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books about: radiation
Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality
W. W. Norton & Company
“A lucid account of quantum theory (and why you should care) combined with a gripping narrative.”— San Francisco Chronicle Quantum theory is weird. As Niels Bohr said, if you weren’t shocked by quantum theory, you didn’t really understand it. For most people, quantum theory is synonymous with mysterious, impenetrable science. And in fact for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this tour de force of ...
L. J. Martin
A layman's look at the disease of cancer and its treatment from a 2 time cancer survivor. L. J. Martin has beaten both prostate and throat cancer and attributes both modern medical science and herbal, homeopathic, exercise, and mental attitude toward that success. A frank, candid look at treatment and its effects.
A Primer on Prostate Cancer: The Empowered Patient's Guide
Donna L. Pogliano
Life Extension Media
A Primer on Prostate Cancer, The Empowered Patient’s Guide¨ is a basic resource to be used by patients and physicians when there has been a diagnosis of prostate cancer. It outlines a strategy of disease management that is designed to maximize outcomes for the patient and his loved ones. All aspects of diagnosis and testing are discussed; all currently approved treatments for prostate cancer are described. Discussion of treatment options ...
Breast Cancer Husband: How to Help Your Wife (and Yourself) during Diagnosis, Treatment and Beyond
A unique guide, like none other on the market-packed with medical information, practical tips, psychological insight, and coping strategies-to help men help the women they love through this trying time. When Marc Silver became a breast cancer husband three years ago, he learned firsthand how frightened and helpless the breast cancer husband feels. He searched in vain for a book that would give him the information and advice he so desperately ...
Life Over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment
Dr. Keith Block is at the global vanguard of innovative cancer care. As medical director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment in Evanston, Illinois, he has treated thousands of patients who have lived long, full lives beyond their original prognoses. Now he has distilled almost thirty years of experience into the first book that gives patients a systematic, research-based plan for developing the physical and emotional vitality ...
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the ...
Harriet A. Washington
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner (Nonfiction) PEN/Oakland Award Winner BCALA Nonfiction Award Winner Gustavus Meyers Award Winner From the era of slavery to the present day, the first full history of black America’s shocking mistreatment as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment. Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African ...
Natural Strategies For Cancer Patients
Russell Blaylock M.D.
When someone's diagnosed with cancer they need an immediate game plan to fight the disease, especially once the oncologist prescribes a course of treatment of chemotherapy and/or radiation. Oftentimes these treatments have dangerous consequences. Current international research shows without a strong nutritional foundation, a patient's odds of surviving these treatments-let alone beating cancer-are greatly reduced. However, patients receiving the ...
The Architecture Of Light: A textbook of procedures and practices for the Architect, Interior Designer and ...
The Architecture of Light makes lighting design approachable. This vivid, image packed text of lighting concepts and techniques serves as the perfect companion for lighting design students and professionals alike. Built around a successful teaching curriculum, this text provides a logical step by step progression through the phases of conceptualizing, refining, drafting and presenting lighting design. Written by a practicing professional ...
How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America
Otis Webb Brawley
St. Martin's Press
How We Do Harm exposes the underbelly of healthcare today—the overtreatment of the rich, the under treatment of the poor, the financial conflicts of interest that determine the care that physicians’ provide, insurance companies that don’t demand the best (or even the least expensive) care, and pharmaceutical companies concerned with selling drugs, regardless of whether they improve health or do harm. Dr. Otis Brawley is the chief ...
You Can Beat Prostate Cancer: And You Don't Need Surgery to Do It
Robert J. Marckini
Robert J. Marckini
The task of choosing the right prostate cancer treatment is daunting. It is further complicated by conflicting information the patient receives from physicians and the Internet. This book is written by a prostate cancer survivor who now runs an internatio
Uplift : Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors
Bestselling author Barbara Delinsky, whose life has been shaped by her mother's breast cancer as well as her own, has created the book she wished had existed when she went through her treatment. "Uplift is a one-of-a-kind collection of anecdotes and advice, told in the words of everyday women of all ages who are part of the ever-growing sisterhood of breast cancer survivors. You won't find medical advice or technical matters discussed here. But ...
From the fiery mass of the Sun's core to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Universe takes you on the ultimate guided tour of the cosmos. Full of stunning out-of-this world images reflecting recent advances in space imagery, you'll go on a journey from our solar system all the way to the farthest limits of space. With information on the nature of the universe, the study of cosmology, Earth's motion, modern telescopes, ...
When Cancer Hits: Your Complete Guide To Taking Care of YOU Through Treatment
Cinco Vidas Press
When Cancer Hits is your complete guide to navigating all the changes you'll experience between the doctor's office and everyday living.< Whether your future includes surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, you'll need to know how to best manage your side effects, stress, and home recovery and how to sustain positive energy during treatment and beyond. Inside this book, you ll discover how to: • Implement proven solutions for mouth ...
Perseverance: True Voices of Cancer Survivors
Can you imagine being in high school or college and suddenly learning you have cancer? You thought you had a lifetime ahead of you and the whole world at your feet, but suddenly you're told... maybe not. How would you cope? That's the question the twenty young people in this book had to answer when they were diagnosed with childhood cancer. Perseverance tells of their trials and tribulations, of their triumphs, and of the unique ...
Breast Cancer: Real Questions, Real Answers
Da Capo Press
Breast Cancer: Real Questions, Real Answers is an outgrowth of Dr. David Chan's more than 20 years in private oncology practice. Inspired by his patients—who courageously face their illness but often feel fearful, confused about their options, and full of questions—Dr. Chan's book is uniquely structured as a Question and Answer between patient and doctor. It provides readers with an easily navigated, completely current resource for all of ...
Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World (Popular Science)
Oxford University Press, USA
In Oxygen , Nick Lane takes the reader on an enthralling journey as he unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. He shows how oxygen underpins the origin of biological complexity, the birth of photosynthesis, the sudden evolution of animals, the need for two sexes, the accelerated aging of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds. Drawing on this grand ...
Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis
Paul R. Hill
Hampton Roads Pub Co
Paul Hill was a well-respected NASA scientist when, in the early 1950s, he had a UFO sighting. Soon after, he built the first flying platform and was able to duplicate the UFO's tilt-to-control maneuvers. Official policy, however, prevented him from proclaiming his findings. "I was destined," says Hill, "to remain as unidentified as the flying objects." For the next twenty-five years, Hill acted as an unofficial clearing house at NASA, ...
How I Lost My Uterus and Found My Voice: A Memoir of Love, Hope, and Empowerment
Michelle L. Whitlock
At age twenty-six, author Michelle L. Whitlock thought she had it all: she was in the best physical shape of her life, she had a promising career, and she had a budding romance that looked like it could finally be the real thing. Then doctors informed her that she had HPV. Weeks later her worse nightmare became her reality: she was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. In this memoir, Whitlock narrates the story of her ordeal. She tells how ...
Topic of Cancer: Riding the Waves of the Big C
Meg Stafford adds her voice to the beautiful chorus of people who have been treated for breast cancer. TOPIC OF CANCER: RIDING THE WAVES OF THE BIG C is not about merely surviving, but about the living that happens during treatment. What sets this work apart is the joie de vivre that infuses and informs the prose. Difficult topics are treated with openness and honesty and offer a direct line into the emotions that wash through this time, as ...
Breast Cancer Breakthroughs: Living Longer
Sattar Memon MD
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
"You've Breast Cancer": you're told. Now what?? You're scared, confused, questions overwhelm you: Could my diagnosis, my stage be wrong? Could it be a non-cancerous lump? How did I get this in the first place? Why me?! My mom had it, now me, how about my daughter? Do I really need to sacrifice my breast? I hate chemo, how about just radiation or a hormone pill? Is there a cure for breast cancer? You have used up ...
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Kindle - Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device
This is the future of book reading. I have used it and love it!
Star Trek Movie Tie-In (Star Trek: The Original Series)
impressum - about us | <urn:uuid:2f2061f0-8edd-40fa-82b8-474baa8007c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.very-clever.com/books/radiation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931449 | 2,184 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Christoph Keller and Kathy Slade editors
Co-published by the ECI Press, The Charles H. Scott Gallery, and JRP|Ringier
Aunt Maud is a tertiary character from Vladimir Nabokov’s 1962 novel, Pale Fire. Little is known about Aunt Maud, she is described as a mediocre painter and scrapbook artist. Sydney Hermant creates a new life for this fictitious character by making Aunt Maud‘s Scrapbook in the form of an artist book. The development of the scrapbook is guided by events within the novel’s narrative, historical events that occurred during Nabakov’s writing of the novel, and events culled from Nabokov’s biography. Hermant takes us on a fractured reimagining of the life of Aunt Maud that winds through the Luddite Rebellion, oil crises in the Middle East, and a full-on Merman formal ball.
Sydney Hermant is a Vancouver based artist, writer and curator. Since graduating from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2000 her work has been included in exhibitions across Canada and in Tokyo. She has a BA in literature from Dalhousie University (1993) and studied at the Ecole Nationale Superiéure des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1999). She was the Director/Curator of the Or Gallery from 2002 to 2005.
Publisher: Emily Carr Institute Press
Publication editor: Christoph Keller, Kathy Slade
Artist(s): Sydney Hermant | <urn:uuid:4265b19d-97ee-44ba-a422-f03a3ab0d283> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.librairieformats.org/product_info.php?cPath=58&products_id=678 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952728 | 316 | 1.75 | 2 |
This Day in History
On Oct. 18, 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) first went on sale in the United States
I would just like to take a moment to commemorate this historical event.
Happy Birthday, NES. I still love you now as much as I did when on the day you were born. Twenty years later, you still sit by my tv, right next to your offspring, the Game Cube. We anxiously await the next generation of Nintendo gaming. And while I may play with and bestow affection upon the other Nintendo systems, you will always hold a special place in my heart and forver remain my favorite. Thank you, NES. Thank you for Mario and Zelda, for Metroid and Kid Icarus, for Ninja Gaiden and for everything that came after you - SNES, Game Boy, N64, Game Cube - Happy Birthday.
Hang on, I'm getting verklempt.
Feel free to share your NES memories. What were your favorite games? | <urn:uuid:88b03c41-9a2c-4b1b-b661-33a587ff5d7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://asmallvictory.net/archives/010012.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944863 | 205 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder is urging the Missouri Legislature to say NO when it comes to health insurance exchanges. The Obama Administration says states must decide by Friday whether they will create exchanges or have them created by the federal government instead. Missourians voted earlier this month for Prop-E, prohibiting the establishment of these exchanges without a vote of the people or the legislature. Governor Nixon said last week he will follow that vote and not authorize the creation of the exchanges. Kinder tells KZIM KSIM state lawmakers have no choice but to stand by the will of the people. Kinder says these exchanges will cost states between 10 and 100-million-dollars per year. He says it sets up a system where state officials take the blame when Obamacare increases insurance premiums and denies care to the sick. The Legislature will most likely schedule hearings on the issue this spring. The exchanges are slated to go live at the beginning of 2014, with enrollment periods beginning next October.
Return to: Local News Blog | <urn:uuid:b04f3824-cb72-4702-b700-96ee14d4ea3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.960kzim.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=11951 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951314 | 198 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The black wrought iron gate swings open so easily it is almost as if it has been waiting for him.
Martin Van Camp is taken aback. “I thought it would be locked,” he says. A look around confirms that a family lives there. He leads the way into the courtyard, where his family house, Duarte Villa, a once stately home with an arched entryway, Greek columns and a decorative balcony, has crumbled into disrepair. Built at Lucky Star in Saddar by his great grandfather, Laurenco Caetano Duarte, the co-founder of Ideal Life Insurance Company in 1892, this villa was the final Pakistani home of his mother, who left the country to marry a Belgian carpenter-turned-photographer in the early 1960s. Laurenco Caetano Duarte also built the original Ilaco building that was designed in the neoclassical Beaux-Arts style, in the same year.
The villa isn’t the only architectural marker the Duartes left on the cityscape of Karachi. Duarte Mansion, a four-storey renaissance style palazzo, was built by his great grandfather in 1922 as a business venture. It was the first apartment building in the city and is a registered hertitage site, but it was sold out of the family possibly as early as in the 1930s.
“I never felt at home in Belgium,” muses Van Camp, who is a slim 40-something with curly salt-and-pepper hair and a distinctly olive complexion. “This is probably the last time I’ll see it. I’d like to buy the house… maybe I could’ve done something if it was in India… You hand it over easily, but later it’s always difficult.” When the last Duarte in Pakistan grew too old to remain at home, the Van Camp family donated the house to the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC) in 2004.
The villa passed through a series of caretakers, but its condition continued to deteriorate. Finally, the leprosy centre asked the Anwar family, the final caretakers, to leave the villa. The charity has begun to explore options to legally reclaim the property.
Van Camp first saw the house in 1995. Then a 28-year-old in search of a solid identity, he decided to return to the city where his parents fell in love. His father Franz Van Camp came to start the Young Christian Workers group and his mother Patricia was working with St Patrick’s parish.
Born in Rangoon, Patricia fled to Madras on a boat during the Japanese invasion in 1943. She lived in Goa, where the Duarte women lived, while the men ventured to seek business opportunities in Karachi. When she migrated to Karachi to live with her uncle, she met Martin’s father. Patricia was a pianist, who used to play on Radio Pakistan from the early 1940s to the mid 1950s. In Belgium, she played for a music academy in Geel.
“My mother always said Belgium was her home,” says Martin, a social worker by profession. But he has returned in search of his “lost identity, roots” as stated in an extract from one of his writings. “I’m just a simple man,” he says with a shrug. “I just do what needed to be done.”
Although Martin has visited Karachi four times since 1995, he says he could never live here because he grew up with a western mentality. He has hopes, however, of bringing his four-year-old daughter to her great grandmother’s childhood home but “maybe when she’s older”.
His need to find his roots was complicated by the racism he experienced in Belgium. “I was called everything from Turkish to Moroccan,” he said. “I was Belgian, but I didn’t feel like it.”
The first time Van Camp stepped foot in Karachi, he was smitten by the unity among people. “I love how Parsis, Muslims, Hindus, Christians and people from all kinds of backgrounds came together to celebrate, dine, and just live life. This is what I want to take back and show the rest of the world,” he says.
So when disaster hit in 2004, Van Camp decided to do something. He shared the on-the-ground reports he received from MALC with the Belgian media and was able to raise a significant amount of money.
Then came the flood. So he raised 13,000 euros to help the people of Gatti, near Thatta, buy the materials to rebuild their homes with their own labour. Originally the village was a collection of mud huts, but the new homes will be solid brick. “This is the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen,” said Van Camp. “I can’t let it go, even if things don’t get better.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2011. | <urn:uuid:7e2d0a40-7dfe-40d8-951a-2447786d6569> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tribune.com.pk/story/152659/heritage-site-his-family-built-karachis-first-flats-he-returns-to-rebuild-lives/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981991 | 1,073 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Message of the day
“Something broke in the last federal election.”
Questions not answered
- What will the government do about the revelations of those counterfeit parts?
Etobicoke Centre decision:
Power & Politics opened with Borys Wrzesnewskyj, who said that even though he didn’t win, “democracy wins” because Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand has said that as a result of this case, Elections Canada is changing their procedures and training, and will now include periodic checks on paperwork on voting day. Wrzesnewskyj says the elections laws need to be updated, and that the 4-3 decision points to this problem. He also said that he spent nearly half-a-million dollars of his own money on this challenge, which isn’t recoverable, but that it was worth it because it shone a light on the problems with Elections Canada.
Wrzesnewskyj was also on Power Play, where he added that legislation has to change because the political landscape has changed – we have political actors who are willing to do whatever it takes, combined with the practice of “micro-targeting.”
Don Martin then spoke with former Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley, who said he would like to know how widespread these problems were during the election so that there could be a bearing as to how widespread it is. Kingsley was especially struck that the majority decision says that the constitutional right to vote is more important than procedural safeguards, which could open up future challenges to things like why someone would need to prove their address if they can prove their identity.
Solomon later had an MP panel to discuss the ruling, comprised of Pierre Poilievre, Craig Scott, and Irwin Cotler. Poilievre stuck to partisan points such as quoting the line from the decision about rejecting “the Liberal candidate’s attempt to disenfranchise voters,” while Scott said that both the majority and minority accepted that there were problems, but that the majority was content that the issue of enfranchisement was more important than procedure. Cotler reiterated that this decision was not about fraud or corruption, and that it will put a greater emphasis on oversight in the upcoming by-elections.
On P&P’s Power Panel, John Ivison said that if the lower court decision had been upheld, the court would be flooded with other challenges. Tom Flanagan said that by embracing the substantive test, it was a better practical decision to keep from opening the floodgates. Ian Capstick said that the ruling was interesting, but wouldn’t have any effect on robo-calls or campaign tactics on the ground. Liza Frulla said that Elections Canada needs to take note of this and ensure there is better training.
Later on Power Play, journalists Laura Stone and Bill Curry weighed in, and Curry noted that a split like this is rare, and that the lesson for parties is to beef up on scruitineers to catch these kinds of problems as they happen. Stone said the onus is now on Elections Canada to ensure their workers have better training.
After yesterday’s exclusive story on the problem of counterfeit parts in Canada and the lack of awareness in our own forces, Solomon summoned an MP panel of Andrew Saxton, Matthew Kellway, and John McKay. Saxton insisted there was robust quality control and traceability clauses within procurement contracts. Kellway said that he suspects that our fleet of Hercules planes have the same problem of fake parts that plague the American planes of the same manufacture, and that the government has an ethical duty to act on this information. McKay said the government seems to be treating this as “don’t know, don’t care” situation, and appears to be waiting for a catastrophe to take action.
On a related topic of counterfeit goods, Martin spoke with Kevin Spreekmeester, VP of Global Marketing at Canada Goose, who said his company is one of the largest counterfeit brands on the planet. Spreekmeester says that counterfeiting is a health issue – counterfeit jackets may not contain down but rather “feather mulch” that contains dust and feces, and that the coyote fur collar might actually be something like racoon dog. Spreekmeester says there were 2100 rogue websites selling counterfeit Canada Goose jackets last year, but right now there are no ex-officio rights at the border that would allow CBSA to seize and hold these products at the border.
To discuss the revelation that funeral directors across the country have been subsidizing the burials of veterans who have insufficient benefits, Martin spoke with Phil Fredette from the Funeral Service Association of Canada. Fredette said that Last Post funerals range from $7500 to $11000 because they are mandated to contain certain services, but the Last Post fund only gives $3600 toward their costs. So far, funeral directors don’t want to burden veterans’ families with those costs, but they would like better funding for the Last Post fund.
Martin then took up the issue with his MP panel of Michelle Rempel, Robert Chisholm, and Elizabeth May. Chisholm said he would like to think this underfunding is an oversight, but it has been repeatedly been brought up. May said this was part of a disturbing pattern of closing Veterans’ Affairs offices across the country, and that it’s falling on the Canadian Legion to take up these services. Rempel noted that the government has put a lot of resources into helping veterans and that the minister listens to ways to improve services.
Power Play’s MP panel also took up the issue of Jason Kenney looking for more powers to keep out those deemed undesirable for “public policy reasons.” Chisholm said these decisions should be kept in the hands of officials to keep them free from bias. May said the legislation doesn’t have enough guidance on what “public policy reasons” really means. Rempel said this is a best practice from other countries, and that there would be reports to parliament including clear guidelines.
P&P’s Power Panel also weighed in on that letter that Harper sent to Peter MacKay about his insufficient cuts at the Department of National Defence. Ivison said that he knows MacKay doesn’t think much of the Leslie transformation report but Harper apparently does. Capstick says that MacKay hasn’t gone after places where savings can be found, but is going after staff instead. Flanagan said that department officials will often try to play chicken with their political masters to try and get them to back off. Frulla said that she has seldom seen so many specific directions from a Prime Minister.
Cuban Missile Crisis anniversary:
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Don Martin took a trip out to the Diefenbunker, where Christine McGuire of the museum there told him that at the time, the facility was on lock-down at DefCon2. Former Canadian diplomat and spy for the CIA John Graham characterised it as a “spooky time,” with thousands of people trying to build fall-out shelters, and that amidst Khrushchev’s game of strategic chess, both sides had people urging pre-emptive nuclear strikes before cooler heads prevailed. | <urn:uuid:4b0114db-baaa-44a8-90d1-9b93777dca72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/10/25/dissecting-the-decision-politics-on-tv-oct-25-edition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974434 | 1,511 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Amritsar and Varanasi
25.08.2008 - 31.08.2008
View Round the world on monkyhands's travel map.
We caught a rickshaw to the nearest railhead at Pathankot, as we were trying everything to avoid any more Indian buses, at least over night. From Pathankot, we caught a train to Amritsar, and found ourselves back in the hot homeland of the Sikhs. Amritsar is home to the holiest shrine in Sikhism, the Golden Temple. The temple is a Gurdwara, plated with gold. The dome alone is said to be covered with 750kg of pure gold. This holy golden building shimmers amidst the pool of ‘nectar’ surrounding it. Visitors are asked to remove their shoes and wash their feet, as well as cover their heads, before entering the shrine. We walked round the marble walkway, surrounding the pool with the temple in the centre, and past the food stands there, where temple workers feed pilgrims and visitors for free. Community dining rooms are a feature of all Sikh temples, illustrating the inclusive nature of the religion. You don’t have to be Sikh to eat there, or even Indian, just show up.
In the evening, we went to the India-Pakistan border at Attari, 30 km west of Amritsar. This border post is the only operating border crossing between the two countries, but we did not come here to cross into Pakistan - simply to witness the enigmatic and bizarre afternoon border-closing ceremony. Just before sunset, the Indian and Pakistani border guards perform a theatrical ceremony, involving a lot of posturing and running about. On either side, there are viewing platforms as if in a sports stadium, for spectators to view the ceremony probably. In preparation for the ceremony, some of the Indian spectators would pretend to charge the border, carrying Indian flags. A guy then turned up with a microphone, stirring the crowd into a frenzy by leading them in cries of ‘Hindustan Zindabad’ (Hindustan forever). From the other side came similar yelling about Pakistan. The soldiers then march up and down in front of the crowd, looking fiersome. The stomp their feet, twirl their moustaches and scowl left and right. Then they march up to the border gate, kicking their legs as high in the air as they can, nearly kicking themselves in the head. When the gates open, the commanding officers salute and shake hands, and the flags are lowered by soldiers on either side, standing shoulder to shoulder, so close they nearly touch. The flags are folded and carried to the guardrooms, and the border is officially closed.
The whole thing is a bizarre display of fevered nationalism, with the crowd yelling and all the stomping and clenched fists. Yet at the same time, there are some several diplomatic elements, like the handshaking, and the fact the flags are lowered at exactly the same rate, so that one is never lower than the other. And the activities on either side are practically identical, each side in fact careful not to out stage the other - at least that’s how it seemed to me. Once the border was closed, we returned to Amritsar and booked a train ticket out of there.
We took a 24 hour or so train to Varanasi. This is another city which we missed out on last time we were in India, so we thought we would catch it now. Varanasi is one of the holiest places in India, where Hindu pilgrims come to wash away their sins in the waters of the Ganges which snakes through the city, or to cremate their loved ones on its shores. Varanasi is considered a most auspicious place to die, since expiring here offers ‘moksha’ - liberation from the cycle of reincarnation. All sorts of rituals of life and death take place in plain view of the ghats, or bathing steps, of the city. To me, the city was fascinating and revolting at the same time, an extreme and concentrated version of the paradox that defines all of India in my mind. The old city made up of tiny alleys, too narrow for traffic, which snake and turn into a disorienting maze. We got lost several times, but always eventually found our way back out. The alleys are full of colourful stalls, appealing little restaurants, and amazing hand silk weaving cooperatives. At the same time, they are covered in shit and piss, and packed with mangy dogs and naked street children, crippled beggars and drunken men sleeping on top of all the filth. The heat increases the smells to a nauseating level, and sometimes you feel like screaming and running away. As fascinating and intriguing the city is, it is matched by is disgusting and revolting sides.
We stayed for three days, and walked to the various ghats, including the fascinating burning ghats, where bodies are continually cremated, and so on. But in the end, we’d had enough and escaped from here on another train, this time to Khajuraho. | <urn:uuid:f1ee1398-9f88-449c-b61f-a035f3bc6a89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alanandtilde.travellerspoint.com/66/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962244 | 1,060 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The case of Massachusetts David Parker who was arrested because he refused to leave a meeting where they had turned down his request for allowing him to opt-out his child from class when being taught about homosexuality. This went to the Supreme court and the court refused to intervene and allowed the schools to teach homosexuality without parents’ permission.
All I can say to this is WOW! I am very angry that a parent isn’t even given the option of NOT allowing their child to be indoctrinated with the “it’s okay to be gay” teachings! The parents involved in this case took their children out and are homeschooling, while still paying taxes for this school!
Here’s the rest of the story from WorldnetDaily.com:
LAW OF THE LAND
Decision to teach kids to be ‘gay’ allowed to stand
This despicable ruling not of the people, nor for the people, but against the people’
Posted: October 08, 2008
11:20 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
A federal court decision approving mandatory public school instruction for children as young as in how to be homosexual is being allowed to stand, drawing a description of “despicable” from the parent who unsuccessfully challenged his school district’s “gay” advocacy agenda.
The U.S. Supreme Court without comment has refused to intervene in a case prompted by the actions of officials at Estabrook Elementary school in Lexington, Mass., who not only were teaching homosexuality to young children, but specifically refused to allow Christian parents to opt their children out of the indoctrination.
The case on which WND has reported previously involves Massachusetts father David Parker, who with his wife now have withdrawn their children from public schools, for which they continue to pay taxes, and are homeschooling.
The decision by the Supreme Court leaves standing the ruling from the appeals court for Massachusetts, where Judge Sandra Lynch said those who are concerned over such civil rights violations “may seek recourse to the normal political processes for change in the town and state.”
Earlier District Judge Mark Wolf had ordered that school officials’ work to undermine Christian beliefs and teach homosexuality is needed to prepare children for citizenship, and if parents don’t like it they can elect a different school committee or homeschool their children.
According to a new report from MassResistance, a pro-family organization following the case, the dispute was over the “Lexington Schools’ aggressive policy of normalizing homosexual behavior to elementary school children and not allowing parents to be notified before or after, or being able to opt-out their kids from it.”
The dispute grabbed headlines when Parker, on April 27, 2005, “was arrested and thrown in jail by school officials over his insistence on being notified regarding his son in kindergarten being taught about homosexual relationships by adults,” Mass Resistance reported.
Another family was alarmed by a similar situation a short time later as the school not only continued its indoctrination, but “became more hostile to the Parkers, and local liberals and homosexual activists did their best to harass the family,” Mass Resistance reported.
In fact, the school, led by Supt. Paul Ash, then stated in school publications they would not “compromise” on any points regarding the homosexual agenda.
“The [Supreme] court did not even bother to notify the Parkers or their attorneys,” said Mass Resistance, which said what now will be enforced in the judicial district will be the lower bench rulings that the state has not only the right but “even the obligation … to promote homosexual relationships to young children.”
“The unrelenting action of the Lexington schools to push homosexuality in the lower grades, as well as the ugly hostility of local liberals toward the Parkers and their children over this incident has taken its toll,” Mass Resistance said. “This year the Parkers removed both of their children from the Estabrook Elementary School and have been homeschooling.”
Parker gave no indication, however, he was quitting the overall battle against rampant normalization of homosexuality.
“The federal Supreme Court of the United States has tragically decided to deny our case from moving forward,” Parker said in a statement. “We have exhausted all our legal options in the federal system for the protection of young children in the public schools. The Supreme Court has cowardly turned their backs on a parental rights issue that clearly has national significance with profound consequences.
“We believe that parents have the right and sacred responsibility to defend the psyches of their young impressionable children against such child predation. This includes more forceful measures to defend against, the inculcation and penetration, of perversion into their minds, behind the parent’s back and against their will,” Parker said.
“This despicable ruling is not of the people, nor for the people, and nor by the people – but against them. We, the people, must take back our government for the sake of our children and the sake of this nation,” he said.
When Parker asked the Supreme Court for a review he noted the questions raised in the case have not been answered in previous cases. Those include: “Whether objecting parents have a constitutional right to opt their public school children out of, or even to receive notice of, undisputed government efforts to indoctrinate kindergarten, first and second grade school children into the propriety, indeed desirability, of same gender marriage.”
Also at issue is whether those schools’ “open and specific intention to indoctrinate … children into disbelieving core tenets of their families’ deeply held religious faith constitutes a burden on the families’ free exercise of religion.”
The high court previously found, the request argued, the “primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition. Aspects of child rearing protected from unnecessary intrusion by the government include the inculcation of moral standards, religious beliefs, and elements of good citizenship.”
In an earlier interview with WND, Parker warned allowing the appeals ruling to stand would “allow teachers in elementary schools to influence children into any views they wanted to, behind the backs of parents, to a captive audience, and against the will of the parents if need be.
“Teachers are being postured to have a constitutional right to coercively indoctrinate little children [into whatever they choose to teach,]” he noted.
© 2008, Carlotta Morrow. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:e9ec276c-b8b7-4a0c-8981-eb2d46f0514c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://christocentric.com/main/?p=968&cpage=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971411 | 1,382 | 1.5 | 2 |
University of South Dakota
I recently began an appointment as an assistant professor of sustainability at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD. I will be coordinating and teaching the core courses for the new undergraduate sustainability major that USD is beginning in Fall 2012.
My research interests are in prairie ecology, agroecology, managed prairie systems, and bioenergy cropping systems.
My academic training is in plant ecology and sustainable agriculture.
Using concept mapping to experientially introduce systems thinking part of Integrate:Workshops:Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences:Activities
This activity was developed as an introduction to systems thinking where the students use concept mapping to explore a complex issue, such as ethanol production from corn grain. After a very brief introduction to systems thinking and ethanol production from corn grain, the students were given a broad question from which to develop a concept map (e.g. How does the production of ethanol from corn grain affect agriculture, the environment, energy production, and government policies). As a class, the instructor and students develop a concept map based on their collective knowledge of factors that affect any component of the map (e.g. ethanol production increases corn prices, which increases the amount of corn grown on the landscape, which could increase the amount of nitrate flowing into water bodies, etc.). Interactions and feedbacks among components of the map should be explicitly considered and highlighted. Following the mapping exercise, the students pick one problem identified in the concept map, and examine how methods of fixing that problem have rippling - and often unintended - consequences throughout the map.
