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Thursday, June 01, 2006
What is a cassowary??? I hear you say. Well! A cassowary is a prehistoric looking bird that lives in Queensland, Australia. It is endangered, doesn't fly, and is, well, pretty ugly. Anyhoo, a woman I work with has been doing a lot of work on the cassowary and as a result she has plenty of maps of the region where it lives. Given she's been eating, sleeping, and dreaming cassowary so I got one of her old maps and made it into a bag - hence the cassowary bag!
I sandwiched two maps between two layers of clear pvc/vinyl.
I don't know how sturdy it would be, but it was my first attempt at sewing pvc so I didn't want to make it too complex. Even the handles are part of the map...
I'm pretty pleased with it. The only problem was that the map got pretty crinkled when I tried to turn it inside out. I'd probably do side seams a little differently next time for that reason. | <urn:uuid:310a76c0-a2a1-4cbd-bb00-b9c11273a573> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://twitchyfingers.blogspot.com/2006/06/i-give-you-cassowary-bag.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980794 | 227 | 1.804688 | 2 |
I searched through the threads and did not find anything on the topic.
Our application, a web-based CRM, offers a number of reports. When designing
the report, I formatted the reports so that field labels appear smaller and
paler than values. The rationale: focus the attention of people to the data
not to the labels.
Some colleagues of mine strongly oppose this approach and want field labels
to be bold and the same font size as values, claiming that this is a
standard way of doing it. My objection is that this way labels become too
heavily emphasized and distract the eyes of the viewer from the data.
I will appreciate some thoughts and references to research. | <urn:uuid:9520d28e-c155-42ec-b6d2-87f1d5520a54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ixda.org/node/18671 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932986 | 144 | 1.65625 | 2 |
|Associate professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Natasha Frost's primary research and teaching interests are in the area of punishment and social control. Frost is the recipient of several research grants to examine the impact of prison cycling, a term that refers to the incarceration-release-incarceration cycle that can happen many times in the life of just one convicted criminal.|
|Interdisciplinary associate professor of Political Science and Computer Science, David Lazer's research centers on social networks; governance, or how the patterns of institutional relations yield functional or dysfunctional systems; and technology and its use in communication. An authority on social networks, he has written several papers on the diffusion of information among interest groups and between these groups and the government.|
|Associate professor of English and director of the Writing Center, Neal Lerner was recently named the winner of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) 2011 David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English. Lerner's research interests include composition and rhetoric, writing across the curriculum, writing centers, and literacy.|
|Professor and Chair of the History Department, Uta Poiger's scholarship focuses on culture and politics in 20th century Germany, plans to release a book based on her research titled, “Beauty and Business in Germany: An International History.” Her additional research interests include modern Germany, gender and sexuality, the Holocaust and comparative genocide, race and ethnicity, Americanization, history of consumption, and comparative history.|
|Professor of Economics and Social Policy William Dickens was the recipient of a prestigious Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship for 2008-09, where he was part of an interdisciplinary group studying the malleability of cognitive ability. Each year, the Russell Sage Foundation houses a number of scholars to investigate topics in social and behavioral sciences.|
Professor of Political Science Michael Dukakis is better known as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 1988. A Northeastern professor since 1991, he employs a conversation-based method of instruction. In his state and local government course, students must write a report on a local government, including an analysis of controversial local issues and their recommendations on how to resolve them.
Jack Levin, the Brudnick Distinguished Professor of Sociology & Anthropology, has specialized in the study of violence and hate. He has authored and coauthored numerous books, including Serial Killers and Sadistic Murderers - Up Close and Personal and Why We Hate. He frequently provides expert commentary for the media, and has addressed the White House Conference on Hate Crimes, the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Learn about our faculty by department>> | <urn:uuid:55e05ebb-7ff4-4613-b26b-1664036efee4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northeastern.edu/cssh/faculty/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94394 | 548 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
KRWG.ORG-The Region's Home Page
Thu September 27, 2012
Pa. Voters Battle Bureaucracy Ahead Of ID Law Ruling
Originally published on Thu September 27, 2012 7:08 am
The first sign that getting a new ID isn't going to be easy for Beverly Mitchell and Kathleen Herbert comes before the pair have even left their downtown Philadelphia senior center. As they wait for a ride to a nearby Department of Motor Vehicles office, they get the news: The van that was supposed to take them is broken.
Herbert and Mitchell are going to the DMV because they want to make sure they will be able to vote this fall. Depending on how a Pennsylvania judge rules on the state's controversial new voter ID law, they might need to show a valid photo ID before they can punch a ballot.
The court is hearing new testimony this week, and the judge has until next Tuesday to decide whether to block the law, which the state's Supreme Court has ordered him to do if he thinks any voters will be disenfranchised.
Thousands of people in the state are scrambling to get their photo IDs, not waiting for the judge's decision. For many, including Mitchell and Herbert, the process is a struggle.
Battling Bureaucracy To Get To The Ballot
Mitchell, 68, has to renew her expired ID. Herbert has a current ID but needs to update the address. She's 65, has multiple sclerosis and uses a motorized wheelchair. She's not happy about this new law.
"I think it's stupid," Herbert says. "Folks that have been voting all their life, like me, shouldn't have to go through this."
But, for now at least, she does. Eventually, another van is called, and the 9:30 planned departure time becomes more like 10:40.
"I think we can start boarding," says Angela Brown from NewCourtland, the nonprofit that runs the center and is helping low-income seniors get their ID.
"Thank you Jesus," Mitchell says.
The ride is uneventful, but when the women arrive at the DMV and open the door, it's a shock: At least 200 people fill every available seat. Another 50 or so stand in the aisles or are crammed up against the wall. Parents hold squirming children. No one looks happy.
"This is crazy," Mitchell says.
Herbert and Mitchell are given forms to fill out but aren't quite sure what to do with them. At 11 a.m., Mitchell is given an estimated wait time of 39 minutes. Herbert's estimated wait is 1 hour 38 minutes. Both guesses prove overly optimistic.
No one knows how many people in Pennsylvania don't have the correct ID, but at the very least, it's in the tens of thousands. The state has tried to make the process easier by loosening the rules, but some say that has only added to the confusion.
Nothing Like Controversy To Get Out The Vote
Sponsors of the law — all Republicans — say the obstacles are overstated. State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe said in a radio interview last week that anyone who wants a photo ID can get one.
"We have a lot of people out there that are too lazy to ... get up and get out there and get the ID they need," Metcalfe told the host.
He and other Republicans say photo IDs are necessary to prevent voter fraud, though the state acknowledged in court that fraud is not a serious problem.
Democrats and civil rights groups say they think the real reason the law was enacted — a reason Republicans reject — is to make it more difficult for poor people and minorities to vote.
What the controversial ID law has done already is energize people to work even harder to register voters and get them to the polls.
In Lancaster, volunteers were recruited at an NAACP voter ID clinic to help people navigate the new law. Lancaster resident Paul Culbreth says that if anyone was trying to suppress the vote, it might have backfired.
"It's a boomerang effect," Culbreth says. "They threw it out there, and now it's coming back to haunt them."
How the ID law will play on Election Day remains to be seen, but at the DMV, Herbert and Mitchell say there's no way they won't vote this year.
After almost two hours, Herbert's number is finally called. She's surprised when the clerk tells her she'll have to pay $13.50 to update her ID. Voter ID is supposed to be free. After NewCourtland's Brown intervenes, the clerk offers another option that is free.
Half an hour later, Mitchell is called. When the clerk asks her to smile for her photo, she says, "Smile? I've been here for more than two hours."
But within minutes, Mitchell is smiling. She's done.
"All right, you are empowered to vote," Brown tells her.
The women get back on the van and arrive at the senior center more than four hours after they were scheduled to leave. Herbert says it wasn't too bad, except she missed bingo — and lunch. | <urn:uuid:41989eb9-4d61-4c7b-b7a7-617dce4a3134> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krwg-tv.org/post/pa-voters-battle-bureaucracy-ahead-id-law-ruling | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973854 | 1,073 | 1.6875 | 2 |
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Nations pledged a whopping $3.4 billion in new earthquake aid for Pakistan at a donor conference, but aid groups said Saturday that much of it was in loans that will heap more debt on the impoverished country.
Pakistan nonetheless hailed the meeting as a success, with President Pervez Musharraf thanking the almost 80 participating nations and international agencies for "helping Pakistan in this hour of need." He said the gesture "will never be forgotten."
The conference followed weeks of largely unheeded warnings from the United Nations and aid groups that thousands of people could die of hunger, exposure and disease unless money arrives before the harsh Himalayan winter sets in. The quake killed at least 86,000 people in Pakistan, and hundreds of thousands of people face a season of suffering as temperatures dip well below freezing in the mountains.
Acute respiratory illnesses are on the rise among the 3.2 million people displaced by the magnitude 7.6 quake on Oct. 8, and there have been outbreaks of diarrhea, scabies, tetanus and other diseases.
The new pledges raise the total to $5.8 billion -- slightly more than the government said it needed to rebuild.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the country was "very satisfied" with the aid pledges but noted that about two-thirds of the money was in the form of loans.
Aid groups said that meant the pledges were a mixed bag. Jane Cocking, humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan for the British charity Oxfam, said the new debt would be detrimental in the long term to those suffering from the quake.
Most of the loans are long term and have low interest rates.
The United States' aid pledge to Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism, has nearly tripled -- to $510 million, including $300 million in cash.
Washington also has sent 1,200 troops, two dozen helicopters, heavy equipment and two mobile hospitals to the quake zone.
Musharraf and Aziz promised that the money would be used wisely and honestly. | <urn:uuid:b8b56652-85fb-4bf6-a549-acbcc76431fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2005/nov/20/world/fg-donors20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956454 | 425 | 1.6875 | 2 |
1979 Won BAFTA Film Award – Best Production Design / Art Direction Joe Alves
1979 Nominated Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music John Williams
1979 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Cinematography Vilmos Zsigmond
1979 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Direction Steven Spielberg
1979 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Film
1979 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Film Editing Michael Kahn
1979 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Screenplay Steven Spielberg
1979 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Sound Gene S. Cantamessa, Robert Knudson, Don MacDougall, Robert Glass, Stephen Katz, Frank E. Warner, Richard Oswald, David M. Horton, Sam Gemette, Gary S. Gerlich, Chester Slomka & Neil Burrow
1979 Nominated BAFTA Film Award – Best Supporting Actor François Truffaut
David di Donatello Awards
1978 Won David – Best Foreign Film ((Miglior Film Straniero) Julia Phillips & Michael Phillips – Producers
Directors Guild of America, USA
1978 Nominated DGA Award – Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Steven Spielberg
The sightings of UFO’s (unidentified flying objects) was not a new phenomenon. Sightings began appearing with regularity following the Second World War, when people's eyes were focused skyward, looking for enemy aircraft that might at any minute rain down death and destruction. Whether due to mass hysteria or some unexplained mystery, there was definitely something being seen, and even the U.S. Air Force began keeping files on reported sightings. During that time, the term "close encounter" was coined to describe the degree to which the sighting was experienced. And although Steven Spielberg originally wanted to call his movie on the subject Watch the Skies, he eventually settled on the more technical title of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. There had been a spate of "alien encounter" films during the '50s, when UFO sightings were at their zenith. In many ways, CE3K (as the film is frequently abbreviated) was somewhat derivative of those movies: a touch of The Day the Earth Stood Still, a little War of the Worlds, a tiny bit of Earth Versus the Flying Saucers, It Came from Outer Space, and so on. But unlike the latter two "B" movies, CE3K was done with a big budget, technical advice, lavish special effects and a fantastic script written by the director himself, Steven Spielberg.
Like Star Wars, CE3K was a technical marvel. Doug Trumbull, the FX genius behind 2001: A Space Odyssey, worked his spells on this Spielberg production, converting his 13.500-square-foot building into a complete movie studio, with special rooms for developing, optical printing, and editing, "dolly" tracks for camera passes at the models of space ships (expertly crafted by another fine talent, Greg Jein), construction shops, paint shops and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of special equipment much of it designed by Trumbull as the need arose.
The live action was shot in various worldwide locations. The crowd sequences in India took weeks and thousands of extras - DeMille himself couldn't have done better. And the largest indoor set ever used in a film was built in a dirigible hangar in Mobile, Alabama it was equal to six limes the size of the largest sound-stage in Hollywood. Here they shot the movie's climax when the chandelier-like Mothership arrives.
Wyoming's Devil's Tower, a unique mountain setting in a desolate area near Huelot, Wyoming, also saw weeks of camera crews trudging through the wilderness. Columbia originally wanted Spielberg to film this on a Burbank sound stage, but the director insisted on authentic location backgrounds.
In 1980, Steven Spielberg did the unheard of, he re-edited his already successful picture, cutting scenes that he felt slowed down the film (e.g., the shots of Richard Dreyfuss obsessively digging up the yard) and adding others, including an all-new ending in which we are actually treated to a look inside the Mothership. The feature was even given a new title: Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition. Box office earnings again soared. And for Columbia and Spielberg (as well as the audience), it was indeed special.
Project Leader: He says the sun came out last night. He says it sang to him.
Scientist 1: Einstein was right!...Team Leader: Einstein was probably one of them!
Project Leader: If everything's ready here on the Dark Side of the Moon... play the five tones.
GOOFS AND BLUNDERS
The shadow of the camera can be seen on the screen door of the farm.
When Roy and Ronnie are arguing in their bedroom and just before he closes the door, you can faintly hear Steven Spielberg saying, "Close the door now."
During the ABC newscast, the reporter states that the Devil's Tower National Monument was created by Theodore Roosevelt in 1915. Roosevelt was President from 1901 to 1909 and the Monument was created in 1906.
Steven Spielberg's giant, spectacular Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which opened at the Ziegfeid Theater yesterday, is the best—the most elaborate—1950's science fiction movie ever made, a work that borrows its narrative shape and its concerns from those earlier films, but enhances them with what looks like the latest developments in movie and space technology. If, indeed, we are not alone, it would be fun to believe that the creatures who may one day visit us are of the order that Mr. Spielberg has conceived—with, I should add, a certain amount of courage and an entirely straight face. Reviewed by: Vincent Canby of The New York Times.
Close Encounters is one of those rare films that works equally as well for children and for adults. Kids see this film as a promise of what might be out there and an unthreatening look at the possibilities that the universe holds. How many UFO believers today began their fascination with alien life after seeing this movie as a child? Adults, even skeptics, see Close Encounters as an accomplished fairy tale. Whether UFOs are real or not, this movie beautifully postulates the best of all alternatives - that the government cares about first contact and about the welfare of its citizens, that the aliens are benevolent, and that we can take comfort from the fact that "we are not alone". Remarkably, a film like Close Encounters speaks to the adult in the child and the child in the adult. Reviewed by: James Berardinelli of Reel Views.
Close Encounters is really such a simple movie that it doesn't warrant a helluva lot of discussion. Were it not able to hit our cultural pressure points so well, it probably would have faded off the of cinematic map -- but Spielberg is nothing if not adept at punching our buttons and making us puppets in his hands, and Close Encounters is no exception. While, story wise and on film making levels, Close Encounters might not be the greatest film ever, I'll be damned if when you're watching the aliens communicate through music, you don't feel like it is. Reviewed by: James Brundage of Film Critic.
Parents need to know that this ultimately uplifting and optimistic story has many scary and spooky moments before the exact nature of the aliens is revealed. To a mother’s horror, her toddler son disappears and is a captive of unknown villains. The earth is enveloped by strange events: electrical storms, unexplained shaking, and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). A house is attacked by mysterious forces; dead animals appear on quiet country roads. A loving father is faced with losing his family because of his conviction. There are scattered curse words including "hell," "s--t," and "bastard." Members of the military are mostly portrayed as unsympathetic and authoritarian. Reviewed by: Common Sense Media. | <urn:uuid:d09e915f-14ff-430d-9aff-7e7842da8a97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.palzoo.net/Close-Encounter-ThirdKind | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951691 | 1,653 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Sugar prices in retail markets will start to ease shortly in step with wholesale rates that have dropped after recent government measures to curb prices, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Monday.
“After measures, there were some changes in sugar prices. There is a drop in the wholesale prices of sugar... Whenever there is a drop in the wholesale price, it (the impact) takes about 10-15 days to reach the retail market,” Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
Asked when retail prices will come down, he said, “We hope that process has started.”
He said sugar prices have come down to Rs. 3,700—3,800 a quintal from Rs. 4,200 per quintal in the wholesale market.
As per official data, retail price of sugar has gone up to Rs. 47 a kg in the National Capital from Rs. 22 a year-ago.
Last week, the Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP) took a slew of measures to increase availability of sugar in the domestic market and contain prices. It allowed processing of imported raw sugar anywhere in the country, extended deadline of duty-free import of white sugar till December-end.
India, the world’s largest sugar consumer, has been importing sugar since April last year to meet the shortfall in production. Sugar output is estimated at 16 million tonnes in the current season, ending September 2010, against an annual demand of 23 million tonnes.
Pawar also said sugar mills and traders have been looking at importing sugar in a big way in the past week.
Commenting on the overall food price situation, the minister said, “Let’s wait for the impact of measures taken recently.”
He also spoke about the price situation of wheat and rice and hoped that states will lift the food grains in order to bring down the prices.
“We have given instructions to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to sell wheat and rice in the open market from today. I believe that states will co-operate,” Pawar said.
Last week, the minister had said the Centre would sell 2-3 million tonnes of wheat and rice in the open market over the next two months.
Pawar also said the Centre is ready to take corrective steps if States point out to deficiencies in the measures being taken for controlling food prices. Also, it would place before the state governments some more steps to tackle the price issue.
The Prime Minister has convened a meeting of Chief Ministers on January 27 to discuss food inflation, he said.
The meeting will also take up issues like taxation and prosecution against hoarders, besides the Centre releasing a blueprint before the states. | <urn:uuid:cbf82665-a35d-4653-bcea-03ce6fdb6ae2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/wholesale-sugar-prices-dip-retail-markets-to-follow-pawar/article81958.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963196 | 561 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Sudanese woman faces 40 lashes
Lubna Hussein gives up UN protection to make a stand on behalf of Sudan's oppressed women
Lubna Hussein, a UN mission staffer and part-time journalist in Khartoum, stuck to her word and went before a Sudanese court yesterday to protest against the women's dress code imposed in Sudan under Sharia law. As a result, she takes the risk of receiving 40 lashes.
Hussein was one of 13 women arrested on July 3 in a police raid on a Khartoum cafe popular with foreigners and journalists. All of them were wearing trousers when the country's Islamic regime insists they should wear traditional garb, which involves covering their heads and shoulders and wearing a skirt or dress to cover the lower half.
Ten of the women arrested were given lashes at a police station two days later. But Hussein and two others chose to go to trial.
Hussein sent out invitations to human rights workers, foreign diplomats and fellow journalists inviting them to court yesterday where she announced that she was resigning from her UN job so that she could face trial.
This was because the local UN mission, in an effort to support her, had invoked a clause in an agreement which obliges the Sudanese authorities to ask permission before starting any legal proceedings against a UN staffer.
Hussein's lawyer, Nabil Adeeb, said the UN wanted to protect its staff, but Hussein was adamant that the trial should go ahead. "We have contradicting interests," he said.
Many of Hussein's women friends attended court yesterday in trousers as a gesture of support. The judge adjourned the hearing until August 4 to give Hussein time to leave her job. · | <urn:uuid:6acca30f-5bb2-4e26-8e7a-3e48655c16b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theweek.co.uk/20889/sudanese-woman-faces-40-lashes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975713 | 350 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Building a treadmill desk is literally no harder than getting a used treadmill and mounting a shelf to a wall, and can be put together for under $150. Perhaps the hardest part is just deciding to do it and then getting used to how everyone will insist on taking a picture of you working and walking at your desk. Should you decide to build your own, the specifics will undoubtedly be different, but hopefully you'll be inspired by the desks shown here.
Step 1: Motivation for building a treadmill desk
Recently, I asked myself why I didn't have the energy to constantly work on projects and generally get things done. After coming home from work, I would cook dinner and read a book, but generally not accomplish much else. Except on days when I worked at home. Changing up my commute between biking, taking a train or bus, and driving seemed to have no affect, so I looked at how the conditions were different between home and the Instructables lab. Most notably, I worked at a standing desk at home, while I sat at the lab. The physical work was largely the same – working at a computer and talking on the phone – as was the environment in terms of natural light and noise level.
Around this same time, I heard John Ratey speak at conference. He's been studying how exercise – even low levels – strongly contributes to brain function in the elderly and attention and behavior in school children. The short of it is this: the more active you are, the better your health and brain function.
In a typical week, I was getting about an hour of biking, running, swimming, or, if I was lucky, kitesurfing, every day. However, I was also awake and sedentary for double digit hours everyday. So, I decided to take it up notch and start walking while I worked at my computer at the lab. If it did nothing for my health or energy levels, it would at least make the Instructables lab more eccentric, and that in itself was enough.
I hate exercise in almost all forms. And it shows. So when I heard Eric talk about a treadmill desk, I knew that was for me! It's like exercise that you don't have to pay attention to. Plus I HATE sitting at a desk all day! Snooze-city.
What finally spurred me to action was that I hurt my back from sitting too much! No kidding! So I built myself a make-shift standing desk out of a milk crate and some coffee tins. Not so awesome. The treadmill seemed like a double-tasker. Standing desk + free exercise when I wanted it.
Also, I wanted Eric to think I was cool. And concerned about brain function and all that junk. So. You know. There's that. I think it worked.
I've tried a standing desk before, and while it's certainly nice as a change of pace I found standing still while working was hard, harder than sitting at a desk. Within 20-30 minutes I would catch myself slumping in all sorts of new and damaging ways, then my feet would get weird numb spots, and eventually I'd head back to my chair. It seemed to work for Eric, but he's an alien robot.
Then Eric got excited about a treadmill desk. I gave him a week to test it out, then tried it myself. This turns out to suck far less than a stationary desk of either type, and is in fact pleasant, because you're moving. I'm perfectly capable of strolling at 1mph for days at a time, much better than 20 minutes standing. I don't count strolling at 1mph exercise, but simply movement; it's more about not spending my day slumped over, melting into an office chair.
My additional quirk is that I need to feed Corvidae while working. She fits nicely in her sling, but walking with her hanging in front of me for an hour just doesn't work - she's too heavy, and I need to give her a bit of head support. The solution turns out to be a tall chair of the drafting stool variety, with a small enough base to fit on the treadmill. I sit for that time period, taking most of her weight on my legs (feet on the chair ring) and support her head with a pillow or my elbow on the arm of the chair. When she's awake again, the chair gets kicked off the treadmill, and the baby goes back on the floor or on my back as I walk. | <urn:uuid:5866ef2f-952c-4208-9ea5-23b361bb6b3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.instructables.com/id/Treadmill-Desk/CI3F7A3GRTHT1N2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981617 | 920 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Fifteen years after the mind-stretching concepts of the Young British Artists shook up our stagnant art world, another group of radical, ideas-fuelled artists is making its presence known. But this time it's not in visual art, but on the fringes of the world of music. Improvisational, avant-garde, the bonkers school of tinkle-plonk ... call it what you will, but the experimental music scene is on incredibly fertile form.
Aided by the cult popularity of radio shows such as Radio 3's Late Junction, the increasingly broad-minded approach to music events programming taken by major arts venues and small promoters alike, and the growing popularity of once nerdy-seeming festivals such as Only Connect and All Tomorrow's Parties, cutting-edge musicians are nudging their way towards the centre of music lovers' attention.
While pop seems to have run out of new ideas, preferring to find witty ways to reinvent the sounds of decades past, these artists are pushing the boundaries of what music can do, and melding it with technology, art, architecture, film and even comedy. 'Sound art' is finding a home in galleries and venues that have identified an appetite among the listening public for music that gives the brain, as well as the ears, something to work on.
The YBMAs are rather less flashy than their sheep-preserving visual artist counterparts, but they are no less inspiring or creative. Here we celebrate British artists whose 'new music' really is just that.
Epic sound sculptor
Jem Finer describes himself as 'a music, artist and composer', but that doesn't quite do justice to the ambitious nature of his recent work. Best known as the quiet man of the Pogues, he co-wrote many of the group's greatest songs and still plays banjo on their fitful live outings. A YBMA in spirit, if not in age, these days most of his time is taken up creating music of an altogether more conceptual nature.
His best-known work is the truly epic Longplayer, a 1,000-year-long composition that, as I write, is playing in a lighthouse in east London, and will continue to do so, without repetition, until 31 December 2999. It took four years to create the computer programme for Longplayer; his current project, Score for a Hole in the Ground, is very much a reaction to that often overwhelming undertaking.
'Longplayer involved four years of sitting in front of a computer screen using less and less of one's body,' he elaborates, 'and engaging less and less with the world. I came out of the experience wanting to do something that still dealt with time through music, but I wanted to do something more organic and unstructured this time around.'
Initially he had the inspired idea to build a huge hourglass several stories high, and let sand slip slowly though it on to an array of percussive objects. Again, the projected timespan was epic, but so too was the cost. He chose instead to go looking for a vacant hole in the ground, a disused mine shaft or nuclear waste silo, from which sound would emanate though a giant amplification horn. That idea did not work either. 'We looked at an 80ft-deep well and a 200ft-deep mine shaft but in both cases the acoustics weren't good. Now we are building our own hole in a wood owned by the Forestry Commission in Kent.' Finer has employed a team that includes a structural engineer, an acoustician and someone who goes by the nickname, 'Paul, the Human Digger'. The giant horn is being made by a company in Nottingham from long-lasting Cor-Ten steel, and, in its rusty state, will blend well with the local landscape whatever the season.
'It's designed to be unobtrusive in every way, so that the sound is ambient with the forest,' says Finer, 'The music will be produced by water dripping on to underground chimes, and emerge through this old-fashioned-looking horn that resembles the ones used by 78rpm gramophones.'
To ensure an ample supply of water, Finer has created a large dew pond of the kind that local farmers used to dig and line with clay. The basic principle is that the dew will seep through the earth on to the chimes, and the sound will then be amplified by the horn. 'It's based on the music made by water chimes in Japanese temple gardens and, though it is epic in scale, it should have a similar kind of intimacy. It's a piece of sound sculpture I would ideally like people to come upon while out walking in the woods. I want it to be beautiful and mysterious, almost organic. That's the most important thing.'
· Jem Finer's Score for a Hole in the Ground will be presented on 24 September.
Matthew Bourne is a firm believer in spontaneity. Before he became an experimental pianist, sample obsessive, devotee of the classical avant-garde and member of various strange bands with wonderful names such as the Electric Dr M and Distortion Trio, Bourne was planning to be a farmer. 'I was going to go to agricultural college. But then I realised I didn't have a choice. I had to do music. There was no way around it.'
Bourne played trombone and 'cello as a boy but when, aged 16, he saw a Frank Sinatra concert on TV, he was captivated and switched to piano. He taught himself and later, at Leeds College of Music, developed an affinity with avant-garde composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Louis Andriessen and John Cage. Then, by accident, he discovered the sampler. 'I found it was a really good way of putting all the film dialogue I had stored up in my head to use.' Now, aged 28, Bourne is giving live performances, combining 'my own individual piano language' with 'a lot of film and television samples, bits of classical music, comedy records, you name it' to create 'a very strange sound world - I throw everything into this melting pot and it comes out in a Dali-esque sort of way.'
The rape scene from Deliverance and 'Give a Little Whistle' from Pinocchio - or dialogue from Spaceballs mixed with Ligeti's opera Le Grand Macabre - are combinations not untypical of Bourne. 'Some of it tends to be very dark,' he says, 'some of it funny.' He never rehearses, never plans what he's going to do in advance. 'I hear things, fill the sampler, and then just play them. What works in one setting may not work in another and the accidents that result are usually really good. I am committed to the method of chance.'
What differentiates him as a sampler is his improvisational approach. Similarly, he isn't considering a future direction for his music: 'I don't know where it's going to take me, but it's taking me somewhere. I had a stab at composition recently for the Fuse Festival and that was a nightmare. It took me so far away from the piano and all the things I really want to do.'
The support system for experimental music in Britain is a concern for Bourne. 'It's a tough country. There seems to be so much sponsorship in mainland Europe but things are very scaled down here. If promoters in galleries got on to the fact that music is being created with the same sensibility as visual art there would be a lot more cross-collaboration going on. Why can't people who create innovative music play in art galleries?'
· Matthew Bourne plays at the Vortex Jazz Club, London N1, tomorrow. www.matthewbourne.com
When pushed to describe the music that, since 1990, she has been making under the name People Like Us, Vicki Bennett likens it to British comedy. 'The wonderful thing about bringing experimental music to a mainstream audience, which is what I am trying to do, is that people can come to like almost anything,' she says. 'You only have to look at absurdist shows like Monty Python and Little Britain to see how developed our sense of humour can be. People can like the most obscure, insane, avant-garde music in the same way, but they have to be guided into it, given a context.'
Humour may not be Bennett's ultimate aim, but there is something undeniably tickling about the eccentric juxtapositions you hear in her music, which she makes by splicing together an incredibly diverse array of samples - classroom recordings and national anthems, obscure jazz loops and Tammy Wynette. She refers to the process as 'collage', not just because she sees herself operating within the Surrealist tradition but also because she describes her music in strongly visual terms: 'I'm trying to create an imaginary world where you can envisage all these sound sources in one place, as if the people making them are all on one stage.'
The inspiration for People Like Us came when Vicki listened to an album by Negativland in the late Eighties. Hip hop, which had been raiding samples for a good 10 years by then, was also an inspiration but Vicki was more interested in post-industrial groups and the 1989 John Oswald album Plunderphonic, the title of which was appropriated to describe the act of cutting music from diverse sources and pasting it together in striking ways. The 'mash-up' craze of recent years is a direct descendant of this.
But Vicki is quick to distance her music from mash-ups, which achieve their effect by splicing together well-known sound sources. 'Although I do use familiar samples on occasion, the effect I'm looking for is quite different.' Her snippets are fished from the deeper waters of music, film, TV and radio so do not carry the same contextual baggage; her finished collages have a greater imaginative range.
At her live shows, Vicki complements the audio collage with a visual one, projecting spliced-together 'found images' on to a screen behind her mixing desk. 'We're living in a world where music is incredibly powerful, but when you're talking about art,' she admits, 'you're more likely to get further with something you see than something you hear.'
· The People Like Us back catalogue can be downloaded for free at www.peoplelikeus.org.
Dreams of Tall Buildings
They demand to remain anonymous, claim to have no interest in record sales and are slow to pin down what exactly it is they do. So what can be said about Dreams of Tall Buildings, beyond the fact that they are two guys, an art lecturer and a full-time musician, from Birmingham? 'We collect sound and organise it to suit the context,' says one. 'We make music out of cameras, typewriters, microwaves and other found sounds, as well as normal guitars and software,' elaborates the other. 'We never play the same set twice and never use the same material.'
If DOTB are to be labelled at all, it's as sound experimenters, part of a heritage that links John Cage to John Duncan and Matmos. They describe their work using a clutch of visual analogies: tracks are 'like miniature films with emotional narratives' to which listeners can 'add their own images'. The short, eerie pieces of ambience on their MySpace page don't quite bear out the analogy, but the duo have some very intriguing projects in the works.
Their latest is the most ambitious yet: turning their own bodies into instruments. In collaboration with a Birmingham University professor, they are creating special suits to sample their heartbeats. The pulses will be amplified live, rising and falling as they react to the audience. It's a striking concept, which they see as a development of their roles as vocalists in earlier, more conventional bands.
Both musicians value the presentation of their releases as highly as the music it contains. A recent single took the form of a 'mummified tape', wrapped in plastic, dipped in wax and individually stamped. As the packaging had to be destroyed to get to the tape, it posed the question: 'Do you want this for the music or the artwork?'
At the same time, DOTB are acutely aware of the 'visual bubble' we live in today, and the need to puncture it with sound. They say that 'our ears have become a secondary sense which we only use in times of heightened response', and, as a result, 'the public are more open to visual art'. The consequence of this may be a continued lack of mainstream exposure, but DOTB don't seem overly concerned. 'If experimental music did become part of the mainstream, we would only react against it.' Killian Fox
· DOTB play Expo Manchester on 24 June. www.myspace.com/gonweb
Claudia Molitor Cutting-edge composer
Molitor advises those unschooled in the ways of new music. 'Listen without prejudice,' she says, endearingly unaware that George Michael once used the same slogan as cheesy pop album title. The public, she says, has 'lazy ears. People want entertainment rather than to use their brains. That's understandable after a week's hard work, but they might find it fun if they tried.'
Like other creators of 'new music', Molitor works in an art form of open exploration but confined exposure. That audiences for performances of new music tend to be diminutive, she thinks, is down to marketing. 'Fringe music has no budget compared to contemporary art or dance, so potential fans remain unaware, and there are only two radio shows that feature it - Radio 3's Hear and Now and Mixing It, both late night.'
The popularity of such shows (and niche arts station Resonance FM), and the success of cross-genre events such as last month's Fuseleeds 06, is perhaps a sign of changing attitudes. Like others, Molitor has been helped by the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), which promotes the work and performances of 30 nominated composers.
In common with many on that shortlist, German-born Molitor relies on teaching for a living - she taught at the University of Southampton, where she gained her PhD, before motherhood intervened. Having grown up in a household where jazz, Stockhausen and Boulez were the norm, she and her partner (a computer programmer) mix experimental music with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Tom Waits. 'New music is not a genre,' says Molitor. 'There's a huge variety within it, from solo to orchestral to electronics. Personally I'm interested in strange sounds and instrumental noise, but I might also use a C major chord [a pop standard]. One problem is that in classical music all the rubbish has already been sifted out over time, but in contemporary music you have to do the sifting for yourself.'
Performance, rather than recording, is what's important to Molitor - she's comfortable with the idea of her music as 'performance art', even when it isn't her playing it. Her scores are just as unusual - a striking mix of conventional notation and graphics, 'there to inspire the performer so the piece will speak to the audience. [They denote] something I want to hear that can't be expressed conventionally.'
Often atonal and unrhythmic, moving between structured passages and what Claudia calls 'indeterminacy', her music can seem more coldly conceptual than organic, but she disagrees. 'When I write I try to create something beautiful, something that is true to my ears. I want to entertain too, because being stimulated is a form of entertainment.'
Alex Bradley and Charles Poulet Sound architects
Imagine lying on a bed of light, looking upwards to another glowing plane, while waves of sound don't so much wash over you as inhabit every inch of space, both following and eluding you as your ears try to trace them. It's either a vision of heaven or a particularly intense session at the Tanning Shop. Musician and performance artist Alex Bradley and his sound artist collaborator, Charles Poulet, hope to achieve something like the former with the latest incarnation of their Whiteplane_2 installation, which produced, says Poulet, an 'astounding' reaction from visitors to Gateshead's Baltic centre in January.
Using a system of computerised acoustics called Ambisonics, developed with Raj Patel of Arup engineers, the pair have created an experience in which sound is not merely heard but 'felt' in three dimensions. Entering the space between two horizontal planes of light, constructed so as to appear suspended in air, visitors 'hear' the artists' short, looped composition as a vertical sound - as if they were moving through a three-dimensional structure: the floor and ceiling are made of light and the walls are made of sound.
'When we first put it up and tried it,' remembers Poulet of the Baltic installation, 'it was like, oh my God, it works!' The artists call Whiteplane_2 'theatre without actors'; visitors responded to it by lying down or walking around between the planes, almost as if they were trying to locate the source of each sound, as though the music could be sensed not only aurally but through touch and vision. One eager participant turned up at Baltic first thing one morning 'to make sure he would be the only one in there', and left the piece saying that the experience led him to thoughts of the Holocaust. 'He wasn't scared or critical of that,' adds Poulet. 'It just took him to a really strange place.'
Poulet and Bradley are about to set off on a live tour of Whiteplane_2, the new 'live' element being a series of improvised 'reconstructions' of their original sound-art composition. 'There are no particular rules to how you experience it, there's no correct way. We're taking away the ethos of the cinema, gallery, theatre,' says Bradley, transforming the passive live music experience into something potentially 'scary, or mesmeric, or get-me-out-of-here'. They plan to cut and paste the sounds as they emerge, defying their audience to treat Whiteplane_2 as merely an auditory flotation tank. 'We don't want to make it into some giant disco-tastic thunderstorm. We want to maintain the concentration.' Prepare to chase the invisible.
· Contemporary Music Network/ Whiteplane_2 tour: 16 June-27 July. www.cmntours.org.uk
Which musical innovators inspire you? Email [email protected] | <urn:uuid:404faed6-b9c7-4d01-a6ef-b656256ffbc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/jun/11/jazz | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967655 | 3,900 | 1.507813 | 2 |
When former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty abandoned his presidential run after a disappointing third place finish at the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames, he continued a trend in which the third place finisher at the event never makes it to caucus day.
In the weeks leading up to the Straw Poll, the Pawlenty campaign tried to spin the media that a third place finish would be good for the campaign. They insisted that a third place finish would be a favorable sign since the Des Moines Register poll showed Pawlenty in low single digits and trailing candidates like Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain.
A third place finish in Ames has been a death nail in the history of the straw poll. In 1999, Elizabeth Dole dropped out of the race after finishing a distant third to George W. Bush and Steve Forbes. In 2007, Senator Sam Brownback finished in the third position less than 400 votes away from Huckabee, but his campaign would never see caucus day either.
The notion that Pawlenty just needed a third place finish was always absurd. Beating only Rick Santorum and Herman Cain was never going to give his candidacy the shot in the arm it needed, especially with donors who are needed to fund a campaign. In many respects, Pawlenty did the right thing by pulling the plug on his campaign immediately following the results in Ames. Hanging around wasn’t going to be fair to his staff or donors.
While his candidacy may be over, there are plenty of things that we can learn from Pawlenty’s short-lived candidacy. Like so many other campaigns, managing expectations is not just what you say to the press. As we saw with Pawlenty, a campaign’s actions can make one’s expectations unmanageable.
Having watched the Pawlenty campaign from start to finish in Iowa, there are a number of things that I think led to his early exit. The following are some of the things that the Pawlenty campaign could have done differently.
Define/Insulate: Pawlenty was the first candidate to officially enter the race. As such, he had a number of advantages of which he could have taken advantage. First and foremost, Pawlenty should have been more aggressive in traveling the state and meeting with activists in various communities in the early stages of his campaign.
Pawlenty got to more places in Iowa than Michele Bachmann did, but he needed to introduce himself in person to as many Iowans as possible. Doing so would have insulated him from either a poor debate performance like he had in New Hampshire, or the entrance of another candidate to the race like Bachmann. When the national media declared Pawlenty to be a wimp following the New Hampshire CNN debate, those people who had yet to meet Pawlenty were more likely to believe what the media is saying about the candidate.
