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Difference Between Facebook Live Feed and News Feed
Few days back facebook (as usual) changed their main home page interface again. People are really hating facebook for this change again. When the users become used to of some interface, Facebook changes it again. These rapid changes are not liked by people. Recently the main page is changed and facebook introduced two quite complex things “News Feed” and “Live Feed“. 95% of the people are still not aware them that what are the differences in both these feeds.
News Feeds shows you the position where you left your facebook last time. It shows you all the posts which were live at your last signout from facebook.
Whenever you login to your facebook, it shows you the News Feed page first so that you can know where you left the last time. And with the live feed you will see some numbers like 100+ or something. These numbers show the number of activities taken place among your friends since you were not on facebook. | <urn:uuid:92f59582-2152-4074-9c12-ce8c8cc688de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pickmore.com/difference-between-facebook-live-feed-and-news-feed-2293 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962089 | 203 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Written by PETA
There's a story that's getting a lot of play in Canada right now about a humane society inspector named Tre Smith who has been suspended following what, based on all the facts I've been able to put together on this one, was nothing less than a heroic effort to save a dog's life in extreme circumstances.
Apparently, Smith responded to a call about a Rottweiler named Cyrus who was locked in an overheated car. Given that animals locked inside cars in the summer can die of heatstroke within 15 minutes, even on a relatively mild day, this was obviously a serious situation, and Cyrus was evidently slumped over and foaming at the mouth by the time the humane officer arrived. Smith reports that he smashed the car window to pull Cyrus out, and handcuffed the owner to the car so that he could rush the animal to the hospital rather than waiting for the police to arrive. He later told reporters:
"I was trying to perform my job to the best of my abilities given a very difficult, threatening and abusive situation."
The story gets a bit murky after that—apparently, the dog owner's neighbors were so enraged by his actions that someone took a swing at him, and the cops arrived to find the dude handcuffed to a car with his face bleeding. Which, well, nobody likes getting sucker punched, but nobody likes it when people leave their dogs to die either.
Based on everything I've heard so far, it sounds like Smith should be given a medal rather than being suspended. You can read more about the story here, and you can click here for some more info about why you should absolutely never, under any circumstances or for any amount of time, leave your dog alone in a parked car. Also, here's a picture of some happy dogs cooling off in a paddling pool.
you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail [email protected]. If you need to report cruelty to
an animal, please click
here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the
animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local
police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA
immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
Follow PETA on Twitter!
Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights? Read more. | <urn:uuid:eb5d59ec-a101-475b-9326-3133e00daca3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2007/08/14/Humane-Officer-Suspended-for-Helping-Dog.aspx?PageIndex=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977598 | 538 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Spanish Language TV
Over the past few decades, our country has seen a sharp increase of the number of people that speak Spanish. This has inspired a few lifestyle changes in our country. With so many people speaking Spanish, it is important that we give Spanish speaking inhabitants an outlet for watching television. It can be hard to sit down and watch television in a foreign language, and even subtitles only marginally help.
Dish Latino is a package provided by the Dish Network that aims on bridging this gap. Dish Latino is a package that offers all of the most common Spanish speaking channels to a customer at a pretty reasonable price. Dish Latino offers many different Spanish language channels and these channels offer a variety of programming. From news in Spanish, to sports, children’s shows, and even famous Spanish speaking soap operas, the Dish Latino package offers something for all Spanish speaking people.
Even if a person doesn’t speak Spanish fluently, a Spanish TV package can prove itself useful. It can provide a person with a look into Spanish / Mexican culture and see things from a different perspective. It can be used to teach people about culture and to teach people about how to speak Spanish in general. In addition, some programming on Spanish networks simply doesn’t have an English equivalent. Dish Latino is a good value for Spanish speaking men and women, as it lets them watch TV shows that they are used to, in a language they are used to and it lets people unfamiliar with Spanish be exposed to the language and culture.
To learn more about Dish Latino please visit this link!
I am looking for my next big adventure. There are still many places I want to visit and even more to which I want to return. The camera is charged up and my backpack is packed; drop me a line if you know where I should go next. | <urn:uuid:6899db71-1b24-48b4-a2c0-8fd4ac77e58d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dishlatinotv.yolasite.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970278 | 373 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Cry Me A River: Musician Billy Bragg on the Internet Underwriting Creatives Provide
In our discussions, we largely ignored the elephant in the room: the issue of whether he ought to consider paying some kind of royalties to the artists. After all, wasn’t he using their music to draw members — and advertising — to his business? Social-networking sites like Bebo argue that they have no money to distribute — their value is their membership. Well, last week Michael Birch realized the value of his membership. I’m sure he’ll be rewarding those technicians and accountants who helped him achieve this success. Perhaps he should also consider the contribution of his artists.I agree with Mr. Bragg that there is a significant problem for creatives of all stripes. Also, anyone who's been reading my posts for any period of time knows that I'm not a fan of giving work away, whether for "exposure" or not. (Bragg points out that he gets exposure from radio stations; the difference is that they pay for the use of his music.)
However, the Internet issue is also a thorny one because of "monetization." Companies that own sites must find ways to make money not just from their sales, but from their operations. This is a situation that has many CEOs biting their nails late into the night. On one hand, they pay a whopping amount to acquire the social media sites because they're sure that if they don't, their companies will be left behind. But on the other hand, they can't figure out how to make money online.
I don't mean to point this out by way of excusing the system, but rather as a form of explanation. Many of the now hot Internet sites depended on investors for enough money to operate. When they sell, the investors get the money, and there are still those jobs that were created. But the real elephant in the room is that making money is far more difficult than any of the Internet cheerleaders want to admit.
So, do you give a cut to the musicians, particularly "the fledgling songwriters and musicians posting original material onto the Web tonight" whose "first legal agreement that they enter into as artists will occur when they click to accept the terms and conditions of the site that will host their music"? It would seem fair, but how do you calculate it? What is the value compared to, say, the amalgamation of posts and profiles that draw people to sites?
I don't have an easy answer. If I did, I'd be making a whole lot of money from knowing it. The one thing that is clear is that the start-ups, even as they get big, don't have the cash resources to pay everyone, and the corporations that buy them do so assuming that the business model of free content is going to remain. Otherwise, they would need to see enough cash to pay people.
We can draw a lesson. Your work may be wanted on the Web, but you can't depend on others to make a living for you. You must do that yourself. If you're going to use a site to promote yourself, either be comfortable with the thought that you'll never see a dime, or start developing business models now that will let you make money. Perhaps you need a link to an online store. Maybe you need people to come to your own ad-supported site. But certainly you cannot depend on others to make your business work for you. That is your job. | <urn:uuid:3f7a22b0-f18a-4b03-b1d0-40625d00e5d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eriksherman.com/WriterBiz/2008/03/cry-me-river-musician-billy-bragg-on.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979595 | 715 | 1.609375 | 2 |
When I lived in Japan in the 1980s I was struck by the various “rules” I perceived for women in regards to clothing and age. During one’s teens and early twenties, youthful fashion seemed acceptable, like what might be found in the Harajuku or Shibuya shopping districts. But once a woman hit her mid-twenties and, especially if she was married, she seemed to turn into some kind of unfashionable Stepford Wife, becoming a drudge in nondescript skirts, sometimes accompanied by thick nylons and overly sensible shoes. These women still looked young (and I often marveled at how, overall, Japanese women seemed to defy their real age much more so than a lot of American women), but it seemed as though they made an all-out effort now to look older. And once they became mothers, it got even worse, even though they still managed to keep their pert figures. And for those who were hitting thirty and still unmarried, it was more than time to give into the “obasan” (auntie) look since, after all, they were washed up now, doomed to be old maids.
According to recent reports, this is changing. You have to take these trend articles with somewhat of a grain of salt, but things look promising among the atmosphere of the newly liberated single woman over thirty who finds little in the way of marriageable men and has decided to live without such conventions. These new trends have names like otona gyaru (the Japanese word for “adult” and the Japanized English of “girl’) and arasa, which is a characteristic abbreviation of the shortening of the Japanized English term, araundo sa-tei (around thirty) and coyly depicts anyone in the thirtysomething age range. The picture on this blog of a cover of Story magazine even has a headline that says in rough translation: “Your 40s: Have One More Go at Love.”
It seems many of these women are no longer paying attention to the age police and celebrating their youth at any age. It reminds me a bit of the fashion scene in the United States where things have also loosened up for those who want to take advantage of it. Stores like Anthropologie seem to be vague on age, although they say their customers are in the 30 to 50 range, yet the clothes are fashionable and seemingly “ageless.” And a store like H&M, while seeming to cater to teens and young professionals, professes that it does not target its customers by chronological age or dress size as much as mental age and the desire to dress fashionably.
It can be a mistake to attach too much significance to this possible change in Japanese women, especially when a recent poll states that nearly all Asian countries have around 80 to 90 percent of businesses boasting women in senior positions, except for Japan, which has a rate only 25 percent. It is still obvious that Japan has a way to go in its cultural perception of management roles for women, and things change very slowly there in general, but I think it can be a good first step when women feel freer to express themselves and by doing so get rid of some of society’s restrictions.
Causes Wendy Tokunaga Supports
San Francisco SPCA Reading is Fundamental | <urn:uuid:6b1f9e13-9223-41b6-a503-af909e640786> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redroom.com/member/wendy-nelson-tokunaga/blog/adult-girls-around-thirty | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979001 | 689 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Who pays for interpreters for deaf?
posted Wednesday, November 21st, 2012 @ 8:59 am
If the local court rules that an interpreter be provided for a deaf person in court, who pays for that interpreter?
The Louisiana Attorney General's Office recently gave its opinion on the matter.
During a hearing in a civil case in the Seventh Judicial District Court in Vidalia involving a divorce and community property settlement, the judge appointed interpreters for the parties who were hearing impaired.
Additionally, the judge ordered that the interpreters be paid pursuant to state law.
First Asst. Dist. Atty. Ann Siddall asked the Louisiana Attorney General for an opinion on whether the Concordia Parish Police Jury is responsible for paying these fees, and, if so, should they be paid out of the parish's general fund or from the Judicial Expense Fund.
The AG's office answered that when an interpreter is appointed pursuant to the Louisiana Interpreter Law, the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf may pay the interpreter's fees set by the court.
However, if the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf does not cover an interpreter's fees, "the Judicial Expense Fund for the Seventh Judicial District would be another viable source of such payment." | <urn:uuid:420fe8b2-a686-4182-9c58-1ee2988c105e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.concordiasentinel.com/print.php?story=7299 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937536 | 254 | 1.5 | 2 |
Yes, Robert you are right in a way, at least, because the mentioned items have all been illustrated on a sales box that has the name of the series "Vanha Kartano" printed on it. The box also has a background picture of a large Country House.
I believe there is some fluctuation and do not know who really knows the actual definition what belonged to "Vanha Kartano" and/or/also called "Pirtti" series. (by the way "Pirtti" means rather a small log house or a "living room" of a smaller farm house, whilst "Kartano" means a large wealthy Country manor. "Vanha" is "Old" in Finnish)
There is also a series somewhere called "Matin matka" (Matti's journey) with the items "Isoäiti" (grandmother), "Isoisä" (Grandfather), Pikku-Matti (Little Matti), "Maaherra" (Gorvernor) and "Ahkeraliisa" (BusyLizzy) (there's an other thread somewhere of these)
In the 100 year exhibition of Riihimäen Lasi the glass museum showcased Piironki, Isoäiti, Maaherra and Pikku-Matti with a label header "Vanha Kartano" which really confuses this all.
Somewhere even "Pala" is included in these series...
Anyhow, we know Helena Tynell designed these around the same period of time. | <urn:uuid:3e310423-2521-4d11-af5f-34d2cc97393b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,44730.msg250203.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944556 | 322 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Countries including Brazil, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia and Turkey are at a disadvantage
Nearly four out of ten workers can’t understand the basic information shared on global conference calls, read or write emails in English, or deal with complexity and rapid change
Brisbane, CA, U.S.A. –April 3, 2012 — GlobalEnglish Corporation (www.GlobalEnglish.com), the leading provider of cloud-based, on-demand software to advance Enterprise Fluency™ for global organizations, today announced the results of its annual Business English Index (BEI), the only index that measures Business English proficiency in the workplace. The 2012 BEI shows that a lack of Business English proficiency is threatening the productivity of companies, industries and country-specific economies this year.
With a growing number of companies operating across ten, 15 or even more than 20 countries with different native tongues, the majority of the world’s business conversations now take place between non-native English speakers in English. The current shortage of talent with the aptitude to speak, present, write, sell and service customers in English has become a high-performance challenge for leaders of multinational companies at a time when more international business growth has been fueled through expansions in emerging markets.
Based on a scale of 1-10, providing a ranking of employee Business English competency from beginner to advanced skills, the average 2012 BEI score across 108,000 test takers around the world is 4.15. A BEI score of 1.0 indicates an ability to read and communicate using only simple questions and statements, and a score higher than 10.0 represents an ability to communicate and collaborate in the workplace much like a native English speaker. There was an overall decrease in the average BEI score from last year’s inaugural index, which dropped from 4.46 to 4.15. This low score confirms that current Business English skills are not sufficient enough to meet the performance demands of today’s global economy.
Nearly four out of ten (38.2 percent) global workers from 76 represented countries were ranked as Business English beginners, meaning that, on average, they can’t understand or communicate basic information during virtual or in-person meetings, read or write professional emails in English or deal with complexity and rapid change in a global business environment. The majority of global workers (60.5%) from the represented countries scored between a 4.0 and 7.0, below an intermediate level, indicating an inability to take an active role in business discussions or perform relatively complex tasks such as presentation development and customer or partner negotiations.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts that 70 percent of world growth over the next few years will come from emerging markets, with China and India accounting for 40 percent of that growth. By 2020, Brazil, Russia, India and China are expected to account for nearly 50 percent of all global GDP growth. Yet, according to McKinsey & Company1, only 13 percent of graduates from emerging countries are suitable for employment in global companies, and the number one reason cited is a lack of English skills.
While 92 percent of non-native English-speaking global employees say communicating in English is required or important for their jobs, only a tiny fraction (seven percent) strongly agree that their current English skills are sufficient for success on the job, according to a 2010 survey of 26,000 global employees in 152 countries.2
“Poor Business English skills are bad for global businesses and this year’s Business English Index suggests that many companies will be hard-pressed to achieve their desired performance goals during 2012,” according to Tom Kahl, GlobalEnglish President. “Addressing English skills gaps and ensuring that employees can immediately perform at the necessary proficiency level should be viewed as a strategic imperative for multinational businesses, as Enterprise Fluency, the ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate within global organizations, can deliver significant financial upside. In fact, a Towers Watson study found that effective business communications can lead to a 47 percent higher total shareholder return.”
In a March 2012 report, analyst firm Bersin & Associates 3 found that organizations with a high level of Enterprise Fluency, those which tackle Business English on a strategic, enterprise-wide level, are dramatically more likely to succeed across a broad spectrum of business outcomes than companies with a fragmented and reactive business communications approach. According to the study, organizations at the upper end of the spectrum are 16 times more likely to be high financial performers, 28 times more likely to perform better on customer success measures, such as improved customer loyalty and satisfaction, and 86 times more likely to be high performers on business agility measures, including time to market and responsiveness to change.
Struggling, Fast-Growth and BRIC Economies at a Disadvantage
Only the Philippines attained a score above 7.0, a BEI level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks. This is particularly interesting because the Philippines, a country with one-tenth of the population of India, recently overtook India as a hub for call centers.4 Joining the Philippines in the top five were Norway (6.54), Estonia (6.45), Serbia (6.38) and Slovenia (6.19).
It is not surprising that both the Philippines and Norway—the only two countries in the top five in both 2011 and 2012—are improving their economies, based on the latest GDP data from the World Bank. The increased Business English capability for global workers from these two countries is an indicator of continued economic growth and business success.
Both struggling economic powers (Japan, Italy and Mexico) and fast-growth emerging markets (Brazil, Columbia and Chile) scored below a 4.0 in Business English proficiency, placing them at a disadvantage when competing in a global marketplace. Three out of four BRIC countries did not attain a spot in the top-ranking 25 countries, including Brazil (2.95), Russia (3.60) and China (4.44). India earned a BEI score of 5.57, placing it within the top 10 countries.
Shifts in global talent have put even English-speaking countries at risk. Surprisingly the BEI score for global workers in the U.S. declined from 6.9 to 5.09 since the original 2011 BEI benchmark, which is attributed to a majority of test takers being foreign-born engineers and scientists. One in five global workers employed in the U.S. across the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields are foreign-born, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce Report published in 2012.5
Professional and Financial Services Are Leading Industry Sectors
A professional services company that topped the 2012 BEI for a second year in a row with a score of 7.61 is a leading international provider of outsourced customer care. The company is differentiating itself by emphasizing the quality of its offering by enabling its representatives to provide improved service through a higher level of Business English proficiency. Both the professional services (5.19) and financial services (4.68) sectors had modest improvements to the BEI scores earned from the original benchmark index conducted last year. As business becomes increasingly globalized, client companies expect service partners to offer best-in-class support in an increasing number of geographic locations.
Other higher-scoring sectors included the media/communications/entertainment sector (4.6) and the technology and retail sectors (4.5) which scored near the top of the 2012 BEI. Industry sectors at the bottom of the 2012 BEI include the government/education/nonprofit sector (3.11), the real estate and construction sector (3.15) and the manufacturing and distribution sector (3.4). These lower results are likely due to less employer emphasis on developing Business English skills, because many of the organizations operating in these latter sectors have traditionally been more locally focused.
The GlobalEnglish BEI is a valuable tool for multinational companies to measure and compare Business English competency across geographies and sectors and to evaluate Business English competency of peers and competitors. The 76 countries included in the 2012 BEI proficiency rankings each had a range of test takers between 50 and more than 13,000 per country. All global workers from 216 participating multinational corporations were evaluated over the course of 2011.
To review the complete 2012 BEI findings – including a full report, infographics and a presentation, visit: www.GlobalEnglish.com/business_english_index.
About GlobalEnglish Corporation
GlobalEnglish offers solutions to improve Enterprise Fluency™: the communication and collaboration that drives high performance in a global economy. A key component of Enterprise Fluency is the measure of a company's ability to apply company-wide gains in Business English skills to improve the ease with which global teams can communicate and collaborate with each other and the effectiveness with which the company can operate across country borders.
GlobalEnglish has more than 500 enterprises partnering with the company globally, including BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Cisco, Deloitte, GlaxoSmithKline, Hilton, John Deere, Procter & Gamble and Unisys. Its comprehensive, on-demand software solutions are available in 15 languages for instant, on-the-job support for business tasks in English – such as collaborating, writing emails and developing presentations – and proven programs for building lasting Business English proficiency. Headquartered in Brisbane, California, the company has offices in 30 countries and the global reach to support multinational companies in any country worldwide.
1 Source: The Emerging Global Labor Market: Part II—The Supply of Offshore Talent in Services, McKinsey & Company, June 2005, http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/emerginggloballabormarket/Part2/executive_summary.asp
2 Source: The Globalization of English Report, GlobalEnglish Corporation, 2010, http://www.globalenglish.com/m/why_globalenglish/globalization_of_english/.
3 Source: Why Moving Communication Issues from Tactical to Strategic is Imperative in Today’s Borderless Business Environment, Bersin & Associates, March 2012, bit.ly/EFMM_Report
4 Source: “A New Capital of Call Centers,” The New York Times, November 5, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/business/philippines-overtakes-india-as-hub-of-call-centers.html?_r=1
5 Source: The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 2012. http://www.commerce.gov/americacompetes | <urn:uuid:d1e87fd0-bb3d-4e21-a291-bcc1d85f1e65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalenglish.com/whoweare/newsroom/press_releases/757 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933366 | 2,212 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The Rev. Rob Morris, pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church (a congregation of the Missouri Synod) in Newtown Connecticut, was forced by Missouri Synod church officials to offer a written apology for participating in an ecumenical prayer vigil in Newtown, following the mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Unlike the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) forbids its clergy from participating with other faiths in worship.
The prayer vigil, held in Newtown, two days after the shootings in December, was attended by President Obama, and Muslim, and Jewish leaders as well as other Christian clergy and families of the first grade class where the shootings occurred.
I’ve included links here for those who want to read more about this story.
Religious News Services
I’ll admit, there was a time when my first reaction to this would have been anger. And yes, I’m still angry. The general public doesn’t understand the difference between the ELCA and the LCMS. All they see is Lutheran, and so I and to some degree all Lutherans, are tarred by this brush which I personally find offensive and the antithesis of everything I believe and confess as a Lutheran.
But that’s not my strongest reaction anymore. My strongest reaction is sadness. Sadness at the missed opportunity to bring the love of God close to people who desperately needed it.
Pastor Morris was right to stand with the brokenhearted, to offer comfort to the inconsolable, to represent the visible presence of God in solidarity with those who weep at such unthinkable loss. As a pastor, and as a human being, it would have been unthinkable for me to be anywhere else.
I’ll leave the Missouri Synod leaders to work out their own salvation in fear and trembling, knowing that every church body today, yes, even the ELCA, has been guilty of all manner of failings and shortcomings when it comes to bearing the grace of God to the world.
Instead, I want to affirm the mystery of what God calls us to be as the church. God invites us into relationship, not that we may take possession of God. As Paul says quoting the hymn in Philippians: Jesus did not count equality with God as a thing to be exploited, but emptied himself. (Phil. 2:6-7).
This self-emptying is mark of our relationship with God too. It is our ongoing work. We are not called into relationship with God in order to take possession of God, but so that God may take possession of us. So that we may work with God the way a sail, properly set, captures the wind without ever possessing it.
Each one of us will have a different take on the mystery of our relationship with God. None of us will ever fully understand it, or give proper expression to it. That’s OK. We’re not supposed to. Because we are not called to perfect our relationship with God. We are called to be empty vessels, that we may be filled with God’s love and so be in loving relationship with each other.
Any understanding of our relationship to God that demands that we be less than human or humane; that we turn our backs on our brokenhearted sisters or ignore the tears of our grieving brothers, is flat out false and misguided. That is an understanding that seeks to exploit God, not to be filled by God.
Thank you for your faithful service Pastor Morris. | <urn:uuid:9e0b6ec4-435a-4a0a-a49a-0294c499f754> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://charlesoberkehr.blogspot.com/2013/02/lutheran-pastor-forced-to-apologize.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964387 | 725 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Students throw their mortarboards in the air during their college graduation.
Here's a strange yet useful report, from the LA Times' Money & Company blog. Sarah Millar, "now gainfully employed as a research analyst at ConvergEx Group in New York," but a recent graduate of Trinity College (class of 2011) has produced, all on her own, a report analyzing whether college is worth the increasingly higher price.
I can't track down the actual report, nor determine where the LAT got it, so I'll have to trust them on this one when they excerpt Millar's conclusion: "The bottom line of this analysis is that college pays, literally and figuratively," Millar writes.
Money & Company indicates that Millar has researched all the right government and private sources. Millar's LinkedIn profile does indicate that she's been working at ConvergEx for a few months, so it's safe to assume that she's at least somewhat trained in data analysis. Bit before landing the job, she labored as a manager at something called Johnson's Popcorn. I'm going to assume it was part-time and summers. | <urn:uuid:38de748e-5d2d-483a-afb6-4c93349be5c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scpr.org/blogs/economy/tagged/cost-of-college | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969639 | 240 | 1.5 | 2 |
Meet our engineering students ... [Photos]
Amanda Bragg and Meghan Yohpe are pictured with their Engineering 101 team project.
Engineering students take Engineering 101 at NCSU in the fall of their freshmen or sophomore year. We try to register 2-4 Meredith students for the same section of the course so they can share rides to NCSU and have the option of working together to complete the classes team project. Amanda and Meghan built a working fountain for their team project.
Monday, February 8, 2010. This panel featured engineers from a variety of companies. Attending the panel was a great way for students to learn more about the work environment of various business/industry settings, not just the engineering profession. Immediately after the panel, the panelists and students were invited to join NMS faculty for a tour of SMB, followed by lunch in Belk Dining Hall. This was a great opportunity to get to have conversations with engineers.
Anjela Govan, Northrop Grumman
Related link of interest to International Students:
The Engineering Dual Degree program, an agreement between Meredith College and North Carolina State University, allows students to attend Meredith College for about three years and then attend North Carolina State University's College of Engineering for approximately two years.
Advantages of Meredith's Engineering Dual Degree program, include:
How the Dual Degree program works:
Students will be mentored by women who have upper class status in engineering or who are practicing engineers. Students will have the choice each year during their five years in the program to participate in a living community at Meredith College mainly for women who have chosen engineering, science, mathematics or computer science as a major. After the students officially transfer to NCSU for their fourth year, they will continue to have the option of living on the Meredith College campus until the completion of their Engineering Dual Degree program.
Students are encouraged to indicate their interest in this program during Summer Registration before the first semester of their freshman year. They should declare their Meredith major during their first semester and will be assigned to one of the engineering program advisors. Students who declare their major after the first semester may not be able to complete both degree programs in five years.
Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 while at Meredith to continue enrollment in the program. Admission to NCSU College of Engineering is dependent on GPA and the successful completion of a set of required courses.
For more information, interested students should contact Kassy Mies, engineering program coordinator at Meredith, before registering for their first semester at Meredith College.
Dinner with guest speaker Phyllis Elikai, Vice-President and Chief People Officer, McKim and Creed. Monday, February 22, 2010 [Photos]
Engineering Career Panel, Monday Feb 8, 2010 [Read More]
Meredith student Megan Yohpe has been named a NASA-MUST Scholar [Read More].
Ten F'09 Meredith freshmen are taking E 101 Introduction to Engineering and Problem Solving at NC State University; this is the first engineering course that students complete as part of the Engineering Dual Degree Program between Meredith College and NC State. One requirement of this course and the program is their participation in the Engineering Design Day on Tuesday, November 24 at the McKimmon Center; if you would like more information about the event, you can visit the website: http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/firstyear/fedd.php. | <urn:uuid:b7b71f41-24e7-42c7-86d7-af775531e19a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.meredith.edu/engineering/default.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95842 | 706 | 1.625 | 2 |
Signs that the Devil roams among us and that the Kenyan nation shall be born in church
December 13, 2005 16 Comments
A word of advice from the get-go: enjoy your beer now and wear your mini-skirts often because such joys – if that is what they are to you – might not last long.
Let me explain by introducing my new favourite pastor, Rev. Dr David Githii, head of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). He argues that Kenyan government buildings harbour many satanic symbols and that Kenya is a country reeling under ‘the great influence of devil worship’. He was recently quoted in the Standard saying that “the two snakes at the entrance to Parliament, the huge Masonic star at the entrance to the High Court, the frogs and tortoise signs in the High Court must be demolished.” Presumably because they are signs of the devil. Nor did his investigations into the insidious nature of Lucifer stop there. It turns out that Kenya’s national rallying call, harambee which means pulling together, is actually a religious invocation: Haree means hail, while Ambe is a Hindu Goddess (ahem, a mere 2 years ago, when in high school, we used to call parties harees, as in ‘we are off to haree at carni’. Little did we suspect that we were deep in the Gujarati). It came into usage in Kenya courtesy of the Indian coolies who built the Kenya-Uganda railway and would chant the phrase as they toiled under the gaze of man-eating lions. Some of the symbols that have come under suspicion for promoting devilry and general evil include ‘a compass and square on the grilles at the entrance to St. Andrews Church, Masonic coffins on the church’s 30 windows and celestial globes on stairs leading to the main sanctuary.’ (See more here) Other symbols on the chopping board are the old church’s spiral which is a spear on top of a hut.
Rev. Githii’s faction has been opposed by one made up of some of the more prominent business leaders in the congregation who according to the press contend that ‘the targeted symbols and designs have been in the PCEA churches for more than a century and were simple Scottish internal decor engravings and patterns on stained glass windows with links to Freemasonry but not necessarily satanic.’ This faction, perhaps unknowingly, is clutching to the legacy of the Overseas Presbytery of the Church of Scotland which for almost half a century (until 1956) run the affairs of the church and only relinquished direct control in 1975 when the first African senior minister was installed. The glass stained windows that are the subject of Rev. Githii’s righteous wrath are a tangible connection to the colonial ‘history’ of the church. The faction that supports their maintenance shall eventually lose because it is unknowingly in the path of a historical tsunami.
In the past, I have argued on this blog that African Christianity is approaching an epochal break with its European roots. The separation of the moral domain of the Kenyan and of the European is the fundamental moment in decolonisation. It should not be a surprise that it is taking place within the church; an institution built on the possibility of transcendence much more so than any secular decolonisation idea. You are more than the sum of your parts in the church. In a moment you can be made whole: transformed from sinner to believer, from sickness to health and witness the dead brought to life. Whether this is true or not matters less than the extent to which it is believed.
During the brief encounter between the peoples in Kenya with European colonialism, there were periodic attempts to spurn the ‘white man’s ways’. Whether it is the Mau Mau or Lukas Pkech, a young Pokot man who was a follower of Elija Masinde’s Dini of Msambwa and launched an armed rebellion against the British, religious belief has been ground zero in taking on the European yoke which crucially has been based far more on notions of moral superiority than on the Maxim gun.
The Rev. Githii’s of the world are going much further than Pkech who said ‘don’t listen to this man, he is our enemy. Haven’t we a god? We pray to you Jehovah. Who is Jesus? The wazungu say he is god but how could he be if he died?’ (quoted in Bethwell Ogot’s amazing essay in Mau Mau and Nationhood) Today’s rebels are not merely dissenting against colonialism, which is history anyway, they are remaking a moral house from the foundation up. This necessitates that they strive against the latest notion of European moral superiority: secular humanism. And they are taking this fight to the heart of the enemy. In May, while in the United States, Reverend Githii severed his denomination’s relationship with the National Capitol Presbytery and the Presbytery of Detroit over their ordaining of practicing homosexuals. He spurned the $300,000 in funding that his church receives from the PCUSA writing, ‘we find it unfortunate for you to question the inspiration of the Bible as the Word of God. This contradicts the message that the Western missionaries gave to us when our people first heard the gospel from them.’ In 2003, his counterpart in the Anglican Church, Bishop Simon Oketch, was almost beaten up by two Church of England colleagues on a London street. He had infuriated them over his uncompromising opposition to the appointment of the gay American pastor, Rev. Gene Kelly, as Bishop of New Hampshire. The Nigerian Anglicans, the largest congregation in that church followed suit by breaking longstanding links with the mother church in a rejection of its prerogative over them. Homosexuality is only the lightening rod. All manner of progressive civil freedoms will come under attack, most focusing on gender roles and sexuality.
There is irony in this. The western church has allowed the mores of secular society not because of reaching an enlightened understanding but by trying to stay relevant to a largely apathetic western public. Only in those areas where it retains a conservative ‘reactionary’ character has it thrived. The African church, rather than rebelling, seems to be saying, ‘you the progressives are the ones who are rebels who must be cast out of the house of God.’ This is a message that is gaining resonance in Africa where the church is growing faster than almost any other part of the world outside Mongolia. The explosions of sectarian violence worldwide leaving people in need of belonging and security; the march of democracy, which will reduce the power of the authorities to call the tune; and the proliferation of the means of communication will all combine to shrink the secular space and enlarge that of the believer. The nation, throughout all the countries in Christendom, has been erected on the foundations of the church. It will be no different in Kenya.
That Rev. Githii is willing to take aim at a national symbol such as harambee is proof that his campaign shall not be limited to dissing the western church. Rather than participate in direct politics, the Kenyan church shall eventually absorb politics into the moral space that it is busy carving. Its strictures on the private will be so much stronger than the ideas that maintain the public sphere, creating an immense pressure – and possibly even violence aimed at unbelievers or the immoral etc. What now only seems to be a campaign for souls will eventually colonise increasingly larger parts of the public sphere. The fact that the ‘centre’ – the collection of individuals and institutions that define national power – is so ideologically feeble and so dependent on western aid and political ideas will only hasten this process. Like Archbishop Rowan Williams who could only look on in helplessness and surrender as the Nigerians and Kenyans threatened to tear the Anglican Church to pieces over the issue of homosexuality, the Kenyan ruling classes will come to mime the moral positions advocated by the most popular of the churches. I say enjoy your beers and mini skirts for the moment because they may not be with you in similar form for very long. Already, sectors of the government are taking a harsher line on drinking and other ‘sin’ products all in the name of public safety and health. But it will soon become noticeable that as bars begin to close ever earlier, churches will stay open later.
In time, this trend will probably make for an intolerant and constricted social space, but one that will for the first time create the basis of a politics connected to the moral lives of a majority. Through fire and brimstone, laws and regulations that reduce all manner of secular freedoms – that I for one enjoy – a nation shall begin to take shape. Or at least that is what I hope. | <urn:uuid:0e324652-7e8e-4bcd-835a-ced275cd9cd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bulletsandhoney.wordpress.com/2005/12/13/signs-that-the-devil-roams-among-us-and-that-the-kenyan-nation-shall-be-born-in-church/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963547 | 1,843 | 1.726563 | 2 |
The Philosophy Of Chic
Nadine Frey -- Interior Design, 4/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Bringing the outside in is not always a primary concern in designing retail spaces. However, it was almost a prerequisite in the case of the latest Paris boutique for Zadig & Voltaire. Overlooking the breathtaking Église Saint-Sulpice, a nearly 400-year-old church that thronged with the curious for a short while after figuring in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, this boutique on the Left Bank is literally a succession of rooms with a view.
"The location was important not only because of the church but also because this is the square where Yves Saint Laurent opened his first Rive Gauche store," Zadig & Voltaire founder and designer Thierry Gillier says. His boutique now occupies two stories of a building completed right around the time that the greatest philosophe of them all was writing his novel Zadig, ou la Destinée. "We originally had a small ground-level boutique there," Gillier explains. "When the upstairs became available, it was a question of finding the right vocabulary to tell a story using the whole space."
Isabelle Stanislas, who cofounded the architecture firm So-An with Leiko Oshima in 2001, knows that story by heart. She's worked with Gillier on dozens of boutiques for the label, which targets hipsters looking for relaxed urban fashions with a rock-and-roll accent. Between stores in Saint-Tropez, London, Tokyo, and elsewhere, she's spent much of the past few years on planes.
For the 5,400-square-foot Place Saint-Sulpice project, she sought to evoke a typical Parisian apartment—oak floors, tall divided-light windows. "Thierry thinks like an architect," she notes. "He came at the project saying, 'Luxury is space.'"
She transformed most of the ground level into an entry. To the right, a flight of floating limestone steps ascends to a rather sober landing. It's empty except for a sculptural white desk uncluttered by cash registers—they're kept low and out of sight.
Customers walk past to reach the main sales floor, where the street-front rooms flow one into the other in succession, like the living spaces of an apartment. Each room is dedicated to a different type of merchandise: men's, women's, children's. Adding to the residential feel are tables topped by slabs of sanded, stained oak and modern seating that includes a pair of Finnish 1950's armchairs in steel and leather, hunted down at the flea market.
A hallway divides these exterior rooms from a large skylit area presenting everything from slouchy leather bags to the V-neck T-shirts that are among the label's signature items. To display and store the merchandise, Stanislas designed angular white-lacquered islands. Concrete flooring keep the backdrop neutral.
Throughout, Stanislas emphasized simple materials and natural luminosity. "We didn't touch the windows," she says. "And I surrounded the whole volume with the small, inset oval fixtures that are used to illuminate the bridges in Paris."
Sculpting the ceiling contributed to the residential ambience. Stanislas lowered the ceiling 3 inches over the central hallway in order to accommodate lighting as well as to reduce the potentially cavernous feel of the interior.