Using process-focused assessments for teaching sustainability part of Integrate:Workshops:Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences:Essays
Meghann Jarchow, Interdepartmental - sustainability, University of South Dakota Thinking about how we assess students is as important as the methods that we use to convey the course content. I think that most ... | <urn:uuid:2b0c0c92-644c-4e0e-bc4e-01de5f82d8fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://serc.carleton.edu/person/18113.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941511 | 410 | 1.734375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON - Al Gore, a Democratic favorite for the presidency despite pronouncements that he's not running, spoke out on his signature issue Wednesday, warning of a "true planetary emergency" if Congress fails to act on global warming.
In a return he described as emotional, Gore testified before House panels that it is not too late to deal with climate change "and we have everything we need to get started." By turns folksy and prescriptive, he urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to adopt an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Gore's return to Congress marked the first time he had been in the Capitol since January 2001 when he was the defeated Democratic nominee still presiding over the Senate in his role as vice president.
The former vice president, who 20 years ago held the first hearings in Congress on global warming, appeared before a joint hearing by two House committees. Later in the day, he was to testify before a Senate committee that includes the current Democratic front-runner for the nomination - Hillary Rodham Clinton. Another member is its recent past chairman, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who calls global warming the biggest hoax ever perpetuated on Americans.
Several public opinion polls show Gore among the top three in the presidential race, although he has said he has no plans to seek the presidency again. In 2000, he won the popular vote but lost to George W. Bush when the Supreme Court ruled for the Republican in the disputed election.
Polls consistently place Gore, the non-candidate, third behind Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama - ahead of John Edwards and other declared candidates - and indicate that much of his support comes from Democrats who would otherwise back the New York senator.
Gore advised lawmakers to cut carbon dioxide and other warming gases 90 percent by 2050 to avert a crisis. Doing that, he said, will require a ban on any new coal-burning power plants - a major source of industrial carbon dioxide - that lack state-of-the-art controls to capture the gases.
He said he foresees a revolution in small-scale electricity producers for replacing coal, likening the development to what the Internet has done for the exchange of information. He also advocated tougher fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks.
"There is a sense of hope in this country that this United States Congress will rise to the occasion and present meaningful solutions to this crisis," he said. "Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination."
Gore gained international recognition with his Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," as perhaps the leading spokesman on dealing with global warming.
A former congressman and senator from Tennessee, Gore received a friendly reception from Democrats in Congress. As he spoke, his wife, Tipper, sat behind him, listening intently and laughing occasionally at lighter-hearted exchanges.
"Welcome back, welcome home," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
But several Republicans sharply questioned Gore's recommendations.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, a former chairman of the House energy committee, questioned scientific evidence from Gore's popular film and said cutting carbon dioxide emissions would "provide little benefit at a huge cost," particularly to major coal-producing and coal-burning states.
"A lot of those recommendations are more regulations and more taxation," said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., though he added that he agrees with Gore that the scientific debate on climate change is over. "I think we can find answers to use the coal energy, to use the natural gas we have."
Gore said the climate issue should not be a partisan or political issue. He said he saw a limited role for nuclear power, which the Bush administration has promoted, because the plants are expensive to build and "only come in one size: extra large."
He rejected the contention by opponents of quick action on global warming that the United States should only impose mandatory controls on greenhouse gases if China, India and other rapidly developing nations agree to do the same.
"The best way and the only way to get China and India on board is for the U.S. to demonstrate real leadership," Gore said. "As the world's largest economy and the greatest superpower, we are uniquely situated to tackle a problem of this magnitude," he said.
Gore favors a "cap-and-trade" program for the U.S. economy, not just specific sectors such as electricity or manufacturing, which would set an overall limit on warming emissions but allow industry to meet the target by trading pollution allowances.
Congress has nearly a dozen bills before it that call for reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. | <urn:uuid:9afad335-1996-40f8-9b06-47599c9731bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/nation_world/article_46421666-523a-5563-9d85-73d37041d636.html?mode=story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9665 | 982 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Act on child abuse suspicions, doctors told
Any doctor who suspects child abuse must raise the alarm immediately and tell parents what action they will be taking, new draft guidance says.
Doctors acting reasonably in response to concerns about abuse or neglect will not be subject to censure, it adds.
The General Medical Council is holding a public consultation on the draft.
It follows a successful appeal against the GMC by a paediatrician struck off after accusing a mother of drugging and murdering her 10-year-old son.
The GMC had to reinstate David Southall on its medical register after the appeal court ruled it had failed to give adequate reasons for his striking off in 2007.
The case has now been sent back to the GMC panel for reconsideration.
End Quote Dr Amanda Thomas Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Spotting signs of child abuse and neglect is a complex and difficult field”
Speaking about the new guidelines, the GMC's chief executive Niall Dickson said: "We recognise that taking action to protect children from abuse can be challenging and distressing for everyone involved.
"This is a complex area of practice, but we believe this new guidance will provide greater clarity about what doctors need to do to protect children, even if they are uncertain about the risks involved.
"We hope it will also help give doctors confidence to make these extremely difficult decisions."
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health child protection officer Dr Amanda Thomas said: "Spotting signs of child abuse and neglect is a complex and difficult field.
"This new guidance is fundamental for all medical staff to protect children and young people from harm."
The UK-wide guidance applies to all doctors, not just those working in child protection, and the final version should be published by the end of the year.
It says every doctor, even those working only with adults, should be able to spot signs a child could be at risk at an early stage, for example if a parent misuses drugs or alcohol.
It is hoped cases like that of 17-month-old Peter Connelly, or "Baby P", who died in August 2007 at home in Haringey, north London, after months of abuse can be avoided. | <urn:uuid:7d66d241-0d8c-4333-9845-a2f2eb7aa702> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13926246 | 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 | 0.955527 | 460 | 1.585938 | 2 |
9:29AM EST October 1. 2012 - This isn't an endorsement President Obama will claim.
Hugo Chavez, the socialist president of Venezuela, told state television: "I hope this doesn't harm Obama, but if I was from the United States, I'd vote for Obama."
Chavez, who like Obama is seeking re-election, also called the American president "a good guy," reports Reuters.
"I think that if Obama was from Barlovento or some Caracas neighborhood, he'd vote for Chavez," said the Venezuela leader.
It's quite a contrast to how Chavez described Obama predecessor George W. Bush -- as "the devil."
Chavez predicted both he and Obama would win re-election, possibly leading to better American-Venezuelan relations. He said both he and Obama were battling the "extreme right" in their election battles.
"After our triumph and the supposed, probable triumph of President Obama -- with the extreme right defeated here and there -- I hope we could start a new period of normal relations with the United States," Chavez said.
He added: "Obama recently said something very rational and fair ... that Venezuela is no threat to the interests of the United States." | <urn:uuid:02b0ada6-0dc5-483b-9f4e-61a9fd56f88d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conservativeunderground.com/forum505/showthread.php?52423-Obama-gets-endorsement-he-doesn-t-want-from-Chavez&p=529396&mode=linear | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982185 | 249 | 1.53125 | 2 |
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“I've been financially educated in ways that are never normally taught in everyday life.”Deborah Stephenson, Property Mentor course graduate September 2012Read More Testimonials
Have you got what it takes to become a Property Millionaire?Take the Test
If you're looking to expand your knowledge about the property investment market, then our selection of articles – listed below – is the perfect place to look.
From tips and tricks, to broadening your understanding of real estate, these articles are specifically designed to make your journey into property investment easy. You will learn how to: harness the credit crisis; make your properties easier to rent and much more.
According to the latest House Price Index from Rightmove, 2013 has begun in a sprightly fashion for the housing market.
The availability of mortgage finance has improved say consumers, but fear of being turned down rather than actual experience still puts people off buying a property, the BSA's quarterly Property Tracker report has revealed.
House prices during August have risen, prices now at the highest during 2012
If you want to live the high life in the uber cool, ultra modern Notting Hill bachelor pad that Robbie Williams himself once called home then you’re in luck — the property has recently come onto the market again, making the ideal purchase for Robbie fans who have a few million pounds to spare.
The demand for rental accommodation is now so high that demand by far outstrips supply. Prospective tenants are falling over themselves to try and get their hands on rented accommodation and this has pushed up the income that many landlords are receiving on their property investment.
According to recent reports there could be some real bargains to be found in Newtownabbey in County Antrim, where officials claim there are properties available with purchase prices of less than £40,000.
In a recent survey that was carried out, based on figures from Hometrack, it was shown that on average buyers are successfully knocking around 7-8 percent off the asking prices, which potentially means a saving of thousands of pounds on the cost of the property.
It was reported recently that Wales had seen the steepest monthly house price drop in England and Wales recently, with house prices diving by 3.3 percent for the month of March. Figures were released by the Land Registry recently showing that the average house price in Wales was now just 115,998 pounds.
Many people have quite large and attractive gardens but barely have time to use them because of work commitments and the like. However, rather than letting all of that space go to waste homeowners can now make their garden work for them in terms of finances by allowing people to pitch their tents in the garden by way of a campsite
It has been claimed by a property letting agency that a severe shortage of rented homes is resulting in each of their rental homes having an average of around five potential tenants vying for them. The lettings group stated that around 40 percent of its landlords were now small landlords with up to three properties but that more rental properties were needed because of the severe shortage that was being seen.
Showing results 1 to 10 of 158 | <urn:uuid:dbd08df6-713d-407b-886d-e9d0e05bccce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.propertymentor.co.uk/articles.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977098 | 648 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Yesterday, President Obama announced his 2012 Presidential Campaign via YouTube video (posted below). The clip was viewed over 100,000 times yesterday. Considering the amount of attention the video drew in the press -- it remains one of our Trending Videos -- and across social media, we decided to look at how the announcement video was shared online.*
The first wave of buzz around the video came very early in the morning, as influential tweets -- in sharing terms -- were posted by Politico's Mike Allen, then by ABC's Jake Tapper and Mark Scott. The first official news account to tweet out the video was BBCWorld. Later in the afternoon, the President's official account tweeted it as well, creating a second wave of attention on that platform.
(Interestingly, this was the second "launch of the 2012 campaign" video to go viral, with a faux announcement video posted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee on April Fools Day that drew 562,000 views over the weekend.)
A look back at YouTube search data from the 2008 campaign shows that the biggest surge in search interest is likely a ways off, but it will be interesting to follow the weekly peaks and valleys as the campaigns truly get underway.
Mouse over the points to see the corresponding campaign events. For more recent search info on "Obama" searches, check out our post 12 Months of Searching for Obama.
*Note: We only looked at shares of the actual YouTube video and not shares of articles containing the video, such as this one from the Huffington Post, which was also popularly shared. | <urn:uuid:426245ee-ca1a-4b60-aab2-7676bde814d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://youtube-trends.blogspot.com/2011/04/obamas-2012-announcement-how-it-was.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954937 | 316 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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T O P I C R E V I E W
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 20:57:08 You may have watched or heard about President Obama's speech to students on September 8. A few days before the speech, "Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to the nation's principals, inviting schools to watch the speech and included suggested classroom activities." [Source: USA Today] Read this letter here.
As you know, many schools had already started the school year. (See our back-to-school poll.) Schools already in session faced some opposition from parents about airing this speech. Some parents threatened to keep their children at home.
We invite you to get the facts (read the articles below) and tell us your opinion about this controversial issue! | <urn:uuid:c1eff009-d685-4fc9-8913-46cc462e8fe8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mathgoodies.com/forums/post.asp?method=Reply&TOPIC_ID=33916&FORUM_ID=18 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971794 | 184 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Return of killed and wounded in Ewell's (Second) corps, &c.-Continued.
Command. Officers Men. Officers Men. Aggregate.
3rd Alabama. ... .. ... 5 5
5th Alabama. ... .. ... 3 3
12th Alabama. ... .. ... 2 2
Total. ... ... ... 10 10
5th North ... ... ... 1 1
Total Rodes' ... 4 .... 33 37
Alleghany .. ... ... 7 7
Courtney ... .. .. 1 1
Lee Battery. a1 2 ... 1 4
First Maryland ... 1 ... 1 2
Orange ... ... ... 1 1
Total. 1 3 ... 11 15
Grand total. 9 74 33 485 601
a Captain Charles I. Raine killed.
Numbers 103. Report of Brigadier General Harry T. Hays, C. S. Army, commanding Early's division.
HEADQUARTERS EARLY'S DIVISION.
Camp near Somerville Ford, January 22, 1864.
MAJOR: In obedience to the instructions of the lieutenant-general commanding, I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of Early's division in the affair on Mine Run:
On the night of November 26, 1863, I received orders from Major-General Early, commanding Second Corps, to move with the division to the intersection of the road from Zoar Church to Verdierville with the stone turnpike to Fredericksburg.
Accordingly, between 2 and 3 o'clock on the morning of November 27, the troops were marched as directed via Old Verdierville, Lieutenant-Colonel Jones, with his artillery battalion (consisting of Tanner's, Garber's, and Carrington's batteries), following in rear. Brigadier-General Pegram with his brigade was left to guard Raccoon, Somerville, an Robertson's Fords, with orders to join the division on the stone pike as soon as relieved by the cavalry of General Fitzhugh Lee. Arriving at 6 a. m. at the junction of the roads designated, we were joined by Brigadier-General Gordon and the four regiments of his command, which had been previously sent to this point by Major-General Early's directions in anticipation of a raid in our rear. Here we rested about an hour.
I was then ordered by the major-general commanding to proceed to Locust Grove, and, if practicable, to gain that position before the enemy. The division marched immediately to effect this object, but | <urn:uuid:fde98c4a-5683-49fa-86e2-b148cbd9581f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/recordView.cfm?Content=048/0838 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94673 | 523 | 1.625 | 2 |
Fri September 7, 2012
Close Read: Examining Obama's Acceptance Speech
Originally published on Fri September 7, 2012 8:15 am
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
STEVE INSKEEP. HOST: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning. Let's take a close read now of some of the lines from President Obama's convention speech last night.
MONTAGNE: We're checking meanings behind some of those phrases, as we did with Mitt Romney's speech one week ago. Three NPR correspondents will help us out.
HOST: NPR's Julie Rovner covers healthcare policy, Yuki Noguchi covers business, and Scott Horsley has been covering President Obama's campaign. Good morning to you all.
JULIE ROVNER, BYLINE: Good morning.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning.
ROVNER: Good morning.
HOST: And they're all over the place. Go ahead, Renee.
MONTAGNE: Right. And this line appeared to - this line that we're going to hear right now appeared to answer Republican charges that Democrats are all about government.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We don't think government can solve all our problems. But we don't think that government is the source of all our problems - any more than are welfare recipients, or corporations, or unions, or immigrants, or gays, or any other group we're told to blame for our troubles.
MONTAGNE: And Scott Horsley, let's start with you. How is the president trying to define his party there?
HORSLEY: Well, as you mentioned, Renée, he starts with a little disclaimer - government can't solve all of our problems, pushing back against the notion that he or the Democratic Party is about big government liberalism. This is something that Barack Obama said many times in the past. But then he immediately pivots and says government itself is not the problem, as many Republicans would have you believe.
After all, as he and many others at this convention pointed out, had it not been for government intervention we would've seen the collapse of the financial industry. We would have seen the collapse of Chrysler, General Motors, maybe other auto makers. And then he rather economically nods to several important Democratic constituencies - unions, immigrants, gays, all of whom the Republican Party has alienated.
And he also says welfare recipients are not to blame for our problems. That's a rebuttal to Mitt Romney's discredited talking point that Mr. Obama is trying to weaken the work requirement in welfare reform.
HOST: Scott Horsley, I'm glad you mentioned the economic nods, as you said, economically nodding to Democratic constituencies; because last week Julie Rovner spoke to us about Mitt Romney base touching, making quick references to issues of passionate interest to conservatives. And with that in mind, let's listen to this speech, or this it of the speech from the president.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
OBAMA: If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, than other voices will fill the void. The lobbyists and special interests, the people with the $10 million checks who are trying to buy this election, and those who are trying to make it harder for you to vote, Washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry or control health care choices that women should be making for themselves.
HOST: Julie Rovner, what do you hear in there?
ROVNER: Well, the exact mirror image of what Mitt Romney did last week, which is this, you know, quick tangential reference to these issues after a convention that was full of them. And, you know, not only did the Democrats celebrate gay marriage, that the president has changed his position, but also this was a convention full of abortion rights.
Where the Democrats have been shying away from that the last few conventions, trying to say that they've got a big tent and they really welcome, you know, Democrats who are anti-abortion.
MONTAGNE: And let's move on to this election's central issue. The president spoke of a range of goals, and those definitely included economic goals.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
OBAMA: Goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit - real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation.
MONTAGNE: Now, the president spoke of creating one million manufacturing jobs in the course of the next four years if he's reelected. Yuki, is that realistic?
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Well, it sounds like a lot but you have to keep in mind manufacturing may be on the mend now, but that sector lost a lot of jobs during the recession. And so, you know, assuming that the economy continues to recover, and Europe doesn't pose an even bigger problem, then, yes, it's possible.
But the thing is, manufacturing, when it comes back, isn't going to be the same kind of sector that it was before. That is, those jobs are going to require more technical know-how, require more training. And so in a lot of ways, the question is whether those one million jobs are of a different quality - that is to say, higher quality jobs - and whether the workers that were laid off in recent years can qualify for those jobs.
HOST: Does this dig into a difference, at least rhetorically, maybe in reality, between the parties as a deep difference? Because the president wants to promote manufacturing. He's even spoken of specific kinds of manufacturing like solar and wind energy. And to Republicans, they call that picking winners.
NOGUCHI: Right. Green jobs is something that the Republicans like to talk about as sort of indicative of Democratic overreach into the business sector. And, you know, it is sort of a similar point that Mitt Romney was trying to make when he talked about, you know, not intervening with the auto industry's troubles.
But of course, you've heard the Democrats, you know, come back and say, you know, we saved those jobs and without that we would've been in a much, much deeper hole.
MONTAGNE: And let's listen to another clip of last night's speech where the president claimed this achievement.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
OBAMA: In the last year alone, we cut oil imports by one million barrels a day, more than any administration in recent history.
And today the United States of America is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last two decades.
MONTAGNE: He then promised to cut oil import in half by 2020. Scott, what is his record here, and is that goal he spoke of last night achievable?
HORSLEY: Well, U.S. dependence on foreign oil was falling even before Mr. Obama came into office, going back to 2005. Certainly that trend accelerated on his watch. Last year we imported about 45 percent of our oil. That was a 16-year low. Some of this has nothing to do with the White House. The recession cut overall demand for oil, and nobody thinks that's a great thing, and we have seen a big jump in domestic production which the oil industry says happened despite Mr. Obama, not because of him.
Certainly he can claim credit for encouraging more greater fuel efficiency in the years to come, and that will help reduce our reliance on imported fuel. And the president does make the distinction, though, with that manufacturing goal of adding a million new jobs, he's starting counting now. With the cut in oil imports, they want to use as a starting line when Mr. Obama came into office.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Scott Horsley, don't go anywhere. I've got one more clip to play for you here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
OBAMA: You can choose a future where we reduce our deficit without sticking it to the middle class.
Independent experts say that my plan would cut our deficit by $4 trillion.
INSKEEP: Okay. Does the president have a plan that according to independent experts would cut the deficit by $4 trillion. Sounds like a lot of money.
HORSLEY: Well, the president has probably exaggerated the size of his own deficit-cutting plan. That plan includes some favorable assumptions about what's your starting point, that's always important, and he includes for example, war savings, that was probably money that was never going to be spent. But he did also echo Bill Clinton's line about arithmetic in challenging Mitt Romney's proposal, saying that if your goal is to fill the deficit hole, a big tax cut that digs the hole deeper, is a tough way to start.
MONTAGNE: And let's listen to another bit of tape from the speech last night, different subject.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
OBAMA: You're the reason there is a little girl with a heart disorder in Phoenix who'll get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can't limit her coverage. You did that.
MONTAGNE: And Julie Rovner, what exactly is he referring to there?
ROVNER: Well, this, of course, is a reference to the Affordable Care Act, which even the Democrats at this convention have taken to calling Obamacare. This issue was, of course, a big loser for the Democrats two years ago, but they seem to think that it's going to help them this time around. The Supreme Court upheld the law, or most of it, in June. And the Democrats seem emboldened about talking about how it's already helping people, and more to the point, how it would hurt millions of people of Republicans are elected and repeal the first comprehensive overhaul of the nation's health system in a century, but it's a pretty risky strategy.
Polls show the law still isn't that popular, and lots of people still don't understand what it does and doesn't do. But they've decided that they want to answer the relentless Republican attacks with something, and that would be better than nothing, and after all, this is something the president promised to do, and he did, when so many presidents before him, Democrats and Republicans, couldn't.
INSKEEP: And maybe a different sort of base touching there as you put it earlier, Julie Rovner. Let me ask about one last thing very briefly on the health care subject - Medicare. The president and other Democrats were perfectly happy to say that Republicans want to turn that into a voucher program.
ROVNER: That's right. Medicare has been a favorite political punching bag for several elections now. Usually Democrats have used it against Republicans. Two years ago Republicans pointed out that the health law reduced spending for Medicare to help pay for the health law and turn the tables on the Democrats. Democrats are hoping to turn that around again. They point out that Paul Ryan's...
ROVNER: ...proposed plan for Medicare would cap government spending for the program.
ROVNER: Leave it to private insurance companies to figure out...
ROVNER: ...how to provide benefits. It's a hard concept, and it's not clear that the seniors are really going to get it.
INSKEEP: Got to stop you there.
ROVNER: There you go.
INSKEEP: Got to stop you there. Julie Rovner, Yuki Noguchi, and Scott Horsley on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:f86ef5d9-e44c-48b3-8a5c-2cafebaa1c2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ksut.org/post/close-read-examining-obamas-acceptance-speech | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969993 | 2,468 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Paris Hilton immortalized in Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
Lauren, Publicity Assistant
For years, the public has not been able to get enough of Paris Hilton. She’s famous as a socialite, heiress, model, and now for joining the likes of Socrates and Mark Twain on the pages of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. No, she’s not quoted for saying, “That’s hot.” Ms. Hilton is instead immortalized for her advice, “Dress cute wherever you go. Life is too short to blend in.”
But Paris’s entry is only one of more than 20,000 new quotations added to 7th edition. Other notable inclusions come from Sarah Palin, Stephen Hawking, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Philip Pullman. Here, Oxford Dictionary of Quotations editor Elizabeth Knowles reflects on the history of the almost 70-year-old treasury, and how new entries are chosen. To learn more check out the companion site here.
A classic reference book like this has to be regularly remade, without compromising its essential identity. Can we in fact have the modern and frivolous without damaging our book? I would say most definitely yes, where usage so dictates, and adduce in support two luminaries of the Oxford University Press of over sixty years ago. In 1931, planning the book, Kenneth Sisam, who identified an “intelligent elasticity” as an essential editorial quality, wrote to a colleague, “We shall have to guard against things quotable, as apart from things commonly quoted.” And in 1949, when the second edition was being planned, Humphrey Milford (formerly Publisher to OUP) commented, “I think the levity—comparative—of ODQ is partly the reason for its success.” In other words, the diversity of the book, and its mixture of the deeply serious and the frivolous, based on what people are quoting, is part of its essential nature.
Quotations are part of the fabric of the language: we use, and meet them, every day. We quote when we find that the words of another person, in another time and place, express exactly what we want to say. Or, events bring certain quotations to prominence, as the last year has given new relevance to Thomas Jefferson’s comment that, “Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.”
A dictionary of quotations is not a roll-call of the great and the good, nor a listing of an editor’s favorite passages. Although having said that, of course we all do have items in which we take a particular pleasure. I was especially pleased that the formulation, “We must guard even our enemies against injustice” (attributed to the radical Tom Paine) was revealed as the writer Graham Greene’s paraphrase of Paine’s more formal eighteenth-century diction. The history of this misquotation—linking two significant figures across the centuries, and coming to light through its resonance today—was very satisfying to explore.
At Oxford, we track language to ensure that we have the quotations people are most likely to look up, so that the next time a half-remembered quotation is on the tip of your tongue, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations is ready with the answer. Inclusion is based on usage: evidence that a spoken comment or written passage is being quoted by others. And while there is a common quotations stock (Shakespeare, the Bible), we all have our own quotations vocabulary, that which we remember and quote because we encountered them at a time when they were particularly significant. The antique and serious often rubs shoulders with popular culture. The same newspaper column, for example, may quote from both the Book of Common Prayer and the Rolling Stones. The result is marvelously diverse, and properly so. | <urn:uuid:a2c6d99d-2f44-4fd4-9b7b-883b01ced26e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.oup.com/2009/09/paris-hilton-quote-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958488 | 813 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Rabbi Sharon Brous – a JWI Woman to Watch in 2009 – wrote an “On Faith” essay for the Washington Post this week about the role of inflammatory political language in last weekend’s shooting in Tucson.
“For two years we have watched as political leaders and members of the press have made incendiary rhetoric not the exception but the rule in Washington and around the country… Those who have been in politics from the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement and the most contentious years of the Vietnam War have warned us that they have never seen an America as dangerously divided as our country is today.”
JWI is an increasingly audible voice on Capitol Hill advocating for federal legislation that addresses domestic abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, reproductive choice, economic security and gun violence. As leaders in the faith community, we work in coalition with secular and faith organizations, and we are proud to be a powerful force within the Jewish community. Please join our advocacy network and help make the world – and your community – a safer place. | <urn:uuid:110de8b0-f722-4460-8417-0653a7a2a5b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jewishwomeninternational.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/rabbi-sharon-brous-issues-a-wake-up-call-following-the-shooting-of-congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords/ | 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 | 0.956405 | 212 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble, a band with deep Tulane ties, will be giving a free concert at the Old U.S. Mint in the French Quarter on Friday (Nov. 2), featuring the compositions of the 1920s-era Sam Morgan Jazz Band.
John Joyce, Jr., associate professor of music, drums with the Louisiana Repertory Ensemble at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. (Photo by Sally Asher)
The concert, taking place from 12:15-1:45 p.m., will be live streamed
and archived online. The Mint is at 400 Esplanade Ave.
John Joyce, Jr., associate professor of music and drummer for the ensemble, has spent the last several years carefully transcribing 1927 recordings of the Sam Morgan Jazz Band. Every note from the ensemble’s performance — two trumpets, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone/clarinet, trombone, piano, banjo, string bass and drums — has been painstakingly marked on paper by Joyce.
It is these transcriptions from which the LRJE will be performing on Friday.
"You will hear in the music a uniquely rustic style of New Orleans jazz — an early black jazz that must have evolved before ragtime," says Joyce. "It's virtually church music transferred to instruments, a rare example of early black jazz in the state of evolution."
The jazz ensemble was founded in 1980 as the performing arm of the Hogan Jazz Archive
at Tulane, Joyce says.
From those beginnings, the LRJE
has traveled around the world, performing the earliest New Orleans jazz music from bands such as the New Orleans Owls and Celestin's Tuxedo Orchestra.
"All these bands did not think of themselves as jazz," explains Joyce, who is also editor of The Jazz Archivist
. "When the music evolved, say from 1880-1915, the word 'jazz' did not even exist. To the pioneering musicians who created it, it was simply dance music."
The concert, sponsored in part by the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South
at Tulane, is a featured activity of the joint meeting of the American Musicological Society, the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Society for Music Theory. | <urn:uuid:922c61ae-d64e-4c95-996c-7d45e01b4fe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/102912_lrje.cfm?RenderForPrint=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944041 | 471 | 1.828125 | 2 |
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Gov. Jeb Bush announces $3.1 million reading grant award as School Board Member
Joie Cadle (far left), Orlo Vista Principal Pat Ramsey, and Superintendent Ron Blocker
Orange County Public Schools has won the state's biggest share of a federal grant aimed at boosting student achievement in reading.
During a visit to Orlo Vista Elementary School, Governor Jeb Bush presented Superintendent Ronald Blocker, Principal Pat Ramsey and School Board Member Joie Cadle with a check for more than $3.1 million from the federally-funded Reading First grant program. Locally the money will fund a literacy coach for each of 26 high-needs elementary schools, additional training in reading instruction for kindergarten through third-grade teachers, books and other instructional materials.
"This is wonderful news," said Superintendent Ronald Blocker. "It will allow us to expand and strengthen our successful reading programs throughout the district."
Orange County received one of four Reading First grants totaling $8.5 million that were awarded through a competitive application process this year. The other grants went to Broward County Schools, Palm Beach County Schools and the Panhandle Area Education Consortium, which includes Franklin, Holmes, Jackson, Madison and Washington school districts.
"These school districts have set the standard for making reading a priority," said Education Commissioner Jim Horne. "They have worked very hard to meet the requirements of Reading First grants."
Bush also spent time in a classroom and read to a group of kindergarten students in the media center. He had high praise for the work of both the school and the district in boosting academic achievement.
"I'm really proud of what has been done here," said Bush. "I applaud the district for what it has accomplished and for being innovative. I know they'll use the money well." | <urn:uuid:d6e2b4de-8217-4216-9dd7-4bcd155cd714> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fldoe.org/successstories/2004/04-14.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962962 | 370 | 1.671875 | 2 |
PARIS - French fashion king Yves Saint Laurent, hailed for revolutionizing the way women dressed, died on Sunday, a close associate told France Info Radio.
He was 71 and had been in poor health for some time.
The reclusive Saint Laurent, whose couture creations secured fine art status across the world, ruled the French fashion scene from the age of 21.
“Gabrielle Chanel gave women freedom. Yves Saint Laurent gave them power,” the designer’s business partner Pierre Berger told France Info radio.
“Like all creators, Yves Saint Laurent had two faces, a public face and a private face,” said Berge. He gave no details about the death of his long-time friend.
Saint Laurent changed forever what women wore, making the trouser-suit a daytime staple and the tuxedo an elegant option. He popularised safari jackets and thigh-high boots, and his transparent blouses made near-nudity acceptable in high society.
His square-shouldered suits with patch pockets, brass buttons and wrap-back skirts have become classics, and he simplified evening-wear, moving from shocking satins to flowing white crepe of Hellenic purity.
“He completely revamped a women’s wardrobe,” luxury underwear designer Chantal Thomass told French radio.
“What will stay is the tuxedo for women and the pants ... His fashion was full of colour and inspired by art. He travelled a lot in his mind.”
The eldest child of a wealthy French industrialist, Saint Laurent was born and grew up in Oran, Algeria and showed a talent for design, making clothes for his younger sisters’ dolls.
At 17 he entered a Paris fashion school, and his sketch for a cocktail dress won first prize in an annual contest.