Michele Bachmann is likely going to experience the same thing following the straw poll. Yes, she won the event, but there are many areas of the state to which she has yet to travel. That has left her susceptible to being badly damaged by a major gaffe or negative narrative. It has also opened the door for additional candidates like Texas Governor Rick Perry to see Iowa as a big opportunity instead of a lost cause.
Had Pawlenty aggressively campaigned across the state early this year, he could have insulated himself from his poor New Hampshire debate performance, which, looking back, was the beginning of the end of his campaign.
Big Staff=Big Expectations: There is no doubt that Pawlenty was taking the straw poll seriously. His campaign employed ten field staffers in addition to a campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, political director, and a coalitions director. On top of all that, he also had a consultant team that included Chuck Larson, Jr., Karen Slifka, Ed Failor, Jr., Eric Woolson, Nicole Schlinger, and Sarah Huckabee-Sanders.
The size and scope of the Pawlenty campaign rivaled what Mitt Romney built in Iowa four years earlier. Just like Romney’s 2008 campaign, the media soon caught on to the size of operation Pawlenty was running and assigned him expectations fitting of the size of his campaign. Even after his disastrous New Hampshire debate, Pawlenty kept on building his expectations. He announced his campaign co-chairs and other endorsements, as well as the hiring of Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, the daughter of 2008 Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee.
Not only were all of the staff and consultants expensive, but also they were basically ineffective. Both Rick Santorum and Herman Cain had far fewer staff and consultants, yet Pawlenty only beat Santorum by 636 votes and Cain by 837 votes, and neither of them ran a TV or radio ad in advance of the straw poll like Pawlenty did.
Just like Romney four years earlier, Pawlently let his expectations get out of check and paid the price.
The Golden Circle Strategy: Pawlenty spent the bulk of his time campaigning in the areas around Ames and Des Moines. According to the Des Moines Register candidate tracker, Pawlenty made 38 visits in Polk, Dallas, and Story counties. Meanwhile, he only made only one stop in Scott and Dubuque counties. He only made six visits to northwest Iowa, a conservative stronghold in the state.
On paper, it makes sense to campaign hard in the areas around Ames, but in doing so, he ceded certain areas of the state to other candidates who were willing to campaign there. With ten field staffers, it’s hard to fathom that a campaign would have adopted such a strategy. They had plenty of people to work the entire state, but simply chose not to.
If Ames was a test, the Pawlenty campaign chose to cram for it instead of taking the time to actually learn the subject matter. The straw poll is a great tool that campaigns can use to organize the entire state, but most of the campaigns just wanted to pass the straw poll test and in doing so, have left many areas of the state wide open for a candidates like Rick Perry or even Mitt Romney to exploit.
True Believers: Putting together a campaign staff is one of the most difficult things to do. Finding people who really believe in the candidate can be very hard. Pawlenty had some true believers on his staff. They are always easy to spot, but many of his consultants had other clients paying them for their services at the straw poll and caucuses. It is always difficult to serve two masters. The brain trust that Pawlenty hired was impressive, but he never had their undivided attention. Campaigns need true believers, not just mercenaries.
Passion: I found Pawlenty to be extremely likeable and knowledgeable, but half way through his question and answer segments, I’d start staring off into space. Sure, I had heard him speak a number of times, but he only really captavited me once, and that was in a one-on-one interview. There wasn’t much to disagree with Pawlenty on, but there was never much to get you fired up about either. He’s a nice, thoughtful guy, but he failed to inspire people.
Many will say that Pawlenty was a poor candidate. I disagree. I think Pawlenty ran a poor campaign. Had he been more aggressive out of the gate in getting in front of as many Iowans as possible, I think he could have insulated himself from many of his problems. Instead of campaigning in Huxley, Johnston, Altoona, Ankeny, Des Moines, West Des Moines, Waukee, and the other towns surrounding the Des Moines metro, he should have visited places like Rock Rapids, Davenport, Clinton, and Dubuque.
Sure, those communities are a ways from Ames, but people actually look forward to meeting candidates when you get outside of the Des Moines area. Pawlenty’s easy-going persona would have been his strength instead of his weakness.
blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:58c7fb04-76d4-4a7a-b4d5-604526ec0291> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theiowarepublican.com/2011/lessons-learned-by-the-pawlenty-campaign/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981638 | 1,653 | 1.726563 | 2 |
A 10-year-old Los Angeles-area boy has drowned in a Yosemite National Park river and his 6-year-old brother is missing, according to news reports.
The boys waded into the Merced River at the Vernal Falls footbridge with about 15 relatives during a hike Wednesday afternoon on the Mist Trail, the National Park Service says. The river, about 50 feet wide, is less than a foot deep near the banks this time of year, "but once you get out further we have a swift current and it gets deeper. They both got swept away by the current," park spokesman Scott Gediman told The Fresno Bee.
The 10-year-old's body was found about 500 feet downstream. Resuscitation efforts by a park visitor and rangers were unsuccessful. The search is continuing for the 6-year-old. Gediman told the San Francisco Chronicle the boys are either half brothers or stepbrothers.
Park officials would not release their names.
Two weeks ago, a 57-year-old man drowned in the river after becoming pinned under a rock. In June, another drowning occurred on the South Fork of the Merced.
The Merced flows over Vernal Falls. In July 2011, three young adults were swept over the 317-foot-tall cataract after climbing a barrier and entering the river above the brink.
The deaths are a reminder of the danger of the park's scenic rivers.
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. | <urn:uuid:b3391fff-6ee5-4052-9a4e-66261bc80d1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/08/calif-boy-drowns-another-missing-in-yosemite-river/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973863 | 426 | 1.75 | 2 |
The New York Times, politics page, January 2008
A little more than a week before the November 2006 U.S. midterm elections, Design Observer and AIGA launched an online initiative in citizen journalism — voters across the country were asked to submit photographs of the election process at the polls. We are pleased to announce that the Polling Place Photo Project is continuing into the 2008 presidential primaries and general election, supported by a new partnership with The New York Times
The site is live at pollingplaces.nytimes.com
. Mark your calendars, get out your cameras, and post your photographs on November 4!2006 Midterm Elections: "Valley Vista School," Petaluma, California. Photographer: Suzuki Cady
"This is a great opportunity for Times
readers to work directly with us in capturing the presidential voting experience," said Jim Roberts, editor of digital news at The New York Times
. "We've encouraged voters in New Hampshire to help document their historic primary. But in the weeks and months ahead, we hope to hear from readers from Florida to Michigan to California and points in between."
Here at Design Observer, we've been surprised by some of the photographs. In this post
, we explored the circumstances of voting in religious environments. Or there is the wonderful fact of people voting in garages
, especially in San Francisco. The Project was also featured in the current issue of Aperture
magazine. We expect more visual revelations as the project progresses.2008 Primary Elections: "Waiting for Change," Iowa City, Iowa. Photographer: Anonymous
We're proud of our new association with The New York Times
and want to thank the many editors, designers and managers there who have worked on this project. We'd again like to acknowledge the support of AIGA
, the professional association for design, which has backed this project since 2006. And we'd especially like to thank Thirdwave
, the Chicago-based technology firm responsible for supporting the development of the Polling Place Photo Project, as well as countless other AIGA online initiatives. Betsy Vardell of Ruby Studio provided additional support.
Lastly, a reminder: Polling Place Photo Project is linked to AIGA's Design for Democracy
initiative, which has recently published, in partnership with University of Chicago Press, Design for Democracy: Ballot and Election Design
, a book by Marcia Lausen.
We look forward to seeing your photographs of voting in America. | <urn:uuid:01cb5dac-9168-4e08-9f48-659640ec7c31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/polling-place-photo-project-2008/6447/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954379 | 504 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Listen to the new podcast in the series Ordinary Anthropologists Doing Extraordinary Things featuring AAA member, Matthew Piscitelli. Matthew has gotten creative with funding his next project.
Through my years of work as an archaeologist, I’ve always been amazed whenever I can hold something in my hand that no one has touched in the last 5,000 years. Well, now I am asking your help to provide more such opportunities, and in the process, help preserve part of our global heritage.
I am currently applying for funding to support my archaeological dig in Peru this summer. The results of the project will form the basis of my Ph.D. dissertation and eventually help me accomplish my goal of becoming a university professor. I have had some success already applying to the National Geographic, my university (University of Illinois-Chicago), as well as my place of employment (The Field Museum). I also have applications pending through the National Science Foundation and Wenner-Gren Foundation.
During this process of application, however, I had an idea that definitely falls outside of the box. In general, scientific projects in any field are funded through the government, private organizations or through a network of wealthy donors that are somehow already connected to those scientists. The general public hardly ever hears of these projects, let alone gets the opportunity to support these important scientific endeavors. With the popularity of social networking, a recently developed fundraising tactic known as “crowdfunding” is beginning to be used to back small-scale inventions, innovators, entrepreneurs, etc. So I thought, “why can’t that work for scientific projects like my own?”
I have signed up through Peerbackers, a well-known and trusted website (Google it) in order to test run this strategy. I ask you all to check out my project, offer words of encouragement, contribute (always well-appreciated), and most importantly, spread the word. Please Tweet, post a link to my project on Facebook, forward this post to friends and family, etc. Don’t hesitate to respond with questions and comments. As with any Ph.D. student, I would be more than happy to talk to you about my research!
Are you interested in sharing your extraordinary in an upcoming podcast? Click here to learn how. | <urn:uuid:d36cae28-1bf6-44c6-b98a-cb3ad9b9eb17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.aaanet.org/2012/03/22/new-podcast-ordinary-anthropologists-doing-extraordinary-things-matt-piscitelli/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=e5382928c8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956373 | 473 | 1.828125 | 2 |
George Weigel Biography
George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America's leading public intellectuals.
A native of Baltimore, he was educated at St. Mary's Seminary College in his native city, and at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto. In 1975, Weigel moved to Seattle where he was Assistant Professor of Theology and Assistant (later Acting) Dean of Studies at the St. Thomas Seminary School of Theology in Kenmore. In 1977, Weigel became Scholar-in-Residence at the World Without War Council of Greater Seattle, a position he held until 1984. In 1984-85 Weigel was a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
Weigel is the author of numerous books on Christianity, faith, and the Roman Catholic Church, as well as essays, op-ed columns, and reviews for the major opinion journals and newspapers in the United States, and is a contributor to Newsweek. A frequent guest on television and radio, he is also Vatican analyst for NBC News. His weekly column, "The Catholic Difference," is syndicated to sixty newspapers around the United States. His scholarly work and his journalism are regularly translated into the major European languages.
From 1989 through June 1996, Weigel was president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he led a wide-ranging, ecumenical and inter-religious program of research and publication on foreign and domestic policy issues. He serves on the boards of directors of several organizations dedicated to human rights and the cause of religious freedom and is a member of the editorial board of First Things.
Weigel and his wife, Joan, have three children and one grandchild, and live in North Bethesda, Maryland.
This biography was last updated on 04/14/2009.
A note about the biographies
We try to keep BookBrowse's biographies both up to date and accurate. However, with over 2000 lives to keep track of it's inevitable that
some won't be as current or as complete as we would like. So, please help us - if the information about a particular author is out of date,
inaccurate or simply very short, and you know of a more complete source, please let us know. Authors and those connected with authors:
If you wish to make changes to your bio, please send your complete biography as you would like it displayed so that we replace the old with the new, including your website URL if relevant. | <urn:uuid:a6ef6cc0-d479-4a72-8ef1-a6c66b098800> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/408/george-weigel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970588 | 525 | 1.640625 | 2 |
A burglar expressing guilt about stealing $800 from a western Michigan store three decades ago has repaid the money, plus some interest.
The thief sent a note and $1,200 in $100 bills to the Barry County sheriff's department in Hastings. They arrived Monday.
The writer admits breaking into the Middle Mart on Michigan north of Middleville about 30 years ago.
The writer asks for "help in locating a man" to whom the writer owes the money.
The writer expresses sorrow at living "with this guilt too long." Undersheriff Bob Baker says it isn't the kind of thing that happens every day.
Inflation has taken a bite out of the value of the dollar in 30 years, and the stolen $800 would be worth about $1,800 today. | <urn:uuid:fa05bd69-2b20-41dd-9c46-fa886ccc6c3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Burglar-Returns-Stolen-Money-30-Years-Later-198887531.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960491 | 161 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Student chapter of music educators hosts annual symposium
Where in the world does that sound come from, and how do you make it?
On Saturday, October 20, over 100 future music educators will learn the answers as USM's Chapter of the National Association for Music Education hosts the 4th Annual Northern New England Collegiate Music Education Symposium. This year's theme, "Multicultural Musics in 21st Century Music Education," has drawn undergraduate music education majors from Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire and will feature both nationally and internationally recognized presenters.
Symposium participants will explore the use of non-western music in elementary, choral and instrumental music settings. They will have hands-on experiences with Taiko drumming under the guidance of Japanese master drummer Isaku Kageyama as well as opportunities to play the Madinda - a traditional East African Xylophone simultaneously played by 6 to 12 musicians - with Ugandan guest artist Moses Boyundo.
Of course, music learning is often best accomplished under the guidance of a master teacher. This year's symposium is honored to have as its keynote speaker 2012 Maine Music Educator of the Year Thomas Lizotte.
For more information, contact Coordinator of Music Education, Michele Kaschub at [email protected].
# # # | <urn:uuid:ac05503d-27c3-4f05-b2d5-57ad77ede759> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usm.maine.edu/music/student-chapter-music-educators-host-annual-symposium | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93866 | 270 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Somewhat disconcertingly, the person who alleged that each of these rights existed was not simply an unrepresented rabel rouser. Instead, he actually had a lawyer, Mr. John M. Butler of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I do not know what he was thinking. Perhaps his appellate brief had a more plausible theory. He has been involved in some other rather odd cases, such as a case where a school district was accused of suspending a student for allegedly casting a hex on a teacher.
No Right To Point Guns At Trespassers
The United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, today, noted in an appeal from an Oklahoma civil rights case against police who arrested him for pointing his gun at some people who said were trespassing on his property that (citation to record omitted):
Plaintiff also insists that he has a constitutional right "to point a pistol at someone in the protection of his property." He cites no authority for such a right and this court will not create such authority.
Indeed, the Court also notes that even in Oklahoma, it is a felony to point a gun at someone, even if they are trespassing, so long as they do not threaten to commit a felony in connection with that trespass.
No Right To Have Police Believe You
Also, the 10th Circuit opinion linked above notes that you do not have is the right to have the police believe your version of the story as it decides whether or not to arrest you, rather than the version of the story put forward by the people that the police determine to be victims in a case.
No Right To Make Police Enforce Laws To Your Satisfaction
Finally, the 10th Circuit holds, in the opinion linked above, that you do not have a right to have prosecuting attorneys and police enforce all violations of criminal law to your satisfaction, but instead, merely a right not to be singled out and treated differently from everyone else, for some improper reason, when someone violates a criminal law of which you claim to be a victim. Generally speaking, there is no general, enforceable right to have the police enforce criminal laws for your benefit. | <urn:uuid:9b231739-238a-4009-b76c-f4f7d109afd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washparkprophet.blogspot.com/2006/04/non-existent-constitutional-rights.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972979 | 437 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The other side of the coin is that our emphasis on name brand politicians means that they are often too old when they finally get their shot, like 72-year-old Bob Dole in 1996, or even 67 year-old George Bush in 1992, who appeared to have largely retired after the successful conclusion of Desert Storm. Reagan was too old after he got shot, but the country was lucky that his principles were the right ones for the time. Even Clinton at age 54 spent most of his last year in office trying to break Ike's Presidential record for most rounds of golf in a year (103).
Being President is hard, and Obama's youth could come in handy.
There are other reasons to question Obama (e.g., his passionate ethnocentrism, as documented at vast length in his autobiography), but we aren't supposed to mention those, so many are turning to "experience" as a politically correct way to express perfectly appropriate concerns about Obama. | <urn:uuid:51397792-bd7c-4b34-babe-b2c722abad3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://isteve.blogspot.com/2007/03/obamas-lack-of-experience.html?showComment=1174356120000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989302 | 196 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Google may be getting some attention from the US Federal Trade Commission, according to a report in EWeek.com. The search engine giant continues to shut out all rivals, holding 65 percent of the Internet search market in the United States and even higher percentages overseas. While there is competition in the form of Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Ask.com and Yahoo, search engine optimization experts have long known that getting a site visible is all about getting it on Google.
The report claims that the FTC is requesting information about Google’s domination of the market from rival companies. Google recently got even larger, purchasing ITA Software, which is in the online travel market, for $700 million. The search engine giant has also been improving its own services of late, such as with the addition of the “+1″ system, and voting button that works in a similar fashion to Facebook’s “Like” buttons.
Google has long been under the eye of regulators concerned with the company’s command of the Internet market in so many sectors. The acquisition of ITA, for example, was granted under conditions imposed by the US DOJ that were designed to keep competition more livelily in the Internet travel market, according to the report.
Experts speculate that the actions may herald a wider antitrust investigation into the company.
Don’t Be Evil
Google’s oft-reported maxim, “Don’t Be Evil” and a forward-thinking, friendly image have given it good PR. According to the report, however, there are some who are speculating that there may be some instances where the search engine corporation goes out of its way to make life harder.
European investigators are looking into practices by Google that give their advertisements preference over others. The investigation is taking a look at whether Google prevented some advertisers from getting ads in sponsored link slots
The investigation, according to the article, has also expanded to Texas. The Texas State Attorney General is asking for information regarding the pricing of Google’s ad pricing and the rankings of sites in search results. There are other state attorney generals looking into the matter, as well, all of which focus on search engine result placement and advertising issues.
Most of what websites concern themselves with as far as visibility goes is with maintaining their rankings in Google. The other search engines have their place, but Google’s domination of the market is impressive. Microsoft, once the company held up as a representation of one company dominating the entire IT market, lags far behind Google in web services. Google and Microsoft have long been at each other’s throats from a business standpoint and, currently, with Microsoft trailing Google in Internet domination, it seems that the upstart company from Silicon Valley is now having the same public perception problem that once plagued Microsoft. | <urn:uuid:0fc3abf4-5aff-4881-9ccf-a49eeb170468> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.websitehosting.com/google-under-the-microscope/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954798 | 575 | 1.601563 | 2 |
“Don’t worry about that stuff,” a friend calmly assured me, having seen me “go on point” every time the rod tip would jiggle. “Little cats tug on that big bait all day. When the one we want takes it, you’ll know.”
Boy, was he ever right! The line took off like a dragster on green. With the rod throbbing and the reel’s clicker screaming for mercy, I flipped the bail switch, as my friend had instructed earlier. The fish continued to run, now peeling drag, and it bent the rod deeply. In fact, it took all the strength I could muster to wrestle the rod out of the holder, and at first all I could do was hang on.
After a few minutes, the leverage of the rod and tension of the reel began to work in my favor, and the fish began yielding a little. Eventually, we won the battle, and my friend slipped his big net beneath a 40-pound blue so we could admire it, take a few photos and then slip it back into the water.
Catching trophy catfish typically is not that big a challenge. Cats abound in rivers and lakes of all sizes, and smaller fish readily scarf up anything that sends out a meaty smell. Catching heavyweight cats is a different story. As catfish grow in size they become more selective about their meals and craftier in their ways. They also gravitate toward dense cover, which can be difficult to fish efficiently. Plus, heavyweight cats can be extremely difficult to land even when you do manage to hook them.
Today’s trophy cat chasers defy stereotypes. They are as serious about their sport as any bass pro or fly fisherman, and they combine highly specialized gear with a wealth of knowledge as they search for big catfish and set up strategically to present the right baits in the right places.
BIG CAT COUNTRY
The first step toward targeting jumbo-sized catfish is to identify big cat waters. Although an occasional fish may grow to a large size in virtually any waterway that catfish call home, certain waters clearly produce far more big cats than others and are extra conducive to serious fishing for trophy catfish.
Plentiful food and fat cats go hand in hand; so fertile waterways that support an abundance of forage are extra likely to produce extra large catfish. “Cat food” comes in many forms and might include baitfish, sunfish, crawfish and even shellfish. Most of the best trophy waters offer a variety of forage types, which allows the catfish to find plenty to eat throughout the seasons and under a variety of conditions. Plus, when one forage species goes through a down cycle, another can keep the catfish well fed.
Habitat is another important factor, and again variety plays into the equation. Waters that offer good rocky spawning areas, deep refuge holes, and shallow feeding flats, all with some form of cover, provide cats everything they need to grow in numbers and in size. Also, while it’s not an absolute by any means, major rivers and impoundments of major rivers tend to produce larger catfish overall than smaller waterways.
A final factor that cannot be overlooked is that few catfish grow to large sizes in any river or lake where a high percentage of the fish end up in the frying pan. Far fewer big cats tend to come from waters where harvest rates are high, whether by recreational or commercial anglers, than from those waters where some of the fish are in some way protected from harvest. Protection comes in many forms, including special regulations, remote locations, local angler interest in other species, or the sheer scope of a fishery relative to interest. Whatever the reason, if less catfish are taken home, more catfish grow to large sizes.
Within any given river or lake, the bigger cats tend to favor certain areas, with those areas varying somewhat by season. Major big-cat attractors during the summer include a wide range of depths, amount of current and the availability of food and cover. The best spots for the biggest fish generally offer all four attractors.
Big cats like to have deep water available through the summer because deep holes provide a hint of thermal refuge. Some valuable forage species also favor deep water, while others prefer to stay shallow, so having a broad range of depths in close proximity provides the best of both worlds for feeding. Often the cats spend their days resting in the deep water, but still feed opportunistically on any available deep-water forage while they are down there. At night, they cruise up onto shallow flats to feed on sunfish, minnows, crawfish and whatever else they can find.
Catfish are river fish by nature, and they prefer to be close to current. They may hang in eddies just out of the strongest flows, but they stay within striking range of the food-carrying flow. Often, the more riverine upper ends of reservoirs hold the most jumbo cats because the fish find more dependable flows. In tailwaters, where the water gets turned on and off with power needs, the big cats typically feed more aggressively when more water is flowing. They also congregate in the deep waters on the “lake side” of a dam during generation periods because of the “pulling currents” that form.
Arguably the most valuable thing about a steady current is that it positions those big cats that are in an area and makes their specific locations predictable. If the current has been flowing strong and steady, big cats most likely are in the thickest current-breaking cover that is in or adjacent to deep water. That could be a big rock pile, a sunken tree or a thick stump row.
Bringing everything together, some of the most consistently productive types of summer spots for big catfish are major holes formed where river channels make hard bends and where tributaries join larger streams. Whether it’s a natural river situation or the channel edge that is inundated beneath the waters of a reservoir, these types of holes tend to provide a good combination of the features that attract big catfish on summer days and nights. Any deep hole associated with a lock-and-dam structure can likewise be very productive.
A hard bend of a major river can be a very large area, so it’s important to survey a hole, beginning with a topographical map, if one is available. A good map that shows how a hole is laid out, where the deepest water is and how adjacent flats are situated can help you devise a good searching strategy. Also, pay attention to those clues that you can see with our own eyes, such as current seams, broken rock banks and toppled trees along a hole’s outside edge.
Armed with a better feel for the hole’s features, take a close look with your electronics before you actually set up to fish. Today’s highly advanced graphs can help you locate specific edges, find rock piles and treetops — which you can then mark with GPS — and see for yourself how the baitfish and the catfish are orienting within the hole. In fact, you might come across a group of very clear and large arches just off the bottom that tell you exactly where you want to begin fishing!
BIG CAT APPROACHES
Once you’ve scouted spots, several strategies can be used to present cut or live bait, with the best specific approach varying according to the time of the day, whether you are fishing in current, the depth of the water and whether any cats you locate are concentrated or widespread.
If you are fishing in current and have identified fish or a potentially productive spot, the best approach usually is to anchor just upstream of those fish and cast bottom rigs downstream. Lacking current you might need two anchors to maintain boat positioning, but you can spread lines all around the boat, and if the water is deep enough that you won’t spook fish. You can even set up directly over any cover that you expect to hold fish.
For fishing larger areas where key spots are less obvious or the fish are widespread, an alternative approach is to drift, either dragging rigs behind the boat or using jumbo-sized three-way rigs and keeping your weight right at the bottom directly beneath the boat. Either river current or wind can drive a drift, and if need be you can always “create” a drift with a trolling motor.
When possible, plan your summer big-cat outings for after hours, as the biggest fish tend to feed more actively at night. Scout a few holes in the afternoon and set up along the edge of your best looking hole in the evening. If there’s a slope that connects the area where you saw the best fish while scouting, anchor over that slope and try to spread bottom rigs at a range of depths. As the evening gives way to night, you probably want to move all the way up onto the flat.
BAIT & TACKLE
If you’re fishing in big cat waters and have honed in on a spot where overgrown fish are likely to roam, the best way to specifically target them and cull smaller cats from the beginning, is to use a big baitfish or chunks of cut fish as bait. If you’re fishing for really big channel catfish or blues, use a large piece of cut fish. If you’re in flathead country and are after one of these brutes, there is no substitute for a live fish at the end of your line.
The best fish species to use for cut or live bait varies quite a bit from one waterway to the next and depends on what’s available and legal to use. Also, what are the cats accustomed to eating? Generally speaking, soft-spine species work well for cut bait, and the oilier the fish, the better. Lacking local species, mullet from the fish market is a good choice for catfish and usually is reasonably priced. Depending on your baitfish’s size and thickness, they can be used whole, cut into half or thirds, or cut into steaks from head to tail.
For flatheads, it’s tough to beat fishing with whatever species the cats are used to eating, if you are able to get them and they are legal bait. Otherwise, big minnows or other baitfish from a local bait shop will work. Normal flathead baits are between 4 and 8 inches long, and it’s not unheard of for a trophy hunter to use a 1- or 2-pound fish as flathead bait.
As vital as it is to put right baits in the right places in order to get big cats to bite, hooking a jumbo catfish is only half the battle. Consistently getting heavyweight catfish out of their tangled lairs and into the boat calls for stout tackle and a battle well fought.
Most dedicated big-cat anglers use large conventional reels with low gear ratios. Torque is far more important than cranking speed for fighting big cats. Rod lengths and actions vary by technique, but any big cat rod must have a lot of backbone, and most are made to manage large baits and heavy weights.
Line is another important consideration, with heavy braid being the line of choice for many big-cat chasers. Braid provides tremendous strength, and the smaller diameter makes it much more manageable than large monofilament. The minimum break strength most big-cat specialists trust for landing big cats is 50-pound-test, and it’s not uncommon to see catfish reels spooled with 100-pound-test braid.
Weights often need be large. For river fishing especially, big-cat specialists often use sinkers that weigh several ounces. Even in places where current is not part of the equation, getting a big bait to settle in place in deep water and maintaining good control of the rig might call for a couple of ounces of weight.
Between the size of the baits that work best for targeting heavyweight catfish and the size and strength of the fish, large, heavy-wire, ultra-sharp hooks are critical to the task. Trophy cat chasers remain split between “J” and circle hooks. Circles seem to be gaining ever more advocates because they tend to hook fish in the mouth and make big cats easier to release. Also, any anglers consider circles more efficient because no hook set is required. Others believe there’s no substitute for a big, sharp J hook and a hard hook set.
Specific sizes vary according to the size of the bait and just how big the cats grow in a given waterway, but J hooks most used for trophy catfish fall in the 2/0 to 8/0 range. Circle hook users go larger, usually arming themselves with hooks in the 6/0 to 12/0 range.
Not surprisingly, given the size of the hooks, the weights, the line and everything else, swivels, leaders and any other connecting gear used to complete various rigs need to be heavy duty. Accessories such as landing nets and scales need to have been designed with extra large fish in mind. | <urn:uuid:543a8bfd-1b53-4890-9608-2f65bbfa5de5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gameandfishmag.com/2011/08/05/must-know-tactics-for-catching-trophy-catfish/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948369 | 2,740 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The 2006 hurricane season ends today, November 30. With a whimper, thankfully.
After the record-breaking 2005 season, the one bringing us Wilma, Katrina, Rita, and several of their siblings, we welcomed the peace and quiet of this year. The experts, you might recall, had predicted 2006 would bring us from 13 to 16 named storms (we had 9), with 8 to 10 of these being full-blown hurricanes (we had 5). They–that is, the National Weather Service–had said we should expect 4 to 6 major hurricanes. We had 2.
One forecaster had warned that the probability of a major hurricane hitting somewhere along Katrina-land’s Gulf Coast this year was a whopping 47 percent. Wonder what new line of work he is considering.
Now, compare all of that with the predictions of the same government bureau for the year 2005. They called for 11-15 named storms; we had 28. They predicted 6 to 9 hurricanes; we had 15. And they said we should expect from 2 to 4 major hurricanes. We had 7.
Some years ago, after the forecasters badly missed a call on a hurricane–I forget the details–I had the custodian at our Kenner church post this message on the giant sign fronting Williams Boulevard: “My son is a weather forecaster. Pray he will find honest work.”
Is it all right if we say the obvious here? They don’t have a clue. | <urn:uuid:18d08ba2-ccfc-40ed-91cd-5f50100b8129> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://joemckeever.com/wp/2006/11/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969644 | 306 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Several weeks ago, I took the road show to Halifax, Canada, and toured the province of Nova Scotia. If any of you have never been to Eastern or Atlantic Canada, I suggest you visit. The agricultural industry is very diverse and if you like vacationing, the harbor in Halifax and learning that the Cajuns from Louisiana were originally from Nova Scotia is a great history lesson. I was lucky to see a tidal wave – the real deal – in the Bay of Fundy and it was particularly high, 10 to 16 feet, due to the full moon.
The producers I visited with were diverse, ranging from soybeans to blueberries to 320 dairy farms, many with Dutch ancestry. Many Canadian producers, like American producers, were struggling with making the transition from day-to-day managers to strategic or CEO-type managers. Issues centered on the following:
- Giving up control to workers and the next generation.
- Time management and vacation time.
- Managing against a weak American dollar.
- Population growth in agricultural areas.
- Knowing cost of production by enterprise.
- Taking time to develop the strategic plan.
- Once developing a strategic plan, then implementing it and measuring success.
Some progressive management practices I observed were:
- Posting of vision/mission statement in plain view.
- Working closely with the accountant to develop financial metrics/measures.
- Real understanding of international markets.
One father and son could not communicate with each other during a family business transition. Anger, shouting and little communication occurred while face-to-face. The lawyers were finally able to obtain agreement on ideas and common ground. Bottom line cost: $200,000. Sometimes communication challenges can be expensive and keep lawyers fully employed because people are hardheaded!
My e-mail address is:[email protected]
Editors' note: Dave Kohl, The Corn and Soybean Digest Trends Editor, is an ag economist specializing in business management and ag finance. He recently retired from Virginia Tech, but continues to conduct applied research and travel extensively in the U.S. and Canada, teaching ag and banking seminars and speaking to producer and agribusiness groups.
To see Dave Kohl's previous road warrior adventures type Dave Kohl in the Search blank at the top of the page.
This online exclusive is brought to you by The Corn and Soybean Digest | <urn:uuid:570661c2-d69f-4d70-8573-a46d5967a7a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/road-warrior-agriculture-53 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954211 | 488 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Did you know that before the movie Office Space, it was impossible to get a Red Swingline stapler? That's because they didn't exist. They do now. And they've become a desirable object, highly sought after by cube dwelling office lackeys across the globe. For proof, just do a search on Flickr for "Red Swingline stapler".
Fact is that during the making of Office Space, production designer Edward T. McAvoy had a problem to solve. He needed to find a Stapler that was so special—the film's quirky character Milton would covet and reclaim at all costs if taken from him. McAvoy decided that a Swingline Red stapler would be the perfect object. Only problem was that after calling Swingline, he was told they didn't make Staplers in Red. So what did he do?
He painted one himself.
Now here's where it gets really interesting. After the infamous Red stapler made it's debut in the film, Swingline started getting scores of requests to purchase the Red staplers (which didn't exist). So they did what any good business would do.
They started producing them.
I've always loved this story for a couple of reasons. I'm a big fan of Office Space, but even more importantly I am amazed at the powerful and unexpected result from what seemed to be just a detail. After all, it was only painting a stapler. It's not like McAvoy was coming up with the next "big thing".
But ironically he did.
His simple gesture created the symbol for that movie. It's the one thing that almost everyone who sees it remembers. It's become an icon of corporate culture and maybe even a statement of rebellion against it. I was thinking about this recently because I realized that I haven't created any Red Swingline staplers lately. In fact, probably the last thing that came close to it was Blogger Anonymous, which was meant to be an inside joke, but before I knew it was getting more traffic and link backs way faster than this blog. And it was all a goof!
Why is it so hard to make Red staplers?
I wish I were creating more Red staplers both in my day job and here. Why does it seem so difficult? It's hard because sometimes we don't know when to do the right thing—what measures to take to see our ideas through the way we intended them to be. What if someone approached McAvoy and said "look! I found a Red stapler. It's not a Swingline, but who will notice"? Not good enough. For reasons not known, McAvoy wanted a Swingline. So when he found out that Swingline didn't make a Red product, he asked them if he could have one painted. When they agreed, he wasted no time taking the ordinary black stapler to the auto body shop for it's makeover.
Speaking of painting—anyone remember Bob Ross? Bob was the guy on TV with the spectacular Afro-like hairdo—who effortlessly painted outdoor scenes of "happy little trees" and "happy little clouds". When Bob would make a boo-boo on canvas, he called it a "happy accident" and he would magically make the "mistake" into an integral part of his painting. Maybe what it comes down to is that we underestimate the power of Red staplers and happy accidents. We become so obsessed with pleasing others that we forget to please ourselves.
The world needs more Red staplers and happy accidents. I need them. Crap. Where's my can of paint? | <urn:uuid:ad0dceef-0792-4b77-a6af-0589d25d4f82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/02/red_swingline_s.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984807 | 761 | 1.625 | 2 |
Cartoon by Roald Als in the Danish newspaper Politiken. It reads: "You're free to play..."
I just don't get this Vanity Myth.
No matter how hard real bicycle advocates work at getting people onto bicycles there is always a little group of people - let's call them The Fear Minority - who claim that the primary reason for people not to wear bike helmets is... vanity.
That's it. Period. People who ride bicycles without a plastic hat are vain. They do so merely because of their hairdo or image. They are egocentric and arrogant and, as this little group of fear merchants will have you believe, they are shitting on the rest of society by acting so selfishly.
Seriously... is that all they got? Is that the best they can dream up?
The Vanity Myth is the singlemost telling clue that The Fear Minority are quite desperate. They are acutely aware that they don't have any conclusive scientific evidence to show, so they start a personal attack and attempt to wage a guilt-trip campaign against the rest of us. Declaring advocacy bankruptcy in the process.
All around the world we're in a race against time to get people onto bicycles. For the public health, for the common good, for rebuilding liveable cities. If wearing a helmet keeps someone on a bicycle, that's great. If not wearing a helmet keeps someone on a bicycle, that's great, too.
Unfortunately the latter group is subject to not only bullying on the streets from drafted 'disciples' but also from this Fear Minority themselves who, unfortunately, often have access to funding for campaigns. Not to promote cycling but to perpetuate the car-centric myth that cycling is somehow dangerous and that a plastic hat designed to protect the head against non-life threatening injuries in solo accidents under 20 km/h will magically protect you from certain death.
I've noticed that more often than not it is one individual who starts the neo-religious, ideological chanting. Spreading fear on a personal emotional crusade. For example, British Columbia's helmet law was started by one worried mother. The helmet law in Victoria, Australia was the work of one man. All around the world a few individuals are exhibiting enormous power and, in the process, reversing over a century of bicycle culture.
Even here in Denmark. A couple of people, here and there, fueled by personal emotions, are working hard at deconstructing the fact that cycling is safe, healthy and good for society. Like everywhere else, they sell their fear cheap to a couple of others and a bonfire is lit, on which the effigy of vanity is burned. A handful of journalists here. A couple of politicians there. You probably know your local versions.
It's never a good thing when facts and The Big Picture are overlooked in favour of the frail emotions of a handful of individuals. The Vanity Myth is an excellent, if not frightening, example.
I don't doubt that these people sincerely 'believe' they are doing a good thing but it doesn't take long before their belief is cemented and they are no longer capable of rational judgement. Especially if they succeed in recruiting followers. Then they are content to immerse themselves in the group and experience a declining need to explore and learn.
Imagine if our ancestors subscribed to this. Imagine a tribe - several families - of hunter-gatherers at their camp. The men are preparing for a hunt and sharpening spears and flint axes. The smaller children are helping, learning this vital skill. Nearby the women are sewing hides together into clothes for the coming winter.
Then imagine some schmuck walking around the camp tsk-tsking and shaking his or her head. "You could put your eye out on those sharp sticks..." Or "Sheesh, those needles could go right through your fingers and you could get an infection and DIE!"
Fortunately, Homo sapiens didn't listen to this minority. We wouldn't have evolved very far if we had.
The primary wish of The Fear Minority is, in my opinion, that everyone else become just like them. That we all happily subscribe to their worrying and adopt stern, disapproving looks and furrowed brows. That we share their unfounded fears. They seek a flock to which they can belong and, unfortunately, fear clubs attract members in our modern society. Intuitive messages, no matter how ridiculous, sell.
Frank Furedi's excellent book The Culture of Fear is an instruction manual for understanding how these people think and is an important tome for reversing western societies slide towards fear. Here on Copenhagenize, sociologist Dave Horton discussed Constructing a Fear of Cycling.
Not surprisingly, The Fear Minority's personal fears are often way off target. ABC has this article called Do We Worry About The Right Things? Why we fear what we fear.
This is the closing line of the article, perfectly summing it up:
"Less knowledge, more anxiety," says Grafman. "More knowledge, less anxiety."
The New York Times had an article last Friday called Keeping Kids Safe From the Wrong Dangers. It's about how parents are incredibly bad at assessing risk.
The five things they worry about the most? "Kidnapping, school snipers, terrorists, dangerous strangers and drugs."
The five things most likely to cause injury to children up to age 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are: "car accidents, homicide (usually at the hands of someone they know), child abuse, suicide or drowning."
Do the fear minority cast their angst over motoring helmets or traffic calming? Mandatory all-age lifevest laws? Nah. That just may be logical.
Perhaps these people could band together and move to some remote camp together, somewhere in the mountains. (Nah... danger of falling rocks...) Or maybe the Amazon. (Nah, sure death by piranha fish...) Okay... some massive building with padded walls, sanitized for all bacteria. Then could live happily every after... and slowly 'safe' themselves into oblivion.
PUT YOUR MONEY ON THE TABLE... And here's a bet from Copenhagenize. There will never be a city that promotes (or legislates) bicycle helmets that will ever reach double digit modal share for bicycles. | <urn:uuid:3db67c5c-3680-4309-b9fb-7b30845350ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/09/vanity-myth-go-figure.html?showComment=1285275447233 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956911 | 1,292 | 1.734375 | 2 |
I got a note from benj1 the other day, about a Phoronix test of an “old” machine running two or three different flavors of Ubuntu, and how the Pentium 4 and Radeon AGP card performed.
I usually rant at this point about how Pentium 4 machines aren’t old, and how they’re plenty fast to handle modern Linux-based software, and how there’s no reason to banish a 2.8Ghz machine to the closet. But people have heard me whine about that for a very, very long time, and whether or not people listen is immaterial any more. I could say you don’t need a new computer because the old one works fine, and I could say that you don’t need a new car because the old one works fine, and there would still be people crawling out of the woodwork to point at any real or imagined faults on either side.
Use whatever machine you like, and if it doesn’t work as well as you would hope, that’s for you to deal with. I type this on a 14-year-old Pentium machine that boots to the login prompt in under 26 seconds — faster than my dual-core can reach the desktop with Ubuntu 10.04 — and I consider that no loss of function or speed. And so long as it keeps running, I intend to keep using it.
The surprising thing about the Phoronix test though, is how poorly Ubuntu has degraded with respect to those “old” machines. I really expected any version to run any core test (not so much graphics tests though) with the same level of performance, instead of holding out such a marked difference.
But they didn’t, and that obvious discrepancy that says two things to me.
- First, it suggests that Ubuntu, and possibly Linux, is getting chunkier all the time. True, the target machine for the Ubuntu crowd is not a single-core Pentium 4 any more; Ubuntu wants to tackle Microsoft and Apple, and so the systems should probably be written for machines that are contemporaries of those OSes.
I can accept that as a reason, but not an excuse. Linux is always touted as a lighter, faster option — I do a lot of the touting too — but it’s beginning to appear that as Ubuntu ages, it relies on hardware to compensate for software bloat — and the bloat is considerable. I resent that.
- Second, and perhaps more importantly, I can’t endorse full-blown, up-to-date software stacks for “old” hardware any more. I usually tell people with “old” machines to use the current version anyway, hinging on the belief that newer Linux-based software isn’t bracketed around a particular generation of hardware.
I’ve advised people countless times on the forums to use command-line installations of the freshest version of Ubuntu over out-of-date versions, because many people coming from a Windows environment assume that a four-year-old machine needs four-year-old software. And with Microsoft, yes, that is the case.
And now with Ubuntu (and perhaps even with Linux in general), it also appears to be the case. Dropping back to 8.04, which will be around for a very very long time to come, might just be the best plan for a machine that predates quad-core, 16Gb “family computers.” So long as the software is going to hog space and allow itself to become insufferably obese, then it makes sense to reach back to a time when there wasn’t as much space to work with. It’s either that, or build it yourself.
How much of this is inherited from Debian and other upstream projects is beyond my ability to read. I don’t use Ubuntu on a daily basis, and when I do use it, I consider it a brief stopover to a more enlightened destination.
But the real and final tragedy here is the number of distros, either derivative or offshoot, that are based on the Ubuntu superstructure but targeted on old hardware — and notice here that I didn’t put the word “old” in quotes. I’m talking now about distros that have Pentium III and earlier computers in their list of “appropriate hardware,” because anything built on those newer versions of Ubuntu is going to likewise be genetically predisposed toward weight gain.
I am confident and calm that many of those distros — OSes like Puppy Linux, which I admire greatly but aligned itself with Ubuntu in recent renditions — will either take a crowbar to the beast and whack it down to size, or see an alternative elsewhere and make the appropriate choice. Personally I abandoned Ubuntu quite a while ago and wouldn’t recommend it for anything without at least 512Mb of memory and a Pentium 4 in it, but now I see that I have to add another caveat to that … one that says Ubuntu 8.04.4 is your best bet. | <urn:uuid:e4d54d83-d2e8-434e-88b1-ba2e3830c022> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kmandla.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/8-04-might-be-your-best-bet/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=a21ac6eb7c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9493 | 1,066 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Three months after Mexican President Felipe Calderón sent thousands of troops into Ciudad Juárez and other Chihuahua cities and towns to fight drug traffickers in Operation Chihuahua Together, the number of complaints of human rights abuses is increasing and becoming a political issue, according to New Mexico State University's Frontera Norte/Sur (FNS) news service, which monitors Mexican and border press.
The official Chihuahua's State Human Rights Commission (CEDH) reported an additional 28 complaints about the army in May and 32 more so far this month, mainly from the border town of Ojinaga, across the Rio Grande River from Big Bend National Park in remote West Texas.
CEDH investigator Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson said many of the victims of abuses were small-time dealers and addicts who have been beaten and subject to various forms of torture, including electric shocks, simulated suffocations with plastic bags and razor cuts at army installations. It was a "dangerous pattern," he said, drawing a comparison with Mexico's 1970s Dirty War, when the security forces tortured and disappeared dissidents and suspected leftist guerrillas.
In an incident that stirred outrage, soldiers shot three men to death June 8 at a checkpoint near the town of Cuauhtémoc in the center of the state. While details are unclear, the soldiers reportedly opened fire after the victims' vehicle struck and injured a soldier. One reporter on the scene was forced to the ground by soldiers, while the head of the state human rights commission showed up at the scene but was denied access by the military.
According to FNS, the Juárez Valley, just outside the city of the same name, has been a hot spot in recent weeks. Long the domain of drug traffickers and other criminals, the area has been the target of numerous army raids lately. The soldiers have netted arrests and loads of drugs, but they are also garnering an ever-lengthening list of complaints about their behavior.
Last Saturday, angry valley residents staged protests outside the office of the Mexican attorney general in downtown Juarez. A woman from the town of Guadalupe Bravo, Josefina Reyes, complained that soldiers raided her house and destroyed property before stealing her cell phone and other goods. "On that day, there were around 25 more searches in which they made off with various people," Reyes said.
While neither the military nor the attorney general's office has responded publicly to the complaints, local elected officials are beginning to. The state congress earlier this month passed a resolution urging the army to punish soldiers involved in abuses, and the head of the congress, Jorge Alberto Gutiérrez Casas has urged the military to open up about the Cuauhtémoc checkpoint killings.
"We are going to demand from the legislative branch that human rights not be violated in a struggle that is focused on organized crime, because what happened at the checkpoint doesn't justify the response of the army members." Gutiérrez said. "The army is one of the institutions which has more prestige and credibility in the eyes of the citizenry, and because of this we must not permit isolated situations to end up discrediting the confidence that society has in them."
Allegations of human rights abuses by the military as it pursues its war on drug traffickers are by no means
limited to Chihuahua. In fact, they seem to follow the military wherever it is deployed as law enforcers. In February, we reported on human rights violations in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and last month, we reported on human rights violations in Sinaloa.
The issue of human rights threatens to scuttle the Bush administration's Mérida Initiative anti-drug assistance package for Mexican and the Central American countries. Some congressional Democrats want to tie the $1.4 billion aid package to human rights and other conditions, a move firmly opposed by Mexico, which is extremely sensitive about its sovereignty when it comes to its northern neighbor. On Monday, President Bush appealed to lawmakers to approve the package "without many conditions."
Meanwhile, the toll from prohibition-related violence continues to soar in Mexico. Since Calderón unleashed the military at the beginning of last year, about 4,000 people have been killed, including nearly 500 police and soldiers. Even in Ciudad Juárez, where the military has been deployed since March, the killing continues to escalate. From January 1 to March 31, 210 people were murdered. Between April one and now, another 276 have been killed. | <urn:uuid:5f67b1d1-0f89-4783-8228-9f3768f3b86d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stopthedrugwar.com/chronicle/2008/jun/20/latin_america_human_rights_casua | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966484 | 927 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Add Tiger Woods' black 2009 Cadillac Escalade to the list of modern history's most famous vehicles -- right up there with President John F. Kennedy's limousine and the Rosa Parks bus. So what will become of the General Motors-owned Escalade that Woods careened through his Florida neighborhood?
GM made a deal with Woods after his promotional role with Buick ended late last year to keep taking a bevy of GM vehicles for his personal use, including the Escalade and a Buick Enclave. So there are lots of Woods-occupied vehicles out there, just none in terrible shape like this one.
As to its fate, Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell says don't expect to find the beaten-up Escalade in a museum or on eBay anytime soon. Here's what's he tells Drive On is going to happen to it:
The vehicle will be repaired, firstly. This is a promotional/marketing vehicle -- the kinds of cars used for advertising, public displays, photography, etc. That makes this a little different than a garden-variety car repair - given its special usage. So I don't know what will happen until that repair is completed and analyzed. It could return to service as a promotional vehicle, meaning it would go back into the pool of cars that we use for various marketing activities.
Or, on the other hand, we produce a lot of new vehicles. It's sometimes easier to take a new car and put it into this kind of role. In that case, the older vehicle could be re-purposed in many ways - we could retain ownership of it, using it for other internal duties, or we could indeed sell it off. Generally selling a company-owned vehicle means that it would go into an auction. So there are a few options. GM: Tiger Woods' Cadillac Escalade to be repaired, eventually auctioned | <urn:uuid:83da51ff-d41c-430b-a6c1-f4ea9404df4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sevenforums.com/chillout-room/45257-gm-tiger-woods-cadillac-escalade-repaired-even.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972518 | 384 | 1.554688 | 2 |
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Where are the Black experts on women and sports?
The University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport is hosting the North American Society of Sport Sociology’s annual meeting November 3-6. In lieu of its annual fall lecture, the center hosted an all-day conference on girls and women in sport November 2 at the Gophers football stadium.
I am on the Tucker Center’s mailing list and have regularly reported on their various activities over the years. Although I find the topics, along with the speakers, interesting and certainly noteworthy, a big question mark constantly pops up over my head.
Where are the local or national Black experts on women and sports?
Where are the Black scholars, practitioners, advocates and leaders of women’s sports?
On the Tucker Center mailing I received, there was not one person of color pictured. The morning keynote speaker is a White man; the closing keynote panel discussion includes three White women and a White man.
Among the topics expected to be discussed at Wednesday’s conference include inequality issues, health disparities and media portrayals of female athletes. Surely these topics and others impact Black females. How can talking about women’s achievements in sports, or speaking on sport as a public health asset (which is the opening speech’s topic), be honestly done without including Blacks? Certainly “A Great Conversation with Sport Media Scholars,” the evening’s panel discussion topic, could have include at least one Black person as well.
I can recall of my attending and covering Tucker Center events over the years ever seeing only a couple of Blacks as featured speakers: U-M professor Daheia Barr-Anderson once was on a panel speaking on Black female physical activity. Even more so, I can’t ever recall using more than two hands to count the number of Blacks in attendance as well.
Maybe I am naïve, but there must be at least a couple of Blacks, whether female or male, who could qualify as experts on girls and women in sports.
However, I am happy to report that my questions finally were answered. According to the program, Texas A&M University Professor Akilah Carter-Francique will be among the speakers on a panel discussion on females in positions of power in sports. Also, two representatives from the National Organisation for Women in Sport Physical Activity and Recreation in Zambia are expected to speak as well.
I look forward to hearing from them speak on the fact that females, especially Black women, remain underrepresented in all power positions in all levels of sports. Hopefully they can be added to my Rolodex list of Black experts on girls and women in sport, which currently has only one person listed.
Last August, I finally met in person Black Women in Sport Foundation President and Co-Founder Tina Sloan Green. We previously spoke via telephone as I contacted her for comment on a couple of columns I wrote on women’s sports issues. She knows what she’s talking about.
Green was among the seven honorees at this year’s National Association of Black Journalists’ Sam Lacy Pioneer Awards in Philadelphia. She became the first Black female intercollegiate lacrosse coach in 1973, and won three national championships at Temple and amassed a 207-62-4 overall record, which also include an undefeated season in 1988.
“I’ve had a tremendous career,” she surmised.
More importantly, Green has worked with over 2,000 Black girls, exposing them to nontraditional sporting activities, such as field hockey and lacrosse — the two sports she played in as a youngster growing up in the Philadelphia area, then as a collegian before moving into the coaching and teaching profession.
“I have a passion for what I do and wanted to help people,” admitted Green as she accepted her award. Then, she gently chided the Sam Lacy folk.
“Hopefully you’ll have more women up here next year,” Green noted on having only one female among the award winners.
Finally, by the time you’ll read this, I will have attended the Tucker Center conference and have heard from the likes of Carter-Francique. I look forward to using her comments and others in a future column on girls and women in sport.
It will be refreshing to use a Black voice or two in this regard. | <urn:uuid:31e7dc0d-0eef-4611-9a5c-d3743dbebfd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/charles-hallman/where-are-black-experts-women-and-sports | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967351 | 934 | 1.820313 | 2 |
28 Dead in Papua New Guinea Plane Crash
At least 28 people were killed when a small passenger plane went down in stormy weather in a heavily-forested area of northern Papua New Guinea.
The two pilots, one Australian and one from New Zealand, survived, as did two passengers, a Papuan and a Chinese.
The plane, a twin-engine Airlines PNG Dash 8, was flying from the mountain gateway city of Lae to coastal Madang on Thursday. Most of the people on board were family members of local university students, going to a graduation ceremony.
The plane went down in the Gogol River, about 20 kilometers south of its destination.
Papuan officials say an investigation is underway.VOA | <urn:uuid:09f15bb8-e31c-4f7f-960e-0ea7ec22edb1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://indepthafrica.com/28-dead-in-papua-new-guinea-plane-crash/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973669 | 149 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Facebook Will Mandate OAuth 2.0 and HTTPS This Fall, After Security Leak Found in Old Code
Symantec on Tuesday published a corporate blog post describing how 100,000 Facebook apps built with iFrames exposed user data. This was because an older Facebook API was designed so apps included user access tokens in the referrer URL given to advertisers and analytics platforms, Symantec said.
Facebook referenced Symantec’s assistance Tuesday in a blog post announcing it would require all developers to use a more secure combination of HTTPS and OAuth 2.0 (which allows users to connect various Web apps to each other without resupplying their passwords) by October 1 of this year.
Following hacking attempts attributed to Tunisian government censors a few months ago, Facebook had started giving users the option to route its site through more secure HTTPS servers. But many third-party app developers have yet to revise their Facebook apps to support HTTPS, too.
Facebook downplayed the significance of Symantec’s discovery, issuing various comments saying it has found no evidence that the loophole enabled users’ private information to be shared with unauthorized third parties.
“Over the past few weeks, we determined that OAuth is now a mature standard with broad participation across the industry,” said the Facebook developer blog post, authored by Facebook’s Naitik Shah.
Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my ethics statement. | <urn:uuid:3530c01c-d4bc-498c-9ba5-c861dcba74e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allthingsd.com/20110510/facebook-will-mandate-oauth-2-0-and-https-this-fall-after-security-leak-found-in-old-code/?mod=ATD_rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933591 | 293 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Want to know more dumb things that managers do? You can avoid doing the dumb things that managers do that undermine their effectiveness – if you know what they are.
Talking with an experienced manager to prepare to write this article, I was struck by what he said: “The biggest mistake I've seen managers make - and I've seen it quite a few times - is to assume that you know what's going on.” He also added his favorite quote from Peter Drucker. "Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done." You can avoid these traps that keep you from effectively managing employees and projects.
- In your efforts to stay on top of things in your department, push the burden to employees. Requiring written reports and updates that gather dust on shelves, asking for written proposals before giving the go ahead on projects, and holding endless meetings so you remain in the loop on everything, is just plain bad management.
Decide what you need to know and when, establish a critical feedback path for each job and project, and hold your weekly meeting with your reporting staff members. Make sure the employees understand the goals and that they have enough information to make informed decisions. Then, get out of their way.
- Acting like a lazy slacker. The employee who assumes a management role and then, does little, while delegating her own work to other employees, is universally despised. Employees who are responsible for picking up the slack are resentful and unhappy. Nothing makes a work environment seeth with negativity more quickly than a slacker boss.
Stories about bosses who surf the web and chat on Facebook all day are prevalent in this Internet age. When working on the computer may make the world think you are actually working, don’t think that you can get away with slacking. Your employees know and may even be clocking your time online.
- Listen and respond to complainers first. If employees who complain get most of your attention, you will turn all of your reporting staff members into complainers and whiners. This will occur especially if other employees perceive that the problems of complainers are solved first or that the complainers receive more resources and attention from you. Who needs that? Good managers are responsive to all of their reporting employees and prioritize problems and opportunities based on their impact on department goals and work.
- Share too much personal information with employees who report to you. Your employees may listen politely – after all, who wants to be on the bad side of the boss? But, they really don’t care, and they really don’t want to know. Furthermore, excessive details about your personal and family life can chip away at their respect for you and your competence as a manager.
One manager I knew used to talk incessantly about his personal life while holding his whole staff captive at their weekly staff meeting. Not only did it influence their opinion of him, it also negatively affected their team and the ability of the team to get their work done. Plus, most of them spent all of their spare time job searching.
- Mind read. Never make assumptions about what an employee is doing, thinking, planning and / or the meaning of any of these actions without asking the employee. Don’t assume that you know, or can conclude from what you see, that you understood what the employee meant. This is especially important in situations that might lead to disciplinary action.
In a law firm where a friend works, a lawyer was was using Facebook at work (for actual job-related reasons; she was tracking the Facebook profile of a plaintiff in a lawsuit, to see if she could catch him doing something that he claims he can't do because of injuries on the job).
She left the office without logging out of Facebook. One of the partners at her firm noticed this and, instead of simply logging her out and telling her afterwards, posted an obnoxious status message in her name. "Maybe this will teach her a lesson about not using Facebook at work.” Dumb boss.
- Gossip or exchange information about your staff members with other employees in the department, or for that matter, with anyone. Your relationship with the employees who report to you must remain confidential. What they discuss with you must remain with you. It is beyond disconcerting to hear your boss casually drop information about a coworker. It can have an impact on the relationship the employee has with the coworker. But, it always affects your relationship with your reporting staff member. He or she will think of you as a gossip and will never trust you again. This is disastrous when trust forms the foundation for every important relationship at work.
- Fail to think beyond your own little world and thus, neglect to communicate important information to employees. You are the source of much of the information that your employees receive officially at work. Employees adapt much better to change when they know that the changes are coming. Further, they need to know how the changes are likely to affect them and their daily job and work. Employees adapt much better to change when they see it coming, are prepared, and have time to process the possibilities – before they hit.
Some managers fail to communicate because they hoard information as power. Others fail because information gets lost in their day-to-day busyness. Other managers fail to understand or assess the impact of the information on the employees in their department. Whatever the reason for withholding information, it's counterproductive. Employees need all of the information that you can offer to effectively perform their jobs. Maybe it's time you apply how to minimize resistance to change to your job description.
- Whether you are the company owner or a manager, asking employees to do your personal work, or promote your personal ventures on company time, is a no-no. Employees resent doing your personal work and it does not move your department closer to accomplishing goals. On the topic of personal work, I have heard of employees who were required to create and publish calendars and newsletters for everything from Masonic Lodges to churches to neighborhood associations.
Others are asked to contribute to the manager’s affairs in other ways: babysitting in the evening, dropping clothes at the cleaners, volunteering at charity events. Any request from an employee, that is made by a manager who has some power over the employee’s success at work, is out of line and should be outlawed. Employees are not your personal servant nor your errand persons. Outside work is just that, and it belongs - outside of work and work relationships.
- Misuse the company’s appraisal system and fail to provide regular performance feedback to employees. Every employee needs feedback regularly. Effective feedback occurs as close to the incident or occurrence as is humanly possible. Feedback is one important way that employees learn and grow in their jobs and careers. Waiting until an annual performance appraisal to provide feedback is cruel and does not serve the interests of your department or organization.
Holding back information that would have helped an employee grow until an annual review is just plain wrong. Additionally, misuse of an annual appraisal destroys employee trust and creates an environment in which employees are afraid to make mistakes. Telling an employee at the annual review that you are rating them 3 or 4 instead of 5 because everyone has room to grow is nonsense. Equivalently, telling a good employee that she is rated a 3 so that she has something to aspire to, destroys, not increases, motivation.
- Exhibiting a lack of decisiveness or trying to please everyone. The best managers are leaders and provide their employees with the sense that they can be counted on to make decisions. The employees may not always like or agree with the decision, but they believe that the manager carefully considered the facts and reached a thoughtful decision. It is much easier to follow a manager who will make a decision and execute the required actions.
A manager who vacillates, changes his or her mind, moves the group in new directions based on new feedback at the drop of a hat, and never seems sure of the appropriate direction, will make employees crazy. These managers alienate employees who are asked constantly to start, restart, and change direction. Employees do not respect managers who change direction based on the boss’s changing feedback. You can try to please your boss – most employees do – but not at the risk of appearing indecisive and currying favor at the expense of reporting staff.
In earlier articles, we looked at ten mistakes managers make managing people. We also considered 5 dumb things managers do. You'll want to take a look at these pieces for additional insight into dumb things managers do.
Employees who become bad managers are often good individual performers who were promoted for a set of skills that have little or nothing to do with their new job as manager. And it shows.
Don’t let these bad habits and poorly thought out actions get in the way of your success as a manager. These ten additional dumb things all fall in the category of things that bad managers do. Don’t fall into the trap. Your success as a manager hinges on your ability to avoid doing dumb things that alienate employees and compromise your ability to lead your department. | <urn:uuid:018876e6-59a0-40e6-b8bd-6709d4d710a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://humanresources.about.com/od/badmanagerboss/a/10-more-dumb-things-managers-do.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974581 | 1,876 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Georg Friedrich Händel
Unknown librettist based on a text by Antonio Salvi
Composed in 1735 and as modern as tomorrow: a society without values, eccentric, egoistical. Love doesn't have a chance in that kind of society, as Ariodante and Ginevra discover after the power-hungry Polinesso unleashes his intrigues against them. This production makes everyone involved into the non plus ultra of what Händel opera stands for today: pure beauty – grim truth.
In Italian with German surtitles | <urn:uuid:d267cde1-ca2e-494f-9883-d15276606eb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/889-ZG9tPWRvbTImaWQ9MjQmbD1lbg-~spielplan~oper~veranstaltungen~vorstellung.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938616 | 115 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Victorian towns brace for wind change
The townships of Wollert and Woodstock in Melbourne's north have been warned they could be in the way of a grassfire if a wind change occurs between midnight and 4am (AEST) Tuesday.
The Country Fire Authority says the slow large, slow-moving grassfire in the Wollert and Epping areas is being pushed south by northerly winds but a southwesterly wind change is expected to arrive between midnight and 4am.
"The wind change may change the direction of the fire to a northeasterly direction towards Wollert and Woodstock," the CFA said.
The fire is around 1900 hectares in size and is currently under control.
Meanwhile, residents affected when the fire closed the Hume Freeway at Epping on Monday have been told it is safe to return to their homes.
A CFA spokeswoman said residents in the area around Copper St, Epping Road, Steen Avenue and Allumba Way could return home.
That fire destroyed one home and damaged another in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
One home in the Epping North area was destroyed but none in housing estates, incident controller John Deering said.
Another home was damaged and several outbuildings or sheds lost.
An emergency warning remains in place on Monday night for the Epping and Campbellfield area.
Some parts of the 31km of fire edge were still active, incident controller John Deering said.
"The fire is not advancing or spreading any further at this stage," he told ABC radio.
"However, there may be still active fire within that fire edge."
Crews would remain on scene all night, he said.
In the Grampians in Victoria's southwest, two large bushfires have merged to form one out-of-control fire about 4230 hectares in size.
The fire had come out of bushland and into private land, Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said.
A wind change due on Monday night would put a lot of pressure on the fire, Mr Lapsley said.
"We have a lot of resources in place but certainly it is a very dry area and certainly we will see significant fire move through Victoria Valley," he told ABC television,
The fire, which was started by lightning on Thursday, has been creating spot fires 1km ahead of it.
Brought to you by | <urn:uuid:6783396e-83e2-45af-bc51-4adffdbb2649> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/victorian-towns-brace-for-wind-change-20130218-2emy2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973611 | 494 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Welcome to the Golden West College Writing and Reading Center
The Writing and Reading Center offers many short courses that help students improve their reading and writing skills. The courses focus on understanding college-level texts, writing essays and research papers, and improving vocabulary and grammar skills. All courses include one-on-one tutoring with experienced instructors. Each course can be taken for units of credit, and all courses are open for enrollment until week 12 of the semester. Fee varies from course to course. Please call for additional information.
Some things students have said about us:
“Thanks to the center, I passed English 10 last fall. I highly appreciate this center!”
“I use the Writing and Reading Center for two English classes, 009 and 036. The help here is very nice, and I enjoy it here.”
“I wish I would have signed up a long time ago!”
“I was skeptical about this center before I enrolled. Now, my attitude toward the Writing and Reading Center is totally different. The center has given me a lot of new knowledge, and I really appreciate the tutors and instructors. They help me any time I need it.”
“The Writing and Reading Center has been extremely helpful. I have been away from school for many years; and when I was in school, English was my weakest subject. The center has helped me improve my vocabulary and writing skills.” | <urn:uuid:5b4e4b0f-b7b8-4ff8-8f22-91e9a9926be3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goldenwestcollege.edu/ssc/wrc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97176 | 298 | 1.84375 | 2 |
DANBURY -- Bone marrow drives are taking place across Connecticut to find a match to save the life of 21-year-old soccer player Jon DeCasanova.
A local drive will take place Wednesday at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury. It will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Midtown Student Center, at 181 White St. Registration is free and no needles are involved, as no blood is drawn. The process simply involves a cheek swab.
DeCasanova grew up playing soccer in Glastonbury, and this past summer was looking forward to returning to play at Eastern Connecticut State University for his senior year. When he was diagnosed with Aplastic anemia in September, that plan was put on hold.
This is a rare and serious disease in which the body stops producing enough new blood cells. Aplastic anemia leaves people fatigued and at a higher risk of infections and uncontrolled bleeding. It can develop at any age, may occur suddenly or can occur slowly. Treatment may include medications, blood transfusions or a stem cell transplant.
Bone marrow drives to help DeCasanova are taking place at all of the state universities, including UConn and Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.
"The men's soccer team at Eastern coordinated a drive that got 700 people to register," said Brookfield resident Jean Hartnett, whose nephew is Brookfield High School graduate Nicholas Demo, a member of Eastern's soccer team. "It would be great if the drive at Western could register even more than 700."
"We will be reaching out to the local soccer clubs and putting up fliers at many locations throughout the surrounding communities," Hartnett said. "Your help can literally save a life -- perhaps Jon's."
Earlier this past summer, DeCasanova had been in the hospital twice for a combined 12 days for other medical issues. Now he again resides there, and has been since Labor Day.
DeCasanova has been receiving platelet and red blood cell transfusions. Initial treatment has not produced any positive results, so he needs a marrow transplant. Unfortunately, he has only a half-brother, so with no direct siblings, he must depend on the registry for a match.
You must be between the ages of 18 and 44 to register for the Danbury drive, and no cost is involved. (If you are between 45 and 59, you can register online and a kit will be sent to you. In that case, there's a $100 fee.)
Bring your health insurance card. If you later match a patient, most donations can be made through an automated blood donation.
Typing fees for the Danbury drive are covered by health insurance or Michael's Fund.
To join, give or volunteer with BeThe Match.org, contact Jen St. Peter at 800-283-8385, ext. 762, or via [email protected] | <urn:uuid:2d18a6a4-c541-4efa-a557-5bd5405afb41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Soccer-player-21-needs-bone-marrow-match-4016619.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965114 | 601 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Listener Feedback Strikes Back
Another perilous dive into the listener feedback files.
Filed under Feedback & Questions
March 16, 2010
Podcast transcript | Listen | Subscribe
By Brian Dunning, Skeptoid Podcast
Episode 197, March 16, 2010
Whenever I check my email, I first dig a big trench in the snow to fortify my position; for, sure enough, the feedback emails come lumbering in from the distance like great big four legged robots. We trade laser-like barbs, but it never settles much. Generally I have to bring in the big guns, and one by one I tie the legs of each email, trip it to the ground, and then blow it up, as I do for you today now.
Tim from New York took issue with the episode in which I argued that scientists should not agree to public debate with pseudoscience, my basic reasoning being that the loudest message broadcast by such a debate is that we have two equally plausible, and thus debatable, possibilities. And whenever that's not the case, it's counterproductive to science education:
And who decides what is science and what is pseudo-science?
The scientific method.
...This column argues that science should be put on the path of ossification and decay.
Yes, that's exactly what I argued! Well summarized. (Straw man!)
...You grant yourself a power and status no person can safely have (and no person has the right to grant themselves in any case). If you don't want to debate someone, fine. Don't debate them. But to refuse to debate them because you've declared they're not scientific...that's a dangerous attitude.
If you think that science consists of one person walking around with a staff and anointing subjects as good science or bad science, like King Arthur knighting people, you are in error. The jury is no longer out on the core fundamentals of most sciences. If the question is whether the Earth is thousands of years old or billions, it is not "dangerous" to refuse to give both answers equal status. One is proven correct through every available line of evidence, one is proven incorrect. Proponents of claims that have been long established as invalid by the scientific method don't qualify for renewed status unless and until new science emerges that overturns the basics of what we know. That does happen, but not very often. When it does, it happens in the lab, not in a debate.
Going back to my episode on the Bell Witch, I pointed out that the author most responsible for creating the legends used only untraceable sources. If you want to make a point, but don't want anyone else to be able to prove you wrong, cite a source that you know nobody can follow up on. He did this by quoting only people who had died, and in one case, by citing an article from the Saturday Evening Post from a period for which the Post has no existing archives. T. Hays from Texas misunderstood what I said:
Interesting, but I'd take issue with the comment that the Saturday Evening Post article was a fabrication. If the SEP says that articles for that year are lost, you don't know that it didn't exist. And just because Jack looked on either side of the target year proves nothing.
Although the Saturday Evening Post themselves have no records for 1849, others do. There are many other records. Researcher Jack Cook went to public libraries that maintain their own microfiche archives, and looked through all of 1849 and even extended his search to several years surrounding it. T. Hays may have misunderstood my wording and thought that Jack Cook looked only at the surrounding years and not at 1849 itself, which would be silly. I wouldn't have said Cook confirmed no such article existed if the search had been anything other than comprehensive using complete archives.
S. Maples from "Anywhere", obviously a distributor for the multilevel marketing Kangen water filters, had a comment about Dr. Stephen Lower, a retired chemist from Simon Fraser University who maintains the excellent AquaScams web site:
First of all, Dr. Stephen Lower is a quack in his own right and many of his claims are not exactly correct.
Oh, OK, please enlighten us...
...Furthermore, this water and specifically Kangen Water™...
...has been promoted by people with much greater credibility including Dr. Hiromi Shinya who INVENTED the colonoscopy. That aside, my uncle OVERCAME TYPE 2 DIABETES and PROSTATE CANCER on this water and made his doctor a believer in this! I would say that BEWARE of sites like these whose whole purpose is to debunk. Some of these guys have even been caught on the payroll of Big Pharma.
It's always refreshing to hear something new and clever like I'm on the payroll of Big Pharma. Dr. Shinya's biggest contribution to gastroenterology was indeed the use of endoscopes to perform the first polypectomies at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York in 1969. But after his retirement, like some other scientists, he pretty much descended into crankhood. He's now best known as the author of a book in Japan called Living without Disease: A Miracle Enzyme Determines Life, in which he proposes that a single miracle enzyme, unknown to medical science, can cure all diseases and produces longevity. Its English translation, The Enzyme Factor, is now regularly trotted out by people selling all manner of medical quackery.
My pronunciation of foreign words continues to be a common theme in the listener feedback inbox. Jason from California seems unaware that I've thought of this:
As a point of professionalism, you may want to consider using Dictionary.com (which is free and even has an audio feature so you can hear the word) just to make sure you don't completely butcher names that you don't definitively know how to pronounce... All I could do was cringe every time I heard the mispronunciation and it turned out to be so distracting that the episode was almost impossible to listen to. For those interested in knowing the proper pronunciation of Antikythera, please go check it out at Dictionary.com.
Thanks Jason — I hate to disappoint you, but the way I pronounced Antikythera in the episode is the way it's pronounced in Greek. I have a native Greek research assistant. You can also find travel videos about the island (in Greek) on YouTube if you want further confirmation. Services like Dictionary.com are rarely correct for foreign words, I almost always have to go to a native-speaking source. An exception in this episode was Archimedes, where I chose to use the much more familiar (but wrong) American pronunciation. Not that I'm able to pronounce them, but at least I do always get the correct pronunciation in a native speaker's audio and practice it before recording. I also did this with Chinese and Thai in my episodes on the Baigong Pipes and the Naga Fireballs.
Here's "Antikythera" spoken by a native Greek:
I got as close to that as my sloppy Gringo tongue would conveniently allow me. But here's the Dictionary.com version Jason recommends:
This highlights a problem with using common Internet sites as authorities for anything. Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, and even Google are fine starting points, but you should never consider them the final word on anything. I certainly don't. Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not entirely reckless in my production of Skeptoid.
Cody from Austin, TX felt my discussion of shadow people was a bit reckless though:
To dismiss any and all experiences of shadow person encounters by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world as foolish, drug-induced, or simply sleep paralysis, seems to be bounding above and beyond skepticism and landing in the realm of ignorance... I however, for the past 6 months have had 3 entities residing in my apartment, felt and seen by both myself and my fiance... My mom finally came over. It didn't take 20 minutes for her to feel the presence and break down in tears by the heaviness and darkness she felt at my place. The beings are shadow people, and they are very real. Basically, I just want to hear you guys debunk these experiences that so many people are having... without calling it sleep paralysis (which i have, NOT the same thing), stupid, or imagined...
Cody, I would love to come and check that out, but since you're several states away, it's probably not going to happen. You challenge me to "debunk" it based on your email. First of all, your email does not constitute testable evidence that can be meaningfully studied. Second, "debunking" is quite an insulting term. It presumes that I've already concluded your claim is "bunk". I cannot possibly reach any such conclusion based on your email alone. If you're serious, shoot and send me some videos. If they're compelling enough it wouldn't surprise me if we could put together a budget to send some folks to study what's going on.
Simon from Seattle disagreed with my recommendation that moderation is usually better than complete reliance or overindulgence on anything when I discussed More Medical Myths:
It bugged me more than it should that Mr. Dunning repeated the popular trope about moderation being key... My real beef with it is that I usually hear it being used to make lazy equivalences between true and false claims. You should pursue moderation between allopathic and homeopathic medicine, Western medicine and spiritual healing, skepticism and credulity, etc. The saying "moderation in all things"... implies that you shouldn't rely on proven solutions and that you should devote some time and money to every half-baked idea that you're presented with.
Yes, Simon, you've correctly interpreted my advice. I'm always saying that everyone should moderately indulge in every half-baked idea. Good analysis. To the less spastic and reactionary listeners, I clarify that "moderation in all things" refers to all the things you indulge in, not those plus everything else in the world.
Ron from Grand Rapids, MI had this response to my episode on nuclear energy:
I would love to hear Mr dunnings take on the sellafield nuclear power plant and the damage supposedly done to the Irish sea personally I don't think the issue is has open and shut has he would have you believe. Maybe hes angling for a job at Haliburton.
...because Halliburton is desperate to expand into the high-profit world of podcasting.
What he's talking about was a facility hurriedly built by the British in the closing stages of WWII to make plutonium for the war effort. It was not a nuclear power plant, though later power plants were built there. For about 10 years in the 1940's and 1950's, it discharged some of its low-level waste into the ocean, which was thought to be safe at the time. That process has never been part of power generating reactors, so this has no relevance to the subject, Ron.
And finally, Layna from the UK has some thoughts on my episode about New Age Energy that we'll include just for fun:
Disinfo agent, loads of them out there, they just don't want us to know the truth - people are waking up, we don't need articles like this to tell us what energy is or isn't. Brian you should listen more to your healer friend!
Someone should make me a "Disinformation Agent" badge that I can go around and flash. Then I can follow Layna around and try to keep her from knowing the truth, to freak her out.
© 2010 Skeptoid Media, Inc.
References & Further Reading
Coker, R. "Distinguishing Science and Pseudoscience." Quackwatch.com. Quackwatch, 30 May 2001. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/pseudo.html>
Cook, Jack. "The Spirit of Red River." Bell Witch Legend. Jack Cook, 1 Sep. 2006. Web. 16 Jan. 2010. <http://bellwitchlegend.blogspot.com/>
Guthrie, S. Faces in the Clouds. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. 91-121.
Livingston, Hugh D. Marine radioactivity. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd, 2004. 59, 87-88, 101.
Lower, Stephen. "'Ionized' and Alkaline Water." Water Pseudoscience and Quackery. AquaScams, 11 May 2009. Web. 14 Jan. 2010. <http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html>
Shinya, Hiromi. The Enzyme Factor. Tulsa: Council Oak Books, 2007.
Reference this article:
Dunning, B. "Listener Feedback Strikes Back." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, Inc., 16 Mar 2010. Web. 19 Jun 2013. <http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4197>
10 most recent comments | Show all 36 comments
Make a comment about this episode of Skeptoid (please try to keep it brief & to the point). Anyone can post: | <urn:uuid:d6d1b7ae-1362-42eb-99e4-07d46e48fb25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4197 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960792 | 2,757 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, talks about his mission to close the facility.
By Lucky Gold & Richa Naik, CNN
The U.S. Congress narrowly averted going over the fiscal cliff, all the while ignoring the dire needs of a natural disaster.
Just a little over two months ago Superstorm Sandy devastated Northeastern United States and President Barack Obama along with other politicians promised that the country would not forget.
“We are here for you, and we will not forget. We will follow up to make sure that you get all the help that you need until you’ve rebuilt,” he said after touring the devastation caused by the storm.
The U.S. Senate approved $60 billion in emergency relief, but the Republican-led House of Representatives adjourned this week without even bringing the bill to a vote.
Outrage has been swift and passionate.
“There are Republicans who are deeply grieved by this action and there are Democrats on this floor deeply grieved by this action. This is not the right thing to do,” U.S. House Democrat Steny Hoyer said.
“Dysfunction, Mr. Speaker, in this Congress shouldn’t result in punishing victims of Sandy in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. This is a sad day,” U.S. House Democrat Nita Lowey said.
With President Obama also demanding action, House leaders now say they will take up the bill once the new congress is sworn in.
