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Cathy Lynn Grossman, in a USA TODAY article about the use of technology by churches writes, “Find the church by going online — the 21st-century version of sighting a steeple on the horizon. Beyond their website, Christ Fellowship has a Facebook page to give it a friendly presence in social media.
“You can download the worship program by scanning their customized-with-a-cross QR code. The worship services are streamed online from their Internet campus — with live chat running so you can share spiritual insights in real time.
“Afterward, says senior Pastor Bruce Miller, “someone will ask you, ‘How did it go? Did God help you, today? How can we help you?’ Just like we do when people come to our building in McKinney. We are here to help people find and follow Christ, wherever they are starting out from.”
“And wherever they are in the digital world.
“Christ Fellowship exemplifies most of the latest ways churches dramatically extend their reach of church beyond any one time or local address. Such congregations signal “a willingness to meet new challenges,” says Scott Thumma, of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. He’s the author of a study by Faith Communities Today (FACT) of how churches, synagogues and mosques use the Internet and other technology.
“FACT’s national survey of 11,077 of the nation’s 335,000 congregations, released in March, found seven in 10 U.S. congregations had websites, and four in 10 had Facebook pages by 2010, Thumma says.
… “No matter the technology, the overall focus remains the same, Reynolds says.
“How can the Christian Church utilize the tools media has given us without being subsumed by them? You don’t want delivery to become everything,” he says.
Technology should ultimately be an enhancement, not a replacement, for gathering in person for worship, discussion, debate and service to others, Drew Goodmanson says.
In a similar fashion Albert Mohler writes of The Deep Limitations of Digital Church
“We can be enriched by means of listening to sermons online and by delving deeply into the ocean of knowledge found within Christian websites, but these cannot replace the authenticity that comes only by means of the local church and its ministry.
“Believers need the accountability found only within the local church. We need to hear sermons preached by flesh-and-blood preachers in the real-time experience of Christian worship. We need to confess the faith together through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We need to confess our sins and declare forgiveness by the blood of Christ together. We need to be deployed for service in Christ’s name together.
“Without apology, we can learn much from preaching heard or seen over the Internet. Churches should engage digital technologies with the same eagerness that we use jet aircraft, copy machines, the printing press, and the telephone. At the same time, none of these can replace the fellowship of the saints and the centrality of the local church.
“A digital preacher will not preach your funeral. The deep limitations of digital technologies become evident where the church is most needed. Don’t allow the Internet to become your congregation. YouTube is a horrible place to go to church.
“It may be true that most people in this culture are, as Cathy Lynn Grossman observes, “in the digital world.” Just don’t forget that we are all in the real flesh-and-blood world, too — and that is where we go to church. | <urn:uuid:62a18ef9-9827-4424-a422-7cb95d5508d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://famvin.org/en/2012/04/22/digital-worship/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935713 | 775 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Evil Mr.Grimes keeps a rag-tag bunch orphans on his farm deep in a swamp in the US South. He forces them to work in his garden and treats them like slaves. They are watched over by the eldest, Molly. A gang in league with Mr. Grimes kidnaps Doris, the beautiful little daughter of a rich man, and hides her out on Grimes' farm, awaiting ransom. When the police close in, and Mr. Grimes threatens to throw Doris into the bottomless mire, Molly must lead her little flock out through the alligator-infested swamp. Written by
John Oswalt <[email protected]>
Toward the end of the picture, director William Beaudine and star Mary Pickford clashed so often that Beaudine developed a serious paralysis of his face from the pressure and aggravation due to their frequent arguments. He finally turned the picture over to his assistant, Tom McNamara, and left the set. McNamara finished the picture, uncredited. See more »
An evil man, his wife and son are stealing orphans and taking them into the deep swampland where the children are treated as slaves. The latest kid they've kidnapped turns out to be the child of a rich man. Fearing the police, the family plans to kill the kids but the oldest orphan (Mary Pickford) plans a daring escape through the swamp. The villains of this film have to rank as some of the most hated in movie history. Pickford does a wonderful job in her role and director William Beaudine also adds several nice touches. The escape through the swamp is full of suspense as the children must face quicksand as well as alligators. The final act hurts the film but everything leading up to it is very well done. It's interesting to note that Pickford had Beaudine blacklisted in Hollywood because he forced her and the children to risk their lives by acting with real alligators. This here probably explains why a respected director ended up making "B" and "Z" films like Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you? | <urn:uuid:920cbc3a-a369-44f4-b701-d8f217e3ef1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017423/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971883 | 449 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The collective coupon model doesn’t work for every business, but Pam Nelson, co-owner of Butter Lane Cupcakes, New York City, calls it a “lifesaver” for a small startup business in a shaky economy. The bakery has offered four Groupons since launching three years ago–for half-price cupcakes and baking classes. All told, more than 9,000 coupons have been purchased.
“Initially when we did a Groupon offer, we said we aren’t going to make money; it’s strictly marketing,” Nelson says. “But I have been surprised by how many full-paying customers are coming in at the same time the Groupon people were coming in. So our actual numbers go up, which is nice.”
Some businesses would shudder at the thought of selling that much product at such a heavy discount. But Butter Lane’s costs are fairly modest given its simple menu, allowing it to come out ahead.
“With cupcakes, we can absorb so much more capacity than, say, a restaurant, because we have a product that is relatively inexpensive in terms of ingredients. So if you manage your margins correctly, you can really make some money.”
Groupon first pitched an offer to Butter Lane in 2009; now the bakery gets about three calls a day from various coupon organizations. “Since we’re a relative success story, we get a lot of pitches, and we do look at them,” she says. “But given Groupon’s breadth, other organizations don’t sell near the numbers.”
Moreover, the bakery has seen its customer base grow given the viral nature of group discounts. “People are excited about discovering you, and they want to tell their friends,” she says. “Them sending the offer out is so much more convincing than if we did it ourselves.” | <urn:uuid:a08e8202-8da5-484b-b876-25ef56d657fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://modern-baking.com/archive/startups-life-raft | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968099 | 402 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Following the announcement of Pope Benedict's resignation on Monday,
Israeli chief rabbi Yona Metzger praised his inter-religious outreach
and said relations between Israel and the Vatican had never been better.
his period (as pope) there were the best relations ever between the
church and the chief rabbinate and we hope that this trend will
continue," a spokesman quoted Metzger as saying after the pope announced
he would resign. "I think he deserves a lot of credit for advancing
inter-religious links the world over between Judaism, Christianity and
Metzger wished the pope "good health and long days", the spokesman said.
of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Benedict said on Monday he
will resign on Feb 28. because he no longer has the strength to fulfil
the duties of his office, becoming the first pontiff since the Middle
Ages to take such a step.
The 85-year-old German-born Pope,
hailed as a hero by conservative Catholics and viewed with suspicion by
liberals, said he had noticed that his strength had deteriorated over
His papacy has been beset by a child sexual abuse
crisis that tarnished the Church, one address in which he upset Muslims
and a scandal over the leaking of his private papers by his personal
In a statement, the pope said in order to govern "...both
strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few
months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to
recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to
"For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this
act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop
of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter," he said according to a statement
from the Vatican.
A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff would step
down from 1900 GMT on Feb. 28, leaving the office vacant until a
successor was chosen to Benedict who succeeded John Paul, one of
history's most popular pontiffs.
Elected to the papacy on April
19, 2005 when he was 78 -- 20 years older than John Paul was when he was
elected -- he ruled over a slower-paced, more cerebral and less
But while conservatives cheered him for trying
to reaffirm traditional Catholic identity, his critics accused him of
turning back the clock on reforms by nearly half a century and hurting
dialogue with Muslims, Jews and other Christians.
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks also responded to Monday's announcement, praising the pope's character and recalling a meeting they had in 2011.
"I was honored to welcome Pope Benedict XVI to Britain on behalf of non-Christian faiths in 2010 and spend time with him during a visit to the Vatican in 2011," he said.
"I saw him to be a man of gentleness, of quiet and of calm, a deeply thoughtful and compassionate individual who carried with him an aura of grace and wisdom. I wish him good health, blessings and best wishes for the future,” Rabbi Sacks added.
Joining the chorus of voices, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder issued a statement: "It is with great emotion that we learned today that Pope Benedict XVI will retire at the end of this month. His decision deserves our greatest respect."
"The papacy of Benedict XVI elevated Catholic-Jewish relations onto an unprecedented level. Not only did he maintain the achievements of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and give the relationship solid theological underpinning but, more importantly, he filled it with meaning and with life," the statement read.
"From beginning to end, Pope Benedict XVI has shown skillful leadership. He realized that the public Holocaust denial by church leaders must not go unanswered, and he spoke out against it," Lauder continued. "He always had an outstretched hand and an open ear for Jewish leaders."
Jpost.com staff and Jonny Paul contributed to this report | <urn:uuid:d0f8f07b-17dc-4efc-97a6-04ebd9a8c24d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?ID=302877&R=R1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975779 | 824 | 1.726563 | 2 |
I don't eat red meat for several reasons including environmental ones, but I do eat seafood. I always try to make good, environmentally-sound and healthy decisions about which seafood to choose. It's not always easy, and the news about which type of fish is a sustainable choice seems to change daily. So, I was thrilled to see this new book from Washington, D.C. chef Barton Seaver, For Cod and Country: Simple, Delicious, Sustainable Cooking, and I received a review copy. It acts as a guide to all the issues surrounding how to choose fish, and then it provides great ideas for turning those fish into meals. Seaver explains that the best way to work towards restoration of marine ecosystems is to support the fisheries that are working responsibly and enjoy the best choices we have with lots of seasonal vegetables. And, the book assists with just that. You won't find recipes for overfished species like bluefin and yellowfin tuna, but there are several ideas for other, sustainably caught species of fish. Since some fish are seasonal, the book is organized in sections from spring to winter with side dishes and sauces made from vegetables and herbs available at each time of year. There's also an additional section for all the types of seafood that are available year round. So far, I've tried the mussels with IPA and roasted garlic and the grilled okra with charred onion dip. Both were simple dishes with big flavors. Others I look forward to trying are warm poached salmon in red wine sauce, smoked sardines with mixed greens and fig-olive dressing, pumpkin and pear panzanella with pumpkin-seed vinaigrette, and the smoked salmon and goat cheese sandwich to name a few.
Since clams, as well as mussels and oysters, are a sustainably farmed option and are always available, and since my basil plants are still going strong, I couldn't wait to try the clams with basil pesto dish. Seaver prefers the sweetness in walnuts to the flavor of pine nuts for his basil pesto. So, walnuts were toasted, and then they were tossed in a colander to remove some of the skins. Another difference with this pesto was the choice of mostly canola oil with just a little added extra virgin olive oil. The two oils and some garlic were placed in a blender and pureed, and then basil leaves and walnuts were added and blended until smooth. Then, littleneck clams were steamed in white wine. When open, the clams were transferred to a serving bowl, the cooking broth was poured into a mixing bowl while leaving any sand in the pot, and the basil pesto and some butter were stirred into the broth to form a sauce. The sauce was poured over the clams, and toasted bread was served on the side. The flavors were bright and fresh, and we used the bread to capture every bit of the sauce.
The book includes plenty of information about understanding fishing methods and how to choose fish wisely and substitute better choices for those that are overfished. But mostly, Seaver's enthusiasm for sustainable seafood, healthy portion sizes, avoiding toxins in seafood, pairing seafood with seasonal vegetables, and just plain, old, delicious cooking, make this book all about truly enjoying the best of seafood.
See my review of For Cod and Country: Simple, Delicious, Sustainable Cooking and get this clams with basil pesto recipe at Project Foodie. | <urn:uuid:e54322fe-0adb-416a-8ed8-af2aa096f9ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com/2011/09/steamed-clams-and-basil-pesto.html?showComment=1316656670858 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979869 | 705 | 1.75 | 2 |
Some ski resorts are turning into junkyards — and snowboarders couldn’t be happier.
Satellite dishes, propane tanks, empty oil drums and even a Chevy Impala are popping up in terrain parks across the country. It’s a new form of recycling and is adding back some edge to what has become a mainstream sport.
Snowboarding started as a rebellious activity. Riding rails, pipes and picnic benches was a way to break out of the norm. Today, those features have become standard. So to add some uniqueness and push the sport to a new level, resorts have turned to rummaging through junk piles. The recycled objects are placed on the slopes as challenges for snowboarding jumps, slides and other maneuvers.
“We’ve had the same stuff going on for years and years. Now they are just trying to get crazy with it,” said Lakota Sage, a 21-year-old professional snowboarder at Colorado’s Echo Mountain.
Sage is out on the mountain almost daily and loves the new features, including a 1960s-era trail-grooming machine called a snowcat. It was found in the woods on the resort with bullet holes from locals who used it for target practice and now sits by a railing on the course.
“It helps push the athletes a little more because it’s more intimidating. If you do fall off the railing, you’re going to nail the snowcat,” he said.
This winter, boarders at Sol Vista Basin at Granby Ranch in Colorado will find a six-foot tall satellite dish poached from a stranger taking it to the dump. Other mountains have taken old chairlift towers, tractor tires, snowmaking pipes, logs and concrete barriers and given them a second life on the mountain. There’s a fiberglass horse at Colorado’s Winter Park, and California’s Northstar has incorporated an old gondola cabin in its terrain park.
“It feels pretty unique to hit something that I normally ride up in,” said Mike Schipani, manager of Northstar’s terrain park.
The new effort also keeps junk out of the landfill and saves ski resorts some cash. Schipani said he spends about $1,800 for each 20-foot-long piece of steel he puts on the mountain.
Many amateur boarders are creating videos in hopes of pushing themselves into a professional career. The used cars, satellite dishes and other objects help them stand out.
“Without innovation, I think our sport would become pretty stagnant,” Schipani said.
The idea of putting recycled items on the mountain started about five years ago but really picked up last season, according to Jason George, the terrain park manager at Colorado’s Copper Mountain.
“It’s green and we like to recycle,” he said.
Propane tanks are popular but a bit tricky. Before a welder can start to repurpose them, the tanks have to be filled with water, pushing out any leftover combustible gas.
The appeal of these obstacles is that they are different. As more and more parks add satellite dishes and cars, mountain workers are just going to have to work harder to find that new, unique item to keep on attracting boarders. George knows that and is already hard at work.
“I’m rummaging through all the old boneyards to see what I can come up with. I’m quite the rummager,” he said. “Anything we can find, that kids can slide, we’ll use.” | <urn:uuid:4e0faf3c-8487-4d38-a2be-b50a8907264b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eastvalleytribune.com/get_out/article_6106bc78-1d2c-11e1-8a74-001871e3ce6c.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951815 | 762 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Oil prices jumped 10 percent over the last month on several factors including a Saudi production cut, the fiscal cliff resolution and the reversal of a key pipeline, but analysts expect the gains will be short-lived.
U.S. oil prices rose from about $85 a barrel in early December to nearly $94 a barrel late this week. Among the factors pushing up crude:
-- Saudi Arabia has cut production by almost a million barrels this year, including a 400,000 barrel cut in December made public this week.
-- The Seaway pipeline running between Cushing, Okla., and the Gulf Coast was reversed this week to carry crude out of Cushing. A surge in domestic production has caused a glut of oil at the hub of pipelines and storage tanks, a key delivery point for U.S. crude. The reversal should ease that glut.
-- Strong economic data out of China, including robust export numbers this week and strong manufacturing data in December.
-- The possibility that a showdown with Iran over its nuclear program will happen in 2013.
-- The aversion, at least temporarily, of the so-called fiscal cliff -- tax increases and spending cuts in the United States that many feared would send the country back into recession.
Taking oil's lead, gasoline prices have begun to rise too. Prices at the pump are up almost a dime a gallon from December lows, according to AAA, reversing a trend that brought gas prices to two-year lows last month.
Fortunately for motorists, analyst don't expect the recent gains to continue.
'"The economics of the market are such where prices should be much lower," said Mike Fitzpatrick, editor-in-chief of Kilduff Report's Energy Overview. "It's a rally that's going to be short lived." | <urn:uuid:467ba6d0-0b0b-4270-917d-eb67e916fd78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wlky.com/news/money/Oil-prices-jump-10-in-a-month/-/9365814/18097078/-/item/0/-/tn62ijz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962318 | 359 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Wound Care Services
Do you have a wound that just won't heal?
Since 1998, Beebe Medical Center's Wound Care Services Department has provided state of the art wound care for our community. Beebe Medical Center's Wound Care Services Department offers interdisciplinary and comprehensive wound care treatment. We work together with your physician to provide the best possible care for you and your loved ones.
Our outcomes driven program focuses on healing your wound(s) quickly. As compared nationally to other wound centers, our 2009 healing rate is 94.4%. Many of these wounds went untreated for weeks or months before receiving specialized wound care.
Our wound care staff has extensive training and expertise in wound healing and provides a comprehensive plan of care that is customized to your needs. We work with you, your family and caregivers to support your needs.
The types of wounds that can benefit from our Wound Care Services
- Non healing surgical wounds
- Traumatic wounds
- Venous Stasis Ulcers
- Pressure Ulcers
- Minor burns
- Wounds caused by poor circulation
- Diabetic foot ulcers
Additional services include care and education of individuals who will undergo, or have had ostomy surgery.
Outpatient Nutritional Counseling is also available. Call (302) 947-2500 for an Appointment.
If you have a wound that has not responded to treatment for 4 weeks or is not completely healed after 8 weeks, talk with your physician or call the Beebe Medical Center's Wound Care Services Department. Most insurance plans cover wound care treatment. We will help you determine what your insurance plan covers.
What do our Patients say about us?
Our patients consistently report high levels of satisfaction with our care. Here are some of their comments:
- "Everyone at Wound Care treats us very well and takes good care of my husband's wounds. They are all very caring."
- "Wound Care personnel are efficient and helpful."
- "Beebe Wound Care at Longneck is the best. Their knowledge and expertise when treating patient's wounds is unbelievable. They are the greatest group of people who work wonderfully together."
- "We always say to everyone who asks, Beebe Wound Care is the best."
- "A great facility – well run. Keep up the good work!"
What to expect at your first visit
The first appointment includes a thorough assessment by our wound care team, a review of your medical history, ordering of blood tests or other tests as needed, and a comprehensive plan of care for treating your wound. We provide instructions for care of your wound and communicate with other members of your health care team.
Please bring your medical records, a list of all medications you are taking, list of allergies, and your insurance card. The first visit is the longest. We will schedule follow up appointments as required to achieve wound healing.
If you need more information, please call us at 302-947-2500.
- Beebe Wound Care Services
Beebe Longneck Health Center
32060 Longneck Road
Millsboro, DE 19966
Hours: Monday through Friday; hours by appointment only. | <urn:uuid:2b11e2b8-4c8c-468e-92aa-1af96b3ed11e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beebemed.org/html/serv_woundcare.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949796 | 648 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Ewen Callaway, reporter
The latest weapon in the battle over the legitimacy of some functional brain scanning studies is a dead fish.
In study titled "Neural correlates of interspecies perspective taking in the post-mortem Atlantic Salmon", researchers scanned 1.7 kg (3.8 pounds) of a dead salmon while it was shown images of humans in various social situations. It's not clear how long the salmon had been dead by the time it was studied, but Craig Bennett at the University of California, Santa Barbara, says he scanned it about an hour after picking it up from the supermarket, so it was definitely already a goner.
So what did he and his colleagues find? Bizarrely, a region of the dead salmon's brain lit up during the task.
This result is, naturally, a false positive, but it makes an important point, blogs the Neuroskeptic:
The (fish-)bone of contention here is multiple comparisons correction. The "multiple comparisons problem" is simply the fact that if you do a lot of different statistical tests, some of them will, just by chance, give interesting results.
Brain imagers aren't so gullible and have developed statistical approaches to account for spurious associations. Notes the Neuroskeptic:
But not everyone uses multiple comparisons correction. This is where the fish comes in - Bennett et al show that if you don't use it, you can find "neural activation" even in the tiny brain of dead fish. Of course, with the appropriate correction, you don't.
The dead salmon study follows on a hotly debated paper making similar claims, goadingly titled "Voodoo Correlations in Social Neuroscience". After the online edition of the paper generated an intense, sometimes vitriolic, response from scientists whose results were derided as so much black magic, the journal and authors changed the paper's title to "Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition".
I frequently cover functional brain imaging research for New Scientist and have followed this debate closely. I lack the expertise to critique the statistical rigour of these studies, so I'm reliant on science's peer review system and – when possible – the opinions of outside sources whom I contact to comment on a paper.
Now, as a result of this debate, I'm more careful in reporting on fMRI studies than I used to be.
On the other hand, I worry that these critiques could, as Neuroskeptic puts it, cause us to throw the baby salmon out with the bathwater. Could widespread scepticism over functional brain-imaging hinder progress in making sense of the human brain?
Neuroscientists are finding increasingly sophisticated uses for brain imaging. These include computational approaches that can decode brain scans to reveal the the words or images that a person is reading or viewing. It will be a shame if a couple of rotten fish ruin this progress. | <urn:uuid:e3207b7a-56da-49a6-8a92-06cc7a1c9365> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/09/dead-salmon-responds-to-portra.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930466 | 600 | 1.695313 | 2 |
LWCF and State Parks – what a Wednesday!
Yesterday was an inspiring day, focused on conservation, recreation, and the economics behind it all.
First, we had the honor of hosting Congressman Charlie Bass in our Concord store. It was inspiring to hear Congressman Bass, our CEO Will Manzer, and representatives from the Nature Conservancy and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests discuss threats to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and why this program is so vital to New Hampshire. The quick version? As Bass said, “I have long been a supporter of conservation programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Community Forest Program because they have had a positive impact on preserving our state’s resources and boosting our economy. ” (See the bottom of this post for some resources on the subject…)
Next, I headed over to the seacoast to participate in the Northeast State Park Association Annual Meeting, hosted by NH State Parks. Participating in the luncheon at the Seacoast Science Center, the roundtable discussion, and the guided tour of the new Hampton Beach State Park facilities gave me the opportunity to meet some very enthusiastic state park directors from MD to VT and (almost) everywhere in between. This group is truly dedicated to improving the experience at, the access to, and the value of our state parks, ensuring we continue to have great places to play in our local communities. We’re looking forward to continuing to learn more about how we can partner with these and other organizations.
My takeaways from the day? 1) There are a lot of very passionate people working very hard to ensure that Jacey and her peers have as much opportunity to play outdoors as we did as children. 2) While I certainly know a good deal about these topics, there’s a lot more that can be learned. 3) I have a wicked cool job.
Factoids from the LWCF Coalition website…
Active outdoor recreation provides a powerful building block in our national economy that supports more than 6.5 million jobs (1 out of 20 jobs in the U.S.) and contributes more than $730 billion annually, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Check out the Outdoor Industry Association’s National Economic Impact Report.
The Trust for Public Land has found that every $1 spent on LWCF returns $4 in economic value such as protecting water quality and supply.
The LWCF program has permanently protected nearly five million acres of public lands including some of America’s most treasured assets such as Grand Canyon National Park, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the White Mountain National Forest, and Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the nation’s first federal refuge.
Here’s a link to the NH factsheet. There are factsheets available for all 50 states!
And finally, a cool interactive map from The Nature Conservancy, showing LWCF projects across the country. | <urn:uuid:d70e6f35-6f1e-4b75-b1eb-5da53216b39c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emsexploration.com/wordpress/lwcfstateparks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94418 | 603 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Stepping into the cool atmosphere of Kim Ngan Temple on Hang Bac
Street, Gemma Bone, a tourist from England, was amazed by an installation of
various hats made of dried leaves that covered the front yard and gate.
She was overwhelmed with the tranquil images of the Vietnamese countryside,
right in the heart of the busy Old Quarter.
"It's really beautiful," she told Viet Nam News, looking at green silk swathes
hanging down from the temple's ceiling, scattered with hats. "[The installation]
is highly skilled and perfect. I love the idea of combining traditional
[material] and modern [art] like this.
"The hanging silk seems to create a space that I want to go through," she said.
Bone was among hundreds of tourists, mostly foreigners, appreciating the ongoing
installation works of traditional handicraft products at four tourism venues in
the Old Quarter, namely Kim Ngan Temple on Hang Bac Street, Dong Lac Temple on
Hang Dao Street, Old House at No 87 Ma May Street, and the Old Quarter
Information Office at 28 Hang Buom Street.
"The programme aims to promote traditional handicrafts that used to exist inside
the Old Quarter a few centuries ago, and are still thriving in villages
surrounding the capital," said Chu Thuy Nga, an official from the Old Quarter
Nga said the programme was among regular cultural activities celebrating
traditional cultures throughout the year in the Old Quarter area.
This time, conical hats, bamboo fans, traditional musical instruments and wooden
drums are the centrepieces of northern handicrafts.
"We have tried our best to invite local artisans to come here to demonstrate
their crafts to tourists," Nga said. "Except one artisan from Dao Xa traditional
musical instrument village who cannot attend due to bad health, the other three
artisans we invited from the typical handicraft villages of Chi Le (conical
hat), Chang Son (bamboo fan) in former Ha Tay province (now part of Ha Noi), and
Doi Tam (drum) in Ha Nam Province are here to make the installation vivid."
According to artisan Vu Thi Thong, 76, who has made conical hats since she was
seven, all of her three sons and their families are following in her footsteps,
earning a living from making hats from dried plants.
"Although few city dwellers wear conical hats, people in rural areas still wear
the traditional products which are waterproof and protect people from the sun,"
she said. "We make a living from the hats, which can be bought as special gifts
to foreigners and for export."
Artist Nguyen Manh Duc, who is in charge of the installation works, said a team
of four artists were invited to join the programme, who then travelled to the
villages to choose the materials and meet with artisans.
They then created their installation works in keeping with the aesthetics of the
old temples and architecture around them.
Each of the artists found a different way to "conquer" the creative atmosphere,
the key to which was the acting artisans, Duc said.
For example, Nguyen Hong Hai, who has created works based on conical hats, was
inspired by local markets at Chi Le Village.
He set up a market scene with women wearing conical hats and ao toi (rain coats
made of dried leaves).
The whole market space was covered with long green silk cloth and the flat hats
of old Kinh Bac people. The creative ceiling brings a feeling of being
protected, like the feeling people have when they wear the hats.
Nguyen Huy An, who worked with bamboo fans, made an arch from bamboo fans, like
that of an old village gate at Dong Lac Temple.
Nga said after the exhibitions closed at the end of this month, the venues would
be used to display folk toys on the occasion of Mid Autumn Festival for
children, and other handicrafts such as jewellery making from Chau Khe Village
in Hai Duong Province or Dinh Cong Village of Ha Noi, where many of today's
residents on Hang Bac Street come from.
The venues are among the most popular destinations for tourists in the Old
Quarter, which welcomes around 200 visitors per day in peak seasons (March-April
and September-October), according to statistics from the department.
VietNamNet/Viet Nam News | <urn:uuid:68daed59-6393-4ae1-83f2-926de3a4cc4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vietnamtravels.vn/Greek/newsdetail/10725/Tourists-marvel-at-crafts-displays.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961748 | 934 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Dispatch 34 - October 13, 2003
By C. A. Linder
Weather conditions: Overcast skies, 15 kt winds, 1-2 ft seas,
air temperature 32°F
Fruits of our Labor
Every night after finishing the dispatch I click on my headlamp
and take a leisurely stroll around the decks before heading to my
stateroom. Last night was quite a surprise - no headlamp required.
After so many days of overcast skies, seeing the moon shining brightly
in the sky was quite a shock. Only a few ribbons of clouds hung
on the horizon. The moon was so bright that my shadow was clearly
visible. The view from on top of the pilot house was incredible
- the bow was pointed straight into river of silvery light.
After such a clear night I woke up early expecting a bright sunrise. But the clouds had returned - a now-familiar blanket of gray. Snow squalls came and went today as our CTD sampling took us into deeper and deeper waters.
As we collect more and more CTD data, the struggle to understand it all, to put together a story of what these waters are doing, has begun. Lively discussions have sprung up in the main lab around the chart table or the multitude of plots that we have created. This is only the very beginning of many months, even years, of careful consideration of what these numbers may mean for the future of the Arctic Ocean.
|Dean Stockwell and Sarah Zimmermann discuss the latest CTD data.
Mrs. Lyons' 5th grade class at Mt. Alvernia Academy, Chestnut
Hill, Massachusetts sent me these great questions.
Question from Dominique, Camilla,
and Nicholas: Have you seen any interesting animals that
you have never seen before?
Answer: The Arctic is an otherworldly place. The
creatures that inhabit this world of ice and water are just as bizarre.
Tusky walruses, prowling polar
bears, seals, and a variety of whales make their homes here. I
saw all of these denizens of the north last year, on the icebreaker
Polar Star. This year we have encountered a lot of the same
animals, and some new faces, too! Probably the biggest surprise for
me was the short-eared owl that flew
around the ship one morning. We have also seen other arctic birds
such as a long-billed dowitcher and
a long-tailed duck. Even the lowly jellyfish
that floated by the ship one day was quite a sight.
Questions from Bartley and Alex:
Have you seen any icebergs? If your ship gets stuck in the ice, can
it tear through it?
|Fruits of our labor - plots of water properties from the CTD sampling.
Answer: For the first week of the cruise, when we
completed a CTD section to our farthest
north point, we saw lots of ice! The ice we encountered was broken
up sea ice. Since it was formed from freezing seawater, it typically
is not very thick - only 15-25 feet or so. In the eastern Arctic (northeastern
Canada), you can also encounter blocks of ice that have "calved"
(broken off of) freshwater glaciers. These icebergs can be as big
as houses, and it was one of these that sunk the Titanic.
Glaciers in Canada and Greenland account for the vast majority of
arctic bergs. Since the currents in the eastern Arctic tend to carry
the bergs into the Atlantic Ocean instead of into the central Arctic,
we are unlikely to see any of these monster bergs on this cruise.
For more information on ice formation and ice terms, visit the Sea
Ice Glossary page.
What happens if the ship gets stuck in ice? Well, sometimes you just
have to wait for the ice to let go! This happened once during the
Healy's ice trials cruise (see Dispatch
25 for details). The Healy's hull is made of steel an
inch and half thick. Huge struts, which look just like ribs, add strength
to the hull to keep it from being crushed in the ice. In the past,
oceanographers have deliberately allowed their vessels to become frozen
in the pack ice. The most famous arctic oceanographer of all time
was Fridtjof Nansen of Norway. In 1893, he froze his vessel Fram
into the Arctic ice and spent three years making scientific observations
of the Arctic Ocean. Modern icebreakers have also been frozen into
the ice, including the SHEBA experiment (1997-1998). It's a great
way to really become one with your subject! To read about more historical
arctic explorers and oceanographers, visit the WHOI
Beaufort Gyre history webpages.
As I type this dispatch the decorated styrofoam
cups are being crushed by the pressure of tons and tons of seawater.
They are going down to 3,000 meters depth, which is 300 times the
normal atmospheric pressure! Be sure to check tomorrow's dispatch
to see what the crushed cups look like.
Happy Birthday to Val Schmidt today! He's a year older than me now,
which makes him really ancient. | <urn:uuid:0f75d09d-b3ac-4140-89d4-d30ea6ffdcf1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whoi.edu/science/PO/arcticedge/arctic_west03/update/update_031013.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950993 | 1,113 | 1.65625 | 2 |
[Editor's Note: In On Location, the House explores the unique setting of a noteworthy entertainment, going behind the scenes and getting the scoop behind the locale.]
Along with the tail end of Lord Grantham's (Hugh Bonneville) faithful Labrador, Isis, it appears at the start of the opening credits of each Downton Abbey episode: That spectacular English manse that gives the series its name. In real life, the home of the well-to-do Crawley family and their entourage of servants is Highclere Castle, and it rests in Hampshire, on England's southern coast. The Jacobethan centerpiece of a 1,000-acre estate, Highclere offers a setting of seemingly limitless shooting potential, with baroque state rooms, hallways, and pristinely primped courtyards ready to house all manner of high-society intrigue. On the hit show, created by Julian Fellowes (who also scripted Robert Altman's Gosford Park), characters regard the home as a bona fide entity, as if those regal archways and amply-adorned walls could actually breathe. It's an age-old cliché, but the estate is very much its own character on Downton Abbey, and moreover, it's the character that unites all others. Of course, it serves as the embodiment of the ever-looming issue of Lord Grantham's heir, representative of all that's to be gained by whomever carries on the Crawley lineage. But it's also the common ground between the aristocrats and the help, as all see the good of the house as the greater good. Downton is, to an extent, its own nation, with devoted citizens both upstairs and down.