Introduced to Christian Dior, he was hired on the spot by the creator of the “New Look” and became his chief assistant. On Dior’s death in 1957, Saint Laurent became chief designer.
Success was immediate. After his first collection which introduced the widely-copied “trapeze” silhouette with narrow shoulders and flared skirt, the shy 21-year-old was pushed out on to the Dior building balcony and crowds in the Avenue Montaigne below hailed him like royalty.
Saint Laurent directed Dior for three years, until drafted for military service during the Algerian war when a nervous breakdown put him in hospital. He was replaced by Marc Bohan, who is still chief designer at Dior.
During Saint Laurent’s convalescence, Berge persuaded a businessman to provide backing for the young designer to establish his own fashion house.
Saint Laurent presented his first collection under his own name in 1962 and from then on his empire, under Berge’s direction, grew steadily.
He retired from haute couture in 2002 and was rarely seen in public.
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. | <urn:uuid:58aa8b34-7bbc-41d0-91aa-16897cba5f07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=bb9fcded-c723-46d1-8b4c-38af6b282963 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974632 | 628 | 1.84375 | 2 |
I also think that Gordon’s spiritual side was key too... I don’t remember Gordon as an overtly spiritual or religious person when I was a teenager, and yet in the course of reading the letters and the diaries, I think his spirituality was definitely something that sustained him.
One reason many Friends have lost touch with the Inward Light and rely instead on external Testimonies is that we have become too conventionally educated and “heady.” There is nothing wrong with relying on reason or on authority to some extent, according to Brinton, but they are not enough. We need the guidance of something greater and deeper than human means, something that Friends called the “Inward Light.”
"How can I embrace those times when I find myself at odds with others, welcoming conflict as an opportunity to speak the truth in love and listen deeply to where the Holy Spirit is leading us together? "
One result of that break is the undermining of the traditional Quaker reliance on spiritual discernment. Private revelations, including the prescriptive kind called “leadings,” are susceptible to delusion and should be subjected to group discernment, but the definition of such experiences as self-validating and therefore exempt from critical examination, a definition which the group itself accepts and promotes, effectively precludes that. Add to that the liberal concern to avoid...
If the Spirit of Jesus is doing wonderful new things in the world (as Quakers have always maintained), what role might the Religious Society of Friends play in this new Movement? We were - and still are - part of those declining church numbers. Is there anything our Quaker tradition can offer to this rising chorus?
"I hope that we begin to understand more deeply that our treasures, whether burial grounds, meeting houses, or Quaker practice and tradition, are not ours alone—that our continued survival and relevance is connected to sharing what we know and understand with others in and beyond our communities, and to learning with and from our neighbors. "
I had never felt so lost and alone as I did when I stood at the edge of what seemed to me to be a huge abyss... My heart longed to offer unequivocal acceptance and affirmation to GLBTQ folk–no more judgment, no reservations– yet my head kept reminding me that I was throwing a lot away if I took that step.
There are things one can do besides just radiate, and practicing them will make the gathered meeting more likely, whatever your spiritual depth. In fact, these practices develop one’s spiritual ‘muscles’.
Illinois Yearly Meeting has launched an oral archive project this year called the Quaker Peacemaker Project. | <urn:uuid:d70b9eee-726b-460f-b2c8-64f4ea626acc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.quakerquaker.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973266 | 555 | 1.679688 | 2 |
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Spine and Back Health
Upper Back Pain
How likely is it that a bulging cervical disc will herniate? Can a bulging disc become nonbulging again? I do physical therapy excercises for the neck. Is there anything else I can do to prevent herniation?
Hello, thank you for your question. Unfortunately, no one really knows the answer to your first question. It depends greatly on a very large number of factors that vary from individual to individual. Do you smoke? Are you overweight? Do you do athletics? Is your job physically demanding? How old are you? Do you have a family history of spine problems? Etc. etc. This is only a partial list of factors involved, so no one knows.
For your second question, yes, bulging discs can frequently become non-bulging, even from day to day, as well as long-term, but again, it's hard to know whether that is likely to happen for any given individual. Preventing herniation is another tough one. As a general rule, stopping smoking, losing weight, and avoiding highly physically demanding work and/or 'chronic repetitive stress' movements (for example, mountain biking, off-roading, ATVs, anything that causes a sort of 'jackhammer' effect on the spine) are the best you can do, and even if you do all of that you may not be able to eliminate this risk. I hope this helps somewhat, and wish you good luck and good health.
David J Hart, MD
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University | <urn:uuid:18254f6e-944b-4eae-815b-4ba34460c33f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/70263.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948958 | 378 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Is snoring keeping you up at night? Just about everyone snores occasionally, but if snoring happens frequently it can affect the quantity and quality of your sleep and that of your family members. The Breathe-Easy Mouthpiece is an oral appliance worn at night for snore prevention and sleep apnea. The mouthpiece positions the lower jaw slightly forward during sleep. This widens the respiratory tract, enabling air to flow unobstructed through the breathing passage, which allows you to breathe more freely and stop snoring. The Breathe-Easy Mouthpiece also helps with Bruxism, a condition that causes you grind your teeth at night. | <urn:uuid:adcb3e2d-b4c6-4708-a7e8-798e9c2cecd3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.maddeal.com/Canada/BC/Victoria/ | 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 | 0.943327 | 129 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Talk to any professional artist or designer you can find (seedy bars and discount grocery stores are good places to look) and chances are they will agree that inspiration is probably the most misunderstood ingredient in the murky chowder of creativity.
In movies, inspiration looks much like the manic half of manic depression. The artist runs amok in montage, flinging paint around in a large, white studio while loud bits of Mahler (or possibly the Pointer Sisters singing "I'm So Excited") flood the soundtrack. He is hyperkinetic, unfettered, unstoppable. He is not the person you want living in the apartment upstairs. But he can't help himself...he is inspired.
I admit that occasionally, out of nowhere, the Inspiration Fairy socks you in the gut with a full-grown idea so damned good it almost lifts you right off the barstool. But if you intend to make a living from your ideas, and you only sit down to work when that happens, you'd better have a rich uncle or a back-up plan in something nice and stable like accounting or dog grooming.
Inspiration (for me, anyhow) is less like a lightning bolt than like being constantly pecked by a flock of unfocused chickens. Here a peck, there a peck, until the combined pecking reaches critical mass and you can't take it any more and you scream, "Stop, chickens! Stop! Stop!"* and you sit down and draw the cartoon.
This can be every bit as unpleasant as it sounds.
The only way to avoid going mad, which usually happens to artists in movies shortly after the Pointer Sisters stop singing, is to learn to love your chickens. Think of the pecking as their way of alerting you to little details that will move you along, by slow inches, towards something good and whole and new.
And now I want to show you some drawings of old wedding dresses.
That sounds like a non sequitur, I know, but the old wedding dresses were inspiring. Everything you've just read was intended to lead up to them. But then I introduced the chicken motif, and it hasn't come out where I thought it would, and it's almost dinner time so I'm not going back and rewriting it. Sorry.
Inspiration at the Chicago History Museum
This is my second year as a member of the Chicago History Museum, which not so long ago was the Chicago Historical Society. In the old incarnation, it was just as clubby and dusty as it sounds–mostly of interest to the people around here who have major streets named after them.
After a grand renovation and expansion, however, it has become one of my favorite places in the city. Along with a first-class permanent exhibit about the Great Fire of 1871 and several rooms of Lincolniana unmatched by anything at the Smithsonian, they have frequent and splendid shows of items from the textiles collection.
The latest is called "I Do! Chicago Ties the Knot," and it's a doozy. Wedding gear from the mid-19th century (when Chicago sprang, almost overnight, from the mud) to the present day, including bridal gowns, corsetry, going-away attire, and men's costumes–including a pair of matching tuxedos worn by a gay couple, thankyouverymuch.
Oh, and there's a perfectly preserved 120-year-old top tier from a wedding cake, just for good measure.
They don't allow photography in the exhibit, but I spent a fun afternoon there, sketchbook in hand, drawing interesting details under the puzzled eye of the guard.
Here are a few. I plan to go back soon and collect more.
I would write something about the chickens here if I could think of a good tie-in, but it's Thai delivery night and I want my panang curry. | <urn:uuid:7db4945b-368d-441c-a8d9-49014fadf1e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/2010/07/bridal-suite.html?showComment=1279904346886 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970646 | 801 | 1.515625 | 2 |
When looking at the history of the long building craze in New York City, it's hard not to recognize Times Square at patient zero. This is where overdevelopment began. A neighborhood of low-scale buildings and grunge because the home of Disney, Madame Tussaud's, Planet Hollywood and countless hotels and office towers.
At his point all the glitz and glam and glass feels so permanent and irrevocable. But is it? There's news today that the Virgin Megastore in Times Square will close up shop in February. The giant music outlet was one of the first big arrivals as the area was being transformed in the mid-90s. According to Fox, this is the result of "Virgin’s billionaire balloon traveler Richard Branson quietly leasing the existing 12 megastores to Vornado Realty and Related Properties last year."
Add Virgin's exit to the still-undeveloped-site once occupied by Howard Johnson's, the huge vacant Ollie's space on 44th Street, and the string of closed restaurants and businesses on 45th Street and 46th Street between Broadway and Eighth—still awaiting the construction of a rumored new hotel which never comes—and there are a few missing teeth in Times Square's shiny commercial smile. It's doubtful in this economy that much new is going to happen with these spaces. A couple more significant closings on 42nd Street or the blocks facing Times Square and we may be looking at a new era in the history of the Crossroads of the World. | <urn:uuid:9a2ef44d-163f-456d-b7cf-fa65bb662ad6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/2008/06/reverse-rejuvenation-for-times-square.html?showComment=1213133460000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951434 | 311 | 1.5 | 2 |
CINCINNATI The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada announced Friday that they have found no cause linking Pampers Dry Max diapers and reports of diaper rash and other skin conditions.
"We are thankful that the U.S. CPSC and Health Canada conducted their thorough reviews and have not identified any cause for concern with Pampers with Dry Max," said Jodi Allen, VP of Pampers. "Our heartfelt mission is always to care for and protect babies, and, as such, safety is, and will always be, our No. 1 priority. We hope that today's announcement will reassure the millions of moms, dads and child caregivers who place their trust in Pampers and Dry Max every day. We thank our customers for their continued support and greatly value and appreciate the trust they place in us."
To help parents battle diaper rash, Pampers is sponsoring the distribution of comprehensive educational materials produced by the American Academy of Pediatrics that provide detailed information on the care and treatment of infant skin conditions, including diaper rash, according to Allen. The AAP materials are available as free brochures and will appear in the summer issue of AAP Healthy Children Magazine, as well as online at HealthyChildren.org and at Pampers.com. | <urn:uuid:eda12902-0cdf-4af7-86e4-999ed5a4ce3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drugstorenews.com/print/367001 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964719 | 259 | 1.507813 | 2 |
DEAR JOAN: Do raccoons have seasons?
They usually run their route through our yard and to our cat bowl on a nightly basis. Sometimes we forget to bring the cat food in or, these days, fall asleep before we do. When that happens, we find the bowl licked clean in the morning. But that hasn't been the case these past couple months.
I figured it was because it has been so cold at night, but unfortunately I still see an occasional dead one here and there on the roads, so I assume they are still out and about in the evening hours. Do you have an explanation for this?
While it sure has been nice knowing they are not coming into our yard, I know it's a matter of time before
DEAR GINA: If you're wondering if raccoons hibernate, they don't. They are around all year, but this time of year the raccoons are focused primarily on courtship. They may be so intent on it that they are skipping your accidental food offerings.
It's also quite possible your former visitors have died or moved on. Raccoons tend to stay in a fairly small area -- a few acres -- and if they find better housing or a more regular supply of food, or if a predator moves in, the raccoons find other haunts.
Raccoons don't live long in the wild -- about three years. The biggest threat to them is
DEAR JOAN: I know that you are involved with gardening as well as animals. I have a question I thought perhaps you could answer or give me the name and number of a person I could contact.
I have a timed sprinkler system. Grid No. 1 is for the front border plants, grid No. 2 is for a very small front yard, grid No. 3 is for border plants alongside the house and grid No. 4 is for hillside plants.
My husband insists that he set the timer for every three days. Grids one through three water for 10 minutes and grid four for 15 minutes. I say no, that is too often and too much wasted water.
I am thinking in the summer we should water 10 minutes every four days for the first three grids, and 15 minutes every six days for the fourth grid, and leave the "rain" setting on during the winter unless we have a very dry spell. We would turn them on manually only when needed.
Any help you can give me with this I would greatly appreciate. I am a "nut" about saving our natural resources.
DEAR LEE: Unfortunately, you can't just set the timer and be done with it. A garden is a growing, living thing and it needs to be observed and tended as the need requires.
You have to take into consideration the kind of plants, soil type, slope, shade, time of year, location and the water requirements of each of the plants.
The short answer is that you need to observe how it's doing under the present watering schedule and follow some general rules. Trees do better if they receive infrequent, deep watering -- the roots will chase the water downward, building a strong support for the tree. Lawns do best with a series of short watering cycles, early in the morning. Water for 10 minutes, then wait a half-hour or so and water a second time. This allows the first water to seep down slowly, permitting the water from the second cycle to penetrate more easily and avoids runoff.
Contact your area water department. Most offer a free evaluation of your irrigation system and can help you set up a schedule. Then keep in mind that you will need to adjust that through the year.
Contact Joan Morris at [email protected]; or P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. | <urn:uuid:c07d70c1-b1ab-415b-9497-e97dea85f099> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mercurynews.com/animal-life/ci_22623063/morris-where-have-our-raccoons-gone | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968156 | 792 | 1.726563 | 2 |
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Did you know the Merriam-Webster dictionary now references google as a verb?
I find this interesting because I google everything! I have a BlackBerry, so it makes it easier for me to google things I'd never think to google. Yesterday I was having lunch at a local restaurant. A song came on the restaurant's satellite station that was playing as background music. Two people at my table were having a friendly debate about who sang the song and what decade it was released. Not being a music connoisseur, I was clueless of the answer. So what did I do? I grabbed my phone and it became a race for me to identify the correct answer by googling it before the debate was over. (For those that have to know, I did find the answer and could affirm the one individual who was arguing that Robert Palmer sang "Bad Case of Loving You".)
The reason why googling is so successful is that you can find everything you could ever want to know, just by searching a few words. But let me ask, how accurate are the results? To be honest, they are pretty accurate, especially on simple things. But have you ever thought about googling your financial questions?
As I mentioned, I google just about everything. But when it comes to my money, I want to be sure I'm getting 100% accurate information. Sometimes I prefer to talk to someone face-to-face. And more often than not, I don't want to share personal financial questions unless it's with someone I trust. I have worked hard for my money and I want to be sure the answers I receive are customized to me and my situation. But there are many times I want to research options and give myself time to ponder before I take time to meet with someone. Sometimes, I want to be educated and have an idea of what I want or need before someone tells me.
Are you like me? Do you want to take time to research options and advice before you're ready to take the next step?
If so, MutualBank is taking steps to meet your needs. On October 3rd, MutualBank is releasing an Education Center designed for you. The Education Center will have articles to help you research that next financial step in your life. It will have calculators to help you determine what makes sense. For example, one calculator can help you determine if refinancing your mortgage is right for you.
Get the best of both worlds: the ability to research your options before you take the next step and research with someone you already know and trust. Because at MutualBank, we're here to help you live a better life.blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:2d3b8b48-b45f-4930-87c3-db784a50c872> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bankwithmutual.com/blog/general/do-you-google-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979852 | 568 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Updated 08/14/2012 10:57 PM
Getting cygnets in a row for SwanCam Initiative
When several swan eggs were destroyed in the Village of Manlius earlier this year, the community reacted in a big way. Residents volunteered to guard the second clutch laid by swans Faye and Manny and crowds came out to greet the cygnets when they hatched. A non-profit group's plan to give folks an even closer look at the hatching of next year's young moved forward in the village Tuesday night. Our Sarah Blazonis has more.
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MANLIUS, N.Y. -- Simple pleasures like taking an afternoon nap or grabbing a snack are usually family affairs for swans Manny, Faye and their four cygnets, but their family is rarely the only one taking part.
"I've always loved coming here and feeding the ducks and the swans and now that I have my son, I like to bring him here as much as possible," said Manlius resident Anielle Gleason, who visited the pond Tuesday afternoon with her son.
Next year, swan lovers near and far might be able to get an even closer look into the earliest stages of the birds' lives.
"One of the most fascinating things is the process of producing new cygnets. So I'm working to really try to introduce to as many people as possible what it takes," said biologist Michael Bean.
Bean, who donated the swans to the village, has proposed a plan known as the SwanCam Initiative. The project would involve setting up a camera aimed at the nest to follow the birds' progress and broadcast it on the internet.
"I'd like to go in and explain incubation, because all the dynamics are really happening for 37 days inside the egg," said Bean.
Village trustees approved the plan in concept Tuesday night. An agreement will be drawn up between Manlius and Bean's non-profit, The Swannery Foundation, which could be approved next month.
The next step is raising funds for the project, which Bean says won't cost taxpayers a dime.
The program would initially run for three years and cost about $15,000 to start. A main goal is for local classrooms to log on and incorporate the process into lessons.
"They're getting more and more removed from wildlife and education departments are increasingly strapped, so it's harder and harder. So I want to try and take this opportunity to educate," said Bean.
The SwanCam could begin broadcasting in early spring, but will be shut off once the eggs hatch. Bean says the hope is that will lead more visitors to stop by the village to check up on them.
Bean says the success of the program will depend on donations. To learn more about how to help, visit swancam.org. | <urn:uuid:2537c027-6c3f-4b01-878f-ad73d55f92e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://watertown.ynn.com/content/top_stories/595250/getting-cygnets-in-a-row-for-swancam-initiative/?ap=1&Flash | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971833 | 612 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The Center for Public Integrity and Politico have an interesting follow-up story on the lists of visitors to President Barack Obama's White House. Readers may remember that msnbc.com pursued the visitor logs persistently, reporting in a series of articles on gaps in the White House release of public records.
Here's the gist of Politico's story:
The White House website proudly boasts of making available “over 1,000,000 records of everyone who’s come through the doors of the White House” via a searchable database.
Yet the Center’s analysis shows that the logs routinely omit or cloud key details about the identity of visitors, whom they met with and the nature of their visits. The logs even include the names of people who never showed up. These are critical gaps that raise doubts about the records’ historical accuracy and utility in helping the public understand White House operations, from social events to meetings on key policy debates.
The reporters point out how few visitors are recorded with the former White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, with visitors apparently ascribed to underlings who set up meetings.
Read the rest of the story by Viveca Novak and Fred Schulte, on Politico's website.
As we've pointed out before, another weakness in the records is that they give no hometown, and often no affiliation. Knowing a name is not enough to know whether the name listed is the same as a person who represents a particular lobbying interest.
And the White House has not released most of the records from the first eight months of the administration. To find out whether someone visited during that period, a member of the public or journalist must guess at the names. The administration will confirm a visitor during that period, but won't release the list wholesale. The White House says the Secret Service data system was not set up for wholesale release during that period, with confidential and security information mixed in with visitor logs.
Still today, the Obama White House takes the same position as its predecessors, arguing that its release of visitor logs is voluntary. Msnbc.com and others have argued, and federal courts have ruled, that release is required under the Freedom of Information Act, because these are agency records under the control of the Secret Service. (Agency records are subject to the FOIA law, while White House records are not.)
The Obama administration argues, correctly, that it is the first to release wholesale information on visitors. Still, it's also true that it did so under pressure from the press and advocacy groups, and that its release of information has been less than 100 percent.
Stories in our msnbc.com series on the White House visitor logs: | <urn:uuid:eeed0e78-4878-426b-a4dc-cec5e47ff110> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/04/18/6489220-obamas-white-house-visitor-logs-less-than-full-disclosure | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956466 | 550 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The same people who are unhappy with the state of affairs in the country today are the same people who were around when Dr Mahathir was PM. So which leads us to ask, are these people now unhappy with race relations because there is now more freedom for people to express themselves or were these people always unhappy with race relations in the country but were unable to express their unhappiness?
In an interview with French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) Malaysia’s former premier of 22 years was critical of the current Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Razak’s efforts to reform many of Malaysia’s legal enactments which were enacted during the time of Malaysia’s emergency but later on became of Dr Mahathir’s weapon of choice against political opponents.
Dr Mahathir was of the opinion that too much freedom would result in ethnic tension. In his own peculiar way of looking at things Dr Mahathir seemed to actually believe that during his tenure as Prime Minister, there was no ethnic tension and everything was hunky dory. Dr Mahathir went on to place the blame on rising tensions in the country today to Najib’s efforts at trying to be liberal.
Dr Mahathir left office in 23 October 2003, just some 9 years ago. Hardly enough for us to talk about a generational change, which therefore means that the same people who are unhappy with the state of affairs in the country today are the same people who were around when Dr Mahathir was PM. So which leads us to ask, are these people now unhappy with race relations because there is now more freedom for people to express themselves or were these people always unhappy with race relations in the country but were unable to express their unhappiness?
If the problems had always existed and it was just a matter of not being aired in the open due to fear of the government and problems being swept under the carpet, then was it not just a society living in conditions akin to a ‘pressure cooker which was waiting to explode’?
It is said that Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice. There can be no substitute for human dignity, without which what exists is just a false sense of being.
Dr Mahathir may feel a sense of achievement that during his time, when the internet was not yet a vehicle for free expression, the absence of such expression meant that everyone was happy with the state of relations in the country. I do not blame Dr Mahathir for feeling the way he does, most politicians would rather not know of anything that would be considered negative against them or the way in which they were running the country.
And knowing Dr Mahathir, I doubt he was surrounded by advisors who would have been brave enough to make peoples true feelings known to him. Dr Mahathir may himself have been aware but chose not to pay heed. The absence of today’s social media platforms afforded him the luxury of choosing to deny to existence of any form of discontentment. I have also always had this nagging suspicion that Dr Mahathir had chosen the easy route to creating a legacy, which was to use the countries blessed oil reserves to build and continue building monuments for people to remember him by.
He may vilify Pak Lah for the lack of physical movement, but Malaysians by and large owe the reforms taking place in the country today to him. Therefore one wonders whether this is the reason that Dr Mahathir continues to attack policies that were started during the time of the 5th Prime Minster and continued by the current PM as history may judge these soft policies as being more beneficial to the country than the hard policies pursued by Dr Mahathir.
One gets the impression that the one thing Dr Mahathir craves is to be recognized as the best Prime Minister this country as ever had, anything less than such an accolade would not go down well with Malaysia’s longest serving Premier.
Pak Lah’s fate was sealed the moment he won the 12th GE with a result far better than Dr Mahathir could ever have hoped to achieve, and this alone would have irked the former premier no end as his position as the best premier ever would have been in question. Ever since then Dr Mahathir never let up on his criticism of Pak Lah.
Dato Seri Najib would do well to be advised to tread carefully for any sign that if he were to upstage Dr Mahathir’s legacy, this would probably not go down well too. And the all familiar cycle seems to have reared its ugly head already with Dr Mahathir being ever more critical of Dato Seri Najib’s policies.
I have always maintained that the heavy losses that led to the Barisan Nasional losing their 2/3 majority in the 12th general elections was a loss waiting to happen since 1999 when Dr Mahathir was its Chairman. Problems accumulated and allowed to fester came to a boil soon after Pak Lah took over the helm. People voted overwhelmingly in support of Barisan Nasional not so much at having Pak Lah as PM but rather the joy of seeing the back of Dr Mahathir. Unfortunately the change the people sought from the Barisan Nasional was not swift enough and the people subsequently punished the Barisan Nasional and Pak Lah for it.
Najib has little choice but to do better than Pak Lah and he must do so for the very survival of the Barisan Nasional or he will soon learn that Dr Mahathir’s misplaced view that Malaysians ‘mudah lupa’ may not be an accurate analysis. Najib may think that being second best or playing second fiddle to Dr Mahathir is the safest option for his own political survival, but he may soon learn that people are not finished yet and people may yet take out on Najib the vestiges of anger from the era of Dr Mahathir which has yet to subside.
Stephen Doss is a social activist and political observer. He is currently the President of the International Social Media Chambers. He can be found on twitter @stephendoss | <urn:uuid:00cc4948-84c3-41a9-8d7b-207244960a56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.malaysia-today.net/archives/archives-2012/50245-time-to-stop-dancing-to-dr-mahathirs-tune | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987051 | 1,280 | 1.8125 | 2 |
“Don’t go in the water. Don’t get anywhere near the water.”
That’s the advice of everyone from Mammoth Lakes Police to county sheriff’s deputies to US Forest Service rangers this week, as hot summer temperatures finally hit the massive snowpack still suspended above Mammoth.
“You can feel the vibration when you are just standing near the river, there is so much water right now,” said Inyo National Forest spokesman Mike Johnson Thursday. “There are just torrents of water coming down. Whatever you do, don’t go in the water. It’s just very dangerous.”
Mono County Sheriff Lt. Dave O’Hara agreed. Just this past weekend, he said, sheriff’s deputies were travelling along the West Fork of the Walker River (in Walker Canyon) and saw an empty raft floating on the raging river.
They started a search, fearing the worst. Some time later, they found the former occupants of the raft stuck on the east side of the river; very wet, very cold, but alive.
“They said they were experienced, but it didn’t matter in that kind of water,” O’Hara said.
“And it’s so cold. It was just snow a few hours ago. If you fall in that, hypothermia will get you if the current doesn’t.”
Eastern Sierra creeks and rivers are normally calming down from peak runoff by early July, but the combination of a record snowpack, rain this past week, and higher-than-normal temperatures predicted for the holiday weekend could add up to some big problems for hikers, campers and anglers.
“It’s going to exacerbate the snowmelt,” said Gary Barbato, a hydrologist with the Reno-based National Weather Service.
“Add to that that this last storm was very humid and when the air is humid, melting snow does not evaporate as quickly as it would if the air was drier. That, along with the rain, didn’t help.”
The only thing that has helped is that it has stayed relatively cool for much of the past several weeks. That’s allowed the snow to melt off slowly and consistently.
But that may be about to change. Temperatures as high as 92 degrees are predicted for Bridgeport by Monday, with the mid-eighties predicted for Mammoth Lakes.
Many of the area’s creeks, including McGee and Convict Creek, are already full. That means more water hitting already swollen creeks and already water-logged soils, just when Mammoth’s holiday visitors arrive in droves.
“We’ve extended our flood warning for your area into Tuesday evening due to the warming trend,” said Barbato.
Flooding is already causing problems for visitors trying to stay in area campgrounds.
“Although we are trying to accommodate everyone, we are having to re-route some people to campgrounds that are not flooded,” said Johnson. Some of the worst-hit campgrounds are those in Lee Vining Creek, including Moraine and Lower Lee Vining.
Little Deadman Creek campground is also flooded.The flooding problem is exacerbated by the fact that many of the campgrounds normally open by now have not opened yet, due to the snow. That means fewer campgrounds; Add flooded ones, and things get interesting.
People are also pulling out of the backcountry trips they had planned and looking for other things to do where there isn’t so much snow. Creek crossings are also a problem; it is simply too dangerous to cross some high country creeks right now. Several bridges are out, after winter avalanches destroyed them.
So the forest service is getting creative, sending campers to whatever spaces are left, plowing others they had not intended to have to plow, setting up temporary RV camping areas. | <urn:uuid:7906042d-40df-4930-afc4-cb1b83aee2a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mammothtimes.com/print/1708?quicktabs_2=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964873 | 847 | 1.742188 | 2 |
APA Board of Directors member Laura Barbanel, EdD, lives and works in Brooklyn Heights, just over the bridge from the World Trade Center. Shortly after the planes crashed into the center, her patients called one by one to cancel. "I spoke to each one," she said. "Each one was connected to the tragedy in some way."
Calls to her office increased dramatically after the event. "Every patient who walks into my office has a story related to the tragedy. Each person who was a victim had multiple layers of contact. Everyone you speak with on the streets is affected in one way or another, as a relative of a victim, as a rescuer, as someone who used to work there or was supposed to be there."
One young woman came to Barbanel the Friday after the attack experiencing extreme fear, heart palpitations and neck pain. On the morning of Sept. 11, she had just entered the World Trade Center to start her day, unaware of what had happened. She noticed debris falling past the windows and wanted to leave the building, but the security officers were afraid to let people out, worried that they might be hit by wreckage. The woman slipped past them and ran to Canal Street. Through a series of complicated maneuvers, she got home.
"Despite it all, she got herself home," said Barbanel. "So I told her, she was enormously resourceful. I was emphasizing her resilience. Typically in therapy, we are trying to identify a pathology, but in these cases, we're needing to point out people's strengths." Barbanel believes that many people are feeling like that woman: They don't know that the fear they are experiencing is normal. "Our role right now is to tell them they are not going crazy," she says.
In addition to helping people in her own practice, Barbanel was also among the psychologists who immediately volunteered their services with the Red Cross, working sometimes around the clock at several sites, among them the compassion center in the New York Armory, where families came to look at hospital lists in hopes of finding loved ones. "The Armory walls were covered with pictures of the missing," said Barbanel. "The photos were taken on happy occasions. There's a man wearing a boutonniere at a wedding, a guy smiling on a sailboat."
Barbanel was also struck by the diversity of people at the Armory. "You have families of people all up and down the socio-economic ladder--families of people who worked in kitchens alongside families of millionaires. There is someone from every ethnic and racial group, every nationality--an incredible range of people, all with the same problem, the same tragedy."
Each family has a different way of coping, she said. One Indian woman who had lost her brother wept inconsolably. A white woman stoically walked away; she didn't want to talk, she just wanted to go home. "Some people want to talk, but others don't," said Barbanel. "You have to figure out what's needed. You provide 'mental health presence' for the families and the staff, and are ready for any crisis."
Psychologists will be responding to the tragedies in many ways for many years, she believes. "We will need to flex our capabilities to respond to the grief, the sadness, the fears and the post-traumatic residual," she says.
Meanwhile, she's gratified to see that mental health care emerged as important in the aftermath of this tragedy in ways that it hadn't after other disasters.
"Psychology really came to the fore," said Barbanel. "One morning at 5 a.m., as I sat at the Red Cross waiting for my assignment, I noticed that every second person that walked in was a psychologist that I knew from somewhere. And New York is a big town! I was proud to be a New Yorker, an American and a psychologist." | <urn:uuid:2c570641-53e4-4574-87fa-f862fb4d1771> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/proud.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987507 | 806 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Great post at the Security Retentive blog about training developers on the basics of security. This quote kills me:
I can’t even begin to count the number of discussions I’ve had with web developers who don’t understand HTTP basics, what the protocol actually looks like, what cookies really are, how browsers handle them, etc. They don’t understand TCP/IP, DNS, ethernet, etc.