Meantime winter temperatures keep falling in the areas where Sandy’s victims are waiting for the richest nation on earth to keep its promise. | <urn:uuid:03cd0516-3bbf-469f-9c94-756f1d0f47f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/02/u-s-political-storm-trumps-natural-disaster/?hpt=hp_bn9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940785 | 350 | 1.820313 | 2 |
"It's a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find a way to cash in," writes Joel Schectman of the AP in this article about the smutty potential of the latest smart phones.
Schectman is correct, of course but I'll go him one further. Throughout human history, whenever a new medium of communication has emerged, humans have invariably rushed to use it for porn, with or without a porn industry to coordinate the effort. Hell, porn even predates gadgets.
The internet, the VCR and camcorder, the first motion picture cameras, photography - these technologies hadn't been around for five minutes before someone piped up and said, "hey, I know, let's get some shots of people screwing." And before photographic images, humans used words: while Gutenberg's printing press may have allowed for more people to get their hands on the Bible and other high-minded works of literature, what the machine really did was spawn the first mass circulation of "adult material."
Even the earliest homo sapiens, doodling on the walls of European caves, quickly realized that their ability to render visual representations of their surroundings meant that they could draw pictures of creatures bonking one another. Oh sure, scholars now refer to these earliest words and images as "erotic art." But come on, erotic art is simply the porn we like.
Steve Jobs may not like that his precious iPhone is being used as a ticket to the porn buffet, but given human history in these matters, he shouldn't be surprised. | <urn:uuid:9a68ec00-011a-48fc-9ac4-88cf7bdd16b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.idiotscollective.com/2010_07_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952871 | 322 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Granted, 1980 wasn't the birth of video games, but it was when the baby started making some serious noise. Arcades were becoming social centers, muscling out pinball machines a quarter at a time. And when you read the all-time, all-star roster, it's easy to see why. Centipede, Defender, Battlezone, Tempest, Berzerk, Missile Command, Warlords, Phoenix, Star Castle - even the first sequels: Asteroids Deluxe and the head-to-head Space Invaders II. They're all seminal, and they all came out in a 12-month span, only to be swallowed up by video gaming's first legitimate pop-culture phenomenon, Pac-Man. What's more interesting is that each of those games looks, feels and plays completely differently. It was a time of great creativity and innovation, and these games remain among the most popular, playable, and inspirational games ever, even today. Looking at the class of 1980 is like looking at gaming's DNA.
Home consoles started enjoying serious success this year too, with the Atari 2600 hosting Adventure plus the home versions of arcade hits Night Driver, Video Pinball and the January release of the monster system-seller, Space Invaders. Imagine - the ability to play your favorite coin-operated games in the privacy of your own home, on your TV! That concept might just catch on.
Of course, if you had one of those fancy, expensive TRS-80 "home computers," you were probably "standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door." (There was a small mailbox there, too.) That was all the info that adventurers in Zork were given at the outset of their epic journey; the rest of the details were described in text and filled in by the imagination of the player. Another fan of adventure games, Richard Garriott, started selling homemade copies of a dungeon crawler named Akalabeth: World of Doom at the ComputerLand store where he worked. Realizing he could improve it and add graphics, he set out writing his next game: Ultima.
Meanwhile, in faraway Japan, a little company named Nintendo created the Game & Watch, a series of LCD timepieces that also played action games. With a folding design that offered twin, stacked screens, the company's first handheld machines wound up inspiring the look and functionality of the Nintendo DS some 25 years later. | <urn:uuid:3075eff5-b47e-47e8-83c3-f23e6704e1fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gamesradar.com/the-ten-greatest-years-in-videogame-history/?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966468 | 493 | 1.6875 | 2 |
A huge tornado tears through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing dozens. Slideshow
Vertex, Merck hepatitis drugs work in HIV patients
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Rival hepatitis C drugs from Merck & Co Inc and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc are effective in patients also infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to data released on Tuesday.
The Vertex drug had the more impressive results, the data showed.
The results from midstage trials follow notification last month from U.S. regulators and Merck that use of the company's Victrelis drug in such "co-infected" patients could lessen the effectiveness of some medicines used to treat patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.
Those findings involved "boosted" HIV protease inhibitors.
Both Victrelis, also known as boceprevir, and Vertex's Incivek, or telaprevir, are protease inhibitors designed to block an enzyme that the hepatitis C virus requires to replicate.
Since key HIV drugs are also protease inhibitors, which use the same pathway as the new hepatitis C drugs, there is a potential for drug interaction, said Dr. Douglas Dietrich, professor of medicine at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead investigator on the Incivek trial.
He said 74 percent of trial patients treated with Incivek followed by the standard regimen of interferon and ribavirin were free of the hepatitis C virus, or HCV, 12 weeks after ending treatment, compared with 45 percent of patients given interferon and ribavirin alone.
There were no instances of a rebound of HIV for patients in the Incivek trial. Side effects seen more frequently with the drug were itching, headache, nausea, rash, fever and depression. No cases of severe rash were reported.
Merck's Phase II trial found that 60.7 percent of patients treated with Victrelis and the standard hepatitis C therapy were free of HCV 12 weeks after treatment, compared with 26.5 percent of patients treated only with interferon and ribavirin.
Three patients on Victrelis and four in the control group had an increase in HIV.
"These Phase II trials, albeit small in size, demonstrate significant improvement" over treatment with interferon and ribavirin alone, said Dr. Mark Sulkowski of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, the lead investigator on the Victrelis trial.
The trial results were reported in Seattle at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections on Tuesday.
"The drugs that are used to treat HIV have certain metabolic effects," said Eliav Barr, Merck's vice president, infectious diseases. "You have to be careful not to mess with those drug levels."
Barr estimated that between 15 percent and 20 percent of U.S. HIV patients are also infected with HCV, a liver-destroying virus which has come to be a leading cause of death for HIV patients.
In the first half of this year, Merck plans to start a larger, pivotal trial of Victrelis in a broader range of HIV patients, with those results expected a couple of years later, Barr said. The company is also conducting a number of drug interaction studies.
Vertex said it is currently enrolling patients in a Phase III study of Incivek combination regimens in people also infected with HCV and HIV.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.2 million Americans have HIV, and one in five adults with HIV do not know they are infected.
Vertex said laboratory studies of Incivek and HIV protease inhibitors had found no harmful effects on antiviral activity when combined with HIV medicines Agenerase (amprenavir) from GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Prezista (darunavir) from Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit and lopinavir. Slight antagonistic effects were observed on the antiviral activity of Reyataz (atazanavir) from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Merck said last month that a study among healthy volunteers showed Victrelis as lessening the effect of a combination of HIV drug Norvir (ritonavir) from Abbott Laboratories Inc with one of three other anti-HIV pills: Reyataz, Prezista and Abbott's Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir).
In afternoon trading, Vertex shares were down 77 cents or 1.9 percent to $39.63 and Merck shares were down $1.04 or 2.7 percent to $37.41 As the broad market fell. Merck said earlier its first-quarter earnings would trail Wall Street estimates.
(Editing by Michele Gershberg and Gerald E. McCormick)
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My husband went to one of our favorite barbecue places and picked up supper for us.
Now barbecue is an interesting thing: folks have definite opinions on what it is, how it is cooked, sauced and so on, Powell writes.
He came home with a sampler platter containing ribs, pulled pork, chicken, slaw, Brunswick stew, bread, chips and some extra ribs. We dug in, ate up and licked our fingers. Good eating with leftovers for the next day.
Now barbecue is an interesting thing: folks have definite opinions on what it is, how it is cooked, sauced and so on.
In some parts of the world when you say you are going to have a barbecue, you are understood to mean that you are going to be cooking something, usually meat, on a grill.
If you say you're going to have barbecue, that shifts the meaning to something else again.
Depending on where you live and what you prefer, having barbecue could mean cooking or eating pork, beef, chicken or goat. And various parts of those animals might be used: brisket, ribs, shoulders, wings, burnt ends and more.
Also depending on where you live or grew up, that meat could be embellished in various ways: tomato-based sauce, mustard-based sauce, vinegar-based sauce, dry-rubbed with herbs or spices, marinated, basted and the list continues.
Brunswick stew brings in another whole range of options for ingredients and preferences.
One person's view of the "best" can differ sharply from his or her best friend's. And the ubiquitous slaw that often accompanies barbecue also has its variety of recipes and partialities.
Cooking the barbecue in sundry ways has proponents, too. In addition to the many options for grills, their accouterments, fuels and manners of cooking that are available for use in private homes, there are several commercial choices.
Some barbecue providers may cook over a slow-burning fire with a preferred wood or coals. Others have enormous stainless steel cookers that are portable and can be easily trailered to fairs and festivals.
Specialty ovens in stationary restaurants are featured drawing cards for their customers.
In our town, the distinctive aroma of barbecue wafts through the air, letting everyone know that good eating is just around the corner.
Or, in our case, around several corners, and aficionados of this or that restaurant will proclaim, loudly, their fondness for their favorite place and its stew, ribs or pulled pork or...
Trying to convince someone from Kansas that Memphis barbecue is more "authentic," or someone from North Carolina that tomato-based sauce trumps their mustard-based one and you will soon have quite a contretemps.
To someone who has never tried barbecued goat, the dish sounds unappetizing and strange.
Texas brisket cooks are adamant that their style is without question, by far, the best. Those who prefer slow wood-fired cooking turn their noses up at stainless steel "contraptions" that are new-fangled shortcuts.
Sound familiar? Substitute "faith" for "barbecue," and go from there.
Sara Powell is on the board of directors of the Baptist Center for Ethics, a freelance writer and former moderator of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia. She and her husband, Bill, live in Hartwell, Ga. Visit her website at LiftYourHeart.com. | <urn:uuid:33962101-e6cc-4019-a91a-04c24e401174> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ethicsdaily.com/best-barbecue-debates-have-familiar-ring-cms-19656 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962946 | 718 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Cyclovia Tucson logo
A five mile loop in central Tucson will be blocked off Sunday, April 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a first-time “walking, cycling and healthy street activities” event entitled Cyclovia (pronounced see-clo-via) Tucson. People are encouraged to walk, jog, skate, bicycle — all in non-motorized fashion along this route and participate in various family fun activities along the way. What a great way to safely enjoy leisure time and recreation, walk your dog, get your kids on their bikes or skates, all for more physical activity. Refer to website: cycloviatucson.org.
Cyclovia is a Spanish word meaning “temporary closure of a network of streets to cars, and open the streets to the people who bike, walk, skate and participate in fun, free activities.”
“One of the first and largest cyclovias in the world is held in Bogotá, Columbia. Every Sunday and holiday, every week of the year, the city closes down over 70 miles of roadways to cars and let people bike, walk, talk, exercise, picnic, sunbathe, etc.”
See map below for the Tucson route from E. Seneca Street (at 4th Avenue), south to Mountain Ave & then Highland Ave. to the UA Mall (University Blvd.) then west back to 4th Avenue, and either north and south along that avenue.
The Greater Arizona Bicycling Association (GABA) Bike Swap (see www.bikegaba.org) will be ongoing at the same day on 4th Avenue (6 a.m. to 1 p.m.), which is a fantastic place to find bicycle parts, equipment, clothing, etc.
The activities along this 5 mile loop (which correspond with the map below):
1. YMCA Healthy Kids Day at Mansfield Park, 2000 North 4th Avenue
2. Tucson-Pima Bicycle Advisory Committee at Catalina Park, Along 4th Avenue between 1st and 2nd Street
3. Main Gate Square – University of Arizona, Along University Boulevard between 4th Avenue and Park Avenue
4. University of Arizona Mall- Along University Boulevard on the U of A campus east of Park Avenue (this area is already blocked off from cars on weekdays from Cherry Ave. to west of Old Main).
5. Bike Swap Meet, Along 4th Avenue between 9th Street and 6th Street
6. Tucson Bike Beautiful
7. Starr Skates’ Pop-Up Skate Park
2010 Cyclovia Tucson map
Leave your motorized vehicles at home, get your family & friends together and walk/jog/skate/bike over to Cyclovia Tucson! | <urn:uuid:c8d1dbf1-e5da-4674-9af8-82a36f5b0fa1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/tag/greater-arizona-bicycling-association/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936517 | 579 | 1.5 | 2 |
Brett Bolton - HD
Brett bounds into the room, a six-year-old bundle of high energy! He has places to go and things to do! The first thing you would notice about Brett is his thousand watt smile, and then, if he slows down for a minute, you might see that he is wearing a prosthetic leg.
Brett Bolton was born on April 8, 2006 in Henan Province, China. Although born without a left leg, he was blessed with the spirit and determination necessary to overcome any obstacles that might present. His parents, Cindy and Russ Bolton, first learned of Brett through an on-line adoption search/support group. They were used to receiving emails with photographs of children looking for families, and Cindy would usually peek at the child’s photo and pray he/she would find their family. But when she opened the photo of Fu Gao Sheng, she knew something was different…her heart told her he was her son. Soon the Boltons were working at high speed to complete the adoption process and bring their son home. At the New Day Foster Home outside Bejing, Brett always found a way to do what he wanted. He participated in races, swimming, swinging, and even drove a scooter! The Bolton’s marveled at his ability to adapt, and looked forward to providing him with a prosthesis which would allow him to become even more independent.
One year, and a lot of prayers and paperwork later, Brett joined his new family in Orlando. They had been preparing for his arrival, which included the selection of a facility to make Brett a prosthetic leg. Through an acquaintance met on their adoption support group, they were put in touch with POA, and in September 2009 we began the process of making his first leg!
Because Brett was born with just a small nub of tissue where his femur should have been, he needed to be fit with a hip disarticulate design prosthesis. Throughout the fitting process, he and his family anxiously awaited the day Brett would take his first steps. The first day he managed to take a few steps by swinging his hips. He was fascinated by his new foot, complete with five toes which he enjoyed counting! Brett and his family returned to POA on a regular basis throughout the next several weeks for adjustments and gait training. His parents also dedicated themselves to working with him at home, and their efforts paid off. Soon Brett was walking independently on his own two feet, and he hasn’t stopped since! Between attending pre-school, playing with his sisters and many other activities, Brett rarely has time to visit us anymore, but does come in for an occasional tune-up. His strong will and sweet spirit are infectious, as evidenced in these photos and video.
"When you can't change the direction of the wind - adjust your sails." - H. Jackson Brown | <urn:uuid:cd22d5c1-cb36-4c26-8692-69c0b815372e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.poacfl.com/Living_Proof/Case_Studies10.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99292 | 593 | 1.5 | 2 |
|Marianne Williamson on Independence Day and The Course in Miracles|
|Post by Vesta|
|Wednesday, 04 July 2012 07:10|
Salvation of the world depends on me.
Let us not fight our function. We did not establish it. It is not our idea. The means are given us by which it will be perfectly accomplished. All that we are asked to do is to accept our part in genuine humility, and not deny with self-deceiving arrogance that we are worthy. What is given us to do, we have the strength to do. Our minds are suited perfectly to take the part assigned to us by One Who knows us well.
Today's idea may seem quite sobering, until you see its meaning. All it says is that your Father still remembers you, and offers you the perfect trust. He holds in you who are His Son. It does not ask that you be different in any way from what you are. What could humility request but this? And what could arrogance deny but this? Today we will not shrink from our assignment on the specious grounds that modesty is outraged. It is pride that would deny the Call for God Himself.
All false humility we lay aside today, that we may listen to God's Voice reveal to us what He would have us do. We do not doubt our adequacy for the function He will offer us. We will be certain only that He knows our strengths, our wisdom and our holiness. And if He deems us worthy, so we are. It is but arrogance that judges otherwise.
There is one way, and only one, to be released from the imprisonment your plan to prove the false is true has brought to you. Accept the plan you did not make instead. Judge not your value to it. If God's Voice assures you that salvation needs your part, and that the whole depends on you, be sure that it is so. The arrogant must cling to words, afraid to go beyond them to experience which might affront their stance. Yet are the humble free to hear the Voice which tells them what they are, and what to do.
Arrogance makes an image of yourself that is not real. It is this image which quails and retreats in terror, as the Voice for God assures you that you have the strength, the wisdom and the holiness to go beyond all images. You are not weak, as is the image of yourself. You are not ignorant and helpless. Sin can not tarnish the truth in you, and misery can come not near the holy home of God.
All this the Voice for God relates to you. And as He speaks, the image trembles and seeks to attack the threat it does not know, sensing its basis crumble. Let it go. Salvation of the world depends on you, and not upon this little pile of dust. What can it tell the holy Son of God? Why need he be concerned with it at all?
And so we find our peace. We will accept the function God has given us, for all illusions rest upon the weird belief that we can make another for ourselves. Our self-made roles are shifting, and they seem to change from mourner to ecstatic bliss of love and loving. We can laugh or weep, and greet the day with welcome or with tears. Our very being seems to change as we experience a thousand shifts in mood, and our emotions raise us high indeed, or dash us to the ground in hopelessness.
Is this the Son of God? Could He create such instability and call it Son? He Who is changeless shares His attributes with His creation. All the images His Son appears to make have no effect on what he is. They blow across his mind like wind-swept leaves that form a patterning an instant, break apart to group again, and scamper off. Or like mirages seen above a desert, rising from the dust.
These unsubstantial images will go, and leave your mind unclouded and serene, when you accept the function given you. The images you make give rise to but conflicting goals, impermanent and vague, uncertain and ambiguous. Who could be constant in his efforts, or direct his energies and concentrated drive toward goals like these? The functions which the world esteems are so uncertain that they change ten times an hour at their most secure. What hope of gain can rest on goals like this?
In lovely contrast, certain as the sun's return each morning to dispel the night, your truly given function stands out clear and wholly unambiguous. There is no doubt of its validity. It comes from One Who knows no error, and His Voice is certain of Its messages. They will not change, nor be in conflict. All of them point to one goal, and one you can attain. Your plan may be impossible, but God's can never fail because He is its Source.
Do as God's Voice directs. And if It asks a thing of you which seems impossible, remember Who it is that asks, and who would make denial. Then consider this; which is more likely to be right? The Voice that speaks for the Creator of all things, Who knows all things exactly as they are, or a distorted image of yourself, confused, bewildered, inconsistent and unsure of everything? Let not its voice direct you. Hear instead a certain Voice, which tells you of a function given you by your Creator Who remembers you, and urges that you now remember Him.
His gentle Voice is calling from the known to the unknowing. He would comfort you, although He knows no sorrow. He would make a restitution, though He is complete; a gift to you, although He knows that you have everything already. He has Thoughts which answer every need His Son perceives, although He sees them not. For Love must give, and what is given in His Name takes on the form most useful in a world of form.
These are the forms which never can deceive, because they come from Formlessness Itself. Forgiveness is an earthly form of love, which as it is in Heaven has no form. Yet what is needed here is given here as it is needed. In this form you can fulfill your function even here, although what love will mean to you when formlessness has been restored to you is greater still. Salvation of the world depends on you who can forgive. Such is your function here.
Quote of the Day
— Excerpted from A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles | <urn:uuid:069b87a7-432d-4f0b-94d9-d98758e110ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nowopolis.com/home/culture/1029-marianne-williamson-on-independence-day-and-the-course-in-miracles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972558 | 1,340 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Surfers... I wanted to let you all know that Rehoboth beach is trying to propose a treated sewage outfall dump that will send poo only 9,000 feet off of our coast. We need all of the support that we can get to try to steer them in the land application direction. Please send in your written comment to the town and let them know how it affects you and your family. This is also a huge problem for anyone around the area that owns a business and relies on tourism for a way of living! Tourist don't want to swim in dirty poo poo just like we don't want to surf in it!!!:
Thanks for posting this info and yes, this is a very important issue that everyone should be aware. Not only is the ocean not a dump, let's not treat it like one. If you need more information ever, visit surfrider.org/delaware .
The Delaware Chapter of Surfrider Foundation is very involved in this issue and we need your help! You can also find us on Facebook! | <urn:uuid:0537c58d-bbe8-4f84-b736-29609ed11d19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.swellinfo.com/forum/showthread.php?6409-Surfers-We-Need-Your-Help!!!!!!&p=46265 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974802 | 218 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Hammond, Darell. KaBOOM! : how one man built a movement to save play. Rodale Books : Macmillan, 2011.
Darell Hammond, CEO and founder of KaBOOM!, is speaking in Geneen Auditorium at Fuqua at 6:30 on Tuesday 10/4 to discuss the challenges he faced in growing his nonprofit from a 2 person startup to a national organization, which leverages the power of local communities to construct playgrounds in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Since 1995, he has raised $200 million and constructed 2,000 playgrounds throughout the US. Hammond is also the author of a new book titled KaBOOM! about his life, career and company.
Hammond begins his book with a description of his childhood where he has a rough start, one of 8 children abandoned by his father. Yet he thrives under the discipline and guidance in a group home near Chicago. He describes his early career – the people he meets and the experiences they share, which help him develop the principles that guide KaBOOM! today.
For Hammond, the process of building the playgrounds is as important as the end product. KaBOOM! provides the tools, resources and guidance for each project, but the local community is also involved, organizing the project, soliciting funds, and providing the labor. When the project is complete, the volunteers experience a sense of pride in their accomplishment. They are transformed into a community working for positive change. They continue to maintain the playground for the children and they apply the planning and organizational skills to other projects in the community.
Written with passion and commitment, this is a story about the power of an individual to be a force for good in the world. It is also a chronicle of an entrepreneur who develops a business model, nurtures his organizations expansion and standardizes the process and procedures. Without formal management training, he makes mistakes and describes what he learns from them. This engaging book offers practical points on social enterprise.
© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:09c0d4bd-932c-4de6-afb7-d1040572ff49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/fordlibrary/tag/philanthropy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969489 | 427 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Egypt president-elect starts consultations on team
In this image taken from Egypt State TV, newly-elect President Mohammed Morsi delivers a speech in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 24, 2012. Islamist Mohammed Morsi was declared the winner Sunday in Egypt's first free presidential election in history, closing the tumultuous first phase of a democratic transition and opening a new struggle with the still-dominant military rulers who recently stripped the presidency of most of its powers. (AP Photo/Egypt State TV) MANDATORY CREDIT / Anonymous
Yasser Ali, a spokesman for the presidential campaign, said the 60-year-old Morsi arrived at the presidential office on Monday for official meetings and consultations.
On Sunday, Morsi was declared winner of Egypt's first presidential runoff following a tight race with Mubarak's last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. The campaigns deeply polarized the country.
Morsi has said that forming a national coalition government and a widely representative presidential team was a priority.
Ali anticipates the current military-backed government could remain in a caretaker role for a while. He says forming a new one "will take time."
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This is a great recipe for days when you are too cold and lazy to cook! You could have it as a meal or as a soup entree with a meal.
A vegetarian soup lover's delight - here's a twist to the same old dal!
Bajra is a staple grain in Rajasthan. Besides bajra rotis, here's another way to cook bajra.
Very healthy and superb tasty kheer ,cashew nut kheer Mouth watering kheer,once you eat feel like eating again n again hmmmmmm ahhhhhhhh yammyyyyyyy
According to Ayurveda, lauki (bottle gourd) is very good for the body, it can reverse the effects of aging and it's specially very good for liver. It's low cal and so, it also helps to reduce obesity. Enjoy this recipe!
Bulb of fennel, peas and pudina cooked together, pureed and then seasoned to taste. Simple, healthy and intensely flavourful!
This is a great soup that is light and healthy and good any time or any season. It is something my Mom always made on a Sunday before lunch. I make it atleast once a week for lunch for my kids. I keep changing the shapes of the pasta and and my kids absolutely love it. | <urn:uuid:7a9978ed-5688-4f06-8e24-f72748ca0439> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allrecipes.co.in/recipes/searchresults.aspx?keywordGroup=10_Soup&keywordGroup=4_Light | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943623 | 279 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Hario Coffee Siphon @ Howard st cafe.
The Hario Coffee Syphon (also known as Vacuum Pots) are one of the best ways to brew coffee and produce a brew which is superior both in taste and quality to those of other brewing methods.
First invented in the 1830s by Loeff in Berlin, coffee syphons have long been prized by connoisseurs for producing a clear brew. The Syphon is growing in popularity as a brewing method for a number of reasons as aside from its beauty and the theatre of preparation it actually has a very stable and controllable temperature in the upper chamber.
By using heat resistant glass, the Hario Siphon controls the brewing temperature precisely between 91 to 95 degrees Celsius (196 to 203 Fahrenheit) which is the ideal brewing temperature for coffee. This ensures the purity of flavour while avoiding the bitterness that results from boiling water.
If you want to know more about coffee siphons check out http://coffeegeek.com/guides/siphoncoffee
The coffee on brew:
An Ethiopian by Operation Cherry Red (OCR)
Grade 3: Guji “Gucci”.
Notes: Sweet, juicy bouquet of berries, balanced acidity on the palate finishing with a mild chocolate. | <urn:uuid:9f020bdf-21bc-4378-9e7e-8241dd9be5ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://notesoncoffee.tumblr.com/post/9876143966/hario-coffee-siphon-howard-st-cafe-the | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935481 | 270 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Tahrir Square: The Many Little Revolutions
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The Arabic sign says "Ahmed (a Muslim name) and Mina (a Christian name), hand in hand." The Arabic literally says "one hand." The name of the young woman with whom I am standing is Nariman. Much to my shame, I had never talked to a woman with a niqab (total head cover) before.
Although I have been going to Tahrir regularly, last Sunday was different. And even though Tahrir is where the Egyptian revolution is taking place, I am convinced that there are personal revolutions happening there daily. A man with a beard [signifying a Muslim] stood next to me and told me, "This is the first time I have heard Christians pray." He offered me dates to eat and sang "Bless our country" with us.
One of the Muslim Brotherhood members in Tahrir said, "I can honestly say that today is the first time that I've ever met a Christian brother. We hugged and kissed and I cried because I've never felt so close to another Egyptian who wants the same things that I do." People may disagree on how representative these [relational transformations] are, but surely we agree on how wonderful and irreversible these personal revolutions are.
My friend has spoken with one member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tahrir and the man was so apologetic of what he has always called Westernized [Christian] girls in jeans. He said that they were the first to rush to his aid when he was injured and to provide him with first aid and water. He too has had a personal revolution and promised never to misjudge these young people again. It was truly heartwarming to hear.
I am grateful for the many personal revolutions that we all experience there every day we go.
In Arabic the word "Tahrir" means liberation, but it is a present continuous verb. Tahrir -- liberation -- is the work of every day and it may never be over.
Sorry for the long email ... but I just wanted to give context to the photo.
Much love, pray for Egypt. | <urn:uuid:24d32a9b-33b0-4198-9e2d-63bd8e48dfb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sojo.net/blogs/2011/02/15/tahrir-square-many-little-revolutions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976939 | 438 | 1.75 | 2 |
If you're like me, and you think the violinist's newest project sounds incredibly interesting, yet you have NO IDEA what this new project is going to sound like, listen up. It's time to delve into the depths of Carter's Reverse Thread.
Carter focuses her exploration of this hopeful history lesson on Uganda, Mali, and Senegal. Why did Carter choose these specific areas? "There is an immense amount of amazing music coming from all around the world, much of which is barely accessible," she explains. "Reverse Thread gave me the opportunity to explore and celebrate a tiny portion of music that moved me."
Celebration and movement are key words in describing the sound of this album. The songs have a lyrical, hopeful sound to them, skipping along with the plucking of strings and beat of drums. The soprano voice of the violin skims atop the mellow bass and drum sounds rumbling underneath in a brisk, confident ride.
The pieces from Uganda are centered on field recordings from a Jewish community in eastern Uganda. While the community has no genetic ties to Judaism, they still practice the religion. Two of these pieces are "Hiwumbe Awumba" and "Mwana Talitambula," have an "uplifting quality and spirit of voice," that, according to Carter's latest press release, depict the "resiliency of the human spirit."
Other pieces weave together the rhythmic drum beats typical of Senegalese music with the stringed Malian instrument, the kora, alongside the transcendent voice of Carter's violin. Yacouba Sissoko, Carter's special guest from Mali, aids this cultural weave with his master kora skills.
The sounds range from jazzy to smooth African beats to the almost jig-like quality of "Hiwumbe Awumba." But the pleasure of listening created by the diversity and depth of sound carries through the album.
Carter added Will Holshouser's accordion to the mix to help give a sound of hope to the songs that is so necessary to the communities that Carter's band is representing through their music.
My personal favorites? "N'Teri," a tantalizing piece featuring much of Sissoko's mesmerizing kora. Or "Artistiya," a jiving piece with strong base and drums that creates such a funky rhythm that you won't be able to deny some foot-tapping.
Hopefully I've helped you to gain perspective on Carter's Reverse Thread! I hope to see you there, and enjoy the show!
- Melissa Wray | <urn:uuid:ec03467d-0009-4194-a48b-ad09f0d67831> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://northrop.umn.edu/connect/blog/delving-regina-carter-s-reverse-thread?caldate=2011-12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955272 | 533 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Shiva and Krishna Are One
Angels are a part of the Big Self. The infinity has diverse qualities, and specific qualities assume names. They are called Angels. Angels are nothing but a ray of your Big Self. They are there to serve you when you are centered. Like roots and stems and leaves come out of a seed when it is sprouted, all the Angels in your life manifest when you are centered. Angels rejoice in your company, but you have nothing to gain from them. They only come around those who have nothing to gain from them. Angels are like your extended arms. Like all the colors are present in the white sunlight, all the Angels are present in your higher self. Bliss is their breath, dispassion their abode. The consciousness which is bliss, innocence, omnipresent, and the bestower of dispassion is Shiva. Krishna is the outer manifestation of Shiva. And Shiva is the inner silence of Krishna. | <urn:uuid:b07379ee-baec-4191-bb6b-cde69f283a3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://srisriravishankar.org/knowledgesheet/shiva-and-krishna-are-one | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965954 | 190 | 1.640625 | 2 |
I have a podcast—The Beer Crate, since you asked—which is written and produced using free software, and released under the CC by-nc-nd license. It's a fun little hobby that keeps me off the street, and gives me an excuse to drink and review beer. But had free software not existed, how much would it cost to produce and host a show using proprietary software? I set out to investigate...
For many, a podcast features one or more performers sat behind a microphone, and talking wistfully about some random topic of the day. But to achieve any degree of professionalism there's a lot more to it than that. Assuming you have the hardware at your disposal, e.g. microphone, PC, broadband, and hosting server, there's still a script to write, a theme tune to source, a web site to design, and editing to be done on all those constituent bits. All of a sudden, it doesn't seem so simple.
To compute the effective cost of my podcast I'm going to consider the pricing of two alternate, non-free, offerings. One will be a budget solution, and the other will use the standard proprietary software you'd expect as part of traditional employment.
What about shareware and freeware?
Freeware and shareware have not been considered since they've fallen into disuse of late since the current fighting ground is between free and proprietary software. This is something with which Microsoft have unwittingly helped us--by comparing themselves continually against free software, they've ignored all the possibly solutions that involve freeware or shareware. Consequently, so has everyone else. It's now a two horse race.
Two offerings might seem limited. However, the cost of evaluating all the possible solutions is more expensive than simply paying for a basic proprietary package. Also, when costing applications, software upgrades are only considered when it's reasonable to expect an end user owning a previous version, from which an upgrade is possible.
Before I begin recording, I always write a script for the forthcoming episode. Sure, I improvise when in front of the microphone, and add new things as they occur to me, but for the most part I work from the written word. These words are created in a text editor—usually
vi. Sometimes it'll be in OpenOffice, or sent as an email to myself using Thunderbird, and occasionally stored on my private 'TODO' wiki—but the script is still generally written in
vi. If I am to remain true to my word of using equivalent proprietary software, I can't use anything that is free—which includes the tools of GNU/Linux, such as
vi. So instead, I must purchase a word processor. Sure, I could use notepad... but it'd drive me insane before I'd finished detailing the list of beer festivals. And don't even ask me about my handwriting!
I could use notepad... but it'd drive me insane
A quick search provides a sensibly-priced budget word processor called Jarte, which costs $29. I've never used it, but it's certainly cheaper than the so-called industry standard of Microsoft Word, clocking in at $150.
This is not a cheap start.
I like music. A lot. So it seemed only right to have a theme tune for "The Beer Crate", along with some audio stings to separate the various segments. In a proprietary world I'd have to buy some royalty-free music. This is when you pay for the right to use the music, without having to pay on royalty each time it's used. There are several sites on the Internet that will provide this—for a fee.
To budget effectively, you need to know what you're budgeting for. My podcast has four main sections: weekly news, articles, "quick tastings", and "try before you die". Ideally I'd like music between each section, plus and intro and outro, making five pieces in total. Fortunately, when music such as this is purchased you often get a theme supplied in 29 and 59 second versions for the same money. Or at least, very little extra money. Additionally, I'd like two stings: one to audibly separate the two articles, and another to be placed between each of the beer reviews in "quick tastings". So to recap, three pieces of music, a theme, and two stings.
Knowing that paying a composer would be prohibitively expensive (start with a four figure sum and work upwards), royalty-free music can be purchased from any number of sites. Royalty Free Music, for example, charge $99 for a CD of music, regardless of the number of tracks you use, so with luck I could find everything I wanted on a single disc. In reality, I'd probably need two, but let's keep optimistic. I didn't see any disc with short stings though, so I'll need to buy those separately.
An alternative is OPuzz which will sell you individual samples and music clips. This includes stings for $3 each, and 30 second musical themes for $15. My math skills tell me that 2 stings at $3, and 4 pieces of music, will cost $63. Alas, when I recorded the show’s introduction I found it ran to 60 seconds, so I'd either need to talk faster, or pay an extra $5 for the longer version. Oh, well!
The equivalent of free software for artistic works is Creative Commons. This features a number of licenses, all of them cost free. The important thing to remember is that by incorporating the CC music into a podcast you are creating a derivative version, so anything with -ND is not allowed. I discovered this caveat when working on the open source film Cenobitic and spent far too long looking for suitably licensed music. It is available, but less plentiful. Sites like Creative Commons Search and the Internet Archive have useful search boxes for this.
By incorporating Creative Commons-licensed music into a podcast you are creating a derivative version
A further alternative is to use public domain material. This might be work that is old and now out of copyright, or that which was released explicitly into the public domain by its author. Sites like the Open Music Archive provide such material.
Ultimately, the tracks I liked best were some I wrote and released under the CC many years ago! It might be narcissistic, but at least it's free.
This encompasses the recording of my spoken beer-induced words, and the effective mixing of it with the music. The basic sound recording applications would work, but cause too much stress. There are two prominent sound editors available, SoundForge and Adobe Audition (formally Cool Edit Pro). These cost between $59.95 and $349.00, respectively. The former looks like an obvious choice. However, for the full version of SoundForge (currently at 9) you will have to hand over nearly 300 notes.
Audio is one of the cases where proprietary software appears to have advantages. My very first episode was edited as multiple clips (for each section of the show) entirely in Audacity, where the manipulation of 200+ MB sound files became very painful on my PC. I’ve used the proprietary versions before and find they're usually better optimized for handling larger files in smaller memory footprints. So an upgrade would certainly offset the cost of buying more RAM. So while free software might appear to be a non-starter, I had another trick up my proverbial sleeve.
After the pain of editing the whole episode in Audacity I found another solution: Sox. This is a command line wave editing package that comprises of a file converter and mixing tool. The latter was interesting. I still created each section of the show as a separate file, but I then wrote and ran a short script to join the music with the spoken content automatically. This included overlaps and subtle cross-fades, saving the time that would have been spent in the audio editor. Time saved every week, as I now type,
and I get a complete MP3 in the same directory, complete with appropriate ID3 tags (courtesy of
In adopting this approach I realized I wasn't comparing like-for-like. The scripting tools I'd developed where not available in cheaper versions of the software. Or at least, I couldn't be sure that all the bash magic would be replicated in the budget editions. To do the equivalent tasks, I'd therefore need to pay more money for the full "professional" version. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and believe the entry level software is up to the task.
As far as sound manipulation is concerned, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and believe the entry level software is up to the task
The Web Site
My current site uses Apache on GNU/Linux to serve the web pages, as you'd expect, to my beer-drinking podcast listeners. I even save money by using virtual hosts, so that my single machine can run all of my other projects. But this is an exploration into the cost of activity, so I have to consider buying a web server.
IIS and Zeus are the first two that come to mind. But like many pieces of enterprise software, the cost varies according to who you are, and how much they want your business. I couldn't begin to guess at the cost, but one review clocks the cost of Zeus at $1700 per server. Without Operating System.
PC World list the Windows Web Server 2008 as being a better deal at $469. But again, you need to buy an operating system.
The cheapest way of doing this is to rent an OS and web server as a hosting package. I used to pay $200 a year for web hosting, database, email, and the like. It's probably now down to around $60, so I'll use that in my low-cost budget. I'll break even in ten years, but which time my beer podcast will be so famous I won't care about the cost!
this is an exploration into the cost of activity
Many parts of the web site use dynamic content, such as "quick tastings", and "drinkers diary" which use an SQL database to store the beer reviews and beer festivals, respectively. This would normally push up the price of a like-for-like comparisons. But since this is only a convenience, I don't feel right charging it to the budget.
Additionally, the web site uses graphics. I used free clip art, and self-made buttons using the GIMP. And it shows! But it does the job, since what's important is the beer. But a professional web designer would want PhotoShop to create a logo for "The Beer Crate" and probably some Macromedia tools. A brief Google found these coming in at $235 and $399, respectively.
At the low-cost end of the market are the sites that build your web page for free, and/or provide templates. The latter require some degree of technical knowledge because you must deploy them yourself, and the former comes with advertising because it's hosted on their server. Because I want The Beer Crate to provide unbiased beer reviews, I can't afford to have someone placing advertisements on my page, over which I have no control. So this option isn't possible.
So, if I assume that you've bought a PC with an OEM version of Windows (which most people of my generation have) you can save the $199 cost of Vista Home Basic. And the $99 for an upgrade. The balance sheet looks like this:
|Writing a script||Jarte||29||Microsoft Word||150||VI/OpenOffice||0|
|Audio Editing||Sound Forge Audio Studio||60||Adobe Audition||349||Audacity and Sox||0|
|Web Hosting||A Random Hosting Co.||60||MS Web Server + OS (approx)||600||LAMP||0|
|Web Design||Free Template||0||Photoshop+Flash (eg)||634||GIMP/Clip art/CC art||0|
Can you hear me spluttering yet?
That's between $217 and $1,832 to create a 15 minute weekly podcast! Furthermore, on a couple of occasions, I've needed to check-up on the podcast to make sure I didn't say something I thought I did. In these cases I've often been at work. So, I take a ten minute break and download the file. I then edit it with Audacity, review the script, and re-encode it before uploading it back to the server. Had I not used free software, I'd need another license for the sample editor on my work machine. I just thought I'd mention it...
That's between $217 and $1,832 to create a 15 minute weekly podcast!
So with this level of cost, is it any wonder Microsoft feel compelled to bundle so much software for free with their operating system?
And is it any wonder I use free software rather than proprietary applications? | <urn:uuid:c2f61f9d-b281-4475-9ec8-8eac1484e01e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/comment/75932 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957582 | 2,697 | 1.570313 | 2 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon ratcheted up the pressure on lawmakers to sustain one of his vetoes Tuesday by releasing data showing that a retroactive reinstatement of local vehicle taxes would primarily hit people who bought cars from fellow Missouri residents as opposed to consumers who went to out-of-state dealers.
Nixon needs to persuade only a little over a third of legislators to vote with him when they return to the Capitol on Sept. 12 to avoid a veto override of the vehicle sales tax legislation. He’s been attempting to make his case by emphasizing the unfair nature of taxing people after the fact.
Local vehicle taxes surged to the forefront as an election-year issue after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Jan. 31 that Greene County could not charge a local sales tax on a man who bought a boat, motor and trailer from a dealer in Maryland. The court drew a distinction between sales taxes, which are collected from in-state retailers, and “use taxes,” which are levied on products used in Missouri but bought either from an out-of-state retailer or from an individual who does not run a business.
Although the state use tax could be imposed on the boat and its accessories, the court ruled Greene County could not tax them because they were not covered by the local sales tax and county voters had not approved a local use tax. The ruling applied to vehicles of all types. Because person-to-person sales are subject to use tax not sales tax the decision also has been applied to deals in which people hang for-sale signs in car windows or advertise through online or newspaper classifieds.
Concerned about the financial hit to local governments and auto dealers on the state’s borders, the Legislature passed a bill in May that would have undone the Supreme Court ruling and retroactively reinstated local sales taxes on vehicles. Nixon vetoed the bill, saying counties and cities should have a voter-approved local use tax if they want to tax vehicles bought from anywhere besides a Missouri dealership.
Forty-one of Missouri’s 114 counties have a local use tax. The governor’s office has estimated that more than 90 municipalities also have a local use tax.
Legislators need a two-thirds majority vote in the House and Senate to override a veto.
Nixon sent lawmakers a letter last week warning that a veto override would result in retroactive taxes on 122,702 Missourians who bought vehicles not subject to local sales or use taxes since March 21, when the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling took effect.
Some lawmakers have nonetheless pressed for a veto override, saying a tax-break for vehicles bought in neighboring states was hurting Missouri businesses.
Nixon released more detailed data Tuesday indicating that about 108,000 of those vehicle sales subject to the retroactive tax were between individuals and that just 14,000 of those vehicles had been bought from out-of-state dealerships.
He said legislators “attempted to turn back the clock” by passing a bill reinstating local taxes on vehicles.
“That’s just plain wrong,” Nixon said. “The bottom line: This General Assembly should not circumvent Missouri voters and raise taxes on automobiles.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Ryan Silvey, who sponsored the vetoed legislation, sent Nixon a public letter Tuesday saying the governor was neglecting the calls of numerous mayors and vehicle dealers to reinstate the local taxes. He suggested that if lawmakers override the veto, governments could hold off on sending tax-due notices, allowing lawmakers to repeal the retroactive nature of the local tax legislation during their next regular session, which starts in January.
“I hereby call on you, governor, to stop using scare tactics and for once make a decision that helps businesses and cities across the state,” wrote Silvey, R-Kansas City, who is running for a Senate seat.
(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:4364a2aa-90d1-49ca-926d-69637b4d77ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/09/04/nixon-seeks-to-avoid-veto-override-on-tax-bill/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966804 | 830 | 1.515625 | 2 |
One of the most ambitious artistic undertakings in history, the LACMA Rock Haul, we'll call it, will roll through Long Beach next week.
The rock is a 340-ton, 21-and-a-half-foot-high mega-chunk carved out of a quarry in Riverside that will be installed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Wilshire Boulevard.
The installation, by artist Michael Heizer, will be called Levitated Mass and will stand on rails set on the ground at the entry to LACMA's Resnick Pavilion. A channel will be dug under the rock that will allow visitors to walk beneath it. The artist promises that the rock will appear to levitate above them.
Whatever. The real art is getting it from the quarry to the museum. According to our Google directions, if we were to haul a rock - say maybe a 12-pound rock that we found to be aesthetically pleasing - from the Stone Valley quarry in Riverside to the museum on the Miracle Mile, we should be able to make the 60.2-mile journey in an hour and seven minutes. We think we could do it in under an hour, because art trumps the speed limit.
The movers of the Levitated Mass rock must get paid by the hour, because they're figuring on taking an alternate route of better than 100 miles, through four counties and 22 cities at the laconic pace of 5 to 7 mph over 11 nights.
The move has been in the planning stage since the rock was the size of a pebble.
It's a headache to plan a parade of high school bands and hay wagons
The rock, which is being moved by Emmert International, will enter our local streets in the middle of next week.
Moving only during the cover (and light traffic) of night, it will begin its Tuesday journey at 10 p.m. heading west on South Street from Carfax Avenue. The 294-foot transporter will hang a left on Paramount Boulevard and head south to Del Amo Boulevard to Atlantic Avenue, where it will head south to 36th Street, ending its journey for the day at 5 a.m. next Wednesday. It will be parked for the day in the middle of Atlantic.
We asked Rick Albrecht, who has the cake job of logistics supervisor for Emmert, if people can see the rock as it moves through their town.
"It's shrink-wrapped, but you can tell it's a rock," he told us.
"Can you tell if it's art?" we asked.
"I don't know if you can tell it's art, but you can tell it's a rock," he said.
At 10 p.m. next Wednesday, the rock starts rolling again with a straight shot down Atlantic all the way to Ocean Boulevard then west to Magnolia, then back up north to Pacific Coast Highway, where it goes till it leaves town.
We makes it sound easy, and it would be if it were just us and our pretty little 12-pound rock. We're talking a half-hour tops, with a stop at Bake-n-Broil.
But in Long Beach, during the Wednesday night-Thursday morning transport, overhanging traffic signals, street signs and other obstacles have to be unbolted and lifted and/or turned at more than 20 intersections. It's the kind of thing you don't notice driving down the street unless you're driving a 294-foot-long truck as wide as three freeway lanes while hauling 680,000 pounds worth of 21-foot-tall art.
The whole endeavor has a lot of Easter Island in it. Generations in the far-off future that have been blasted back to simpler times by a mistreated savage planet will wonder how a mountain-sized rock that's indigenous to a Riverside quarry made its way to a glittery boulevard in L.A.
Theories will abound, most having to do with logs and levers and legions of slaves.
In fact, it's the art of technology. And a lot of money. It's about a $10 million project, from the carving of the rock out of the quarry to the illusory levitation of the rock at LACMA.
But don't be outraged, it's all being paid for by contributions from patrons of the arts. | <urn:uuid:79bbe712-d8c2-43ce-8ada-2f5d39599513> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.presstelegram.com/nationworld/ci_20065321?source=pkg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961365 | 898 | 1.765625 | 2 |
United States v. Chouteau - 102 U.S. 603 (1880)
U.S. Supreme Court
United States v. Chouteau, 102 U.S. 603 (1880)
United States v. Chouteau
102 U.S. 603
1. In an action by the United States upon a bond executed by A., a distiller, and his sureties, the breaches of the condition assigned in the declaration or complaint were first, that by omitting to make certain entries in a book which he, by sec. 3303, Rev.Stat., was required to keep, he was enabled to defraud and did defraud the United States of the tax imposed by law upon the spirits produced at his distillery, and second, that in violation of sec. 3296, he had removed spirits produced at his distillery to a place other than the distillery warehouse without the tax thereon having been first paid. To the first assignment the defendants answered by denying its allegations and averring that whatever fraud was committed was effected through other means than those charged. To the second they answered that before the suit was brought, two bills of indictment for the same removals of spirits now complained of were found against A., one containing counts upon said section and upon sections 3281 and 5440, and that upon the recommendation of the Attorney General and the advice of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue accepted from him a specified sum in a compromise, satisfaction, and settlement of the indictments, which were thereupon dismissed and abandoned by the United States. Upon a demurrer to the answer, held that the answer was a bar to the action.
2. Quaere whether the only mode for the recovery of the penalty prescribed by sec. 3296 is not by indictment.
This is an action upon a bond of a distiller, against the principal and sureties, and is founded upon sects. 3303 and 3296 of the Revised Statutes. The bond is in the penal sum of $25,000, and, after reciting that the principal, Joseph G. Chouteau, intends, after the first day of May, 1874, to be
engaged in the business of a distiller within the first collection district of Missouri, to-wit at Grand Avenue and Main Street in the City of St. Louis in that state, it is conditioned, among other things, that he
"shall in all respects faithfully comply with all the provisions of law in relation to the duties and business of distillers, and shall pay all penalties incurred or fines imposed on him for a violation of any of the said provisions."
Sect. 3303 is as follows:
"Every person who makes or distils spirits or owns any still, boiler, or other vessel used for the purpose of distilling spirits, or who has such still, boiler, or other vessel so used under his superintendence, either as agent or owner, or who uses any such still, boiler, or other vessel, shall from day to day make or cause to be made, in a book or books to be kept by him in such form as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may prescribe, a true and exact entry of the kind of materials, and the quantity in pounds or gallons purchased by him for the production of spirits, from whom and when purchased, and by what conveyance delivered at said distillery, the amount paid therefor, the kind and quantity of fuel purchased for use in the distillery, and from whom purchased, the amount paid for ice or water for use in the distillery, the repairs placed on said distillery or distilling apparatus, the cost thereof, and by whom and when made, and of the name and residence of each person employed in or about the distillery and in what capacity employed. And in another book he shall make like entry of the quantity of grain or other material used for the production of spirits, the time of day when any yeast or other composition is put into any mash or beer for the purpose of exciting fermentation, the quantity of mash in each tub, designating the same by the number of the tub, the number of dry inches -- that is to say the number of inches between the top of each tub and the surface of the mash or beer therein at the time of yeasting -- the gravity and temperature of the beer at the time of yeasting, and on every day thereafter its quantity, gravity, and temperature at the hour of twelve meridian; also of the time when any fermenting tub is emptied of ripe mash or beer, the number of gallons of spirits distilled, the number of gallons placed in the warehouse, and the proof thereof, the number of gallons sold or removed, with the proof thereof, and the name, place of business, and residence of the person to whom sold. "
Sec. 3296 is as follows:
"Whenever any person removes or aids or abets in the removal of any distilled spirits on which the tax has not been paid to a place other than the distillery warehouse provided by law or conceals or aids in the concealment of any spirits so removed, or removes or aids or abets in the removal of any distilled spirits from any distillery warehouse or other warehouse for distilled spirits, authorized by law in any manner other than is provided by law or conceals or aids in the concealment of any spirits so removed, he shall be liable to a penalty of double the tax imposed on such distilled spirits so removed or concealed, and shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars and imprisoned not less than three months nor more than three years."
The complaint in the action, or petition, as it is termed, contains eighty-four assignments of breaches of the conditions of the bond, forty-two of which, constituting the odd numbers, are founded upon sec. 3303, and forty-two, constituting the even numbers, are founded upon sec. 3296. The difference in the breaches assigned in each class is in respect to the day on which the act constituting the breach is alleged to have been done, commencing on the second day of May and ending on the fifteenth day of August, 1874. The same breach of duty is charged to have been committed on forty-two different days.
The breach stated in each of the assignments designated by odd numbers is that the distiller omitted to make, in a book he was required by law to keep, a true and exact entry of the kind and quantity of materials used by him in the production of distilled spirits; that he produced from the grain used a large quantity of spirits, and "that by means of the said omission to make said entry in said book as aforesaid," he
"was enabled to defraud and did defraud the plaintiff out of the internal revenue tax then and there imposed by law on spirits, whereby the plaintiff is damaged in the sum of $2,100."
To this breach in the various assignments the defendants answer, and deny that, by reason of the alleged omission of the distiller to make proper entries in the distiller's book mentioned,
he was enabled to defraud and did defraud the United States of the tax on distilled spirits produced at his distillery, or any part of the tax, and state that prior to any of the acts complained of, the distiller combined, confederated, and conspired with certain designated revenue officers and agents and other distillers and rectifiers to defraud the United States of the tax on distilled spirits produced at various distilleries within the first collection district of Missouri; that in furtherance of this conspiracy and to accomplish its purpose, the parties concerned in it committed various violations of the revenue laws, and among other things they removed and aided in the removal of distilled spirits from the distilleries without having first paid the tax on them; they reused upon packages paid and warehouse stamps which had been previously used; they gave and received bribes, and made and connived at making false and fraudulent reports to the collector of internal revenue within the district of the quantities of spirits produced upon which taxes had become due; that the distiller, by reason of his participation in this conspiracy, was enabled, if at all, to defraud the United States of the tax on distilled spirits produced at his distillery within the period covered by his bond; that the internal revenue officers charged with the execution and enforcement of the internal revenue laws had no occasion to have recourse to the distiller's book and the storekeeper's record kept at the distillery, and did not have recourse to them, or examine them to obtain information touching the quantities of grain used and the number of gallons produced at the distillery; and that it was by reason of the organization and execution of this conspiracy, irrespective of the omission to make the entries mentioned, that the conspirators were enabled to defraud the United States of the tax on spirits produced at the distillery.
The breach stated in each of the assignments designated by even numbers is that the distiller removed spirits produced at his distillery to a place other than the distillery warehouse without the internal revenue tax imposed thereon being first paid, thereby incurring a penalty of $2,800, which sum he has not paid.
To this breach in the various assignments the defendants
answer that the United States ought not to maintain its action for the penalty denounced in sec. 3296, for, at the November Term, 1875, in the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Missouri, two bills of indictment were found against said Chouteau, the distiller, one of which contained counts founded upon that section, alleging the removal by him, and his aiding and conniving at the removal, of distilled spirits from his distillery to a place unknown, upon which spirits the revenue tax was imposed and had not been paid, the other counts being founded upon secs. 3281 and 5440 of the Revised Statutes; that afterwards, with the advice and consent of the Secretary of the Treasury and upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue accepted from the distiller $1,000 in full satisfaction, compromise, and settlement of the indictment and prosecutions, which were thereupon dismissed and abandoned.
And the defendants, further answering, state
"That the alleged removals of distilled spirits set forth in the various assignments of breaches now answered are the same removals recited in the said indictment; that all of the said removals of spirits complained of in plaintiff's petition might have been established, if said allegations be true, under the said indictments either upon those counts based upon sec. 3296 or that count based upon sec. 3281; that all of the evidence which would be necessary to establish, and competent under the various assignments of breaches in plaintiff's petition, would also be competent under and would tend to establish the allegations of said indictments; that the various assignments of breaches in plaintiff's petition relate to the same subject matter and are based upon the same transaction as the various allegations in said indictments contained, so far as they relate to alleged offenses under sects. 3296 and 3281 and 5440, and that at the time when the said indictments were presented to said grand jury, and at the time when the said indictments were considered by said grand jury, all of the facts which would be competent to sustain the allegations of plaintiff's petition were known to, and within the possession of the representative of the United States. "
The United States demurred to the answer. The demurrer was overruled and judgment entered thereon in favor of the defendants. The case was then removed here by writ of error. | <urn:uuid:2d201a9f-595b-4b9e-9eef-16ada172f858> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/102/603/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973701 | 2,403 | 1.648438 | 2 |
CORPUS CHRISTI — Brooks County officials are developing a protocol for handling investigations of immigrant deaths after a wave of scrutiny from a civil-rights group.
County officials weren’t consistently ordering DNA sampling in cases where immigrants’ remains couldn’t be identified, but that could change under a proposal.
The issue came to the forefront after last year’s record discovery of 129 remains in the county — all thought to be undocumented immigrants who sought to avoid the Border Patrol checkpoint at Falfurrias by trekking through the county’s barren, unforgiving ranches. More than 30 remain unidentified, County Judge Raul Ramirez said.
Members of the South Texas Civil Rights Project and other immigrant advocacy groups said people were being buried in nameless graves, their families left with little hope of finding them because of the lack of DNA sampling. In February the groups presented a letter to county officials and had a news conference on the courthouse steps.
Ramirez, justices of the peace and members of the sheriff’s office met privately Tuesday. All agreed that DNA testing should be done in cases where identification isn’t found with the remains, Justice of the Peace Oralia “Lali” Morales said.
“I want these people identified,” she said. “ ... When you do an inquest, this is what you think about: you think about your son, brother, husband, sister ... I have a 12-year-old son. You think about how it could be one of your family members.”
Morales is writing a draft of the protocols, which she said also aim to address other problems with the death investigations, including transportation to the remote sites where remains are found and accessing the sites, which usually are on private gated ranch property.
The county will continue using the Elizondo Mortuary in Mission to handle the remains, as has been the procedure for years. Now, when a DNA sample is ordered, mortuary staff will provide it to the Anthropology Department at Baylor University in Waco.
That’s where anthropology and forensic science professor Lori Baker coordinates Reuniting Families, an effort to identify and repatriate the remains of undocumented immigrants. The program has resulted in more than 36 identifications in the past three years, but until now mainly has focused on Arizona, Baker said.
Using the Baylor services will protect the overwhelmed county from additional expenses and manpower. Baylor tries to profile each set of remains to determine sex, stature, age and even clues about the person’s country of origin. It also sends DNA to nationwide databases that can help match it with samples from people seeking missing relatives.
The Baylor group even has volunteers willing to travel to Brooks County this spring to begin exhuming unidentified bodies for testing. The volunteers will conduct the work at their own expense, Baker said.
The county has struggled with the death cases because it has no medical examiner and a small sheriff’s office. Processing a death scene can take hours, leaving deputies unavailable for other calls. The county gets no state or federal funding to deal with the problem, Ramirez said, adding that it can cost the county $2,000 per body just for funeral home services.
Some county officials, including Morales, expressed frustration with the way the civil rights’ groups drew publicity to Brooks County.
“They made me feel like ‘you’re not doing your job,’ ” she said.
But she also said officials there are eager to embrace the new protocol.
Tom Power, legal advocate for the South Texas Civil Rights Project, said he understands his group may have perturbed county officials in the short term, but it helped them tackle the problem.
“We’ve made some incredible strides in the last month on this project,” Power said. “It seems like Brooks County has sat down and are really trying to address this issue and do everything they can to deal with it.” | <urn:uuid:2c9caf81-fea4-46b0-8ae1-c7b1e161dc18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.caller.com/news/2013/mar/07/brooks-county-officials-develop-investigation-in/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957965 | 819 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Fort Lauderdale, FL — Starting today, thanks to a partnership program called Cops in Shops®, Florida teens will find it tougher than ever to buy alcohol. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-20); Captain Pat Roberts, Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco; Louis DeFalco, Director of Safety and Security, ABC Fine Wine and Spirits; Keith Andersen, Chairman of Florida Retail Beverage Council; ##, Broward County Sheriff’s Office; and Detective Bill Spodnick, Fort Lauderdale Police Department; joined Shannon Adams of The Century Council, a not-for-profit organization funded by America’s leading distillers including Florida-based Bacardi U.S.A., to launch the Cops in Shops® program at an event held today at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits on North Federal Highway. “As you can imagine, Spring Break is a time of great celebration in Florida, but too often alcohol is a part of that celebration among youth under 21 and that can have serious consequences,” said Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz. “Since 1982, underage drinking among high school seniors nationally has declined 33% proportionally from 70% in 1982 to 47% in 2005, according to government surveys. These figures emphasize the fact that a prevention campaign such as Cops in Shops® would go a long way to enhance our existing efforts aimed at reducing and preventing underage drinking.” “Protecting the safety, particularly the safety of our state’s most precious resource — our young people is a top priority for our Department,” said Captain Roberts. “To effectively fight underage drinking, I think we too need to be creative — and The Century Council’s Cops in Shops® program is an excellent example of a clever means of fighting underage purchasing of alcohol.” The Century Council created Cops in Shops® as a unique partnership between retailers and law enforcement designed to deter youth under 21 from attempting to purchase alcohol and adults who purchase alcohol for minors. The program places undercover officers in participating retail locations. Often one undercover officer works inside the store while a second officer is positioned outside the establishment to apprehend adults who procure alcohol for youth. Cops in Shops® places the focus on the perpetrators — minors who try to purchase alcohol illegally. “Cops in Shops® materials will be given to participating establishments here in Fort Lauderdale to reinforce the message that we take this issue very seriously,” said Louis DeFalco. “It takes an entire community to fight underage purchasing and I am optimistic that the Cops in Shops® program will be extremely effective.” “Last year in Florida, there were 1,222 alcohol-related traffic fatalities, 163 of which were among youth under the age of 21,” said Keith Andersen. “That is far too many young lives lost. I hope that this program will be another positive step forward in our ongoing battle to keep our youth safe and alcohol-free.” ## added, “Last year in Florida, 480 youth under the age of 18 were arrested for driving under the influence and 1,419 were arrested for liquor law violations. A liquor law violation is a serious offense for a young person, regardless of whether they are driving or not. We have tough laws in Fort Lauderdale — and - we enforce them!” “What young people will not know is when. It could be any time, at any place,” said Detective Spodnick. “Our advice is: Don’t risk it. A liquor law violation is a serious offense for a young person, regardless of whether they are driving or not.” “As the community welcomes students from across the country to celebrate Spring Break, there could not be a more opportune time for us to remind young people that underage drinking is against the law,” said Shannon Adams. We are thankful that our partners joined us today to launch Cops in Shops® in Fort Lauderdale.” Participating retail establishments will display signs in their establishments with the message, “Under 21? Police Officers May Be Posing As Store Employees,” Cops in Shops® display materials are provided free-of-charge by The Century Council. In addition to the point-of-sale materials, The Century Council provides “how-to” manuals and organizational assistance. Over 42 states including Texas, California, Virginia, New Jersey, Oregon, Nebraska, and Kentucky have participated in, or are currently using, the Cops in Shops® program. Launched in 1991, The Century Council is funded by America's leading distillers. The Council's mission is to promote responsible decision-making regarding beverage alcohol and discourage all forms of irresponsible consumption through education, communications, research, law enforcement and other programs. For more information on the Council, log onto www.centurycouncil.org.
The Century Council
The Century Council | <urn:uuid:8b9e6fa2-a5ea-4f36-aa13-5fbc54edcead> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centurycouncil.org/news/press-release/2011/students-celebrate-spring-break-underage-purchasers-targeted?qt-social_networks=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947926 | 1,013 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Today, January 25, is the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It began January 18 on the Feast of the Confession of St. Peter (see that post here) and continued for eight days to the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (yes, it’s actually an “octave,” not a week).
Even if you haven’t been keeping up with this all a week, please take a moment today to pray for the unity of believers.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
- Paul Before Agrippa
January 25 is Opposite Day! Oh no, wait… I meant it’s NOT Opposite Day … it is … oh well, it’s Opposite Day everyone. You now have official permission to act like a six year old, telling everyone the opposite of what you mean and laughing hysterically when they get confused.
“Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.”
But all I said was “You are the ugliest woman I ever saw and I don’t want to go out with you.” Doesn’t she know it’s opposite day?
*update: I originally posted this as a January 24th holiday, but most people celebrate Opposite Day on January 25. Although a few celebrate on the 24th, I’ve updated the post to reflect the more popular date.. I didn’t realize a holiday this confusing could get even more confusing! | <urn:uuid:43b36f03-b7bc-4b0b-97ad-b91bb2e859de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ayearofholidays.wordpress.com/tag/january-25/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965966 | 397 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Can Women Lead?
I recently wrote a piece for the fabulous UP Nairobi magazine about women’s leadership where I argue that we need to move to a more sophisticated conversation about gender and leadership.
In the piece I identify two fundamental questions we must grapple with: How do we define ‘leadership’? And how does that definition lead to continued waste of one of the country’s most valuable resource: women’s capacity for transformative leadership?
I’m posting my full text below but will be taking it down once its posted on the UP Nairobi website. In the meanwhile be sure to check out the brand new UP Nairobi website.
To ask whether women are capable of leadership is to begin by asking the wrong question. Indeed the question of whether Kenyan women can lead was answered generations ago. YES WE CAN (and we have been)!
Indeed its time we Kenyans moved on to a more sophisticated conversation about gender and leadership. To do this we must address two fundamental questions: How do we define ‘leadership’? And why does Kenyan society insist on continued waste of one of the country’s most valuable resource: Kenyan women’s capacity for transformative leadership?
Leadership with a Capital P
For too long now leadership in Kenya has been understood as merely political kupayuka. Ask most Kenyans to identify a leader and they will point to a myriad of politicians and wannabe politicians. As a society we have failed to appreciate the ways in which leadership transcends the political sphere and includes valuable contributions in the social, education, industry, arts and culture among other sectors.
Our continued obsession with politics as the only venue where one can serve the community and transform society has led us to a race to the bottom. While we certainly have some qualified politicians, there are increasing numbers who, though they might actually be talented to serve in the private, civil society, civil service or other sectors, still shoehorn themselves into politics with disastrous results. So often our politicians live in realm of mediocrity to the country’s detriment.
On the other hand, an expanded perspective on leadership allows us to begin to make the necessary investments in sectors of our society that are indeed transformative. For example, our education system has for long failed to capture the real value that that the arts and culture generate in a society. Paraphrase an example recently offered by Vision 2030 Director General Mr. Mugo Kibati in a speech to Kenya’s emerging researchers, when most people think of America they can rattle off the names of various musical artists, actors, and sporting professionals. Beyond the President, very few people around the world can name as many U.S. members of Congress as they can artists.
While the contributions of some of these American artists might be dubious in terms of social progress, it is safe to say that they generate tremendous social and economic value for their country. Why is it then, that Kenyans have chosen to focus on our political leaders to the marginalization of the tremendous artists, academics, scientists, writers and other producers of knowledge and culture? What are we missing out by failing to recognize these innovative individuals as leaders who are transforming society?
Kenyan society pays a high price for our narrow perspective of leadership. We are failing to see the many ways that women are already contributing to the leadership of the country and doing so in earthshattering ways. For example, it is our narrow perspective on leadership that caused us to fail to recognize the tremendously transformative work of Prof. Wangari Maathai. Why did it take Kenyans so long to recognize and celebrate what the rest of the world already saw of our heroine’s work? What more could she have contributed to society had we embraced her early and deeply and given her the space to freely give of her all gifts to Kenya? We are failing to recognize the leadership of women like Ory Okolloh, one of the co-founders of the internationally recognized Ushahidi platform who now heads policy and government relations for Google in Africa. There are the Weaving Women, the collection of women artists, academics, writers and thinkers behind an exploration of the cultural image of ‘Wanjiku’ in representing the ‘average’ Kenyan citizen. This group of women is generating valuable new knowledge, indigenous knowledge, on the political and social systems of gender power in Kenya. Sadly, in our obsession with politicians, we are failing to see the ways these multidisciplinary women are innovative leaders. How many other Okollohs and Prof. Maathais remain untapped. Which other human resources, talented and dedicated Kenyan women of substance, is the country not benefiting from? Why do we continue with this wanton waste of potential?
In my own work with Akili Dada I am exposed daily to talented young women who, despite their family backgrounds of deep poverty, are passionate about social change. Akili Dada’s young women leaders are, in their teens, already driving projects with deeply transformative impact on their communities. They are not in front of microphones spouting ethnic hatespeech like some of our politicians. They are working diligently under everyone’s radar, imagining new a Kenya and doing the work that it takes to build and transform our societies from the ground. That is leadership. Yes, Kenyan women can lead. The fundamental question is, how can we as a country better tap into the tremendous resource that is Kenyan women’s capacity for transformative leadership? | <urn:uuid:8add170a-194c-4bb0-981b-7f34286eb080> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://savingafrica.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/can-women-lead/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954122 | 1,134 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Durham, N.H. – Sept. 11, 2012 – Annie’s, Inc. (NYSE: BNNY), a leading provider of natural and organic alternatives to traditional comfort foods, has been recognized as a “Striding Climate Leader” by consumer advocacy group Climate Counts for its commitment to monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Annie’s achievement as a Striding Climate Leader signals that the company is committed to mitigating material costs and risk associated with climate change.
“For Annie’s, sustainability isn’t just a passing trend – it’s core to who we are,” said John Foraker, Annie’s CEO. “We’re proud of this achievement and recognition from Climate Counts. It reinforces Annie’s commitment to being socially and environmentally responsible, and demonstrates that we can maintain profitability while also reducing our environmental footprint.”
“When consumers see respected brands like Annie’s taking voluntary ownership of their emissions and energy consumption, it resonates with them,” said Climate Counts Director Mike Bellamente. “We’re seeing a shift in how the private sector is moving beyond the politics surrounding climate change toward a path that is more sustainable in the long term, both for their business and the environment. It’s encouraging to see this type of leadership.”
Annie’s, well known for its organic macaroni and cheese and snacks, now makes more than 125 organic and natural food products sold in more than 25,000 retail locations in the United States and Canada.
“We’re proud to be considered a Striding Climate Leader by Climate Counts,” said Shauna Sadowski, Annie’s Director of Sustainability. “We continually strive to improve our accountability and transparency around GHG emissions, as well as our overall commitment to energy efficiency. Annie’s ultimate goal is to produce the best-tasting, highest quality products while contributing to a more resilient and regenerative food system.”
Annie’s participates in the Climate Counts company rating process through the organization’s Industry Innovator (i2) program, a voluntary initiative designed to help companies identify gaps in their sustainability approach and encourage company-wide emissions reductions. Since Annie’s initial assessment in 2011, the company has increased its performance dramatically by embracing measures including: adopting standardized GHG accounting and reporting practices; engaging employees in achieving emissions targets; recognition for efficiencies with a LEED Gold headquarters; and working with upstream suppliers to identify GHG hotspots.
About Climate Counts
Climate Counts is a non-profit organization based in the Sustainability Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Climate Counts brings students, consumers and companies together in addressing global climate change. Launched with financial support from organics pioneer Stonyfield Farm, the Climate Counts Company Scorecard was developed with oversight from a panel of business and climate experts from leading non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Criteria are based on their effectiveness at accomplishing a single goal – proactively addressing climate change. Since 2007, Climate Counts researchers have used these criteria to rate the climate actions of nearly 150 companies (representing approximately 3,000 brands) in 16 industry sectors. Companies are given the opportunity to confirm or provide public data sources. Information on all scored companies is available at www.climatecounts.org and on Facebook and Twitter (@climatecounts). Climate Counts also has a free consumer iPhone App.
Annie’s (NYSE: BNNY) is a natural and organic food company that offers great-tasting products in large packaged food categories. Annie’s products are made without the artificial flavors and synthetic colors and preservatives regularly used in many conventional packaged foods. Today, Annie’s offers over 125 products which are present in over 25,000 retail locations in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1989, Annie’s is committed to operating in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. For more information, visit www.annies.com. | <urn:uuid:8695ddf1-70e0-42c2-878b-546d03290d74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.climatecounts.org/2012/09/climate-counts-recognizes-annies-inc-for-commitment-to-sustainability-and-climate-leadership/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94175 | 856 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The Australian media is one of the least diverse in the world. At what point does the dominance of a single player become so great that our democracy is at risk? How, at a time of accelerating convergence in media and the slow death of traditional business models, can we encourage a multiplicity of voices while preserving and encouraging press freedom? And why is no-one asking these questions in the mainstream media space?
When the global financial crisis exposed excessive risk-taking by deposit taking institutions operating under an implicit (and now explicit) government guarantee, respected economist John Quiggin said that if this public subsidy was to continue, banks should return to being basic public utilities. Why, after all, should these institutions indulge in dangerous speculation, privatising the profits and socialising the losses, while creating massive exogenous effects in the real economy from their casino-like behaviour?
While not having recourse to taxpayers' money in a crisis the way the banks do, the mainstream media nevertheless operates under a kind of public subsidy through a regulatory system that works against the entry of new players and encourages monopolistic behaviour that circumvents reasoned debate.
The dominance of the Murdoch press (it controls 70 per cent of the metropolitan newspaper market and its only major competitor Fairfax is struggling for survival) is such that Australia languishes at 41st position in the world in terms of media diversity. The dominance of one company - and one individual - in our media landscape has real costs for our democracy as we are now seeing, with The Australian and the Murdoch tabloids in Sydney and Melbourne regularly using their dominance to press the commercial and ideological imperatives of their owner.
In the meantime, with the national broadband network set to accelerate the development of new media platforms and opportunities for content creation, Murdoch and other established players are pushing for a monopoly in pay television through Foxtel's $1.9 billion takeover of Austar.
All this is happening at a time of increasing disillusionment with our media and our politics, resulting in what former Labor Minister Lindsay Tanner has described as a dumbing down of democracy - the mindless reporting of predictable political utterances, the obsession with conflict over substance (the fight itself rather than the issues), the twisting and distortion of public interest issues to fit a pre-determined narrative and outright lies and manipulation of public opinion.
No less than that bible of conservatism, The Economist magazine, has this past week laid part of the blame for the banality of Australian political discourse on a media obsessed with short-term biff, opinion polls treated like TV ratings and the 'Punch and Judy show' of the daily story cycle that is largely a media creation. While some of The Economist's prescription is questionable (it still ritually adheres to the Washington consensus), it rightly slams Australian politicians for dragging their feet on climate change and failing to use the opportunity of prosperity to widen the discourse behind xenophobic hysteria over refugees. Perhaps this debate is so circular because a concentrated media would rather keep pushing those buttons than talk about bigger possibilities.
The next great hope for increased diversity is the federal government's public review of media policy, now underway. The intention of this inquiry is to look at how regulation needs to change to accommodate the rapid convergence of media and communication technology to ensure the public goods of an open and diverse media are protected. But anyone who has witnessed the evolution of Australian media ownership laws and regulation will not be holding their breath for any significant change out of this review. It is a brave politician, after all, who stands in the way of a Murdoch, Packer or Stokes. And attempts at tighter regulation usually backfire.
In the mainstream media space, one can only hope that an enlightened entrepreneur (Eric Beecher perhaps?) makes a bid for the Fairfax radio stations, now up for sale. In a market saturated by right-wing shockjocks and newspapers that ritually co-opt the public interest as that of narrow corporate interests, it seems hard to believe there is no commercial place for a progressive media outlet.
But if there really is no possibility of a media that is both commercial and responsible, perhaps we should be looking at not-for-profit ventures like US investigative journalism venture ProPublica that serves the public good by employing the traditional journalistic values of accuracy, balance, context, fairness and publicly spirited inquiry. That, after all, is what a properly functioning democracy demands from the media.
Irrespective of the commercial ambitions of media proprietors, the journalism they fund plays a vital function in a democracy. And for that reason, it should be a public good in itself, like banks. People need and want reliable information from trusted intermediaries. If the government insists on regulating media ownership, it should ensure that licensees and owners meet certain public interest tests. The question is how do you enforce those without threatening press freedom. Alternatively, the government could get out of the way completely and let market forces prevail. But we saw what happened when banks were allowed to run amok.
If this is all too hard, if we cannot imagine what journalism could be beyond the partisan Murdochracy we are now imprisoned within, then the Fourth Estate really will be a Failed Estate. | <urn:uuid:80136ef4-a1e0-4dd9-9c31-be7351952ad0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com/2011/05/journalism-as-public-good.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945186 | 1,051 | 1.710938 | 2 |
NEW YORK SONG
Live 02 Jun 1973 version
[Bruce Springsteen:] What are we gonna do now?
[Clarence Clemons:] I wanna do New York Serenade.
[Bruce Springsteen:] You wanna do that?
[Clarence Clemons:] Oh, definitely.
[Bruce Springsteen:] All right. All right. This is a song about this song. Clarence is gonna
dedicate this song, Clarence, come on in here and dedicate it.
[Clarence Clemons:] Yeah. I'd like to take this opportunity... I'm gonna dedicate this song to all
my friends out there in radioland that went to Maryland State College with me down the eastern
shore of Maryland, and come on down here some night, and we'll get drunk together.
Well, Jingo's down by the railroad tracks
He sits low in the back seat of his Cadillac
Oh, and Diamond Jackie, ah, she's so intact
She falls so easy beneath him
Well, now, Jackie's heels are stacked
Oh, she got cleats on the boots
Oh, and together they're gonna boogaloo down Broadway
And come home with the loot
Because it's midnight in Manhattan and this is no time to get cute
Oh, it's a mad man's promenade
It's the New York City serenade
Oh, now, ain't Jackie pretty? Ain't Jackie sweet?
Her faith lies at midnight, between her teeth
Oh, and Jingo's been a good daddy, through all them years
He's kept her in hope and kept her in fear
Lord, he's a lone privateer, working down on the docks
He was born in 1943 and almost died of the shock
Well, now, he drags her to some deep side joint
Where all night long, punks, they rock
Till she falls so softly, just like a child
He cried, "New York City, you're so wild"
In the night air you hear crying
Oh, now, ain't he thin? Lord, but, ain't he fine?
Born on the border of the Kansas line
When he broke into town, in the summer of '63
Swore he'd bust that monster to its knees
Well, folks said he was master of the universe
Some kid said he was holder of the cosmic keys
Oh, and his throat was choked with lightning from a childhood disease
And with a tommy gun blast, it's got 'em running from the streets
Till he lies helpless in Times Square like street scum
He cried, "New York City, kills young", ah
He sighed, "New York City, kills young"
From a tenement window, I heard sighing
Oh, oh, all right
[Spoken outro:] Mm. (chuckles)
Page last updated: 28 May 2012
The above lyrics are for the live 02 Jun 1973 radio performance of NEW YORK
SONG as broadcast on Bethesda's WHFS-FM. The song was played in an arrangement featuring Bruce
Springsteen on acoustic guitar and vocals and Clarence Clemons on saxophone.
The 02 Jun 1973 WHFS-FM Radio Performance
Bruce Springsteen's 02 Jun 1973 radio performance was broadcast live on
Bethesda's WHFS-FM. The show took place at the radio station in Bethesda, MD, and was hosted by DJ
Donald "Cerphe" Colwell, a local radio legend who was one of Springsteen's biggest early
supporters. Colwell also conducted an in-station interview with Bruce during the show.
Springsteen performed five songs on this radio show:
The master tape of this radio performance is is not circulating, but what is
believed to be the complete radio show was taped by a listener and has since circulated among
fans, but the sound quality is only fair.
List of available versions of NEW YORK SONG on this website:
Credits / References
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake). Most of the above
info about this radio performance is taken from | <urn:uuid:e65f7cb5-c733-4913-bd8d-ba7e1e4669c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.springsteenlyrics.com/lyrics/n/newyorksong_1973-06-02.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944292 | 867 | 1.648438 | 2 |
In the world of to-do lists, the golden standard comes from David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done. Inside he details how to manage all of your tasks, sort them out, and accomplish them in a timely fashion. The book is so popular that it’s had multiple printings, and has become the benchmark for other organisation systems.