Reportedly, people have been living at the Highclere site for roughly 1,300 years. The castle as it stands today is the home's third incarnation, built in place of an earlier house, which was itself erected atop the foundations of a medieval palace, whose owners, the Bishops of Winchester, stretch back to the 8th century. In the 1600s, the castle became home to the wealthy Carnarvon family, and it passed down through generations on the path to its current glory. The proceedings are straight out of a Downton Abbey shooting script: Attorney general Robert Sawyer passed a Highclere mansion to his daughter, Margaret, who wed Thomas Herbert, the 8th Earl of Pembroke, who bequeathed the estate to his second son, Robert Sawyer Herbert, who in turn passed Highclere on to his nephew, Henry Herbert, who went on to become the 1st Earl of Carnarvon. Henry's grandson, 3rd Earl Henry John George, would be the one to perfect Highclere's majesty, bringing in Sir Charles Barry to remodel and refinish the home in Bath stone, just after Barry had completed the whopping task of building the Houses of Parliament. At the time, the young Queen Victoria had just come into power, and once Highclere was at last completed in 1878, it became one of the Victorian Era's foremost centers for political life.
Through the years, Highclere welcomed an impressive who's-who of guests, including politicians, aviators, soldiers, scientists, inventors, and Egyptologists. The castle houses an Egyptian Exhibition, thanks to the exploits of 5th Earl George Herbert, an amateur Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922, and brought his interests home with him. There are some chapters of Highclere's history that closely mirror the Downton Abbey narrative. For instance, during George Herbert's ownership, Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon, transformed the estate into a hospital during World War I, just as the characters make Downton a convalescent home during the same war in season two. Helping and healing hundreds (as many letters on record attest), Almina pulled a Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) and became a skilled nurse. Later, during World War II, her spirit carried on, as Highclere housed young evacuees from north London. Calmer in its postwar days, the castle was occupied by the 6th Earl until his death in 1986, and to this day, it's home to the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, who split their time between Highclere and another nearby home.
According to Hichclere Castle's website, Fellowes is a longtime friend of the Carnarvons, and wrote Downton Abbey with the location in mind. Naturally, the phenomenon of the series has made the site a sought-after hot spot, with tours of the castle and grounds given regularly (Highclere is currently closed to the public, and reopens for Easter on March 30). Yes, viewers can relive their favorite scenes from the show, passing through the green-walled Drawing Room and red-carpeted Library just like Michelle Dockery and Maggie Smith. Downton Abbey, however, is not the only entertainment to have used Highclere as a backdrop. The main area of the Saloon appeared in the Heath Ledger vehicle The Four Feathers, and was a chief location for Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (number two on Slant Magazine's list of the best films of the 1990s). The castle was also featured in John Legend's 2006 video for "Heaven Only Knows," and the films A Sense of History, King Ralph, and The Missionary. But only Downton Abbey has given this stunning landmark the spotlight it deserves, showcasing it as quite possibly the grandest home in television history. | <urn:uuid:847e1141-12cb-4fb9-9092-0ba19ff5e2fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2013/01/on-location-downton-abbeys-highclere-castle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971125 | 1,172 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Look, let’s be honest, coffee may be the most important item in a teacher’s arsenal. For those of you that do not enjoy coffee, or feel I am being hyperbolic, please consider what your school would be like if your colleagues didn’t have their daily dose. Terrifying, isn’t it? Even those of you who do not partake get to reap the benefit of a happily caffeinated work force.
In an effort to move forward on the SITE Food for Thought zine, I have started a thread on this magical elixir here. As we’ve not done a lesson on food just yet, this particular outline is a bit of an experiment. It’s definitely lighthearted, but also involves responsible shopping, buying locally when possible and the health benefits and risks of more-than-moderate consumption.
As I was both a coffee-jerk in college, and have also produced a documentary on a local coffee company with CET’s George “cup of” Joe Miller and his brother, Reid (full video in the thread, trailer below), I’ve got a lot of thoughts and ideas on the subject. However, for most coffee drinkers, their preferences and such are personal. I’d love to hear about your morning rituals, methods of making, and other means of intake. | <urn:uuid:54291289-de1f-4267-bd58-84c0c24c6d49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.depaulcet.org/site-coffee-the-secret-backbone-of-the-school-system/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960806 | 282 | 1.648438 | 2 |
- Psychology & the public
- What we do
- Member networks
- Careers, education & training
Why we applaud dud perfomances
Most of us have done it - told someone their performance was great when it was in fact woeful. But whose ego were we protecting? Theirs or our own?
A new study reported on our Research Digest has teased these possibilities apart by inviting 263 undergrad participants to read and provide feedback on an essay by another student on media violence and aggression.
- Most Read
- Most Comments
- Register of Applied Psychology Practice Supervisors
- Raising awareness of adult autism | <urn:uuid:7ca204a8-8425-4ef0-b405-ac50e778b32d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bps.org.uk/news/why-we-applaud-dud-perfomances | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948788 | 127 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Faced with the task of finding work in a down economy and unsure what career to pursue or how to focus her job search, Amanda Hamberg is using the $5,000 Christmas gift she received from her grandfather to hire a personal career coach.
Hamberg, a 22-year-old art history major who graduated in December from Boston College, is counting on coaching --a service that usually caters to midcareer professionals in transition--to help her choose a profession and acquire the skills to land an entry-level job in that field.
"Everything seems really tough," she said of the job market. "I went to some office-staffing agencies, but they don't have any opportunities. It's difficult to find work. The career center at Boston College was very helpful, but having a coach gives me more [personal] time."
Call it the one-on-one solution: In the job hunt, some newly minted graduates like Hamberg are turning to personal coaching in hopes of besting the competition and finding work.
Ruth Robbins, senior career counselor at the Five O'Clock Club in New York, says college graduates with financial resources have always sought personalized help, "but it is now increasing because of the economy and because new grads feel it is very, very hard to find work."
Robbins' hourly rate: $85 per hour for young clients. Robbins said she started working with one young client in the middle of the college student's senior year. "I worked with her on a resume, and with getting her a job in hospital administration," said Robbins, who helped the client land an entry-level job in the industry.
Career coaching services have long been used by established professionals seeking personal assistance from counselors who also act as mentors.
Most career coaches use personality tests or vocational assessments to determine the work clients are best suited for. Then they help them map out strategies for securing an interview and, hopefully, an offer of employment.
Last year, more than 1 million jobs were eliminated from corporate payrolls. As a result, campus hiring was down more than 36 percent in 2002, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. | <urn:uuid:cfa91ef4-31dc-41e6-9f41-66d7fb3bf7ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-01-13/news/0301130229_1_boston-college-career-center-coaching | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97909 | 447 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Algeria, Vietnam look toward new chapter in ties
Algerian National People’s Assembly Chairman Abdelaziz Ziari arrived in Hanoi on January 19 for an official friendly visit. He held talks with Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong the same day.
“This Vietnam visit, following previous visits by leaders of the two countries, will contribute to opening a bright prospect for bilateral ties,” the Algerian chairman said.
He said the Algerian Assembly, Government and people want to strengthen friendship and elevate its economic cooperation with Vietnam on a par with the two countries’ political ties, tapping both’s available potentials.
The Algerian official emphasised that his country is making efforts to increase its trade value with Vietnam to be equal to that of some Asian countries it has been trading with.
He showed his admiration to the Vietnamese people’s immense construction and development achievements and Vietnam ’s growing role and position in terms of politics and economy in Southeast Asia and Asia .
“Vietnam was an example in the struggle for national liberation and is currently a pride in economic development,” the Algerian guest said.
He noted that in its transitional phase to the market-driven economy Algeria sees Vietnam’s renewal and WTO-related experiences valuable to follow.
He suggested the two countries consider the establishment of consultancy groups to share experiences in these fields, affirming that “Algeria is eager to learn from Vietnam ’s experiences based on trust and fine relations already established between the two countries.”
Delivering the Algerian people’s respect to the Vietnamese people’s courage to defend the country, the Algerian official said the Algerian people’s revolution has originated and developed on the grounds of the values the Vietnamese people had attained from wars against colonialists.
“Sacrifices and losses in struggles to defend our nations and national construction and development achievements serve as the foundation for Vietnam and Algeria to develop their friendship,” he emphasised.
The two countries should share responsibilities to educate their future generations to continue preserving and promoting that valuable friendship, the Algerian official underlined.
Considering that there still exists colonialism with new forms of imposition, Algeria wishes to enhance its solidarity, friendship and cooperation with the Vietnamese people, as well as with other peoples around the world, to preserve the values of the peace-loving people’s just struggles, the guest said.
NA Chairman Trong shared with his guest the need to promote education on the Vietnam-Algerian traditional ties among the two countries’ young people.
Vietnam-Algerian ties have stood the test of time and have been unceasingly strengthened and promoted, he affirmed. However, Trong pointed to the fact that economic, trade and investment ties have not yet been tapped to match their potentials as well as aspirations of the two peoples.
He proposed that the two legislative bodies and governments work together to facilitate businesses’ partnership.
The two countries should capitalize on each other’s strengths to promote their mutual growth, with Algeria providing a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter the African market and Vietnam helping Algerian commodities to gain a niche in the ASEAN-strong market, Trong told his guest.
He highlighted the two countries’ growing cooperation in the oil and gas industry and their moves to step up collaboration in education and labour issues.
The NA Chairman agreed to enhance the sharing of experiences, including those on market economy development and legislative activities, and WTO negotiation skills with Algeria .
Trong affirmed that sticking to the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification, Vietnam has treasured the promotion of friendship and cooperation with its traditional friends, including Algeria .
The Vietnamese legislative leader congratulated Algeria on its socio-economic gains, its current stand as one of the four emerging economies in Africa, as well as its important role in maintaining peace in North Africa and Africa in general and in the non-aligned movement.
“The Vietnamese people have never forgotten the Algerian people’s assistance given to their past struggle for national defence and current national construction and development,” Trong said.
He said he hoped the Algerian guest’s visit would further promote mutual understanding, and step up friendship and cooperation between the two legislative bodies.
At the talks, the two legislative leaders vowed to push up the implementation of cooperation agreements signed in 2005 and further cooperation between legislative agencies and parliamentarians.
They also reached a consensus on increasing coordination and support for each other in international forums.
The same day, the Algerian guest paid tribute to the late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum and visited Van Mieu (Temple of Literature), which is Vietnam’s first university.
Later, he was feted in a grand banquet hosted by NA Chairman Trong./.
|Back Top page Print Email| | <urn:uuid:5fb3939c-dfb9-4b19-b59f-2ac254dbe44e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mofa.gov.vn/vnemb.tx/vnemb.vn/tin_hddn/ns100120091529/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96077 | 1,021 | 1.664063 | 2 |
NEWS RELEASE 08/21/01
FASB Issues Two Agenda Proposals for Comment— Financial Performance Reporting and Disclosure About Intangible Assets
Norwalk, CT, August 21, 2001—The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has distributed proposals that explore the possible addition of two major projects to its agenda: reporting of financial performance measurements and disclosure about intangible assets. Both proposed projects intend to expand the information available to investors, creditors and other financial statement users. The Board seeks comments from constituents by September 19, 2001, on support for these projects and their proposed scope. The proposals are available on this website.
The first proposal discusses a project that focuses on form and content, classification and aggregation, and display of specified items in interim and annual financial statements. Through this proposed project, the Board seeks to address significant financial reporting concerns raised by constituents, including the proliferation of pro forma earnings measures, the lack of a common definition of financial performance, and the need for a better understanding of the use of key financial measures and ratios derived from financial statements.
The second proposal seeks to establish standards for improving disclosure of information about intangible assets that are not presently recognized as assets in financial statements. Intangible assets include brand names, customer lists and patent rights. Today, intangible assets that are generated internally, and some acquired assets that are written off immediately after acquisition, are not reflected in financial statements. Generally, there is very little information—quantitative or qualitative—about intangibles in financial reports. The proposed project would expand the scope of that information.
In determining new agenda items, the Board takes into consideration requests from constituents to add projects as well as to augment or narrow their scopes. As part of its overall agenda-setting process, the Board considers various factors, including pervasiveness of the issue, alternative solutions, technical feasibility, practical consequences and the opportunity for convergence of international standards.
About the Financial Accounting Standards Board
Since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has been the designated organization in the private sector for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting. Those standards govern the preparation of financial reports and are officially recognized as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Such standards are essential to the efficient functioning of the economy because investors, creditors, auditors, and others rely heavily on credible, transparent, and comparable financial information. Additional information about the FASB is available at this website.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board . . .
Serving the investing public through transparent information resulting from high-quality financial reporting standards, developed in an independent, private sector, open due process. | <urn:uuid:f9eee98e-acb6-4adc-91ed-6bd0063ac51d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fasb.org/news/nr082101.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939194 | 534 | 1.5 | 2 |
Gibson’s SG model solidbody electric guitar, first released in 1961, was a continuation of the Les Paul model, which was introduced in 1952, but which had been gradually losing sales to other electric guitars of the era from companies like Fender and Gretsch. The Fenders, in particular, were less expensive to produce, generally constructed of a single slab of tonewood, with a bolt-on neck. The Les Paul, in keeping with Gibson’s long tradition of fine craftsmanship in the manufacture of their acoustic guitars, mandolins and banjos, featured a body of solid mahogany, with a hand-carved maple cap, and a glued-in, or set neck. This produced a solid, well-crafted guitar, but the greater production costs eventually resulted in the need for a redesign. The SG model featured a thinner mahogany body, without the carved maple cap, and with a second cutaway on the upper bout of the guitar, in addition to the lower cutaway, both with more exaggerated “devil’s horn” points. The neck was still glued to the body, which joined the neck at the 19th fret, as opposed to the 16th fret on a Les Paul. This resulted in a lighter-weight guitar with easier access to the upper fretboard, and a sleek, new symmetrical design. The updated model was still called the Les Paul for several years, although the guitar’s namesake co-designer wasn’t pleased with the changes, and asked to have his name removed. The new model was simply called the SG, for Solid Guitar, and has remained in production since its release, becoming a favorite of such players as Frank Zappa, Carlos Santana, Pete Townshend of The Who, and Robby Krieger of The Doors. Eric Clapton’s psychedelically-painted SG from his Cream days eventually turned up in Todd Rundgren’s hands, Mike Nesmith of The Monkees played an SG in their counter-culture classic movie Head, and, of course, Angus Young from AC/DC and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi are forever linked to their iconic SG’s.
Today, the model continues to gain popularity, and the Epiphone SG continues Gibson’s tradition of well-crafted guitars, but at a much more affordable price. For instance, the Limited Edition 50th Anniversary 1961 SG reissue features a set neck and P-90 single coil pickups, as well as the period-correct TV Yellow finish, originally designed to reduce flare-ups from the tube-based black-and-white television cameras of the time. The G-400 is an SG-based model with set neck, Tune-O-Matic bridge, the familiar 24.75” string length, and a natural worn brown or cherry finish. The G-310 features an alder body with bolt-on mahogany neck, and the Epi SG-Special is loaded with an innovative killswitch in the tone pot, for rapid-fire staccato effects. The Epiphone SG, then, provides all the firepower and killer tone that made the Gibson version famous, but at a fraction of the price. No dilemma here! Grab an SG by the horns - order yours today! | <urn:uuid:47598f81-4b9f-410f-a63f-087a094de550> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musiciansfriend.com/epiphone-sg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968201 | 688 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Mahmoud Qurtom, 7, can often be found playing with his brothers and sisters, barefoot in the sand by his home's doorway in Gaza. He speaks only a word or two at a time, but smiles a lot. He explains why his right arm is in a sling.
"I was playing in the doorway," he says, "And then I ran away from the rockets."
Mahmoud's sisters brought him to their father, Osama Qurtom, who looked at him and saw nothing wrong. Then he noticed blood coming from a wound under the boy's arm, where a piece of rocket shrapnel had entered, fractured a rib and then lodged in his lung.
Mahmoud was treated at a hospital, and after four days, he appears to be recovering. His injury was a horrible déjà vu for his father, the very one he had feared since Israeli air attacks began last Wednesday.
"From the first air strike, my memories began to repeat themselves," he says. "The fear reawakened in me. I remembered the tragedy. My son. My neighbors."
The last time Israel invaded Gaza, nearly four years ago, Mahmoud's older brother Ahmed was 7 years old. He was playing with his siblings in the doorway of his house when a rocket exploded, killing him. While this was a horrible coincidence, Qurtom says, others around him have suffered the same sort of thing.
"This is normal here in Gaza," he says matter-of-factly. "This is war. Do you expect the enemy to bring you food and drink? Everyone has experienced loss in these wars."
When there are air raids, the Qurtom family sleeps in his building's stairwells for shelter. The bare concrete walls tremble when bombs explode nearby.
After his son Ahmed's death, Qurtom lost his job as a truck driver due to poor health. He has survived on international assistance and some help from his family, including his older brother Alaa.
Alaa Qurtom runs a construction materials company nearby. His son was seriously injured in the same explosion that killed Ahmed. Alaa Qurtom says it's hard for him to accept his brother's suffering.
"Osama is living in very bad circumstances," he says, speaking in his company's office. "He had two kidney operations. And the shock of his son's death took away half of his life. And as you know, to Arabs consider sons to be especially valuable."
Osama Qurtom says one of his daughters suffered from fits of anger and needed psychiatric care.
Like many other people here, Osama Qurtom believes the Israelis were deliberately targeting civilians and trying to eradicate Palestinians. This view came out in a conversation he says he had with another of his sons Abdul Kader, who had just awoken from a nightmare.
"One day, he asked me to buy him a gun," he recalls. "I asked him why. He answered, 'Because I want to kill Israelis.' I asked him why. He said, 'Because they killed my brother.'"
The day after the cease-fire is announced, little Mahmoud is chasing chickens among the palm trees in his family's yard. He seems cheered up by the news that his school, where he's in first grade, will reopen Monday, and that a visitor has brought him some chocolate.
Since his son Ahmed's death, Osama Qurtom has had another son, whom he has also named Ahmed. But he says there's no substitute for his lost son.
"Even if I had all the money in the world, or had a new baby every day, it would never replace his memory in my heart," he says. "God compensated us by giving us the new Ahmed. Really, we're just trying to keep his name in the house."
Osama Qurtom glances at young Mahmoud. He says Mahmoud may forget the trauma of his own injury, but he will never forget the loss of his brother.
On the wall hangs a large color photograph of the first Ahmed. The picture has been digitally altered to show him in a cap and gown, at the college graduation he never had. | <urn:uuid:08334dd3-5a84-463c-a4a9-d3b588120b1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/165729646/conflict-reawakens-bad-memories-for-gaza-family | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99404 | 863 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Abortion foes begin push for new Kansas laws
Published on -2/12/2013, 7:23 AM
By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer
TOPEKA -- Abortion opponents urged a Kansas Senate committee Monday to endorse a bill that would prohibit doctors from terminating a pregnancy solely because a woman doesn't want a baby of a certain gender, marking the start of a push for additional restrictions in a state that's already tightened its laws significantly.
The measure before the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee would make it a misdemeanor the first time a doctor is convicted of performing a sex-selection abortion and a felony each time afterward. A woman's husband could sue a doctor over such a procedure, as could a parent or guardian of a girl under 18 who had one.
Both chambers have solid anti-abortion majorities, and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is a strong abortion opponent, making it likely that the measure will become law. Supporters of the bill believe there's widespread public support for a ban, and no abortion rights groups testified against it -- though they see it as part of a broader effort to limit access.
The committee expects to vote on the measure in the next few weeks as other committees consider additional measures backed by the influential anti-abortion group Kansans for Life.
There's no solid data on how many sex-selection abortions are performed in Kansas. Abortion rights supporters contend there's no evidence of them. But abortion foes believe it's a growing problem because of more sophisticated prenatal testing.
Backers of the bill also said that such abortions almost always occur because a woman, her husband or her family doesn't want a girl.
Steven Mosher, president of the anti-abortion Population Research Institute, based in northern Virginia, said sex-selection abortions represent "the worst form of discrimination possible."
"It's a discrimination that kills," Mosher told reporters. "Men and women here are fundamentally equal and simply being the wrong gender is not grounds for being eliminated."
The Kansas legislation is modeled on bans in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Arizona. It says a woman or girl who has a sex-selection abortion cannot be prosecuted, but the doctor could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500 upon a first conviction.
A 2008 study by two Columbia University economists suggested that the practice of aborting female fetuses -- widespread in some nations where parents traditionally prefer sons -- is done in the U.S. on a limited basis. The economists analyzed the gender of U.S.-born children of Chinese, Korean and Asian Indian parents and found that the odds of having a boy increased if the family already had a girl or two.
Kansans for Life cited the study in its testimony on the bill, quoting the study's conclusion that the numbers are "evidence of sex selection, most likely at the prenatal stage."
But Elise Higgins, a lobbyist for the Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women, called a ban on sex-selection abortions "nearly impossible to enforce" and said abortion rights supporters didn't testify against it partly because they view other measures as more serious threats to reproductive health care access.
"The stated aim of this legislation is to ban sex-selective abortions, but its effects will only be to limit women's decision making capabilities and criminalize health providers," NOW said in a statement.
Since Brownback became governor in January 2011, Kansas has restricted private health insurance coverage for abortions, tightened limits on late-term abortions and strengthened requirements for doctors to notify a parent or guardian when a minor seeks an abortion.
The state also has imposed health and safety regulations specifically for abortion clinics, though a lawsuit has prevented their enforcement.
This year, Kansans for Life wants to strengthen the state's "informed consent" law directing physicians to give patients certain information before performing an abortion and to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren't used to finance abortions even indirectly through tax credits or exemptions.
Sex-selection abortion ban is SB 141. Informed consent, taxpayer funding measures are contained in HB 2253.
Kansas Legislature: http://www.kslegislature.org
Follow John Hanna on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apjdhanna | <urn:uuid:bca6855c-f59e-4cf7-a1e6-77a1c165bb8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hdnews.net/wirestories/Abortion-foes-begin-push-for-new-Kansas-laws | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953959 | 860 | 1.609375 | 2 |
PRWID Discusses Helper Agreement
The Price River Water Improvement District board met with the Helper council to review a previous bill sent to the city and discussed monies reportedly owed to PRWID for emergency water.
Last year, Helper was faced with having to replace a transmission line that ran down from the canyon bringing water to the town.
Because the line was leaking more water than what was being delivered to the town, Helper applied for an emergency loan from the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board to cover the cost of replacing it.
But while the line was being installed, Helper ran into a second problem - the temporary acquisition of water from PRWID.
After completing the water line project, Helper paid PRWID $70,214.80, the amount billed to the city by the district. But received another bill from PRWID asking for an additional $118,813.82 for the water.
PRWID indicated the previous bill to Helper was not accurate due to the fact that the district only calculated the price on the gallons of water used by the city.
In PRWID's resolution 1999-2, the district charge $17.32 for 6,000 gallons of water per connection and a graduated scale is used for overages.
But PRWID only charged Helper $1.16 per thousand gallons of water, the same as current overages for regular users.
PRWID and Helper are currently looking at payment options for the bill, said Jeff Richens, PRWID assistant district manager, during the water improvement district's last board meeting.
Since PRWID is not the sole provider of water to Helper, the town requested to adopt a formal agreement between the two parties at a subsequent meeting that would allow future billing to be based on set rates.
Helper asked PRWID to draft an agreement including water rates, which would be slightly higher than that charged for full-time users.
The city also asked the water improvement district to agree to allow Helper a certain time period to collect funds and pay PRWID after receiving a bill.
The district was in favor of making an agreement between the two parties. PRWID officials decided to respond to Helper's request with authorization for drafting an agreement to be brought in front of the PRWID board for final approval.
Also brought up by the board were the 200 shares of reservoir water Helper currently owns. Since cities cannot lease water, the possibility of transferring the shares to PRWID and allowing the district to lease shares out for a period of time to help pay off the difference in bills was discussed.
Since no decisions could be made, the issue was added to PRWID's next agenda for Aug. 2, when the Helper City Council could possibly be in attendance to discuss the agreement between the two parties.
In another matter, PRWID discussed a possible increase in the district's current property tax rate to help shore up the agency's sagging finances.
Currently, PRWID is at a .000586 mill levy. But the water improvement district is consider increasing the levy to .000732, which is the maximum allowed by law.
During the July 5 meeting, Richens told the board they would be allowed to increase to a .0008 mill levy and that that would be an increase of approximately $16.32 a year on a home worth $150,000. During the latest meeting, it was brought up that the .0008 was wrong, but the .000732 would not change the expected amount of funds PRWID would bring in every year. | <urn:uuid:815e8b4c-cc5e-4835-9cc3-91bfec484787> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunadvocate.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=7311 | 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 | 0.971736 | 746 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The far-reaching impact of family caregiving
It’s no secret that with people living longer, there continues to be an increase in family caregiving for parents and other loved ones. This trend also has a domino effect on the impact in the workplace. Just take a look at the following statistics:
61 percent of family caregivers over the age of 50 have other jobs — 50 percent full-time and 11 percent part-time.
64 percent of workers with eldercare responsibilities most commonly arrive late, leave early or take off time during the day to provide care; 17 percent are reported taking a leave of absence and 9 percent have to go from full-time to part-time work.
19 percent left the workplace entirely because of having to care for a spouse or other family member.
According to the MetLife Mature Market Institute, family caregivers (50 and older) who leave the workforce to care for a parent lose, on average, almost $304,000 in wages and benefits over their lifetime. These estimates range from $283,716 for men and $324,044 for women.
These challenges will continue to rise. By 2020, one in three total U.S. households is expected to be involved with caring for an elderly relative, up from one in four today.
Even with this ongoing increase in working family caregivers, some might say that it is not too different than childcare while the baby boomers were born between the years 1946 and 1964. Let me tell you some of the key differences:
The beginning of eldercare and the duration is unpredictable. The need can develop suddenly and often involves many family members. Having a number of family members involved can lead to disagreements among siblings and these emotions can play a significant role when caring for a parent.
The physical demands on eldercare can be greater since it may include intimate personal assistance of activities of daily living, like bathing or toileting, for a grown adult. Additionally, the financial costs for eldercare can add to the strain of caregiving and the effects it has on one’s job. The distance between where the adult child and parents live adds to the stress and complications associated with logistics, additional expenses and the job when long-distance travel is involved.
Talking about your children and showing pictures of them on Smart Phones are commonplace today. Showing pictures of your elderly parents who need care is not. Some years back when you heard that someone died in their 70’s, it was not a big surprise. Now, the comment would be, “he (she) was so young!” Today, we hear more about people living until their late 80’s, 90’s and even 100’s.
Unfortunately, most people don’t want to face the fact that their family members are aging and may someday need care. Both the parents and adult children would rather not think about it. Since most are living longer because they are beating heart disease, cancer and other diseases, families have to change and openly discuss the facts and plan appropriately. Topics include financial matters, Durable Power of Attorney, insurance matters, parent’s wishes (if family cannot provide the hands-on care)… the list goes on.
Here are just a few of many questions I ask adult children when a parent is going to need some level of care, whether at home or outside the home:
Do you know how much your parent has coming in each month? Is there any long-term care insurance? Who has Durable Power of Attorney? Do they have an Advanced Health Care Directive?
When the answer is “I don’t know,” that adds to their stress level. Now is the time for family members have to work together to get things done. Plan. Plan. Plan.
Employers can play an important role. A recent study from the National Alliance for Caregiving, Workplace Eldercare shows by implementing eldercare programs can benefit employees and employers with worker retention, productivity, stress levels and health among workers. Some examples of programs include:
Referral to caregiver resources including in-home care companies, senior placement companies, health care advisors, senior move managers and more.
Having caregiver resources speak to working caregivers and provide information at the workplace.
On-site support groups for working caregivers.
These workplace benefits can help working family caregivers balance their work and personal lives while attending to the necessary caregiving responsibilities. The company can benefit from improved employee retention which saves money as well as recruitment efforts to attract the most talented individuals.
Frank M. Samson is a Certified Senior Advisor and founder of Senior Care Authority based in Sonoma (Seniorcareauthority.com.) The company provides support to families throughout California in helping them locate the best In-Home Care, Dementia Care, Independent and Assisted Living for their loved ones. Frank also hosts “The Aging Boomers” on KSVY 91.3FM and Sunfmtv.com. Reach him at .939.8744 or [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:b335e95c-2c2f-4f3f-aa51-e52149b045aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seniorcare.sonomaportal.com/2013/02/07/the-far-reaching-impact-of-family-caregiving/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965147 | 1,049 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Text Copyright 2007 J. Lee Lehman
This is one of the examples that Alan Leo published in Modern Astrology: pages 326-327 of Volume 3, 1893. Later, Leo would reprise these published horaries as his examples in Horary Astrology. Part of what is interesting about this example is what it shows of Casael's method: because he received his horaries mainly by post, he took the same time for the two letters that he opened. Having this same experience with e-mail, I can understand this: most likely he read them within a couple minutes of each other. Unless the time was close to a change in sign, I can understand how it was easier for Casael to just use the same chart: since he didn't use the Terms, there was less incentive to do a full chart.
Question: Would partnership be wise with a certain party: page 16
Finding no aspect between the lord of ascendant Mercury, and Jupiter the lord of the seventh, is an argument against it. The lord of the first and seventh both in moveable signs, one cadent the other succeedent, also negatives it. Saturn in your second, will render it suspicious as to the working or the profits, and so cause disagreement. Your co-significator, the Moon, applying to the square Uranus in third, an eccentric neighbour will probably circulate adverse reports respecting your refusal to join; Mars, lord of fourth, in no aspect of our significator or the Moon, I would advise you not to entertain it.
In the same post brought a letter from a lady desiring a little light on her engagement. In this question finding the lord of ascendant in no aspect to her lover, and hastening to a square aspect, is a strong argument against lasting affection. As Venus, lady of the tenth, signifying the lady’s mother, is square to Jupiter the seventh, it is quite plain to my mind her mother is opposed to him and may somewhat influence the daughter to break off the engagement.* The Sun, a potent agent in marriage questions, has no aspect to Jupiter, and the first aspect formed being a square is another argument against the union.
* Both facts have been admitted. | <urn:uuid:3f16e256-b837-4dcb-9812-ee2c579367ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leelehman.com/joomla15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:edwin-casael-two-partnership-horaries-1893-part-2&catid=32:horary&Itemid=57 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965706 | 453 | 1.554688 | 2 |
MIT professor’s book digs into the eclectic, textually linked reading choices of people in medieval London.
A love of sports can lead to exultation and heartbreak. But it can also lead to technical innovation, a point emphasized in one of the panels during the second annual MIT Sloan Sports Business Conference, held Feb. 9.
The sports conference, which brought together major figures in the sports industry for in-depth, often contentious, discussions, covered topics ranging from baseball and football analytics to managing high expectations for a team.
A panel discussion on sports technology, moderated by Kim Blair, director of MIT's Center for Sports Innovation, featured speakers from businesses that serve niche markets within the sports industry.
The startup Yoonew--a kind of stock market for sports tickets--came about when founder Gerry Wilson MBA '04 went to Fenway Park to try to get Red Sox tickets and came away empty-handed. "He started thinking, Wouldn't it be cool if there were insurance for tickets?" said Wilson's partner, Hagos Mehreteab MBA '06.
The Yoonew web site lets fans bid on tickets for "team fantasies" such as the Patriots getting into the Super Bowl and "fantasy matches," such as a future Patriots-Giants match, Mehreteab said. The company "brings what's traditionally found in financial market to the ticket market."
Ellen Brockley, co-founder and vice president of Motus Corporation (which was founded by MIT alumni) said co-founder Satayan Mahajan had noticed his golf game was always better when he played with a partner who was on the golf team. Being at MIT, he sought an "engineering solution." This became a low-cost, wireless three-dimensional motion-capturing vest that can be used for fitness training. The company is now moving into medical applications.
"If you can tell how an object moves, you have all sorts of applications," Brockley said.
Determining "who won" can be a technical challenge. Douglas J. DeAngelis, founder and president of Lynx System Developers, described how the combination of high-speed digital cameras and computers created a "photo finish" system in 1992. The system is now widely used in sports from track events to NASCAR races.
The relationship between star players and ticket sales is one of the aspects of StatBridge, a software firm founded in 1999 by Matthew Marolda that specialized in data visualization and analysis.
Dave Scarborough, executive vice president of Ticketmaster, described a future when fans come to events "without tickets," just as today passengers can fly on airlines without a physical ticket.
Asked what advice the panelists had for budding sports entrepreneurs, Brockley said, "Make sure your market is ready for the technology." | <urn:uuid:f3b440b4-1721-4c42-9fd0-71adac564fce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/sloan-sports-tt0213.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963221 | 573 | 1.507813 | 2 |
For almost 40 years, Kimmage DSC has facilitated education and training for development practitioners working in a range of occupations from over 65 countries. We have a strong reputation in Development Studies in Ireland and abroad and offer an inter-cultural and experience-based learning environment. The ethos of Kimmage DSC is embodied in a teaching approach which is based on participatory learning and critical thinking on development practice which seeks to empower course participants to be leaders in their own communities and active facilitators of change.
Our Vision and Mission
The vision of Kimmage DSC is a world of equality, respect and justice for all. Our mission is to promote critical thinking and action for justice, equality and the eradication of poverty in the world. We aim to do this through facilitating the education and training of individual practitioners and groups working for social, economic and political change in society and so enabling all practitioners to work effectively for the holistic development of all.
- We are a creative, critical and dynamic education and learning centre for Development.
- We offer a learning programme that is participatory, learner centred, skills based, practical and relevant.
- We have almost 40 years of experience teaching and training in Development.
- We offer a complementary experience to students, over and above the academic.
- We provide space for critical reflection, dialogue, research and capacity building for grassroots development of people and communities.
- We bridge the divide between development practitioners north and south, between academic and civil society, between higher education and adult education, and between NGOs and the missionary sector.
- We provide flexible learning options, including distance learning, part time study and recognition of prior learning.
- We provide professional upgrading and / or a stepping stone for a career in development.
To find out more about Kimmage’s approach and to listen to the perspectives of some of our students check out our short video:
Academic programmes on offer reflect a combination of formal and non-formal educational methodologies and are run at undergraduate (BA) and post graduate (MA and Post Graduate Diploma) levels, with options to study on a full-time or part-time basis. Modules from the MA in Development Studies are now available to students through a new Flexible and Distance Learning (FDL) mode of delivery. We also run a BA in Development Studies at MS-TCDC in Arusha, Tanzania.
All courses are internationally recognised and are accredited by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI).
In addition, from Sept 2013, we will be delivering a Level 8 BA in International Development in partnership with National University Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM). Full details of this programme and how to apply can be found on the NUIM website by clicking here
Capacity Development Services
In addition to our academic programmes, we provide capacity development services devoted to the professional upgrading of Irish and overseas-based international development personnel. These capacity development services are provided as mentoring and organisational support and the provision of short-term practical training either through classroom-based training or open and distance education (KODE).
Our registration as an independent company and our charitable status has enabled us to consolidate and further develop our activities and linkages with other like-minded organisations, particularly in terms of entering more effectively into public fora and strategic alliances with others in the development sector in Ireland and internationally most notably in Tanzania, South Africa and Sierra Leone. More recently we have partnered with NUI Maynooth to deliver a BA programme in International Development. This will begin in Autumn 2013.
Kimmage DSC is a not for profit company limited by guarantee not having a share capital, registered no: 414814 and is registered by Revenue Commissioners for Charitable exemption CHY: 16985 | <urn:uuid:675ba08f-0a1a-4e6b-8ae5-53f0be321bd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kimmagedsc.ie/about-us-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934565 | 768 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Tom Pauken, the commissioner representing employers for the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), will be present at the signing ceremony for the OPPS Project. He has served as commissioner since appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2008, and was the TWC chairman until April 2012. Pauken has decades of public service experience including serving in the White House Counsel’s Office under President Reagan, in addition to having held numerous leadership positions and being a United States Army veteran.
The OPPS Project is a 5-day entry level training and job placement program that is designed to help students gain the skills needed to get started in oil and gas safety related occupations. Students in the OPPS Project will receive hands-on training in addition to classroom instruction, and the training credential is transferable. The program is being customized to meet employer and industry demands in the Eagle Ford Shale area, and would be a good opportunity for entry-level workers, veterans and people who want to work in safety related occupations get started on a career path.
“There is a high demand for qualified workers, and the OPPS Project provides the knowledge and skills they need to get their foot in the door and earn money. Working alongside PEC Premier has opened up a great opportunity to help serve our community,” said Lillian Garza, director of Customized and Continuing Education for CBC.
Before enrolling in the OPPS Project, a student has to undergo an interview and basic drug screening to ensure the student is a viable candidate for the project. Once accepted, the student will enroll in the OPPS Project and attend class from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. for five days. Upon successful completion of the training, the students will receive a hard hat, steel toe rubber boots, gloves, safety glasses and ear protection to help them get to work in oil and gas safety occupations.
The OPPS Project is scheduled to begin February 2013 at the Pleasanton campus. To register for the program or to for more information, contact Lillian Garza at (361) 354-2331 or Nora Cartwright at 354-2230. | <urn:uuid:c44591a5-d259-4353-9da9-c8ef7456ca27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysoutex.com/pages/full_story_refugio/push?article-CBC-+PEC+Premier+to+offer+5-day+oil+-+gas+training+course%20&id=21034116&instance=refugio_lead_story_left_column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96657 | 436 | 1.5625 | 2 |
U. Giger, A. Kimmel, D.E. Overley, L.T. Schwartz, B.F. Smith, Y. Rajpurohit. Section of Medical Genetics, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Paper presented at the American College of Internal Veterinary Medicine conference in Seattle in May, 2000. This paper is a report of ESSFTA Foundation sponsored research.
Muscle-type phosphofructokinase (PFK) deficiency causes alkaline-induced hemolytic crises and exertional myopathy in English Springer Spaniel (ESSP) dogs and is inherited as an autosomal-recessive trait. A single base missense mutation in the PFK gene results in truncation and instability of the enzyme. A DNA test has been available for the past decade to survey ESSP dogs for PFK deficiency. In this paper, we present data on the frequency of PFK deficiency in ESSP dogs based on the results of screening tests performed at the Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania from 1992-1999 and on the results of a randomized trial completed in 1998-1999.
The randomized trial included 692 dogs that were either active in field trials or were AKC conformation champions. All dogs were born between 1987 and 1995, had been bred at least once, and were selected randomly from AKC records. Cheek swab samples were obtained for 368 dogs (53%), and the samples were screened for the mutant PFK allele. The total frequency of carriers was 2.7%, with a higher proportion (4.0%) of carriers in the field trial group versus the conformation (1.2%) group. Pedigree analysis revealed that all of the field trial carriers were related.
Testing was also performed on blood or cheek swab samples of a non-randomized group of 575 field trial dogs between 1992 and 1999. In this group, 14.1% percent were carriers, and 6.4% were affected dogs. Thirty-seven percent of the dogs that were tested because they had suspicious clinical signs (as noted by the owner or referring veterinarian) were, in fact, affected with PFK deficiency. The frequency of carriers peaked at 19% in the period from 1995-1997 and was lowest in 1998-1999 with 8.1%. The proportion of PFK deficient dogs was highest (8%) before 1994 and was lowest (4%) in 1998-1999.
Results from the 1998-99 randomized study and from general screening during 1992-99 indicate that the frequency of affected and carrier ESSP dogs has decreased, but PFK deficiency remains a common problem in the breed. The randomized study reveals a current 2% PFK mutant allele frequency in the field trial ESSP breeding population. Based on these results, we recommend the screening of all breeding ESSP dogs and of dogs with suspicious clinical signs in order to eliminate the disease from the breed and to provide appropriate treatment of PFK-deficient dogs. | <urn:uuid:90430edc-f980-4b04-bf44-16d9facd82bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.essfta.org/english-springers/health-genetics-and-research-faq/phosphofructokinase-deficiency/frequency-of-phosphofructokinase-pfk-deficiency-in-english-springer-spaniels-a-longitudinal-and-randomized-study/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971856 | 603 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Here is Reverend William White on Duché's spiritual journey:
A remarkably fine voice and graceful action helped to render him very popular as a preacher. His disposition also was amiable. The greatest infirmity attending him was a tendency to change his religious sentiment. A few years after his ministerial settlement he took to the mysticism of Jacob Behmen and William Law. From this he became detached for a time; and his preaching, which was more zealous than either before or after, seemed to me to border on Calvinism; though, probably, he was not aware of, or designed, it. In this interval my personal intercourse with him began; and hav1ng one day asked of him the loan of Law's works, then much talked of, I received a refusal; the reason given being the danger he had formerly been in from reading these books. He relapsed, however, to the theory of the mystics, and continued in it until the troubles which drove him from his native country. In England he became a convert to the opinions of Baron Swedenborg; and in these he continued until his decease.Some "orthodox" consider Swedenborgianism not "Christian" because it denies "the Trinity and the Holy Spirit, the vicarious atonement, and reject[s] Acts and the Pauline epistles ...." Here is another source that views Swedenborgianism as a non-Christian religion. George Washington, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem with the Swedenborgs. | <urn:uuid:596bed51-1df6-403f-a00b-393eeed00eaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jonrowe.blogspot.com/2012/11/jacob-duche-swedenborg.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989388 | 309 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Q: What is the admission criterion for the College of Engineering?
A: Students interested in engineering will be admitted to the University and will be admitted directly to the College of Engineering if they meet certain academic requirements. Various pathways for admission are explained here: http://www.uakron.edu/engineering/academics/undergraduate/admissions.dot
Q: What is the admission criterion for Corrosion Engineering?
A: The criteria are the same for Corrosion Engineering as the College of Engineering.
Q: How do I apply?
A: Submit an application for admission on our admissions webpage: http://www.uakron.edu/admissions/
Q: I’m scheduled to visit campus soon; how do I schedule a meeting with a representative from Corrosion Engineering while I’m there?
A: Contact Annie Hanson at [email protected] or (330) 972-2968 to schedule a one-on-one informational session and laboratory tour.
Q: What should I be doing between now and the start of my freshman year?
A: After you’ve paid your intent to enroll fee, you are eligible to schedule your New Student Orientation date; this will be the day that you meet with an academic advisor, schedule classes for the Fall, and learn about what to expect at UA.
If you are planning to live on campus, work with Residence Life and Housing to file a housing contract; the deadline is usually in May.
Continue to apply for College, Department, and outside scholarships. Make sure your FAFSA is filled out and ready to go.
Q: How do I prepare for the COMPASS test?
A: If you have not scored well enough on the ACT or on the AP Calculus exam to either place you into or out of Calculus I then you will want to take the COMPASS test. We highly recommend that you learn about the COMPASS test and practice for the test before taking it. You should start by visiting the New Student Orientation website to learn UA specific information and to schedule your COMPASS test: http://www.uakron.edu/nso/get-ready/placement-testing.dot. Additional information and good review materials can be found at: www.hostos.cuny.edu/oaa/compass/index.asp and http://www.act.org/compass/tests/math.html.
Q: How do I find out about AP test scores and whether they help me bypass a course?
A: The College Board typically sends students notice of their scores in July. You should alert your academic advisor to these scores because you may be eligible to bypass a course, and this could affect your class schedule. Scores of 3 or higher in many subjects will equate to at least a general education course at the University of Akron. For additional information on these equivalencies, visit: http://www.uakron.edu/academics_majors/undergraduate-bulletin/important-policies/alternative-credit-options.dot#Advanced_Placement_Credit.
Credits of bypassed classes can be purchased for $5 each. Contact the College Board for a copy of your score: 212-713-8000.
Q: How do I transfer Post Secondary coursework and will it count if I took courses at a community college?
A: Please contact the Transfer Student Services Center to see how post-secondary, dual credit, and transfer coursework will be applied to your University of Akron major. http://www.uakron.edu/transferstudents/transferring-to-ua/transfer-resources.dot
Q: When do I schedule my classes? Should I look them up ahead of time?
A: Your academic advisor will assist you in selecting and scheduling classes at your New Student Orientation. There is no need to look classes up ahead of time, but think about what your ideal schedule might look like (days, times, course load, etc.).
Q: When can I take a tour and see where my classes will be?
A: Tours are available on New Student Orientation day; you will have a schedule of your classes then and are welcome to view buildings and classrooms.
Q: What is unique about UA versus other Ohio Schools?
A: The University of Akron’s College of Engineering is the fourth fastest growing engineering program in the nation, featuring one-of-a-kind programs like Corrosion Engineering and Aerospace Systems Engineering. Our large, urban campus offers diverse opportunities to students, while small academic programs provide a comfortable learning environment with one-on-one attention to students.
Q: How do I get information about living/learning communities?
A: Visit this link for more information: http://www.uakron.edu/college_life/housing_dining/living_learning_communities.dot
Q: How much does it typically cost in an academic year to attend Akron?
A: The cost of attendance can vary from student to student and from year to year. An average breakdown is available here: http://www.uakron.edu/finaid/cost-of-attendance/.
Q: Where can I find out about meal plans?
A: Students have a wide variety of meal and dining options. Visit the dining services site, here: http://www.uakron.edu/college_life/housing_dining/meal_plan_rates.dot
Q: Do I have an academic advisor? When do I have to meet with them?
A: Every student on campus is assigned to an academic advisor and mentor in their respective department. It is recommended that students meet with their advisor every semester to stay on track.
Q: What is corrosion engineering and how is it different from other engineering disciplines?
A: Corrosion engineers may design new materials or develop new methods to preserve large assets like military artillery, roads and bridges, and water systems down to small gears and fasteners, medical devices, or microelectronic systems.
Corrosion Engineering is unique because it is multidisciplinary. Corrosion specialists may interact with Chemical, Mechanical, Polymer, or Civil Engineers on a daily basis, depending on the type of job they have. Our program is a distinctive mix of Corrosion science, engineering, and management skills wrapped into one degree program.
Q: How many students are there in the Corrosion Engineering program?
A: The Corrosion Engineering program is growing rapidly, but is still small enough to give students the opportunity to interact on a regular basis with faculty and staff. There are approximately 60 students in the program to-date.
The College of Engineering has 2,700 undergraduate students and 400 graduate students, nearly doubling the enrollment since 2004.
Q: How many years will it take to earn my degree?
A: The Bachelor of Science in Corrosion Engineering typically takes 5 years to complete, including three semesters of applied experience in a Co-Op. Students needing to take developmental courses or who change majors may require additional time.
Q: What is a Co-Op and are they required?
A: A Co-Op, short for cooperative education, is a chance for students to take classroom lessons and apply them to real-world situations. Students in Corrosion Engineering will rotate academic classes on campus with paid, hands-on training in the field. The College of Engineering assists with the coordination and placement of students. More information can be found at: http://www.uakron.edu/engineering/academics/undergraduate/cooperative-education/
Q: What scholarships are available to Corrosion Engineering students?
A: Corrosion Engineering students have an excellent chance of earning scholarships at the University, College, Department, and Major levels. All students are encouraged to apply for the College of Engineering scholarships (typically due in March) here: http://www.uakron.edu/engineering/academics/undergraduate/scholarships.dot
Additionally, Corrosion Engineering majors are eligible to apply for major-specific awards. Approximately $45,000 is given out to Corrosion Engineering majors each academic year. Applications for these awards are distributed during the sophomore year.
Q: What is the Corrosion Ambassador program?
A: Freshmen in the Corrosion Engineering major have the chance to apply to become Corrosion Ambassadors. These students are selected to assist in outreach and recruitment efforts throughout the first year. Activities and responsibilities could include: assisting at admissions visit days, meeting with prospective students, giving lab tours to guests, attending forums and presentations, and doing office work. Students may earn up to $1,000 by assisting in these efforts. Applications are distributed during the first two weeks of the semester.
Q: Is corrosion engineering a field in which graduate study is required for employment or can students be employed as corrosion engineers with a baccalaureate degree?
A: Graduate study is not required. Corrosion engineering is a wonderful opportunity for students to progress rapidly within a company, government agency (such as Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, etc.), or many other organizations.
Q: What kind of student organizations should I be involved in?
A: All Corrosion Engineering majors are invited to participate in the Corrosion Squad, a student organization dedicated to promoting professional development of students interested in corrosion engineering, research, and activities.
In addition, there are more than 260 student organizations at UA. From athletics to Greek life to honors societies, there is definitely an organization for you. Check out the list of organizations here: http://www.uakron.edu/studentlife/source/
Freshmen have the opportunity to learn more about different clubs and organizations during the Week of Welcome activities. It is best to start off slowly by getting involved in just one or two activities in the fall semester until you decide what your academic work load will be and how much spare time you have available.
Q: What is the job outlook for corrosion engineers?
A: Industry studies indicate that in the next decade, 40% of the workforce with training in corrosion engineering will retire. At the same time, corrosion-related positions are multiplying as regulatory pressures (environmental, health, safety, etc.) and prospects of legal liabilities resulting from asset failures increase. Furthermore, the federal government has begun to establish laws and policies that are requiring Corrosion Prevention and Control Plan be incorporated into major infrastructure and equipment acquisition projects. Corrosion Engineers can work in almost any economic sector; some popular fields include: water distribution, automotive, chemical and petrochemical processing, energy (fossil and nuclear) and the oil and gas industries. Recent salary surveys indicate that the average yearly salary for Corrosion Engineers is $95,000.
Q: What are typical industries/companies that hire corrosion engineers?
A: Large industrial sectors like transportation, aerospace, defense, oil and gas, chemical processing, material selection, and water systems hire corrosion engineers. There are a plethora of opportunities located in Northeastern Ohio, and also around the world. Click here to see a list of companies that have partnered with our National Center for Education and Research on Corrosion and Materials Performance (NCERCAMP) at the University of Akron.
Q: Why so little emphasis on corrosion engineering, is it common in other countries?
A: The trends are the same in other countries. Many have simply taken the attitude that either corrosion is unavoidable and nothing can be done about it, or things are built cheaply and easily replaced. However, this mindset is beginning to be transformed due to increased regulatory pressures (environmental, health, safety, etc.) and prospects of legal liabilities resulting from asset failures.
Furthermore, the federal government has begun to establish laws and policies that are establishing the need for Corrosion Prevention and Control Plans to incorporate into major infrastructure and equipment acquisition projects.
Q: Who has been doing work with corrosion in the United States?
A: Primarily this has been handled by Chemical Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Materials Science Engineers/Metallurgists, Civil Engineers and Chemists who have received on-the-job training in corrosion. However, industry surveys have indicated that employers would prefer to hire an engineer with a B.S. in corrosion engineering if one were available.
Industry studies indicate that in the next decade, 40 percent of the workforce with training in corrosion engineering will retire. Because training is predominantly “on the job” or sponsored by employers, there is no pipeline of candidates ready to take their places. This was confirmed by a survey of six national industry associations completed by The University of Akron in 2007.
Further, 66 percent of employers perceive that current engineering graduates are not trained to understand and manage the effects of corrosion, and nearly 75 percent experience a shortage of qualified job candidates with corrosion skill sets.
The University of Akron
135 S Broadway St.
Akron, OH 44325-9006
Check out these exterior corrosion resources: | <urn:uuid:1611d6a4-3c69-4eeb-9444-cb9fabdc88bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uakron.edu/corrosion/FAQ/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942655 | 2,720 | 1.5625 | 2 |
School News: Choose North Branch Area Public Schools
By Deb Henton, Ed.D.
We here at North Branch Area Public Schools (NBAPS) are very aware that we live in an age of choice when it comes to educating your child. Regardless of where you live now, you are able to choose a school district that works best for your student. I would like to tell you why NBAPS should be your choice.
There are actually too many reasons to summarize in this small space, but I will try to hit some of the highlights.
The implementation of Project Lead the Way (PLTW): NBAPS is starting at the middle school level this coming year with plans to continue the implementation at the high school in the following year.
Project Lead the Way will give our students an outstanding opportunity to explore engineering, design, and manufacturing, among other things; and teach them to work in teams.
Every-day kindergarten: While many districts are going to a full-day every-other-day kindergarten model, the four-day week has allowed the school district to offer a half-day every-day option, preferable to many parents.
World language K-12: More and more, parents are seeing the value of world language for students starting at a young age. We are proud to be able to offer world language offerings over our entire curriculum.
Award winning: Our high school was recognized as a “bronze” school nationally by U.S. News and World Report. As well, our middle school has been a “Spotlight” award winner twice in the last five years.
If you are considering a school this year, I strongly urge you to consider taking one of our Patron Tours, which will start this fall.
We are confident that when you compare us to other area districts you will agree that NBAPS has much to offer.
Please call me at 651-674-1200 if you would like to hear more. | <urn:uuid:470dcb45-7fe2-4b24-824e-fcc91e0c2b35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ecmpostreview.com/2012/07/25/school-news-choose-north-branch-area-public-schools/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961098 | 404 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Q: Hello! I am working at vetting some books for a local organization, and I was hoping you could help me. Attached is a picture of the cover of one of the Altemus publications of Hawthorne’s Mosses From and Old Manse.
I can make an accurate judgement of value based on condition and, interestingly (see attached) the fact that this book was the personal volume of our local writer, August Derleth, but I am having a little harder time determining exactly which Altemus edition this is and thus basic value from that. I have seen another version of this that looks identical but with a green/red coloring, so this makes it even a little harder to determine.
Also, if you could give me publication date for this edition – I cannot find it in the book – that would be wonderful.
Thank you for your help!
A: Your book is part of the Beauxarts Series and was published in 1897. All of the books in this series are reprints and originally came in a labeled slipcase box. The covers of the Beauxarts’ books in this year have been seen in a number of different colors.
No one color is scarcer or more valuable than any other.
Because of its reprint status it only has nominal value unless the Derleth provenance is significant to a buyer. | <urn:uuid:29d3e94a-2a8c-4acd-8f4c-8654028ace33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://henryaltemus.com/blog/?p=2395 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967756 | 280 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Fun.'s Jack Antonoff on Writing 'Super WHY!' Songs, Post-Grammy Plans
The PBS children's show's live tour will feature a number of Antonoff compositions.
Fun. may be on the road for the rest of the year, but fans looking for a follow-up to "Some Nights" have some "Super" new material to look forward to.
For its spring live tour, PBS children's show Super WHY! flashed the bat signal for the band's guitarist, Jack Antonoff, who'd previously shown his kid-song chops with the track "It's Fun to Dance" for Yo Gabba Gabba! His previous group, Steel Train, performed it as part of the Nick Jr. show's 2010 live incarnation.
"We played it on tour every night for thousands of little kids and it was a wonderful experience to do that," Antonoff told Billboard, making working with the same production team on Super WHY! Live an easy choice.
One song turned into several, and before long, Antonoff wrote an album's worth of material for the tour, on the theme, "You've Got the Power!"
"I produced and recorded the whole thing, and I must have written at least 15 songs," he says.
He joins a number of musicians turning their attention to creating work for kids, from They Might Be Giants to Andrew Bird, who's developing a children's show, Professor Socks. But it's an older icon Antonoff credits with spurring his rock dreams.
"I grew up on Raffi," Antonoff says. "That was my first impression of what a rock star was."
As for fun., Antonoff, just back from Malaysia, says the group's booked through October -- and he's happy to stay a touring musician.
"The heart of it is playing the record live," he says.
Though a new album from the recent Grammy winners, who picked up two awards at the February ceremony, seems out of the question for 2013, the band has a new track on HBO's Girls soundtrack, "Sight of the Sun." The song scored the credits of the show's Sunday night finale. Antonoff is dating the show's creator and star, Lena Dunham, making the placement more meaningful than just another TV sync.
"It's wonderful, you know?" he says. "What could be better than working with people you love?"
- MOST SHARED
- MOST POPULAR | <urn:uuid:c0a02ef8-9bfa-41d6-b71b-a261313b2a14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/funs-jack-antonoff-writing-super-430305 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96863 | 505 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The Illustrated London News (1842). Text and scan by Philip V. Allingham..
Shortly after the return of Prince Albert to Buckingham Palace on Monday afternoon [i. e., 30 May 1842], her Majesty, accompanied by his Royal Highness, proceeded in an open carriage and four horses, preceded by outriders, for her accustomed drive in Hyde Park, &c., the royal equerries, as usual, accompanying the cortege on horseback. On her Majesty's return about ten minutes or a quarter past six o'clock down Constitution-hill, when within a few yards of the spot at which the former attempt at her assassination was made by the boy Oxford, a young man, who had previously been noticed standing with his back against the brick wall skirting the garden of Buckingham Palace, was observed to advance towards the road along which the royal cortege was passing, and upon the carriage approaching the spot at which he stood, he was seen by police-constable Tounce, A 53, to advance within three yards of it, and at the same instant take from his waist-coat pocket a pistol. Tounce instantly rushed towards him for the purpose of knocking it out of his hand, seeing that it was aimed at her Majesty, but at the moment he seized him the pistol went off without injuring any person. [49-50]
Related Material involving Queen Victoria
"Particulars of the Cowardly and Disgraceful Attempt on the Life of Her Majesty." The Illustrated London News. 1 (4 June 1842): 49-50.
Last modified 15 September 2007 | <urn:uuid:52bd1bfa-8958-4d15-a33f-b18d084ee677> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://victorian.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/victorianweb/periodicals/iln/29.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979273 | 329 | 1.765625 | 2 |
So many ancestors, so little time!
This month’s “Carnival of Genealogy” topic is to pick four ancestors with whom to have dinner.
If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be and why?Would you have dinner in the present day or in one of their eras? Would you dine out or opt for a home cooked meal? What would you discuss at the dinner table? What would you most like to share with them about your life?
Hmmmm. I think I would have dinner in the eras of my ancestors to give me a taste of yesterday. Dessert, however, would be in current times so I could give them a taste of today. I would have a home-cooked meal; preferably one the ancestor cooks! Not because I don’t want to bother (sometimes I almost like to cook), but because even as a very finicky eater I think it would be fascinating to eat what they ate. Besides, I’m really not a fan of eating out. Some of what we discuss would be about questions I have about them and/or their family. Some would be about their lifestyles, their hobbies, their work.
One ancestor I would like to eat with is Margaret (DOYLE) CONROY (1867-1948). She is the one that has been elusive in the 1880 U.S. Census. She would have been 13 in 1880. She is not listed with her family, William and Mary DOYLE, and children John (my great-grandfather), Peter, James, Mary Ann, and William. I couldn’t find her among neighbors, either. I would ask her where she was in 1880 first thing. With my luck, the answer would be as simple as “at home. I guess someone forgot to list me”. During dessert, in modern times, I would also ask her if she ever found out how her young sons died around 1904. The story goes that one son, Albert, of Margaret (DOYLE) and Thomas CONROY died. They took him back to PA to bury him. When they returned to NYC they found their other son, William, dead. Was it Smallpox? I would hold this question until dessert during modern times because I figure that by now, 104 years after her children’s deaths and 60 years after being reunited with them, she’d be okay to talk about it. In the picture below, Margaret is at the left, in the darker dress. She's standing next to her sisters, Mary Ann, Alice and Johanna. Another ancestor I’d share a meal with is my great-grandfather on my mother’s paternal line, James O’ROURKE (1876-1944). As I’ve shared in several posts, my first question for him would be “Who the hell are your parents?”. Honestly I don’t know of any other specific questions I’d have for him. I guess I’d just converse about the times. Oh wait! I’d also ask where his forbearers lived in Ireland.
I think the next ancestor I’d choose would be Mary (GRIFFIN) McHUGH, my father’s paternal grandmother (1867 – 195?). I’d ask about her birthplace, her parents’ identities and location in Ireland, and through what port they entered. My dad had a story in his head that her family emigrated to Canada, and dad’s paternal grandfather, Dennnis McHUGH, followed them there to take Mary away to the U.S. to marry. Alas, Census records show that Mary likely immigrated to the U.S. at about age 8 and Dennis around age 15. Of course, another Census year states age 19 for Mary (immigration year 1886) and around age 29 for Dennis(1896 immigration year). This information is almost certainly incorrect, however, given that their first born son Patrick was born in PA in 1887.
Finally, the last ancestor I’d dine with is my father’s maternal grandmother Justina (NAHODIL sp?) HODICK (1875-1950). First thing I’d ask her is the correct spelling of her maiden name. It was always thought to be NAUCHADILE; however, during my research it is more likely a version of NAHODIL / NAHADIL. It may have been both; perhaps they changed it when they immigrated. I’d ask her where she was born. A family Bible somewhere stated Fuenfkirchen, Austria, which *may* now be Pecs, Hungary (or it may not). Every census record I’ve found her in states Czechoslavakia. Below is Justina with her husband, my gr-grandfather, Edward(1867-1951).
With a little luck, each of the above ancestors would be able to answer questions about their spouses’ ancestors, too. I’d like to confirm the 1885 ship Pennland as the one on which Justina’s husband, my dad’s maternal grandfather, sailed with his family when they immigrated to the U.S. It likely is, as the ship’s manifest to the U.S. via St.Kitt’s matches what my dad recalled about the family having stopped in that part of the world before arriving in the States. Also, this ship’s manifest identified Austria as the HODICK family’s country of origin.
I’d like to confirm my maternal great-grandmother’s maiden name’s spelling as McCUE as opposed to McHUGH. I’d also like to know her birth name. Her marriage record states Jennie; family knew her as Jane. Perhaps it was Genevieve? Perhaps Margaret DOYLE would have known.
I know that someday, when I finally get around to ordering vital recores, many of these questions will be answered. But it sure was fun imagining I could get the answers directly from their mouths!
I said this before, and I’ll say it again:
So many ancestors, so little time. | <urn:uuid:fd502443-3879-4ce2-8299-4b4510131466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://omchorations.blogspot.com/2008/01/so-many-ancestors.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984086 | 1,308 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
See More Videos at Moritz's YouTube Channel
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Master of Laws (LL.M.) Program is designed for foreign lawyers who wish to advance their legal education in a stimulating academic environment. The College offers the dual advantages of a highly-regarded law curriculum at a major U.S. university and an LL.M. program of limited size that allows for individualized attention and support.
Two of the programís primary goals are to immerse foreign lawyers in a year of U.S. legal education and to foster interaction between American J.D. students and the LL.M. students. In large part this is accomplished by integrating the LL.M students into the J.D. curriculum, ensuring that both groups will benefit from the interaction and graduate from their respective programs well prepared to participate in an increasingly globalized world.
Moritz also offers a rich selection of student activities outside the classroom where LL.M. students may participate in the life of the College.
Ohio Stateís LL.M. program offers students an opportunity to select their courses from a rich and diverse curriculum. Students may choose a generalized study of U.S. law or may tailor their courses to fit specialized interests and career objectives. Students have an option to elect a concentration in Business Law, Criminal Law and Procedure, Intellectual Property and Information Law, International and Comparative Law, Labor and Employment Law, or Alternative Dispute Resolution, or they may design a customized concentration.
What We Are Looking For
The Moritz College of Law seeks LL.M. students who are motivated to obtain a rigorous, high quality U.S. legal education. But we are looking for more than simply academic excellence.
The LL.M. Admissions Committee is seeking individuals from a wide range of countries, with diverse legal backgrounds; we encourage the new law graduate to apply right along with the experienced law professor or practitioner. We strongly believe that diversity and differences in personality are critical to the dynamic and stimulating exchanges that are characteristic of the Moritz community.
The LL.M. class is purposely limited to 25 students. This is a large enough class to create a diverse group from a variety of countries yet small enough to allow our staff to provide individual attention to our LL.M. students.
Since we are carefully looking for the right mix of individuals to accomplish the above goals, it is important that you present your strengths; profile your practical experiences, accomplishments and academic excellence; and give us insight into your goals for the future. We will carefully examine all the elements of your application package in an attempt to get to know you better. | <urn:uuid:15f5bdad-5dd9-43d7-a5ea-a313bf05d088> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/programs/llm/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94474 | 555 | 1.601563 | 2 |
There is an antielitism in the air in much of society, Western and otherwise. Succeeding in a big way, being the best, creating something new and fantastic that makes you rich? All very bad nowadays. Just ask the folks over at Google. It all seems new and shiny and unique to the young, but it’s just that part of the cycle right now. We’ve been here before, we’ll move past this soon, and we’ll get there again. A part of the nastiness of today’s particular version of this antielitism seems to stem from the intimate knowledge that we all have of the minutiae of the lives of the elite, in all its presumed glory. Moreso, a substantial portion of our modern elite seems not immune to the rampant over-sharing so prevalent today. And that just feels like bragging, doesn’t it?
There’s a danger to this antielitism, today and always, for there exist individuals who have truly reached some elite level, and all of the rest of us are pulled along in their wake. Whether these folks are humble or arrogant, noble or venial, generous or a black hole of selfish, we as a society, a people, even as a species need to allow for a place for those who openly strive for elite. As individuals, as citizens, as countries, it is critical that we set aside what appears to be a species-wide tendency toward jealousy with an attendant need to bring all of those elites back to the comfort of the mean. OUR comfort.
There needs to be room for elite and elitism and elites, though, and there needs to be this room in all walks of life. Even more importantly, there needs to be room for those people who openly seek to become elite, better than most, maybe the best. Elitism is simply a harsher form of “meritocracy”, the notion that one can be rewarded for being better in some way at some thing. Elitism is synonymous with “best”, at least when the elite are gracious enough not to rub the rest of our noses in it (see above).
What’s hard for us who are not elite is to separate our jealousy and our anger at those who are truly elite from a couple of important things. We must realize that, without the elite we would forever be mired at the mean. Part of a curve under which the volume never changes. It’s also vitally important that we rein in our apparent need to stop any and all who openly express their desire or their efforts to achieve anything above the mean by aspiring to something elite. After all, who knows which of those aspirants will become an elite thinker or doer, one who will drag us all to a higher mean?
The essential error in the logic of the non-elite is that every system is a zero-sum proposition. The only way someone could ever have more is if someone else has less. There’s no understanding of an expanding universe. The tide never rises, and the number of boats in the harbor is fixed. No one ever benefits from the trickle down of new and the better, they only complain that someone else got it first.
That’s not really how it’s worked so far, though. Whether it’s in fitness, or in science or finance or philosophy or letters, the area under the curve is driven upward by someone who had whatever it took to become elite. We can learn from them, become a bit better at whatever it is that we do or we are, if we spent a bit less time seeking to drag them back to us.
This entry was posted on Monday, October 24th, 2011 at 9:35 am and is filed under Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. | <urn:uuid:e64ee185-5451-4a2a-bbc2-1f7298099d7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.skyvisioncenters.com/?p=822 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967215 | 817 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A year or so later an established website in the same industry launched a feature that was doing the exact thing that my app was made for. They even gave it the same name.
When the news hit I was flooded with emails from friends and folks that had happened upon my site. "Hey, are you working with xxx?", "Did you see what xxx did? They totally copied you!", "How could they do that, I'm so sorry. You should do something.", "Are you going to go after them?"
At the time I was disappointed, not because my idea had been "stolen," or "copied" by a larger company. I was disappointed because I knew that had I put my all into this product, if I had followed through with support, focused more on marketing, and funneled my energy in this product there wouldn't be market to steal. In other words, it was my responsibility to make my tool the staple the internet needed. However, the field was wide open, because I left it open. There is no such thing as disruption from the couch, and that was the valuable lesson I learned from the experience.
Another lesson I learned, is that people seem to think they own ideas on the internet. Or, in this case, that I owned my idea that I put on the internet.
We have seen a lot of arguing back and forth about these issues as the landscape of the web is starting to be sheriff'd. SOPA, The Winklevii, and hundreds of completely absurd patent lawsuits. These issues has made the concept of ownership of 1's and 0's on the forefront of world issues we face every day.
As the world of software development becomes en vogue, we are seeing this issue broached by new developers and veterans alike. The idea of code "ownership." The idea that the method, or the algorithm makes you money, and therefore is proprietary.
Web pioneers like Torvalds, de Raadt, Stallman, and DeIcaza battled on this ground. They created the free software movement, GNU/Linux, Git, Open BSD, and GNOME and told big-co software companies to go screw as they opened up their code for fellow developers to learn from, to better their craft. The sharing of ideas for a better internet. Yet, still today, people sue over simple equations behind engines making millions of dollars. NDAs and invention agreements are everywhere and claim to cover websites, executables, webapps, modules, functions, and methods alike.
You can protest, argue, call people thieves, stake the moral high ground, and point fingers all you want. There is no obfuscation, everything you have done is right out in the open for everyone to see. More importantly, everything you do is in the ecosystem for people to learn from. I think it's a great proof of concept as I've never heard anyone get angry at someone else for stealing something they have written for the DOM.
Obviously, there is Github, and any startup that puts their code out there for people to learn from is an open web advocate in my book. That also means we need to stop signing agreements that include clauses about the ownership of syntax (I will from this point on not be signing such contracts). This means educating the people we work for about the developer community, how we help each other, and how being open puts you in a unique position to improve your standing, and help others.
Funny enough, developers are now in a place of power that we haven't known before. Recently, I've seen a new form of currency sweeping the world of business. Developeronomics. From the lone startup founder, to the VC; from the Mom and Pop shop, to the Hedge fund douche bags, from the CEOs of big corp to the teachers of public schools, there is something they all need. Web developers, good ones. Enough to offer obscene salaries, equities, weekly backrubs, briefcases of cash, and sexy parties to the crack team of developers they employ to carve out their section of the internet.
This puts the development community in a unique position. Do we copy the established business community in the money grab? Do we want to line pockets while cranking out "It's this for that's" with every nerd for his/herself on the terms of "my code, my product, my creation?"
We've seen what that has done for the remnants of the industrial age, with huge corporations being the enemy of the individual. Where corporations battle each other in the media, and keep a tight grip on information, even if it means people losing lives. Where advancements are being retarded by a legal cat and mouse game, because the information companies hold dear could help all of us the world over if they would join forces.
What a beautiful place we are at where we can make a conscious decision not to follow in their footsteps. While the internet and it's implications are still being formed every day. When we decide that the education and advancement of future developers, our children, and the history books are more important than lining our pockets (seriously, how expensive can comfy sweatshirts and Vibram Five Finger shoes be?)
Where would we be now if John Resig decided to keep his little library to himself? If DHH kept his framework proprietary? How much further could we be if more people shared the way they did?
I'm pledging to work for an open web and open code, a place where we can all share, learn, and invent together. I hope you will too.
(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.) | <urn:uuid:d3f0d4f5-721c-4467-bd4c-c2f7867c7bab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://css.dzone.com/articles/there-no-such-thing | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971111 | 1,174 | 1.679688 | 2 |
To supplement the other forms of support they receive from Brown, students may also be eligible for federal direct student loans and other loans. Student loans for graduate students are administered through the Office of Financial Aid. To be considered for any student loans, domestic students are required to submit a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The FAFSA must be submitted on line www.fafsa.ed.gov. (Brown University's graduate code for the FAFSA is: E00058).
The Federal Direct Student Loan program provides loans in amounts up to $20,500 per year to eligible applicants. International students are not eligible for these loans. In order to be considered, students should complete the FAFSA. More details are available from the GRADUATE STUDENTS link at the Office of Financial Aid.
Brown University also has a limited number of federal Perkins loans available. These are awarded based strictly on financial need. No separate application is required and only those students without any funding from their program or department are considered. A FAFSA application must be on file for the student to be considered for these funds.
Should a graduate student require additional loans beyond federal eligibility, various alternative loans may be available in the commercial market. Eligibility is based on credit and both U.S. citizens and international students (with an eligible U.S. citizen co-borrower) may apply.
To learn more about loan-borrowing options, please visit the Office of Financial Aid's website for graduate students or write to the Graduate School Financial Aid counselors at: [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:7d00264e-44fc-4c6a-ac08-1070215b0e52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brown.edu/academics/gradschool/courses-manual/student-loans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940695 | 331 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Hubby and I were enjoying a nice lunch at a local restaurant the other day. And as I munched on my salad, I noticed a taste of pasta.
“Hmm…” I thought. I don’t remember noodles being part of the oriental salad I ordered.
I made a comment. And that’s when hubby admitted. Without me knowing (advantages of having a blind wife) he scooped a portion of his dish onto my salad. I smiled because the blend of flavors was pretty tasty.
Did that ever happen to you? You’re going through life, enjoying pleasant events. When, without you realizing it, someone has dumped something you never expected. It happens to most of us. The only thing is that often, unlike tasty pasta, what was added tastes awful.
I’m talking about stuff the world adds to our day—fear, anxiety, stress. But the most common one is worry. I can almost guarantee that as you’re reading this, in the back of your mind, worry has come in. That pesky habit of worrying about something, about someone…until you cannot enjoy the salad of life anymore. That’s when emotional indigestion sets in.
Good news: seated across the table and observing as we go through our plate of tasks, goals and dreams, Jesus sees how the enemy slips worry on our plate.
According to Him, in Matthew 6, He tells it like it is regarding distasteful worry:
• Carve out all kinds of worry, big and small: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body…”
• Consider a more sound perspective: “s not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”
• Count on His provision: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”
• Claim your value: “Are you not much more valuable than they [the birds in the air]?”
• Create a new motto—Jesus’ motto: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Father, I confess, worry comes in as an intruder that often robs my joy. I shall embrace your instruction not to worry. It doesn’t belong in my heart where you reside, where you rule and where you placed your peace. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• What has you worried today?
• What promise in God’s Word speaks to your heart?
• How can you conquer worry?
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Did you know all my writings are drawn from my #1 bestselling book, Simply Salsa: Dancing Without Fear at God’s Fiesta? Did you get your own copy yet? It’s available here. | <urn:uuid:e8483232-becc-4d17-a966-b6e182a45252> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.janetperezeckles.com/four-keys-to-stop-worrying/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954637 | 700 | 1.59375 | 2 |
By JONATHAN GURWITIZ
New York Times News Service
The massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 created a long-term hazard: the threat of radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Months after the earthquake, the New York Times reported on the heroic efforts of Japanese elders volunteering to do the strenuous and harmful work of repairing the plant’s crippled reactors.
Why would hundreds of Japanese in their 60s, 70s and even 80s enlist in an undertaking for which younger, stronger people were better suited? To spare their fellow citizens from unavoidable danger and relieve future generations of a lethal burden. Given a similar situation, American seniors would do the same.
“We have to contain this accident, and for that, someone should do the work,” Yasuteru Yamada, a 72-year-old retired engineer who led the volunteer effort, told the Times. “It would benefit society if the older generation took the job because we will get less damage from working there.”
The United States faces its own long-term economic hazard from runaway debt. Avoiding the danger requires some sort of reform of entitlement programs — a point about which there is no factual disagreement.
“Both Medicare and Social Security cannot sustain projected long-run program costs under currently scheduled financing,” the Social Security and Medicare boards of trustees warn in their latest annual report, “and legislative modifications are necessary to avoid disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers.”
As recently as last year, President Barack Obama acknowledged the imperative of entitlement reform. “If you look at the numbers, then Medicare in particular will run out of money and we will not be able to sustain that program no matter how much taxes go up,” he said at a press conference in 2011.
That was then. We’ve just completed a campaign in which Mediscare — the despicable effort to frighten older voters into believing that even modest reforms would leave them destitute — was a key feature of the Obama campaign. With the election over, President Obama is still in campaign mode, demanding higher taxes and offering no direction of his own on entitlement reform while baiting Republicans to take the lead — and the blame.
Groups such as AARP and the Gray Panthers are defending the broken status quo, admonishing the president and Democrats in Congress not to make entitlement reform part of any budget deal and warning members that “a ‘grand bargain’ could jeopardize Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took to the op-ed page of USA Today recently with more Mediscare, telling seniors that reforms would leave them “at the mercy of insurance companies.”
Former Sen. Alan Simpson, the co-chairman of President Obama’s debt commission, is 81. He has a different warning — for younger Americans.
“These old coots will clean out the Treasury before you get there,” Simpson says in a video for his new advocacy effort, “The Can Kicks Back” — a reference to the need to stop kicking the can down the road on the national debt and entitlement reform.
This need not be a generational conflict. Even the Medicare reforms proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan would not affect anyone over the age of 55. Society benefits by making Social Security and Medicare sound.
As the U.S. economy heads toward a debt meltdown, no one is asking American seniors to martyr themselves. No one should. It would be sufficient if the groups and politicians who claim to represent their interests simply stopped scaring them with falsehoods, made the issue of entitlement reform less radioactive and allowed the nation to get on with the business of relieving future generations of a lethal burden. | <urn:uuid:a9a9c486-3155-49dd-9a45-072f4bb7e618> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/commentary/their-views/reforming-entitlement.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953229 | 777 | 1.828125 | 2 |
KABUL ATTACK JACOBSON SOUNDBITES
Independent Films, Documentaries, Politics
The ISAF spokesman, Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, talks about the attack in Kabul this morning saying it’s too early to say whether it was linked to the visit over night of US President Barak Obama.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. NATO constitutes a system of collective defense in response to an attack by any external party. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.
DISCLAIMER: No material produced by NATO is to be sold, used for outside advertising or promotional purposes of any kind. All content taken from NATO and republished must be clearly credited or sourced to NATO. Photos, videos and articles are released under the legally recognized terms of "Fair Use" to members of the press, academia, non-profits and the general public. No material is to be used in programs, articles or online publications of any kind that defame NATO or its member countries. Material is provided, free of charge, for use in objective and balanced content, even if at times the end products may be critical of NATO. In instances where a member country is criticized, NATO wishes it to be made known that it does not associate itself with the contents of the article, publication or broadcast. NATO reserves the right to request the removal of NATO copyrighted material from any externally created content.
Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts
1. (00:00) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. What do you know about the attack this morning?
“Well what we know so far is that we had an attack of a small group of insurgents in the east of Kabul in a compound where a lot of civilian workers work and live. Fortunately ISAF did not suffer any fatalities but we have civilian casualties in this incident and particularly sad we have seen civilian children being wounded.”
2. (00:25) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. What do you know about any fatalities?
“We have no reports on fatalities yet. We do know that there are no ISAF fatalities, we do know that there are wounded amongst them children, who are in medical care.”
3. (00:38) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. Do you think this is linked to the visit over night of Barak Obama?
“I would not jump to conclusion on what the background behind this attack is. It is a small number of insurgents who made it into the city, detonated explosive charges. They have been taken out by Afghan National Security Forces and we now have to look into the background of this attack.”
4. (00:56) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. Yet again, suicide attackers have managed to strike inside the city. Some would say this is a poor lapse of security.
“Well individuals have made it into a city of five million inhabitants. They made it into a location that they targeted, detonated their bombs. I would not say that this is a failure in intelligence, the important thing is the very quick spontaneous reaction of the Afghan National Police, them taking action, them taking the situation under control and clearly bringing this situation to an end very quickly.”
Year of Production: 2012 | <urn:uuid:f2c52fe5-a157-425c-a562-a0db278778d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.filmannex.com/movie/kabul-attack-jacobson-soundbites/30590 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93883 | 788 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Could you survive a tech vacation?
Interactive technology has a way of taking over family time. It starts innocently enough. But before long family members may be sitting near each other, but no one is talking because they all are so busy interacting with devices.
Last month, we asked two families to try giving up technology and take a tech vacation.
They gave up cell phones, computers, tablets and TV for a week and then recorded their experiences.
Tonight on FOX31 Denver News at 9 p.m., Hema Mullur reports on how they fared. Did the families become closer? How did the children survive without games, Facebook and YouTube? How did the parents deal with
In the meantime, we want to know, could you survive a tech vacation? | <urn:uuid:fb3b3605-78f3-4aef-ba35-94f8b8dd5240> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kdvr.com/2013/02/27/could-you-survive-a-tech-vacation-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969499 | 157 | 1.5625 | 2 |
SETTING foot on the main street in the small township of Aba, you cannot shake the feeling your every move is being watched.
Heavily armed police are at every intersection. Security personnel wielding spiked clubs stand guard beside army trucks full of soldiers in riot gear. Roadblocks hive off the town at both ends, with every vehicle entering and exiting closely monitored and identity cards routinely checked.
Even low-level government officials more accustomed to pushing paper have been mobilised. Wearing red armbands emblazoned with the Chinese characters for ''on duty'', they sit on stools by the road in groups of three or four for hours on end, ordered simply to keep watch.
Nestled in the heart of Sichuan's mountainous north, Aba is the epicentre of the intensifying unrest sweeping through the Tibetan regions spanning China's remote western reaches.
Since March last year, at least 21 ethnic Tibetans, most of them Buddhist monks, have set themselves on fire to protest against what they say has been a systematic persecution of their religious freedom by the Chinese government. More than half of the self-immolations have occurred in Aba.
Last month, police shot and killed at least seven and wounded 60 in protests in nearby Luhuo and Seda, which coincided with the Chinese spring festival.
The level of dissent has since intensified despite an even heavier police and military presence. Seven Tibetans have self-immolated in the past two weeks alone, including three from Aba.
''Someone set themselves on fire again a couple of days ago,'' Yishi Dorje, a business owner in Aba, told The Saturday Age.
''There have been too many happening lately. Every day we sigh and our hearts are heavy.''
The town's symbolic Kirti monastery now resembles a military camp. Army trucks loaded with soldiers are stationed outside. Troops are permanently based in the monastery itself. The number of monks at the monastery has fallen from more than 2000 four years ago to about 600 now, after most were forced out by authorities.
Those that remain at Kirti are monitored constantly. Each monk is watched around the clock, usually by junior-level public servants, who even sleep in the monks' quarters.
One public servant told The Saturday Age she would likely have been assigned the unenviable task if she was not female and said her colleague desperately disliked the amount of intrusion and disrespect it showed the monks.
''He doesn't want to have to do it - he's Tibetan himself,'' she said.
''He wanted to quit but wasn't allowed.''
A 25-year-old student at Lanzhou normal university said scenes in Aba were replicated in his home town of Luhuo.
He said more than 100 people in the township, mainly nomadic villagers, had been arrested following the January 23 protests. Many other families had been forced to flee their homes and had been living in the forests to evade arrest and possible torture. ''People are angry and scared but also very disappointed that they cannot do anything more because of the many soldiers in the town,'' he said.
Due to the spate of self-immolations, celebrations for Losar, the colourful Tibetan new year festival, have been cancelled across monasteries and villages in the Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu.
As well as the accelerating rate of incidents, the locations of recent self-immolations also appear to be spreading wider. Three people reportedly self-immolated in a remote nomadic village in an apparent show of solidarity. Chinese state media has rejected these reports.
''The sympathy movement with the places that have seen the crackdown means you're getting a second ring of responses to a core group of monks who immolated because of what happened in their own monasteries,'' said Robert Barnett, the director of modern Tibetan studies at Columbia University. ''It looks like a ripple effect.''
Last week also saw a 200-strong protest in Yushu, in Qinghai province, which is known for its considerably more tolerant policies towards monasteries.
For example, the ban on Dalai Lama imagery is only loosely enforced compared to Sichuan.
Yet there is simmering anger in Qinghai over the treatment of monks in Sichuan, as well as the growing bureaucracy involved in registering new monks and getting approval to travel. Above all, there is deep resentment at monks not being able to meet their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
''The government talks about freedom of religion but does the opposite; that makes us very angry,'' said a senior monk at Delongsi monastery in Jiuzhi, 70 kilometres from Aba across the provincial border in Qinghai. ''Everyone is very upset and wants to do more but we're not sure what we can do.''
For three decades, there has been one constant in the monastic life of Tibetan Buddhist monk Jigme. With a portrait of the Dalai Lama watching over his bed, the 45-year-old prays to him as he goes to sleep and first thing when he wakes up at 4am, in his humble quarters next to his monastery near Tongren in Qinghai.
''For them [the protesters] to sacrifice their lives, we are on the one hand very sad,'' Jigme said.
''But on the other hand, we completely agree with their thoughts.
''We don't have any religious freedom. Life has no meaning without freedom; it's a principle of life.''
Despite the violence, Aba prefecture party secretary Shi Jun was last week promoted to assistant governor of Sichuan province.
The Tibet issue has featured prominently in Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington, where he has been regularly met by demonstrators.
''We … hope that the United States will truly implement its recognition that Tibet is part of China and its vow to oppose Tibetan independence, acting prudently in issues concerning Tibet,'' Mr Xi said this week.
Beijing has blamed outside ''separatist'' interests, including supporters of the Dalai Lama, for trying to incite violence and undermine China's stance on Tibet.
But any suggestion that the exiled religious figure was instigating the self-immolations is quickly met with ridicule by his devout followers.
''If it was the Dalai Lama behind it, we'd all be burning ourselves,'' Yishi Dorje said.
Names have been withheld or changed to protect those interviewed for this story. | <urn:uuid:29d74fb1-2506-4f0d-9b15-05bd2d5e7650> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/945601/military-crackdown-fans-the-flames-of-rebellion-among-tibetan-monks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976601 | 1,325 | 1.828125 | 2 |
RIDGEFIELD, Conn. — Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals has enrolled the first patients in its late-stage trial of a treatment for hepatitis C, the drug maker said Thursday.
BI Pharmaceuticals is conducting the "HCVerso" trial of an HCV drug that combines faldaprevir, the experimental compound BI 207127 and ribavirin. The company has established trial sites in more than 25 states.
"We are proud to announce that the first patients are now enrolled in our phase-3 HCVerso program, including at U.S. trial sites," BI Pharmaceuticals VP clinical development and medical affairs Peter Piliero said. "Patients infected with HCV may benefit most from an individualized treatment approach since a person's genetics, type of virus and stage of liver disease vary from patient to patient."
Previous trials of the drug have found that patients have been essentially cured of the virus a few months after starting treatment with the drug. | <urn:uuid:a9f7f68d-532e-4109-b379-eb7b6e7336a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drugstorenews.com/article/boehringer-ingelheim-pharmaceuticals-starts-phase-3-trial-hcv-drug?ad=branded | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954098 | 201 | 1.53125 | 2 |
This afternoon, I sat down to an episode of The West Wing with my 11-year-old, my historian/writer with an interest in politics who took to the show after watching a short clip during the election cycle. It’s odd fare for a preteen, but I’m considering it educational. As I generally do, I brought my phone with me to the couch while he searched Amazon Prime for our next episode.
“Put it down!” he emphatically requested.
I turned the phone over onto the couch next to me, but that was not sufficient.
“Down there,” he said, pointing at the floor, just out of reach.
I mentioned something about waiting for his dad to text about pick-up time tonight, left it by my side, and pointed out the popcorn on the end table. The phone stayed face down on the couch, but his point was made.
While “do as I say, not as I do” is fine to say, it’s not really the best in parenting methodology. We are models of adult behavior for our children. What we do matters far more to our offspring than what we say. Personally, this disappoints me. My behavior is less than ideal far too many times, and I realize that I say one thing and model another, constantly aware that my actions speak louder than my words. And while my younger son is still phone-free and my phone-wielding son shows restraint with his, I can’t think that my attachment is likely the healthiest behavior either child could observe.
My too-regular responses to texts and checks on my Scrabble games are just two of the types of distracted behavior that serve as poor models for my kids. When working online, I tend to keep one eye out for email and another out on Scrabble or Facebook, not because I’m waiting for anything important but simply because my own ability to focus on one thing at a time is becoming challenged. I dispense advice to my older: Keep only your work on the screen. Close Facebook. Don’t read with windows open on the computer. He has a fair amount of the inattentive type of ADD and is easily distracted. I have no native ADD and am, perhaps, even more distracted. And yet I say one thing and do quite the opposite, with predictable results — he keeps screens open and flounders to finish tasks while I also accomplish less than I could if I minimized electronic distractions.
My modeling of mealtime is similarly poor. We’ve always been a meals-at-the-table-together kind of family. That worked well when dinner found us all at the table at the same time and the boys woke at dawn, making these natural family times. But with classes in all directions at all hours and three differing interpretations at what constitutes morning (and thus breakfast time, which influences lunch time), this meal bonding time has become less secure. And with online classes running over meals and hurried people with work and homework, eating at the computer became a new norm. Sticky keyboards aside, this practice also leads to meals consumed without thought and appreciation. The part of me that embraces at least the idea of intentionality and mindfulness shudders at this new trend of ours. Periodically, I’ll make a demand to return eating to the table. And for a while, we do so. But when the kids aren’t there, it’s easy to take my meal to the computer (lentil soup tonight), and when my older is busy with homework or Minecraft, he doesn’t want to remove himself from his lair and ascend to the kitchen.
Reading is another modeling opportunity gone bad. Now, I read, but much of the reading I do is while at my weekly allergy appointments, in the parking lot during my younger’s piano lessons, in bed before sleeping, in bed before waking, and at other points where no one is around to see it. So while I’m doing what I say, I’m not doing it visibly. My younger is quick to read without being asked, although coaxing him to read new material takes work. My older, who read prolifically when younger, hears the Siren’s song of the computer more loudly than the whisper of a good book or even an edifying magazine. So in addition to making reading a book previously unread number one on the summer list of tasks for the day, I’m making more time to read in front of my offspring. Given I’m three weeks from my recertification exam as a PA, that’s mostly medical journals and books, but it is reading they can see me doing. (To my defense, moms who sit down to read, write, talk on the phone, think, or sleep are seen as infinitely available to appreciate witticisms, field complaints, and receive requests that require leaving one’s chair. My public reading time diminished as a result of some sort of conditioning gone wrong.)
I model other bad stuff, too. On occasion, I’ve been known to yell for a child rather than walk to find him, despite telling my own to do the opposite. I even sometimes yell at a child (gasp!), and my mouth is not the font of always-genteel language that is was when they were smaller. My younger son loves to call me on all of this and more, having appointed himself the Master of Civility and Manners. Well, of Mom’s civility and manners. He feels free to follow his id while experimenting with the milder end of foul language and innuendo, behavior somewhat due to age but also a product of a mom with a loosening tongue. According to him, Mom, it seems, should be all superego, restrained, calm, and utterly consistent. I suppose in theory I agree, but that’s just not the mom the universe brought him.
This is not a cry for perfection from parents. We are human, despite what our children may say. We have our foibles and failings, and our ideals for our children often rest in the hopes that our children will have different ones – somehow better ones — themselves. Somewhere in the first third of this post, I closed the split screen, with Scrabble on the left and this post on the right, switched to full screen for this document, so the email wouldn’t show, and set to doing one thing at a time. There is no one around aside from a rather silent foster cat on my lap to know about my focus, and she’s unlikely to tell. But tonight I’m modeling behavior for myself, reminding myself that at one point, I could attend to my writing, my work, my meals without other stimuli. I’m trying to do as I say, to do as I want to be, to do as I want my children to do. And tomorrow, when the boys return, I’ll try that again. | <urn:uuid:db1c67d5-0f84-4bb7-b87e-008fce497a61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971082 | 1,464 | 1.84375 | 2 |
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- Top 8 Beaches in the USA | <urn:uuid:d7e9969c-95e1-43f5-aa05-32c7c139d8b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://traveltamed.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936918 | 814 | 1.65625 | 2 |
“The fate of health care reform is where it was yesterday—in the hands of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.” So writes Slate’s David Weigel, reflecting the accepted wisdom about U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson’s decision striking down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. And Weigel may be right. Justice Anthony Kennedy often does cast the crucial fifth vote, sometimes siding with the Court’s liberal bloc, other times with the conservatives. And the legal challenge to ObamaCare certainly won’t be over until the Supreme Court weighs in. But the Kennedy-as-decider scenario also assumes that all four conservatives will vote against the individual mandate. Can we be so sure about that?
Until two weeks ago the speculation centered mostly on Justice Antonin Scalia, who famously concurred with the liberal majority in Gonzales v. Raich (2005), the case where Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce was held to include medical marijuana cultivated and consumed entirely within a single state. So Scalia’s commitment to a less expansive reading of the Commerce Clause was far from guaranteed. But then last month Scalia joined an opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas which dissented from the Court’s refusal to hear an important Commerce Clause case. According to Thomas and Scalia, the Court had permitted a lower court ruling to stand whose “logic threatens the proper limits on Congress’ commerce power and may allow Congress to exercise police powers that our Constitution reserves to the States.” Keep in mind that it takes four votes for the Court to hear a case and that Scalia could have kept his vote secret like the other seven justices. Instead, he sided with Thomas and sent a very clear signal that he’s still willing to enforce a few limits on Congress’ power “to regulate commerce...among the several states.”
That leaves Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts is the real question. As Charles Fried, a former solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan and a respected elder in the conservative legal movement, told Politico, “I think there’s a good chance it will be a 6-3 decision in favor of constitutionality.” Here’s how Fried explained it to Politico’s David Nather:
Chief Justice John Roberts “does not believe the Commerce Clause allows you to do everything and anything,” but he’s not “an adventurer” and therefore might not go so far as to strike down the mandate.
It’s an important point. Roberts has repeatedly described himself as a fan of “judicial modesty” and stressed his belief in the importance of respecting precedent. That’s a stance that might lead him to uphold the individual mandate as consistent with the Court’s already broad reading of the Commerce Clause. But then again, Roberts has left himself some wiggle room, writing in Citizens United, for example, that it’s acceptable to strike down precedent “when the precedent’s underlying reasoning has become so discredited that the Court cannot keep the precedent alive without jury-rigging new and different justifications to shore up the original mistake.”
So it's still a guessing game. But it’s also a serious mistake to assume that Kennedy is the only ObamaCare vote we need to watch. | <urn:uuid:eefa0974-40a6-46c4-a599-7636d8c649df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reason.com/blog/2011/02/01/are-there-five-supreme-court-v/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946199 | 688 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The Ysleta Independent School District is encouraging its students and employees to wear green and white on Monday in honor of the Connecticut school shooting victims.
District officials issued the request over its official Twitter and Facebook pages earlier today.
The district chose green and white because they are the school colors of Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children, six adults and the shooter were killed on Friday.
Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6156. Follow him on Twitter @AaronBrac. | <urn:uuid:02b1232b-ee2b-4a05-9c93-ff4b85c48dad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22205570/yisd-students-staff-wear-green-and-white-connecticut?source=pkg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962857 | 117 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Robert Eugene Madaffer
Robert Eugene Madaffer died on Jan. 18 after a short illness.
He was born May 10, 1927 in Navarre. He graduated from Navarre High School, The Ohio State University and Cornell University. He served in the Navy in World War II. He taught at Whitehall Hall Yearling High School. He was a member of the Academy of Science. He was a member of the American Legion for more than 50 years and a revered member of the Boy’s State Legislative Program. He volunteered at Bexley High School and Bexley Public Schools and was a longtime volunteer and bartender for CAPA. His greatest joy was drum and bugle corp and he followed his favorite corps as they competed across the United States. He was known for his great booming voice and laugh and his passion for science. He loved Christmas, model railroads particularly the Santa Fe Chief, symphonic and baroque music, and a well-made martini with a splash of good scotch.
He is survived by his brother, Thomas Madaffer of Massillon; a sister, Cynthia McFarren (Madaffer); and nieces and nephews. He was loved by his students, many of whom became adopted family that continued to love and support him through his long struggle with Alzheimer’s.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Irene (Sisterhen) Madaffer; and his wife, Faye (Cornelius).
A celebration of his life will be held at noon Saturday, Feb. 11, at Willow Brook at Delaware Run, 100 Delaware Crossing West in Delaware.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Council for Older Adults of Delaware. rodmanneeper.com. | <urn:uuid:dd43abeb-7eec-4504-b513-2f93767ca9aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://delgazette.com/2012/01/robert-eugene-madaffer-3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987931 | 361 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Black Country Living Museum - new study room
Did you know that the Museum can also accommodate researchers.
The new study room contains a selection from the museum library, as well as some local studies material, the library has a particular emphasis on the iron and steel industry, engineering and coal mining.
It is also possible to research items from the large reserve collection of objects relating to
Black Country life and industry held in store.
In addition, they hold archives relating to local life and industry, particularly where these are directly related to the displays, buildings, industry and lifestyles represented on the museum site.
If you are interested in using our research facilities, please contact BCLM to arrange an appointment:- | <urn:uuid:1ee45c0f-7dcb-4796-bb37-9a8e5a346437> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blackcountrysociety.blogspot.jp/2011/10/black-country-living-museum-new-study.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948045 | 148 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Make it your business to get involved in your retirement planning.
A recent article in The Ledger, a Lakeland, Fla., newspaper, profiled an 88-year-old man who went back to work three years ago after spending more than 20 years in retirement. George DeMarco took a clerical job earning $7.67 an hour to keep from losing his home and to help make ends meet. He cited the rising cost of living and higher gas prices as reasons why his $1,200 monthly retirement income “just wouldn’t cut it.”
The article cites data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: “The number of employed people 65 and older rose from 4.3 million in 2002 to 7.2 million this year. The number of working seniors 75 and older is now 1.3 million, up 41.2 percent from a decade ago.”