I have never been and never will be a developer, so I don’t understand their world. But it just seems so foreign to me that someone does not know the basics of IP and HTTP when they are developing products to ride on those very protocols. Of course, security was not a factor for so long in development, so it is knowledge that needs to be developed (no pun intended), just like this post is pointing out. Hopefully it is just a matter of willingness of developers, diligence by security professionals, and time for secure coding to become a habit. | <urn:uuid:ce977df2-7c08-42af-bfdf-8d823ea63356> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://infosecplace.com/blog/2007/05/14/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961287 | 205 | 1.585938 | 2 |
In the decision of whether a home or an apartment is best for you and your family, most people take into account such things as total cost versus convenience. Certainly these two items are important, otherwise they wouldn’t merit such attention. But there is another aspect that is often overlooked, which can contribute equally to one’s perception of ‘quality of life.’ That aspect centers around freedom. Owning one’s own home lends itself to near complete freedom to create the space that you’ve always envisioned in your mind’s eye.
Whether a Harry Potter-esque fantasy themed castle, or a cabin straight out of Little House on the Prairie, a home allows for any decorating style to take shape. Subject only to limitations on the exterior – neighborhoods don’t prefer to witness a particular neighbor’s wholesale creativity – the interior is fair game. That means your imagination is the limit inside your home. And building up one’s own space to look and feel exactly as they envision it pays big rewards.
That’s because one’s residence can have a huge effect on their emotions. People who live in a dank, dark, borderline spooky place aren’t generally known for being bubbly and cheerful! And while living in a skylight filled place is no guarantee of happiness, it can, and does, add to one’s potential for cheeriness. In the same way, decorating as you prefer can lead to mental relaxation. Apartments have pretty firm rules about painting or wallpapering the walls, but owning your own home drops this artificial barrier to creating one’s creature comforts. | <urn:uuid:7b98e26a-3f83-4f4c-9c9a-a641e25681ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocean98.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933717 | 346 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919 - January 13, 1962) was an American comedian whose uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his early death in an automobile accident. Such iconoclastic shows as Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Uncle Floyd Show, Saturday Night Live and even Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street, and TV hosts such as David Letterman are seen as having made use of Kovacs' influence
Medical practitioner who is regarded as the father of medicine
Your email address:
We will not expose you real name or email address.
We're just making sure you're a real person and not a machine.
Upload a new image | <urn:uuid:e0220094-cc20-4883-8405-36525c4544b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.quotes.net/addbio.php?aid=1742 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955707 | 160 | 1.5 | 2 |
LAS CRUCES — The day after Christmas will bring another type of sale, fireworks.
To usher in the new year, people will be able to buy and discharge fireworks. Wally Monsivaiz, fire investigator with the Las Cruces Fire Department, said fireworks can be sold between Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.
"Vendors can apply for a business license, and then we'll inspect and follow up to make sure they're complying with all requirements," Monsivaiz said. "There are no specific times they can sell fireworks, and there really is no ordinance or law that specifies when (fireworks) can be discharged.
But people might want to keep in mind there's a noise ordinance that could get them in trouble."
The sales of fireworks will be similar in many ways to those sold for the Fourth of July. Jimmy Nevarez, owner of Planet Fireworks in Las Cruces, said several locations throughout the city and Doña Ana County will sell fireworks.
"We'll probably have about 10 spots," Nevarez said. "It'll be a little bit different from the Fourth of July in that we usually have 30 to 40 locations (selling fireworks). We'll should have our locations set up and ready to go by the 28th (of December), and sell through the first (of January)."
Nevarez added his fireworks stands will only be selling legally allowed fireworks.
Doña Ana County Fire Marshal Robert Monsivaiz said Wednesday only one vendor, so far, has acquired a permit to sell fireworks in the county. Fireworks that can be purchased and
Robert Monsivaiz said aerial fireworks are also banned in all unincorporated areas of the county. However, aerials are permissible in Mesilla.
Fines for sales, possession and discharge of illegal fireworks could be as much as $250 per offense.
The same safety rules that apply for the Fourth of July will be in effect for the New Year holiday. The discharge of fireworks should be supervised by a responsible adult, should be lit in dry, barren area, and an ample water supply should be nearby.
Steve Ramirez can be reached at 575-541-5452. Follow him on Twitter @SteveRamirez6
ONLINE EXTRAs: Las Cruces Fire Department website: www.las-cruces.org/Departments/Fire.aspx
A Doña Ana County webpage on legal fireworks: http://www.donaanacounty.org/fire/fireworks/
Ringing in the New Year
• Fireworks will be sold to celebrate New Year's Eve from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.
• Planet Fireworks, in Las Cruces, will operate about 10 locations in Doña Ana County where fireworks will be sold.
• Planet will likely sell fireworks from Dec. 28 through Jan. 1.
• Fireworks that can be bought and discharged within the city limits include: Cones, crackling devices, cylindrical fountains, sparklers, illuminating torches, toy snake devices, and wheels.
• Illegal fireworks in the city include: Aerial spinners, helicopters, mines, missile-type rockets, Roman Candles, shells, stick-type rockets, chasers, and firecrackers.
• However, certain types of aerial fireworks can be sold and discharged in other areas of the county, including Hatch and Mesilla. | <urn:uuid:fc7bf459-6e17-4e7b-a77d-643d60ae91e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_22250193/las_cruces-financial | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944434 | 693 | 1.742188 | 2 |
"The vast majority of bodies showed signs of summary execution - many with their hands tied behind their back. Some showed evidence of torture, with arms and leg joints broken by electric drills," said John Pace, the Maltese UN official. The killings had been happening long before the bloodshed after last week's bombing of the Shia shrine in Samarra.
Mr Pace, whose contract in Iraq ended last month, said many killings were carried out by Shia militias linked to the industry ministry run by Bayan Jabr
Mr Pace said records, supported by photographs, came from Baghdad's forensic institute, which passed them to the UN. The Baghdad morgue has been receiving 700 or more bodies a month. The figures peaked at 1,100 last July - many showing signs of torture.
And these we are allied with these people in this conflict.
Iraq Death Squads | <urn:uuid:f2cc6cc8-8664-479d-9117-83be16bedae2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alieaday.blogspot.com/2006/03/baghdad-morgue-director-flees-iraq.html | 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 | 0.978008 | 173 | 1.625 | 2 |
What happened: Services and programs provided by the Moore County Public Library are worth more than eight times what they cost taxpayers, the library's director told the Board of Commissioners during their meeting on Tuesday night.
Why it matters: Alice Thomas, the director, gave the commissioners an annual report. She said more than 1,500 people used the library's computers and more than 6,500 children participated in library programs during the 2011-12 fiscal year.
Library services and programs provide $8.12 worth of value for each tax dollar spent, Thomas said.
What they said: Jesse Gibson, director of libraries for the Sandhills Regional Library System, also spoke. Moore County is one of five counties in the system.
Gibson said the system is using a $56,000 federal grant to pay for new software that provides summaries and descriptions of books in libraries. Residents also can connect with the library on their smart phones.
"You've got the library on the go and mobile," he said.
What's next: People who go to the system's website can review and give ratings to books, Gibson said. The smart phone interface lets them reserve books and access the library catalog.
Other business: Commissioners also voted to spend up to $54,750 to evaluate the county's fire departments and develop an emergency services master plan. The departments will be able to give input.
- Steve DeVane | <urn:uuid:d8ee11dd-a19c-4bc5-8dac-36193c8da52e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fayobserver.com/articles/2012/10/03/1208309?sac=fo.local | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960876 | 288 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Living History Walking Tour
True West Magazine recently named Coeur d’Alene as one of the ten cities in the U.S. to receive the magazine’s annual award for towns that have made important contributions to preservingtheir past. Robert Singletary’s historical tours were mentioned as one of main reasons why Coeur d’Alene received the award. Robert, a local historian is well known in the area for his lectures, articles, tours, and living history presentations. He will begin a series of Living History Walking Tours of Old Fort Sherman and Historic Downtown Coeur d’Alene on June 19 and will continue to early fall. The tours are sponsored by the Museum of North Idaho.
The hour to hour and a half tours depart from the Museum Tuesday thru Saturday. The
Fort Sherman Tour, scheduled for 11am, Robert will portray Gen. William Carlin, the Commander at Fort Sherman for many years. At 1pm he will take on the persona of Peter Sorensen, steamboat captain, boat builder, and community leader during the early years of Coeur d’Alene. Tickets are $15 per person and are available at the Museum of North Idaho, 115 NW Blvd. and the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, 105 N. 1st St. The Ticket price includes admission to the Museum and parking. For information,call 208-664-3448, 208-755-1308, or visit the Museum web site at www.museumni.org. | <urn:uuid:6aea3efd-7b9f-4fd7-a381-eb5465c4ef38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coeurdalene.org/index.php/calendar/living-history-walking-tour1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947269 | 317 | 1.59375 | 2 |
I was batting against a spinner when one delivery kicked up from the pitch and landed in the top of my pad, where it came to rest. I believe that under those circumstances the ball becomes dead. So I fished it out and threw it back to the wicket-keeper. But, I wondered afterwards, if he had appealed, could I have been given out Handled the ball?
No – and you’ve already answered your own question because, as you rightly say, the ball became dead the instant it lodged in your pad. But if the ball was still in play and you wilfully handled it, on appeal you would be given out in this way, And if you were to pick up and return the ball in play to a fielder without the fielding side’s permission to do so, on appeal you would be given out for Obstructing the field.
I know everybody disagrees about LBW decisions but, on this occasion even the batsman said afterwards that he thought he was out! We were playing on a very slow pitch, where every ball kept low. One delivery didn’t rise up at all after pitching. Instead, it rolled all along the ground and hit the batsman on the boot smack in front of middle stump. We all appealed, but the umpire simply called it as a No ball. Why?
What an unusual batsman! Under the revised Code of Laws issued in 2000, any delivery that rolls along the ground before it reaches the popping crease, whether the striker hits it or not, is now a No ball. The same also applies if a delivery bounces three times or more before reaching the popping crease.
The game started late because the light was so poor – so we had to wait until it brightened up a little. The opposition batted first and posted a reasonable score. By the time it came to our turn to bat, the light had worsened again. This didn’t bother our batsmen, since the opposition’s bowlers weren’t that good. After conferring twice, the umpires took everyone off the field, even though our batsmen wanted to carry on. Are umpires allowed to do this?
Indeed they are. Umpires have a duty of care towards all the players, not just the batsmen. Umpires must ask themselves this question - ‘is there an obvious and foreseeable risk of injury if the game continues in these conditions?’ On this very gloomy day, their answer to that question was evidently ‘yes’.
The Man In The White Coat
For details of courses for umpires & scorers, call 01276 27962, fax 62277
or email [email protected] | <urn:uuid:cf80e527-32bb-4172-be68-3dd2576fb27d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cricketworld.com/howzat-/1420.htm?atp=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966054 | 566 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Middle East theme park industry: Boom or bust?
ITPS President Dennis Speigel has one word to describe the Middle East’s theme park licensing frenzy years ago: ludicrous. And continuing on the same merits would only restart the vicious cycle.
December 18, 2011 4:55 by kippreport
The theme park industry has marched its way around the world. Emanating from the USA in the mid-1950s, with the launch and opening of Disneyland, the USA saw basic theme park market saturation through the early 1980s.
The movement then went overseas. It went to Europe, with a lot of parks hitting and some missing the mark. Parks developed during this time were Parc Asterix, EuroDisney, Warner Bros, Port Aventura, Le Nouveau Monde Des Schtroumpfs, and Futuroscope. It also continued to march throughout Asia, with parks being built in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
As the pendulum continued to swing, things started heating up in South America. And by the millennium, the movement headed to the Middle East.
Experiencing a development boom at the time, the Middle East drew operators from all over the world. It was a “licensing frenzy” with Sea World, Universal, Warner Bros, Six Flags, Marvel, Paramount, Dreamworks trying to jump on the bandwagon – just to name a few.
In Dubai alone—a city of more than 1.2 million people during the pre-boom—there were over 13 theme parks ranging from $400 million to $3.5 billion planned. Ludicrous.
‘DUBAI WAS NOT ORLANDO’
What was happening was Middle Eastern developers were caught up in the licensing frenzy to tie up theme parks for the eventual boom that was to come. It was unlike anything we have ever seen in our industry. There was no real foundation or reason for the parks to be developed. The market was not there, the infrastructure was not there, and Dubai had not yet been established as a tourism hub. Dubai was not Orlando.
When the economy tanked, so did all of these projects. No surprise. Not much has changed in the market or region to once again launch such development. In fact, with the reports about the dismal attendance at Ferrari World during its first year of operation, one has to wonder about the future of this enormous project.
We have learned in the industry, you cannot force a market. Orlando has literally taken 40 years to reach the proportion it has to date. It has grown on the basis of supply and demand. It has seen both lean and successful times over the last 40 years. One thing the Orlando market has always done is continue an upward trend in infrastructure and tourism. Both of these support the 50 million people who visit Orlando each year.
DEMAND VS SUPPLY DILEMMA
The Middle East certainly has cities and markets that can support their parks. The keys are proper sizing and proper investment levels. It is important not to over-size or over-invest, lest the market cannot support the attraction. There is no need for numerous projects in a developing market. Let demand pave the way for expansion. You cannot force a market to develop, but you can nurture its growth. It would have taken 40 to 50 years of continued tourist development for Dubai to have supported all of these parks initially proposed – and that considers that people could have had all of the necessary amenities to accommodate their stay.
In developing a theme park, a proper feasibility analysis must be conducted – a process and formula which dates back to the early 1950s when Harrison “Buzz” Price did the first theme park project study for Walt Disney. That process is basically the same formula used to study markets today, and it provides the project’s foundation or “roadmap.”
I ask, “what would have ever made the developers during the boom time in Dubai believe that 13 theme parks would be successful?” It was unrealistic on their part. As I stated, it was really just an intellectual licensing roll-up by developers and operators.
When planning a new project, the following are the 12 basic steps of development for leisure project development:
1. Feasibility Analysis
2. Masterplan Programming
3. Preliminary Concept Design
4. Final Concept Design
5. Schematic Design
6. Detail Design
7. Production and Construction Documents
8. Production and Construction
9. Installation and Testing
11. Grand Opening
12. Rehabilitation / Expansion
Simply stated, if this12-step process is followed, it will properly pave the way and act as a guide for the development process. At ITPS, we have successfully followed this approach for 30 years, allowing these 12 steps to guide us through the successful development and opening of many projects.
The Middle East will see development of leisure when markets and economic conditions are proper for development. As mentioned earlier, proper sizing and proper investment levels are keys to the potential success of any planned project.
Dennis Speigel is the President of US-based International Theme Park Services, Inc.
Photo of Universal Studios Dubailand arch taken from themeparkguy.com
Photo of Ferrari World’s Junior Training Camp taken from Ferrari World’s Media Centre | <urn:uuid:054bfedc-6d45-4eec-bfc7-c5725b8755e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kippreport.com/article/middle-east-theme-park-industry-boom-or-bust/?poll-results=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96005 | 1,098 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Fri January 4, 2013
The 'Life And Liberation' Of A Black Female Metal Fan
Originally published on Fri January 4, 2013 9:15 am
Music writer Laina Dawes is a die-hard Judas Priest fan. She's all about the band's loud and fast guitars, the piercing vocals — and she loves to see the group perform live.
Now, a fact that shouldn't matter: Dawes is a black woman. This, she says, can make things uncomfortable on the metal scene. She says she's been verbally harassed and told she's not welcome.
"There's still a lot of resistance in terms of who should be listening to what genre of music based on their gender and their ethnicity," Dawes says, "which does not make any sense to me."
Dawes writes about the issue in her new book, What Are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal. Speaking here with NPR's David Greene, Dawes explains how metal grabbed hold of her as a child in rural Ontario, and how she came to realize that connecting with her fellow fans would be an uphill battle.
On discovering metal as a young misfit
"Being 11 or 12 years old, I really resonated with the sound of anger and my internal struggles or what I was going through. I found that listening to the music in my bedroom, being able to feel like you could scream and yell and really express your anger, that really helped me out when I was a kid. ... I went to a primarily white school, so we dealt with a lot of racism. My parents, even though they were always there and supportive as much as they could be, I didn't feel that they were taking my concerns seriously. Like, you know, getting on the school bus and things being thrown at you and racial insults. As soon as I got home, I knew that I couldn't tell my parents. I knew that they wouldn't understand, and that really caused a lot of depression for me as a kid because I really didn't feel like I had anyone to talk to about it."
On feeling resistance from all sides
"There was a boy who went to another high school. He was really into metal, and we would talk on the phone, and I remember that he said that he wanted to meet me at a shopping mall on the weekend. And he said, 'Well, what do you look like?' And I said, 'Well, I'm black and this and this...' and he hung up the phone. I never heard from him again. [I also remember] my black female friends in high school and their parents wondering why I was wearing a Def Leppard T-shirt or whatever, and really kind of questioning me on my cultural legitimacy as a black person. All of those together made me really understand at a pretty young age that, as a black woman, I'm not supposed to be doing this, and there's something wrong with me because I enjoy this music."
On preconceptions about "black" and "white" musical styles
"In black communities, music is so integral in terms of a storytelling mechanism. Back in the blues era, African-American women were actually able to talk about their hardships and sorrows through music, and be very personal. [The same is true of] hip-hop because it's also obviously a black-centric music form. When I was in my 20s and hip-hop was coming out, a lot of black people felt that if you listened to hip-hop, that means that you're really black, that you're proud of yourself, that you know who you are. So when black people listen to 'white-centric' music — which is rock 'n' roll, country, heavy metal, punk, hardcore — it's seen that they are somehow not proud of who they are." | <urn:uuid:55c3ac86-e56b-4f26-b78a-acfe051c44e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kccu.org/post/life-and-liberation-black-female-metal-fan | 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 | 0.98892 | 794 | 1.59375 | 2 |
NFL Set To Award Super Bowl Sites WNBA Sky Ink Five-Year Local TV Deal NFL Owners Approve Falcons' G-4 Funding NFL Draft Could Be Moved To May Cowboys HQs Could Leave Valley Ranch PGATour.com To Air Series On UW Golf Team ESPN Has First Mass Layoffs In Years SI Brass Discuss Future Of Publication "30 For 30" To Feature Pistons' Bad Boys Survey: Retired NFLers Suffer Ongoing Pain
Upcoming Conferences and Events
BUSINESS WEEK HAS LESS THAN SUPER EXPERIENCE ON CYBER BOWL
Published February 2, 1998
Super Bowl broadcasts over the Internet are examined by Stephen Wildstrom in BUSINESS WEEK. Wildstrom writes that "technology still has a very long way to go." He had trouble getting on IBM's home page at www.superbowl.com, the official site Super Bowl site, "which was supposed to offer such goodies as the opportunity to choose alternative camera shots and hear audio from the press box at Qualcomm Stadium," but "had apparently all but collapsed." Wildstrom adds that content on the various Super Bowl sites "varied widely," calling NBC's "lame" and lagging "far behind" CBS SportsLine and ESPN SportsZone. As the game wore on, the NFL's site worked faster, "but the multiple camera views turned out to be nothing more than postage-stamp-sized stills of the field and were hardly worth the trouble. NBC was quick to offer different replay angles when they shed light on a play." Wildstrom concludes that "there just isn't much for a Web site to add" (BUSINESS WEEK, 2/9). | <urn:uuid:52c5f636-d9f0-4a91-b0fc-3b6d298b0e3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/1998/02/2/Sports-Media/BUSINESS-WEEK-HAS-LESS-THAN-SUPER-EXPERIENCE-ON-CYBER-BOWL.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932781 | 338 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Romaine lettuce packed by Freshway Foods of Sydney, OH has been recalled in 23 states after 19 people in Ohio, New York, and Michigan have been stricken with E coli infections. The lettuce is sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brand names. The recall includes Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Dr. Grizbor Tznucq, JD, DDS, DVM, NNN Philosopher in Residence believes that the e coli infection is the result of industrial bio-sabotage by the Iceberg Lettuce Verein and Benevolent Society, the leading iceberg lettuce trade organization. "Ever since Caesar Salad has become a staple of the American diet iceberg lettuce sales have plummeted." Dr. Tznucq remarked. He displayed the following graph on his smart phone:
"This graph shows what I like to call the Cardini Effect. As you can see iceberg lettuce sales have declined at a rate that seems to be proportional to previous sales. Note how the slope of the graph approaches one as sales decline. There is no doubt that with the help of a cabal of Maltese bio-scientists the Iceberg Verein has introduced an especially virulent lab nurtured strain of e coli to the leaves of romaine lettuce sold all over the US."
Dr. Jerome H. Dean, NNN Agricultural Correspondent, remarked "There's no doubt in my mind. Back when I was a boy in Arkansas there were some feuds between families in my home town that got pretty fierce. I can remember several incidents where folks dumped the contents of their septic tanks on other folks' lettuce patches. These days it's all high tech. The honey dippers aren't involved any more. Farming is a treacherous business." | <urn:uuid:2d1242c8-6d79-412b-9d3e-5d9c96223cbe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://food.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978222340 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938813 | 408 | 1.734375 | 2 |
|How to get HIV + woman pregnant from a HIV - man
Nov 12, 2005
My girlfriend and I are getting married and we want to have a child. Could you tell me what we need to do? Would she be artificially inseminated with my sperm or do I have unprotevted sex with her?
| Response from Dr. Conway
Although transmission of HIV from a woman to a man during sexual contact is less efficient than transmission from a man to a woman, it still occurs (perhaps at a frequency of 0.05% per contact). Unprotected intercourse would thus carry a significant risk, and artificial insemination is the better way to go, in my view.
If she were to get pregnant, I would remind us that if she goes on anti-HIV therapy, this could virtually eliminate the risk of the baby becoming infected...
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Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material. | <urn:uuid:35744f81-8f82-490c-8009-931b564e8ada> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/SideEffects/Q169722.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950411 | 299 | 1.726563 | 2 |
R.I.P. Hal David
Hal David, the lyricist best known for working with Burt Bacharach on some of the most popular songs ever written, has died from complications of a stroke. He was 91.
Bacharach and David were an incredibly successful team, yielding numerous Top 40 hits like “That’s What Friends Are For,” “Close To You,” and the Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid-featured “Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head,” for which they won an Oscar. The duo met while each was working in New York's Brill Building, joining forces for their first big hit, “Magic Moments,” for Perry Como. In 1962, they began writing for Dionne Warwick, who would sing many of their most popular songs, including “Walk On By,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” “Do You Know The Way To San Jose,” and the original demo of “(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me”—a song that charted several times, including a No. 1 version by Sandie Shaw in the UK, a 1970 version by R.B. Greaves, and again with a 1983 cover by synth-pop band Naked Eyes.
Among the many other acts who have performed songs written by David and Bacharach were The Carpenters, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Isaac Hayes, and Aretha Franklin. Tom Jones sang their “What’s New, Pussycat” and Dusty Springfield their “Wishin’ And Hopin’.” They also penned songs for the Broadway musical Promises, Promises.
David was head of the Songwriters Hall Of Fame from 2001 to 2011, and served as the president of the American Society Of Composers, Authors, and Publishers from 1980 to 1986. In a statement, current ASCAP president Paul Williams said that David was “simple, concise, and poetic—conveying volumes of meaning in the fewest possible words and always in service to the music.”
Earlier this year, Bacharach and David were awarded the Library Of Congress Gershwin Prize For Popular Song by President Obama, who said in the ceremony that the duo “captured the emotions of our daily lives.” | <urn:uuid:5a95d41c-9e9c-42ec-b39d-73ef4430941b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avclub.com/articles/rip-hal-david-songwriter-responsible-for-raindrops,84534/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969496 | 497 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Gippsland faces flash flooding threat
Parts of south-east Victoria are bracing for flash flooding, with heavy rain forecast for today.
Residents in west and south Gippsland are being warned that roads and some homes could be inundated, with 30 millimetres of rain predicted to fall in already wet catchments.
Senior forecaster Rod Dickson says residents who were affected by recent flooding should be prepared.
"Rainfall will tend to move eastwards as the low moves eastwards during Sunday and in particular, into Sunday night and Monday," he said.
"I think if we see those sort of falls, they do have the potential to create some minor flooding on the back of the heavy rainfall they've already had." | <urn:uuid:31f958e0-bd83-424f-9de5-ce93f0c948cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-30/gippsland-faces-flash-flooding-threat/4102112 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970071 | 152 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Leslie weakens to tropical storm off Bermuda
Leslie, downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane, stalled in the Atlantic early Friday, Sept. 7, 2012, spinning in place before an expected resumption of its northward advance toward Bermuda. / NOAA
Last Updated 6:53 p.m. ET
(AP) HAMILTON, Bermuda - Leslie weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm as it stalled over the open Atlantic on Friday, but forecasters said it could become a hurricane again before heading for a swing past the wealthy British territory of Bermuda.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in an update that Leslie's top sustained winds had dropped to near 65 mph, below the hurricane threshold of 74 mph.
The Bermuda Weather Service said the storm was on track to pass about 200 miles (321 kilometers) east-southeast of the island late Sunday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane.
"It appears that Bermuda will be spared a direct impact," said Wayne Perinchief, the national security minister for the British territory. "However, I urge the public to remain cautious as there is the potential for the storm to re-intensify and change track, and we could experience heavy rain and winds in shower bands."
Bermuda residents were already crowding into stores on Thursday to stock up on supplies, while hotels reported cancellations of trips to the island, which is popular with tourists for its pink sand beaches and with businesspeople as an offshore financial haven.
South shore beaches were closed Thursday afternoon as the approaching storm whipped up surf, and residents stocked up on food, propane, tarp, flashlights and water.
"It's great to see people are not waiting until the last minute. We only have three empty shopping carts left at the moment," said Henry Durham, the manager at Gorham's hardware store.
Some people weren't very worried, because Bermuda enforces strict building codes to withstand rough weather. Homes must have walls at least eight inches thick and be able to withstand 150 mph wind gusts. Many power and phone lines are underground.
"The landlord assures me we have a very sturdy roof," said Toby Crawford, a British software developer who moved to Bermuda from London a year ago with his wife, Michelle. "I'm looking forward to it, having not experienced one before."
Michelle Crawford said the couple was prepared to combat boredom being cooped up in their apartment in Pembroke, near the capital of Hamilton.
"I have to admit we've opted for the alcohol route as well. We've heard that people have hurricane parties, but so far Toby and I are just planning to hole up at our house with books, board games and wine," she said.
National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief urged all residents to complete their storm preparations by Friday, when the territory's schools would be closed.
Swells from Leslie were affecting Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast, the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip currents.
By Friday evening Rhode Island's Emergency Management Agency warned residents of high surf, strong waves and dangerous rip currents that could pose a hazard to swimmers and surfers for the next few days. State officials say breakers of 12 feet are possible in areas with steeply sloped beaches.
Out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Michael weakened from a Category 3 storm to a Category 2, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph by late Thursday. Earlier in the day, it had become the first Category 3 of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Early Friday, Michael was moving northward near 3 mph over the open ocean and was not a threat to land. It was about 920 miles west-southwest of the Azores.
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- Mexican volcano on verge of eruption 15 Photos | <urn:uuid:b207ac6b-b304-4080-b40a-20648cbf2c9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57508022/leslie-weakens-to-tropical-storm-off-bermuda/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965142 | 883 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Posted on Tue, Jan. 13, 2009
last updated: January 12, 2009 11:21:07 AM
Today's column is presented as a public service for Muslim readers. Call it a list of Things Not To Say If You Are Muslim.
The need for such a list is illustrated by a New Year's Day incident at Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. An AirTran Airways flight was delayed two hours and a group of nine Muslims eight family members and a friend was refused permission to fly after two teenage girls overheard a member of the group say that sitting near the engines would be particularly unsafe in the event of an accident.
The girls told their parents, who told flight attendants. Next thing you know, 104 passengers are cooling their heels as the plane and all its baggage are rechecked by security officials. Even after the plane was cleared to fly and the group eight of them native-born U.S. citizens was determined to be no threat, they were still not allowed back on the plane. They wound up paying for seats on another carrier. AirTran initially refused to apologize for the incident, but quickly backtracked.
So there you have No. 1 on the list of Things Not To Say If You Are Muslim: Do not say anything about air safety. Granted, that's a staple, albeit morbid, topic for skittish fliers the world over, but you are not "the world over." You are Muslims in America, post Sept. 11. You may not discuss air safety. Not even to say, "For criminy sake, Malik, take your Valium and shut up; flying is perfectly safe." If you discuss air safety even to defend it, we will have to conclude that you are a terrorist.
No. 2: Do not use "gee" words. Do not say jeepers, gee-whiz, Jesus or jehosophat. Someone listening in may think you said "jihad," and we will have to conclude that you are a terrorist.
No. 3: Do not say jihad. If you do, we will have to conclude that you are a terrorist.
No. 4: Do not discuss movie history. Eventually, someone will observe that Ishtar was one of Hollywood's all-time biggest bombs. Someone listening in will report that you plan to blow up Hollywood, and we will have to conclude that you are a terrorist.
No. 5: Do not talk sports. Somebody might say, "Boy, I hate the Dolphins." Then Homeland Security will have to shut down SeaWorld, Shamu will have to be guarded by unsmiling men in sunglasses . . . and we will have to conclude that you are a terrorist.
No. 6: Do not discuss the weather. If someone says, "I can't believe it's raining again today" and someone else says, "Weatherman says it's going to be even worse tomorrow," and then the first someone says, "Any more of this and we're all going to drown," someone listening in will report a plot to blow up the levees and flood the town. And we will have to conclude that you are a terrorist.
Indeed, it occurs to me that it might be easier to list the things that are safe for you to talk about, that won't make some eavesdropper think you an evil, America-hating outsider. There are two things. The first: lawsuits. There is nothing more reflective of American values than suing the so-and-sos who have mistreated and embarrassed you.
Indeed, one of the detained Muslims told The New York Times, "We have not ruled out the possibility of legal action." It struck just the right tone, saying to skeptical fellow Americans in no uncertain terms: Hey, we are just like you.
The second thing on the list of safe topics: baseball. Yes, I know what I said about sports. Baseball isn't sports. It's hot dogs, blue skies, homeruns, Americana at its most iconic.
Besides, it's OK to say you hate the Yankees. Most people do.