OmniFocus is designed to take the David Allen GTD system and make it easy to use on your Mac. The software implements the methodology to its core, making it simple to input, prioritise, and review tasks (and much more!) But OmniFocus is more than just a GTD manager—it’s a way to truly organize your life on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Although the basic GTD system isn’t incredibly complicated, it does take a while to get used to. We could spend a good amount of time getting into it (after all, there is a book dedicated to the subject), but instead, check out the flowchart below from OmniFocus’ website. It does a good job of showing the process step by step.
Every task has a context as well. These should be places where you do the task at hand. If you have to make a phone call, then the context could be “Phone.” If it was an e-mail to send, it could be “E-Mail” or “Online,” depending on your personal preference. These contexts are critical to proper organization, because this way if you’re looking for a task to do, you can go to the context and select what actions you can perform.
At first, the GTD methodology may seem complicated, but in practice, it’s quite simple. Just give it a few days, and you’ll be fine.
How OmniFocus Works with GTD
When first starting the system, you want to do a “mind dump”, emptying out all of your ideas and tasks into OmniFocus. When doing so, you want to do it quickly, and just put it into the Inbox for sorting later. OmniFocus makes it super easy to do this, giving you two options for entering things into the system.
First, you can use the program directly, just by clicking on the “Add Action” button. Alternatively, there’s also a quick input method which can be done via keyboard shortcut. Just enter in the task, and if you have time, you can also enter in the Project it needs to go under and the Context. You can also add a date if this needs to be done at a later time.
Once your mind dump is complete, go back through the Inbox in OmniFocus and start sorting out your tasks. Create Projects for tasks that may need multiple steps, making every part of the process an individual task. Then start building your contexts, making it as varied as you like, depending on your preferences. Once again, if you need to assign a due date to a task, you can do so, and you can also flag them if they’re more important than others.
Viewing Your Tasks
Once everything is in the system, now you can see all of your tasks in a variety of different methods. Sort them by project, context, or flagged, just depending on your preference. One of the more important views, is “Due”. This will show you what tasks you have due next by date, or due by priority. If that wasn’t enough, you can also sort your tasks even further by clicking on the View option and narrowing down your choices by specific criteria.
If you have a lot of tasks to do, sometimes it can be difficult to narrow down specifically what you need to work on next. Fortunately, OmniFocus has a feature named – you guessed it – Focus, which opens up a new window dedicated to either one specific context or project. This can be really handy when you don’t want to be distracted by all of the things you’ve got to do, and just want to get one project completed.
Going the Extra Mile
Now the key to this system is being able to enter tasks as quickly and easily as possible. At some point during the day, you’re going to walk away from your computer, and you may have occasion to enter a task with your computer miles away.
To help with that problem, OmniFocus has an iPhone and iPad version, both of which sync with each other seamlessly.
OmniFocus gives you multiple options for syncing as well. If you have a MobileMe account, you can set all of your devices to sync to a folder on your iDisk. You can also use Bonjour or a USB key, depending on whether you’re trying to sync multiple computers or multiple devices. But even better, you can also share your settings by e-mail or Wi-Fi, which makes setting up everything as simple as possible.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention any of the dozens of different options out there for working in the GTD system, all of varying prices. One popular option is Things, which also has iPad and iPhone versions (but still no over-the-air syncing ability available to OmniFocus users). There’s also Firetask (which we recently reviewed), along with the seemingly forever-beta The Hit List . So why choose OmniFocus over these options?
OmniFocus is both powerful and simple at the same time. You can have tasks nested within tasks if necessary, making it easy to organize your system similar to a file hierarchy. But it’s also basic enough to just get the job done, and do the bare minimum.
It’s all about flexibility and ease of use. And if your GTD system isn’t easy to use, then you won’t use it. OmniFocus is by far and away the most faithful representation of this methodology in software format.
I’ve tried dozens of different GTD programs over the years, including Things, which was my favorite until I gave OmniFocus a try. Between the interoperability and syncing options, and the ability to drill down tasks, I can organize projects to my heart’s content. It’s everything I want in a GTD program, without being so complex that you need an engineering degree to figure it out.
It’s not the cheapest option, nor is it the simplest. But it is the best, and for me, it’s the only method I have for getting things done.
Would you like some further reading, and an even more in-depth look at everything that OmniFocus can do? Check out Shawn Blanc’s piece entitled A Sledgehammer Called OmniFocus. It’s a great read! | <urn:uuid:b0f61849-4514-4f41-921d-3ba9bdd38c81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mac.appstorm.net/reviews/productivity-review/omnifocus-the-gtd-system-on-steroids/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949566 | 1,425 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Smelly car? Do something about it
Great car smell inside starts on outside
If you spend time in your car each day, odds are high that you've had this reaction at least once:
"Eww. What's that smell?"
While you can find information about how to get rid of pesky odors such as from smoke or food, there really isn't much information available on the proper way to make a clean car smell great. The truth is, there isn't even consensus that a great-smelling car is that important.
"I can only speak for myself, but I would guess that most car enthusiasts, when asked what kind of smell is good for a car, would roll their eyes and shake their heads," said Paul Pollock, webmaster of Web-Cars.com.
His site has information on getting rid of odors ranging from smoke to rotting meat. In the forums, there are suggestions for getting rid of both, although there isn't consensus on how to get rid of the stale scent of cigarette smoke.
One forum poster named "Buda" said that you must kill the bacteria causing a bad smell to eliminate it.
"This can be done by a number of means," Buda posted. "A biological odor eliminator or, better yet, an ozone generator. Hard to say exactly, but it is a problem that has to be handled by a professional."
In the same forum, "Doug" gathered suggestions from other site contributors. The ideas included sprinkling dry coffee grounds liberally, putting a bag of charcoal in the trunk and applying baking soda to problem spots.
Making cars smell great
Lane Pietro makes it his business to make clean cars smell terrific.
Since 2000, he's been selling car scents online, an extension of his mobile car detailing business, called FastLane, based in the St. Louis area. Pietro said he believes it's important to this generation of commuters to have great-smelling vehicles.
"You've got a younger generation. They have animals. They're smokers. You're going to have a smell lingering around," he said.
So, Pietro offered the 1-2-3 on how to make a car smell great. He said it begins with understanding the two types of car fresheners.
Water-based scents don't have "longevity of smell," Pietro said. These scents last up to three to five days at most. Oil-based scents can last anywhere from a half-month to a month, but they are more expensive, he said.
Pietro said that a car owner will need to do more prep work with a vehicle before using water-based scents to maximize freshness. Drivers who want to mask an odor should look to an oil-based scent.
What smells good to you?
The types of scent one chooses for his or her car is ultimately subjective.
"You could smell something and say, 'That's great,' and then I could smell it and say, 'Are you kidding me?'" Pietro said.
For example, Pietro said he's not a fan of what's considered new-car smell these days. He said the scent has evolved into something that smells more leathery and more plastic than in days gone by. However, variations of new-car and leather are among his most popular scents at LanesCarProducts.com.
That might be deceiving, he said, because most consumers search the Web for scent names with which they're familiar, and new-car and leather scents are well-known.
Best spots for scents
Once a car owner decides on a fragrance, it's fairly common to focus the scent underneath floor mats or seats. However, Pietro explains that the best method of spreading a scent throughout a car begins outside of it.
"Put the scent on the outside of the car by the windshield wipers, on the vents, from the outside, and turn the air conditioner on in the inside," he said.
Pietro said that allows the scent to blow throughout the vehicle evenly.
"Doesn't get anything wet, and it blows out the smell," he said.
These techniques are all dependent on having a clean car to start, Pietro said, meaning those with odors that just won't go away will need to deal with those problems before moving forward. | <urn:uuid:d40eeb05-cf37-4ae9-9f31-80a0fe698063> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clickorlando.com/entertainment/2013-autos/Smelly-car-Do-something-about-it/-/4296138/8557700/-/format/rss_2.0/view/print/-/11ogy80/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976758 | 907 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Things at WTVY news might look a little different.
Wondering why? It's because we're now high def ... But the change didn't happen overnight.
Engineer Ralph Utz said, “Lots of late hours, lot of late nights, lot of early mornings.”
And everything is brand new, from our studio cameras to our control room.
So what does our change mean for your TV?
Chief Engineer Tom Johnson said, “Instead of having black bars on the sides, you fill up the whole screen for the people who have newer televisions.”
The picture on your screen isn't the only thing evolving.
Directors that make our newscasts come to life have seen their jobs change.
Kenneth Pate said, “As a director now you have complete control before you had to rely on other people which wasn't a bad thing but now if a show messes up it's all on the director or the producer.”
On air personalities are seeing clearer pixels, too
Morning Meteorologist Connor Vernon said, “I think in some of the weather stuff we're going to be able to see different levels of clouds than we have before and that will help with our forecast.”
Johnson and engineers have been involved in every step of the transition, but even they say they're stunned at how good it looks
Johnson said, “Once I saw the product in completion even though I’ve been around it the whole time compared to what it used to look like I’m very pleased with what we're presenting to the viewers.”
Utz said, “The color's so much nicer in HD. The picture is so much crisper. The graphics that we use with weather, I think everything just looks a lot more detailed.”
A sharper image for a better newscast.
|Get the ingredients you need to cook with Rach all week long.|
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Classic Pacman, Frogger, Asteroids and more.
Sell almost anything locally. | <urn:uuid:cacc817a-fed5-41f5-b5cd-01d23e1a37c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtvy.com/news/georgia/headlines/Going_HD_157062025.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967033 | 445 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Sake to ME!
I have had this post in my queue for months now, waiting to be written. But I simply won’t write a blog on something I don’t know about or reasonably understand. So I felt even though I love it, writing a blog on Sake without true knowledge of the process or giving it its proper reverence and respect would be a disservice, not only to you and me but to the culture of Sake itself. After much research, talking on multiple occasions to experts in the field, and attending a BRILLIANTLY paired and presented Sake tasting event at Raku I think I am now finally somewhat qualified to wade into the shallow end of Sake-dom.
Sake is much more than a frivolously imbibed libation, it’s a deep seeded part of Japanese culture, dare I say an art even. To me great Sake is Japanese history and precision in a glass. The meticulous effort and precisely grown, prepared and polished special rice called Shinpaku-mai, along with the climate, and specifically chosen water from various regions in Japan is what differentiates the Sake that comes from each Sake house. The Sakes in Northern Japan for example are drier versus the Sakes from Southern Japan which tend to be sweeter, and shows how each region differentiates itself from the other. Or for example the Sake houses that were in Fukushima, will never be the same after the tsunami and earthquake because the water is now forever changed after the waves of salt water and residue left from the nuclear power plant drained into the fresh water system and has now affected much of the water quality in the area.
So, “What is sake, exactly?” you may be asking. Jizake, also known as Sake, is an alcoholic beverage whose traditional origins begin in Japan but is now made in America, Thailand, China and a few other countries. It is made of the Shinpaku-mai rice, water, Koji (a microbial mold) and yeast. Jizake is actually artisan Sake that is microbrewed and handcrafted in small batches, whereas these days Sake is usually machine-produced in large quantities. Sake can be served hot or cold depending on the type/category of Sake being served. There are two categories of Sake: Junmai, which is considered pure and composed of Shinpaku-mai, water, and Koji culture with no other ingredients or additives (such as alcohol or sugar), and Honjozo, where alcohol is added to the sake during the brewing process, and is therefore considered a fortified beverage, kind of like the way port is. In this blog post though we are going to be talking about the Junmai category.
From there, Junmai is further broken down into Ginjo and Daiginjo. The important thing to remember is that what delineates the expensive premium sakes from the less expensive, down to the cheap, bulk sale (usually sushi bar hot Sake is found in that category) is how much the Shinpaku-mai is polished before being made into Sake. The brown Shinpaku-mai used is polished to varying degrees. Junmai for example is polished to 70% – the lower the percentage, the less Seimaibuai (polished rice grain) remains. Ginjo is rice polished down 40% or more and DaiGinjo 50% or more. The more the Shinpaku-mai is polished down, the more expensive the Sake it makes.
After the Seimaibuai gets to the desired percentage it is then washed and soaked. When the Toji (brewmaster) determines it’s ready, the Seimaibuai is steamed, then cooled. One of three kinds of Koji (black, green or white) is then added. Once the Koji microbial mold is added, the rice blend is now called Koji.
The Koji and yeast starter (which has a big affect on the aroma of the finished Sake), is added to the brewing water, and the resulting mixture or main mash is called Moromi. At this point the fermenting process is more like brewing beer than wine making, the Moromi first converts from a rice starch to sugar, and then ferments into alcohol. What differentiates Sake from other fermented beverages is that the two brewing processes, saccharization and fermentation, occur simultaneously (multiple parallel fermentation). When fermentation is completed, the Sake is pressed from the rice solids which separates the Moromi into fresh Sake and Sake cakes. The newly made Sake is then filtered, pasteurized and stored in steel tanks for 3-6 months before bottling. It usually ends up containing 15-19% alcohol, and is then shipped off for sale.
Sakes are rated on a Nihonshu-Do or Sake meter from dry to sweet, starting from zero (the neutral position) going up into the positive – being drier – and down into the negative – for sweeter.
There are several wonderful cold Sakes to get started with. Some of my favorites are Kikusui, or in English, “Chrysanthemum Water” which is a Junmai Ginjo, has a more neutral Nihonshu-Do and is very floral and fruity while being very smooth – a great “go to” sake. Sho Chiku Bai Ginjo, which is also a Junmai Ginjo though it’s a little drier with a Nihonshu-Do +5, is also a nice smooth Sake. Yuki No Bosha, the English translation being “Cabin in the Snow,” is another Junmai Ginjo with a Nihonshu-Do +1, and is light and soft with hints of fruit.
The Gekkeikan company makes two very nice Sakes: Black and Gold, a Junmai-shu, it rates at a Nihonshu-Do +0 while being a nice full bodied Sake and a great value for the money. And then my new favorite and one I’m going to have to get more in depth in another blog posting, their Ultra Premium Horin which is a Junmai Daiginjo, and a Nihonshu-Do +2 – so smooth and flowery it’s literally like drinking floral water. But be careful, it goes down like water too!
And lastly if you are feeling daring, you can always try Michinoku Onikoroshi also known as “The Demon Slayer”. According to my friend Chie it is so named because it’s SO dry that even a Demon will die of thirst after drinking it. This is a Jizake Honjozo, that has some fruit and spice on the nose and comes in at Nihonshu-Do +10.
There are so many wonderful Sake’s out there and even more to know about Sake that I couldn’t fit in this blog. But at least when I blog more about them you will have an understanding of the process that goes into production.
“It is the man who drinks the first bottle of Saké; then the second bottle drinks the first, and finally it is the Saké that drinks the man.”
I’d like to thank these websites for their help in writing this blog: | <urn:uuid:3ebd495d-4576-4239-b679-b3a91a0304dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shedrinksheeats.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/sake-to-me/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954303 | 1,556 | 1.75 | 2 |
Posted by Cressa on August 07, 2002 at 14:24:31:
Hello.I need help and can't find any! I live in Wisconsin and we are trying to grow cilantro from the 3" seed plants bought from a nursery. Within 1 week it was 2 feet tall. I now understand it went to seed and am planning on harvesting the seeds. But, can I just cut the plant to the ground and will it grow again? Thanks for any help! | <urn:uuid:3474a64b-3513-448a-9424-ec8d8305ce6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.backyardgardener.com/hostasboard/messages/227.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983342 | 98 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Multispecies fishing for exotic fish off northern Baja never makes any real official announcement. It merely trickles in with a few dorado caught here, a few yellowfin tuna there, maybe a bigeye tuna, too.
What happens next, though, in the speed of swimming fish in warming water, is these exotic species gather, often on the same kelp paddy. They'll chase the same bait as yellowtail, albacore and bluefin, and they'll move north toward San Diego with the current and warmer water.
Albacore, bluefin, yellowtail, dorado and yellowfin tuna – that's the San Diego offshore slam right now. And Thursday afternoon Capt. Andy Cates on the Red Rooster III found a kelp paddy for his anglers that held four of the five species, missing only a bluefin for the San Diego Offshore Slam.
“That was a first for us this season,” deckhand Tom Ferrari said.
Suddenly, the Red Rooster III's spacious deck was full of chaos as the exotics were bounced aboard by the anglers on a 1½-day trip.
It's mid-July, but the ocean is warming – over 68 degrees at 165 miles Thursday – and showing signs of early fall fishing. When albacore, bluefin and yellowtail showed up at 60 miles off San Diego last weekend, a struggling season suddenly looked more promising for one-day boats. But yesterday, after a week of up-and-down seas and weather, the Point Loma docks were full of idle open-party sportfishing passenger vessels.
Business is not good and won't get better if albacore disappear, which they seem to be doing. The hope is that kelp paddies soon get backfilled with these exotics, and a season can be made on them.
But tough fishing isn't the only limiting factor right now. Weather also has roiled the seas. The same crew that put together a great 1½-day fishing trip for more than 150 fish for 33 anglers Thursday on the Red Rooster III, struggled on the previous 1½-day trip because of high seas.
“The weather kicked up again out there today,” Cates told his anglers yesterday morning before the boat's arrival at the dock. “You guys really hit it right.”
Cates made it happen because he opted to take the run to its outermost limit, 160 miles southwest of Point Loma, and still make it back to port by late morning for a quick turnaround for another 1½-day trip. He fished mostly with boats on multiday runs. Their captains stopped the boats at the offshore grounds for a piece of the multispecies action. We saw the Royal Polaris, on a five-day trip.
On our last stop of the day, we landed 33 albacore in less than half an hour, but it was 5:30 p.m. and, unfortunately, time to make the 14-hour or so haul back to port. The other long-range boats fished until dark.
This was the middle 1½-day trip of a series of three that opened up when a five-day charter was canceled because of the struggling economy.
As more and more multiday excursions are canceled because of economic woes, or worse, lack of fish, look for boats like the Red Rooster III, the Qualifier 105 and others to add 1½-day or 2-day trips to fill their schedules. It's a matter of survival for the boat owners, and anglers benefit from it. | <urn:uuid:d4451b9e-8259-476b-898e-ac4df13f611d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2009/jul/18/1s18outdoors215633-kelp-paddies-full-exotics-keep-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965005 | 758 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The summer sun is for more than heating your favorite swimming spot. Right about now, a few lucky residents of Joint Base Andrews are harvesting the fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers they planted and are tending in raised beds as part of a community gardens program launched last year.
“The community garden is my baby, something I’d envisioned when I got here three years ago,” said Greg Ramirez, Liberty Park at Andrews’ community outreach and marketing director. “I’m ecstatic that even in this heat, they’re very dedicated.”
Within a chain-link fence on Washington Street, 34 raised garden beds showcase the efforts of a group of JBA residents. Some residents have just one small bed, while others care for several areas busting with green growth and luscious produce. The garden beds come with basic soil, although some gardeners bring compost and other soil improvers to the garden; there are also hoses available, to make watering easy no matter where your assigned plot is.
Jessica and Neil Percifull bring their sons Austen, 7, and Riley, 2, to the garden several times a week to care for the plants. The boys enjoy watering the gardenand each otherbut when the garden starts to feel like work they romp in an adjacent playground, close enough to be within easy sight of their parents. So far, the garden usually keeps their attention, and has even started to teach the boys about the natural world. Riley chases butterflies as Austen explains to adults that the bees, while they might sting, are also good for pollenating the plants his family tends.
The younger Percifull is even branching out to try new foods, made more familiar through weeks of growth in the garden.
“Austen will eat pretty much anything. Riley likes fruitnot so much vegetables, but since we started the garden he’ll eat the squash,” said Jessica Percifull.
The Percifulls started their garden to save money on groceries, while ensuring they know just what they’re putting in the family’s meals. This summer, their garden has yielded cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, basil, eggplant, “and lots of weeds,” Jessica Percifull said. Strawberries did well early in the season, but have not been as successful under the long streak of high temperatures our area has experienced for the past few weeks. The Percifulls are planning to continue gardening through the fall, planting broccoli and other cool-weather crops once their summer garden has reached its peak.
It’s not always about food, though.
Shirley Wheeler’s five plots include mounds of fast-growing herbs, including several varieties of basil, even though she does not usually cook with them.
“I grow mostly for the scent. I hadn’t even heard of pesto until I brought in some of my basil to the office,” Wheeler said. “Everyone was saying, ‘Pesto! Pesto!’ I’ll have to give it a try.”
Wheeler is also growing cabbage, for the beauty of the plants, more than their taste; corn, a crop she found disappointing this year; and melons, among other produce, in her garden. At home, her yard is full of growing plants, as well.
“My garden at the house is all colorful flowers. I wake up in the morning before work and I just look out the window, down at all the colors. I love the colors,” Wheeler said. “Sometimes it almost makes me late for work.”
Wheeler said she has always had a garden bursting with color and scent. She enjoys the time outside, and the creativity, and the beauty of the results. She’s considering planting pumpkins for a fall harvest.
“A pie! You could make pumpkin pie!” said Austen Percifull.
“You could make a pie, if you’re so bold,” Wheeler replied. “I’ll just paint eyes on my pumpkins and set them out for Halloween.”
Though all the garden plots have been assigned for this season, some gardeners may still be able to claim a spot for fall, when current users wrap up their growing season and reclaim their security deposit. Some gardeners sign on for just a season, while others are happy to extend the growing season for as long as it lasts, and return again in earliest spring, for as long as they stay at JBA. And there are always a few envious passersby, who stop to talk and say that they hope to have plots of their own, soon. Ramirez said that the property management company is considering expanding the program at the Washington Street location or adding a second community garden area somewhere else within base housing, in response to the demand. | <urn:uuid:8281ac8c-3e4c-497d-9b00-bc7504f0f68e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dcmilitary.com/article/20120720/NEWS09/707209914/growing-food-flowers-and-families | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967235 | 1,030 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Just days after opening Senses, his San Francisco bistro, Teo Kridech clicked onto the World Wide Web only to find that his dream business was considered an overnight flop.
"Senses is like a botched face lift covered with layers of poorly applied cheap make-up on a hot humid day in Biloxi, Miss.," one poster wrote on the Web site Yelp.
"The food is crap," yelped another.
They mocked the "cheap porcelain plates," they ripped the "little butter dish from Ikea," and they derided the decor and staff.
The posts "nearly killed my business," said Kridech, a native of France who has worked in the food industry for 25 years and spent $150,000 revamping the Senses space. "Everyone has become a food critic. They think they're real big shots. They probably can't even make scrambled eggs.
"My wife and children eat here every day," he continued. "Do you think I would serve them disgusting food?"
If you think restaurant critics from mainstream newspapers, television and magazines are tough on the food industry, you haven't spent much time in cyberspace. Online message boards, gossip columns, city restaurant guides and food blogs are proliferating and having a profound influence on where consumers spend their eating dollars. The once-genteel discipline of restaurant reviewing has turned into a free-for-all, celebrated by some as a new-world democracy but seen by others as populist tyranny.
Many restaurateurs say these amateur critics don't even give them time to press the wrinkles out of their table linens before posting negative write-ups. They long for the days when they had to contend only with mainstream critics, who generally wait at least 30 days before reviewing a restaurant so chefs and staff could work out the glitches.
But, bloggers believe they are doing a public service. Eating out is costly, they say, so why shouldn't buyers be forewarned before plunking down good money?
"Some would make the argument that you shouldn't open a business unless you're ready," said Nish Nadaraja, marketing director for Yelp, the San Francisco-based online service guide that has a message board for readers to write reviews.
Besides, weighs in Jane Goldman, editor of San Francisco's Chow, an online food magazine that includes Chowhound message boards, early publicity creates instant buzz for a restaurant that might otherwise languish, waiting for the local newspaper to write about it.
The postings are the same as passing on information through word of mouth, but amplified, Nadaraja said. More than 2.8 million people clicked on Yelp last month, according to company executives.
"There's a depth of obsessiveness in these blogs that's making them fun to read, and they can have instant impact on a restaurant," said David Kamp, author of "United States of Arugula," a book about the evolution of the American food culture.
To change with the times, restaurateurs are doing what any smart businessperson does -- listening to their critics. They're also wining and dining powerful Internet food writers.
"Right now, there are 10 restaurants off the top of my head that want me to come in," said Marcia Gagliardi, who says Tablehopper, her San Francisco online newsletter of restaurant gossip and reviews, has grown sixfold in circulation since she started it a year ago. The weekly letter features gossip and reviews, and Gagliardi said she also makes as many as 200 restaurant recommendations a month to e-mailers, giving owners and chefs even more reason to curry her favor.
Sam Breach, who works as a technical artist by day and writes her popular blog Becks & Posh by night, has become a dining-out celebrity of sorts. Her training: "eating food every day for the past 40 years," she says.
Publicists are reaching out to her with invitations and incentives to come to their clients' restaurants. Breach doesn't believe in accepting free meals, but many bloggers have no qualms about it. The code of ethics from the Association of Food Journalists, an organization for professionals, prohibits reviewers from taking freebies. But bloggers have no such restrictions.
Kridech said he begged Yelp staffers to have a complimentary meal at Senses, hoping that would turn the tide for his restaurant. Instead, he says, Yelp offered to sell him an ad in which a positive posting -- including a line from the restaurant thanking the reviewer for the kind words and noting that the business is a sponsor of the site -- is placed above all other critiques. But Kridech thought it was extortion.
Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp co-founder and CEO, said in an e-mail, "We think it's a fun way for businesses to offer kudos to a customer that has said wonderful things on their behalf." He added that businesses can also use the free messaging feature to defend their reputation.
That's little consolation for Kridech, who says his restaurant is really struggling. At one point, he considered suing.
Fat chance of that being successful, says Palo Alto lawyer Ian Ballon, author of "E-commerce and Internet Law," who says bloggers and message board posters have wide latitude in expressing their opinions.
"The First Amendment extends exceptionally broad protection," he said. "You have to knowingly disseminate false information for the purpose of harming the business to cross the line. As long as it's an opinion, it's constitutionally protected."
In Los Angeles, Eater LA blog writer Lesley Balla is putting another restaurant on "Death Watch," a prediction of how long it will take for a particularly beleaguered place to bite the dust. The jibe isn't exactly good for business, Balla acknowledged.
"It definitely took me awhile to embrace the death watch," she said. "I'd get calls from angry restaurant owners. What I say is, 'We don't condone the death; we're just talking about the watch.' "
The widely read blog, part of the real estate/neighborhood Web site Curbed, is headed north. Set to launch in the Bay Area this spring, Eater SF will follow its counterparts in New York and Los Angeles by reporting on restaurant openings and closings, and poking fun at mainstream reviewers.
But Michael Bauer, The Chronicle's restaurant critic and executive food and wine editor, doesn't believe he'll be out of a job any time soon.
"I do think the traditional critic still has the most singular influence, but the playing field has been leveled significantly with sites such as Chowhound, Yelp, Citysearch and even Zagat," he said. "No longer does the newspaper have a lock on the information. It keeps us all on our toes."
One way to compete is to enter the competitor's turf. Bauer, like many mainstream critics, recently started a blog, and his reviews are available online.
Frank Bruni, the New York Times restaurant critic (and blogger), also welcomes the online reviewers to the party.
"The experience of restaurants is so subjective that it can be hugely helpful to readers and consumers to have more voices, more judgments they can factor into their dining decisions," Bruni wrote in an e-mail. "But I don't think these blogs are diminishing the roles of traditional critics too much, in the sense that traditional critics have a sort of constancy of approach and a set of privileges that keep their work distinct."
Ben Leventhal, food blogger and editorial director of Curbed New York, agrees. Leventhal said consumers like the Internet because of its immediacy -- 15 minutes after a restaurant opens, reviews are showing up in cyberspace. But consumers getting ready to shell out major bucks will still turn "to the Michael Bauers and Frank Brunis of the world."
Ed Levine, owner of several Bay Area restaurants, including five Left Bank locations, has suffered his share of criticism, online and in print. But it was the Yelp reviews of his newest venture, Tanglewood, when it opened in San Jose last year, that really got to him.
"The consistent theme was that our portions were small," said Levine, who was initially annoyed, but decided to look at the reviews constructively. "It was actually very (productive) feedback, even though it was made in a not-so-positive way."
Levine went back into the kitchen and told the chef to put more food on the plate. "Now we do a whole roasted chicken," he said.
When the reviews said the service was too slow, Levine spent a week fine-tuning.
Not that he sees online critiques as above reproach. "I think a lot of people who go on these sites have an agenda," he said. "So I don't take everything at face value."
When a poster gave him only one star, Levine said he wrote back and asked to talk with the writer about what he was doing wrong. Suddenly, Tanglewood was elevated to three stars, with the poster saying he liked the owner's attitude, according to Levine. He does admit, though, that when he goes out of town, he uses Yelp to find a restaurant.
Victoria Libin, co-owner of San Francisco's A16, also uses Internet reviews as a guide. If a dish is consistently weak on flavor, or a server tries to sell too hard, a pattern will emerge in the comments.
"Then we can fix it," Libin said. "But if it's an isolated incident, just a random complaint about this or that, then I don't bother."
Jennifer Tsang, a 24-year-old associate marketing manager for a San Francisco nonprofit, says she scrolls the Web regularly to check out the restaurant scene.
"If a restaurant only gets one star, I won't go," she said.
She recently went to Yelp to look up an Ethiopian place where a friend's birthday party was to be held. The reviews -- not so good. If it had been her choice, she probably would have gone elsewhere. It turned out, she said, that the restaurant was much better than the Yelp reviews had indicated.
Ed Moser, a 26-year-old San Francisco account executive for a public relations firm, says he, too, relies on Internet reviews and occasionally writes them himself.
"I know a lot of people put a lot of credibility into what normal people say," he said. "So if I have a good experience, I like to post. I like to see good restaurants stay in business."
This week's question:
What's your primary means of deciding what restaurants to try?
-- Diner reviews on the Web are the way to go.
-- Reviews by established food critics are only ones I trust.
-- Word of mouth from faces I can see.
-- If a joint is usually busy and I'm hungry, I'll be the judge.
Vote at sfgate.com/polls
Last week's results:
Do you like the concept of unregulated political advertising on the Web?
-- Yes. We should all have the right to make our point.24%
-- No. Dirty election tactics will reach new depths.76%
Total votes: 454 | <urn:uuid:74997d69-b4b9-4f08-801b-bcf78de25b57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/Food-bloggers-dish-up-plates-of-spicy-criticism-2607811.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978451 | 2,325 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Banksy? 15 June 2009Posted by Irish Street Art in Featured Street Artist, International Street Art.
Tags: Banksy, Brisol, London, Video
The video below gives us a glimpse into Banksy’s recent exhibition in Bristol. These days Banksy is controversial for more than just his awe inspiring work. When we approached one local for directions when touring through Southbank in search of a few Banksys a while back, we were asked “Why would you bother look now, isn’t Banksy just another sell-out?” A bit despondent by the reaction of the Londoner’s lack of enthusiasm for one of our heroes we wandered through a tunnel under the Queen Elizabeth Hall that once was home to a banksy piece. Frustratingly, the piece had since been painted over but we wouldn’t be let down by the rest of the street art on show. You couldn’t but marvel at the crazy collection of ideas, styles and themes from writers from all over the globe.
Many feel that Banksy no longer sits comfortably with his peers in the underground street art movement. Seeing his books being sold in high street chains can be a bit unsettling. Saying that, his growth in stature has brought the guerrilla art movement into the public spotlight and that can only be a good thing. One thing is for certain, Banksy isn’t the only artist in the world pushing boundaries at the moment. | <urn:uuid:b6b5915b-bb0a-4b81-8dcc-bc7daf6f9a26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://irishstreetart.com/2009/06/15/banksy-ireland-graffiti-exhibition-bristol/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963503 | 300 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The noted Mashgiach Rabbi Don Segal told the following story involving Rabbi Chaim Brim, a mechutan of Maran HaRav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv ztz”l, at one of the many hespedim delivered during the latter’s shiva. In the early days of the State, Rabbi Brim and his chavrusah used to travel daily from Jerusalem to Bnei Brak to learn. Over time, many Yerushalmim began to send inquiries with the two young men to the Chazon Ish.
One day, Rabbi Brim apologized to the Chazon Ish for all the time they were taking from his Torah study by the various inquiries, many of which were not specifically halachic in nature. The Chazon Ish replied that answering those inquiries did not detract from his Torah learning, but rather increased it. Success in Torah learning, he explained, is not derived from the same input as in other chochmos (intellectual disciplines); it depends on the neshamah of the one learning. And when one helps his fellow Jew, he expands his neshamah, and is therefore able to absorb more Torah.
With this insight, I was finally able to understand a story about the Chazon Ish related by Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz in his book, In Their Shadows. I am greatly moved by this story and have told it over many times, but I never fully understood it.
The Chazon Ish’s personal doctor once told him about an elderly patient hospitalized in one of the Tel Aviv-area hospitals whom no one ever came to visit, and whose health was being adversely affected by his loneliness. The next day when the doctor made his rounds in the hospital he found the Chazon Ish sitting at the patient’s bed conversing with him.
What has always puzzled me was why the Chazon Ish — who was famed for learning until the last ounce of energy had been drained from him — did not just ask someone else to make the arduous trip by bus to comfort the elderly patient. Dozens could have easily been found who would have been eager for the mitzvah, as well as to do the Chazon Ish’s bidding, and time lost from study would have been felt far less intensely by many of them. Yet the Chazon Ish apparently viewed the opportunity to do chesed with a fellow Jew that had been presented to him as too valuable to pass up — because it wasn’t a contradiction to his Torah learning, but rather a boost to it.
The story related by Rav Segal contains at least two profound lessons. The first is how radically different the study of Torah is from any other body of knowledge. As Rabbi Chaim Volozhin stresses in Nefesh Chaim, “Through the study of Torah [alone] one cleaves to the Divine Will.” The Ramchal in Derech Hashem points out that the study of Torah is unique in its power to transform the student. Other forms of knowledge, even when they contain knowledge that is “accurate and valuable” have no potential “to incorporate any significant excellence into the soul of the [student] and absolutely no power to rectify Creation.”
The Chazon Ish adds that Torah study not only has the power to transform the neshamah, but that the neshamah is the vessel through which the Torah enters — the more capacious the neshamah, the more Torah can enter. That observation parallels the insight of Rav Cham Vital, which we quoted recently, that the middos shared by the talmidim of Avraham Avinu are not commanded by the Torah because they are a precondition for the acceptance of the Torah.
Anyone who has spent time in yeshivos has noticed the very imperfect correlation between superior intellect and growth in Torah learning. Even those blessed with a quick grasp and analytical clarity are far from guaranteed success. And many who were classified as of ordinary abilities transform themselves into scholars of great depth. I have always felt that the manner in which the Torah only reveals its secrets to those who thirst for them is one of the proofs of its Divine source.
But the Chazon Ish is also telling us something important about the nature of the soul: it is capable of expansion. And chesed towards others is a primary means of that expansion. As physical beings, we are delimited by our bodies. But as neshamos, we are capable of connecting to others, of overflowing our boundaries.
Everything referred to in Judaism as a simchah involves an aspect of joining together — at a bris, the infant male is joint to the covenant of Avraham Avinu; at bar or bas mitzvah, a Jew becomes a full-fledged member of Knesses Yisrael; and in marriage, two become one.
Every ma’aseh chesed connects our soul to another’s. By expanding the ambit of our concern, we expand our “I,” our neshamah. (Joyfulness in Lashon HaKodesh is expressed as overflow: When Chazal describe a heaping measure, for instance, they do so in terms of smiling — e.g., a tefach socheik.)
Hashem, Who is pure spirit, is referred to as HaGadol because every aspect of Creation, down to a single blade of grass, is in His purview. The more people we bring within our purview, the more neshamadik we become. And, as the Chazon Ish teaches us, the purer the vessel of our neshamah is for the receipt of Torah.
Chick-fil-A[YH1] and Us
Orthodox Jews should take note of the warnings recently issued by Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel that the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain would not be welcome to open new branches in their cities — take note and tremble. Chick-fil-A’s crime? Its president, Tom Cathy, told a Baptist paper in North Carolina, “We are very supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give G-d thanks for that.” Hardly sentiments that would stir much controversy in one’s local Orthodox shul.
Indeed, Cathy’s support for the biblical definition of the family unit is in line with the views of the majority, albeit a rapidly declining one, of Americans and — at least prior to President Obama’s recent evolution on the issue — of every American president. The Defense of Marriage Act enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton buttresses the traditional definition of the basic family unit. In every state in which the issue of the definition of marriage has been submitted to the voters in a referendum — over twenty so far — proponents of change from the traditional definition have been defeated.
Yet in recent years, political and media elites and many university speech codes have delegitimized the views of a large majority of Americans and treated them as beyond the realm of permissible discourse. Most alleged violations of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech are mislabeled because they involve no government action. But when mayors — i.e., the government — explicitly threaten to discriminate against private citizens on the basis of their views, whether religious or not, then the government’s abridgment of freedom of speech, thought, and religion is blatant. At least as of today, there is no political correctness exception to the First Amendment.
Fortunately, it does appear that the guardians of political correctness acknowledge a religious exemption to their strictures. Unfortunately, that exemption does not apply to Jews and Christians (unless they are black preachers). Only to Muslims. As Michael Graham pointed out in the Boston Herald, the same Mayor Menino who threatened to stymie Chick-fil-A at every turn proudly participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new mosque of the Islamic Society of Boston, one of whose trustees is Yusuf-al-Qaradawi. Qaradawi was also once feted by London’s far-left mayor Ken Livingstone, even though it appears that his views on the social groups said to be “dissed” by Cathy are not that enlightened. They are, however, nuanced: He has said that he is not sure whether they should be burned to death or tossed off of high buildings; he is tolerant of either opinion.
Careful Where You Eat
For five years, Yechiel Spira has been running a kashrus bulletin called Jerusalem Kosher News, the primary purpose of which is to alert the kosher consumer to various pitfalls for the unwary when purchasing foodstuffs or eating out in Jerusalem. He is a serious and knowledgeable observer of the kashrus scene engaged in an important educational endeavor l'sheim Shamayim.
The most recent report is of such moment that I feel it is important to share his findings with the many Mishpacha readers who will soon be eating out in Jerusalem. His conclusion: One should not rely on the kashrus certification of the Jerusalem Rabbinate (Jerusalem has been without a chief rabbi for over a decade), even if it specifies mehadrin. The report contains both a laundry list of instances of the lack of proper supervision and many examples of serious kashrus violations in establishments operating under the mehadrin hechsher of the Jerusalem Rabbinate.
After Spero issued his warning, the rabbis in charge of kashrus supervision on behalf of the Jerusalem Rabbinate sought a meeting. That meeting left Spero convinced of their good intentions, awareness of the problems, and determination to improve matters. But in the meantime, the warning remains in effect.
It must be emphasized that JKN does not claim that there are no kosher restaurants to be found in Jerusalem. Just that one should not rely exclusively on the certificate of the Jerusalem Rabbinate without further information. | <urn:uuid:a93769cf-af46-4eed-a7ee-5d8e178a6b2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/2313/How-to-Expand-the-Vessel-- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969958 | 2,097 | 1.617188 | 2 |
As the children ran from the ceremonial hut, their cheerful screams and laughter nearly drowned out the calls and screeches of the many colorful birds high above in the tree canopy that enveloped their small village. This was not a day for hunting, gathering or any of the usual tribal chores. Rather, it was a day of restoration for body and soul; an opportunity to ignore the burdens of life in the rain forest and for children to be…well, children.
Aleki, a boy who—in the “civilized” world—might be celebrating his eighth birthday with cake and candles, was now leading the charge along damp and lushly vegetated trails. Many bare feet slapped against the well-trod forest floor and the children’s dark ebony skin glistened from the humid air. Aleki would soon endure the trials and rituals that would elevate him into tribal manhood; but, for now, he was simply the eldest man-child and the accepted leader of the little band of adolescent forest dwellers.
The children showed no fear as they ran through territory frequented by predatory cats and sharp-tusked boars. The purity of their joy and happiness was evident on each of their faces and the volume of their excited chatter increased as they rounded every familiar turn in the trail. Aleki was first to reach their destination and the first to cast his body into the clear, cool water that filled the basin below a towering falls. He took several submerged strokes, finally breaking the surface and turning to watch as his friends raucously entered the water behind him.
Had Christianity yet reached this hidden corner of the world, the missionaries would surely find difficulty in deciding whether this place was more like the Garden of Eden, or Heaven itself. Every fern leaf, hanging vine and bright flower seemed perfect. Though laden with moisture, the air was absent of any form of pollutant. Even the children’s interactions displayed no flaws; not even the slightest hint at any of the behavioral impurities of humankind. No greed. No envy. No animosity. Just the mutual respect and love that their tribe had practiced for as long as even the eldest of elders could remember.
All was tranquil as the children alternately swam below the falls, climbed the mossy cliff face and impressed one another with their leaps and dives from ever increasing heights. Aleki, establishing a new personal height record above the pool, was about to mimic a swooping boobook owl when a loud shriek caused all the children to stop and turn toward its source. Horror quickly spread as a small girl was being dragged into the thick forest by a very large black cat. Additional screams ensued as the other children scrambled to distance themselves from the attacker. Some sought refuge toward the middle of the pool; others climbed higher up the cliff face aside the falling water. Aleki stood frozen; torn between the impulse to pursue the predator and its prey, and the instinct of self-preservation.
Instinct won the boy over and Aleki ducked behind the powerful downward stream of water. There, in the dark sanctuary, he felt his way along the polished rock wall, searching for a wider ledge upon which to stand. Reaching above his head, Aleki located a deep indentation and with two hands hoisted his slender body up onto the shelf.
Pushing backward, away from the rushing falls, he suddenly found himself sliding downward into a thickening darkness. The smooth and wet rock quickly gave way to rougher surfaces with sharp edges. Aleki franticly tried to halt his descent; his shoulders striking a large outcropping, sending him tumbling into the opposite wall of the shaft. He bounced again, rolled and struck his head hard against a solid surface as he continued his fall.
Despite his panic, two thoughts ripped through Aleki’s mind. The first: it was becoming increasingly warm the further he fell. The second: he hoped not to fall into whatever was causing the growing, repulsive stench around him. Then Aleki’s world went completely black. Sadly, it did not remain so.
As Aleki slowly regained consciousness, he became aware of the many contusions he had suffered during his fall. Every part of his body hurt. He cried out, not from the pain of his many injuries, but from the horrible, sulfuric smell that surrounded him. Accustomed to the sweet scents of the tropical forest, this new odor gave Aleki a sense of death and despair; emotions mostly unfamiliar to him. He resisted the urge to vomit.
Next came the awareness of intense heat; dry, like that cast off the rocks his people used to cook food in their pit ovens. Aleki felt his skin and no sweat oozed from his pores. He then blinked several times and moved a hand in front of his eyes. Was he blind? Eventually he thought he could see a faint image of his hand. It was difficult to tell. He decided to try to sit up.
As he sat in the dark place—whatever and wherever the place was—Aleki continued to regain all of his senses. The pain was bad; the smell repulsive. And then he heard the sounds. Seemingly far off, Aleki became aware of voices. But as he concentrated to determine the direction of the source, he wanted to cover his ears. What he heard was indecipherable as a language, but the misery and torment being expressed was very clear. Aleki decided he was in a very bad place and another unfamiliar emotion filled his mind…extreme fear.
He stood; knees wobbly and off balance. Aleki reached out, hesitantly and painfully taking a step toward the sounds. He realized that he could, indeed, see his hand and a faint pinkish light reflected off the rock walls a few feet ahead. He took more tentative steps and soon reached the edge of a very deep pit. Woozy and beginning to shake uncontrollable, what he saw down the pit made Aleki drop to his knees.
Far below, seemingly a distance that would measure from his village to the waterfall where this horrifying experience began, Aleki could see what appeared to be hundreds—maybe thousands—of people clamoring and clawing within a fiery cauldron. Their voices of pain and agony rose up to him and, this time, he did cover his ears. A feeling of dread and helplessness overwhelmed Aleki. He wanted to turn and escape; the way he had when the large cat captured and dragged the little girl into the forest. But then his eyes caught additional movement within the vast pit and the raw terror rendered him unable to move.
Aleki and his tribe shared the rain forest with the many different birds and animals. But he had never seen anything like the creatures that clung to the walls of the pit between him and the cauldron filled with burning people. They were vile and disgusting; large and small; hideous and hateful and threatening. And, worst of all, they were each looking up at Aleki. No, not just looking. They were reaching, obsessed with his presence; waiting for him to tumble down in their direction. And before he knew it, he was leaning over the pit, somehow drawn to them.
With all his remaining strength, Aleki pushed away from the pit. In one motion he rose to his feet, turned away from the creatures and the burning people and, in the darkness, ran head first into the rock wall.
Water. Aleki was aware of the sound of water rushing past him; and the coolness of the air and mist that washed over his body. He was thirsty, his mouth very dry. He suddenly yearned for clear, cold water. Aleki opened his eyes and realized that he was back on the rocky ledge behind the falls. He couldn’t remember how he got there.
Aleki stood, muscles aching, the memory of his fall a hazy shadow in the back of his mind. He reached out and cupped water, drinking it quickly. Then…voices, from below and over the roaring sound of the falls. Not evil or tormented, but familiar. Aleki cautiously stepped along the ledge and covered his eyes as he emerged into daylight.
There, gathered around the pool were his people! He spotted his mother and his father and called out to them.
“Moomba! Gaapa!” he cried. “Tapa, Aleki!”
Everyone below looked up. And began to scream.
“Gonoo! Gonoo!” they screamed. “Gonoo Aleki!”
The people ran in all directions, disappearing into the thick forest. Even his mother and father ran. Aleki was confused and afraid. Why were they calling him a ghost?
Aleki dove into the pool and as he climbed out he noticed his hand. His skin was no longer the dark, rich ebony of his people. It was white. He leaned over the water in the pool and looked at his reflection. The boy staring back, mouth drawn open and ready to scream, was completely white. Like a ghost. | <urn:uuid:38f1d2c6-5748-41f8-80c2-f4b6e82370ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://authorsden.com/visit/viewShortStory.asp?AuthorID=76418&id=35514 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987764 | 1,880 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Brier Dudley's Blog
Brier Dudley offers a critical look at technology and business issues affecting the Northwest.
July 21, 2008 9:52 AM
Posted by Brier Dudley
I thought I was the cheapskate, until I saw how Seattle startups are trying to save money nowadays.
They're getting especially creative when it comes to coffee, the fuel that powers a lot of software development around here ...
Some are buying their own espresso machines; others are cadging free coffee. One consultant has resorted to diluting her morning cup in a water bottle so it lasts all day.
The question is whether these are desperate moves by companies on the edge, or evidence of creativity and innovation that will help them survive the downturn.
Everyone's feeling the squeeze. Google's watching its capital expenses, and Nathan Kaiser's switching from $4 lattes to drip coffee — or water.
Kaiser, founder of Seattle recruiting and networking venture nPost, started the conversation last week. On his blog and an e-mail list for Seattle startups, he noted that gas is getting expensive, but his fancy coffee is running $36 per gallon.
"Many meetings happen in coffee shops, where a typical coffee costs $4. Times that by 2-3 meetings per day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month, you get the idea," he wrote, asking fellow entrepreneurs to share ideas on how they're cutting costs.
Kaiser said he's saving money by using free, online productivity tools; haggling with insurance and phone companies; and lowering Web hosting costs.
But people perked up when he raised the coffee question. Kaiser's tip for people facing the daily grind of coffee-shop meetings:
"Drink water. Don't get a cup of coffee. If you must, get a drip coffee or even a hot or iced tea. Save 100% to 50% off the cost of a latte."
Geeky java enthusiasts in the startup community chimed in.
Brian Myers, vice chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest, suggested buying an espresso machine -- even though his return-on-investment calculations suggest home-brewed drinks cost around $30 per gallon.
"But looking at it another way, a cappuccino is about $0.50 for coffee plus about a nickel for the milk, versus $3 at my favorite cafe," he wrote. "A couple a day and after a year an espresso machine looks like it has an ROI that will beat most startups."
Another suggested buying a bag of nice coffee beans for the office, then refilling it with cheaper beans from a place like Trader Joe's.
Startup veteran Mark Maunder contributed several good tips.
One was to have a chief financial officer who carefully reviews expenses. He was recently going to buy a new server, but his CFO suggested he first inventory the existing servers and their capacity. During that process, he found a $3,500 machine sitting idle, saving him the cost of a new one.
Maunder figured that his 50-milliliter espresso shots at Umbria have been running 4304 per gallon, including tips. He suggested that people try sweet-talking the manager of Peet's in Redmond, where he's been able to get quarter-pound sample bags of the store's best coffees free.
"Just send a new employee each time," he joked.
At stealthy Seattle startup Fridge Door, an Aerobie coffee press has easily paid for itself, and "we can all tell the difference between coffee with 'crisp cup character' and 'brooding fruited notes,' " co-founder Logan Bowers wrote.
If you just want a cheap jolt, consider this tip from corporate-efficiency consultant Marina Martin.
She switched to an iced espresso concoction — a blend of 8 ounces of brewed coffee, poured into an ice-filled Nalgene bottle that's topped off with water.
"A lot of people pour six or more cups of coffee throughout the day and don't even drink a third of that ... but the hot coffee is initially too hot to drink, and then it's tepid and gross, so the remaining liquid is a waste," she wrote.
"The iced espresso stays cold all day, so you can sip as you go along and get a nice even level of caffeination. This costs me about 23 cents each day for the equivalent of two iced venti Americanos at Starbucks."
Martin added that "it's somewhat of an acquired taste."
I preferred some of her other suggestions, like making sure you don't go overboard cutting expenses.
"It's all about creative solutions and figuring out what can give and what can't (or shouldn't) give," she wrote. "You do not want to buy the cheap toilet paper."
Unless you're down to Folgers.
(The Associated Press) Fuel rules get support A Consumer Federation of America survey conducted in April found that a large majority of Americans R...
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Gadgets and games | Fun stuff I've written about lately includes Apple's iPhone, Hewlett-Packard's HDX laptop and Microsoft's Halo3. Also on the radar are new digital video boxes such as the Tivo HD and the Vudu. | <urn:uuid:cf307cee-8c43-4320-b693-423aba945f40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/brierdudley/2008/07/21/startups_cutting_coffee_costs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959146 | 1,099 | 1.78125 | 2 |
National Adult Honor Society
On October 31, 2011, the Adult Basic Education program at Eastern Wyoming College became charter members of the National Adult Education Honor Society. (NAEHS). All ABE/GED/ESL students enrolled at an ABE center through the EWC service area are eligible for this award. Teacher nominations are based upon the following three criteria as outlined by NAEHS:
-Student must arrive on time and be consistently present
-Student must work harmoniously with teachers and fellow students
-Student respects other's ideas and value.
-Student speaks n turn and actively participates in classroom/lab activities.
-Student demonstrates patience.
-Student demonstrates personal initiative while performing education related tasks.
-Student comes to class prepared and completes homework.
-Student sets goals and follows through.
-Student listens with understanding.
-Student asks questions and seeks help when needed.
-Student takes responsibility for own learning.
In March of each year, teachers submit their nomination forms to the Torrington Office. The Torrington Office will evaluate all nominations and submit the names to NAEHS for induction.
The ABE program at EWC will hold two induction ceremonies; one in Douglas and one in Torrington. These ceremonies will be held in conjunction with our GED graduation ceremonies. Inducted students will receive NAEHS pins, certificates, and letters of recommendations. Students who are graduating and have been inducted into NAEHS will also receive gold cords and gold tassels to wear in graduation.
Pinning of Inductees
The ABE program at EWC recognizes the achievements of all inductees and wishes to grant them the highest honor. Therefore, we plan to invite community, state, and/or national leaders to our NAEHS induction ceremonies and ask that they do the pinning of inductees.
Responsibility of Nominees
Nominees are asked to sign the teacher nomination form, provide a 2 inch color photo (prefer digital photos), and sign an EWC consent form so that we can use their picture on ourwebsite to publicize their achievement.
Nominees must also be willing to become an advocate for adult education and the local adult education provider by sharing with family and friends what the program has meant to him/her.
There are no student fees associated with NAEHS. | <urn:uuid:82ec0286-92cc-4028-92f7-17577e0d5687> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ewc.wy.edu/programs/adultcenter/adulthonorsociety.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945083 | 482 | 1.695313 | 2 |
The Military Wall of Honor at Kalifornsky Beach Elementary displays an American flag, but not just any flag. It was carried by Sgt. 1st Class Ken Felchle during his combat patrols in Baghdad.
"That is not any old flag," said Steve Wright, a retired paratrooper, who organizes the annual Veterans Day Assembly. "This is our American flag."
Felchle teaches at Kenai Elementary School and his wife Kristi teaches at K-Beach where their son, Conner, attends. Ken served in Iraq with the Alaska National Guard from 2005-2006. Last Friday, he was one of several veterans who shared their stories with the students of K-Beach during the annual Veterans Day Assembly which is organized by Wright each year.
"My number one focus, and the guests of honor here are the military children -- the children of our warriors," Wright said. "Our veterans, our military, everybody receives recognition, but the families and most of all the children are forgotten."
During the assembly, the students were told by many of the veterans that they were the reason they served.
"You folks are pretty much the reason why we (served)," Herb Stettler, a Korean War veteran said. "Our job was to keep our country free."
George Walters, a Green Beret that served in Vietnam in the 1960s, has a son that attends K-Beach, Bradley.
"I look around here and I see the young folks, I hope we can get away from war -- and that none of you have to go to war," Walters told the students. "I'm very proud of all of you, I'm proud of these men behind me -- we're brothers, we're a band of brothers."
The veterans were able to use the assembly as a time to let the students know how much their care packages meant to them while they were deployed.
"You guys sent us a lot when I was in Iraq in (2005) and (2006)," Felchle told the kids. "Your support as well as everyone in this community was so incredibly vital to our success in war and our safe return, I can not thank you enough."
Wright called up the Blue Star moms in attendance, meaning their son or daughter was deployed overseas. Debbie Tressler, the school's secretary, has a son, Adam, in the Green Berets. If Wright had not pulled her up to the front, she said she would have stayed behind the scenes.
"(Steve) did so much for our son, to make sure he got recognized," Tressler said. "He knew I wouldn't speak up -- not just my son, but everybody's son."
Wright called up all of the students and staff with family members serving in the military, he said there were 80 students that joined him. He said if you take those 80 kids at K-Beach, and multiply that number by the number of schools in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, and even the state -- that number is substantial.
"You're talking about thousands of Americans that should be honored and remembered every year," he said.
Wright has been organizing the assembly since 1998. The assembly gives students the opportunity to shake hands and hug veterans from their community, and listen to their stories of bravery.
He summed up why he keeps the assembly going.
"When you see battle-hardened combat veterans fighting back the tears while hugging a fourth-grader -- that's what this assembly is all about," he said.
Veterans Day is Friday, Nov. 11.
Logan Tuttle can be reached at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:f03ef8e1-5dde-472d-8daf-70976d2cee6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://peninsulaclarion.com/community/schools/2011-11-07/veterans-share-experience-insight-with-students | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987251 | 765 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Originally Posted by Cricket
did you include the number of iraqi people by the hands of saddam and the iraqis by the hands of the british and americans?
compare those death stats with the previous wars and tell me which war is the worst of all in history of britain and america alone? to me 1,000 people is just a stroll in the park compared to previous wars in world history.
Are you aware that most wars start out with small death numbers, then skyrocket big time later into the war?
the Vietnamese war, it didn't get too bad till a few years into it, then ka-boom! The death toll went through the roof. I'm not sure, but I believe the death toll in Vietnam tallied less in its first 3 or 4 years in comparison to the Iraq war now so far. Then when it skyrocketed, it was like 25,000 to 40,000 Americans per month. Though, I don't see that happening with Iraq but 1,000 American deaths is still a lot in the first 1 and half years of the war while there's an estimated 100,000 innocent Iraqi casualties as a result of the air strikes, and more.
In wars, we have to expect deaths. | <urn:uuid:72ff5079-f584-480c-958a-e990d1c72e4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alldeaf.com/228822-post13.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961887 | 259 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Allan Detrich, an award winning Blade photographer, resigned from the staff April 7 after admitting he digitally altered the content of a photograph that was published on The Blade's front page.
The incident was reported in this newspaper and in the national media and in online journalism publications. We conducted an internal investigation and found that since January dozens of digitally altered photographs of his were published either in the newspaper or on our Web site.
Readers have asked us why this was such a big deal. What's wrong with changing the content of a photograph that is published in a newspaper?
The answer is simple: It is dishonest.
Journalism, whether by using words or pictures, must be an accurate representation of the truth.
Details of the incident unfolded gradually in the days after Mr. Detrich's digitally altered picture was published on March 31. The dramatic photograph showed members of the Bluffton University baseball team kneeling in prayer before playing their first game since five of their players died in a March 2 bus crash in Atlanta.
We did not know at the time of publication that the photographer, using a computerized photo-editing tool called Photoshop, had removed the legs of a person wearing blue jeans and standing in the background behind a banner.
The matter was brought to my attention on April 4 by Donald R. Winslow, editor of News Photographer, a publication of the National Press Photographers Association. Mr. Winslow said that on April 2, photographers from the Dayton Daily News were comparing how various Ohio newspapers covered the Bluffton baseball game. Each paper had its own similar Bluffton picture. But The Blade's picture was the only one with the mysterious blue-jean clad legs missing.
After establishing that the photograph was altered, The Blade immediately started its investigation. We published a correction and an apology to our readers on April 6.
When questioned by Blade editors, Mr. Detrich admitted manipulating the photograph, offering the explanation that it was for his personal use and that he mistakenly transmitted it to the newspaper for publication. He was suspended while the investigation continued. The next day he resigned.
An intensive investigation of Mr. Detrich's work, conducted by Nate Parsons, The Blade's director of photography, found that since January of this year, Mr. Detrich submitted 947 photographs for publication, of which 79 had been digitally altered.
Twenty-seven of the altered photographs were published both in the newspaper and on toledoblade.com, and an additional 31 were published only on toledoblade.com. Another 21 altered photographs submitted by Mr. Detrich were not published.
The changes Mr. Detrich made included erasing people, tree limbs, utility poles, electrical wires, electrical outlets, and other background elements from photographs. In other cases, he added elements such as tree branches and shrubbery.
Mr. Detrich also submitted two sports photographs in which items were inserted. In one he added a hockey puck and in the other he added a basketball, each hanging in mid-air. Neither was published.
The Blade is removing all of Mr. Detrich's photographs from toledoblade.com and blocked access to any of his photographs in the newspaper's archive. Like many other newspapers, The Blade shares its work with the Associated Press, an international news cooperative. On April 6, the AP removed all 50 of Mr. Detrich's photographs from its archives.
Honesty is the fundamental value in journalism.
When a Blade reporter or photographer covers a news event, the newspaper and its readers expect an accurate record of the event.
Reporters and editors are not allowed to change quotes or alter events to make them more dramatic. Photographers and photo editors cannot digitally alter the content in the frame of a photograph to make the image more powerful or artistic.
This principle is widely recognized. In 1991, at the dawn of the digital age, the National Press Photographers Association adopted a "Digital Manipulation Code of Ethics," which all members are required to sign.
That lengthy code makes it very clear that altering the editorial content of a picture is a breach of ethical standards. All Blade photographers are members of the association. All of them have signed the code of ethics, and The Blade follows this code.
This newspaper has a terrific staff of professional journalists. They work hard to bring you the truth in stories and photographs of what is happening in our community, every day of the year. It is especially dismaying to have something like this happen that may cast doubt on our work.
It's impossible to make sense of why this happened, and we are embarrassed by it. But it is important that we are up front and honest with our readers.
Mr. Detrich joined The Blade in 1989 and has won hundreds of newspaper photography awards over the years. He was a Pulitzer finalist in 1998. The work he turned in always appeared to be quality photojournalism, which is why editors had no reason to suspect he was digitally altering photographs.
In this respect, we let our readers down, and we apologize for that and pledge to you that we will do better.
Contact Ron Royhab at: [email protected] | <urn:uuid:43eb2116-6c91-4df2-964e-335317db49ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toledoblade.com/frontpage/2007/04/15/A-basic-rule-Newspaper-photos-must-tell-the-truth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976422 | 1,057 | 1.5 | 2 |
GRE Website to Focus on Hispanic Pastoral MinistryContact: Janet Sassi
Claudio Burgaleta, S.J.
Assistant Professor of Theology
Photo by Michael Dames
Fordham University’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (GRE) has launched a Spanish-language website that offers courses in theology and scripture for Hispanic pastoral ministry in the United States.
Claudio M. Burgaleta, S.J., assistant professor of theology who spearheaded the initiative, said the site, known as Isidoro, is designed to address the needs of the Hispanic Catholic community, one of the fastest-growing populations in the nation. In addition to the courses, the Isidoro site offers articles, essays and magisterial documents for downloading, as well as links to inspirational websites.
"The influence of Latino culture, language and traditions raise different concerns to be addressed, and there really wasn’t a website with content for the Hispanic pastoral reality in the U.S.,” said Father Burgaleta. “The ministry of the future is going to be more bilingual.”
The site takes its name from St. Isidore, who was archbishop of Seville in the early 7th century and is regarded as one of the leading scholars of the early Middle Ages. Because of St. Isidore’s passion for learning, Father Burgaleta said that he is referred to in the Spanish-speaking world as the “patron saint of the Internet.” Pastoral ministry focuses on sharing the mission of the church with others through religious education or ministering both by ordained and lay ministers. Areas where Hispanic pastoral ministry diverges from regular pastoral ministry, Father Burgaleta said, include processional practices and devotions to certain saints, such as Mary.
Internet sites that cater to such culture-specific interests are rapidly expanding on the Web, and Burgaleta said Isidoro includes a “cybernetic inspiration” link to sites that feature daily spiritual messages in Spanish. The Isidoro site is funded in part by the Office of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus and the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station, N.J. Isodoro is located on the GRE website
Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to more than 15,600 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx, Manhattan and Tarrytown, and the Louis J. Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y. | <urn:uuid:c434641c-c051-4721-9dea-810bd4c1fe17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/enewsroom/archives/archive_966.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938775 | 543 | 1.625 | 2 |
Sandro Magister writes about the continuing changes to the Legion of Christ being arranged by Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the pontifical delegate to whom Benedict XVI has given full power to remake the scandal-plagued religious order and its associated lay movement Regnum Christi, with its hundreds of consecrated men and women.
It is essential to remember that the Legion, a now failed project built on utterly fraudulent life of its founder, the late Marciel Maciel Degollado, was the ideal expression of Catholic priesthood and lay witness for Pope John Paul II. Maciel and the Legion represents more than a blind spot or a dark chapter in John Paul's papacy. It represented, more importantly, the model of priesthood, leadership and witness that John Paul advocated.
As I point out in my book, The Emerging Catholic Church: A Community's Search for Itself : Maciel had protectors in very high places. He traveled with the pope on some of his journeys and, as late as 2004, John Paul honored the Legion by entrusting it with the management of Jerusalem's Notre Dame Center. John Paul II also praised Maciel that year for 60 years of "intense, generous and fruitful priestly ministry." In a letter the pope said he wanted to join in the "canticle of praise and thanksgiving" for the great things he has accomplished and said Maciel has always been concerned with the "integral promotion of the person." The Legion was clearly John Paul II’s idea of what a religious order and what Catholic expression should be."
Magister writes that De Paolis is making sweeping changes at the top of the Legion, with young clerics who reportedly were not part of Maciel's inner circle and who were open and receptive during an earlier Vatican investigation of the order. The question is whether other areas of church life affected by John Paul's notions of "heroic priesthood" and what is meant by lay engagement in the church will eventually also get the message and undergo similar adjustments. | <urn:uuid:778c8209-ef67-4a90-8e13-c6b8f50ac1cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/maciels-legion-continues-unravel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964883 | 411 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Auman Museum of Radio and TV
Larry Auman was born just as television was debuting at the 1939 New York World's Fair. He went to electronics school during the heyday of I Love Lucy, and opened his own repair shop the same year that Gilligan's Island and The Munsters premiered.
So although Larry likes radio, too, don't be misled by the name of his museum. It's TV that gets most of the attention.
Larry moved his burgeoning collection of machines and ephemera into an old bank in 2001. It's an ideal space. The front of the building is muted, and you enter a small waiting area thinking, "Is this all there is?" Then Larry theatrically pulls aside a curtain to reveal the rest of the museum: windowless, womblike, as isolated as the inside of a time capsule. TVs are piled high along the walls, a real department store experience circa 1949.
Two of the sets continuously play clips of old shows and commercials. Larry has restored most of his hundreds of TVs to working condition, but he only turns on a couple at a time for safety reasons, and to lower his electric bill.
"People always ask me, 'How many sets you got?'" said Larry. "And I say, 'No, they got me.'"
Larry showed us an experimental mechanical TV from the 1920s and the boldly-identified "First Television Set in the Auman Family," a 1948 model with a 10-inch screen. His favorites are the pre-1950 vintage sets, but he also showcases overdesigned failures such as the 1972 JVC "Videospehere" that was supposed to resemble a space helmet, and the futuristic 1958 Philco "Predicta," loved by modern collectors but loathed by 1950s shoppers. "I always ask the ladies, 'Would you want that in your living room?'" said Larry. "'No way!' It was too far-out."
Larry's museum is designed to appeal to more than just electronic gearheads. "I didn't want to just show the TV sets," he said. Pop culture and accessory products thrived in the rich mulch of America's most important invention, and Larry has lots of them: TV-themed toys, comic books, salt and pepper shakers, a novelty apron emblazoned, "No TV Until You Help Me."
There are lamps and clocks designed to sit atop TVs that look like TVs, and a plastic statue of St. Clair, the patron saint of television. "When she got too sick to attend Mass," reads its display, "the Holy Spirit illuminated her cell wall and allowed her to watch Mass in the comfort of her bed."
A lineup of TV show board games stretches down both sides of the museum's center aisle, leaving us to wonder how, exactly, they recreate the lovable chaos of McHale's Navy or the Hanna-Barbara awesomeness of The Jetsons.
Larry exhibits props such as TV western guns and a bottle from I Dream of Jeannie, and odd customer-loyalty premiums like a hand puppet of Teddy Snow Crop, the polar bear TV mascot of a frozen food company ("I got that when I was a kid.").
At the back of the museum is a prominently-labeled "haunted TV camera case" (used only at accidents and disasters) and -- our only mention of radio here -- the actual broadcasting studio used by Alan Freed, the disc jockey "Father of Rock 'n' Roll," from his early 1950s heyday at WJW in Cleveland.
Larry draws an arbitrary line like any collector, and his love of TV wanes long before the advent of TiVo or digital streaming. Still, he respects TV's durability, and pointed out a quote that he had enlarged for the museum from 1940s Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck:
"People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."
"You'd be surprised," said Larry. | <urn:uuid:739ddc57-14f7-4ea4-ace9-2b25ff685e2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/16606 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971664 | 822 | 1.546875 | 2 |
There’s nothing remarkable about sidewalk grates; they’re functional urban fixtures that serve to drain rainwater, cover plunging shafts and trap debris. You probably haven’t given much thought to grates in general, or specifically to the ones on Stephen Avenue Walk, but they make a ready canvas.
Earlier this year Shauna Quinn, pedestrian mall manager for Downtown Calgary, approached artist Mandy Stobo with a new project: Why not paint portraits on the ubiquitous cast-iron grates that help protect the trees along Stephen Avenue, thereby creating a Calgary walk of fame? Stobo and Quinn hatched a list of 55 inspiring Calgarians for the grate portraits, which will stretch from the Telus Convention Centre to Bankers Hall. While the project is intended to add some permanent art to the popular avenue, it also serves “to stop the littering and the peeing in the tree wells,” says Stobo. Ick.
The Calgary artist is relatively new to portraiture. She hadn’t painted any until she started her Bad Portraits project in 2011, a series of watercolours that began as unsolicited portraits of Twitter celebrities, as well as of her friends and family. The quick and colourful caricatures earned praise and fans. Now she gets requests daily (go to her website, badportraitproject.com, to request your own), and has painted over 3,000 people. “I just thought, faces, I’ll try faces. And now I’m falling in love with them, which is awesome,” says Stobo.
As someone accustomed to working on canvas, paper and relatively smooth walls, Stobo found her new medium a bit of a challenge. The grates have gaps, of course, and she paints them in situ using a rust primer and acrylic paint. Each portrait typically takes three to five hours, most of which is spent kneeling. “It’s hard because eyes, noses and mouths are how you recognize a human. Getting all those three elements of a face on a grate is quite challenging.”
It’s turned out well so far—more or less.
“Alison Redford was really hard and I hope she likes it, but it’s not the strongest one for sure,” says Stobo, who might get a chance to see what Alberta’s premier thinks of her likeness at a media launch on Sept. 20th when some of the grate-inspiring faces will be on hand to sign their visages.
Bad Portraits, the name of her original project, may have been designed to reduce expectation, but the quick renditions have struck a chord with Calgarians and Stobo has really gotten to know faces.
“It’s amazing, the more I break faces down into shapes, the more similar we all are, but also different.” Inspiring, even on a grate. | <urn:uuid:6be92c30-7d53-4dc3-ba97-85da3872a02c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.calgaryherald.com/swerve/our-town/Calgary+artist+Mandy+Stobo+Portraits+series+showing+tree/7136056/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95422 | 611 | 1.601563 | 2 |
I wish that we can fly. Wouldn't that be something? To experience the feeling of the wind whipping across your face with nothing underneath you -- just you, the clouds and the sky, completely weightless. Birds have it pretty good, don't they? We mere humans will never truly experience this phenomenom without some assistance, I guess. Ava has on many occasions wished out loud to be able to fly. She wants to fly so badly that I've found her jumping up and down with eyes closed, grunting and grimacing like there's something wrong. "What's the matter, Ava?" I would then ask her. "I want to FLY!" Ava says this with such a determination and longing and a genuine belief that this act can actually be possible.
And that is why I love this little story that Ava drew in my Moleskine back in January. There is so much to this series of three drawings, so much heart and depth and personal yearning that it almost hurts for me to see them. To know just how much Ava wants to fly -- and then to see her draw this and tell me about it -- it's almost too much for me.
The story is called "I'm Learning To Fly." It is a story of a bird who can't fly but is dreaming that she can when she sees a flock of birds flying overhead.
Here, our little bird has decided to open up her wings to try and take flight...
...and then she flies!
Ava has yet to fly in a plane, but I'm thinking that when that moment comes, she'll be so exhilarated she won't know what to do with herself. I would do anything to witness that moment.
This post has been featured on the always interesting Moleskinerie blog! Thanks, Armand. Ava will be so happy. | <urn:uuid:0b5de0ec-dcd6-4d40-bd5f-0d73305a482c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wardomatic.blogspot.com/2006/03/ava-thursday-im-learning-to-fly.html?showComment=1141308240000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980839 | 383 | 1.523438 | 2 |
One year ago, Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital came under a well-coordinated terrorist attack that lasted for 3 days. Downtown Mumbai, or “town” as it is popularly known was the target of 10 young men who reportedly arrived by boats from Pakistan and attacked the railway station, the main artery for commuters and a series of luxury hotels, a popular bar and a Jewish home. At least 200 people died in the attack and at least 308 people were injured. All but one young Pakistani attackers survived. That lone survivor Kasab is in India and has been the primary source of information about the attack. Nobody has claimed the body of the 9 young men, who launched the attack and paralysed Mumbai.
For three days people around the world witnessed the brutal carnage unfold on their television sets. In hindsight it appears that the 10 young men were receiving instructions from a source in Pakistan on how to execute the attack.
Earlier today on the eve of the first anniversary of 26/11 the Government of Pakistan announced that it has charged seven suspects for organizing the attack. The seven arrested men have not pleaded guilty to the charge according to reports.
Madhavi at The Trajectory blog writes that Pakistan's actions comes after a year of “vehement denial” of the attacks. She continues:
“The most high profile name among those charged is Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, head of the banned militant group Laskar-e-Taiba.”
Madhavi's post has an interesting twist in the end when she asks:
“Pakistan has handed India an anniversary gift for 26/11 in the form of Lakhvi & company’s verdict; the people of India are still hoping to receive forgotten anniversary gifts. March 13th 1993, December 13th 2001, July 11th 2006, November 26th 2008…how many more strikes do we need before even a single mastermind of these terrorist attacks is punished by the Government of India?”
Nita at A Wide Angle View of India wonders why are the foot soldiers (the Mumbai police) being blamed for doing an effective job in staving off the attack? It is not the foot soldiers that need to be blamed, but the top politicians and security folks of Mumbai. She writes:
“So many died in vain, but not a single person has taken responsibility for the carnage. We need to mourn the dead, but we also need to ask for the answers. It is the top cops and the politicians who are to blame. For the lack of coordination and action. It is really pathetic and in really bad taste to see television channels blast the foot soldiers. Try and shame those poor unequipped men who had rifles that were rusted, men who ran helter skelter because they had no leader to direct them. Men who weren’t even sure where the terrorists were, how many there were, what they were up to. […]
The foot soldiers in Mumbai had nothing. If some of them ran, let us not blame them.”
While there were lots of articles written and many recommendations made in the immediate aftermath of 26/11 not much progress has happened, writes Filter Coffee. He writes:
“Sadly, barring a few cosmetic rearrangements, not much has changed in India, and no one, least of all Mumbaikars seem to care.”
Nyaypati Gautam of India Story appears to echo the feelings of Filter Coffee about the lack of change in the past year. But, he wonders what it is that he can do to bring about some change? He writes:
“We continue to be as apathetic as before. If any terror strike were to happen today I fear that the same things would get re-enacted. I hope I have got it wrong but I have a dirty feeling that I am not. It is so frustrating. What can I do to channelise this anger in a meaningful way?”
Many people used Twitter to share news and express their opinions. Here are a few examples of those messages:
RodrigoRMorais: USA Today is saying “Mumbai commemorates one-year anniversary of terror attacks”. What is there to commemorate about?
aniljayakumar: A minute for Mumbai………….
NitinNDTV: all of us will forever remember 26/11,but let's not forget victims of earlier attacks & the brave men who continue to die in defending India
madhavgk: Politicians abused after 26/11 last year… politicians abused after 26/11 this year… nothing changes in Indian politics!
nsohanlal: 26/11 Jingoism on twitter today… Alas will be forgotten as a mundane Monday come Sunday! | <urn:uuid:67150790-9823-452a-9d98-3f7b644e8927> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.groundreport.com/World/India-Remembers-Horrifying-Mumbai-Terror-Attacks/2912607 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973591 | 990 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Marshall McLuhan, as described on Wikipedia, famously gave us the quip: The Medium is the Message (later altered by him to the Medium is the Massage… lovely little book). His 1964 stance is reported thus:
at the empirical level of consciousness, the medium is the message, whereas at the intelligent and rational levels of consciousness, the content is the message.
Now, as we talk more about subjective experience among ourselves, we will come to develop causal stories about the content of consciousness. But this will inevitably look as if we are being pushed around by our own ideas. This is what is meant by the Medium is the Message. It bears responsibility. It plays the role of agent. The memes, goddamn them, won’t go away. This is the empirical level mentioned above: the level we can reach consensus on, because it is based on things we can each of us measure in our P-worlds, and report, and agree. There is lawfulness there. Unfortunately it seems to be a lawfulness at odds with our images of us as the free agents in charge, who fuck up when we associate with bad ideas, but hey, basically we are all free individuals, right? But our P-worldy experience of things is captured by his other two elements: the intelligent and rational levels of consciousness. I don’t know what those two labels mean. For me, this would simply refer to the P-world from the inside, where things have personal meaning, like the ability to induce fear or lechery.
Could we please undo the split between what we call emotion and intellect; repair the rift, and recognize personal meaning for what it is. It infuses basic category structure, dammit. It is the way we perceive the world, not as some lifeless CAD model of the furniture around us, to which a verneer or gloss of emotion is added. | <urn:uuid:e7e70936-9894-45b3-95e4-30889039d421> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stonepharisee.com/blog/?m=200801 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969284 | 388 | 1.5 | 2 |
WMC volunteer creates thousands of angels for families during times of mourning, grief
Fifteen years ago, Nancy Wright volunteered to carry on a young tradition at Williamson Medical Center that provided comfort to families following the loss of a loved one.
The tradition involved constructing little cloth angels out of hospital bed sheets. After the initial volunteer who made them had left, Wright, who had been volunteering at WMC for only a year, instantly found it in her heart to continue the anonymous gesture of love.
More than 3,500 angels later, Wright can’t see herself doing anything less.
“It was something I wanted to do,” she says. “It makes you feel like what you’re doing is worth something.”
Four types of angels are made for patients: adult angels, little blue and pink angels for all discharged newborns and little yellow angels for parents mourning the loss of a baby.
Recently four other volunteers have helped piece together some of the angels, but Wright continues to produce the majority of them.
She spends roughly six hours every week at home cutting and piecing together the cloth angels, which stand no taller than five inches.
On the adult angels reads a saying, “Guardian Angels are always at your side to watch, protect ... forever be your guide.”
‘Gift from the heart’
Every angel is made the same way, but the impression it leaves on each family is unique.
They’re viewed as symbols of hope and healing, mourning and remembrance. They’ve been placed in caskets and on mantels and Christmas trees. One angel even was passed down to a granddaughter on her wedding day. The little guardian, representative of her grandfather, sat in her bouquet as she walked down the aisle.
“It’s special because it’s made with so much love,” says Gwen Pullen, pastoral care coordinator at WMC. “Nancy neither gets paid to make them nor does she place her name on them. It truly is a gift from the heart. The patients and families appreciate them so much.”
Lifetime of service
The handmade angels are a “sweet touch” on top of everything else the volunteers do for patients and their families, says Angie Birkemeyer-Jones, who began overseeing the Volunteer Program in 2007.
“The commitment our volunteers share with patients and their families shows that every one of us can continue to make a difference throughout our entire lives,” she says.
Volunteers are an essential part of Williamson Medical Center. In addition to giving generously of their time—to the tune of 18,000 hours in 2011—WMC’s Volunteer Auxiliary donated more than $100,000 last year to support projects that benefit the Medical Center’s patients and programs. Volunteers provide many services at the Medical Center including staffing the information desk, delivering flowers and mail to patients, providing toys for children undergoing surgery, and operating The Gift Shoppe.
Williamson Medical Center, a 185-bed hospital fully accredited by The Joint Commission, provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care including emergency services, with credentialed physicians in 53 specialties and sub-specialties. The community-focused hospital offers a wide range of wellness services, screenings and classes.
For information about Williamson Medical Center, visit www.williamsonmedicalcenter.org.
Posted on: 12/18/2012 | <urn:uuid:e2972c70-c608-4e10-a58a-a035ca75d701> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.williamsonherald.com/home?id=82250 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948173 | 719 | 1.59375 | 2 |
(This score available as
a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available
I've Got No Use for the Women Now, I've got no use for the women; A true one can seldom be found, They use a man for his money, When it's gone, they'll turn him down. They're all alike at the bottom, Selfish and grasping for all. They'll stay by a man when he's winning And laugh in his face at a fall. My pal was an honest young puncher; Honest and upright and true. But he turned to a hard-shooting gunman, On account of a girl named Lou. He fell in with evil companions, The kind that are better off dead; When a gambler insulted her picture, He filled him full of lead. All through the long night they trailed him, Through mesquite and thick chaparral. And I couldn't help think of that woman As I saw him pitch and fall; If she'd been the pal that she should have, He might have been raising a son, Instead of out there on the prairie, To die by the ranger's gun. Death's sharp sting did not trouble, His chances for life were too slim, But where they were putting the body Was all that worried him. He lifted his head on his elbow; The blood from his wounds flowed red. He gazed at his pals grouped around him, As he whispered to them and said: "Oh bury me out on the prairie, Where the coyotes may howl o'er my grave. Bury me out on the prairie, But from them my bones please save. Wrap me up in my blankets, And bury me deep in the ground. Cover me over with boulders Of granite gray and round." So we buried him out on the prairie, Where the coyotes can howl o'er his grave, And his soul is now a-resting, from the unkind cut she gave; And many another young puncher As he rides past that pile of stone, Recalls some similar woman And thinks of his moldering bones. Recorded by Burl Ives and (I think) Tex Ritter RG
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition! | <urn:uuid:436bef8b-2e98-4284-8340-868ff4d026a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiNOUSEWMN;ttNOUSEWMN.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975033 | 466 | 1.625 | 2 |
PETITIONED PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT
FALLS TOWNSHIP GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
(a/k/a CORCO CHEMICAL, PARASCIENTIFIC, MEENAN OIL)
FALLS TOWNSHIP, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
The Falls Township Groundwater Contamination site, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, has beenevaluated for public health issues at the request of citizens in the community. Area citizens haveexpressed concerns about health effects, including cancer, related to drinking contaminated wellwater.
From the information reviewed, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry(ATSDR) considers locations in the study area where groundwater in private wells containscontaminants at substantive levels to pose a public health hazard. The past and present locationswhere substantively affected private wells have been in use are not fully defined.
Portions of the groundwater in an area of the township have been sampled and found to beadversely affected by releases of chemicals; potential sources of contaminants may include bothindustrial and non-industrial activities. Some of the homes and businesses in the area are notconnected to the public water supply system, and most of those residents and workers apparentlycontinue to use groundwater for drinking and household uses. Thus, there has been long-termhuman exposure to hazardous substances, specifically volatile organic compounds, in some ofthe private wells. The principal compounds are trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, andchloroform.
ATSDR's review of human activities and the limited sampling information also suggests thatsome persons in the study area potentially may be exposed to hazardous substances by inhalingaffected ambient air, or by intermittent soil ingestion, or possibly, through intermittentrecreational activities at local surface water bodies or intermittent consumption of fish fromsurface waters. However, more information is needed to fully evaluate releases, migration, andresulting contaminant levels at points of potential human exposure, as well as to fully evaluatepotentially associated health effects.
The ATSDR Health Activities Recommendation Panel (HARP) has reviewed the informationand data developed in the Falls Township Petitioned Public Health Assessment for appropriatefollowup with respect to health activities. The panel determined that the following activities areindicated at this time because of the long period of exposure, the levels of contaminants found,and the degree of concern expressed by the community: biologic indicators of exposure testing,biomedical testing, a community health investigation, a disease- and symptom-prevalence study,site-specific surveillance, and inclusion of exposed members of the community in the TCEsubregistry. The panel also determined that community health education and health professionaleducation are needed. ATSDR will work with appropriate agencies in the state of Pennsylvaniato implement the public health actions.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is authorized to performpublic health assessments of sites where there have been releases of toxic substances or offacilities for which individuals or licensed physicians provide information about people exposedto a hazardous substance. ATSDR received a petition dated May 26, 1988, prepared on behalf ofsome residents at the Country Lane Trailer Park in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania(1). This public health assessment responds to issues raised in that petition and to additionalissues that surfaced during evaluations.
The petitioners and some other area residents reported that they have been exposed to hazardoussubstances in contaminated groundwater from private wells used for drinking and householdpurposes. Sampling data for groundwater and other environmental media reviewed by ATSDRare summarized in Appendix A. The Falls Township Groundwater Contamination PetitionedPublic Health Assessment (PPHA)--Initial Release--was issued to government agencies forreview and comment in late 1992. Written comments were received from agency personnel andalso a private party. Comments and ATSDR's responses are summarized in Appendix B. ThePublic Comment Release was issued in early 1993; comments and ATSDR's responses aresummarized in Appendix C.
The citizens assert that the contamination is a result of releases from the Corco ChemicalCorporation and Para Scientific Company Inc. and from leaking underground tanks and pipelinesonce owned by Meenan Oil Company Inc.
After reviewing available information, ATSDR defined a conservatively sized study areaapproximately bounded on the west by Warner Lake and Cedar Lane, on the north by TyburnRoad, on the east by Van Sciver Lake, and on the south by Warner Lake and by the canal whereit crosses Bristol Pike. The study area and its pertinent features are shown in Figure 1. Becausethe study area is relatively large, ATSDR titled this public health assessment "Falls TownshipGroundwater Contamination."
In 1992, the Township of Falls Authority made public water available to residents in their owncontainers at the authority's Penn Valley pump station. Water mains will be extended to allportions of the study area not now being served. The extension is expected to be complete in late1994.
Country Lane Trailer Park
The Country Lane Trailer Park, a group of 19 mobile homes, is on Bristol Pike a short distancesouth of Penn Valley Road (Figure 1). In March 1985, residents complained to the county healthdepartment that water from the private well serving the park smelled and tasted bad. The healthdepartment sampled the water and found substantive concentrations of volatile organiccompounds (VOCs), including several nonchlorinated hydrocarbons typically associated withpetroleum and some chlorinated hydrocarbons (2). In April 1985, the trailer park was connectedto the public water supply.
When the Country Lane Trailer Park well contamination was discovered, the Bucks CountyHealth Department (BCHD) issued a citizen advisory and tested many of the other private wellsin the study area. Some of the other well water analyses also showed nonchlorinated andchlorinated hydrocarbons (2).
Corco Chemical is on Cedar Lane near Tyburn Road (Figure 1). The facility consists of threebuildings and some outdoor bulk chemical storage areas. The company purchases chlorinatedand nonchlorinated solvents and other chemicals in bulk quantities and re-packages them forsale. Acids also are distilled and packaged. A company spokesman reports that Corco Chemicalstopped handling chlorinated solvents in large bulk containers in 1985.
Process water is withdrawn from a lake at the western edge of the property and is piped to theprocess building, the chemical storage building, and the solvent re-packaging building. Non-contact cooling water is discharged into a smaller lake east of Cedar Lane (3). From about 1970to 1990, the building floor drains and a containment system at the outdoor solvent storage areawere connected to the cooling water discharge line. Therefore, at least portions of any spilledchemicals presumably washed into the cooling water discharge system and were released to theeastern lake. Results of several inspections and sampling between 1982 and 1990 showed thatchlorinated VOCs, such as trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and chloroform,and nonchlorinated VOCs, such as ethylbenzene and xylene, were in the solvent trap and in thecooling water effluent being discharged to the eastern lake (4). In 1990, floor drains were sealed,and the secondary containment area was disconnected from the cooling water discharge system toprevent that type of release. The solvent trap also was removed, and a limestone neutralizationbox was cleaned out.
Inspectors once observed several piles of chemical containers at the back of the plant and notedthat they were a potential source of soil and groundwater contamination (3).
PADER issued an order to Corco Chemical in 1990 to conduct a groundwater study and to cleanup soil and groundwater contamination attributable to their handling of solvents. Soil has beencleaned up by the neutralization box. PADER initiated further enforcement action resulting in aCommonwealth Court Order requiring groundwater remediation to begin no later than December31, 1992. PADER continues to monitor Corco's compliance with that order.
Para Scientific Company
The Para Scientific Company (Figure 1) has leased its building from Corco Chemical since 1979. Para Scientific buys and resells chemicals, including solvents, and resells them in the samepackages. They do not pour and repackage chemicals. At one time, building floor drains wereconnected to Corco's cooling water effluent system that discharges to the lake east of Cedar Lane.
Para Scientific reports they have neutralizing absorbent material available to treat any breakageor spill but never use it because they exercise care in handling materials. Thus, Para Scientificmay never have released any chemicals to their former drain system. ATSDR has no sampling orother evidence that chemicals were released by Para Scientific to the drains, the lake, or anyenvironmental medium.
Meenan Oil Fuel Leak
In the early 1980s, a leak was discovered in an underground fuel oil delivery system operated byMeenan Oil Company, and a product recovery well was subsequently installed for remediation. The recovery well location is shown in Figure 1. The fuel oil system delivered heating oil toparts of Pennwood Crossing, a trailer home development covering a large portion of the areaalong Cedar Lane, Penn Valley Road, and Bristol Pike. Tank inventories and other informationsuggest that fuel losses might have totaled 25,000 gallons (4). The centralized fuel distributionsystem has since been replaced with an individual tank for each residence.
The product recovery well and 17 monitoring wells were installed in 1983; several additionalmonitoring wells were installed later. Product was found in 5 of the initial 17 monitoring wells. Analysis of groundwater from the recovery well and from monitoring wells showed the watercontained elevated levels of nonchlorinated compounds (petroleum hydrocarbons) and somechlorinated compounds (4).
The recovery system included a skimmer pump that withdrew product floating on thegroundwater surface and discharged it to a storage tank. Recovered oil was trucked to Meenan'splant. Oil recovery was facilitated by lowering the local groundwater table; that wasaccomplished by withdrawing groundwater with a pump screened deep in the underlying soils. The groundwater removed by that pump was discharged into an oil-water separator. Aconsultant to the Meenan Oil Company reported to ATSDR that the groundwater removed nevercontained oil. From the separator, water was discharged into a swale that drains to Warner Lake,an old gravel quarry on the south side of Penn Valley Road. A state National DischargeElimination System (NPDES) permit limited water discharge to less than 10,000 gallons per dayand limited the total nonchlorinated compounds (petroleum hydrocarbons) in the discharge to30 parts per million (ppm) [30,000 parts per billion (ppb)]. The skimmer recovery system beganoperating early in 1984 and initially recovered 35 gallons of oil per day (5). In 1986, a petroleumodor was noted in 13 of the 14 monitoring wells that could be examined; the remaining wells hadbeen abandoned, vandalized, or could not be found (4). Recovery operations ended in 1989 withthe approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PADER). Thecompany's consultant reported to ATSDR that criteria for terminating recovery includedobserving wells monthly and finding no free oil for six consecutive months.
Other Issues Possibly Affecting Groundwater Quality
Landfill and Oil Storage--A non-permitted private landfill operated for several years east ofCedar Lane. The approximate location is shown in Figure 1. A county health departmentemployee reported to ATSDR that the landfill received primarily construction debris and similarmaterials. The employee also said that waste oil reclamation equipment was once present at thelandfill but oil may never have been received; the reclamation equipment subsequently wasremoved. Another person reported to ATSDR that spilled oil had been observed on the ground.
K-Mart Fire--A county health department employee reported that a large K-Mart Companywarehouse, immediately north of Tyburn Road in the Penn Warner Industrial Park, burned to theground in 1982 and was later rebuilt. The approximate location is shown in Figure 1. Thematerials that burned are presumed to have contained many chemical compounds, includingVOCs.
Septic Systems--Many of the homes and businesses in the area are not connected to the publicsewer system and have a septic tank and drain field. ATSDR is aware that VOCs andcommercial chemicals containing VOCs sometimes are used to unclog septic systems; however,the specific septic system treatment methods used in the area are not known.
Trucking Companies--Several companies in the area maintain trucks on their property. Maintenance presumably includes cleaning trucks and handling and disposing waste oil andsolvents. When groundwater contamination was noted in 1985, BCHD inspected truckingcompanies for improper disposal of wastes. No significant violations were found.
Other Facilities--ATSDR reviewed EPA's Toxic Chemical Release Inventory database todetermine whether any commercial or industrial facilities in the vicinity have reported release ofany VOCs detected in groundwater (1). The database includes information about VOC releasesreported by several companies located north of Tyburn Road (in Penn Warner Industrial Park)and on the east side of Van Sciver Lake. Examination of the data showed that VOCs are releasedto the air, but none are disposed of on land (e.g., in landfills, injection wells, or impoundments). Although the reported releases might affect ambient air quality to some extent in the immediatevicinity of the facilities, the information suggests that groundwater would not be affected. Thus,VOC releases from those facilities are not further addressed in this assessment.
ATSDR visited Falls Township in late July 1990 to obtain information for assessing petitioners'concerns. ATSDR staff, accompanied by EPA and Bucks County personnel, examined the areaof concern. ATSDR staff also met with the petitioner and residents, facility personnel, waterauthority representatives, elected officials, and state regulatory personnel; gathered data and otherinformation from various sources; and informed the news media of ATSDR activities. Information obtained during this visit and two earlier visits is described in pertinent sections ofthis assessment.
After the visit, a resident advised ATSDR that additional health information would betransmitted. That information was received and evaluated along with other health information;please refer to the Health Outcome Data Evaluation section for a discussion of health informationreceived by ATSDR.
The area is primarily residential and includes several commercial and light industrial businessessuch as Corco Chemical, Para Scientific Company, and trucking companies. Penn Warner Park,an industrial park that contains several light industrial and large warehouse facilities, isimmediately north of the area, beyond Tyburn Road.
Public water came into the study area (except for Corbin, Old Tyburn, and East Penn ValleyRoads) in 1977. Before then all residences and businesses used groundwater for drinking waterand other purposes. Although most now use the township water system, a water authorityrepresentative showed ATSDR in 1990 an estimated 40 residences and 15 businesses in the studyarea that are not connected. Some of these owners have installed filters or treatment componentsin their well water systems or may buy bottled water for potable uses.
The Delaware River is the water source for all public water systems in the region (2). FallsTownship personnel report that public water is distributed throughout the area by the township,which purchases the water from the Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority. Thatauthority withdraws the water from the Delaware River at Tullytown, about 3.5 miles south ofthe area.
Over time, quarrying of sand and gravel has been an important activity in the vicinity. VanSciver Lake, Warner Lake, and lakes east and west of Corco Chemical were formed by quarryoperations. All the nearby lakes are landlocked except for Van Sciver Lake, which flows intoScotts Creek, which, in turn, flows into the Delaware River at a point about 3.5 miles south ofthe area. Van Sciver Lake is used for boating, swimming, and fishing. Limited fishing andswimming also are reported at other lakes.
No schools, nursing homes, or hospitals are in the area of concern.
As stated previously, a non-permitted private landfill once operated on the eastern side of CedarLane and was reported to have accepted construction debris and similar materials.
Approximately 589 persons reside within 1 mile of the Country Lane Trailer Park (2). Within2 miles, the population is reported to be about 101,000 and includes the town of Fallsington andone third of the population of Levittown (2). United States census data shows that FallsTownship has a population of about 35,000, of which approximately 1,200 are African-American; American Indians and Asians number a few hundred, as do those of Hispanic origin. About 82% of township residents have completed high school; about 14% have at least 4 years ofcollege. Median family income is about $44,000; per capita income is about $15,000. TheBucks County population is about 540,000 of which about 7% are younger than 5 years andabout 11% are older than 65.
ATSDR has identified the following state and local health data sources as potentially pertinent tothis site:
- Pennsylvania Vital Statistics.
- Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates in Pennsylvania.
- Review of Residence Information from Cancer Incidence Data for Falls Township in BucksCounty, Pennsylvania.
The first two sources are generated through the Pennsylvania State Department of Health's StateHealth Data Center, and break information down to the state and county level. The third sourceis a review of a cancer study of specific areas of concern, including Falls Township. The StateCancer Control Program conducted that investigation.
ATSDR also has received and reviewed medical records from individuals or their legalrepresentatives.
ATSDR held a meeting in Falls Township for petitioners on July 30, 1990. In that meeting, several health concerns were expressed, including stomachproblems, gall bladder ailments, blocked arteries, and several types of cancer. The cancersmentioned were of the stomach, breast, and lung. On a separate occasion, an individualexpressed to ATSDR her concern about her chronic cough. Two newspaper articles cited severalcommunity health concerns including nausea, diarrhea, stomach ailments, rashes, boils, adverseliver conditions, dental problems, and cancer (7, 8). Individuals' medical records reiterateconcerns about acute nausea, diarrhea and stomach problems, and chronic stomach and liverproblems. The medical records also confirm rashes, elevated liver enzymes, and one diagnosis ofbreast cancer.
ATSDR staff received a telephone inquiry from a concerned citizen about the high number ofpeople that live on Corbin Lane who have cancer or have died of cancer. The citizen also wasdisturbed about the number and variety of birth defects occurring in sisters who resided in thestudy area for up to twenty years and were exposed to contaminants in drinking water. Specificbirth defects mentioned: genetic defect with heart failure, deformed feet, immune deficiency,placenta attached to chest wall, absence of lung surfactant, and defective colon. Numerousmiscarriages were mentioned as well. | <urn:uuid:8f506b64-c885-4edb-a8a9-c6dfc2a45a9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/pha.asp?docid=307&pg=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951862 | 3,996 | 1.765625 | 2 |
How Many Races Require a Doctor's Note?
This isn't common in the U.S.
I'm a Runner's World subscriber in Singapore, age 58. I had a heart episode eight years ago and I have a stent. A year ago I started a fitness program with a trainer and progressed to taking part in two 10-K races. I train five times a week, and run a minimum of 4-K each time. My health and fitness have improved remarkably in 12 months.
There are races every month here, and a standard item when registering online is that you are asked to answer a list of questions about your fitness and medical history. Most races allow you to continue registering after you've done that. There's one race, however, that requires more. If you answer the health-check questions honestly and state your medical condition, your registration is halted and you're told to get a doctor to certify that you are fit to participate. I got that doctor's letter, but then decided I did not want to take part in this race because I felt that is a discriminatory requirement.
The organizers claim they have the runners' interests at heart, to avoid the tragedy of participants dying in a race, but I suspect this encourages people to lie while registering or just not take part.
My question is: How common is requiring a doctor's letter confirming fitness to participate, in races in the U.S. or elsewhere? Does it make sense? Is it something new, likely to become a trend?
Thank you, Alan John
Thanks for your question. I am not aware of any race in the U.S. requiring a doctor's letter confirming fitness in order to participate. Interestingly, I do recall, back in the early '70s, the Boston Marathon having physicians at the start checking every runner with a stethoscope to be sure they were "fit" to run. I'm not sure what the doctors did if they felt someone was at risk.
I don't think that many race directors feel that requiring mandatory clearance is in anyone's best interest. Many directors, but perhaps not all, feel that at some point, runners must take personal responsibility for themselves and for their actions.
Race directors should heavily encourage all runners to get a clear bill of health from their doctors before they even think about signing up for a race. I'm not sure directors want to or should get into the business of determining which runners they need to get a doctor's note from and which ones they don't, especially given the incredible number of participants in races these days. However, many registration forms now do ask each runner to fill out a "medical history" that can be printed on the back of everyone's bib number in case of an emergency.
That being said, every race director needs to decide how they want to handle these types of situations in their event. I suppose there is no real right or wrong process but rather individual race preferences.
The exception to this policy, which we follow at the Boston Marathon, is requiring medical documentation or proof of disability for classification in our push rim wheelchair division, visually impaired/blind division, and mobility-impaired division.
Hope this is somewhat helpful and gives some additional background regarding your question.
Dave McGillivray, president of DMSE, Inc., has been Race Director at the Boston Marathon since 2001.
Have a question for Ask the Race Director? E-mail [email protected] or visit www.dmsesports.com. NOTE: Due to the volume of mail, we regret that we cannot answer every e-mail. | <urn:uuid:8d65e666-2e3c-4092-9563-40026ba9f3d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.runnersworld.com/print/52806 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96589 | 738 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The voiceless Irish bishops at the Second Vatican Council
The reluctance of the Irish bishops and their failure to make an impression at the council despite their intellectual firepower was a mystery requiring reflection. Some of the answers must lie in Irish church history, with its loyal ties to Rome.
A former rector of the Irish College, Paul Cullen, who died in 1878, was regarded by the curia as a loyal and orthodox Irish cleric, and was chosen by it to return to Ireland as archbishop, later cardinal, to stabilise, renew and “Romanise” the Irish church. Cullen played a big part in firmly anchoring the primacy of loyalty to Rome in the psyche of later generations of Irish bishops.
The legacy of loyalty to Rome, orthodoxy and the curia must have been in the bloodstream of the Irish bishops at the council.
The senior bishop in the Irish College, Archbishop McQuaid, had little interest in debating the reforms proposed at the council. It was reasonable to surmise that he and the other bishops felt the local church was in good shape and in no need of updating.
Each day I had lunch in the college and was seated beside Cahal Daly, the future cardinal, then a young philosopher in Queen’s University. A graduate of the Sorbonne, he had an insight into the storm for reform being raised by the French bishops.
I shared with him my enthusiasm for reform and my disappointment with the Irish bishops. He was empathetic but also the epitome of discretion. He suggested that the Dominican theologian Yves Congar was a gift to the French church and had no intellectual equal anywhere. I took this to mean the Irish bishops lacked an intellectual and charismatic giant who might have led them along new paths. Cahal didn’t elaborate.
The first session of the council ended on December 8th, 1962. A few days later I was on a bus with the Irish bishops to Ciampino airport to fly home to Dublin. As we waited to board the aircraft, the elderly Bishop Denis Moynihan of Kerry said to me: “I envy you your youth. You will see great changes in the church. I hope it will be for the best.”
Fifty years on, the jury is still out and the curia and the reformers have not quite agreed on the best way forward.
Seán McEntee was ordained in Rome. In the 1970s he was one of the leaders in the renewal of religious education in Irish primary schools. In the 1980s he was director of the Centre for Travellers in Clondalkin, Dublin. In the 1990s he was senior careers adviser in Alexandra College, Dublin. He is married with two adult children. | <urn:uuid:fab9dcc4-55e7-4957-a3fb-2c23ece3749e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-voiceless-irish-bishops-at-the-second-vatican-council-1.550060?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986498 | 562 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Lake Tahoe's backcountry users once again can log their vertical feet in an attempt to score prizes and a hefty donation for the Sierra Avalanche Center.
The Tahoe Backcountry Vertical Challenge is back on and organizers hope that this will be the season that their goal is reached.
"We've challenged the entire backcountry community to a cumulative goal of 15 million vertical feet of uphill travel," said Brendan Madigan, owner of the North Shore shop Alpenglow, the event's main sponsor. "Last year we grew about 300 percent, but we came up short about halfway through. Considering the winter we had, that's pretty good."
The Tahoe Vertical Challenge is based around TahoeVertical.com, where users input the amount of vertical feet traveled each day they've been in the backcountry. The website calculates the total combined vertical feet of all users as well as ranks the users based on their individual totals.
Because the site allows each user to monitor their own backcountry stats day-to-day or season-to-season, it's become a useful tool that's led some to simply compete with themselves, Madigan said.
"People use it as a personal challenge," Madigan said. "If nothing else it's just a good database for personal data."
The men and women with the top three totals in the competition win prizes, including alpine touring boots, a GPS system and a helmet and goggles combo pack. There are also bimonthly raffle prizes and gift certificates for personal progress for anyone who has registered any vertical feet.
Though some do it for the rewards, the underlying focus of the competition is to raise awareness about avalanche safety by supporting the Sierra Avalanche Center, Madigan said. The center and its small staff of forecasters depend on fundraising and donations. And this event is a big part of that, said SAC Program Director Jenny Hatch.
"It rallies the backcountry community together," Hatch said. "It really does have a big impact."
This year, users of TahoeVertical.com can add snow conditions and their own avalanche observations into website. With only two professional avalanche observers, the information helps the center get a more well-rounded picture of the avalanche danger that exists at any given time, Hatch said.
Last year, more than 240 people registered for Tahoe Backcountry Vertical Challenge and logged more than 7 million vertical feet, with some individuals totaling in the hundreds of thousands. This year, Madigan hopes for more users, more snow and more vertical feet.
"This year we hope to make it," he said.
The event started Nov. 15 and runs through April 15, 2013, and is free to enter. All uphill travel must be human-powered. | <urn:uuid:68b63ab6-1239-4093-afd4-c3d219bccb02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/ARTICLE/20121213/SPORTS/121219925 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950814 | 560 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Android is the most popular operating system for mobile phones. It can be used on different types of phones, and this is one of the main reasons why it is so popular. Android is similar to Windows, as Windows is compatible with numerous types of computers as well. Android is very popular despite of the fact that it has some harsh competitors, such as the phones made by Apple, the iPhones.
One of the main reasons why Android phones are so popular is because they have the Android Market, an online place where you can find numerous applications which you can download for your phone. There are different types of applications, suitable for a wide range of tasks. In what follows I am going to present you the best applications you can find on the Android Market.
Facebook is one of the most popular websites at the moment, and one of the most popular applications for Android phones, is the Facebook one. With this application you can connect to the website directly from your phone, benefiting from a great interface, which is very easy to use. The application is great, as it makes the website similar to the way in which it looked in its beginning.
Another popular application, at least for the people from the United Kingdom, is the National Rail Enquiries. The application is free, and it allows you to verify live train times, to plan your journeys, verify prices, and so on. It is very easy to use, as you can simply enter the destination, your location, and the application will provide you all the possible routes to get where you want to go. It is a must have application.
In case you need to constantly verify your e-mail, then you can use the Hotmail application. Microsoft joined forces with developer SEVEN, and the result is the new Hotmail. It has a very simple and easy to use interface; it has push notification support, and you can connect different Hotmail accounts thanks to the application.
The next application makes most of the “best Android apps” lists, as it is very entertaining. I am talking about Google Maps, an application which allows you to get more information about the stars, constellations, and so on. You simply point the phone towards the sky, and the application will provide you useful information about the stars you pointed at. | <urn:uuid:3d52650f-84db-4b9f-9e57-50bda070d609> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://androidencyclopedia.com/2012/07/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959506 | 466 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Talks continued Tuesday night in Rock County regarding the county wide emergency warning system.
The Rock County's outdoor warning system ad hoc committee met to discuss the effectiveness and reliability of the county's system.
Currently, there are 47 sirens in the county and more than half of that need to be either fixed or replaced, which would cost near $500,000.
Also, about five communities in the county aren't even reached by the sirens. The committee has now decided to present the county with a plan to extend the range of notification and the cost of upgrading the current system.
The committee will meet again on Aug. 20 for further discussion on improving the county's warning system. | <urn:uuid:af0fafaf-de1b-4bde-8b94-c0aad1b87dcb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/48357.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957815 | 140 | 1.617188 | 2 |
ALBANY, Ga. — By pitching in to clean up the city, people can help attract more businesses with jobs, more restaurants and other features that make a city thrive.
That message from Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard added more than a hint of optimism to the audience at Jon Howard’s monthly East Albany Ward II Town Hall at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“When I had my platform validated by the meetings with citizens I called ‘Hubbard’s Huddles,’” Hubbard said, “I didn’t hear that crime was a major issue. The number one issue was education.”
Hubbard is about four months into her administration as recently elected mayor. When she campaigned she held the “Huddles” with people to find out what concerned residents.
Other issues that residents told her they were concerned about were economic development and neighborhood blight.
Hubbard said she plans to form “councils” on each of the problem areas and recruit people as individuals, members of clubs, churches and other organizations to serve on the councils.
Taking city blight as a departure point, Hubbard said the mattresses on the side of the street, the junked cars and debris all foster crime and lower chances of economic development.
The good people in the city clean up. Others see that and think they don’t have to bother. But Hubbard said that she thinks there are ways to encourage everyone, even slackers, to clean up the city.
“There are laws we can use,” Hubbard said. “I don’t want to but if we have to we can make an example of people.”
Cleaning up the city and improving the quality of life can be done, but it will take people signing up, Hubbard said. It will take organizations adopting parts of the city to clean and maintain as a long term commitment to the city.
Hubbard plans to have people sign contracts that symbolize their commitment to the city’s clean up and progress. Signs will go up in areas that have been adopted by groups so that people will know who is responsible for the area.
The first meeting to become part of the work to clean up the city is planned for 10 a.m. to noon June 9 at the Civic Center.
“The city can’t do it alone,” Hubbard said. “It takes help from residents.”
Hubbard also plans to involve Dougherty County representatives and residents. She believes that any development plan must involve the county and the region, because Albany stands as the region’s hub.
“Economic development needs a strategic development plan, for five years, for 10 years,” Hubbard said. “We’ll have the first meeting of the economic development council in the early fall or fall.”
The next Town Hall meeting is planned to be an elected candidate’s forum at 10 a.m. June 30, Howard said. It is scheduled to be held in the Law Enforcement Center, 201 W. Oglethorpe Blvd. | <urn:uuid:84bee0a9-9b4c-49bb-acc5-06556a17baf8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2012/may/26/hubbard-pushes-cleanup-help/?business | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973294 | 649 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Clod by Lewis Beach
Eugenically Speaking by Edward Goodman
Overtones by Alice Gerstenberg
Helena's Husband by Philip Moeller
hose days would hardly have been considered complete without the "afterpiece," or, as time went on, sometimes the "curtain raiser." It is by no means certain that theatre seats were always cheaper than to-day. In some cases, certainly, they were relatively quite as high. But it is certain that you got more for your money. You frequently saw your favorite actor in two contrasted roles, two contrasted styles of acting perhaps, and you saw him from early evening till a decently late hour. You didn't get to the theatre at 8.30, wait for the curtain to rise on a thin-spun drawing-room comedy at 8.45, and begin hunting for your wraps at 10.35. One hates to think, in fact, what would have happened to a manager fifty years ago who didn't give more than that for the price of a ticket. Our fathers and mothers watched their pennies more sharply than we do.
For various reasons, one of them no doubt being the growth of cheaper forms of amusement and the consequent desertion from the traditional playhouse of a consi | <urn:uuid:fbd8a0a3-25a6-49ae-896b-d34758d941ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://manybooks.net/titles/anonetext02wspla10.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986051 | 260 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Print is cheap — that's Kodak's message. The company is trumpeting its line of EasyShare inkjet printers that use cheap $10 black and $15 five-color ink cartridges. Using these cheap inks, trumpets Kodak, can cut your printing costs by half — an estimated $329 over three years.
And speaking of trumpeting, Kodak's cheaper-than-thou printers starred in a recent episode of Celebrity Apprentice (the one in which Gene Simmons got booted). But you should ignore Donald Trump's trumpeting. Be circumspect and cynical. Kodak's claims of cheap photo printing for all are true, but they're are a bit misleading. More to the point, who cares? Why, exactly, are you printing out so many photos anyway? Click Continue to find out why you shouldn't be.I have a high regard for Kodak. I've read George Eastman's biography, visited the Eastman House in Rochester on a couple of occasions, conducted extensive interviews with Steve Sasson, the Kodak engineer who invented the digital camera in 1975, and got a chance to wander around the Eastman House vault, filled with historic camera gear. Kodak is one of the great founding American tech companies.
But the consumer film business that Kodak invented and dominated for a century-plus has faded like a photo left in the sun, and the company is struggling to be profitable in the digital camera business. So Kodak is developing (pun intended) a consumer printer business that parallels George Eastman's philosophy: keep it easy and affordable and they will come.
First, these "we save big bucks" contentions are true only when Kodak's print costs are compared to the average costs of other printers. A closer reading of the data says that Kodak prints are only slighter cheaper than those produced by Canon and HP printers.
But all this is beside the point. Who prints 550 color documents a year? And what idiot prints out 150 pictures a year? And if you do, why?
Why? If I want to see my pictures, I fire up iPhoto or launch my screen saver and wax nostalgic viewing my memories on my 20-inch widescreen monitor. Or, I use AppleTV to spark teary-eyed memories on my 50-inch HDTV. If I want to share my pictures, I e-mail a link to where they're stored on some photo cloud server. Why do I need to kill trees and spend money on ink and photo paper for a tiny 4 x 6? And this whole business of longer-lasting prints… If printing is so cheap, when your old print fades, just print out another one. Talk about much ado about nothing.
So why do I have a printer? To scan, copy and fax. Printing is one of my minor multi-functions.
And CNET ranks Kodak's printers far below those from Canon and HP. In my own admittedly unscientific tests, I found documents and photos from my Canon MP830 multi-function printer more colorful than those produced by the Kodak 5100.
An old boss of mine once said there'll be a paperless office when there's a paperless bathroom. But while toilet paper is still an essential restroom accessory, there's a shrinking need for hard copies or for printers that may or may not save you pennies to produce them. | <urn:uuid:b977c9d1-9f17-487f-9dd7-edbd530ff322> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dvice.com/archives/2008/02/shift-is-photo.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930224 | 692 | 1.773438 | 2 |
From The Globe and Mail:
Lawrence went out for his high school’s hockey team. It was a tradition with the team that for the first month the veterans would regularly demean the new players. Criticizing their on-ice skills, but mainly making derisive comments – always obscene – about their manhood.
Lawrence knew this was part of the standard hazing ritual that went with being on the team. Still, he felt humiliated when they did it and was glad when it was over.
But he also couldn’t wait until next year when he would have his turn – with the next crop of rookies.
There is a definite philosophy that underlies hazing: It says that being the target of humiliation – where you actually suffer – is somehow good for you. It makes you a better person. It “builds character.”
In hazing, that’s the requirement for joining the club. If your initiation is not truly humiliating, it is not enough.
More than that, the philosophy says: It’s not mean, it’s friendly. It only feels mean. And, if you’re actually hurt by it, that’s your fault. You’re not tough enough. We are people who dish it out and can take it, and those who can’t take it are lesser than us. And if they want to move up, they better learn how to take it.
The possibility that such behaviour might be abusive or cruel is not part of the equation.
Unfortunately, there is one inescapable message built into this: Causing a person genuine emotional pain can somehow be okay, even good. And this produces only one thing: people who are more callous to the suffering of others. The more you buy into this, the more possible it becomes for you to cause or allow genuine suffering.
It’s a philosophy to which your teen – boy or girl – is constantly exposed – movies and video games where humiliation is a major part of the fun. Or in male professional sports, where trash talk is often demeaning and not playing tough enough is derogatorily equated with being feminine or gay.
What can you as a parent do to counteract this way of thinking?
One is to address it directly with your teen: “Humiliating, being cruel to somebody else is always bad. Being cruel as part of fun is always wrong. Nobody likes to be humiliated.”
A more powerful influence is whether this belief is a high priority in your interactions with your teen, and also how you deal with others. I’m not just talking about friendly teasing, but where you are mad at them. Do your words cross the line from angry to demeaning?
In the day-to-day raising of a teen, there are inevitably situations where they totally infuriate. You just asked Ivan to put all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and got the usual response: “Why does it always have to be me? I’m really tired. Why can’t you do it?”
And you know he’s not tired, he just desperately needs to get into the family room so he can watch the reality show Cops and Sickos on the big TV.
“I have had it with you, Ivan. I have had it. All you’re ever going to be is a big, lazy loser watching stupid crime shows. A loser, that’s what you are.”
There is a fine but very real line that your child absolutely does hear you cross. They immediately pull back and shut down: “Screw them.”
They are hurt. They are really hurt, and there is no lesson learned except that they are hurt.
A better approach: “I’ll get mad at them, say angry words, raise my voice, but I will not demean them because I know that that’s different. It really hurts. I will not do that.”
And the message you send is, “Really demeaning someone goes against my religion. It is never all right. I will not do it.” It is a good message. Just the opposite of the above.
But there is another bottom line. Do you genuinely believe the idea that humiliation and suffering in the name of character-building is never good? Either you believe it or you don’t. And that, ultimately, will be what you pass on to your teen. | <urn:uuid:6a6c2c10-514c-41d1-ad95-a09e4fb8c365> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centurycouncil.org/blog/2010/dr-wolf-my-son%E2%80%99s-getting-hazed-and-he-doesn%E2%80%99t-even-know-it | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974485 | 947 | 1.820313 | 2 |
UCT shines in World University Rankings by subject
UCT has been ranked among the top 100 universities in the world for eight of its subject areas, according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject released on 8 May. UCT was ranked at 32 for its Education and Training subject area. The other seven subject areas are: Earth and Marine Sciences, Politics, Psychology, Law and Legal Studies, History and Archaeology, Geography, and English Language and Literature. Read more... | <urn:uuid:3f5f049d-d46d-4379-826b-aa5a6004a9a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uct.ac.za/dailynews/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948388 | 95 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits