom pays to the bride's mother, besides the dower, an indemnity for the rearing ("mother's milk") which the bride has enjoyed (bigay susu). According to Colin ("Labor Evangelico," p. 129) the penhimuyal, the present which the mother received for night-watching and care during the bringing up of the bride, amounted to one-fifth of the dowry.
The Asuang is the ghoul of the Arabian Nights' tales.—C.
Veritable cannibals are not mentioned by the older authors on the Philippines. Pigafetta (p. 127) heard that a people lived on a river at Cape Benuian (north of Mindanao) who ate only the hearts of their captured enemies, along with lemon-juice; and Dr. Semper ("Philippines,") in '62 found the same custom, with the exception of the lemon-juice, on the east coast of Mindanao.
The Anito occurs amongst the tribes of the Malayan Archipelago as Antu, but the Anito of the Philippines is essentially a protecting spirit, while the Malayan Antu is rather of a demoniacal kind.
These idol images have never come under my observation. Those figured in Bastian and Hartmann's Journal of Ethnology (b. i. pl. viii. Idols from the Philippines,) whose originals are in the Ethnographical Museum of Berlin, were certainly acquired in the Philippines, but, according to A. W. Franks, undoubtedly belong to the Solomon Islands. Sections ii. to viii., p. 46, in the catalogue of the Museum at Prague are entitled:—"Four heads of idols, made of wood, from the Philippines, contributed by the Bohemian naturalist Thaddaeus Haenke, who was commissioned by the King of Spain, in the year 1817, to travel in the islands of the South Sea." The photographs, which were obligingly sent here at my request by the direction of the museum, do not entirely correspond to the above description, pointing rather to the west coast of America, the principal field of Haenke's researches. The Reliquiae Botanicae, from his posthumous papers, likewise afford no information respecting the origin of these idols.
On the Island of Panay.
As an example, in anticipation of an attack on Cogseng, all the available forces, including those of Zamboanga, were collected round Manila, and the Moros attacked the island with sixty ships, whereas formerly their armaments used not to exceed six or eight ships. Torrubia, p. 363.
Hakluyt Morga, Append. 360.
According to the Mineral Review, Madrid, 1866, xvii. 244, the coal from the mountain of Alpaco, in the district of Naga, in Cebu, is dry, pure, almost free of sulphur pyrites, burns easily, and with a strong flame. In the experiments made at the laboratory of the School of Mines in Madrid it yielded four per cent. of ashes, and a heating power of 4,825 caloria; i.e., by the burning of one part by weight 4,825 parts by weight of water were heated to 1 deg. C. Good pit-coal gives 6,000 cal. The first coal pits in Cebu were excavated in the Massanga valley; but the works were discontinued in 1859, after considerable outlay had been made on them. Four strata of considerable thickness were subsequently discovered in the valley of Alpaco and in the mountain of Oling, in Naga. * * "The coal of Cebu is acknowledged to be better than that of Australia and Labuan, but has not sufficient heating power to be used, unmixed with other coal, on long sea voyages."
According to the Catalogue of the Products of the Philippines (Manila, 1866), the coal strata of Cebu have, at many places in the mountain range which runs from north to south across the whole of the island, an average thickness of two miles. The coal is of middling quality, and is burnt in the Government steam works after being mixed with Cardiff coal. The price in Cebu is on the average six dollars per ton.
English Consular Report, 217.
The man credited with the development of the sugar industry through machinery. A monument has been erected to his memory.—T.
In Jaro the leases have increased threefold in six years: and cattle which were worth $10 in 1860, fetched $25 in 1866. Plots of land on the "Ria," in Iloilo, have risen from $100 to $500, and even as high as $800. (Diario, February 1867). These results are to be ascribed to the sugar trade, which, through free exportation, has become extremely lucrative.
In 1855 Iloilo took altogether from Negros 3,000 piculs out of 11,700; in 1860 as much as 90,000 piculs; in 1863, 176,000 piculs (in twenty-seven foreign ships); in 1866, 250,000 piculs; in 1871, 312,379 picula from both islands.
The sugar intended for the English market cost in Manila, in the years 1868 and 1869, from L15 to L16 per ton, and fetched in London about L20 per ton. The best refined sugar prepared in Manila for Australia was, on account of the higher duty, worth only L3 per ton more in London; but, being L5 dearer than the inferior quality, it commanded a premium of L2. Manila exports the sugar chiefly from Pangasinan, Pampanga, and Laguna.—(From private information.)
The Islands of the East Indian Archipelago, 1868, p. 340.
Exhibition Catalogue; section, French Colonies, 1867, p. 80.
Report of the Commissioners, Exhibition 1867, iv. 102. The South American Indians have for a long time past employed the banana fiber in the manufacture of clothing material;—(The Technologist, September, 1865, p. 89, from unauthenticated sources,) and in Loo Choo the banana fiber is the only kind in use (Faits Commerciaux, No. 1514. p. 36).
Abaca not readily taking tar is, consequently, only used for running, and not standing, rigging.
A plant in full growth produces annually 30 cwt. bandala to the acre, whereas from an acre of flax not more than from 2 to 4 cwt. of pure flax, and from 2 to 8 cwt. seed can be obtained.
As Dr. Wittmack communicated to me, only fiber or seed can be obtained from hemp, as when the hemp is ripe, i.e. run to seed, the fiber becomes then both brittle and coarse. When cultivating flax very often both seeds and fiber are used, but then they both are of inferior quality.
Flora de Filipinas.
In 1868, L100 per ton was paid for lupis, although only imported in small quantities—about five tons per annum—and principally used at one time in France in the manufacture of a particular kind of underclothing. The fashion soon, however, died out. Quitol, a less valuable sort of lupis, could be sold at L75 per ton.
Inflexibility is peculiar to all fibers of the Monocotyledons, because they consist of coarsely rounded cells. On the other hand, the true bast fibers—the Dicotyledons (flax, for instance)—are the reverse.
Through the agricultural system, also, the mestizos and natives secure the work of their countrymen by making these advances, and renewing them before the old ones are paid off. These thoughtless people consequently fall deeper and deeper into debt, and become virtually the peons of their creditors, it being impossible for them to escape in any way from their position. The "part-share contract" is much the same in its operative effects, the landlord having to supply the farmer with agricultural implements and draught-cattle, and often in addition supplying the whole family with clothing and provisions; and, on division of the earnings, the farmer is unable to cover his debt. It is true the Filipinos are responsible legally to the extent of five dollars only, a special enactment prohibiting these usurious bargains. As a matter of fact, however, they are generally practised.
This feeling of jealousy had very nearly the effect of closing the new harbors immediately after they were opened.
Rapport Consulaire Belge, XIV., 68.
In the Agricultural Report of 1869, p. 232, another fiber was highly mentioned, belonging to a plant very closely related to sisal (Bromelia Sylvestris), perhaps even a variety of the same. The Mexican name, jxtle, is possibly derived from the fact of their curiously flattened, spike-edged leaves, resembling the dentated knives formed from volcanic stone (obsidian) possessed by the Aztecs and termed by them iztli.
The banana trees are well known to be among the most valuable of plants to mankind. In their unripe state they afford starch-flour; and when mature, they supply an agreeable and nutritious fruit, which, although partaken of freely, will produce neither unpleasantness nor any injurious after-effects. One of the best of the edible species bears fruit as early as five or six months after being planted, suckers in the meantime constantly sprouting from the roots, so that continual fruit-bearing is going on, the labor of the growers merely being confined to the occasional cutting down of the old plants and to gathering in the fruit. The broad leaves afford to other young plants the shade which is so requisite in tropical countries, and are employed in many useful ways about the house. Many a hut, too, has to thank the banana trees surrounding it from the conflagration, which, generally speaking, lays the village in ashes. I should here like to make an observation upon a mistake which has spread rather widely. In Bishop Pallegoix's excellent work, Description du Royaume Thai ou Siam, I*. 144, he says: "L'arbre a vernis qui est une espece de bananier, et que les Siamois appellent 'rak,' fournit ce beau vernis qu'on admire dans les petits meubles qu'on apporte de Chine." When I was in Bangkok, I called the attention of the amiable white-haired, and at that time nearly nonogenarian, bishop to this curious statement. Shaking his head, he said he could not have written it. I showed him the very passage. "Ma foi, j'ai dit une betise; j'en ai dit bien d'autres," whispered he in my ear, holding up his hand as if afraid somebody might overhear him.
In 1862, English took from Spain 156 tons; 1863, 18,074 tons; 1866, 66,913 tons; 1868, 95,000 tons; and the import of rags fell from 24,000 tons in 1866 to 17,000 tons in 1668. In Algiers a large quantity of sparto (Alfa) grows but the cost of transport is too expensive to admit of sending it to France.
The British Consul estimates the receipts from this monopoly for the year 1866-7 at $8,418,939, after an expenditure of $4,519,866; thus leaving a clear profit of $3,899,073. In the colonial budget for 1867 the profit on tobacco was estimated at $2,627,976, while the total expenditure of the colony, after deduction of the expenses occasioned by the tobacco management, was set down at $7,033,576.
According to the official tables of the chief of the Administration in Manila, 1871, the total annual revenue derived from the tobacco management between the years 1865 and 1869 amounted, on an average, to $5,367,262. By reason of proper accounts being wanting an accurate estimate of the expenditure cannot be delivered; but it would be at least $4,000,000, so that a profit of only $1,367,262 remains.
Instruccion general para la Direccion, Administracion, y Intervencion de las Rentas Estancadas, 1849.
Memoria sobre el Desestanco del Tabaco en las Islas Filipinas. Don J. S. Agius, Binondo (Manila), 1871.
The tobacco in China appears to have come from the Philippines. "The memoranda discovered in Wang-tao leave no possible doubt that it was first introduced into South China from the Philippine Islands in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, most probably by way of Japan."—(Notes and Queries, China and Japan, May 31st, 1857.)
From Schlegel, in Batavia, it was brought by the Portuguese into Japan somewhere between the years 1573 and 1591, and spread itself so rapidly in China that we find even as early as 1538, that the sale of it was forbidden under penalty of beheading.
According to Notes and Queries, China and Japan, July 31, 1857, the use of tobacco was quite common in the "Manchu" army. In a Chinese work, Natural History Miscellany, it is written: "Yen t'sao (literally smoke plant) was introduced into Fukien about the end of the Wan-li Government, between 1573 and 1620, and was known as Tan-pa-ku (from Tombaku)."
West Cuba produces the best tobacco, the famous Vuelta abajo, 400,000 cwt. at from $14.28 to $99,96 the cwt.; picked sorts being valued at from $571.20 to $714.00 per cwt. Cuba produces 640,000 cwt. The cigars exhibited in the Paris Exhibition of 1867 were worth from $24.99 to $405.98 per thousand. The number of cigars annually exported is estimated at about 5,000,000. (Jury Report, v., 375.) In Jenidje-Karasu (Salonica) 17,500 cwt. are obtained annually, of which 2,500 cwt. are of the first quality; the cost is $1.75 the oka (about .75 per lb.). Picked sorts are worth 15s. per lb., and even more.—Saladin Bey, La Turquie a l'Exposition, p. 91.
In Cuba the tobacco industry is entirely free. The extraordinary increase of the trade and the improved quality of the tobacco are, in great measure, to be ascribed to the honest competition existing between the factories, who receive no other protection from the Government than a recognition of their operations. —(Jury Report, 1867, v., 375.)
Basco also introduced the cultivation of silk, and had 4,500,000 mulberry trees planted in the Camarines. This industry, immediately upon his retirement, was allowed to fall into decay.
According to La Perouse, this measure occasioned a revolt in all parts of the island, which had to be suppressed by force of arms. In the same manner the monopoly introduced into America at the same time brought about a dangerous insurrection, and was the means of reducing Venezuela to a state of extreme poverty, and, in fact, was the cause of the subsequent downfall of the colony.
A fardo (pack) contains 40 manos (bundles); 1 mano=10 manojitos, 1 manojito =10 leaves. Regulations, Sec. 7.
Regulations for the tobacco collection agencies in Luzon.—1st. Four classes of Tobacco will be purchased. 2nd. These classes are thus specified: the first to consist or leaves at least 18 inches long (0m 418;) the second of leaves between 14 and 18 inches (0m 325); the third of leaves between 10 and 14 inches (0m 232); and the fourth of leaves at least 7 inches in length (0m 163). Smaller leaves will not be accepted. This last limitation, however, has recently been abandoned so that the quality of the tobacco is continually deprecinting in the hands of the Government, who have added two other classes.
A fardo, 1st class, weighs 60 lbs., and in 1867 the Government rate of pay was as follows:—
1 Fardo, 1st class, 60 lbs $9.50 1 Fardo, 2nd class, 46 lbs 6.00 1 Fardo, 3rd class, 33 lbs 2.75 1 Fardo, 4th class, 18 lbs 1.00
—English Consular Report.
The following table gives the different brands of cigars manufactured by the Government, and the prices at which they could be bought in 1867 in Estanco (i.e. a place privileged for the sale):—
Menas (Classes.) Corresponding Price Price Price Number of Havana Brands. Per arroba Per 1000. Per cigar. cigars in [33 lbs.]. an arroba. Dols. Dols. Cents.
Imperiales. The same. 37.50 30.00 4 .. Prima Veguero. Do. 37.50 30.00 4 .. Segunda Veguero. Regalia. .. 26.00 .. .. Prima superior Filipino. Do. .. 26.00 .. .. 2.a Superior Filipino. None. 38.00 19.00 3 .. 3.a Superior Filipino. Londres .. 15.10 .. .. Prima Filipino. Superior Habano. 21.00 15.00 2 1400 Segunda Superior. Segunda superior Habano. 24.00 8.57 1/8 1 2800 Prima Cortado. The Same. 21.00 15.00 2 1400 Segunda Cortado. Do. 24.00 8.57 1/8 1 2800 Mista Segunda Batido. 20.50 .. .. .. Prima Batido, larga. None. 18.75 .. 1 1800 Segunda Batido, largo. None. 18.75 .. 1/2 3750
On an average 407,500,000 cigars and 1,041,000 lbs. raw tobacco are exported annually, the weight of which together is about 56,000 cwt. after deducting what is given away in the form of gratuities.
The poor peasant being brought into this situation finds it very hard to maintain his family. He is compelled to borrow money at an exorbitant rate of interest, and, consequently, sinks deeper and deeper into debt and misery. The dread of fines or bodily punishment, rather than the prospect of high prices, is the chief method by which the supplies can be kept up.—(Report of the English Consul.)
From December 1853 to November 1854 the colony possessed four captains-general (two effective and two provisional). In 1850 a new nominee, Oidor (member of the Supreme Court of Judicature) who with his family voyaged to Manila by the Cape, found, upon his arrival, his successor already in office, the latter having travelled by way of Suez. Such circumstances need not occasion surprise when it is remembered how such operations are repeated in Spain itself.
According to an essay in the Revue Nationale, April, 1867, Spain has had, from 1834 to 1862, i.e. since the accession of Isabella, 4 Constitutions, 28 Parliaments, 47 Chief Ministers, 529 Cabinet Ministers, and 68 Ministers of the Interior; of which last class of officials each, on an average, was in power only six months. For ten years past the Minister of Finance has not remained in office longer than two months; and since that time, particularly since 1868, the changes have followed one another with still greater rapidity.
The reason of this premiun on silver was, that the Chinese bought up all the Spanish and Mexican dollars, in order to send them to China, where they are worth more than other dollars, being known from the voyage of the galleon thither in olden times, and being current in the inland provinces. (The highest price there can be obtained for a Carlos III.)
A mint erected in Manila since that time, which at least supports itself, if the goverment has derived no other advantage from it, has removed this difficulty. The Chinese are accustomed to bring gold and silver as currency, mixed also with foreign coinage, to Manila for the purpose of buying the produce of the country; and all this the native merchants had recoined. At first only silver ounces were usually obtainable in Manila, gold ounces very rarely. This occasioned such a steady importation that the conditions were completely reversed. In the Insular Treasury the gold and silver dollar are always reckoned at the same value.
The Chinese were generally known in the Philippines as "Sangleys"; according to Professor Schott, "sang-lui (in the south szang-loi, also senng-loi) mercatorum ordo." "Sang" is more specially applied to the travelling traders, in opposition to "ku," tabernarii.
...... "They are a wicked and vicious people, and, owing to their numbers, and to their being such large eaters, they consume the provisions and render them dear ......It is true the town cannot exist without the Chinese, as they are the workers in all the trades and business, and very industrious, and work for small wages; but for that very reason a lesser number of them would be sufficient."— Morga, p. 349.
"Recopilacion," Lib. iv., Tit. xviii., ley. 1.
"Informe," I., iii., 73.
The Chinese were not permitted to live in the town, but in a district specially set apart for them.
Velarde, 274.
See following chapter.
Zuniga, xvi.
No single people in Europe can in any way compare with the inhabitants of California, which, in the early years of its existence, was composed only of men in the prime of their strength and activity, without aged people, without women, and without children. Their activity, in a country where everything had to be provided (no civilised neighbors living within some hundred miles or so), and where all provisions were to be obtained only at a fabulous cost, was stimulated to the highest pitch. Without here going into the particulars of their history, it need only be remembered that they founded, in twenty-five years, a powerful State, the fame of which has spread all over the world, and around whose borders young territories have sprung into existence and flourished vigorously; two of them indeed having attained to the condition of independent States. After the Californian gold-diggers had changed the configuration of the ground of entire provinces by having, with Titanic might, deposited masses of earth into the sea until they expanded into hilly districts, so as to obtain therefrom, with the aid of ingenious machinery, the smallest particle of gold which was contained therein, they have astonished the world in their capacity of agriculturalists, whose produce is sent even to the most distant markets, and everywhere takes the first rank without dispute. Such mighty results have been achieved by a people whose total number scarcely, indeed, exceeds 500,000; and therefore, perhaps, they may not find it an easy matter to withstand the competition of the Chinese.
The rails, if laid in one continuous line, would measure about 103,000 feet, the weight of them being 20,000 cwt. Eight Chinamen were engaged in the work, relieving one another by fours. These men were chosen to perform this feat on account of their particular activity, out of 10,000.
(The translator of the 1875 London edition notes: "This statement is incorrect, so far as the fact of the feat being accomplished by Chinese is concerned. Eight Europeans were engaged in this extraordinary piece of work. During the rejoicings which took place in Sacramento upon the opening of the line, these men were paraded in a van, with the account of their splendid achievement painted in large letters on the outside. Certainly not one of them was a Chinaman."—C.
Magellan fell on April 27, struck by a poisoned arrow, on the small island of Mactan, lying opposite the harbor of Cebu. His lieutenant, Sebastian de Elcano, doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and on September 6, 1522, brought back one of the five ships with which Magellan set sail from St. Lucar in 1519, and eighteen men, with Pigafetta, to the same harbor, and thus accomplished the first voyage round the world in three years and fourteen days.
1565 is the date for what is now the Philippines.—C.
Villalobos gave this name to one of the Southern islands and Legaspi extended it to the entire archipelago.—C.
"According to recent authors they were also named after Villalobos in 1543.—Morga, p. 5.
According to Morga (p. 140) there was neither king nor governor, but in each island and province were numerous persons of rank, whose dependants and subjects were divided into quarters (barrios) and families. These petty rulers had to render homage by means of tributes from the crops (buiz), also by socage or personal service: but their relations were exempted from such services as were rendered by the plebeians (timauas). The dignities of the chieftains were hereditary, their honors descended also to their wives. If a chief particularly distinguished himself, then the rest followed him; but the Government retained to themselves the administration of the Barangays through their own particular officials. Concerning the system of slavery under the native rule, Morga says (p. 41, abbreviated),—"The natives of these islands are divided into three classes—nobles, timauas or plebeians, and the slaves of the former. There are different sorts of slaves: some in complete slavery (Saguiguilires), who work in the house, as also their children. Others live with their families in their own houses and render service to their lords at sowing and harvest-time, also as boatmen, or in the construction of houses, etc. They must attend as often as they are required, and give their services without pay or recompense of any kind. They are called Namarnahayes; and their duties and obligations descend to their children and successors. Of these Saguiguilires and Namamahayes a few are full slaves, some half slaves, and others quarter slaves.
When, for instance, the mother or father was free, the only son would be half free, half slave. Supposing there were several sons, the first one inherits the father's position, the second that of the mother. When the number is unequal the last one is half free and half slave; and the descendants born of such half slayes and those who are free are quarter slaves. The half slaves, whether or narnamahayes, serve their lords equally every month in turns. Half and quarter slaves can, by reason of their being partially free, compel their lord to give them their freedom at a previously determined and unfluctuating price: but full slaves do not possess this right. A namamahaye is worth half as much as a saguiguilire. All slaves are natives."
Again, at p. 143, he writes:—"A slave who has children by her lord is thereby freed together with her children. The latter, however, are not considered well born, and cannot inherit property; nor do the rights of nobility, supposing in such a case the father to possess any, descend to them."
He made the Filipinos of his encomienda of Vigan his heirs, and has ever been held in grateful memory.—C.
Grav. 30.
Chamisso ("Observations and Views," p. 72), thanks to the translator of Zuniga, knew that he was in duty bound to dwell at some length over this excellent history; though Zuniga's narrative is always, comparatively speaking, short and to the point. The judiciously abbreviated English translation, however, contains many miscomprehensions.
Principally by hiring the assassination of the gifted native leader, Silang.—C.
Danger to Europeans, "Massacre of all white people," was a frequent Spanish allegation in political disturbances, but the only proof ever given (the 9th degree Masonic apron stupidly attributed to the Katipunan in 1896) was absurd and irrelevant.—C.
Professor Jagor here follows the report sent out by the authorities. There seems better ground for believing the affair to have been merely a military mutiny over restricting rights which was made a pretext for getting rid of those whose liberal views were objectionable to the government.—C.
I take the liberty, here, of citing an instance of this. In 1861, when I found myself on the West Coast of Mexico, a dozen backwoods families determined upon settling in Sonora (forming an oasis in the desert); a plan which was frustrated by the invasion at that time of the European powers. Many native farmers awaited the arrival of these immigrants in order to settle under their protection. The value of land in consequence of the announcement of the project rose very considerably.
It is called so in consequence of the island being nearly divided in the parallel of 14 deg. N., by two bays.
Since my return home, at the desire of that distinguished agriculturist, Colonel Austin, of South Carolina, I have sent for some samples of the different kinds, and under his care it will no doubt be well treated.
On my arrival at Singapore, this circumstance was investigated by a court of inquiry. The result showed that Mr. Knox had no knowledge of the Vincennes having been seen; for the officer of the watch had not reported to him the fact.
Chewing the betelnut and pepper-leaf also produces this effect, and is carried to a great extent among these islanders.
The Sultan, on the visit of one of our merchant-vessels, had informed the supercargo that he wished to encourage our trade, and to see the vessels of the United States coming to his port.
This name is derived from the large bay that makes in on the south side of the island of Mindanao, and on which a set of freebooters reside.
From the History of a Voyage of the China Sea, by John White.
P. 115.
Pp. 116-119.
P. 121.
Pp. 125-128.
Pp. 137-138.
Pp. 143-144.
Pp. 144-146. | <urn:uuid:3bc5f96d-c53e-425c-bf0b-139d74a523b8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.hotfreebooks.com/book/The-Former-Philippines-thru-Foreign-Eyes-Fedor-Jagor-Tomas-de-Comyn-Chas-Wilkes-Rudolf-Virchow--15.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.959578 | 7,164 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Introduction: Digispark & WS2812 Rainbow Wheel in a Box
This tiny project has been made around a nicely carved 10x6x5cm wooden box I found in a shop.
Its best feature, which has not actually been properly caught on camera, is to light up with bright, saturated colors, the sides of the tree-carved lid of the box.
On the other side, be aware that using a rainbow effect on a strip of narrow RGB 5050 LEDs will always result in a whiteish illumination within some centimeters from the LEDs, as each pixel's color soon mixes with its neighbors'. Should you want to avoid this effect, you can try using some focusing lens
The brightness of the lamp is kept proportional to the ambient light thanks to a LDR: the lamp will shine in daylight conditions and won't be too bright when used as a nightlight, in the dark.
Bill of materials:
- one Attiny85 Digispark (clone) board, with its Micronucleusbootloader
- one 8x WS2812 bar
- one LDR, used to tune the lamp's brightness depending on the surroundings
- one 10KΩ pull-up resistor for the LDR
- an USB micro cable to program the Digispark and to power the lamp once done
- an hollow wooden box
- a 5V⎓ power source (capable of providing not less than 500mA)
Skills and tools:
- PlatformIO (running on Visual Studio Code) as the IDE - any Arduino IDE will do the job, though
- a soldering iron, some solder wire and basic soldering skills
- some wiring, scissors
- some glue, tweezers
- some opaque paint (to cover Digispark LED and to protect the LDR from being influenced by the lamp light)
Step 1: Digispark and PlatformIO
- Digispark (and every clone involving the same 8-bit microcontroller) is a breakout board built around an AVR Attiny85, capable of straightforward USB communication thanks to a Micronucleusbootloader.
Please find any further information on its wiki: http://digistump.com/wiki/digispark
Step 2: Schematic and Wiring
- connect three wires to the WS2812 bar (ground, power input and data input)
- wire ground and Vcc to 5V and GND pin of the Digispark
- solder the remaining wire to Digispark's P0 pin
- solder a 10KΩ resistor to GND and P2 pins of the board
- use two wires to connect the LDR to 5V and P2 pins (I used barely visible enameled wires for aesthetic reasons)
Step 3: Firmware
Find the code for this project on my GitHub: https://github.com/fbattarra/attiny85_8bit_ldr_rai...
Nice to know:
- #include has to be used while working with PlatformIO
- the parameters, like pins' assignment, number of WS2812 LEDs, rainbow wheel speed and dark/bright thresholds for both LEDs and LDR are at the beginning of the code
- Adafruit Neopixel is the library used to control the WS2812 LEDs
- RunningMedian library is used to make LDR readings more stable; due to the boundaries set, mapping LED brightness boundaries, this is especially nice in low brightness condition, where a tiny fluctuation may result in an annoying flickering
- You won't find any attempt of locking the Attiny85, so the project will remain editable
Some hints (appearing also in the README.md file on GitHub):
- To upload the code, make sure to have an USB cable with every pin wired: cheap charging cables often have just +5V and ground wired
- Uploading from PlatformIO to DigiSpark needs you to plug the DigiSpark after compiling, even though the console doesn't warn "now it's time to plug your DigiSpark", as Arduino IDE does.
- Quick fix for issue in uploading to DigiSpark from PlatformIO on MacOS: PIO issue 111
- Cheap USB chargers may provide dirty/noisy output, which could make LEDs oddly flicker especially at low brightness: make sure to have a clean 5VDC source, or to filter adding a capacitor (or a more proper circuit)
Step 4: Casing & Finishing Touch
- Carve an hole in the box of your choice for hosting the project, to plug your USB cable. Be aware that the bigger the hole around the micro USB connector, the more the leaking of light from your LED bar, unless you won't provide some opaque seal.
- Carve an hole for the LDR; make sure to make it point not towards the area that will be illuminated by the LEDs, otherwise the auto-regulation will fall in a loop
- Engrave the inner surface to make room for the LED bar, as you should not want to directly see the LEDs while looking at your lamp
- Seal with an opaque medium the bottom of the LDR, to avoid any interference in sensing environment's brightness caused be the WS2812 bar
- Use a drop of opaque paint to mask the Digispark power led, thus avoiding having it shining inside the box
- Glue Digispark board, LED bar, LDR and every cable to avoid the interior of your hollow box looking untidy
- Foresee an USB cable with a switch, to easily turn on and off the lamp | <urn:uuid:b4991892-02d0-4b5a-afe5-97d042c6dafa> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.instructables.com/Digistump-WS2812B-Rainbow-Wheel-in-a-Box/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.894911 | 1,172 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Patent NO: 9,070,294
Patent Tittle: Automated warning methods and systems for the prevention of animal-vehicle accidents
Inventors: Wyble; Thomas J. (Williamson, NY), Moore; Steven R. (Pittsford, NY)
Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Norwalk, CT)
Family ID: 1000001187249
Appl. No.: 13/895,962
Filed: May 16, 2013
Abstract: Methods and systems for preventing collisions between vehicles and moving hazards include the use of active signs, a network of sensors, and a controller. Such sensors can be placed adjacent to a roadway and are used to detect the presence of animals. The active signs display a local speed limit. The controller accepts the sensor signals as input and outputs display commands to the active signs. The controller maintains a rolling window of recent detections in histogram form. The recent data, together with a control law specified by the municipal authority, can be used to specify updated local speed limits to influence driver behavior. | <urn:uuid:4635d4ac-d7d2-4cc9-8640-a9c46dbf3ad4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://patentyogi.com/latest-patents/xerox-patents-road-side-sensors-to-detect-and-protect-animals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.812086 | 221 | 2.15625 | 2 |
BIRS Workshop Lecture Videos
Hilbert's Nullstellensatz, Grobner Bases, and NP-Complete Problems Susan Margulies; Margulies, Susan
Combinatorial problems can be represented elegantly and efficiently by systems of polynomial equations. Those systems are either feasible or infeasible, depending on whether or not the underlying combinatorial property is present or not present. In this general survey talk, we will explore the infeasible polynomial systems and their associated combinatorial Nullstellensatz certificates, and we will also explore the feasible polynomial systems and their associated Grobner bases. Along the way, we will highlight some natural questions that arise and identify specific advantages/disadvantages of these methods. We will also suggest open problems and further research directions whenever possible.
Item Citations and Data
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International | <urn:uuid:16c2d6af-bedd-428e-bfd5-e53c07678a48> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/48630/items/1.0380350 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.866121 | 200 | 1.75 | 2 |
Hydrodynamic phenomena can be observed with light thanks to the analogy between quantum gases and nonlinear optics. In this Letter, we report an experimental study of the superfluid-like properties of light in a (1+1)-dimensional nonlinear optical mesh lattice, where the arrival time of optical pulses plays the role of a synthetic spatial dimension. A spatially narrow defect at rest is used to excite sound waves in the fluid of light and measure the sound speed. The critical velocity for superfluidity is probed by looking at the threshold in the deposited energy by a moving defect, above which the apparent superfluid behavior breaks down. Our observations establish optical mesh lattices as a promising platform to study fluids of light in novel regimes of interdisciplinary interest, including non-Hermitian and/or topological physics.
Bibliographical noteFunding Information:
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Royal Society European Commission H2020 European Research Council Provincia Autonoma di Trento Google
This project was supported by German Research Foundation (DFG) in the framework of Project No. PE 523/14-1 and by the International Research Training Group (IRTG) 2101. H. M. P. is supported by the Royal Society via Grants No. UF160112, No. RGF\EA\180121, and No. RGF\R1\180071. I. C. acknowledges financial support from the European Union FET-Open Grant “MIR-BOSE” (No. 737017), from the H2020-FETFLAG-2018-2020 project “PhoQuS” (No. 820392), from the Provincia Autonoma di Trento, from the Q@TN initiative, and from Google via the quantum NISQ award.
© 2021 American Physical Society.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all) | <urn:uuid:cf1b5d15-8aca-4b41-86ae-0b1dea330a64> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/superfluidity-of-light-and-its-breakdown-in-optical-mesh-lattices | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.849127 | 413 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Listing down some of the popular career paths in psychology
Counsellors are people who help others towards understanding their situation by having them talk freely and benevolently about their problems, feelings, emotions, and approach towards life. All information shared with the counsellor is kept confidential. Some of the essential skill sets of a counsellor include empathy, patience, great communication, analysis of the situation the client is facing, and solution to cope with the problem.
Clinical psychologists are highly specialized professionals trained for the diagnosis of mental, emotional, and behavioural disorders. Some may specialize further in various niche categories like substance abuse, suicide, mental trauma therapies for all ages. They are likely to collaborate with the medical team, social workers, educational institutes, psychiatrists, and experienced clinical psychologists. They may be called expert witnesses in the act as expert witnesses for legal needs.
Forensic psychology is applying psychology to legal issues within the judicial system. A forensic psychologist could also have a law background. These psychologists work towards profiling the person who has conducted the felony or mapping the mind of the suspect. It is only natural for the forensic psychologist to know civil as well as criminal law.
Industrial or Organizational Psychologist
Industrial Psychologists apply their research knowledge and techniques towards helping organizations and their employees to improve their work performance and productivity as well as enhance their skill sets. You could be working as an HR professional towards planning and charting the selection procedure for various employment needs, assessing the performance, right attitude, and future of the employees.
Teaching & Research
Teaching Psychology is another choice of work if you want to teach undergraduate, postgraduate, or doctoral-level students. One can also consider taking up research projects while teaching or even get jobs that are flexible to focus on your research work altogether. To pursue further research work, one may need to have pursued Ph.D.
Educational psychologists can be school counsellors, trainers, career counsellors, etc. Educational psychologists are normally trained in the education department (psychology) and employed in schools, colleges, and universities. They help towards making the foundation of students who need guidance in their life.
Sport psychologists help with focussing on the identification and application of psychological techniques to ease and enrich a player’s performance and participation in sports activity as there is intense pressure towards the outcome of their performance. Additionally, as a sports psychologist, you can help the player overcome the fear of failure, anxiety, insecurities, and even traumatic past (injury) built upon them from time to time.
Vishwakarma University, Pune, provides students with a holistic approach to learning and professional development and offers BA as well as an MA in Psychology. It aims at creating a strong practice-oriented theoretical base that is in sync with recent advances in the field of Psychology. Exposing students to high-level applied, active learning experiences in psychology involving research and clinical practice is an integral part of the course. Taught by a faculty with strong research orientation and field experience, the psychology course at Vishwakarma University offers a perfect balance of academic development and clinical training. | <urn:uuid:ee8e546e-8e4c-44b6-a2ad-199f3ed09ede> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.vupune.ac.in/blog/a-list-of-popular-career-in-psychology-read-now | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.962338 | 664 | 2.609375 | 3 |
|21 days ago||about 6 years ago|
|LicenseRef-Apache||BSD 3-clause "New" or "Revised" License|
Stars - the number of stars that a project has on GitHub. Growth - month over month growth in stars.
Activity is a relative number indicating how actively a project is being developed. Recent commits have higher weight than older ones.
For example, an activity of 9.0 indicates that a project is amongst the top 10% of the most actively developed projects that we are tracking.
We haven't tracked posts mentioning tensorflow yet.
Tracking mentions began in Dec 2020.