Yes, you may think it pathetic that Americans have become such a skittish, paranoid lot that you can only talk about lawsuits and baseball without arousing suspicion. But look on the bright side:
Spring training begins next month.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Readers may write to him via e-mail at [email protected]. He chats with readers every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT at Ask Leonard. | <urn:uuid:b1d2571f-4881-4a11-a5c3-e541125995cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/01/12/v-print/59532/commentary-avoid-saying-this-if.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970103 | 983 | 1.5 | 2 |
The temporary pavilion made of ephemeral materials — recycled plastic bags, Tetrabriks, styrofoam, what have you — is slowly but surely losing its novelty. Organic-looking, inhabitable blobs made of welded-together yogurt cups and modular fortresses of stacked shipping palettes can still coax out a few retweets and Facebook likes in support, but in the end, …Continue Reading
No, the Empty Pavilion isn’t a shrine to Albert Camus. Located in the Detroit, Michigan, an area synonymous with urban blight, this new structure aims to promote interaction through empty space (something Detroit has in spades!). Created by McLain Clutter and Kyle Reynolds, the project is an experiment in public space and will remain in
Image © Selldorf Architects and Frieze
Frieze Masters, a new section of the massive art fair Frieze London, has announced details of the pavilion that will house its inaugural edition. The appointed architect is Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects. Read more!
Frieze Masters will be open to public between October 11 and 14 in Regent’s Park. According to a statement, the architect aims to design a contemporary, elegant environment in which ancient and modern art can be shown side by side. Says Selldorf: “Knowing that a range of art from a very wide time period would be shown at Frieze Masters, I wanted to find a solution that would give each gallery their own contained space where they could control the light and finishes but still maintain an overriding feeling of unity and sophistication to the fair.”
Photo: Elle Decor
Selldorf Architects, based in New York, has extensive expertise in the specific demands of cultural and art-related projects, having designed galleries and museums for art ranging from the ancient to the contemporary in a variety of urban contexts.
With a design based on the interplay of light and air, the Frieze Masters pavilion will feature high ceilings, natural light, tall silver birch trees, and park benches along the circulation system, enhancing the visitors’ experience of being in a park setting. Transparent walls around the cafés and entrances will bring in the beauty of Regent’s Park, allowing for interaction between interior and exterior space. The pavilion has been conceived to neither draw attention to nor deny the structure’s temporary character. It order to accommodate variety, it provides a series of enclaves that creates an intimate viewing experience. A refined palette of greys and whites has been the natural choice for the color scheme, in order to keep it neutral but luminous. We look forward to seeing more images!
Since the founding of Frieze London in 2003, the event’s temporary architecture has represented a significant feature of its visual identity. The fair has employed a series of internationally recognized architectural firms: Carmody Groarke (2011–2012), Caruso St John (2008-2010), Jamie Fobert (2006–2007), and David Adjaye (2003-2005). The first edition of Frieze New York, that took place earlier this year, was designed by SO – IL Architects (2012).
Pavilion by Carmody Groarke (2011–2012)
Pavilion by Caruso St John (2008-2010)
From huge temporary stadia to tiny transitory event spaces, pop-up architecture fulfils many roles and comes in many guises. In some cases the very latest technologies are used to engineer complex structures, while in others a readymade approach using scavenged materials is more appropriate. Architonic examines some key pop-up projects that are designed to make [...]
New York-based architect David Rockwell has been tapped to design an outdoor performance center for the Southampton Center to house cultural activities while the nearby Southampton Parish Art Museum undergoes a multi-year renovation. The pavilion, which can accommodate up to 300 people, will open with a series of theater, film, and live music events next summer, before being converted into an ice skating rink later in the winter.
The design consists of a large cylinder 80-feet in diameter and 35-feet high that’s described by the architects as a “portable and eco-friendly venue”. Composed of steel trusses wrapped in red fabric, the open air structure features an undulating curtain system which can be used to protect the interior space from the elements.
As pavilions go, this one is not the most adventurous, which is fine considering its location and intended use. This is, after all, a structure meant predominantly for a single community, whose members will already know about it and who will be happy to use it no matter what it looks like. In fact, it’s refreshing that the town opted out of any flash and instead, went for something that would simply work.
Images: Rockwell Group
Eight recycled shipping containers have been converted into a new pop-up branch of London’s popular Mexican eatery, Wahaca, by the London-based practice Softroom Architects. The brightly-coloured, riverfront structure was erected on Southbank, right in front of the contrastingly monolithic Queen Elizabeth Hall, to coincide with the Southbank Centre’s summer-long Festival of the World. Boasting a dining area spacious enough to [...]
Following their iconic National Stadium conceived for Beijing’s Summer Olympics 2008, the acclaimed Swiss architectural practice Herzog & de Meuron and the ubiquitous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei have joined their creative forces once again, this time designing the recently-opened Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012. Featuring a sky-reflecting floating roof suspended 1.4 metres above ground, the cork-clad Pavilion features eleven columns representative [...]
Two summers ago, I dove headfirst into the oft-romanticized restaurant industry: I tumbled out of liberal arts school, wrapped a bandana around my head, and started a full-time stint at Luke’s Lobster on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. My days were spent inside a neatly packaged, satellite New England, toasting split-top buns, dishing out chowder samples and tending to customers in and interior furnished with driftwood, lobster traps and colorful buoys. Kitsch aside, the people at Luke’s were proud of their establishment, putting every ounce of faith behind their mission and their menu, and my naïve outlook on food service was only perpetuated.
This is perhaps why I was drawn to a recent project put forth by 13 architecture, art and design students from Laval University in Canada. “A Thousand Traps to Escape” is a simple and sweet testament to sustainable, vernacular and community-based architecture. Crafted out of wood and fishnet and bent into its conventionally arched shape, the lobster cage is an emblem of a sincere niche fishing industry built on timeless techniques and candid hard work. The team of students at Laval recycled the traps by stacking them to form a large P-shaped pavilion on the sand. The simple barricade creates a site-specific alcove perfect for picnics and bonfires. “A Thousand Traps” pays homage to an important industry in Northeast Canada and provides a welcoming gathering space on the beach.
[All images via] | <urn:uuid:a084d461-03ec-4982-8f8b-22ad244d4f68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://socializarq.com/arq/temporary-architecture | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939265 | 1,509 | 1.742188 | 2 |
(Editor’s note: Chronicle business reporter James Temple took up the challenge of summiting Africa’s tallest mountain — only to find that there’s more to the journey than walking up a really big hill. He tells his story through words, photos and video on Bad Latitude.)
Peaks and valleys
We felt a bit like actual mountain climbers on our fourth morning on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The first task of the day was to scramble up the Great Barranco Wall, employing our hands and feet to scale nearly 1,000 feet up the dark brown cliff face.
The rest of the day, as detailed in the third video installment below, was less exciting, but no less arduous: We still faced thousands of feet of climbing, dispiriting false summits, the arctic zone, and a sudden hail storm.
Along the way, the video introduces Gift Mremma, a conscientious and amiable young guide, who previously spent four years as a porter. (Look him up at the Keys Hotel if you ever find yourself in Moshi).
In the late afternoon, we finally reached the Barafu Huts at nearly 15,400 feet, from where we would launch our summit bid shortly after midnight.
Next up: The summit attempt. | <urn:uuid:7a6357af-4e98-4e7c-bc48-81fb8d899498> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.sfgate.com/travel/2010/04/29/the-call-of-kilimanjaro-part-5/?gta=commentlistpos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942689 | 267 | 1.578125 | 2 |
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
More home owners want more space in their kitchens and are expanding the kitchen’s use for more than just cooking, according to the latest findings from the American Institute of Architects’ quarterly Home Design Trends Survey. The survey, conducted in the fourth quarter of 2011, focused on kitchens and bathrooms.
“Kitchens seem to be regaining their function as the home’s ‘nerve center,’” says AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
During the housing downturn, kitchen design fell as a priority for home owners, Baker notes. But as the market has picked up, Americans’ interest in kitchens has been renewed.
“The last few years have seen kitchens take on new functions with dedicated computer areas and recharging stations,” Baker notes.
The kitchen products and features growing the most in popularity, according to the survey of architects, are: | <urn:uuid:a4c7dd29-33dc-4ce0-abf8-6061cae0bcfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/tag/trend-watch/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964649 | 197 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Oregon Tech is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace for its employees and students, and those who use or come into contact with the College, to ensure safe working conditions, and to this end Oregon Tech has established a DRUG FREE CAMPUS POLICY (OIT-30-034). The policy states Oregon Tech prohibits the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession or use of controlled substances by employees and students on college premises or as part of any College activity. It also says that non-compliance with this policy may result in penalties up to and including expulsion from the College or termination of employment. Criminal sanctions for violation of use or possession of a controlled substance may result from misdemeanor or felony charges.
Any employee convicted of violating a criminal drug statute in the workplace must notify his or her supervisor and the Director of Human Resources, (885-1108), no later than five days after such conviction. If the employee is involved with work supported by a federal agency, the federal agency will be notified within ten days after receiving notice of the criminal drug statute conviction.
In addition to any penalties under federal and state law, employees found to be in violation of this policy may be subject to disciplinary sanctions consistent with applicable provisions of state laws and regulations, Oregon State Board of Higher Education administrative rules, applicable collective bargaining agreements, and applicable college administrative rules and directives. If imposed, sanctions will include appropriate personnel action (up to and including termination or expulsion from college), and may require satisfactory employee participation in an approved substance abuse assistance or rehabilitation program.
Health risk factors associated with the use of various illicit drugs and the abuse of alcohol can be accessed through campus Human Resource Office or the Integrated Student Wellness Center. Additional information is also available on the Human Resources webpage under “Policies and Procedures – Substance Abuse” at http://www.oit.edu/hr/policies.
Employees are encouraged to seek assistance for controlled substance dependency problems. Faculty and staff can avail themselves of this service through their health benefits package, which provides some reimbursement for treatment and rehabilitation associated with substance abuse problems. Students may have their own private insurance or they may have purchased Oregon Tech insurance which provides coverage for chemical dependency treatment. Information about these health benefits can be obtained through the Human Resources Office for faculty and staff and the Integrated Student Wellness Center for students. | <urn:uuid:85447b23-4b02-4c53-b0c6-5616fbb7a05d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oit.edu/faculty-staff/human-resources/policies/faculty-and-staff-policies-and-procedures/drug-free-workplace-policy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947938 | 476 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Tis’ the Season for Holiday Scams – Don’t Let Them Take You for a Swindling Sleigh Ride
As posted on December 3, 2012 on www.bbb.org
Looking forward to the holidays? So are the scammers. As many begin to make their holiday gift list and charity donations, unscrupulous scammers are gearing up to deck the halls with their tried and true holiday scams. Better Business Bureau is warning holiday shoppers and donors to know the red flags and to be on their guard for this season’s holiday scams.
Every year, thousands of shoppers fall victim to the holiday deals that seem too good to be true, and the bogus charity pleas that pull at the heart strings. This holiday season, BBB urges consumers to take the following tips into consideration before doing their holiday shopping and making charity donations:
Always check a business’s BBB Business Review, at www.bbb.org, before making a purchase in the store or online. Make sure that the company has a physical address and telephone number. When shopping online, some websites offer electronics or luxury goods at prices that are too good to be true. Every holiday season, BBB hears from holiday shoppers who paid for a "great deal" online, but received little or nothing in return.
If you shop Craigslist or other free bulletin board sites, look for local sellers and conduct transactions in person. Bring a friend if you're uncomfortable meeting the seller alone. Never wire money as payment. If you're shopping on auctions like EBay, look at seller ratings and read their reviews. Don't buy if the deal sounds too good to be true.
Don't let yourself get bogged down in purchases or lose track of your wallet. While you're struggling with bags of presents, identity thieves may see an opportunity to steal your wallet or look over your shoulder to copy your debit or credit card numbers. Know where your credit and debit cards are at all times and cover the keypad when entering your PIN while purchasing items or getting money from an ATM. Make sure you put your card back in your wallet after each purchase.
Always research charities with BBB before you give to see if the charity meets BBB's 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. The holidays are a time of giving, and that creates an opportunity for scammers to solicit donations to line their own pockets. Beware of solicitations from charities that don't necessarily deliver on their promises or are ill-equipped to carry through on their plans. Resist demands for on-the-spot donations. Up-to-date reports on local and national charities are available at www.give.org.
Don't click on any links or open any attachments to emails until you have confirmed that they are not malicious. Phishing emails are a common way for hackers to get at your personal information or break into your computer. Around the holidays, beware of e-cards and messages pretending to be from companies like UPS or FedEx with links to package tracking information. Email addresses that don't match up, typos and grammatical mistakes are common red flags of a malicious phishing email. Also beware of unsolicited emails from companies with which you have no association. Make sure you have current antivirus software and that all security patches have been installed on the computer. | <urn:uuid:7ba48aa7-5041-423a-876b-a445020893f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ocp.ga.gov/news/articles/view/tis-the-season-for-holiday-scams-don-t-let-them-take-you-for-a-swindling-sleigh-ride | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93921 | 671 | 1.632813 | 2 |
A small-town bank in Perkins, Oklahoma won’t be wishing their customers a “Merry Christmas” this year because examiners from the Federal Reserve have forced it to remove all religious signs and symbols it had on display, including Christmas buttons from AFA.
Federal Reserve examiners visit banks every four years to make sure they are compliant with a long list of regulations. The examiners paid a visit to Perkins last week, to Payne County Bank, and found that “a Bible verse of the day, crosses on the teller’s counter and buttons that say “Merry Christmas, God With Us” were inappropriate.” The bank also had to remove a Bible verse of the day from its internet site.
The bank’s customers don’t seem at all happy with the decision by examiners, and who can blame them? What is wrong with Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas?
“I don’t think there should be a problem with them displaying whatever religious symbols they want to display,” said Amy Weierman, a Perkins resident.
“I think that’s absurd,” said Chelsi Holser, a bank customer. “I don’t agree with it at all. They are taking Christ out of Christmas and life.”
The bank has contacted the Oklahoma Banker’s Association and its two U.S. legislators (Rep. Frank Lucas and Sen. Jim Inhoffe) to help with the matter. Let’s hope this matter can be resolved quickly and in the bank’s favor. | <urn:uuid:9dfb6d11-e0aa-4c3a-afea-adf977760c46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.afa.net/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?id=2147501306 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959205 | 340 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Teachers Sue Over "White Agenda"
Suit claims Washington State school district "endorses white agenda and represses equality in education".
Nine African American educators have filed a lawsuit against Washington Tukwila School District. The complaint claims the district endorses a white agenda and represses equality in education and teaching in King County's most diverse school district.
Some of the district's African American teachers claimed that they have been retaliated against for making their concerns public in the past.
"Our voices are not being heard. What is it going to take?" said Sandra Goins, a teacher with the district since 2003. "We have gone through those correct channels. Now we have to take it a step further."
Read more: http://bit.ly/XAsqvY | <urn:uuid:58382c09-e29b-47a0-b410-c4ed069e43ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kveo.com/news/teachers-sue-over-white-agenda | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959432 | 161 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Golden’s Gift Shop in Hopkins
Belize is often called a melting pot of cultures by those that know the country well. There are so many different cultures in Belize and this diversity is also reflected in the Arts and
craft they create. The history of the Belizean people is often reflected in gift shops as people carve pictures of their past.
At Golden’s Gift shop in Hopkins, visitors can choose to buy gifts from the different culture groups within Belize.
There are different Arts and Jewelry from the Mayas and the Garifuna people that will allow you to remember Belize for a long time. | <urn:uuid:57f145f1-6ef8-4f31-bb61-b1cb3e6df90a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://visithopkinsvillagebelize.com/blog/?page_id=179 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967212 | 130 | 1.5625 | 2 |
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Friday, May 24, 2013
Right apical pulmonary nodule
Approximate 4 months ago while hospitalized for pneumonia and congestive heart failure I had a CT scan that showed a right apical nodule. I am a 62 yr. old female that smoked for at least 40 yrs. and quit smoking 5 years ago when I had a MI. I am already suffering from emphysema, asthma,(COPD)and have been on oxygen 24/7 since 2003. With my medical history I`m wondering what is the liklihood that this nodule is malignant. I am scheduled for a contrast CT in a couple of weeks, but the stress of waiting and repeating CTs every 3-4 months is difficult. Would it be in my best interest to seek additional opinions or would the repeat CTs be the best option at this time? I would sincerely appreciate your opinion and input.
A lung nodule can be from infection, scar tissue or tumor. Depending on the size, shape and character of the nodule we determine the likelihood of cancer. If we cannot rule the possibility of lung cancer, a larger nodule (or mass) may be biopsied either using a bronchoscope by a lung doctor, or a needle biopsy under CT guidance by a radiologist for diagnosis in the least invasive way although there is a small chance of collapsing the lung. However, sometimes none of these tests may yield a diagnosis and we may need surgical intervention if the possibility of cancer is high. Generally, apical lobe nodules are somewhat difficult to biopsy with a bronchoscope because of the location and can be biopsied with a higher success rate by a radiologist. However, if it is too small and if we think we may not be able to access with any of the above procedures, we decide to follow-up the nodules with repeat Chest CT scans every 3-6 months for a period of 2 years to document any increase in size or change in character. Given your age and 40 years of smoking exposure, the likelihood of cancer is higher compared to someone who has never smoked. However, still the possibility of infection or scar cannot be ruled out. Depending on the size of the nodule, a bronchoscopy or CT guided biopsy may be the best initial approach. There is a small risk for lung collapse during the procedure that may require you to spend 3-5 days in the hospital. If it is too small, your lung doctor may just recommend to repeat another CT in 3 months. If you are on oxygen because of COPD, surgery may be too risky to get a diagnosis or even remove it. If you have not done so, I would recommend a detail review of your history and CT scans with a Pulmonologist (lung doctor) to decide on the further management.
Shaheen Islam, MD, MPH
Clinical Associate Professor
Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University | <urn:uuid:2c6454fa-5cd9-4ecd-9b15-5e809fcf1ec5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netwellness.uc.edu/question.cfm/68421.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938483 | 647 | 1.765625 | 2 |
School assignment plan delay may last a week -- or a year
By THOMAS C. TOBIN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 13, 2007
The much-discussed plan that would return Pinellas County to a system of neighborhood schools has been thrown off the rails, at least until next week.
After numerous delays, superintendent Clayton Wilcox announced Tuesday that the plan may not be ready for next school year because of a last-minute change requested by board members.
Four of them, a majority, want to make it easier for students living near magnet and fundamental schools to get into those schools. Below, some questions and answers about the change, the delay and the implications.
What happened? The School Board seemed so close to approving a new student assignment plan Tuesday.
Board members Janet Clark, Carol Cook, Jane Gallucci and Linda Lerner wanted the plan to give students who live near magnet or fundamental elementary schools priority when applying. They said it was a fairness issue, noting that 11 of the 13 elementary schools south of Central Avenue in St. Petersburg would be magnet or fundamental schools that draw students through a countywide admission process. That would leave only two elementaries in a large section of the city serving as neighborhood schools. Wilcox said the board's direction may have come too late to be implemented in time for the 2008-09 school year. If board members insist on the change, he said, the whole plan might have to be delayed until 2009-10.
There's plenty of time before school starts next August. Why couldn't this change be made before then?
District officials say they would have to retool the computer software used in the random selection process that decides which kids get into magnet and fundamental schools. They say it appears they wouldn't be able to do that in time for the application period, which would start by early February to leave the district time for all students to be assigned. It's a multistep process that takes up a good chunk of the spring and must end by the start of summer, when the district starts designing bus routes.
How real is the possibility the plan won't be in place by next year?
Wilcox and his staff say the computer software issue could be a real barrier to getting the change made. So the question becomes whether the four board members feel the change is worth holding up the plan for a year. The board has scheduled a workshop and a special meeting for next Tuesday, where a final vote on the plan is still possible. We contacted Gallucci, who said the change wasn't worth a delay. "I'm not willing to jeopardize the big picture for it," she said. Cook said she didn't know yet. At this point, it's hard to count four sure votes in favor of the plan as written.
How would this priority work for kids who live near magnet and fundamental schools?
The board would decide what percentage of neighborhood kids to let into incoming kindergarten classes at each of those schools. After that, the so-called "proximity preference" could be granted in a couple of ways. Say the board settles on 10 percent. One way is to rank kids by how close they live to the school and admit them in that order until you reach 10 percent of the school's kindergarten capacity. Another way is to give kids within a 1- or 2-mile radius random numbers and let them in by numerical order until you hit 10 percent.
Would current magnet and fundamental students be moved to make room for neighborhood kids?
No. Board members said they had no such plans, despite a rumor to the contrary.
The new plan is supposed to save millions on busing costs. Wouldn't delaying it for a year cost money that could be used in classrooms?
No. In fact, the opposite is true. The new plan will actually cost $3-million to $5-million more in its initial years because the board decided to allow students to remain in their current schools rather than forcing them into their new "close-to-home" schools. The result: a two-tiered bus system that will be more complex and expensive to operate, at least until more kids start attending their neighborhood schools.
Why are so many magnet and fundamental schools clustered south of Central Avenue?
Because they originally were part of an effort to attract white students to schools in that area's black neighborhoods, thereby reducing the need to bus kids so court-ordered race ratios could be met. The ratios and court mandates have passed into history, but the schools remain and they continue to attract white families.
Why not solve the problem by turning some of these schools into regular neighborhood schools?
That idea was briefly discussed, but it never gained steam. In part, the reason is that district officials say they need magnets and fundamentals to maintain diversity in an age when courts no longer permit districts to assign students by race.
The School Board meets in a workshop from 1:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Tuesday to discuss proximity preferences. If they decide to keep the plan on track for next year, they will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. and take a final vote. Both meetings will be held at district headquarters, 301 Fourth St. SW in Largo.
Thomas C. Tobin can be reached at [email protected] or (727) 893-8923. | <urn:uuid:8f6e720d-371b-4866-b330-696eb0e4befb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/13/news_pf/Northpinellas/School_assignment_pla.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972288 | 1,104 | 1.5625 | 2 |
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The recent decline in the price of oil has been among the swiftest ever. Crude prices have tumbled 22 percent so far this quarter, their steepest slide since the end of 2008, back in the deep, dark days of the financial crisis. Things are bad now for sure, with Europe on the brink and an underwhelming U.S. recovery. But are they Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff, AIG bad? Probably not. And there’s growing evidence that oil prices may be approaching a bottom.
Both domestic and international crude prices have risen over the past week. Since June 21, domestic West Texas Intermediate is up nearly 2 percent, while the price of international Brent is up 8 percent. That’s right about where they were during the last market bottom in early October. The seven-month buildup in U.S. oil supplies finally appears to be losing steam, after the Department of Energy reported that crude inventories fell 133,000 barrels last week (PDF). That’s not nearly as big a drop as many people expected—a Bloomberg survey forecast a 1.3 million-barrel decline. But it’s a drop nonetheless, and a rare one at that. Since December, U.S. oil inventories have risen 20 percent, yet over the past month the pace has flattened out. At 387 million barrels, the U.S. is still sitting on its highest supply of crude oil since July 1990.
The U.S. recovery also got a boost on Tuesday as the Commerce Department reported that May’s durable goods orders were better than expected.
The oil trade has also changed drastically in the last few months. After pouring billions of dollars into futures contracts from October through March, oil speculators have made a dash for the exits, taking with them the artificially high price of oil. Three months after the sell-off began, the amount of managed money betting that oil prices will rise is at its lowest level since September 2010. That could mark the beginning of a new buying cycle.
“Crude oil is no longer a crowded trade, so there is greater scope for a new cycle of buying to emerge,” says Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citigroup (C). “The money is now on the sidelines and not in the market.”
For traders, oil at $80 a barrel (the current price of WTI) has significantly less downside risk than oil at $100. Barring some fundamental shock to the market that kills demand, there seems to be a natural equilibrium around $80 in the U.S. It’s high enough for producers to keep drilling and pumping, yet low enough that it shouldn’t curb consumer demand. At $3.43 a gallon, the average national price of gasoline in the U.S. is back to where it was in January.
That’s not to say a few risks aren’t out there that would lower the price of oil further. Europe is still an economic mess, and the reports leading up to this week’s EU summit in Brussels don’t offer much optimism. If the euro starts to crumble, oil prices will surely drop. China’s economy is slowing, faster perhaps than it’s letting on. And then there’s OPEC, which has significantly boosted production in recent months. Should Saudi Arabia continue to pump away at its fastest rate in more than 20 years, that will probably keep prices from rising too much. | <urn:uuid:ab4d9577-be46-4b38-820f-dbb4a3c0f232> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-27/are-oil-prices-nearing-a-bottom | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967963 | 736 | 1.507813 | 2 |
While the market is currently flooded with cheap solar battery chargers that claim to juice up your rich plethora of gadgets, most of them usually take days to completely charge a depleted battery. The SunVolt by Don Cayelli is different, it claims to charge various devices simultaneously and it does that just as fast as a conventional wall socket charger, on a clear sunny day.
Unlike other similar products on the market which make use of polycrystalline photovoltaic cells, the SunVolt features the use of highly efficient and powerful monocrystalline technology, which reduces charging time. The solar panel comes in a protective case and can be unfolded in just a few seconds. The outer shell of the case if made using high quality nylon to protect the photovoltaic panel from moisture and dust.
The SunVolt will be made available in October this year, if it is able to achieve the required funding on Kickstarter, in two variants – 10W and 15W. Both the variants feature a USB charging slots, and Micro-USB and Mini-USB sockets too. The solar powered battery charger can recharge everything that needs electricity at 5.5V or less. The developer is so confident about the technology that he is backing it up with a lifetime warranty.
Via: GizmagYou May Also Like: | <urn:uuid:4a976ae8-9c2a-4fac-be07-a7106e0fcaa7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecochunk.com/1934/2012/08/23/sunvolt-solar-charger-aims-to-charge-devices-just-as-quickly-as-a-wall-socket/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945899 | 267 | 1.664063 | 2 |
In the late 1980s, Yes's original lead singer Jon Anderson had left the group to form Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe with three other former Yes members. Chris Squire brought Billy Sherwood, a new, young musician he had met, into the group as a possible new lead singer. With Trevor Rabin also absent (concentrating on his solo work), a line up of the three remaining Yesmen—Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye — plus Sherwood and guitarist Bruce Gowdy (Sherwood's band mate in World Trade) began rehearsals. Rabin subsequently returned to the band and demos were recorded with a line up of Squire, White, Kaye, Rabin and Sherwood.
Squire and Sherwood had formed a strong writing partnership, but events were to see Sherwood pushed out of Yes before he had officially joined. A reunion with Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe left no official role for Sherwood, although one Squire/Sherwood composition, "The More We Live — Let Go", was released on the Yes album Union (1991). Sherwood played most of the instruments on the piece, including bass.
Having written a body of work, Squire and Sherwood went on a brief US tour in 1992 under the name The Chris Squire Experiment. The rest of the band were White on drums, Jimmy Haun on guitar (Haun had played much of the guitar on Union) and Steve Porcaro on keyboards. The set for the 25 August 1992 show in San Jose, California was: "Open Your Eyes", "The Lonesome Trail", "You're the Reason", "One World Going Round", "Days of Wonder", "Follow Our Dreams". Another show included "Long Distance Runaround". Further collaborative work by Squire and Sherwood cropped up: "Say Goodbye" appeared on the second World Trade album Euphoria while a Yes demo they had written, "Love Conquers All", was released on the YesYears collection.
The years passed—work continued on and off on the material while Sherwood's relationship with Yes went through many phases—when finally, in the late 1990s, a release under the Chris Squire Experiment name was announced, an album to be called Chemistry.
However, again, events in the Yes camp took over. Sherwood officially joined the band in 1997 and the band moved to new management and a new record label. Although Yes had recorded new material in late 1996 with a previous line-up, this belonged to a different record label (who released it on Keys to Ascension 2 later in 1997). The new label wanted an album recorded quickly and, to this end, two tracks from Chemistry ("Open Your Eyes" and "Man in the Moon") were re-worked by Yes for Open Your Eyes (1997).
The use of these two tracks from Chemistry stalled the release while Squire pondered what to do. Eventually, in 2000, Conspiracy by Chris Squire & Billy Sherwood was released. It appears that everything on Chemistry made it to Conspiracy (presuming a song title on Chemistry of "You are the Light of My Life" became the song "Light in My Life" on Conspiracy). Not wishing for the album to be seen as a re-release of existing material, the two Open Your Eyes tracks and a third familiar song ("Say Goodbye") were included on Conspiracy, but as 'hidden' bonus tracks. Versions of "The More We Live—Let Go" and "Love Conquers All" were also included on Conspiracy, plus material known from The Chris Squire Experiment tour.
Squire and Sherwood share lead vocals on the album, with Squire playing most of the bass parts and Sherwood playing most of the guitar and keyboard parts, plus contributing some drumming. The name Conspiracy was intended to represent Squire and Sherwood's desire to collaborate with different musicians. The album included appearances from White, Haun and World Trade drummers Jay Schellen and Mark T Williams. Conspiracy also included one track based on a set of sessions involving Squire, Steve Stevens and Michael Bland: "Violet Purple Rose" consists of a recording from the sessions with overdubs from Sherwood.
The album name became a band name and Conspiracy moved from being a collection of recordings to a fully fledged group based around Squire (bass, vocals), Sherwood (guitar, keys, vocals) and Schellen (drums). The album The Unknown was released in 2003. Haun guests again, as do Michael Sherwood (Billy's older brother) and Jordan Berliant (better known as Yes's then manager). The initial pressing of the album includes a bonus track entitled "I Could", an alternate form of the first half of a Yes track, "Finally", on The Ladder (1999). Many of the album lyrics refer to the events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Cover art was by Bob Cesca, who has also worked with Yes.
Shortly after leaving Yes in 2000, Sherwood had announced a project called The Unknown including brother Michael, Haun, Schellen and Jonathan Elias. Nothing more came of this, but the title track of the Conspiracy album was co-written with M. Sherwood and Haun and presumably derives from those earlier plans.
A live band was assembled in 2004 with Squire (bass, vocals), B. Sherwood (guitars, keys, vocals), Schellen (drums), M. Sherwood (keys, vocals) and Scott Walton (keys). They rehearsed, but touring plans were abandoned. However, a private live show was recorded and released on DVD in 2006. Their set included Conspiracy tracks, material from Open Your Eyes and from Squire's 1975 Fish Out of Water solo album.