Get ready to make a retirement planning decision. If you are eligible for a pension from a former employer that is worth more than $5,000, it is likely that early next year you’ll hear from that former employer offering you a lump-sum, cash-out option. This is one of the tenets of the Pension Protection Act,
No doubt you heard that American Airlines’ parent company, AMR, filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. But is it true its underfunded pensions are the main reason behind the filing? That was the question raised in a story appearing on ai-cio.com, an industry publication for institutional investors. It appears that the company is carrying too
The Occupy Wall Street movement is a barometer of widespread dissatisfaction with our country’s value system, in which the well-to-do get a bigger share of the proverbial pie at the expense of the proletariat. The dour mood extends to Americans’ retirement planning outlook. In a survey released yesterday by Americans for Secure Retirement, half of
A study that compared defined benefit retirement plans — old-fashioned pensions — with defined contribution plans — 401(k)s and 403(b)s — in the public sector, concluded that not only do most participants prefer defined benefit plans, but also, they are more efficient and may in the end cost taxpayers less. The study by actuarial firm | <urn:uuid:552e7105-20d0-4ac2-bc4c-80c040c0248b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bankrate.com/financing/tag/pension-plans/ | 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 | 0.959516 | 467 | 1.515625 | 2 |
|Early years in Claudelands : 1920s - 1930s|
First job was working for her brother as he set up his law firm. Then worked for an elderly solicitor for six years; typing, clerical [describes how the office was laid out and shared with Dr. Brewis]. Worked for Mr. Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson retired, decided she would like to do something with books, went to Paul's Book Arcade to inquire about a behind the scenes job, offered an office job. Could not just take the job, had to go through the Manpower man "It was very hard to get out of his clutches", he wanted her to go to the hospital to be secretary to Miss Menzies who was the matron; had nursing and clerical experience. Told to `play dumb'. Ended up going to Paul's.
Paul's was an academic book store, Blackwood Paul took over from father, he was a
lawyer and a literary man [describes at length Blackwood Paul, his bookshop, publishing, and her role in the store]. | <urn:uuid:9aebc4e7-5d87-49da-99db-811474fda85e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0ohist--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-10-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=ohist&cl=CL1.1&d=01b84023200ab72b37f01c14.8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.993142 | 223 | 1.804688 | 2 |
- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com -
An Archbishop’s Anti-Semitism
Posted By Joseph Puder On November 8, 2010 @ 12:05 am In FrontPage | 45 Comments
The latest example of self-imposed Arab-Christian dhimmitude comes to us from the synod of Catholic bishops, who met in Rome for a special two-week meeting on the Middle East at the Vatican. The event was attended by 185 bishops, most of whom were from 22 Eastern Catholic and Arab churches, representing 5.7 million followers in 16 Middle Eastern states. A press conference led by Monsignor Cyril Salim Bustros, a Boston-based Melkite Greek-Catholic Archbishop, followed the October 23, 2010 synod conclusion. Unfortunately, the synod of Catholic bishops took the opportunity the press conference provided to publicize extreme anti-Israel rhetoric.
“There is no such thing as a chosen people,” declared Archbishop Bustros. “Israel cannot use the Bible as a reason for claiming Palestinian lands.” The Lebanese native continued, “This promise [to Jews] was nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people—all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.”
According to the progressive-liberal website Op Ed News, the bishops said that “recourse to theological and biblical positions that use the Word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable.”
The Vatican meeting on the Middle East was the Catholic version of the non-Evangelical Protestant Arab-Palestinian declaration known as the Kairos Palestine Document, which was issued last December. Both declarations were politically inspired by the Arab-Palestinians and Arab League in an effort to delegitimize the Jewish State and to serve as a counter-measure to the largely pro-Israel American evangelical Protestants.
Christian-Arabs are leaders in various Arab nationalist movements, including the Baath party (in Syria and Iraq) and Palestinian terrorist organizations, and have identified with Muslims politically and culturally in an attempt to forestall the jihadist impulses of Muslims against the Christian community. Christian-Arabs hope to coexist with Muslims on equal terms and believe that the appeasement of their Muslim oppressors will gain them acceptance. However, the relationship is doomed to fail. Christians throughout the Islamic Middle East are being persecuted and discriminated against and despite attempts by Christian-Arab clergy to curry favor with Arab-Muslim regimes, flocks of Christians are being pushed out of their native countries – especially in the Palestinian territories. For Arabs throughout the Middle East, Islam alone defines their identity. Ironically, it is only in Israel that the Christian population has grown and flourished.
The words chosen by Archbishop Bustros at the press conference surpassed political propaganda and entered into the realm of anti-Semitism. His statements repudiated the long and basic biblical understanding commonly held by Christians and Jews. Bustros dismissed the covenantal relationship between God and his Jewish People and rejected the notion of the divine promise to restore the people of Israel to their land. Moreover, Bustros contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church established under Nostra Aetate which states: “Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures.”
In the Nostra Aetate declaration, it states clearly that God “does not repent of the gifts He makes or the calls He issues.” This was also the view of the Apostle Paul: “the gifts of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29) and in the King James Version of the Holy Bible: “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land…And the House of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord” (Isaiah 14:1-2). It is also repeated in Jeremiah 11:5: “that I [God] may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, so be it, O Lord.” And again in Ezekiel 34:13: “And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel[.]” The prophets Hosea (3:4-5), Amos (9:14-15), Obadiah (1:17), and Zechariah (8:7-8) speak of the Jewish people, not Arab-Palestinians. The terms Palestine and Palestinians are not mentioned in the New Testament and, to use Bustros’s arguments, Jesus himself would have to be considered a “settler” and “occupier” since he was a Jew who lived in Bethlehem.
In a Huffington Post entry, Rabbi David Rosen, Interreligious Affairs director of the American Jewish Committee, reacted to the Catholic Bishops statements by saying:
The comments of Archbishop Bustros reflect either shocking ignorance or insubordination in relation to the Catholic Church’s teaching on Jews and Judaism. Rosen addressed the synod in its first week and said that the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s affirmed “the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish People, which is inextricably bound up with the land of Israel.
The Anti-Defamation League, in a letter addressed to Cardinal-elect Kurt Koch, head of the Vatican’s Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews, wrote, “Archbishop Bustros is effectively stating that Judaism should no longer exist. This represents the worst kind of anti-Judaism, bordering on anti-Semitism.” The letter ended with the following statement: “We also respectfully ask that the Vatican clarify whether Archbishop Bustros’ interpretation of the final Synod report reflects the intention of the Synod on these profound theological matters.”
It is clear that the Christian Arab bishops and, in particular, Archbishop Bustros, have a problem with the existence of a Jewish State. While they so transparently do the bidding of Palestinian Muslims, they have regrettably ignored the suffering of Christians in the Arab-Muslim world and in the Palestinian Authority.
Danny Ayalon, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister referred to Bustros’ statement as “a libel against the Jewish people and the State of Israel” and expressed “disappointment that this important Synod has become a forum for political attacks on Israel in the best tradition of Arab propaganda.” Ayalon added, “This Synod was hijacked by an anti-Israel majority.”
A Jerusalem Post editorial suggested that Pope Benedict XVI has a chance to distance himself from the Synod’s declarations, which deviate from the Catholic Church’s teaching. “This is the right and necessary thing for the Pope to do – not just for Jewish-Catholic relations, but also for the sake of the Middle East’s persecuted minority.”
Article printed from FrontPage Magazine: http://frontpagemag.com
URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2010/joseph-puder/an-archbishops-anti-semitism/
Copyright © 2009 FrontPage Magazine. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:b1e72d43-278b-4bb6-a6e8-315b10f6926f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2010/joseph-puder/an-archbishops-anti-semitism/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958374 | 1,532 | 1.625 | 2 |
Yesterday I posted about the many personas of James McBurnett. At least 2 and possibly 3 James McBurnetts existed in Carroll County, Georgia in the mid 1800’s. Which one is my true second great-granduncle?
Let’s examine the data that I have to this point:
The 1850 Federal Census for the Nicholas McBurnett family of Carroll County, Georgia shows James, age 18, as the second child of Nicholas and Lucinda McBurnett. That would put his birth date as ca 1832. (Before you start yelling, I know. The census can be notoriously inaccurate. I take that into consideration throughout my research.)
By the 1860 census, James is no longer in the Nicholas McBurnett household. Nicholas is found on Page 11, 9th District, Carroll County, GA. There are 3 James McBurnetts in the 1860 Carroll County, GA census. One is James McBurnett (family # 118) on page 17, District 9, Carroll County, GA. Is he my James? The next household, family #119, is 80-year-old Nancy McBurnett, the widowed mother of Nicholas McBurnett. Not a guarantee, but a pretty good bet that this James McBurnett is the grandson of Nancy and the son of Nicholas McBurnett. James is now married to Lydia E and has 3 children, the oldest is age 7. That makes the marriage ca 1852. Again, not a guarantee, but a fair bet.
So I searched for a marriage record for James McBurnett, ca 1852. In Georgia Marriages, 1699-1944 at Ancestry, I found a transcribed record (not the original document image) for James McBurnett and Elinda Platt for 21 Dec 1851 in Carroll County, Georgia. Elinda? Lydia? Close, maybe a nickname or maybe the transcribed record is spelled incorrectly or maybe the census emunerator got it wrong. I’ll go with it for now. In successive census years, she is Lydia E (1870), Liddie (1870) and Liddy E (1880). By the 1900 census, James is a widower.
Next step is the Civil War. I had already found the Civil War service records for Nicholas McBurnett’s sons (and James’ younger brothers) Thomas and Joshua McBurnett. Both joined up with Co B of Cobb’s Legion on 30 Jul 1861 at Bowden (Carroll County), GA. Thomas was killed 6 Aug 1862 and Joshua 30 Jul 1863. Nicholas had 2 other sons of military age. Nicholas, Jr was 15 in 1860, apparently too young and didn’t fight. At least I haven’t found any records for him, yet. And James was 30 years old in 1860, putting his date of birth ca 1830.
Here is where things get fuzzy. I found 2 sets of military records for James McBurnett of Carroll County, GA. Both men served with Co H of the 41st Georgia Infantry, joining up in March 1862. I have the original images from Footnote.com for both men. Both were captured at Vicksburg on 4 Jul 1863. Or were they? Two pages of Roll of Prisoners of War show no. 128 as James McBurnett, the last person on that page. This is listed at Ancestry as a separate document (and separate person) from the next page, where James McBurnett, same military unit, is shown as no. 128 and the first person at the top of the next page. Coincidence, or the same man listed twice? Looks to me like the same guy got double-billing!
Back to the two sets of service records. There are documents for a James McBurnett and a James M. McBurnett. Nowhere in the census is my James enumerated as James M. So 2 different guys? Maybe not. I have seen several times throughout all of my McBurnett research where the surname McBurnett is misspelled as Burnett. So James M McBurnett could be James McBurnett. The Mc just got separated into a separate initial M. Makes sense so far. A third James, this time James C, is also found among the documents. This is apparently the same James who is married to Permilia, according to successive census entries for James & Permilia. Confused yet?
One more little cryptic piece. A military document listed under James M has the following hand-written comment: “McBurnett, James M… cards filed under McBurnett, James C”.
The final piece of evidence is this: The two James McBurnetts of Co H, 41st Georgia Infantry who were captured at Vicksburg. I have two Oaths of Allegiance with 2 distinctly different signatures:
Ok, here’s my conclusion, for what it’s worth. James C is a separate guy and James (no middle initial) and James M are one in the same and is/are my James McBurnett.
In the 1900 and 1910 censuses, James McBurnett is living in the households of sons Charles and James B, respectively. Why?
Maybe these Confederate Indigent Pension documents, found at Ancestry answer that question. In a total of 19 documents, nowhere is James’ name written as anything but James McBurnett (no middle initial), as are all of his census entries. Simply no middle initial, period.
These documents give the following information about James McBurnett:
- served 3 yrs with Co H, 41st Georgia Infantry
- born 9 Dec 1829 in Haralson Co, GA
- he suffers from enlargement of the spermatic cord, piles (hemorrhoids), loss of hearing and blindness
- one of his physicians of record was Dr T J Johns, who just happened to be married to James’ daughter Mary McBurnett
- a medical bill submitted for payment by James’ estate after his death states: “For medical services rendered, Jas McBurnett, in illness, nature of which inflammation of the bladder & old age and just worn out”
- died in Haralson County, Georgia on 3 Mar 1914
- he was on the Indigent Pension Roll of Haralson County at the time of his death, receiving $60/mo
The only problem with the pension documents is that Carroll County is never mentioned. Nor are any family members, other than son-in-law Dr Johns. He was, however living with son James in Haralson County in 1910, 4 years prior to his death.
Oh, yeah… the death certificate for Mary MacBurnett Johns, James’ daughter and the wife of Dr. T J Johns (from the pension file) lists her father as James M McBurnett and he mother as Ellen Platt (or Plott).
Also, James never signed any of the pension documents, only his mark “x”. Maybe because he was blind, as previously documented. At any rate , no signature to compare with the Oath of Allegience document.
A bit about Carroll County, Georgia from the New Georgia Encyclopedia: “Haralson County, the state’s 113th county, is located in west central Georgia, on the border with Alabama, and covers 282 square miles. Created in 1856 from parts of Carroll and Polk counties, it was named after Hugh A. Haralson, a U.S. congressman and state legislator.” So James McBurnett did live in Haralson County all of his life, as stated in his pension papers. It was just known as Carroll County for part of that time.
So, what’s the final conclusion? Does all of this evidence point to this James McBurnett as my second great-granduncle, the son of my third great-grandfather Nicholas McBurnett and and the oldest brother of my second great-grandfather Harrison Wardlow McBurnett? A preponderance of evidence says “yes”.
What do you think? | <urn:uuid:6b05991e-3fec-4784-a2da-f0bdd08dc466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ruthsgenealogy.com/2009/04/20/monday-madness-will-the-real-james-mcburnett-please-stand-up/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=744caefc44 | 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 | 0.95512 | 1,685 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The budget currently being debated "significantly decreases the use of one-time resources."
Ron Amstutz on Saturday, May 28th, 2011 in a newspaper column
State Rep. Ron Amstutz says the budget now being debated will rely on substantially less one-time money
State Rep. Ron Amstutz, a Republican from Wooster, recently defended Gov. John Kasich’s two-year budget blueprint, which the Republican-controlled House and Senate have left largely in tact.
In a letter published May 28 in The Columbus Dispatch, Amstutz said that budget "invests in Ohio’s future and a stable fiscal path toward a stronger Ohio."
Chairman of the powerful House finance committee, Amstutz was responding to criticism of the $55.6 billion budget that House Minority Leader Armond Budish made in his own letter to The Dispatch. Among Budish’s contentions was that Kasich's budget proposal amounts to Ohio's second largest spending increase, a claim PolitiFact Ohio rated as Mostly True.
Amstutz said Budish’s charge that the budget increases state spending "left absent a major component to his commentary: reality."
Among the points Amstutz raised to defend the GOP budget: "The current budget (now being debated) significantly decreases the use of one-time resources, using $1.2 billion this year and around $100 million the following year."
Amstutz said that Budish and Democrats failed to wean the state from one-time money and that the Republican’s use of one-time money for the Kasich budget "pales in comparison."
Given how often politicians use the term "one-time money" as a weapon, PolitiFact Ohio decided to look at Amstutz claims.
When politicians refer to one-time money – they are referring to money that won’t be available in the next budget cycle. The sources of the one-time money include federal stimulus money and savings from debt restructuring.
Ohio relied on unprecedented levels of one-time money to balance the two-year budget, passed in July 2009, when Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Democratic House were in charge. It will expire at the end of June 2011.
Specifically, that budget contained around $4.89 billion in one-time money. That figure grew to more than $6 billion as a delay of an income tax cut, higher reimbursement rates for prescription drugs under Medicaid, and other money was added.
Republicans have argued the figure is even higher – more than $8 billion. The differences between the figures are the result of disagreements over what qualifies as one-time money.
Republicans, especially then-gubernatorial candidate John Kasich, exploited the state’s use of one-time money as reckless and said it leaves them to fill a massive budget hole.
Given the Republican’s rhetoric, it might surprise some that they, too, are relying on such found money to balance the next two-year budget.
This brings us back to Amstutz, who says the state will use about $1.2 billion this year and use $100 million in the following year.
The governor’s budget – tweaked since by the legislature -- includes the following sources of one-time money during the first year of the two-year cycle:
- $500 million from leasing Ohio liquor sales to Kasich’s JobsOhio program
- $440 million in savings from restructuring state debt at a lower interest rate
- $115 million of unclaimed state money
- $75 million from the sale of state prisons
- $30 million from a tax amnesty program
These total $1.16 billion.
The only one-time money being used in the second-year of the budget is a transfer of $100 million in unclaimed state funds.
So, where does this leave Amstutz claims?
Again, he says the state is relying on $1.2 billion in one-time money in the first year of the proposed budget, which is pretty darn close to $1.16 billion. And, as he says, the budget eliminates in the second year all one-time money except $100 million.
Though debate still exists over the exact figure of one-time money used in the last budget cycle, the level of one-time money used was unprecedented and is clearly far greater than what is proposed in the new budget.
Amstutz’ statement is accurate and there’s nothing significantly missing for a full understanding. On the Truth-O-Meter, PolitiFact Ohio rates Amstutz’ statement as True.
Published: Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 at 6:00 a.m.
Subjects: State Budget
The Columbus Dispatch, Armond Budish letter to the editor, May 14, 2011
The Columbus Dispatch, Ron Amstutz letter to the editor, May 28, 2011
Ohio Office of Budget and Management, Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget
PolitiFact Ohio, "State Rep. Armond Budish says Kasich’s budget amounts to Ohio’s second largest spending increase," June 9, 2011
Interview with Rep. Ron Amstutz, June 7, 2011.
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. Email the Ohio Truth-O-Meter with feedback and with claims you'd like to see checked. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise. | <urn:uuid:a6385368-8805-44b3-92b0-c428618cd147> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2011/jun/14/ron-amstutz/state-rep-ron-amstutz-says-budget-now-being-debate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957761 | 1,139 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Microsoft, the king of traditional, desktop-based software companies, has two pieces of news today showing its movement into the Internet cloud. First, Amazon said its Elastic Compute Cloud — its popular environment for running web applications — will now support the Microsoft Windows Server. Then, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer talked some more about Microsoft’s operating system for the creation of web apps, which will be formally announced in a Los Angeles developer conference at the end of October. Ballmer calls it “Windows Cloud.”
The Microsoft CEO previously discussed Windows Cloud under its code name Project Red Dog. While additional details were not forthcoming, the new nickname and description as a “web operating system” give some sense of the ambition involved. Windows Cloud is the latest in Microsoft’s efforts to move aggressively online; other recent moves in this area include testing a version of Microsoft Office that’s delivered via online subscription (also known as the software-as-a-service business model), as well as trying to link all of your electronic devices though a service called Live Mesh.
Windows Cloud could open up another front in Microsoft’s war with Google, which launched Google App Engine, its own environment for building and deploying web apps, earlier this year. It could also make Microsoft a competitor with Amazon’s Web Services.
Speaking of Amazon, support for Microsoft Windows has reportedly been a big demand among Amazon customers. Previously, EC2 was limited to Linux and other Unix-based systems. Now, as Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels says, Amazon can run “the majority of popular software systems in the cloud.” Among other things, that means EC2 now supports ASP.NET websites, and can also support a single global Windows desktop that’s accessed from multiple locations.
[Photo from Kinder Mountain Rescue Team] | <urn:uuid:02a11b4b-0927-4544-9bd9-cacd98ac137e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/01/microsoft-embraces-the-cloud-with-amazons-help/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946797 | 377 | 1.679688 | 2 |
I was entertained by a couple of articles recently, one from PLoS Blogs and one from Ed Yong both bemoaning the low social status of bloggers at least in some peoples minds. As the front page of the PLoS blog says:
Blogging is just one of the outlets science journalists use. It’s about time we separate the person from the medium.
Of course, I agree with this. There is some excellent material floating around the blogosphere. But at the same time, there is a subtle irony in all of this. Both of these authors, I think make a similar confusion about the medium. For instance,
my point is that the world of science blogging is populated with some of the best journalists I know.
— Deborah Blum
At the moment, within science, blogging is still see as an appropriate place for Journalism about science, or in some cases scientists describing their personal experience within science. I don’t denigrate this in anyway, but I think to some extent it misses the point. Science blogging should be about scientists. Many of use now use blogging as part of doing science itself; take Allyson Lister’s excellent and extensive meeting or seminar notes. Or Simon Cockell’s experience sharing. Or my own move to just blogging my own papers and grants. And the occasional technological rant.
The blog is not the point here, it is just the tool that we are using to advance our science. This is also the point of my knowledgeblog project; it is not about adding to the blogosphere, it is not about using WordPress for science. It is about better, faster, cheaper scientific communication.
Ironically, it would help to solve Ed Yong’s problem as well. In future, maybe he won’t have to ask for the paper, because it will be on the web, with all the data, for all the world to see.
After this diversion into journalism, this blog will now resume normal service, as a place to describe my science. | <urn:uuid:aca12547-cec5-4da4-a55b-17f46eee61c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.russet.org.uk/blog/1872 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943788 | 414 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Perhaps the end of American world leadership would have been close. But with the election of Ronald Reagan and the rise of the neocons in American politics, the slide was greased by greed, empire, war, bigotry, and hypocrisy. The adults of today will still have a moment in the American sun, but the dominance of our society in the world is on the wane. In fact, the USA was once a beacon to peoples all over the world. Today it is a pariah nation to many. George Bush is not only hated in many national capitols, he is looked down upon as a unenlightened bumpkin. The demise of American dominance is happening faster than anyone anticipated. If we can elect a man like George W. Bush, the world feels we have reached the end, and how can a country with such lack of insight be worth much in today's mileu? The dollar is dying. So is our culture.
Consider the immense slide in a few short years...
The dollar is declining and is no longer considered the dominant medium of exchange. It is becoming increasingly difficult to fill military recruitment quotas. Increasingly the average American is having difficulty making ends meet.
The spread between rich and poor here is reaching epic proportions.
Americans cannot afford gas but oil companies are reaping record profits.
Scandals are racking the corporations in America in record numbers.
Healthcare in the U.S. is approaching the "standards" of the Third World for lower and middle income citizens.
Drug corporations are recording astronomical profits.
Hospitals are becoming corporate behemoths...leaving behind the poor and insuranceless.
Horrible urban and rural ghettos are growing.
Torture is now associated with American military leaders [and the President].
The U.S. infrastructure is crumbling badly.
George W. Bush has indicated to the world that the U.S. may invade any damn nation it wants.
The U.S. lags behind the rest of the world in ecological programming.
Americans have had their civil rights stolen and snooping is now a part of the Bush administration.
I could go on and on. The conservatives, neocons, Republicans and George W. Bush have been the greatest taxers in the history of the U.S. One big difference: they do not face it themselves, and they have handed it off to your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren. Nobody...NOBODY has taxed Americans like George W. Bush; except of course for the richest people in this country. The poor and middle class Americans are paying for the indulgences of this group of hooligans who have "led" us since 2001. Your grandchildren will probably not live at the same relative standard as you have. Thank the conservatives. The rape has been noticed, and will be uncovered as we go along.
Let me quote Ronald Reagan: are you better off today than you were 4 years ago? [or 8 years ago?...remember the federal budget surplus we had under a Democratic president?] | <urn:uuid:ae13c25d-092b-410b-b988-1ddc2a71d4a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myfoxpointnow.com/blogs/communityblogs/43777607.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960301 | 628 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Garden arbors are wooden structures used for trellising. For instance, there are the classic grape arbors, in which case the wooden structure serves a horticultural function: namely, providing support for a crop.
But vine-covered wooden structures can also serve as privacy screens. Another function is to provide shade, including on decks and patios. But they can also be purely decorative, forming archways to garden entrances. Or they can serve as entry gates for yards surrounded by fencing.
Need more storage space, but you don't want a big wooden structure plunked down in the middle of the yard? Not to worry. This resource offers sheds for those with light to moderate storage needs. Some of these sheds add a touch of style to your lawn and garden decor (click the "Compare Prices" button to check for availability).
When talking about storage units for the yard, the issue of materials often comes up. What's better, a wooden shed or a vinyl shed? In my article on outdoor storage buildings, I discuss both. If you want low-maintenance, vinyl is probably your best bet. When you click the "Compare Prices" button that follows, you'll find that most (if not all) of the choices are vinyl. | <urn:uuid:c44384b7-dff5-4f4e-8dbf-da7c05ef1b41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://landscaping.about.com/od/accentpieces/tp/wood_structures.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952162 | 257 | 1.5 | 2 |
Social Security turned 75 today! While the program remains vigorous after all these years, it is beginning to show its age. Unlike those that depend on it, retiring Social Security is not an option, which means that action will be required. Whether it continues to thrive 75 years from now and beyond is up to us and the decisions we make in the near future.
We've spoken a lot about Social Security reform the last few days, in the context of solvency, sustainability, and direct effects on the budget. But we haven't yet talked about reform in the context of our overall fiscal and economic picture. On the fiscal side, our fundamental problem is the growth of entitlement spending, and this is driven by both health care cost growth and by population aging.
As we think about Social Security reform in the United States, it makes sense to look at what other countries are doing to reform their public pension systems. Facing serious fiscal crises, a number of countries have begun making serious changes to their public pension changes, recently. Many countries are well ahead of the curve, having made their programs sustainable years ago. Others have had to make changes recently, in light of new fiscal and economic realities.
We've talked a lot about the long-term outlook for Social Security (it is insolvent), its impact on the federal budget (it will increase debt held by the public in most future years), and why reform must go beyond solvency to also think about sustainability. But even once we all agree the program is in need of reform, it is important that we decide how.<
This week, The Bottom Line will be celebrating Social Security’s upcoming 75th birthday on August 14th, and our main present is a comprehensive look at its future. Today, we will be examining the two ways that Social Security can be thought of in respect to America’s budgetary future, and how each of those viewpoints affect the possibility for, and probable methods of, reform.
Gone and Back – The Senate has left for its August recess, the House will return this week (for a day). Congress will be back in session after Labor Day for a frenetic month before adjourning again in October for final pre-election campaigning.
When we think about Social Security reform, we tend to look at options in terms of their impact solvency -- measured over a 75 years period. In their latest report, the Trustees estimate this shortfall to be 1.92 percent of taxable payroll. While solvency is a necessary condition for Social Security reform -- it is not a sufficient one.
Today, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the financial status of the two programs. The Trustees now project that Social Security will face a deficit of $41 billion this year before returning to surplus in 2012. In 2015, deficits will return and will continue to rise thereafter, reaching 1.1 percent of taxable payroll in 2020 and 3.2 percent by 2030, before depleting the trust fund entirely by 2037.
Since Social Security was signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935, it has become the largest government social insurance program in the world and the U.S. government’s single greatest expenditure, constituting $678 billion in outlays last year (about 5 percent of total U.S. GDP and 20 percent of the budget). Also known as OASDI (or Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance), the Social Security system in the U.S.
A few weeks ago, Fiscal Commission co-chair Erskine Bowles suggested that in designing a plan, "revenue as a percentage of GDP [should not] be much higher than 21%... [and] we have to work to make the tough choices to bring spending down to the same level"
Earlier this week, both Matt Miller and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities criticized this spending target as far too low. Though we agree that spending cannot be brought down to its historical average overnight, we think that Bowles' goal of letting revenues rise to 21 percent of GDP and eventually bringing spending down to that level is perfectly reasonable. | <urn:uuid:7e70153a-d391-4c7a-b9a4-b5b51f896bb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://crfb.org/category/blog-issue-areas/social-security?page=11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956211 | 847 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Monsieurs et Mesdames,
A call to order on definitions. The expressions "large winery", "medium-sized wineries", "small wineries", "boutique wineries" and "garagiste wineries" relate to one and only one thing - the physical size of the winery - that is to say, the number of winse produced. The terminology has nothing whatever in common with the quality of the wines produced.
Defining a boutique or garagiste winery by the individual attention it gives to vine location, trellising methods and winemaker's intents or desires has no meaning and that for two reasons:
(a) small wineries have a limited number of vineyards/grapes from which to choose. Because of that you can be fairly assured that if only 30 barrels of wine are harvested, almost all of those grapes will find their way into the "top level" wines of the winery and that almost regardless of quality. Small wineries have far fewer options for final blends (even in a 100% varietal wine) than large.
(b) at least some of the very best wineries pay an enormous amount of attention to what is happening in the vineyard and thus in separating/selecting grapes for premium wines, mid-level blends and lower-level blends. More than that, because a large winery will have far more grapes from which to choose, they are in an ideal position to make wines at different levels. Boutique/garagiste wineries do not have that ability.
A related point - there is absolutely no guarantee in predicting the quality of the wines of wineries in any of these categories. That depends largely on the vines, the winery, the winemakers and yes, the owners of the winery who often set the philosophy. And, of course, experience over time. Let us keep in mind for example that when Chateau Le Pin started up they did so in a garage (literally) and until they released their wines were considered little more than a joke in Bordeaux. The same might be said of an Israeli winery in the city of Tsfat (Sefad) which started out earning a reputation as a joke and has managed to maintain that reputation for nearly a decade.
On a thoroughly personal (albeit also professional) basis, I have fairly well abandoned using the terms "garagiste", "boutique", etc in favor of "very small", "small", "medium-sized", "large" and if one likes even "gigantic". As said earlier, that describes nothing but the size of the winery and says nothing whatever about the quality of their wines.
Finally, I cannot help but wonder if the use of terms such as garagiste and boutique have not have not been abused and in the name of "romance". Something akin perhaps to the use of terms such as: Selected, Reserve, Special Reserve, Royal Reserve....? | <urn:uuid:43375cf5-c4bb-45ba-96c9-2711c3c3886c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?p=325929 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963771 | 613 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Money and fame talk—and sometimes, even those who have taken an oath to “do no harm” listen, and let their financial and personal interests supersede their better judgment.
An unfortunate example is Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician who, last week, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the King of Pop’s death. Giving Jackson propofol, a medication designed to induce anesthesia, as a sleep aid, the cardiologist went outside the proper use of the drug as well as his own level of expertise. While it’s unclear whether Jackson had an addiction problem, he was reportedly using a variety of heavy meds, including daily injections of the narcotic pain reliever Demerol. A responsible physician would have looked at Jackson’s drug-seeking behavior and evaluated the possibility of substance abuse. But instead, Murray appears to have let celebrity and maybe a handsome sum of cash cloud his medical reasoning.
Few doctors are fortunate—or in Murray’s case, unfortunate—enough to treat one of the most famous recording artists of all time. But celebrities aren’t the only ones willing to pay physicians top dollar to feed their prescription drug dependence. In a disturbing CNN segment that aired last Wednesday, reporters investigated the prevalence of pain management clinics in South Florida that essentially sell prescriptions to substance abusers and dealers. Once again, the temptation of easy money leads to a reckless misuse of medicine.
As a doctor of internal medicine who has been practicing for 17 years, I believe that Murray and the docs on the CNN program are anomalies in what is still a caring field. However, even docs with great integrity may be unknowingly over-prescribing medications and contributing to a patient’s substance abuse. Because I treat men and women who are recovering from addiction, I closely monitor my patients’ medications and curtail the dosage if I feel it’s no longer appropriate.
For doctors in private practice, I recognize that monitoring is more difficult and the risk of abuse may not always be forefront in their minds. But physicians in any setting must be hyper-vigilant. This means looking at patterns and examining whether complaints match actual symptoms. It means scaling back if a patient’s dose and length of use seem to exceed their medical needs. Although the perception of pain varies, we must use our best judgment to prevent misuse—before it’s too late. While few of us would go to Dr. Murray’s extremes to satisfy a patient, his reckless behavior should serve as a wake-up call to all of us.Christopher Randolph, M.D. Medical Director, Phoenix House
Back to Index | <urn:uuid:94c6598f-9b97-4ca9-b656-ccb613146449> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phoenixhouse.org/news-and-views/our-perspectives/doctors-harm/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950145 | 544 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Goldeneye is quite an unusual game in that it's one of the few titles that executes code from virtual memory. I'm not sure exactly why it does this, but I suspect that it's to allow it to free up as much RAM as possible. It sets up a virtual memory range for the code, and pages in chunks of data to physical RAM as required (i.e. on TLB miss exceptions). I guess this means that it can just keep a few dozen KiB of code in RAM at a time, rather than the entire code segment.
Anway, emulating this accurately is incredibly slow - for every instruction that is executed, the emulator needs to check whether the instruction fetch would cause a TLB miss exception, and if so invoke the N64's exception handler. This is quite a time consuming process, so I tend to cheat and assume that the instruction pointer is in physical memory.
To get around this problem with Goldenye, I set up a couple of bogus entries in Daedalus' memory map that point directly to the correct region in the ROM image. In a way it's as if the N64 has a much larger TLB, and all the pages are permenantly mapped.
Normally (i.e. on the PC version of Daedalus) this all works fine. The problem as far as the PSP version is concerned is that the rom (all 12 MiB for Goldeneye) must be permenantly loaded into memory, and there just isn't enough memory left to do this anymore. As most N64 roms are simply far too large to fit in the PSP's RAM, I have to page chunks in from the memory stick on demand (pretty similar to what Goldeneye was doing on the N64 really :D)
So, there are a few possibilities for getting Goldeneye to work:
- Permenantly disable dynarec for Goldeneye, and reuse the dynarec buffers (6MiB) the expansion pak (unneeded anyway, 4MiB) and anything else I can scavenge, to fit the rom in a contiguous block in memory.
- Investigate a way of getting the memory-mapping hack to work with rom caching.
- Re-examine how I handle TLB miss exceptions for instruction fetches, and implement them correctly.
Of all of these, the first solution is probably the easiest, but it's a bit hacky (I'd have to allocate a 12 MiB for Goldeneye at startup, and carve this up for different subsystems if other roms were run).
The second solution is a bit less horrible, but I'm still not sure it's possible without checking the instruction pointer for every instruction that's executed (and paging in chunks of ROM as required).
That leaves the third solution which is probably the most work, but I think will be the most stable solution in the long run. It may also help a few other roms that are using similar techniques to Goldeneye to run correctly. If I can get it to work in conjunction with the current dynarec implementation, it shouldn't even be any slower than the current hack that's in place.
Anyway, given the work involved Goldeneye isn't an immediate priority, but I am thinking about it. | <urn:uuid:93319b25-290e-412c-880e-ffa392ccdee7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://strmnnrmn.blogspot.com/2007/05/goldeneye.html?showComment=1178809380000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961114 | 681 | 1.578125 | 2 |
My stubbornness comes from my belief that people playing tough saying they would press a button that would result in eternal torture with NO POSSIBLE way to stop it is not honest of them. It's just ridiculous and not in any way indicative of human nature and self-preservation and really just completely stupid.
King James Version (KJV)
19 And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
This is just one example of the Bible God’s weakness, if proven True. The Serpent in the Garden of Eden is another one. The hypothetical is if the traditional Bible God view of God is True, and those people believe the Bible is the Word of God because the Bible says it and the Bible says it is True etc. with the circular logic.
Going by this, we also get to accept that God failed in the garden of Eden against the Serpent, and that God’s weakness is an iron chariot in Judges. Why is it possible for a Snake and a Man with an Iron Chariot able to go and fight God and defeat God, while we can’t? Think about that for a second.
You refuse to accept that THERE IS A POSSIBLE WAY to stop it, through defiance! It may be your hypothetical, but your hypothetical has loopholes in it. If you want to change my answer, please change your hypothetical, which you did in a new thread so I’ll go see what that’s all about.
Tell me oh wise one - what's the difference between trying to oppose the Nazis and trying to oppose a god? Take your time.
There is no difference, that’s the point! Those who say they’ll press the Red button and worship and follow God, really need to take another look at the Bible and take a look at similar events that Bible God has done in history. The closest thing that Bible God has done in the Bible that shows his character, in a historical context event, would be Adolf Hitler and the Nazi’s, coupled with Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin. So, those who really say they’ll bow and worship God, are in no difference to me, giving Hitler the heil Hitler salute, and will obey orders in the Holocaust, hoping to thwart Hitler’s evil plans, only to obey, just as many Nazi Officers claimed and tried to do in WWII.
So for me, in a real-life scenario, bowing down before God is just as bad or worse, than heiling Hitler. There is not much difference, if at all between the 2, which is exactly what I’m saying, so I think you meant what is similar between God and the Nazis. | <urn:uuid:00a7c508-e439-4ca8-aa4c-cad4823c6281> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/forums/index.php/topic,22925.msg514191.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970381 | 584 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Don't feel bad, scaling a website is not easy doubly so when run for the love of it rather than for money as budgets will always be tight. You guys are doing a great job and have a great community.
As an educated guess (bearing in mind I can't see any stats, etc.)!!:
RAM usage is climbing because you have a high level of concurrent Apache processes. This will get worse as the site slows as you end up with more concurrent connections for the same level of traffic. Switching to Apache 2.2 using mpm_worker will help (although isn't really advised with PHP due to some PHP libraries not being thread safe) but nginx with php-fpm will be vastly more efficient in this scenario in terms of RAM usage and CPU.
There's a good guide on getting it working on Ubuntu here: http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-nginx-with-php5-and-php-fpm-and-mysql-support-on-ubuntu-10.10
The 20% CPU usage, is that reporting user cpu, or combined with system/wait cpu? If it's only user CPU then the bottleneck could be wait io - which is the CPU having to wait for either hard drives or the network. This can also be caused by the server running out of RAM (from Apache starting too many processes for example) and swapping out to disc. Using swap will kill the server stone dead, so that's the doomsday scenario.
If you're serving mostly cached content then the best thing to do is try and bypass PHP completely and serve straight from disc. This removes the huge (relative) overhead of PHP and at least one extra copy operation in RAM between the user space program and the kernel (and probably another copy or two between PHP and Apache). In Apache you'll see some benefit to this, but in nginx you'll see an order of magnitude speed boost.
Ask the ISP to check bandwidth to the servers as well. A few years ago we helped one of the teams out when they had problems with their hosting just before their car launch. It's the only time I've ever seen a server swamp a 100Mbit/s network using only 10% cpu - with all the journalists downloading pics of the cars.
Splitting the website onto two servers (one web, one db) likely won't help as one or other will be the bottleneck for you. But a load balanced 3 server setup would double your throughput. But that'll cost lots and won't be needed for the rest of the year. | <urn:uuid:11dae6da-bdd5-4b2d-8bca-3f8f047c8289> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=221353 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959608 | 531 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By Sarah J. for everythingchangesbook.com
I remember when I was twelve my grandpa was dying of lung cancer and I couldn’t even speak as I sat in his hospital room. The grown-ups kicked me out before I was able to say good-bye.
When I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s my kids were four and five. I didn’t want them to feel powerless like I did with my grandpa, but I didn’t know how to help them because having cancer made me feel so powerless.
And then I remembered a time before cancer that I was lying on the couch with a pretty bad cold and they made me soup. What they actually made was cold water, lettuce, carrots, turkey, crackers, and bread in a bowl along with a huge mess in the kitchen, but to them it was soup and their faces beamed with the pride of knowing their soup would help me feel better. I started remembering other similar instances of their efforts to help me like bringing me little teacups of water, washing the mirror on the bathroom door with soap, and spending hours scrubbing the fireplace doors with sponges. I thought that maybe with a little direction, there could be something to this.
I let them help whenever they offered without worrying about the mess they might leave behind. When I was too tired or in pain I would ask them for water, my pill bottles, a snack, or anything else I knew they were capable of. I even let them wash my hair after my lymph node biopsy when I couldn’t lift my arm. These were not just chores, they were lessons in kindness and with each task I could see that I was giving them some power over the situation and that they took pride in every little thing they could do to help.
It’s hard to parent with cancer, but it’s easy to give your kids a little power and in doing so, you may feel a little less powerless yourself.
How old are your kids? Have they been behaving differently since your diagnosis? Have they ever offered to help you out? How did it go? | <urn:uuid:bddbcfb3-0857-4b24-ad27-7618143f345a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everythingchangesbook.com/kairol/parenting-with-cancer?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+everythingchangesbook+%28Everything+Changes%3A+The+Insider%27s+Guide+to+Cancer+in+Your+20%27s+and+30%27s%29 | 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 | 0.990981 | 441 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Local & Regional
Wed April 18, 2012
Tulsa alternative prison plan to honor graduates
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An alternative prison program for nonviolent female offenders with alcohol and drug addictions is set to honor its sixth and largest group of graduates.
Women in Recovery is an alternative to incarceration program that operates in Tulsa County. Its latest graduating class will be honored Wednesday during a ceremony at the State Capitol.
Gov. Mary Fallin, House Speaker Kris Steele and other state officials will attend.
The latest graduates will join 52 other women who have completed the program since the first group graduated in July 2010. Two graduates will discuss their struggle with addiction, recovery, employment and reunification with their children and families.
Steele has sponsored legislation designed to ease the state's explosive prison growth, reduce Oklahoma's violent crime rate and cut prison costs. It's pending in the Senate.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. | <urn:uuid:b850081d-279e-41d3-9a3a-1d3b0ff02255> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kwgs.org/post/tulsa-alternative-prison-plan-honor-graduates | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935001 | 191 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A guide to succeed in the UK: 2 The right market place?
Of course it is – or else you wouldn’t be doing it. However, it is important to decide if you are targeting just one market (the UK) or using it as a gateway to Europe and, possibly, the wider EMEA market. For example, a company from Brazil may choose to set up in Portugal, or one from Quebec may favour France. The language and business culture factors in these cases may seem perfectly logical, but offsetting those decisions could be the difficulties of setting up in those countries, combined with non-flexible employment legislation.
Points in favour of the UK are the universal business and science language of English and the ease of doing business with the UK ranked fourth in the world (World Bank Doing Business 2011; www.doingbusiness.org).
Related Blog Posts
Paul adores tea - however he is not your "typical Brit". He despises bad customer service, does not come from either Oxford, or Cambridge - has good teeth, and speaks eloquently. He represents a UK accounting firm that concentrates on helping US companies enter the UK and succeed! Paul provides general UK tax, accounting and cultural insights in a light-hearted and practical way. He is, The UK Voice. | <urn:uuid:ea6f6831-e015-4847-95f8-16a7d797c0ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accountingweb.com/blogs/paulbeare/uk-voice/guide-succeed-uk-2-right-market-place | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950171 | 265 | 1.632813 | 2 |
SX4350 : Market Street - a tiny square
near to Kingsand, Cornwall, Great Britain
Kingsand and Cawsand
Kingsand and Cawsand are twin coastal villages in southeast Cornwall. The two villages are effectively one, as they merge together with no obvious demarcation. However, for a while Kingsand was in Devon, while Cawsand remained in Cornwall. This old boundary can be found on the house "Devon-Corn" (see SX4350 : Devon Corn). The boundary between the two counties was redrawn along the Tamar in 1844, when Kingsand returned to Cornwall.
Kingsand-Cawsand has several pubs: In Cawsand, The Cawsand Bay Hotel and The Cross Keys remain while The Criterion and The Ship (almost opposite each other in Garrett Street) have both closed. The former has been converted into a house, while the latter is in a sorry state awaiting renovation. In Kingsand there is The Halfway House, The Devonport and The Rising Sun, while the former Boatel has now closed and become a private dwelling.
Cawsand has just one shop, "The Shop in the Square" but Kingsand has several mostly clustered around The Cleave and up along Fore Street.
In summer there is a regular passenger ferry from Cawsand Beach across Cawsand Bay, past the breakwater and Plymouth Sound to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth. This excellent little ferry (a former lifeboat from the Canberra, I believe) can be quite an eventful and exciting crossing in choppy seas, though if the weather becomes too fearsome it doesn't run. The ferry is used both by villagers travelling to Plymouth, and by residents of Plymouth visiting this very attractive part of Cornwall - to use the beach or to walk to nearby Mount Edgecumbe.
Kingsand-Cawsand is situated on the Rame peninsula and is surrounded by varied and dramatic countryside, with cliffs, bays, sandy beaches, undulating farmland and many woods and streams as well as numerous historic relics, most particularly the post-Napoleonic forts built by Palmerston in the mid C19th to deter the French. Many of these forts and batteries are now ruinous, but several such as Cawsand and Picklecombe Forts have been converted into exclusive apartments, while the largest of all, at Tregantle is still used by the Army and has an accompanying Danger Area (when red flags are flying) which extends down to Long Sands on Whitsand Bay.
TIP: Click the map for Large scale mapping
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- Grid Square
- SX4350, 97 images (more nearby)
- Rob Farrow (find more nearby)
- Image classification?
- Date Taken
- Friday, 13 April, 2012 (more nearby)
- Tuesday, 1 May, 2012
- Geographical Context
- Subject Location
OSGB36: SX 4344 5055 [10m precision]
WGS84: 50:20.0412N 4:12.0727W
- Photographer Location
- OSGB36: SX 4345 5053
- View Direction
- North-northwest (about 337 degrees)
Looking for a postcode? Try this page
This page has been viewed about 33 times. | <urn:uuid:aa475689-166e-48cf-847f-5aced0496adb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2924670 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953099 | 691 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Gas prices on the rise, near $4 at some spotsGasoline prices spiked in the Midwest this week and as of Thursday were getting close to $4 at some local stations.
By: By Samara Kalk Derby, The Wisconsin State Journal, Superior Telegram
Gasoline prices spiked in the Midwest this week and as of Thursday were getting close to $4 at some local stations.
"Customers are upset," said Ravi Singh, who manages the BP station at 4501 Verona Road.
Gas at Singh's station was among the highest priced in town at $3.89 per gallon, but Singh said his store's cost is $3.85.
"It's not a big margin," he said.
Singh said the price climbed throughout the week. It went up four cents Thursday,
23 cents Wednesday and 14 cents Tuesday.
The average gas price in Madison Thursday was $3.75, while the national average was $3.56, according to MadisonGasPrices.com. It was up 10 cents in Madison from the day before and 36 cents from one week ago, according to the site.
Some stations in Madison are charging as much as $3.99. The lowest in the area was $3.53 found at stations in Mt. Horeb and Mazomanie, according to MadisonGasPrices.com.
According to AAA, the average cost of gas in Wisconsin Thursday was $3.67.
The price increase is caused by refinery and pipeline problems in the Midwest, including the Enbridge pipeline spill of some 1,200 barrels of oil in rural Grand Marsh, Wis., last week, said Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst for the gas pricing website GasBuddy.com.
The high prices will be temporary, he said.
"It may impact us for another week or two, and it will probably be at least two or three weeks before we really notice prices going back down."
The cost of wholesale gasoline is determined like a stock, with buyers and sellers, DeHaan said.
"It's kind of an auction, if you will. What's going on is, when we see issues arise, like the ones we saw, it puts upward pressure on prices."
People bid up gasoline, he said. "And that's what we saw here."
(c)2012 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)
Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at www.wisconsinstatejournal.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services | <urn:uuid:ed1218fd-c20a-4f9d-80c8-6b6bef468772> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.superiortelegram.com/event/article/id/68703/ | 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 | 0.964806 | 522 | 1.601563 | 2 |
I can't stop thinking about Braid; everything about it - gameplay design, art, sound - was executed nearly perfectly. And each of those aspects brought something new and interesting to the game. Nevertheless, being a game programmer, it's the code that I'm interested in here, and I can't help musing about how I would implement some of Braid's unique mechanics.
If you haven't played Braid yet but were kind of thinking about it, then stop reading this and go play it, right now! I don't want to deprive anyone of the smallest part of the wonder at exploring Braid's universe for the first time. If you haven't played Braid and don't intend to, then perhaps I can convince you to try it :)
Let me begin by making it clear that I don't know anything about the actual implementation of Braid; I haven't spoken to the developer and I haven't looked at the level editor. But how it's actually implemented is almost beside the point; this is a collection of more general thoughts inspired by Braid.
One of the first things to impress me about Braid was the consistency of its design. In essence, it's a platonic 2D platformer plus just 5 unusual mechanics:
1. The ability to rewind time for some objects in the world.
2. The idea of binding time to one of the dimensions of 2D space.
3. The idea of branching, but interacting, timelines.
4. The ability to distort time in one local region of 2D space.
5. The idea of making objects in some levels run backwards in time.
The ability to selectively rewind time (for some, but not all objects), and the ability to distort time (for some, but not all regions) provides ways for the player to affect the synchronisation of objects in the world to solve problems.
The idea of binding time to a spatial dimension in some levels, such that horizontal movement advances or rewinds time, ingeniously provides both an obstacle and a tool for overcoming other obstacles.
The idea of branching but interacting "shadow" timelines, such that the player can be in multiple places at once, provides a mind-bending tool for solving impossible puzzles.
The idea of running time backwards in some levels turns everything neatly on its head, makes the player gasp in delight when they realise some of the gameplay implications, and provides the most astoundingly clever ending to a game that I've ever had the pleasure to experience.
The player's immense satisfaction in each level comes from painstakingly learning how each new mechanic works, and then synthesising ideas to solve a problem. This game could only work by strictly adhering to the fundamental design mechanics. This is both impressive and requisite: it is impressive that the game never resorts to any special cases, but then, if it did, it would destroy the player's ability to derive satisfaction from their own cleverness.
And because the design never calls for any special cases, I imagine that the code must have been a joy to craft. That is what I am chiefly interested in here, for the observation that Braid adheres to a limited set of mechanics belies the subtle complexity of those mechanics, and therefore their implementation.
What follows is merely my guesswork.
1. Rewinding time.
At any point the player can rewind time by holding down a button, and release it at the point in time at which they wish to resume control and try again. That means what happened in the past needs to be buffered somehow.
Bad Idea Note: Simply buffering the player's inputs would not work, because although all games are deterministic, they are also convergent: given the complete state of the universe (including inputs), there will be exactly one proceeding state, but there may be multiple possible preceeding states (did the player get to their current position by running or falling?). This property of deterministic convergence is employed to mind-bending effect by mechanic #5.
A naive approach might be to simply record the position and state of each object at each frame. But besides being memory intensive, this would make interactions with other objects - which might be moving through time in a different direction or speed - awkward.
I think it would be better that the state of each object, including the player, be recorded at a slightly more abstract level - say, the start/endpoint and velocity of a jump. Each state would be coded to be able to play either forwards or backwards at a given speed, procedurally. This would allow objects to interact dynamically with others when slowed down or going backwards, and not be rigidly bound to what was recorded. This implementation would come in handy for mechanic #2, binding time to a spatial dimension, and #5, running some levels backwards in time.
The abstracted-procedural-state approach would allow every object in the game to have its own individual "timeline". For most objects their timelines would coincidentally match up - they would progress forwards and be rewound backwards synchronously - until their timeline is affected by another mechanic...
2. Binding time to a spatial dimension.
Using the above implementation, this would be fairly simple - control all affected objects' timelines based on the player's current velocity.
Bad Idea Note: It might be more intuitive to think of this mechanic as the player's horizontal position scrubbing backwards and forwards through time, like the progress bar on a media player. And it might therefore be natural to think of using the player's position, not velocity, to control object states. Unlike a prerecorded movie in a media player, however, the objects will not be in the same state on every occasion a given time is revisited. It's impossible to jump to a given time, you have to advance frame-by-frame, state-by-state, procedurally, so that all the interactions can play out dynamically.
That means using the abstracted-procedural-state approach with individual object timelines controlled by player velocity, even if all of the individual timelines happen to be controlled synchronously.
3. Branching but interacting timelines.
This idea, although the most mind-bending for the player to come to grips with, would actually be one of the easiest to implement. Assuming that we record what happened in the past using the abstracted-procedural-state approach, the implementation of this mechanic would be simple.
Each object has a "shadow" object, which is actually an entirely independent object. Shadow objects only interact with other shadow objects and purple objects, which bind together both their shadow and real selves. When time is rewound and control is resumed, most objects and their shadows resume what they were doing, following the same rules. Because it's a deterministic world, the objects and shadows stay in sync, unless something disrupts them by interacting with one but not the other.
However, the player is not deterministic, and can choose to take different actions when control is resumed. The player's shadow repeats whatever the player just rewound.
The player's shadow would be controlled by the recorded states: while rewinding time, instead of discarding the states that we rewind past, they would be kept to use as a control buffer for the shadow. When the recorded states run out, the shadow just slumps, uncontrolled.
4. Distorting time in localised regions of space.
This idea is nice and simple for both the player and the programmer. If each object has an individual timeline, then the speed of that timeline could be set to be proportional to the distance of the object from the distortion.
5. Run time backwards.
This idea is the most fascinating to play, and possibly the most difficult to implement, of them all - due to the deterministic-but-convergent property of games.
First, let's get the easy stuff out of the way. Using the abstracted-procedural-state approach, we would already have coded all the interactions for objects moving backwards through time - for example, a monster going from dead to alive when the player jumps on its head, rather than the other way around. So the basic interactions with objects are already taken care of.
Bad Idea Note: You might initially think that simply running time backwards at a fixed speed for all objects would be easy, given that we already have solutions for selective rewinding, variable timeline speeds, etc. The important difference is that in those cases, the past is known and it's just a matter of replaying it somehow - time can only be rewound backwards for as long as the player has been playing, to the start of the level. In this case, however, time runs backwards from the beginning of the level, and we haven't had a chance to record where each object was. Or will be. Or something. Arrgh!
From the player's perspective, this mechanic is amazing because, when time runs forwards, we can intuitively reconstruct where an object is likely to have come from by observing its current state in the environment. When time runs backwards, that reconstruction becomes a prediction. In a deterministic universe running forwards, given perfect knowledge, we can make perfect predictions - we know exactly where the monster will go. But in a convergent universe running backwards, even with perfect knowledge, we can't make perfect predictions - we can't know whether the monster will stay on the ground or "fall up" to a higher platform. It's amazing when, as the player, you realise that an object's "past" can be affected by actions in the "future", like blocking off a route which makes it impossible for a monster to have "come" from that route. It's like the weird world of quantum mechanics, in which a particle's past is determined by observations made in the future.
The difficulty is that deterministic-but-convergent property. All of the other mechanics could be implemented in a philosophically plausible manner, but I can't see any good way to do this mechanic except by "cheating".
In the other mechanics, the behaviour/AI of an object running backwards along its individual timeline is trivial - just reconstruct it from the recorded abstracted state information. In this mechanic though, we need some actual decision-making logic while running backwards. Take the example of a monster walking backwards along the ground, just about to go underneath a higher platform. Should it continue walking backwards along the ground, or should it "fall up" to the higher platform. What happened in its "past"?
Bad Idea Note: You might think of taking further inspiration from quantum mechanics and assigning a probability to each past, which is fine from a design point of view, but would be practically impossible from an algorithmic point of view. You would need to identify all the places at which the convergence tree can branch (perhaps this could be marked up in data). Then you would need an algorithm for traversing the convergence tree and pruning off the branches that come from impossible starting conditions. Then you would randomly select between the remaining branches. The problem would be identifying the impossible starting conditions - how far back do you branch before determining that the object is stuck in a loop with no start, and how do you account for the interactions with every possible branch of every other object? Combinatorial explosion!
The more sensible approach might be to have a deterministic "default" behaviour like "always walk", and to "cheat" by having the designer specify when the object should deviate from that default behaviour - for example, trigger a "fall up here" marker when the player blocks the ground route (meaning that the monster could not possibly have taken the ground route).
There are few levels that use this mechanic, and the places where there is ambiguity are even fewer, so this scripted approach would probably be manageable.
From a gameplay perspective this approach might also be desirable - having a deterministic default behaviour for each object results in predictability which is probably reassuring to the player, even though, philosophically, the player has no reason to expect the behaviour to be predictable.
So, that's all the main mechanics seemingly neatly implemented. I'm very impressed by how you would be able to get such varied gameplay from relatively simple, but far from obvious, rules.
Damn, I wish I'd made this game... | <urn:uuid:aea0ce38-afe7-4c92-8c2f-8d183b68089a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://publicinterface.blogspot.com/2010/01/unraveling-braid.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957167 | 2,535 | 1.75 | 2 |
The Texas GOP has a lot to crow about: in a state that’s nearly 40 percent Hispanic, all statewide offices are held by Republicans; about 700 new Hispanic delegates went to the party’s convention last summer; Ted Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, has just been elected to the U.S. Senate; and George P. Bush—who is of Hispanic descent—looks primed for a statewide run.
In interviews, a dozen party leaders, operatives, businessmen, elected officials and others said Texas could serve as a model for national Republicans looking to draw more Hispanics into the fold. They point to a proven Lone Star recipe that combines policies aimed at assisting immigrants, mixed with an effective political ground game and outreach – all of it glued together by welcoming language that embraces the Latino population and its concerns. And, those involved say, the Texas GOP has largely avoided miring itself in anti-immigrant legislation and sharp-edged words and phrases that have turned off Latino voters nationally, particularly in the last election cycle.
Perhaps the party’s single most important recent effort has been the passage of a plank supporting guest workers at the state Republican convention last summer. The key language states that the party endorses a temporary worker initiative to “bring skilled and unskilled workers into the United States for temporary periods of time when no U.S. workers are currently available.”
Texas Republicans said the plank has sent a powerful message of inclusion to the state’s Hispanic population. | <urn:uuid:a65ad0de-a34a-4d7e-9d08-efd33e6d31e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/12/01/texas-gop-touts-its-hispanic-model/comment-page-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956691 | 305 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Essential Graphic Novels by DC Comics
DC Comics, an international favorite publisher of graphic novels, has a list of 30 Essential Graphic Novels that contains must-read titles for graphic novel novices and aficionados. Listed below are my picks from the list.
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller tells the story of young Bruce Wayne and how he spent his adolescence and early adulthood traveling the world so he could hone his body and mind into the perfect fighting and investigative machine. But now as he returns to Gotham City, he must find a way to focus his passion and bring justice to his city. In Year One, you will see how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman.
Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham is the story of folkloric characters that are exiled from their land and forced to live in modern-day New York. The find safety in their own home, Fabletown, but their safety is soon disrupted after the murder of Snow White's sister, Rose Red.
Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman is an eery yet stunning story about mysticism and the realm of Morpheus, the god of dreams. This is a must-read for lovers of graphic novels and the supernatural.
To view the entire list of Essential Comics, click here. | <urn:uuid:9527bc21-21e7-49fe-a596-04920efe39fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hcpl.net/content/essential-graphic-novels-dc-comics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960658 | 267 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The Farm Journal Foundation today announced plans to renew its commitment to the "FFA: Food for All" grant program for a second year. The Foundation’s Farmers Feeding the World initiative is wrapping up a successful first year of its partnership with the National FFA Organization’s Feeding the World—Starting at Home program to help fight world hunger. As the cornerstone of the partnership, Farmers Feeding the World, along with a match from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, provided $500,000 to support the competitive "FFA: Food for All" grant program, which funds local FFA chapters’ long-term sustainable projects to fight hunger.
"Farmers Feeding the World’s mission is educating the public on the importance of modern agriculture’s role in the fight against hunger and, moreover, doing something about it. Collaborating with FFA is one of the most impactful ways we can fulfill that mission," said Andy Weber, Farm Journal Foundation chairman. "This grant program empowers the next generation of leaders who will continue the effort to feed our world."
Dr. Dwight Armstrong, National FFA Organization CEO, agreed. "Anyone who has seen the face of hunger in the United States or abroad will understand why FFA members are committing to fight it. These students will be tomorrow’s leaders and innovators in agriculture. FFA members know that ‘Living to Serve’ is more than just the last line of the FFA motto. It’s a call to action, and a pledge to lend a hand and support every person’s right to safe, affordable and nutritious food."
In the grant program’s first year, nearly 140 FFA chapters throughout the U.S. initiated sustainable hunger programs in their local communities or other communities in need. While the full impact of the grants will not be tabulated until October, many of the "FFA: Food for All" projects have already begun to transform the communities they serve. Some have inspired other community members to get involved; others have attracted additional financial investment to the fight against hunger. To capture the impact being made by the "FFA: Food for All" grants, Farmers Feeding the World is producing a mini-documentary highlighting five FFA chapters that will be featured on the "U.S. Farm Report" and "AgDay" TV programs.
In the second year of this landmark partnership, Farmers Feeding the World and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation will fund another $500,000 to support both the "FFA: Food for All" grant program and the National FFA’s inaugural "Rally to Fight Hunger." The Rally will engage as many as 10,000 FFA members from across the country, as well as local volunteers, during the 2012 National FFA Convention and Expo. Its goal is to package one million meals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to combat hunger. FFA chapters can start applying for "FFA: Food for All" grants in October 2012. | <urn:uuid:c5437114-c42f-493a-9736-8b387b863303> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agweb.com/farmjournal/article/farm_journal_foundation_renews_500k_commitment_to_ffa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94697 | 620 | 1.585938 | 2 |
When things look the bleakest, it's sometimes easier to see the things in my life for which I am the most thankful. There is so much...
What are you thankful for? How do you celebrate this time of year? Do you read? Tell stories, and imagine? What do you say about Thanksgiving?
Read more quotes of Thanksgiving:
- "Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks - I got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night."
-- Irving Berlin
- "Once, when my feet were bare, and I had not the means of obtaining shoes I came to the chief of Kufah in a state of much dejection, and saw there a man who had no feet. I returned thanks to God and acknowledged his mercies, and endured my want of shoes with patience."
-- Sadi, The Gulistan
- "The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts ... nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
-- H.W. Westermayer
- "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving."
-- W.T. Purkiser
- "I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness... Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy."
-- Anne Frank
So, what are you reading? What are you doing? How are you celebrating, as Thanksgiving draws near? | <urn:uuid:81bbdfa1-1a9b-49f0-bf7e-e0939abdb45a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://classiclit.about.com/b/2012/11/22/to-beauty-and-all.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964376 | 337 | 1.75 | 2 |
Google App Engine may not be as popular as some other generalist cloud computing solutions, but Google is still expanding the capabilities of its cloud solution. The latest should prove rather interesting for many developers, Google is now offering a cloud database for App Engine.
Google Cloud SQL
is a MySQL-based database service that enables App Engine users to move their databases into cloud or use their existing applications that need database access on App Engine.
The service will be free, for now, and provides several advantages over hosting your own database, the Google computing infrastructure probably being the biggest.
"One of App Engine’s most requested features has been a simple way to develop traditional database-driven applications," Navneet Joneja, product manager for Google Cloud SQL, wrote
"In response to your feedback, we’re happy to announce the limited preview of Google Cloud SQL," he said.
"You can now choose to power your App Engine applications with a familiar relational database in a fully-managed cloud environment. This allows you to focus on developing your applications and services, free from the chores of managing, maintaining and administering relational databases," he added.
The advantages of using Cloud SQL should be quite obvious. Since everything is in the cloud and managed by Google, you don't need to configure or troubleshoot anything, it should just work.
Since the data is replicated on several Google data centers, it will almost always be available. Google will also offer import/export capabilities for bringing your database into and out of the cloud.
Google uses the very familiar MySQL so most web applications will be ready to go and the database format should be very familiar to most devs and administrators.
Of course, another obvious advantage, is that everything is integrated with App Engine, great if you're already using or planning to use the cloud service.
The new cloud database is free to use for now, since it's in "preview" mode, but Google will eventually charge for it. It will notify users 30 days in advance once it decides to do that. | <urn:uuid:4c94df32-f312-4ca7-9bd7-dea5143af40e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Debuts-Cloud-Database-Solution-Based-on-MySQL-226282.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934111 | 418 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Mercedes-Benz have a skunkworks inside their AMG department. It is run by engineers who went to the Jeremy Clarkson school of car design which says that “there is no such thing as too much power.” They develop a range of cars known simply as the Black series. These crazy scientists have now turned their attention to the C-Class coupe.
The AMG Black division have taken a C-Class Coupe, and shoehorned the 6,3l AMG V8 engine into it. The engine department has then managed to 380kW out of the engine – 44kW more than the standard C63 AMG. This results in a 0-100km/h time of 4.2 seconds, just 0,2 seconds faster than the standard car, but in the war of pub facts, this is everything.
Externally, you get an even more aggressive body kit, with huge side vents, an arrow shaped front bumber and the option of an enourmous rear wing and enourmous 19-inch wheels.
The Cool Factor
The problem with the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series is this: It is horribly uncool. It may be faster than the BMW M3 and Audi RS5 and it may be a limited edition, but the ‘Black’ denotes it as horribly uncool.
The issue is that you have to explain the car. “Why does your C-Class cost R1,45 million?” or “Why are the seats so uncomfortable in your Mercedes?” My mother does not care about cars and to her the C63 Black Series is identical to a C-Class diesel. Trying to explain the AMG pedigree, and the high performance and the limited production is pointless. You have to be a monumental car bore to know that it is a Black series and what that means.
This, therefore, is a pointless car and anyone who has bought one should hang their head in shame.
(For comparisions sake, I have compared the R1,45 million C-Class to the godfather – the Nissan GT-R which comes in the same price bracket). | <urn:uuid:93193360-18d3-431c-935c-4e9367d8140a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.car-life.co.za/news/the-craziest-mercedes-benz-c-class-for-r14-million/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967103 | 449 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Dust off the crowbar, Gordon. Things are about to get interesting.
The first Half-Life made good use of a simple mouth animation that paralleled the shape of the wav file attached to the character. Post-release focus groups showed that this was a very effective feature, with many players actually beginning to sympathize (or at least identify) with the NPCs in the game. This time around the team is incorporating even more emotional involvement, with characters that are even more interesting. More ambitiously, they want the characters to be able to act and convey messages without words.
To save the artists some time, the team tried to find someone who had systematized facial expressions. Fortunately a researcher here at USF had compiled a vocabulary and grammar for facial expressions that fit the team's need. Dr. Eckman identified 40 key frames of expression, running the gamut of emotional expression. The team's need wasn't quite that advanced so they're only using 20-25 faces. These faces can be blended to create hybrid expressions (happy/confused) and are attached to dialogue lines. Since each model's face is unique, each expression is unique as well.
"They say in Hollywood that the eyes sell it," says Doug. To prove his point he loads up a character test level with a new character, Alyx. The first thing Doug asks us to notice is that the eyes aren't ping-pong balls. They're designed elliptically and stare just a bit beyond you. This avoids the goggley, cross-eyed effect that plagues most games. Special shaders add sheen and gloss to the game.
The team is also moving away from the one-boned move movement. Now they're using a phoneme extractor to analyze and quantify wav files making automatic lip-synching possible. As new wavs are loaded in, the engine automatically shapes the mouth to make the correct sounds. (This should aid in localization as well with French and German synching being as simple as English.) Lines are more important than expressions in this system but a character will maintain a given expression as much as possible while delivering their lines.
Doug showed us how Alyx could switch between various expressions independently of the content of the line. In her "sassy mode" she lowers her brow and throws her shoulder back and says "If you want my help, you better get moving." Other lines are uttered with credible condescension or aggravation. This system plugs in to all the characters, from Alyx to the G-man, and yes, even the aliens. The team can, of course, hand script emotions and animations to provide just the right punch to a scene.
Though there are plenty of new beings in the game, we started the character tour by visiting some of our old favorites. The Head Crab 2003 model is pretty much the same as you remember but with much better animations and substantially higher poly counts. It also comes in a "sporty" and "heavy" version, with appropriate advantages in speed and strength. The same scheme applies to the zombies now. The bull squid was heavy enough the first time, we suppose, and still retains just one form. We also saw the barnacles that clung tight to the ceilings of the original game. This time around they've got eerily pulsating sacs around their base.
The ant lions are entirely new. Based off an insect-like morphology similar to that used in Starship Troopers, these new guys come in multiple flavors. The garden variety, generic ant lion is bad enough. Worse still are the hulking ant lion guards. Even the regular ant lions are kind of freaked out by these guys and have a very "skittish relationship" with them.
The striders are also new. These gigantic tripedal creatures stand well over 50 feet tall and, in form at least, resemble creatures from The Tripods or War of the Worlds. There are plenty of other additions as well, from insectified flying head crabs to skeletal assassin robots. The assassin robot is a bit like the female assassin from the previous game (who also puts in an appearance here) but prefers to stand toe-to-toe with his enemies rather than just jump around like an idiot.
Where there were only a few basic models in Half-Life, the sequel promises "everybody in the game will have a unique head and everybody is an individual." Doug walked in to a large room with a dozen random townsfolk. They run the gamut from bookish to gruff and even Goth. The members of City 17's police force, called the Combine Soldiers, are intentionally uniform, with their outfits and gas masks. Even so, there are different varieties of them, from basic troops to those wearing heavy battlesuits.
But even though they're completely unique, there are definitely characters that stand out in terms of their role. The G-man is definitely back. "He still has a big part in the game," says Doug, and "he's still your nemesis. As you'd expect, the G-man has a hand in all the nonsense going on." Barney's back as well, along with Dr. Kleiner, Gordon's mentor in the first game. It seems as if the roles the NPCs play has been expanded as well. "As in the first game, there's a big question about who's really the bad guy. Kleiner makes a big assertion in Half-Life 2 to get all the people we think of as friendly moving in a certain direction." | <urn:uuid:7bca0534-ca2f-4972-831a-af4fd907e83e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/05/08/half-life-2-4?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971737 | 1,135 | 1.695313 | 2 |
A HazMat team investigated Wednesday morning radioactive medical waste detected in a trash bin behind an Albertsons at Lincoln and Ocean Park boulevards in Santa Monica, temporarily closing the grocery store.
The source was a bag of medical grade Iodine 131 used to treat thyroid cancer, according to Santa Monica Fire Chief Judah Mitchell.
The store at 2627 Lincoln Blvd. was not evacuated as Haz Mat personnel wearing protective suits combed the area using "highly sophisticated monitors and detectors." The readings inside the store were normal, so customers were allowed to continue shopping, but new customers were not allowed to go inside, Mitchell said.
A radiation signal about 30 feet from the dumpster—which Mitchell called a "pretty significant read"—was detected by city trash collectors about 9 a.m. Over the past couple of days, they had picked up positive readings while dumping their loads at the waste station behind the City Yards.
City crews set out on their regular routes Wednesday to try to find the source of the radiation. When they picked up the signal near the grocery store, they called 911.
The bag of Iodine 131 and all of the dumpster's trash were taken to the Sun Shine Landfill in Sylmar. | <urn:uuid:32f42258-2e6b-40fe-a21a-200fa56fbe5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://santamonica.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/hazmat-team-called-to-albertsons | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962632 | 249 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Born: Wednesday, May 24th, 1922
Birthplace: Seattle, Washington
Education: University of Santa Clara (1941)
Gonzaga University (1942)
University of Washington, B.A. (1948); LL.B. (1950)
Career: Municipal Court (1959-1964)
Superior Court (1965-1967)
Federal District Court (1971-1987)
Served: Monday, January 8th, 1968 to Thursday, May 13th, 1971
Political Party: Republican
Appointing Governor: Evans (Republican)In December 1963, Walter T. McGovern confronted a decision that would set the course for the remainder of his professional life. Several prominent Republicans and Seattle civic leaders had urged the young judge to resign from the municipal bench and run for mayor of Seattle. The suggestion obviously tempted McGovern:
I’ve thought about running for mayor considerably, but I compare it with being away from home and the family and I just cannot do it. My family comes first. As mayor you’re required to represent everybody in the city. You have got to be at the job all the time. Also I would have to leave the legal profession. I enjoy the judiciary. I’m not ready to leave it … I expect to run for higher judicial office.
At age forty-one, he decided to pursue a judicial career. It proved a fortunate choice.
McGovern was born in Seattle on May 24, 1922, the youngest son of Arthur and Ann Marie (Thies) McGovern. His father and uncle were partners in a salmon brokerage firm. The family moved to San Francisco when Walter was young and he became attached to another uncle, a successful attorney active in California politics after whom he was named and after whom he and one of his brothers modeled their careers. Walter’s parents urged their sons to follow in the uncle’s footsteps. The family returned to Seattle where Walter attended Seattle Prep, a private Catholic high school, graduating in 1940.
During World War II, McGovern, a University of Santa Clara student, enlisted in the officers’ training program for the navy and received his instruction at Gonzaga University in Spokane. While at Gonzaga he captained the varsity basketball team and was student body president. After receiving his commission he served in the Pacific theater from 1944 to 1946, achieving the rank of lieutenant junior grade and serving on a landing ship tank. The judge remained in the navy reserve and retired as captain. After the war, McGovern returned to Seattle and to the University of Washington, earning a B.A. degree in English and his law degree from the university’s law school in 1950.
At his first law job, with Kerr, McCord, Greenleaf, and Moen in Seattle, he became proficient at handling corporate and civil matters for the firm’s banking and insurance clients. The young attorney, active in political and professional affairs, served as Republican precinct committeeman, and president of the Young Republicans of King County and the Evergreen Republican Club. He attended nearly all Seattle-King County bar meetings and all state bar conventions, being named to numerous committees. In August 1956, when only thirty-four, Mayor Gordon Clinton appointed him pro tem judge of the Seattle traffic court. Two years later, after he had combined court sessions with an active private practice, members of the bar asked McGovern to seek a full-time position on the Seattle bench. At first he was reluctant to give up private practice:
Three members of the local bar association came and asked me if I would run for municipal court judgeship … and I said “no,” I was not interested. They came about two weeks later and again asked me to file against the incumbent and I said “no.” Another two weeks passed and they came and asked me and I said I would think it over and let them know on Monday. That weekend I told my wife what I was going to do and she was somewhat distraught. She knew how I enjoyed private practice. But when I told her of my decision she said, “let’s go.”
A committee of forty-four prominent attorneys, who regarded the incumbent as unsuitable, lent their support to McGovern’s effort to unseat the veteran. Endorsed by the Seattle-King County Bar Association by a vote of 604 to 424, he easily defeated the incumbent and a third candidate. Having garnered more than fifty percent of the vote in the primary, he and his supporters celebrated apparent victory. However, the state legislature, in authorizing municipal judgeships, had neglected to exempt from the general election primary winners who attracted more than half the votes. McGovern had to establish his campaign organization for another race in the general election, where he again defeated the incumbent by a substantial margin. It was the first time in a Seattle judicial election that a challenger had unseated an incumbent. McGovern easily won reelection to the municipal post in 1963. He served his tenure on the city bench in the criminal division.
While a municipal judge, many people touted McGovern as a mayoral aspirant. But in December 1963, he decided to stay in the judiciary. In July 1964, he announced his candidacy for the superior court and again challenged a veteran incumbent. With the backing of the bar association and the endorsement of a number of labor organizations, he overwhelmed his opponent in the September primary election and this time claimed victory without needing a runoff election.
In January 1967, Supreme Court Judge Charles Donworth reached the mandatory retirement age of seventy-five and would have to step down at the end of the year. Republican Governor Dan Evans, who a few months earlier had named Marshall Neill to the court, now had another opportunity to appoint a justice to the state’s court of last resort. He called Judge McGovern on the afternoon of December 4, 1967, to offer him the job, and McGovern readily accepted. McGovern had worked with the governor when Evans represented the Forty-third District in the state house of representatives. McGovern had strong Republican credentials, a proven judicial record, and the state bar association’s approval. No one opposed his appointment.
McGovern found judging at the appellate level significantly different from his municipal and superior court experiences. The municipal bench was “a court of human emotion.” Problems “between husbands and wives and among neighbors” dominated the docket. On the lower courts a judge had to be more “mediator than a penalizer.” On the superior court the
continuing responsibility of the judge is … to assure all of the parties that their rights are safeguarded. [The judge] does this by strictly following the law. In the trial court he is not making law, but rather deciding the facts in a case in which he has heard the evidence and applying the law to those factual findings. In a jury trial, he advises the jury of the law which is applicable to the case at hand.
But the supreme court was different:
[It] basically is a court of review, that deals entirely on points of law. We aren’t concerned with establishing facts … A good supreme court judge thinks continuously, works hard, acts independently and impartially, and is dedicated to cutting through the extraneous matters, and getting to the heart of the legal issue. It’s an arduous but rewarding task.
On the high bench, “everything has to be down in black and white,” while at the trial level you “think out loud as you speak.”
During McGovern’s three-and-a-half years on the state’s high bench he became known as a moderate, middle-of-the-road judge. One of his law clerks remembered with pleasure his short tenure with McGovern:
The most important reason I enjoyed my clerkship was the “teaching” and gracious personality of Justice McGovern. In addition to being very personable, McGovern shared opinion writing duties with me, sought my counsel on decisions which he authored individually and allowed a great deal of flexibility in terms of work hours and tasks … Even though it was sometimes difficult to recognize my contribution to the opinion, it is my belief that the Justice gave careful consideration to whatever view point I might have expressed.
Justice McGovern’s decisional style might best be described as “individual.” He relied most heavily upon his own knowledge of the law and upon clues provided by precedent. However, his “feeling for what is right” was blended into the decisional equation. These individual factors were more important as sources for decision than what McGovern learned from his discussions with the other justices, what the lawyers noted in their oral presentations and briefs, and what research his law clerks conducted.
The justice penned sixty-nine opinions for the court during his short tenure and filed seven dissents. Not committed to an excessive use of the dissent, he chose instead to discuss disagreement informally with his colleagues and include their concerns when drafting opinions. His former clerks stated that he would usually dissent when he felt strongly on an issue and had a chance to persuade some of his brethren to join him. His view of the role of dissent was “to win over the majority or to win more votes,” and to “lay the groundwork for the future” whereby in several years the court might accept his version. McGovern enjoyed drafting opinions but frowned upon a “law review” style of writing. An opinion should confront only those issues absolutely necessary to decide the case.
In 1971 President Richard Nixon sought Governor Daniel Evans’s counsel to fill the federal district court vacancy of retiring judge William Lindberg. Evans, along with Washington’s Republican Attorney General Slade Gorton, recommended Justice McGovern. John D. Ehrlichman, then an assistant to the president, also urged the president to nominate McGovern. The American Bar Association’s standing committee of the federal judiciary gave its tentative approval. On March 26 President Nixon sent McGovern’s name to the senate for confirmation. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously in favor of the appointment, and on April 21 the full senate-with Washington’s two Democratic senators fully approving-confirmed McGovern. On May 14, 1971, he became a federal district judge for the western district of Washington.
Judge McGovern was back on the trial bench which, admittedly, he enjoyed more than the cloistered and contemplative supreme court. Almost immediately his court became embroiled in important and controversial disputes. In July he presided over an important sex discrimination case. Within a few months he decided issues involving redistricting, conscientious objectors, oil spills, and price fixing. Conflicts over Indian fishing rights, super tankers in Puget Sound, water pollution disputes, Indian rights to sell fireworks and liquor on reservations, and war protestors at the Trident submarine base near Bremerton filled his court’s calendar. In 1979 McGovern assumed the post of chief judge for the district, and in 1987 took senior status. He still heard cases, but could adjust his case load.
McGovern married Rita Marie Olson, whom he had known since seventh grade, in June 1946, and had three children: Trina, Shawn, and Renee. His hobbies, which he shared with his family, were gardening and tennis. He served as director of several investment companies, and devoted time to charitable work with the Medina Children’s Service, Traveler’s Aid Society, Seattle Committee on Alcoholism, and the Women’s Studio Club rehabilitation center. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Seattle Tennis Club.
McGovern’s oral history interview is in the supreme court collection, Washington State Archives. Also see Seattle-King County Bar Bulletin (Dec. 1987), p. 4, and (Je. 1988), p.5; Spokane Spokesman-Review, 10 Sept. 1985; and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 15 Nov. 1987.
The preceding biography is from Charles Sheldon's The Washington High Bench: A Biographical History of the State Supreme Court, 1889-1991, © 1992 by the Board of Regents of Washington State University. Reprinted here with permission and licensed to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License by The Temple of Justice Project. | <urn:uuid:133bed79-8847-4468-857a-8ff6c646b988> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://templeofjustice.org/justice/walter-t-mcgovern/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978295 | 2,558 | 1.632813 | 2 |
NC candidates look to state unemployment rate
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The latest look at North Carolina’s unemployment rate will point to whether this fall is a season of hope for the state’s jobless.
The state Commerce Department announces North Carolina’s unemployment rate for August on Friday. The unemployment rate increased slightly in July to 9.6 percent, tying North Carolina with South Carolina for the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the country. The national average was 8.3 percent in August.
Last month showed that private employers added 16,000 jobs, an improvement that was offset by the loss of almost 14,000 jobs as state and local governments cut workers.
More than 400,000 million people in North Carolina want to work but don’t have jobs.
This article was provided by The Associated Press. (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) | <urn:uuid:b08df311-0b1e-4e81-a099-297b1c4afa21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myfox8.com/2012/09/21/nc-candidates-look-to-state-unemployment-rate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942316 | 189 | 1.742188 | 2 |
This responsive image technique has a lot of moving parts but it seems pretty solid.
Archive: April, 2012
There’s two years(!) of doctored headlines here. Yes, it’s puerile but it’s also very funny (to my puerile sensibilities).
Dan writes about how data saved his life. That is not an exaggeration.
He describes how, after receiving some very bad news from his doctor, he dived into the whole “quantified self” thing with his health data. Looking back on it, he concludes:
If I were still in the startup game, I have a pretty good idea of which industry I’d want to disrupt.
Anton is a fantastic artist. Therefore, this graphic novel will be fantastic. Therefore, you should back the hell out of it.
An case study that tackles complex navigation in a responsive site.
See now, this is why liquid layouts are the way to go.
Another call for design-based (rather than device-based) breakpoints in responsive sites.
Cataloguing patterns (best practices, really) for privacy-concious site owners.
Oh, this is just wonderful: a camera that outputs a text description instead of an image (complete with instructions on how to build one yourself). I love it!
Wilto gives a thorough explanation of the state of things with responsive images, particularly the work being done at the Responsive Images Community Group at the W3C.
A great step-by-step tutorial from Brad on developing a responsive site with a Content First mindset.
This is my short explanation of Remy’s explanation of a BBC news article which is an explanation of an academic paper about battery performance of mobile devices when accessing websites.
This is a very in-depth look at how to become a power user of the Web Inspector in Webkit browsers. I’m sitting down with a nice cup of tea to go through all of this.
When I linked to the Toast framework the other day, I mentioned that I was intrigued by its use of inline-block for layout. Here’s a more detailed analysis of how display: inline-block works, along with some caveats.
This seems like an eminently sensible thing to do when building responsive sites: ditch mock-ups entirely. The reasons and the workflow outlined here make a lot of sense.
Josh and Michelle have been hard at work making this responsive theme for Shopify. It’s quite lovely.
This is interesting, not because it’s yet another grid framework (which I never use anyway) but because of the way it’s doing layout: with border-box and inline-block, rather than floats. If you’re only serving up your layout styles to browsers that support media queries (which would discount older versions of IE anyway), this could make a lot of sense.
A fantastic taste of what you can expect in Seb’s Creative Coding workshop.
This really is a ridiculously smart way of keeping third-party videos scalable in responsive layouts. I’ve just implemented it on this year’s dConstruct site.
Cute. I gave Dan some advice. He made it look all pretty.
Albert-László Barabási and Robin Dunbar are among the authors of this paper — it’s the scale-free network equivalent of the Avengers.
This is a beautifully heartfelt post from Timoni:
Every day, I feel things because of the internet, and that’s amazing. Humans have been using abstracted communication for thousands of years, but it’s never been so instantaneous, never so capable of bringing folks of completely different backgrounds together in conversation. This is a huge step. Good job us.
The Jig Is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future - Alexis Madrigal - Technology - The Atlantic
An excellent longish-zoom article by Alexis Madrigal with an eerily accurate summation of the current state of the web. Although I think that a lack of any fundamentally new paradigms could be seen as a sign of stabilisation as much as stagnation.
Harry’s 15 minute case-study presentation at UX London was excellent. He says the lesson is that we shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes, but there’s another lesson here too: testing with users will save your ass.
This is an excellent idea: get a whole bunch of after-school code clubs going to teach kids how to code in Scratch.
A beautiful and disturbing piece of data visualisation. The numbers are quite astonishing.
Josh responds to Jakob Nielsen’s audaciously ignorant advice on siloing mobile devices. Josh is right.
Nielsen says his research is based on studies of hundreds of mobile experiences, and I don’t doubt it. But because he’s finding tons of poor mobile websites doesn’t mean we should punt on creating great, full-featured mobile experiences.
James is giving a talk here in Brighton next month. I’ll be there with robot-actuated bells on.
I had a chat with the guys from Pingdom about performance’n’stuff. If I sound incoherent, that’s because this is a direct transcription of a Skype call, where, like, apparently I don’t, y’know, talk in complete sentences and yeah.
Taking apps out of phones and embedding them in the world around us …there’s a lot of crossover with what Scott Jenson has been writing about here. Good stuff.
It’s great to see the Future Friendly call-to-arms being expanded on. Here it’s university sites that are being looked at through a future-friendly lens.
Algorithmically-generated combinations of tweets in iambic pentameter. Some of the results are really quite lovely. I’m imagining a poetry reading of this stuff in a hip café …it would be fun.
Tim has published the results of a whole bunch of testing he did on how different browsers deal with hidden or replaced images.
You can’t have a zeitgeisty internet meme without cats.
There’s a chain of hotels, one of which is in Brighton, called “My Hotel.” I bet they have stories like this one.
No, you’re tearing up watching a video about a boy who built his own arcade out of cardboard. I’ve just got something in my eye.
Andy points one of the potential pitfalls in linearising your content for small screens.
This post by Jason Fried is three years old but it’s more relevant than ever.
What a loss. Is that the best the next generation can do? Become part of the old generation? How about kicking the shit out of the old guys? What ever happened to that?
Just copy and paste.
Dear soon-to-be-former user…
1 2 3
In which twelve drawings of historical drawing machines are drawn by a computer numerical controlled machine.
Sneaking in to climb the Shard at night.
This is a terrific piece of writing from Robin Sloan, entertaining and cheeky. Plug in headphones, and start reading and scrolling.
The East Wind was about to get a call from an angry star.
A blow-by-blow account of last weekend’s MolyJam in Brighton.
An oldie but a goodie: this Bagcheck blog post contains a whole bunch of useful links to lists of mobile device testing suites.
A great set of design principles for gov.uk — I’ve added them to http://principles.adactio.com/
Yeah, it’s an easy target …but the cumulative effect is very funny.
Holy sh!t. Did you see that interstitial? That was dope. Refresh, refresh!!
Mark has put together this rather excellent prototyping tool. It’s basically the V from an MVC system. You can easily move stuff around, change data …all the good stuff you want to do quickly and easily when you’re prototyping in the browser.
I don’t understand the maths, but the logic is fascinating.
Glenn gives a rational thoughtful explanation of why he’s as pissed off as I am about Google’s destruction of the Social Graph API.
A day devoted to exploring unusual places all over the world. I couldn’t find anything for Brighton but it looks like there will be some stuff happening in London.
This is such a brilliant and empowering idea: an open-source object-oriented to electronics, like LEGO bricks for circuit-building.
The premise of the next game from the creator of Minecraft sounds insane and great: a far-future Elite where everything you do is powered by a 16-bit computer.
The computer in the game is a fully functioning emulated 16 bit CPU that can be used to control your entire ship, or just to play games on while waiting for a large mining operation to finish.
Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a control freak, but I can really empathise with what Lea is saying here: sometimes the developer convenience you get from using someone else’s code can result in quite a bit of redundant code. I feel that this is particularly a problem on the front end.
A love letter to the Internet Archive.
Yes! Charles Stross speaks the unspeakable: that advertising is fundamentally “wrong”.
He’s right, y’know.
Bruce Sterling writes about the New Aesthetic in an article that’s half manifesto and half critique.
Grab a cup of tea or hit your “read it later” bookmarklet of choice for this one—it’s a lengthy but worthwhile read.
A genuinely useful service for people in different parts of London who want to meet up for a pint.
In amongst all the shiny demos on this site, this one could actually be useful.
Beautiful, funny, and disturbing Gilliamesque animated .gifs. | <urn:uuid:141b75c2-4f4e-42e3-9dbc-32bac826015d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://adactio.com/links/archive/2012/4/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931323 | 2,132 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Our opinion: The Cuomo administration cracks down on some tax-free sale of cigarettes by Indian tribes. Some $27 million is at stake for New York this fiscal year alone.
Add this promising news to the list of what’s different in New York. The days of Indian-owned companies selling tax-free cigarettes on non-Indian land are over.
For that, thank the eagerness of the Cuomo administration to finally collect the tax dollars that a state still on precarious fiscal footing sorely needs.
Over the past month, state and federal agents raided off-reservation tobacco shops and stopped vehicles carrying cigarettes that would be sold at them without collecting state sales taxes. The cigarettes and cigars that were seized are worth some $1.2 million in tax revenue. The Cuomo administration now expects to collect some $27 million in such taxes over the next six months.
That partly settles, then, what’s been a frustrating standoff for years. Yes, people can still go on to Indian reservations and buy tax-free smokes. Yes, that costs the state money. Yet the Cuomo administration can make the very compelling argument that its vigorous tax-collection efforts don’t violate Indian sovereignty.
What is a reassurance to New Yorkers exasperated by years of seeing the state’s finances suffer because of a thriving, illegal cigarette sales operation also serves as an warning to those who make money that way.
“This is the first time we’ve seen enforcement of this nature,” says Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, who sends clear signals about further enforcement of the tax laws.
How far New York has come. Fourteen years ago, attempts to collect sales taxes erupted in such violent protests that the Pataki administration abandoned them. All the while, negotiations between the state and Indian tribes were futile.
Now, though, the Supreme Court has ruled that states can imposes taxes on tobacco sales to non-Indians. The only caveat is that such taxes can’t fall directly on tribal governments.
Indian tribes are mounting what might well be yet another losing legal argument. They’re making a distinction between cigarettes manufactured by the tribes themselves and those made by the big multinational tobacco companies.
The Oneida Nation, for example, is wise enough not to try to stop tax collections from non-Indian cigarette manufacturers and sellers. Yet it says federal law bans taxation of cigarettes made and sold on a reservation.
The state, meanwhile, is willing to negotiate further on the first point. As for the second, Mr. Duffy reiterates that there are no plans to try to collect taxes on sovereign land.
The state is on secure middle ground here. It’s time to reap all that overdue money. | <urn:uuid:6dfd1ace-5697-4b50-8476-4c2592296392> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/smoke-and-taxes-revisted-in-n-y/13266/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954184 | 558 | 1.765625 | 2 |
National Association of Practical Nurse Education and Service (NAPNES) offers courseware for LPN/LVN and Allied Health Professional certifications. The NAPNES Certifications are nationally recognized and respected as the premier educational tool against which Practical and Vocational Nurses and other Healthcare Professionals measure their knowledge, build skills, and demonstrate their employability.
The NAPNES Advanced Education Certifications will give the LP/VN and Allied Healthcare Professional an edge in the industry, where many employers will pay an additional hourly rate for certified professionals in specific areas. That can mean an additional monthly pay increase; better retention and advancement of your position and employability!
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Explore our certification programs that are designed to help you develop the skills, knowledge, and professionalism to launch a new career or advance in your current position. | <urn:uuid:980772cf-a20f-4399-a0d8-5443321b1fa2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nursingcerts.com/?src=UOA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938968 | 222 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Big Ideas for Job Creation
Nov 09, 2011
More than a dozen leading experts gathered for the Big Ideas for Job Creation Policy Forum Nov. 8, 2011, to present practical, scalable proposals to create more jobs for the U.S. economy. The project is funded by the Annie E. Casey and W.E. Kellogg Foundations and organized by the UC-Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor & Employment. CLASP senior policy analyst Elizabeth Lower-Basch presented her paper, Rethinking Work Opportunity: From Tax Credits to Subsidized Job Placements.
Federal subsidies meant to encourage hiring of disadvantaged workers such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) often provide large windfalls to employers in low-wage, high-turnover industries without creating any net new jobs or changing who they hire. Ms. Lower-Basch recommends that deeper, more targeted subsidies administered at the state level are a more effective way to encourage employers to hire disadvantaged workers and create jobs.
Rethinking Work Opportunity presents an alternative approach to tax credits based on state and local experiences operating subsidized jobs programs in recent years. Most recently, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund (also known as the Emergency Fund) enabled states to operate flexible, targeted job programs that subsidized wages for businesses hiring unemployed low-income workers. From 2009 to 2010, this program placed more than 260,000 low-income individuals in subsidized jobs at a total federal cost of $1.32 billion. States could choose whether to target long-term unemployed workers, welfare recipients, or other populations. In contrast, the WOTC allows any for-profit employer to claim a credit for hiring members of certain eligible groups. In 2010, WOTC cost $1.1 billion, with no evidence that it promoted net job creation or changed employers' hiring choices or practices.
Despite widespread and bipartisan support from participating employers, workers, and states, the TANF Emergency Fund expired in 2010, forcing many states to shut down or scale back dramatically their subsidized employment programs. Such programs are still eligible uses of TANF dollars, but given the high levels of need in states and the wide variety of competing uses, it is likely that these programs will serve only modestly more people in 2011 than they did prior to the Recovery Act.
The Pathways Back to Work Fund, part of President Obama's American Jobs Act, would provide $2 billion for subsidized employment programs modeled on those operated under the Emergency Fund. CLASP strongly supports this provision. However, even when the economy recovers, disadvantaged workers will still need help connecting to employment. Redirecting funds from the WOTC could provide ongoing funding to support successful subsidized jobs programs. | <urn:uuid:19a1fbd3-1066-468c-84c2-58c1afc1d708> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=temporary_assistance&id=0043 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937506 | 561 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Born: December 15, 1934 Primary Instrument: Trombone
Curtis Fuller was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1934. He came to music late, playing the baritone horn in high school and switching to the trombone at age 16. Detroit, at the time, was the breeding ground for an astonishing pool of fresh, highly individual talent.
Milt Jackson and Hank Jones had already gone to New York and made their names. But coming of age in Detroit in the early fifties were Fuller, Donald Byrd, Elvin and Thad Jones, Paul Chambers, Louis Hayes, Kenny Burrell, Barry Harris, Pepper Adams, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Red, Hugh Lawson, Doug Watkins, Tommy Flanagan and many others who would make the mid- decade migration to New York and eventually international recognition.
In 1953, Curtis left the local scene to serve his two-year stint in the army, where he met and played with Cannonball Adderley and Junior Mance among others. When he returned home, he began working with Yusef Lateef's quintet. The Lateef quintet came to New York in April 1957 to record two albums for Savoy and a third produced by Dizzy Gillespie for Verve.
Word of Curtis's talent spread rapidly around New York. Although he initially came under the spell of J.J. Johnson and listed Jimmy Cleveland, Bob Brookmeyer and Urbie Green among his favorites, Fuller came to New York at the age of 22 with a unique style and sound.
In May, after being in town for about a month, he recorded with Paul Quinchette and made his first albums as a leader: two quintet albums for Prestige with Sonny Red featured on alto. Like the Blue Note debuts by Kenny Burrell and Thad Jones the prior year, he used mostly transplanted Detroit players.
Blue Note's Alfred Lion had also heard about Fuller and went to see him at the Cafe bohemia with Miles Davis's sextet. Curtis joined the Blue Note family, appearing on a Clifford Jordan date on June 2 and making his own, The Opener, with Hank Mobley, on June 16. That summer Curtis was everywhere. Alfred brought me into dates with Jimmy Smith and Bud Powell. And then we did Blue Train with John Coltrane. And I became the only trombone soloist to record with those three artists. So after eight months in New York, Curtis Fuller had made six albums as a leader and appeared on 15 others. Even in those prolific times, that's pretty impressive for a newly-arrived trombonist.
At the end of '58, Benny Golson asked Curtis to share the front line for a Riverside blowing date entitled The Other Side Of Benny Golson, which put the emphasis on Benny's tenor playing rather than his composing and arranging. The chemistry between these two hornmen clicked, and they would record an album under Curtis's name for Savoy [Blues-ette] and three under Benny's name for Prestige in 1959 with various rhythm sections. They also made two Fuller albums for Savoy with trumpet added to the front line, which laid the groundwork for the creation of the Jazztet.
In February 1960, the Jazztet, a sextet under the leadership of Benny Golson and Art Farmer, made their first album. Curtis Fuller was the trombonist and McCoy Tyner made his recording debut as the pianist. The Jazztet became a very successful unit from the start, but Fuller and Tyner left a few months into the life of the band. They were headed in other directions.
In the summer of '61, Curtis made Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers a sextet for the first time. The combined writing and playing talents of Fuller, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Cedar Walton, driven by Blakey and Jymie Meritt (later Reggie Workman), created one of the most exciting and distinctive bands in the history of hard bop.
Curtis stayed with the Jazz Messengers until February 1965. He spent the rest of that decade freelancing around New York, adding his beautiful sound to a number of Blue Note dates such as Lee Morgan's Tom Cat, Hank Mobley's A Caddy For Daddy, Joe Henderson's Mode For Joe and Wayne Shorter's Schizophrenia.
After some health problems, Curtis is active again. What is as remarkable about Curtis Fuller as his lyrical improvising and ingenious writing, is his personality. On the road, on stage, or in the studio, Curtis is a relaxed professional who lifts every situation with his inredible sense of humor and his natural sparkle. | <urn:uuid:335d9b68-6677-4e73-be5b-386e0c08b660> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=6873 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973886 | 964 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Boeing Co., rebounding from the 787 Dreamliner’s three-month grounding, is moving closer to a further production increase that would reward investors by freeing up billions of dollars for dividends and buybacks.
A telling image of the development of Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner came in mid-2011, when dozens of them sat, unfinished, crammed into nooks and crannies around Boeing factories and rented tarmacs spread across two states. Concrete blocks hung from their wings to prevent them from tipping because they didn’t have engines to keep them balanced.
Airbus SAS is in discussions with Japan’s two biggest carriers about an order for its A350-1000, a long-range plane aimed at eroding Boeing Co.’s dominance in wide-body aircraft, three people familiar with the talks said.
Boeing Co . said its decision on a new narrow-body jet now may come “toward the end of the year,” pushing back an earlier target of mid-2011, as it considers a plane that’s only “slightly” bigger than the 737.
Boeing Co., already struggling with the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner, is facing a possible strike by union engineers, threatening even more upheaval as it tries to fix the plane and resume deliveries to customers.
Procter & Gamble Co. board members are dissatisfied with Chief Executive Officer Robert McDonald’s performance and are discussing a possible leadership change, according to people familiar with the situation.
President Barack Obama ’s export advisory group, headed by Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer James McNerney and Xerox Corp. CEO Ursula Burns , released a report today recommending the government step up trade promotion and complete work on free-trade agreements. | <urn:uuid:54585ce6-c205-4d83-aee6-2a3b70288514> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://topics.bloomberg.com/james-mcnerney/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94485 | 375 | 1.578125 | 2 |
On March 4, 2010, the Rev. David Norgard was invited to address the students and faculty of Virginia Theological Seminary. Norgard is the President of Integrity USA. His topic was "THE FUTURE OF INCLUSION." Integrity USA has been an advocate for full inclusion in the Episcopal Church for 35 years. Norgard's historic address focuses on how far we have come and where Integrity and the Episcopal Church are heading. This address will be published in two parts. It is a must-read for anyone who believes that nothing short of full inclusion is good enough for Jesus or for the church.
Virginia Theological Seminar
March 4, 2010
The Rev. David Norgard
President, Integrity USA
Good evening. I want to begin by thanking the Dean for the invitation to be with you this evening. It was a most gracious offer that he made to me to come and speak here at the seminary and I am delighted to be doing just that. I also wish to thank you all for being here. I consider it both a great pleasure and a privilege to share with you my perspective on “The Future of Inclusion in the Episcopal Church.”
As you may be aware, the Dean issued the invitation to me to speak on this topic in my capacity as President of Integrity USA. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with it, Integrity is an organization dedicated to advancing the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons (LGBT) in the life and ministry of the Episcopal Church. Composed of individual members and parish partners from across the country, it has been engaged in its ministry of advocacy and education for thirty-five years now, ever since being founded by an Episcopal layman from Georgia, Dr. Louie Crew, in 1974.
When Mike Angell, a student here from the Diocese of San Diego and occasional preacher to the President, first contacted me about arranging this visit, he posed a straightforward yet intriguing question: What is the future of inclusion in the Episcopal Church? If I were someone who was prone to pithy answers, I would say “bright” and call for the next question. The very fact of my being here – at the Virginia Theological Seminary – as President of Integrity – provides strong evidence for the soundness of such optimism. There was a time within the living memory of some in this room (myself included), when such an occasion as this would not have been contemplated, let alone realized. This moment we are sharing right now, my friends, is in itself richly symbolic of the long road we have traveled together as Episcopalians over the past four decades. In fact, I believe that it is a directional sign toward where we are headed as a church….as you put it here, “orthodox and open”
I am not prone to pithy answers though, as you can already tell. So I would like to expand on my sunny forecast and give you a full report of the indicators as I read them. Speculating intelligently on the future is always first an exercise in interpreting history, particularly recent history. So let me begin there.
Recent history clearly has been a story of advances toward a more and more inclusive church, with only occasional setbacks. Looking at the issue broadly, we can see this progression a number of ways. For instance, we can observe how the role of women in the church has evolved and expanded. Thirty-five years ago, there were no women in the House of Bishops. Now there are sixteen. Thirty-five years ago, women were still somewhat new to the House of Deputies. Now a woman is President. In a similar vein, we can look at how the Spanish language has entered the life of the domestic Episcopal Church. Four decades ago, to hear Spanish in an Episcopal church was a novelty. Nowadays, many dioceses have at least one congregation where Spanish the primary language. We can look at various demographic trends and, generally speaking, they point to a denomination that is exhibiting more diversity in both its membership and leadership. My particular competence, however, lies in the area of the conscious inclusion of sexual minorities and, on the national level, that particular storyline begins in 1976.
That year General Convention debated a resolution which acknowledged and recognized homosexual persons as [quote] “children of God.” When you stop to think about that for a moment now, in 2010, to some of us it sounds just a little quaint…kind yet presumptuous in that old-guard, true-blue Episcopalian sort of way. That body of mostly churchmen, in all their magnanimity and sagacity, were moved to vote on the question of who was a child of God.
Thankfully – and to the great relief of many whose ontological validity hung in the balance, the vote was in the affirmative. (Don’t some of you feel much better now?!) Soon after that, presumably in the spirit of that declaration, the Bishop of New York, Paul Moore, ordained the first openly lesbian woman to the priesthood, Ellen Barrett, at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Manhattan.
The church at large was not at all amused, however. Mountains of letters of protest were delivered both to the parish rectory and the diocesan chancery, including (sadly) no small number of bodily threats and spiritual curses. Apparently, being a child of God was one thing; being a priest was entirely another. In a notable demonstration of elegant backtracking, another resolution passed at the next convention, declaring the Ordination of “practicing homosexuals” to be “inappropriate” at that time.
Permit me a personal excursus here. Despite the apparently ill-timed nature of my desire or desires (whichever), upon returning from the convention in Denver, I proceeded with my own plan of seeking Ordination and enrolling in seminary. It was a very big step for my home diocese, Minnesota, to sponsor an openly gay man. As a lot, Minnesotans are quite reluctant to be inappropriate; it’s just not in their nature. But the bishop, Robert Anderson, was a man of steadfast conviction and quiet courage. As the local process proceeded and the national debate intensified, he never wavered in his support. I recall one instance that might resonate especially with those here tonight. After receiving my admission application, the dean of the divinity school where I applied called my bishop to express his serious concern. He explained ever so delicately, almost apologetically, that I had listed Integrity – of all things – among my church involvements. The dean discreetly whispered over the phone to the bishop, “He is probably gay;” to which the bishop whispered back, “Actually, I have met his partner, and he is definitely gay…Is there some problem?” There was none for him if there wasn’t any for the bishop, the dean stuttered, leaving the bishop to wonder: Was it his chairmanship of the board or his matter-of-fact approach that had been more persuasive?
Back to the larger saga: For the next dozen years, no convention was without its resolutions about homosexuality. The topic seemed to move from being the love that dare not speak its name to the debate that would never end. Meanwhile, more and more lesbian and gay people, lay and ordained, lived on one side or another of an increasingly sharp and deep divide within the church. On the one side, more than one bishop prohibited any known homosexuals from serving at their cathedral’s Altar, unless they first took a vow of celibacy. At a prominent seminary, openly gay clergy were barred from serving as supervisors of field education. On the other side, another divinity school named a scholarship after Dr. Crew…and several bishops became increasingly vocal about their gay-supportive views, rejecting outright the argument that the church would fall apart if it accepted lesbian and gay people fully. Douglas Theuner, a predecessor of Gene Robinson in New Hampshire, coined the rallying cry of the whole movement. “There can be no unity without justice,” he declared emphatically to the House of Bishops. For years, his quote was displayed on the front cover of every Voice of Integrity magazine. And I dare say that it is still timely and pertinent today on an even larger plane.
By the start of the nineties, more than a decade of debates and studies and hearings and speeches had brought no resolution. They had brought dozens of resolutions actually but no solution to the controversy. So, what was an “Episcopal” church to do when confronted with such vexation? Turn to its bishops was the answer that came to the Phoenix convention in ’91. The theologians among them (“bishops” and “theologians” not being coterminous, you realize) would undertake another extensive study and report back at Indianapolis in ’94. If nothing else, we are a studious church. Just parenthetically, I do wonder about our bishops sometimes. They have studied homosexuality for years and some still claim to be perplexed. It only took me a summer to learn it…but I suppose that is a story for another time.
Back to Indianapolis: The bishop who succeeded Paul Moore of New York, a man by the slightly unfortunate name of Dick Grein, delivered the report to a packed and tense House of Bishops. The report started well enough from the perspective of those hopeful for a breakthrough in LGBT equality. It recognized that gay people existed, that they were in the church, that indeed they were children of God, that they did some good things, and that many of them were actually very nice…lovely, in fact…devoted to partners, devoted to church, great on the Altar Guild, etc., etc…but…But the report concluded, nevertheless, they still should not be ordained and we should not be marrying them either, particularly to each other.
That night everyone felt a pall hang over the entire convention. Liberals were in despair. Conservatives were anxious. What would happen next? It was not at all obvious. Integrity folk worried: Would these unfounded conclusions somehow end up enshrined in canon law? Had the struggles and efforts of so many of us for so long been for naught? As a church, were we about to retrench?
Well, perhaps I should have guessed what was coming, since I happened to know the antagonist so well. The next afternoon, a son of this very seminary, the famous or infamous Bishop of Newark, Jack Spong, stood to a point of personal privilege. Slowly, dramatically, he read what eventually became known as a Statement of Koinonia, i.e. of community. With forceful eloquence, he stated unequivocally that he would ordain whoever was fit and called, homosexual or heterosexual. He took a similar stand with respect to blessing the committed relationships of same-gender couples. Then, with savvy and audacity, he invited his colleagues with courage enough to share his convictions publicly to sign the statement along with him. That evening the special service sponsored by Integrity was overflowing…and so were the tears. By 7:00 o’clock, about five hours later, dozens of other bishops had signed that statement and by late the next day the number had reached 78. There could be no mistake. It was by no means the end of the struggle…but our church had reached a turning point. TO BE CONTINUED.........
Part II of The Rev. David Norgard's VTS address: The Future of Inclusion will be published tomorrow.
Open up the conversation about the future of inclusion at your school. If you are a faculty member, administrator, student, or alum of any one of the Episcopal seminaries, Integrity President David Norgard is available to speak at your school. To inquire about this possibility, please contact him at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:bc259e94-9005-45a1-a23a-f9d072959bdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/2010/03/david-norgards-vts-address-future-of.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979909 | 2,466 | 1.578125 | 2 |
March critique giveaway open through March 28! Scroll down one post.
I usually post about MG books here, or books that ride the line between MG and YA. But that doesn't mean I don't read YA. One of my favorite authors is, in fact, the YA writer John Green. Not because I like all of his books equally well (I don't, actually), but because as far as the sheer intelligence of his writing, and his ability to convey things I thought only I thought, I can't remember when I've encountered his like. I'll at least pick up anything he writes; that is for sure.
I recently read his newest novel, The Fault in Our Stars. And it. Is. Brilliant. This year, his (next) Printz may very well come.
However. The book says something that makes what's left of my mathematical mind (which has languished over three or so decades) shudder: That some infinities are bigger than others. That, for example, there are more numbers (not speaking solely of integers, but of all possible rationals and irrationals) between, say, zero and a million than between zero and one.
No, there aren't.
And here I'd really like to diverge from any direct comment on the novel. This is really no longer about the novel. It's just the compulsion that still arises within me every now and then to speak my mathematical piece.
No, some infinities are not bigger than others. Such a notion doesn't make sense. Between zero and one lies an infinite number of fractions and decimals, almost all of them irrational, or non-repeating decimals. 0.5039285715790432... and on and on; you get the picture. No pattern to them. This means there's always another one. And another one. And one more. And yet one more.
For every such number, for any number at all, that lies between zero and a million, you can find one that lies between zero and one to pair with it in a one-to-one correspondence. You will never run out of numbers between zero and one, any more than you'll run out of numbers between zero and a trillion bazillion.
And this is just one of the things that make math, and creation, amazingly cool. | <urn:uuid:ab75f330-8b24-428f-88b7-4eb556337b2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marciahoehne.blogspot.com/2012/03/sort-of-book-blurb-sort-of-math-weird.html | 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 | 0.979092 | 488 | 1.625 | 2 |
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Top Common-Sense Weight-Loss "Secrets" For You To Try
Anything worth having is never easy, but when it comes to weight loss, having some good information really makes the journey a whole lot easier. Use the tips, tricks and advice offered in this article to help you avoid some of the stumbling blocks that dieters inevitably face along the way.
Instead of buying already sweetened yogurt that has fruit on the bottom you can buy fat-free plain yogurt and add some fresh fruit to it. If that is still not sweet enough for you then you can try adding a package or two of artificial sweetener to it. This will give you a serving of fruit and dairy without adding calories from sugar.
Pre-package your favorite healthy snack into appropriate portions. By doing this you can easily grab a healthy snack at all times. It will also help because it will be pre-portioned out for your and you will be less likely to over indulge on your favorite snack. A little pre-packaging will help your weight loss right along.
Walk your way to weight loss. One of the most effective ways of losing weight is by walking. It is convenient, doesn't cost anything, and you can do it with a friend. Just be sure to have a good pair of walking shoes. Remember that whether you walk or run a certain distance, you will burn about the same amount of calories, and walking is a lot more relaxed! Start slowly and try to build it up so that you can walk comfortably for an hour using a moderate pace.
To boost the rate at which you lose weight, just add flax to your diet. Sprinkling flax on your oatmeal or chicken noodle soup not only adds a light, nutty taste to your meal, it also adds more fiber to your diet. The added fiber helps fill you up quicker and it has only 35 calories per tablespoon. Flax also provides omega-3 fatty acids which promotes cardiac health.
The more healthy protein you consume, the easier it will be to lose that excess weight. Healthy proteins include fish, poultry such as chicken or turkey, beans, lean beef and dairy products such as cheese or milk. Combining healthy protein consumption with a steady cardiovascular diet is a sure way to lose weight safely.
When setting a weight loss goal, be sure to keep it realistic. You are not going to lose 50 pounds in two days. Creating a realistic goal can be motivation every time that you meet your goals. You also will not be setting yourself up for failure. Try setting a weekly goal of one half to two pounds lost.
Keep the kitchen and dining room as places for eating. Try and do all your other activities in another part of the house. Sitting around in the kitchen can tempt you to eat even if you are not hungry so find another place in your home to relax and get work done.
The messages is hcg spray Berkeley CA with out a doubt works and that's not hype.
Here's the scoop: hcglifestyle.com is the premier resource for online for hcg spray Berkeley CA & has the most potent hCG on the market in 1M. | <urn:uuid:5a414f1b-36e8-4808-8269-6d800658e521> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hcglifestyle.com/california/hcg-spray-Berkeley-CA.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947585 | 700 | 1.554688 | 2 |
UW-MADISON WILL DEDICATE REFURBISHED DAIRY CATTLE CENTER MARCH 9
MADISON - The public is invited to help welcome the cows back to campus as the University of Wisconsin-Madison dedicates its refurbished Dairy Cattle Center on Saturday, March 9.
(PressZoom) - MADISON - The public is invited to help welcome the cows back to campus as the University of Wisconsin-Madison dedicates its refurbished Dairy Cattle Center on Saturday, March 9.
Doors at the facility at 1815 Linden Dr. will be open to the public from 9-11:30 a.m. with a brief program scheduled for 9:30. During that time, visitors can tour the building and visit with the people who take care of the dairy herd.
Speakers at the dedication program will include Kate VandenBosch, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), dairy science department chair Kent Weigel, and representatives of Wisconsin's $26-billion-a-year dairy industry.
"We're hoping people will stop by and see the barn," says Weigel. "We're pretty proud of what we have here."
The $3.5 million renovation project began in May 2012. Weigel lists improved animal care and comfort among key benefits of the upgrade. Improvements include 84 bigger and more comfortable stalls, water-chilled ventilation, a new public viewing area, a more efficient manure-handling system, and new silos.
The project received strong industry support, notably from Madison-based BouMatic Inc., which contributed equipment and installation of the milking parlor, as well as donations of stall mats by Promat Inc. and parlor mats by Animat.
The Dairy Cattle Center is used for teaching 15 dairy science and Farm and Industry Short Course classes, hands-on training of new food animal veterinarians, and research projects that require close monitoring by campus-based scientists. The campus facility is integrated with larger dairy facilities at the university's Arlington and Marshfield Agricultural Research Stations.
"Dairy science is very important to the state and we appreciate the support we've had from the business community," Weigel says. "Having the cows on campus is a great recruiting tool. And that helps support the future of the dairy business here."
In addition to the Dairy Cattle Center dedication, the Badger Dairy Club will host its 16th Badger Invitational Sale, a club fundraising event, beginning at noon in the nearby Stock Pavilion, 1675 Linden Dr.
For more information about the Badger Invitational visit badgerdairyclub.com/. ### -Sevie Kenyon, [email protected], 608-263-4781
This news item was released on 2013-03-02. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for more information.
(c) PressZoom.com - Press Release Distribution Service - All Rights Reserved | <urn:uuid:44644028-749a-4255-9bc4-5ac3f4f0d755> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://presszoom.com/story_180655.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933825 | 634 | 1.5 | 2 |
- Arts & Sciences Home
- Dean's Office
- Faculty & Staff
Young Scholars Program
Each year select, highly-motivated, college-bound students explore the world of higher education in a five-week intensive program tat includes university courses, advising, and meetings with key people on campus. Students leave with a hands-on experience of college life and units that will apply toward their eventual university degree.
Why Choose Santa Clara University?
Located in the heart of the Silicon Valley, Santa Clara University has provided education for the whole person in the Catholic and Jesuit traditions for 150 years. It offers top-quality undergraduate and graduate programs distinguished by their Jesuit character and a commitment to an ethical, values-oriented curriculum. Santa Clara University was founded in 1851 and is California's oldest private institution of higher learning. | <urn:uuid:43627ee3-e285-4f3e-82f0-89bb54e92bac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scu.edu/cas/summer/ysp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938693 | 166 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The allotment pocket bible book feels like (in the best possible way) an old time gardening book you may find in an antique bookshop. It is well presented with a 1950′s style typeset and good old fashion hard back cover. Although it is aimed at the beginner I can’t help thinking even old hands might find something of value in this book. A nice touch is the A to Z of crops with bullet points telling you the key facts such as spacing, soil requirements and sowing times. I like this as we all forget the simplest of things from time to time and need a memory jog such as this.
Despite it’s vintage feel the information contained is very contemporary and keeps up with modern horticultural practice, rather than rehashing tired old advice from the second world war (if not before) like many other allotment books (with the exception of Andi Cleevly). If you are stuck for a couple of presents for a vegetable growing friend, then this book, along with Grow your food for free …well almost, would make a perfect starter pack (although I would say that!).
For more information, including how to win a free copy of her book visit www.emmacooper.org | <urn:uuid:5f19b871-2d8c-4105-9d54-7f38ddec994f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.selfsufficientish.com/main/2011/08/review-the-allotment-pocket-bibleeverything-you-need-to-know-about-allotments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949205 | 254 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Three years ago, I had to make a decision. I knew I believed in nonviolence- I knew I would rather die than fight in a war- these were conclusions that no matter how many times I challenged, I always returned to. But now I had a new sort of challenge, and one that I knew would have a direct effect on my life.
I had to decide, could I still respect my beliefs and sign up to be on a national list of potential soldiers?
Of course, my first reaction was one of repulsion. I always believed in presenting myself honestly, and never taking on a role that I couldn't fulfill.
But there were some pretty compelling reasons to question my reactions. For instance, the threat of felony. I knew it was unlikely I would be convicted for not registering (no one has since 1986,) but I had to face that possibility.
Was I ready to go to jail for up to five years over this?
More immediately, I would not be eligible for Federal Aid for college. According to federal rules submitted to colleges, I shouldn't be eligible for any financial aid. With my family's income, I knew this might rule out college altogether. This decision had the potential to drastically change my entire future.
Of course it did change my future, though not in just the ways that I'd thought.
The hardest part of my decision is not a part that I normally like to talk about. On the contrary, I'd usually rather laugh the whole thing off and say that it was no problem at all. But honestly, the hardest part was not that I could be punished, but that what I was taking action in opposition to my country.
It sounds strange for someone with a history of activism, but before I'd always been engaged in legal protests in which I was only one of a large group of like-minded people. Now I was taking illegal action, and making a statement that while peaceful and seemingly benign, was also one that I had go alone. And suddenly, it called up a whole slew of personal questions.
What does it mean to oppose a nation? Is this just fulfilling a 'rebel complex' in myself? Are my beliefs really worth violating a law? Will anybody else actually care?
Not all of these questions were useful to me, but I couldn't help but wrestle them throughout the year surrounding my 18th birthday. As much as I would like to say that this was easy, it wasn't. In the years since, I still have to take time to review my decisions, and remind myself:
I'm opposing this nation only in an effort to improve this nation- and respect myself;
Though being a rebel can seem attractive, to truly please my conscience I have to act with humility and respect;
I have to live by my own morals and ethics even before the law, though it can be a useful check;
And over and over, I talk to people who do care. It helps especially when I hear from people my age, or not yet 18, who are considering the same issues as me. I start to realize, whatever I thought, I'm not alone. Though this has felt like a personal challenge, in truth, it's shared by many others.
On the 28th of July I will file my case in Washington DC, asking for the right to register for the draft as conscientious objector to all war. For me, it's the culmination of years of wrestling with these issues, but I know it's not going to be the end.
When I'm speaking in High Schools, I know that this is the real test of my work. I only hope that what I do is going to be useful for another generation of people asking these same questions. | <urn:uuid:86861caf-83ed-4f2c-8dc4-5afee07495ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://registerforpeace.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988069 | 765 | 1.539063 | 2 |
I continue listening to The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797). In the midst of chapter seven the slave obtains his freedom. It was 1766.
His own description of his ecstasy jolted me into a joyful experience of my own freedom — my stunning manumission from the power of sin to God through the death of Christ. Here is his amazing description of his joy.
My imagination was all rapture as I flew to the Register Office. . . . I could scarcely believe I was awake. Heavens! Who could do justice to my feelings at this moment!
— Not conquering heroes themselves, in the midst of a triumph
— Not the tender mother who has just regained her long-lost infant, and presses it to her heart
— Not the weary hungry mariner, at the sight of the desired friendly port
— Not the lover, when he once more embraces his beloved mistress, after she had been ravished from his arms!
All within my breast was tumult, wildness, and delirium! My feet scarcely touched the ground, for they were winged with joy, and, like Elijah, as he rose to Heaven, they ‘were with lightning sped as I went on.’
Every one I met I told of my happiness, and blazed about the virtue of my amiable master and captain. (Olaudah Equiano. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The Africa, Written By Himself [Kindle Locations 1848-1855]).
When I read this, I felt my own amazing freedom. I have never been in human bondage as he was. But I was in worse — the horrible blinding, enslaving, damning power of sin. His amazing joy made me feel what I should feel.
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
“The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
“We are not children of the slave but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:31).
“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).
Think on your former slavery. Think on your freedom. Think on your Liberator (“the amiable virtue of my amiable master and captain”). Then let Olaudah, the former slave, give you words.
Recent posts from John Piper: | <urn:uuid:e8b1b567-5166-4875-a587-89c2145537ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/free-free-free-i-am-free/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951562 | 540 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Gaza: The war that worked
Hamas targets in Gaza are attacked from the air by Israeli air force jets (Photo: AP)
Israel breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday as a military operation which could have gone one of two ways avoided a ground war.
As the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect, tens of thousands of Israeli ground troops, many of them reservists who had been summoned days earlier from their homes, were stood down.
Just hours before, hundreds of tanks and armoured personnel carriers had been poised on the border of Gaza.
With the cessation of hostilities it became clear that operation Pillar of Defence had achieved its aim. And — a rarity for Israel in recent years — it had done so without alienating Western opinion formers.
At the start, Defence Minister Ehud Barak set out four aims: to restore fundamental Israeli deterrence; to hack back the Palestinians’ ability to launch missiles at Israel; to hobble the “terror infrastructure” in Gaza; and to restore calm to Israelis living in the south.
The ceasefire agreed on Wednesday was based on an assurance from Hamas that it would not launch missiles on Israel and would prevent other Palestinian ogranisations from carrying out attacks.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have lost key commanders and fighters, as well as much of their arsenal, and Israelis in the south now look set to have a rare period of peace.
At a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday evening, Mr Barak said that “the objectives have been fully realised.”
Israel’s Iron Dome defence system was estimated to have had a near 90 per cent success rate, intercepting 347 rockets and preventing untold damage and loss of life. Only six Israelis were killed during the operation.
Around 140 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed in Israeli air-strikes, although a significant number were members of terror organisations.
The involvement of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who hosted the ceasefire talks, is seen by the Israeli government as a highly positive development.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was uncharacteristically complimentary, saying that “it is important to note the responsible role played by Egypt and to say a word of thanks to President Morsi”.
Unusually for an Israeli military campaign, the international response from politicians and major news outlets was generally supportive. Both US President Barack Obama and British Foreign Secretary William Hague said early on that Israel had a right to defend itself from rocket fire and neither wavered from that line
Meanwhile, Israel mobilised a huge social media campaign, providing major news outlets with real-time information about the conflict. As a result coverage was far more balanced than four years ago during Operation Cast Lead, when Israel last went into Gaza. As the ceasefire deadline passed on Wednesday, Palestinian groups launched a final few rockets towards Sderot and Ashkelon, to make a point, but the number of launches had been decreasing over the previous two days.
Seven days of intense warfare between Israel and Gaza were over and the Israeli plans to launch a ground offensive were put on hold.
Hamas received a number of concessions in the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement, including the opening of crossings from the Strip and limits on Israeli military operations on the Gaza border perimeter, though the exact details have yet to be agreed.
Political campaigning was suspended for the last week in Israel. “The motives for the operation were strategic and not political,” said one senior Likud politician, “but obviously Netanyahu couldn’t go for elections with 100 missiles falling daily on the south.”
So far, opinion polls conducted since the start of the operation have shown no major changes. The bloc of right-wing and religious parties is predicted to have a majority which will allow Mr Netanyahu to form another coalition.
The prime minister seemed concerned that he would be accused by voters of ending the operation early. “We have exacted a heavy price from the terror organisations,” he said. “They thought we would not act against them forcefully and they were wrong.” He acknowledged that some Israelis would have preferred the operation to continue with a devastating ground offensive, but “we used military power with diplomatic consideration.”
The decision to launch Operation Pillar of Defence was made by the so-called Inner Cabinet of nine senior ministers on November 13. Israeli intelligence had seen Hamas’s hand in a number of operations against its troops on the Gaza border. The trigger was Hamas’s decision to join other Palestinian groups in firing rockets towards Israel, and co-ordinating such attacks.
The warm ties with the new government in Egypt emboldened Hamas, creating a false feeling of immunity. “Hamas miscalculated,” said an Israeli intelligence analyst, “they thought Israel would be afraid of Egypt’s response. They certainly did not expect such a devastating response.” | <urn:uuid:3e90e25b-3fdc-4059-bd85-1dcb35743871> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/91847/gaza-the-war-worked | 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 | 0.97907 | 1,009 | 1.75 | 2 |
Moldavite is the product of a meteor collision with the Earth nearly 15 million years ago. It fell over what is now called the Moldau River valley in the Czech Republic. Thesegreen gems are among the most rare minerals on earth. They have been prized by humans for thousands of years and are still given as gifts from royalty to royalty. In legend, it is believed to be the stone in the Holy Grail and has the power to quicken one's spiritual evolution.
Even people not sensitive to the energies of stones often feel the energy of Moldavite. Many sense it as heat, tingling, or as a pulsing sensation in their hand. Others feel a rush of energy through their body, usually upwards out the top of their head. Moldavite's high vibrational energy is a powerful chakra opener, particularly at the heart and above. Sleeping with Moldavite activates the dream state. Wearing it helps manifest positive life change.
This special blend of all natural ingredients contains real essence of Moldavite. It was created specially to compliment Moldavite energies. | <urn:uuid:a49464f2-5e5f-4eeb-be62-9ce9c80b7a75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mimosaspirit.com/product_info.php?cPath=29_139_74&products_id=297 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954529 | 222 | 1.625 | 2 |
You could call it powerhouse dancing. Or, depending on the piece Ronald K. Brown's Evidence is performing, you could call it power house dancing. Brown's choreography blends modern, Senegalese and other African styles, and often, elements of club or house dance. Regardless of how stylized, ethnic or vernacular the spirit of the piece, his and his dancers' magnificently sculpted bodies carry the movement with the cunning of panthers pouncing on prey, yet when the men stand still and straight, they could be architectural columns. But don't expect to catch them immobile for long. Mostly they're whirling, writhing or crouching around the stage, gathering power for the next leap.
Sporting a fresh 2000 Guggenheim Fellowship Award, Brown is touring his 15-year-old dance company, Evidence, around the country. It makes a generous stop at Gammage Auditorium with a free noontime Brown Bag rehearsal Thursday and a performance that night at 8.
It's hard to believe that Brown, who only came to dance in his late teens and is still in his 30s, has achieved all he has in the intervening years. In addition to the Guggenheim, he's received numerous grants, a Bessie award, and choreographic commissions, most notably for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Early on he recognized that the title of his first major dance, "Evidence," was the clue to his vision of how he wanted to shape his work. Making dances that witnessed the momentous historical events of black history or told stories of his family was glue that held that vision together. | <urn:uuid:14a8ecc9-5267-4b1f-8cb8-d28d28d87102> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2001-01-18/calendar/bodies-of-evidence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980475 | 337 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Schools to stop
IT is more than likely that schools around South Gippsland will be shut on Thursday.
Teachers will be taking industrial action because the Australian Education Union is still in ongoing dispute with the State Government and as part of the negotiation process.
Due to the breakdown of negotiations, the AEU is encouraging a number of bans to highlight the many extra hours of work teachers do beyond the 38 hours they are at work.
Jeff Gray, Gippsland organiser for the AEU, said the protest is almost a sure thing.
“Unless we have a magical miracle breakthrough between now and Thursday, it certainly will be going ahead,” he said.
“I would think in the South Gippsland area you would get a pretty high level of support from schools.
“Obviously it’s up to individual members whether they stop work or not. We can’t force them to but I’d say every school would be affected in some way.
“There will be some schools that will have to close because there will be nobody on deck but also a number of schools where only selected classes (will run) and that sort of thing.”
Catholic school teachers are also getting behind the AEU’s action.
“Catholic schools are stopping work also and are pursuing their own EBA,” Mr Gray said.
“What tends to happen is that the Catholics tend to use the agreement between government schools and the department as a basis for their own agreement, but because it has taken us so long to get our claim they haven’t got anywhere with their negotiations as well.
“It is my understanding that most Catholic teachers will be stopping work on Thursday as well.”
The deadline for teachers to notify schools whether or not they will be stopping work was midday today (Tuesday).
Leongatha Secondary College will most likely have no normal classes running. Korumburra Secondary is in the same boat, with a strong union presence in the staff room leading to the possibility of no classes.
At Leongatha Primary School, the action will have a dramatic impact, with 17 of 28 classes cancelled and three specialist programs not running.
Over in Wonthaggi, there will be a significant interruption to classes and a Wonthaggi Primary School spokesperson was unsure of the specifics at time of printing.
At Mary MacKillop Regional Catholic College, a handful of teachers will join the stop work, with Year 9 students forced to stay at home.
For more information about what each individual school is doing on Thursday, contact them directly.
Short URL: http://thestar.com.au/?p=6469 | <urn:uuid:a285c104-3e9e-4647-bf2a-3bbedd993f0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thestar.com.au/?p=6469 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970009 | 561 | 1.5 | 2 |
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