Alongside the staircase, flat screens flash video images of Zadig & Voltaire's key references: electric guitars, motor cycles, and other riffs on a 1960's theme. Black-and-white photomurals, blowups from a print-ad campaign, wrap a structural column and line a corridor. "The images represent Thierry's world," Stanislas says. "They're like photos a family puts on the wall." Just in case that message doesn't come through loud and clear, she parked a customized Triumph motorcycle right in the front window. —Nadine Frey | <urn:uuid:58011a46-d0e0-4fff-9bcd-35206c1b6485> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.interiordesign.net/article/476451-The_Philosophy_Of_Chic.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942703 | 846 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The forest industry is confronted by intensifying pressure for environmental and social responsibility – and rigorous scrutiny of forest stewardship practices by a broad range of stakeholders: consumers, investors, environmentalists, government and the general public.
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KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of KPMG LLP that is accredited to conduct forest management certification audits worldwide by the Forest Stewardship Council and operates under the authority of Forest Stewardship Council.
KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc, is accredited to conduct forest management certification audits worldwide under the FSC Principles and Criteria.
Our team of professional foresters, biologists, and environmental management systems assessors has been actively involved in the evolution of forest practices auditing for over eight years and brings a wealth of auditing expertise and common sense to task in conducting each assessment.
KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc. employs a range of services to lead businesses from the initial investigation of the feasibility of certification through to the final certification audit and subsequent annual monitoring. All of our services are designed to ensure that we maintain full independence throughout the process.
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Applicants for FSC certification have certain rights and duties that must be formally acknowledged for FSC certification to proceed. These rights and duties are established and documented in a formal engagement letter signed by both KPMG and the applicant.
- Maintaining the certification
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KPMG’s FSC certification fees are calculated on a project by project basis. Prior to initiating a certification, we assess the scope and scale of the project and the expected amount of time required to complete it. We also assess the level of risk associated with the certification. Using this information we calculate fees based on an established daily rate x the number of days the project is expected to take. The resulting fee is agreed in advance before the project is initiated.
KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc.
KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc. | <urn:uuid:30991618-b023-4649-b68e-2b994a652727> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kpmg.com/Ca/en/topics/Sustainability/KPMG-Forest-Certification-Services-Inc/Pages/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930835 | 812 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Posted on 15 December 2011 by davidbiggs
It’s strange that so many people still believe sparkling wines are for “special occasions” only.
As far as I’m concerned, a “special occasion” is often exactly the wrong time to enjoy a bottle of bubbly. Consider the reality of a wedding reception, for example, or a 21st birthday party, when people traditionally pop a bottle of bubbly.
You arrive and are greeted with a dry white wine (or a beer), then you have a couple of glasses of red or white wine with the meal, downing a couple of glasses during the speeches.
Finally somebody says: “Please charge your glasses for a toast to the happy couple (or birthday girl or whoever).”
We then fill our glasses with “Champagne” and in a huge wave of bonhomie we clink and drink and sing “jolly good fellows” and take a sip or three without actually caring what the wine tastes like.
Look down the tables at the end of a party and note how many of the Champagne glasses have not been emptied.
A good sparkling wine deserves better than this.
If it has been made in the traditional Champagne method (called Methode Cap Classique, or MCC, here) the bottle has been handled about 100 times, fermented twice, capped, riddled, frozen, degorged, uncapped, caged and corked. MCC is the most labour-intensive way of producing a bottle of wine. It deserves our full attention.
When there’s a need for a toast to the bride or birthday girl, I’d recommend a good, inexpensive bubbly made by the simple carbonation method, or the tank-fermented “charmat” method.
But the festive season is a time for appreciating good sparkling wines. We are often surrounded by family and friends and feeling in a happy mood. It’s the perfect time to pop a bottle of good MCC, admire the tiny bubbles, appreciate the inviting, biscuity aroma and sip the crisp, chilled nectar.
Our winemakers produce superb sparkling wines and they deserve our full attention.
This is the perfect time to relax and share a glass of bubbles.
Posted on 06 January 2011 by davidbiggs
I find it interesting to note how many of my friends now drink sparkling wine as a regular summer drink. Not long ago bubblies were reserved for special occasions – weddings and 21st birthdays.
There was a time when sherry was the accepted drink to start an evening. You greeted guests with a glass of sherry. Now it seems you greet them with a glass of bubbly. Sherry seems to be on the endangered list.
Part of the reason for this trend, I believe, is that our South African winemakers are producing such excellent MCC (Méthode Cap Classique) sparkling wines at very reasonable prices.
Many winemakers – like Philip Jonker of Weltevrede, Jeff Grier of Villiera and Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck – have really gone into the bubbly thing and produce several different styles of MCC. Some are vintage wines, some are non-vintage, some are pink, all are deliciously crisp and cooling.
Most of the MCC bubblies we produce are made from the traditional Champagne varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but one of my current favourites, Old Vines Vintage Brut 2004, is made from Chenin Blanc grapes. Of course this comes a no surprise when you remember it was made by Irina van Holdt, the Cape’s most enthusiastic promoter of the Chenin Blanc grape.
I’ve always enjoyed Twee Jongegezellen’s Krone Borealis, too, for a really crisp and elegant drink that seems to team up well with almost any food. I like their rosé version too.
Of course, a sparkling wine doesn’t have to made by the traditional bottle-fermented method. We have some excellent bubblies produced by the simpler charmat method, in which the bubbles are created in pressurised tanks before bottling. Nederburg produces a good one, as do JC le Roux and Du Toitskloof.
And while you’re exploring the delightful world of Cape sparkling wines, taste Camberley’s unusual Sparkling Shiraz. There are not many sparkling red wines on the market, but this one is rapidly gaining fans. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s light and fruity, with savoury nuances and a nice dusty finish. I’d like to try it with a full-flavoured meat dish like roast pork, or maybe even springbok venison.
If our Cape temperatures stay up there in the 30s for much longer, I can see my consumption of chilled sparkling wines rising to record levels. | <urn:uuid:e4375fc3-93b4-4dc5-81aa-813374e40650> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davidbiggsonline.com/?tag=champagne | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943529 | 1,047 | 1.523438 | 2 |
When you live by the coast, you never know what the incoming tide may leave behind before it retreats back out to sea. A few weeks ago I was dumbfounded. I never imagined that the carcass of a huge finback whale would come to rest on my town’s shoreline.
Finback Whale Illustration by LG Design
It didn’t take long for me to become spellbound by this magnificent creature. Little did I know that we would soon form a very special relationship. Let me explain…
October 8th… First Spotted
The whale’s carcass had first been spotted in Boston Harbor on Oct. 8th. Nature had its own plans, however, and the carcass was pulled back out to sea. It then traveled — for almost two weeks — all the way to Rockport, Massachusetts, before becoming stuck on a rocky stretch of beach off Penzance Road. Needless to say, the finback became an instant attraction.
Finback whale comes ashore near Penzance Road
A nearby footpath provided viewing access for fascinated residents and visitors, but the whale’s beachfront location proved inaccessible to large machinery. Removing the carcass from that location was next to impossible, so Town Officials had little recourse other than to let nature take its course.
October 26th… My First Encounter
Once I learned of the whale’s exact location, I set off with camera in hand. When my eyes first caught a glimpse of the carcass, I was amazed. Finback whales are far from tiny. This whale’s carcass was reported to measure somewhere between 54-70 feet in length — a truly jaw-dropping site to see.
Determined to be a young, adult male, the finback’s decaying aroma was what I would politely describe as… “memorable.” I quickly learned to hold my breath when standing down wind. Still, nothing was going to deter me from studying the physical details of this fascinating creature.
A fin is still clearly visible
Even though the whale had been deceased for quite some time, my photographic eye could see much waiting to be captured with my lens. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After all, how many times does a finback whale practically land in your own backyard?
He Deserves A Name
After seeing this magnificent creature with my own eyes, I felt an instant connection. Those who know me will not be surprised to learn that I felt he deserved a name. Naturally, I gave him one.
I saw his eye and a connection was born
Had I discovered him when he first appeared in Boston Harbor, perhaps I would have named him “Finnegan.” A good Irish name for a finback whale washing up in Bean Town.
However, it was here in Rockport that I discovered him resting on this rock-covered stretch of beach. Only one name could therefore do him justice — “Rocky.”
October 28th… The Day Before Hurricane Sandy’s Arrival
This year’s Hurricane Sandy will be remembered for a long time. As the storm barreled its way up the coast and was forecasted to converge with another weather system and form a Super Storm, I knew Rocky’s future was questionable. As I saw it, the waves would either throw his carcass further up onto the nearby resident’s property, or the storm’s force would carry him away never to be seen by me again.
Early waves from Hurricane Sandy pack a punch
On this day, Oct. 28th, several photographer friends were visiting me. As part of my tour of the area, I took them over to see Rocky. We were not alone. There were many visitors simultaneously saying both “hello” and “farewell” as time was limited and the hurricane was quickly approaching.
What condition would Rocky be in after the storm? Only time would tell.
October 30th… Sandy’s Aftermath. What Happened?
By now everyone knows the devastation Hurricane Sandy brought to the East Coast. I feared for Rocky’s condition. The ocean’s power was certainly formidable during the storm. As soon as Sandy had passed, I grabbed my camera and headed off to learn Rocky’s fate.
As I walked down the footpath to the beach, I kept my fingers crossed that he was still intact. However, when I reached the end of the path, I heard myself gasp. He was… gone. Hurricane Sandy had taken him with her.
Rocky disappears after Hurricane Sandy
October 31st… A Solitary Hour
The next morning I went into town to the Red Skiff — my favorite breakfast joint. While chatting with the staff, I mentioned Rocky’s disappearance. That’s when the miracle happened — I was told he was still in Rockport!
It had been reported that he had washed up on Cape Hedge Beach near South Street. Needless to say, I grabbed my camera equipment and headed off to find him.
Our Special Time Together
When I found him, I was startled to see that he was all alone. No residents. No visitors. No crowds. No one — except for me. I think that’s the way it was meant to be. I spent the next hour with him, up close and personal. Hurricane Sandy had definitely battered him up quite a bit, but this was now my third time photographing him and he was decidedly familiar to me.
Rocky comes to rest on Cape Hedge Beach
Although decomposition had continued since I had last seen him, it was not at all disgusting in any way. I didn’t even notice a smell this time. Instead I felt incredibly blessed to have this opportunity to be alone with him. It allowed me to really study him in-depth and to photograph a great deal of intricate detail. Such a fascinating creature packed into… 50 tons!
Remains further battered by Hurricane Sandy
It was through the newspaper that I discovered Rocky’s impending fate. His relocation to Cape Hedge Beach meant that heavy equipment would now have access to him.
Incredible flesh detail still remains
As reported in the Gloucester Daily Times, Tom French, a scientist from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries planned to extract the whale’s bones for a museum exhibit at the Seacoast Science Center of Rye, New Hampshire.
Physical details abound long after the finback's death
The 6-hour extraction process was to take place the next day, Nov. 1st, beginning at 8:00 a.m. I knew I had to be there. I couldn’t abandon Rocky now.
November 1st… Farewell
I arrived at Cape Hedge Beach first thing in the morning. From a distance I could see a front loader and group of people already at work. Rocky’s dismantling had begun.
The dismantling team at work
I approached cautiously, as I didn’t want to interfere with their process in any way. I began taking photos from a reasonable distance before gradually moving closer. After shooting for a bit, I was approached by Jim Chase, VP of the Seacoast Science Center. He had noticed me photographing the dismantling process and asked if I would be willing to share my photos with them. Without hesitation I told him I would be happy to do so. Rocky deserved no less from me.
Removal of the jawbone proves labor intensive
I reviewed all of my photos from my multiple days of shooting and selected 88 shots that I thought best represented Rocky and the work of the diligent volunteers. Those photos have been shared with the Seacoast Science Center as promised.
Blubber is very thick and removal requires a true team effort
Front loader gives size perspective to the finback's jawbone
Rocky’s New Life…
Whether the bones will be in good enough shape to reconstruct the skeleton is yet to be seen. Regardless, that which has been salvaged will be on display in one form or another next year at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, New Hampshire.
Both jawbones successfully removed
All I know is that one way or another, I will see my pal Rocky again!
~ Liz Mackney
Editor’s Pick Gallery
New England Photography Guild Gallery | <urn:uuid:0d7d126d-1aeb-4fbb-9009-ffb7f5db9311> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lizmackneyphotography.com/blog/category/rockport/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980413 | 1,727 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Libyan rebels are offering a bounty of 2 million Libyan dinars -- about $1.7 million -- to the person who brings them Muammar Qaddafi, dead or alive, the Christian Science Monitor's Kristen Chick reports. White House officials tell the Associated Press they have no evidence Qaddafi's left Libya, and the dictator-in-hiding promises that he'll fight "until victory or martyrdom." Abdel Salam Jalloud, a Qaddafi ally until last week, told Al Jazeera that he thinks Qaddafi is still in Tripoli and might try to evade capture by dressing in women's clothes on the way to Algeria or Chad.
Chick reports that National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil announced that whoever produces Qaddafi "will be pardoned for any past crimes, in an attempt to entice one of his inner circle to give him up." The bounty money was offered by a businessman, Abdel Jalil said. And if Qaddafi gives himself up willingly, the NTC will allow him to flee to another country -- even one that's not a member of the International Criminal Court, which has issued a warrant against him for crimes against humanity.
Above, a Libyan rebel fighter flashes a victory sign at Bab al-Azizia
, which had been Qaddafi's main base.
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You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. | <urn:uuid:29982849-058a-4392-add3-339d1a00e499> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/08/libyan-rebels-put-17-million-bounty-qaddafis-head/41675/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954259 | 309 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Prison abuse inquiry under way in Russia
Russian prison officials have launched an investigation into the alleged abuse of inmates rights at a prison hospital in St Petersburg.
Most of the inmates are infected with HIV, hepatitis or tuberculosis.
They say they are denied the proper treatment guaranteed by law.
The inquiry comes after letters from the prisoners to a human rights group were made public. More than 30 people died at the hospital in the first six months of this year.
The letter says there was a spate of deaths in the spring, after prisoners admitted to the hospital with pneumonia were left without care.
One of the inmates who contacted the lawyers has since died.Denied treatment
Another prisoner, Eduard Razin, who suffers from HIV, hepatitis and TB, wrote: "I haven't received proper treatment from the day I was moved to the prison.
End Quote St Petersburg prisoner
I complained, and was sent to a prison colony for the TB infected”
"All I am given is one injection a day for high fever, and chemotherapy for TB. When I ask for more injections for fever the nurses say that hasn't been prescribed and they say I will die soon."
The human rights group Agora says the prisoners who have decided to speak out are being punished.
Razin is being transferred to another prison in Karelia, in the North of Russia. The prison is notorious for its mistreatment of infected inmates.
Lawyers say that Razin saw his internal prison papers, and is described there as healthy and capable of travel without any medical assistance.
Another prisoner says he receives no retro-viral drugs despite having a dangerously low immune level. "I complained and, as a punishment, was sent to a prison colony for TB-infected," he says. "But the colony refused to take me as I was too ill."
Dmitry Dinze, the lawyer who spoke to some of the prisoners, says his organisation has long suspected that patients in the Gaaza prison hospital were denied treatment. He says though it could not verify this, as the prison service declines to give out any information on the state of its prisons.Death statistics
The BBC asked the prison authorities to provide official death statistics. A prison major, who declined to give his name said: "Which period are you looking into? They peg out daily."
The Russian federal prison service says it will not comment until the official investigation is complete. However, a representative of the service suggested to the BBC that mortality rates in the prison hospital were normal for a clinic with such gravely ill patients.
The scandal comes in the wake of numerous reports of prison abuse in Russia. One of the more prominent cases was the death in 2009 of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer working for a US firm.
In 2010, in an attempt to provide independent medical care, the federal prison service ruled that medical staff working in jails were not subordinate to the prison authorities. But this change meant a different financial structure, and the salaries of prison doctors were cut.
According to Vladimir Shnitke, the head of St Petersburg's public watchdog for prisons, this forced many doctors to leave the Gaaza hospital, and may explain the alleged inadequate level of treatment.
Mr Shnitke, quoted by The Moscow News daily, says he will be pressing for a criminal investigation of possible cases of medical negligence in the hospital. | <urn:uuid:de7c980d-c2ed-4fb1-b9c0-90dd6fae04c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14503884 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97838 | 691 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Bremer Says More Iraqis Cooperating With Coalition
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 1, 2003 The remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime are not only attacking coalition forces, but also the infrastructure all Iraqis rely on, said the presidential envoy to Iraq today.
The death squad leftovers and unreconstructed members of the Iraqi Republican Guard and Baath Party loyalists "are increasingly alienating the rest of the population, which is beginning to enjoy their new-found freedoms," Paul Bremer said in a Baghdad news conference.
He noted that more and more Iraqis are coming forward to help the coalition forces and the reconstituted Iraqi police with information on who is behind these attacks.
Bremer said it is not surprising that these attacks are happening, since the remnants of Saddam's regime are being pushed to the wall. "Day by day, conditions in Iraq continue to improve, freedom becomes more and more entrenched and the dark days of the Baathist regime are further and further back in people's memories," he observed. "So those few remaining individuals who have no desire or ability to fit into this new, free Iraq, not surprisingly, are becoming more and more desperate."
The trouble is concentrated in the area being called the "Sunni Triangle" the area north and west of Baghdad and marked by Baghdad, Ar Ramadi and Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.
Bremer said he regretted the deaths of coalition soldiers and Iraqis in the attacks. "But it's important to remember how far we have come," he said. "It's really only 12 weeks ago that we had a war here. It's only 12 weeks ago that every Iraqi was living under one of the most tyrannical regimes in recent history. It's only 12 weeks ago that the economy was still a Stalinist economy. It's only 12 weeks ago that law and order in this country meant the dictatorship of the lucky few.
"Those things have all been changed," he continued. "The Iraqis have a freedom they've never had before."
Bremer said the coalition will go forward on many fronts. On the security side, the new Iraqi army should start enlisting its first recruits on July 15, he said. The Iraqi police force is growing and coalition planners, working with Iraqi citizens, are examining the court and prison systems.
On the economic frontier, the coalition is financing a wide range of reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. "In the last six weeks, the coalition has spent almost a billion dollars on several thousand projects in Iraq, such as irrigation and construction projects," he said.
On one irrigation project, 3,000 workers cleared over 350 kilometers of irrigation channels. "By the end of the month, we expect to have 50,000 men and women at work on over 5,000 kilometers of irrigation channels," he said.
Bremer said he expects Iraqi airports to open soon to scheduled commercial flights -- coalition officials confirmed a July start. Also, the seaport at Umm Qasr is operating at its highest level for years, he said. "Iraq's borders are open to trade and people," he said. "Trade is booming. We now need to establish real wealth-creating industries and services in Iraq to take forward this process of economic reform."
On the political front, the coalition is "on target with a good strategy" for establishing an Iraqi interim administration by mid-July. He said the new administration will be representative of the people of Iraq.
"I look forward to working alongside the council within a couple of weeks and, shortly thereafter, to seeing the constitutional process launched, which will culminate, once the constitution has been adopted, in the first free and democratic elections in Iraq's history, which in turn will be followed by the first sovereign Iraqi government, at which time the coalition's job will be over," he said. | <urn:uuid:158cc3b1-4802-48f6-b395-fb2f898e612d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=28770 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976521 | 787 | 1.5 | 2 |
Because I am on a restricted diet, can you provide me with a low-fat recipe for a pastry crust?
You're not alone in your quest for a low-fat crust, but a good one is hard to find.
"There is no successful low-fat recipe," said Barbara Farner, extension educator in nutrition and wellness at the University of Illinois Extension. "Crisp roll-out cookies and piecrusts are two dishes without successful low-fat alternatives."
Farner offered these suggestions for those on restricted diets:
Select an oil-based piecrust recipe that uses the more healthful canola or olive oil. Such recipes would contain the same amount of fat, but they would contain less saturated fat.
Switch to a graham-cracker crust, which requires less fat than that found in a traditional pastry crust.
Omit the top crust and bake a single-crust pie.
Please give me advice about replacing other ingredients with applesauce in baked goods.
Applesauce often is used to replace fat in baked goods, but substituting it in recipes can be tricky, writes Sarah Phillips in Baking 9-1-1. It's easiest, she writes, to substitute it in baked goods that use oil, not butter. Candidates include many quick breads, muffins or some cakes, such as carrot cake.
"When a recipe calls for 1 cup of oil, substitute 3/4 cup applesauce," she writes. "Also add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil for better flavor and mouth feel."
She cautions that you also may need to use additional flavoring, some baking soda to offset the acidic applesauce, and a high-gluten flour. Try experimenting with a few favorite recipes to find the formula that works best for you.
Donna Pierce writes for the Chicago Tribune. | <urn:uuid:a6c0bd70-5c17-46c8-8cc1-9b1541eafd4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2006-04-12/news/0604110019_1_low-fat-recipe-baked-goods-pastry-crust | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947454 | 382 | 1.78125 | 2 |
I used to live in a haunted house. The lady who wandered around it in a white nightdress seemed benign enough. She never deliberately startled me or said "boo" and never made a mess. I think she was simply looking for something or someone she'd left behind. It wasn't me, as she had died, I believe, somewhere around 1672.
Facebook now has a similar issue to deal with. Around its vastly populated house, there are people who waft away to the next firmament without leaving a note or even saying goodbye. But they're still there. Out there. Somewhere.
Which is frightfully inconsiderate. It makes Facebook look frightfully inconsiderate too.
Last week, for example, extremely famous tech person Dave Winer wrote on his blog that he was a little tired of Facebook suggesting he contact his friend Guy Kewney.
"Their algorithms must have noticed that he's not getting a lot of messages," wrote Winer. "And that alarmingly he isn't even posting very much! Let's wake Guy up, the 'bot at Facebook seems to be saying. Only one problem. Guy is dead. Like the parrot in the Monty Python sketch, he's pushing up the daisies. He's an ex-Guy."
Facebook, perhaps in response to this difficult tale, has poured its heart out to The New York Times.
It used to be, apparently, when Facebook was full of young people who rarely snuffed it, the company would, if it ever heard of a dead member, simply erase that member from its pages.
However, particularly since the Virginia Tech shootings, you can now memorialize your dead friend or loved one, so that people can still leave messages of condolence or, perhaps, IOUs.
Facebook's Meredith Chin explained to the Times that Facebook would love to be able to catch certain obvious phrases like R.I.P.. But there clearly are difficulties associated with such semantic interpretation. Without direct input and proof of death from someone's Facebook friends, trying to track a phrase like, as was suggested in the Times, "I miss you" could lead to quite unnecessary grief.
And then there's all those people who are blessed with that unfortunately subjective thing called humor. The Times recalls the story of Simon Thulbourn, whose friends reported him to Facebook as being dead. They merely found an obituary of someone with a not entirely dissimilar name.
"When I first 'died,' I went looking around Facebook's help pages, but alas, they don't seem to have a 'I'm not really dead, could I have my account back please?' section, so I opted for filling in every form on their Web site," Thulbourn told the Times.
But while many might grapple with some of the nuances concerning, for example, the fact that only a recently deceased person's existing friends at the time of death can participate fully in a memorialized page on Facebook, I am more fascinated by the more truthful, and therefore more seedy, side of things.
What if people want to suddenly tell the truth about the person they used to know? What if these memorialized pages turn into the worst kind of funeral party? You know, the kind where someone suddenly says, after a sherry or seven: "I hated that bastard. He slept with my wife."
Last week, for example, a fan page set up for a dead killer in the UK, Raoul Moat, enjoyed some of the more colorful exchanges that might be offered by those speaking well (and ill) of the dead.
If every death of a Facebook member was immediately turned into a memorial page, one shudders to think of the sociological and psychological consequences society might suffer.
However, given that Facebook is, these days, more important that any government or other social institution, surely countries might just pass a law that death registries should immediately inform Facebook of every single passing that occurs. After all, everyone on Facebook uses their real names, so one would hope it would be easy to transfer profiles from the living box to the dead one.
Thankfully, this would also offer excellent advertising opportunities for undertakers, casket makers, probate lawyers, and, of course, party planners. | <urn:uuid:73807851-4297-4fed-8091-129f8ed58ee4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20010867-71.html | 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 | 0.977917 | 879 | 1.773438 | 2 |
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2012:
Exporting lab animal use does not
help to end it
Respectively representing the National Association for Biomedical Research and public relations firm Berman & Company, speakers Matt Bailey and James Bowers opened the 38th annual conference of the Animal Transportation Association in Vancouver on March 19, 2012 with flamboyant warnings that animal advocates threaten the future of biomedical research by inhibiting the international exchange of animals for use in laboratories.
To those familiar with animal advocacy organizations and leadership, the Bailey and Bowers presentations were absurdist theatre–equating, for instance, the influence of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals with that of a one-person organization founded by an animal hoarder who was convicted as result of a PETA investigation. This reality and history were apparently unknown to Bailey and Bowers.
The background that Bailey and Bowers breathlessly “revealed” about PETA and the Humane Society of the U.S., their two major targets, was actually discussed in the very first edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE, published in 1992.
Bailey and Bowers’ claims about the effects of animal advocacy on international laboratory animal sale and use, however, came right out of recent headlines.
The Animal Transport Association conference convened about a month after Hainan Airlines, of China, “decided to cancel a shipment of primates from China to Toronto that had been scheduled for February,” the airline announced. “Moreover,” the announcement continued, “Hainan Airlines has decided to halt its engagement in such shipments.”
Hainan Airlines had come under pressure from the British Union Against Vivisection. Said the BUAV, “We are now pleased to place Hainan Airlines on our growing list of airlines which refuse to transport primates destined for the research industry, including British Airways, Delta Airlines, China Airlines, Eva Air, South African Airlines, Alitalia, United Airlines, American Airlines and Lufthansa.”
”Medical research is being put at risk,” alleged Times of London science correspondent Tom Whipple on March 14, 2012, “because Britain’s ferry operators and airlines have capitulated to the demands of animal rights activists not to allow the transportation of mice, rabbits and rats into the country for testing.”
”More than three million animals are used in British lab experiments every year, of which about 15,000 are imported,” elaborated Associated Press medical writer Maria Cheng. “P&O Ferries, one of Britain’s largest ferry companies, decided in August 2011 to stop carrying research animals for the sake of their corporate reputation and to protect staff members from possible action by activists,” Cheng wrote.
Recalled P&O Ferries spokesperson Michelle Ulyatt, “There was a sustained social media campaign against the company. There were no direct threats, but we were put under enormous pressure and didn’t want the situation to escalate.”
Added John-Paul Ford Rojas of the Daily Telegraph, “Stena Line has reportedly followed DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries in halting the carriage of test animals, closing the last sea routes for medical researchers. The Channel Tunnel has long refused the trade.” British science minister David Willetts “admitted scientists were facing a ‘serious problem,’” Rojas continued, “and said the government had been trying to hammer out an agreement between the research and transport industries to allow the movement of the animals to go on.”
Said Willetts, “It would be a pity if we ended up saying that transporting animals had to be nationalized and taken over by the military.”
Receiving considerably less attention was the April 5, 2012 acquittal by a Los Angeles jury of Florida laboratory primate supplier Robert Matson Conyers, who had faced 10 counts of cruelty for the deaths of 15 out of 25 monkeys he had tried to fly from Guyana to a breeder in Bangkok, Thailand in early 2008. The 14 marmosets, five capuchins, and six squirrel monkeys were flown first to Miami.
From there, Associated Press correspondent Linda Deutsch summarized of the trial testimony, “The monkeys were to be flown to Frankfurt and then to their final destination. But Lufthansa Airlines, citing cold weather in Europe, refused to transport them. Conyers took the primates to a cargo area of Miami International Airport, where they remained for four days while he searched for an alternate carrier. China South Airlines agreed to transport the monkeys on a 12- to 14-hour flight from Los Angeles to Thailand via China. But when the monkeys arrived in China, they were turned back over paperwork issues, such as irregularities in the shipping documents. The crates of monkeys sat on tarmac in China for 39 hours in 40-degree weather,” during the Chinese New Year celebration, “and then were sent back to Los Angeles on another 12- to 14-hour flight.”
The surviving monkeys ended up at the San Diego Zoo.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service special agent Elvin Mong photographed the allegedly partially decomposed remains of one monkey before the cargo left Miami, but was unable to intercept the initial flight to Los Angeles.
The Conyers case demonstrated why animal advocates oppose commercial traffic in animals, and further demonstrated that animal advocacy has little or nothing to do with most of the obstructions to the laboratory animal traffic. Conyers might have realized without having to be told by Lufthansa that flying animals from a very hot climate to a very cold climate en route to another very hot climate would be risky.
Most of the paperwork involved in international animal shipments pertains to certifying the animals’ health and origin, as stipulated by United Nations-brokered treaties. If at least one monkey was already dead long before arrival in China, “irregularities in the shipping documents” might have been the least of the issues.
The most significant aspect about the Conyers transaction, however, was that the direction of the shipment was opposite from the usual direction of the laboratory monkey business. Very few monkeys are flown abroad from the U.S., but thousands per year are flown in.
International Primate Protection League founder Shirley McGreal, citing U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service data, reports that “In 2011, 18,140 primates were imported from around the world,” down from 21,315 in 2010. “This apparent drop does not necessarily show reduced demand for monkeys,” explained McGreal, “since many U.S.-based companies are now operating facilities abroad and conducting their experiments there. 89% of the monkeys were crab-eating macaques, the majority imported from China, which has no native crab-eating macaques and may re-export animals brought in from neighbor countries. The major suppliers of primates to the U.S. in 2011 were China (12,636), Mauritius (3,011), Vietnam (960),
Cambodia (870), and Indonesia (242). Apparently no shipments came in from the Philippines in 2011,” which has historically been a major supplier.
The Conyers shipment suggests that at least one company in Thailand is trying to get into the business. But U.S. and European labs may no longer be the biggest buyers of monkeys. U.S. and European pharmaceutical and consumer product makers have been outsourcing animal research and testing to the less regulated developing world for well over a decade.
As of 2006, Bridge Pharmaceuticals chief executive Glenn Rice told Beijing-based Boston Globe business writer Jehangir S. Pocha, about $2 billion a year worth of pharmaceutical testing was already outsourced to China–and that was just the beginning. “Large drug companies such as Novartis, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Roche have disclosed plans to set up research and development centers in China,” Pocha wrote.
Pfizer in September 2011 disclosed “a deal to jointly develop, manufacture and sell vaccines for animals with Jilin Guoyuan Animal Health Company Ltd.,” reported Associated Press business writer Linda A. Johnson, which “could include developing additional vaccines for pigs, poultry, cattle and perhaps pets, as well as new animal medicines.” The deal is expected to generate sales worth $1 billion per year.
India, Israel, Ghana, Pakistan, and South Africa are only some of the many other nations with fast-growing biomedical research industries fueled by outsourcing.
McGreal mentioned “concern from an Asian source about a 2,000 monkey lab reportedly planned by South Korea.” Voice-4-Animals founder Park Chang-kil warned in 2001 of South Korean government plans to make the nation a world leader in animal research, now well advanced. South Korean scientists have since 2005 announced numerous firsts in genetic manipulation, including cloning, but the economic foundation of the South Korean laboratory industry is outsourced product safety testing.
”According to data submitted by the Korea Food & Drug Administration to Representative Joo Seung-yong of the Democratic Party,” Korea Times reported in September 2011, “monkeys, dogs, rats and other animals totaling 1.51 million were used in 2010 in testing, mostly by cosmetics and pharmaceutical firms.” Joo Seung-yong wants South Korea to adopt legislation to encourage the development and adoption of alternatives to animal testing, citing recent progress in the U.S. and Europe–but meanwhile, much of that progress is seen outside the U.S. and Europe as a business opportunity.
The advent of economically successful biomedical research outsourcing means that stopping animal research projects and shutting down facilities in the U.S. and Europe can actually increase total animal use and suffering.
Strategies against outsourcing
Safeguards to ensure that animal research and testing will not be outsourced abroad, or will be done abroad under animal care standards comparable to those of the U.S. and the European Union, may be won in three ways. Companies can be persuaded–including through protest and consumer pressure–that doing overseas research and development in labs that demonstrably meet U.S. and European standards will be to their longterm advantage. Also, nations which have developed substantial outsourced animal research and testing industries can be persuaded to adopt regulatory requirements equivalent to those of the U.S. and Europe, as Joo Seung-yong hopes to do in South Korea. In addition, U.S. and European regulatory requirements may be amended to discourage outsourcing animal research and testing.
Noteworthy in this regard are recent changes to the European Union Biocides Directive. Evolving since 1991, the Biocides Directive regulates an estimated 100,000 chemicals used as non-agricultural pesticides, preservatives, disinfectants, and cleaning products. Humane Society International/Europe director of research and toxicology Troy Seidle has projected that the January 2012 Biocides Directive amendments will bring a 40% reduction in animal use in connection with biocide testing.
”The text, which has already been approved by Council of Minsters’ negotiators, will go forward for formal adoption by the Council in the coming months,” Seidle said.
Agreed the industry periodical Cleanroom Technology, “The E.U. Council of Ministers is now expected to rubber-stamp the law.”
By reducing the requirements for animal testing, the amended Biocides Directive appears likely to achieve an actual reduction of animal use, not just a reduction of animal use in one place while more is done somewhere else.
Free-market theorists sometimes argue that it is inevitable and perhaps even essential that technologically advanced nations must export the miseries peculiar to our own Industrial Revolution to poorer parts of the world, which must go through parallel cultural transformations. Outsourcing human and animal exploitation is said to be just a phase in reducing it.
People less sophisticated at rationalizing ethically dubious behavior nonetheless tend to share the impulse of most living beings to be rid of anything offensive or dangerous.
From either perspective, it is not surprising that animal advocacy turned in recent decades toward “stopping” cruel animal experiments by means that encouraged exporting them. Yet if ending cruelty is really the goal, not merely achieving hollow symbolic “victories” by removing torture out of sight and out of mind, forcing animal research and testing abroad is moving in the wrong direction.
Achieving any real reduction in the misuse of animals by labs requires keeping the experimental procedures as much in the open and under regulatory oversight as possible-which can only be done in educated and democratic societies, offering freedom to question and the right to protest.
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JUST CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW | <urn:uuid:c02b44ce-9520-4073-aef3-a4420bc8bb83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/anp/2012/05/12/editorial-exporting-lab-animal-use-does-not-help-to-end-it/?pfstyle=wp | 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 | 0.955677 | 2,672 | 1.640625 | 2 |
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that 10 additional Oklahoma counties that sustained severe weather damage in early May have now been declared for Public Assistance (PA).
The newly declared counties of Canadian, Cotton, Grady, Grant, Hughes, Logan, McClain, McIntosh, Pawnee, and Tillman counties have been approved to receive public assistance under a Presidential disaster declaration originally issued June 7. The declaration covers storms that occurred May 4-11.
Under a disaster declaration for public assistance, local governments are eligible to receive aid for repairs of public infrastructure and other costs incurred in responding to the storms.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror. | <urn:uuid:389d24d4-c371-4aff-ad8e-dd28616d7f3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2007/07/24/ten-additional-counties-declared-eligible-public-assistance | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932729 | 190 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Global Warming Advocates Threaten Blizzard of Lawsuits
By Gene J. Koprowski
March 29, 2010
Environmentalists, unable to squeeze "cap and trade" rules through the U.S. Senate, have a new strategy for combating what they believe is man-made global warming:
They’re going to sue.
They’re revving up their briefs and getting ready to shop for judges who will be sympathetic to their novel claim that the companies they believe contribute to global warming are a "public nuisance."