The band were looking towards a third album, but progress slowed dramatically when Squire—who had been living on the US west coast, like Sherwood—moved back to London, UK. By 2006, Sherwood was leading the project with Squire no longer involved. A new album is expected to include two songs written by Sherwood and Gowdy, left over from an abortive World Trade album. Others appearing on the band's third album include Schellen, former Yes members Tony Kaye and Peter Banks, and former Gentle Giant guitarist Gary Green. (Kaye and Green have worked with Sherwood on a number of recent projects.) | <urn:uuid:ef183c2d-ea5c-4ef9-9653-ea98d4e88bd3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yes.wikia.com/wiki/Conspiracy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978575 | 1,312 | 1.640625 | 2 |
As the economy continues to dwindle, more and more East Valley motorists are deciding to repair their older vehicles rather than buying new wheels, according to auto repair experts.
Alan Tarr, executive director of Neighborhood Auto Repair Professionals Network, said the 23 independently owned repair shops he represents in the Valley are all steadily increasing business.
"People are paying to keep their cars up and running rather than spending a lot of money on a new car," Tarr said.
As a result, new car and truck sales are shrinking.
Knox Ramsey, president of the Valley Association of Automobile Dealers, said new vehicle sales, especially gas-consuming SUVs and pickups, have steadily dropped in Arizona and nationwide.
"The first six months of this year compared with the first six months of last year shows a drop in new vehicle sales of 25 percent in the Valley," said Ramsey, whose association represents 160 Valley dealerships.
"We don't expect any increase for the remainder of the year, but we think it will inch up a bit probably next year as consumer confidence gradually increases," he said.
Cars being repaired at NARPRO shops are between four and 12 years old on average and have between 70,000 and 200,000 miles, Tarr said.
Christina Kuhr of Queen Creek, whose 1990 Honda has accumulated 140,000 miles, is like many others who have decided to repair instead of replace.
"It not only gets good gas mileage, but it's an emotional and economic issue," said Kuhr, who regularly brings her Honda to Ross Grainger's Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting garage at 434 E. Main St. in Mesa.
"I've driven Shilo, that's my Honda's name, for 18 years and I don't want to spend a lot of money to replace her," Kuhr said.
Grainger said his business - particularly repairs of older models - has increased in the last few months.
"People are repairing and touching up their older cars rather than spending big bucks on a new car," Granger said. "It's the market."
Maaco, one of the nation's largest auto repair operations that nationally fixes more than 12,000 vehicles a week, is among the busiest in the Valley, according to David Lapps, president of the franchiser.
"It's making more financial sense for consumers to repair older vehicles instead of purchasing new ones where they would have to worry about expensive monthly car payments," Lapps said.
The uptick in auto repairs is evident at the more than 400 independently owned shops in Arizona, said Luz A. Rubio, executive director of the Automotive Service Association of Arizona.
"All of our shops are getting busier," said Rubio. "Our customers are getting essential work done, like repairs ... not getting small dents fixed."
Linda Gorman, AAA Arizona public affairs manager, said the automobile club experienced an increase in towing service starting several months ago as motorists delayed repairing their vehicles and they broke down.
"We're seeing more people repairing their vehicles instead of buying new ones, but they're also waiting longer before they spend the money to fix them," Gorman said.
Gorman said she recently paid $1,100 to repair her 2003 vehicle, echoing the trend.
"I didn't want to spend thousands more for a new car," she said. | <urn:uuid:1974a61a-b455-4ebb-8933-2f951068794f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/news/article_98c5ecd0-7356-5024-bb4f-ef78a0996fe5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974984 | 694 | 1.5 | 2 |
|Title||Press release: Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the 1993 Hague Convention, held 28 November-1 December 2000|
|Year of publication||2000|
(or download in PDF, if available)
SPECIAL COMMISSION ON THE PRACTICAL OPERATION
A major international meeting on intercountry adoption, involving about sixty States from all around the world, as well as several international organisations, is to take place in The Hague from 28 November to 1 December 2000. The meeting, which is to be opened by the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands, Mr A.H. Korthals, will be reviewing the practical operation of the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
The 1993 Hague Convention already has 41 States Parties with many more, including the United States of America and Russia, preparing to implement it. The Convention places safeguards around intercountry adoption to prevent profiteering and other abuses, to ensure that the international system protects the rights of the child and places his or her interests first, and to provide for the recognition of adoptions internationally. It follows the principle supported by the UN Convention of 1989 on the Rights of the Child that intercountry adoption should only occur when other possibilities for a family life are not available in the child's country of origin.
The approximately 150 experts attending the meeting will be discussing a range of issues including how to eliminate improper financial gain, the process of approving prospective adopters, medical issues concerning the child, access to birth records and the accreditation and supervision of adoption agencies. Delegates will include members of the national Central Authorities responsible for inter-State co-operation under the Convention, as well as other policy makers and practitioners.
The meeting is organised by the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the Hague-based international organisation which was responsible for drawing up not only the Intercountry Adoption Convention of 1993 but several other well known multilateral treaties such as the Convention of 1980 on the International Abduction of Children, and the Convention of 1996 on the Protection of Children. | <urn:uuid:ffbed387-b88b-4b23-b8b1-ce14d839092b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=publications.details&pid=2274&dtid=28 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93325 | 424 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Article courtesy of the Examiner.com
One of the most intriguing new voices that came out of the Republican convention this past week, was a voice that did not come from the mouth of a stereotypical conservative. It was a voice that was not born into priveledge, guarenteeing future political success.
That voice came from a young woman, born in New York. That voice was fresh, inspirational, vibrant and new. That voice belonged to a young women who is the mayor of small town in Utah. Thrust into the national spot-light durring Republican convention week in Tampa, Florida.
That voice belonged to 36 year old, converted Mormon Mia B. Love. Love, who was born the child of Haitian immigrants in Brooklyn, NewYork, is the Mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah. She is married with three children and is currently running for congress as a Republican, for the U.S. House seat from the 4th disrict in Utah.http://www.love4utah.com
Mia Love is part of a new breed of Republicans who do not fit the traditional conservative mold. This is not your father’s Republican Party. Republicans are pressing hard to become a more inclusive party. A party that includes more African Americans and Hispanics. The party has already made huge strides and has a stable of promising, young new minorities in place leading the charge.
With the likes of fellow rising conservative star, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, as well as others along with Love. Republicans are hoping that these new faces and the vibrant energy they bring, is only the beginning. The beginning of what they hope becomes a wave of new minority candidates and voters into the GOP.
Since giving her speech on Tuesday. There have been many who have felt that Mia Love, was the heart and soul of the convention. A new voice, a new face for conservatives. Love took to the podium on Tuesday. Telling the nation her families story of turning their American dream into an American reality.
“Let me tell you about the America I know. My parents immigrated to this country with $10 in theirs pockets and the hope the America they heard about really did exist. when tough times came, they did not look to Washington. They looked within. So, the America I grew up knowing was centered in self-reliance and filled with the possibilty of living the American dream.” Love said on Tuesday, at the Republican convention.
May 23, 2013 //
Compiled by MCJ Staff Funeral services were held Friday, May 17, for Malcolm Lateef Shabazz, ...
May 14, 2013 //
Hezekiah Walker has experienced some major developments since the release of his last album near... | <urn:uuid:8fb6fd41-be7a-4639-b48e-6edba48c6b08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.communityjournal.net/whos-that-girl/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979354 | 559 | 1.539063 | 2 |
How do you keep the faith till the tech brand you are creating, finally comes close to becoming the next Google, Facebook or Twitter
The world of technology is one of fierce competition where small companies are routinely eaten up by the big ones, and where new companies with smart ideas are born daily. Yes there are examples of those who have made it really big like Google, Facebook and Twitters of the world. Yet, for startups, it often becomes hard to keep the faith when the going is really tough; to build brands when the very idea of your survival is at stake. Here are some ways to keep the faith till the time that your original tech idea, reaches traction point to become a big brand.
Consider the case of the big daddy of the internet today – Google. What began as a simple and interesting idea – to help people search the internet, ended up becoming a multi-billion dollar business. Yet, in 1997, its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin - two college nerds back then - were trying to sell off Google for a few million. Many showed interest, but none went the distance till of course, at the beginning of the millennium when Google reached a traction point and became what it is today.
The thing to remember thus with brands is that each one of them starts slow and in the beginning is like holding on to the idea, trying to believe and just hanging on. Once the initial few years pass, comes the amazing traction. This is almost the story of every tech brand in the world from Google to Facebook to Twitter. They all were servicing a handful of people for years, till the word reached out and exploded.
Another way to keep the faith is to do what Steve Jobs did – believe that what you are creating has the potential to change the world. Thus even if something you’re doing currently doesn’t seem to be making money, it helps to put the time and energy enough into it today, that will one day see it go straight to the top. Of course, you can’t lie to yourself. You indeed have to be working on something that is indeed unique, though seemingly odd at the moment, for it to work.
Bill Gates did something different than Steve Jobs. He was driven by ambition to become a hugely successful entrepreneur. And he spent every minute of his life in the pursuit of that goal. As much as those motivated by changing the world have changed the world, even those motivated by changing their own lives and driven by ambition have also changed the world.
Yet, it is not easy because for every Facebook there are many other social networking sites that came up but ended up becoming also-rans. How do you look at what you are creating in that moment? The trick here is to see if your product or service is liked by a small group of people. A group of people can often become a very good representation of the rest of humanity. Facebook started out as a social service for the students of Harvard.
Of course, while this is being said, the other factors that go into successful brand creation, like perseverance, an ability to sniff out the winds of change and act on it, the wisdom to differentiate a good idea from a bad one among others, goes without saying.
Ideas and from them companies can crop up from anywhere, even during summer in the middle of a desert. But it is always a tough task to be in business and build brands. Yet, for those who keep the faith and who have patience, if they carry on keeping these few points in mind, they will see the day when they their brands peak and suddenly scale the ladders of success.
Powered by Bullraider.com | <urn:uuid:60bb1cb5-f128-478d-bde7-c6136a1a6f9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediavataar.com/index.php/news/marketing/3969-how-to-create-a-successful-brand-an-attempt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979409 | 750 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Mayor Ed Koch
A visitor to Mayor Ed Koch’s gravesite would be led to believe he was 10 months younger than Mayor Michael Bloomberg – who was born Feb. 14, 1942. Koch was, in fact, 17 years older than the current mayor.
The details of late New York City Mayor Ed Koch’s will have been released.
Late Mayor Ed Koch will soon have a subway station on the Upper East Side named in his honor.
New York City woke up Saturday morning without one of its most recognizable and beloved figures.
Late Mayor Ed Koch was a strong supporter and champion of gay rights, but when it came to the issue of his own sexual orientation, he steadfastly maintained a commitment to privacy.
The Rev. Al Sharpton was one of Mayor Ed Koch’s loudest critics, but was remembering the mayor fondly upon his death Friday.
Mayor Ed Koch was known as the quintessential New Yorker, and left a lasting impression.
In a strange coincidence, a new documentary about Mayor Ed Koch opened in theaters on Friday.
Those who knew him best said Ed Koch was in private almost exactly as you saw him in public, but even more candid and frank.
Spokesman George Arzt said Koch died at 2 a.m. at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital of congestive heart failure. The funeral will be Monday at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.
For many New Yorkers, it wasn’t the trademark phrase that made him so popular, it was the fact that Koch wanted to know the answer so he could do better by the people of the city he loved.
Ed Koch, the iconic three term mayor of New York City, became so identified with New York City as to become a kind of “brand ambassador” of the city to America and the world.
Just two days after he was released, former Mayor Ed Koch was back in the hospital Monday.
Former Mayor Ed Koch will be released from the hospital Monday morning after six days of treatment for pneumonia and the flu.
Vallone is concerned about the possibility of the practice currying favor with living people who may be able to endorse campaigns or otherwise help politicians.
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- Shuttle Pavilion Update Tornado Devastates Moore,... Metro-North Derailment Repairs Bridgeport Metro-North Train... | <urn:uuid:430d9f80-1d69-45dd-89a0-cda8d47dcd2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newyork.cbslocal.com/tag/mayor-ed-koch/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958229 | 558 | 1.617188 | 2 |
A White House garden filled with all kinds of produce, even sweet potatoes, is a sight for this nutritionist's eyes. The idea that Michelle Obama has made the childhood obesity crisis her major platform is a win-win for the nation's children. Her impetus to "sound the alarm" stems from her own wake up call at the pediatrician's office several years ago. One of my original blogs explored her pediatrician's gentle comments that the kid's weights were a bit troublesome, and that the foods they were routinely being fed might be contributing to the problem.
Nutritionists, dieticians, doctors and other weight experts know that weight issues can be very complicated. Well educated people can over feed their kids or feed their children too many servings of less nutritious food out of love, habit, guilt or even a bit of laziness. People who struggle financially may not have the budget (they feel) to cook or buy healthier foods, or they may simply be overwhelmed with lack of time issues and turn to fast and available food, that is typically high in calories and less nutritious. No accusations here, just explanations and theories. In Mrs. Obama's case I think her children appeared physically to resemble many other kids (it's harder to see overweight issues among many overweight individuals). What I love about the story is the fact that Mrs. Obama heard her pediatrician - she didn't argue with him or give excuses to explain her "feeding approach." She listened, learned and changed. I notice that parents can be very "touchy" when the discussion of food changes in the household (or in schools) comes up. These moments can often be perceived as indictments of their parenting skills. My experience with children who have weight issues is to explain why change is needed, what changes are needed, offer education and a willingness to dialogue and discuss their feelings and perspective. Once they see I am willing to discuss and hear their issues and simply be present to have a conversation, they are oftentimes, more ready to accept change, than their parents are. Again, not a judgement - another observation.
We need drastic shifts in lifestyle patterns across the US, and we need a forceful leader to invoke that change. Our kids will die at an age younger than our own (parent) generation if we don't shift habits now. All of us want the best for our children so though lifestyle changes for your children may be hard to accept, avoid the inclination to make it about you, your guilt and your parenting skills. It's about saving the children, even if it is one small change, one small step at a time.
I would like to offer a comment to the people criticizing Michelle Obama for sharing the weight issues of her children. She did not ever say her kids were fat or use any unkind terminology that I am aware of - she simply shared the fact that she could not clearly see that the kids were gaining weight too fast and she never really understood the dramatic impact that her food choices for them had, on their weight and health profile. We need to lose this critical attitude and use our energies to address the actual crisis - a health crisis of weight that is putting kids at extreme risk. Let's get moving and join the "Let's Move" effort of our first lady. | <urn:uuid:d4295552-7b41-44ff-b55d-2e25c78bea6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/obesity/c/59238/103408/childhood-obesity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975037 | 661 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Jay Parkhill August 12th, 2009
I have recently come across a number of contracts with extensive survival provisions. For the non lawyer-wonks out there, a survival clause says that when the contract is terminated certain provisions will continue to govern the parties’ behavior toward one another.
There is a part of me that hates the concept of these provisions- they turn the whole deal into a kind of roach motel that the parties can enter, but can’t fully leave for a long time.
The other part of me understands that survival clauses have value, but wants to find the right logic for using them.
Confidentiality – Yes
For example, parties to a deal may well learn a bunch of confidential information about one another. Terminating the agreement might be used as a way to escape the need to keep that information confidential, so I commonly see language that says the parties will be required to keep information confidential for 3-5 years, and that the confidentiality language will continue to bind the parties after the agreement is terminated.
Indemnification – No
On the other side, I also see language that says one party’s indemnification obligations will continue after the deal ends. Indemnification means that, in an agreement between A and B, if C sues both A and B because of something A did, then A will take charge of the litigation and cover all of B’s damages and legal costs.
I can certainly see why B might want this, but B is really saying there that it wants the ability to terminate the deal- ending A’s economic advantages- and still keep A on the hook for any downside issues that come up. As lawyer for A, I push back on this idea. If B wants out so be it, but B shouldn’t get to keep the economic advantages and push all the risk onto A.
In Search of a Rule
Is there a principle goverining which provisions should survive termination of an agreement? I’ m not sure and this is the thinking out loud part. Here are my ideas to date:
-> Leverage wins. If one side to a deal has significantly greater negotiating leverage then it can probably dictate the type of risk-allocation point above.
-> When the parties are in equal positions, my idea is that “passive” activities can/should survive, but the parties should not be required to affirmatively do anything. E.g. confidentiality doesn’t require anyone to step forward and take action, so it can survive. Indemnity is an active obligation by one side to litigate and pay costs. It should not survive.
Seeing this written down, I am not sure if this is the right way to think about it. E.g. the parties may negotiate limitations of liability in a deal (e.g. in a dispute damages payable by A are limited to fees paid to A by B during the term of the deal). Should one side be able to terminate the agreement and dump the liability cap or should both sides be held to the negotiated terms forever?
Is there a rule here or is every deal a unique set of circumstances? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
, open questions | <urn:uuid:54c4b032-07e5-465f-bc48-08d29e408eb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.jparkhill.com/tag/contracts/ | 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 | 0.94925 | 667 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Google has recently introduced a tool in Google Webmaster that will help website owners and organization to figure out the success and issues with the indexing of their web pages at any given time.
ZDNet explains that earlier website owner could only see the indexing status of their web pages by manually checking each and every page and that was cumbersome for webmasters having hundreds and thousands of pages.
Now, Google is showing everything in shape of graphs. It is much easier now to find out the total number of pages that have been crawled by the search engine, indexed by it as well as information about those which have not been indexed. A webmaster can now easily find out as to what may have gone wrong with the non-indexed pages that will help them fix the problem. The advance settings in the webmaster tool also give information about the duplicate URLs which are normally ignored by the search engine. | <urn:uuid:3ab45055-f378-4cbd-9bab-e550b9d92047> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moremag.pk/2012/07/26/google-introduces-index-tool-to-help-webmasters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972285 | 181 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Mossy Creek Pottery represents clay artists from Oregon and Washington.
In keeping with the art and beauty of the Northwest, Mossy Creek Pottery represents clay artists from Oregon and Washington. We are also pleased to feature the works of nationally known potter Tom Coleman.
Artists at Mossy Creek use a variety of techniques, both in the creative and glazing process of their work. With an emphasis on wheel thrown pieces, Mossy Creek also includes several potters who use hand building techniques to create items such as plates, platters and vases.
From vibrant colored fern and leaf impressed porcelain to dinnerware or serving pieces with an Oregon mountain design, or rich copper red pottery using lava rock to texture the clay. Perhaps an oval platters featuring a northwest fish or crab design to serve your catch of the day, or a raku salmon for the wall. You can always find an influence of the Northwest in our gallery.
We have a wonderful variety of functional pieces which are oven, dishwasher and microwave safe. Many of our artists do made to order dinnerware sets and we have several examples on display.
Mossy Creek Pottery includes the work of both the young up and coming clay artist to the established potter, some who have worked in clay for over 40 years. | <urn:uuid:d3db278d-5aa4-4973-851e-bd9f0082516c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mossycreekpottery.com/potter.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958609 | 268 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Photo by William Alatriste, courtesy of the City Council.
Editor's Note: This version has been updated to clarify that the Department of Investigation had opposed an earlier draft of the bill.
NEW YORK – The City Council wants to encourage employees of contractors doing work on city-funded projects to report corruption and fraud.
Legislation passed by the Council at its stated meeting yesterday would extend protections against retaliation under the current city Whistleblower Law to employees of contractors and subcontractors. Currently, the law only protects city workers.
At a news conference held before the vote on the legislation, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn called whistleblowers “courageous individuals who often end up being the most important source for uncovering fraud and corruption.”
The bill to expand the Whistleblower Law, which would apply to contracts worth over $100,000, was one of three pieces of legislation passed by the Council that would expand protections for workers who report corruption and encourage others to do the same. The bill was authored by Councilman Daniel R. Garodnick, of the 4th District, in Manhattan.
The second bill would require city contractors to post information about whistleblower protections and instructions on how to report misconduct or fraud. The third would renew the city’s False Claims Act, which offers whistleblowers proceeds of funds recouped from successful corruption prosecutions if they report information about potential fraud. All three bills would need to be signed into law by the mayor.
Citizens Union, which publishes the Gotham Gazette, lobbied for the legislation.
The city’s Department of Investigation, which investigates allegations of city-government misconduct including complaints brought by employees of private contractors, opposed an earlier version of the bill because it would have mandated that DOI investigate every complaint of retaliation by private contractor employees.
At a hearing on April 16, DOI said such a requirement would likely lead to "an avalanche of mandatory investigations” that it did not have the resources to address.
The final version of the bill allows DOI to investigate the initial claims of fraud, but does not require the agency to investigate allegations of retaliation. Instead, the person alleging retaliation would be able to file a lawsuit.
The city’s False Claims Act has been used “relatively infrequently since its enactment in 2005,” according to a report by a Council committee that convened April 16. Of 23 civil complaints under the FCA since 2005, the city Law Department decided not to pursue any action in 17 cases. Thirteen of the 17 cases were declined because they involved Medicaid funds, the report said. Under federal law, any recovered funds would go to the state, not the city.
“As the law gets better known … more people will use it,” said Councilwoman Gale Brewer, the chair of the government operations committee, which released the report.
Councilman Garodnick, who attended yesterday's news conference and authored the bill requiring contractors to post notices at job sites about whistleblower protections, said if passed it would go a long way toward informing people about the False Claims Act. | <urn:uuid:ea8f0304-cf9d-4e4b-863e-7ad8f3dc7744> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/government/49-economy/1378-nycc-05-31-2012 | 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 | 0.960068 | 637 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Growing to Give
The City of Vaughan is partnering with Seeds For Change and York Region Food Network on a two-year community garden pilot project at Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service Station #7-1.
The ‘Growing to Give’ pilot project provides residents with the opportunity to grow vegetables in a community setting, and hands-on education about gardening and cooking their own food. Volunteers are encouraged to donate a portion of what they grow to a community agency or family in need. The project was launched June 1 at Fire Station #7-1 in Thornhill.
Interact with your community! Share the photo with your friends, leave a comment for the world to see, or buy a copy of the photo as a print or downloadable file to keep forever.
Share Comment Purchase | <urn:uuid:19902419-9942-4906-88b8-367844399aa5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.snapvaughaneast.com/index.php?option=com_sngevents&id[]=289050 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954883 | 158 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accepted blame for the security lapses before the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
"I take responsibility," Clinton told CNN Monday in Lima, Peru. "I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts."
She added, "The president and the vice president wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals."
Clinton also said that the United States had been aware that militants were regrouping in Libya and that they would attempt to re-establish bases.
"We also knew, aside from individuals and groups, there were so many militias that have formed and so many weapons," Clinton told ABC News Monday. "It was something we were focused on."
The United States now reportedly has special operations forces on standby in the region ready to strike suspected terrorists.
"We will track them down, whoever did this, and hold them accountable and bring them to justice," Clinton said. "Our track record is pretty good. Eventually, we will find you."
Congressional hearings last week revealed that the State Department was aware of, and rejected, several requests for increased security in Benghazi.
Republicans have called the attack and the subsequent administration response a failure.
Secretary Clinton Friday said the State Department is in the beginning stages of an internal investigation of the attack. She also said the FBI investigation is continuing, and that she is cooperating with both.
As for the status al Qaeda, Clinton told ABC News Monday, "It's absolutely fair to say the major leadership of al Qaeda including [Osama] bin Laden has been decimated. The core of al Qaeda has been severely damaged. There will be terrorists who continue to terrorize people and threaten the U.S. and our allies. We've never taken at all, our eye off the ball to keep going after extremists who pose a threat."
Meanwhile, as the situation in Syria deteriorates, there has been talk of a no-fly zone similar to the one established in Libya.
"This has been under discussion among allies," Clinton said. "There has been no decision made but everyone knows what the Assad regime is doing is a brutal assault on the people. We need a clear commitment of support to the opposition inside Syria and outside." | <urn:uuid:e44f7643-ccf3-44e7-aad4-da299927a0bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://a.abcnews.com/Politics/OTUS/hillary-clinton-takes-responsibility-consulate-security-lapses/story?id=17487223 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984532 | 489 | 1.601563 | 2 |
2012 was a good year for whistleblowers -- and one whistleblower in particular.
The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that it paid out $125 million to whistleblowers in the 2012 fiscal year, an apparent record, up from just $8 million last year.
The boom was driven largely by one man: Bradley Birkenfeld, a former banker at UBS who provided information on the firm's vast business of helping wealthy Americans hide their assets abroad and received a record $104 million reward for his efforts.
Birkenfeld's tips helped pave the way for a 2009 settlement between the U.S. government and UBS under which the bank agreed to pay $780 million in penalties and turn over the account information of thousands of U.S. clients.
Birkenfeld himself received a 40-month prison term in 2009 for his part in UBS's tax evasion program, a conviction his lawyers have branded unjust. Prosecutors in his case contended that Birkenfeld hadn't been forthcoming about his own role in the scheme, according to reports from the time.
The IRS has been authorized to pay rewards to whistleblowers since 1867, though legislation passed in 2006 significantly expanded the agency's ability to process tips and increased the potential rewards available.
Whistleblowers who provide the IRS evidence of unpaid taxes in excess of $2 million are now entitled to collect up to 30% of the sum recovered. Rewards are smaller for cases involving less than $2 million.
The evaluation of tips can take years, however, and the program has been criticized as disorganized and under-resourced. The first rewards paid based on the updated 2006 legislation didn't go out until the 2011 fiscal year.
The IRS issued 128 whistleblower rewards for the 2012 fiscal year, though just 12 of those cases involved more than $2 million in unpaid taxes. In total, the tipsters helped the IRS collect more than $592 million.
The agency received 332 tips in the 2012 fiscal year that appear to involve more than $2 million in unpaid taxes, though the total rewards these tips will generate is still unknown. | <urn:uuid:98f1ce40-747f-4f69-9488-eca4fb92628c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clickorlando.com/news/money/-125-million-paid-to-IRS-whistleblowers/-/1637116/18537332/-/11vx1j9/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971242 | 419 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Archival Fluted Boxboard is a high quality corrugated board made from the same acid and lignin-free long fibred conservation quality paper used to make the solid centre Premier™ Archival Folding Boxboard.
Offered in 3 styles of flute construction.
Because of its fluted structure corrugated board has the advantages of being lightweight yet rigid. It has many applications and is particularly useful for oversized boxes. Conservation By Design’s Heritage Archival pHotokraft™ papers (HAPK) are used to make this board, they meet European and American standards for Archival Long Life Papers and Boards. Suitable for the long term storage and conservation of documents and photographs. These HAPK papers pass the P.A.T. Test and have excellent water resistance having being internally sized with AKD and externally with starch. The high percentage of long kraft fibres gives enhanced fold and tear strength to the board.
Please note : Corrugated boxes, when produced in volume, offer a lower cost and good protection against handling. This is why they are used for commercial packaging/ shipping and display applications. However, products made from corrugated board do not offer the same protection against water and fire as solid centre boxboard. | <urn:uuid:2f9824a2-e31f-45f8-a7dd-1166a03339b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cxdltd.com/category.aspx?id=332 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940827 | 259 | 1.617188 | 2 |
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Syria's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva stormed out of the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday after angrily demanding that countries stop "inciting sectarianism and providing arms" to opposition forces in the country.
Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui said sanctions were preventing Damascus from buying medicines and fuel and then abruptly left the Geneva forum's emergency debate called at the request of Gulf countries and Turkey, and backed by the West.
"We reaffirm to all those alleged friends of the Syrian people that the simple step to immediately help the Syrian people is to stop inciting sectarianism, providing arms and weapons and funding and putting the Syrian people one against the other," he said.
"Unjust and unilateral sanctions imposed by some countries on the Syrian people are preventing access to medicines, to fuel in all forms as well as electricity, and are also impeding bank transfers to buy these materials," he said.
The European Union imposed sanctions on seven Syrian cabinet ministers on Tuesday for their role in a bloody crackdown on dissent, the latest move aimed at forcing President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
The United Nations' main human rights body was set to condemn Syria on Tuesday for using heavy weapons on residential areas and persecuting opponents, its fourth rebuke to Assad in an 11-month uprising.
Russian deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov took the floor to say that only the Syrian people could decide their country's political future.
"The important thing today is that we give a chance to the Syrians themselves to overcome this crisis," he said.
"Today it is clear aims to instil democracy through force are doomed to disaster and achieve the opposite. What is important today is that we do not allow for a full scale civil war in Syria," he said.
Esther Brimmer, U.S. assistant secretary of state said that "Assad and his criminal cohort are waging a brutal campaign of slaughter, bombardment, torture and arrest that has already murdered thousands of women, men and children."
"Bashar al-Assad must go, and there must be a Syrian-led democratic political transition that meets the long-suppressed aspirations of the Syrian people," she said.
Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said she was appalled at the rapidly deteriorating rights and humanitarian situation in Syria and shelling of Homs.
Hospitals are overwhelmed and makeshift clinics have been set up in hard-hit areas to treat the wounded, she said.
Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge, reiterated that Syria should be referred to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The urgent debate came at the request of Turkey and three Gulf countries, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, with backing from the United States and European Union.
The 47-member forum, which has moral authority but no legal force, looked set to adopt a resolution condemning Syria's "continued widespread and systematic violations", diplomats said.
Drafted by the Arab countries and Turkey, the resolution condemns "the use of heavy artillery and tanks to attack residential areas ... that have led to the death of thousands of innocent civilians".
It also voices alarm at the humanitarian crisis in areas lacking food, medicine and fuel and calls for aid agencies to be allowed to deliver vital supplies to civilians in heavily hit areas, especially Homs, Deraa and Zabadani.
"There will be a wide majority of states in favour. It will pass easily," an Arab diplomat told Reuters before the meeting.
"We should expect Russia, Cuba and Ecuador to vote against it. On China, is not clear," he said.
Assad sent units of an elite armoured division into Homs on Tuesday as rebel-held districts came under the heaviest bombardment of a three-week offensive, opposition sources in the city said.
The Council opened its annual four-week session on Monday, days after U.N. investigators accused the highest levels of the Syrian government and army of ordering crimes against humanity including murder, rape and torture. (Additional reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Louise Ireland) | <urn:uuid:68de0436-7f8b-405b-92a6-7f73292dcdb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trust.org/item/?map=syria-storms-out-of-un-rights-meeting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964911 | 852 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Part 3: Best Way to Boost Metabolism
By Melissa Hernandez
In our last two blogs we discussed the science behind metabolism as we think it is essential knowledge for anyone working toward any kind of fitness goal. Now that you have some background, we’d like to offer some advice to put the information into practice.
While there are numerous articles on the internet with helpful tips on how to boost metabolism, some of the tips that these articles give will have little effect on the overall function of your metabolism and many of them will certainly not enhance it over the long term. However, the one metabolism-boosting method that is a constant in all of these articles is one that we view as the most essential and important to maintaining a healthy metabolism:
Strength training. This includes body weight exercises, but more importantly: exercising with weights. The heavier, the better.