What are some alternatives?
rc - Reservoir Computing, an RNN flavor
haskell-ml - Various examples of machine learning, in Haskell.
fastbayes - A Haskell library for Bayesian modeling algorithms that are fast(er than general-purpose sampling).
genetics - A Genetic Algorithm library in Haskell
neural - Neural Nets in native Haskell
htvm - Haskell experiments involving TVM AI framework
order-statistics - L-estimators and order statistics
multilinear - Efficient implementation of tensor-based AI engine for Haskell. | <urn:uuid:76623e03-c3d4-45e6-a5f6-a263c25bf0fa> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.libhunt.com/compare-haskell-vs-HLearn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.801511 | 318 | 1.59375 | 2 |
1. Ash (Old English origin) meaning "remains of fire". Ash is one of the awesome robot names derived from the antagonistic robot in 'Alien'. 2. AstroBoy is the name of the popular Japanese manga and anime featuring a robot superhero, 3. Baymax is the name of the friendly humanoid robot from the film 'Big Hero 6'. 4. You could use this website as a free voice over generator for narrating your videos in cases where don't want to use your real voice. You can also adjust the pitch of the voice to make it sound younger/older, and you can even adjust the rate/speed of the generated speech, so you can create a fast-talking high-pitched chipmunk voice if you want. Acronym Generator, acronym generator from letters, Acronym Creator, Make an acronym, Name generator, Abbreviation, Backronym Generator, abbreviation maker, name maker, name creator, nickname generator, name combiner, funny acronym generator, How to Come Up with a Name, Name a Project, Name a Company, acronym maker that makes sense, acronym creator that makes sense, Backronym Generator, Reverse. When giving the name of a robot, you are required to consider some of the key points which will help you in giving a cool and interesting name for your robot. Choose a name that reflects your robots' and services' personality, which also illustrates your dream. Choose a name you will easily recognize. Pick a name resonating with the. Make reverse acronyms for your name, company, project or any other reason you can think of.To Use the acronym generator, choose a word category, enter your name or a word and click start to find the perfect (reverse) acronym.You will be given a word for each letter in the word or name you choose. Check the Random Acronym Maker page if you .... About MAC Address Generator Click on the map to. | <urn:uuid:e9b2c62e-7577-4b58-8936-6f270c38c69b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://wutwd.leciposieci24.pl/robot-name-generator-with-numbers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.859865 | 396 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Goal: Increase or maintain independent living factors for vulnerable, low-income older adults.
Strategy 1: Senior Crisis Intervention
A senior citizen on a fixed income can quickly find themselves in crisis, which can jeopardize their ability to maintain their independence. We support programs that intervene when seniors need it most to keep them from losing their homes, get the medical care they need, pay their utility bills and more.
Strategy 2: Senior Service Network Navigation
Connecting seniors with the network of services available to them is vital to ensuring low-income seniors can stay independent as long as possible. We support programs that provide services, information, support, referral and advocacy to prevent seniors from losing their independence.
Strategy 3: Senior Social Integration
Remaining a part of the social fabric of our community has a documented positive affect on a senior citizen's ability to stay healthy and independent for as long as possible. We support programs that provide activities to help seniors improve or maintain social integration.
Why This Matters
- Nearly everyone wants to grow old in their own home, regardless of physical, cognitive, or economic abilities. Recent research on home-based health programs suggests that aging in place can yield potential cost savings at the individual, state, and federal levels. Although the current body of research is limited, these studies demonstrate the benefits of aging in place — benefits that extend beyond cost savings to include social and emotional benefits to both seniors and the broader community.1
- Over half of seniors in our County live alone (52%). Sadly, some seniors will achieve their goal of aging in place but feel isolated and lonely. Nearly half of seniors (47%) in a recently completed survey report not having someone they could borrow $100 from in an emergency.2 Health studies show that older, isolated people have much higher rates of mortality from breast cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease and other chronic diseases. According to researchers, being isolated is just as bad for people as smoking and is worse than being obese.3&4
Love This Work? Join Us.
Give: Make a donation to our Older Adults work. We are local dollars changing local lives.
Advocate: We support policies that ensure education outcomes. View our Public Policy Platform here. | <urn:uuid:0ae17956-e844-4904-a658-284ca22b27b2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.uwwashtenaw.org/older-adults | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.960195 | 453 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Latest Videos |view all videos
New research at Mayo Clinic is bringing hope to hundreds of thousands of people with Crohn's disease.
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Peter J. Grahn, Ph.D., Kendall H. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., Igor A. Lavrov, M.D., Ph.D., and Kristin D. Zhao, Ph.D., review the results of their study showing volitional movement, standing and steplike actions via spinal cord neuromodulation in ...
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Joseph A. Murray, M.D., reveals a surprising trend in which a large portion of the population has independently begun avoiding gluten in their diet, making it extremely challenging for determining accurate trending in the state of celiac disease incidents.
Jordan Rullo, Ph.D., L.P., a board-certified clinical health psychologist and certified sex therapist at the Women's Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, discusses the symptoms and prevalence of antidepressant-induced sexual ... | <urn:uuid:c310e8f3-94f9-4a31-b752-a8bced863ee0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://medprofvideos.mayoclinic.org/research/page/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.908857 | 294 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Terrestrial environments are generally far more physically complex, largely because of habitat provided by plants, both above and below ground. … Rooted freshwater plants tend to occur in clear, plankton-poor waters, whereas floating plants and phytoplankton dominate waters of high productivity.)
Which ecosystem has the highest amount of biodiversity and why?
Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species that can be found in a particular place. Coral reefs are believed by many to have the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem on the planet—even more than a tropical rainforest.
Which environment has most biodiversity?
Species richness is greatest in tropical ecosystems. Tropical rain forests on land and coral reefs in marine systems are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth and have become the focus of popular attention.
Does freshwater have high biodiversity?
Freshwater has abundant biodiversity. Given that lakes and rivers only make up . 007 percent of Earth’s total water, the relative biodiversity in freshwater is greater than both marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
Does freshwater or saltwater have more biodiversity?
A first glance at the data confirmed that there is indeed more diversity in freshwater than saltwater, especially given the relative volume of freshwater to saltwater on Earth. Of all living ray-finned fish, the researchers found 15,149 species live in freshwater and 14,736 live in saltwater.
What terrestrial biome has the most biodiversity?
Tropical forests have the highest biodiversity and primary productivity of any of the terrestrial biomes.
What makes an ecosystem with high biodiversity low biodiversity?
When an ecosystem has high biodiversity it is always more stable than an ecosystem that has low biodiversity. … Low biodiversity is when there are a few prominent species and a low number of other species within the habitat. High biodiversity is a habitat or ecosystem that has a high number of different species.
What terrestrial biome has the lowest biodiversity?
Of the three forest biomes, the taiga has the lowest biodiversity.
Which biome has the highest biodiversity the lowest why?
Tropical forests are widely considered to have the greatest species diversity of the terrestrial biomes and the tundra biome has the least.
What place most likely have low biodiversity?
The arctic regions of the world have the least biodiversity because plants don’t survive in the extreme cold and ice that cover these regions year-round. However, life does exist in the arctic regions, mostly affiliated with the seas that surround them.
How much biodiversity is in freshwater?
Fresh water makes up only 0.01% of the World’s water and approximately 0.8% of the Earth’s surface, yet this tiny fraction of global water supports at least 100000 species out of approximately 1.8 million – almost 6% of all described species.
How does biodiversity affect freshwater?
New study shows how greater biodiversity more efficiently scrubs pollutants from freshwater. A new landmark study not only proves that adding more species to a freshwater stream linearly increases the ecosystem’s ability to clean pollutants, but also shows why.
Why is biodiversity in freshwater important?
Freshwater species are important to local ecosystems, provide sources of food and income to humans and are key to flood and erosion control. … However, freshwater species are going extinct more rapidly than terrestrial or marine species. | <urn:uuid:ce2d9dab-c54c-49cc-a856-fc786fe07be6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://savethebeaches.net/waste-management/frequent-question-why-do-terrestrial-and-freshwater-environments-have-so-much-more-biodiversity.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.921845 | 679 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Practice Relating to Rule 5. Definition of Civilians
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) states: “The civilian population is defined by exclusion. This means that civilians are those persons who are not combatants.”
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007) states: “The civilian population is defined by exclusion. Civilians are all those persons who are not combatants.”
The manual further defines a civilian as “any person who does not belong to the armed forces and is not taking part in a levée en masse
Spain’s Penal Code (1995) contains a chapter on crimes against protected persons who are defined as “the civilian population and individual civilians protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 or Additional Protocol I of 8 June 1977”.
In 2010, in the Couso case, which concerned the killing of a Spanish journalist in Baghdad on 8 April 2003 by troops of the United States of America, the Criminal Chamber of Spain’s Supreme Court noted:
Article 608 of our PC [Penal Code (1995)] … entitled “Offences against Protected Persons and Objects in the Event of Armed Conflict” within the … [Title] dedicated to “Offences against the International Community” specifies that
“for the purposes of this chapter, protected persons are understood as:
3. The civilian population and individual civilians protected by the IV Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 or Additional Protocol I of 8 June 1977”.
[emphasis in original]
The Court also referred to norms of IHL relevant to the case under review, including Article 50 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I defining the civilian population. | <urn:uuid:9921188c-946f-498f-a4d5-509fd5a972b2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/ara/print/v2_cou_es_rule5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.922407 | 356 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Decision due from US on Bombardier trade dispute
A preliminary US finding on a trade dispute which could threaten thousands of Northern Irish jobs is due later.
Aerospace giant Boeing claims its Canadian rivals Bombardier received unfair state subsidies from the UK and Canada, allowing them to sell airliners at below cost prices to the US.
Bombardier employs around 5,000 people at a plant in East Belfast and signed a 5.6 billion US dollar deal last year to provide up to 125 of its new C-Series aircraft to Atlanta-based Delta Airlines. The wings are made in Belfast and Prime Minister Theresa May has lobbied President Donald Trump over the importance of preserving the manufacturing posts.
The US Department of Commerce could introduce a preliminary tariff on the C-Series, which would increase the cost of importing the plane to the US, when it publishes its initial findings later.
A recent Bombardier statement said: “It is pure hypocrisy for Boeing to say that the C-Series launch pricing is a ‘violation of global trade law’ when Boeing does the same for its new aircraft.”
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The Northern Ireland powersharing Executive and UK Government pledged to invest almost £135 million in the establishment of the C-Series manufacturing site in Belfast.
The programme received one billion US dollars from the provincial government in Quebec in 2015 when its fortunes appeared to be ailing.
Mrs May’s intervention came after she was pressed to raise the issue by DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose 10 MPs are propping up her minority administration in the House of Commons and are expected to play a crucial role during upcoming Brexit business in Parliament.
The C-Series is a single aisle, mid-range aircraft which will provide competition for the Boeing 737.
Deliveries are due to begin next year.
The innovative carbon-fibre composite technology, developed in Belfast to produce the wings, enables material and aircraft weight savings, contributing significantly to the C-Series airliner’s economic and environmental credentials, Bombardier said.
Delta is taking the smaller CS100 model of the plane.
Bombardier is a Montreal-based multinational which had been under financial pressure and invested large sums in its new jet programme. It is crucial to many jobs in Belfast.
In February last year the firm announced 1,080 job losses at its Northern Ireland plants following delays to the C-Series.
Bombardier is one of Northern Ireland’s largest employers and supports hundreds of other jobs through its suppliers. | <urn:uuid:0de2c1ff-3237-4712-af8b-335ea84425a9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/decision-due-us-bombardier-trade-dispute-1078938 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.942821 | 665 | 1.539063 | 2 |
In mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the due diligence process takes center stage. This is where you review the target company’s historical performance, financial projections, marketing strategy and a host of other factors. The challenge, however, is that focusing on checklists, financial statements and other specific company details can produce a by-the-numbers, mechanistic approach to M&A, one that overshadows another important process — namely, strategic decision-making.
In fact, strategic decision-making in M&A is just as important as due diligence, but it is often overlooked, says James Schrager, clinical professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Over the course of his career managing corporate turnarounds, conducting research, advising CEOs and sitting in corporate boardrooms, Schrager has identified what he describes as three of the most overlooked strategies for sound decision-making in M&A. | <urn:uuid:61de4c40-cd8a-4579-a9e1-da496c6b32d2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://business.bofa.com/en-us/content/merger-acquisition-strategy-beyond-due-diligence.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.954662 | 195 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Argen MODEL Resin
About The Product
Argen MODEL is a strong new model material that is ideal for fast printing of dental and orthodontic models. Argen MODEL has been designed to reproduce smooth, flawless details with increased printing speed and has an integrated thermoforming release agent which makes it idea for orthodontic models. Easy to print and available in 2 different colours to best suit the needs of the dental laboratory.
- Validated for multiple open-source 3D printers
- Printer Compatibility: 385nm and 405nm
- 2 colour options | <urn:uuid:0a0565dd-1f47-4018-954a-0170837b4726> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://argen.com/store/products/19910 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.892407 | 120 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Economic growth is expected to stay at around 4 percent in 2018 and accelerate gradually in the medium term
WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, April 12, 2018,-/African media Agency (AMA)/-
Real GDP growth is expected to stay at around 4 percent in 2018, and accelerate gradually in the medium term, supported by structural reforms and infrastructural projects.
The government reduced the fiscal deficit in 2017 by aligning spending with lower than expected revenues. Efforts are underway to strengthen revenues through collecting tax arrears and introducing a VAT.
The IMF mission reached staff-level agreement on measures needed to meet the 2018 program targets and support growth over the medium term.
A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Xiangming Li visited São Tomé and Príncipe during March 28-April 12, 2018 to conduct the 2018 Article IV consultation and the fifth review of São Tomé and Príncipe’s economic program supported by the IMF’s three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.
At the end of the visit, Ms. Li issued the following statement:
“Following productive discussions, the IMF team and the authorities of São Tomé and Príncipe reached a staff level agreement on measures for the completion of the fifth review under the ECF arrangement subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board. The IMF Executive Board is tentatively scheduled to consider the fifth ECF review and the 2018 Article IV Consultation in June 2018.
“Economic growth in 2017 decelerated somewhat to 3.9 percent in 2017, as the public spending impetus was constrained by reduced external inflows. Year-on-year inflation increased to 7.7 percent at end-2017, mainly driven by unseasonal rainfall and one-off factors, such as new import taxes and charges.
“Program performance at end-2017 was uneven. The performance criteria (PCs) on the domestic primary balance and net bank financing of the central government were missed marginally, and the PC on net international reserves was missed as external inflows fell short. Other quantitative targets were met, and structural reforms are advancing but with delay.
“Economic growth is expected to stay at around 4 percent in 2018 and accelerate gradually in the medium term, supported by externally-financed projects in the construction, agriculture, and tourism sectors. The near-term outlook, however, is subject to downside risks, including pre-election fiscal pressures and lower than expected disbursement of external funds for projects. On the upside, interest has heightened for acquiring petroleum exploration rights from the country, which will help to boost reserves and deliver more inclusive growth through both the local operations and social project components.
“The mission encouraged the authorities to maintain commitment to macroeconomic stability and reform momentum, especially in an election year; to move forward in implementing the tourism development strategy; and to pursue complementary policies that remove supply-side bottlenecks, promote inclusive growth, and tackle environmental challenges. In addition, the mission encouraged the authorities to continue their efforts to regularize arrears to Angola, Brazil, and Equatorial Guinea, and debt to Nigeria.
“Program review discussions focused on policies to strengthen public finances, reduce the debt burden, build the international reserves buffer, and safeguard macroeconomic and financial stability. The mission discussed with the authorities the essential steps for a successful introduction of a VAT in 2019 and measures for achieving the 2018 fiscal targets, including the key priority of collecting tax arrears from large debtors. It recommended continued efforts to strengthen public financial management, reform the state-owned enterprises, particularly the utility company, EMAE, to mitigate the fiscal risk posed by its large losses, and strengthen the management of externally funded projects to facilitate infrastructural development and social spending. In addition, the mission advised the authorities to continue to implement the strategy for resolving non-performing loans and expedite the liquidation of Banco Equador and resolution of Banco Privado.
“During its visit, the mission met with the Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, Minister of Finance, Commerce and the Blue Economy Américo Ramos, the Governor of the BCSTP Hélio Almeida, other ministers and senior government officials, representatives of the private sector, including banks and the Chamber of Commerce, and development partners.
“The team expresses its deep appreciation to the authorities for their cooperation and policy dialogue. It looks forward to an active and continued dialogue with the aim of maintaining macroeconomic stability and achieving inclusive growth in São Tomé and Príncipe.”
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of International Monetary Fund (IMF). | <urn:uuid:35b60c2a-f7e0-44a0-873a-b805732971de> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://panafricanvisions.com/2018/04/international-monetary-fund-staff-completes-combined-2018-article-iv-consultation-and-fifth-extended-credit-facility-review-mission-for-sao-tome-and-principe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.947994 | 974 | 1.578125 | 2 |
One of the challenges when using archives is how to cite their materials as the source of your information. Archival materials are unpublished and come in a wide range of formats. In addition, each archive organises their collections differently, so you need to investigate their organisational system and the identifiers that they use in their catalogue.
My usual method for citing sources is to use the following six questions and place the answers in that general order in a citation. This puts the author in first place, which is useful in a bibliography that is sorted alphabetically.
My six question model for source citations:
- Whose work is it (author)?
- What is it?
- Who created it (if not the author)?
- Where was it created?
- When was it created?
- Are there any additional details required to find it again?
This method does work for archival sources, as shown by the following examples:
An unpublished diary held in the archives of the Society of Australian Genealogists:
John Augustus Milbourne Marsh, unpublished journal commences 1 September 1848 on ship from England to Australia, Item 2/301, Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney Australia.
A photograph held in the archives of the Society of Australian Genealogists:
Anonymous, John Willoughby Bean (b1881 Bathurst NSW Australia), unpublished photograph in album of Edwin and Lucy Bean, Item 6/1165, Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney Australia.
However, some archives suggest a different citation structure. They suggest that the name of the institution or repository be in first place in the citation, followed by descriptor information such as the record series and alphanumerical codes used in their catalogues.
Some, such as the NSW State Archives and the UK National Archives, omit the name of the creator of the source altogether or suggest that the information is optional in a citation. I do not agree with this. It is important in family history to understand who created a source and naming them in a citation should not be optional. It is also important to understand the nature of the source and a citation without the title of the item does not meet our needs.
Putting the repository in first place is not a problem if the creator of the source is clearly named, such as in this example from the NSW State Archives:
NSW State Archives: Supreme Court of NSW, Probate Division; NRS 13660, Probate packets. Series 4-152266 James Smith Hollisen – Date of Death 15/12/1927, Granted On 26/06/1928.
If you are using material from a family history archive, you may be able to gather information to help with your citation by examining other material that was donated with it, and looking for a record of who donated the material and whose family history it belongs to.
Some archives provide guidelines for citing their materials. You should use their guidelines, but bear in mind my suggestions in this article about providing more information about the creator of the materials and a clear description of the materials.
When creating a source citation for archival material, remember the reasons for source citations and include all the necessary information to achieve those purposes. You might like to read my earlier blog posts on this topic: Four good reasons, Part 1; Four good reasons, Part 2.
A few archival guidelines: | <urn:uuid:41cdcce0-0f30-442d-9e92-06f9742c17d1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://generationsgenealogyaus.wordpress.com/tag/citations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.932907 | 695 | 3.3125 | 3 |
3 Mucuna Seeds, Mucuna pruriens
Uses: Culinary/Medicinal/Lucid Dreaming
When to Sow: Spring
Ease of Germination: Moderate
Twining annual found throughout India. Grown for seed pods and its young leaves which are used as vegetable and fodder. Ayurvedic medicinal herb used traditionally as a nerve tonic. Seeds are a natural storehouse of L-dopa, a precursor of the neural transmitter, dopamine. In a recent clinical trial, Parkinson's sufferers treated with crushed seeds regained some mobility with fewer side effects than conventional drugs. | <urn:uuid:cfbbbb63-3091-4702-91fe-e2a4c210602a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.white-buffalo-trading.com/store/p737/3_Mucuna_Seeds%2C_Mucuna_pruriens.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.915763 | 130 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Assisi Catholic College introduced LearnPath at the beginning of 2018. In this video Laurel shares her experiences with getting started, her process for creating guides, and tips for using LearnPath.
Laurel, could you start by giving us a little bit of background on yourself and your school?
Yes sure. I’m a full-time teacher librarian at Assisi Catholic College on the Gold Coast and we are part of Brisbane Catholic Education. We are a co-educational P to 12 College, and we have one library that caters for the whole school community of around 1400 students.
And when did LearnPath get implemented at Assisi Catholic College?
We started using LearnPath at the start of 2018 so it’s just over a year ago now that we’ve been using LearnPath.
What role does LearnPath play in your school?
For us, LearnPath is becoming a really integral part of the research process. And we’re essentially seeing it as a curated springboard into any kind of research project that students are looking at.
It’s a starting point really. But also, it’s a place that the students can easily come back to for that extra help in that whole learning anywhere, anytime model.
It’s not the only tool that the students and teachers can use. But it’s a really wonderful add on that provides a really rich set of information and skills for the students.
Great. And how did you find getting started with LearnPath? Were there any difficulties? How did you overcome those?
It was actually quite easy overall, to get started, the first step was just contacting Softlink.
To get it set up, I think there’d been an email that was sent out. I read one of those, contacted, and then just had to arrange a time for some online training. And that was really easy to do.
Setting up my first guide I had a few little, you know, challenges there doing the first one, not being sure how to do a few little things. But if I couldn’t work something out it was really easy just to contact one of the LearnPath team and I got really quick and clear answers from them.
There’s also some great written instruction guides that I had access to that I could just kind of look up really quickly as well.
Perfect. And how did you go about getting engagement from teaching staff?
Once I worked out how to set up an actual guide, I contacted a teacher who I knew would be amenable to using it. That was actually our History Head of Department.
So, I sent her a link to the practice one I’d started and I said “look, I can create one for a task that you’re doing at the moment.” She was like “yep, I’m in, I’m immediately in.”
I asked her just to send me a copy of the assessment task and then I designed a guide specifically for that task.
Now she asks for LearnPath around once a term just to complement any research tasks that her students are doing. She then spoke to the head of English who also approached me to set up a guide for her.
So really, it started with that whole word of mouth.
I then asked our leadership if I could speak at a staff meeting and do a short presentation, it was literally like 10 minutes. That was really successful. Straight after that lots more teachers were requesting guides.
We do tend to target the subject areas that are more research based like your history, religion, English. But we also have guides set up for food tech, drama, media.
Also, as a P to 12 school, we have guides set for a lot of our upper primary classes for their units of work.
Then another thing I do every now and then, usually near the start or the end of term, I’ll send out an email just reminding teachers that it’s a service I can give them. That usually gets a few responses as well.
One thing I think is important to note about the way I’m kind of running it here, is that I’m creating the guides for the teachers. I know there is an option in LearnPath where you can give your teachers permission to create their own, individual permission. I prefer to do it where I’m doing it for them. I know it’s a little bit time consuming, but honestly, the workload is really manageable.
And besides, it allows me to have that deeper hands on involvement in the curriculum. It also helps inform my resourcing because I’m really seeing what everyone’s studying, which is all part of that TL role.
So, if I’m to summarise the answer to that question, it’s the combination of word of mouth and doing a bit of self-promotion and advertising, emailing, that kind of thing.
That will garner the interest from your teachers and, I think for them, anything that helps curate information for students in a really easy and integrated way is a bonus. So really, what’s the not to like?
Right, exactly. So, what is your general process for creating a new guide?
Once I’ve got a request from a teacher, I ask them to send me a copy of the task or an aim for the guide, because basically not all guides have to be directly connected to an assessment task.
For example, one of our English teachers wanted a guide that gave a really general introduction to Shakespeare’s life and Elizabethan theatre. That was more of an information guide.
But once I know what the aim of the guide is, I then use all my available resources to curate links into each one of the information boxes on the guide page.
If it’s an assessment task where students have to research say, the Cold War, I usually start with an information box on the top left that gives a short overview of the task. Then my next step is I go to all about online databases that we’ve got subscriptions to and I’ll try and find a couple of articles that will help get them started.
I’m not there to put everything on the page for them that they need. Like I said before, it’s a springboard. But I’ll find some articles, and I’ll link each article to a related image and put it inside its own information box. Then I just hyperlink the heading of the article.
If you don’t have any online database subscriptions, you could do links to Google Scholar articles. Or, if your students have access to council library sites that have information databases, you could have links to those as well.
Another thing I always put on my guide page is, I always include a slider that shows any print books that we have in our collection that are linked to the topic. So for year 6 Natural Disasters, I’ll have a slider about all our natural disasters books so the students can also see that they can get print books as well.
Then I have a look at what AV links we can use. We have ClickView so it’s really easy to go to ClickView, find some related videos, and then embed the links to those in your media boxes on your guide page. Or you can get links from YouTube or Vimeo, etc.
Also, sometimes I’ll include an information box on the guide that has a curated list of websites or just general links to our databases. I always keep going back to the task, just to try and make sure I’m covering all the areas. And then once I feel like it’s complete, I email the link to the Head of Department or the class teacher, they’ll embed it in our LMS.
We use Moodle, so they’ll embed it in Moodle. Our primary uses Seesaw, so they’ll put it into Seesaw as well. And then I’ll often also email a link to the guide page directly to the students if they’re the secondary students.
The beauty of it is I can always go back and add things, or delete things, or as the task evolves over the years you can find new resources. So yeah, it’s just really flexible.
Do you have any tips about creating guides, anything that you wish you knew earlier?
Yeah, one thing comes to mind, I started with a view that the guides would mostly be used for connections to assessment and specific tasks. But like I said before, I figured out that it’s also just a fantastic way to create a curated page of information for just about anything.
So last year I created a page of ideas for Book Week costumes and emailed the link to students.
I’m also starting to work on guides that explain and promote referencing and bibliographies and around the busy times of terms, I’ll send that link to students as a reminder so they can, you know, check on the rules.
You could create guides for things like author visits or novel studies, or Readers Cup, and so on. My kind of tip is don’t just use it for assessment guides, it’s a lot more versatile than you think.
Excellent. What is your design philosophy when you’re creating a LearnPath guide?
Okay, so this also kind of relates to your previous questions of things I wish I’d known earlier or little tips I can give.
In terms of colour, I really think you need to have a plan before you start creating your guide. I did not and now I need to go back and fix a lot of my design stuff that I did early on.
I was kind of just you know, adding colour ad hoc all over the place. My advice would be to choose two or three colours, that are based around your school colours, and stick with them for that whole kind of overall look of your page. It just makes everything look more uniform, more professional, less distracting.
And if you look at any of my old pages, yeah, I definitely have to go back and I’m all over the place. Now that I’ve refined it a bit more, you can see the massive difference. So my tip is once you’ve chosen your perfect colour shade from the colour wheel for your boxes, I think you can see that on the screen, then you can write down a specific colour number, like it gives you an actual number.
I have the colours that I’m going to use on post it notes at my desk and, you know, recorded down in my diary and everything, so I use the exact shade I want from. I had a palette of green, blue, and yellow. So instead of trying to find that exact, and going over the wheel, I just type in the actual shade number, and it’s all done perfectly, and everything looks so much better. So that’s my big design tip.
That’s a good one. And what has been, in your view, the most positive outcome from implementing LearnPath at the school?
From my point of view, I love that we have a really secure, uniform approach to the curation of information. In the past, we had tried various kind of Pathfinder software which was really complex to use. Then I think we moved to something like, we were using Pinterest, but then they made everyone need an account to look at Pinterest.
That was no good for our students. So we’d actually been looking around for a curation tool that was data secure, that integrated into our LMS’s and into our systems, and LearnPath has just ticked all those boxes for us.
I really love the way it brings students back to Oliver. So, if they’re looking at a slider and they want to look at a print book, it’s taking them back into Oliver, showing them the location of that book. And it’s giving them skills they need for study after they finish high school.
It’s been a really positive experience for the teachers and the students and for me.
Wonderful. Laurel, thanks so much!
Thanks for having me. It’s been great chatting. | <urn:uuid:eb599ea9-fb3a-4842-b812-a955ce55ea2e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.softlinkint.com/resource-details/webinar-recording-assisi-catholic-college/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.962663 | 2,599 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Welcome to the Spectrumecons 7 Week Challenge. During the months of July and August, I will be running an economics challenge series. This series will consist of 7 challenges. Some of these challenges will be familiar to my followers, while others will be completely different to any previous challenges or contests I have run.
Each challenge will reward winners with as much as 60 Hive. The value of the prize will depend on the level of participation. For each new participant, the prize will increase by 5 Hive. This will continue until 60 Hive is reached (12 participants). The first 12 participants will also receive a 50% upvote from this account. In addition to the prize money, the top few participants will be given points. These points will be used to determine the overall challenge series winner. This winner may receive as much as 80 Hive. The value of the prize will equal the sum of the number of participants across all challenges. This will continue until 80 Hive is reached.
For more information on the challenge series and the upcoming challenges, read my post Spectrumecons Seven-Week Challenge (Coming Soon).
Other Challenges in the Series
Welcome to Challenge 2 – Game Theory (Most or Least)
How to play?
The Game Theory (Most or Least) challenge requires participants to select 4 of 7 boxes. Each box has a monetary value; these values will be revealed later in this question. The value represented by each box will be shared equally across all participants who have selected that box. For example, if a box has a value of 50 and 5 participants have selected that box, each participant will be awarded a value of 10 (50/5).
All the information you need to know to play the game is provided in the question.
All entries must be made in the comments section of this post.
Each account is only permitted one entry.
Objectives of the game
This game has several different win conditions. These win conditions depend on values obtained by participants.
- The participant who obtains the highest value wins the challenge if no other players’ obtain that same value.
- If more than one participant shares the highest value, the participant with the lowest value wins if no other players’ obtain that same value.
- If more than one participant shares the highest value and if more than one participant shares the lowest value, the first and second participant to enter the challenge will be joint winners of the challenge and will share the prize evenly. This will occur regardless of the value they obtained from the boxes.
Below is an example of a game where participants choose 3 of 5 boxes. The Gif demonstrates how the game changes as more participants enter. In the example, Participant 2 is the winner. However, at different points in the game, there are different participants winning. For example, after Participant 3 entered, Participant 3 was winning. Watch the Gif to see how the game changes as more players enter.
Example of Game Theory Challenge
Participants’ value is calculated as follows:
Logic of the objectives
The challenge tests participants’ ability to outmanoeuvre one another. The challenge contains both strategy and tactics. Entering early (first or second) provides the advantage of entering under a potential win condition. Entering later provides the advantage of being able to observe other participants decisions; therefore, potentially creating opportunities to achieve the highest or lowest value. However, if another participant enters, some of this advantage is lost.
The winning account may receive up to 60 Hive. The number of participants determines the value of the prize. For every entry, the prize is increased by 5 Hive until a value of 60 Hive is reached. The first 12 entries will be given upvotes. The winner of this challenge will be given 30 points (split equally if there are two winners). These points will contribute to determining the overall winner of the series.
Let the challenge begin
Participants are required to select to 4 of 7 boxes. Each box has been allocated a value. The value of the seven boxes are as follows:
Box 1: 30, Box 2: 50, Box 3: 40, Box 4: 20, Box 5: 40, Box 6: 36, and Box 7: 24
For this challenge, I expect to see entries made in the following format:
Boxes: …, …, …, and …
Example of entry
Boxes: 1, 2, 5, and 6
The closing date and time for this contest is 6PM coordinated universal time (UTC) 15/07/2021. Responses after this time will not be accepted. The results of the challenge will be announced in a separate post.
I hope everyone has fun and enjoys this second challenge. I look forward to your participation in the third challenge.
If you want to read any of my other posts, you can click on the links below. These links will lead you to posts containing my collection of works. These 'Collection of Works' posts have been updated to contain links to the Hive versions of my posts.
My CBA Udemy Course
The course contains over 10 hours of video, over 60 downloadable resources, over 40 multiple-choice questions, 2 sample case studies, 1 practice CBA, life time access and a certificate on completion. The course is priced at the Tier 1 price of £20. I believe it is frequently available at half-price. | <urn:uuid:e2841388-8185-40be-9e55-69ac5e75d2b8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ecency.com/hive-112018/@spectrumecons/spectrumecons-7-week-challenge---challenge-2-game-theory-most-or-least | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.917309 | 1,116 | 1.851563 | 2 |
The term "peacemaking" is used in several different ways. According to the UN, peacemaking is "action to bring hostile parties to agreement, essentially through such peaceful means as those foreseen in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations; Pacific Settlement of Disputes." In this sense, peacemaking is the diplomatic effort intended to move a violent conflict into nonviolent dialogue, where differences are settled through representative political institutions. The objective of peacemaking is thus to end the violence between the contending parties. Peacemaking can be done through negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration. International law provides another channel through international courts.
|United Nations peacemaking is an extension of the parties' own efforts to manage their conflict. When they cannot, the parties, the Security Council or the General Assembly may call upon the United Nations Secretary General to exercises his "Good Offices" to facilitate the resolution of the conflict. The Secretary General may also undertake independent peacemaking initiatives by offering his "Good Offices" to parties to resolve the conflict in a peaceful way. In An Agenda for Peace, former United Nations Secretary General Boutros-Boutros Ghali defined peacemaking as "action to bring hostile parties to agreement, essentially through such peaceful means as those foreseen in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations; Pacific Settlement of Disputes." These actions are carried out during a conflict, violent or latent. They entail the diplomatic process of brokering an end to conflict, principally through the use of mediation and negotiation skills. United Nations Peacemaking excludes the use of force, unless imposed action is taken by the Security Council to facilitate the peacemaking process. |
Outside the UN context, peacemaking is sometimes used to refer to a stage of conflict, which occurs during a crisis or a prolonged conflict after diplomatic intervention has failed and before peacekeeping forces have had a chance to intervene. In this context peacemaking is an intervention during armed combat.
Third, the term is sometimes used is to mean simply "making peace." Peacemaking is necessary and important in cases of protracted violence that do not seem to burn themselves out and in cases where war crimes and other human devastation demand the attention of outside forces. In the latter two cases, peacemaking implies the threat of violent intervention as an act of last resort. In the third case it may demand violent intervention sooner rather than later. This module will describe peacemaking in this context.
Peacemaking Constraints: Political and Economic
Understood simply as an outside intervention in a violent conflict, peacemaking should imply a few obvious things. First, outside interveners are unlikely to want to sacrifice their own troops in order to make peace. This implies that the most peacemaking effort and energy should initially be devoted to negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and the like. In fact, Chapter VI of the U.N. Charter is largely devoted to this very concept. While the U.N. Charter does allow for active military intervention under Chapter VII of the Charter, the ordering of processes in Chapter VII clearly favors negotiation as a first step. This level of negotiation usually takes place at the level of Track I diplomacy, negotiations involving high-level elites.