The environmentalists allege that individual companies are responsible for climate change because they have emitted greenhouse gases during the course of their operations. Those gases, they say, have "harmed" them by fostering Hurricane Katrina, eroding the shorelines of America’s coasts and causing global warming.
"People have a right to sue for redress of grievances," said Lee A. DeHihns III, a partner with law firm Alston & Bird’s environmental and land development group and a former associate general counsel with the EPA. He said global warming is a "public nuisance," just like a neighbor with a loud stereo. "You can sue for an intentional infliction of harm, a nuisance," said DeHihns, whose firm is consulting with plaintiffs pursuing these cases…
Companies should sue groups like this as a 'public nuisance' and other grounds. | <urn:uuid:c7f6d565-bb60-4132-a284-ba039676b4ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conservativeunderground.com/forum505/showthread.php?26897-Warmers%E2%80%99-Threaten-Nuisance-Lawsuits | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957783 | 285 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Rosa Parks Central Community School
Central building is located at 33 Cleveland Street, Orange, NJ 07050
RPCCS is generously funded by JP Morgan Chase Foundation.
What are Community Schools?
Through extended hours, services and relationships, community schools re-conceive education as a coordinated, child-centered effort in which schools, families and communities work together to support students' educational success, build stronger families and improve communities.
- The Children's Aid Society
- A strong core instructional program designed to help all students meet high academic standards
- Expanded learning opportunities designed to enrich the learning environment for students and their families
- A full range of health, mental health and social services designed to promote children's well being and to remove barriers to learning
- Debra Pittman, Community School Director
- Yessenia Sanchez, Community School Coordinator
CONTACT US at 973-677-4000 ext. 1019 or 973-567-9643
Quick Launch to other Programs/Services | <urn:uuid:003afcd3-beef-4eb4-916b-2e6bbe886131> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familyconnectionsnj.org/rosaparkselementary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945181 | 206 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Nightrider and Lady Sundown: The Bonnie and Clyde of Georgia
John Hancock was willing to submit to hypnosis as a way to refresh his memory of the events and possibly supply more details than he had yet been able to offer. Cook says that he was taken to
In the meantime, the bullet removed from his shoulder had been analyzed and could be used in the event that suspects were arrested with a weapon. Ballistics could make a definitive comparison.
Cook indicates that at an earlier stage of the investigation, Kines brought Linda Adair and Kenneth Dooley together in the police station after he had compared all the calls from the mysterious female and decided that they were all linked. Because he was investigating them at the same time that he was running down leads from the Hancock story, he got another break.
Kines wanted to know from Dooley and Adair if something had occurred at the YDC to a girl who might now be carrying out a grudge. He did not want any more people to be harmed, but Dooley and Adair denied that any sexual abuse had occurred and said that they did not know each other outside a professional relationship at the YDC. Kines then went over all the files of the girls who had been sent to the YDC due to crimes they had committed and narrowed his list of suspects to five with prior records. Among them was Judith Ann Neelley, and she fit the descriptions given by some of the witnesses. In addition, she had been involved with an armed robbery, so she had a gun and knew how to use it. She was obviously brazen. Then came another serendipitous turn of events.
Frasier, who based his account in Murder Cases of the Twentieth Century largely on Cooks book, writes that Linda Adair read the description of the Hancock/Chatman incident in the paper and believed she knew who had been responsible for the shooting. On October 12, she came to the police with her own story, but Cook says the police actually came to her and told her about the incident. As they described the two children whom Hancock said had accompanied the Nightrider, Linda reacted.
She knew of a girl who had been at the YDC with kids that age. She even had pictures and showed them to the police. The girl was Judith Neelleythe same woman whom Kines had decided was a good suspect. Her husband was
As it turned out, this request was not difficult to accomplish, because the two suspects had already been arrested for other crimes. They were in custody in | <urn:uuid:3e95ae3c-5789-4d7b-8a99-063fe22b7b7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/women/neelley/4.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99444 | 520 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The global variable "app" is the Window ID. It's the result of: app=OpenWindow(#PB_Any,).
My mistake, I meant to put is app the window handle or the Unique ID created by OpenWindow(), but somehow I kinda put a garbled mess
. but in the case of the PlayMovie() (according to the manual), app should be the window handle eg. PlayMovie(music,WindowID(app)). not the identifier created by open window alone.
Also, I'm playing MP3s with this code, not an actual video. Sometimes they play (mostly), but now, since Win 7 64-bit, I'm getting errors like the above.
I knew that already... contrary to popular belief I can read...
it is possible that you have a bad codec, but that wouldn't explain your other problems... or maybe it would? That is something I cannot answer without being sat at your desk
netmaestro is right, too. The variable "app" has nothing to do with it. Why is the value of "music", being 0, getting into the wrong part of the decision? The status message should show instead. And no, "music" is not used in a thread and getting changed anywhere else.
I didn't disagree with either of you on the point of the if music=0 thang... Now, that is the part which I didn't understand myself. I could not reproduce it. The only obvious thing that stood out to me was app wasn't wrapped in WindowID(app). but it still didn't explain that particular problem.
But I am sorry my contributions aren't useful to you. I'll keep quiet next time. | <urn:uuid:af7a354f-d949-44a7-a232-8ab063bdde40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38171&view=previous | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973777 | 352 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Let's face it: whether or not there's enough good milk to drink has been an ongoing problem among the technology set, which is why we're surprised that we're only now seeing true smartphone-milk integration through a project at Teehan+Lax's Labs group. As the name implies, Do We Have Milk? will figure out whether or not there's enough in the milk bag (did we mention Teehan+Lax is very Canadian?) based on a weight sensor in the jug. Run low, and your Android phone will tell you not just to buy some more but produce a map pinpointing the nearest convenience or grocery store. DWHM? is an experiment that might take awhile to become a real product, if it ever does, but it could have broad implications for consumables of all kinds in addition to saving you from having to eat your Shreddies dry. | <urn:uuid:a193093d-e210-4f91-a1a3-bbd2878577ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/11/teehan-plus-lax-do-we-have-milk-answers-the-burning-question/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964183 | 179 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Alain Corneau: Versatile film director who forged his reputation with a string of successful adaptations from novels
The French director Alain Corneau made 16 films in a variety of genres, from Série Noire, the bleak, sordid 1979 drama that featured a compelling performance by Patrick Dewaere as a door to door salesman looking for redemption in the wrong places, to Crime D'Amour [Love Crime], the psychological thriller starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier, which opened in French cinemas to critical acclaim a fortnight before his death from lung cancer. "He was a cinema great," Scott Thomas said, "an absolutely adorable, funny and sharp-witted man."
Corneau was best known internationally for Tous Les Matins Du Monde (All The Mornings Of The World), a delicate, painterly film about the relationship between the Versailles court composer Marin Marais – Gérard Depardieu and his son Guillaume – and his aesthetic teacher Jean de Sainte-Colombe, played by the ever-excellent Jean-Pierre Marielle.
First screened at the end of 1991, Tous Les Matins became a word-of-mouth success with over two million tickets sold in France alone, and won seven César awards, including Best Film and Best Director, the following year. "Many people got emotional about this picture, and that made it possible for it to escape cult status," said Corneau.
Tous Les Matins was released in over 30 countries and inspired a revival in French Baroque music and the viola da gamba, a bowed, fretted, stringed instrument which had been prevalent throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Jordi Savall, the Catalan musician who recorded the award-winning soundtrack with Le Concert Des Nations ensemble, recalled Corneau's constant presence in the studio, motivating and directing them, and displaying the same focus and determination as Sainte-Colombe.
Born in 1943 in a small town in the Loiret area of central France, he developed a passion for cinema when he began accompanying his father, who was a vet, to screenings in neighbouring Orléans. The proximity of a Nato air base helped feed his love of jazz and by the late 1950s he was drumming with a group entertaining officers and servicemen. His fascination for American culture was at the centre of Le Nouveau Monde, his 1995 autobiographical picture, and also informed Is There Jazz In Harlem?, the short film he made in New York in 1969 following his graduation from L'Institut Des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques in Paris.
After assisting Roger Corman on Istanbul, Mission Impossible (Target: Harry, 1969), he worked with Costa-Gavras on L'Aveu (The Confession, 1970) and struck up a friendship with the film's lead, the singer-turned-actor Yves Montand, who agreed to play the tough police inspector in the violent thriller Police Python 357, Corneau's second movie, in 1976. "He got me out of the jam I was in after the terrible failure of my first film, France Société Anonyme," said the director who worked with Montand again on two further polars – police dramas – La Menace (1977) and Le Choix Des Armes (Choice Of Arms, 1981). The latter also starred Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, who both signed up for Corneau's next project, the colonial epic Fort Saganne (1984) shot on location in Mauritania, which lived up to its extravagant budget and delivered big audiences despite its three-hour running time.
The quest for identity was one of Corneau's constants, developed most effectively in Nocturne Indien (1989), set in India and filmed in English, Le Prince Du Pacifique (2000) made on an island in French Polynesia, and Stupeur Et Tremblements (Fear And Trembling, 2003), shot in Paris in the phonetically-correct Japanese which actress Sylvie Testud learned in three months. After the melodrama Les Mots Bleus (Some Kind Of Blue, 2005), also with Testud, Corneau returned to the polar genre with Le Deuxième Souffle (The Second Wind, 2007), a reimagining rather than a remake of the José Giovanni noir novel first adapted by the influential Jean-Pierre Melville four decades earlier. Corneau's version featured Daniel Auteuil, Monica Bellucci and Eric Cantona.
The director attributed his versatility to the fact that most of his films were based on novels, such as A Hell Of A Woman by the US writer Jim Thompson in the case of Série Noire, or Tous Les Matins Du Monde by Pascal Quignard.
"I was lucky to be able to bring to fruition unlikely projects that were close to my heart like Nocturne Indien or Tous Les Matins Du Monde, which fulfilled my wish to make a film about Baroque music," Corneau told Le Figaro newspaper in August. "Some of my other films could have been better, but I avoid watching them."
Alain Corneau, film director: born Meung-sur-Loire, France 7 August 1943; died Paris 30 August 2010.
Bosses of collapsed banks should be sent to jail, banking standards commission tells George Osborne
Feat of engineering: Incredible photographs show construction beneath New York's Second Avenue
Brazil kicks off: World Cup excess draws hundreds of thousands to street protests
World news in pictures
Google challenges US surveillance gagging order
- 1 Diary of Second World War German teenager reveals young lives untroubled by Nazi Holocaust in wartime Berlin
- 2 Bosses of collapsed banks should be sent to jail, banking standards commission tells George Osborne
- 3 Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
- 4 Uri Geller psychic spy? The spoon-bender's secret life as a Mossad and CIA agent revealed
- 5 Vice pulls 'breathtakingly tasteless' fashion shoot glorifying the suicides of famous female authors from Sylvia Plath to Virginia Woolf
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Negotiable: Randstad Education Ilford: We are currently recruiting for a Year ... | <urn:uuid:55040ede-9610-45e0-9724-d89dfa4b141b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alain-corneau-versatile-film-director-who-forged-his-reputation-with-a-string-of-successful-adaptations-from-novels-2085591.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937759 | 1,377 | 1.609375 | 2 |
There's still a lot of money management to do once you have your mortgage. See what circumstances might change and how they might affect you.
Just because the closing is over doesn't mean you don't have to pay attention to your loan anymore. In this chapter, we'll explain what happens when your mortgage is sold to a servicer, why your monthly payment might change, the upsides and downsides of paying off your mortgage early, how to rid yourself of PMI, when you might consider refinancing and how to avoid foreclosure in the event that you can't make the mortgage payments.
What you can expect to learn from this chapter:
- When your mortgage is handled by a mortgage servicer
What you need to know and what you need to be told when your original mortgage holder turns over the loan to a mortgage servicer, often when the debt is sold.
- Payment changes
Your monthly payment may change for several reasons. Here are tips for ARMs and for fixed-rate mortgages.
- Paying ahead
The upside of prepaying your mortgage is what you save in interest. The downside could be penalties for paying your loan early.
- Removing private mortgage insurance
Knowing how much equity you have in your home may let you stop paying PMI. Here's how to calculate your home's equity.
The two types of refinancing -- rate-and-term and cash-out -- are explained. Plus a link to Bankrate's refinancing calculator.
- Avoiding foreclosure
Foreclosure is when you can't pay the mortgage and your lender takes your house. Here's the foreclosure timeline -- and ways to avoid foreclosure. | <urn:uuid:b83ee2d2-78b8-4cb0-837c-0b7365567d51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/chapter-7-ownership-after-closing.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957034 | 338 | 1.523438 | 2 |
London (CNN) -- British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Somalia's capital Mogadishu Thursday, the Foreign Office announced, saying it was the first trip there by a British foreign secretary since 1992.
A new British ambassador to Somalia, Matt Baugh, also presented his credentials Thursday, the Foreign Office said -- although Britain does not have an embassy in the country.
"The UK is actively seeking to re-open an embassy in Mogadishu as soon as local circumstances permit," the government said in a statement.
Hague called his visit "a sign of Britain's commitment to the people and country of Somalia," while the Foreign Office said it "followed political and security improvements in the region."
But, the Foreign Office acknowledged, "Large parts of Somalia are controlled by extremists and criminal gangs who use it as a base to launch terrorist attacks and kidnappings."
United States special operations forces launched a dramatic raid into Somalia last month to rescue two hostages who had been held since October, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Thisted.
Hague's visit comes only days after the Somali Islamist militia Al-Shabaab said it was banning the International Committee of the Red Cross from operating in the regions it controls, accusing the organization of distributing expired food.
In a statement on Twitter Monday the group said it "has decided to terminate the contract of #ICRC permanently... Following the repeated distribution of expired food and false accusations," that the organization is hindering food distribution.
Earlier this month the ICRC announced that it was suspending aid intended for up to 1.1 million people in central and southern Somalia because it was being hindered by local authorities.
Jean-Yves Clemenzo, a spokesman for the ICRC, the agency was "are aware of the announcement by Al-Shabaab. We are taking it quite seriously and analyzing the situation."
Al-Shabaab is linked to al Qaeda and is considered a terrorist group by the United States.
Kenya and the African Union have sent troops into Somalia to battle the militia and support the U.N.-backed government.
London is hosting a conference on Somalia later this month, the Foreign Office said.
Hague told Somalia's president, prime minister, and the mayor of Mogadishu "that while Somalia's problems cannot be resolved overnight, the UK hoped that the conference will act as a catalyst for a new, long term international and Somali effort," the Foreign Office said.
The conference, "attended by more than 40 countries and international organizations ... will seek to generate a more effective and concerted international approach outside Somalia that addresses the root causes of the conflict; and a new political process inside Somalia that meets the needs of all Somalis," Hague said. | <urn:uuid:aeda6f72-02e1-418a-8e21-46bcd03b4cb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/02/world/africa/somalia-uk-minister/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963193 | 557 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, India, on October 14, 1940) is one of the United Kingdom's best known singers.
With his backing group The Shadows, he dominated the British popular music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before the advent of The Beatles. A conversion to Christianity and subsequent softening of his music led to his having more of a pop than rock image. Although never able to achieve the same impact in the United States, even though he has had several chart hits there, Richard has remained a popular music, film, and television personality in the UK and also retains a following in several other countries.
During the last six decades, Richard has charted many hit singles, and holds the record (along with Elvis Presley) as the only act to make the UK singles charts in all its active decades (1950s-2000s). According to his website, he has sold 250 million records over the course of his career. . In the British charts alone, Richard has had more than 150 singles, albums and EPs make the top 20 | <urn:uuid:9771f35e-a5bd-45f8-a78d-d36c4090f7c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysticgames.com/famouspeople/CliffRichard.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98896 | 224 | 1.539063 | 2 |
I’m holding a shellacked baseball in my hand. The leather is cracked and the blue ink is fading but the red stitching is strong and tight, like a family connection in the old neighborhood. After 60 years, the ball still holds up. So does the powerful sentiment behind it.
My namesake, Steve O’Neill gave me the ball on my first birthday. He was a major league catcher who played with the Yankees among other great teams and managed the Detroit Tigers to a World Series victory in 1945. O’Neill and his three major league brothers are buried right down the road from where “our” new baseball stadium is being constructed near Montage, just a few blocks from the O’Neill family home in the Minooka section of Scranton, where I live.
On the fireplace mantle in my house sits a framed black and white photograph of O’Neill and his dear buddy, Babe Ruth, who loved drinking frothy mugs of cold beer in Minooka and surprising the kids the way he did my father when Steve brought his “Bambino” buddy to the Minooka school house. In the picture, both men are dressed in fine riding clothing and perched in saddles on fine thoroughbred horses. The picture captures them in all their glory, in the early 20s, when baseball was baseball.
When baseball was baseball, fans concerned themselves with the game. Players, balls and strikes and earned run averages meant everything. Home run hitters earned hero status. Children stared stunned at bigger than life role models who by and large practiced what they preached.
Owners smoked cigars and lived lives that most fans could never imagine. But they knew the game and respected its essence. And that’s what they delivered – a line drive loaded with essence to the lunch pail gang who screamed in their seats or gathered around the radio for their thrills. When television arrived, the neon lights of bright beer signs cast a magic hue over summer nights in neighborhood saloons packed with men who bet, bantered, lived and died together.
Women loved the game, too. My friend Norman’s grandmother made meat loaf sandwiches and never missed a Pirates game on the radio. My wife’s great aunt might very well have died on the couch while listening to the Phillies game on the radio with her little dog listening by her side.
Now I worry that high-powered baseball executives have forgotten those days. Worse, I worry that they never knew about them to begin with. I worry that today’s baseball executives have relegated the game to secondary status. If that’s the case, those executives might want to start looking for work. They are contributing to the downfall of a sacred pastime that can only be saved in the little towns and cities like Wilkes-Barre and Scranton that have always produced real fans.
Pander to crass cartoon commercialism and fire-breathing tricks at your own risk.
This means, you, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Bring back the game, the real game, and prosper. Turn us into a commodity, with customers rather than fans and foul out. And, to the spirits of countless famous players who haunt America’s dugouts, that’s as foul as it gets.
This means you, New York Yankees General Manager Brad Cashman, whose last name itself, for God’s sake – Cash Man – sounds alarm bells of profit rather than gifts of endearment in the hearts and minds of some of the America’s toughest baseball fans. Instead of jumping in the limo and taking the short two-hour ride to Dickson City from New York City to join us in celebrating yesterday’s announcement of the new team name and logo for the Yankees farm team that is housed in our neighborhood, Cashman appeared in a video address broadcast at a banquet center that has been the site of weddings and other catered affairs for many years.
Had Cashman showed up in person, he would have shown class and baseball smarts. Instead, acting more like a Wall Streeter hedge fund chiseler than a bountiful baseball baron in love with the roar of the crowd, he fired fastball-like video insults at everybody in attendance, except, of course, for the political and corporate cheerleaders who do Cashman’s bidding and would have appeared naked in an ice sculpture had he decreed their freeze frame for the event.
Cashman probably doesn’t realize he insulted anybody and will likely defensively deny the charge if someone is brave enough to bring this column to his attention. But take a listen to his video and you tell me.
Regarding baseball’s new day in hard coal country, Cashman said, “I look forward to the top of the charts on merchandise sales, with people saying it loud and saying it proud. It’s an awesome new stadium coming on line, a new uniform and rebranding it. And the association with the Yankees is as strong as ever.”
Top of the charts? Merchandise sales? On line? Rebranding? Association?
Keep talking corporate drivel, Cashman, and we’ll ride you out of town on a rail - atop a porcupine. The new logo and prickly mascot is all well and good. So is the new $43 million stadium that Cashman should thank taxpayers for since we’re coughing up more than half the cash, man, in the midst of a recession that’s striking out people in Northeastern Pennsylvania far more often than Cashman’s circle of friends gets their taxes raised.
You want to succeed, have a little respect. Just a little. We’re really not that hard to please. Maybe jump in the limo. Read a book about the Babe. Stop by the O’Neill brothers’ graves. Then bow your head and give thanks. Because it if it wasn’t for guys like them we wouldn’t need guys like you.
Then maybe hit a Minooka saloon or two. Buy a round of beers for some of America’s real baseball fans. Keep treating us like a corporate spread sheet, though, and see how soon the fastball slows and the RailRiders get a shellacking severe enough to knock the horsehide off the ball.
See how long it takes for the mighty Cashman to strike out. | <urn:uuid:8c8305b7-ec5e-4309-a05c-d65f5591bf65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wilknewsradio.com/That-s-The-Old-Ball-Game/7074698?pid=278828 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964571 | 1,339 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Artist in Residence
Kentucky Library & Museum
Where do you currently work?
I work at the Kentucky Library & Museum at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY. The Kentucky Library & Museum is the Special Collections Department of Universities Libraries.
Tell me a bit about your career?
As Artist in Residence at the Kentucky Library & Museum, I work in the education department with various responsibilities. I explore and nourish collaborations with other art entities, artists, and crafts persons. Examples are the Side-by-Side annual art exhibit in collaboration with VSAarts of Kentucky, and the Bowling Green Gallery Hop, which consist of non-profits, businesses, and individual artists. I develop workshops for adults and curate exhibits with local and regional artists as basket maker Beth Hester and artist Willie Rascoe. I develop and direct history and art day camps for primary and secondary school age children and art programs for school field trips. I also do professional development for educators.
As an oral historian I worked with the Bunch Historic District project, Glasgow, KY, and with Greater Campbellsville United, Campbellsville, KY. Both projects were collecting histories from residents and former residents of the traditional historic African American communities within the towns.
As adjunct faculty at Western Kentucky University I have taught Introduction to Folklore.
As a visual artist I have exhibited work regionally, received many awards and have work in many collections in the region. I have a studio in my home and continue to paint, draw and recycle objects into my work. I have been involved in many artists' related organizations and taught drawing and painting workshops and classes.
How has folklore prepared you for your career?
The study of folklore at Western Kentucky University awakened my awareness of community aesthetic. I have always believed that all things people create were intrinsically valuable without realizing the importance of social aesthetic. This understanding is a valuable tool in orchestrating community collaborations. Folklore fieldwork classes gave me a new range and appreciation of documentation and fieldwork, which I used as an oral historian. The professors painfully (painful for them) taught me how to effectively communicate my fieldwork through writing.
The professionalism, intellect, and compassion that I found in the professors in Western's Folklore Department changed my life. I have so many great memories of time spent in graduate school. | <urn:uuid:0c9572cd-99f4-4227-9d31-e1feeaed7edd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wku.edu/folkstudies/successstories_lynneferguson.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962334 | 473 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Lake City in Florida is up on the panhandle in the center of the state. It has a long history dating back over a hundred and fifty years. The town was originally named Alpata Telophka, meaning "Alligator Town'' in Seminole. Civil War battles happened in this city providing historical significance to the town for visitors today to learn about. Recreation activities in Lake City include the Olusteee Battle Festival held in February, Dancing festivals, Alligator Fest in October, and plenty of water sports. The Lake City Mall is another style of recreation with plenty of shopping, dining, and entertainment for all days of the year.
Lake City Mall is run by Hull Storey Gibson Properties. This company started in 1977 by Mr. Hull. Mr. Storey joined the property company in 1992. Both worked in retail real estate development. Gibson joined the family in 1997. They have over twenty different properties around the US that are shopping malls, retail outlets and other shopping centers. Their main headquarters are out of Augusta Georgia.
Mall hours are Monday through Saturday from 10am to 9pm, Sundays 12:30pm to 5:30pm. Holiday hours may vary from these times. The mall unlike others in Florida is pretty general in looks. It has a brick building with a bit of architecture over the main doors. Inside, the mall has more decor with tile floors, seating areas, and tropical plants to enhance its appearance. The mall does have some high fashion stores, and also department stores.
Belk, JC Penny, Maunces, and Payless Shoes are some of the anchor stores located at the mall. Retail shops at Lake City Mall include Claire's, Game Stop, Blockbuster, Bon Worth, In Style, Rue 21, Arsty Abode, KJ's Hallmark, Creative Images, and Hibbett's Sports.
There are non retail stores at the mall. All military branches have stores at the mall for recruitment. Restaurants are Guang Dong Chinese and Ole Times Country Buffet. Fast Food options include the Coffee House and Starbucks.
Lake City Mall has a number of events that occur throughout the year. These events will differ from live entertainment, fundraisers, school events, sport registration, fashion shows, and health screenings.
Companies in Lake City Florida include the VA Medical Center, Timco, Wal Mart, Homes of Merit, Anderson Columbia Co., Shands at Lake Shore, and the Lake City Community College. These places can be additional places to see after a shopping experience at Lake City.
Mentioned above was the Olustee Battle Festival. This festival shows the events of the Olustee Battle during the Civil War. In 1864 a great battle took place in which Union casualties reached over 1800 men. Confederate soldier deaths totaled 964.
Other historical accounts include John C. Henry, a county Sheriff, who was involved in a fistfight. A man named Potsdamer was the other person involved. These historical locations are not a long drive from the Lake City Mall, where one can get a little education before or after shopping for top fashions of the current year.
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|Business Search - 14 Million verified businesses| | <urn:uuid:83583be7-bbce-4a91-aeec-b129060dab5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.city-data.com/articles/Lake-City-Mall-Lake-City-Florida.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956223 | 672 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) long-awaited report on Iran’s nuclear program was released today, confirming longstanding suspicions that Iran has made substantial progress in its nuclear weapons program. The IAEA’s quarterly report concluded:
The Agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme. After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the Agency finds the information to be, overall, credible. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.
The IAEA report urged Tehran to “engage substantively with the Agency without delay for the purpose of providing clarifications regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme.” Iran’s rogue regime, which has stubbornly spurned previous IAEA calls for clarification, is unlikely to comply. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad already has denounced the report, charging that “The Americans have fabricated a stack of papers and he [IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano] keeps speaking about them.
Previous IAEA reports have focused primarily on Iran’s efforts to produce fissile material, which could fuel a nuclear reactor or arm a nuclear weapon. This latest report broke new ground by citing evidence that Iran has experimented with the components of a nuclear weapon and worked on engineering studies for fitting a nuclear payload into Iran’s Shahab 3 ballistic missile. A 12-page annex also covered Iran’s contacts with foreign experts, its procurement activities, and preparatory experiments for conducting a test of a nuclear explosive device, among other subjects.
The Washington Post reported that one unnamed foreign expert referred to in the annex was Vyacheslav Danilenko, a former Soviet nuclear scientist who worked in Iran in the 1990s, and that other help came from North Korea and from Pakistan’s nuclear smuggling network, run by A.Q. Khan, the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program.
The IAEA report is sure to reopen the debate over the controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weaponization efforts in 2003. The Heritage Foundation lambasted the NIE at the time and has continued to point out the NIE’s weaknesses in light of Iran’s continued nuclear efforts.
The new IAEA report also should inject a greater sense of urgency into the Obama Administration over Iran’s accelerating nuclear efforts. The Administration has appeared complacent in recent months, promoting the narrative that the stuxnet virus unleashed on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure has dealt Iran’s nuclear program a devastating setback. But as Stephen Rademaker and Blaise Misztal noted in a persuasive op-ed today, Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts were only temporarily slowed and now continue to grow at an alarming rate.
Given the Obama Administration’s lethargic response to Iran’s continued nuclear efforts, it is no wonder that the Israeli government reportedly is mulling a preventive strike against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The Obama Administration needs to step up its efforts to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear weapons efforts, or Israel soon could be tempted to take military action to address a growing existential threat. | <urn:uuid:68cca334-41b5-4734-bfe7-e12df71ea150> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/08/new-iaea-report-charges-iran-experimented-with-nuclear-weapons-components/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946852 | 677 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Ericsson of Sweden claims that by 2017 the number of devices connected to wireless networks will by exceed the number of people on the planet by more than one and a half billion. Martyn Warwick reports.
Meanwhile, in Far Americay, the US Census Bureau has just published its latest forecasts for global population growth over the same period and calculates that by 2017 the earth will be groaning under the combined weight of 7.4 billion people.
Given the various initiatives promulgated in certain parts of the world to control the runaway increase in the birthrate (as in China's "One family, One Child" law) perhaps it's time we also start to think about limiting the number of mobile devices any one person can own before we all disappear in a global fug of radio fog? (Just joking. After all, where would we be without making people work harder to earn more money to buy more things?. Happier you say? How dare you. Go and sit on the naughty step until you buy an iPad).
Ericsson reckons there will be nine billion mobile subscriptions by 2017 (the figure was 6.32 billion at the beginning of 2012) The comms network equipment manufacturer adds that traffic growth will soon be close to exponential as demand for data-heavy service and applications such as mobile Internet access, video and the storage of immense numbers of files in the 'cloud' continues to surge all around the world.
The Swedish company has just published its second annual Traffic and Market report and drew on its own experience of the demands on its own circuits as a platform for its bullish forecasts.
Ericsson believes that data traffic will increase 15-fold over the next five years, by which time time 85 per cent of all humans will live within range of a mobile broadband signal.
Currently just about half of the world's population are in that happy position.
Talking about the publication of the new figures, according to Ericsson's CEO, Hans Vestburg: "In 2008, there were four billion mobile subscriptions. By 2017 there will be close to nine billion subscriptions. With this kind of mobility and connectivity everywhere, there will be no differentiation between a business user and a private user."
The Ericsson research finds the huge increase in data traffic is directly attributable to just three types of smartphone that have conquered the world and changed the comms environment for ever. They are; 1) The iPhone, 2) Android-empowered handsets and, 3) Windows phones.
The report also shows that mobile penetration in Western Europe is 126 per cent but slowing whilst in Africa it is 55 per cent and accelerating - so the gap is steadily reducing although there is still a long, long way to go.
The Ericsson research also reveals that 40 per cent of smartphone subscribers read and write emails and access the mobile web more or less as soon as they wake up in the morning - and certainly before they get out of bed. It throws up a few other interesting nuggets of information: smartphone usage - and pressure on networks - is at its greatest between 06h00 and 10h00 Monday through Friday as people work on their daily commutes into work and, over drinks in coffee shops and on arrival at their desk.
By contrast, usage in the evening rush hours and after work is much more evenly spread out with a mere 35 per cent of smartphone owners clogging-up the global airwaves at any given moment.
please sign in to rate this article | <urn:uuid:dd4062ba-a932-4503-9836-a7a2b5c3841c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web20.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=48829&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954735 | 698 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Art Exhibition & Floral Art
Why an art exhibition at an agricultural show? There have been exhibitions at the Show for over a hundred years to encourage and promote West Country artists both professional and amateur. In the calm of the Art Pavilion you can enjoy over 350 works including paintings, drawings and sculpture. Works are selected by a panel of judges with prize money of over £1,000 and all the works are for sale.
Sponsored by Rathbones and City of Bath College
2012 Chairmain's Choice Award Winner by Margaret Scalan:
The competitive flower arranging classes are situated within the Horticulture Marquee. The Committee hope that the nine classes with titles like ‘ God Speed the Plough' which is celebrating 150 years of the Royal Bath & West Show , ‘Roots & Shoots', ‘Best of British' and ‘Crowning Glory' will inspire competitors and impress visitors.
The schedule is designed so that all styles of flower arranging and design from the traditional to the innovative can be used to create the designs. Plant material in all its forms from garden flowers and foliage to dried plant material are used in the exhibits. There will also be a programme of interesting talks from experts.
Sponsored by Country Baskets | <urn:uuid:f15d02f0-4885-4bbe-b2ba-34e220aef213> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bathandwest.com/art-exhibition-floral-art/143/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949312 | 253 | 1.609375 | 2 |
What Kids Say About Favorite Things
Children are awesome. I am a child who is asking children questions. Asking questions is the same as answering questions, but on the other end. Usually this is my mom's column and she asks kids about stuff; it says it's by her but actually I, Sadie, her daughter, did the interviews. I wouldn't want this as a regular gig because I only had two days to ask so many people questions, and I have to make an introduction! And if I had this as my own job, I would be the one typing, and I am a slow typer. The question is what is your favorite thing in the whole world. I know it seems a lame question but it turned out to be a cool question because I knew that these people liked this stuff, but I didn't understand why they liked it so much. But the most confusing thing of all was Mom's answer. You can read hers and you'll figure out why it was so crazy. That lady has to have some coffee!
Wolf (17): I have a few favorites.
The limit is three.
Ghosts scare me, so not ghosts. I don't really have many mechanical things, so not that (technology). I don't want to use too much, because it will cause global warming. So, the weather. Animals. And space.
Why do you like the weather?
So I know what's going to happen, like if there's a tornado coming.
Why do you like animals?
Some of them are nice and cuddly.
What if they don't have fur? Do you still like them, because they're cool? He's nodding. Now, why do you like space?
There could be aliens. There's so many stars that could have planets that could have life. We don't know, but we just guess that we're not alone. Basically my worst not favorite thing is [whispers] spiders. I don't know if it was real or not, it could have been a delusion, but one time I was thinking about spiders and then I felt like I was walking through spider webs. In the kitchen. That was like a month ago. But the best thing about my favorite things is aliens, so that they might come and blow up the school.
Eva (10): Zelda!
‘Cause it’s awesome. And ‘cause it’s amazing, and awesome, and I’m playing it right now!
No, you’re not, because I still have to interview you. When is your favorite moment in Zelda?
When you beat a boss.
Finn (2): Tractor. And chickens. Tractors! Cars. Cars! Eva. Eva! Eva. Eva, Eva, Eva. Orange. Cow! Monkey. Jungle.
What’s your favorite monkey?
Monkey! Monkey! Mon-key! Dance!
Ella (14): My favorite thing is anime. I’m really addicted to it. It’s a Japanese art, like Spirited Away. It comforts me a lot when I’m going crazy, so it’s one thing I do is watch it every day.
Why is it comforting?
It’s because it’s stuff that couldn’t happen in real life, but it’s cool to think about instead of real life. And the music is in Japanese, so if it’s violent, it sounds happy, and I don’t know it’s violent.
Isabella (10): Animals. When they’re little, they’re so cute. Like they sometimes stumble over their own legs and stuff.
What was your best moment with animals?
When I found three kittens in my garage.
Did you keep them?
One of them died. Then we kept one and we gave the other to a shelter. Is this really going to be in a magazine?
I’m not sure about this!
Why aren’t you sure you want to be in a magazine?
Because some people, they record things, and then they put it in a magazine in a bad way because they misunderstood. Like you could think I poisoned the kitten who died.
Why do cute animals make you so happy?
Do I have to explain everything?! Why do you have to make everything so complicated?!
‘Cause I am.
Your hair’s in the microphone!
No it isn’t.
Now you’re laying on the microphone! Who is she working for? I’d like to speak to her lawyer! Don’t eat it. Sadie’s eating the recorder!
Sadie’s Mom: Don’t do that! That’s from 1986. That’s 25 years of germs!
Isabella and Sadie: Ewwwwwwww!
Hi Dad. Mom told me I could do something for a newspaper article thing. I need to tell you for legal reasons that I got an app for my phone and I'm recording you. So what's your favorite thing in your whole life?
Dad (44): My children.
Because I never know what crazy thing they're going to do next. They're strange and curious.
Can you give me an example?
Sure. One day I was about to have breakfast, and my ten-year-old daughter called and said she was using an app to record an interview with me, and I thought, "She's using her mind to work and expand through technology, and maybe she'll grow up to be a spy, like Jack Bauer."
Mom, what's your favorite thing?
Mom (43): I'm cranky right now, I haven't had my coffee. So I don't have any favorite things.
OK, I'll call you later. My phone fell on me and I'm bleeding right now.
My phone fell on my lip.
Nevertheless, as a journalist, even bleeding, you need to ask follow-up questions to get an answer out of me that you can use. It's all about the follow-up.
I'll call you later.
It's now or never. Live, you never get a second chance.