When it comes to achieving weight loss through exercise, many people make the assumption that they only need cardiovascular exercise to get the job done. As a result, they never lift a single weight in the course of their efforts. This is a huge mistake. While it is important to have a balance of cardiovascular exercise and strength training as part of your fitness regimen, cardio is not the aspect that will make the most significant change to your metabolism. To improve the function of metabolism, strength training is key.
One of the major reasons that so many people lose and then regain weight (commonly referred to as the “weight loss roller coaster”) is because they neglect to consider the function of their metabolism. A cardio-only approach to weight loss without any effort to improve metabolism is like bailing water out of a boat with an enormous hole in it. You remember the old cartoons: the very second the bailing stops, the boat just fills up again. We view strength training as the key to fixing the hole in the boat.
The focus of strength training is to build muscle mass. As we explained in our previous blog, Introducing: Your Metabolism, the more muscle mass a person has, the better their metabolism functions. Remember, muscle requires more energy for the body to sustain; therefore, the more muscle you have, the better your metabolism with function.
So why is it that so many people ignore strength training? Here are a few common reasons:
1. Some people are intimidated by weights and weight machines because they don’t know how to use them and are too embarrassed to ask. It’s time to get over the intimidation and embarrassment factors and ask someone that knows, whether it be a friend, a personal trainer, or fitness instructor. You might even consult an established website with fitness videos.
2. Many women steer clear of strength training equipment out of fear that if they so much as look at a weight, they will wake up the next morning and see a female body builder in the mirror. Yes, that is an exaggeration. But becoming “bulky” is a common fear of women. Perhaps just as common are the rolling eyes of fitness trainers every time they hear a woman say they don’t want to “get huge”. What most women don’t realize is that it is very difficult for women to build muscle the way that men do, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight or on accident. In fact, it would take a couple years of very dedicated training for an average woman to get the arms of a Jessica Biel or Cameroon Diaz, so if your fear is becoming the She Hulk, put your mind at ease because it’s not happening without steroids. So why do these fears perpetuate? Because publishers know they can sell magazines with headlines like, “How to Lift Weights Without Getting Bulky”— despite the fact that the articles inside are pretty much useless information.
3. People don’t like to think any more than they need to, and using weights requires people to think about their exercise— How much weight? How many reps? How may sets? In what order should I do the exercises?, etc.— whereas cardio requires no thought: get on, press go, and run (or petal, or climb). But guess what? When it comes to structuring a strength training program, there’s an app for that! There are many websites, YouTube videos, books, and magazines that can help too. And if you have the resources, there are personal trainers, boot camps, and group exercise classes that utilize weights.
Strength training is too valuable a tool to ignore as it is key to maintaining a healthy metabolism. So go out on a limb: learn about it, practice it, and perfect your technique. Make the extra effort and you will make strides in your quest to achieve your fitness goals.
Melissa is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and the owner of Rocksteady Fitness in Oxnard, California. For regular diet and fitness tips and articles, follow her on tumblr, and “Like” her page on Facebook: Rocksteady Fitness. | <urn:uuid:78a41a75-f7fb-4ef2-ac19-bc9f128d0552> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rockfit.tumblr.com/tagged/muscle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955822 | 1,032 | 1.828125 | 2 |
More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
GUEST POST: First Open Lesbian Ordained Under Presbyterian Policy Change
On Sunday, April 15, Katie Ricks will become the first openly lesbian candidate ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) since the denomination opened ordination to LGBT candidates in July of last year. Three openly gay candidates have been ordained since the historic shift in policy. Ricks is the first openly lesbian candidate who has been approved for ordination. Ricks graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in 2002. She has served as an Associate in Ministry for the Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill for the last ten years. In March, Ricks was named one of the 13 religious women to watch by the Center for American Progress.
By Katie Ricks
This Sunday, I will be ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
While the service of ordination is special for all who are called by God into the work of ministry, mine is unique because I am the first out lesbian to be ordained in the PC(USA) since an historic policy shift last summer.
I’m very excited about what this moment means for my family and for my congregation. Yet, this is bigger than me, my congregation, or even the PC(USA). This is about all of us, and, more specifically, this is about God’s Love that holds ALL of us.
Ten years ago, when I graduated from seminary, no one knew whether the ordination of gay and lesbian people would ever become a reality in the PC(USA) in our lifetime. Now, after dozens of votes, thousands of heartfelt conversations, and countless prayers, my denomination has chosen a more welcoming path, and God has led my congregation to call me as one of its leaders. We are beginning to live into the church that God is calling us to be.
Faithful Presbyterians, who nurtured me in my life of faith, taught me about God’s abundant and unconditional love – a love that knows no limits, a love that compels God to continue to seek relationship with ALL of us,, a love that never leaves our side.
At the same time, I know that many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community have been hurt by the church. There are Christian communities who continue to teach an interpretation of God’s love that excludes some from God’s embrace. This causes real damage in our families and our lives.
I experienced this hurt myself when I began the ordination process over 13 years ago. The group of ministers and elders charged with supporting and guiding those exploring a call into ministry focused their examination of me on my identity as a lesbian, asking questions that were never asked of any straight candidates. They never asked me about my faith, my call, or my growth in the church. They never said to me: “Welcome home, we’re glad you’re here.”
At that point, and at others in my journey, I have wondered, “Would it be better for me to leave the Presbyterian Church?” and “Should I go somewhere where my call and service are fully accepted, now?”
Yet, again and again, God has continued to call me back.
After completing seminary and struggling with the ordination process, God called me to be an associate in ministry at the church I still serve today. This church welcomed me – not as a token, or as an anomaly, but simply for who I was.
Over the last ten years I have found a true home as part of this community. I have been supported in my covenantal relationship with my loving partner. I have experienced the birth (and continue to experience the life) of a child. I have held the hand of a person who was dying. I have witnessed a young person’s life transformed on a mission trip. I have heard children squeal with sheer delight as they rejoice, in their own way, about a faith community that loves them.
As was common in my time in seminary, I have also been able to engage in community with those who disagree with my interpretation of the Bible and openly oppose my ordination. Those relationships have surely been touched by God’s hands, as we have prayed together, shared stories of our families together, and sought to live out God’s mission in the world together. I have been surprised by the depth of the peace and joy and compassion that has surrounded and filled each of us as we have sought to live in God’s love together.
In February of this year, I reached the final stage of the ordination process. I stood before a regional body of ministers and elders who would vote on my fitness for ministry. And while similar on the surface, it couldn’t have been more different from those initial experiences. As I looked around, I recognized many familiar faces – some of whom I knew disagreed with me – but all of whom I have respected and loved for the ten years we have spent worshipping, serving, and living faithfully together.
After I read my statement of faith and answered a question from the examinations committee, there was only one question from the floor (I had anticipated a multitude of them). A pastor who identified himself as a conservative asked, “How do you read Scripture in a way that affirms same-sex relationships when the traditional understanding is against them?”
With a full heart, I answered with thoughts about what I have learned about the Word of God and ended with, “I believe that God is the creator of all things – seen and unseen. Nothing comes into being in the world without God’s breath flowing through it. I am confident that being gay is not a choice. And, because of that, I came to know that ‘coming out’ as a lesbian was a matter of claiming the person that God created me to be.”
After the meeting was over, that same pastor came up to me, gave me a hug, and told me how much he appreciated my answer. After almost a decade of serving in full time ministry, I was approved for ordination.
So what have I learned through this journey?
At each new step forward in the ordination process, I realized that the “goal” that I had achieved was not the most amazing thing that had happened. Rather, I learned to put my life into the hands of God. I learned to trust in a community of companions to guide and walk alongside me on this journey of faith. I learned that the Spirit works to heal broken places in the Body of Christ through conversations over coffee, joint lamentations about living with a toddler, and shared prayers in the comfort of one another’s offices.
I pray you will find the gift of a spiritual home that welcomes you with open arms, seeks to heal the broken places in your heart, and honors and encourages your call to serve – in whatever way God is leading you.
But most of all, I hope that all understand what I have always believed, that God’s love is all-inclusive and that you – just as you are – are Beloved. Together, we can be the church God is calling us to be. | <urn:uuid:18106cdd-40db-4196-9291-d2c5619be569> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glaad.org/blog/guest-post-first-open-lesbian-ordained-under-presbyterian-policy-change | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975619 | 1,536 | 1.523438 | 2 |
09/15/2011 | Author / Editor: Prasanta Chatterjee / Marion Henig
As a replacement of the existing steam jet ejector at M/s XYZ Pharma Ltd. (name changed to keep the user’s identity secret), Everest Blower Systems has recently installed a Vacuum Pumping System (VPS), which was manufactured in their (Everest’s) factory. Here is an exhaustive case study based on the step by step commissioning report and onsite experience.
On June 21 this year, the Everest team reached the site of XYZ Pharma, and the material was unpacked and shifted to the exact location of installation. After a meeting with the plant AGM and Senior. Manager (Utilities), a team of (XYZ) engineers was assigned to Everest for the commissioning of the Vacuum Pumping System (VPS). Thereafter, the manufacturer gave the necessary guidelines to the engineers of XYZ Pharma regarding construction of the pipelines and other required extension of power supply facilities.
On the next day, the pipelines were found ready, but some other changes were suggested. The work started again immediately with the cooperation of the maintenance team from XYZ, in presence of all officials from Everest’s end as well as XYZ’s side.
Although the vacuum pump was connected on the third day – that was not started, because Everest team had to check the parameters of the existing setup in the reactor, which was having a water ring pump of 20 HP connected with two steam jet ejectors and a post Everest mechanical vacuum booster of 7.5 HP motor.
This article is protected by copyright. You want to use it for your own purpose? Infos can be found under www.mycontentfactory.de (ID: 29270700) | Fotos: Picture: Everest | <urn:uuid:01cd9695-e399-4330-a049-c8786bbf03a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.process-worldwide.com/liquid_process_technology/pumps/vacuum_pump/articles/331125/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960526 | 378 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Feature: How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Posted by Thomas Whitehead
The Resident Evil way
As we get closer to Halloween and all of the ghouls and ghosts that come with the spookiest of holidays, we feel it’s time to start focusing on what’s important at this time of year: survival. With all of these monsters preparing to rise from their graves, or wherever they’ve been hiding, perhaps we should all plan for the impending apocalypse. To get us started, this week we’ll be homing in on the horrifying Resident Evil series, the franchise that brought survival horror onto our Nintendo consoles. If the undead hordes decide that this is the year that they'll finally rise up to eat our brains, we thought that Resident Evil could be a useful source of survival tips. Taking our cues from Leon, Chris, Jill and company, we’ve come up with some basic rules for staying alive, brains intact.
The first thing you’ll need, in truth, is a comfortable pair of shoes. When zombies, ganados or any other variety of murderous monsters are pursuing you, sometimes the best tactic is to run. If you find yourself in a spooky mansion or urban police station, bear in mind that these buildings are often spacious labyrinths with endless corridors. Cut down on the takeaways and get yourself on a treadmill.
If the undead hordes decide that this is the year that they'll finally rise to eat our brains, we thought that Resident Evil could be a useful source of survival tips
Of course, when monsters roam the streets, the laws of the land go out of the window. If you call the police, army, fire brigade and ambulance (“anything with flashing lights” – Shaun of the Dead) and no help is forthcoming, you may need to rely on yourself for protection; you’ll need weapons to survive. Our heroes from Resident Evil typically rely on a pistol and a knife, the knife being particularly useful when a zombie attempts to feast on your neck. Roam the environments, however, and more weapons will conveniently present themselves.
The final basic provision that you’ll need is something in which to carry your weapons and items – more on the items you’ll need is coming up. It’s in this area that Resident Evil truly shows the way, with Leon S. Kennedy in particular finding a method to carry an enormous number of items all at once. Get yourself to a local travel store and pick up an attaché case, preferably one that will allow you to carry plenty of guns and ammo, as well as a rocket launcher. While Leon has defied science and found a way to carry this case without, um, actually carrying it, you’ll need to haul it around with you. It’ll serve a dual purpose: carrying all of your items and, in case of emergency, functioning as a useful melee weapon.
Understand your environment
A key part of navigating a zombie infested environment is finding secret passages and means of escape. In your day-to-day lives you probably don’t notice all of the engravings, statues, cryptic paintings, keys and levers that are scattered all over the place. They’re there, though, and will be vital for your survival. Wherever you’re stuck, and no matter how innocuous an item may seem, stick it in your pocket (or attaché case) and hang onto it. You never know when a mysterious door or indentation will appear and block your path, so be ready.
Of course, when monsters roam the streets, villages and everywhere else, the laws of the land go out of the window
As well as strange items, you also need to be prepared to raid draws, open random chests and smash barrels to find vital provisions. Amazingly, a lot of these areas will be full of ammo or, if you’re in rural Europe, out-of-date and useless currency. You’ll also find herbs of different colours; these aren’t lying around for you to try in your latest stir-fry recipe. These herbs, yet to be utilised in modern science, will help to cure you of zombie bites, burns or scythe wounds. In fact, if you squish different coloured herbs together they’ll have an even greater healing effect. Just experiment with different plants, and at the very worst you’ll have some nice flavour in your next meal.
You never know…
There are some elements of the Resident Evil series that are even more far-fetched than those we’ve already highlighted, yet a world being overrun by monsters is equally unlikely. Just in case the unlikely does occur, don’t forget to search downed zombies and monsters for useful items. While it makes absolutely no sense for an unarmed creature to be conveniently carrying ammo in their grubby pockets, you never know when you’ll stumble across a handgun clip or box of shotgun shells.
If you do find yourself increasing in confidence with all of these handy items, weapons and ammo, perhaps you’ll do what the police and armed forces couldn’t and target the leader of the monsters, as an attempt to end the undead invasion. Your chances will be boosted if you find someone to pal around with on this quest; ideally they’ll be useful in a tight spot. That said, all of those mysterious passages and doors we mentioned earlier will probably separate you for long spells, just for a bit of added tension. Whatever you do, though, don’t get roped into rescuing any famous children — relations to prominent politicians, for example — as they can be more trouble than they’re worth.
Finally, play it cool
None of us want the end of the world to occur, but the final lesson to learn from Resident Evil is to stay calm, no matter how many terrifying B-movie moments you’re subjected to. Keep ploughing on and boosting your zombie count. If you feel under pressure, simply type the location, date and time into a typewriter – so don’t forget your 'ink ribbons' – and you can simply spring back to life after your grizzly end. Keep your head when confronted by large, mutated beasts, or more importantly when being pursued by crazed chainsaw wielding manics. Finally, when dealing with strange villains and 'bosses' we recommend the Leon S. Kennedy approach: a line of corny dialogue followed by a rocket launcher to their face. What could go wrong? | <urn:uuid:0e7c88c4-6cca-4f9f-8291-7718bb00106d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2011/10/feature_how_to_survive_a_zombie_apocalypse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933472 | 1,355 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Greg Mortenson talked about his work to bring education to girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
September 9, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Education is more than a way to better an individual, it is a path to peace, said humanitarian Greg Mortenson in his address at the President’s Convocation at Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday.
Mortenson is the executive director of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), which works to provide education and promote literacy for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to Mortenson, many people ask if his work building schools and training teachers is about combating terrorism and the Taliban, but he answers that his mission is peace. “Promoting terrorism is really about fear, but promoting peace is based in hope," said Mortenson. "And the real enemy that we all face is ignorance. Ignorance breeds hatred.”
Since 1996, Mortenson and the CAI have constructed more than 130 schools in impoverished rural areas. He detailed his work in the New York Times bestselling book Three Cups of Tea. The book, which has sold 3 million copies and has been published in 34 countries, was chosen for the 2009 Summer Reading Program for all incoming Illinois Wesleyan first-year students to read and discuss.
“In the book, you tell us when you have one cup of tea you are a stranger, two cups means you are a friend and three cups means you are family,” said University President Richard F. Wilson to Mortenson at the Convocation. “In many ways, we feel the same here. When we chose the book, you were a stranger; when we read it, you became a friend; and with your visit, you are family.”
During his talk in a packed Westbrook Auditorium, which was broadcast live to an audience in Hansen Student Center, Mortenson encouraged students to become involved with humanitarian efforts around the globe, but only after they use the University’s resources to prepare themselves. “People who do good work are strong emotionally, spiritually, academically, and this is the place and the time to build that strength,” said Mortenson, who complimented students for their work in Illinois Wesleyan efforts such as Habitat for Humanity and the Global Medical Brigade. “You cannot go around the world to solve your problems, you have to deal with them here.” Once they are ready, he encouraged students to go out into the world. “I think the only way we can really solve poverty is that we have to touch poverty, and smell poverty, and we have to taste poverty, and be with poverty. We can never solve poverty from a think tank in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Greg Mortenson signs copies of his book, Three Cups of Tea, for Illinois Wesleyan students Emily Line '12 (center) and Kylene Wolfe '13.
Mortenson spent the day at Illinois Wesleyan, answering questions of students, community members and the local media before his address at the Convocation. Illinois Wesleyan alumnae and 8th-grade teacher Trish Warner, who graduated in 1989, brought 140 students from Kingsley Junior High in Normal to see Mortenson during a morning Q&A session. After reading Three Cups of Tea, the students joined the international service-learning organization he started called Pennies for Peace. Students queried Mortenson on everything from his eight days being held captive by the Taliban in 1996 to what the CAI does beyond building schools. “Building a school is not that hard. What takes time is building relationships. It can take years to build the relationships needed for a school to become a reality,” said Mortenson, who also noted the CAI is creating women’s vocational centers and businesses to help sustain the schools with local funds.
The importance of building relationships is a lesson Mortenson said that he has seen learned by the United States military during its time in Afghanistan. “The military is beginning to listen to the communities,” he said. Mortenson, a veteran, has helped set up meetings between the U.S. military leaders and village elders, whom he calls the cornerstone of the Afghan community. His book, Three Cups of Tea, is now required reading for many military leaders in Afghanistan.
Those relationships create a lasting bond, said Mortenson. Any school built by the CAI requires an intense commitment by the community. The village must donate the land and labor for the school, while the CAI provides building materials, skilled labor and teacher training and support. The effort ensures the longevity of the school, said Mortenson. “You have to let go and empower the people. When you empower villagers with the responsibilities and decisions of a school, not only do you have a great deal of community buy-in, but the Taliban is reluctant to attack a school when the community is so invested, for fear of angering the villagers,” he said.
The Central Asia Institute provides education for more than 51,000 students, with an emphasis on girls’ education. When asked why he focuses on girls’ education, Mortenson quotes an African proverb, “If you educate a boy, you educate an individual. If you educate a girl, you educate a community,” he said. Mortenson explained that areas where women are educated have seen a lower infant mortality rate, a reduction of overpopulation and an improvement in community health. “We can drop bombs or build roads or put in electricity, but unless you educate girls, nothing will change in a society.”
Contact: Rachel Hatch, (309) 556-3960 | <urn:uuid:72a461ec-5c9a-4b1d-a014-9c2a70178af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iwu.edu/news/2009/fea_2009PresConvo_00909.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973504 | 1,163 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Update: A federal judge on Tuesday gave the Department of Homeland Security the go-ahead to seize the fossil.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel signed the warrant after finding there was “probable cause to believe” that the nearly complete Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton is subject to forfeiture under U.S. laws, The Associated Press reports.
Responding to the judge’s order, Jim Halperin, co-founder of The Heritage Auctions, said, “We have cooperated in the investigation process for paleontologists to expeditiously examine the skeleton, and we will continue to cooperate with authorities in an ongoing effort to reach a fair and just resolution to this matter.”
Halperin has said a consignor bought the fossils in good faith and spent a year and considerable expense restoring them before they were sold for just over $1 million at auction.
Staff writer Talia Richman reports:
The U.S. government has stepped into a dispute involving a fossilized dinosaur sold last month for more than a million dollars by a Dallas-based auction house.
Heritage Auctions auctioned off the nearly complete Tyrannosaurus bataar in New York City on May 20. An unnamed buyer submitted the winning bid of $1,052,500.
The sale proceeded even after a Texas judge issued a restraining order in a suit filed by the Mongolian government claiming ownership of the dinosaur, which hunted herbivores 70 million years ago across what is now Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.
On Monday, the U.S. attorney’s office in New York filed a civil complaint of its own, saying the fossil should be returned home to Mongolia.
“The skeletal remains are of tremendous cultural and historic significance to the people of Mongolia, and provide a connection to the country’s prehistoric past,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a news release. “When the skeleton was allegedly looted, a piece of the country’s natural history was stolen with it, and we look forward to returning it to its rightful place.”
Jim Halperin, co-founder of Heritage, defended the auction house’s actions, saying the sale was contingent on the outcome of any court proceedings.
“This matter is now in the hands of lawyers and politicians,” Helperin said. “We believe our consignor purchased fossils in good faith, then spent a year of his life and considerable expense identifying, restoring, mounting and preparing what had previously been a much less valuable matrix of unassembled, underlying bones. We sincerely hope there will be a just and fair outcome for all parties.”
Neither Halperin nor Heritage is a defendant in the case; the auction house is merely the skeleton’s custodian, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in New York.
According to U.S. officials, the Tyrannosaurus, a two-legged predator similar, though smaller than North America’s better-known T. rex, was brought to the U.S. in March 2010 using false importation documents, which said the skeleton was worth only $15,000.
The documents also claimed the bones were from Great Britain. On June 5, at least five paleontologists agreed the fossils were unearthed from the western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005.
“As alleged, criminal smugglers misrepresented the fossil to customs officials when they illegally imported it into the United States,” said James T. Hayes, special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s office of Homeland Security Investigations.
Also, Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar, head of Paleontological Laboratory and Museum in Mongolia, said the skeleton appeared to bear the mark of poachers who lacked professional knowledge of excavation techniques.
President Elbegdorj said in a news release that he was thankful that the United States Attorney’s office stepped in to recover this important piece of Mongolian culture.
“Cultural looting and profiteering cannot be tolerated anywhere and this cooperation between our governments is a large step forward to stopping it.”
Read the U.S. attorney’s full complaint below: | <urn:uuid:2a71e9bf-73e8-41cc-b886-78ab408ac397> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2012/06/sale-of-disputed-dinosaur-fossil-pits-u-s-attorney-dallas-based-heritage-auctions.html/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952419 | 890 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Controversial Voucher Bill Set for Vote in Congress
By Lance Fuller
(UPDATE: On Wednesday afternoon,the House of Representatives voted, 225-195, to reinstate the DC voucher program. The bill’s prospects in the U.S. Senate are unclear. The Obama administration opposes the program but has not threatened a veto.)
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on renewing and expanding the District of Columbia private school voucher program. The bill, the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (H.R. 471), would funnel valuable dollars to private schools at taxpayer expense – even as Congress is debating cutting billions from core education programs.
Originally piloted in 2003, the D.C. voucher program was set to expire in 2008, but Congress has increased funding each year, with $13.2 million in 2010-2011. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Scholarships for Opportunity Act will cost $300 million over the next five years to implement – new federal spending with no offsets, which will increase the deficit.
The National Education Association strongly opposes school vouchers because they divert critical resources and energy from public schools to private and religious schools.
“Pulling 1,200 students out of a system that serves 65,000 doesn’t solve problems – it ignores them,” said NEA Director of Government Relations Kim Anderson. “Instead of taking money out of public schools for private schools, Congress should be investing in strategies to improve student achievement. When public schools are struggling and teachers are being laid off, the last thing we need is to spend scarce taxpayer funds on private schools.”
Instead, the nation’s priority for education should be to prepare all students for the jobs of the future, not to allow a few students and parents to choose a private school at taxpayer expense, said Anderson.
Teachers, parents, and the general public have opposed private school tuition vouchers for years because studies have shown that they fail to provide students with a better education than public schools. Nationally, lawmakers in several states such as Florida and Virginia have tried to pass voucher systems, but have failed.
Annual academic evaluations from the Department of Education have shown that students who entered a voucher school from a school in need of improvement demonstrated no gain in academic achievement, and had no effect on student satisfaction, safety and motivation.
The study also found that D.C. voucher schools were less equipped than its public school counterparts in providing counselors, tutors, or special programs for students with disabilities and English language learners.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin has had vouchers for 21 years and a recent five-year study conducted by the University of Arkansas found that teachers at voucher schools may be less qualified, and that girl students were much less likely than boys to make gains in reading.
Despite all this, Speaker of the House John Boehner has made the privatization of public schools a top legislative priority for the 112th Congress. If the House passes the D.C. voucher act, action on the bill moves to the Senate, where Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is leading the charge for passage. | <urn:uuid:c13b4311-aa4d-46b4-aee8-bd80cd34473a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://neatoday.org/2011/03/29/controversial-voucher-bill-set-for-vote-in-congress/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958614 | 641 | 1.820313 | 2 |
You already trust your health care providers with your physical well-being. Should you also trust them with your financial health?
See Also: New Options for Retiree Health Benefits
That's the question consumers are facing as a growing group of health care providers give patients the option to charge their treatment costs on so-called medical credit cards. These cards, offered by major financial-services firms such as Citigroup, GE Capital and Wells Fargo, are designed for consumers paying out of pocket for dental, vision, audiology and other treatments not covered by patients' insurance. These cards also can cover veterinary costs for your pet.
Many patients sign up for these cards in their health care provider's office. The cards typically offer "deferred interest" payment options that promise consumers will avoid paying interest as long as they pay the full balance within a certain time frame, often six months to two years. Most regular credit cards assess interest charges much sooner.
Such cards may sound like the perfect solution for seniors slapped with, say, a $3,000 dental bill that Medicare or private insurance won't cover. But consumer advocates and state attorneys general are raising a host of concerns.
Among potential problems are confusing features of the deferred-interest payment options that can cause consumers to rack up huge interest charges. In some cases, there's also the potential for consumers to be charged upfront for treatments they never receive. And paying promptly with plastic may mean that patients lose the opportunity to negotiate prices with health care providers—a move that could save them much more money than a zero-interest payment plan.
Patient advocates also question whether such products should be promoted in a doctor's office. Often, in a health care setting, "you're dealing with people in the most vulnerable state," says Mark Rukavina, principal at consulting firm Community Health Advisors, in Chestnut Hill, Mass. "Most people go into a health care provider with pain and concern, and they're not there to make a financial-services decision."
Medical credit cards have gained steam as health care costs spiral higher and many patients find themselves paying a greater share of costs out of pocket. The cards attract health care providers because they can encourage more patients to move forward with treatments and offer immediate payment for services. GE Capital's CareCredit card, for example, is now accepted by roughly 160,000 providers, up from fewer than 150,000 in 2011. Providers pay a fee to offer the cards. A 2010 investigation by New York’s attorney general found that CareCredit paid providers rebates based on the amount consumers charged on the cards. CareCredit spokesperson Cristy Williams says "there's no longer any type of rebate program."
Untangling the No-Interest Option
Many patients, meanwhile, are attracted by the cards promising no interest charges when balances are paid in full within a specific time frame. These plans typically require minimum monthly payments. If consumers don't pay the full balance by the end of this zero-interest period, however, they may be charged interest—not just on the remaining balance, but on the full original purchase amount, retroactive to the purchase date. The interest rates are steep, with annual percentage rates in the realm of 27% to 29%. What's more, late payments during the zero-interest period sometimes trigger the retroactive interest charges.
While these details are typically included in the fine print, consumer advocates fear that patients won't get a clear explanation of such complex conditions when applying for a card in a health care provider's office. "What the receptionist says will have a bigger impact than anything on a piece of paper," says Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.
The card issuers say they provide training to health care providers' office staff and extensive disclosures to ensure consumers understand the products' terms. Ninety percent of Wells Fargo Health Advantage card holders using the no-interest option pay off their balance before expiration of the zero-interest period "and, therefore, do not pay any interest," says Wells Fargo consumer lending spokesperson Natalie Brown.
Some patients complain that health care providers promote use of medical credit cards as a means of getting paid for pricey treatments even before the treatment has begun. In a class action complaint filed late last year against Syracuse, N.Y.–based Aspen Dental Management, which operates hundreds of dental practices in 25 states, patients allege that the company used aggressive sales tactics to get patients to commit to expensive treatment plans and encouraged them to apply for CareCredit cards to pay the bill ahead of time. The medical credit card "enables them to bill as much as possible upfront," says Brian Cohen, a New York City and Greenwich, Conn., lawyer representing the plaintiffs. And some patients' appointments are delayed or canceled as Aspen's scheduling system prioritizes the most profitable treatments, the complaint alleges.
In a statement on the class action complaint, Aspen said the allegations "are entirely without merit." Programs such as CareCredit "are a critically important option for many patients" and the terms are fully disclosed, Aspen Dental spokesperson Kasey Pickett said in an e-mail. "Patients are always presented with the option to pay for their care as service is rendered." Williams, the CareCredit spokesperson, says that the company restricts providers' ability to charge upfront for services, and "treatment needs to be provided within a certain time frame, depending on the specialty or course of treatment."
No matter what credit cards they're carrying, consumers shouldn't rush to plunk down the plastic when paying medical bills, consumer advocates say. Consumers paying out of pocket are generally charged providers' full price—rates far higher than those Medicare and private insurers pay. But they can often negotiate much better deals directly with the provider, especially if they're armed with data about the range of prices for the treatment they're seeking. But "when a patient pays with a credit card, the health care provider can charge the full rack rate and the consumer loses the ability to negotiate," Wu says.
Many providers will agree to extended payment plans, allowing patients to stretch payments over many months without running the risk of incurring high fees and interest charges or damaging their credit, Rukavina says. Providers also may offer "prompt pay" discounts, often ranging from 20% to 40%, for patients paying their bills within 30 to 60 days, he says.
Haven't yet filed for Social Security? Create a personalized strategy to maximize your lifetime income from Social Security. Order Kiplinger's Social Security Solutions today. | <urn:uuid:6a6cb724-7886-4dfa-ac6e-6c55d586fe21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T037-C000-S004-medical-credit-cards-can-cause-heartburn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959537 | 1,331 | 1.617188 | 2 |
By Scott Austin
With the rapid development of clean-energy technologies, what will our lives look like in the next 20 years? Are we going to be plugging in our cars soon? Will we have a smart meter in our home that tells us our washing machine is leaking?
These questions were posed at the end of a panel on clean energy at last week’s Private Equity Analyst Outlook conference. The panelists – a venture capital investor, a private equity investor and an energy lawyer – each gave their answers, as transcribed below. (For more coverage of this panel, check out this story in VentureWire about how strategic investors will be a major driver of clean-technology investment.)