Track I diplomacy at this level of conflict is likely to be multinational in nature. Because the potential costs of getting involved in negotiation and because the collective willpower of the international community is stronger than any individual nation, multinational diplomacy in violent conflicts has a higher probability of initiation and success. These two issues, troop commitments and economic and political costs, represent basic constraints on peacemaking actions, but peacemaking also entails certain moral obligations as well.
Moral Obligations to Peacemaking
States that are party to the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Charter have implied, though not legally binding, obligations to intervene in cases of genocide, disturbances to international peace, and other cases of human devastation. Article 33 of the U.N. Charter states:
- The parties to any dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice.
- The Security Council shall, when it deems necessary, call upon the parties to settle their dispute by such means.
Similar clauses exist in the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention. Unfortunately, constraints often outweigh obligations in the minds of state leaders; however, by signing on to these treaties, states have accepted an implicit moral obligation to intervene. In fact, weak as this obligation is, we do still see it as the motivating factor behind many of the interventions that take place in the world today.
Methods of Peacemaking
Article 33 of the UN Charter specifies, "negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, [and] resort to regional agencies or arrangements" as modes of peaceful intervention in violent conflicts. Articles 41 and 42 of the Charter also allow for sanctions, blockading, and violent intervention in order to restore the peace between warring states. It is important to note that all U.N. Charter justifications for peacemaking were based on the concept of sovereign states. That is, there is no support for intervention in civil wars in the U.N. Charter itself. However, the Agenda for Peace, written under the auspices of former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, changes the conception to allow for intervention in civil wars. Other modules have explored negotiation, mediation, and arbitration in depth. The following sections will look at some of the methods of peacemaking not discussed in other modules.
Boutros-Ghali suggests in the Agenda for Peace that the International Court of Justice would be an effective tool for peaceful adjudication of disputes. In the case of interstate wars or the threat thereof, the ICJ would be an effective entity for settling disputes. Two problems exist, however: first, only states can be party to disputes in the ICJ. Thus, civil wars could not be adjudicated in the ICJ. Second, the ICJ has no effective enforcement mechanisms. Thus, any unfavorable decision made by the court is likely to be ignored. Other international courts exist but their jurisdiction is more limited. The European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice are examples. Because international courts often lack enforcement mechanisms, effective peacemaking strategies should rely on the threat of force, should other negotiating strategies fail. Negotiation, arbitration, and mediation are still the first choice for third parties in armed conflicts, but the threat of force should not be ignored.
Threat or Use of Force
Within the broader category of peacemaking is the concept of peace enforcement. The UN defines peacemaking as the diplomatic efforts to end conflict, whereas peace enforcement is the active use of force. Peace enforcement in this case is a separate but subsidiary concept within peacemaking. It is therefore appropriate in this peacemaking module to discuss peace-enforcement tools.
Among the tools that might fall in the peace-enforcement categories are sanctions, blockades, and military intervention. Sanctions are the mildest in terms of military force, though the effect of sanctions can be quite devastating. The difference between sanctions and blockades is quite small; however, one is considered an act of war while the other is not. Sanctions can generally be seen as limiting exports and imports from a country or group in question, while blockading involves the active prohibition of all material trying to enter or leave a country or region. Because blockading is an active intervention in another state's trade it is considered a "casus belli" (reason to go to war).
Example: Military Intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina
As stated earlier in this module, military intervention is not usually unilateral. A good example of the methods and context of military intervention in a peacemaking context is the NATO Implementation Force (IFOR) and Stabilizing Force (SFOR) in Bosnia. Prior to the General Agreement Framework (The Dayton Accords) Bosnia-Herzegovina was rife with civil violence. Operation Deliberate Force, begun on August 29, 1995, was a massive bombing campaign against Serbia and Bosnian-Serb targets designed to halt Serbian attacks on safe areas and bring Serbia to the negotiating table. Ultimately the action was successful and led in part to the General Agreement Framework of December 14, 1995. Subsequent to Operation Deliberate Force, NATO put in the Implementation Force for a year before changing over to the Stabilization Force. What should be evident in this case is the fluid change and interaction between active military intervention, first-track diplomatic efforts and peacekeeping forces.
Not all peacemaking efforts will proceed along the lines of IFOR/SFOR, but effective peacemaking missions will shift fluidly between all the available tools. What this highlights, in fact, is the small difference between second-generation peacekeeping and traditional peacemaking efforts. First-generation peacekeeping was simply to guarantee ceasefires with neutral interposition forces. Second-generation peacekeeping has evolved to allow flexibility of function and mission, from guaranteeing ceasefires to election monitoring to subsequent peace enforcement.
Recent theory on civil wars urges people to think of the conflict as a highly fluid situation. Peacemaking efforts are often closely intertwined with preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. Because of this, the diplomats and soldiers involved in these missions must maintain high levels of communication in order to ensure common goals and shared information. Peacemaking in the post-Cold War era occurs most often within states where battles lines are not clearly drawn and the strategic situation fluctuates frequently. Peacemaking in this context is but one tool to use in violent conflicts. By itself, it is insufficient to deal with intractable conflicts.
The hope, of course, is that preventive diplomacy will prevent the outbreak of violent conflict. In the event that those efforts fail, third-party diplomatic efforts must continue in the form of peacemaking. As a last resort, particularly in the face of widespread human devastation, peace enforcement units must be seen as a viable solution. The point of peacemaking efforts -- diplomatic and otherwise -- is to get the opponents to the bargaining table, at which point peacekeeping units can help to guarantee any agreed-upon ceasefire.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, "An Agenda for Peace," [document on-line] (New York: United Nations, 1992, accessed on 17 July, 2003); available from http://www.unrol.org/files/A_47_277.pdf, Internet.
"Peacemaking -- Overview" Conflict Management Toolkit. (Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, Conflict Management Program). accessed on 15 Feb. 2006. Available from http://legacy2.sais-jhu.edu/cmtoolkit/approaches/peacemaking/index.htm
Nita Yawanarajah, Political Affairs Officer and Project Manager for the UN Department of Political Affairs Peacemaking Databank Project: UN Peacemaker ( www.un.org/peacemaker).UN Peacemaker is a publicly available website on the United Nations'experience in peacemaking and mediation.
United Nations, United Nations Charter, Chapter VI & VII [document on-line], (accessed on July 17, 2003); available from http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/.
Jane Boulden, Peace Enforcement, (New York: Praeger, 2001).
Society of Professional Journalists, Reference Guide to the Geneva Conventions (accessed on July 17, 2003); available from http://www.globalissuesgroup.com/geneva/texts.html.
United Nations, United Nations Charter.
Boutros-Ghali, Agenda for Peace.
United Nations, Preventive Diplomacy (accessed on July 17, 2003); available from http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/prev-dip/fst-prev-dip.htm.
United Nations, United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea [document on-line] (accessed on July 18, 2003), available from http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf, Section 3, Article 17, 25, 30.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, "Stabization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina," (accessed on July 18, 2003); available from http://www.nato.int/sfor/.
Military Analysis Network, "Operation Deliberate Force," [document on-line] (accessed on July 15, 2003); available from http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/deliberate-force.htm. (Section no longer available as of March 5th 2013)
George Downs and Stephen J. Stedman, "Evaluating Issues in Peace Implementation," in Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements, eds. Stedman, S., D. Rothchild, and E. Cousens (Boulder, CO: Lynne Reiner Publishers, 2002), 43.
Jane Boulden, Peace Enforcement.
Use the following to cite this article:
Ouellet, Julian. "Peacemaking." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: September 2003 <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/peacemaking>. | <urn:uuid:90c9cb8c-1f1a-4926-ad6c-55aba421cee2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/peacemaking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.925157 | 2,939 | 3.78125 | 4 |
Presidents routinely claim the authority to take America into war. Congresses just as routinely fail to prevent presidents from doing so. President Barack Obama, a one-time law professor, is proving to be no different.
First he ignored the Constitution’s clear division of powers. Article 1, Sec. 8 (11) of the Constitution states that “Congress shall have the power… to declare war.” Declare means initiate.
The Founders were unambiguous. John Jay complained that dubious motives often led kings “to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people.”
However, the Constitution solved this problem. The president’s authority was “in substance much inferior” to that of the English monarch, declared Alexander Hamilton: “It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the land and naval forces… while that of the British king extends to the declaring of war.” James Wilson explained that the power to start wars had been transferred to Congress: “It will not be in the power of a single man, or a single body of men, to involve us in such distress; for the important power of declaring war is in the legislature at large.”
For good reason the Founders intended to allow presidents to repel sudden attacks. The president also may initiate limited military action not intended to create a state of war — killing Osama bin Laden, attempting to rescue hostages in Iran.
There will be some gray areas between the two poles, but most cases are easy to judge. Three years of brutal conflict with North Korea and China was not a “police action.” It was a war. Similarly, three months of attempting to overthrow the Libyan government of Muammar Gaddafi is not a “kinetic military action.” It is a war.
President Obama had an obligation to go to Congress before he intervened in Libya.
Nevertheless, he ordered the bombing of Libyan military forces and installations without legislative approval. Still, he acted to comply with the War Powers Resolution, which set the clock ticking on March 19. The alarm went off two months later, when the WPR required the president either to end hostilities or win congressional authorization.
The U.S. had spent two months killing Libyan personnel, destroying Libyan materiel, and attempting to overthrow the Libyan government. The secretary of defense had admitted that if he was a Libyan being targeted by American weapons, he probably would perceive it as a war. The secretary of state extolled Washington’s contribution to the war effort while lobbying the Europeans to do more.
However, the president explained to Congress that the U.S. wasn’t actually doing much at all — just some “limited” operations in a “supporting” role. Really nothing to worry about or even notice. Certainly not enough to call a war. Legislators should just go back to their offices and let him get on with his splendid little kinetic military action!
In a rare bipartisan moment, legislators fought back. Plans for a pro-war resolution in the Senate foundered when support proved lacking. The House nearly passed a resolution by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) demanding withdrawal. House Speaker John Boehner diverted votes to a sickly substitute that still criticized the president. Moreover, on Tuesday the speaker challenged President Obama to comply with the WPR.
The president has responded with more obfuscation. The White House released a 32-page report, a propaganda document filled with unintended humor. For instance, it restated the unfounded claim of impending massacres — essentially the humanitarian equivalent of WMDs in Iraq. The president claimed that intervention in the civil war shows “the people of the Middle East and North Africa that America stands with them at a time of momentous transition,” even though the administration merely scolded the government of Bahrain and hesitated to do even that to the government of Syria.
Moreover, the document warned of the possible “spread of violence and instability in a region pivotal to our security interests.” If North Africa is “pivotal to our security interests,” is there any place which is not? Libya has a small population, poor economy, and modest oil reserves. It is located between two other unstable nations which had their own popular revolutions earlier this year. To the south lies a continent where even Washington policymakers have trouble concocting alleged “security” interests. No wonder outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates acknowledged that America had no “vital interests” at stake in Libya’s civil war.
The administration glossed over the fact that it used a clear bait and switch: the United Nations resolution authorized action to protect civilians and the president asserted that the U.S. was not engaged in regime change. Indeed, he explained: The experience in Iraq “is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya.” Now, however, he is demanding Gaddafi’s ouster. As Paul Pillar notes, it is “nonsensical” to try to divorce the supposed military goal of protecting civilians from the overriding diplomatic goal of ousting Gaddafi.
Worse, after having put American and alliance credibility on the line for at best peripheral, even frivolous interests, the administration claimed that “NATO’s credibility would be damaged with significant consequences for U.S., European, and global security” if Congress terminated Washington’s participation. Actually, it isn’t clear what those consequences would be, since NATO has little credibility apart from America’s role. The real problem of credibility is the fact that the Europeans want to play act as a world power, but don’t want to spend the money or risk the casualties necessary to do so.
As for the Constitution, the report emphasized “congressional consultation,” providing a long list of meetings and briefings where administration officials told legislators what the president was doing. The report devoted only two paragraphs to analyzing the constitutional and legal issues his acting unilaterally.
Explained the White House, because of “the limited nature, scope and duration of the anticipated actions, the President had constitutional authority” to act. Moreover, “U.S. operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve the presence of U.S. ground forces, nor do they involve the presence of or any significant chance of escalation into a conflict characterized by those factors.” With an apparently straight face, State Department legal adviser Harold H. Koh, who criticized previous unilateral Republican war-making, declared: “We are not saying the president can take the country into war on his own.”
Of course, that is precisely what he is saying. The White House memo offers well-calculated sophistry. Noted Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), chairman of the Constitutional Caucus: “a progress report from the White House is no substitute for congressional authorization.”
The U.S. government is working with allies to overthrow another government which, until now, was recognized as “legitimate” within the international system. Washington used aircraft and missiles to destroy Libyan air defenses and attack Libyan ground forces. The administration then used equally deadly drones to destroy command-and-control facilities and combat forces. A quarter of the combat sorties have been American. The report noted that U.S. forces are providing 70 percent of the intelligence-gathering and a majority of the refueling in support of treaty allies thereby “enabling coalition aircraft to stay in the air longer and undertake more strikes.” U.S. aircraft (and drones) have avoided “exchanges of fire” because the Libyan forces are weak, not because they are unarmed.
But the administration says America is not at war!
Ten congressmen have sued the president, though the courts are likely to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds. So Congress must act. The legislature has a clear constitutional and legal obligation to act. Congress also has an institutional interest in doing so. Despite the attempt by extreme centralists to turn the president into something akin to an elective dictator, the Constitution gives more foreign policy powers to Congress than to the president.
Congress is to create and fund the military, write the rules of war, decide when the nation goes to war, approve treaties, and confirm ambassadors. The president’s power is formally much more limited: he commands the military created by Congress in peace and in wars authorized by Congress. Yet modern American presidents take for granted that they have the powers of past British monarchs. Legislators should disabuse this president and his successors of such a heretical constitutional notion.
President Barack Obama has violated the Constitution and law. Congress has a responsibility to act. It’s as simple as that. | <urn:uuid:c3648120-b0bb-457e-b5e3-0bbe762b6aff> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://spectator.org/unconstitutional-authority/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.958382 | 1,825 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Five new fast radio bursts from the HTRU high-latitude survey at Parkes: First evidence for two-component bursts
|dc.contributor.author||van Straten, W.|
|dc.identifier.citation||Champion, D. and Petroff, E. and Kramer, M. and Keith, M. and Bailes, M. and Barr, E. and Bates, S. et al. 2016. Five new fast radio bursts from the HTRU high-latitude survey at Parkes: First evidence for two-component bursts. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 460 (1): pp. L30-L34.|
The detection of five new fast radio bursts (FRBs) found in the 1.4-GHz High Time Resolution Universe high-latitude survey at Parkes, is presented. The rate implied is 7+5-3 × 103 (95 per cent) FRBs sky-1 d-1 above a fluence of 0.13 Jy ms for an FRB of 0.128 ms duration to 1.5 Jy ms for 16 ms duration. One of these FRBs has a two-component profile, in which each component is similar to the known population of single component FRBs and the two components are separated by 2.4 ± 0.4 ms. All the FRB components appear to be unresolved following deconvolution with a scattering tail and accounting for intrachannel smearing. The two-component burst, FRB 121002, also has the highest dispersion measure (1629 pc cm-3) of any FRB to-date. Many of the proposed models to explain FRBs use a single high-energy event involving compact objects (such as neutron-star mergers) and therefore cannot easily explain a two-component FRB. Models that are based on extreme versions of flaring, pulsing, or orbital events, however, could produce multiple component profiles. The compatibility of these models and the FRB rate implied by these detections is discussed.
|dc.publisher||Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.|
|dc.title||Five new fast radio bursts from the HTRU high-latitude survey at Parkes: First evidence for two-component bursts|
|dcterms.source.title||Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters|
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
|curtin.department||Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (Physics)| | <urn:uuid:ea9ddd29-0b28-49e9-99bf-233d1b99bca0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://espace.curtin.edu.au/handle/20.500.11937/34022?show=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.683805 | 1,135 | 2.046875 | 2 |
A. 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills;and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people,and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. 5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
B. 6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
C. 8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. 9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished?
for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. 10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail:
for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
D. 11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. 5:1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
C’. 2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. 5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land:and when he shall tread in our palaces,
B’. then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian,when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. 7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep:who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
A’. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. | <urn:uuid:02076538-c665-4389-8a74-67223dfee521> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.chiasmusxchange.com/2015/12/10/micah/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.947654 | 1,176 | 1.625 | 2 |
No matter your health goal, there’s always a new diet promising to be the ‘quick fix’ that’ll help you achieve your wellness dreams. Our dietitians investigated three of the latest diets to determine whether any are based on reliable evidence to actually deliver what they claim while ensuring overall good health and sustainable weight loss.
The Sirtfood diet recently hit the headlines as the regime behind UK singer Adele’s dramatic weight loss transformation. Created by Adam Goggins and Glen Matten, the Sirtfood diet promises to activate ‘sirtuins’ – enzymes that help dieters lose weight “while eating chocolate and drinking wine”. But is there any truth to their claims?
Some research has found that sirtuins can reap various benefits, from protecting cells in your body from inflammation to helping with metabolism and increasing lifespan. The idea is that eating specific ‘sirtuin’ foods (or sirtfoods) which contain natural plant compounds will increase the level of sirtuin enzymes in the body. However, the evidence surrounding their benefits is unclear and there’s no guarantee the diet will actually trigger sirtuin genes, aka ‘skinny’ genes.
The diet combines calorie restriction with a heavy focus on consuming specific sirtfoods, and is based around two ‘phases’:
- Phase 1 is the ‘hyper-success’ phase. It is seven days long, with days 1-3 consisting of three sirtfood green juices and one sirtfood meal, totalling just 1,000 calories. On days 4-7 calorie intake is upped to 1,500 calories, with two green juices and two meals per day.
- Phase 2 is the ‘maintenance’ phase and lasts two weeks. Diet-goers are permitted three sirtfood-rich meals each day in addition to one special green juice.
The two phases can be repeated whenever weight loss is desired. Once the phases have ended, the diet focuses more on what you eat, rather than how much and diet-goers are encouraged to continue including sirtfoods and the diet’s signature green juice in their meals.
What counts as a sirtfood?
Some of the top 20 foods on the sirtfood green list
include green tea, apples, citrus fruits, parsley, turmeric, kale, blueberries, capers, dark chocolate and red wine. Limiting your diet to only sirtfoods is very restrictive and unnecessary as there are many nutritious foods the diet doesn’t factor in, including fibre-rich, nutrient-packed wholegrains
, nuts and seeds. Eating a greater variety of these foods is more likely to ensure all nutrients are covered.
Should you try it?
There is no scientific evidence that ‘skinny genes’ are activated for weight loss or that sirtfoods are more beneficial for weight loss than other plant foods. Instead there is plenty of evidence that eating a wide variety of high fibre plant foods helps with overall good health and sustained weight loss.
The Sirtfood diet is highly prescriptive and measures success only in weight loss. In addition, while incorporating sirtfoods into your diet isn’t going to hurt, there’s no evidence that they are any more special than other fruit and vegetables. There are also no specific robust clinical trials on this diet. Therefore we wouldn’t recommend the Sirtfood diet. Instead it is better to consider your overall health goals and make realistic lifestyle changes that you can sustain over the long term. Talking with your GP or dietitian can help you achieve this.
You may have seen the Noom diet gracing your social feeds this year. Touted as a ‘diet with a difference’, the Noom diet
is an app focused on helping people lose weight through psychology. Created in 2008
by businessman Saeju Jeong and software engineer Artem Petakov with the help of dietitians, the Noom diet was developed with an emphasis on psychology as much as nutrition – it aims to help people change behaviours and reevaluate the thought processes behind food decisions. It’s said to have had more than 45 million followers
How the app works
After downloading the app, Noom diet followers log their weight loss goals, activity levels and food intake in order to keep track of their calorie intake
for the day. Daily calorie targets adjust depending on the information logged
. Being part of a support group via the app increases chances of keeping the weight off.
Foods are colour-coded, with diet-goers urged to eat according to a colour-coded system:
- 30% ‘green’ foods – those with the lowest amount of calories per mass, including wholegrains, fruits and vegetables.
- 40% ‘yellow’ foods – those higher in calories such as beans, low-fat cheeses, yoghurt and low-fat types of meat.
- 25% or less ‘red’ foods – the most calorie-dense foods, including red meat, juice, nuts, chocolate and pizza.
Should you try it?
Overall, Noom may be a helpful tool for some people. On the plus side, it promotes lower calorie intake and nutrient dense whole foods, without eliminating any food groups. The app can also help people identify some of their behaviour triggers for unhealthy eating, and reinforce healthy eating habits.
However, Noom can be expensive because of the additional coaching, tracking and educational features. It also advocates closely monitoring everything you eat and drink, which can be a useful motivator, but monitoring can be difficult to sustain in the long term.
It’s also important to note there is no evidence to date to show that Noom is more effective than following general healthy eating advice. The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating focuses on mostly nutrient-dense lower calorie foods while minimising lower nutrient, calorie-dense foods, with information freely available at eatforhealth.gov.au.
The F-Factor diet
has been around since 2007
, but has entered the spotlight recently with the media sharing
people’s experiences with the diet. Created by New York registered dietitian Tanya Zuckerbrot, the diet heroes are lean protein and high fibre carbs – the diet’s emphasis on fibre being its namesake (the ‘F’ in ‘F-Factor’ stands for ‘fibre’).
The F-Factor diet is broken down into steps:
- Step 1 lasts for 2 weeks and allows at least 35 grams of fibre, and less than 35 grams of carbohydrates per day.
- Step 2 shifts to 35 grams of fibre and 75 grams of carbohydrates per day, and lasts until the weight loss goal is achieved.
- Step 3 – the ‘maintenance’ phase – allows 35 grams of fibre, but less than 125 grams of carbohydrates per day.
Fibre and wholegrains
Fibre is key for good health. It’s recommended that Aussie adults consume at least 25-30 grams of fibre each day. In fact the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend that we eat wholegrain and high fibre grain foods most of the time, as they contain a range of protective components such as phytonutrients, thought to play an important role in the prevention of disease.
Should you try it?
We love a focus on fibre. It’s a key beneficial componment of a plant based diet and essential for gut health. However, this diet seems a little contradictory, focusing on high fibre foods (which are typically high carb foods) while advocating minimising carbs.
It’s important to consume enough energy and adequate nutrients without excluding one or two food groups. If you limit the amount of carbs you eat in a day, you may not get enough of the different fibre types. By choosing quality carbs most of the time, you will get a diversity of those important fibres.
This means eating a variety of high fibre wholegrains, legumes, fruits, nuts/seeds, veggies. These foods help to ensure you are getting enough of each fibre type – insoluble, soluble, and resistant starch. They also provide quality carbs, but minimise refined carbs. They help to lower blood pressure, and reduce risk of heart problems, diabetes and obesity.
A word of warning on high fibre diets – be sure to increase your intake of fibre gradually as too much too quickly could mean excessive bloating and gas.
So what’s our overall verdict?
While it may be tempting to opt for diets that promise quick weight loss, the key to making sustainable lifestyle changes is finding a healthy, balanced diet that works for you over the long term. We recommend a dietary pattern that is high in plant foods, like fruits, veggies, wholegrains, legumes, soy, nuts and seeds. If you are wanting to make some dietary changes for a healthier you, talk to a dietitian or registered nutritionist who will be able to provide you with dietary advice that is specific to your needs. | <urn:uuid:a6b3f5a1-faae-4430-9d85-55651300ae77> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.sanitarium.com.au/health-nutrition/nutrition/noom-sirtfood-f-factor-dietitians-review-diets | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.945303 | 1,923 | 1.921875 | 2 |
The journey through the desert was a constant, seemingly unsettling set of travels that the Jewish people went through. How did the Jewish people navigate their way through the desert? G-d surrounded them with clouds called the Ananei HaKavod – the “Clouds of Glory” throughout their journey. “When the cloud would rise above the tent [of the Tabernacle], after that the Children of Israel would travel, and in the place that the cloud settled, there the Children of Israel camped. By the word of G-d, the Children of Israel travelled, and by the word of G-d, they camped. (Bamidbar 9:17-18).”
There were times they stayed in one place for years, and at other times they would move on after only a day. They also did not know how long they would sojourn in any location ahead of time. Each encampment meant pitching tents for their families and erecting the Mishkan (Tabernacle). As they went through the trouble of setting up the camp for millions of men, women and children, they knew that the following day G-d might lift the cloud again and direct them to travel further. Nonetheless, they dutifully set up camp each time and then broke it down to follow Him onwards.
We might consider such a life unsettling, not knowing where they would be and what would be expected from one day to the next. But in reality, our own lives are no different. Do we know what tomorrow, or even today, will bring? Often, it’s not what we anticipated or prepared for. The fear of the unknown is real, even when we follow our daily routine.
Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz explains if someone is travelling, and you ask them, where are you now? They will give you the precise geographical location they are at. However, if you ask a child cuddled by their loving parent, where are you? The child would respond: in mummy’s arms.
“By the word of G-d they travelled, and by the word of G-d they camped.” The Bene Yisrael understood that they are constantly in G-d’s protective embrace regardless of their destination. To thrive in a world of uncertainty is to feel G-d’s embrace, follow His lead, and know that we are in His protective hands. His roadmap, not ours, leads us through life. Remembering and accepting is the guarantee for a safe and meaningful journey.
Rabbi Shlomo Gabay | <urn:uuid:1065e2c6-7021-4f0f-b2e4-a7890e552c66> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://bethhamidrash.com/parshat-behalotecha-life-journeys/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.972439 | 550 | 3 | 3 |
There are over 800 dog rescue centres in the UK; an astonishing statistic in itself, but did you know that more dogs are being abandoned now than ever before?
Dog rescue centres offer neglected and abandoned dogs the urgent veterinary care, medication, nutritious food and rehabilitation they desperately need, all in a safe and warm environment where they can recover and grow in confidence – but resources are becoming increasingly stretched.
We’re doing all that we can to spread the word about dog abandonment and help dog rescue centres survive, but we can’t do it without your help.
Will you play the DoggyLottery and contribute vital funds to support dog rescue centres?
Read on to find out more about our important cause and how you can help tackle the crisis faced by dog rescue centres.
Dog Rescue Centres Need Your Help!
It often comes as a bit of a surprise when people learn the true extent of the dog abandonment crisis here in the UK. It certainly shocked Lisette and Lee, DoggyLottery’s founders, when they began researching what they could do to support dog rescue centres.
Research published a few years ago by DogsTrust revealed that over 130,000 dogs were being abandoned each year, and it’s scary to think how much this number has grown since then.
If you have a dog, you’ll know that owning one is a life-changing experience. Dogs are amazing creatures with sweet souls; they’re loyal, trusting and loving, so why are so many owners abandoning their dogs to rescue centres?
People in the UK abandon their dogs for a number of reasons, and the most common reason is that the dog has developed behavioural issues that the owner is unable (or unwilling, since most behavioural problems are avoidable or treatable) to sort out.
Others report that they have experienced a change in circumstances, making it impossible to continue caring for their dog. Perhaps their finances have changed – after all, equipment, food and veterinary bills are expensive. Maybe the owner has moved to a house that isn’t dog-friendly, or they are moving far away. Some owners find themselves unable to look after their dog because they are increasingly busy or spend hours out of the house.
Some dogs are abandoned when their owner becomes too sick to care for them, or sadly, when they pass away. On the flip side, some dogs are abandoned when they become old and sick themselves because their owner doesn’t want to look after them anymore.
Find out more: Dog Abandonment – Why Do People Abandon Their Dogs?
The Impact Of COVID-19 On Dog Rescue Centres
The abandonment crisis has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus sent shockwaves through our communities, our health service and economy; it’s unsurprising that many dog owners have had no choice but to abandon their much-loved pets. Many owners have simply found themselves facing hardships that they never anticipated.
On the other hand, the demand for puppies and rescue dogs soared during the months of national lockdown, and this has had knock-on effects for dog rescue centres too.
Buying or adopting a dog isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly, and yet thousands of people have brought a dog into their lives without fully considering the long-term implications. Vast numbers of these dogs (often referred to in the media and the rescue community as ‘pandemic puppies’) have since been abandoned, and dog rescue centres are struggling to cope.
The staff at dog rescue centres continue to do incredible work, but while the number of abandoned dogs has been rising, the financial support they rely upon has been on a downwards spiral. Organisations haven’t been able to carry out the fundraising activities that they would usually, and they have had little choice but to close the doors of their charity shops. Legacy income has also been delayed, and sadly, rescue centres have not benefited from any kind of government rescue package.
What’s more, many volunteers have been unable to help out at the centres, leaving staff struggling to cope unassisted, and meanwhile, the number of dogs being abandoned keeps on rising.
Where it all Started
Lisette, DoggyLottery’s co-founder and director, was living in Dubai when she adopted her very special rescue dog, Beautie. Lisette was already passionate about supporting dog rescue centres; she had been volunteering at a local shelter when she first met Beautie and felt an instant connection with her. Sadly, Beautie had lost a leg, and despite being the most joyful dog Lisette had ever met, her disability was making it difficult for Beautie to find a new home. When even her foster family gave up caring for her, Lisette knew she had to step in and adopt Beautie.
Just a few days after adopting Beautie, Lisette’s father passed away, and the intuitive rescue dog offered much-needed support at this sad time. ‘We might have rescued her,’ says Lisette, ‘but she rescued me right back.’ Inspired by Beautie, Lisette felt determined to do even more for dog rescue centres.
When she moved back to the UK, eager to support dog rescue centres and rescue dogs, Lisette started researching the situation here. She soon discovered the true extent of the problem, realising that there were hundreds of centres that were in desperate need of support. Many were struggling to survive, due to a combination of limited money and resources and the staggering number of homeless dogs coming through their doors.
Lisette and her cousin, Lee, discussed these shocking findings and decided to join forces and do something to help tackle the problem. They put together a plan of action with two major goals:
- To financially support dog rescue centres by raising funds through an online lottery.
- To tackle the issue of dog abandonment head-on, by spreading the word and providing educational resources.
DoggyLottery launched in 2020, and since then, the charity has raised over £20,000. To date, 45 incredible dog rescue centres have benefited from the funds, and importantly, they have received helpful exposure to spread awareness about their vital work.
Will you help to support dog rescue centres? Read on to find out how you can make a big difference by playing the DoggyLottery!
Support Dog Rescue Centres – Join the DoggyLottery!
DoggyLottery is a non-profit organisation that raises money to support dog rescue centres in the UK through an online lottery game.
Will you have the lucky ticket and be one of 20 weekly winners? Tickets cost just £1.50, and you can subscribe to the weekly draw for even more chances to win!
Every four weeks, five amazing dog rescue centres partner with us, and each receives a share of the proceeds. 60% goes to the centres, 30% goes to the prize fund and the remaining 10% funds the running of the lottery.
When you buy your tickets, we’ll ask you to choose from five adorable dogs and select your favourite. Each of these special dogs represents one of the five rescue centres currently partnered with us, and the centre with the most votes receives the highest proportion of the proceeds.
Do you want to be in with the chance of winning, while supporting a vital cause? | <urn:uuid:110e1848-21f0-4e37-ba32-87847260e8b4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://doggywarriors.com/will-you-help-to-support-dog-rescue-centres/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.970626 | 1,516 | 1.929688 | 2 |
There are many advantages offered by various animal specials. Sometimes, however, such animals can cause harmful effects to humans and their activities. Usually, insects, birds, and other animals will become pests when they become harmful. Usually, people don’t like pests around their homes or businesses. Therefore, it is very important to put in place pest control measures. This will involve regulation or management of the insects, birds or rodents among others.
Usually, the kind of pest control method used will depend on the level of damage the pests cause. Again, some pests will be more problematic compared to others. Because of this, you need a pest control services who can effectively eliminate the pest. Usually, various methods are used in pest control. A professional would, however, choose a method that is appropriate based on the state of pest infestation. Often, some people will think of chemicals. There are, however, other safer methods like cultural and biological one.
For successful pest control Scotland, you need a professional pest control service. For example, birds may become a serious issue. This is because they are not always seen as pests. Nevertheless, they could be a serious issue around businesses and home. Therefore, when there are nuisance birds around your home or business, a professional pest control service can help.
Basically, pest infestation may result in huge losses. They can also interrupt businesses. Therefore, pest control when effective offers so many benefits. The following are some of the benefits.
1. Disease control.
Usually, most pests that roam around carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans and other animals and pets. This would then affect the health of your family as well as your own health. You will, therefore, be able to keep away diseases through pest control. This is because they would carry bacteria and pathogens along with them, which would then find their way to humans and other animals or pets.
2. Reduce itching and allergies.
There are pests that bite resulting in itching and allergies. You can effectively reduce stinging through wasp control. When you eradicate the stinging pests, your family, as well as business, will be safe from attack by the dangerous insects.
However, it is always good to hire a professional to effectively and successfully control the pests. Usually, professionals are trained and would be able to effectively use various pest control methods without causing more harm or risk. One good thing about working with a professional pest control service is that you minimize the hazard. Actually, using the wrong tactics and methods can make some pest even more violent. Again, some chemicals could be unsafe for humans. However, a professional would use a control method that is effective but safe. | <urn:uuid:a4a7cbec-d823-4e22-a7d8-16c908aa9a45> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.harnosandbygder.com/the-10-most-unanswered-questions-about-services.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.969475 | 543 | 2.453125 | 2 |
During National Tree Week 2018 I’m taking a minute to reflect on what trees mean to me and to encourage others to plant, protect and preserve trees in the Lake District National Park.
I am not going to lie, waking up knowing you are going tree planting is enough to motivate anyone to get out of bed. With autumn upon us and winter on its way tree planting season is coming, with nurseries across the country starting to pull bare-rooted whips in anticipation of an army of planters getting equipped across the lands.
Here at Rusland Horizons our volunteers and apprentices have thousands of native locally sourced trees to plant over the next few months in this unique part of the National Park. It’s a fun way to do your bit to help the environment, get your hands dirty, meet like-minded people and leave a legacy of the day.
We have a responsibility for ensuring the future of our woodlands; increasing diversity, age and structure and making them more resilient against pests, diseases and changes in climate. With the vast majority of trees in the UK planted post war and one of the lowest percentages of woodland cover in Europe, it’s never been more important to increase the number of young trees growing in the landscape. In keeping with the local area we are under-planting and creating hazel, oak, birch, cherry, rowan and Scots Pine to help provide a future food source for our native Red Squirrel.
Planting an Oak tree knowing it might be there in 1000 years is a brilliant way to spend a day off, a spare few hours or a lifetime which some hardy souls choose to dedicate their lives to.
I think about the thousands of trees I’ve planted over the years and wonder how many have made it through those first few years struggle, spreading their roots, competing for space, light and nutrients and battling against diseases, pests and predators.
I also wonder how many lichens, bryophytes, insects, birds, mammals and maybe even humans have made their home in the woodlands I have planted, how much carbon has been stored, how the air quality has improved in those areas and how many folk have been inspired to go out and enjoy the peace and tranquillity woodlands can offer on for a Sunday afternoon wander when the weather is fine.
So why not get involved? Our practical volunteer days are once a month from our office in Haverthwaite. Please contact us for more information.
Dougie Watson, Woodlands and Wildlife Officer, Rusland Horizons | <urn:uuid:b0c3efd7-f1d6-4c15-ba49-e718833f4066> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ruslandhorizons.org/news-blog/blog/2018/11/more-trees-please.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.951621 | 520 | 2.390625 | 2 |
- This city bus is designed based on the typical city buses, but it innovatively employs a square contour design with small round corners.
- The front bumpers and outline marker lamps are optimized to greatly improve the vehicle aesthetics and utility.
- The public transit bus features high operation stability, excellent performance, and reasonable internal layout to extend passengers’ standing area.
Technical Specifications of 12m, 40 Seater City Bus
|Model||XMQ6119G (diesel engine, low-entry bus)|
|Body structure||Semi monocoque|
|Maximum speed (km/h)||≥70|
|Passenger seats and driver seat||40+1|
|Maximum passenger capacity||92|
|Fuel tank capacity (L)||●||180|
|Suspension system||●||2 front and 4 rear air suspensions|
|Front Axles (T)||●||≥7.5T|
|Rear Axles (T)||●||11.5T|
|Steering system||●||Power steering|
|Doors||●||Double swing-in doors|
|Side windows||●||Tempered glass|
|Driver seat||●||Adjustable pneumatic damping driver seat|
|Passenger seats||●||Plastic seat|
|Mirror type||●||Iron mount rearview mirror (with defrosting function)|
|◎||Aluminum alloy mount rearview mirror (with defrosting function)|
|Heating and defrosting states||●||Engine waste heat defrosting|
|◎||Independent water heating and forced cooling|
|Electrical instrument||●||Fieldbus instrument|
|Automobile data recorder||◎|
|Middle door and back-up monitor||◎|
|Lifting device (for air spring)||●|
|360° panoramic views||◎|
|Notes: ●Standard; ◎Optional
Specific models and technical specifications are subject to the actual vehicle configuration. King Long reserves the right to change pictures and parameters and the right of final interpretation. | <urn:uuid:d47fbf8a-8a56-4ca8-92af-797d7e31831e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://kinglong-bus.com/3-3-3-11-12m-city-bus.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.688488 | 690 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Michael Bullock: Market Values
An exhibition of work by PhD candidate Michael Bullock.
Taking as its site a second-hand market in the outer Western suburbs of Melbourne, but with origins in a Chor Bazaar market in Bangalore India, Michael Bullock’s doctoral project, Market Values, asks how art records an engagement with the world, through encounters with the materials and objects that can be found in a second hand-market.
Market Values presents this engagement with the world in the materiality of objects explored, an investigation of the places in which they can be found, and their transformation through sculptural processes that highlights how these objects circulate in the world within various systems of exchange.
In this process, a series of key questions arise: What are the chronologies and passages of objects? Can we use them to imagine different spaces and times that extend beyond their immediate location? How does the journey of objects originate, end or continue, and how does the market (and later, the artist) assemble and gather them in a fashion that may allow us to picture this journey? Do these objects also reveal a similar passage and rhythm to the movement of people on a global scale?
Through practice-led research, the project considers the changing values of used objects and the apparatus that displays them. These considerations of value take into account the connections and differences between an object as base material and its symbolic or semiotic value. A focus on the technical processes involved in reproducing objects allows the ability to mobilise used objects into new assemblages that re-evaluate their past and future potential.
About the artist
Born in Perth and based in Footscray, Michael Bullock is a PhD Candidate and Teaching Associate at Monash Art, Design and Architecture.
Michael has participated in group exhibitions and projects in Australia and internationally, including Spaced 2: Future Recall, Perth Museum as part of PIAF (2015), a window until the rains come (albb open studio program), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2010), The Boryeoung International Stone Sculpture Symposium, Boryeoung, South Korea, (2006), The Fourth International Sculpture Symposium, An Giang, Vietnam, (2003) and The Third International Sculpture Symposium, Hue, Vietnam, (2002).
In 2013 he was artist-in-resident at one shanthiroad: Bangalore, India as part of the IASKA Spaced: Art out of Place/ Asialink reciprocal residency program. He was also awarded a studio residency in Hanoi, Vietnam as part of the Asialink Visual Arts Residency Program and has received New Work and Skills and Arts Development grants from the Australia Council and Arts Victoria. | <urn:uuid:cfc22866-83bf-41a9-86df-64b15b5f89f9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.monash.edu/mada/events/2021/Michael-Bullock-Market-Values | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.933931 | 559 | 1.5 | 2 |
Until the fall of 2021, Prison Journalism Project’s stories had only been available online, which made it hard for us to share them with our writers inside the walls. We typically send our writers copies of their stories after they are published, but they wanted to read each other’s stories, and we wanted them to learn from each other as well. That led to the launch of PJPxInside, our first print newspaper.
For each issue, we select stories that demonstrate the biggest trends in submissions from the previous six months. You’ll find coverage of the pandemic, essays and poetry on mental health and relationships, and commentary on current events. We curate each digest to include work from first-time and regular contributors from all corners of the country.
In keeping with PJP’s educational mission, our newspaper includes a brief note with each selection to explain what drew us to the piece. A section called The Anatomy of a Story offers a reported article fully annotated by our PJP J-School faculty, so we could give inside readers a glimpse into how journalism can be done behind the walls.
In the spring of 2022 PJPxInside received an Award of Excellence from the Society of News Design for front page design for its fall 2021 issue. Designed by Cait Palmiter and edited by PJP Director Kate McQueen, PJPxInside was one of approximately 800 out of 3,500 entries to be honored by the 43rd edition of SND’s Best of Print News Design competition.
We currently plan to publish PJPxInside twice a year. You’ll find PDFs of the first issues here.
Request A Copy
Prison Journalism Project has a limited quantity of our print newspaper to share with educational programs, organizations that work with incarcerated communities and incarceration-impacted writers. To request a copy, send an email with your name and mailing address to [email protected].
If you are affiliated with a program or organization, add your title, name of affiliation and number of copies desired. We will do our best to send you enough copies for each student or member of your community.
You are always welcome to share printed copies of the PDF version under a Creative Commons license for non-commercial purposes. If you would like to republish an excerpt in a book or other publication, please contact Prison Journalism Project. | <urn:uuid:6e925d6f-1d08-4e93-b85d-b5d7683b4930> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://prisonjournalismproject.org/pjp-x-inside/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.952981 | 493 | 1.703125 | 2 |
With Britain officially having left the European Union at the end of January, and with trade negotiations currently underway, we should all be worried about the impact a deal with the United States could have on NHS drug prices.
The US pharmaceutical industry has long resented the fact that the NHS pays far less for its drugs than providers of healthcare in the States. Insiders have indicated that Donald Trump may demand this changes as a condition of any deal, in a move that could make medicines up to seven times more expensive to the NHS.
With this in mind, it is imperative that we continue to demand increased public involvement in pharmaceutical provision. During the 2019 election cycle, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party provided a blueprint for what this might look like, we must make sure this is not forgotten.
Although the NHS’s enormous drug spend offers plenty of lucrative opportunities to big pharma, the public health service isn’t as lucrative as the industry would like. The NHS benefits from cheaper drug pricing than other first world countries for multiple reasons, but mainly because it negotiates as one powerful central body. It is also free to prioritise generic or cheaper medication when necessary. For example, the local NHS trust in which I work as a junior doctor has recently switched from Apixaban, a blood thinning daily medication, to the equally effective but far cheaper Edoxaban.
The problem with big pharma.
Despite its negotiating advantage, the NHS is far from spared the global issues that privatised pharmaceutical provision entails.
Big pharma follows the profit-seeking logic of any private firm. One of the contradictions of free market capitalism as a system of allocating resources is that what is socially useful and what is privately profitable do not always overlap.
Antibiotics are unpopular with a profit-seeking pharmaceutical industry because if they are successful, they are not needed again. A course of antibiotics lasts between three and seven days – it’s not exactly a money spinner. Instead, the industry focuses on chronic illnesses and lifestyle diseases that affect the far more lucrative markets in the global north, such as combination inhalers for chronic lung conditions.
Another branch of pharmaceuticals that are sorely needed, yet now being ignored after decades of failure, is antidepressants and antipsychotics, with big firms again simply disbanding and underfunding these divisions, because they lack the powerful backing of charities and public-private lobbying groups that instead tend to focus on diseases such as cancer, heart disease and dementia. Without adequate financial backing, vulnerable patients who could benefit from innovation, risk being ignored.
Instead, big pharma turns its attention to shorter term profits rather than riskier novel medications. It focuses on so-called ‘me-too’ drugs – new medications that are biochemically similar to successful existing medications – with the aim of convincing licensing bodies and healthcare professionals to use a newly patented medication as opposed to older, cheaper generics. Doctors and medical students are often invited to ‘teaching sessions’, in which pharmaceutical representatives try to flog these new drugs.
Medicines for the Many.
The Labour party made headlines last September when it released a Medicines for the Many document. The release was well timed, coming shortly after news broke that Luis Walker, a young boy with cystic fibrosis, was denied the medication Orkambi because the US pharmaceutical manufacturer refused to supply the NHS unless it agreed to a higher fee.
This document outlined the party’s vision for a public producer of generic medication, using the lever of licensing to reward innovation, and utilising our globally revered scientific and university sectors to direct research and development into socially useful medicines.
A public sector producer of generic medications has the potential to save the NHS money, with less disappearing to private profit and more being invested into British industry and science.
At the moment we lack the infrastructure to publicly produce medications based on the ground-breaking research conducted in Britain and funded by the public sector. Instead, this valuable work is handed over to the private sector with limited benefit to the public. Labour’s document outlined a bold plan to change this, by using state investment banks to fund the creation of a UK-based, democratically controlled pharmaceutical company, in keeping with a model used already in countries such as Cuba, China and Brazil.
This public body – free from the logic of sheer profitability – would be more able to direct research and development funding to socially useful projects, such as antimicrobials and psychiatric medications. The direction could be set by key stakeholders, such as public health professionals, patient groups and researchers. The new public body could also use the NHS’s negotiating power to purchase medications we can not easily produce ourselves from the private sector. And it could utilise crown or compulsory licensing to authorise alternative manufacturers, in the event of big pharma companies withholding new medications behind prohibitively high prices.
A priority for the left.
Any healthcare professional in the NHS will tell of frequent national shortages of the medications we administer daily, with patients having to substitute medication that has helped them for years for a possibly inferior alternative. There are further fears around medication availability after Brexit, most famously in the case of insulin. With a national public pharmaceutical provider, we would be better placed to ensure in-house production of vital medications and to prioritise continued delivery.
A public pharmaceutical producer could also be of benefit to the global south, if coupled with a sympathetic government. Although publicly-produced medications would bring potential new export opportunities, it is important to consider that two billion people worldwide are unable to access basic day-to-day medications that we take for granted. The World Health Organisation (WHO) – criminally underfunded and focussed on public-private partnerships – only ever seems to consider market incentives as a viable solution to this issue. Hopefully a future government with a focus on social justice would utilise a public pharmaceutical sector to make these medications available to those in the global south.
With Boris Johnson’s massive majority and amid the chaos of post-Brexit trade negotiations, it is imperative that pharmaceuticals remain a priority for those on the left. I fear that Labour’s inspiring report of only a few months ago will be dismissed by the likely incoming leadership of Keir Starmer, who happily employs a former private healthcare lobbyist amongst his campaign team, amidst a turn back to the “electable” centre. The discussion amongst the Labour leadership contenders has so far focussed on the possible renationalisation of post, energy, water and transport, with no mention of pharmaceuticals.
All is not lost, however, with grassroots movements such as Labour for a Green New Deal successfully propelling socialist alternatives to seemingly insurmountable problems into the mainstream of the Labour party’s consciousness. Groups such as Keep Our NHS Public and Doctors in Unite, among others, provide a small but committed basis from which a future campaign or pressure group could emerge. I believe it is imperative that these ideas remain at the forefront of our understanding of healthcare provision and where we move to next. | <urn:uuid:de7f28cc-0a70-4cd3-a8c4-a7a91553dd1b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://novaramedia.com/2020/02/27/with-a-us-trade-deal-threatening-nhs-drug-prices-could-public-pharma-save-us-from-big-pharma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.949233 | 1,435 | 1.75 | 2 |
Sculpture Name: The Earth is What We All Have in Common
Artist Name: Laura Henderson
Location: Shandwick Place
Sponsor Name: Handelsbanken
The Earth is What We All Have in Common is a quote from the writer and environmental activist Wendell Berry. Designed by Laura Henderson, she took inspiration from this quote to create the design featuring a range of animals, flora and foliage to show how beautiful and diverse the world is.
Laura is an illustrator who runs Paper Heart Stationery. Her work is inspired by colour and pattern, and her designs are created to spark joy with bright, bold and beautiful drawings.
Sponsored by Handelsbanken, the message that we should be protecting the Earth is clear, and the fun, brilliant design brings the message of how beautiful the world is to life. The sculpture’s surface is covered with as many different animals as possible, with flowers and botanical elements adding pops of colour.
Built on long-term sustainable values and committed to delivering high levels of bespoke customer service, Handelsbanken branches place a predominant focus on forming long-lasting relationships with locally-based customers who share the Bank’s strong cultural values. | <urn:uuid:f461be20-0fc6-43f2-b089-fdc5dd1110dc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.giraffeabouttown.org.uk/the-earth-is-what-we-all-have-in-common-giraffe-of-the-day/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.927728 | 249 | 1.671875 | 2 |
In situ microbial reduction of selenate in backfilled phosphate mine waste, s.e. Idaho
Kirk, Lisa Marie Bithell
MetadataShow full item record
The reduction of selenium (Se) by microbes is controlled by oxygen (O 2)-availability within mixed deposits of shale, chert, and mudstone mined from the Phosphoria Formation in S.E. Idaho. Waste rock and groundwater from backfilled mine pits, which have been studied using geochemical, microbial cultivation, and molecular methods, host native populations of selenate-(SeO 4 2-) and selenite-(SeO 3 2-) reducing bacteria that are highly similar to the genera Dechloromonas, Stenotrophomonas, Anaeromyxobacter, and Ralstonia. These bacteria rapidly reduced more than 95% of soluble SeO 4 2- concentrations. Reduction occurred within a consortium of slow-growing, cold-tolerant, hydrocarbon-degrading, and nitrate-(NO 3-), iron-(Fe 3+), and manganese-(Mn 4+) reducing bacteria, including the genera Polaromonas and Rhodoferax, which appeared to use the naturally-occurring hydrocarbon present in the rock. Most-probable number estimates of SeO 4 2--reducers were highest in saturated sediments and in unsaturated shale, and were very low in unsaturated chert and mudstone. Selenium reduction was studied in microaerophilic, saturated native chert, shale, and mixed run-of-mine sediments inoculated with live groundwater cultures, with sampling and analysis of total Se, Fe, Mn; Se speciation; NO 3- and sulfate (SO 4 2-); dissolved organic carbon and total nitrogen(N); and mineralogy. Following an O 2- and N-dependent lag, SeO 4 2- was reduced within 100 hours under saturated, suboxic conditions at rates that varied depending on lithotype and temperature. The microbial community shifted during reduction as well, from phylotypes associated with the Fe-reducing Rhodoferax and HC-degrading Sphingomonas and SeO 4 2--reducing Dechloromonas genera to include members of the SeO 3 2-reducing genus Ralstonia. A unique biogeochemical Se reduction pathway was suggested in chert experiments, where Se reduction proceeded more rapidly and produced SeO 3 2- and elemental Se products, relative to the shale, wherein reduction was slower and produced more reduced selenide minerals. Results of these experiments offer insight into the results of in situ monitoring in backfill at multiple locations in S.E. Idaho, and potentially explain differences in Se solubility at these locations. Strategic management of rock and water in constructed mine wastefacilities to limit O 2 recharge can thus promote SeO 4 2- reduction by communities of indigenous organisms using available carbon and other electron donors. This offers a sustainable, design-based approach to natural attenuation of Se in mined rock. | <urn:uuid:d07a1a16-9079-4c49-9cb7-893ca5310189> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/3285 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.918305 | 631 | 2.3125 | 2 |
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Warm Homes Week 2021
Post on 19th Aug 2021
This year NEA is celebrating our 40-year anniversary and we want to spend this milestone by bringing together our supporters across the whole of the UK, surpassing last year’s event and crucially investigating new opportunities to work together to end fuel poverty.
Content Type: Campaigns
NEA NI response to the Northern Ireland Executive Programme for Government Draft Outcomes Framework Consultation Document
Post on 22nd Mar 2021
Urgent action is needed to improve health outcomes and support the most vulnerable people who are at most risk of needless death and morbidity. Public Health England (PHE) recently warned there is a clear overlap between cold homes and Covid-19 and it is more important than ever that the most vulnerable members of society can afford to live in a warm, safe home.
Nation / Region: Northern Ireland
Content Type: Publications
New ONS figures reveal cold homes death toll
Post on 27th Nov 2020
National fuel poverty charity highlights that millions of people in cold homes are at greater risk this winter, as COVID-19 intensifies seasonal stresses for those on lowest incomes and in the least efficient homes.
Content Type: News | <urn:uuid:52f8dd84-0d13-4b05-8ecc-a09489300eda> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.nea.org.uk/advance-search/?nation=northern-ireland&tag=excess-winter-death | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.912998 | 263 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A comprehensive budget deal struck between the White House and Congress will replenish the money in the Social Security Disability Trust Fund and avoid a more than 20 percent cut in benefits checks. As we have reported in this newsletter in the past, a cut in benefits would impact the most vulnerable Americans – those with disabilities.
Social Security has two funds – one to pay old-age retirement benefits and the other to pay disability benefits. The fund for paying disability benefits was running dangerously low and was forecast to run out of money in late 2016. If the Disability Trust Fund had run dry then Social Security would only have been able to pay out in benefits what it was taking in. Projections put the payout under those circumstances at 79 percent of the promised benefits.
Under the terms of the budget deal, the Social Security Administration will be authorized to reallocate contributions going forward and increase the amount going to the Disability Trust Fund which is predicted to keep the fund solvent for the next seven years. The deal also provides money to hire more administrative law judges to hear disability claims.
The Social Security Administration says it will be able to hire enough Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) to clear the burgeoning backlog of disability cases. As reported by The Washington Post, the number of open cases waiting ALJ decisions has now gone over the one million mark and the average time from when a request for a hearing is filed until a decision is made has climbed to 450 days nationally. But, it is well over 500 days in the hearing offices in the Chicago region.
The White House had strongly advocated for shoring up the Disability Trust Fund and Congressional Republicans had been pressing for reforms in the program and tougher enforcement against fraud in the system. Under the budget deal, brokered by outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner, there will be several changes to the system that The Washington Post characterizes as “the biggest changes the disability insurance program will see for years.” The newspaper reports that this new bill “expands the use of investigation units that partner with local law enforcement agencies to track down people who might be gaming the system. It also forbids ex-felons from making disability benefits determinations, beefs up penalties for fraud, and instructs the Social Security Administration to move everyone onto electronic recordkeeping in an effort to avoid overpayments.” The plan creates more federal-state disability investigative teams, expanding their use to all 50 states by 2022.
These changes to the disability system are expected to save nearly $5 billion over the next ten years which is only a tiny portion of the $141 billion projected cost of the program over the same time period. News of the budget compromise is a relief to the more than 11 million Americans who rely on relatively meager disability benefits for food, housing and, in many cases, for much-needed medications.
The reallocation of funds into the Disability Trust Fund is part of a far-reaching budget agreement which raised the debt ceiling, funded the federal government for another two years and avoided a government shutdown.
If you need help applying for disability benefits – or if you were denied – let our Chicago-area disability attorneys help you. Contact us today to get started. | <urn:uuid:19aa1179-24af-4435-89c3-0a485eeec0f1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.nashdisabilitylaw.com/the-social-security-disability-trust-fund-is-rescued-but-changes-are-on-the-horizon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.959154 | 645 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Revelation 1: 4a
Grace and peace be yours from God, who is, who was, and who is to come,
2 Samuel 23: 1-6
David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David’s last words:
The spirit of the LORD speaks through me; his message is on my lips.
The God of Israel has spoken; the protector of Israel said to me:
“The king who rules with justice, who rules in obedience to God,
is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn, the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain.”
And that is how God will bless my descendants because he has made an eternal covenant with me,
an agreement that will not be broken, a promise that will not be changed.
That is all I desire; that will be my victory, and God will surely bring it about.
Revelation 1: 8
“I am the first and the last,” says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.
Ancient Wisdom, ‘who is, who was, and who is to come’ speaks to us in these moments. In the breath of the Spirit and the Deep Silence of the Living Creation. Our God travels alongside us now, AND has already traveled these waves AND travels them before we are even aware they exist.
When overwhelmed, God is.
While grieving, God is.
When uncertain, God is.
God’s calling, Jesus’ teaching, with the Wisdom of the Spirit, is about living now, learning from the past and looking forward in hope. We live, then, like “the sun shining on a cloudless dawn, the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain” when we listen to Ancient Wisdom for New Days.
As we review the year that was and enter the year to come, let us ask ourselves:
Where have I enabled sparkling this last year?
Whom am I encouraging to sparkle?
How will I refresh life so all creation sparkles in the days to come?
Let us also ask these questions as Church communities, whilst entering Advent, so we greet God who goes before us, restored, refreshed and revitalised, living as God’s people in the Way of Jesus, with Wisdom warming our hearts of Love.
Revelation 1: 8
An Advent Invocation
You shine as the brightest sun, across all darkness,
through every element of life
at every moment.
We are drawn to your spark of life
and see the path on which you shine.
Your Ancient Wisdom flows through the new days ahead.
s0, we wake with anticipation that we shall meet you on the way.
Come to us, God of Light.
Ancient Wisdom, guide us.
Shine through us,
so that we, through you,
enable all your creation to sparkle
with justice, peace, love, and joy.
Shine in our hearts, we pray!
© Rev Anne Hewitt 17/11/2021
This reflection & prayer may be shared as long as the original writer is credited. | <urn:uuid:802e6a1a-cfd0-42f8-bb5c-c4f9ad122e76> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://churchestogethersa.org.au/ancient-wisdom-for-new-days/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.929306 | 708 | 1.804688 | 2 |
IPv6 has a much larger number of available addresses than IPv4 which allows all Internet-connected devices to have public addresses and outmodes floating IPs and NAT used with IPv4.
Pan-Net NFVI fully supports IPv6 and dual stack applications, including
Stateful autoconfiguration where an IPv6 address is assigned by DHCP
Stateless autoconfiguration using the EUI-64 addressing process (SLAAC)
Multiple addresses per interface
Networking based on IPv6 provides advantages over IPv4 such as
More efficient routing and packet processing due to shorter routing tables and omitted router checksum verification
Simplified network configuration by increased flexibility and auto-configuration capabilities
Stronger security through native IPSec support
Pan-Net tenants support IPv6 networking out-of-the-box. To use it, it is necessary to obtain IPv6 addresses from an ISP and configure DNS with necessary records. In a tenant, networks and subnets are configured for single IPv6 stack or dual stack addressing with OpenStack commands.
More information can be found under Concepts in IP addressing | <urn:uuid:78214a0d-5fb5-4cc3-867b-56ef046fdb6a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://documentation.portal.pan-net.cloud/compute/product-overview/network/ipv6/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.88556 | 230 | 1.914063 | 2 |
One of the most ancient Russian signs of marriage is a groom’s sword, which is minimize close to the https://russianwomenworld.com/ top of the bride’s eyebrow. The cut indicates that the new bride will be purified by her new husband. The symbolism in the Russian wedding also reaches up to the groom’s tuxedo, which can be worn by groom. The new bride will even wear a white music band and a white veil to indicate her purity.
One other traditional Russian symbol of marriage is definitely the bride’s cut eyebrow. The slash is intended to symbolize chastity, mainly because the bride will become true and be filtered by her new husband. A cut of the eyebrow can often be used in wedding ceremonies. The slice should be close to the mind so that the fresh husband can see it and admire it is beauty. This can be another way to represent a new your life together.
Another popular Russian icon of marriage is the bride’s shaved eyebrow. In Spain, this icon represents chastity, and the groom’s shaved eyebrow is actually a sign of purity. In Russian weddings, the eyebrow is shaved close to the mind. This means that the bride’s new hubby will detox her through his relationship. It is also regarded as one of the earliest symbols of marriage.
Another traditional Russian icon of marriage is the groom’s sword. This can be the sword of your groom. The shaved eyebrow is a sign of chastity. The blade ought to be cut very close towards the bride’s brain so that the spouse will be able to detox her. The other traditional Russian mark of relationship is the bride’s veil. In Russia, a veil is usually worn simply by both the bride and groom, so that the veil is concealed.
An alternative popular Russian symbol of marriage is definitely the bride’s eyebrow. It symbolizes purity. The groom’s eyebrow is cut closely for the top of the head. Their appearance on the bride’s face signifies that she will always be protected simply by her spouse. And the groom’s sword is known as a traditional Russian symbol of marriage. The pomegranate symbolizes fidelity, virility, and range. It is considered to have been used as a symbolic symbolic representation of marriage for many hundreds of years.
A Russian wedding ceremony also includes a traditional sign of a bride’s eyebrow. The eye brows are representational of purity. Seeing that the bride-to-be is mown by her husband, her eyebrows are trimmed near the top of her mind. A reduce near the top of your head is said to purify the bride’s heart and soul. It is also crucial that you wear a veil that signifies the marriage day. It ought to be a gift of love and emotion.
Among the oldest Russian symbols of marriage is definitely the groom’s sword. Its ornamental blazon suggests “The Cleaning service and the Prince”. In addition , the groom’s blade is adorned with a well-liked Russian declaring, “Mossy wo biras”. In the West, the bride’s blade is the simply symbol of marriage, but in Russian federation, this custom is very widespread. There are various types of marriages, but they all carry some kind of symbolic meaning. | <urn:uuid:0fca1b2f-1f10-497e-af51-b819ccb5f29c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://feiafrica.org/2021/10/07/russian-symbols-of-marriage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.954568 | 698 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Charlie Vettiner Golf Course is designated as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program. To reach certification, a course must demonstrate a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas including environmental Planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education and water quality management.
This is a gorgeous golf course with rolling hills, bent grass greens, and zoysia fairways. If the 50 white sand bunkers and tree-lined fairways aren’t enough to get your attention, how about the creek that meanders through several holes, with ponds on #5, #14 and #18. This has been rated as the 7th most challenging course in Kentucky. However, there are enough different tee markers to either help or challenge every level of golfer. A fully stocked Pro Shop and snack bar will help round out any day at this beautiful course. Along with spectacular golf, Charlie Vettiner Park also features a fishing lake, fitness course, hiking trails, and playground for complete family entertainment.
You can find when MSD/Louisville is dumping raw sewage into our groundwater here: msdprojectwin.org/
Kentucky DEP advises fish consumption for bottom feeders (catfish) and panfish to one per week (in a healthy person), and one per month in sensitive people (kids, elderly, sick), and for predatory fish such as bass, one meal per month with Mercury listed as the contaminant. . water.ky.gov/waterquality/Pages/FishConsumption.aspx
Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources details a bit better listing also Mercury and PCBs according to the body of water (note they do not measure or include perchlorates or arsenic here): fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Fish-Consumption-Advisories.aspx | <urn:uuid:4396bafb-f898-48ed-aaab-672b24aa1d5f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://certification-reviewer.com/2018/08/12/hazard/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.920801 | 393 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level.
Many Aquilegia’s are native to the U.S. Golden columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha is a Texas and southwest native, has yellow flowers and can take more sun than some varieties. McKana's Giant is the hybrid columbine most often sold. Large beautiful bi-colored flowers dazzle in woodland and shady area. Rocky Mountain columbine, Aquelegia caerulea; and wild columbine, A. canadensis, are other common columbines. Rocky Mountain columbine is the state flower of Colorado.
The old fashioned larkspur is a drought tolerant reseeding annual, previously associated with delphiniums (now in the Ranunculaceae family). I’ve grown it in my alley, in the xeristrip, and its crept into my medium water-use zone. Deadheading keeps millions of tiny seeds from overcoming your garden next year, and also keeps the blooms coming. Larkspur can flower for six weeks. Again, deadheading is important to prevent a massive infestation throughout your landscape.
Heucheras are native to the North American continent and make wonderful foliage and flower plants for your woodland border. Grown mostly for its interesting, evergreen foliage, coral bells will continue to flower on mature plants if kept deadheaded into the summer. Although the native heucheras are great in themselves, there are hundreds of hybrid cultivars to choose from.
Unlike, S. nemorosa ‘May Night’, I don’t mind deadheading this salvia, perhaps because of its plum color it does not require as persistent deadheading. Notice the gray-green leaves of ‘Plumosa’, versus the green leaves of ‘May Night’. The stems tend to flop, but the flower stalks continue to grow and flower upright -- very strange.
The Calylophus genus is one of the best Southwest native plants for Panhandle gardens. Heat and drought tolerant, long blooming with little to no care, what garden would be without it? Sunny yellow 4 petaled sundrop flowers bloom in an explosion in spring, and respectably during the remaining growing season, especially when given a once a month inch of water during drought conditions. Each individual flower lasts only a day, tight compact mounds sport the orange spent blooms as well as the new bright yellow flower.
Illinois bundleflower should be grown for its unusual characteristics of seedpods and leaves, if nothing else. A member of the legume or bean family, the seed pods turn dark brown, leathery and twisted in appearance and rattle in the wind in late fall. The compound, alternate, pinnate leaves fold when touched or when exposed to strong sunlight. Small white flowers in summer. Attracts butterflies, birds love its seeds. The plant can grow to be quite large if in high water-use areas.
White flowering zinnia is native to the Southwest and Northern Mexico. A low mounding plant, it becomes completely covered with small white flowers with a central yellow disk, similar to our native prairie zinnia, Zinnia grandiflora. Blooms from June through fall. Desert zinnia is toxic if ingested by humans.
An old world Mediterranean plant best known for the acanthus leaf shape used as a basis in classical Greek and Roman designs. The plant itself takes 2 – 3 years growth before flowering. Attractive flowers with purple bracts on tall spikes to 4’. Frost sensitive, will die back in a late spring frost, but will come back. Adds architectural and textural interest.
Perennial from South Africa noted to be cold hardy for our area, but I’ve had mixed results, most years it didn’t winter over (although reported to be Zone 5). However, it will flower nicely the first year in the garden, so I’ve kept trying it. A Plant Select Plant for 2000. Perhaps it needs moister conditions in the winter than what I give it.
Echinacea angustifolia is the herbal echinacea. Native throughout most of the Midwest, and the Texas Panhandle. Very drought tolerant. It can be seen growing along roadsides and in nature generally. A good cut flower. The common name Black Samson refers to its roots. Not as showy as E. purpurea and newer introductions.
Scabiosa columbaria ‘Butterfly Blue’, though first discovered in Ireland, will thrive very nicely in your transition zone as a border plant along turf, where it’ll receive medium to medium high water. Amend the soil well with organic matter for rich blooms and keep it deadheaded to prolong blooms. Afternoon shade is recommended. A little more trouble than usual, but well worth the softening effect this compact, mounded and cheery plant brings to the border; a Perennial Plant of the Year for 2000.
Scarlet globemallow is a welcome addition to any xeric or High Desert garden. Small coral flowers bloom from May (sometimes April) through into the fall. Although scarlet globemallow will survive with no additional moisture in our climate, once a month watering insures steady blooms. The plant is similar in appearance to S. ambigua, which can bloom coral, white, lavender and pink.
Snow on the Mountain is a showy plant native to the plains states. Heat and drought tolerant in the Texas Panhandle. Striking variegated green and white foliage, with small white summer flowers. Can be invasive and is toxic to humans, sap of plant may cause dermatitis. Deer resistant. Control spread by deadheading.
Bush morning glory is a non-vining herbaceous perennial with a deep taproot, allowing it to be drought tolerant, but difficult to transplant. Arching branches with narrow upright green leaves emerge from the taproot. Summer blooming with 3 inch pink to purple funnel shaped flowers that open in the morning and close in the afternoon. Bush morning glory typically inhabits sandy and sandy loan plains, meadows, prairies and roadsides.
Small green gray evergreen leaves forms mounded, low growing xeric plant with small white flowers in late spring. Does not spread vigorously. Easily propagated by root cuttings. An alpine from the Balkans region.
A terrific variety for the prairie garden, though requiring prairie conditions -- good soil with good drainage and more frequent watering than our native, E. angustifolia. Coneflowers are all the rage right now with many new introductions every year, ranging from white, yellow, orange to the popular purple. Most of these should be located in your medium to high water-use area. The richer the soil and with weekly watering (high), you'll enjoy grander blooms. A good border plant in the transition area between turf and medium water-use. E.
Linum lewisii, the southwestern and western native perennial wildflower variety of flax was named after Meriwether Lewis, who was first to describe it during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. On July 18th, 1805, near the Great Falls of the Missouri Lewis recorded: "I have observed for several days a species of the flax growing in the river bottoms the leaf stem and pericarp of which resembles the common flax cultivated in the U'States. The stem rises to the hight of about 2 1/2 or 3 feet high; as many as 8 or ten of which proceeds from the same root.
A new hybrid skullcap from High Country Gardens. A cross between two native skullcaps, Violet Cloud likes the soil lean and well drained. A sparkling addition for the rock garden, xeristrip and any low water-use area. Additional watering is required during establishment the first year, after that, it should be drought tolerant.
Desert globemallow is one of those native plants that keeps on giving, asking so little in return and is a worthy addition to any native or xeric garden. Typically, desert globemallow sports pretty pink flowers. though some plants will bloom white, coral or lavender. Whatever color, they are worth the addition to your sunny and dry landscape for their pleasant cheery nature. Similar to appearane to S. coccinea, a coral blooming species.
Gregg's mist flower is a Southwest native for the partly shaded bed medium to low water-use bed. It's a butterfly magnet, particularly for the Monarch butterfly which passes through about the same time the mist flower is bloom in late summer into fall. Masses of lavender blue flowers top the plant for which it gets it names, the appearance of blue mist. Frequently, butterflies will be seen topping the flowers. Gregg's mist flowers will spread by roots, allow it some room.
Gayfeather is one of the High Plains jewels of autumn, sending up grasslike leaves or stalks that bloom gloriously in September and October to fuzzy purple spikes. At maturity, one plant can grow a dozen or more, size and number depending on rainfall amounts. Drier years, the stalks are few and short, but with monthly or twice a month watering, the plant displays much more vitality. The purple flowers contrast nicely with the many yellow flowers that bloom on the plains. Liatris punctata is the most drought tolerant of the genus.
Herbaceous perennial. Fragrant hummingbird plant belonging to the mint family (Lamiaceae). Limited reseeding. Does better in afternoon shade. Locate in a transition area between medium and low water use. Leave plant and flower stalks standing in the fall, the plant does better trimmed back at the beginning of March.
A beautiful white variety of the purple coneflower. This picture doesn't do the flower justice.
Similar to the purple coneflower, this white variety is really a high water-use plant that appreciates afternoon shade. Deadhead to prolong the bloom period, but keep end of season blooms on for fall and winter interest.
This pink (old common name referring to the pinked edges) is pink. Heat tolerant fragrant perennial forms a spreading mound. The buds provide interest for several weeks before they open. Other perennial dianthus thrive in our area, biennial and annual dianthus as well. Look for heat tolerant varieties. D. gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’ is another dianthus to try. Carnations, maiden pinks, Sweet Williams are members of this genus. There are many hybrid cultivars, and more every year.
A non-invasive tansy from southern and central Europe for your low water-use bed and border that will reseed somewhat. A short lived perennial. Gray cut-leaf foliage provides an attractive white element in the garden. | <urn:uuid:4ffc49b3-ef81-4f9d-85db-06a207264bca> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://highplainsgardening.com/plant-type/herbaceous | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.933965 | 2,282 | 2.703125 | 3 |
(We are all one. Resistance is futile).
It occurs to me reading Helson’s latest article that this type of erasure is exactly what polytheists experience in the interfaith community. Diversity is all good and well, after all, so long as it doesn’t challenge the homogenization (read “globalization”) of a community.(1) Yes, I’m being sarcastic there because I think we’ve been fed one hell of a lie about “unity” and “globalization” being things that embrace diversity and difference when the very opposite is the case. Diversity—and I think this holds true globally as well as in the interfaith world– is only embraced when it begins the slow but inexorable slide into unification and sameness. (2) Keep your exotic costumes and practices so we can feel good about being inclusive but don’t actually believe or hold to anything that challenges our status quo. That’s interfaith work in a nutshell. This is one of the main reasons that I have little patience for interfaith work these days. It simply does not serve. At least, it doesn’t serve our agenda. I think it serves the monotheistic agenda quite nicely.
How many of you working in interfaith groups or communities have heard the following:
- Oh Spirit… (with great resistance to specifying which One. Exactly to WHOM are you praying? I once had a 45 minute argument with a group of students when I taught seminary because they didn’t want to have to name the Being to Whom they were praying. They couldn’t. Their spirituality was a nebulous thing of feel good platitudes. Gods or even one particular God had very little to do with it. )
- Mother/Father God (again, which Ones and are you talking about: One hermaphroditic being or are you trying to lump all different Deities into yours? They’re not all the same you know.)
- God, Goddess, All that Is (as though there is only ONE God or Goddess)
- Oh They’re all aspects of the One (um, no motherfucker, “They” really aren’t. Stop trying to foist your unexamined monotheism off on us).
- Or how many of you have sat with interfaith colleagues, maybe even friends and noticed that your polytheism was being treated with a deeply ingrained condescension hidden behind a veneer, a pleasant veneer, of tolerance? I’ve seen this even with friends, the idea that we’re simply not evolved enough for monotheism or worse “awww, look at the primitive little polytheist, isn’t it interesting? We just have to be patient until they grow up and accept Oneness.”(3)
I’ve been in interfaith gatherings where a great deal of lip service was paid to the idea of honoring all “paths” (and gods how I detest that word. I’m building a tradition not wandering lost in the woods) until it became clear that polytheism was not about erasing the differences between the Gods so that we could all “get along.” They were fine – and this has been across the board in my own interfaith experience—with the idea of polytheism until they were confronted by the reality of a group of people who actually believed in and venerated the Holy Powers and for whom it wasn’t some spiritual pabulum to make us feel good about ourselves but actual piety.(4) I had someone say to me once “ well how can you hold to the things your various Deities require over mine? Isn’t that going against the interfaith ideal?” (Y’all are welcome to imagine my response to that particular bit of self entitlement). It just goes to show the old adage is true: if you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything).
More and more I have come to look at interfaith relations as a type of cultural appropriation. It is dominated by people who cannot commit to one religion, but who want the benefits and blessings of engaging with the Holy Powers within specific traditions, all without actually having to commit to those Powers or those traditions. Hence, you’ll often see people claiming titles in Hindu or Native American religions without actually having gone through decades of study and devotion and without actually having any type of devotion to any particular Deity. They smudge. Maybe they do yoga. All paths are one after all, dontcha know.
It becomes all about making the person feel good, about making them look “enlightened” and “spiritual” so they can get a pat on the head without ever having to challenge any oppressive status quo, especially any religious status quo. Their model is monotheistic. The model for their rites and rituals is, whether they acknowledge this or not: monotheistic and actual engagement with the Powers of any tradition is generally lacking. Most interfaith rituals I have observed are not just doggedly human centric but, despite whatever trappings the organizer might appropriate, devoid of Gods. I mean, you sort of need to name the Gods to call Them into a space and that might be exclusive. Everyone has to feel comfortable after all so let’s just go with the lowest fucking common denominator and call it a day. Hence you end up with what I call impious and unclean space.
More to the point, for all the lip service paid to diversity, it isn’t. Any diversity present is at best on the surface and at worst a complete illusion. This actually saddens me because I think that the idea of interfaith cooperation is a good one, perhaps even a necessary one but it’s one that’s never going to work until all parties are equal. Right now polytheists working in an interfaith setting are anything but. We are expected to sacrifice our religious integrity to make these people feel good about themselves. That, my friends, is never going to happen.(5) One of the things that I have learned as a tribalist is that there actually can be parity…when all groups are treated as sovereign equals. My tribe, your tribe, that person’s tribe are all different but we are each sovereign powers within the sphere in which we’re meeting. We can meet on equal ground. That’s a hell of a lot better than being expected to sacrifice actual diversity for the illusion of enlightenment.
- and we can be global citizens participating in a global economy without sacrificing our identities as individual nations, religions, and cultures.
- Or in the interfaith world when it allows a new ager to feel good about how accepting of difference they can be.
- So let me be blunt for a moment. Let me tell you something, my monotheistic, interfaith colleagues: your position is this: You are a polluted blip on the broad spectrum of religious life, history, and experience across the world, a single moment in the vast spectrum of religious history and your time in ascendancy is over. We as a world are waking up from the lies you told us. We’re recovering from the Stockholm syndrome our ancestors experienced when you GENOCIDED our fucking indigenous religions and co opted our ancestral cultures as your own. We are waking back up and returning to our ancestral ways. You are done. Take that to your next interfaith gathering and choke on it.
- I’ve worked in the interfaith community since 1999, having taught at a local interfaith seminary, including becoming the first polytheist elected Dean at an interfaith seminary. It was very, very eye opening and while I started out thinking it was a good venue in which to find common working ground, I no longer think it useful at all. It will never be until monotheism is not looked up on as the default ‘norm.’
- To do interfaith work well, there either cannot be a ‘norm.’ or we actually admit our differences and find common working ground despite them.
I just finished reading one of the article submissions for Issue 4 of Walking the Worlds and I came away quite dismayed. We put out a call on several academic list-serves (both to Classics and to Philosophy) and we’ve been getting some interesting pieces for consideration. We’ve also been getting quite a few that completely miss the mark. As I was reading through this latest, I couldn’t help but find some of the rhetoric familiar but I couldn’t place where I’d heard it before until one of the other editors pointed out that it’s the same type of language you hear from would-be-allies in interfaith settings who want to be inclusive but can’t quite fathom actual polytheism as being on par with their own monotheistic tendencies. It gets quite tiring but I’m going to talk about this in brief today because I’m pretty sure my own experiences with this well-meaning interfaith trend aren’t isolated incidents.
I do quite a bit of interfaith work. I even taught for an interfaith seminary for a year. I can honestly say that without exception the most accommodating attitude toward polytheism tends to be some variant of either ‘well, our Gods are all One anyway so that’s ok,” (until we point out that no, They’re not), or “I’ll respect your right to have many Gods because God is ineffable and you’re just not evolved yet enough for Unity.” Some of the best interfaith allies I know suffer grievously from this latter attitude.
I think that in most cases these people mean and want deeply to be inclusive, to live up to the interfaith ideals around which they’ve worked hard to build their lives. I really do and that complicates this issue for me because I don’t know how to effectively educate them out of what is at its core a deeply disparaging and condescending position. And as much as I actively dislike interfaith work (and I often question its usefulness), with the situation in the world being what it is today I think that it’s important to at least find ways to meet on common ground and discuss and share knowledge and perhaps solutions to issues facing us all. So I persevere but it is deeply discouraging to see the same offensive tropes come up again and again and again in people who A) know better and B) would probably be horrified to realize the depth of their actual intolerance.
99% of people in the interfaith community with whom I’ve talked have no comprehension of just how monotheistic in general and Protestant Christian in particular their baseline model for normalcy in liturgy, prayer, and education actually is. In addition to being effectively clueless about polytheism, they are in general equally clueless about the importance of vocations in prospective clergy as well as anything approaching mysticism. I have always maintained that to do effective, really effective interfaith work there can’t be a “normal” model. You have to deal with people as they come. To have one accepted model means that there will always be a plethora of religions that are outsiders, that don’t fit and that means that those who do will be in the power position of granting or denying “tolerance.” Not a very good place from which to begin interfaith dialogue is it?
I suspect the problem is that our “allies” simply can’t imagine a world where monotheism isn’t the norm. The corollary to that, of course, is that anything that isn’t monotheistic is deviant from that norm. Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret: once upon a time (only this isn’t a fairy tale but actual historical reality) the entire world was polytheistic. Monotheism was, at best and when it existed at all, an aberration. Even those philosophers like Socrates and Plato whom we’ve largely been taught are atheists were in fact devout polytheists. The polytheistic world was one of culture: art, philosophy, theatre, literature, architecture, science, and reasoned debate. It was only with monotheism that these things ground to a screeching halt to be partially rediscovered during our Scientific Age.
There was a time when walking down a city street meant passing a multitude of temples large and small, where the sights, sounds, and smells of reverence dominated the spatial landscape. One can still see this in parts of India today as historian Edward J. Watts points out in his rather sympathetic book The Final Pagan Generation. (1) The landscape was infused with a sense of the sacred and that sacred was a diversity, not unity of Beings. Even after Christianity began rearing its ugly, lowbrow head, it was still largely incomprehensible to Pagans of the time that exclusivity of belief would be demanded. It was outside of their way of doing things, outside of the way things had been done for millennia. That of course, was their downfall but that’s a subject for another post.
There was a time when it was the Christians or other monotheists who couldn’t imagine a world that wasn’t polytheistic. There was a time when polytheism was the only norm. I’ll be honest too, I’d very much like to see our world return to that. That too, of course, is an article for another day. We must of needs deal with the shit storm we have here and not the one we wish. Thus John Halstead.(2)
To return to point, when I am dealing in an interfaith capacity with the condescension, however well meaning and however subtle; when I am dealing with allies who very much want to be supportive but look at our religion like one might examine a bug under a microscope or an animal in a zoo (as a novelty, an exoticism, or worse those who look at it in self-congratulation as a clear expression of their tolerance), I always strive to keep this in mind: once, we were the norm. Once the world was polytheistic and it could be again. It is you who represent the aberration and look where it has taken our world: to the brink of its own destruction; and when I engage with interfaith allies, I do so in a way that verbally normalizes polytheism yet again. I simply do not acknowledge their “normalcy” or their majority. It is an imperfect solution but it is the best I have yet been able to manage.
I would like to come up with tips for those non-polytheists who wish to be allies in this fight but I’m a bit at a loss. I simply become so dismayed by the lack of simple comprehension and the reification of “unity” as something necessary and matter of course. I almost feel as though I have been tasked with deprogramming lunatics. The best I can come up with is this: “Understand that your way of doing things is the novelty. Though it be two thousand years old, in the span of religious life on this planet that is put a drop of water in an ocean of reverence.” I don’t think that’s a very good way to approach this though so I turn to you. What would you tell our erstwhile allies? Can we get up a ten-point list of suggestions or something? Help.
- Watts, p. 18-20.
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My whole life feels like one big waiting game. I could not wait to get done with High School. I could not wait to get married. I could not wait to buy a house. I could not wait to eat my dessert. I am always waiting for something in life and it is not good. We all tend to do this to some degree because we are uniquely gifted with the understanding of the “future” tense. No other animal is consciously waiting for some future event – they are always responding to stimulus in a programmed manner. The ultimate example of the waiting game is that guaranteed end point – death. I am scared that I will eventually run out of exciting things to wait for and ultimately begin to wait for my last breath. It sounds macabre but isn’t that what a lot of elderly people are doing at this very moment. There are nursing homes around the world full of people that have one last future plan. I don’t want to rush through life anymore and try to speed up what is already a fast-tracked existence.
On any given day, I am waiting for a myriad of future events. In the middle of the night I wake up waiting for my alarm. In the morning I wait for lunch time. In the afternoon I wait for the end of the work day to get done. In the evening I wait to eat dinner. While lying in bed I wait for my favorite TV show. While I close my eyes to sleep I wait for my dreams. When I’m waiting for the aforementioned events, I am waiting for even more things in the distant future: blog posts to write, books to read, plans to be made, sex to be had, money to be saved, and chores to be completed. During my waking hours, I probably spend 75% of the time thinking about things in the future or things that are unrelated to the present. Even when I am doing something fun, I catch myself waiting for it to be over so I can move onto the next activity.
When I was in college, I was in a huge rush to get done and start my life. I could not wait to never have to write a stupid paper or turn in an assignment again (ironic now that I blog). I did everything I could to graduate early and now I look back with deep regrets. I missed out on seeing my friends whom I rarely ever see now. There was nothing for me at the end of the process – all I had was that habit of waiting for the next step. Are we all destined to wait out our lives until we’re dead in the ground? I am realistic and know waiting will always play a role in my life. How could I ever plan for the future without daydreams? How could I ever better myself without future goals? I will never stop looking forward but I need to find a way to balance my gaze more towards the present. What is the best way to be mindful? The number one way to get out of the waiting game is to notice the details. Your brain is almost always on autopilot and can function pretty well with minimal concentration. Whenever you take your brain out of its autopilot you begin to concentrate and focus on the here and now. My top two ways of doing this is by focusing on my breath and focusing on specific details. For example, my mind was wandering while writing this blog so I focused on my breath for a couple of inhales. Almost immediately, I began concentrating on the task at hand and was completely present. If you find yourself in the waiting game focus on something extremely particular. I love looking at the sunrise or the stars when I let Max out to take a crap. Focus on one thing and just analyze it for a couple of seconds. You will be present and your thoughts will stay in that state for quite some time thereafter.
I know this is all stuff that people have heard before but I personally always need reminding. Practice being present and stop waiting for the next step. Life is a river that you float down; every bend is unique, some bends are bad, some bends are good, but you can only stay at each for a certain time – once you pass one it is gone forever.
Do you want to be happy for the rest of your life? Do you want to live each day as if you were a overly-positive camp counselor? Do you want to wake up Monday morning feeling like you could wrestle a bear or win an argument against a jerkhead? I do! Who wouldn’t want to best a pachyderm or better yet crap glorious poops on a regular basis? To get closer to my goals of blissful happiness, I read Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. Most of you know who Daniel Gilbert is because he is the slightly older gentleman on all those Prudential retirement commercials; “How much is in your pocket, go put it on that board so you can see how big it will get in 5000 years when you can finally stop working.” Gilbert is a frick after my own heart and I really like his style of writing. This book was not an easy read and honestly it could be a semester long course with how many research studies it cites. However, because of Gilbert’s explanations of how we think, I now understand happiness much better than before.
To truly understand what makes us happy we must first understand how we perceive the world around us. We have flawed thinking about the past, present, and future.
- We look into the past and only remember high points and low points which doesn’t give us an accurate history of events. For example, we remember the highlights of the vacation but forget the mundane parts like sitting in the car or eating ham sandwiches.
- In the present, we naturally compare our emotional state with others seeing only the things that reaffirm our beliefs. For example, we want a new car so we note to ourselves every time we see someone who appears happy with a new car-while disregarding all the unhappy people.
- We imagine the future without exact detail, which fools us into thinking that our emotions will be stronger then they actually will be. For example, we imagine that our sadness would be extremely high the day after our team loses the big game but in reality we are not that sad because we didn’t include in our imagination all the other things we would do in that day like have sex or eat a big cheeseburger.
In addition to our lack of accurate past, present, and future perceptions, we have an excellent knack to defend against negativity. We have an emotional immune system which helps us rationalize negative stimuli. For example, you find your best friend in bed with your woman. You will be mad but eventually your emotional immune system will rationalize the event in your head: “She was a whore, I’m so glad I figured this out sooner then later…she wasn’t good enough for me anyways…she did always have a weird cat smell.” We also surround ourselves with people who reaffirm our beliefs and this further helps the emotional immune system do its job of keeping us positive.
So what the frick does all this crazy psychology have to do with happiness? To put simply, our perception of the world is influenced by our own world view and we will seek to reaffirm this view at all costs. Since our views of past and future are fuzzy at best we really can only reference the present for accurate indicators of happiness levels. How the heck do you reference the present if you are trying to figure out your future happiness? The best way is to look at people who are experiencing your imagined future in the present. For example, you are wondering whether having children will make you happy, or whether having a new car will make you happy, or whether getting that weird hipster haircut will make you happy. You need to find someone who currently is in that state and glean information from them regarding their state of happiness. Daniel Gilbert calls this “Reporting Live from Tomorrow.” I told you this book was a difficult read and hence a difficult subject to sum up. In addition to these tips on happiness, I want to add my own small opinion on the subject. Guaranteed happiness can only come when you appreciate your blessings that have already come to be while having the mentality that no blessing in the future is guaranteed-making every new experience an awesome surprise gift. Life-long happiness is not expecting much from life but relishing whenever you do crap glorious poops on a Monday morning.
What happened to the idea that a wife would stay home and care after the house while the husband would be the bread winner? Well, feminism extricated women from their historic-domestic role and starting in the 1970’s women began to flood the workforce with fervor. I am all for women getting equal rights and being allowed to strap on the business suit and sit in a cubicle all day. My nagging question is why the reverse scenario wasn’t afforded to men? Sure, men can technically stay home and let their wife be the bread winner but I find it not nearly as socially acceptable. In the US at least, I find that woman are supported if they desire a career or a domestic title. A woman in the workforce can still be feminine and is viewed as strong, ambitious, intelligent, etc. A woman who stays at home, to take care for her family, can still be feminine and is viewed as strong, caring, nurturing, etc. How is a man viewed who stays at home to take care of domestic manners? I would say that he may be looked at as less masculine, lazy, lacking ambition, and weak. Sure there are exceptions to what people believe but I am talking about the general societal views that are brought up behind closed doors. The reason I bring these points up are two fold: firstly, I think it is important to identify that we do not need two income households, and secondly, we need to rethink what true masculinity represents.
You are probably thinking, “Jon what the frick, we need all the money we can get and are scrapping by with two incomes!” You probably are scrapping by, but that is because of spending habits and the life you created more than the actual amount of money you need. The two income trap is that you end up spending most of the money you make and hence build a lifestyle that corresponds to your dual income level. Think about if you had your pay cut in half. You would change your spending habits and adjust your lifestyle. I challenge both women and men to think about how they can cut the amount of time they spend working and readjust their lives to do the things they truly love to do. Men, I am reaching out to you and asking to rethink what masculinity truly means. Masculinity is not defined by the amount of money you make or the amount of respect you receive from a title. True masculinity is being secure in your own faculties so you can be the best lover, friend, mentor, son, and father. To anyone interested in the concept of the why two incomes is not beneficial I would recommend reading The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents are Going Broke by Elizabeth Warren. I know I had two points in this post but they are really related. Women and especially men need to let go of perceived societal norms, support lives that tout relationships over greed, and realize that life can be so much more fulfilling then the rat-race. I end with the question, “What would you do if you won the lottery?” 95% of people I have asked this said they would quit their job’s immediately.
Unfortunately, this title was a reality for Morrie Swartz in the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Morrie was a sociology professor who received the life changing diagnosis of ALS which slowly takes away the ability of the muscles to function and has no cure. Morrie, being the introspective person he was, did not become morose over his predicament but rather analyzed death and was extremely optimistic throughout his dwindling state. He tried to answer the hard questions of life and was a metaphorical bridge between the living and the dead.
One of the most profound points Morrie made was that you must first embrace death before you can really start living. This seems like a contradictory statement but it is a paradox with profound implications. Most people, including me, think death is a far off event that should receive little thought. We are all born and we will all die. We celebrate the birth part and avoid the death part. This creates a problem because death frames our life journey; accepting that at any point you may die frames how you live each and every day. If I die tonight will I be happy with my life up until this point? I asked this question to myself and I didn’t have a very satisfying answer. I currently am in a state of constant work which takes away my ability to maintain relationships, read, meditate, love, learn, and create. I still want to see the world, kiss my future children, and learn new skills. Why do I put off these life activities in the current-even though death may come at any time? Well the reason is that I have not accepted death yet and therefore I cannot truly start living. At current, I have accepted the desire of accumulating money to provide myself security which will keep me far away from death. Unfortunately, no matter how much financial security I have there is no escaping the unknown time of death. I am using money as a pseudo-god that graces me with a mentality that “tomorrow is a guarantee.”
Of course we need a certain amount of money to pay the bills but I bet if people accepted that death would come at any time they would change their spending habits. That big house may be a small house, that boat may not be so important, that new car may be unnecessary, that 5-star hotel just wouldn’t make much sense. What would become important would be a meal with your Dad, a camping trip to see the majestic Smokey Mountains, and maybe a homemade dinner with your beautiful spouse. My goal is to rid myself of the false security of money and find the bare-minimum amount that I need to truly live my life. I challenge you to think about this balance so that your full-time job becomes a part-time job or maybe you can even quit your job. Ask yourself, did you wake up this Monday excited to live your last day or did you wake up just to grudgingly trudge off to work as if you are going to live forever? | <urn:uuid:002b5832-a2c4-40ec-972b-7f693a306428> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://daretobewise.blog/tag/retirement/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.971072 | 3,004 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Color Dot Dice, 25-pack
This set of 25 color dot dice is the perfect addition to early learning classrooms, home schools, and family game nights. Our 16mm six-sided dice feature six colorful dots per die. They're great for teaching primary colors blue, red, yellow, as well as secondary colors orange, green, and purple, with no reading required! They make excellent classroom aids for color lessons, matching games, simple math and arithmetic, and even making your own board games! Each blank die is further customizable to make development easy with a minimal investment.
Why You'll Love It
Each set of 25 colored dice come in a resealable plastic bag for easy storage. Dice make for great manipulatives to reinforce classroom concepts in a tactile, interactive way that engages multiple senses at once and promotes both fun and retention. Let the good times roll! | <urn:uuid:c0bd7fdd-1c48-47df-a32d-94b9c7cdddc6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://media.brybelly.com/Color-Dot-Dice-25-pack | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.915483 | 182 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Could there be heretofore hidden indicators of a coffee plant’s climate and pest resilience, and even its flavor characteristics? Scientists in Toronto are literally getting to the bottom of this possibility with new research on the bacteria and fungi that “partner” with the roots of coffee trees.
Ecologists Roberta Fulthorpe, Adam R. Martin and Marney E. Isaac, all from the department of physical and environmental sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough, used multiple methods of DNA analysis to document what microbes are consistently found in coffee root tissue growing on four different Central American coffee farms.
The underlying principle is that a consistent plant root microbiome — a community of organisms such as bacteria and fungi — across different healthy plants would indicate a beneficial microbial relationship.
From there, agronomists could work to determine which specific conditions result in the healthy microbiome and use that data to determine best management practices to foster healthy plants amidst changing environmental conditions due to climate change.
Samples of Pacas and Caturra coffee plant roots were taken from four farms in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, varying from full sun monoculture to intercropped shade coffee agroforestry, that experience different patterns of temperature and rain and are operated using different farm-management techniques.
The study summarized these generally as either hot and wet, hot and dry, cool and wet or cool and dry. Analysis revealed 26 bacterial and 31 fungal species that the researchers could classify as belonging to coffee’s “core microbiome,” including several that are known to be beneficial to plant health and should be further investigated, according to the scientists.
The results also indicated that bacteria present in the different coffee roots were relatively consistent from one location to the next, as well as from one plant to the next. The fungal microbiome, meanwhile, was more sensitive to the conditions under which the plant was growing, while also varying more depending on the variety of coffee plant.
“Our results open the door for understanding if or how microbiomes can be managed in real-world cropping systems,” Martin said in a press release issued by the American Phytopathological Society. “Our work also leads to interesting questions on whether or not the flavor of our morning cup of coffee is influenced by the plant’s microbes.”
The complete study called “Root Endophytes of Coffee (Coffea arabica): Variation Across Climatic Gradients and Relationships with Functional Traits,” was published in the February 2020 issue of Phytobiomes Journal. | <urn:uuid:0b8a9dcf-70a2-4c11-a3f3-4fdee72354d3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dailycoffeenews.com/2020/05/19/researchers-explore-effects-of-bacteria-and-fungi-in-coffee-plant-roots/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.953297 | 527 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Bibliophiliac is the space where one passionate, voracious reader reflects on books and the reading life. You will find reviews, analysis, links, and reflections on poetry and prose both in and out of the mainstream.
A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. Franz Kafka
Monday, May 26, 2014
hardcover, 416 pages
a review copy of this book was provided through TLC Book Routs
Sadie Jones is a London based novelist who has published The Outcast, Small Wars, and The Uninvited Guests. Her fourth novel, Fallout, is an exploration of the ways in which our pasts can determine our futures--or not. Jones sets her novel in the period from 1968-1975 in the midst of London's theater community. She convincingly creates the world of playwrights, actors, directors and producers, freely mixing real and invented characters.
Luke Kanowski is just thirteen when the novel opens, in 1961. Living with an alcoholic father, Luke is devoted to his fragile mother, who is a resident of a mental institution. Jones depicts a Victorian-era asylum, red-brick, with turrets, where Luke is a familiar visitor who has spent his entire life visiting his mother, coping with her illness. In a pivotal scene, Luke helps his mother sneak away from the hospital for a visit to London, to see an exhibit of French paintings. Although neither character realizes it, his path crosses that day with that of Nina Hollings, an eleven-year-old girl whose mother, Marianne, makes Lady Macbeth look maternal.
In an image from this early section of the book, Nina stands transfixed in front of a painting by Ucello: "St. George and the Dragon." This image of a "long-necked maiden, daintily bound, and the lavishly armoured St. George thrusting his lance through the dragon's eye" holds the key to the urgent and doomed attraction that will develop between Luke and Nina much later in the novel. Luke is inexorably drawn toward unhappy maidens, and Nina is bound by maternal threads to a masochistic type of love.
Luke, who is brilliant but damaged, has a chance meeting with two Londoners in search of a playwright one rainy night in his Northern provincial town. Paul Driscoll and Leigh Radley draw Luke into the London theater life, and the three become roommates and coworkers, starting an experimental theater above a pub. After several years of writing play after play in secret notebooks, Luke has his first play produced, and it is a hit.
The trajectory of artistic struggle, and success is intertwined with the romantic relationships in Fallout. Very early in their friendship, Luke and Leigh kiss romantically, but Luke, an unabashed womanizer, pulls away from the woman he is drawn to because he has no idea what to do with Leigh, and somehow feels undeserving of her. Paul and Leigh end up together, but the romantic tension never quite leaves this triangle, who live together for one happy year.
Luke ends up in a catastrophic relationship with Nina, who has the most devouring, narcissistic stage mother imaginable. The innocent Nina has been placed by her calculating mother on the plate of a producer, Tony, who really prefers boys, but marries Nina in order to mold her into a star.
If this all sounds tragic and depressing, it's really not. Jones creates the most psychologically astute characters I've read, but her characters are living in the midst of a vibrant era and an intoxicating business. It is all really completely delicious.
The characters in Fallout are so beautifully drawn that the novel is a sheer pleasure to read. I loved the character of Luke; Jones is especially good on Luke's urgent drive to write and write and write. I felt enormous sympathy for almost all of the characters (Marianne and Tony are deliciously despicable), and there was never one wrong note in the writing. Fallout had me completely entranced. Highly recommended for fans of literary fiction, and for those interested in the theater. | <urn:uuid:301b0096-fdc4-4bd1-a4b5-7effe5fc9bc8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://bibliophiliac-bibliophiliac.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-fallout.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.966179 | 851 | 1.914063 | 2 |
A market analysis prepared for the Real Estate Institute of Australia
This report by the Real Estate Institute of Australia and SQM Research has found the percentage of Australian homes available to purchase has fallen from 4.5 percent in 2008 to just 2.5 percent today, with figures considerably lower in the major capitals. The report also shows that the number of properties in Australia has risen from 8.6 million in 2008 to 9.6 million in the latest estimates, making the falling number of homes for sale more alarming.
This lack of turnover is majorly due to the burden of stamp duty, which punishes Australians for buying and moving.
Stamp duties as a proportion of the average earnings have risen. SQM Research has examined the burden of stamp duties as a proportion of average earnings and has found that nationally, stamp duties as a percentage of average earnings have jumped over the past nine years to 34.3% from 25.1%, up almost one-third.
Read the full findings and implications in the report. | <urn:uuid:18fb3b9c-080a-49c8-831f-c799a2b9eed1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://reia.com.au/research-bk/stamp-duty/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.961525 | 205 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Hair appearance is adjustable to suit our expression. Haircare is not time-consuming; it does not have to be. So how to keep hair healthy? We discussed hair in great detail in our post “Hair: Interesting Medley.” This post summarizes top tips and few insights.
An average person sheds about 100 hair every day. Several factors such as lack of sleep, proper diet, infection, illness, and stress can cause more hair to fall out. Can hair loss be restored? What is a good hair care routine? How to establish the right and sustainable hair care routine? These questions apply equally to men and women and we discuss a simple solution in three steps. Let’s explore!
A simple haircare routine:
1) Cleansing- A gentle cleanser would remove dirt, grime, pollutants, and dead skin without changing scalp pH or stripping the natural oils. We suggest a pH-balanced, natural hair bath and rub the scalp gently to remove the dirt and depositions.
2) Moisturizing/conditioning-One expects hair tangling after a hair wash as some loss of hair’s natural oil. A hair conditioner would restore the vital oils, allow detangling of hair and promote shine. A natural, pH-balanced hair conditioner would restore the scalp and hair’s natural oils without altering the chemical balance.
3) Oil/Serum application- a combination of hair oils and serum restores the scalp’s natural balance. Hair oil and serum kept overnight followed by hair cleansing and conditioning work the best. One may warm up the oil with gentle rubbing on the palm of the hand and rub gently onto the scalp. Hair Nourisher is a gentle fusion of organic hair and scalp friendly oils.
Natural oils can help strengthen hair follicles and help fight against common causes of hair loss. The oils nourish the scalp and hair follicle and support the hair strand fight against environmental factors. Several oils are known for centuries to protect hair and promote hair growth.
Bhringraj (common name-false daisy, INCI name-Eclipta prostata) is a member of the sunflower family. Bhringraj is known for hair-friendly properties for centuries.
1) Bhringraj is rich in vitamin E, and higher specific gravity allowing for better contact with the scalp.
2) Reduces scalp itching by reducing dandruff and dry scalp.
3) Improves blood flow to the scalp and thus reduces hair loss and promotes hair growth. One research in 2008 reported significant hair growth and reduced time to hair growth by the direct application of Bhringraj. The results were superior to Minoxidil’s direct application, a medicine commonly used to treat hair loss.
4) Reduces split ends of hair and increases shine.
5) Washes away easily for quick hair cleansing.
In addition to the above scalp and hair care routine, the role of good sleep, diet, and stress reduction are vital. Changing one’s lifestyle to suit organic living promotes hair health. Diet has an important role in maintaining the good health of our hair and skin. You can read more about the diet in our recent post- Does diet affect my skin?
- The pH of the scalp ranges from 3.5 to 5.0.
- Effective hair care principles- Cleansing, Conditioning, and Moisturizing.
- Use natural hair care products to minimize damage and delay greying of hair.
- Eat healthily, sleep well, and work on reducing stress.
If you are interested in reading more about hair, its composition, benefits, facts on hair growth, hair health, hair color, and ways to optimize hair health, we encourage you to read our post- hair: interesting medley.
We hope that you found this post informative and useful. Feel free to share our blog with others. Use this link- https://kusumcosmetics.com/blog.
Disclaimer-This website and content, comment, writing, or authors/contributors/writers do not provide or suggest medical, legal, or professional advice, opinion, or service. The information shared on this website is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
How to keep hair healthy
how to keep hair healthy? 3 step solution. | <urn:uuid:524787af-0872-4760-8854-484673277c31> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://kusumcosmetics.com/tag/top-hair-care-article/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.932498 | 906 | 1.9375 | 2 |
TOLEDO, Ohio – Scientists are likely to warn that another massive harmful algae bloom will blanket western Lake Erie this summer when they release their forecast on Thursday.
Researchers are expecting that record-setting rains in Ohio and neighboring states in recent months will fuel a large mass of algae on the lake.
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issue a forecast for the lake each year.
Algae blooms have become a recurring problem on the shallowest of the Great Lakes, and it was nearly five years ago when a bloom contaminated drinking water in Toledo.
Some areas along the Ohio shoreline already have been seeing algae starting to form and drift into the lake.
Heavy rains are to blame for washing farm fertilizer and untreated sewage into the lake. | <urn:uuid:5751192c-d249-4dd1-982d-f53a181e4cac> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.morningjournal.com/2019/07/11/expect-another-huge-blob-of-algae-on-lake-erie-this-summer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.95018 | 154 | 2.796875 | 3 |
from rags to riches
Beef is no longer what's for dinner.
FlowingData's Nathan Yau on Tuesday took four decades of food availability data tracked by the United States Department of Agriculture, which he writes can be used to estimate consumption habits, and turned them into easy-to-digest charts that tell the story of Americans' relationship with a variety of different food groups.