Previously - What Kids Say About Regrets | <urn:uuid:460fdb8a-04fb-46df-a90f-9761d0dbdcfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vice.com/read/what-kids-say-about-favorite-things | 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 | 0.970206 | 1,326 | 1.671875 | 2 |
IT Infrastructure | Feature
10 Myths of Virtualization
Lone Star College System has become a virtualization success story. One secret to its success: not allowing common virtualization fears to hold back progress.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
Illustration by Nigel Buchanan
Half of servers in higher ed are virtualized, according to the Educause 2011 Core Data Service Report. But that number's not high enough for Link Alander, interim vice chancellor and CIO at the Lone Star College System (TX). He aspires to see 100 percent of the system's infrastructure requirements delivered as IT services from its own virtualized data centers or other cloud-based operators.
The Houston-area community college system, with 100,000 students attending classes at 16 locations across 1,400 square miles, is continually expanding. Twenty-one new buildings were added in 2011, and the student population exploded from 63,000 to 90,000 in three years. Back in 2008, the system suffered from unreliable services with constant outages. Most of the hardware components in the data center were at end-of-life, and the student ERP system couldn't keep up during registration--a highly visible bruise to IT's reputation.
Since then, Lone Star's IT has undergone a methodical transformation in its organization, infrastructure, and business operations, all in pursuit of hyper-virtualization. (The community college system won a 2012 Campus Technology Innovators award for its effort; read more about it here.) As a result, it can now boast "five nines" service levels, a standard set in 2009 and achieved regularly by late 2010. This level of performance allows for only six minutes of unplanned downtime for any given service each year. "It's not just the data center that has to be up," Alander notes. "If the service can't be delivered due to whatever problem, that's part of your downtime."
Getting to that point of IT maturity and high availability hasn't been without challenges. Typically, though, it's misplaced concerns about virtualization that get in the way. Here, Alander and Cory Bradfield, Lone Star's infrastructure architect, address 10 common myths that can stop campuses from getting 100 percent out of their virtualization efforts.
Myth No. 1: Virtual Server Creep Is a Given
Because virtualization makes it much easier to provision servers on demand, it's possible for the growth of virtual machines at an institution to spiral out of control--resulting in the dreaded virtual server creep. Indeed, when the push to broaden virtualization started at Lone Star, security logs revealed quite a few servers, which had been set up for test purposes, that nobody had touched for months.
With proper management, however, virtual server creep is hardly a foregone conclusion. Alander and Bradfield recommend putting in place a strong lifecycle-management policy to maintain standards in areas such as change control, use of "golden master copies" for configuration of virtual machines, and other processes.
Now, before the Lone Star team provisions a new environment, standard practice is to ask users what it will be used for and how long it'll be needed. When the time is up, IT checks back to see if the virtual machine is still needed. If not, it's wiped out and the dedicated resources are allocated back to the pool from which they came. The system is archived after being decommissioned, just in case it needs to be brought back. It's officially purged three to six months later, depending on the service it was tied to.
Myth No. 2: The Virtual Environment Is More Complex
A virtual environment is no more complex to manage than any other kind of infrastructure, Bradfield and Alander insist. In fact, they believe it's considerably easier. It just requires the proper training up front, the right organization structure, and standardization on the back end.
"Invest in your people," Alander exhorts. "I wish I could do more training. We do as much as we possibly can. If you try to roll out a virtualized environment without somebody who's fully trained in virtualization, then you're going to have issues."
In addition to training staff, Lone Star also focused on restructuring IT roles. "We came up with defined roles of who would be doing what in the management of this environment," Bradfield says. Then, instead of sending everybody off to an outside class where only part of the material might have been relevant, the college system did customized training for each of the new roles. "We engaged staff in four and five days of on-site materials and our environment. That accelerated our learning quite a bit."
In the old structure, each Lone Star campus was autonomous. So a systems administrator from the Tomball campus, for example, would be involved in everything from speccing and installing servers to putting in place the appropriate applications. "Now his job consists of project management of the server requests [for his campus] and making sure he gathers the requirements up front," notes Bradfield. "We deploy the server farm, he goes in and installs the applications he needs, and he's off and running."
As a result, virtualization has given admins a simpler work environment. "Everything they touch is deployed from a standard set of templates," Bradfield says. "Whether it's a dental arts server or an antivirus server, they know that the configuration is the same throughout. They don't have to worry about storage and the underlying infrastructure."
Myth No. 3: Backups Take Too Long
Traditional streaming backup strategies don't hold up well in a virtual scenario. With fewer physical servers--all dedicated to virtualized production work--backups often end up as an afterthought, handled by whatever physical resources are left. At the same time, stratospheric growth in the amount of data generated through virtualized IT services can mean longer backup times. Backing up a 450-plus-terabyte datastore, such as Lone Star maintains, could easily exceed the available window. Yet that hasn't troubled Lone Star in its shift to total virtualization.
The key, says Alander, is a unified storage setup that is dynamic and flexible. Lone Star uses dual data centers 37 miles apart, one hot (running critical services), one warm (noncritical services), for quick failover purposes. Storage arrays consist of a combination of EMC products, including VNX, Symmetrix VMAX, Avamar, Centera, RainFinity, and RecoverPoint. The system's weekly full backup window is only eight hours, compared to 48 hours pre-virtualization.
Lone Star is constantly monitoring costs and making adjustments to its backup infrastructure. The college currently uses a pair of EMC products, Networker for backup and recovery and Avamar for deduplication, which "do a phenomenal job of taking care of remote locations," Alander says. But he's found that the combination has "a higher cost per terabyte," compared to another EMC duo: NetWorker and Data Domain (a de-duplication storage system EMC acquired in 2009). So that's the route the college will take next in a refresh of its backup and recovery solutions.
Myth No. 4: The Data Center Requires More Power
A data center running a set of blade servers may, indeed, require more power and generate more heat than the previous layout with physical servers. The comparison isn't really equitable, however, because the virtualized version has much greater capacity and performance capability. In fact, Lone Star is using only about a quarter of the power that would be consumed by a comparable number of physical servers performing the same work, according to Bradfield. Heat generation shows a similar drop.
Still, IT departments working with high-performance virtualized servers may have to "rethink how they're going to reposition that type of equipment because the heat is condensed [in one place]," Alander admits. But that's easily done, he says--Lone Star uses traditional forced-air cooling.
There is one other caveat, adds Bradfield. "If you're transitioning from a stand-alone storage environment to shared storage, the [storage area networks] can be pretty power intensive. In our case we already had [shared storage] in place, so we didn't see that increase either."
Myth No. 5: Infrastructure Costs Rise
For many institutions, virtualization is tied to a larger goal of higher availability of server resources--and that's where the cost comes in. At Lone Star, high availability was a major priority for the organization, one set by the chancellor and the board and agreed to by the Office of Technology Services (OTS). That's why the institution has two data centers; should one go down, services will automatically failover to the other.
Maintaining dual setups is a pricey decision, Alander acknowledges. "Yes, we have capacity that's not being used, but that's similar to someone having a disaster-recovery site ready to go." And once an institution makes that investment, the benefits are far-reaching. "You're delivering that level of availability to all services you deploy, not just to the select few that require it," notes Bradfield, adding that the resources in the second data center don't sit idle: They're used to house many of Lone Star's testing and development environments.
With or without the dual data center setup, the efficiency of a virtualized infrastructure is a cost-saver in terms of reduced downtime. While the loss of a physical server could take systems offline for days or hours, the loss of a physical component of a virtual host merely means a transition to another set of CPU and memory, explains Alander. Even if Lone Star didn't have that second site, he insists, if the college lost a big portion of its hardware, OTS could reprovision all of those virtual machines off to another location automatically or manually "faster than you could get the parts in to fix the hardware."
Myth No. 6: Legacy Software Can't Cope
To the uninitiated, logic dictates that legacy software and a modern, virtualized infrastructure do not mix.
Actually, says Alander, the problems with running software in a virtual environment have rarely been technical. "The only obstacle I've ever seen is vendors who have said they will not support their software in a virtual environment," he explains. "But we've proved to quite a few of those vendors that we can run it in a virtualized environment and provide the service."
Bradfield says the only issues he's experienced in trying to run even the most ancient of programs are logistical: not being able to find the original media or not having the means to reinstall it. "We've never run into a piece of software that would not run in a virtualized environment," he proclaims. "Most run better."
Myth No. 7: Troubleshooting Is a Guessing Game
Many virtualization naysayers may remember the early days when troubleshooting tools weren't very sophisticated. Indeed, when Lone Star started along its virtualization process, the tools didn't exist to get end-to-end visibility, Bradfield says. What was available back then "gave us a pretty decent high-level view and pointed us in the right direction when problems arose. But [the tools] still couldn't see into the network stack beyond the hypervisor or storage array."
The college now uses a combination of products across the network, storage, and applications, including VMware's vCenter Operations Management Suite, SolarWinds' Network Performance Monitor, EMC Ionix, and HP Insight Control, all of which provide a detailed view into the virtual infrastructure. Of course, divvying up problem-solving across multiple tools continues to make troubleshooting "a struggle," Bradfield acknowledges.
Also, the metrics used to monitor potential problems change in a virtual setup, so system admins need a new troubleshooting mindset--and that takes retraining. For example, 100 percent CPU usage in a virtualization scenario could mean the CPU is truly tapped out; but it could also mean there's CPU contention going on, there's a limit put in place for use of that CPU, or the CPU is actually sitting there waiting for a response from a disk I/O command. The system admin may conclude that another core is needed, or additional I/O capacity on the back end, or a tweak of the resources.
Mostly, Bradfield observes, solving problems "comes back to training and experience, understanding the types of issues that can occur, and knowing where to look."
Myth No. 8: Capacity Planning Is a Nightmare
In a dynamic scenario where conceivably "anything goes," how does the IT team plan for usage? With virtualization, capacity planning is best described in simpler, old-fashioned terms, Alander notes. "The reality is, you're just back in the old days of capacity management, like on the mainframe. You're not talking about individual servers as much. You're talking compute resources."
Dedicated SAN management tools have made the job of capacity planning easier, Bradfield adds. But he still finds it a challenge to manage thin provisioning--fooling various parts of the system into thinking they have more resources than actually exist. "Decide up front where thin provisioning will be done," he recommends, "because you can do it at the hypervisor, VM, and storage array layers. Determine where you're going to do it, and stick to that layer. Don't do it at all layers, because then capacity management is just a nightmare."
Lone Star's standard right now is to do thin provisioning on the storage array. "It does a better job," Bradfield says. "The reporting tools are there to help us understand the capacity management and there's less performance overhead there than at the hypervisor level."
Myth No. 9: Users Come to Expect Miracles
Having users expect amazing performance from IT services in itself isn't a bad thing. But in a high-availability virtualized environment, if users are shielded from the challenges of maintaining an always-up system, they can take it for granted--and suddenly IT may find its budget slashed.
That scenario can be prevented by communication, says Alander. "I often have to share failures with management. They don't see the problems, but the problems still exist. Problems happen just as frequently as they used to; it's just that they're transparent to [management]."
Recently, during registration, a network issue caused a failover of the ERP system and "some other crashes that came along the way." Behind the scenes, Bradfield pulled logs to see why the disconnect had happened; networking people were engaged; ERP people became involved. "It took a lot of time from the staff," Alander recalls, but "nobody saw anything."
To make sure that work doesn't go unnoticed, Alander uses a "showback" model to keep the college aware of the costs involved in delivering 99.999 percent uptime. At the start of a project, divisions are charged for the capacity they're consuming so they're aware of the costs; afterward, OTS assumes responsibility for those resources. That way, campus leadership gains an awareness of what it's getting and will be protective of the OTS budget.
Myth No. 10: Virtualized Services Can't Deliver All They Promise
The terms "virtualization" and "cloud" are bandied about so often these days that skeptics may underestimate their potential. But the benefits of dynamic scaling and application elasticity--delivering IT services to the school as they're needed--are no myth, insists Alander.
The example he points to: that ERP system that used to break down at peak student registration time before the start of every semester, grinding work to a halt. Now, the virtualized environment allows OTS to shrink development and testing capacity down and spin up more application servers and web servers in order to handle the onslaught.
"The processes are delivering exactly what we expected originally," Alander declares. "The application performance during peak registration periods is exactly the same as application performance during our dead time. The difference is that I may be running 12 more app and web servers than I was running before. When I'm done, those things disappear; they go back into hiding until they're needed again." | <urn:uuid:b2ed49ff-9df9-4be3-9cca-e2336542d4c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/10/03/10-myths-of-virtualization.aspx | 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 | 0.95555 | 3,363 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The entire cost of the project, including the study, is to be paid for by Waterville Valley Holdings, which also pays user fees to the government based on profits to lease the land.
It, however, owns the buildings and lifts on federal land.
To alter federal land requires an environmental assessment which looks at all the impacts. If it requires further study, more could be requested in the document due in April.
"The proposed expansion would increase beginner and intermediate terrain and offer a more gradual contiunum of terrain challenges at the resort," the scoping report reads. "Having not taken any appreciable trail expansion in 25 years, nor implemented any of the expansion projects proposed in the 1999 master development plan, the ski area has proposed this project to provide an improved visitor experience."
Green Peak, at 2,860 feet is southeast of Mt. Tecumseh at 3,840 feet.
The project would propose a network of eight trails and 12 acres of glades.
The trail network would connect with Stillness and Upper Valley Run, and deploy a high-speed quad, about 4,000 feet long, with a capacity of 2,800 skiers per hour.
The vertical rise of the area would be about 1,000 feet.
The small competition building for the ski club would need to be removed and relocated, the report states at the lower end of the tree island separating the trails Lower Periphery and The Pasture. The new comp center would be two stories and 4,800 square feet, but the clubhouse on the second floor of the building which includes T-Bars restaurant would remain in use at that location.
In all, about 41 acres would be cleared for trails and lift and about three acres of trail widening with snowmaking, using existing water sources. | <urn:uuid:7d2a5603-837a-48c1-b77d-a9839fde33fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wmur.com/escape-outside/Major-expansion-may-be-in-store-for-Waterville-Valley-ski-area/-/18282296/19067868/-/item/1/-/61ml9p/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963311 | 367 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Today marks Internet Watch Foundation Awareness Day in the 15th year of the organisation’s tenure as an independent, self-regulatory body funded by the EU and the online industry. Tempero have been a proud member for 9 years because we believe that it’s essential that the online industry at large take a role in dealing with images of child sexual abuse.
On Monday the IWF issued a press release detailing the scale of the appropriation of self-generated, sexually explicit online images and videos of young people by sites dedicated to displaying sexual content. It is a timely but concerning reminder of the importance of more education in this area for young people and the public at large.
IWF analysts found over 12,000 self-generated, sexually explicit images and videos over the course of little more than a working week and 88% of the images appeared on what the IWF are terming ‘parasite websites’, that is, they were copied from their original location and uploaded to a website dedicated to featuring sexual content.
I think that anyone involved with children’s communities over the past few years would tell you that the pressure to share images of themselves online, or with each other, is increasing amongst young people and, if you work with organisations like ChildLine and CEOP as I do, it’s clear that sometimes the fallout from this activity can be devastating. The world at large is still coming to terms with the suicide of Amanda Todd. Amanda’s depression began after she was persuaded to pose topless on webcam and serves as a stark warning of the damage this kind of exposure, and the subsequent bullying she was subjected to, can do. There are many other young people who suffer anxiety, depression and reputational damage at a time that will shape much of their early adult life as a result of a mistake or misjudgement of this kind.
It can be too easy to assume that this can be easily fixed. The comments below and others from the ‘comment is free’ section of a Guardian article based on the IWF’s work gave me pause for thought. If they are common in society at large then there is still much work to do.
“Don’t put pictures of yourself on the internet. It’s not rocket science, surely?”
“I’m often surprised at how ignorant the younger generation are. I had assumed that being brought up in the internet age, they would be a bit more savvy.”
The real situation for young people, as with most things in life, is a lot more complicated.
In May of this year the NSPCC published a small scale, qualitative pilot study into sexting which found that many of the young people they spoke to experienced pressure to take and distribute pictures and videos like that examined in the IWF study on a daily basis. They concluded that the greater threat to young people was from their peer group rather than strangers, that sexting was often ‘coercive’, that it is difficult to draw a line between sexting and bullying, that girls were overwhelmingly the victims and that technology greatly amplifies the problem. They called for technology suppliers to provide better reporting functionality and to back it up with swift action when a report is made; in effect to take responsibility for the situation their platforms have helped to amplify.
This link between bullying and sexting and the coercive nature of many cases means that the ‘common sense’ answers of those who think that young people should simply be ‘more savvy’ are unrealistic at best. Much of this material is shared with someone else either in trust or in fear and the victim does not often expect that it will end up online for all to view. To ignore this is to bury our heads in the sand and hope that the issue will go away.
What the IWF research shows is that without effective reporting and swift action by internet platforms, young people can lose control of the images altogether and the consequences are severe. The IWF shared several quotations from young people in their press release that echo the distress I have seen in many messages submitted to ChildLine or CEOP.
“Please remove this from the internet as soon as possible as one family member has already come across it… I feel like ending my life as I am so ashamed and embaressed [sic] and this has been put up without my concent.” [sic]
Today is IWF awareness day, and I will be talking to friends, family and clients about it, because until we’re smart enough to design better technological solutions to enable people to manage images they may regret taking, the IWF can help to ensure that cases like that of Amanda Todd are mitigated and that victims can deal with the social trauma in their family and school life without worrying about the images being appropriated, passed on and following them through the rest of their life. I’d invite you all to do the same and support the IWF today and for the rest of the year. | <urn:uuid:7966573d-cc2b-4ca7-b1a1-aeaf4e3ee422> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tempero.co.uk/iwf-awareness-day-2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97544 | 1,036 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Aïcha Ech Channa, founder and president of a Casablanca, Morocco, organization that provides services to unmarried women with children, is the winner of the $1 million 2009 Opus Prize.
The University of St. Thomas and the Opus Prize Foundation conferred the award Wednesday night at an event in Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. The other two finalists – Sister Valeriana García-Martín of Bogotá, Colombia, and Father Hans Stapel of Guaratinguetá, Brazil – each received $100,000 awards.
The honorees will use the prizes from the foundation to further their faith-based, humanitarian efforts. The recipients are unsung heroes who address problems with a commitment to service and social entrepreneurship.
Ech Channa founded Association Solidarité Féminine in 1985 to help unmarried women with children gain the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure their own livelihoods. More than 50 women receive training every year in literacy, human rights, cooking, baking, sewing, fitness services and accounting. Participants also receive daily child care, medical treatments, counseling, and social, psychological and legal support.
The Opus Prize is given annually to recognize unsung heroes solving today’s most persistent social problems. Their work must embody Opus Prize principles, including social entrepreneurship, transformational leadership, evidence of how faith makes changes in the world, and an ability to teach people how to fish (adhering to the adage, "Give a person a fish, you have fed him for a day. Teach a person to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime.").
"The Opus Prize recognizes individuals whose work and story can inspire us to tackle the world¹s most deeply rooted problems," said Amy Sunderland, executive director of the Opus Prize Foundation. "These finalists demonstrate what faith, will and vision can do to make our world a better place. They show us change is possible."
While the foundation has worked in partnership with Catholic universities since 2004 to make the award, the recipient may have roots in any faith.
The honorees participated Thursday in luncheon discussions with students, faculty and staff on St. Thomas’ St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses to highlight the congruence between their work and the university’s mission.
"St. Thomas has been honored to serve as a partner to award the Opus Prize," said Father Dennis Dease, president. "We have been proud to host the winners on our campus, and I know they have been a real inspiration to our students, faculty, staff and the larger community." | <urn:uuid:749cced2-215d-4f96-90ec-08bec8117a36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stthomas.edu/opusprize/overview/default.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952895 | 534 | 1.742188 | 2 |
So fundamentally my argument is that whatever scraps of paper exist that might be described as a constitution in the UK merely say that Parliament can do whatever the hell it wants. You're quibbling about the mere existence of those scraps of paper while ignoring my fundamental argument which is that whether they exist or not they have no value whatsoever.
Ok, douchebag. Maybe that quotation wasn't the best one. Look a bit further up on that same wikipedia page, and you'll find this one:
Parliament means, in the mouth of a lawyer (though the word has often a different sense in conversation) The King, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons: these three bodies acting together may be aptly described as the "King in Parliament", and constitute Parliament. The principle of Parliamentary sovereignty mean neither more nor less than this, namely that Parliament thus defined has, under the English constitution, the right to make or unmake any law whatever: and, further, that no person or body is recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament.
—A.V. Dicey Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885)
That's more evidence than you've supplied to the contrary.
Even the ECHR was merely agreed to via an Act of Parliament. A future Parliament would have no legal encumbrance to repealing it. The UK Parliament is supremely sovereign. There's no law in the UK other than, ultimately, what Parliament passes. And there's no law they can't repeal, should they so choose. Their only restraint is custom and electability.
Uh, no. There isn't one. The UK Parliament is supremely sovereign.
What's the difference between a Sunday and a holiday again?
The UK Parliament is supremely sovereign. That means you can be jailed for anything that they say you can be jailed for.
I just want to use my camera. Like virtually all cameras made in the last 20 years, it qualifies as an electronic device. The last time I flew into Newark, I was treated to breathtaking vistas of the Manhattan skyline, including the Empire State building in full plumage. I can't share those memories because of FAA stupidity.
Don't forget this, btw... The US did not declare war against Germany until Germany made such a declaration first, after the US declared war on Japan. Germany was not bound by the tri-partite pact to honor Japan's "de-facto" declaration of war (to wit, the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor), and it's quite possible that had Hitler not so declared that the US might have gone on to fight a one-front war against Japan only. I (and I don't believe I am alone in this) regard Germany's declaration of war against the US to be Hitler's first major blunder (not counting things before his rise to power, like the Beer Hall Putsch).
So... Microsoft's "research" seems to come from reading competitor's product specifications: my AirPort Extreme has been doing this for my network of macs for ages now - ever since Snow Leopard came out.
This is WoL combined with a proxy. Whenever the target machine is asleep, the proxy continues to respond (in this case) to Bonjour requests. When someone attempts to actually connect to the machine, the proxy sends a WoL packet out and then when the original host wakes up, it will hear from the requesting host and proceed as normal.
The one thing that's a little weird about this is that the AirPort extreme will actually wake the target machine up every few hours to make sure it's still there.
I've been using 6to4 ever since the 6bone shut down, and I've had no problems with it. In fact, it seems to me there are only two possible problems with 6to4 generally:
1. Bastard ISPs could, if they deeply inspect packets, see 6-in-4 packets generally as different or undesirable or whatever and do bad things like they do with bittorrent.
2. The 6to4 anycast default route as a mechanism to get from 6to4 space to the "real" IPv6 space can sometimes send your packets to a non-optimal gateway. The fix for this is simply for more such gateways to be created - preferably one (or more) per ISP - so that the traffic can be routed optimally.
I wanted to opt into Google over IPv6, but when I wrote them they told me to pound sand because I was using 6to4.
This is bullshit. There is always a couple of seconds where your light is red, but the other lights in the intersection are not yet green. Care to guess why it was designed that way?
Because someone was asleep at the switch.
It used to be that the light turned green immediately after the light the other way turned red. Everybody knew this, and gave the yellow light a lot more respect than they do today.
Then some numb-nut thought it would be a good idea to separate the end of the yellow from the beginning of the (opposing) green. And as soon as they did, people adapted and yellow lights lost a measure of the respect they had before.
And now, there's no going back. It would be unsafe to get rid of the buffer because it's expected now.
Of course, if you never start the computation at all then you never get results.
The terminating condition is knowing when Moore's law will fail.... far enough in advance to know when it is optimal to begin computation.
Um, if you wanted to use a circle as a metaphor for the year, then 2 pi radians would be a full circle, so wouldn't it make more sense to make it the day half way through the year (pi radians)?
Um, that's why they're battery operated. | <urn:uuid:ba404a30-1c0a-4b9d-b332-3ab4c0952632> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://slashdot.org/~nsayer/tags/politics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965666 | 1,217 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Ortiz y Pino
Manliness at City Hall
The minimum wage, jail and public education
There's a new book out in defense of manliness. It's got the commentators all atwitter with its premise, which is that, as a nation, we are making a huge mistake by downplaying the importance of those classic hunter-gatherer virtues, such as decisiveness, bravery, courage under fire ... and volume.
But the critics aren't united in their praise for the author's contention that we need more of those uniquely male qualities in our societal leaders. Many have sharply challenged the notion as one which has, among other things, landed us in the current Iraq mess, where we could have benefited from a lot more care, planning and negotiation and a lot less muscle-flexing and bombast.
For example, the bodybuilding governor of California scoffs at his opponents as “girly men.” But history has taught us that truly effective political leaders are those who have learned to temper testosterone-driven reactions with something akin to feminine reflection and even (amazingly, the rarest of leadership qualities) the willingness to listen to and learn from others.
Of course, we latinos have a long history of trying to live down our special version of manliness, machismo. It plays great in ballads, telenovelas and barrooms but has proven less successful in politics, bedrooms and divorce court.
Still, there's no denying there is something fascinating about watching alpha males strut their stuff. Chest-pounding at the gorilla compound at the BioPark always draws a crowd of excited onlookers. Blustering and bellowing, stomping and glowering, these manly primates seem determined to act. Certainly not to think; that's far less entertaining.
In several recent actions on the local political front, manliness (bluster, noise, threats) seems to be substituted for dialogue, debate, negotiation. We are all the losers when that kind of belly-bumping replaces the give and take which is supposed to be the strength of democracy. When decisions are made solely on the basis of who can stare-down whom, those decisions aren't going to be the best.
And so it is with three hot issues currently at City Hall: the proposal to increase the minimum wage, the struggle over the county jail and making the mayor responsible for public schools. Each is of vital importance to the community. Each has elicited responses from the Eleventh Floor that can only be described as manly. Each deserves much fuller consideration than to be treated as yet another test of wills.
Mayor Chavez showed considerable political know-how at the rally honoring Cesar Chavez the first weekend in April. He was booed when introduced at the event. Many of his policies have not endeared him to the young people in the community.
But Marty skillfully turned those boos to cheers by promising to honor the memory of Cesar Chavez in signing legislation raising our hourly minimum wage to $7.50. It was a move applauded by all in attendance. It sounded manly: decisive, clear, effective.
It was also a move he has been qualifying ever since, sounding less and less leader-like with every step backward. Now we learn he actually favors a gradual phase-in (is there any term less manly than gradual phase-in?) in small increases over a three-year period.
Similarly, in the case of the city's unilateral decision to pull out of running the jail, the mayor's style has been to use press releases and press conferences to issue ultimatums to the County Commission rather than sit down and negotiate some kind of settlement that won't prove disruptive to the functioning of that important institution.
Sure, he has state law on his side. Jails are county, not city, responsibilities. But after decades of sharing the burden, to suddenly pull the plug on joint operation and financing is the sort of dramatic, macho gesture comic book heroes make work in their tidy little closed universes ... but that we don't expect from democratically elected officials operating in the real world.
Finally, Mayor Chavez has been drawing all kinds of fire from apologists for the school system for his suggestion that we ought to consider making the schools a responsibility of city government rather than allowing them to operate independently, like they have historically.
Again, his modus operandi has been to use the bully pulpit of the mayoral press conference to blaze away in the best tradition of Western gunslingers, throwing all caution to the wind. And this time, the outlaws are firing right back. He's badly outnumbered and isn't getting much supportive firepower from his usual defenders in our daily press.
That's a pity, because I think he's on the right track on this issue. If he'd opt for careful analysis instead of a gunfight, I think he might get a lot further. Think about it. One half of the state's entire budget goes to public education. And APS pulls down about one third of the public education dollars annually spent in New Mexico. That means one in every six state dollars is getting spent by the APS board.
That's a huge responsibility. It ought to be scrutinized much more closely than it is now. But we should talk about it; reach a decision through debate, not arm wrestling. A little less machismo, please, Mr. Mayor, and less leaping from blazing buildings.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the author. E-mail [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:fa4563f8-b6b4-422a-a953-8aae996c8b84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alibi.com/news/14833/Manliness-at-City-Hall.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971002 | 1,139 | 1.84375 | 2 |
WILLIAMSON — The Mingo County Robotics Team, the RoboRats—Team 1249, recently competed in the North Carolina Regional held in Raleigh, N.C.
Comprised of students from both Mingo Central and Tug Valley High Schools, the RoboRats were one of three teams to be undefeated after their qualifying matches.
Once the smoke had cleared, the dust had settled and the nuts and bolts from other bots were swept away, the RoboRats found themselves ranked in the 9th and 10th positions out of 55 teams.
Teams from across country participated at the event, including Alabama, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Virginia. Mingo County was the only team from West Virginia that competed. There was even an international team competing, the Netherlands.
This year’s game required the students to build a robot that would fling Frisbees into goals and hands on a triangle tower. The RoboRats withstood the might from other teams and made a run towards victory, but were beaten in the championship rounds.
During the closing award ceremonies, the RoboRats were awarded the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors. The award celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addressed the game’s challenge. Team 1249 effectively played all challenges in the game.
Student Members participating in the Raleigh event were: Mingo Central Team Members — Jack Tilley, Joey Wellman; Tug Valley Team Members — Jordon Mounts, Jordan Kiser. Rick Meade is the head coach and county robotics coordinator. | <urn:uuid:86546658-8e34-4fbb-9211-e339924eff04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.williamsondailynews.com/view/full_story/22041118/article-RoboRats-make-run-at-robotics-regionals | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96714 | 321 | 1.664063 | 2 |
In my last post, I spoke about the importance of placing the symbolic line work of Pipe Fitting famlies on the correct subcategory (or in that case, that it was on the actual Family Category "Pipe Fitting.")
One of the ways to get the most control over the visibility of objects in Revit is to use various combinations of Graphic Overrides, View Templates and Filters that select objects by their "Family Category."
As mentioned before, every object in Revit belongs to a Family Category. Walls, Doors, Lighting Devices and Plumbing Fixtures are all Family Categories. So, if I want a view that displays Walls but hides Windows, I just check Walls and uncheck Windows. Simple enough.
However, what if I want to show Interior Doors but not Exterior Doors? Select an exterior door>right click> select all instances> and hide in view? Sure that would work, but it's time consuming. Especially if you have multiple types of exterior doors. Interior and Exterior Door Worksets? Maybe, but let's stay away from extensive lists of worksets. A filter? Sure, filter by something that all exterior doors have in common and is different from interior doors. Maybe you even have to add a parameter to doors to make it work. This has the advantage of being set as part of a view template and can be quickly applied to multiple views. All of the above are passable ways to turn on and off and change the graphics of different objects in Revit. But what if...
I wanted to control part of an object? Enter... Subcategories. You have probably dealt with them before. Say you want to turn off the elevation swing of doors in Elevation. Just uncheck that subcategory in the Visibility/Graphics Overrides Dialog of that view.
And the great thing about Subcategories is that you can great an infinite number of them, unlike Family Categories (where you're stuck with what Autodesk gives you.)
To apply these subcategories to different parts of your object, in the family editor you simply select the "part"(which can be a number of things, 3D Geometry, Lines, etc.)>open the part's element properties> and assign it to the appropriate subcategory (just use the drop down list.)
Now you have TONS more control over objects in Revit. We recently had a situation where we wanted to create a Plumbing Fixture family that was an in-wall rough-in. By making this a family (instead of just text in the view) we can tag it, and run piping to it. However, most views needed to hide the rough-in, but still show other Plumbing Fixtures. Sure we could have just selected it and hid it in the view, but we often do multiple instances of rough-ins and we wanted complete control of the family visibility in all views.
I'm sure by now you figured out that we created a rough-in subcategory and added the appropriate visibility/graphic overrides settings to our view templates. | <urn:uuid:93467b49-62fb-421e-824d-4a94dc885e1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whosafraidofthebigbadbim.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942964 | 632 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Click above to watch Reason TV's "5 Facts about Guns, Schools, and Violence," originally released on January 10, 2013.
Last Monday's episode of The Daily Show (watch it here), Jon Stewart opened with a long, heartfelt, and sardonically witty segment that showcased the stupidity of some well-known gun-rights advocates. In many ways, that segment perfectly captures the desire for what President Obama has called "common-sense" gun control laws that will prevent horrific tragedies like December's Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
It's worth thinking about where Stewart is coming from, and not simply because he hosts a TV show that has supposedly replaced network news as the main source of information and analysis for most of America. Stewart makes a lot of good points, or at least points worth thinking about. In the end, though, he comes up well short of proposing meaningful reforms. In that failure, too, he's capturing the anti-gun zeitgeist.
In The Daily Show bit, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre was shown namechecking 20-year-old movies such as Natural Born Killers and equally ancient video games such as Mortal Kombat as the proximate cause for the Sandy Hook school shooting. LaPierre even called for a national database of lunatics, though the loud-mouthed hysteric declined the chance to be the first entry.
"Technology has democratized carnage," said a hoarse Stewart (he was getting over a cold), who was put out by Second Amendment defenders who point out the fact that the amendment is part of the Bill of Rights. Riffing on the flesh-shredding capabilities of current weapons, Stewart said, "When that constitution was written, people had muskets."
Showing a clip reel of characters ranging from homeless-man impersonator and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura to Fox News' amiable Steve Doocy saying not particularly smart things about guns and history, Stewart acknowledged that mass shootings are complex phenomena that almost surely have more than a single or simple cause. Then he asked,
Why is it that there's no other issue in this country with as dire public safety consequences as this that we are unable to take even the most basic steps toward putting together a complex plan of action just to slow this epidemic spread?
Cue more nutjobs and numbskulls - such as conspiracy-monger Alex Jones - talking about how guns are the last line of defense against tyranny. Stewart concluded that folks who worry about the government taking their guns are the reason we can't talk about common-sense measures to reduce the likelihood of another Sandy Hook shooting. Why not shrink magazine capacities, asked Stewart. Or keep assault weapons only at shooting ranges? We can't even discuss such ideas, he averred, because of freakazoids such as Jones and Ventura and Steve Doocy (!) wetting their pants about the second coming of Stalin or Pol Pot.
Their paranoid fear of a possible dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic presence. We can't even begin to address 30,000 gun deaths that are actually in reality happening in this country every year because a few of us must remain vigilant against the rise of imaginary Hitler.
That 30,000 number stood out to me because it seemed very high. According to the FBI, in 2011, there was a total of 8,583 firearm homicides in the U.S. That may well be 8,583 gun murders too many, but it's nowhere near 30,000 (the total number of murders by all methods came to 12,664). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) uses a different method and found about 11,000 gun-related murders in 2011 and the total number of homicides to be around 16,000 (see table 2). So How did Stewart get to 30,000? By adding the number of gun-related suicides to the number of homicides. When you add those figures in, you get up toward the 30,000 figure.
As with the total number of homicides in a given year, it's easy (and arguably right) to say that any number of suicides is too high. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among people 10 years and older, according to the CDC, and guns are involved in a majority of male suicides and a smaller percentage of female suicides. More than is commonly thought, suicide is an impulsive act, not the product of long-term, rational deliberation (though it is that sometimes, and is certainly as basic a right as there could possibly be). The impulsivity of many, maybe even most, suicides is an argument for keeping guns away from people. It's harder to kill yourself on the spur of the moment, I assume, with a rope than with a pistol.
But overall trends in suicide are pretty flat over the past 20 years. A basically flat trend (with some upticks depending on the age group) isn't as good as the falling declines in violent crime and gun-related homicide, but it suggests that there's no cause for urgent action. More to the point, very few people seem to be calling for gun control as a way to stem suicide. In fact, Stewart didn't even mention that the majority of gun deaths in his 30,000 number are actually self-inflicted. To do so would undermine his case that the reason to ban guns - or at least limit who can legally possess them - is to prevent school shootings and a more broadly invoked "epidemic" of gun-related violence that shows up everywhere except crime data.
So, should we be pursuing new, "common-sense" restrictions on the buying, selling, owning, and operating of guns? I am not a gun person - I've gone shooting exactly twice in my life and didn't enjoy either experience - and I find many of the arguments of gun-rights advocates unconvincing or uninteresting. The notion that a rag-tag band of regular folks armed with semi-automatic weapons and the odd shotgun are a serious hedge against tyranny strikes me as a stretch (and I even saw the remake of Red Dawn!). Hitler and the Nazis didn't take away everyone's guns, as is commonly argued. They expanded gun rights for many groups (though not the Jews). When the whole mutha starts to come down, if the choice is between Jesse Ventura or Janet Napolitano, I'm not sure where to turn.
And yet the idea of armed self-defense is a totally different matter and I also realize that many people live out in the sticks or even in urban neighborhoods where the police aren't a realistic option when trouble comes a-calling. I know people for whom owning a shotgun is no different than owning a tennis racket and hunting is a family affair more revered than holiday dinners. I don't see any reason why law-abiding people should have to explain to anyone why they want a semi-automatic gun or a magazine that holds 10 bullets instead of seven. | <urn:uuid:abeca83f-f64c-4607-bddb-8452b6a2c2fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reason.com/archives/2013/01/15/jon-stewart-sandy-hook | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969066 | 1,422 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Social media is approaching main stream adoption in the federal government, with 41% of federal workforce respondents polled in a new survey having begun using social media in the past year. That’s in addition to 51% who had begun using social media more than a year ago, leaving only 8% of federal employees who say they do not use social media.
Perhaps more significantly, the distinction of where federal employees use social media–once clearly confined to home or controlled office use–has begun to dissolve. While 92% of federal respondents said they use social media at home, 74% use it at work, and 70% use it via mobile devices, the study suggested federal agencies are demonstrating a new level of comfort in using social media. Keep reading → | <urn:uuid:383d03be-d3c5-4711-bb2d-62508a84b834> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://breakinggov.com/tag/GovTwit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930582 | 151 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The candidates for Commander in Chief - current President Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney - had their first debate Wednesday night, and it couldn't have come too soon.
Nothing changes from election to election when it comes to presidential races. The candidates fire shots at each other, they defend themselves and they tell us what they would do "if elected." They make promises they can't keep.
This is called campaigning, and we're tired of it.
At least debates put candidates on the spot, under the white-hot lights. Debates are important. Some candidates have won elections under these lights, some have been singed by them. There are more debates to come and each will play a key role in how the presidential election plays out. It's what goes on between these debates that gets old. The jabs each take at their opponent eight states away. The expensive TV ads that make us appreciate even more the "PREV" button on our remote. By the time the election rolls around we just want everything over with.
Look, I can make it real simple for you two. You want my vote? Make me some real promises. Got a list of 20 for starters:
Lower the price of gas by $1 or more per gallon by April.
Keep it there. OMG! You might have to dip into reserves! Or have you forgotten where we keep them?
Visit my hometown, but don't tell anyone you're coming. Except me. Then walk downtown with me, you know, just to see the faces.
Give me your cell phone number.
Worry about this country's problems more than other countries'. Show me you care as much about what happens in Page County, Iowa, as you do in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Establish a law that prohibits pro sports leagues from going on strike.
Stop trying so hard to be hip and mainstream. (Example: Obama making his NCAA basketball pickswe just don't care!) No more talk show appearances, either, please (60 Minutes is acceptable, but I swear, if I see a presidential candidate on Dancing with the Stars, I will move to Canada. Or Peshawar). I know you're trying to get the young vote, but is this how you want to do it? Presidents don't have to be cool.
Fire your vice president. Nothing personal, but you don't need him, we don't need him, and the government doesn't need to pay someone to fill the role. You're married, aren't you? First lady shmirst lady, let her be the vice president.
Bring down the cost of hybrid cars. I'd go green if I didn't have to spend so much of mine to do it.
Stop messing with school lunches.
Fix Congress. NO FARM BILL? You're joking, right? Seriously, where's the farm bill?
Promise not to Tweet. Ever.
Stop wearing red or blue ties just because your party is associated with a certain color. And don't tell me it brings out your eyes.
Save the postal service. I believe you call them bailouts?
Pay what your conscience tells you you should pay in taxes - more than just what allows you to sleep at night.
Two words: National debt.
Two more: Less government (see school lunches).
Donate at least 20 percent of any future campaign contributions and funds raised to charity. Any charity. Give a bum a c-notesomething. Better yet, make it a presidential rule that a portion of funds goes to a good cause every election year. At $5,000 a plate for some of these soirees, that would go a long, long way.
Make it so hard and laborious for someone to buy an automatic rifle they just give up trying.
Am I asking too much? You could argue that. Just a matter of how much you really want my vote. | <urn:uuid:31fa75a8-6a3c-45cf-a528-0b5a90e08eab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marshallindependent.com/page/content.detail/id/536328/Editor-s-column--Presidential-candidates--Stop-and-give-me-20.html?nav=5007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973464 | 802 | 1.570313 | 2 |
No matter the economy, CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners have a desire to improve and grow their business. Not even the worst economy since the Great Depression can keep a good business person from achieving success. Where there is will, drive and determination, there is always a way to succeed in business. It’s just a matter of perseverance and finding a legal, ethical, innovative way to succeed.
Lately, I’ve been hearing more business people say they want to grow their business. Translation: Business people, though still highly cautious about the economy, realize they need to move forward for business survival. Otherwise, the greater fear is being left behind and the competition takes the business.
Yet there is a misconception when business people talk about wanting to grow their business. It seems like the right thing to say and the right question to ask is: How can I make my business grow? But that’s not where you want to start.
The primary question you want to ask yourself is: Am I operating the most profitable business I can?
In order to answer the question you need to ask a series of other questions.
Questions To Ask Before Deciding To Grow Your Business
- Do I truly understand my business?
- Is the reason I am in business today the same as when I started the business?
- Do I understand the needs of my employees, customers and vendors?
- Do I understand how to lead my company to greater success?
- What are the weaknesses of my business? What am I going to do to correct them?
- What are the strengths of my business? How am I going to maximize them?
- Have I done a study of the marketplace to understand how it has changed since the Great Recession of 2008 or since other major shifts have occurred in my industry?
- What are my customers’ needs now? How have they evolved since we started to do business together?
- When I lose business to the competition do I view this as a valuable learning tool? Do I find out what I could have done better to win that business?
- What is my daily work attitude? Am I ready to undertake new business challenges?
- How do I think about business on a daily basis? How have my thoughts changed over the years?
- How will my company need to change in order to grow the business?
After you have done a thorough complete study of everything I’ve talked about here (and you may have other questions to add to the list). Then, and only then, you can think about the possibility of putting together a plan to grow your business.
But until can provide solid, realistic answers, growing your business may not be a formula for success. Instead, to grow your business may only be creating more business problems for you. Are you ready to handle those problems, many of which cannot always be anticipated.
Business growth does not guarantee business success. You may be better off to stay where you are with your business and continue to improve it which also has it rewards – such as more profit and less stress.
Think of it this way: It is only logical to build a solid foundation before you build a new house. Without the solid foundation, the house cannot be built as it will not pass inspection and will eventually fall. The same will happen with your business. If there isn’t a solid foundation, the business will not just falter but more than likely, fail.
Ask yourself one more question: What needs resolved before adding more?
If you want to succeed and be more profitable, first things first. Get your business in order. Make every aspect of your business more efficient and profitable. When you are sure you have done everything you can do to make your business better, then and only then, grow your business.
Howard Lewinter guides, focuses and advises CEOs, presidents and business owners to greater success and profit. Visit Howard’s website and blog, Talk Business With Howard; also, listen to Howard’s internet radio show on Blog Talk Radio and connect with him on Twitter: @HowardLewinter.
Photo credit to iStock | <urn:uuid:7de116cf-2bac-4229-9f49-4acabd3db51e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bizengine.com/growing-your-small-business/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965495 | 847 | 1.5 | 2 |
Lots of people who love sourdough bread don’t bother to make it themselves because they think it’s too much work to keep the starter alive. I have one friend who has a “no pets” rule in her house – and that means no sourdough starter too! But once the starter is established (see how to do this here) it’s pretty easy to keep it alive without catering to it every day. Here are some options:
Option 1: Discard half of the starter and add 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water to the remaining starter every day. Not a very useful method unless you plan to make bread almost every day.
Option 2: Store any remaining starter (after making bread) in the refrigerator and feed it once a week. To feed, discard half of the starter and add 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water to remaining starter one day each week. Allow the starter to ferment at room temperature for at least 2 hours before returning it to the refrigerator.
Three days before you want to bake another loaf of bread, remove the starter from the refrigerator and feed daily, following days 5-7 of Sourdough from Scratch for best results.
Option 3: You can keep the starter in the refrigerator for several weeks at a time without feeding. However, it may take more than 3 days of feeding to get it bubbling again. | <urn:uuid:49180d65-a4d0-4473-b27e-8824775ce95d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://winebarrelgourmet.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/keep-your-sourdough-starter-bubbling/ | 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 | 0.947092 | 293 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Many men will suffer the pain and inconvenience of jock itch at some time during their lives. The itchy feeling in the groin may be painful enough to wake you at night. The good news? Jock itch can be treated, usually inexpensively and at home, and some basic preventive maintenance can keep it from coming back.
One day you are walking around pain-free, and the next day you notice an irritation in your groin, a little redness, perhaps, or a touch of scaliness. You do not pay any attention to it, chalking it up to a rash or some minor discomfort. The next thing you know, you have called your dermatologist begging for relief from a burning sensation between your thighs.
Jock itch is caused by a fungal infection. Warm, moist areas are the best environments for fungi to grow. You may be at a higher risk of getting jock itch if you wear wet, damp, or dirty clothes; share towels that are infected with the fungus; perspire a lot; or wear tight clothing.
First, make sure you have what you think you have.
Jock itch is characterized by red skin and a discernible border between the part of your thigh that is affected and the part that is not. Jock itch almost never involves the scrotum or penis. But, a couple of other conditions mimic jock itch and its symptoms.
One is called intertrigo, a skin irritation caused when the body folds rub against each other. It becomes worse when you are hot and sweaty. Symptoms include redness and peeling. Another condition is a form of seborrhea that is related to
and is marked by dry, cracking skin.
Erythrasma (a bacteria infection) and
are other common conditions that may mimic jock itch.
If you notice something reddening your groin, do not wait for it to get worse. It is much easier to treat in the early stages. Most forms of jock itch respond to over-the-counter products.Miconazole,
tolnaftate, terbinafine, and
are common medicines sold without prescription. Be sure to buy a product that is specifically for jock itch. Medicine for athlete's foot, another fungal infection, may be too harsh.
Medicines come in lotions, sprays, powders, and creams. Be sure to carefully follow the directions for using the medicine. The fungus can return if not properly treated.
Keep your groin dry and clean. This denies the fungus a chance to reproduce. Dry the area thoroughly after showering, and dry your feet after you dry your groin. There is some thought that you can carry jock itch fungus from your feet to your groin on clothing or a towel, especially if you shower in public places.
Since poorly washed towels can carry the fungus, use only clean towels. Also, wear cotton underwear, since it breathes. And if you are a brief man, consider boxers. The latter increase the flow of air to the groin and promotes drying.
If none of the above is working, see your doctor. The good news is that doctors can treat even the most chronic cases. Treatment may involve prescription medicine that sometimes includes oral antifungals. | <urn:uuid:0aab9681-1b57-4ae9-b4ca-1f6b124a94d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abrazohealth.com/education/healthinfo.aspx?chunkiid=14083 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947976 | 672 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A month ago, I was asked to deliver some remarks to a business forum at the Cosmos Club (wiki) regarding my work. It was a great opportunity to have conversations with people I might not have ever have met in the normal course of my work.
Here are my talking points.
- As you noticed on the bio sheet, I’m not an economist, a policy maker, or a CEO. I’m a designer.
Some people think design is about making things prettier. Sure that happens, but often in the service of a larger purpose.
My job, as with all designers, is to see where the future is popping up and to give it forms that make it more effective, help people fall in love with it, and allow it to scale.
I always like to think of design’s purpose as being a catalyst of transformations.
- Yesterday, John talked about our current economic crisis. I’d first like to build on that as it relates to what I and hundreds of other designers are shifting our work towards.
Then I’d like to close with why I think it has resonance with the inquiries of this club.
- To build on John’s points, I’d like to reference a recent Vanity Fair article that highlights how I perceive our Great Recession.
The article was written by Joseph E. Stiglitz—recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the former Chief economist of the World Bank.
In it, he argues that the Depression was not caused—as many people believe—by the Federal Reserve tightening the money supply.
Instead, he believes the Depression was the culmination of an economy fundamentally restructuring itself over many years and a workforce struggling to adapt with it.
He points out that in 1900, it took a large portion of the U.S. population to produce enough food for the country.
- Over the next three decades, agricultural efficiency and productivity soared as better seeds and better fertilizer hit the market, better farming practices emerged, and more farmers adopted machine equipment allowing them to do more with less people.
Eventually output outpaced demand. Prices fell sharply.
As a result, farmers’ incomes shrank and agricultural jobs were destroyed or replaced by machinery.
- To compensate, the adversely affected farmers borrowed heavily to sustain living standards and production. They hoped to push through those hard times on the farm in hopes of an eventual turnaround.
But because neither the farmers nor their bankers anticipated such steep price declines or prolonged unemployment, a credit crunch ensued.
- Stiglitz argues that these loans and how they were used helped to maintain an outdated agricultural economy.
Eventually that economy collapsed.
- What was needed instead was for government and business leaders to recognize that machinery, science, and technology were creating benefits and advancements that would underpin a future and robust economy.
- Those loans that went to sustain and protect outmoded and unnecessary forms of economic activity should have been invested in efforts to grow a manufacturing economy and help the workforce transition into it.
- Stiglitz argues that this is why we didn’t come out of the Depression until WWII.
- WWII’s manufacturing boom eventually built the infrastructure needed for the new economy and the much needed reconfiguration of employment.
It pulled people off the farms and onto the factory floor. There they received the skills needed for working in the manufacturing economy.
- Stiglitz posits our Great Recession is no different.
60 years ago, manufacturing jobs made up about a third of our work force.
But because of productivity gains brought by digital technology, automation, algorithms, and outsourcing, that number has shrunk from a third of our work force to less than a 10th of it.
Those millions of jobless factory workers are the modern-day equivalent of those doomed farmers.
His conclusion is that our collective challenge is in helping our economy and our workforce transition faster into the new economic era.
- So what is that era?
Stiglitz believes we’re move from a manufacturing economy into a service economy.
- But I don’t think that’s precise enough or accurate enough.
- Instead, I, and many others, believe our country is struggling through a transition from a “manufacturing economy” to a “Peer-to-Peer economy.”
- Peer-to-peer refers to the relationships developed by networked and personal productivity technologies.
- These technologies drive the creation of networked relationships that allow companies, organizations, and crowds of individuals with commons interests to do two things:
- Easily share economic value with each other. (The popular example is sharing music files, but it can be with other things as well. Neighborgoods.com allows neighbors to shared everything within their homes from blenders to lawnmowers. IBM’s World Community Grid allows people all over the world to allow IBM to access their unused hard drive space to run calculation. The result is a distributed super computer that is making massive gains in medical research.)
- Create value in collaboration with each other. (The popular example is Wikipedia, but in fact, it extends beyond publishing. One example is that an online group of car enthusiasts collaborated with each other to create a production car called the Rally Fighter. And yes you can buy it.)
- At the fundamental level, Peer-to-Peer relationships expand the production of sophisticated economic value beyond the domain of businesses.
In the Peer-to-Peer economy, production expands from the warehouse to the home. And it’s led not just by teams of coworkers but communities of enthusiasts as well.
For those who haven’t experienced this new economic activity, there is a troubling sense that “Peer-to-Peer” is synonymous with “chaos” and “out-of-control” activity.
- “How can I manage responsibly or keep costs low when I can’t control all the activity that I depend on?”
- “How do such systems work?”
- “I can’t afford to completely reinvent my company so how do I integrate such systems with what I’m currently doing?”
On a day-to-day basis, this is what I help companies understand and do.
Specifically I work with them to create new products and new services that leverage networked relationships and peer-to-peer modes of production.
It’s my task to help them see that the factory line isn’t the only model for creating value. There is a whole host of innovative models emerging in the Peer-to-Peer economy:
- Now there is clearly a big economic upside to moving into this new economic activity. One need only look at the success of some well known players in this space:
Apple’s App Store (which shared resource)
IBM’s World Community Grid (which is a form of crowdfunding)
Nike’s recent moves to integrate networked technologies into their apparel and equipment for mass customization and data sharing between customers.
- But the upside I’m most fascinated by is the civic and social benefits.
Many of the peer-to-peer innovations developed by businesses for the marketplace can easily be adopted by Governments and NGOs seeking to have greater civic and social impact. Let me give you one example from Haiti:
In the aftermath of the recent earthquake, millions of Haitians lacked food, water, and shelter. But they did have their cells phones and working cell phone towers.
Knowing this, the U.S. State department set up a text message hotline. They just needed to send a text message asking for assistance, aid and supplies.
In the first month, Haitians sent more than 40,000 texts.
The problem was that the aid workers primarily spoke English and all the texts were in Haitian creole. Not only that, but much of the directions such as landmarks and neighborhood were only known by locals.
Traditionally, governments would solve this problem by hiring contractors to build temporary call centers to handle and translate the calls. But doing this takes a long time to set up and they companies charge a lot for the premium of translating on a 24/7 basis.
Even if they did get one of these centers up and running, it didn’t solve the problem with the location information.
But because of the innovative systems developed in the Peer-to-Peer economy, the State Department had a faster, more effective, and cheaper option.
That option was to crowdsource the translations.
The Department worked with a few crowdsourcing services to create a website that allowed hundreds of thousands of Haitians living outside the country to translate texts from Port-au-Prince in real time, and for free.
Aid workers now knew who needed help, what they needed, and where they needed to deliver it.
A useful side effect was that the crowdsourcing effort provided hundreds of thousands of data points on what Haitians needed most. This allowed aids workers to better calibrate their supplies with the victims’ needs.
- For me, the exciting part is that this is only one small example of the impact new modes of peer-to-peer production can have outside the marketplace.
And the truth is that efforts like this are only going to become more profound and effective as networked technologies, wireless technologies, and personal productivity technology continue to increase in capabilities and as designers and design thinkers become more sophisticated at integrating them into our society.
- On a day-to-day basis, this is the type of world I try to bring about. My hope is that I can help this future economy come sooner so that the innovations developed in it can be used to drive profound social and civic impact.
- Thank you | <urn:uuid:8c15a60f-6a1a-4efd-a5ae-84cb24b54c8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://p2pbydesign.com/post/26907793526/lessons-from-the-great-depression-and-the-social-impact | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955543 | 2,033 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Early and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
JAMES D. HOOD. Although many believe to the contrary, luck plays a very unimportant part in the average man's career. We generally like to excuse our own shortcomings and account for the success of other men on the grounds of luck. A fertilized soil, rotation of crops, well fenced land, intelligently tilled fields, well kept machinery, painted houses and convenient outbuildings and blooded live stock are not the result of luck, unless hard work persistently and intelligently directed can be characterized as luck. One of the farmers of western Greene county who evidently put greater stress on industry and vigilance than on the vicissitudes of luck is James D. Hood, who has been content to spend his life in his native locality which he has helped to develop into what it is to today--a prosperous and desirable farming country.
Mr. Hood, was born in Greene county, Missouri, December 31, 1848. He is a son of Duncan and Nancy (Blades) Hood. The father was a native of Germany, where he spent his boyhood, finally emigrating to the United States, and after spending some time in the state of Tennessee came on to Missouri and located on a farm in Greene county, where he spent the rest of his life, dying when a young man, at the age of twenty-eight years, in 1849, when our subject was an infant.
James D. Hood grew to manhood on the farm in his native community and he worked hard when a boy helping support the family. His education was limited to the rural schools, which he attended a few months each winter for a few years. He had always followed general farming and stock raising pursuits and he has met with very gratifying results all along the line. He was twenty-nine years of age when he purchased his first farm in Pond Creek township. He has bought, occupied and sold a number of farms since, and is now the owner of a valuable and well improved place consisting of three hundred and fifty-nine acres, known as "The Sunrise Stock Farm," on which he carries on general farming and stock raising on a large scale, and is deserving of ranking with our best farmers in every respect. He keeps an excellent grade of live stock, has a pleasant home and numerous outbuildings for the proper housing of his stock, grains, grasses and machinery.
Mr. Hood was married, October 24, 1872, to Mary E. Clack. She received a common school education. She is a daughter of Robert Clack, a carpenter and builder, who, When the war between the states began, enlisted in the Confederate army and fought in the great battle of Wilson's Creek. He was a native of Tennessee and married Racheal Bonham, who was born in Blount county, East Tennessee, September 10, 1835. She grew up and was married in her native state, and when twenty-one years of age, in 1857, came to Missouri to make her future home. To Mr. and Mrs. Clack two daughters were born, namely: Mary E., wife of our subject; and Tennessee, now deceased.
Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hood, named as follows: Maggie, born July 31, 1873, married Henry O'Bryant, who is in post office service, and they have six children; Edward, born May 29, 1876, died in February, 1878; Eva, died in infancy; Clyde, born March 16, 1883, is farming near the home place, married May Hughes and they have two children; Nora, born September 25, 1885, died in infancy; Knox, born September 15, 1888, travels for the International Harvester Company. Mr. and Mrs. Hood also reared Mary Elizabeth Hicklin, who is living with them now. She was born in Lawrence county, May 7, 1882.
Politically, Mr. Hood is a Republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and he attends the Methodist Episcopal church.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y
Table of Contents | Keyword Search Greene County History Home | Local History Home | <urn:uuid:8be36500-a0e0-461d-bb2b-1d39a56776bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/paspres/hoodj.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988267 | 920 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Stunningly, the postponement of marriage and parenting — the factors that shrink the birth rate — is the very best predictor of a person’s politics in the United States, over even income and education levels, a Belgian demographer named Ron Lesthaeghe [and coauthor Lisa Neidert] has discovered. Larger family size in America correlates to early marriage and childbirth, lower women’s employment, and opposition to gay rights — all social factors that lead voters to see red.
All the analysis in the linked paper is at the state and county level. That’s fine but this is not going to tell you what is a “predictor of a person’s politics.” Cowen labels his post “Sentences to ponder,” and what I want to ponder is that people are so quick to jump from aggregate to individual patterns.
And, yes, I know that aggregate patterns are related to individual patterns but they’re not the same. In particular, from the evidence we’ve seen (and which we presented in our book), social issues are important for voters at the high end of the income scale, not the low end.
David Brooks catches this—-in his op-ed from 2004 that Cowen links to, Brooks explicitly labels the conservative “natalists” as being high income (“when people get money, one of the first things they do is use it to try to protect their children from bad influences. . . . It costs a middle-class family upward of $200,000 to raise a child. . . .”). Brooks is getting it right that it is higher income voters who are central to the culture war.
In summary, I’m not trying to slam or “debunk” the Lesthaeghe and Neidert article. I just think it should be understood as an aggregate, not individual, pattern, and interpreted in light of what we already know. | <urn:uuid:45d601b6-1032-4afe-bd13-92a265c9c075> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://themonkeycage.org/2012/11/22/red-state-blue-state-or-states-and-counties-are-not-persons/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956176 | 413 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Every five years or so the United Nations hosts a foreign minister level conference to review the implementation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The United Nations has been hosting the latest such review conference this month.
This year, Iranian strongman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad decided to join the party. He delivered, on the first morning of the review conference, his customary condemnation of Israel and of the United States while defending his country’s nuclear program.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke later the same day, accusing Iran of being the only country attending the UN review conference that is acting with impunity when held to account by the International Atomic Energy Agency and Security Council. Iran, she said, is consistently violating its obligations under the NPT. That was a good start, but then she rhetorically crouched into a defensive position.
Clinton said that President Obama had come to office with “an open hand” extended to the Iranian regime. We “reached out” in many ways, she said, without elaborating and without acknowledging the fact that we have wasted over a year in this futile exercise while Iran marches on towards developing nuclear weapons.
Then, in order to show how transparent the United States really is, Clinton announced that the Obama administration had decided to unilaterally reveal the number of nuclear arms in our arsenal. She reiterated Obama’s unilateral pledge to develop no new nuclear weapons. And, in an implied threat to Israel, Clinton said that the United States was “prepared to support practical measures” towards the objective of a nuclear-free Middle East – a stalking horse pushed by Egypt and other Muslim countries in the region to force Israel to give up its suspected nuclear arsenal without any means of assuring that Iran or the other Islamic countries would desist from pursuing their own nuclear arms ambitions. This was not just feel-good rhetoric. U.S. officials are reportedly in talks with Egypt over a plan to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone.
Some have criticized Israel for not joining the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refusing to declare its suspected nuclear arsenal. However, Israel has observed the conduct of rogue states that have joined the NPT like North Korea, which quit the treaty once it had successfully tested nuclear weapons, and Iran which regularly flouts its NPT obligations. Faced with existential threats from Iran and its armed terrorist surrogates, Israel is correct in asserting that there must be real peace in the Middle East before agreeing to any nuclear-free zone.
Hillary Clinton also mentioned in her speech at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference that the Obama administration would submit Protocols to the Senate for ratification regarding nuclear-free zones in Africa and the South Pacific. However, our Secretary of State said nothing about maintaining a nuclear-free zone in Latin America even though there is a real threat of the spread of nuclear arms technology from Iran and North Korea to Venezuela. The reason for Clinton’s silence on Latin America, I believe, was not to embarrass Brazil, whose foreign minister addressed the UN conference immediately after Clinton.
Brazil, according to some reports, is busy moving forward with its own nuclear development program. It has already had three secret military nuclear programs between 1975 and 1990, and is now embarking on the building of nuclear-powered submarines. During his election campaign, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the NPT, calling it unfair and obsolete. Although Brazil has signed the treaty, it has placed restrictions on inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and has defended Iran’s nuclear program.
President Obama has called Lula, as the Brazilian president is called, “my man.” Obama said he “loved this guy,” calling him “the most popular politician in the world.” Yet Lula is the same man whose pals include Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. He is the same man who said that there was “no fraud in the Iranian election,” congratulating President Ahmadinejad on his stolen election. He is the same man who decided to open a Brazilian embassy in North Korea shortly after Kim Jong Il’s missile testing. And he is the same man who laid flowers in the terrorist Yasser Arafat’s grave, but refused to follow the custom of other visiting presidents to Israel of laying down flowers in the grave of Theodor Herzl, revered in Israel as its founder.
Obama loves Lula and trusts him more than he trusts the leader of one of our closest allies, Israel. He is willing to press Israel to give up its nuclear deterrent in pursuit of a nuclear-free Middle East that Iran is certain to ignore, while giving Lula (not to mention Hugo Chavez in Venezuela) a free pass to possibly pursue a nuclear arms capability.
Hillary Clinton’s speech to the UN Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference was yet another demonstration of the appeasement policies that the Obama administration is recklessly pursuing. It wants to show the world the virtues of nonproliferation by unilateral actions that put our security at risk.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is ineffective and Clinton even admitted in her speech that it would not be fixed anytime soon to give it the enforcement teeth that it would need. Yet the treaty appears to be a centerpiece of President Obama’s nuclear disarmament policy along with unilateral actions he is taking.
Not once did we hear Clinton mention the only multilateral mechanism that has proven effective in preventing dangerous nuclear proliferation – the Proliferation Security Initiative. This Bush administration initiative involved naval surveillance and interdiction to stop the transport of nuclear arms materials and missile technology to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern. It was used successfully, for example, to effectively end Libya’s nuclear ambitions.
President Obama has expressed support for enhancing the PSI, but there is scant evidence to date that he means it. Instead of emphasizing muscular diplomacy to stop dangerous nuclear proliferation backed by a credible threat of interdiction, Obama wants to lead the way to total nuclear disarmament. He may lead the way, but the world’s dictators who get their hands on nuclear materials will surely not follow. | <urn:uuid:ee71cb88-7c6f-4377-bd88-79d63c2fc81d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2010/joseph-klein/the-toothless-nuclear-nonproliferation-treaty/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961485 | 1,263 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Indications for combined liver and kidney transplantation: propositions after a 23-yr experience.
ABSTRACT The frequency of combined liver and kidney transplants (CLKT) persists despite the pronounced scarcity of organs. In this review, we sought to ascertain any factors that would reduce the use of these limited commodities. Seventy-five adult CLKT were performed over a 23-yr period at our center, 29 (39%) of which occurred during the Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) era. Overall, patient survival rates were 82%, 73%, and 62% at one, three, and five yr, respectively. There was no difference in patient survival based either on pre-transplant hemodialysis status or by glomerular filtration rate (GFR) at the time of transplant. Patients undergoing a second CLKT or a liver retransplantation at the time of CLKT had a survival rate of 30% at three months. In the MELD era, patient survival was unchanged (p = NS) despite an older recipient population (p = 0.0029) and a greater number of hepatitis C patients (p = 0.0428). In summary, patients requiring liver retransplantation with concomitant renal failure should be denied CLKT. Renal allografts may also be spared by implementing strict criteria for renal organ allocation (GFR < 30 mL/min at the time of evaluation) and considering the elimination of preemptive kidney transplantation in CLKT. | <urn:uuid:12c3034a-1bd5-42fd-8aa5-e849dc377183> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.researchgate.net/publication/40680348_Indications_for_combined_liver_and_kidney_transplantation_propositions_after_a_23-yr_experience | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941253 | 308 | 1.578125 | 2 |
In my non-baseball life I've been reading about psychologist Carl Jung and his concept of archetypes. To quote Jung, an archetype "is a tendency to form such representations of a motif - representations that can vary a great deal in detail without losing their basic pattern." There are an unlimited number of archetypes knocking around in our minds, but common ones according to Jung include ideas such as Mother, Father, Devil, Wise Man, Old Woman, Child, Trickster, Hero, etc.
This works in baseball, too. "Control Pitcher" is an archetype. If I say that Prospect X is a Control Pitcher, but tell you nothing else about him, your mind can still draw a mental image of certain aspects that Prospect X must possess in order to fall into the archetypical domain of Control Pitcher. Most players contain elements of two or more archetypes, just as our own minds and personalities do.
What I want to do here is involve the Minor League Ball community in making a list of baseball player archetypes. Here are five. Let's see how many more you can come up with. The ideal archetype can be expressed in no more than two or three words.
Common Baseball Player Archetypes.
Five Tool Player | <urn:uuid:239b36bd-f1f6-42a1-a3d9-dab1bddc731b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/1/8/3852058/baseball-prospect-archetypes-carl-jung | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936996 | 254 | 1.75 | 2 |
We have recently voted into a second term a president resolutely committed to government that portends to be the state-as-father and demands an ever-larger share of your paycheck. Where will this lead?
For one window, look no further than the U.S. Postal Service. You can walk into the largest branch in Western Wake County at 10 a.m. on a Monday morning to mail a package, only to find service restricted to one station rather than the customary three. The line of customers stretches to the door.
“Why is only one station of three open on a Monday morning?” you venture to ask.
“Three employees soon to retire did not show up for work today,” she sheepishly intones.
Three employees who know the federal government will pay their salaries and benefits whether they show up on Monday morning or not. Who else could do that and still have a job on Tuesday?
Welcome to the future. Prepare to stand in line – and to pay the salary of those who simply choose to do their own thing on Monday morning. | <urn:uuid:6732edd1-4c8d-4733-9f35-6cfb148c208c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/15/2683694/paula-rinehart-postage-paid.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958717 | 224 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector-General Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz opened yesterday the third international conference on desertification organized by King Saud University in Riyadh. The aim of the conference, attended by scientists and researchers from Arab and international organizations as well as government departments in the Kingdom, is to specify a strategy for combating desertification in the new century. About 90 percent of the land in the Arab World lies in arid or semi-arid regions, and the problem of desertification is closely linked to scarcity of water, pastoral policies, and urban expansion.
In his address, Prince Sultan urged the authorities concerned to exert intensive efforts for the solution of the problems of both environmental pollution and soil erosion from desertification. He referred to Article (32) of the Saudi Basic System of Government, which stipulates the state's commitment to preservation of the environment, and urged Saudi universities and research centers to cooperate in this with both government and non-government bodies.
Prince Sultan then held an open dialogue with the participants. In answer to questions, he expressed pride in the accomplishments of King Saud University and the King Khaled University Hospital; declared that Saudi women are highly respected, granted full rights in accordance with Islamic Shariah, and encouraged to enter the fields of science and technology; and reaffirmed that the Manpower Council and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs are actively promoting Saudization in the private sector. | <urn:uuid:174e238c-8839-444a-8062-e918b9ad9327> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://saudiembassy.net/archive/1999/news/page83.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942976 | 288 | 1.765625 | 2 |
From: Dani Eder ([email protected])
Date: Mon Aug 27 2001 - 11:42:29 MDT
My own best
> theory as to
> > why a number of famous people who admit that
> cryonics would work,
> > e.g. Issac Asimov, never bothered to get
> themselves frozen, is
> > that they had begun to live for their fame.
I had the pleasure of meeting the Good Doctor while
I was in college in New York, and perhaps can give
you some insight into his personality. Despite
being a science fiction author (and an author on
just about every other subject), Asimov was still
very much a product of his early 20th century
Russian Jewish immigrant upbringing. He was somewhat
of a technophobe, as evidenced by his fear of flying
and use of an electric typewriter when many people
had converted to PCs.
My guess is that the creators of these ideas, like
Asimov, often don't internalize them, because they
didn't grow up with them. Another aspect is that
Asimov by inclination and training was a 'scientist'.
That meant being an observer, not a participant.
As far as fame-seeking activities, my understanding
of human personalities is that there are about 15
factors in the human personality that appear with
varying strength in each person. Several of them
can be satisfied by being famous (the desires for
status, money, and sex being among them). Only if
a person doesn't exhibit any of these factors do
we need to resort to other explanations for fame-
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Tue May 21 2013 - 04:00:20 MDT | <urn:uuid:6f050812-880d-4bda-b4b5-ee65a2cc27d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sl4.org/archive/0108/2146.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969572 | 399 | 1.8125 | 2 |
LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Prosecutors urged judges Tuesday to reject former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s appeal against his war crimes conviction and 50-year prison sentence, saying the court should hold ‘‘lords of war’’ as responsible for atrocities as the machine gun-wielding killers they support.
Taylor was found guilty in April 2012 of aiding and abetting Sierra Leone rebels, becoming the first former head of state since World War II to be convicted by an international war crimes court. He was convicted of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture and the use of child soldiers.
But as Taylor watched silently from his seat in the courtroom Tuesday, one of his lawyers, Christopher Gosnell, said judges at his trial had a ‘‘deep and fundamental’’ misunderstanding of the legal notion of ‘‘aiding and abetting.’’
He compared Taylor’s actions with those of other governments that provide support to rebel groups, saying Taylor ‘‘had no criminal intent’’ in aiding armed groups in Sierra Leone. Another of his lawyers, Eugene O'Sullivan, called Taylor’s sentence ‘‘manifestly excessive.’’
Taylor’s defense lawyers have put forward 45 grounds to appeal his conviction and sentence, alleging that trial judges made dozens of factual and legal errors. Prosecutors in turn argued he should have been convicted not just of aiding and abetting rebels, but of ordering or instigating their crimes — considered more serious.
From his presidential palace in Liberia, Taylor provided arms, ammunition and other support to rebels responsible for murdering and mutilating their enemies in Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war that ended in 2002 with some 50,000 dead. In return, the rebels paid him in so-called ‘‘blood diamonds’’ mined by slave labor in Sierra Leone and Taylor gained influence in the volatile west African region.
Taylor claimed he was only trying to help stabilize the war-torn country, but trial judges rejected that argument.
‘‘The lives of many more innocent civilians in Sierra Leone were lost or destroyed as a direct result of his actions,’’ Presiding Judge Richard Lussick said when he sentenced Taylor last year.
Rebel fighters in Sierra Leone gained international notoriety for hacking off the limbs of their victims and carving their groups’ initials into opponents. The rebels developed gruesome terms for the mutilations that became their chilling trademark: They would offer their victims the choice of ‘‘long sleeves’’ or ‘‘short sleeves’’ — having their hands hacked off or their arms sliced off above the elbow.
Taylor ran Liberia from 1997 to 2003. As his government fought a two-front rebellion in 2003, he stepped down and fled to Nigeria under international pressure. Three years later, Taylor was finally arrested and sent to the Netherlands.
Prosecutors want Taylor’s 50-year sentence — already effectively a life sentence for the 64-year-old former president — raised to 80 years to send a message to leaders who facilitate atrocities.
‘‘Those are the promoters of war, the lords of war that sell arms to groups engaged in these conflicts,’’ prosecution lawyer Nicholas Koumjian said.
He likened Taylor’s aid to rebels to the case of a Dutch businessman, Frans van Anraat, who was convicted by a Dutch court for selling chemicals to Saddam Hussein knowing the Iraqi dictator would use them to make poison gas.
Koumjian’s comments aimed to counter Taylor’s arguments that he should not have been convicted because his support for rebels was not deliberately designed to help them kill and maim.
Gosnell said that for judges to convict Taylor of aiding and abetting crimes, his help must be ‘‘connected to a specific crime and there must be a substantial contribution to that crime.’’
Instead, he said trial judges applied a standard ‘‘so broad that it would in fact encompass actions that are today carried out by a great many states in relation to their assistance to rebel groups or to governments that are well-known to be engaging in crimes.’’
In their written appeal, Taylor’s lawyers said ‘‘the Trial Chamber’s approach extends criminal liability far beyond its proper bounds as recognized in international law.’’
Taylor’s lawyers also argued that his conviction was based in part on uncorroborated hearsay evidence that should not have been admitted. They have asked judges to overturn all of Taylor’s convictions.
The appeals chamber is expected to take months to reach its judgment. | <urn:uuid:98ee580a-68ca-43da-94e5-777027594355> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boston.com/news/world/europe/2013/01/22/charles-taylor-appeals-war-crimes-conviction/E6BB55UqOCTz9oZCFVAtMM/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976421 | 997 | 1.539063 | 2 |
'City deliberately neglecting Woodstock'
The City of Cape Town and the SA National NGO Coalition are at loggerheads over the so-called gentrification of Woodstock, with the city describing as "pure fantasy and utter rubbish" suggestions that they are purposely neglecting the area so houses will be sold cheaply, rebuilt and resold for top dollar.
Many residential property owners in Woodstock find themselves "trapped" by businesses or factories.
The accusations were levelled this week during a community meeting to highlight the issue of lower-income areas being transformed through the sale and renovation of properties. In Woodstock the past decade has seen a rising number of higher-income homes and businesses being built, changing what was a workingclass neighbourhood.
In the six years between 2004 and 2010 the average price of a house in the area jumped dramatically, from R390 000 to R720 000.
Western Cape Sangoco programme manager Jacky Thomas accused the city of allowing lower Woodstock to fall into a state of decay in order to lower property values, opening the way for increased gentrification.
"Over the past decade, upper Woodstock has been taken over by new, more expensive housing and businesses. But lower Woodstock has been left to rot in an attempt to force residents to sell their properties. While they may be rewarded financially, our history is being sold off too," Thomas charged.
"Even the streets marked as heritage sites have not been safe from gentrification. The city is pushing for higher income housing and business in an attempt to expand the CBD and create a 'prettier and richer' suburb."
Refurbished homes in Woodstock.
Brett Herron, ward councillor for the Woodstock area, acknowledged there was tremendous development pressure on the area, but said the location and character of Woodstock had seen it become "increasingly desirable".
The area was also attracting attention and interest from property developers and businesses in the creative sector.
Herron said he had submitted a motion to the sub-council a few months ago calling on the city's spatial planning and urban design department to update the Woodstock development framework with a new local area development plan. The purpose was to ensure that development took place "in a manner that adds value to the community", and protected the residential component.
The department was working on that request.
During this week's meeting Thomas also claimed the city had purposely failed to address dilapidated and abandoned properties in a way that contributed positively to the community.
Herron suggested that if Sangoco was concerned about specific buildings in Woodstock, provisions in the Problem Building By- Law allowed city authorities to take action against owners who neglected their properties, in the event of a complaint being laid.
Howard Smith, Woodstock Community Police Forum chairman, confirmed that there was an increase in crime in the area.
"The current direction of Woodstock is very scary. We have seen a significant increase in drugs and prostitution over the past five years, and it looks as if these problems will continue to grow if they are not addressed soon," he said.
Thomas also accused the city of allowing businesses to take advantage of the removal of height restrictions there, which had pushed up the number of high-rise properties.
"You now see skyscrapers sandwiching residential properties in a heritage site, which should be illegal.
"Not even streets marked as national heritage sites are safe. Businesses mean more noise and traffic, which has already taken its toll on our roads," she said, adding that lower Woodstock was being transformed from a residential area into "a business park".
Local resident Alexander Jax, 54, said he had lived in Woodstock all his life, but was now considering a move.
"I love Woodstock, but I'm not sure if it's a place you can raise children anymore.
"I have a young son who is essentially growing up in a business park. There isn't even space to play soccer or rugby," he said, adding that he wanted his children to grow up somewhere where they could play outside.
"I don't want them surrounded by buildings that are falling apart."
Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition) | <urn:uuid:504ffcae-67ad-4c0a-a644-15b7c9798e84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iolproperty.co.za/roller/news/entry/city_deliberately_neglecting_woodstock | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974858 | 856 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Baby massage improves coordination of movements and makes the body more flexible. It greatly contributes to the development of intelligence and concentration skills. Muscles get relaxed by then and sleeping will be more refreshing. Baby massage helps babies in learning to walk.
One of the most important functions of human skin is to create a barrier between the external world and the internal organs. Newborn baby skin is completley different from adult one. Both the upper drying epidermis of a newborn baby and the connective tissue lying under it are softer and thinner. They contain more water and less grease. As a consequence of all this, they are more vulnerable and susceptible to infections or external penetrations.
The skin of a newborn baby is not entirely developed yet. It is a lot thinner than adult skin, its corneous strate is more permeable, the protective acid coating and the natural bacterial flora inside it are built slowly and smegma production is minimal, too. All this makes baby skin especially sensitive: many babies suffer from redness of their skin again and again, followed by inflammation, dryness or ichthyosis.
Ingredients: olive oil, almond oil, avocado oil, apricot oil, grape-stone oil, tangerine oil.
Germs and stains can stick to baby skin more easily. Its cleansing therefore deserves a soft, pampering, but efficient solution, namely Skin cleansing oil. It is a special oil for sensitive baby skin care. Due to its pleasant herbal ingredients with a slight fragrance it is highly apt to the treatment of gentle and sensitive baby skin. Its use offers a finely cleansing treatment and protection from irritation and dryness for the sensitive baby skin.
Baby skin will be flexible, smooth and protected throughout the day this way.
This product is currently out of stock. | <urn:uuid:4a91312f-84e3-43d2-b72e-d435ed7176b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.flavin7world.com/page/index.php?o=1&cs=2&resz=684 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932256 | 366 | 1.71875 | 2 |
A book was published last year about this by two Protestant authors. I heard part of a radio interview about this, and they are basing themselves on the famous prophecy of St. Malachy, who supposedly had a vision of future popes and described them in cryptic Latin phrases. Pope Benedict corresponds to "the glory of the olive." (The tie-in may be that the Benedictine order has also been called the Olivetans). The next and last pope on the list is Peter the Roman.
This is where the hysteria comes in, because if he's last on the list, wouldn't that mean the end of the world is around the corner? If you search for "pope resigns" on youtube or any search engine, you will see a huge list of end-times sites that think exactly that. But don't panic or be disturbed. Keep a few things in mind:
1. The prophecy of St. Malachy may or may not be authentic, and has been the subject of much debate. But it's probably not really very reliable, even if it is fun to speculate about.
2. Even if it were true, it has been misquoted as referring to the final persecution of the Church. But the original Latin doesn't say that; it only refers to the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church. That has happened many times before, and will likely happen often again. For a good discussion of this point see here.
It actually reads:
"In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the terrible judge will judge his people. The End."
3. Keep in mind that some of the fundamentalists are so excited about this because they think it will spell the end of the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church, which they consider to be the "whore of Babylon." They're wrong about that.
4. There's no indication in the prophecy that Peter the Roman is going to be a bad pope. On the contrary, he is said to pasture his sheep in many tribulations. So he's going to be a good pope (if the prophecy is even true, which we don't know).
5. My concern is that all this will distort some people's attitude toward the new Pope. They will only see him through the glasses of what they have already decided must be true. But God is with the Church and he will give us the good shepherd that we need. My own view is that the next Pope will be a very holy priest and bishop. But whoever he is, he will be the vicar of Christ and our pastor and shepherd. That's enough for me! | <urn:uuid:04e9a72c-2494-43fd-8570-0fd2a5246318> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thomasfortoday.blogspot.com/2013/02/dont-panic-anti-christ-is-not-about-to.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979823 | 570 | 1.625 | 2 |
This year, Super Bowl XLVII is held in my hometown of New Orleans sandwiched between two Mardi Gras weekends! Residents of my darling city are calling the resulting three-week party extravaganza “Super Gras” which will certainly have public health implications in the many weeks to come. The city’s residents tend to collectively fall ill with respiratory bugs and sinus infections – otherwise known as the “Mardi Gras bug” – following a traditional two-week celebration so it will be interesting to see how Super Gras will treat us this year. Let’s hope that the “chunder from Down Under” norovirus will not join us in our festivities!
In honor of one of the most lucrative American holidays happening this very weekend, I thought I’d explore sports and infectious diseases. Specifically, contact sports and skin infections! Since starting this blog, I’ve gathered that readers just love reading about transmissible skin infections, so what could be better than watching the Super Bowl and knowing just exactly what kind of diseases could possibly be smeared between the players of the Patriots and Giants? | <urn:uuid:a14378d9-7e6f-4264-a276-0b2ddda2b54b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/category/athletics-sport/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943577 | 236 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Posted on Thu, Jun. 03, 2010
last updated: March 15, 2013 11:58:37 AM
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators suspect a cleaning fluid may have sickened seven workers last week who were employed to stem the spread of oil in the Gulf, according to health and labor officials.
If true, the cause of the illness contradicts claims by BP's CEO, Tony Hayward, who claimed the illness may be unrelated to the spill and instead could be the symptoms of food poisoning.
The theory is being pursued as a growing number of workers are beginning to voice concerns that a different chemical, the dispersant Corexit, is making them sick. The EPA has urged BP to scale back on the use of the dispersant in part because of its toxicity.
On May 26, seven oil spill workers on boats off the coast of Louisiana were hospitalized after they experienced nausea, dizziness and headaches. On May 28, the disaster response team sent four more workers to the hospital by helicopter, including two who complained of chest pains.
In the first incident, a solution used for cleaning oil contaminated vessel decks "may have been one of the factors that contributed to sickening the workers who were hospitalized last week," said Joseph T. Hughes Jr., the director of the worker education-training program for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Hughes cautioned that it was too early to say with any certainty that the solution, which has since been replaced with a different cleaning fluid, is the only culprit until a full-scale health hazard evaluation is completed.
David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, told McClatchy that the possible cause arose out of a preliminary investigation by BP and it was determined that the workers might not have been properly instructed on the use of the cleaner. It's also possible that the workers were made ill by a combination of causes including long hours working in the heat and exposure to fumes, he said.
"The preliminary conclusion was reached," he said. "From a public health point of view, we make decisions based on the best available evidence. But we believe it's important to get additional information to identify the cause or causes of these workers getting sick."
BP did not immediately respond to questions about the possible causes.
But if the suspicions are correct, the case would add to a growing list of questions BP is facing about its training of the oil spill workers — many of whom are fishermen put out of work by the spill.
And if officials determine the cause was related to the cleanup workers duties, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could be pressed to use its enforcement powers to either cite or fine BP or its contractors.
While Michaels said "theoretically" it could be an OSHA violation, he added: "We have so much to do" that his agency is not automatically issuing citations because it wants to work with BP to come into compliance voluntarily.
"Our interest right now is protecting workers right now and into the future and that's where we're putting our energies," he said.
Worker safety advocates have urged OSHA to be more aggressive in pressing BP to improve its training of workers and its handling of their concerns.
"There is a clear-cut need to further ramp up responder protection efforts in training and monitoring for workers who may be placed in harm's way — whether from the natural elements, from direct oil contact, or from the inherently dangerous nature of the cleanup process," said Hughes, who just returned from a two-day tour of vessel, shoreline and beach cleanup operations in Southern Louisiana.
Last week, OSHA's Michaels complained in an internal memo obtained by McClatchy about "significant deficiencies" in BP's handling of the safety of oil spill workers and asked the Coast Guard to help pressure the company to address a litany of concerns.
The memo revealed the Obama administration's growing concerns about potential health and safety problems posed by the oil spill and its inability to force BP to respond to them.
Michaels said since then, the Coast Guard has talked to BP about the concerns. "We're very pleased that the message has been conveyed to them and they've been very responsive," said Michaels.
BP said it has deployed 22,000 workers to combat the spill, which experts now estimate has spewed more than 46 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. At this point, much of the oil remains offshore.
Stephen J. Herman, a lawyer for two workers who became ill in a separate incident, said his clients have not heard anything from official sources about the possible cause of what made them ill.
"It is important to note that these workers really do want to do the job," he said. "They need the money. And, they really want to do everything they can to try to help preserve not only their livelihoods, but their way of life."
Jeffrey Buchanan, senior domestic policy advisor for Oxfam America, said his organization is working along the Gulf coast and has concluded that BP and its contractors "have proven themselves incapable of protecting their workers" by providing adequate training, gear, and information.
"The federal government needs to step up their level of oversight and ensure the fishermen and communities now cleaning up BP's mess are protected," he said.
(Tish Wells also contributed to this article.)
McClatchy Newspapers 2010 | <urn:uuid:e991e37a-61c6-472a-ae8c-3e46fcf65443> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/03/v-print/95318/contradicting-bps-ceo-feds-say.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979264 | 1,094 | 1.765625 | 2 |
These are the draft registration cards that I have located for surnames beginning with the letter "A":
Peter Adams - WWI - 39 y.o, but he doesn't know his date of birth. He works at W.V. Pulp and Paper Company (a pulp mill), and his nearest relative is Alice Simms of Louisa, Virginia. he is 5'4" and stout.
Oliver B. Agee - WWI - he lived at Crump's Bottom, Summers, 35y, b. 5/20/1883, farmer, his nearest relative is Etta Agee. He is tall and stout.
WWII - Living at the Red Sulphur Springs District in Monroe County. He is 57y, self employed. The person who'd always know his whereabouts is Etta Agee. 5'5", 170 pounds, black complexion.
Wesley Agee - WWI - b. 9/15/1888 at Buckingham, Va., 29y,common laborer at the WV Pulp and Paper Co., married, medium height, slender build.
Warner Alexander - WW I - Born 12/31/1874, 43y, farming at White Sulphur Springs, his nearest relative is Bessie Alexander of WSS, medium height and build.
William Alexander - WWI - Lived at Marlinton, b. 3/1888 at Rockbridge County, Va., 29y, laborer for the C and O Railroad, married, medium height and build, grey eyes, black hair.
WWII - Lived at Pocahontas County, near Minnekaha Springs, 54y, b. 7/30/1888 at Rockbridge, person who'd always know his whereabouts is Lizzie Stuart, 5'8", 140 pounds, dark brown complexion.
Ben Franklin Allen - WWI - Lived at Stanford, Raleigh Co., b. 2/8/1884 at Monroe County, 58y, the person who'd always know his whereabouts was Ester Allen. 5'2", 160 pounds, black complexion.
Booker T. Washington Allen - WWI - Lived at Buckingham, Va., b. 9/28/1898, laborer on the C and O R.R. at Hinton, his nearest relative was George D. Allen of Mt. Hope, Fayette County. | <urn:uuid:c75a4b71-7e93-4106-bbcf-2419a82a84a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aagenwv.blogspot.com/2010/06/draft-registration-cards-surnames.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944044 | 495 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Andy Murray became the first British man to win a tennis Grand Slam in 76 years after being crowned champion at the US Open.
Murray made history after beating Novak Djokovic in a thrilling five-set match at Flushing Meadows in New York.
The 25-year-old Scot won his first grand slam at his fifth attempt - the same as his coach, Ivan Lendl.
Murray's win makes him the first man to win Olympic singles gold and the US Open in the same year and his victory will help keep the nation's Olympic feelgood factor alive.
After winning the first two sets of the match in very windy conditions, it looked like another chance was slipping through the Scot's fingers when the 2011 champion fought back to level at two sets all.
But Murray powered his way to three games to love up, and at 5-2 up and with three championship points in Murray's favour, Djokovic hit a forehand over the baseline to give British tennis fans the win they had craved for so many years.
As the match ended Murray dropped to his haunches and held his head in his hands as the enormity of his achievement began to dawn on him.
And after Djokovic gave his gracious congratulations, Murray finally accepted his first Grand Slam trophy, kissing the US Open silverware and lifting it to the sky.
Speaking after the match, Murray said: "After the third and fourth sets it was tough mentally - Novak is so strong, he fights until the end of every match and I don't know how I managed to come through in the end.
"That was almost a smile (from Ivan Lendl). He's one of greatest players ever to play, here he made eight consecutive finals. Having him here supporting me has helped in the tough moments, but not only him, everyone else too. They've been there since the start. Thanks very much." | <urn:uuid:51958a33-fcca-40a2-afa8-641d3a841738> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://icscotland.icnetwork.co.uk/news/scottish/tm_headline=gritty-murray-wins-first-grand-slam%26method=full%26objectid=31808799%26siteid=50141-name_page.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987164 | 391 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Special Entry/Exit Requirements for International Cruise Ship Passengers
International Cruise Ship/Ferry Passengers!
International Cruise Ship/Ferry Passengers: You are permitted to visit Russian ports without a visa for a period of up to 72 hours. You may go ashore without a visa during port calls, but only if you are with an organized tour and accompanied at all times by a tour operator who has been duly licensed by Russian authorities. Cruise ship and ferry lines offer shore tours that meet these requirements. If you want to do sightseeing on your own, you must have a visa. If you arrive in Russia by ship or ferry, but want to depart by air, train, or other mode of transportation, you must have a visa. You must present your U.S. passport to Russian immigration officers each time you depart or return to the ship during your port call in Russia. If your U.S. passport is lost or stolen while you are ashore, you will not be allowed to return to the ship until you obtain a replacement passport from the U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If your ship leaves Russia without you, you must obtain an exit visa to depart Russia by alternative transportation. Russian authorities may take up to 20 calendar days to authorize an exit visa, during which time you will have to remain in Russia at your own expense. These special entry/exit requirements for international cruise ship and ferry passengers do not apply to river boat cruise passengers. River boat cruise passengers must have a visa and should follow the general guidelines for entry/exit requirements. | <urn:uuid:b2689edd-7e36-4bcb-a81d-ecaeb597fdce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stpetersburg.usconsulate.gov/special-entry/exit-requirements-for-international-cruise-ship-passengers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947679 | 314 | 1.632813 | 2 |
David Jay Brown
Peter Russell is a bestselling author, filmmaker, and management consultant. He is considered one of the leading thinkers on the nature and evolution of consciousness. Russell is probably best known for his pioneering book The Global Brain, which builds upon James Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis, by exploring the notion that the human species might be playing the role of a giant evolving brain in our planetary biosphere. Some of Russell’s other popular books include Waking Up in Time, The Consciousness Revolution, and From Science to God. Common themes in Russell’s books include the integration of science and mysticism, avoiding ecological catastrophe, the relationship between personal transformation and global change, and the future evolution of the human species. Russell believes that is that only way humanity is going to survive the current global crisis is through a shift in consciousness.
Russell earned an honors degree in theoretical physics and experimental psychology– as well as a master’s degree in computer science–at the University of Cambridge, England, where he studied under Stephen Hawking. For his postgraduate degree in computer science he conducted some of the early work on 3-dimensional displays, which later became part of the foundation for the computer-simulated worlds of Virtual Reality. He subsequently went to India where he explored meditation and Eastern philosophy. On his return to the U.K. he took up the first research post ever offered in Britain on the psychology of meditation, and conducted research into the neurophysiology of meditation at the University of Bristol.
Russell is a fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, The World Business Academy, The Findhorn Foundation, and he is an Honorary Member of The Club of Budapest. He was also one of the first people to introduce personal development programs to corporations in the 1970s. In the mid-Seventies Russell teamed up with Tony Buzan, and helped teach “Mind Maps” and learning methods to a variety of international organizations and educational institutions. Since then his corporate programs have focused increasingly on self-development, creativity, stress management, and sustainable environmental practices. His clients have included IBM, Apple, Digital, American Express, Barclays Bank, Swedish Telecom, ICI, Volvo, Shell Oil, British Petroleum, and other major international corporations.
Russell’s books are used as required reading at a number of universities, and have been translated into numerous languages. Ted Turner described The Global Brain Awakens as “A fascinating vision of how the information revolution is shifting consciousness. A much needed optimistic perspective on humanity’s future.” Robert Anton Wilson called Waking Up in Time “Absolutely brilliant.”
Russell has also created award-winning films based on The Global Brain and The White Hole in Time, and he was working on a new film project at the time of this interview. Russell has been a keynote speaker at many conferences in Europe, Japan and the USA. In 1993 the environmental magazine Buzzworm voted him “Eco-Philosopher Extraordinaire” of the year. Further information about Russell’s work may be found on his Web site: www.peterussell.com
I interviewed Peter on March 15, 2004. Peter’s book The Global Brain was an important book for me in my personal development, so I was happy to be able to have the opportunity to chat with him. I had met Peter only once before, around ten years earlier, at a social gathering at the home of Robert Anton Wilson. Peter is holistic and interdisciplinary in his thinking. He sees the Big Picture, and he has a gift for being able to communicate his insights. There’s an elegance, and a simplicity, to the way Peter can make so many diverse areas of thought come together. We spoke about the ecological dangers facing our species, why change is accelerating in evolution, the relationship between light and consciousness, and the possibility of a spiritual renaissance in humanity’s future.
David: What were you like as a child?
Peter: I was always a practical scientist at heart. I loved building things and doing experiments. I loved mathematics and working things out. I was always constructing stuff and solving problems.
David: What inspired your interest in the evolution of consciousness?
Peter: I think that was always there in the background. Many people ask me if I had a transformational moment, and I didn’t really. As a teenager I was fascinated by the mind. I read stories about yogis, started exploring hypnosis, and I built equipment that modified brain wave patterns. Although I was studying mathematics and physics then, and getting more and more fixed in that direction, I was always interested in the mind. So I knew there was something there, and my interest gradually evolved.
At the time I wasn’t interested in spirituality at all. I rejected religion when I was about thirteen. I thought it was a load of mumbo-jumbo that didn’t make sense at all, and didn’t agree with the scientific worldview. Although I wasn’t interested in the spiritual aspects of consciousness, I was interested in the untapped potentials of the mind. I think that’s what eventually lead me to explore mediation when I was in my early twenties. That’s when I started getting really interested.
David: What sort of paradigm shift do you think is necessary for Western science to begin to get a grasp on consciousness?
Peter: I think the essence of the paradigm shift is to let go of the idea that the material world–the world of space, time, and matter–is the fundamental reality. In some sense that’s already happening in modern physics. We’re realizing that space, time, and matter don’t really exist in an absolute way. That came out Einstein’s revolution. But, at the moment, we still think that consciousness emerges from the material world–and that, I think, is the fundamental problem with the current paradigm. Consciousness is so fundamentally different from material things.
We assume matter is unconscious, and then somehow this magical thing happens–when you put matter together in the form of a complex human brain consciousness somehow emerges out of it. The huge problem there for the current paradigm is how does matter, which we assume to be unconscious, ever lead to something so different as subjective experience? So I think the essence of the paradigm shift is challenging that assumption. That’s the assumption that science won’t let go of, and challenging that assumption means saying, maybe consciousness does not come out of the material world. It does not emerge from matter. Rather, consciousness is fundamental to the cosmos.
What I find fascinating is that when we make that shift, it doesn’t change anything at all in modern science. Physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics–they all stay exactly the same. But it adds a whole new understanding of human experience and spirituality. That’s common in paradigm shifts: the old model is still valid, but as a special case. So the materialist worldview still has its place, but it’s a special case of considering only physical reality.
David: You’ve pointed out in your writings that both science and religion agree that the universe started with light. Could you talk a little bit about the relationship that you see between consciousness and light?
Peter: Yes. First of all, I’m fascinated by the fact we use the same language. We talk about “the light of consciousness”, “the inner light”. We say “someone is alight”. I had this “flash” of inspiration. We talk about” enlightenment”. Or when someone’s unconscious we say, “the lights went out”. The word light is associated with consciousness in many ways, and I always found that. Then as I got more and more into physics I specialized in the nature of light, from the perspectives of quantum physics and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. What I found fascinating was that modern physics says that, from light’s point of view, light itself doesn’t know time or space, and doesn’t have any mass.
So light seems to be beyond the framework of space, time and matter. I think a lot of the problems that science has had in trying to understand light is because it’s trying to explain light as a material phenomena. That’s why you get things like the wave-particle paradox. We insist that light somehow fits into space, time, and matter. But ultimately it’s beyond them.
Now when you start looking at what the mystics say about when they get down to really looking at the true, fundamental nature of consciousness, they say consciousness in itself doesn’t actually exist in space or time, and consciousness has no mass. And a lot of the problems that we have with consciousness also come from trying to force it into a space-time-matter understanding. Consciousness seems to lie beyond space, time, and matter in the same way that light does.
When we consider mystical experience, | <urn:uuid:bcd1b910-54fd-4df7-ab4a-35c435081376> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mavericksofthemind.com/peter-russell | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960554 | 1,884 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
What a disgrace that the Queensway seafront is becoming a concrete jungle, instead of an area which can provide recreational facilities by the sea to the public at large. Instead, up goes a skyscraper, and the large open area next to it, is also earmarked for another skyscraper. Are we not destroying Gibraltar?
When the MOD controlled all that seafront many people used to dream that, one day, when the land became available for redevelopment it would be put to the wider use. Instead, it has been given to developers to make a million, restricting its use to those who are able to buy the expensive flats built there.
To add insult to injury the large space, now empty, next to the skyscraper, another skyscraper is due to be built!
For its part, the Government has its plans to build an underground carpark at the Commonwealth Parade plus a green area. All this will cost much money. Not only that but it shows that the Government is eager to develop a large green area there.
Yet, at less cost, there is this large open space right opposite, and with the added attraction of being a seafront area. Surely that could be put to better use for the wider public interest?
Ocean Village is an example where buildings and recreational areas combine. That should be the way forward.
In fact, when it comes to the Queensway site there is already a big enough skyscraper there - cannot the rest be used to meet the wider public interest?
Under what conditions was that huge space handed over? What can the Government do about it?
Land is scarce in Gibraltar and should not be used in a manner that the public is deprived of its wider use. | <urn:uuid:2a660a9e-9e60-4bd0-8e2c-d1a68270ed19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://panopinion.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967323 | 353 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The newly released poster shows Lee, the railroader, portrayed by Alexander Kanellakos, peering through the window on the door at a trolley depot from San Jose’s yesteryear’s gone by. What he sees is the world of politics surrounding the bond allocation and design options for the futuristic bullet train for California. California is using High Speed Rail bonds allocated as a result of Proposition 1A (or the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century), the law that was approved by California voters in the November 2008 state elections, to initiate construction later this year. The federal government will contribute matching funds to push the program forward. The story alerts us as to the importance of building the clean new passenger transportation system but leaves you, the audience, with the ultimate choice of your support or disagreement of the design and construction plans. The railroader aims to deliver the best system to the people of California so that no one is left stranded at the station, waiting for a High Speed Train…that never arrives.
The middle of the story cuts to a California High Speed Rail Senate Committee Joint Informational Hearing that was held on March 13, 2012 in Mountain View California, chaired by Senator Joe Simitian, where the facts are made public. Dan Richard, the Director for the High Speed Rail Authority when asked by Senator Alan Lowenthal as to why we just don’t build out the bookends (San Jose to San Francisco) and (Orange County to Los Angeles), is quoted as stating “If we did the talk around Washington would be that we were building a High Speed Rail from Disneyland to Hollywood” We are connecting the states two metropolitan centers (SF Bay Area to Greater Los Angeles) with a clean, safe, and reliable transportation system to ease congestion and connect people face-to-face, creating jobs, and forging ahead with an economic recovery for the State of California. If it means getting additional financial support from private investors and bonds issued by corporate mega conglomerates to make it happen, Lee is that man to get the job done, picking up over $ 3.8 billion in freshly printed bonds from the printing office clerk (portrayed by Kim Lefebvre) while travelling back in time. Will Lee get the new bonds to the banker…minus any “commissions…
The story of the "Railroader"
Of special note on the time travel condition is a warping sound of fluttering wah remixed and created by All American Records (AAR) Digital of Surf City, CA. A slide guitar break played over a live rendition of “I heard it on the X", by that little ol’ band from Texas…ZZ Top. That unique soundwave keeps us all aware that Lee is again about to unexpectedly travel trough time…but during the final door as he peers to review the other side we are left with the question of will he make the meeting in time? Or will time make him late for the train forever? We just don’t know.
So we have a new poster shown in a totally different light. We captured this frame from the movie to tell a thousand words. I hope you enjoy the show, currently playing in select municipalities in the SF Bay Area and streaming worldwide. Written and directed by Alexander Kanellakos, President and CEO of Apollo Productions & AAR Digital LLC. TRT = 58 minutes. Check your local COMCAST listings for details, or visit http://www.apolloproductions.com as the schedule is never set and always changing. While you are there…be sure to venture through our site and enjoy the trailers, performances and product showcases. - Al | <urn:uuid:4bb944e5-aadd-4965-8ff4-85a798673746> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prlog.org/11892052-apollo-productions-releases-official-poster-for-the-california-high-speed-rail-movie-railroader.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949455 | 757 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Lieutenant John Collinson HOBSON
12th Service Battalion Royal Scots : 116th Machine Gun Company
Date of Birth: 27 August 1893
Date of death: 31 July 1917
Killed in action aged 23
John Collinson was born in Hampstead, the second son of Thomas Frederick Hobson, a barrister, and for many years a Progressive Member of the London County Council. and Mary Innes nee Greig.
He was educated at Westminster from 1907 until the summer of 1912, a boarder at “Grants”. He served in the School OTC in which he became a Sergeant, and shot at Bisley in the School Eight in 1911. He also boxed for the School at Aldershot in that year, and was present with other Westminster boys in the Abbey at the Coronation. He was in the Second Cricket Eleven in 1911, obtained his “Pinks” (First Eleven Colours), and played in the annual match against Charterhouse in 1912. During the School year 1911-12 he was Head of “Grants” and one of the School Monitors, and edited the Grantite Review, the House Magazine. In the last two years of his school life he specialised in History, and in 1912 was elected to a Westminster Scholarship in History at Christ Church.
He came up to Christ Church in the Michaelmas Term 1912, and during the two years before the outbreak of war took an active part in College and University life, becoming a member of many Societies and Clubs. In 1913 he rowed five in the Christ Church Second Torpid, and three in the Second Eight. In 1914 he rowed bow in the Torpid, which went Head of the River, and five in the Second Eight.
On the declaration of war he resolved at once to enter the army, but as he had not been in the University OTC he found it difficult to obtain a commission without delay, and decided to enlist as a private. He obtained admission, however, to the ranks of his father‘s old Battalion, the Inns of Court OTC, and after serving for a few days in that Corps was gazetted in September 1914 to the 12th Service Battalion of the Royal Scots. Half Scots by descent, he had from the first desired to serve in a Scottish Regiment, and he acquired the warmest possible affection for his Battalion and for the country from which its ranks were drawn.
After a long and arduous period of training at Bramshott the 12th Royal Scots went to France in May 1915 as part of the 9th (Scottish) Division. Early in 1915 J C Hobson was promoted 1st Lieutenant, and while in France he was on several occasions for long periods in command of his company. He specialised in Machine Gun work, and acted more than once as Brigade Machine Gun Officer, volunteering for service in the Machine Gun Corps.
In June 1816 he was placed in command of his company and prepared to lead his men into the Battle of the Somme when, three days before the opening of the battle, he was, to his intense disappointment, recalled and ordered into training at the Machine Gun School at Grantham.
He returned, oppressed for the moment by keen sorrow at his absence from the great fight, sorrow intensified by the loss, during the first two days of the battle, of most of his friends in his Battalion; but he at once took up his new duties with alacrity and keenness. At the end of three months he returned to the Front in command of a section of the 116th Machine Gun Company, and was constantly on active service until the end came in the Ypres Salient.
On 31 July 1917 the Third Battle of Ypres commenced, and his company took part in the attack on St Julien, which was on that day taken at the point of the bayonet. The Advance was made under a fierce enemy barrage, and on arrival at the objective he went out in advance of the line to select positions for his guns, and was struck by a shell and killed instantaneously.
A wooden cross bearing the inscription: “In loving memory of Lt J C Hobson, 116th Machine Gun Company. Killed July 31st 1917” was erected by unknown hands over the place where, as far as is known, his body was hastily buried. This cross was in 1920 removed and re-erected in the “Memorial Plot” in the New Irish Farm cemetery, near St Jean. His name is on Panel 56 at the Menin Gate.
The following are extracts from letters received after his death:
From his commanding Officer: “He was leading his section forward, which he always commanded well everywhere, and was selecting a position for his guns - deep in the German lines - when he was killed instantaneously by a German shell. I formed a very high opinion of him. There are over 800 Machine Gun Officers in France who have passed through my hands, most of whom I know personally, and I can safely say he equalled the best of them. He was one of the most painstaking and conscientious officers it is possible to meet with, and I deeply regret his loss. He will be most difficult to replace. The men, too, thought the world of him.”
From his Second in Command: “He had led his section nobly and well to their final objective, and was choosing positions for his guns when he was hit. We miss him terribly, and his loss to the men of his section can never be replaced. They would follow him anywhere, for he always cared for them, and the fact that only three of them were wounded speaks for his judgement in leading them.”
From his companion in the advance: “We were heavily shelled long before the push-off, and were smothered with dirt thrown up by shells bursting a few yards away. Owing to the darkness, the barrage put up by the Hun and the fact that our landmark was completely obliterated, we lost direction and struck a road which took us along under the enemy barrage the whole way. Then we had to push on through the barrage again until we reached our destination. All this time he had been strolling about quite unconcernedly, as if he were out on a pleasure jaunt, cheering his men up, and setting a splendid example.”
From his Sergeant: “He was one of the best officers the section ever had, always a cheery word for everybody. The men had such confidence in him and would go anywhere and do anything ordered by him with good spirit. In the trenches, where so much is required of men, he would be around his guns, regardless of any danger to himself. He was killed just as we reached our objective, and with his going the men seemed to lose heart. As long as there are men who were under his command he will always be spoken of with the greatest respect.
In 1910 his family had acquired a home in North Berkshire, and this at once became his favourite residence. Here he developed that intense love of the country and its sounds and sights which is shown in many of his poems.
The wind goes down the valley,
The wind goes up the hill,
The cornfields break - and rally -
And break before his will:
There’s St Omer in the distance,
Her spires across the lea,
But I’m dreaming of old Oxford
And the towers across the sea.
Red poppies in the clover,
Blue cornflower in the wheat,
The dappled clouds float over,
And shower and sunshine meet.
There’s a river in the valley,
There’s a chateau on the hill.
But I’m dreaming of old Oxford
And the Thames at Iffley Mill.
The Kilts are on the meadows,
With bayonets of bright steel,
The thousand music shadows
Of the pipes upon me steal.
The roofs of Tilques are shining
The dew is on the flowers,
But I’m dreaming of Old Oxford
And the bells of Oxford’s towers.
We stand upon a mountain
Built up from weary years,
Time, like a ceaseless fountain,
Waters its side with tears.
But I am still a dreamer
In the hour of Europe’s woe,
Still am dreaming of old Oxford
And the days of long ago.
from Poems, etc., by John Collinson Hobson with Biographical Note
Memoir by John Murray, MP, MA Christ Church, Oxford.
His brother Dr. F.G. Hopson lived at 20 St Giles from 1929-1956. He was a well-known General Practitioner and consultant becoming Litchfield Lecturer in Clinical Medicine | <urn:uuid:03b728c1-9203-418a-a26c-0515ed8e6fba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/memorials/WW1/John-Hobson | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989378 | 1,835 | 1.601563 | 2 |
What are the responsibilities of a student who is Deaf and/or Hard-of-Hearing? A student who is Deaf and/or Hard-of-Hearing is responsible for requesting academic accommodations through the Program for Deaf Adults (PDA). PDA will provide academic support services with an audiogram documentation of student’s hearing loss. Can I request accommodation for my child? All requests for academic accommodations must come directly from the student. Can I speak with my child’s counselor with regard to his or her situation? According to Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the student would have to sign a release form to share information about his or her case with his or her parent/s or High School Guidance Counselor. Note: the release cannot be a blanket release for the student’s entire college career. Since the student is now in charge of his or her educational planning, what are some self-advocacy skills he or she should develop? PDA encourages parents and/or High School Guidance Counselors to work with student to develop self-advocacy skills by providing audiogram documentation to the PDA Academic Advisor and request accommodations. A student should learn to work collaboratively with PDA staff and professors to ensure his or her career success. Does a student have to inform LaGuardia that he or she has a hearing loss? A student with hearing loss does not have to disclose his or her hearing disability to LaGuardia Community College. However, a student is required to bring the audiogram documentation to receive accommodation services. Is there a charge for receiving accommodations from the Program for Deaf Adults? There is no charge for receiving services from Program for Deaf Adults.
US Department of Education: "Students with Disabilites Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilites"
For further questions and concerns please call (917) 832-1203 or (718) 482-5324 to schedule a meeting with the Academic Advisor.
Program for Deaf Adults
Mailing Address:31-10 Thomson AvenueRoom C-203Long Island City, NY 11101
Location:29-10 Thomson AvenueLong Island City, NY 11101
(718) 482-5324 Voice (917) 832-1207 VP (718) 609-2069 Fax
Sue Livingston, PhD Professor, Basic Skills (718) 482-5621 Voice/TTY [email protected]
Kim Lucas, MA Academic Advisor (917) 832-1203 VP [email protected]
Jane Rizzuto, MBA Coordinator Interpreter Services (718) 482-5309 Voice [email protected] | <urn:uuid:969c3f11-784d-4053-bfca-3249ca0ba335> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/pda/adss/FAQs_Parents_HS__Counselors.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940301 | 584 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection
September 10, 2008 - January 4, 2009
Chinese art has undergone enormous changes over the forty-year period from the Cultural Revolution to today. This transformation, at times glacially slow and at other times explosively fast, is represented at BAM/PFA this fall in artworks from the Sigg Collection, on view in the BAM Galleries, and in the films of Jia Zhangke and Ning Ying at the PFA Theater.
In 141 works by ninety-six artists, the exhibition Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection represents the historical span of art from the 1970s to today in China and demonstrates the dramatic evolution that has occurred, with artists exploring new materials and concepts far from what might have been imagined by even the most clairvoyant. As Chinese art emerged from the boundaries of state-sponsored and state-defined aesthetics to the complex initiatives of individuals with new intentions and motivations, it is possible to see the growth and development not only of art but of a nation.
The broad range of the work in Mahjong demonstrates the evolution of contemporary Chinese art and artists from an adaptation of Western realism in the Soviet style through many twists and turns to its current international idiom. A very few years ago, artists included in the exhibition would have been known only to specialists in the field, yet today a good many of them are recognized broadly both in China and throughout the United States and Europe. Much of this recent recognition can be credited to the Swiss businessman and art connoisseur Uli Sigg and his persistent attempts to encourage Chinese artists and present their works on an international stage. In addition to collecting, in 1997 Sigg founded the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA) for artists living in China.
Many of the artists featured in Mahjong have been instrumental in bringing about significant changes in Chinese art. The early artistic leaders of the late 1970s and the 1980s were not only creating art, they were creating an environment for a new way of thinking about art. The exhibitions, public performances, and ongoing dialogue among these artists brought considerable resistance from the government, which in some instances endorsed or allowed exhibitions to go forward at state-controlled sites only to later cancel, and occasionally close them within hours of opening.
Among the first exhibitions of nontraditional Chinese contemporary art held in China, the so-called First Exhibition of the Stars Group, held outside the China National Art Gallery in Beijing in 1979, proved to be a watershed event for the emergence of a new kind of art in China. Two of the principal architects of that event were Huang Rui and Ma Desheng, who also brought about the formation of the Stars Painting Society (Xingxing) in 1980. The group, led by Huang and Ma, enlisted the involvement of Wang Keping and Ai Weiwei; all are represented in the Sigg Collection. Exhibitions of works by these and other artists of the early 1980s challenged existing boundaries, as well as informed the art world of what could—and could not—be shown in exhibitions in China. The First Stars Exhibition was immediately shut down.
The images of Huang Rui’s small oil on canvas Yuan Ming Yuan and Ma Desheng’s untitled woodcut prints from the late 1970s are examples of new art trends that posed very different issues in an entirely different mode than the state-favored realist images of the Academy-trained artists. Typical of the work of the Stars group, these artists were interested in exploring Western artistic movements such as surrealism, postimpressionism, and Abstract Expressionism. Wang Keping’s sculptural images in wood, such as Chain from 1979, were the most politically charged works of the Stars group.
Huang Rui, Ma Desheng, and Wang Keping, like many of the Stars group, were self-trained artists not affiliated with any art school—Ma in fact had been refused entry due to a physical disability. Both Huang and Ma were young, just in their late twenties, and Wang was only thirty at the time of the Stars Exhibition. A number of the artists in the Stars group became, because of their actions and artwork, part of the diaspora of artists who left China, at least for a time. Huang Rui went to Japan but returned to live in Beijing and helped to found the now-famous Factory 798. Ma Desheng left China for Europe, as did Wang Keping, while another of the early organizers, Ai Weiwei, moved to the United States in 1981, returned to China in 1993, and now seems comfortable in both worlds. (Ai Weiwei is an artist in residence at UC Berkeley this fall; see Public Programs.)
Out of this initial foray and over the next ten years, artists were emboldened to create new art associations, providing exhibition opportunities for artists like Huang Yongping, Wang Guangyi, Gu Wenda, Zhang Peili, Xu Bing, and Geng Jianyi, among many others. Wonderful examples of early works by these artists are an important and unique aspect of the Sigg Collection. This generation was not anti-academic (the key aspect of the Red Guard art of the 1970s); rather, they were fascinated and absorbed with creating works that reflected their newfound knowledge of Western art. They were typically graduates of some of the top art schools in the country, such as the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, and they also tended in these early years to identify themselves as part of larger groups, such as the Hangzhou Pond Society. The vocabulary of Huang Yongping’s Six Small Turntables in mixed media from 1988 foreshadows the Dadaist approach to installation art (he was one of the founders of Xiamen Dada in the mid-1980s) that has made him an artist of high stature; his work has been included in international biennials in Venice and most recently in Istanbul, and has been shown frequently in Europe and America. Wang Guangyi’s Death of Marat from 1986 borrows only the basic form from the eighteenth-century French work of the same name and reduces it to a gray oil of postclassical proportions. In the same year the artist produced one of the most politically charged works of its time, an oil of gray hues picturing a photorealistic portrait of Mao overlaid with a red grid, which redefined the cultural icon in a way that challenged both viewers and authorities. Geng Jianyi’s array of four faces entitled The Second Situation from 1987 and Zhang Peili’s 1988 series of paintings of a pair of gloves are both somewhat troubling images for their underlying ambiguity about the human condition.
This decade of progress, through exhibitions, discussions, conferences, and articles, culminated in the exhibition China/Avant-Garde, organized in 1989 by art critic Gao Minglu and seemingly destined to open and close within a few days at the China National Art Gallery. That same year several Chinese artists, including Huang Yongping, were invited to participate in an exhibition of 100 artists at the Centre Pompidou in Paris; this would be the first time Chinese artists were exhibited along with other international artists. Huang Yongping went to Paris to install his work and never left, making his career and reputation in an international forum.
The exposure of new Chinese art to an international audience in Paris was just the beginning, an opening that was quickly followed by other significant firsts, with inclusion in such international arenas as the 45th Venice Biennale (1993) and the First Kwangju Biennale (1995). Group exhibitions in Europe and the United States, occasionally organized or curated by Chinese artists living abroad, introduced contemporary arts of China far beyond its border, making those outside of China more informed about the arts than those inside China. Yet there was resistance to this outside influence on art and artists. Yan Lei (in collaboration with Hong Hao) reflects this in The Curators (2000), an image of real Western curators arriving in China to assess the “art scene.” Through a false invitation to Chinese artists to appear in a fabricated section of Documenta X, Yan and Hong conspired to shed light on the influences these foreign arbiters of taste had on Chinese art. In other words, not all artists were thrilled that a Chinese artist’s reputation had to be built first and foremost on foreign acceptance.
At home, Chinese artists repeatedly tested the limits of expression and succeeded in presenting numerous exhibitions that included a wider range of arts than had ever been seen before. What became immediately clear from these exhibitions was that Chinese artists were not working strictly as painters; by the late 1980s and early 1990s, many were exploring video, performance, and installation. Artists challenged the mythology of the past or icons of history in new media such as Song Dong’s 1996 performance Breathing, in which a simple, everyday function was turned political by the placing of his act and his art in the center of Tiananmen Square in a demonstrative fashion. Ai Weiwei’s Whitewash (1995–2000) used Neolithic storage jars in an installation that infers that the past can be eliminated by whitewash; in his 1995 Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo he goes so far as to rewrite the past with a ubiquitous emblem of commercialism. In Wang Jin’s 1997 The Dream of China, the classical Chinese imperial robe is remanufactured not with silks but with the very reproducible plastic polyvinyl, a translucent material that may refer disparagingly to the past or to the present consumer-oriented world. Wordplay and the historically valued tradition of Chinese calligraphy are offered new interpretation utilizing old media in the hands of an artist like Xu Bing in his nonsensical 1989 Book from the Sky, or in Gu Wenda’s Myths of Lost Dynasties from 1999, with its mysterious made-up character.
One of the most dramatic forays into new media came in 1992 with Zhang Peili’s staged video Water: Standard Pronunciation Ci Hi (Sea of Words), which questioned the expectations of the viewer by appearing to present a real newscast but actually offering only the “talking head” reading a dictionary. Digging deeper into the question of what is real in the everyday, artists Ou Ning and Cao Fei created the 1999 video work San Yuan Li, which takes the viewer for a close look at the backstreets of an ordinary town. Wang Jianwei’s Living Elsewhere (1999) and Song Tao’s The Moment of One Shoot Another Dead (2004) expose the gritty side of urban life.
The artists of the 1990s and 2000s have expressed their work in a much more personal manner having to do with the challenges presented by a rapidly changing world. Artists like Zhang Xiaogang in his oil-on-canvas Red Child (2005) and Wang Jinsong in his 1996 photo series Standard Family explore the evolving nature of family. Personal and societal demons haunt the world of many artists, from Fang Lijun’s anguished figures from the mid-1990s to the repetitive laughing man of Yue Minjun’s painting and sculptural work. A sense of how the dehumanizing state of contemporary life bears down on the individual in the workplace is created by Shi Jinsong in his torturous Office Equipment—Prototype No. 1 of 2004. Urbanization, commercialization, and the struggle for identity are ever present in Weng Fen’s photographs of a changing environment that picture a youth gazing into a real world, but one that is mutating so fast as to be beyond imagining. These are the challenges and realities of modern China, which became the subject of the artists of the 1990s up to today. The earlier concerns of style, or of Westernism or modernism, fade away as the artist struggles to express his or her own reality.
The presentation of films by Ning Ying and Jia Zhangke alongside works from the Sigg Collection provides the opportunity to assess the developments in Chinese art in a continuous array of visually exciting avenues. From the saccharine-sweet heroic images of the Soviet Realist–style paintings and the ubiquitous “happy worker” of the Cultural Revolution to the rapidly expanding world of emerging artistic developments of more recent times, China and its changing social, political, and economic realities are brought into focus. Clearly, the only constant is change.
Julia M. White
Senior Curator of Asian Art
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection is supported in part by Carmen M. Christensen; the Wakerling and Bei Shan Tang Endowments; Barclay and Sharon Simpson; Rena Bransten; Bonhams & Butterfields, Auctioneers & Appraisers; Wen-hsin Yeh and James C. Sha; Gwong-yih and Angela Lee; The Alafi Family Foundation; Joachim and Nancy Bechtle; The Blakemore Foundation; City National Bank; Tecoah and Tom Bruce; Nancy Livingston and Fred Levin/The Shenson Foundation; and other generous donors.
Education programs are made possible by the generous support of The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation, the Consortium for the Arts at UC Berkeley, Ginger and Moshe Alafi, Barclay and Sharon Simpson, Judy Webb, and other generous donors. | <urn:uuid:57b607b7-99a4-44fb-8952-accae5517a29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/mahjong | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964799 | 2,746 | 1.789063 | 2 |
In a recent lecture on human dignity, the Archbishop of Canterbury made it clear that in his opinion the world at large is not waiting with bated breath to hear what the Church has to say about morality. So why should anyone be expected to take Christians seriously when they launch a global campaign about corruption?Tags Poverty
It may be a radical solution, but it's the truth just the same. The financial fallout surrounding the G20 is an open invitation for a return to some simple wisdom. How is this for an example: "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor" (Proverbs 22:9 ). Or how about: "If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD, and he will repay you!" (Proverbs 19:17)
The phrase "women and children first" is a well-worn one in films, and it is no less significant on issues of extreme world poverty where sadly millions of women and children are dying shocking and unnecessary deaths. Right here, right now. Your neighbors and my neighbors.
Pop star Lady Gaga has yet again hit the world headlines after her planned gig was cancelled. But the real story in Indonesia has more far reaching implications. And it is good news for those who care about what God cares about.
With less than 100 days to go, the race to the London Olympics is entering the home stretch. But at the same time, with less glamour and glitz, a far more challenging set of races are on in nations across the globe.
With Manchester United looking like winning the Premier League again, it seems business as usual in the football world. Yet in the international league table of Overseas Aid, an unexpected candidate has emerged.13 comments | <urn:uuid:c988b2f5-00ad-4a76-9448-59b55272ae20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianpost.com/author/joel-edwards/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947568 | 354 | 1.78125 | 2 |
State Assemblyman Andy Goodell isn't pleased with Tuesday's gun-control bill signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In fact, the Chautauqua County Republican says the legislation "rush job" will do little to curb gun violence.
Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean, thinks so, too. Neither voted for Cuomo's SAFE Act legislation, although the Assembly and Senate overwhelmingly pushed matching bills through with little opposition.
Goodell has not been shy to condemn the legislation - made worse, he said, by its hasty push by the governor.
"This important legislation affecting fundamental Second Amendment rights was rammed through the state Legislature without complying with the state Constitutional requirement for adequate review," Goodell said.
The former county executive said the bill was given to Assembly members in the middle of the night, and a vote took place without the usual three-day aging period.
"It was rushed in an effort to take political advantage of public anger over the recent tragic events at Sandy Hook (Elementary School) and Webster, and to ensure that New York state was the first state to address gun control following these tragic events," Goodell said.
"It was driven by political opportunism, rather than any real emergency," he said.
Young, too, said the bill penalizes responsible gun owners.
"The bill went too far in penalizing law-abiding firearms owners who aren't causing the problem, and doesn't go far enough to address the root causes of violent crimes," Young said.
According to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, only five murders took place in 2011 with rifles. Goodell said these firearms are statistically more safe than cars, motor cycles and bicycles.
There were 225 bicyclist deaths in New York City between 1996 and 2005;
The New York Times reported that 55 people killed by subways in New York City in 2011;
The No. 1 causes of death in domestic violence murders are by knives or blunt instruments, the state DCJS reports.
"Despite all the public furor over the recent tragedies, the official independent data confirms the lack of any imminent public safety emergency," Goodell said, pointing out the legislation would not have prevented recent tragedies in Newtown, Conn., where 26 students and staff were killed, and West Webster where two firefighters were ambushed. | <urn:uuid:73f83bd2-cf69-43a0-b7f0-999d24e3206f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/616378/Goodell-Calls-Bill--Rush-Job-.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976825 | 469 | 1.5 | 2 |
Take a Page from Peter Lynch's Book
Robert is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
Peter Lynch, the legendary manager of the Fidelity Magellan fund, is one of the famous investors I try to emulate with my own investing. One of my favorite books is his One Up on Wall Street. I read it as an aspiring investor and I’ve taken many lessons from the book that have shaped my investing philosophy. Lynch is certainly worthy of high praise: from 1977 until 1990, the Magellan fund averaged a 29.2% return and as of 2003 had the best 20-year return of any mutual fund ever. (For the sake of context, an investor who earns a 29 percent annual return on a $5,000 investment would become a millionaire in just 21 years).
One of the lessons from One Up on Wall Street I continue to practice is Lynch’s commentary on the subject of diversification. His original thoughts pertained to companies that attempted to expand into too many business areas. However, I prefer the concept also be applied to investors who buy too many stocks. When an investor first starts out, they are constantly preached the merits of diversifying their portfolio. In pursuit of constructing a well-diversified portfolio, for some it means buying dozens of stocks from a variety of industries in order to reduce volatility. While diversification is certainly a merit of good investing, it’s important for investors to not over-do it.
Peter Lynch coined the term “deworsification” as a clever way of warning businesses to not reach too far outside their core competencies. I prefer to apply the term to an investor as well. To illustrate, for the last several months I’ve been building a position in McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD). I studied the quarterly and annual reports, analyzed the financial statements, and assessed the future outlook. I came to the conclusion that McDonald’s is a fantastic company trading at a conservative valuation with a great dividend. As a result, I bought shares.
Since then, I’ve noticed other companies in the fast food restaurant industry see share price declines and compressed valuation multiples. For example, last year Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) saw its share price drop from almost $75 into the mid-sixties. Concerns grew after the company warned that sales in its top market of China shrank more than expected in the fourth quarter at its KFC chain. As a result of this issue, the stock declined, and its dividend yield exceeded 2 percent. I began to talk myself into the merits of the company—that the KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell franchises were great businesses with huge growth potential in the emerging markets. I especially wanted to invest in a company with significant operations in China, which was Yum's fastest growing geographical segment through the first nine months of 2012.
Although the merits of buying Yum! are true, since McDonald’s generates roughly 68 percent of its revenues from outside the United States, I'm already geographically diversified. McDonald's has put huge efforts into developing its operations in China. McDonald’s is executing on its plan to open 225 to 250 new restaurants every year until it reaches its stated goal of 2,000 restaurants in China by the end of 2013.
In addition to Yum! Brands, I was recently lured to the prospects of Wendy's (NASDAQ: WEN). Wendy's pays a solid dividend of over 3%, and its stock is down about 10% from its 2012 high. I am a big believer in the investment prospects of fast food restaurants, and in early 2012 Wendy's overtook Burger King as the number two selling fast food restaurant in the United States. Wendy's has been extremely active in transitioning its locations to the franchise model, which has been a major contributor to McDonald's success.
However, despite Wendy's momentum, why should I invest in the number two company in an industry? McDonald's has generated over $5.1 billion in operating cash flow and over $3 billion in free cash flow through the third quarter of 2012, and its dividend yield is higher than both Yum! and Wendy's. For me, buying stock in one of the most valuable brands in the world is enough to satisfy my need for exposure to the restaurant industry. The capital I would have allocated towards Yum! Brands or Wendy's can be better served towards stocks whose industries are not yet represented in my portfolio.
Robert Ciura owns shares of McDonald's. The Motley Fool recommends McDonald's. The Motley Fool owns shares of Darden Restaurants and McDonald's. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is this post wrong? Click here. Think you can do better? Join us and write your own! | <urn:uuid:c7e8fe58-880d-45a5-890a-1c0c39a38e48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beta.fool.com/rciura/2013/01/17/take-page-peter-lynchs-book/21618/?logvisit=y&published=2013-01-17&source=eptcnnlnk0000001 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964971 | 1,035 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Questions about this policy may be directed to: The Office of the Dean of the College
The general aims of an educational institution and the particular values of Haverford College as a residential educational community of full-time undergraduate students are compromised by sexual relationships between employees of the College and students. *
Educational mission: Sexual relationships between employees and students can have a negative effect upon students’ free pursuit of their academic courses of study.
Power: Faculty, administrators, and other employees possess an authority over students, which, if inappropriately wielded, may be detrimental to the atmosphere of trust upon which the community and classroom rely. The asymmetry in power is not absolute or invariable, but it always exists.
Consent: Given this power differential, sexual relationships between students and employees of the College are likely to put claims of consent in question. It is often difficult for a student to be certain of the motives of the faculty or staff. It is also difficult for a person in a position of authority to be certain that the student’s consent is genuine, rather than motivated by an unspoken fear of the consequences of not consenting. In the case of instructors, coaches and some administrators, the respect and trust accorded by the students, as well as the power exercised by the employee in giving grades, academic advice, evaluations, recommendations or a prominent position in an organization or on a team, greatly diminish the student’s actual freedom of choice concerning a sexual relationship.
Conflicts of interest and third party consequences: The possible harm can extend beyond the involved student to other students. Whether or not there is true consent (which may not be clear to others), knowledge of an intimate relationship may interfere with the ability of other students to work comfortably and effectively. Sexual relations often create or appear to create general conflicts of interest and the fear from third parties of unfair treatment. Sexual relationships between College employees and students can be detrimental to the ideals of a community based on trust and to the creation of an environment where favoritism and the appearance of favoritism are absent.
Faculty and staff protection: Students too have formal and informal powers that may affect the careers of College employees. Because of the power differential, persons in positions of authority such as members of the faculty or staff may find it difficult (should the relationship end in acrimony) to prove that the relationship was fully consensual.
Sexual relationships between employees of Haverford College and undergraduate students in the Haverford/Bryn Mawr community are unacceptable because they interfere with the educational mission of the College and threaten the climate of trust, concern, and respect to which the Haverford College community has always been committed. Students and employees are expected to maintain professional, non-sexual relations. If it becomes known that an employee has violated this policy, the employee’s accountability is not reduced even if the relationship was begun consensually or was not initiated by the employee. It is the employee’s institutional responsibility to deal in a professional manner with such situations when they arise.
Any member of the Haverford College community who is troubled by an apparent sexual relationship between an employee of the College and an undergraduate student in the bi-college community should contact an Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, the Dean or the Provost who will refer the matter to an EEOO. The officer will make informal and confidential inquiries about the report, and if it appears well grounded, attempt to resolve the matter directly with the individual(s) involved. Should the problem resist informal solution, the officer will, after seeking the assistance and advice of a second officer, the Provost or the Dean, report the matter to the President who will convene a panel using a procedure modeled on that used for handling allegations of sexual harassment as outlined in the faculty, administrative/professional, and staff handbooks.
Exceptions and classifications
At present, recent graduates who are employed by the College are counseled about their interaction with students in a number of areas. While they will not be required to terminate an existing relationship with a student, they will be made aware of this policy, advised to observe its spirit in their conduct, and be expected not to initiate any new relationship.
A group consisting of students, faculty, and deans has considered the issue of sexual relationships between student teaching assistants and other students in their class or section. TA’s and students are in positions of unequal power, and this asymmetry may render sexual relationships problematical for the students involved and for other students in the class. While the College does not attempt to regulate dating among its students, TA’s are strongly encouraged to take these implications into account and to recuse themselves from particular assignments when necessary.
(Effective July 1, 1996)
* Many colleges and universities are wrestling with this issue and have developed statements that make explicit the rationale for policies directed at either prohibiting sexual relations between faculty or all employees and students or warning members of campus communities about the dangers such relations may involve. This statement draws freely on selections from the documents developed by some of them that would seem to apply to Haverford’s circumstances and concerns. | <urn:uuid:37b9c6b8-61f0-463f-9998-441fd6ed3ff0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.haverford.edu/students-guide/consensual-relations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962124 | 1,043 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Steel imports decline in June
Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American
Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the United
States imported a total of 849,000 net tons (NT) of steel
in June 2009, including 798,000 NT of finished steel
(down 18 percent and 22 percent, respectively, vs. May
final data). Total and finished steel imports on an annualized
basis are down 46 percent and 38 percent, respectively,
vs. 2008. Annualized total imports of steel in 2009 would
be 17.2 million NT. Finished steel import market share
was an estimated 17 percent in June and year-to-date
(YTD) through six months is an estimated 27 percent.
Key products with increases in June 2009 compared to
May include Heavy Structural Shapes (up 33 percent),
Wire Rods (up 32 percent) and Tin Plate (up 14 percent).
For YTD 2009 vs. the same period last year, OCTG imports
(led by China) are up 6 percent.
In June, the largest volume of finished imports from
offshore was from Japan (59,000 NT, down 4 percent).
This was the first time in 14 months that China was not
the largest offshore supplier of finished steel. Other
major offshore suppliers in June were China (44,000 NT,
down 71 percent) and South Korea (40,000 NT, down 66 | <urn:uuid:236e48b9-4ffe-4b94-8e0f-6caaa220fd4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanrecycler.com/0909/steel.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930333 | 302 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Amazon Looking For Cheap Human Brain Power
from the paying-pennies! dept
Amazon surprised a lot of people a few years ago when they decided to jump into the search space with A9. However, it looks like they might not be done copying Google ideas (and, to be fair, Google copied Amazon's book scanning stuff). The latest, according to Metafilter and Google Blogoscoped is that Amazon has launched the Amazon Mechanical Turk. The name is a reference to the famous hoax mechanical chess player from the 18th century that was actually controlled by a hidden chess master. In this case, it sounds like a modification of Google Answers, which has been around for years. Basically, if you have a specific task that isn't easily automated, you ask people to do it for you, at a set price. At the moment of this posting, it looks like the few tasks available are simply Amazon looking for extremely cheap labor in writing product descriptions or picking the "best" photo for A9's blockview system. Still, these types of business models always intrigue me. For all the talk of automation, there are always points at which the automation breaks down and a human is needed. It's that concept that helps those of us at Techdirt make a living, by recognizing that sometimes you really do need a human expert layer to make sense of all the junk that automated systems give you, creating way too much information overload. Of course, Amazon isn't the only company to look to human power to solve problems. Just a few days ago, a mobile search engine launched that would use voice recognition as much as possible, but then defaults back to human help to handle the rest. Update: There have been some questions about how real the Mechanical Turk is, and whether it's really associated with Amazon. The comments at Metafilter seem to indicate that it is real, but sometimes it's tough to tell. It's not April 1, is it? | <urn:uuid:fd404391-cb3f-485b-bf9c-5c2f38ae3e96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20051104/0146219.shtml?threaded=true&sp=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973761 | 400 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Briefing Note: abiraterone (Zytiga) Resubmission
SMC accepted abiraterone acetate for restricted use with prednisone or prednisolone for the treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in adult men whose disease has progressed on or after a docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimen. Abiraterone is restricted for use in patients who have received only one prior chemotherapy regimen.
- Prostate cancer is a disease where cancer develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers grow very slowly and men may not experience symptoms for many years. Symptoms can include difficulty in passing urine, passing urine more frequently and pain when passing urine. The hormone testosterone helps cancer cells in the prostate to multiply and spread. When it has spread to another part of the body, it is called metastatic prostate cancer.
- Prostate cancer can be treated by reducing the available testosterone by medical or surgical means. However, treatment may stop working after a time and the cancer resumes growth despite hormone therapy. This is known as ‘hormone refractory’ or ‘castration resistant’ prostate cancer. Abiraterone acetate is a medicine used in men with mCRPC. It works by decreasing the level of circulating testosterone, and is given as four tablets in a single daily dose which must not be taken with food.
- A study has shown that abiraterone plus prednisone significantly improved overall survival by nearly 4 months in individual patients compared with placebo (a dummy medicine containing no active treatment) plus prednisone in patients with mCRPC previously treated with docetaxel.
- In studies, side effects experienced by a greater proportion of patients given abiraterone than those given placebo included low levels of potassium, high blood pressure, fluid retention and heart disorders.
- This SMC advice takes account of the benefits of a patient access scheme1 (PAS). A PAS is a scheme proposed by a manufacturer in order to improve the cost effectiveness of a medicine and thus enable patients to receive access to new medicines that may otherwise not have been judged to be a cost-effective use of NHS resources. The proposed PAS gives a discount on the price of the medicine.
- SMC accepted abiraterone for restricted use in NHSScotland because the expected benefits of the medicine outweighed its cost when considered in the context of the PAS and the decision modifiers that allow SMC to take account of additional factors such as improvement in life expectancy, quality of life, and evidence of benefits in specific patient subgroups. This SMC advice depends on the continuing availability of the PAS in Scotland.
In March 2009, it was announced that an agreed national framework would be introduced to allow the operation of PAS in NHSScotland. A patient access scheme assessment group (PASAG) was established to review and advise NHSScotland on the feasibility of proposed schemes for implementation. PASAG operates separately from SMC in order to maintain the integrity and independence of the assessment process of SMC. | <urn:uuid:b047d06a-60b3-416f-ba2a-710892787027> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/SMC_Advice/Advice/764_12_abiraterone_Zytiga/Briefing_Note_abiraterone_Zytiga_Resubmission | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941398 | 635 | 1.835938 | 2 |
It rained in Sanford, Fla., on Tuesday, just like it did exactly a year ago when Trayvon Martin died there.
The shooting death of an unarmed black 17-year-old at the hands of a part-white, part-Peruvian neighborhood watch volunteer in a gated community catapulted the central Florida city into headlines around the world and launched heated discussions about race and guns and Florida’s "stand your ground" law.
Despite the damp conditions Tuesday, a crowd amassed outside Sanford’s Goldsboro Welcome Center and the Goldsboro Historical Museum by midmorning. Museum curator Francis Oliver said she opened the welcome center a few hours early to accommodate the score or so of people who gathered to get a glimpse at the items memorializing the slain teenager.
There are crosses and flags, dolls and pictures of the teenager, Oliver said of the items showcased at the permanent memorial made from the items that initially cropped up outside the Retreat at Twin Lakes, the gated community where Trayvon was fatally shot.
Oliver spent Tuesday afternoon showing visitors around the memorial and crossing her fingers that the rain would let up by 6 p.m., when locals planned to gather for a candlelight vigil at Sanford’s Fort Mellon Park.
“Everyone is anticipating being a part of a movement tonight,” said Oliver, who helped plan the vigil. “Everybody’s talking about it. Everybody’s excited to remember him.”For Oliver, Tuesday was about making a statement that transcended Trayvon’s death itself.
“This day symbolizes a chance to band together for peace,” Oliver said. “And band together for gun control and violence against children.”
A thousand miles up the Atlantic shoreline, another -- much larger -- candlelight vigil was scheduled to honor the shooting victim remembered for what he was wearing and holding when he died: a hoodie and a bag of Skittles.
Using the Twitter hashtag #millionhoodies, event planners urged as many people as possible -- the lofty goal was 1 million -- to show up at New York City’s Union Square on Tuesday evening.
Trayvon’s parents, the family’s attorneys and entertainer Jamie Foxx were all expected to be among the masses who would gather in hoodies to remember Trayvon.
At 7:17 p.m. -- exactly one year after the first police officer arrived at the gated community and found Zimmerman standing near Trayvon’s body -- they would have a moment of silence. | <urn:uuid:357fa6bc-4668-4443-bb85-bcc497178897> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ctnow.com/topic/la-na-nn-trayvon-martin-anniversary-20130226,0,362327.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955355 | 526 | 1.84375 | 2 |
It's hard to believe that it's time to ring out the old and cheer in the new. It's also time to write about your New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and New Year's Resolution memories!
*Do you remember the first time you were allowed to stay up and see in the New Year? How old were you?
*How did you and your typically spend New Year's Eve during your youth? Did you go to a Watch Night Service and participate in communion and prayer? Did you watch the ball drop in Times Square on television? Did your community have a fireworks show?
*Did you have first-footers, mummers, or bang pots and pans on your front porch? Did you wear party hats and use noisemakers?
*If New Year's Eve involved feasting of some kind, what were the usual fare and beverages?
*How do all of the above compare to the way you celebrate New Year's Eve now?
*What about New Year's Resolutions? Did you make any when you were younger? Do you make them now? How well do you keep them? Was there any year when you really did a fabulous job at keeping them? What were your goals and how did you keep them?
*How did you typically spend New Year's Day in your childhood and youth? Did you visit family and friends? Did your family host an Open House? Did you watch the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl game or another favorite sport? Or did you go to your favorite ski resort?
*How does it compare to the way you spend New Year's Day now?
*Are there any special customs from your heritage that are integrated into your New Year's celebrations?
*If you celebrate Christmas or another seasonal holiday before the New Year, when do you take down the decorations and put them away? | <urn:uuid:b05dfd56-1b8d-45fd-bd1f-dd266a179b5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ancestories2.blogspot.com/2008/12/week-forty-three-new-year.html?showComment=1230683040000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976386 | 381 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The AJC ran a story Friday morning about poll results that conclude that transit riders have a greater sense of connection to the Atlanta metro area than non-riders. A lot of questions could come to mind on the way through this story - What exactly do they mean by “connection?/How did they measure it?/Did they poll an equal number of riders and non-riders?/Are there any other factors (age, income, location, social life) that could influence the results? - and never quite get answered. But, then, out of nowhere, comes this:
“Many metro Atlanta residents fear they might become crime victims on the bus or the train – a view that may be enhanced because crimes that occur on MARTA trains or buses or near stations often become high profile.”
That sentence is written as if the crimes “become” high-profile on their own, rather than as a result of the way they’re reported on.
“There’s too many incidents at the train stops and the bus stops of people getting harassed and asked for money,” said Michael Shields, 64, of Kennesaw. He worries that these incidents can quickly escalate into violent confrontations.
MARTA statistics show that actual crimes on its properties are relatively low. An AJC review in 2011 showed overall crime on MARTA property had dropped by 42 percent between 2000-2009. It was led by a decrease in property crime, but violent crimes were up slightly. And, in 2011 FBI statistics showed 117 aggravated assaults on MARTA, a 75 percent increase from the 67 MARTA reported for 2010.”
Why are those three crime-related paragraphs rammed in there just before the end of the piece? In a crime story, they’d make sense, but it’s not clear what purpose they’re serving here.
During the recent presidential campaign, a lot was written about how hard it is to correct myths and misinformation. The difficulty lies in the fact that, in the process of trying to correct false information, reporters tend to repeat it, which exposes more people to it.
Dropping the claim that “[m]any metro Atlanta residents fear they might become crime victims on the bus or the train…” into the story just serves to reinforce the MARTA = crime association, especially when followed by a quote from a man who “worries” that panhandling “can quickly escalate into violent confrontations.” Who is this person? Does he use MARTA? What’s his concern about “violent confrontations” based on? The reader has no idea because that information was left out.
We’re left with a story that omits relevant information about the topic being covered, but which goes out of the way to remind us again that some people think MARTA isn’t safe. As if anyone ever gets a chance to forget that. | <urn:uuid:76a2f5ce-db3c-40ee-b85b-82f99e04d4ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cityhaul.tumblr.com/post/41603609569/ajcs-marta-poll-story-takes-a-strange-turn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968809 | 613 | 1.671875 | 2 |
October 22, 2011
WASHINGTON – The United States said Friday the transfer of power in Yemen must begin “immediately,” after the UN Security Council passed a resolution urging President Ali Abdullah Saleh to quickly step down.
“The international community sent a clear, unified message that the time has come for President Saleh to allow the Yemeni people to live free from violence and insecurity,” a State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, said in a statement.
The Security Council called on Saleh to keep a promise to immediately sign a Gulf Cooperation Council deal that would see him step aside 30 days after it was signed, and for a peaceful transition of power “without further delay”.
The resolution, backed by all 15 council members including the US, also “strongly condemns” deadly government attacks on demonstrators since protests against Saleh erupted in January. Several hundred people have been killed.
This article was posted: Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 8:49 am | <urn:uuid:99485aca-16a5-44aa-87c1-93719e7b12cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infowars.com/yemen-transfer-of-power-must-begin-immediately-us/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969604 | 204 | 1.617188 | 2 |
15 comments to The Big Lie at the Heart of “Inside Job”
Hmm, wait a minute. You mean it’s a “lie” because a left-leaning group is using somewhat sketchy means to influence market outcomes as opposed to right-wing grounds doing the same?
Or just someone non-Hayekian? What exactly is your stance on the rampant information problems in markets, particularly insurance and lending markets? Well, I guess what I mean is: What’s the Hayekian stance? My understanding is there basically isn’t one – the market will provide the information if it is needed?
Somewhat sketchy? They flat out lied! The left regularly accuses the right of lying but doesn’t mind doing it themselves because it serves the cause.
Rampant information problems in the market are due to state intervention. Prices are the most important information in the market, but accurate prices can happen only in a free market. Prices don’t happen by accident; entrepreneurs generate them.
Hayek argues for laws estabishlisahin transparency in financial markets in his _The Cconstitution of Liberty.
If you want to know what Hayek advocated, read Hayek.
Don’t mae it up or pull it out of our hat.
Mr. Reade, your understanding is mistaken.
There are lies on both sides, of that I’m sure and wouldn’t want to deny. Is this particular lobby group necessarily lying? Or just “encouraging” (aggressively) that banks become less lazy in their policies on lending in the presence of huge informational difficulties?
Essentially there IS a problem and both adverse selection and moral hazard come into it, and the question is what to do about it. I think you guys would say: Nothing. But the FACT is that both adverse selection and moral hazard are NOT created by the government, Mr McKinney. The fact that I have information about my health I want to deny the company offering me a health insurance product is completely independent of the existence or otherwise of a government.
Greg, I’m tired of libertarians telling me in response to a relatively precise point to read an entire book. Why can’t you actually argue it yourself? Are you that lacking in confidence in your ability to repeat what should be a very simple point?
My understanding (again, please do correct me – ps your understanding of my title is wrong ) is that in his Constitution on Liberty Chapter 9, Hayek dismisses the provision of public benefits (hence unemployment and health insurance) without any mention of information issues.
But do correct me. How exactly will the market provide insurance for those deemed to have uninsurable risks by the market? Particularly when that has come about because adverse selection has led to premiums being much higher than they would be in the presence of the relevant information?
No, moral hazard and adverse selection can only be created by the state. In a free market arbitrage would eliminate it.
In your example, no insurance company would sell you insurance if you withheld vital information. You can only do so now because the state forces insurance companies to sell it to you at a cost much lower than the risk.
PS, in a free market there is no reason for an insurance company to insure someone who is uninsurable. That would be stupid of the insurance company. Insurance is not charity. People with severe illnesses don’t need insurance; they need charity. Trying to buy insurance when you have a major illness is like trying to buy house insurance after your house burns down.
By “adverse selection” I assume you mean the same thing that the insurance industry means: healthy people don’t buy medical insurance. That does make premiums slightly higher than they would be if all healthy people bought insurance, but not by much because the number of healthy individuals who don’t have insurance is very small.
The main reasons premiums have risen is to pay for fast rising medical bills. Medical costs rise at twice the rate of cpi increases due to state control of the healthcare industry.
James, you are the one interested in raising your game. I’m not here to be your personal tutor, unless you’d like to hire me to do it.
This isn’t simple minded stuff. A great many on the left pretend that it is. I’d recommend they all actually ramp themselves up the learning curve to disabuse themselves of the illusion — and reading a book or two would make a good start.
“Greg, I’m tired of libertarians telling me in response to a relatively precise point to read an entire book. Why can’t you actually argue it yourself? Are you that lacking in confidence in your ability to repeat what should be a very simple point?”
James, you stand corrected. Time to crack a book .. and stop “guessing” about things you don’t know. A bad habit far too many possess.
“My understanding (again, please do correct me – ps your understanding of my title is wrong ) is that in his Constitution on Liberty Chapter 9, Hayek dismisses the provision of public benefits (hence unemployment and health insurance) without any mention of information issues.”
Looks like we have a free-rider problem here. The first moral duty is not to be ignorant. The burden is on you to teach yourself this stuff, if you sincerely do what to be serious and credible on the topic — an open question, of course.
“But do correct me. How exactly will the market provide insurance for those deemed to have uninsurable risks by the market? Particularly when that has come about because adverse selection has led to premiums being much higher than they would be in the presence of the relevant information?”
Yes, again time to give up trying dialogue with you guys. Just pointless, and I really do often wonder why I bother. Arrogant in the extreme (somehow you are just so superior that you need to be my tutor – haha!) and pretentious to boot, it’s not wonder you guys are all so marginalised. To think this is how you treat those interested in understanding more about your marginalised beliefs regarding the world around you…
The summarise – No Greg (and your friend), you don’t correct me by denying something exists in the face of overwhelming evidence that it does. You probably deny externalities exist too I guess? But don’t bother replying, I’m not interested in listening to people that state the world is flat and leave it at that.
” You probably deny externalities exist too I guess?”
You know nothing of Hayek’s work, your assumptions about me are completely unfounded, your assumptions about Hayek have nothing to do with Hayek, and you assume I have endless hours to teach you stuff you can easily read in a book.
That’s pathological, James.
James, I look at what people do, not what they say.
You won’t bother to open a book. Meanwhile you’d love to chew up my time becasue you can’t be bothered to use your own time even with basics one would expect from a high school student, time I don’t have. That tells me all I need to know about the sincerity and depth of your interest, and your respect for others.
Sorry James, my life doesn’t give me endless time to “dialogue” with people who refuse to read, and are happy to base a conversation on endless false “guesses” about a subject they haven’t seen fit to devote 10 seconds of their own time.
This sort of behavior, James, has a name — “troll” behavior.
The most important player on Ronald Reagan’s economic team is Ronald Reagan. The person most responsible for creating the economic program that came to be known as Reaganomics is Reagan himself. For over twenty years he observed the American economy, read and studied the writings of some of the best economists in the world, including the giants of the free market economy — Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. — Martin Anderson | <urn:uuid:b3998f55-6f07-4e53-8cee-041ec9671c9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hayekcenter.org/?p=4313 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954022 | 1,726 | 1.5 | 2 |
Mt. SAC Continuing Education offers a variety of noncredit and fee classes and programs to prepare for a career or to upgrade skills. Information is also available on health careers programs.
Many of the noncredit certificate programs mirror those offered through the credit programs of the College. Students who enroll in any noncredit certificate class must meet all requirements outlined in the instructor's syllabus, including completion of all assignments, taking tests, and passing the class with the equivalent of a “C” grade.
Specific certificate content and more information can be found in the Continuing Education Schedule of Classes each semester, in the college catalog, or by contacting (909) 274-4220.
Educational Advisors are available to assist students with career and education planning. During the first week of registration, they are available in the registration area, Building 40, room 104. Advisors are also available by appointment during the semester. Please call (909) 274-4845 to schedule an appointment.
More than 55 different career certificate programs are available:
The fee-based certificates or programs include: | <urn:uuid:c0c453af-12e0-4c5b-90d5-c9af6de9ceb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mtsac.edu/instruction/continuinged/noncredit/vocational/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954212 | 221 | 1.5 | 2 |
Research shows that moving is one of life’s most stressful events. This can be compounded if the move is in conjunction with another stressful situation such as divorce or a job loss. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming.
Some simple steps can help lower the stress of moving however.
PLAN: Go online and locate a couple of moving planners. Good ones are available and chose or modify the one that best fits you and the time you have until your move. Get a notebook or three ring binder and put in all the key phone numbers, addresses, and appointments of people and companies who will be helping you. Include an envelope for receipts. Write some reflections about the task and how you feel. Having a plan will make you feel in control.
SCHEDULE: You can lower the stress of moving by scheduling the days you’ll be doing things early in the process: garage sale; taking unwanted goods to donate; helping each child pack their rooms; packing the garage, cellar and attic. Plan to delegate and tell others when they will be needed. Don’t be shy about asking friends and family to help: box, load, babysit, drive the kids, whatever they can do.
MAINTAIN: Preserve your ordinary routine as much as possible. Routines are an important way to lower the stress of moving. Routines make us feel assured and comfortable. Be sure to eat at regular times, rest if you need to and get adequate sleep. Rely on your planning rather than worrying. Take your vitamins!
LISTEN to your feelings: This is one of the key ways you lower the stress of moving. Even if your move is for happy reasons you’ll feel anxious. You are leaving the familiar. You may be leaving family or old friends. Reflect on this sense of loss. Examine the feelings of anxiety you’ll have about going to a place where you don’t know people, how to get around and find things you need. Tell yourself that these issues are simply inconveniences, not roadblocks. Remind yourself that you are a capable adult and that in a few short weeks your new home will seem normal! | <urn:uuid:8669e31e-4a70-4e4b-bb19-e0af2561de63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://1800packrat.com/Blog/Lower-the-Stress-of-Moving | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953794 | 444 | 1.640625 | 2 |
SMD hosts art teachers from Sharjah Educational Zone
WAM Sharjah, May 8th, 2012 (WAM) -- The Department of Interpretation and Education at the Sharjah Museums Department (SMD) organized a series of educational workshops for female art teachers from the Sharjah Educational Zone last month.
The workshops were part of SMD's efforts to enhance the Department's role in maintaining interaction with teachers and putting them into contact with the numerous activities and events organized by Sharjah's various museums with the aim of exchanging experience and instilling art skills to benefit school students.
At the Sharjah Art Museum teachers visited the exhibition "Ibrahim El Salahi: A visionary Modernist", as well as a number of exhibitions held on the sidelines of Arabic Calligraphy Forum. The teachers were informed about the various free school workshops and programs offered for the students from public and private schools across the country , as well as about school tours and visit timings to the various SMD museums, reservations and the procedures for registration for these workshops. The "Ibrahim El Salahi: A visionary Modernist" exhibition continues until 31st May 2012.
The teachers toured the exhibition and viewed Ibrahim El Salahi's masterpieces, in addition to the artwork of several other talented artists at the Sharjah Calligraphy Forum, highlighting the importance of visiting exhibitions and the key role they play in developing and honing the artistic talents.
The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, last month hosted the well-known instructor of art education, Mervat Radhawan , involving a number of primary and preparatory art teachers from various schools from the Sharjah Educational Zone in a workshop titled "Printing" inspired by the exhibition "Owen Jones: Islamic Design, Discovery and Vision" .
During the visit, the teachers were briefed on school workshops held on the sidelines of the Owen Jones exhibition specifically designed for primary and preparatory school students. These workshops offer students the opportunity to tour the Owen Jones exhibition, view his creative and exemplary artwork, and learn about the concept of Islamic design and architecture and the influence of Islamic civilization and architecture on Western arts. The Owen Jones exhibition continues until 15th July 2012. | <urn:uuid:95a21206-4ff1-44df-82b8-3fba9f88b799> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wam.org.ae/servlet/Satellite?c=WamLocEnews&cid=1289998997375&pagename=WAM%2FWAM_E_Layout_Mobile&parent=Collection&parentid=1135099399973 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961679 | 446 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Friday’s Labor Department report is more eagerly anticipated than most. It is one of only three jobs reports remaining before the Nov. 6 presidential election. And it will come just hours after President Obama claims his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention, capping a meeting where Democrats have argued before the nation that the economy , while struggling, is on the right track.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has accused Obama of mishandling the economy, and the report’s headline numbers may go a long way toward shaping voters’ views about who is right.
The report also comes just days before next week’s meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last week that economic growth is far from satisfactory and vowed that unless things improve, the Fed would be “forceful” in taking action to stimulate more robust growth. A weak jobs number could provoke the Fed to further push down already low interest rates to pump up the economy.
In July, employers added 163,000 jobs, a welcome change from three consecutive months in which the nation added an average of just 73,000 jobs. That figure is far lower than what is needed to keep up with normal workforce growth and to lower the nation’s unemployment rate. Overall this year, the economy has added an average of 151,000 jobs a month.
A recent flurry of economic indicators points to a gradual improvement in the job market, many economists say.
An employment report from payroll services firm ADP showed an increase of 201,000 private-sector payroll jobs in August. Thursday’s report from ADP was the strongest in five months.
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing employment index increased in August, even though the group’s manufacturing index declined for the third consecutive month.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported Thursday that weekly unemployment claims were at 365,000, down from 377,000 the previous week.
Although economists predict some improvement, they do not expect a marked change in a job market where the unemployment rate has been above 8 percent for 42 consecutive months and the average length of joblessness for those who remain in the labor force is nearly 39 weeks. The National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, issued a report saying that 6 million workers have exhausted their unemployment benefits since the economic downturn took hold in 2007.
With the expiration in the coming months of federal laws extending emergency jobless benefits, two million more unemployed workers could lose their benefits by the end of the year, the group said.
“Unemployment insurance has been a vital lifeline for millions of unemployed workers, helping them meet their families¨basic needs while they search for work,¨said Christine Owens, executive director of NELP. “. . .thanks to the prolonged jobs crisis and recent cuts to unemployment insurance programs, millions are left without any jobless aid.” | <urn:uuid:b6d6f2f1-6a76-42cb-91d9-95c6fd814b72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/august-jobs-report-to-get-sharp-focus-friday-as-election-nears/2012/09/06/a80f3458-f7a9-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954222 | 597 | 1.703125 | 2 |
I don't have much about my dad's father's side of the family. They resided in Brandon, Manitoba and were on the 1911 Census as Stephi, Annie and Mary Pravada . I don't know if Stephi was short for something, but his headstone says Steve.
I also know that, for whatever reason, there are 3 different spellings of their last name. One being Pravada (per censes), one being Prawada and my maiden name was Prewedo.
My family attended a Ukranian Catholic Church in Brandon. I'd really like to find their immigration record or more about the family.Melissa's query intrigued me as ancestors with such a variety in their surname are often very challenging to find. And I like a challenge! So I did a little research on Melissa's behalf and thought I'd share with readers how I found records that will provide answers for Melissa and will take her back at least one more generation to the parents of both Stephi and Annie
Melissa search of the 1911 census didn't include viewing the actual image on Collections Canada or Ancestry.com. She relied on a transcript on Automated Genealogy which only shows part of the actual census page.
The image for the 1911 Census on Ancestry.com for Brandon Manitoba shows the family as
PRAVEDA, Stephi, b. Dec.1881 Galicia, 29 yrs old, immigrated 1905, Roman Catholic
Annie b Nov. 1890, 20 yrs old, immigrated 1906
Mary b Sept. 1907 Manitoba, 3 yrs old
There are several clues in this one census. The immigration years are different for Stephi and Annie. This indicates they may not have travelled together and might not have been married before arriving in Canada.
Keep in mind that immigration years are often mis-remembered but we still can narrow the timeframe for a ships passenger list to 1904-1907. Canadian ships passenger lists are available on Ancestry.com and on Archives Canada. Archives Canada are not indexed so you would be best to search Ancestry's indexes.
Since your surname can have many variations and since Stephi is no doubt a nickname or shortened form of his real name, you will need to use wildcards in any searches.
You may want to hunt for a marriage record for Stephi and Annie. That will give you her maiden name and other details such as parents' names for both bride and groom.
How about looking for baby Mary's birth record? That also would give you Annie's maiden name and might provide Stephi's full legal name.
But before we jump into immigration or vital records, I decided to have a hunt in the online 1916 Prairie Provinces census. Bingo there they were - misindexed on Ancestry.com as PRURDO but clear on the image as PREVEDO. Do you see why wildcards are helpful? By searching for PR*D* I was able to find the misindexed entry PRURDO.
The census shows (in part)
PREVEDO, Stephen, 34, born Austria, immigrated 1904, naturalized in 1912
Annie, 29, born Austria immigrated 1907
Marie, 7, born Canada
Annie, 1, born Canada
Mike, 4, born Canada
Now you see why it is adviseable to leave a year or two on either side of a given immigration year. Here Stephen and Annie have both changed their immigration dates by one year. Now we have a bonus of a naturalization year for Stephi/Stephen
And we could look for the births of all three of their children.
The birth location will vary as there were many boundary and name changes for those European areas and it is unlikely that you will see a consistent name for their places of birth.
Manitoba Vital Records
Manitoba Vital Records indexes are online at http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php
Using wildcards I was able to quickly find the marriage of Stephi and Annie, the birth of little Marie, and the death of Stephi. There may be more records there that you can obtain.
The marriage entry (remember it's only an index) shows the marriage of Stephen PREWDA [sic] and Onna [sic] SNATKO [sic] on Feb. 10, 1908. You can order the full record online after you find what you want in the indexes. It is quick and easy so you can now have the thrill of obtaining the record and getting more details.
Stephi's death is listed as Steve PREWEDO, age 59, Brandon Manitoba, Died 21 June 1941. You can order his death certificate online too
I also suggest ordering Mary's birth record just to get a confirmation of her mother's proper name - both first and last.
Manitoba Cemetery Search
The City of Brandon cemetery is online at http://gis.brandon.ca/arcgis/flex/cemeterysearch.html
A search reveals several of your family members: Stephen born 16 July 1882 in Austria; Annie born 13 January 1888 died 3 Feb 1943; Michael Stephen born 16 April 1915 died 1 May 1979.
This now provides you with a precise date of birth for both Stephen and Annie which should help in finding them on ships passenger lists and if you decide to conduct research in European databases.
Let's not forget the notation of religion in the census records. Since Stephi and Annie were Roman Catholic you may wish to check for Catholic Churches in the Brandon area. Find out what records exist and where they are kept. Then you may be able to obtain more information on the family by hunting in those church records.
Immigration & Naturalization
Since you do not know whether Stephi and Annie arrived in Canada or in America you will want to keep your search parameters open. I suggest using Ancestry.com ships passenger lists search to have a hunt for them.
You'll have to use wildcards but you may have to widen your search even more by not using a surname. You can always try using a date of birth (plus or minus one to allow for variations in manifest information), and a year of arrival plus or minus one or two years to allow for errors. I'd try a partial first name such as STE* for Stephi and Ann* for Annie. Since one index shows her as Onna, I'd also try Onn*
Naturalization records are somewhat tricky. You may wish to read what is available in Canadian Naturalization records and where they can be found, at http://naturalizationrecords.com/canada/
Many indexed records are online but you are going to have to write to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to request a lookup in the 1912 records. The complete address and explanation is found at NaturalizationRecords.com website. Remember to add a year at least on either side of the date Stephi gave in 1916. | <urn:uuid:ec0ca643-37d2-4d93-b9cd-9f3d9a0a7e5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenging-search-in-canada-case-study.html?m=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962571 | 1,430 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Before going in for a meeting with the President of the United States, you must put a sticky note with your name on your phone and leave the device in a basket outside. Don't believe it? There's a video.
This video shows cabinet members leaving their phones in a basket before entering a meeting with President Obama. While there's no explanation of why this very low-tech and low-security method is used, I sincerely doubt that anyone will try to steal a phone from the White House. The real thing to worry about is what happens if the sticky notes fall off. [CNN via Neowin] | <urn:uuid:040facff-7d4f-4099-b73a-c34c794c7cad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gizmodo.com/5426496/when-meeting-the-president-put-your-phone-in-a-basket-with-a-sticky-note | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963471 | 124 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Cayuga provided Angel training today for our online, hybrid, and web-enhanced courses. Two bits of information that struck me as useful. The first was not a surprise.
- Angel will be replaced within the next couple of years with another LMS. Since Blackboard purchased Angel and is likely to replace it with one of its products, more discussion needs to happen. And I’d encourage everyone with experience in online learning to take part.
- The second was an excellent reminder for those “writing” with new media or looking to add select widgets to your webtext. To find the perfect app, the Map of the World 2.0 can be browsed using the Mosaic or searched more strategically using the application reviews.
Kairosnews posted the following music video yesterday. It’s a student project by Chandler Birch, Josh Stephens, and David Perkins out of Taylor University published to YouTube on November 26, 2010.
After playing the video a few times, I find it persuasive through two means: 1) it taps into the irritation people feel for Blackboard Inc because of their LMS’s complexity and confusion, and 2) the music isn’t half bad. As one comment said, “My kids don’t even know what [Moodle] is but they won’t stop singing your song.” The creators can’t hide that this is a student project, but using the most of their resources, they still clinch some of the moving features for this music genre.
Do you find it persuasive? Do you find it persuasive if you’ve never used online course tech?
I’ve written elsewhere that if one looks, there are lots of open source options for online learning.
Here are a couple of new media videos to consider. The first explains what Google sees as the next step from email, but they’re really talking file-sharing and e-committees.
The second is similar to what we’ve seen before, making the case for social networking as legitimate communication.
Social Media Revolution
Filed under: History, invention, New Media, postprocess, rhetoric
“It’s not about timing. It’s not about keeping it short. It’s about relevance.” –Mike Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University
Wesch is right. Information is not scarce. But even in an information age, knowledge making can be. Writing is more than a container for knowledge; it can help processing, development and production of new knowledge. For this reason, writing to learn and examining expression might present an attractive study for college students. Students crave forums for expression; they want to be heard. Learning information alongside learning to persuade is powerful and rewarding. Personal purpose and goals make information relevant, but understanding that we have to talk to one another within different social structures is some of what rhetoric and writing provides in its educational long-term.
If we accept the Academic 2.0 argument about the importance of teaching the “how” and not merely the “what” of information, we embrace the importance of writing and rhetorical studies. We can then work to implement communication activities beyond the lecture and can accept communication’s interdisciplinary habits in addition to its residing within the domain of the English department.
That said, community college students often face a wider digital divide than assumed under Web 2.0 arguments. It’s incorrect to assume all students have been naturalized to blogs, wikis, mashups, or mobile networks. This is not to say community colleges give up. The opportunities to write and research with these technologies are likely to accelerate, and ignoring the latest developments because not everyone knows them will only widen the technological divide. However, it is important to acknowledge what many (considering that the majority of students in the country are community college students perhaps I should say “the majority of”) freshmen are not digital natives. And if their professors must immigrate to the digital too, there is a tendency to go with what is most comfortable: chalk and talk, lecture and note take, and read/discuss.
While I see nothing wrong with these classroom approaches in general, academia needs to consider seriously Wesch’s earlier observation that The Machine is Us/ing Us, for our media platforms rewrite how we compose and make language (and therefore knowledge).
Or as one of the comments under the Academia 2.0 video says,
Academia is dead! learning can be done faster and better outside of universities, renting an office space and committing yourself to learning a subject has far less distractions...
Community colleges’ missions center on learning and job training, so I say, Why not put the media machine into the curriculum? It’s influencing how people gather information and make personal, civic, and business decisions. Academica can become more relevant if entry points to the network are practiced in and outside the classroom.
So blog on…
Rationale for using Web 2.0–In the humanities, Classical Greece gets a lot of attention. Western civilization leapt forward democratically and culturally in part because writing interacted with speaking to produce new ideas and fuel debates. Plato favored speaking and doubted writing much like some people treasure books and paper but doubt webtexts today. But just as writing interacting with oral language produced some of Western culture’s greatest thinking, web-network communication like Blogs and Wikis may be pushing us toward a new explosion of knowledge. Since many students are not digital natives to technology, they need opportunities to immigrate that we can provide as they learn course content.
2009 Full-time Faculty Survey (excludes English) on Writing Expected at Cayuga
Class Management (one-to-many)–The most familiar way to use a blog is similar to a classroom lecture or a syllabus where the teacher communicates unidirectionally with his or her students.
- Have your students forgotten the titles of the required books or lost the course syllabus?
Engage Web 2.0 & Many-to-Many Communication Networks–here, we may not be able to compete with the interactivity of social networking, but we can…
- Encourage interactivity and student expression beyond the classroom.
- Collaborate in groups.
- Use student material for discussions.
Audience Questions? (Ask yourself, what would you like to do with Web 2.0 tech?) | <urn:uuid:8f0094ac-7007-43d4-acd2-aaf459498aa8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cayuga-cc.edu/blogs/bower/?tag=new-media | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93393 | 1,337 | 1.8125 | 2 |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - When it comes to the presidential election and the U.S. Senate race in Missouri, many voters already have a good idea of their preferred candidates.
But what about the ballot issues?
With so many races and issues on the ballot Tuesday, many people have lost track of what they'll be voting on.
Most voters we talked to admitted they aren't prepared.
“I remember Proposition B, because I think I saw more commercials about (it) than any other proposition,” Travis Newsome said.
“All I know about is the president,” Marian McDonald said.
“I know a little bit about Prop B, but I'm not really sure,” Robert Bayne said.
If you are in the same boat as the voters we surveyed, we have you covered with the answers.
Proposition A is a measure that would shift control of the St. Louis police force from a board of police commissioners to the city. It could set a precedent for police control in Kansas City.
Proposition B, if passed, would raise the Missouri tobacco tax from 17 cents to 90 cents. The extra cash would go toward school funding.
Proposition E would prohibit the governor and state agencies from setting up or operating state-based health insurance exchanges.
Amendment 3 would allow the governor to appoint four people to the judicial commission, instead of three. It would also allow non-lawyers to become candidates.
Beyond the explanations, some voters said they still plan to do more research before they vote.
“I don't think it's clear when you go and read them on the ballot,” Ann Lehane said.
Other voters said they'll figure everything out at the last minute.
“When I probably get to the booth,” Bayne added.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Missouri welfare recipients would be barred from spending their cash benefits at casinos, liquor stores or strip clubs under legislation sent to Gov. Jay Nixon. | <urn:uuid:cec4abf1-3764-4879-adf5-529326f1f962> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/political/how-well-do-missouri-voters-know-the-issues-on-the-ballot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964056 | 440 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Jeffrey RichardsonCOLUMN: On Energy and Our Environment
By Jeffrey Richardson
(I look forward to sharing information with you through this column On Energy and Our Environment and offer my thanks to the Los Angeles Sentinel for the opportunity).
We are in a period of significant change that has clarified the linkage between our community's struggle for racial and social equality and the economic, social and moral issues that are at the heart of the evolving global environmental movement and our nation's attempts to chart a new energy future built on clean renewable sources such as solar, wind, bio-fuels.
Let me outline in brief the context of our energy/environmental reality. We have reached a period of increased demand for the limited oil reserves of the planet. Growing powers including China, India and others are vying for the fossil fuels that power American society. The competition and the increased exposure to human and environmental degradation in pursuit of oil and coal is literally exploding on the airwaves. The recent and continuing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an economic, environmental and human catastrophe that has underscored the growing cost of holding onto to outdated fuel sources when a transition to new clean technology is possible and necessary. The recent death of miners in West Virginia and reports of multiple mine accidents in China again, point out that the costs of cheap electricity, driven by coal are counted in human lives and devastation to the environment. Many other ecological disasters that displace communities and destroy eco-systems in this country and other areas of the world go largely unreported.
In Los Angeles, as much as 40% of our electricity is generated through the use of coal. Our enormous network of highways and dependence upon cars versus rapid transportation systems leads to unhealthy vehicle emission levels and increased rates of cancer, asthma and other respiratory diseases. These air quality issues are compounded for residents of low-income and people o color communities who are more likely to live adjacent to factories, and industrial pollution. The health risks for residents living near the Port of Los Angeles with its heavy diesel emissions are even greater.
Another aspect of the energy equation is the growing number of wars and military interventions in which access to global oil reserves is increasingly a contributing or major factor--Iraq. This reality has cost the nation billions of dollars that will not go to education, housing, healthcare of job creation. The impact of this massive diversion of tax dollars has been horrific for the African-American community. Again, the cost of oil and gasoline is much greater than what pay at the pump.
The nation's economy, reeling from the enormous and criminal graft of Wall Street has been locked into yesterday's fossil fuel based production practices and thinking. The result has been missed opportunities to create millions of new jobs through manufacturing vehicles that run on clean renewable energy, as well as making the move to solar, wind, geo-thermal and increased energy efficiency. While the current administration has made real investments to grow a new green economy the nation is far from where it should be and is not a global leader in many of the technologies.
The job creation potential of the green economy is of critical importance to the African-American community . In many cities across the nation, the Black unemployment rate is above 20% and in some communities it at 50%. Engaging our political leaders in the debate and mobilizing our community organizations, churches, business and forming Black/Brown and other alliances around the shared interests of bringing green jobs to South Los Angeles and other surrounding communities is imperative. We must actively press for information and demand full participation in the economic transformation that is already in motion.
As a community we must become more active in the scientific and technological revolution that is shaping the future of the world and our place in that world. This move requires a renewed commitment to learning and a realization that the bar has been raised around the globe. We must meet the challenge realizing that history will not wait for us.
At a deep level the current situation requires of us a new system of values in which consumption and consumerism are replaced by a consideration of how our actions impact the environment. Much of what we use is simply thrown away and ends up in harmful landfills, or the water system. What if we practiced as many of our older relatives did, ways of reusing instead of simply buying the "disposable" product. Or how about switching to energy efficient lighting. These are small steps that we can each take as we own our role as stewards of this planet and our community environment.
On a personal level, I am working with others to increase the participation of people of color and low-income communities in the green economy through our solar installation company, Imani Energy, Inc., where I serve as the President/CEO and cofounder. Our goal at Imani Energy is to create jobs and provide training in the solar installation sector with a primary focus on low-income and people of color communities. We are also planning to establish a solar panel assembly facility in South Los Angeles to increase jobs and provide expanded opportunities for learning and growth in the energy sector.
Our company recently participated on a panel in Torrance, CA at the 12th District Conference of the fraternity that I joined in 1979, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.. Earlier this year we provided education at the South Los Angeles Earth Day. We continue to spread the word and offer our experience as a private sector company, while we work to grow our business to create green jobs.
Though the current economic climate is very challenging, it is important that we actively build a future where clean renewable energy, environmental consciousness and social and economic justice are integral to the action plan of the African-African community. We are citizens of the planet as well as the neighborhood and energy and its use play a big part in shaping our world. Let's make sure that energy works for us. Until next time. Imani.
Jeffrey Richardson is the President/CEO of Imani Energy, Inc. a solar installation/energy company based in Los Angeles. He has 25 years of experience as an organizer and activist and entrepreneur. He served as the Executive Director of a social justice foundation, Director of a major Los Angeles largely African-American labor organizing campaign, organizational and political campaign consultant, community economic development professional and reporter. He has traveled to West Africa, Nicaragua and Cuba and written on his travels. He is also a singer/songwriter of message music and the cd "Another World Is Possible" available at cdbaby and www.jeffreyrichardsonmusic.com.
You can contact Jeffrey at | <urn:uuid:44d51f58-f8be-4a24-ac8f-5bdfe1cccd33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3709:on-energy-and-our-environment&catid=67:health&Itemid=157 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95656 | 1,330 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Life can change for millions of families in an instant: natural disasters can take loved ones and the outbreak of war drive families from their homes. When the unthinkable happens, Mercy Corps delivers rapid, lifesaving aid to hard-hit communities.
All stories about Emergency response
Haiti: Emergency food aid delivery to Port-au-Prince's General Hospital (8 photos) January 21, 2010
Today we delivered three days' worth of high-protein biscuits to 300 patients and their family members.
Haiti: Healing the emotional wounds of Haiti's children January 21, 2010
Haiti: Thursday morning in Santo Domingo January 21, 2010
Red-eye travel is onerous in most any circumstance. On my way to Haiti, I almost did it two nights in a row. And, despite a few short hours of sleep, this Thursday morning — a day and a half after I left home — feels like the continuation of one long day.
Haiti: Residents begin recovering their possessions (8 photos) January 20, 2010
Survivors of the earthquake begin to dig their personal possessions out from the rubble. Dead bodies still remain in the rubble.
Haiti: Organizing a food distribution January 20, 2010
I’m exhausted tonight – but triumphant! After running around all day between the general hospital and the UN compound, we’ve succeeded in organizing a distribution of food to the hospital’s patients and their families Wednesday morning.
Haiti: Helping Haiti's kids cope January 19, 2010
Watching news coverage and listening to our team on the ground in Port-au-Prince, one heartbreaking fact keeps jumping out at me: Children are at the center of tragedy again.
Haiti: A conversation with Bill Holbrook January 19, 2010
I spoke this afternoon with Bill Holbrook, Mercy Corps' newly appointed country director for Haiti, who leaves tomorrow for Haiti from his home in Maryland. He'll work in conjunction with our growing emergency-response team, which has been in country for nearly a week.
Haiti: On my way to Haiti January 19, 2010
Tonight, just before midnight, I will board the first flight on my way to Haiti. As most all of us have, I've seen the shocking imagery in the press and on television, so I know how it looks.
Haiti: Talking about our response on CNN January 19, 2010
Haiti: Taking shelter into their own hands January 18, 2010
As people emerge from the emotional shock of losing their homes, families along the roadside are starting to take the question of shelter into their own hands. | <urn:uuid:a5a56eda-d001-4bf3-a936-7665fe04db60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mercycorps.org/emergency-response?page=50&source=Mercy&title=EmergencyResponse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952042 | 545 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Volcanoes erupting and cyclones leaving behind mountains of foam on Monday's edition of "Over the Edge".
Hundreds of people gathered in Seattle for the 5th annual beard and stache fest over the weekend. The event honors folk's with the best facial hair. It was all part of a fundraiser for a foster care facility.
Remnants of a cyclone in Australia, leaving behind quite a sight, burying one coast line under a waist-high covering of sea foam. A parting gift from a tropical storm that bombarded the country with tornadoes, torrential rains and massive flooding. The foam covering entire roads and blocking traffic as locals try to figure out what to do.
A scientist gets up close and personal with an erupting volcano in Russia's far east. This volcano started roaring in late November and, hasn't stopped. No injuries are being reported, but, the lava's poured into some buildings. | <urn:uuid:98d84a75-49a3-4d4a-8a5b-1eee014471cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nwahomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=400802&nxd_90162_start=31840 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953264 | 187 | 1.6875 | 2 |
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