Tucker Twitmyer, managing director, venture firm EnerTech Capital
From an end-consumers perspective, we think it looks remarkably the way it does today. People are just not interested in managing their daily energy consumption. They want to turn to switch on, wonder how the miracle happens, and enjoy all the benefits of cheap and available energy. And that actually informs a lot of what we do in our investing. In the end, the utilities win. They are regulated monopolies for some very fundamental reasons. And what you will see is – we think, not so much in-home displays – but the ability of central management and control through the electrical wires to reach down and observe and see those new solar arrays – we think hybrid cars more than pure electric – to see all those various things at the edge of this massive network and be able to integrate their vision and their decision making around these millions and billions of devices, as opposed to today where really the only thing they’re integrating is the large central power plant. So the changes will occur back to the core on the infrastructure side much more so than down to the consumer. But we’re all going to love our flat screen TVs and everything else in 20 years.
Christopher Hearn, managing director, private equity firm First Reserve Corp.
The nuance I’d add is, it’s all going to be about electricity, as Tucker suggested. Electricity management is going to be the key. For example, we’re probably more optimistic about the future longer-term penetration of electric vehicles. And that’s informed if you believe that there really will be a societal and continued policy push to eliminate carbon from the general atmosphere as the transportation sector doesn’t really have a material alternative to reduce its carbon exposure other than not having the combustion engine any longer. So electric vehicles could be very prominent in that, combined with smart metering, demand response and other management tools that Tucker was describing.
I think you’ll be in an environment where electricity is going to be much more important in terms of the overall energy mix. Fuels that drive electricity production are going to be important, namely natural gas, longer term, nuclear, and then the renewable technologies that we talked about. Coal is abundant on this planet. There needs to be ways to use it in a lower carbon environment. That’s a long way away, it’s not an investment opp that we’d try to action anytime soon. But all solutions are going to need to be utilized. I guess what it would point you ultimately to is likely a greater concentration of what we call base load power. So electricity that is generated around the clock as opposed to now where we have a very unstable situation in that we need to produce electricity at the snap of a finger to respond to peak demand. I think the peaks and demands will ameliorate over time and that’s going to be speak to the need for greater base load electricity generation.
Hovey Kemp, partner, law firm Goodwin Procter:
This is going to prove in the venture capital and private equity arena – it may take a number of years for people to figure this out – but it’s going to be the mother of all verticals. I think it’s going to follow the health care example, in terms of people who really figure out the governmental aspects. There will be people like Chris’ firm that have already figured out the utility side of this and are going to guide us. I think the innovation is remarkable, and yes, in 20 years we’re going to be a very different society.
Readers, what do you think? | <urn:uuid:c545a987-6538-412d-a333-c167440f6b9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/02/01/what-will-our-clean-energy-future-look-like-in-20-years/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955413 | 901 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Henry Booth (vocals; born March 7, 1934, died 1978), Cal Green (guitar; born June 22, 1935, died July 4, 2004), Arthur Porter (guitar), Lawson Smith (vocals), Charles Sutton (vocals), Norman Thrasher (vocals), Sonny Woods (vocals; born March 6, 1935, died 1984)
Hank Ballard and the Midnighters were one of the greatest R&B vocal groups of the Fifties, setting solid harmonies and sly, risqué lyrics to lively beats. As testimony to their crossover appeal, they scored almost as impressively on the pop chart (15 hits) as they did on the R&B chart (20 hits). Moreover, they topped the R&B chart three times over a six-year period with “Work With Me Annie,” “Annie Had a Baby” and “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go.” The Midnighters’ intricate, full-bodied vocal arrangements complemented Ballard’s forceful leads, and an unbridled electric guitar frequently added to the frenzied party atmosphere.
Ballard was adamant that he and the Midnighters were a group. In fact, he joined them when they were known as the Royals. Formed in 1950, the Detroit-based Royals – all of whom worked at automobile factories in the Motor City – included founder and bass singer Ardra “Sonny” Woods, tenor Henry Booth, baritones Charles Sutton and Freddie Pride, and guitarist/arranger Alonzo Tucker. Lawson Smith replaced Pride, who was drafted. Hank Ballard then replaced Smith, who was himself drafted.
Before the arrival of Ballard, the Royals sang slow ballads in the lush style of vocal groups like Sonny Til and the Orioles. They were discovered in 1952 at an amateur singing competition by Johnny Otis, who was scouting talent for King Records. They released 10 singles as the Royals before changing their name to the Midnighters (in 1954) and then Hank Ballard and the Midnighters (in 1959).
At first Ballard was a background singer, but gradually he began singing leads. His first was “Get It,” released in 1953. In addition to Ballard’s untamed lead, it included a recited passage by bass voice Sonny Woods on the bridge. “Get It” became the Royals’ breakthrough, reaching Number Six on the R&B chart, and it set the tone for the more ribald and uptempo style that would make them popular.
The group’s biggest hit was “Work With Me Annie,” whose blatantly sexual lyrics caused controversy. The song was deemed too obscene for airplay by the FCC, which further fueled its popularity. It was a Number One R&B hit for seven weeks in 1954 and remained on the R&B chart for nearly half a year. However, it didn’t even crack Billboard’s pop chart.
As “Work With Me Annie” (originally written as “Sock It to Me Mary”) was moving up the charts, the Royals were rechristened the Midnighters. Syd Nathan – the head of King Records – ordered the name change to avoid confusion with the “5” Royales, another popular R&B group. Early copies of the single list the Royals on the label, while later pressings list “The Midnighters (Formerly known as the Royals).”
“Work With Me Annie” generated the sequels “Annie Had a Baby” and “Annie’s Aunt Fannie,” which were both banned as well. While denied radio play, all three songs were huge jukebox hits and big sellers. Ballard wrote and sang “Sexy Ways” (Number Two R&B) and “It’s Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)” (Number 10 R&B) in a similarly suggestive style. Despite the raunchy subject matter, Ballard always contended that his biggest influences were gospel groups like the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Sensational Nightingales.
Over the course of a 16-month period in 1954 and 1955, the Midnighters racked up half a dozen sizable R&B hits. Yet three-and-a-half years passed before they made the charts again. There were more personnel changes during this period. Guitarist Arthur Porter, who first appeared on “Work With Me Annie,” took over from Alonzo Tucker in early 1954. Later that year, Porter was replaced by Cal Green, who remained through 1958 and was instrumental in guiding the arrangement of “The Twist.” He was replaced by Billy Davis. Charles Sutton left in late 1954 and was replaced by Lawson Smith, who’d returned from military service, and Norman Thrasher joined as well.
The Midnighters’ first run of hits ended in 1955 and resumed in 1959 with “Teardrops on Your Letter.” While the group’s early success often came with controversial material like “Work With Me Annie,” the hits in their second successful run at the turn of the decade were frequently dance records. Ballard not only recorded the original version of “The Twist” but also introduced the world to the “The Continental Walk,” “The Hoochi Coochi Coo” (Number Three R&B; Number 23 pop), “The Switch-A-Roo” (Number Three R&B, Number 26 pop), “The Coffee Grind” and “The Float.”
“The Twist,” of course, was the biggest of them all, but ironically Ballard was not its main popularizer. Initially released as the B side of “Teardrops On Your Letter,” the Midnighters’ version became a minor R&B hit in 1959. Sixteen months later, in September 1960, Chubby Checker’s nearly identical cover version topped the pop and R&B charts, igniting the twist craze. A reissue of the Midnighters’ version at the same time fared somewhat better the second time round, reaching Number Six R&B and Number 28 pop. Checker’s version itself was re-released in 1962, hitting Number One for a second time – a still-unprecedented feat in chart history – at the peak of the twist phenomenon.
As a piece of music, “The Twist” had a complex and fascinating gestation. While sole authorship is given to Ballard, the song’s initial source was the Sensational Nightingales. Two of its members wrote an original song called “The Twist” and wound up giving it to the Midnighters, as being a spiritual group prevented them from singing secular material. Ballard and guitarist Cal Green reworked the song, adapting it to music that resembled the Drifters’ “What’Cha Gonna Do” whose authorship was attributed to “Nugetre,” a pseudonym for Ahmet Ertegun!).
Ballard cut an unreleased version for Vee-Jay Records in March 1958, during a brief period away from King Records, and then recorded the song for King, to which he re-signed, that November.
One of the most high-spirited and party-minded acts of the R&B era, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters had two of their biggest hits in 1960 with “Finger Poppin’ Time” (Number Two R&B, Number Seven pop) and “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go” (Number One R&B, Number Six pop). The latter was the second biggest hit of their career, after “Work With Me Annie.” At this point in their career, the Midnighters were performing up to 300 shows a year. They recorded prolifically for King, releasing numerous albums in the late Fifties and early Sixties, including three long players that appeared in 1961 alone. However, further personnel changes began taking a toll, and Ballard disbanded the group in 1962 to go solo.
With a resurgence of interest in their work, Ballard re-formed the Midnighters in the Eighties, and they performed and recorded into the Nineties. Ballard succumbed to throat cancer in 2003. Among the inducted members of the Midnighters, Henry Booth, Cal Green, Arthur Porter and Sonny Woods are deceased, as well. | <urn:uuid:eda3df13-bcc2-4113-aa22-7f97341693f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/the-midnighters/bio/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971651 | 1,810 | 1.554688 | 2 |
One can get wrapped up into definitions real easily. There is a tendency to think about SEO only in terms of search engine benefits, but that’s not always the case. Certainly, search engine positioning is the primary benefit to be gained from your SEO efforts. But don’t get locked into thinking that SEO is all about where you stand with Google.
There are other ways to measure your SEO success. For instance, did you know that many smaller search engines and directories get their information from Google, Yahoo!, and the bigger search engines? It’s true. You don’t even have to submit your website to some of these search engines, aggregators, and directories. They will find you. Dogpile.com may not be your No. 1 source of traffic, but it could send you traffic in small doses and that traffic could just as easily convert into sales as any other.
Other sources of traffic, and enhanced SEO benefits, come from sites like StumbleUpon and Digg. The bookmarking sites do not provide primary SEO benefits – at least not in the sense that you should be bookmarking your web pages in order to enhance your SEO. But it’s important to realize that you could be building additional inbound links from these sites when your pages are bookmarked.
Some of the best SEO benefits come from the inbound links you create at social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. You don’t even have to be particularly active in these websites. Just build a profile and your profile link counts as an inbound link as well as any other. Because of the reputation of those sites, those are valuable links.
Directories like DMOZ and SearchSight also offer SEO advantages. Just by creating a listing at those sites, you are building a reputation for yourself that translates into more SEO benefits. You do the same thing when you submit articles to article directories.
Many online marketing strategies carry SEO benefits, even if ever so slightly. While I wouldn’t necessarily use the strategies as SEO tools per se, I am always conscious that there may be SEO benefits to using them and I try to think of the best ways to get the most SEO mileage from the strategies that I do use. Are you doing that? You should be. SEO, while not the be all-end all of everything, should be on the top of your mind always. | <urn:uuid:08388cb1-5903-41f8-8a09-70b9d1b1b954> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/seo-applications/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954276 | 490 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Announcement looms on meat processing regulations
North Okanagan farmers may finally know if they can slaughter meat on their own and conduct farm-gate sales.
Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick will provide details on a new provincial meat inspection system at the Schubert Centre Friday at 2 p.m.
"The announcement will include specific details to benefit North Okanagan small farm owners," states a government media advisory.
The number of North Okanagan producers has gone from 1,200 to 300 since meat processing regulations came into force in 2007.
The Regional District of North Okanagan has stated that the current rules have had a negative impact on families and the local economy.
The regional district’s Electoral Area Advisory Committee recently voted to write the provincial government and demand slaughter licences for North Okanagan farmers. | <urn:uuid:066212c9-a63b-4fbb-a990-b76dbc71bd32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/192363211.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949776 | 170 | 1.5625 | 2 |
CodeRed coming to Chisago County this year
System in Washington County has had positive results
This month Chisago County Sheriff’s personnel will begin training on the new CodeRed® safety notification system. This is a web-based service that allows county and city officials to reach thousands of citizens in just a few minutes to warn them of imminent danger.
The warnings can be sent instantly to land line phones, cell phones, e-mail and text messaging. CodeRED® operators can map out specific areas of the county to receive a warning. Alerts might be sent in the event of severe weather, flash floods, fires, escaped prisoners, burglaries, and other emergency situations.
CodeRed™ is up and running right now, but we are in the process of compiling a list of phone numbers from public records.
We realize this will not include very many cell phones, so starting in May, citizens will have an opportunity to go to the Chisago County website at www.co.chisago.mn.us and enter a phone number and/or e-mail address.
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses will be kept private and will not be used for any purpose other than the emergency warning system. Citizens who do not wish to receive the alerts will be able to opt out.
I have been following the progress of CodeRED® since they launched it a year ago in Washington County. Here are some recent examples of how the system has served Washington County residents in potential danger.
In late March, a vulnerable adult wandered away from a senior center in Mahtomedi. She was not wearing her safety bracelet. The sheriff’s office was notified and quickly sent out a CodeRED® alert to residents in the area.
Within three minutes, a citizen who received the alert spotted the woman and notified the sheriff’s office. The woman was reunited with her family just 45 minutes after she went missing.
On Friday two weeks ago, the Forest Lake Police Department sent out a CodeRED® alert to homeowners along Highway 97 between Forest Lake and Scandia. The alert involved a series of daytime burglaries in that area.
The message included a detailed description of a suspect and his vehicle. On the Monday following the Friday alert, a citizen who received the alert spotted the vehicle parked at a residence in Scandia, with the trunk open and the engine running.
The citizen called authorities, who responded immediately, found the suspect still inside the home, and arrested him.
I am impressed with these reports from our neighbor county, and eagerly anticipate implementing CodeRED™ in Chisago County.
I believe it is a very cost effective way to help keep our county residents safe in the event of threats, whether from nature or human actions such as terrorism or crime.
We are able to pay the entire cost of launching this program from our 2012 general fund, which is based on a county levy that has not risen since 2009.
I am sure most of my constituents will want to be included on the CodeRED® alert list. If you have a standard land line you will probably already be on the list, but once the website link is up and running in May, you might want to check to make sure.
Most cell phones and e-mail addresses will not initially be on the list, so you will need to add them. Please watch local media for an announcement as to when the CodeRED® website will be in operation, or check the county website in May.
I am going to take advantage of this system for myself and my family, and I encourage readers to do the same.
Chisago County Commissioner Ben Montzka represents Stacy, Wyoming and part of Chisago City. He can be reached at [email protected] or 651-462-4200. | <urn:uuid:0377bd6d-ab87-40e6-8b1d-11dd2f78335c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forestlaketimes.com/2012/04/18/codered-coming-to-chisago-county-this-year/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951212 | 790 | 1.546875 | 2 |
President Obama and the first lady will speak at a memorial service in Tucson tomorrow for the victims of the shooting, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reported.
The Washington Post: “Now the question becomes, when Obama next addresses the nation, what he will say… Obama is likely to deliver a speech about tolerance, a theme that could also be featured in his State of the Union address on Jan. 25. However, with liberals and conservatives assuming their assigned battle stations over whether gun laws and partisan rhetoric are to blame, the White House is undecided about the exact message the president will send.”
NPR notes, “In the past, presidents have been able to unify the country during moments like these. But in today's hyperpartisan political climate, even those potentially unifying moments can be hard to pull off.”
The New York Daily News looks at the difference between President Obama and NYC Mayor Bloomberg on how they talk about guns.
The gun debate: “In the wake of the attempted assassination of a member of Congress, politicians on both sides of the aisle are passionately debating the role of incendiary rhetoric,” Politico writes. “Very few of them are talking about guns… The fact that the shooting does not appear to be prompting an episode of hand-wringing is exactly the way the gun lobby likes it. That the gun issue has been so secondary, and the approach to the gun component of the incident so tentative, indicates the extent to which the issue has subsided in the past decade. A bipartisan truce is in effect on gun control issues in Washington -- a truce on the National Rifle Association’s terms.”
The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson: “We may not be sure that the bloodbath in Tucson had anything to do with politics, but we know it had everything to do with our nation's insane refusal to impose reasonable controls on guns.”
“Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik introduced the issue strongly during a press conference,” NPR notes. ‘I have never been a proponent of letting everybody in this state carry weapons under any circumstances that they want and that's almost where we are,’ he said.”
Vice President Biden was in Afghanistan yesterday; so was Mitt Romney.
And another tragedy: “An energy lobbyist, the wife of an aide to President Obama, died yesterday in a fiery car crash in the garage of her Washington home,” Bloomberg News writes, adding, “A police statement said the vehicle crashed in the interior of the garage, igniting a fire that engulfed the car and the garage… The Washington Police Department’s major crash investigations unit is probing the accident. | <urn:uuid:2063fdb5-f020-45e0-9356-164145fdf71f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/01/11/5813366-obama-agenda-raising-arizona | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960178 | 554 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Hey! Check Out These Cool Links
Believe it or not, something besides fingerstyle guitar exists in the world. I know, sometimes I forget, too.
This is a page of what I think are cool links. They may not all be about how to play the guitar. But they will all have something to benefit the fingerstyle guitarist.
New links will be added as they're discovered. The easiest way way to keep up with what's added is with a RSS subscription.
This info will tell you how to do that.
Check out these Cool Links.
- Bob Brozman wears many different hats. He is a dynamic musician and entertainer who is a formally educated ethnomusicologist. He's also one of the worlds pre-eminent authorities on National resophonic guitars. He appears in concerts and workshops all over the world.
In his travels he's noted the lack of basic musical supplies in some of the locales that he works in. Common everyday items like acoustic guitar and ukelele strings, thumbpicks and fingerpicks, small tuners, sets of tuning GEARS, bone nuts and saddles, bridge pins, and ukuleles.
He is now accepting donations of any of these items. He then ships them, at his own expense, to communities where they're needed.
If you'd like to help with this project, contact him at [email protected].
- The Uncle Bob Project, another project associated with Brozman, shows musicians in the developing world how to build their own low-cost instruments. Click on the sound samples, you'll be amazed at the sound!
- I've started using a transcibing program called Transcribe! It let's me slow down a recording without the pitch of the notes changing. This has been really good for learning fingerstyle songs by ear.
They have it for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems if you want to check it out.
- When I decided to build a website I wasn't sure where to start. After a lot of research I decided to use SiteBuildIt!
I chose them because I was such a newbie. But, as I got into it, I discovered that even some very net savvy people use it.
It's worth looking into if you've ever thought about starting an online business.
- Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop is a great resource for fingerstyle guitarists. I've used several of his instructional methods in my own practice and have really benefited from them. Plus, they're a great value for the money.
- who-sang-that-song.com is a cool site. Have you ever tried to remember who recorded a song or what the exact title is? This site can help answer those questions.
- Guitar RepairBench A site dedicated to providing the best instructional articles about guitar repair, maintenance, and guitar building on the web, so you can repair your own guitars.
- TablEdit is a good source for free tablature. They also have a great music notation program. You should check them out.
- If you're looking to build repetoire, check out Dan C. Holloway's site. He teaches a wide variety of tunes arranged for fingerstyle guitar.
- Teach Yourself Piano - Learn how toplay the piano with free tips and tutorials. | <urn:uuid:a500b1b8-c102-46f9-b5be-8a1986d10b69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.learn-fingerstyle-guitar.com/CoolLinks.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959923 | 693 | 1.546875 | 2 |
It’s not really in his power, I know, but may be should be more than concerned about the 20 or so US states that still have homosexual acts criminalised…
More do as my country says not as my country does politics from the Americans. I feel sorry for all those LGBT people across America who daily face discrimination from the state. LGBT discrimination should be a federal crime in America.
When Bush refused to sign the declaration this ‘made it the only western state not to offer its support.’
Genuine question here. Is the Vatican regarded as a state for this purpose ? I am sure I read somewhere that they also refused to sign the declaration.
A very welcome, very necessary move, even if overdue.
It sends a message of hope to those in really oppressive countries. And for anyone to say America, with its Virginia Statute declaration, has no right to criticise Sharia-fascist theocracies needs their head examined. Chomskyite far-left relativist claptrap. Silence equals consent.
NB Homosexual acts are NOT criminalised anymore in the USA, since 2003.
The Vatican did not refuse to sign; its not a member of the UN but it told other countries not to sign! Well done Mr President!
I am overwhelmed that President Obama is signing this. I wish we would also sign this declaration to effect all of the U.S. 50 states. We still have 32 states with anti gay laws on the books.
I am proud that President Obama is signing this. I only wish that he would include all of the United States. We have 32 states that still discriminates againt homosexuals.
I am glad to see Pres. Obama signing this declaration. Now, the Supreme Court needs to take on same-sex marriage. I am convinced that, after years of defeats and few victories, marriage equality will have to be effected by the Supreme Court, as was the case with interracial marriage.
Please, Mr Obama… can I have a pony?
I’m all for the U.S. signing this decriminalization act. However, they need to put their money where their mouth is. Not giving rights to gay people in the U.S. is sending a mixed message. “We won’t consider you a criminal, and we don’t want other countries to, either, but, we also won’t give you any Federal rights. We might, but we have to study the issue first….”
Odds of any islamic country taking notice of this toothless declaration? 1,000,000/1
Yes but people we have to get there eventually. This is a significant proposition through the good auspices of the French. If we don’t keep trying we get no where against the militant religions! | <urn:uuid:c32a88d4-e9db-4ea6-b6f3-c1ce237b44b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/03/18/obama-to-sign-worldwide-gay-rights-declaration/comments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962096 | 579 | 1.53125 | 2 |
What could be more joyful than an exhibition celebrating one of Mother Natures' greatest gifts, flowers. Floral abundance has long been a theme beloved by artists. Ancient civilizations used floral motifs as adornment. Floral symbolism played an important part in early religious art, whilst by the 1400's Northern European artists were refining the genre of still life painting. Today, works by Patricia Payne and Marietta embody these historical artistic traditions.
It is with great pleasure and excitement that we welcome Canadian based Gabryel Harrison to International Art Centre. Born in Tauranga, Gabryel completed her Fine Arts Degree at the University of Ottawa in 1980 and has since painted and exhibited in Vancouver.
The fine portraiture of Philip Holmes and unique talents of Eugenea result in works of outstanding quality complimented by the luminous watercolours of Ted Sherwen.
Paul Coney's magnificent large scale oil paintings were the initial inspiration for this exhibition and his new offerings are remarkable.
The late Belgium born Impressionist Gaston de Vel contributed a great deal to the New Zealand art scene, so it is of special note that this exhibition showcases Gaston's exuberant florals. A delightful small oil by John Weeks and a larger work by Peter McIntyre also feature, along with works by Italian artists Paolo Canetti and Maria Serafina.
Melbourne based artist Tracy Ellerton infuses her canvases with contemporary edginess. Peony roses crown and cloak her animal subjects as they engage, entertain and delight the viewer.
In closing, I wish to extend sincere thanks to these gifted and artists and the wonderful International Art Centre team who have so ably assisted with curating this special exhibition. As we celebrate 40 fabulous years in business warmest wishes and thanks to you, our valued friends and clients.
Frances Davies - Director | <urn:uuid:99019cac-23ef-4d25-aa30-2fde5c21e801> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.internationalartcentre.co.nz/exhibitions/exhibitionCatalog.lsd?e=fleurs | 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 | 0.956981 | 377 | 1.539063 | 2 |
CHENNAI: Why is the autorickshaw sector in the city so unregulated? Pose this question to any resident and the response would be: "Most of the autos are owned by policemen and politicians. Why would they take action?"
To clear away such presumptions and ensure that autos run in the interest of the people, the transport department will soon start taking steps to "streamline the system". In a meeting on Thursday, senior transport department officials instructed regional transport officers (RTOs) to identify owners with more than one permit. "Permits are given to help auto drivers gain self-employment and one person having more than one permit defeats the purpose," said an official.
There are two types of permits. One is the owner-cum-driver permit and the other is meant for those who just own an auto, giving them the freedom to rent it to others. "The first type gets misused as there are certain subsidies that come with it," said an official. The owner-cum-driver gets a subsidy of 2,000 to install a LPG cylinder. "The permit also gives special financing options for drivers to own an auto. Often, this permit is bought by those who do not drive," said the official.
RTO officials, however, say the 'streamlining' is not going to be easy. "It will be difficult to identify the owners. But if we have conclusive proof, we will cancel their permits," said the official. In 2008, the state government made it mandatory for all new autorickshaws in Chennai to run on LPG. To see how many actually did, the transport department recently did a check and found that 41,700 of the 66,679 autorickshaws ran on LPG.
Officials claim that the days of policemen owning autorickshaws ended after Tamil Nadu adopted an 'open permit' system. "In the 1990s, permits were limited and were auctioned off by many, including policemen. But in 2007, the government opened up the system and more people began owning autorickshaws," said an official.
Members of auto driver unions agree. "Banks started giving loans and made it easier for one to purchase an autorickshaw. I feel that about 60% of the autos now are owned by the drivers themselves," said M S Rajendran, president of CITU-affiliated auto drivers union. | <urn:uuid:ebad128a-652c-4c3a-a66f-b4eae881cd65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-17/chennai/34524258_1_auto-drivers-new-autorickshaws-m-s-rajendran | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975976 | 494 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The seven or so Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are popular with the grade school set because they expresses a point of view that many young readers can identify with: the smart kid, the essentially good kid who's picked on and not remotely considered "cool." But how many cool kids are there, anyway? They're all in the minority, and as young Greg Heffley writes in the journal his mom gave him, they'll all be working for him one day.
The books, which have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, constitute "sort of a mythology built around my family, my growing up," author Jeff Kinney said in a ComicMix interview. And of course it's the exaggerated or "mythic" elements that make for much of the humor.
My son loves the books, even as a thirteen year old. But for reasons he couldn't put his finger on, he was disappointed by the first film adaptation of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (2010). I took a look at the books after watching the movie and think I know why. Something intangible was lost in translation. I thought it was the immediacy of Kinney's crude line drawings coupled with the humorous middle-school point of view that made the books effective. When you convert to a live-action movie, it's basically no different from adapting a comic book for the big screen. It's an entirely different medium, and things change.
For what it's worth, my son said he liked "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" better. Why? "Because the jokes weren't as stupid," he told me. Again, I have my own theory. I think the first installment sagged a big under the weight of having to introduce the characters for a screen audience AND figure out how to transfer to the big screen the concept of those line drawings and the journal entries that the fictional Greg Heffley used to document his middle school years. With "Rodrick Rules," we jump right into the vignettes that shape each of the "Wimpy Kid" books. It's brisker, and maybe the difference-maker is as simple as a change in direction from Thor Freudenthal ("Hotel for Dogs") to David Bowers ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "Flushed Away").
But no amount of moviemaking magic can alter the fact that the books--and, consequently, the films--are intended for a young audience, not a wide range of ages. Parents watching the second installment won't find it quite as tedious as the first, though. Partly that's because parents are invited to see things from their children's perspective, and that can be an eye-opener. In "Rodrick Rules," the boys' parents (Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris) are tired of the two of them fighting all the time, and so Susan Heffley decides to give out "Mom Bucks" for good behavior. The interesting thing is, older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick) and young Greg (Zachary Gordon) draw closer to each other not because of Mom's "carrots," but because of the threat of her "stick." When the parents leave and Rodrick uses their absence as an opportunity to throw a party at the Heffley house that Greg also attends with his friend, Greg helps him get the house back in shape and "cover up" any dead giveaways that they've been up to mischief. As in warfare, there's nothing like a common cause against a common enemy to bring testy people closer together.
That's the main plot thread in "Rodrick Rules," but there's more. Greg is starting seventh grade and feeling relieved when he sees the sixth graders getting picked on. But he still has crosses to bear, including his own inability to approach a girl he likes (Peyton List as Holly). It's the heartwarming and poignant moments that give this film heft, but while the laughs come more frequently in the sequel than in the original, there still aren't enough--and certainly not enough laugh-out-loud moments. Gordon and Bostick are asked to carry the movie, and they do a great job of shouldering the burden, with a little help from Robert Capron, who plays Greg's sidekick Rowley. And what's not to love about a movie in which the older brother's band is called Löded Diaper?
"Rodrick Rules" comes to Blu-ray via an AVC/MPEG-4 transfer to a 50GB disc, and I saw no problems. Colors are intentionally oversaturated to produce a cheery, slick surface that might come close to a cartoon, and edge delineation is superb. There's lots of detail here, most evident, as always, in heavily textured surfaces. There's a very slight layer of film grain, though, which keeps it looking like a film. Fans should have no complaints. "Rodrick Rules" is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
The featured soundtrack is an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 that's clear as a bell and includes no distortion. Ambient sounds could have been ramped up a bit more, though, as the rear speakers really seem a bit flaccid and underused. The only additional audio option is a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track, with subtitles in English SDH and Spanish.
Not much here. I've always wondered why anyone bothered to create a commentary track for a kids movie. Pop-up trivia track, I could understand, but what audience of kids wants to hear people talking about the movie? I think a better format would have been a conversation at a table with director Bowers and author Kinney, or with Kinney taking Bowers on a tour of his art studio and the two of them talking for five minutes about the film and why they did what they did. Other than that, there are 10 super-short deleted scenes with optional commentary by Bowers, an even shorter gag reel, the trailer, and a nine-minute collage of the young cast in character talking about their summer hijinks. Oh, and there's BD-Live connectivity, if anyone cares.
If you don't think about a classic kids point-of-view childhood reminiscence like "A Christmas Story," or "Wonder Years," you'll walk away thinking "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" is a fairly successful and entertaining film. But how can you avoid comparisons like that? Still, this film was a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award Winner, and that has to count for something. | <urn:uuid:0d7adf85-3d90-4be9-9831-984eaf545303> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moviemet.com/review/diary-wimpy-kid-rodrick-rules-blu-ray | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975537 | 1,366 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Following Schumann’s move to the Rhine, where he had become the musical director of the Düsseldorf Music Society, times became hard for him. Despite several initial successes, he increasingly encountered resistance from notabilities, musicians and the public. He thus worked all the more intensively at home on his new works. “R. has composed three piano pieces of a very serious, passionate character, which greatly please me”, Clara Schumann wrote in her diary in September 1851. Our edition of these “Fantasy Pieces”, which display a certain affinity with the Romances op. 28, has been thoroughly revised and an informative preface has been added. | <urn:uuid:da303259-ffe1-446f-984b-429c2af2e861> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boosey.com/shop/prod/Schumann-Robert-Fantasy-Pieces-3-Op-111-Piano/2030256 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983492 | 143 | 1.710938 | 2 |
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