In the protein category, chicken has risen from fourth place behind beef, pork, and eggs in 1970 to take a commanding lead in the current era. Americans still do eat a whole lot of beef, of course, but it lost its top spot in 2004, with its availability declining 31 percent between 1970 and 2019. And considering that chicken is a little less politically divisive than red meat these days, a reversal seems unlikely. Take a look at all of Yau's charts at FlowingData. | <urn:uuid:6a1fbb6e-80f2-4390-bf47-171808be5887> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://theweek.com/news/1001314/the-astonishing-rise-of-chicken-meat-in-1-chart | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.966963 | 180 | 2.25 | 2 |
The Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke University will be hosting another Summer Institute on the History of Economics this summer from June 20-29, 2022. The program is designed for students in graduate programs in economics, though students in graduate school in other fields as well as newly minted PhDs will also be considered.
Students will be competitively selected and successful applicants will receive free (double occupancy) housing, a booklet of readings, and stipends for travel and food. The deadline for applying is March 1.
We are very excited about this year’s program, which will focus on giving participants the tools to set up and teach their own undergraduate course in the history of economic thought. There will also be sessions devoted to showing how concepts and ideas from the history of economics might be introduced into other classes. The sessions will be run by Duke faculty members Bruce Caldwell, Steve Medema, and Jason Brent. More information on the Summer Institute is available at our website, http://hope.econ.duke.edu/
From his NYT obit: “But Mr. Karajan was always more than a mere conductor: he was a man of enormous energy and careerist determination, and he managed at his peak, in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, to tower over European musical life as no one had done before or is likely to do again. His nickname at the time was ”the general music director of Europe,” leading the Berlin Philharmonic, La Scala in Milan, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival.”
Is this true? How was he able to do this?
A few observations:
1. In that time the central European classical music canon was far more dominant than it is today (later this month the NSO is doing Beethoven with William Grant Still, for instance). That made the dominance of a few figures such as von Karajan and Klemperer, who specialized in that repertoire, far more possible. In America, Germanic culture was more influential as well.
2. There was overall less conducting talent around at the time. Yes, I know the beloved status of your few favorites from back then, and their unique styles, but conductor #30 today, in terms of quality, is far better than before. Today it is harder for anyone to stand out.
3. The authoritarian and possibly abusive management style of von Karajan was far more acceptable back then. Without that style, he could not have honed such a unique sound.
4. Back then conductors actually could sell classical LPs and bring in revenue. This helped enable many of von Karajan’s projects, including costly operas and symphonic cycles. Whether he would have done as well on YouTube, or other more contemporary media, is very much an open question, but probably not. He was very much a “whole package” sort of musical star.
4b. Radio really mattered too. His distant and forbidding but legendary personal style worked well in that medium, and the “always forward impetus whiplash” sonics cut through the poor sound quality.
5. I grew up with von Karajan’s recordings in so many parts of the repertoire, but how many really have held up? His Bruckner’s 8th and Mahler’s 9th are incredible. His Cosi is amazing, though too rigidly controlled for my taste. His Verdi Aida. A big thumbs up to his Mozart #40 and #41. But the Wagner I don’t listen to any more. Never loved his Beethoven cycle. Rarely is he the conductor in my favorite concerti performances, as he tended to blunt the styles of his accompanying soloists. Would I ever prefer him for Haydn, or for French music? No. Definitely some Strauss (the conductor most suited to him?), or perhaps his Tristan? I feel I could get 85% of his value with maybe five recordings? In a way that is quite impressive, but it does put matters in perspective.
6. He was a Nazi, and perhaps that would go over differently today.
7. In short, that was then, this is now.
A reader request:
I also recently heard you mention on the Clearer Thinking Podcast that Geology is a field you are not as naturally curious about…would love a blog post on fields that you less interested in with a short reflection on why.
First, keep in mind what it means when I say I am not very curious about geology. I am for instance quite interested in the origins of geology, how they relate to the Enlightenment, why some of those origins were in Scotland, and how geology developed as a profession throughout the early part of the 19th century with the formation of geological societies for the first time. I’ve read James Hutton and Charles Lyell (a splendid book to teach reasoning from, among its other virtues), and have a sense of the import of Georges Cuvier for the development of geological science. And of course geological data had a big influence on Darwin’s theory of evolution, and Darwin at first thought he might be making contributions to geology (in a way he was right).
I know that John Playfair (1748-1819) was a founding father of geology. He was trained as a minister and worked as a philosophy instructor and later in mathematics. He became friends with Adam Smith and Joseph Black (an important figure in Linnaean botany) and he tutored Adam Ferguson, a leading light in the Scottish Enlightenment. His younger brother, William Playfair, wrote on political economy, though his work is no longer widely read, not even by history of thought specialists.
In terms of travel, I have been interested in seeing the different layers of geological strata in France and in China especially, Sicily too, and of course in the Western United States. Iceland! I was keen to visit Rotorua in New Zealand. I worry about super-volcanoes, and have read a book about them. How about the role of the Massif Central in French history? Fascinating.
Still I am not interested in geology per se. I cannot “think like a geologist,” whatever that might mean. I am interested in the facts of geology when they intersect with other things I am interested in, such as the Enlightenment or travel, or how geological disasters have shaped human societies. I am interested in economic geology and petroleum geology, and would be interested in any generated knowledge about how “exo-geology” (moons of Saturn!) might relate to the existence of life beyond Earth. I would like to know more about rare earths and why there is so much lithium in the Bolivian desert. I am interested in geology as a source of knowledge and data about climate change.
Still, I know very little about what is inside the crust of the Earth, and am comfortable with that. I couldn’t tell you much about sediments, or thermochronologic studies. I feel if I learned the models of geology, or how geologists use micro-computed tomography, it would not overlap much with my other interests. I could be wrong about that, but currently am short on time for figuring out and correcting such possible errors.
So no, I am not all that interested in geology, but it doesn’t hold such a special status either! I am not interested in most things. Geology may well come in above average.
One lesson of this post is that it is possible to be interested in things one is not interested in, and vice versa.
Rumors held that as many as sixty Barbary men-of-war were actively prowling the English Channel, waiting for the opportunity to capture more product for the slave markets of Algiers and Tripoli. For most of the seventeenth century, an English or Irish family living near the coast confronted the real possibility that the might be hauled off without warning….[the] numbers suggest that the odds of sudden enslavement by Barbary pirates were far higher for the average Devonshire resident than the odds of experiencing a terrorist attack in a modern-day Western City.
From Steven Johnson’s excellent Enemy of All Mankind, about which I will say more later.
Jeff is the CWT producer, and it has become our custom to do a year-end round-up and summary. Here is the transcript and audio and video. Here is one excerpt:
HOLMES: …Okay, let’s go through your 2011 list really quickly.
HOLMES: All right, number one — in no particular order, I think — but number one was Incendies. Do you remember what that’s about?
COWEN: That is by the same director of Dune.
HOLMES: Oh, is that Denis Villeneuve?
COWEN: Yes, that’s his breakthrough movie. It’s incredible.
HOLMES: I didn’t know that. I’d never heard of it. French Canadian movie, mostly set in Lebanon.
COWEN: Highly recommended, whether or not you like Dune. That was a good pick. It’s held up very well. The director has proven his merits repeatedly, and the market agrees.
HOLMES: I’m a fan of Denis Villeneuve. Obviously, Arrival was great. I can’t think of the Mexican drug movie off the top of my head.
COWEN: Is it Sicario?
HOLMES: Sicario — awesome.
COWEN: It was interesting, yes.
HOLMES: He is one of the only directors today where, when he now makes something, I know I will go and see it.
COWEN: Well, you must see Incendies. So far, I’m on a roll. What’s next?
HOLMES: All right, number two: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.
COWEN: Possibly the best movie of the last 20 years. I’m impressed by myself. It’s a Thai movie. It’s very hard to explain. I’ve seen it three times since. A lot of other people have it as either their favorite movie ever or in a top-10 status, but a large screen is a benefit. If you’re seeing the movie, pay very close attention to its sounds and to the sonic world it creates, not just the images.
There are numerous interesting observations in the dialogue, including about some of the guests and episodes.
In the comments, Rahul asked that question as follows:
In general perception, why are there no achievements in classical music that rival a Mozart, Bach, Beethoven etc. that were created in say the last 50 years?
Is it an exhaustion of what’s possible? Are all great motifs already discovered?
Or will we in another 50 or 100 years admire a 1900’s composer at the same level as a Mozart or Beethoven?
Or was it something unique in that era ( say 1800’s) which was conducive to the discovery of great compositions? Patronage? Lack of distraction?
I would offer a few hypotheses:
1. The advent of musical recording favored musical forms that allow for the direct communication of personality. Mozart is mediated by sheet music, but the Rolling Stones are on record and the radio and now streaming. You actually get “Mick Jagger,” and most listeners prefer this to a bunch of quarter notes. So a lot of energy left the forms of music that are communicated through more abstract means, such as musical notation, and leapt into personality-specific musics.
1b. Eras have aesthetic centers of gravity. So pushing a lot of talent in one direction does discourage some other directions from developing fully. Dylan didn’t just pull people into folk, he pulled them away from trying to be the next Pat Boone.
2. Electrification favored a variety of musical styles that are not “classical” or even “contemporary classical,” with apologies to Glenn Branca.
3. The two World Wars ripped out the birthplaces of so much wonderful European culture. It is not only classical music that suffered, but also European science, letters, entrepreneurship, and much more.
4. It is tough to top Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc., so eventually creators struck out in new directions. And precisely because of the less abstract, more personality-laden nature of popular music, it is harder to have a very long career and attain the status of a true titan. The Rolling Stones ran out of steam forty (?) years ago, but Bach could have kept on writing fugues, had he lived longer. More recent musical times thus have many creators who are smaller in overall stature, even though the total of wonderful music has stayed very high.
5. Contemporary classical music (NB: not the best term, for one thing much of it is no longer contemporary) is much better than most people realize. Much of it is designed for peers, and intended to be experienced live. In the last decade I saw performances of Glass’s Satyagraha, Golijov’s St. Marc Passion, Boulez’s Le Marteau (at IRCAM), and Stockhausen’s Mantra, and it was all pretty amazing. I doubt if those same pieces are very effective on streaming. It may be unfortunate, but due to incentives emanating from peers, most non-peer listeners do not have the proper dimensionality of listening experience to proper appreciate those compositions. To be clear, for the most part I don’t either, not living down here in northern Virginia, but at times I can overcome this (mostly through travel) and in any case I am aware of the phenomenon. For these same reasons, it is wrong to think those works will have significantly higher reputations 50 or 100 years from now — some of them are already fairly old!
There are other reasons as well, what else would you suggest?
To foreigners, seventeenth-century England was infuriating to observe — its political infrastructure weak, its inhabitants capricious and is intentions impossible to fathom.
Comments are open, and I thank you in advance for your inspiration.
I will be doing a Conversation with him. If you do not already know, here is part of his Wikipedia entry:
Charles John Klosterman (born 1972) is an American author and essayist whose work focuses on American popular culture. He has been a columnist for Esquire and ESPN.com and wrote “The Ethicist” column for The New York Times Magazine. Klosterman is the author of eleven books, including two novels and the essay collection Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto.
His forthcoming book is about the 90s, namely The Nineties: A Book. So what should I ask him? Including about the 90s of course.
We found that weighted mean body mass declined log-linearly through time. Mean hunted animal masses 10,500 years ago, were only 1.7% of those 1.5 million years ago. Neither body size at any period, nor size change from one layer to the next, were related to global temperature or to temperature changes. Throughout the Pleistocene, new human lineages hunted significantly smaller prey than the preceding ones. This suggests that humans extirpated megafauna throughout the Pleistocene, and when the largest species were depleted the next-largest were targeted. Technological advancements likely enabled subsequent human lineages to effectively hunt smaller prey replacing larger species that were hunted to extinction or until they became exceedingly rare.
Here is the full paper by Jacob Dembitzer, et.al., via Kobi Haron.
That is the new biography of John von Neumann, by Ananyo Bhattacharya, highly recommended, probably the best book about him. Here is one short bit:
Von Neumann himself attributed his generation’s success to ‘a coincidence of some cultural factors’ that produced ‘a feeling of extreme insecurity in the individuals, and the necessity to produce the unusual or face extinction’. In other words, their recognition that the tolerate climate of Hungary might change overnight propelled some to preternatural efforts to succeed…Moreover, one could reasonably hope that good work in these fields would be fairly rewarded. The truth of general relativity was established through experiment and was not contingent on whether the person who developed the theory as Jew or Gentile.
By the way, a lot of those famous mathematicians thought their high school was crap. And here is another excerpt:
Equally, von Neumann had no interest in sport and, barring long walks (always in a business suit), he would avoid any form of vigorous physical exercise for the rest of his life. When his second wife, Klari, tried to persuade him to ski, he offered her a divorce. ‘If being married to a woman, no matter who she was, would mean he had to slide around on two pieces of wood on some slick mountainside,’ she explained, ‘he would definitely prefer to live alone and take his daily exercise, as he put it, “by getting in and out of a pleasantly warm bathtub.”.
I believe my original pointer here came from Tim Harford.
Sebastian Christopher Peter Mallaby (born May 1964) is an English journalist and author, Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and contributing columnist at The Washington Post. Formerly, he was a contributing editor for the Financial Times and a columnist and editorial board member at The Washington Post.
His recent writing has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic Monthly. In 2012, he published a Foreign Affairs essay on the future of China’s currency. His books include The Man Who Knew (2016), More Money Than God (2010), and The World’s Banker (2004).
I am also a big fan of his new and forthcoming book on venture capital, namely The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of a New Future.
So what should I ask him?
In texts, both fictional and non-fictional and in English and Spanish, thinking words relating to technology and social organization (experiment, gravity, weigh, cost, contract) become more common between 1850 and approximately 1977 (beginning of the great stagnation) but since then thinking words have declined markedly and feeling words relating to belief, spirituality, sapience, and intuition (e.g. forgiveness, heal, feel) have become more common.
The graph at right shows the ratio of rationality words to intuition words over time in different corpuses. Paper here.
The surge of post-truth political argumentation suggests that we are living in a special historical period when it comes to the balance between emotion and reasoning. To explore if this is indeed the case, we analyze language in millions of books covering the period from 1850 to 2019 represented in Google nGram data. We show that the use of words associated with rationality, such as “determine” and “conclusion,” rose systematically after 1850, while words related to human experience such as “feel” and “believe” declined. This pattern reversed over the past decades, paralleled by a shift from a collectivistic to an individualistic focus as reflected, among other things, by the ratio of singular to plural pronouns such as “I”/”we” and “he”/”they.” Interpreting this synchronous sea change in book language remains challenging. However, as we show, the nature of this reversal occurs in fiction as well as nonfiction. Moreover, the pattern of change in the ratio between sentiment and rationality flag words since 1850 also occurs in New York Times articles, suggesting that it is not an artifact of the book corpora we analyzed. Finally, we show that word trends in books parallel trends in corresponding Google search terms, supporting the idea that changes in book language do in part reflect changes in interest. All in all, our results suggest that over the past decades, there has been a marked shift in public interest from the collective to the individual, and from rationality toward emotion.
The authors blame the change in language towards feelings on the failure of “neo-liberalism” which seems dubious and without plausible mechanism. If anything, I would put the causality the other way. A more plausible explanation is more female writers and the closely related feminization of culture.
The analysis is consistent with my earlier post on how quickly the NYTimes became woke.
Hat tip: Paul Kedrosky.
I will be doing a Conversation with him — so what should I ask?
Stewart is difficult to summarize (a virtue!), but if you wish here is his Wikipedia page.
NIMBYs can be so bad that they make the London Blitz look good:
We exploit locally exogenous variation from the Blitz bombings to quantify the effect of redevelopment frictions and identify agglomeration economies at a micro-geographic scale. Employing rich location and office rental transaction data, we estimate reduced-form analyses and a spatial general equilibrium model. Our analyses demonstrate that more heavily bombed areas exhibit taller buildings today, and that agglomeration elasticities in London are large, approaching 0.2. Counterfactual simulations show that if the Blitz had not occurred, the concomitant reduction in agglomeration economies arising from the loss of higher-density redevelopment would cause London’s present-day gross domestic product to drop by some 10% (or £50 billion). | <urn:uuid:d7055a4e-82b0-4595-bd0d-34a70818e2b1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/category/history/page/7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.965602 | 4,622 | 1.75 | 2 |
Venezia Suona is a music event that takes place in Venice since 1999. Every year Venice becomes an enormous open air stage to listen to concerts and music between campi and campielli of the city...
Today we can find the history and art of Venice in its many traditions that will follow in this section: from its traditional and official festivities marking the splendour of the Maritime Republic and living again every year in the magical atmosphere of its most famous festivities, to the culinary traditions, enriched bythe trades with the Orient and by the influences of foreign populations passing thorough Venice along the history. Visit this section to discover Venetian traditions and its tipical and particular habits.
The Redentore is one of the most important festivities in Venice, and it's a tourist attraction thanks to the spectacular firework show that takes place at late night.
The Redentore traditional feast is
celebrated every year on the third sunday of July...
by Redazione MV
The Venice Film Festival is the oldest Film Festival in the World, and takes place every year in early September on the Lido island, in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice. The first edition of the Venice Film Festival took place in 1932, together with the 18.Venice Biennale, the major biennial exhibition for contemporary art, after an idea of Conte Giuseppe Volpi.
Go to the 63° Film Festival
The Historical Regata is one of the most picturesque
and moving tradition festivities of Venice, attracting Venetians and tourists every year.
A city like Venice, that has
always maintained contacts both with the inland and with diverse and faraway
countries, presents in its culinary tradition a variety of dishes linked
to the different origins of ingredients.
In Venice there is a lot of bar, 'bacari' and 'osterie'. The oldest are at Rialto, all around the fruit and vegetables market. Others are long Garibaldi Street in Castello 'sestiere' and long Strada Nuova. | <urn:uuid:bcd0926b-b459-490b-bf2e-9dc4eeecab23> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.meetingvenice.it/en/art-and-history/traditions?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.921683 | 431 | 2.4375 | 2 |
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Indigenous Australians make up more than a quarter of Australia’s prisoner population while constituting only 2.5 per cent of the Australian population (according to the 2013 Australian Institute of Criminology ‘deaths in custody‘ monitoring report). Accordingly, addressing Indigenous over-representation in custody requires innovative thinking and cultural sensitivity, with design being one approach that could help mediate the impacts of incarceration.
In the lead up to the 5th Annual Correctional Services Healthcare Conference 2014, we had the chance to speak to Dr Elizabeth Grant, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at The University of Adelaide who will be presenting at the event on the topic “Prisons for Aboriginal and Torres Island People – Meeting Physical and Mental Health Needs”.
Elizabeth Grant is an architectural anthropologist and a prominent researcher in the field of people-environments (or behaviour-environment studies) and overlays the fields of architecture and anthropology to understand the use of Indigenous spaces and places from an inter-disciplinary perspective. Elizabeth Grant’s research interests include Indigenous architecture, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander architecture and environments, Aboriginal housing and homelessness, Indigenous children’s learning and play environments, prison, court and other design for the criminal justice arena and culturally sustainable design. She is interested in ascertaining congruence or ‘fit’ between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ behaviours and the design of physical environments. Dr Grant has worked as a consultant on many recent Australian and international prison planning projects and her work has led to major changes in the way prisons, courts and other environments are designed for Indigenous users.
What was it that originally prompted your interest in Indigenous architecture and environments?
Elizabeth: I had been researching in the area of Aboriginal architecture and housing for a decade or so when I accompanied an Aboriginal mother to the coroner’s court in 2001. She was attending the inquest into her son’s suicide in prison. The young man was not very likeable and the crimes leading to his incarceration were horrifying. He had been dealt a poor deck, led a hard, short life, finally dying a lonely death. .
This experience exposed some critical shortfalls surrounding the accommodation of Aboriginal men in custody and I started to wonder why he locked up alone when this is against Aboriginal cultural practices? How could someone in such pain and distress be placed in such an isolating and alienating environment? Had the prison environment hastened his death?
Since then among other research into Aboriginal architecture, I have focused on piecing together design guidelines for appropriate prison environments for Aboriginal offenders in Australia. I conducted the first doctoral research examined Aboriginal people’s preference for prison environments which was completed jointly through the School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Adelaide and the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre at the University of Queensland. I have since published widely in the field, worked as a consultant on many Australian and international prison planning projects and my work has led to major changes in the way prisons, courts and other environments are designed for Indigenous users. It is humbling to be recognised as an international expert on the design of Indigenous custodial environments.
How can an environment impact human behaviour?
Elizabeth: Prison environments are typically inflexible to the cultural needs of groups and additional pain is often felt by particular groups. Matching the prison environment to the cultural needs of the group through the provision of congruent, familiar, legible and meaningful environments is one of the most important aspects of reducing the user’s stress levels. The most important aspects are allowing for:
Aboriginal peoples often fare very poorly in prison environments, large numbers of Aboriginal peoples enter the prison system with chronic illnesses, substance abuse problems, learning and cognitive disabilities and mental illness, the numbers of Aboriginal prisoners dying prison custody continues to be unacceptably high and as a group, Aboriginal prisoners continue to face multiple layers of social disadvantage.
As well as these impacts, the experiences of incarceration have profound effects on the wider Aboriginal population. As part of the criminal justice system, incarceration fosters and compounds Indigenous anger, often leading to greater levels of fear and frustration within communities. The significance of the prison environment, its impact on Aboriginal prisoners and the flow on effects to Aboriginal families, communities and the wider community becomes increasingly important when the increasing rate incarceration of Aboriginal peoples in the Australian prison system is considered. It has been suggested that Indigenous imprisonment would be “near or at the top of any world league table”. Between 2000 and 2013, the number of Indigenous prisoners rose by 11 per cent with Indigenous prisoners representing 25 per cent of the total Australian male prisoner population in 2013. Nationally, an Indigenous person was 13 times more likely to be in prison in 2013 than a non-Indigenous person.
Do you think real improvements are being made in meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, both within the prison setting and in society in general?
Elizabeth: There have been some advancements. The recently opened West Kimberley Regional Prison was designed under a community consultation model which recognised Indigenous inmates’ cultural, kinship, family and community responsibilities and spiritual connections to land. The prison accommodates 120 male and 30 female prisoners of varying security classifications, in separate areas for men and women. Accommodation comprises of self-care housing units, arranged so that prisoners can be housed according to family ties or language groupings and security ratings.
Aboriginal families in the Kimberley region tend to locate their homes or camps in a radial manner aligning with the direction of their ‘country’. These arrangements are mirrored in the housing clusters and prisoners can live with countrymen in housing aligning with their traditional lands. Providing ‘normalised’ self-care cottage accommodation at West Kimberley Regional Prison was a cost effective measure to enhance prisoner’s capacity to develop living, communication and negotiation skills required on release. Each housing unit sleeps six to eight inmates and is designed around a communal style of living concept with individual cells, ablutions, kitchen and dining and living areas which reflect similar house plans in Kimberley Aboriginal communities. Sleeping arrangements in minimum security housing units are flexible. Each housing unit contains shared and single rooms and outdoor sleep outs are provided to allow prisoners to sleep outside.
Looking to the future, it is possible to envisage a time society imprisons less people and where prisons are different. It is possible to imagine small scale prisons sited on traditional country where the families and kin of prisoners can visit more easily. It is feasible to imagine Aboriginal prisoners living in normal housing with their countrymen. Prisons can be different. If society decides that the deprivation of liberty is the only punishment then one can imagine a place where it is possible to feel the sun and wind on your face. One can conjecture physical environments where Aboriginal needs are included in the design as a result of meaningful consultation with Aboriginal prisoners. Success is dependent on the ability of correctional authorities to embrace and respect Indigenous cultural knowledge, cultural practices, healing and learning systems within their philosophies.
Jacqueline Joudo and Jane Curnow, Deaths in Custody in Australia: National Deaths in Custody Program Annual Report (2008).
To find out more about the 5th annual Correctional Services Healthcare conference and to register, please visit the conference website.
Did you enjoy reading this interview? You can have similar insightful articles, exclusive interviews and industry news sent directly to your inbox by signing up to our free Healthcare Insight newsletter. Sounds good? Then subscribe today. | <urn:uuid:51c381ac-6e0c-400c-a238-e131cd00f126> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.informa.com.au/insight/the-cultural-needs-of-the-aboriginal-prison-population/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.949699 | 1,610 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Coconuts are full of beneficial components. But most of them are healthy for people only. Dogs should not be given coconuts because the amount of the essential oils and potassium in this plant is very high. If your dog eats even a little bit of coconut, the animal will suffer from diarrhea and vomiting. Large amounts are too toxic.
Open Next Button TO Continue Reading : | <urn:uuid:ce76359c-9e45-4052-9671-ccae9b373328> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dogs.recetasget.com/products-you-must-not-give-to-your-dog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.949852 | 83 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Laugh, jump and
run without worry.
Leave your insecurity behind and enjoy being active and confident in your life again without worrying about your bladder.
Physiotherapy and osteopathy will help you regain your freedom and independence.
When it dribbles downstairs…
The term urinary incontinence refers to the involuntary leakage of urine between visits to the toilet.
It goes without saying that those affected are correspondingly restricted in their quality of life.
Urinary incontinence is primarily a symptom that can be caused by a wide variety of factors.
Competitive sports, pregnancy and childbirth, any hormonal changes (e.g. menopause), medication, obesity, organ dysfunction, age, neurological diseases and sometimes even tumors can lead to incontinence.
The three most common types are briefly presented here, although there can also be mixed forms:
Stress incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine when coughing, wetting, laughing, running or jumping,
running, jumping. Droplets are enough!
Urge urinary incontinence
Urge incontinence exists when one experiences a sudden intense urge to urinate followed by involuntary voiding that is sometimes difficult to control.
Irritable bladder exists when there is a sudden strong urge to urinate that can be controlled, but there is often not much urine in the bladder.
The basic prerequisite is a personal appointment for your individual diagnosis and a customized therapy for the fastest possible success.
Medications are to be coordinated directly with the attending physician.
Exercise effectively and simply
It’s in your hands: these simple but effective exercises will help you strengthen from deep inside – easily at home.
A few minutes a day practice for a strong pelvic floor and better bladder control.
Elvie helps you on the jump!
The fun and effective way to strengthen your pelvic floor! Make your health a priority – just where you are.
Better bladder control. Faster postpartum recovery. Stronger orgasms.
Safe in everyday life
Small, invisible aids make your everyday life easier and give you security in everyday situations.
The selection is now very large and at the beginning it is recommended to simply try out pads, briefs or special tampons during physical exertion.
The only thing that matters is your well-being! | <urn:uuid:3565ed48-7601-4f52-82d2-ade96129463f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://welovepinkplanet.com/en/incontinence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.923114 | 491 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Last week, I blogged about how I made a book folding sheep for myself and I also bought a book for my son. He needed a lot of my help to fold the pages and took much longer. He managed to slightly tear the top of many pages and some pages are not very neat. Nevertheless, this is his book. I asked him what he wanted to make out of it and he wanted make a pig as he was born in the Year of the Pig in the Chinese lunar calendar. So I made him a book folding Peppa Pig!
- Hardback book
- A4 size Pink foam (for ears, hands and cheek)
- Black & white paper (for eyes)
- Pink and dark pink paint
- Paint brushes
- Small pink paper cup
- Blu Tack glue dot
- Pink pipe cleaner
- I skipped at least 20 pages before I made the first fold. Fold the corner down as shown.
- Next, fold it back like this. Keep folding the rest of the pages in the same way. Avoid folding the last few pages. The more pages you fold, the more difficult it becomes.
- Draw two big circles on the white paper and small circle on the black paper. Cut it out and use glue dots to stick the eyes together.
- Use the pink foam for the ears, hands and cheeks as shown. Twist the pipe cleaner to make its tail.
- For the nose, slightly flatten the paper cup and cut a V shape. Paint the bottom of the paper cut pink. Let it to dry for 2 hours. Then use dark pink to paint the nostrils. Once dried, stick it in the middle of the book.
So this is our book folding Peppa Pig. This is great for display on the window sill or for any Peppa Pig fans! My children love it! They love Peppa Pig! | <urn:uuid:350f99ef-5f0a-4cdd-8df1-a18e7057bb8e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://etspeaksfromhome.co.uk/2015/02/book-folding-peppa-pig.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.951816 | 395 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Many individuals have health insurance for themselves, but they may worry about pet health insurance. Having pet insurance comes with a slew of advantages. Some of the benefits of obtaining pet cover for your pet will be discussed in this article.
Pet Insurance is Cost-Effective
When your pet becomes ill, you can save money by using their health insurance coverage. There is usually a minimum deductible that you must meet, depending on whatever business you plan with. After completing your deductible, the insurance company will cover a portion of the vet bill, and you’ll be responsible for the rest.
It Helps You to Concentrate On Your Pet’s Health
You may concentrate on your pet’s health rather than the cost of veterinary care if you have pet insurance. Instead of worrying about where you will find the money to pay for the procedure, you will be able to afford your dog the costly surgery they require. See our resource on cheap or free veterinary care for low income near me.
It Broadens Your Treatment Options
Pet insurance will provide you the freedom to choose and afford a variety of solutions. You’ll be able to perform life-saving procedures or administer chemotherapy. These will cost you hundreds of dollars or may not even be affordable if you don’t have insurance.
Allows You to Choose Your Veterinarian
Unlike human health insurance, which mandates you to see a specific doctor, pet insurance allows you to choose whatever veterinarian you wish to treat your pet with. A reference from a doctor is also not required to see a specialist. This is especially useful for after-hours and holidays when specialist hospitals are the only ones operating.
It Gives the Feeling of Security
Without any point of contradiction, you will have peace of mind understanding that if something happens to your pet, it’s a great i dea since you will be able to pay to care for them if you have pet insurance. After you’ve met your deductibles, many pet insurance policies will reimburse you for roughly 80% of the cost.
Assists in the Budgeting of Pet Care Expenses
When you pay for pet insurance, you are assisting in spreading the cost of pet care over a few months rather than having to come up with a significant quantity of money in an emergency.
Prevents you from having to dip into your funds
If something unexpected happens, you won’t have to dip into your savings account to pay for your pet’s treatment. Some people will try to set aside money for their dogs in a savings account, but they will usually use it to cover significant unforeseen needs such as car repairs.
The majority of pet owners feel that pet insurance is well worth the money. For starters, there are various benefits to having pet insurance, and you can get compensated for a small portion, if not all, of the costs connected with your next veterinarian visit simply by having pet cover. Within a few weeks following the appointment, you should receive your reimbursement check, which will help you pay off that vet cost and get caught up before the financial stress of it all catches up with you.
Interesting Related Article: “What is pet insurance? Definition and examples“ | <urn:uuid:24f1bc5d-fcc2-436d-8258-e3c9537f8069> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://marketbusinessnews.com/top-7-reasons-to-get-your-pet-insured-veterinarians-perspective/280993/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.948212 | 667 | 1.710938 | 2 |
|Date Added: August 10, 2010|
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|Tags: how to draw legend of korra, how to draw legend of korra characters|
Description: I guess you could say it’s official, there is going to be a new animated series airing on Nickelodeon in July of 2011 called “Avatar: The Legend of Korra”. Today, I will be teaching you guys "how to draw Korra", step by step. Even though there is no official picture of Korra, I just used a reference from the net, and took it from there. At first, it was believed that Korra was the daughter of Aang and Katara, but I have learned by reading a few articles, that she is not the daughter of said couple, instead she is trained by Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s son. Korra is the next Avatar, and she is somewhat the same as Aang. She is rebellious, and independent, and she is also a very hard girl to reason with. The series takes place seventy five years after The Last Airbender, and this time there is a whole new enemy to defeat, the people of Republic City. You see, in the storyline, Republic City is a metropolis area that is filled with citizens from all nations combined. Korra has to not only deal with them, but with all the crime, and anti-bender militia. Don’t forget, this is only one place for the story’s setting that we know of now, there is sure to be more places, trials, and tribulations for Korra as the co-creators of The Last Airbender are brought back for this new series as well. The difference with Korra, is she has already mastered Earth, Fire, and Water. All she needs to master now is Air. Anyway, when her face is released, I will do another lesson on “how to draw Korra”. In the mean time, tackle this tutorial, and get ready for an all new Avatar in the summer of 2011. Peace out people, and have a happy drawing day! Oh yeah, if you think I am wrong with any of the info I described here, please let me know as I am getting my facts from articles. Thanks guys! | <urn:uuid:a5be0348-ae80-410f-b76f-5b742a278f9c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dragoart.com/tut/how-to-draw-korra-5540 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.972801 | 523 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Emily Morris had a condition. The doctors called it libris natarius. Emily’s father called it “Emily’s grounding problem,” usually with a chuckle. Emily’s grandmother called it “the floats,” which made the most sense to Emily. Emily herself, however, just called it a nuisance.
The condition first manifested itself when Emily was five. She was just beginning to sound out words then, and she loved to take down the giant picture dictionary and see how the letters all joined together to make a twin of the picture below. For the most part she would sit on the floor with the heavy book on her lap, conveniently weighing her down, but on the day of the incident, she decided to lay with book in front of her. So engrossed was she in the combination of words and images that she did not notice anything until the babysitter came into the room and screamed. The poor girl had good cause. Emily’s feet and legs had floated right up off the ground and were hovering at least two feet in the air. Only the girl’s tight grip on her beloved dictionary kept the rest of her planted. Emily’s father being on a business trip, her grandmother was quickly phoned. She closed her shop and came over immediately to find the babysitter in hysterics and Emily calmly hovering. Quickly assessing the situation, Mrs. Morris closed the dictionary and sat with Emily in a firm grip until the effects had worn off. On that occasion, it only took about twenty minutes.
Emily’s condition worsened as she learned to string together sentences and read entire stories. At the age of seven, she developed a passion for fairy tales, and things reached a state of crisis. The more wonderful the tale, the higher Emily would float. It became a common occurrence to enter a room and find her up by the ceiling, and if the story had captured her imagination completely, it would be hours before she touched ground again. This made it very difficult to keep caregivers, as even the most highly skilled of childcare workers are seldom trained in the difficulties of floating children. Emily began to stay at her grandmother’s shop while her father was at work. There is some question as to the wisdom of this, as her grandmother owned a book shop, but though Emily spent most of her time there up near the antique light fixtures, she always stayed in back room, so the customers were none the wiser. Nonetheless, disaster was inevitable.
On the forty-fifth day of second grade, it struck. Emily had discovered the loveliest tale of two fairy sisters in the library at school. She sneaked a small peak during class, but not enough to do more than make her legs bump uncomfortably against the bottom of the desk. She was hooked, though, and having no more self-control than the average second-grader, she eagerly pulled the book out on the walk home and began to read. It was the first time Emily had ever read a story out under the open sky (her father having been quite careful on that point). Her feet left the path almost immediately. Emily continued to read eagerly, and unbeknownst to her she also continued to float progressively higher. It wasn’t until a particularly thrilling moment of the story caused her to sigh and look up happily that she noticed where she was. When she did, she nearly dropped the book. The ground was so far away that the roads looked like little ribbons and the people like ants. Even the trees and buildings were beginning to look like toys. For the first time in her life, Emily Morris forgot all about the story she had been reading. For the first time in her life, Emily Morris was truly afraid.
It was the fear that saved her in the end. With her heart pounding in her chest and her mind filled with the questions of where she would end up and how she would ever get home, Emily gave no thought to the words she had been reading. Her brain was consumed with panic, and she began accordingly to drop toward the earth. The rapid fall made the panic increase, also increasing the speed of her fall. If she had not recently read a story in which the heroine survived a harrowing hot air balloon accident, Emily probably would have crashed into the ground at full speed. Fortunately, just in the nick of time Emily thought how similar her situation was to what the heroine had suffered, and she wondered if she, too, would be saved at the last minute by a handsome man passing by on a hang glider. Thinking off that thrilling moment, Emily’s descent slowed to a stop. She hovered for just a moment, until worry about being lost overtook her again and she dropped with a crunch into the upper branches of a convenient tree.
You can imagine the panic that was caused by Emily’s failure to arrive home after school. Hours passed before she was located, and by that time Emily, her father, and her grandmother were all thoroughly terrified. After that, Emily was taken to several doctors, who diagnosed her condition as previously mentioned but were unable to prescribe any cure other than the most obvious one. That cure was the one that Emily was simply unable to take, giving up books altogether. Not even her father, who was genuinely concerned for her well-being, could find it in himself to enforce such a terrible treatment, for what good is safety if it comes at such a cost? Instead he commissioned a saddle-maker to design a set of harnesses to keep Emily safely tied to the physical world and a cobbler to make a set of shoes lined with lead to weigh her down as she walked. Of course, this made normal walking quite tiring, but Emily considered it a small price to pay.
So it is that Emily grew up, and her condition grew with her. In her teenage years she briefly rebelled against weighted shoes and had a few more outdoor floating incidents, but happily she was always able to catch herself on the branches of a tree before anything truly dangerous occurred. In the end she learned to manage it, taking regular breaks from even the most engrossing stories to think about practical things and get her feet planted on the earth again, but it has never fully gone away.
And to this day you may walk into a room and find Emily Morris hovering a few feet off her chair, a book in her hands and a smile on her face. | <urn:uuid:8a91b478-279a-4a3e-ad87-bd372e75e1c8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://deborahdunlevy.com/2013/08/28/the-strange-condition-of-emily-morris/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.989912 | 1,318 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Increased levels of ATP have been found in the bronchoalveolar lavage of patients with asthma, and subjects with this disease, but not healthy subjects, develop bronchospasm after nebulization with ATP. Because the main mechanism for controlling the noxious effects of extracellular ATP is its enzymatic hydrolysis, we hypothesized that allergic sensitization is accompanied by a decreased functioning of such hydrolysis. In the present study, peripheral blood leukocytes from sensitized and non-sensitized guinea pigs were used for determining the extracellular metabolism (as assessed by inorganic phosphate production) of ATP, ADP, AMP, or adenosine, and for detecting possible changes in the expression (qPCR and Western blot) of major ectonucleotidases (NTPDase1, NTPDase3, and NPP1) and purinoceptors (P2X1, P2X7, P2Y4, and P2Y6). Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that leukocytes from allergic animals produced higher amounts of inorganic phosphate after stimulation with ATP and ADP, as compared with leukocytes from non-sensitized animals. Although at first glance, this result suggested that sensitization caused higher efficiency of ectonucleotidases, their mRNA and protein expressions were unaffected. On the other hand, after sensitization, we found a significant increase in the protein expression of P2X7 and P2Y4, two purinoceptors known to be responsible for ATP release after activation. We concluded that allergic sensitization increased the amount of ATP hydrolyzed by ectonucleotidases, the latter probably not due to the enhanced efficiency of its enzymatic breakdown, but rather due to an increased release of endogenous ATP or other nucleotides, partly mediated by enhanced expression or P2X7 and P2Y4 receptors. | <urn:uuid:e0ceded6-bc29-4c83-8ccb-08c1978c86cf> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.siftdesk.org/index-article/Allergic-sensitization-increases-the-amount-of-extracellular-ATP-hydrolyzed-by-guinea-pig-leukocytes-/90583/40 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.954566 | 395 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Sparsity is often used to improve the interpretability of a statistical analysis and/or reduce the variance of a statistical estimator. This talk will explore another aspect—the utility of sparsity in model identifiability through two problems motivated by genetics applications. The first problem is about removing “batch effects” or latent confounders in multiple hypothesis testing. I will present a general framework called Confounder Adjusted Testing and Estimation (CATE) we proposed to unify several widely used but ad hoc proposals. If the latent confounders are strong enough and the signals are sparse enough, CATE can be as powerful as the oracle estimator which observes the latent confounders. The second problem is about tackling invalid instrumental variables in Mendelian randomization. I will describe a new statistical framework called Robust Adjusted Profile Score (MR-RAPS) which can provide efficient and robust inference in such problems, by exploiting weak genetic instruments and limiting the importance of invalid instruments. Finally, connections to related work and potential future work will be discussed. | <urn:uuid:50a6b19e-c4e5-4816-9a1e-9cda82e6b110> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~qz280/talk/mrc-bsu-2019/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.913523 | 214 | 1.6875 | 2 |
In the world of cryptocurrency, there are quite a few projects which will find themselves in legal trouble sooner or later. This is especially true when such projects use the name of a person, brand, or company in an effort to gain more legitimacy. For Alibabacoin, it seems the end is near.
Alibabacoin is in the hot Seat
When Alibabacoin was first introduced, people immediately knew things would implode at some point. It seems now is that point, as Alibaba has filed a trademark lawsuit against the Dubai-based firm that created it. It’s an unsurprising turn of events, as Alibabacoin has nothing to do with the e-commerce giant. Nor is the Dubai firm allowed to use the term Alibaba, as it is already trademarked.
To put all of this into perspective, Alibabacoin was created some time ago. It is also known as the ABBC Foundation and is seemingly trying to make an impact in the world of cryptocurrency. Whether or not it chose a controversial name on purpose or simply thought it would not constitute trademark infringement remains to be seen. However, it is evident the company will have a lot of explaining to do in this regard.
According to the lawsuit, the firm or its legal team will have the opportunity to explain themselves in front of a US district court on April 11. Depending on how that pans out, the Dubai company may face additional charges for other infringements.
Additionally, the lawsuit seeks to prevent further infringements as well as obtain compensatory, punitive, and triple damages for alleged violations of the law. Exact dollar amounts are unknown for the time being, but this lawsuit is probably the nail in the coffin for Alibabacoin.
Indeed, Alibabacoin is seemingly intent on capitalizing on the success of Alibaba, despite not having any ties to the company. Moreover, it has used Alibaba’s trademarks in “countless instances” to sell its native cryptocurrency. Although it is not the first time we’ve seen currencies like these be created, it is one of the few times when the trademark’s owner has decided to take matters to court.
Considering that this currency was making people believe Alibaba had a stake in cryptocurrencies, it is only normal that the confusion was becoming a bit too problematic. Alibaba has stated that it wants nothing to do with cryptocurrency, and it is evident not much will change in that regard. At the same time, Alibabacoin’s team had plenty of time to rebrand or make it clear they were not associated with the e-commerce giant. For some reason, they decided not to do so. | <urn:uuid:a4d78f9c-e6aa-49d1-8409-55f9d79b54a0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://themerkle.com/alibabacoins-piggybacking-tactic-results-in-a-trademark-lawsuit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.979672 | 554 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Welcome to our new web site!
To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.
During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.
Registration for the fall semester is still open at Doña Ana Community College (DACC), and incoming college students in New Mexico and Texas have even more opportunities for enrollment with college tuition assistance, DACC said in a news release.
The New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship (NMOS) offers free college tuition to New Mexico residents, the news release said, and DACC also offers a special tuition rate for students living in some parts of Texas through the college’s Texas 135 waiver.
NMOS is a new state scholarship program that provides tuition-free college to students who qualify, DACC said. To be eligible, a student must be a New Mexico resident, be enrolled in six or more credit hours per semester, have a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA and have fewer than 90 attempted college credits.
NMSO is transferable to a public four-year college within the state, DACC said.
DACC offers incoming students a one-on-one video chat with an admissions advisor to assist with the admissions process. Students also have their own financial aid adviser to provide assistance in applying for state scholarships and federal financial aid.
Students who are interested in attending DACC can visit https://dacc.nmsu.edu/admissions/.
For more information, visit https://dacc.nmsu.edu/fa/.
Students from Lynn Middle School in Las Cruces are now graduates of a Doña Ana Community College (DACC) camp aimed at giving hands-on experience in automation and manufacturing, DACC said in a news release.
Four Lynn participated in DACC’s Quality Control in Additive Manufacturing (QCAM) Camp, held June 27-30 at the DACC Workforce Center in Las Cruces. The camp was provided by the DACC Automation and Manufacturing Program and funded through a grant received by the New Mexico State University College of Engineering.
Students were provided with hands-on opportunities to learn about computer-aided drafting (CAD) solid modeling, 3D printing and related career pathways and programs of study, the news release said.
Students created 3D CAD models and prepared them for 3D printing. As part of the program, students also assembled model rocket kits utilizing 3D printed parts.
Participating students received a certificate of completion along with DACC promotional items, the community college said.
For more information contact DACC Advanced Technologies Division Dean Chipper Moore at [email protected]. Visit https://dacc.nmsu.edu/mat. | <urn:uuid:a717c1ec-06e2-4446-a2b3-c212ea17d2d8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://lascrucesbulletin.com/stories/dacc-still-accepting-fall-registrations,12697? | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.950529 | 592 | 1.554688 | 2 |
South Africa’s Reserve Bank (SARB) has a fintech unit that investigates emerging trends and tests how viable they are. This same unit was the brains behind project Khoka (an interbank payment platform based on Ethereum) last year.
That same unit is now investigating the possibility of transitioning to a digital currency backed by the Rand. SARB recently put out a tender for ‘prospective solution providers in anticipation of a feasibility project on a digital currency’.
Some of the established targets that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for it to be considered viable include:
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- The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be issued as legal tender by the SARB only;
- CBDC must be complementary to cash and is not intended to replace cash;
- CBDC must be unique in its design and its SARB ownership must be clear and evident;
- CBDC must be issued at one-to-one parity with the rand;
- CBDC must be ubiquitous and accepted as a means of payment by all sizes of business and by the government;
- It must not introduce the risk of destabilising the financial sector and mechanisms must be incorporated to give effect to policy decisions regarding its supply and movement;
- Consumers must be able to own and transact in CBDC without the need for a bank account;
- Consumers and businesses must be provided with the channels to obtain or return CBDC in exchange for cash and commercial bank money;
- It must enable immediate person-to-person transfer of value without clearing and settlement in today’s terms;
- CBDC must be traceable;
- CBDC must be auditable in terms of proof of issuance and ownership.
The fact that the Reserve Bank wants the digital currency to be accessible without need for a bank account is particularly interesting as it brings to question what will happen to the banks if it is indeed adopted.
SARB probably wants to go down this route for the sake of financial inclusion as the banking system tends to leave a large number of citizens unable to access financial services. The Reserve Bank probably also noticed the impact of mobile money on financial inclusion in neighbouring countries, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
It will be interesting to see where this fintech initiative ends up and hopefully SARB shares their findings for all to see even if the project is not a success. | <urn:uuid:d63679c8-af75-44b0-aa93-f079647f7942> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.techzim.co.zw/2019/05/south-african-reserve-bank-keen-to-test-rand-backed-digital-currency/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.9367 | 519 | 2.09375 | 2 |
The United States and the United Kingdom have locked horns over two companies: Boeing Co (NYSE: BA), the US aerospace giant and Bombardier, the former's Canadian rival and a large company by itself. The latter was bailed out of financial difficulties by the devolved Quebec administration so that it gets the funds to manufacture the C-Series airplanes. Bombardier then won the contract to supply a US airline. Boeing complained and the United States Department of Commerce imposed a 220 percent tariff on the company, making the contract nonviable.
Britain waded into this business minefield as about 4,000 people are provided employment by Bombardier in Belfast. The company also indirectly employs 6,000 people in various capacities. The economy of Northern Ireland will be plunged into difficulties if these jobs were to be axed. It is no wonder that the British Government is going all out to save Bombardier. Since the UK is Boeing's second-largest client, many British politicians have asked for a retaliatory action against the US company.
The problem with adopting such a stance is that the UK Government buys hardware and also software from the Boeing company. The British buy the maintenance services of the software as well. It follows that the UK Government cannot do much in reality when it comes to its confrontation with Boeing. For Theresa May, the whole thing is a blowback to her ham-handed approach to UK-Trump administered US relations. She burned away local goodwill by cozying up to President Donald J. Trump. The Brexit strategy also went down with the water.
Brexit means the UK cannot strike its own trade deals. Large trading blocs like EU27, US and China will dictate their own terms to the UK. When it comes to negotiations where both sides can lose a little, the UK cannot secure many favors by itself as it can as being a part of the European Union. If the EU is not behind the UK, the trade disputes which invariably follows these deals will turn out be bad for Britain. A majority of trade deals which the UK can do with profit can only be with the Gulf states. Most trade will be 'arms' deals, an arrangement with few takers with the local British population.
Trump also must show that his “America First” slogan is simply rhetoric. If this is followed up, then things will get slowed down. The ongoing works may freeze as well. | <urn:uuid:2ed641c3-dfc1-4398-9eef-c7f9eb9359ed> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://ec2-52-41-179-67.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/boeing-bombardier-and-brexit-10368 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.967553 | 486 | 1.882813 | 2 |
10 Lawn Mowing Tips
Make it Easier on You & Your Lawn
July 21, 2022
Now that it’s the middle of summer, you may have mowed your lawn a few times already. How’s it holding up? How you mow can affect overall grass health. Here are some lawn mowing tips to carry you and your yard through the rest of the season.
Lawn Mowing Tips
There’s a lot to consider before starting up your mower and cutting the grass. From the best time of day to the right height, how you mow affects how the grass grows. Mowing is supposed to trigger the grass to grow more, but certain circumstances can impede growth and even do more damage to your lawn.
One of the first things to focus on is evaluating how your lawn looks. Go ahead, look around, we’ll wait. Do you notice any:
- Bare spots
- Brown spots
- Uneven patches
- Morning dew
- Rain in the forecast
Consider all of these conditions before you mow. Your grass may be telling you it’s stressed, dry, diseased, or ready to be mowed. How you respond to these signs can make or break the mowing process and the health of your lawn. Let’s point you in the right direction.
First Things First. Sharpen Those Blades
When you properly maintain your lawn and garden tools, they tend to work more efficiently. Cutting the grass with a dull blade leads to tearing, which leads to ragged, brown edges. This weakens the grass over time, making it less resistant to heat and drought and more susceptible to disease and damage.
Sharpen mower blades once a year for cleaner cuts. Also, remove any buildup of grass blades to help prevent blockages. All of this helps to make the job easier on you, your mower, and your lawn.
The blades aren’t the only part of the mower to check. Adjust the height setting so you’re only trimming the top third of the grass. Longer grass blades provide many benefits for your lawn. Not only does it shade the soil and prevent weeds, but it develops a deeper root system for sourcing water and nutrients.
Cutting too short scalps the lawn and forces it to focus energy on regrowing blades instead of deepening roots. This also gives weeds a chance to take over.
Don’t Mow if You Don’t Have to
Yes, we’re permitting you to skip a day or a week or two if your lawn doesn’t need cutting. Wait until the grass is tall enough to cut before you cut it. This may mean you’re mowing twice a week in the spring when the grass is in the full growing season. But then every other week in the height of summer or late fall when growth slows down. There’s no need to spend time stressing your lawn out more because it’s the day you usually mow.
You also want to wait to mow a new lawn. If you’ve just seeded or laid sod, wait until it’s established and reached the right height. Cutting a new lawn too soon or too short will shock it. This means you may have to reseed again later.
So now that your mower blades are sharp and set high and those grass blades are tall enough for trimming, there are still other conditions to consider.
Check the time. The best time of day to mow the lawn is early in the evening when any morning dew has fully dried and temperatures are starting to cool down.
You don’t want to cut wet grass for several reasons. It’s a slipping hazard, it’s more likely to tear the blades, and those wet blades can clog your mower. You also don’t want to cut the grass during the hottest part of the day. It’s no fun for you or the already stressed grass.
Check the weather. Even if morning dew has dried, you’ll want to wait to cut the grass after any rain has dried as well. And no one wants to mow the lawn during a thunderstorm anyway, right?
Lawn Mowing Patterns Matter
Do you have a go-to mowing pattern? Switch it up! Next time, instead of those straight, vertical lines, try horizontal or get really crazy with a diagonal. Grass starts to learn the same old pattern and will literally get in a rut and lean in that direction. When you mix things up, the grass gives you more of a standing ovation.
Something you always want to try to do is mow in a forward direction. And if you have a hilly yard, move side to side across the slope to keep from slipping.
Leave the Clippings
Since you’re only trimming a small amount off the top of your lawn, you can leave the clippings and let them break down to provide your grass with nutrients. Not only does it save you time bagging and disposing, but it also saves you from having to fertilize! Win-win! If you do end up bagging, you can use the clipping for compost or fertilizer in your garden—but only if you haven’t treated the grass with chemicals.
Other Helpful Lawn Mowing Tips
Now that you know what to do for your mower and yard, what about yourself? There are a few wardrobe choices to keep in mind for mowing:
- Closed-toe shoes. Skip the flip-flops even in the summer heat and protect your toes in sneakers, clogs, or any other garden shoe that you don’t mind turning green.
- Eyewear. Sunglasses help to keep the glare down so you can see what you’re doing. Plus it helps protect your peepers from any flying debris.
- Pants. You may want to consider covering your legs in case you run over ground wasps, small stones, or other particles that could kick up. In fact, you may want to check your yard for any such obstacles before you mow and try to avoid these areas.
- Sun protection. Sunscreen, hat, cooling bandana, anything to help keep you comfy and covered from damaging rays.
Do yourself a favor and remove lawn furniture, toys, and other things that will make mowing more complicated.
If you have a loud mower, make sure you’re aware of any pets or people that may be in the way.
If you get tired of mowing or feel it could be done more efficiently, contact a local landscaper to take on the responsibility. Companies like Cardinal Lawns can also help you improve your lawn maintenance practices to prevent any issues that could come from dull mower blades, cutting the grass too short, and preventing lawn weeds.
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Hurry! Offer Expires August 31, 2022 | <urn:uuid:4e1bf558-972c-4cf3-98e3-5d8fba78d008> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.cardinallawns.com/2022/07/lawn-mowing-tips-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.93004 | 1,477 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Here’s the Wealthiest Person in Every State
The U.S. is home to 5 of the top 10 cities with the most billionaires in the world, according to a recent analysis of the Forbes list of billionaires. Ever wonder who the richest person is where you live? Our map has the answers.
- Jeff Bezos tops the list as the richest person in the U.S. The founder of Amazon, based out of Washington, is worth some $117.1B, or about $27B more than Warren Buffet ($89.6B, NE).
- 6 states are home to billionaires with more than $50B to their name, including Michael Bloomberg ($58.4B, NY) and Jim Walton ($51.9B, AR).
- The richest people in 6 states are also not even billionaires. The Leonard Hyde and Jonathan Rubini and families ($0.3B, AK) are worth the least in our map.
- Many of the people on our map represent some of the most famous companies in the country, including Walmart, Facebook and Amazon.
We originally found the idea for our map thanks to 24/7 Wall St. The underlying data for estimated net worth figures come from Forbes. Our approach was to not only display a photo of the richest person with their associated fortunes, but to color-code each state based on the size of their wealth. This makes it abundantly clear just how wealthy the most elite people are in every state.
Top 10 Richest People in the U.S. by State
1. Jeff Bezos (WA): $117.1B
2. Warren Buffett (NE): $89.6B
3. Mark Zuckerberg (CA): $81.9B
4. Michael Bloomberg (NY): $58.4B
5. Jim Walton (AR): $51.9B
6. Alice Walton (TX): $51.7B
7. Charles Koch (KS): $42.8B
8. Sheldon Adelson (NV): $41.4B
9. Phil Knight and family (OR): $40B
10. Jacqueline Mars (VA): $30.2B
Our map provides an interesting snapshot of the ultra-wealthy around the country. For starters, the richest person in almost every state is a white man. There are some notable exceptions, like Alice Walton (TX, $51.7B) and Victoria Mars (PA, $7.5B). There are also only a handful of states shaded light green, which indicates the richest person has a net worth of less than $1B. In fact, the richest person in 37 states is a multi-billionaire ($2B+), and 6 are over $50B. The Leonard Hyde and Jonathan Rubini and families, the “poorest” rich people on our map, are multi-millionaires several times over ($0.3B, AK). These are all telltale signs of runaway wealth inequality.
Our map also displays some familiar household names from the business world, including Mark Zuckerberg (CA, $81.9B) and Jeff Bezos ($WA, $117.1B). But there are also people on our map whose last names are industry giants, like the Mars candy company from Pennsylvania, the Waltons of Walmart fame in Arkansas, and the Menards hardware chain based in Wisconsin. Mike Bloomberg is the wealthiest New Yorker with a fortune estimated to be worth $58.4B. With that much money at his fingertips, Bloomberg can no doubt easily afford the enormous price tag for his failed presidential run.
One thing a lot of the billionaires on our map have in common? They first started out by creating and growing a small business. If you want to kickstart a business today, check the small business loan guide, or the credit line guide if you want to expand what you’ve already got.
Which names and faces on our map surprised you the most? Who did you expect to find, but didn’t? Let us know in the comments. | <urn:uuid:295fc97c-cd51-4316-9fc7-912c13ea32cd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://howmuch.net/articles/richest-person-every-state-2020 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.939392 | 836 | 1.875 | 2 |
Baking powder and baking soda. Both of them are used so frequently in quick baking projects that unless you are a recipe developer, rarely do you consider what each of them actually does for your finished product. How come my scones call for baking powder, but my buttermilk biscuits call for a mixture of powder and soda? Is there an easy way to substitute one for the other if I don’t have both on hand? And why do I have to bake my muffins right after mixing the batter?
This edition of the Food Lab is a quick and dirty guide to how they work, and how they affect the outcome of your recipe. For those of you who want an even quicker and dirtier guide, jump straight to the summary at the bottom of the page.
Great article, that includes a decent amount of science on how breads work.
My mom gave us this book over the holidays, and it’s incredible. We’re part of both the Poughkeepsie Farm Project and the Winter Sun CSA. This means that right now we’ve got lots of bags of root vegetables and squash. Beets, Potatoes, Rutabagas, Turnips, Sweet Potatoes, Acorn Squash, Butternut Squash, Hubbard Squash. Last winter we never quite got into the groove on the winter vegetables, so a lot of them went to waste.
But not this year. In the 5 days since we’ve had this book Susan’s made 2 recipes: a beet, turnip, squash, an onion roast mixed with goat cheese and pasta; sweet potato wedges. Both were great. As we flipped through this book nearly every page has something that you are just dying to try. My mom didn’t let the book out of her sight in Vermont until she managed to copy out a few recipes for herself.
So, if you are trying to figure out how to use vegetables in some new and tasty ways, especially ones you don’t normally cook, I can highly suggest this book. | <urn:uuid:2db05edc-bf05-4e5e-a17a-565d98926e46> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dague.net/tag/cooking/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.954528 | 426 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Cinema and Television
João Mário Lourenço Bagão Grilo
Weekly - 2
Total - 280
Agamben, Giorgio. Means without Ends: Notes on Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000.
Cameron, Allan. Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
Crary, Jonathan. Unbinding Vision, October vol. 68 (Spring 1994), pp. 21-44.
Mellencamp, Patrícia. Logics of Television: Essays in Cultural Criticism. Bllomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
McCarthy, Anna. Ambient Television. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001.
Morgan, Michael, James Shanahan, Nancy Signorielli. Living with Television Now, Advances in Cultivation Theory and Research. New York: Peter Lang, 2012
Mullarkey, John. Refractions of Reality: Philosophy and the Moving Image. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008
Valiaho, Pasi. Film Culture in Transitio : Mapping the Moving Image : Gesture, Thought and Cinema circa 1900. Amsterdam, , NLD: Amsterdam University Press, 2010.
Taking into consideration the seminar format, the teaching methodologies seek to enhance the collective working capacities of the group, strengthening components such as the critical discussion of the fundamental texts in the bibliography and other materials proposed by the professor as well as viewing and collectively exploring filmic and televisual works with content relevant to the seminar.
Students shall also provide critical opinions on some of the leading publications and present them over the course of the seminar.
Critical opinion presentations(30%), Evaluation of seminar attendance and participation(20%), Writing of essay on a problematic issue covered by the seminar demonstrating due coverage of the bibliography(50%)
Programs where the course is taught: | <urn:uuid:a02cfe2e-82c8-4187-a0d3-264aa7e4d832> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://guia.unl.pt/en/2020/fcsh/program/8466/course/73201102 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.750557 | 462 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Ateliere Fără Frontiere Association (download here: AFF)
Ateliere Fără Frontiere Association is a Romanian non-profit organisation, established in 2008, for the social, professional and civic insertion of vulnerable, excluded and marginalised people, by employing them in workshops developed around the circular economy, part of Groupe SOS – a global network that works to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Caritas Câmpulung Association (download here: Caritas-Campulung)
The Caritas Câmpulung Association was established in 1999, with its own legal personality. In January 2017, it obtained the certificate of social enterprise. In March 2017, the Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Protection reaccredited the association as a provider of social services, and in December 2017, the Caritas Association obtained the certificate of insertion social enterprise.
Natura Vie Association (download here: Natura Vie)
The Natura Vie Association established in December 2020 has a social insertion enterprise with a social brand in the form of an online store – www.e-natura.ro – which only sells products of small local producers, other social insertion enterprises (ISIs) or NGOs , vegan products, eco, 100% natural and without plastic or non-recyclable packaging.
The Emmaus Satu Mare Solidarity Association (download here: Emmaus)
The Emmaus Satu Mare Solidarity Association was established in 2010 to support young people who leave the child protection system. The association is part of the continuity of the educational work started by the Freres association in the placement centers in Satu Mare county since 1991. Emmaus Satu Mare is a member of the international Emmaus movement.
Atelierul de Pânză SRL(download here: Atelierul de-panza)
Atelierul de Pânză is a project of the non-profit organization ViitorPlus Sustainable Development Association, organized under the legal form SRL. The Cloth Workshop started its activity in 2009, with 3 beneficiaries and a specialized employee (for the training of the beneficiaries and organization of production). Since 2014, Atelierul de Pânză has been a protected establishment, which means that a large part of its staff is made up of people with disabilities.
Alături de Voi Foundation România (download here: ADV)
The “Alături de Voi” Foundation Romania (ADV) is a non-governmental organization established in February 2002 as a continuation of the programs of the American organization Holt International Children’s Service USA, in Romania initially working for children and HIV positive youth. ADV Romania has its national headquarters in Iasi and is registered as a foundation, with a Board of Directors consisting of 3 members and 2 honorary members. ADV’s mission is the inclusion of people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
UtilDecoGroup SRL (download here: Util-Deco)
UtilDeco Group SRL is a protected unit commercial company and one of the largest social insertion enterprises in Romania, established and controlled by “Fundaţia Alături de Voi” Romania (ADV), in 2008, as an employment solution for young people with disabilities, those who come from the child protection system or from families with problems.
SONIDO, Latvia (download here: Sonido_en)
SONIDO is an innovative social business that offers employment opportunities to socially marginalised people and risk groups, but also excellent services that adapt to the needs of their clients. The workplace is inclusive and their profits are invested in the ‘2Talk line’ which gives people the opportunity to talk, be heard and not feel alone. | <urn:uuid:3df2954f-5500-48f7-9ab0-9de1a60207a1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://riseromania.ro/en/wise-observatory/wise-best-practices | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.932164 | 796 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Common marigold (Calendula officinalis), a decorative garden plant, was considered the best cure in Slovene folk medicine for skin conditions. To this end, it was most often prepared as an ointment made from its flowers. It was also used in tea to treat stomach disorders, tuberculosis, skin conditions, and to cleanse the blood. For treating skin conditions, ulcers, infected swellings, and infected wounds in animals, another suitable ointment was made of common marigold flowers and lard.
More about healing and magical plants in Slovene tradition you can read in book SACRED PLANTS IN FOLK MEDICINE & RITUALS – ETHNOBOTANY OF SLOVENIA by Vlasta Mlakar
© Vlasta Mlakar | <urn:uuid:9561d666-a3ec-4850-9e10-dd981a7403d6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ethnoslovenica.com/common-marigold-sun-of-the-garden/?v=ce774d9cab3a | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.955706 | 169 | 2.890625 | 3 |
A roll-and-move racing game with 138 spaces illustrating persons and events from history in chronological order. In the centre of the gameboard one can see a depiction of George, the Prince Regent, later George IV. The game was accompanied by a 34 page booklet of rules and specifics regarding the "chronology of the most remarkable events from the creation to the present time." The book of rules was printed by F. Vigurs, 14 York Street, Covent Garden. An event 604 A.D.: The first church of St. Paul built in London by Ethelbert. An event 1804: Buonaparte crowned Emperor of the French. | <urn:uuid:0b54179c-4d03-47b5-b92c-26e622745360> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.yihubg.com/game/19872 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.948015 | 142 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Public Health Emergency - Leading a Nation Prepared
The NPRSB will hold a public meeting via teleconference on January 9, 2017 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET. This joint public meeting will be dedicated to the NPRSB and NACCD’s deliberation and vote on the Youth Leadership report.
Meetings of the NPRSB are open to the public.
All members of the public are encouraged to provide written comment to the NPRSB. All written comments must be received prior to January 9, 2017, and should be sent via the National Preparedness and Response Science Board Contact Form.
Home | Contact Us | Accessibility | Privacy Policies | Disclaimer | HHS Viewers & Players | HHS Plain Language
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), 200 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20201
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | USA.gov |
HealthCare.gov in Other Languages | <urn:uuid:bcb11031-68a6-45eb-9bf2-04f63b7f8112> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/legal/boards/nbsb/meetings/Pages/01092017-pblcmtg.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.893954 | 207 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Consumers frequently call a debt help agency to seek assistance repaying their mounting debts. There are so many choices in the debt relief field. Advertisements and marketing for debt help today can be misleading, leaving many consumers in a lurch for the help that they really need. Debt counselors are an invaluable resource in finding a solution for your financial problems. They are trained professionals who offer their expertise to help you eliminate your debts. However, before you see them, it is important to know what a debt counselor is and how they can help you.
A debt help agency, also called a consumer credit counseling service, provides you with the information, tools and resources necessary to get out of debt. The majority of debt help organizations provide debt consolidation, settlement or other financial relief options to people who qualify. They are very knowledgeable about all of the available debt help solutions and will carefully evaluate your situation with a view to find the best possible solution.
A professional debt relief Tucson, AZ organization can provide you with information regarding debt consolidation as a means to settle your multiple creditors at one lower interest rate. If you are able to consolidate your debts into one loan, the monthly payments will be lower, which will drastically reduce your overall cost of living expenses. Debt consolidation will also give you one affordable monthly payment to make towards your debt consolidation loan.
If you are not eligible for debt relief through debt consolidation, you may find that the credit counselors at the debt help organizations are able to work with you on developing a budget. This process will enable you to establish realistic spending and savings goals. By setting spending and savings goals, you will be able to ensure that your future finances remain manageable.
There are many credit counselors at the debt help organization who specialize in credit and debt management. These individuals have years of experience assisting people in managing their finances. Credit and debt counselors will help you achieve financial stability by establishing a realistic budget. The debt relief counselors may also work with you on a debt management plan to repay all of your debts and set up a savings plan to ensure your long term financial health.
The credit counselors at the debt help organizations will assist you in negotiating settlements with your individual creditors. If you agree to these settlements, these agreements will enable you to pay off your debts in about five years. By paying off your debts quickly, you will be on the path to becoming financially stable again. You can then apply for debt relief to get rid of the debts you owe altogether. By using the debt settlement process to settle your debts, you will be putting yourself back on the road to becoming financially sound again. | <urn:uuid:18ba36eb-7b11-4871-9ed3-6b23a90690bd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.icahousing.org/index.php/2021/10/12/debt-relief-credit-card-consolidation-can-help-erase-your-debts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.958069 | 522 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Ethically Sourced Ingredients/ Heavy Metal Testing
We source our ingredients from the earth. We make sure that the farmers we work with are ethical, sustainable, and holistic. Check out more of our sustainable sourcing practices here.
For example, the coconut crew we buy from works on an exclusive basis with farms near their production facilities throughout India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is their mission to ensure that mutually rewarding trade exists with their farmers and that their families, villages, and new generations share in the worldwide growth of the coconut industry.They have implemented socioeconomic programs to help educate villagers in giving back to their own communities, and they support their efforts by paying them more than fair prices for their products.
We test for BPA, dangerous heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, plastics, GMOs, gluten, mold, and many other contaminants. Check out this graphic explaining metals found in the soil and how they are different from dangerous heavy metals. | <urn:uuid:837b7a0a-4d89-4cea-9583-34670ce9fed4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://planetprotein.com/pages/statement-of-mission | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.956128 | 194 | 1.757813 | 2 |
All human excellence is but
comparative. There may be persons
who excel us, as much as we fancy
we excel the meanest.
--Samuel Richardson – English
Novelist Born 1689 Died 1761
Badness you can get easily, in
quantity; the road is smooth, and
it lies close by, But in front of
excellence the immortal gods have
put sweat, and long and steep is
the way to it.
--Hesiod – Greek Poet Born 800 BC
Died 720 BC
Be a yardstick of quality. Some
people aren't used to an
environment where excellence is
--Steve Jobs – American Businessman
Born 1955 Died 2011
But God, who is the Eternal Mind,
is undoubtedly of excellence,
complete and perfect in every
--Lactantius - Author
Born 240 Died 320
Don't strive to be perfect. Strive
--Victoria Principal – American
Actress Born 1946
Each honest calling, each walk of
life, has its own elite, its own
aristocracy based on excellence of
--James Bryant Conant – American
Scientist Born 1893 Died 1978
Excellence always sells.
--Earl Nightingale – American
Entertainer Born 1921 Died 1989
Excellence is a better teacher
than mediocrity. The lessons of
the ordinary are everywhere. Truly
profound and original insights are
to be found only in studying the
--Warren G. Bennis - Psychologist
Excellence is a process that
should occupy all our days.
--Ted W. Engstrom
Excellence is an art won by
training and habituation. We do
not act rightly because we have
virtue or excellence, but we
rather have those because we have
acted rightly. We are what we
repeatedly do. Excellence, then,
is not an act but a habit.
--Aristotle – Greek Philosopher Born
384 BC Died 322 BC
Excellence is doing ordinary
things extraordinarily well.
--John W. Gardner – American
Educator Born 1912 Died 2002
Excellence is not a skill. It is
--Ralph Marston – American Writer
Excellence is the best deterrent
to racism or sexism.
--Oprah Winfrey – American
Entertainer Born 1954
Excellence is the gradual result
of always striving to do better.
--Pat Riley – American Coach Born
Find something that you're really
interested in doing in your life.
Pursue it, set goals, and commit
yourself to excellence. Do the
best you can.
--Chris Evert – American Athlete
I am careful not to confuse
excellence with perfection.
Excellence, I can reach for;
perfection is God's business.
--Michael J. Fox – Canadian Actor | <urn:uuid:3798afaf-71c0-4af1-8165-782b12f9fc92> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://bibleinsong.com/Promises/Quotes_D-F/Excellence/Excellence.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.863989 | 638 | 2.296875 | 2 |
18.2″ of snow so far this month at Duluth, Minnesota. Normal snowfall for November is 13.7″. Although November 2020 has featured above normal snowfall in Duluth, will still need an additional 7.5″ of snow the rest of this month to get into the top 10 snowiest Novembers on record list, and chances of that happening aren’t looking very good.
Snowfall reports from around the Northland for Sunday, November 22, 2020.
- Pequot Lakes, MN: 3.0″
- 5 SSE Libby, MN: 2.7″
- 1 W Buyck, MN: 2.0″
- Wrenshall, MN: 2.0″
- McGregor, MN: 2.0″
- 3 NNW Mahtowa, MN: 1.7″
- 1 N Cloquet, MN: 1.7″
- 2 SSW Moose Lake, MN: 1.5″
- 1 ESE Nisswa, MN: 1.5″
- Duluth Airport: 1.5″
- Kettle River, MN: 1.3″
- 3 N Brainerd, MN: 1.3″
- Gary New Duluth, MN: 1.0″
- Longville, MN: 1.0″
- International Falls, MN: 0.6″
A couple snow pics from Duluth, Minnesota from today, Sunday, November 22, 2020.
We’ve had nearly as many days above average (11) compared to number of days below average (10) so far this month in Duluth, yet November 2020 is running nearly +5.0 degrees warmer than average, mostly because of how warm it was during the first week of this month.
The chart below shows daily average temperature departures for November 2020. Red=Days above average; Blue=Days below average.
Our next system to keep an eye on is moving ashore in the Pacific northwest this afternoon and will dig ESE over the Rockies on Monday before ejecting east into the Midwest and to the eastern Great Lakes from Tuesday through Thursday.
Source: 12z Euro ensemble model 11.22.2020; https://weathermodels.com/
Water vapor loop from today shows a fairly active but a progressive weather pattern with three notable systems.
- Low pressure over northeast Ohio.
- Trough moving out of the upper Midwest and into the western Great Lakes.
- Low pressure/trough moving into the northwest US.
Troughs (blue) Ridge (red)
Tuesday’s system doesn’t look like a big snow maker for our area, but we could see widespread 1 to 2 inch amounts which could lead to hazardous travel conditions across northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.
Note: There is a chance for some lake/orographic enhanced snowfall along the North Shore on Tuesday as winds will be out of the east-southeast, this could help in boosting snow totals more into the 2-4 or even 3-5 inch range along the North Shore. Stay tuned.
Snow is forecast to reach the Brainerd Lakes area around 4-6 AM Tuesday, and then will see some snow spread farther north/east through the day Tuesday. Snow comes to an end from SW-NE Tuesday night.
Note: Snow moves into Duluth and Superior around 8-10 AM Tuesday the way it looks now.
18z NAM 3km model simulated radar forecast valid from 1 AM Tuesday to Midnight Wednesday.
Thanks for reading! | <urn:uuid:32335ae6-59b7-48f8-8ce5-4625e23ad204> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://northlandweatherblog.com/2020/11/22/some-more-snow-possible-tuesday/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.921164 | 762 | 1.546875 | 2 |
There has been a lot of misinformation and confusing coverage around the release of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s findings linking processed and red meat to cancer. The science isn’t new but the vastness of the research collected by such an influential organization has led to a subsequent media frenzy. As a result, most people don’t really know where they stand, or whether they should take red meat off their shopping list altogether.
Is red meat linked to cancer? The short answer is, yes, processed red meat is, but scientifically, we don’t know for sure about natural red meat yet. However, experts certainly believe it is, and there’s a good reason for that…
Processed meat and red meat were high priorities when an international advisory committee met in 2014. The committee recommended an evaluation by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs Program. That recommendation was based on studies of epidemics that suggested small increases in the risk of cancer may be associated with high consumption of red meat and processed meat.
This news isn’t actually new. It has been brewing and trickling out in individual studies for years now, and it has been widely accepted for a long time that meat can increase the risk of bowel cancer. This collaboration of research, however, is significant because it comes from the IARC. Their findings carry weight, and are listened to by governments and regulators. The working group considered more than 800 studies that investigated associations of more than a dozen types of cancer with the consumption of red meat or processed meat in many countries and populations with diverse diets. The most influential evidence came from large studies conducted over the past 20 years.
This is the area that has become very clouded, with the industry trying to protect its reputation and journalists trying to squeeze the most juicy bits of the report into brief news bulletins and articles. What the researchers have found, after thoroughly reviewing an accumulation of scientific literature that had been mounting in recent years, is that the consumption of red meat is “probably” carcinogenic to humans, based on limited evidence that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans, and strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect. The association is mainly relevant to colorectal cancer, but there are also links to pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.
Processed meat, on the other hand, is classified as conclusively carcinogenic to humans, based on sufficient evidence that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer. The group of 22 experts from 10 different countries who worked on the report also found an association with stomach cancer, but that evidence was not conclusive.
To put it statistically, the experts have concluded that each 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.
Researchers haven’t conclusively found exactly how processed meat, and possibly red meat, cause cells to become cancerous. The findings so far blame chemicals that are found in the meat, starting with heme, which is part of the red pigment in the blood. Heme is broken down in the gut to form N-nitroso compounds that can damage cells in the bowel lining. As a result of this, other cells in the bowel lining are forced to replicate in order to heal, and that replication can increase the risk of problems with the development of the extra cells’ DNA. That is the first stage in a sequence of events that can lead to cancer.
“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,” Head of the IARC Monographs Programme Dr Kurt Straif said. “In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance.”
The research also found that high-temperature cooking methods generate compounds that may contribute to carcinogenic risk, such as direct contact with a flame or hot surface. The suggestion is that hot barbecues or frying pans can cause an increased production of certain carcinogenic chemicals like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic aromatic amines. However, there was not enough data available for the IARC Working Group to reach a solid conclusion on this theory yet. This is another area that is confusing consumers because the industry is understandably publicizing the lack of scientific evidence that currently exists, but scientists are saying, it is a risk, and it might very well be proven in the long-run.
Director of the IARC, Dr Christopher Wild, said the findings further support current public health recommendations to limit our intake of meat. “At the same time, red meat has nutritional value. Therefore, these results are important in enabling governments and international regulatory agencies to conduct risk assessments, in order to balance the risks and benefits of eating red meat and processed meat and to provide the best possible dietary recommendations.”
Smoking Versus Eating Red Meat
This is an interesting link that has been drawn during the aftermath of the research findings being released. Processed meat has now been classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), which puts it in the same category as tobacco smoking and asbestos, which are also both classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). Red meat, on the other hand, is considered potentially carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). While processed meat has been placed in the same category as tobacco and asbestos, it does not mean it is as dangerous as them. The classification is based on the strength of scientific evidence, not the level of risk. To put it into perspective; smoking three cigarettes per day increases the risk of lung cancer by 600%, while eating 50 grams of processed meat per day increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.
The most interesting thing, however, is how similar it is to the discussion on smoking several decades ago. Like the processed and red meat industries, tobacco stood to lose a lot when science was in its early stages of linking smoking to cancer, and the uproar from consumers was also very similar. That’s not to say the science of red and processed meat will necessarily go the same way, but studies are in their very early stages, and there is still a lot to be revealed, proven and disproven, such as the link with high-temperature cooking.
About 34,000 deaths from cancer per year worldwide can be attributed to diets high in processed meat, according to the most recent estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project, an independent academic research organization. And while the link between red meat and cancer has not yet been established, estimates are that diets high in red meat could be responsible for 50,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide, if proven to be causal. That is compared to approximately 1 million cancer deaths worldwide each year caused by tobacco smoking.
What’s The Difference Between Red Meat And Processed Meat?
In simplistic terms, processed meat is generally considered unhealthy, while red meat is considered to be part of a healthy diet. Processed meat has been linked with a number of diseases and has been proven to possess harmful chemicals that would not be found naturally in unprocessed meat.
When meat has been preserved by curing, salting, smoking, drying or canning, it is called processed meat, and includes bacon, ham, sausages, hot dogs, salami and canned meat, to name a few. As the general consensus among the population over the last few decades has been that processed meat is unhealthy, it is usually consumed in high amounts by people with unhealthy lifestyle habits, rather than health-conscious people.
Red meat refers to muscle meat from mammals, including beef, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, veal and goat. It, on the other hand, has been a rather contentious subject, with evidence suggesting it can be harmful and evidence that it has health benefits. Humans have eaten meat throughout evolution, meaning our digestive systems are perfectly capable of handling it. However, even the unprocessed meat that humans eat today is extremely different to the free-roaming wild animal meat that our ancestors ate. If you’re buying a packet of steak from a supermarket in the US, then it most likely came from a steer born and raised in a factory farm, fed grain and probably pumped full of hormones and antibiotics. If you want natural red meat, it is important to look for grass-fed, certified organic cuts.
The Pros And Cons Of Eating Red Meat
Protein – This is where the science of red meat differs from processed meat. Where society accepts at large that processed meat should not be consumed for health benefits, red meat is known to be a great source of important nutrients. It is most commonly known for being rich in protein, which helps build muscles and bones. Eighty-five grams (3 ounces) of bottom-round steak (190 calories) provides 29 grams of protein, according to the US Department of Agriculture Nutrient Data Laboratory.
Iron – Red meat is also commonly associated with iron, a mineral that many teenage girls and pregnant women lack. The heme iron found in red meat is easily absorbed and is critical for binding and transporting the oxygen you breathe to the tissues throughout your body. It also plays a role in the enzymatic reactions during metabolism, detoxification, wound healing and growth, as well as improving the immune system, which is why an iron deficiency can affect a range of essential bodily functions.
Vitamins and Minerals – Red meat can be high in vitamin B12, B3 (Niacin), B6, zinc and selenium. Zinc helps during the production of new cells and supports the structure of proteins. It also supports the immune system and encourages neurological development. Because it is not stored in the body, it is important to get the little bit that you need every day through food. Selenium is an essential trace minimal that s necessary for immune system functionality. Deficiencies have been linked to mood swings and the risk of cardiovascular disease. B vitamins are extremely important during the metabolism process, especially in turning carbohydrates into energy.
Healthy Fats – Unprocessed red meat is full of healthy fats, especially from animals raised on grass. An Australian study found that beef from grass-fed animals contains up to 5 times the amount of Omega-3 as grain-fed animals. Oleic acid is a heart-healthy mono-unsaturated fat, famously found in olive oil, and it is also present in beef.
Climate change – There are other issues to take into account when eating meat of any kind, and one of them is the evidence that meat production is contributing to global warming. Agricultural activity worldwide, especially livestock production, is responsible for about a fifth of total greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have concluded that lowering our consumption of meat will decrease the demand, and therefore decrease production, ultimately lessening greenhouse gas emissions.
Ethics – The other issue to consider is the ethical choice. Many people have turned away from eating meat and animal products in recent years in favor of plant-based foods. There has been a lot of publicity around animal intelligence, pain and suffering, alongside investigations that have uncovered cruelty within the meat industry around the world.
Diseases – Besides the recent evidence concluding that processed meat can cause cancer and that red meat most likely contributes to cancer, there are also a number of other diseases associated with the consumption of red meat. Research over the years has found that eating red meat, particularly in large amounts, may shorten your lifespan and increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
So, Should I Eat Red Meat?
This is the question that everyone wants answered and the problem is, you can read two different news stories in one day that will say the opposite. We already know the answer to the processed meat question. No, you shouldn’t eat processed meat if you want to eat cleanly, and if you do eat it, it should be on an extremely rare occasion in extremely small amounts.
The jury is still out on red meat, however. On the one hand, scientists say it probably contributes to cancer, even though they haven’t yet been able to conclude that absolutely. On the other hand, it is one of the best sources of protein available and has some very beneficial nutrients and important vitamins and minerals.
Whether you choose to eat red meat or not, the biggest issue in the western world is the over-consumption of meat in general. Many people still believe meat needs to be the feature point in a meal and the vegetables and carbohydrates, a necessary side accompaniment. But that is the wrong way to think about meals. They should be considered as a whole, and meat should be eaten in far smaller percentages than it currently is on average. Vegetables and carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your meal, with meat being a maximum of 20% of it. On top of that, it should not be featured in every meal. There are plenty of other sources to get iron and protein from, so some days should be vegetarian or vegan days, and some days can include a meal that features meat in it.
The Bottom Line
Processed meat has been linked to cancer. That is a fact. The industry and people who don’t want to give it up can spin it in different ways, but that is the current science on it. Red meat has not been so strongly linked to cancer. There are robust suggestions that it potentially poses the risk, and the general consensus amongst scientists is that it will probably be proven down the track, but in terms of modern science, there is not a solid conclusion as of the year 2015.
So, does processed meat increase the risk of cancer? Yes. Does red meat? Probably. | <urn:uuid:46713911-ea22-4e18-9598-77e7a6083e8e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://healthwholeness.com/health/does-red-meat-cause-cancer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.967951 | 2,835 | 3.046875 | 3 |
- April 12, 2022
Welcome to the New Shuttle Launch Process
“Launching Space Shuttles has always been complicated – thousands of people and millions of parts all have to work just right – all while nature (and sometimes human politics) cooperate. All it takes is one small thing – and a bit of bad luck – and a launch can be delayed again – and again.
This time NASA’s bad luck arrived in threes.” | <urn:uuid:42e10eb7-8932-4ec2-bcb0-986541d9e19e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://nasawatch.com/shuttle-news/welcome-to-the-new-shuttle-launch-process/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.936468 | 94 | 1.875 | 2 |
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 (Hardcover)
The bold story of Katherine Johnson, an African-American mathematician who worked for NASA during the space race and was depicted in the film Hidden Figures.
You've likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 moon landing. But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned safely home?
As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math, about the universe.
From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, Counting on Katherine is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made enormous contributions to history.
Christy Ottaviano Books
About the Author
Helaine Becker is an award-winning children's book author. She also writes for children's magazines and kid's television shows, including four seasons of "Dr. Greenie's Mad Lab", a segment on the environmental show Planet Echo airing on Canada's APTN.
Her books include Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13, Stress Less: Tips and Tools to Help You Chill, and Sloth at the Zoom.
Dow Phumiruk is the award-winning illustrator of Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo13, which won the Bank Street Cook Prize and was named an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book as well as an NCTM Mathical Honor Book, among many other honors; An Equal Shot: How the Law Title IX Changed America; and Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines, which was an Amazon Best Book of the Year and an NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. A general pediatrician with a passion for art, Dow lives in Colorado with her family.
A Junior Library Guild Selection
An NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book
A NCTM Mathical Honor Book
Winner of the Bank Street Cook Prize
An NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
An ILA Notable Book for a Global Society
An ILA Teachers’ Choices Reading List Selection
An Amelia Bloomer List Selection
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Vermont Red Clover Award Master List Selection
A Morning Calm Medal Nominee
A Towner Award Nominee
A Silver Birch Express Award Nominee
An Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee
A Louisiana Reader’s Choice Award Nominee
A UKLA Book Award Finalist
"A picture-book biography of a humble genius who excelled in a career once out of reach for most African-Americans. An excellent biography that will inspire young readers, especially girls, to do what they love."--Kirkus, starred review
"Children who want to share in the Hidden Figures buzz can start right here . . . Phumiruk’s digital artwork convincingly portrays Johnson as brainy and imaginative. This title is ready made for “My Hero” biography reports."--The Bulletin
"Featuring engaging text and captivating illustrations, this picture book introduces the amazing life of mathematician Katherine Johnson to young readers. Sure to inspire a new generation of mathematicians. A solid addition to biography collections."--School Library Journal
"The straightforward, informative text is paired with delicate, precise digital artwork. . . Very worthwhile book."--Booklist
"Phumiruk works in a crisp, uncluttered art style, infusing emotionality into more private moments of reflection."--Publishers Weekly | <urn:uuid:f2409d72-2140-4c7c-b413-ecab1c096391> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.bookmarksnc.org/book/9781250137524 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.910891 | 797 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Did you know?
- Unintentional pedestrian injuries are the fifth leading cause of injury-related death in the United States for children ages 5 to 19.
- Developmentally, kids cannot judge speed and distance of approaching vehicles until age 10.
- Teens have a death rate twice that of younger children and account for half of all child pedestrian deaths.
- Eighty percent of child pedestrian deaths occur at non-intersection locations
It’s important that you talk to your kids about how to be safe while walking. Whether your kids are walking to school, the park or a friend’s house, here are a few simple tips to make sure they get there safely.
- It’s always best to walk on sidewalks or paths and cross at street corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks.
- Remind kids to make eye contact with drivers before crossing the street.
- Watch out for cars that are turning or backing up.
- When driving, be especially alert in residential neighborhoods and school zones and be on the lookout for bikers, walkers or runners who may be distracted or may step into the street unexpectedly.
- Children under 10 should cross the street with an adult. Developmentally they are not able to judge speed and distance of cars.
- Teach kids to look up and pay extra attention when using headphones, cell phones or electronic devices such as a tablet or game.
- Make it a rule to put these devices down when crossing the street. It is particularly important to reinforce the message with your teenagers.
- Set a good example by putting devices down your own electronic devices when you are driving or walking around cars.
- If your kids need to use a cell phone, teach them to stop walking and find a safe area to talk. For headphones, pull them down or turn off the volume before crossing the street.
Drivers should also be cautious and stay alert. Pay attention to your surroundings and look out for pedestrians. Here are safety tips for drivers:
- Stay alert in residential neighborhoods and school zones and be on the lookout for bikers, walkers or runners who may be distracted or may step into the street unexpectedly.
- Give pedestrians the right of way and look both ways when making a turn.
- Put cell phones and other distractions in the back seat or out of site until your final destination.
- Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.
- Pedestrian Safety Fact Sheet
- Halloween Safety tips
- Halloween Safety tips (Spanish)
- Pedestrian Safety Infographic
- Distracted Pedestrian Infographic | <urn:uuid:592a00eb-667e-44a8-b7ba-93df177e2df8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://preventinjury.pediatrics.iu.edu/safe-kids-indiana/pedestrian-safety/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.923127 | 543 | 3.796875 | 4 |
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016
Peter O’Brian says child sexual abuse has to be ‘out of the shadows’
Award-winning filmmaker and TVO board chairman, Peter O’Brian, says the topic of children being sexually abused is probably the “subject to avoid at all costs.”
But the guest speaker at the Children’s Treatment Centre Bike-A-Thon Plus Kickoff Breakfast on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, told the audience the only way to battle abuse it is to talk about it and “bring it out of the shadows.”
Sexually abused by teacher Hugh Henry at a boarding school near London, England in the 1950s, O’Brian decided to come forward about his ordeal nearly 50 years later.
He decision was triggered by seeing the film Chosen on TVO – about abuse of boys at boarding schools. O’Brian had been at the school when his father was a Canadian officer in the Royal Air Force.
O’Brian detailed for the audience of 600, how he had been groomed by his abuser and after refusing a request to come to Henry’s room at the boarding school, only then did he realize he “had some power of (his) my own…I didn’t know I had the right to say no,” he reflected. After breaking the cycle of sexual abuse he was sent home to Canada.
Fifty-some years later and looking back on what happened, like many victims of abuse, O’Brian kept his “huge secrets” bottled up thinking it would ruin his life and family if it was exposed. He also believed that coming forward would have led to victim-blaming – that he would be “blamed rather than rescued” and that he was alone in believing that he was “the only one.”
Based on his accounts and the testimony of other victims, Hugh Henry was convicted on 13 counts of indecent assault against nine minors but committed suicide two days before he was supposed to be sentenced.
Now that O’Brian is sharing his story, he doesn’t “intend to go back into the shadows…let’s be silent no more.”
The Children’s Treatment Centre is celebrating its 20th anniversary in June.
The Bike-A-Thon Plus – the second largest yearly fundraiser for the CTC – is on May 28, 2016 at St. Lawrence College and will feature 14 different activities.
The center has helped at least 2,380 children and over 2,050 families and with referrals increasing to 17 per month, CTC board chairman Don Fairweather says it’s a “stark reality” of the need of the services of the CTC.
The centre, which relies solely on community funding, is hoping to meet or beat its 2015 fundraising total of $131,000. | <urn:uuid:3cf18e65-c6f5-44bc-b948-9214bc718e22> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.childrenstreatmentcentre.ca/portfolio-items/bike-a-thon-plus-kick-off-breakfast-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.981312 | 608 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Persuasion is the best tool, lobbyists tell Bensalem students
The power of persuasion is the best tool in their boxes, two lobbyists told students at Bensalem High School Thursday afternoon.
Speaking in teacher George Daka's Advanced Placement Government class, David Kralle and Sean Schafer said that their clients will donate money to the campaigns of politicians whose interests align with their own.
But money isn't the most important factor in getting legislation passed, Kralle and Schafer said. It's being thoroughly steeped in the facts of an issue and using them to bring lawmakers around to your point of view, they said.
"You have to keep it ethical," said Kralle, a lobbyist for the Aqua America water company.
"Money helps and plays a role, but it's not as influential as you might think. We don't buy votes. Money isn't the main driver of policy. Integrity and hard work are. I honestly believe that."
Lying by politicians or lobbyists doesn't pay, added Schafer, whose business Schafer Government Affairs lobbies for various causes. He recalled how one state lawmaker once told former Gov. Ed Rendell he would vote one way on a piece of legislation but ended up voting the other.
"Do you think Rendell ever worked with that guy again? No way," said Schafer, the former chief of staff for state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, of Bensalem.
And while some lobbyists give the profession a bad name, the image held by some of lobbyists as slimy arm twisters is a misconception, Schafer and Kralle told the students.
They recounted how they recently used a lot of legwork, facts and persuasion to help pass state legislation that enables private water and sewer companies to replace faulty or outdated lateral lines leading directly into residences without charging a single customer thousands of extra dollars.
The law contributes to safety and the public well-being by, as one example, making it easier for a company to replace an old lead lateral that could be adding dangerous contaminants to water, Kralle said.
"It's really hard for lobbyists to be corrupt," he said. "We're required to file all these financial forms detailing how we spend our money, and it's all online and public. We're controlled.
"It's easier for politicians to be corrupt, and that's why you have to hold them accountable. If you don't, money and special interests will run the show."
Bensalem junior Damien Olsen said he enjoyed hearing about the work of the two lobbyists.
"It was well presented and they seemed very well informed," he said. "I didn't have a bad opinion of lobbyists, anyway, and listening to them it just seems like they work hard for the people they represent and are loyal, and aren't trying to screw other people over."
Daka said the talk by Schafer and Kralle was another example of his philosophy of trying to bring the real world into his classroom whenever possible. Daka has had many government officials at various levels come talk to his students.
Lobbying is a part of how things get done in government, so it makes sense to have the people who actually do it come in and talk about it, Daka said.
"In today's educational world, it shouldn't be just about a textbook or a teacher standing in front of a class and talking," he said. "You have a much higher chance of students grasping concepts if you bring in real life applications." | <urn:uuid:e36d2429-eecb-4cc4-992d-364dc030bb4f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/news/education/2018/10/19/persuasion-is-best-tool-lobbyists/9509567007/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.978611 | 732 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Introduction to Hybrid Rice
Hybrid rice is rice that has been created by crossing two different parental strains. Such crosses generally result in an F1 generation that is more robust than either of the parental strains. The improved qualities of the F1 generation is referred to as “hybrid vigor” or “heterocyst”. The hybrid vigor may result in superior agronomic qualities such as higher yield, stronger resistance to diseases, more efficient use of soil nutrients, and better weed control. Hybrid vigor and other superior qualities arising from crossing genetically different plants has been well known and used by traditional crop breeders for decades.
In the past, the production of hybrid rice strains was limited by rice’s inherent propensity to self-pollinate. In 1974, Chinese scientists overcame this when they developed the first generation of hybrid rice using a three-line hybrid system based on cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines and hybrid combinations. In 1996, an even more efficient second generation of hybrid rice was developed based on photoperiod-sensitive genetic male sterility (PGMS) lines.hybrid-rice-1hybrid-rice-2
Conventional Rice Vs. Hybrid Rice
Hybrid rice offers strong yield potential, as well as good resistance to diseases including bacterial panicle blight, a significant threat in rice fields. Conventional varieties can also offer outstanding yields.
Hybrids are a more forgiving plant than the conventional varieties, You can grow good rice with the conventional, but you have manage them more intensively
Types of Rice Seeds
1: Local varieties
- Commonly Cultivated In Whole Myanmar Small/ Medium In Size Like Zeeyar, Pawsan Bejaji,Baiyathun Etc.
2: High yielding Varieties
- Medium/Long Size Grain Mostly Cultivated By Farmers And Also Exported To China Like Manaw Thukha, Shwe Thuka,Sin Thukha,Hmawabi,Shwebo Pawsan,Phyabo Pawsan Etc.
3: Hybrid rice
- In Myanmar Only One Hybrid Rice Is Available Named Pearl – Thwe(Perlethwe)
- This Hybrid Rice Is Long Sized Grain But Its Taste Quality Is Poor And Also Not Suitable For Flood Zone Area. Unfortunately It Is Rejected By Myanmar Local As Well As Current Govt.
Farmers Views on Hybrid rice (Pearl – Thwe)
- Hybrid Rice Seeds Have Very Good Yield As Compare To Traditional In Breed Rice Seeds
- Insects Love Hybrid Rice Hence They Attack Very Easily Therefor It Is Not Insect Resistant Also Pest(Sippo) Drop Theire Larva In The Roots Of Hybrid Rice.
- Method Of Cultivation Is Costly.
- Require High Amount Of Pesticides And Fertilizers
- Not Adaptable To All Types Of Soil.
- Need Extra Care And Techniques During Cultivation.
- No Buyers Available.
- Overall Pain To The Pocket Of Farmers. | <urn:uuid:d396428b-8562-48e1-a818-f32ad6e2901b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://amtmarketresearch.com/portfolio-item/myanmar-hybrid-rice-research/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.893287 | 630 | 3.15625 | 3 |
ID photos of marine life
Here at Ocean Dimensions we live and breathe ocean. It’s important to us to do as much as we can to help out with the conservation and protection of our incredible backyard.
One of the ways we help is by contributing to NGOs, for example: Manta trust, Olive Ridley Project, and Maldivian Whaleshark Research Program. By gathering important data, we help out with vital projects that are happening here in the Maldives. Whenever we go out for a snorkel or diving excursion, we keep an eye out for certain marine life and try to get ID photos.
During manta season we are lucky enough to get plenty of manta sightings. We record every time we see them, along with the location, date, and weather conditions of the sightings. Every manta has different spots/markings on its underside, so we try to get shots of the manta’s belly. We then give this information to the Manta Trust so they can run it against their database to ID the manta.
We also record every time we see turtles, along with location, date, and species. Getting ID photos of turtles is a little bit trickier as we need to photograph both sides of the turtle’s face and top of the head. This information is then given to The Olive Ridley Project.
In the past couple of months Ocean Dimensions have identified two new individuals, one oceanic manta and one green turtle. There have only ever been 14 oceanic mantas recorded in the Baa atoll, so this sighting is extremely valuable.
What you can do to help
These organizations rely on everybody helping out where they can. Citizen science plays a huge part in the data collection for many NGOs. If you have any ID photos of manta, no matter where you are in the world you can send it here. Have you got any turtle ID photos? Please send them here. If you don’t have any ID photos that’s fine! You can always adopt; both Manta Trust and Olive Ridley Project have this option. By making a contribution you’ll get regular updates on your animal and in some cases, you’ll even get to name it! | <urn:uuid:ffe8f8db-6862-41b2-b5b6-13682f55d8fd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.oceandimensions.com/id-photos-conservation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.926971 | 472 | 2.40625 | 2 |
- The private-equity industry has been extracting wealth from the US economy for investors at the expense of the American economy for too long.
- The private-equity industry is too secretive, loads takeover targets with too much debt, and pushes companies to lay off too many workers.
- Given the problems with private equity, Congress is right to try to crack down on the industry with the new Stop Wall Street Looting Act.
- Joseph E. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001. He is a professor at Columbia University, and his most recent book is "People, Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Over the past decade, a large body of research has confirmed what many of us have long suspected, namely that American capitalism is a far cry from the textbook model of a competitive, efficient economy. Instead, the United States is now home to far too many of what economists call "rent seekers."
These are economic actors who take advantage of others through market power, through individual vulnerabilities, and through inside or unequal information. They grab an unfairly large slice of the pie at the expense of other people, rather than adding to the nation's wealth.
Markets where rent-seeking is prevalent are neither efficient nor fair, and they help explain America's increasing inequality and weakening growth.
One of those rent-seeking sectors is finally getting the attention it deserves: private equity.
The private-equity industry has exploded in size over the past two decades, from $700 billion in global assets in 2000 to $5.8 trillion in 2018. In the US, it now controls 8,000 companies, more than twice as many as are traded on public markets. This all came about without any debate over whether this immensely influential industry is playing by the right rules.
As they stand, the rules ensure that private-equity barons win, no matter who else loses. Of course, not all private-equity players are exploitative. But even the good actors play on a field advantageous to them, as they exploit rules that create opacity, prevent accountability for their harmful effects, and preserve unjustifiable tax advantages.
Reining in the private-equity industry
Legislation introduced this summer by US lawmakers, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, and Tammy Baldwin, and Reps. Mark Pocan and Pramila Jayapal, proposes at long last to change that.
Now, from the presidential campaign trail in Iowa to the financial press in New York to Washington policy wonks, we are discussing this set of new answers to how we address abuses in private equity that have turned parts of this massive industry into straightforward wealth extractors, not creators.
Start at the beginning of the life cycle of a private-equity fund with the investors who entrust their money to firms that promise them a healthy return. Markets deliver efficient outcomes if there is transparency. Behind a cloak of secrecy, exploitation can run rampant.
The allocation of capital can be efficient only if both investor and asset manager have credible information about the track record of the private-equity firms and their portfolio companies. Alas, even some of the most sophisticated investors on the planet — pension funds, university endowments — can't obtain that data from private-equity firms.
For example, the industry's preferred metric, the internal rate of return, is notoriously prone to manipulation. Private-equity firms often exclude money they have not yet invested when calculating a rate of return. But they will not hesitate to include that money when calculating the management fees that make the business particularly lucrative, regardless of how successfully executives invest. In the market for dollars that private equity raises, the information investors have to go on is simply not clear.
The bill introduced this summer, the Stop Wall Street Looting Act, would bring a measure of standardization and transparency for the benefit of investors by creating standard, annual, disclosures that would allow comparison shopping.
The bill would also ban efforts by private-equity firms to contractually squirm out of the fiduciary duty they owe investors, an all-too-frequent phenomenon. And it would curb fees charged to portfolio companies that are added on to the fees charged for fund management and performance often for nonexistent services, to dodge taxes.
The private-equity debt problem
Then there is the debt. Private equity's business model is built on acquisitions via debt — 70 or 80% is not unheard of. And Wall Street banks provide this debt in a way that creates perverse incentives. Banks lend the money for private-equity firms to acquire target companies, and then turn the loan into securities they sell to other investors, leaving the bankers with no stake in the outcome.
And when the company acquired by the private-equity firm is loaded with debt, private-equity firms can fire workers and sell assets to pay it down debt and generate capital for distribution to the owners — themselves. This problem is not theoretical; it's exactly what happened at retailers such as Toys R Us, Sears, and Shopko.
The new proposal would introduce a suite of changes to combat this practice including a limit to the tax deductibility of debt and a requirement for banks that finance these deals to retain a portion of the loans they underwrite.
Crucially, the Stop Wall Street Looting Act would extend the liability for the obligations of a target company to the private-equity firm itself, ensuring that the private-equity executives are on the hook for some of the risk created by loading a takeover target with debt, and do not simply reap the rewards.
Private-equity benefits from an even more outrageous provision called "carried interest," whereby managers in these enterprises are taxed on their returns from managerial activities at the very favorable capital-gains tax rate, about half the rate that those engaged in other managerial activities or workers are taxed. This is not only unfair, but it encourages the growth of these nontransparent exploitative enterprises. That would end under this bill.
Stopping the destruction of jobs
Finally, a recent study by groups including Americans for Financial Reform found that private-equity bankruptcies in the retail industry alone cost 600,000 jobs. One of those laid off, Giovanna De La Rosa, told of her experiences in this publication. The best outcome would be fewer bankruptcies, but when they happen, the welfare of workers needs to be at the top of the list, not at the bottom.
Private-equity cannot simply reap the rewards of cost-cutting and let others bear the dislocations in the lives of the workers and the communities in which they operate. So the legislation would tweak bankruptcy laws to improve the treatment of worker severance, limit executive payouts, and favor purchase offers that preserve employment.
What enables a market economy to serve American society is informed competition with a fair set of rules where decision makers bear the full consequences of their actions. A system in which private equity can hoodwink investors, rely on debt to fund acquisitions — raised by banks that pass the risk on to others — and then extract wealth from viable going concerns, is a far cry from a just market economy. It is a creation of already rich Wall Street financiers who win even if everyone else loses.
If private equity is to work to the benefit of all stakeholders, then Congress needs to demonstrate the same talent for making markets work that bad actors on Wall Street have shown for sabotaging them. | <urn:uuid:8b57e37c-bdca-4189-b828-a4699b6a84e8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://static-ssl.insider.com/joseph-stiglitz-private-equity-impact-us-economy-jobs-wages-2019-12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00064.warc.gz | en | 0.94408 | 1,542 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits