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“Better Than One” by Calla Carter was a heartfelt and personal piece about what could have been a life changing experience. Calla set the mood by talking about how anxious she was and describing her emotions of finally meeting her mom. It was clear this day was important by the amount of money the narrator spent for just a few hours with her birth mother. You could feel the tension as the barrater awaits her mothers arrival. Many people who are adopted could relate to this piece and the feelings of wanting to meet their biological parent. When the narrator’s mother cancels it is extremely unexpected and gave the piece a surprise twist. | <urn:uuid:93e6fc29-201f-4e0e-b295-d2aa3516198d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/letters_to_the_editor/article/457975/Better-Than-One/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9851 | 130 | 1.625 | 2 |
The War of the Worlds
[banner removed by admin, please keep banners within 300px by 150 px] I wish I could tell you that the world is a wonderful to live in…but I’d be lying. Unless you think living in a world where the Vampires are at war with the Werewolves. Not many humans are living free, never mind living a wonderful life. Those who don’t live locked up under vampire rule are either hiding or are in the resistance. My name is Isabella Swan and I am a human.
1. Chapter 1
Rating 5/5 Word Count 3022 Review this Chapter
I wish I could tell you that the world is a wonderful to live in…but I’d be lying. Unless you think living in a world where the Vampires are at war with the Werewolves, it started long before the time I was born. From the stories, I’ve heard it all started during our Civil War. Apparently the Vampires used the gory battles to cover their feedings. I guess one thing led to another and next thing everyone knew there were more Vampires then humans. There were rumors that the war originated in the south. Supposedly the vampire’s had their own wars running ramped down there, and when they got out of control they spread and intertwined with ours. I’ve always wondered what life would be like if that had never happened.
Not many humans are living free, never mind living a wonderful life. Those who don’t live locked up under vampire rule are either hiding or are in the resistance. My name is Isabella Swan and I am a human. I live in the interment town of Forks, Washington. Internment camps or towns, house most of the human populations. They only serve two purposes; the first is to continue populating for future feedings and the second, BWP’S or breedings with a purpose. BWP’s receive better treatment since they are to be future vampires. They get the better housing, food and education. They are chosen because they have a latent ability. The feeders aren’t treated very well, once they can’t donate blood on a weekly basis, they are removed from the town. No one really knows where they go, they just disappear. Every person is required to donate a pint of blood every week, there were no exceptions unless you were pregnant.
The next rule is at the age of sixteen, if you have not chosen a mate, one was provided for you. This rule scares me the most because I turned sixteen yesterday. I am expected to be auctioned off to a mate at noon today. The fact that I am a BWP won’t help me my latent ability is not a very exciting one. Who really has a need for a metal shield. The three ruling Master’s Aro, Marcus, and Caius will expect me and my mate to produce children until I turn eighteen, when I will be transformed into a vampire. Then I will be expected to remain with my mate for as long as I exist. What if he is the worst of the worst? I’ve seen when this has happened before, it wasn’t pretty.
When noon finally arrived I was sitting on my bed bunk with my bag packed just waiting for the guard to bring me to the Masters. I made sure I was in immaculate condition for this meeting, hoping it would help me be well perceived, every hair in place, well washed and wearing a standard bleached white cotton dress. I flinched when Demitri arrived to retrieve me, he always makes my skin crawl by the way he glares at me. Knowing already what was expected of me, I followed three feet behind him to the meeting chamber. Seeing the masters face to face was an unnerving experience.
“Good Afternoon Isabelle, you are here to be auctioned off as a mate, so if you would please strip off your clothes and stay very still while your examined.”
“Yes master,” never tacking my eyes off the floor, I dropped my dress to the floor and blushed every shade of red humanly possible.
“Ah Carlisle, welcome my old friend, I hope your trip wasn’t a terrible one.”
“Thank you Aro, our trip was uneventful, thank you for inviting us to this auction, my son has been a bit reluctant to find his own mate, so now I will be doing it for him.” I wonder if his son is a nice vampire? What am I saying? There are no nice vampires!
“Well…here is our next potential buyer. Good afternoon Garrett.”
“Yes same to you, can we move this along, I need to be getting back to Seattle,” from his attitude all I can hope is that he doesn’t want me.
“Yes of course, we are waiting for just one move guest and here he is now.”
“Welcome James, is so nice you could join us.”
“Yeah whatever, is this the bitch? She doesn’t look like much,” good lord he hates me!
“Yes, well she is a BWP of the highest quality, pure as the driven snow and a mental shield potential. The bidding is to start at ten gold bars so please feel free to examine her before we start.”
I felt like a piece of cattle the way they checked my hair, teeth, skin and bones. James just kept belittling me; Garrett was mumbling to himself, Carlisle was the gentlest probably because he barely examined me at all. Once they all were done I felt so dirty and mishandled. Aro started the bidding and my stomach dropped, James was the first to jump at the lowest bid. For the first few rounds it was between James and Garrett going back and forth and just when Garrett bowed out, Carlisle doubled James’s last bid. James was furious, you could hear him swearing under his breath as relented.
“Very well done Carlisle, it would seem Isabella will be returning home with you for a mere forty gold bars which I assume you brought with you today.”
“Of course, your men can follow me outside and retrieve it. If Isabella wouldn’t mind putting her clothes and this travel cloak on, we’ll be ready to travel back.”
And it was all over, I was now his property. I could only hope his son wouldn’t kill me before I was turned. James was still fuming as I followed Carlisle out to the waiting black SUV, I risked a quick peek from under my hood and saw Carlisle’s traveling companions. The two other vampire’s were waiting at the back of his SUV. The little spiky haired female was grinning and clapping but the male with the blond wavy hair looked like a force to be reckoned with. I froze until the Female grabbed be by the hand and led me into the back seat. At least she wasn’t rough with me. The male was handling the gold transfer while Carlisle got into the drivers seat.
“Tell me I got the right one Alice.”
“Yes Carlisle, she is the one for Edward, I have seen it, he will be very happy.” I’m glad he will, but what about me?
“Lets go Jasper, we have a long ride back to Alaska.” Well, at least I know their names now.
It was a good four hours before we stopped at the side of the road. Alice hopped out first and extended her hand to me, I gathered she wanted me to follow even though she never said anything to me directly. Cautiously I followed her hoping she wasn’t going to make me into her dinner. When she motioned to the back of a bush, I got her drift this would be my make shift bathroom. I was so in need of it, I almost didn’t care. I still hadn’t been instructed to remove my hood so I hadn’t seen any of the scenery during the last stretch of the drive. Once Alice and I were back in the back seat Carlisle just speed off, so I guess eating was out of the question. Dozing off occasionally seem to make the ride go quicker, finally I just snuggled against the window and fell asleep for the night.
When I finally woke in the morning I stole a quick peek out my window before returning my eyes to the watching the floor. We had finally reached Alaska, it was beautiful what little I saw of it. It took another six hours before we pulled into Denali, Alaska. From what I could tell it was even more remote then Forks, the roads or lack there of was a dead give away. That’s when my calm exterior started to erode, I felt like I had dozens of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Luckily Alice led me into the foyer before she released my hand. I knew better then to move from where she left me. Once I felt the all too familar breeze of a vampire moving I held my breath and waited for his next move.
“So this is her? The one from your vision?”
“Yes it is and she is quiet lovely, Carlisle paid more then usual but she will be worth it.”
“We shall see, what’s her name?”
“Her name is Isabella.”
“Isabella remove your hood.”
Fear seemed to be my new best friend because no matter how beautiful and musical his voice was it sent shivers down my spine. All my brain was doing was running over everything he might find wrong with me. So very slowly I placed my hands on the hood of my cloak and slowly slide it back until it slide the rest of the way by itself. All I heard was a quick in take of breath before there was nothing but silence. I could feel everyone looking at me but had no idea what anyone was thinking. I guess they were waiting on Edward to voice his opinion but he remained quiet for the time being. I reluctantly peeked up from under my eye lashes to see the most beautiful looking man I have ever seen. With a snap of his fingers two girls scrambled to my side, taking me by my hands as they led me towards an exquisite staircase that led to the second floor and then to the third floor. Only stopping when we reached the first door on the right side of the hallway.
When the door was opened for me all I could see was an overly large bedroom, it was the most beautiful room I have ever seen. All the walls were painted pure white save one, that wall was made entirely of windows that were filled with the scenery of the forest and mountains behind them. The walls were covered with shelves that were filled with music and books. In the center of the back wall was a king sized bed covered in white and gold bedding.
“Master Edward wants you to be washed before he finishes his inspection of you,” one of the said as she motioned for me to enter the bathroom.
After nodding I went to take my first shower in what I could only hope will be my new home, if I passed the rest of the inspection of course. The bathroom was the size of the bedroom I shared with three others back in Forks. Before I even had a chance to remove my dress the girls scurried in and started filling the large tub. They took over removing my clothing before helping my into the tub, which smelled like fresh strawberries. I wasn’t even allowed to wash myself or shampoo my own hair. From their attentive ways I would say this is their only job here, they were personal servants. I really wanted to talk to them but wasn’t sure if it was allowed and I didn’t want them to get in any trouble because of me. Once they had completely dried me from head to toe, even going as far as placing two French braids in my hair, they dressed me in a very soft and flowing purple satin gown that went to the floor.
“Master Edward will be up shortly,” the taller of the two informed me before they left me.
It felt like an eternity before the door opened and Edward strolled in with Carlisle. He stopped short and hissed when he saw me staring out the windows. I really wasn’t sure what to do next so I did what was always expected at examinations, I ducked my head and started to slide the straps off my shoulders, before I even had one lowered his cold hand was on my shoulder indicating he didn’t want me to continue. I guess I was wrong to hope that he might want me, apparently just seeing me without my cloak was enough for him to decide he didn’t want me. Why this made me want to cry I don’t know. Wrapping my arms around myself I tried to keep my rejection from showing, but on the inside I was falling apart. Just when I thought I couldn’t get anymore embarrassed my stomach growled from not eating since yesterday. When I opened my mouth to beg for forgiveness Edward tapped my chin effectively shutting my mouth with a clanking of my teeth. He just walked out with Carlisle following him. What did this mean, would he be sending back? Selling me to someone else or would he be putting me to work in the mines? I slumped to the floor to continue my inner rantings when the door opened again, it was the same two girls each carrying as tray of food. They gasped when they saw me on the floor.
“Mister Edward would kill us both if saw you on the floor, do you want us to die?”
“No, never…but I don’t think you have to worry about that…he doesn’t want me,” I whispered softly.
“Apparently you didn’t see how he looks at you. I have never seen him stare at anyone before.”
“Angela is right, he doesn’t even acknowledge humans around him, but your different. And did you hear him hiss when he saw you?”
“Yes I heard him but he didn’t even bother looking at me after that except to stop me from….” I couldn’t even finished the sentence after that because the tears were threatening to fall from my eyes again.
“He has instructed us to call you Mistress Isabelle so your definitely staying.”
“That’s because his father said he was taking the choice out of his hands, you see he is stuck with me whether he wants me or not.” I probably shouldn’t have been pouting but I really hoped he would like me.
“Please sit on the bed and eat your dinner, if he comes back and your not happy, it’s our hides on the line.” I had lost my appetite when he walked away from me but for their sakes, I would force myself to eat at least some of the food they brought.
I really don’t know why it bothered me that he didn’t like me. I guess it could be worst. I could live in a loveless relationship as long as he wasn’t mean to me and it would only be for two years. Then I would a vampire and free to find my own mate if he didn’t mark me as his. The practice of marking was biting to change me instead of the common day injections from a metal syringe. This practice was put in place when too many people were killed instead of changed. Eventually I gave up eating all together and just laid down staring out the window.
“Please leave, I’ll call you when she needs you in the morning,” he was back but I couldn’t tell from the tone of his voice if he was angry or not.
When I felt the bed shift I knew he had joined me. “Isabella, please look at me,” his voice was much softer now. I wondered what the change was as I rolled to face him.
“I’m sort of new at this so forgive me if I do this wrong,” he said as he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to him.
I was lost in his aroma when he breathed on my face. It was the most intoxicating scent I had ever smelt. My eyes were darting back and forth between his pitch black eyes and ruby red lips when he chuckled at me. “Do you want me to kiss you, Isabella?”
I was panting when he asked again “Isabella? Please answer me, do you want me to kiss you?”
“Yes…I do,” I finally breathed out, before he slowly inched his head closer. I couldn’t believe he actually wanted to kiss me, maybe it was just curiosity.
The moment his lips brushed against mine I felt like I was electrified. It was absolutely the greatest thing I had ever felt and found I was desperate for more. “Breathe Isabella,” he whispered against my lips. I knew forgot to do something, I was willing to suffocate if he was willing to keep kissing me.
I whimpered when he pulled back, even if it was only an inch it felt like a mile. “I know, I feel the same way,” he whispered before kissing me again more eagerly. The feelings he was invoking inside me were beyond anything I expected. Before I knew what was happening he gently traced my lips with his tongue this sheer act caused me to moan into his mouth. That’s when he surprised me by slipping his tongue into my mouth, it was happily greeted by my own. His tongue continued to message mine and each time he did it was like a a signal running directly to the secret area between my tights.
I was so lost in the kissing that I hadn’t realized I had intertwined my hands into his copper hair, causing him to deepen our kiss just a little further. When I couldn’t suppress the urge any longer I started tugging lightly at first and harder when I heard him purring for me. Just when I thought we were ready for more he flung himself against the wall panting heavily.
“Did I…do something…wrong,” What did I do?
“No, don’t move, I’ll be right back.”
God at the moment I tried to fight back the tears but failed miserably, so giving up completely, I just let myself fall apart totally. I gave myself over to the misery letting in dig itself a deep tunnel into my chest. I sobbed heavily until I fell deeply asleep. | <urn:uuid:fe695819-8de9-4f07-8ba3-1ecae3fe24ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.twilightarchives.com/read/8821/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98685 | 3,989 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The Mekong: A long, soft riverPosted: May 31, 2011
A version of this article originally appeared in East Magazine.
By Roy Hamric
“The Mekong, it’s just a long, soft river.”––Jack Kerouac, in After Me, the Deluge
The bus pulled into Chiang Khan on the Mekong River as the sun fell behind the mountains lined up like sharks’ teeth to the north in Laos. Moments before, I had traced the Mekong’s blue line on a map. It marked the Mekong River journey I would take riding in cheap buses down a 650-kilometer course along the Laotian-Thai border. The bus pulled onto Chiang Khan’s main road lined with rustic, wood buildings and teak wood guesthouses. At the Suk Som Baan Hotel, the ping of raindrops sounded on the tin roof. The small white room with its simple metal bed frame and white sheets and teak wood flooring were straight out of a Joseph Conrad story. Beyond the three open windows, two-deck Chinese junks loaded with felled trees were docked on the riverbank. The window view framed a misty picture of the pearl-gray Mekong and the blue-green shoreline of Laos on the far side. I dozed off that night to the high-pitched squeaks of jing-jok lizards scampering across the walls. It was a perfect start to a Mekong River journey through sleepy Laotian river towns. My plan was to start on the Thai side of the Mekong, to cross to the Laotian side at Non Khai for a visit to Vientiane, the capital, and then to take ordinary buses along the Mekong River south until it disappeared into Cambodia.
After breakfast, I hired a longboat pilot to give me my first taste of one of the longest most mystery-filled rivers in the world. The difference between the river’s two sides was clear the night before. Only two or three lights could be seen on the Laotian side. The boatman shoved off to parse his course through the swiftly flowing river, around large tree limbs and uprooted trees being swept downstream. On the Laotian side, dozens of bamboo fish traps rested on the bank. Old men and children splashed in the water to chase in fish. Families bathed. Two naked kids wearing Santa Claus hats stopped splashing water on each other to wave hello.
About 5 miles down the river the boatman gunned his 20-horsepower engine through the Kang Kood Koo rapids before turning to circle back to Chiang Khan. He pointed to a grassy water line 25 higher, where the river had crested only one month ago. In Chiang Khan, the rooftops of the buildings were dotted with red satellite dishes mounted on the shop houses sitting next to the river on slender wood beams like very still dark spiders.
My first boat ride on the Mekong River fulfilled a long-held dream. I had pictured its tiny rivulets beginning high in the eastern mountains of Tibet before heading southward, passing through six countries before finally fanning out into Vietnam’s southern delta in hundreds of web-like streams. For much of its 2,800-mile course, the Mekong River was still a natural, free river. Three bridges span the river in Southeast Asia, one at Vientiane, built in 1990; one in Pakse, Laos, opened in 2000, and one recently completed in Vietnam.
China has built seven dams on the Mekong, in Yunnan Province, but so far the river is undammed in Southeast Asia, where it remains a main artery of travel and sustenance. But, the river’s wildest days are clearly over. China plans to build six more dams along its course. It’s estimated the river’s full hydroelectric potential is equal to the annual petroleum production of Indonesia. China now controls its flow through Southeast Asia. Laos and Thailand have built dams on Mekong tributaries. Laos is counting on exporting hydroelectric energy as a capital resource to energy-starved countries. Proposals to put more dams on the Mekong in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam haven’t yet borne fruit, but its only a matter of time.
“Without doubt, no other river, over such a length, has a more singular or remarkable character.”––Francis Garnier, co-leader, French Commission Expedition to the Mekong River, 1866.
The next morning I boarded a bus to Nong Khai. An ancient, battered TV and CD player was wired above the driver’s seat. A Thai teenager scanned a magazine with nude centerfolds, and two foreigners were speaking Dutch. The Mekong flowed by only a few hundred feet away for most of the ride. Willem Leutner, in his fifties, a red-cheeked high school psychology teacher, was on holiday. He was being befriended by a barefooted, drunken Thai man, who was shouting louder and louder as if that could make Leutner understand Thai. The driver and passengers all ignored the drunk, his slurred speech and his embarrassing encounter with the foreigner.
“In Thailand,” Leutner said, “most rural people believe in spirits. That means this man is not himself now. He’s under the control of an evil spirit, and if they do something to embarrass him they make him lose face, plus they would also lose face too because they would have to show their emotions. Thais always try not to show their emotions in public. They feel sorry for someone who does. So they just ignore him.”
It was his third trip to Thailand. “The Dutch are the Chinese of Europe,” he said. “You will see us everywhere.” He described his recent vacation to Malawi, where he said the women taught him to dance from the hips down. But, Thailand, he said, it has something even more special. He lived with a Thai woman for six months. “The place has woken me up to something inside me that I never thought I had,” he said. “I have a different energy inside me now. I am growing inside. I will return to teach in a few months, but I will come back to live here later. I’ve discussed it with friends in Holland. They don’t understand.” Scenes of modern Thailand flashed by. A barefooted rice farmer knee-deep in water talking on his cellphone. Small engine-powered plows, replacing the water buffalo, furrowed straight rows in flooded rice paddies. The road entered Nong Khai lined by verdant ponds filled with two-foot lily pads and pink flowers. The drunk Thai was sleeping peacefully.
A Way Station at Nong Khai
That evening, I dropped into The Meeting Place, a legendary expat bar to visit with the owner, Alan Patterson, an Australian, who was something of a Mr. Fix-It for expats. From his bar-restaurant-guesthouse, he provided immigration forms to cross the border, or he might try to sell you a house, a banana plantation, a fish farm–or just introduce you to aging Vietnam veterans who lived in the area in small houses or rooms with a Thai wife or girlfriend. They congregated to The Meeting Place both day and night to while away the time.
“This is command central,” said Patterson, who had lived in Nong Khai for nine years. He sat behind his horseshoe shaped desk surrounded by a computer, a TV tuned to CNN, a fax, several mobile phones, three clocks showing time for Bangkok, Perth and Honolulu, and assorted sales brochures and maps.
Expats and Thais kept kept drifting in as we talked. “About 80 expats live in the area, and maybe 20 in town,” he said. “They come in and out and they don’t get on each others’ nerves too much. A lot of them are sick with this or that, living on their government checks. They’re good for the economy.” Then his voiced trailed off. “There aren’t many Americans in the area––easily four times more Germans, Dutch and Finnish.”
From his desk, Patterson managed his Web site which promoted the Mekong River area and his business schemes. “We had beautiful houses built here in the boom era that still haven’t been sold,” he said. “Prices started around 1 million baht (US $30,000). You get great value for your money. I want to build a retirement community here for vets––and make sure they don’t get jerked around by the Thai mafia.”
Leaving, I noticed a bar tab list nailed to the wall alongside large magazine centerfolds of Asian women. “VICTIMS,” it read, followed by 10 scribbled names, ending with the name, “God.”
“An Englishman wrote that. He makes us laugh a lot,” said a red-haired man sitting at the bar, one forearm tattooed with “Airborne” and the other “Singha,” a Thai beer.
Looking at a row of weathered foreigners sitting on the bar stools in mid-day took me back to a feeling of Vietnam. Lke clockwork, paranoia surfaced in the room. A white-haired, haggard man with a pockmarked, swollen face, his nose a dull purple, slurred, “You look like you’re from Langley. CIA, right? I can always tell. You’re from Langley, right?” Everyone’s head turned to look. We were on Vietnam and Laos time, a long time ago, and it was time to leave.
The riverfront of Nong Khai was lined with restaurants––all with a verandah view of the Mekong flowing past. At sunset, the sky and river took turns mirroring red, orange, pink, gold, deep blue-gray and black. Then the lights of Friendship Bridge flashed on linking Thailand to Laos in a tiny chain of gold. Vientaine awaited across the river. (Part II to come) | <urn:uuid:3d8a97a2-fe24-429c-8c29-7ffade197bd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://royhamric.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/the-mekong-a-long-soft-river/ | 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 | 0.967994 | 2,184 | 1.78125 | 2 |
What's the most important factor in the success of a display ad? Size? Placement? Not surprisingly, it's relevance.
That's according to a study conducted by publisher Condé Nast and research firm McPheters & Company.
The study looked at the effectiveness of display ads that were content-relevant (eg. "food ads running on food sites, entertainment ads on entertainment sites, etc."). The results: display ads running on a relevant site were 61% more likely to be recalled.
Sites related to social network, shopping, and food had the highest recall; search and portal websites had the lowest recall. The study also found that "There were large differences in recall by type of product advertised". Again, this isn't entirely surprising, although it is interesting that the simplest form of targeting (advertising on a site that is relevant to your product) appears to be so much more effective than anything else. I would like to know if any of the ads that weren't categorized as 'relevant' by the study were served using behavioral targeting. If they were, such as study might hint at the relative ineffectiveness of behavioral targeting.
Of course, there was some bad news: 63% of the banner ads shown to users who were given the ability to browse the internet freely for 30 minutes were not seen. The dreaded banner ad blindness.
On a side note, according to Condé Nast and McPheters & Company, TV and magazine ads excelled in the study. In its report on the findings, MediaPost details that "Full-page, four-color magazine ads were determined to have 83% of the value of a 30-second television commercial, while a typical Internet banner ad has 16% of the value".
Obviously there are huge price differentials between online display ads and television and print but this provides a good example for why television and print haven't died off as some have suspected and might be a cue to savvy brands that have cut back on TV and print to reconsider. I'd imagine there are some good print deals to be had today.
Photo credit: jbcurio via Flickr. | <urn:uuid:366f9e03-5d32-400a-8f18-dbd876d5227e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/4043-relevance-makes-the-difference-for-display-ads-report | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980365 | 437 | 1.726563 | 2 |
This is apparently the third disc on this label devoted to
the music of David Loeb. See also VMM 2029 (Echoes from Bronze Bells)
and VMM 2033 (Imagined Landscapes).
David Loeb is American and he spells out his biography
clearly in the booklet notes, which he has written. He writes that he
was trained conventionally in New York and then in 1964 he started composing
"for early instruments (especially the viols) and composing for
East Asian instruments (mostly Japanese). Inevitably these activities
have influenced my compositions in more conventional media, in some
cases quite intentionally". He adds later "I have remained
unaffected by the peculiar succession of stylistic preoccupations which
have characterized much late twentieth century music".
This CD presents us with Loeb’s interests and work.
Its title though is misleading. The music was not really composed in
Japan (although the composer’s wife in Japanese and he regularly visits
the country), but was inspired by Japan, Japanese artists, Japanese
instruments, and Japanese culture. All of the performers are Japanese.
Two of the pieces combine Japanese and western instruments,
one piece is sung and three have Japanese images or traditions as points
I had at first wondered if I might be encountering
another Alan Hovhaness whose inspiration was Armenia and Asia. Hovhaness
can draw a listener into his individual soundworld quite easily. Loeb
is, I’m afraid much harder work.
The most ethnic piece if I may call it that, is ‘Seiya’
for voice and Qin performed by the amazing Ryoko Niikura. Confusingly
this is more Chinese than Japanese. The poet wrote in Chinese and the
Qin is a Chinese instrument. It is difficult to believe that this piece
is not ancient music and this did lead me to fret about the whole CD.
An American composer besotted with another country writing music totally
in the language of that country. I found this and possibly still do
a worry. My faith was regenerated a little by ‘Yoru ga Mau’ for the
fascinating combination of shakuhachi, flute, koto and guitar tuned
in an unconventional manner. Mixing traditional instruments from Japan
with western ones was also attempted by Takemitsu in several works,
not least ‘November Steps’ (Philips 432 176-2) but Loeb, I feel, blends
his material more successfully. Although Asian techniques are used,
quarter-tones, slides, pentatonic passages, modality and two-part counterpoint
appear. There is also an attempt to come almost half-way towards the
western listener with its sonorities and rhythms. In the Lento third
movement there is even a hint of the blues. This is an enjoyable piece
which I have heard a number of times.
Less easy to pin down is ‘Ancient Legends’ for violin
and piano. Again a Japanese soundworld is evoked by the use of scale,
melody and glissandi but I found this work dull, annoying and colourless.
The only faster music is in the shortest movement, the third, whilst
the two preceding slower ones seem rambling and formless.
The disc opens with ‘Ganya’ for sho (which sounds a
little like a piano accordion) and viola da gamba. This did interest
me but mostly because I felt that it could be more successful as a piece
of incidental music. It is difficult to find pattern and form in this
piece. I know that it’s as much my problem as anything else but the
composer does not help. I realize that you must listen to the sounds
from beginning to end enjoying each movement in time as a colour or
a pattern and at a moment decided by the composer the sound landscape
The set of Fantasias, subtitled "Japanese Bells"
for viol consort mix a renaissance type counterpoint with Japanese scales
and textures in a highly successful manner. This is especially true
of the last of its five movements which was inspired by some "extremely
energetic and vigorous music found at the northern tip of Japan."
So this is a curious disc; a unique one in many ways.
To conclude I would have to say that there are many fascinating things
about it and many frustrating ones. I am not sure if the music will
grow on me but it is music from which to draw some inspiration and which
could be a talking point in classes with young music students. | <urn:uuid:cbd93803-9864-4698-be3e-dcb03e4f598f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2002/Oct02/YearningForAutumn.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966041 | 973 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Manuscript Group 329
IVAN L. CARTER COLLECTION
(Approximately 4000 items)
This photograph collection contains images of small town life during the 1920s and 1930s in the area of Cumberland County. Major subjects include Dickenson College and Medical Field Service School (Carlisle Barracks). These Photographs were taken by Ivan L. Carter, a Carlisle druggist.
Ivan Lewis Carter was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania on April 5, 1894. The son
of a dentist, he pursued studies at the University of Pittsburgh to become a druggist.
He settled in Carlisle after serving overseas during World War I, taking over
the drugstore of N.O. Eckels in 1920. Carter was a semi-professional photographer
who did work for the Harrisburg Telegraph, Dickenson College, the Medical
Field Service School, the Carlisle police, and local public schools and attornies.
He served as secretary of the Molly Pitcher Camera Club of Carlisle that photographed
numerous historical sites throughout Cumberland County. Carter held a commission
in the United States Army until he retired to Florida in 1954.
The photographs in this collection record Cumberland County people, businesses, general landscape views, and news events. Notable items include the Babes in the Woods murder Case (November, 1934); Dickenson College 150th Anniversary; visits to Carlisle Barracks by Secretary of War Dern, Assistant Secretary of War Harry Woodring, and, Surgeon General Reynalds; State Senator Leon Prince; views of numerous Civil Works Administration projects; Civilian Conservation Corps workers; and the opening of Hanover Street in Carlisle. Also included are photographs of plays, high school and college sporting events, car wrecks, church activities, and events sponsored by such community organizations as the American Legion, Elks, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Among the collection, are views of Boiling Springs, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Mechanicsburg, Mifflintown, Mount Holly Springs, and other communities.
Most of the images in this collection are captured on 5" x 7" and 3 1/2" x 6"
glass plate and nitrate film negatives, though some are 1 3/4" x 2 1/2" film negatives.
A portion of the negatives are in the initial stages of deterioration, with very
few original contact prints available. The negatives are numbered consecutively
in chronological order. Carter kept detailed notes on the negative envelopes about
the subjects of the photographs. | <urn:uuid:4d8222c2-7a3d-4750-b981-c988c74a73e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/mg/mg329.htm | 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 | 0.940091 | 524 | 1.75 | 2 |
How many memory testers do we need?
UBCD is full of tools that are "almost" the same. How many boot managers do we need? How many partitioners do we need?...
As oppose to other tools, RAM diagnostics depends on several aspects; one of them being hardware support (each tool may have different requirements / compatibility issues), and the algorithm being used.
For example, memory diagnostics running under Windows, in general won't be so exhaustive, since part of the RAM is being exclusively
used by the OS.
OTOH, DOS memory diagnostic tools should be more reliable, but they still depend on an algorithm to alternatively "free" the RAM so it can be tested (an to use alternative patterns to test it). That's why some tools won't find problems in some cases, but other memory diagnostic tools are successful. In other cases, the first tool will success, and the second would fail. | <urn:uuid:eaf309ab-8db6-4dbb-8b86-9abed3105700> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2596 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95336 | 191 | 1.5625 | 2 |
7 On Your Side
Group finds lead in supermarket honey
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, which has found lead in many toys, now turns its attention to honey.
The group filed suit Wednesday, claiming the store-brand honey at Ralph's and Grocery Outlet contains unsafe levels of lead. The group says it tested one jar of each brand and found lead up to twice the legal limit in California.
Grocery Outlet says it has already removed the honey from store shelves and would not want to sell a product in violation of the law. We have not heard back from Ralph's.
How does lead get in honey? The environmental group says it leaches from metal containers used to store honey.
Too much exposure to lead is linked to cancer and birth defects.
food, 7 on your side
- Security heightened at 2013 Bay to Breakers in SF
- Report: Corrosion a problem on new Bay Bridge
- NFL set to vote if Bay Area will host Super Bowl
- Tejay van Garderen wins Tour of California
- Woman suspected of starting brush fire arrested
- Man falls from building during Bay to Breakers party
- Tornado levels homes in Oklahoma City trailer park
- 2 men arrested in killing teen over iPad in Las Vegas
- Girl killed, parents hurt by shots fired into home
- Startups use Netflix rental model for clothing, jewelry
- Apps help protect your smartphone from snoops
- abcnews: SEAL auctions bin Laden raid knife
- roundup: Fairfield shooting; Redwood City fire
- weather: Bay Area weather forecast for Monday
Most Viewed StoriesMost Viewed VideoMost Viewed Photos | <urn:uuid:99d17e8e-fb0e-4621-a81b-f2e0fa05b28b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=8645994 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932553 | 352 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Page 1 of 1
Egypt Freedom Update
Pharaoh vs. Moses in the Land of Egypt
Egypt is no ordinary place. It is the land where tyranny runs deep and Pharaohs claim to be God.
And yet, paradoxically, Egypt also is the place from where the clarion cry of freedom rang out when Moses (May God Bless Him!) demanded from Pharaoh: Let My People Go!
Or, as the Qur’an put it: Arsil ma’iya banee Israa-eel.
After thousands of years, that same timeless drama of Right vs. Wrong is being played out again. And this time, it is between a modern-day Moses in the person of Ikhwan’s candidate for President, Dr. Muhammad Morsi, and the forces of tyranny and corruption embodied in the Military regime of Mubarak and others.
Should Morsi Win?
Yes, absolutely, by all objective and impartial indications a Morsi win in Egyptian presidential elections should be a foregone conclusion. And here is at least partly why.
- The Ikhwan in Egypt ran a superlative campaign. In the last 30 days, they organized close to a 1000 rallies. They mobilized support from all conceivable quarters, including traditional rivals and skeptics and popular sports personalities.
- The Ikhwan’s ground game of personally contacting voters turned a highly effective new page every day. And, in a powerful innovation of Election Campaign Strategy, they organized Human Chains between cities, some stretching hundreds of miles.
- In another Election Campaign innovation, they even pressed into service Election Robots to greet voters on the streets and give out flyers.
- Some of the religious voices of honor and integrity spoke out against vote-buying and election fraud clearly calling these things Haram and a sin and forbidden by God.
Some More Reasons Why Morsi Should Win
- Some honorable and respected religious leaders have proclaimed that casting an honest vote in the present elections is a sacred religious and national duty incumbent on all male and female adults.
- Dr. Morsi, the Ikhwan candidate, is by far one of the most qualified, capable and honorable individuals who might have ever run for any office in any place on earth.
- The Ikhwan are the largest and most organized, disciplined and motivated organization of any kind in all of Egypt.
- In general, the people of Egypt know and trust the Ikhwan through their social and charitable work over the past several decades.
These are all some reasons why Morsi should win and do so decisively in the first round, without having to face a run-off.
Over and above all this, the Ikhwan would say God is on their side. And of course if God is on their side, then who could possibly defeat their man?
Could Morsi Lose?
And yet, in spite of all this, could Dr. Morsi lose?
The answer is yes. And here are some reasons why.
There simply are too many things working against an Ikhwan win – against Dr. Morsi winning – in the presidential elections in Egypt.
- Some of the most powerful governments on earth do not wish Morsi to win. And they are busily working to make sure he does not.
- Some of the most ruthless, capable and experienced intelligence agencies in the world are working to bring about a Morsi defeat.
- Some of the deepest and largest coffers of money – some of the most bottomless of them being Muslim and none other – are being emptied in the efforts to defeat Morsi.
- Some of the most mercenary of media and propaganda hacks and flacks are working overtime to spread all kinds of lies and fabrications that will help to confuse voters, demoralize Morsi supporters and defeat Morsi.
- The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in Egypt is doing everything in its power to delay a return to civilian rule.
- Some of the most influential of so-called Muslim “religious” leaders are spreading all kinds of red herrings and confusing messages about who the Egyptian people should or should not vote for and what the right thing is for them to do.
History of Stealing Elections
- A land that has been in the grip of a most brutal anti-people and anti-democratic military rule for decades is not about to be let go by its domestic and foreign owners and masters.
- Remnants of the previous corrupt regime who spent their lives committing massive election frauds and stealing elections, and who are still deeply entrenched throughout the Egyptian system and institutions, are not likely to loosen their grip on power and let go easily.
- The present SCAF-appointed Egyptian government, headed by a former Mubarak Prime Minister, that is supervising the elections, is like the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse, which stacks the cards against a Morsi win.
- The so-called Supreme Council of Presidential Elections that is managing and supervising the elections operates without needed transparency and is answerable to no one but itself – and SCAF.
- A Morsi win in Egyptian presidential elections can change things in the so-called Middle East in ways that simply may not be to the liking of some of the most powerful political, economic, military and religious players in the world.
These are all some reasons why tables may be turned on Morsi come Election Day and a victory may be stolen from him. It has happened before, and it may happen again.
Preparing the Ground
There is all kind of writing on the wall. And it portends ill for Egyptian elections and Egyptian People. And, of course, it portends ill for our sad, benighted world.
It would seem that the ground is being systematically prepared by the mercenary media network around the world by publicizing fudged and fraudulent Opinion Polls that repeatedly show General Shafiq, the former Mubarak Prime Minister, or Amr Musa, the former Mubarak-regime Foreign Minister, in the lead, and Morsi trailing far behind, which is clearly contrary to all indications on the ground in Egypt.
And this after the Great Egyptian People gave the Ikhwan a whopping 50 percent majority in the recent elections for both houses of Egyptian Parliament.
This way, should elections be stolen from Morsi on Election Day and handed to Amr Musa or General Shafiq in that order, or to the Dark Horse “Islamist” candidate Abdul-Moneim Aboul-Fotouh, then the media mercenaries and other equally evil stakeholders vested in this diabolical game of stealing elections can glibly say: See, we told you so.
That is one clear purpose of these repeated fudged and fraudulent Opinion Polls.
And Yet Morsi May Win
And yet, in spite of all these indicators to the contrary, Morsi may win. And if he does, that will be for the same reason and in the same manner that Moses (May God Bless Him!) won against Pharaoh: the sea parting miraculously and swallowing up the forces of evil.
Should that happen, should Morsi win despite all odds and in the teeth of all fraud, it will be a tribute to the vigilance and sophistication of the Great Egyptian People, and to their determination not to let their elections be stolen from them.
In that event, everyone everywhere will deserve credit and congratulations: SCAF; the present Egyptian government of Dr. Ganzouri; the Supreme Council of Presidential Elections; all the foreign governments and intelligence agencies; all the media houses and individuals; and all others.
They all would deserve credit and congratulations, regardless of what role anyone of them may have played till now to scuttle the elections and defeat Morsi.
A New World Order of Freedom – for All
Such an outcome – a Morsi win that is – would truly be the beginning of a new world order for freedom, justice, peace and democracy in the world, not for a selected and privileged few, but for all.
In such a new world order, to quote Isaiah 11:6, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together.”
“A Consummation Devoutly to Be Wished”
Such a brave and bold new world is not only a “consummation devoutly to be wished,” as Shakespeare’s Hamlet would say, it is an outcome every bit worth praying for, now that campaigning is officially at an end in Egyptian elections, ushering in a mandatory two-day period of Campaign Silence.
For, as Tennyson put it:
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
© 2012 Syed Husain Pasha
Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at]
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com. | <urn:uuid:02a7f696-28d4-4eb5-b030-191977b1fcdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.islamicsolutions.com/egypt-freedom-update/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952215 | 1,914 | 1.648438 | 2 |
- Campus Life
- Financial Aid
This course information is derived from the Online Course Catalog, which is under development. The information may not be accurate and is provided only as a convenience. Please consult the print or PDF version of the Course Catalog for all official course information.
Students learn and apply concepts and skills that are basic to the practice of physical therapy. Students learn how patients and clients move within their environments, and practice teaching and assisting them with the applicable skills. The semester includes lecture, laboratory, and discussion. There is an emphasis on developing professional behaviors and communication skills as well as hands-on skills. | <urn:uuid:8aadc3c2-e7ce-410a-8024-fff0b8d07746> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://simmons.edu/undergraduate/academics/departments/physical-therapy/detail.php?courseID=68 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947747 | 124 | 1.78125 | 2 |
In the Footsteps of the Buddha pilgrimages with Shantum Seth across India and South Asia. Other spiritual journeys that transform. Mindful travel.
This comic, recently sent my way by a good friend and former Tricycle intern, seemed worth sharing. I appreciate the message and the turtle instantly reminded me of a passage from David Loy's The World is Made of Stories, recently reviewed by Alan Senuake for Tricycle.
From The World is Made of Stories:
According to a Hindu myth, the world is upheld by the great elephant Maha Pudma, who is in turn supported by the great tortoise Chukwa.
An Englishman asked a Hindu sage what the great tortoise rests upon.
"Another turtle," was the reply.
And what supports that turtle?
"Ah, Sahib, after that it's turtles all the way down."
Image: from xkcd | <urn:uuid:f7ade401-f230-4615-b5d3-e2b5b3b37b96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tricycle.com/blog/turtles-all-way-down | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940182 | 187 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Just a little before Nathu-La (India-China border in Sikkim), at a small place called Thegu, I saw a sign saying “High Altitude ATM.” It belongs to UTI Bank(Unit Trust of India) and my hunch is that the people from the Indian army are its only users. The sign gave the height of the spot as 13200 feet (4023 meter). It crossed my mind that it could be the highest ATM in the world. Because even though Leh (J&K, India) has a SBI ATM (State Bank of India) the altitude of Leh is less than Thegu at 11500 feet (3500 m).
Unfortunately, our jeep did not stop there, anyway the movement on that road is regulated so I did not even think of requesting the driver to make a stop so that I could take a picture of the ATM. But here is a good one that I found on the internet.
When I searched for world’s highest ATM I got this article in Taipei Times (read under the heading India, the article is dated June 16, 2004)) saying the Thegu ATM in Sikkim is indeed the highest ATM in the world. Do you know of any ATMS higher than this?
PS. I also remember they used to close the ATM at 5.00pm in Leh in 2005! Now that is a little strange for an ATM but maybe opening it beyond 5.00pm is a ‘security concern’ in J&K?
Update: I had posted the same query at Indiamike. Vistet replied saying there are two ATMs at Naqu (Altitute, 4500, Tibet) and VISAs ATM Locator lists two ATM there (listed Under China, Tibet obviously is not an option). So this is probably the highest ATM for us? | <urn:uuid:204c4b89-41d2-45fb-8783-c03c06c84bd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/2007/01/worlds-highest-atm-at-thegu-sikkim-india.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967074 | 383 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Noyes is an unincorporated community in St. Vincent Township, Kittson County, Minnesota, United States. Located in the extreme northwestern corner of the state, it was an important border-crossing location going back to the days of ox roads. It is the northern terminus of U.S. Route 75 and the site where the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe and Soo Line Railroads enter Canada. With the development of Interstate 29 on the opposite side of the nearby North Dakota border, U.S. Route 75 has declined in importance, and the corresponding Canadian border crossing in Emerson, Manitoba closed in 1999. With the duty-free store closed, Noyes is close to becoming a ghost town. | <urn:uuid:ca8c8ee9-580e-4e89-bd20-f91f6fdd25bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://openjurist.org/law/foreclosure-law/minnesota/noyes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94811 | 145 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Rwanda's president vowed to bar ethnic Tutsi men ordered to leave Zaire next week or face all-out war as rebels. "We will only be taking women and children. The men will have to stay where they are," Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu said. Zaire has given an estimated 200,000 Banyamulenge Tutsis one week to leave or be treated as rebels and face war with Zairian soldiers. Meanwhile, fighting has already broken out between government troops and the Tutsis after two massacres at missionary hospitals in Zaire that were blamed on the Banyamulenge, who have lived in Zaire for decades but have been essentially stateless since their citizenship was revoked in 1981. | <urn:uuid:de559443-4950-4bfa-a48b-1e461520c65a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/1996-10-11/news/mn-52731_1_tutsis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980914 | 153 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Davenport in 1910. The road in the middle of the photo was the main coastal road, which ran right through Davenport. Davenport was originally called San Vicente, a company town built and owned by Coast Dairies and Land Company. The large building near the bottom is the Hotel d'Italia, which was destroyed by fire in 1945.
Sources of Information: Alverda Orlando; article on this Website, see link below.
Original size: n/a
This photograph is the property of Alverda Orlando. | <urn:uuid:c126320e-30d7-4898-bc44-029aa236cdcc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.santacruzpl.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=Panoramas+and+Aerial+Views--Other+Panoramas%2C+etc.&g2_itemId=1815 | 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 | 0.956194 | 113 | 1.75 | 2 |
The Special Education program is dedicated to preparing tomorrow’s teachers of exceptional learners. We offer both undergraduate and graduate programs, including advanced degrees such as the Educational Specialist or Doctor of Philosophy. We also offer licensure and certificate programs through the Ohio Department of Education which you can take while seeking a degree or as a non-degree student if you have the appropriate existing qualifications. Pursing a degree or licensure/certification in the field of special education is a rewarding and promising career choice. The National Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education reports a critical national shortage of special education teachers, administrators and related personnel. More than 50,000 teachers are needed to solve this shortage, with 98 percent of the nation’s largest school districts reporting shortages. Jobs await you in Ohio, and across the country. | <urn:uuid:b8d2d3f4-ee27-4a1a-8b7d-770028a7023b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/sped/index.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945183 | 162 | 1.8125 | 2 |
By Daryl C. Smith, 1st Naval Construction Division Public Affairs
NORFOLK (NNS) -- The Naval Construction Force will soon have a new, 21st century convoy training simulator to augment current training for Seabees.
Lockheed Martin was recently awarded a contract that includes a state-of-the-art $5 million combat convoy simulator (CCS) expected to be delivered to Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Gulfport, Miss., in September 2008. The trainer is part of a $52.5 million contract providing convoy simulators to the Marine Corps.
The system consists of six vehicle simulators, four high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles and two medium tactical vehicle replacements, that will be programmed with a variety of training scenarios and scenery projected onto a 360-degree screen.
"These are the actual vehicle cabs, not mock-ups," said Rich Morrison, training systems manager for the training department at the 1st Naval Construction Division in Norfolk. Wireless weapons systems and communications gear are also included.
Each vehicle may accommodate a crew of up to five personnel, allowing 30 students to be trained at a time. Each vehicle is positioned in its own simulation space surrounded by a projection screen which displays the other vehicles within the convoy as it progresses through the simulation. Drivers will navigate their vehicles through hostile, life-like scenarios while passengers take appropriate actions.
The facility uses the Firearms Training System, providing realistic weapons firing simulation that registers "hits" on the screen. Since the weapons are wireless, the students have the freedom to move outside and around the vehicles. Although the vehicle cabs are stationary, the sense of movement is maintained by the video projection and sound feedback. As the vehicles move over hills and around corners, the scenery also moves, providing the real sense of riding in the vehicle.
Upon completion of the scenario events, an after action review will be conducted using portions of the recorded mission. This recording will be played back providing instant feedback, allowing students to better understand if their actions were done correctly. The system allows for each scenario to be set up differently with on-the-fly changes.
"The potential of this technology is unparalleled," said Jim Craig, vice president of ground, maritime and civil solutions, Lockheed Martin Simulation. "We are able to adjust scenarios presented on the convoy trainers, allowing our customers to prepare for an ever-growing range of simulations."
Due to limited opportunities for Seabees to train with real vehicles in the field, the CCS is intended to augment live convoy security element training, but will not replace it. "The simulators allow our Seabees to hone and further develop their convoy operations skills learned during live training events helping to prevent skill degradation," Morrison said.
The first system will initially be housed in a temporary building set up by Lockheed Martin at CBC Gulfport. It will eventually be moved into a permanent training technology building that will house additional training equipment and systems.
Plans are under way to purchase another convoy simulator for the Seabee base at Port Hueneme, Calif., when funding becomes available. | <urn:uuid:258e5561-3337-45a7-bb83-4492db897957> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinelink.com/news/article/seabees-to-receive-new-convoy-simulator/325985.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948159 | 630 | 1.796875 | 2 |
By Patricia Toquica, Americas Region Communications Manager
I’m flying from Honduras on my way home to the ChildFund Americas regional office in Panama City. The last few weeks have been full of intense traveling and inspiring experiences.
In Jamaica, while participating in the United Nations Study on Violence Against Children follow-up meeting for The Caribbean, I learned so much about what the Caricom countries are doing to fight and prevent violence against the most vulnerable in our societies: children, youth and women. By working together on awareness campaigns and advocacy efforts, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), civil society, governments and institutions—encouraged by children and youth—can raise our voices and stop violence. Raising kids with love, yet with authority and discipline and without corporal punishment, helps children grow into confident and loving adolescents, without fear and without anger or resentment.
A week later, I traveled to Guatemala, where the amazing beauty and richness of the Mayan world overwhelms your heart and your senses. So much color and vibrancy is reflected in the faces and outfits of the indigenous boys, girls and families we visited in their tiny houses hidden in the Guatemalan mountains.
It was inspiring to see so much happiness and hope expressed in the children’s faces, despite the hardships of poverty and deprivation. No water, no sanitation, sometimes not even the chance to continue studying beyond third grade. Still, these children have so much future ahead, and there are so many possibilities to make it brighter if we just help, in any way we can with time, money or knowledge.
Concluding my travels in Honduras was so rewarding, amid the beautiful tropical mountains in the Santa Barbara region, where ChildFund has been working for almost 30 years. Seeing young boys and girls representing their communities in town hall meetings attended by government officials and other NGOs is the fruit of many years’ labor and investment by ChildFund in these communities.
I wish we adults could have the confidence and abilities of these youth as motivators and public speakers. Their energy and desire to change the world is so contagious and convincing that you just can’t say no! These young girls and boys know their rights, are educated and confident, have big dreams for their futures and will not take no for an answer.
While visiting the town of Colinas in Santa Barbara, I felt blessed to meet Yordi, Wendy and Kevin, three young children who come from poor villages. They have sponsors from a country far abroad who not only send resources and letters but also encourage them to keep thriving and dreaming, studying and participating. They see a bright future ahead of them, are proud of themselves and speak with passion and conviction about their dreams.
This is how I know ChildFund’s efforts are worth it. When I’m with the children I know our organization’s work, and the generosity of sponsors and donors from all over the world, really make a difference and contribute to changing lives. | <urn:uuid:529ea32c-b058-462b-babb-3d5fb5d48a4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.childfund.org/2012/07/12/three-countries-one-goal-happier-children/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=836876f408 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953058 | 609 | 1.765625 | 2 |
March 19, 2013 |
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will struggle this week with the validity of an Arizona law that tries to keep illegal immigrants from voting by demanding all state residents show documents proving their U.S. citizenship before registering to vote in national elections. The high court will hear arguments Monday over the legality of Arizona's voter-approved requirement that prospective voters document their U.S. citizenship in order to use a registration form produced under the federal "Motor Voter" voter registration law that doesn't require such documentation.
March 4, 2013 |
SELMA, Ala. - The vice president and black leaders commemorating a famous civil-rights march on Sunday said efforts to diminish the impact of African Americans' votes haven't stopped in the years since the 1965 Voting Rights Act added millions to Southern voter rolls. More than 5,000 people followed Vice President Biden and Rep. John Lewis (D., Ga.) across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma's annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee. The event commemorates the "Bloody Sunday" beating of voting rights marchers - including a young Lewis - by state troopers as they began a march to Montgomery in March 1965.
January 28, 2013 |
The Camden County Board of Elections is searching for bilingual poll workers to help the area's growing number of Latinos cast their ballots in the June primary. But how many are needed is an informed guess, determined by surveying names of registered voters rather than querying them in advance or analyzing census data. In November, Camden County joined six other New Jersey counties required to provide Spanish-language materials at all polls rather than just in selected precincts.
December 8, 2012
Mayor Nutter appointed a fact-finding group headed by Managing Director Richard Negrin on Friday to review reports of problems during the presidential election. "On Election Day, there were reports questioning the integrity of the voter registration lists, the supply of provisional ballots, and the preparedness of some poll workers to address new state voter laws," Nutter said. He said City Commissioners Anthony Clark, Al Schmidt, and Stephanie Singer, who run city elections, had agreed to cooperate with the fact-finding.
December 6, 2012 |
Philadelphia's city commissioners moved a step closer Wednesday to understanding why voters had to cast more than twice as many provisional ballots in the 2012 presidential election as in 2008, but the initial review raised as many questions as it answered. Many of the problems occurred because of mistakes by poll workers and voters themselves, according to a preliminary report by Gregory Irving, the commissioners' acting voter registration administrator. In 2012, 27,355 voters cast provisional ballots, up from 12,733 in 2008.
November 15, 2012
IF PENNSYLVANIA'S new voter-ID law had been in effect last Tuesday, we can imagine that some people would be still in line today, waiting for their turn to vote. Fortunately, the law was not in effect. Voters did not have to produce a photo ID before they could vote, thanks to a temporary injunction against enforcement of the law issued by Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson on Oct. 2. The key word above is "temporary. " Simpson's order applied only to last week's election.
November 13, 2012
By Barbara Arnwine From the perspective of the command center at the voting-rights coalition Election Protection, last week's election was the story of a system badly in need of reform - of voters who did everything right but were turned away due to registration problems; of rights being deliberately misconstrued or obstructed; and of hours and hours of waiting. Call after call came in to our hotline - more than 89,000 on Election Day alone - from confused and concerned voters. Voting machines were jamming in Ohio, and ballots were being stored in boxes marked "provisional.
November 8, 2012 |
About 40 law students in the Voters' Rights Project at Rutgers-Camden spent Election Day shuttling among polling places in Camden and a law school conference room. All volunteers, they were monitoring the voting process and evaluating whether the polling places met Board of Elections standards. Starting before daybreak, the students by midday had examined every one of the 30 or so city polling places. First-year law students quizzed voters to compile a demographic profile of who voted; second-years checked on the ease of access to the polls.
October 14, 2012 |
GOOD-GOVERNMENT group the Committee of Seventy is concerned about a backlog of voter-registration applications in the City Commission's Office ahead of the Nov. 6 presidential election. Seventy's president, Zack Stalberg, wrote to city officials that it appears that the number of unprocessed registrations may exceed 20,000, "raising the possibility that potential voters will not be registered - or know whether they are registered - in time to vote on Election Day. " "We got calls from a number of voters who were concerned they didn't get their voter registration yet," said Ellen Kaplan, policy director for the Committee of Seventy, adding that it would like to help by either recruiting volunteers to assist commission staff or urging the Commissioners to hire temporary workers that can help tackle the backlog. | <urn:uuid:f71818aa-a68e-4c91-a951-23c116ace87a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.philly.com/keyword/voter-registration | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963754 | 1,055 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Talk with Sam Sifton of The New York Times
Please join us on Monday, November 12, 2012 for an engaging post-election talk with Sam Sifton, national editor for The New York Times.
THE ELECTION IS OVER, WHAT'S NEXT?
Mr. Sifton will speak on the impact of the election, what’s next, and why it’s important to stay engaged and informed about the issues even beyond the election. He will also discuss the role of media, like the news, in shaping election and post-election issues. The talk will conclude with an opportunity for students to ask questions about the national news or about news media in general.
DATE: Monday, November 12, 2012
ROOM: L.63, New Building
Refreshments to follow in the Atrium
was named national editor in September 2011. He was previously restaurant critic for The New York Times since October 2009. Mr. Sifton had been culture editor since May 2005 and deputy culture editor since 2004. He joined The Times in 2002 as deputy Dining editor, and became Dining editor later that year.
Before joining The Times, Mr. Sifton was a senior writer and editor at Talk magazine where he worked until 1998. He also worked as a critic, reporter and managing editor of the New York Press, an alternative weekly based in Manhattan. Before joining the New York Press, Mr. Sifton taught social studies in New York City public schools from 1990 until 1994. He was also an assistant editor at American Heritage from 1988 until 1990. | <urn:uuid:6e2d48a2-d9b9-428b-8ea7-058b46839741> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/academics/5877.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96885 | 324 | 1.671875 | 2 |
What does right cystic adnexa mean-Pelvic CT scan?
I was hospitalized for surgery and had a CT scan done. I was looking over the report and on the PELVIC scan it says "right csytic adnexa." I was in the hospital for something else, and the drs never mentioned it.
What does it mean? Does adnexa mean ovaries? For a while I've thought I had endometriosis or ovarian cysts, so can this be?
"Right cystic adnexa" does not contain adequate information. It should include "mass" or "structure" or some other word to describe what is cystic.
Cystic means a fluid filled consistancy. Right and left adenexa area the areas to either side of your uterus. But it should say "cystic SOMETHING in the right adnexa." Talk with your doctors, even if it means you need to make a phone call just for this. I am assuming that you probably had a right ovarian cyst, but ovaries can be hard to see on CT scans, because they are small. So the radiologist saw a cystic area in the adnexa, but he/she could not assume it was on the ovary, since the ovary could not be seen. Do remember, that every month, prior to ovulation, we develop follicular or functional cysts on our ovaries. These are normal, and can be seen in a patient with no symptoms. (+ info
In the case of mass seen in right adnexa which types of pricaution we take can we tavell for long distence?
dont know, sorry cant help u out there but u could have a look on the net (+ info
IN VAGINAL SCAN,IT IS FOUND THAT I AM HAVING TUBULAR CYST NEAR LEFT ADNEXA OF 14MM DIAMETER.WILL IT BE CURED?
CAN I GET PREGNANT?I AM 31 YRS OLD AND STILL NOT HAVING A BABY.
If it is giving u trouble then get removed by laprascope surgery.otherwise it is not so big and can be left at the movement. if increases then think for operation.
yes u can be pregnant (+ info
what do the term complex cystic mass with in the right adnexa finding concern for neoplasm?
also what is neoplastic process
neoplasm means cancer (+ info
Could anyone tell me what causes hydrosalpinx or adnexa ?
Hydrosalpinx is a result of injury to the tube, usually from an infection. The classic causes of hydrosalpinx are chlamydia and gonorrhea, which can run undetected for years, slowly injuring and destroying the delicate fimbria. IUDs, endometriosis, and abdominal surgery sometimes are associated with the problem. As a reaction to injury, the body rushes inflammatory cells into the area, and inflammation and later healing result in loss of the fimbria and closure of the tube. These infections usually affect both fallopian tubes, and although a hydrosalpinx can be one-sided, the other tube on the opposite side is often abnormal. By the time it is detected, the tubal fluid usually is sterile, and does not contain an active infection.
Not only does a hydrosalpinx cause infertility, it can also reduce the success rate of fertility treatment, even those treatments that bypass the fallopian tubes. The blocked tube can communicate with the uterus, and the fluid in the tube can be expressed out of the tube into the uterus. This fluid is probably somewhat toxic to early embryo development, and certainly provides an unfavorable environment. The large volume of the fluid flow back into the uterus and can produce enough flow that embryos find it difficult to attach, since they have no ability to move against the tide. Fertility drugs may cause the fluid to build up in the tube, since the tubes are responsive to the ovarian hormones produced during fertility drug therapy.
But than again i was one of the very few who never had any of theses signs or reason to cause hydrosalpinx. THey say very few just get it and they have no answer why or how. I was one of those. But it can be treated, they will go and remove the fallopian tube which has hydrosalpinx and in a few weeks she will feel a huge difference. (+ info
could anyone tell me what effect hydrosalpinx or adnexa have on hindering fertility?
The main thing I have heard of is the excess fluid continuosly drains from the tube into the uterus, and it can make the lining irritated and prevent implantation, or eventually kill and embryos that do manage to implant.
I learned this when a friend of mine was diagnosed with a hydrosalpinx (she only had one tube). She can't have surgery on it, but she has done several rounds of IVF. Her doctor says her chance is reduced to 25% per cycle due to the HS. She has had 2 chemical PGs in a row, and the doctor told her it is probably due to the draining fluid washing away the embryos that are trying to implant. This is the doctor's theory, and of course it could be due to other factors that have not been identified. (+ info
What is the normal mesurement of the edometrium for post menopausal women?
I'm a student who needs help. A 70 y/o female patient came in complaning of LLQ pain. A TV ultrasound was performed to better evaluate the edometrium and the adnexa. The uterus is found to be the normal size of 6.5x3.5 cm. While, the endometrium was seen heterogeneous, abnormal in echogenicty and was thickened to 7mm. There are some hyper attenuated focus found centrally and some free fluid within the endometrium, and in the cul-de-sack. The andexa seemed to be grossly normal. She is not on hormone replacment therapy. This exam is a follow-up from previous, and since then, the focus found within the endometrium have enlarged.
I am apparently post-menopausal, have to be ultrasounded at least once a year for reasons I won't go into now, they tell me I should be concerned if the endometrium is thicker than 5 mm. Apparently there is no lower limit, have had as little as 1 mm and no one raised any red flags. (+ info
Free Fluid within Right Adnexa Normal??
I had a endovaginal pelvic ultrasound for some right sided pain. The ultrasound showed a "small amount of free fluid within the right adnexa". Is this normal? What does this mean? Thanks!!
Free fluid in the adnexa means you have fluid in the pelvic cavity. Usually, a small amount of fluid means that a small ovarian cyst has ruptured, and the fluid is now "free" in your pelvic cavity and not confined. Your pelvic pain could have been due to a cyst on your right side. Once the cyst ruptures, the pain will go away, in most cases. This fluid is absorbed, and will disappear on its own. This usually causes no problems for you, as a patient. (+ info
What is the meaning of the comment on my Obstetrical Report?
I am 15wks pregnant with my 2nd child and had a scan done yesterday and as given a report to give to my Dr. at my next visit (Oct. 22, 09). The comment has me a little uncomfortable, because I don't understand it completely but it doesn't seem to be a positive comment.
It said: 3ozs single viable unstable plac post o rt lt adnexa n
Does anyone knows what that comment means?
Thanks in advance!!
Sounds like you may have placenta previa. (+ info
what is the treatment of adnexa that showed a cystic mass 2.0cm&3.5cm?
i was 6 to 7 weeks when i had sex with my partner,after dat i notice a little blood when cleaning ,but after too days i notice again that am bleeding but not too much which stop immeditaly,i went for scan,the result was that the baby has been aborted,that i need to evaquate the remain,i did the evaquation,after 5 days i had a sharp pains at my abdominal,then i went to see my doctor and a scan was did which the said their find at the left side of the adnexa a cysic mass 2.0cm& 3.5cm and that the right adnexa is free and no fluid in the pod.pls advice
Depending on your overall medical history they may recommend something like being on the birth control pill to see if it helps control the cyst.
I would recommend getting back in touch with your doctor to ask for further clarification on these results.
In the mean time I am also including the link to a site that may help you find more information and experiences. The link is at: http://forums.obgyn.net/womens-health (+ info | <urn:uuid:4b6d1832-1c63-4b19-a778-dd017188447b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com/faq.php?term=Tum%C3%B6rer%2C+adnexa+och+hudbihang&lang=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961491 | 1,942 | 1.75 | 2 |
If you are interested in
attending flight school, in
the U.S. Army, please visit the
The U.S. Army - at www.army.mil
This web site does not have any direct connection to the US Army or any other Government Agency or Department.
PLEASE - DO NOT SEND EMAILS TO THIS WEBSITE for the U.S. ARMY
This brief synopsis is only a simple outline of the events of history for Army Flight Schools. You will find more complete and accurate information by visiting the following websites:
Fort Rucker Alabama - http://www-rucker.army.mil/
U.S. Army Aviation Museum – Fort Rucker Alabama - http://www.armyavnmuseum.org/
Fort Sill Oklahoma - http://sill-www.army.mil/
Fort Stewart Georgia - http://www.stewart.army.mil/
Fort Wolters chapter of VHPA- http://www.fwcvhpa.org/fw/fw.htm
Camp Gary, Gary Air Force base - http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/qcg2.html
Viet Nam Helicopter Pilots Association – http://www.vhpa.org
Flight Class Photos for Officers and Warrant Officers - http://www.vhpa.org/products.htm#fltclpic
Warrant Officers http://www.vhpadata.org/wocpics/classpics.htm
History of the U.S. Army Aviation Flight School
Army Aviation is “ABOVE THE BEST”
As widely presented, man has always wanted to fly. Man made many attempts and failed until slowly, and at great cost of life and limb, he became successful. Today we see the results of those failures and successes as more and more people experience flying. Those experiences are shared by all who look up to the stars as our next frontier.
In the beginning of aviation if someone wanted to fly they would purchase books and try to build their own airplane and learn from trial and error or find someone to teach them the basics. Later flight schools were set up to train them.
The U. S. Army’s first exposure to, help from above, was with hot air balloons for observation. Next was the airplane to be followed by the helicopter. History shows how the Army Air Service has evolved over the years. The need to integrate aviation in the planning and execution of military plans were essential to winning a war.
Flight training for the Army was sporadic at best in the beginning. The first pilots received their training from the Wright brothers. Slowly the Army pilots began training their own. The flight training in the Army was not well organized and the Army posts that had aviation assets were given the task to train their own new pilots. Later as Army Air Service grew, and after the initial flight training, pilots were transitioned into other aircraft at their own units.
Fort Sill, the Home of Field Artillery served as the School for Aerial Observers, the Air Service Flying School, and the Army Aviation School. As the variety of aircraft entered the Army inventory the need to expand flight training became apparent and the over crowding of Fort Sill, pilot training was moved. During the Korea War, helicopters were becoming the main air asset of the Army, even though the Army continued to keep airplanes for artillery spotting and aerial observation. The need for pilots and aircraft continued to grow and flight training was moved to Camp Rucker, soon to become Fort Rucker.
As remembered by Maj. Leonard (Rod) Rodowick, Retired, Class of 58-1. Maj Rodowick served with the US Army Air Corp and in 1948 reenlisted and into the US Army, after the US Air Force was created. As an enlisted man in the Army Air Corp he attended numerous maintenance courses to repair airplanes. After he reenlisted, He was sent to Fort Sill and rose in rank to Sergeant three strips up and three down. He later applied for and attended Flight School beginning at Fort Wolters and continued on to Fort Rucker. He explained that Brigadier General Ford, Assistant Commandant of Fort Sill Artillery was not a pilot but he knew the value of aviation in the world of artillery. He work hard to petition the Army to fund the Artillery aviation assets. He devoted many weeks and months in his effort and in 1946 Fort Sill was allowed to begin training students to fly. Fort Sill had the only Army Airfield and it was called Post Field, it was one mile square. Brigadier General Ford could be considered the real father of army aviation. The first batch of aircraft, in 1949, that arrived at Fort Sill were twelve L5, about 50 L16s, 4 L17s Navions, 4 H13 with wooden blades and a couple LC126 Cessna Radial Engine cross-wheel landing gear.
The Army Air Service, which became the Army Air Corp and then Army Air Force had the overall responsibility to train pilots. Two bases were established to accomplish the task. They were Gary, at San Marcos, Texas and Wolters at Mineral Wells, Texas. During this time the Army Air Force evolved and eventually the US Air Force was created. The Air Force continued to train Army pilots until mid 50's” when the Army moved their training to Camp Rucker, later to become Fort Rucker, and took over the two bases. The initial pilot training was accomplished by the Air Force at Gary Air Force based to be followed by advanced training at Fort Sill. In 1955 the flight classes were sent to Fort Rucker for Tactical Training.
Due to the increase of use of helicopters in Viet Nam the Army’s need for trained pilots were ever increasing and a second Aviation training post was setup at Hunter Army Airfield, Fort Stewart in Savannah Georgia.
Flight training has remained consistent from the beginning. Flight schools were broken into two parts, the ground school and the actual flying. The ground classes taught the aerodynamics of flight, weather, communication, and aircraft safety. The “in-air” training applied what was learned on the ground from startup through takeoff, flight and landing. As aircraft became more complex the ground school became longer and more involved. Tactics were expanded and Instrument flying was added.
Today, as from the beginning, training pilots and to use the equipment they fly to accomplish the mission is essential. Flight School still teaches the basics up to advanced tactics to make the pilots as mission ready as possible. From flight school to unit, the unit than fine tunes and hones those skills.
Who was trained by the U.S. Army? Who were these individuals that wanted to fly? Where did they come from and where did they go? Find out!
“ABOVE THE BEST”
In the beginning it was Gary Air Force Base, San Marcos, Texas
Here is a good website for Army Aviation - US Army Aviation - CREATED BY CW2 ROBERT GOEBEL
By request, here is a Guestbook similar to the one we lost.
New armyflightschool.org Guestbook Page (Click Here)
Also, visit www.armyflightschool is now on Facebook
This is why we serve and defend our country.
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the United States of America
"Success is how
high you bounce when you hit bottom."
General S. George Patton Jr.
considers the unprincipled enemy we have to to cope with, will not hesitate to
declare that nothing but arms or miracles can reduce them to reason and
Thomas Paine, Thoughts on Defensive War, 1775.
Email us at:
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© 1998-2011 Timothy E. Wilkerson,CW3(retired). All rights
Last updated May 04, 2012 | <urn:uuid:9d16baf9-a635-4b4e-96df-a0a68de77c41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.armyflightschool.org/history.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970154 | 1,712 | 1.523438 | 2 |
OECD makes grim forecast for European growth
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned that the UK and the eurozone could be entering a recession, and has cut its global growth forecast.
In the UK, the OECD predicted the economy would shrink in the fourth quarter by just 0.02% and by 0.14% in the first quarter of next year.
For the eurozone, the OECD's predictions are -1% this quarter, and -0.4% next.
Pier Carlo Padoan, the deputy secretary-general and chief economist at the OECD said "the situation is of particular concern in the eurozone" and warned of "contagion in the euro area". | <urn:uuid:d51d404f-d04b-46fb-9730-31f8bf285c13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15918991 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942606 | 145 | 1.828125 | 2 |
You might not know it, but this is a precarious time in the Chinese-restaurant world—at least according to Xiaotu (John) Zhang, the force behind the proliferating Grand Sichuan empire (he owns or co-owns five out of eight branches, including a new one in Jersey City and a snazzy Greenwich Village outpost opening later this month). Part businessman, part culinary scholar, Zhang expounds on his plans to yank one of the world’s great cuisines into this century—beginning with the beef with broccoli.
You’re from Shanghai. How did you become a Sichuan expert?
When Wu Liang Ye came to New York in 1993, they offered me a job, so I started learning Sichuan and Hunan food. Personally, I don’t eat too much spicy.
How dire is the Chinese-food “crisis”?
Since 2002, Restaurant magazine has put out a list of the best 50 restaurants in the world, but not many Chinese restaurants are included. Chinese cooking is lagging behind.
What’s wrong with it?
The “three steps of cooking” applied by most Chinese restaurants in America, and even in mainland China, are wrong: marinating and “beating water” into meats, frying meats through oil, and “wrapping” sauces over meats in a wok. In this way, chefs can cook very fast, but the cooking is the same, which is why there are so many dishes.
Why is there no such thing as a Chinese celebrity chef?
Chinese menus are more or less the same; the chefs can be replaced easily and the owners control restaurants. In Western countries, the best restaurants are always small, but in China, the best restaurants are huge (usually more than 1,000 seats). The best chefs have no chance to cook, just manage, and the chef’s function and role have been distorted and delimited.
How do you find chefs who meet your standards?
I don’t cook, but I watch chefs cook a lot, and read cookbooks to understand Eastern and Western cooking. I think a lot to find new ideas and methods, and then ask chefs to test them. In China, using MSG has been written into textbooks; now I ask them to abandon MSG and use broth.
Why can’t there be a great, multi-star Chinese restaurant in New York?
As Obama said, we do need a change. Since Chinese cooking originated from the agricultural society, it is “undeveloped.” We need a “reform and opening” policy, like the Chinese economy, to introduce new techniques and ingredients.
But if it’s not traditional, can it be authentic?
Authentic does not mean good. Some authentic is bad. Too salty, too oily, too spicy. Healthy—that’s good.
What are some examples of the “new Sichuan cuisine?”
Beef with broccoli is an old dish, but we prepare it differently—first boiling the beef, then cutting and cooking it. We will have a pumpkin-seed-and-goji soup; both ingredients are on the top-ten list of health foods in America.
Which Chinatown has the best food?
Flushing, where people from northern China and Taiwan are dominant. Cantonese are dominant in Manhattan, which is declining due to limited space. Fujianese are dominant in Brooklyn Chinatown, but their food is simple.
What do you think of New York’s “fancy” Chinese restaurants?
I really loved 66, and I love Buddakan. They pointed out the future development of Chinese cooking.
What’s your favorite kind of food?
French and Italian. In China, I really love Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is almost totally different from those in America.
Do you ever order delivery? | <urn:uuid:136d8192-6abe-47bf-900a-f5258f0da29b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/46808/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942771 | 826 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Weekend Birding: Sparrows Enjoy a Dust Bath
I have an abundance of baby House Sparrows in my yard this summer. They are very social and adaptable little birds who seem to enjoy being around humans. Especially if those human provide food, shelter, water and natural areas. To the little sparrows, my yard is a five star resort.
A few weeks ago I got to watch them take a dust bath, something I had heard about but never witnessed. I have several bird baths and often see them splashing around in the water, but I had never seen them bathing in the dust.
Near my potting table is an area where some dirt spilled and I swept it to the side but didn’t shovel it clean. Soon the sparrows were flapping their wings and rolling around in the fine dry soil stirring up dust. I wish I would have thought to grab the video camera. They were moving so fast it was difficult to capture a clear still shot.
One little guy was on his back rolling around like a dog. They all ended up completely covered in dust. When they ruffled their feathers I could see a poof of dust in the air. After they were done flapping around, they preened their feathers clean. They did this several times over the next few days.
So why would they do this? Especially since I have five bird baths in my yard. The theory is it’s to get rid of parasites on their skin and feathers that water can’t remove. The dust smothers the parasites, such as mites, and also absorbs excess oil. After preening, their feathers are clean. Sort of like using a dry shampoo. Apparently it worked. I haven’t seen them in the dirt again.
Next time your yard gets a little messy, you can always say you are leaving it that way for the birds.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:e3bf46f7-9346-4078-80ea-15c7e4394fb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://undermyappletree.net/2012/08/11/weekend-birding-sparrows-enjoy-a-dust-bath/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984802 | 430 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Soccer might be known as the beautiful game, but it has never inspired beautiful design. As the World Cup in Germany gets into full swing, patriotic fervor will move millions of fans to purchase their team’s jersey, resulting in innumerable crimes against good taste.
In the early 1990s, sports and fashion began to converge, with labels like Polo Ralph Lauren and Prada launching sportswear lines, and sneakers becoming de facto footwear even for fashionistas. As television broadened soccer’s global reach, more people started to wear jerseys on a day-to-day basis. Now they represent a multibillion-dollar business, with the three big sportswear manufacturers, Adidas, Nike and Puma, vying to supply the kit of both club and national teams.
There is fierce competition to dress soccer stars off the pitch, too. Giorgio Armani kits out the England team, while Dolce & Gabbana dress the Italians. The flamboyant Japanese team is kitted out by British brand Dunhill, which has been dressing the immaculately coiffured “ultras” in impeccable style for the last seven years.
Still, it is the shirts players wear on the pitch that earn the really big bucks, and with a cumulative TV audience of over 30 billion viewers, the World Cup is the ultimate promotional opportunity for these firms. Adidas, the official partner of the event, will reportedly spend over $110 million on marketing through the tournament.
Besides supplying the official match ball, Adidas kits out Spain, France, Germany, Argentina and Japan. Rival Nike sponsors eight teams, while Puma has 12, including all five African nations.
Although they are often keen to show off their flair for design, sports apparel makers are often limited in what they can produce: International soccer’s governing body FIFA issues a 48-page rule book outlining acceptable kit, and the federations of each nation often have strict stipulations as to what their team can and cannot wear. The Japan Football Association, for example, insists on having its black eagle motif on all of the national team’s shirts.
Michelle Bender, Adidas’ category manager for soccer apparel, told Associated Press that most of the countries that the brand outfits (including Germany, Argentina, France and Japan) do not allow much variation on their traditional colors, and that the Japan jersey was “the only one where we stepped out of the traditional.”
Japan’s kit has something of a 1980s look, with curving streaks down the sides supposedly representing samurai swords. The jerseys, like those of Germany and France, have come under fire for their oddly curved standing collar, which is very unflattering for wearers with slender necks.
Some fans, though, take a very positive view of the strip. Taisuke Hirosawa, a student who bought his first Japan shirt during the build-up to the 2002 World Cup, says that it is a big improvement on the previous one.
“Japan is famous for futuristic design, so we should have a fashionably futuristic shirt,” he says. “I didn’t know the stripes down the side represent samurai swords, but that’s kind of cool, too.”
While Japan’s kit has a hyper-modern look, the prevailing trend for the tournament appears to be retro. Paraguay has gone for an old-school look with vertical stripes recalling the kits from the 1920s; Holland opted for a ’60s vibe with its day-glo orange kit with polo shirt-style collars, while Spain’s yellow pinstripes on a red background recall some of their strips from the early 1980s.
Nike’s red and white checkerboard shirt for Croatia surely ranks among the most garish on show, but some of the least appealing designs come from the smallest sportswear firms: Lotto, who outfit Ukraine and Serbia-Montenegro, has plastered the shirts of both teams with unsightly arrows, while Costa Rican firm Joma have outfitted their compatriots with a nasty 1980s bleach-effect stripe across the chest.
Aesthetes will just have to content themselves with the fact that even this year’s most offensive designs are at least not quite on a par with Mexico’s 1998 kit, emblazoned with a scowling Aztec face; the skintight sleeveless numbers Puma designed for Cameroon at the 2002 African Cup; or the unitards it kitted them out in for the 2004 version of the same tournament.
If that seems like little consolation for those who deem brightly colored polyester visually disturbing, bear in mind the fact that the quadrennial event won’t be held again until 2010.
World Cup ’06 kits and misses
An exhibition titled “National Team Uniform Collection” at Logos Gallery, Parco Part 1, in Shibuya, offers the chance to see up close and personal the crimes committed against good taste in the name of soccer.
Twenty of the football strips of nations participating in the World Cup are on display alongside large-scale designs of the remaining 12 kits. Coinciding with the publication of “World Soccer Collection 2006,” a book in Japanese about the uniforms, the exhibition runs till June 22. On June 17-18 from 2-4 p.m. and 5-7 p.m., there will be free face painting for fans and the opportunity to record a video message of support for their team in front of cameras set up inside the exhibition space.
The messages be streamed on the Japan Information Network, a Japanese- and English-language Web site.
For more information call the Logos Gallery at (03) 3496-1287. | <urn:uuid:39b900c9-8390-472a-be93-17fc7ead0563> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2006/06/13/life/the-beautiful-game-inspires-sartorial-sins/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948097 | 1,201 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The purpose of the Quick Guide to People’s Assemblies is: “To facilitate and encourage the development of the different Popular Assemblies which have been created since the beginning of the 15th May Movement. This Quick Guide will be periodically revised and updated. On no account is it to be considered a closed model which cannot be adapted through consensus by [...]
You are browsing the archive for assembly practices.
It happens over and over again—a group of people come together, fired up with passion to create change. They begin with huge inspiration and enthusiasm—and a year later, it’s all foundered in the mire of conflict. We could have changed the world ten times over—if we didn’t have to do it together with other people, [...]
What follows is an excerpt from veteran community organizer Starhawk‘s blogpost on the Poetics of the Street. She also wrote an ”Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups” that is a must read to members of any Working Group at all Occupy sites. I suggest asking people to say why they are here, using the people’s mike, where [...]
The temperature was cold yet the air was hot last Friday, at the General Assembly of Occupy London at St.Paul’s. It was hot of our enthusiasm, as we were listening, with frequently “sparkling fingers,” to Mark from the “state, real democracy and people’s assemblies” sub-group of the GA’s National Politics Working Group. Mark presented a statement prepared by [...]
MIC CHECK POEM by Samuel J. Rutledge Mic check MIC CHECK! Mic Check! MIC CHECK! I would like I WOULD LIKE to echo TO ECHO your thoughts. YOUR THOUGHTS. I want your voice I WANT YOUR VOICE to flow TO FLOW through me THROUGH ME like I LIKE I was you. WAS YOU. When I [...]
The notes below are from Occupy the Conversation, by Carla Kimball. Emphasis in bold and our comments in italics are added. • It’s an incredible example of self-organization. There are no identified leaders. Anyone who wants to speak is given a chance. This is confusing and messy for the media wanting sound-bites because it becomes so hard to [...]
Reposted from: http://occupyvancouver.com/admin/uploads/OVGADecisionMaking_001.pdf Occupy Vancouver Decision Making Processes (as of November 2nd, 2011) GA Process (maximum 2 hours unless consensus on extending) 5 minutes before GA someone on the facilitation team will request that anyone willing to translate or interpret identify themselves. 1. Recognition that we are on unceded Coast Salish Territory and reading of [...] | <urn:uuid:06a9fd4b-fd61-4c94-ab6b-6efbca009513> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefutureofoccupy.org/tag/assembly-practices/ | 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 | 0.950917 | 585 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Summer Institute Seattle 2012
There are many urgent problems facing the planet: a degrading environment, a healthcare system in crisis, and educational systems that are inadequately training innovative thinkers to solve the problems of tomorrow. A balanced approach is required to solve these problems: a balance between design and technology, a balance between human-centered and technology-centered approaches, and a balance between different world cultures and ways of thinking. The World Lab is a new research and educational institution that is ideally suited to tackle these grand challenges. The World Lab is sited jointly between two of the world's leading computing and human-centered design institutions, the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle and Tsinghua University in Beijing. The World Lab Summer Institute at the University of Washington brings together students from technology, design, social science and business backgrounds, and challenges them to create prototypes for products and services that solve pressing social problems.
The seven-week World Lab Summer Institute will be comprised of a set of core courses, an integrated project studio activity, and field trips to leading companies and research labs in the Puget Sound region.
July 9th - August 24th, 2012, with optional 1 week epilogue in Beijing in mid-September
World Lab Summer Institute Exhibition (Seattle)
- World Lab Summer Institute Exhibition (Beijing)
Friday, August 24th, from 10:00 - 13:00, Paul Allen Center for Computer Science, University of Washington
Friday, September 14th, from 15:00 - 18:00, Academy of Art and Design, Tsinghua University Saturday, September 15th, from 17:00 AM - 20:00 PM, YuanFen~Flow, 798 Art District | <urn:uuid:26b77323-879e-41b1-9f2b-d9e26f820ea1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://worldlab.cs.washington.edu/events/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931373 | 346 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Next Tuesday I’m planning to interview Randy Dorn, who was sworn in this week as the state’s new superintendent of public instruction.
This week, Dorn released his “Agenda for Change” (see excerpts are below, or click here to see the full PDF document):
1) Fund the Basic Education Funding Task Force Recommendations
In four years, we should strive to be at the national average of per pupil funding.
2) Replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning
Significantly reduce the time it takes to return the results by having the assessments administered on computers in the grades 3-8 tests and the high school exam.
3) Dramatically Reduce the Dropout Rate and Improve Achievement for ALL Students
Create an early detection system to identify students who are likely to drop out by provide them targeted services and instruction that focuses on their strengths.
4) Expand Career and Technical Educational Opportunities
Increase opportunities for providing industry certification and other high quality CTE programs in comprehensive high schools.
5) Expand Early Learning Opportunities
Continue our efforts to increase the availability of full-day kindergarten
If you could ask Dorn a question, what would it be? Post here or e-mail your question to me at [email protected], and I’ll add it to my list. | <urn:uuid:6e1cdeeb-76b2-4d98-bcc7-b0eba3431e67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.seattlepi.com/schoolzone/2009/01/16/what-would-you-ask-the-states-new-schools-chief/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930796 | 280 | 1.5 | 2 |
If you are looking for something truly unique to buy someone this holiday season, perhaps buying something that gives back may be something of interest.
Fifteen-year-old Arriel Turner is a doll maker.
"I think it's special for a 15-year-old. Most 15-year-olds don't really know how to sew or make dolls," Arriel said.
Arriel has designed and sewn some 50 dolls to date.
"First, I draw the head out. Then, I draw the ears and together then draw the arms, then the body, then the legs. They're all separate," Arriel said.
Next, she concentrates on the face with embroidery, and then puts the nose on last.
"And then I look around for costumes, like old stuff I don't wear anymore, and I'll use that as the clothes," Arriel said.
Arriel's parents said they are continually amazed.
"She's a perfectionist. She's never satisfied with them, but we are, and most people are when they see them," father Mark Turner said.
Arriel made twin dolls in the likeness of her twin brother, Max Turner. Her mother really loves a group of dolls that Arriel named the Fisher family. | <urn:uuid:86f4c98d-b9a3-4bc7-9d77-783790271d46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/Teen-uses-talent-to-overcome-health-financial-obstacles/-/10131532/17835376/-/95jiokz/-/index.html | 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 | 0.982506 | 263 | 1.523438 | 2 |
HTC today announced their newest flagship phone, simply called the HTC One. This phone has been originally rumored as the HTC M7 and some of the latest leaked photos actually nailed the product shots on the dot.
The HTC One is simply a culmination of all of the work HTC has done over the years in terms of design and hardware functionality. It is a 4.7" phone with a 1080P screen, which amounts to a resolution of 468 PPI, the highest of any phone ever. Yet, internally, the phone is equally impressive featuring a 1.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chip and 2GB of RAM, which was recently announced at CES 2013 by Qualcomm. It features the same GPU as the APQ8064, however, there is a good chance that the GPU will have a higher clock than the APQ8064 in the 1080P Droid DNA.
Going beyond the expected Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and 32GB of standard internal storage (64GB also available), HTC has invested a lot of time and money into the camera and sound of the HTC One. All of this is powered by a 2300 mAh Li-Poly battery, which should be enough to get full-day use out of the phone.
The HTC BoomSound integrates Beats Audio with dual frontal speakers with built-in amplifiers and an 'HDR Microphone' and Sense Voice to create wholesome. The real focus, no pun intended, is HTC's Ultrapixel Camera. This camera is designed to deliver impeccable low-light perfomance as well as quick and sharp photos as a result of having a significantly smaller pixel pitch in the image sensor. HTC talks about how important having smaller pixels allows for more precise light capturing. A good explanation of why pixel size matters can be found here.
The Ultrapixel Camera itself has a BSI sensor with a pixel pitch/pixel size of 2μm on a 1/3' sensor. HTC has also included their HTC ImageChip 2 to improve the responsiveness of the sensor to certain objects. The lens itself on the camera has a f/2.0 aperture, which should result in some impressively quick photos that are also very sharp. However, overdoing the bokeh on the photos may be a problem for some if they continually use the 28mm lens at f/2.0. The camera also has OIS, a nearly standard feature, and smart flash. They also improved the front camera by including an 88 degree wide viewing angle and 1080P video capturing which was inherited from the Droid DNA (HTC Butterfly). It will also have continuous shooting and VideoPic (GIF image shooting, essentially). There's also the slow motion video recording with variable speed playback. Finally, HTC backed the camera with a software suite called HTC Zoe, which helps make taking and editing photos and then sharing them, easier.
This phone will support a ton of different carriers including AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. The one huge surprise for us is that the HTC One is actually going to be launching on T-Mobile's LTE network. Most people, including myself, assume that HTC's version would simply use HSPA+ and not LTE like the others, but this is going to be T-Mobile USA's first LTE phone and we're a bit excited to see how fast it'll be. This phone will support four different bands in the US with AT&T using 700/850/AWS/1900Mhz, T-Mobile using 700MHz/AWS and Sprint using 1900MHz.
These phones will be available on the respective carriers in March for $199.99, but if you sign up now for a preorder, HTC will sweeten the deal.
They will give you at least $100 back for your current phone towards the HTC One. While this may not be a great deal for people with iPhone 4's or any relatively recent phones, it could be a pretty sweet deal for someone that's about to end their 2-year contract. It will retail for $200 for the 32GB version and $300 for the 64GB version on contract.
© 2009 - 2011 Bright Side Of News*, All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:45ae55d9-d15d-4314-9012-f5a2421e05a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brightsideofnews.com/print/2013/2/19/htc-announces-the-47-htc-one-1080p-phone-with-ultrapixel-camera.aspx | 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 | 0.955297 | 863 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who looks more and more like he will pick up where his father left off and run for president in 2016, tried to create some separation between himself and his famous dad in a speech Wednesday.
“I am a realist, not a neoconservative, nor an isolationist,” Paul began in his opening remarks at the Heritage Foundation.
Paul called for a balanced approach to foreign policy that includes both significant action against radical Islam but also shunned the neoconservative and interventionist strains that dominated the Republican Party for the past decade and which his father, Ron Paul, campaigned vehemently against.
But even as he charted his own course on foreign policy, the differences between he and his father were much more about tone and emphasis than about substance. And indeed, he echoed much of what his father has espoused in recent years.
While many people think of Ron Paul as an isolationist, it’s important to note that he identified more as a non-interventionalist — i.e. getting involved only in limited circumstances in which American interests were clearly at stake. For example, even as he was a vocal critic of the war in Iraq, he initially voted the authorize the use of force in Afghanistan.
Rand Paul embraced much of his father’s policy of limited intervention on Wednesday, calling for the closure of overseas bases, reluctance to use force, avoidance of nation-building, and the approval of Congress in order to declare war.
In the most telling moment of the speech, he even agreed with one of his father’s most controversial statements, saying “western occupation fans the flames of radical Islam.”
The difference is that, while Ron Paul’s views on so-called “blowback” were often expressed in a very blunt manner — he even said 9/11 was the result of blowback and said that Islam wasn’t the enemy – Rand Paul repeatedly emphasized that the threat of radical Islam is real and quickly pivoted to that message Wednesday, rather than dwelling on the idea of blowback.
“Radical Islam is no fleeting fad but a relentless force,” he said. “Though at times stateless, radical Islam is also supported by radicalized nations such as Iran. Though often militarily weak, radical Islam makes up for its lack of conventional armies with unlimited zeal.”
Policy-wise, Rand Paul agrees with his father about blowback — at least to some degree — but he also expressed that view in a more careful manner that won’t scare Republicans (or at least not nearly as many).
Reason.com’s Matt Welch summarizes is thusly:
But where Ron Paul breaks through the soft interventionist consensus with bracing and sometimes abrasive blasts of convention-defying, anti-imperial purism—witness his Tweet yesterday about murdered Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle dying “by the sword”—Rand Paul (who reacted to Kyle’s killing by telling Breitbart.com that “Chris Kyle was a hero like all Americans who don the uniform to defend our country”) has figured out a way to sell anti-neoconservative ideas to audiences allergic to his father.
Paul told The Fix after the speech that he’s not looking to be constantly compared to his father and that he hopes the speech will indeed help him chart his own course.
“Part of what this speech is intended to do is spell out who I am, where I’m coming from, and it isn’t exactly the same (as Ron Paul). And there are definite differences,” Paul said. “But what I don’t want to do for the next four or six or however many years that I’m part of the debate – it doesn’t make for great Thanksgiving conversation if I’m always either separating myself from my father or commending my father.”
Later in the speech, Rand Paul tied his call for moderation on foreign policy to Ronald Reagan, whom he said resorted to military force less than the presidents who came before him or those who came after.
In essence, Paul is making the argument that a non-interventionalist foreign policy is not anathema to the Republican Party, but rather its most successful historical strategy.
The difference between Rand Paul and his father is that Rand is taking care to massage his message of limited intervention and show Republicans how it fits into their existing worldview. Ron Paul took no such care, content to please his vocal and active base of libertarian thinkers.
It’s a smart strategy for the son.
The fact is that the Pauls’ view of foreign policy is increasingly popular in today’s Republican Party, which is a big reason why Ron Paul did much better in the 2012 presidential race than he did in 2008. Long and costly foreign wars have made even Republicans who backed the war in Iraq tire of foreign enterprises; even in last year’s presidential primary, many GOP presidential candidates were separating themselves from the party’s neoconservative recent past.
But even as Ron Paul made a huge statement last year, he was still on the margins of the party and was never a serious threat to become the party’s presidential nominee — in large part because he didn’t cater his foreign policy message to the wider array of Republicans and did things like blaming 9/11 on U.S. foreign policy.
Starting with his speech on Wednesday, Rand Paul began his effort to avoid the sins of the father and assure the GOP base that he’s not out on a limb when it comes to foreign policy. He emphasized limited intervention, rather than his father’s emphasis on anti-imperialism; he points to the overwhelming economic costs of nation-building rather than the moral case against it; and he emphasizes targeted action against radical Islam rather than the United States’ role in fomenting it.
And for a party that is increasingly skeptical of foreign involvement, that’s a message that could work for him.
But in the months and years ahead, it will be incumbent on Rand Paul to continue to emphasize the differences between him and his father — both in tone and in substance. | <urn:uuid:ddce9095-fc9b-4b43-b284-d7cf52d128e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/06/rand-paul-seeks-distance-from-ron-pauls-foreign-policy-in-tone-at-least/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977814 | 1,292 | 1.703125 | 2 |
ROGER HIGHFIELD is Editor of New Scientist magazine, which is now the world’s biggest selling weekly science and technology magazine. Prior to joining New Scientist, he was the award-winning Science Editor of The Daily Telegraph, where he worked for more than 20 years. He is also a regular on radio and TV, and has organised mass participation experiments with the BBC. He is at the leading edge of the integration of web and print and has starred in a series of web videos about everyday science.
Highfied has an MA and DPhil in chemistry from the University of Oxford and spent time working as a scientist at Unilever and Institut Laue Langevin, Grenoble, France, where he became the first person to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble.
He has written/coauthored six popular science books, all of which have been translated into foreign editions, including After Dolly, The Science of Harry Potter, The Physics of Christmas, The Private Lives of Albert Einstein. and Frontiers of Complexity. In addition, we was the editor of Craig Venter's A Life Decoded. | <urn:uuid:c46aab94-279a-4dce-b0dd-e6a45c3ccd50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/highfield.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962479 | 228 | 1.53125 | 2 |
When we say that the data does not identify the designer that is a true statement when your focus is only on the science. DNA dose not bear a signature or copyright notice. Furthermore, because all scientific claims are tentative and because the singular events in question are remote unobserved and unobservable events that are not amenable to experimental testing one can not even be certain that the system is designed, from a scientific standpoint. To say that we know who the designer is, in my mind, a purely religious and not scientific claim. So, we should not be quarreling among ourselves about who the designer is when we are asking science to get rid of an irrefutable materialistic prejudice.First, we have the claim that the ID movement isn't trying to identify the designer. Dembski has maintained that the Designer could be aliens, though no one takes him seriously when he says it.
Now the claim that rejection of ID is based on "materialistic prejudice." If this were the case, scientists would have no problem with the alien hypothesis, since aliens are material entities. Since scientists have as little interest in saying "aliens did it" as saying "God did it," what's going on here?
The real reason, brought nicely into focus by the above paragraph, is that scientists have this nutty bias in favor of testable ideas. Until we meet some aliens, we have no idea whether they could have designed life on Earth or not. Until Michael Behe prays over a petri dish of bacteria and they miraculously sprout flagella, we have no idea whether God could be responsible for flagella on other bacteria. Attempts to set aside this "irrefutable prejudice" have had interesting results, but they are quite clearly in the realm of philosophy rather than science. | <urn:uuid:40a2e9b5-25f1-4c8f-aeaa-bf63a26cd750> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uncrediblehallq.blogspot.com/2005/10/fumble-on-id.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965098 | 366 | 1.78125 | 2 |
August 18, 2012 · 0 Comments
A company logo is often considered the most critical element of a corporate brand.
Stocklogos.com, an identity design community that offers high-quality logos, has compiled a list of before-and-after logos for 20 of the biggest brands.
Check out how these famous brands have altered their logos — for better or for worse — since they originally opened their doors.
The history of the logos was collected from Logopedia.
Bell Telephone Company designed the original logo in 1900. In 1964 the “AT&T” of Bell Telephone Company became the dominate element of the corporate identity. Eventually dropping the Bell all together in 1970, the latest AT&T logo was released in 2005.
The canon logo was originally designed in 1933. The simpler version of the company’s identity was introduced in 1956.
In the beginning, Kodak was a single print advertisement with “The Kodak Company” strung across the top in a simple serif font. The company created this first logo in 1907. Kodak adopted its most recent logo in 2006. | <urn:uuid:4c715045-ef5e-47e8-b9fb-b9c04d6f69a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.athensreport.com/what-20-top-companies-logos-looked-like-before-they-were-famous/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960963 | 228 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Eugene and Marjorie White looked into the Mazza Museum, located in the Virginia B. Gardner Fine Arts Pavilion on campus, with pride in their eyes and a sense of a child’s jubilee in their hearts.
“We have experienced the Mazza since its inception; there were only four paintings,” Eugene said.
“It’s been so much fun to watch it grow,” his wife Marjorie interjected.
The White Discovery Loft, named for the couple because of a generous donation, opened on Oct. 2 to provide a new interactive space for children to learn and grow. The Whites’ donation made the space possible, and the collaboration of UF students and faculty turned the dream into a reality.
Jerry Mallett, Ed.D, curator of the museum, oversaw the completion of the loft area.
“It’s not for pre-school or play-school; it’s a learning environment where children are inspired,” said Mallett.
The construction of the loft began in the fall of 2011. Lauren Bagley, a fifth-year intern who graduated from Findlay with a bachelor’s degree in children’s book illustration, was tasked to complete a mural on the walls surrounding the loft. The mural depicts childhood stories such as “Alice in Wonderland.”
The project was Bagley’s first-ever mural and includes a seek-and-find element for both children and adults. The seek-and-find helps viewers look past their expectations and see the reality.
“Around the third grade, we become visually illiterate,” said Ben Sapp, director of the Mazza Museum. “Adults are too focused on the obvious.”
Mallett is the mastermind behind the loft’s theme, but he left the design up to his team of artists, designers and workers.
Matt Stimmel, UF technical director of theatre, was responsible for the carpentry and had complete freedom with his designs. With the exception of the miniature library, Stimmel created all of the woodwork, tables and activity boards in the loft.
“The way we all worked together was highly creative. It was inspiring to work this way,” said Stimmel.
Kelsey Rich, a senior art major, is responsible for the lively characters children see as they move from station to station.
“… [Mallett] would occasionally give me a general idea, but then it was up to me to make the characters come alive,” said Rich.
Some of Rich’s favorite pieces include Tina and Tommy T-Rex and Olivia the Octopus. Her other designs include ghosts and other animals.
The loft consists of several interactive stations that encourage children’s learning and creativity. There is a library where young wordsmiths can use magnets to make sentences, a sand pit for the young artists to draw shapes and put their creativity to work and a slide for the kids to return to the first floor when they are ready to leave.
“The slide looks like so much fun,” said Eugene White. “But with my luck, I’d get stuck.” | <urn:uuid:70cfecc1-0985-4e9d-89f4-5fb16323faa0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.findlay.edu/newsroom/Pages/2012-10/White-Discovery-Loft.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966711 | 679 | 1.773438 | 2 |
You've heard the saying "kids are cruel?" In a disgusting case out of Iowa, the kids picking on a 9-year-old boy were being egged on by an educator who sounds rather cruel herself. The music teacher told students to spit on little Jaxon Kindopp.
His mom is furious, and who can blame her? Being spit on is degrading, plain and simple.
My daughter went through a -- mercifully short -- spitting phase, and while it bothered me because it was pretty disgusting, I was probably more upset because of what it stands for. It's a pretty universal sign of contempt, isn't it? We nipped that phase right in the bud because we couldn't have our child thinking it was OK to treat other people that way.
In the case of little Jaxon, he told his mom that he blew a raspberry at another friend. That's when the teacher asked him how he'd like it if he were spit on, and called the other kids around to let loose with the saliva (Jaxon's mom found out, by the way, when another school staffer called her to report on this teacher's unbelievable "discipline" techniques).
Now, I don't know about you, but if she was so concerned about a little spittle coming off a raspberry -- which, by the way, is very different from actually spitting on someone -- why did she compound it? Did she not think about how unhygienic this whole thing was? Not to mention how cruel it is to have other kids gang up on one child?
Jaxon's mom has taken the fight to the school, and they've put the teacher on administrative leave. If I were her, I'd be pushing to have the teacher fired. Anyone who would dare degrade a child on purpose shouldn't be working with kids.
What would you do if someone spit on your child?
Image via istolethetv/Flickr | <urn:uuid:419df0cd-2db7-4337-9640-4ed19dfa2c16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/145450/class_spits_on_9yearold_boy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988016 | 399 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Job | Trotting Out the Same Old Trick
The trick worked on Eve, you know.
That day, in all the lush plenty of the Garden, with all she ever needed at her fingertips but the one thing withheld just as close, Eve’s delicate foot tripped over the well-toned legs of a beautiful serpent. He seduced with his sweet stroking tongue, dripping easy doubt all over her love of the Garden Grower’s goodness.
Pacing the Most High’s throne room with his former peers, celestial beings whose alluring company he once craved, he sashayed over and across the gleaming tile clucking his tongue with disdain for those he now saw only as bottom-rung lackeys.
His smooth talk turned to small talk as he sought to make nice with the Holy One:
The Ruler of All knew His tailgating enemy could see the My Servant is Blameless sticker on the back of His throne and dared him to consider his man Job. The Lord shamed the fallen failure, extolling Job’s virtues. He was blameless, after all. Upright in every way and the greatest man alive. Everything the enemy was not.
And so the enemy found his foothold, his opportunity to revive his trickery. Surely he could shame the Holy One and foil humankind once again. The trick worked its wonders with Eve. She who had every good gift doubted the Giver. Strip this present beneficiary of all good things and see how long it takes before he blasphemes the One who’s made him who he is.
In this test of trust, the Lord played His cards first. He held tight to the leash but let the dog loose from his kennel. In so doing, He told heaven and earth of His own trust in His servant’s true love.
More on Job here, and to come. | <urn:uuid:5496b31a-8cdf-4a9f-9f56-569a926a6ed7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://adifferentstory.net/2012/02/23/job-1-1-12/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976541 | 396 | 1.578125 | 2 |
From the Sugarlands Visitor Center, drive 8.6 miles east on Newfound Gap Road. There you will find two parking areas, where a gravel path leads to The Grassy Patch and the beginning of a 2.3 mile hike to Alum Cave Bluff.
Summary: This moderately difficult hike is 4.6 miles round-trip or 5.1 miles on to LeConte Lodge. The round-trip to the cave bluff takes about 2 and 1/2 hours, but allow about 3 and 1/2 hours to LeConte Lodge. The Alum Cave Trail is the most popular and well-known route to Mount Le Conte.
Elevation: You gain 2600 feet on the way to 6400 feet.
Features: Arch Rock, 1993 summer storm damage, Inspiration Point, Alum Cave Bluff
Mother Nature's majesty and power are clearly demonstrated in this 4.6 mile (round-trip) hike. The views are great, particularly if you go on to LeConte Lodge and Cliff Tops, and the trail is not too difficult--even for children. To demonstrate, I recall an early visit (I was much younger and more fit) when I carried my sleeping daughter on my shoulder for the majority of the first half of the hike.
You'll begin this hike at the Grassy Patch just off the parking area. Shortly after entering the forest, you will parallel the Alum Cave Creek for approximately a mile and then follow Styx Branch, a main tributary of Alum Cave Creek. A few hundred yards beyond this point, you'll see the boulder and log remains of a 1993 flash flood and landslide on your left. A heavy thunderstorm dumped several inches of rain, with a force so great that huge boulders were exposed and tossed--its path is clear to the hiker and will remain so for years. At mile 1.5 you come to Arch Rock, where a set of stone stairs aids your passage through one of the few natural arches inside the park. At the 1.8 mile mark you will come upon Inspiration Point, affording the first panoramic view of the area. Thereafter, you'll pass through an area of low shrubs, and shortly thereafter arrive at Alum Cave Bluff (mile 2.3). Alum Cave is not what the name implies. Its not a cave--rather it's a jutting ledge of black slate, forming out over the trail to give the impression of a cave. The name Alum Cave comes from the deposits of alum found along the "cave" walls.
For the hardy souls who will continue on to LeConte Lodge, the trail curves up and around the bluff and begins following the ridge that forms the southern flank of Mount Le Conte.
Two hundred yards from it's finish at Le Conte Lodge, the trail is joined from the left by the Rainbow Falls Trail. Le Conte Lodge consists of several wood-shingled cabins, two lodges, and a dining room. There is no electricity and water is pumped into holding tanks from a spring. The lodge uses llamas to haul in supplies (that's a story for a future issue!). Reservations can be made at LeConte Lodge by calling (423) 429-5704.
Above the lodge you'll find Cliff Top, one of the best vantage points in the Smokies--when the view is not obscured by misty clouds. | <urn:uuid:9418a89b-d135-47df-bbeb-f8d67d71ceb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gsmnp.com/pages/alum_cave.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948608 | 709 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The head of the People's Bank of China said Sunday that the financial institutions should reduce their reliance on foreign credit-rating agencies and that the nation is considering forming its own such entities which would be backed by the government.
Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank governor, made the comments in a speech at a financial forum in Beijing, according to Bloomberg news. China has been critical of the independence of the so-called "big three" ratings firms of Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings and has questioned their independence from the firms they review. The country has sought an alternative to those firms and in September of 2010 set up its own rating company, called China Credit Rating Co., which makes investors pay for ratings rather than borrowers.
Lu Zhengwei, Shanghai-based chief economist at Industrial Bank Co., who was rated the nation’s best analyst in 2010 by the newspaper China Business News, was quoted by Bloomberg saying, "With the rapid expansion in China’s bond market, we need rating companies that are familiar with the Chinese situation. We see comments from rating companies during this round of the crisis have influenced the financial market to a large degree. It’s no surprise China is paying attention to them.”
The National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, formed by the central bank in 2007 to help develop the country’s over-the-counter financial markets, issued a draft report in July that said, in part, that overseas rating companies’ earnings models cause “a strong beneficial alliance between the issuer and the ratings agency that cannot avoid influencing the agency’s independence.”
Last week, local Chinese media reported that the State Council, China’s Cabinet, has designated the central bank to regulate the country’s credit-rating companies. That makes it the sole regulator of the industry.
Zhou also said that domestic Chinese ratings companies could be helped to grow by being required to rate a Chinese financial product if one of the international companies rates it. He also said that such firms could expand their role by researching the finances of local or municipal government, since this is a sector in which foreign companies do not have sufficient expertise. | <urn:uuid:b61f0a73-6de2-47f2-ada9-97fdd9996923> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advisorone.com/2011/12/26/china-may-form-more-credit-ratings-agencies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970886 | 456 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Friday, October 28, 2011
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. OUTSTANDING article written by Gary Taubes, with his thoughts on healthy eating and what underlies our movement problems/injuries, things that we see in the clinic every day. Also touches on what's really needed to fully correct many of our problems. There's no "secrets" here. Only read this if you're ready for someone to tell it straight, and be open and honest with yourself. I agree with the vast majority of what he says. He mentions kettlebell exercises (he is biased towards these), which can be very beneficial, but as with anything, it is not the answer for everyone. The most important things in this article are his points about our lifestyles, diet, and exercise, and how ready are we REALLY for change, in order to help ourselves.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
This brief article discusses the results of "The Iowa Study". The Iowa Study was a large study that demonstrated that those who are self-referred to physical therapy (meaning they choose their PT on their own), actually utilized fewer PT visits and cost less overall than those who were referred by their physician. This is important because it shows that self-referring to physical therapy can be more effective and efficient, and does not lead to overutilization of services.
If you're having pain or trouble moving, see a good PT!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Excellent article by a physician that gives food for thought regarding the necessity of ordering tests, prescribing medications, and other medical treatments. It may surprise you how the doctor describes some of the thought processes and considerations they must take into account. In the end, treating each patient individually is the best approach.
Monday, October 17, 2011
We've been getting questions again recently about the effectiveness of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate for treatment of arthritis. Here is a good/accurate post by Mike Reinold, physical therapist. It provides a nice summary of the current research on these substances, and some practical thoughts and guidelines, recommended brands, etc.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
A recent study at The University of Gothenburg shows that exercise can be an alternative to drugs for those suffering from migraine headaches, and often times can be just as effective. Also in our experience, manual therapy combined with exercise offers optimal benefits. More research needs to be done in this area, however. If you're suffering from headaches, see a good PT!
Stay dry in today's rain too!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Great posture in this picture above, eh?
Another example of technology having an unwanted side-effect. Those who text message on their phones alot apparently are developing increased incidents of neck pain (brief article from FoxNews.com here). Not surprising. It all comes down to our posture and avoiding repetitive positions and activities, or modifying them as much as possible. Just because you text doesn't mean you will have problems. Ignoring poor positions you are in, especially repetitive ones, and not maintaining adequate strength in you postural muscles will likely get to you at some point.
If you're having neck or back pain, see a good PT!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
This BBC story tells how physiotherapists (physical therapists) are used in Britain to more effectively treat back pain and keep healthcare costs down.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Know anyone with dizziness or balance problems? The Vestibular System (Inner Ear) is often the culprit, especially in older adults. This is a nice article explaining what the inner ear system is and what it does.
Other issues can be responsible for dizziness, however, such as blood pressure changes, medication reactions, among others. So it is important not to ignore dizzy symptoms and to see your physician. Physical therapy can often be helpful in many cases - don't be afraid to ask if physical therapy can help you!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
This Saturday, October 8th, Paul Erwin and Scott Ramsey, Clinical Doctors of Physical Therapy, will be presenting a free one-hour seminar about common causes of spine and joint pain. The seminar will run from 10am-11am. Also being discussed will be treatment options for various conditions, their effectiveness according to research, as well as specific questions from the audience.
Please call our clinic at (717) 533-7000 to make your reservation. Those who attend will receive a free copy of Dr. Ramsey's book about making long-term improvements in your fitness, nutrition, and weight. Have a great day!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Prolonged sitting is not the best thing for us at all. This article offers some interesting thoughts and ideas on the matter. In summary, we believe what the article proposes at the end, that standing in one place is not the answer, but movement and staying moving as much as possible is a better solution. | <urn:uuid:25a21abe-8873-48e7-a3aa-015d533d1bcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hersheyrehab.blogspot.jp/2011_10_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96735 | 1,030 | 1.640625 | 2 |
On Tuesday, May 3, 2005, the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and FotoFest presented a special evening at the Baker Institute with Arab scholars and curators Michket Krifa and Issa Touma in conjunction with FotoFest's presentation of NAZAR: Photographs from the Arab World.
The talk will be archived and available for viewing on the Baker Institute web site in the coming weeks
|Writer and curator Michket Krifa, former cultural attache for the European Union in the Palestinian Territories, speaks at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University about the history of photography in the Arab World and its present state. May 3, 2005|
Michket Krifa was born in Tunisia and has lived in Paris since 1984. Since 1986, she has worked as an independent writer, critic, and curator on issues of image and representation in Arab and Muslim cultures. Krifa works frequently in the Arab world on cultural events and exhibitions relating to photography and film. She has worked with the European Union, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Institute of the Arab World in Paris. From 1997-1998, Krifa was cultural attaché and press officer for the European Union in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories. She is the author and editor of many publications relating to Arab culture and has curated over 20 photographic and film presentations with Arab and Iranian artists. Krifa wrote the lead essay for the book accompanying the NAZAR exhibition.
Krifa's essay, A Short Inventory, opens the NAZAR book and serves to put much of the exhibition's work into context. The Arab World, images of which have filled newspapers and televisions for years, has had a polemical relationship with photography. Krifa says many people view it with distrust due to the large amount of violence portrayed in Western media and renforcement of it by negative stereotyping. Within the last few decades, she says, Arab photography has taken a different turn. As more and more Arabs take up cameras themselves, both the images and the way they are seen in the region, are changing.
For her talk at the Baker Institute, Krifa gave a history of the region and its relationship to photography. Starting with the very earlist days of the medium, when European colonists photographed historical sites in the Holy Land and Egypt, through the heyday of the 50s and 60s when cities like Beirut and Cairo were the playgrounds of the West, and continuing through the turmoil of war in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Krifa spoke also about the present state of the artform in the region and its future in the Arab World.
|Syrian artist and festival director Issa Touma speaks at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. May 3, 2005|
Syrian artist and curator, Issa Touma, is a photographer and cultural organizer who has been working with photography for the past 15 years. In 1992 Touma established the first photography gallery in the Middle East, Black and White Gallery. After its closure in 1995 he opened Le Pont Gallery, which continues to be the only gallery dedicated to photography in the region. In 1996, he served as art director for the first European-Arab jazz festival in Aleppo, Syria. In 1997, he founded one of the first contemporary, international photography events in the Middle East, the International Photography Festival in Aleppo. The event has grown from 600 visitors in its first year to more than 7,000 in 2004. Since 1999, he has been the organizer of the International Woman's Art Festival in Syria, an event that features music, dance, theatre, sculpture, photography, performance and video work. The activities of Touma and his group, the Le Pont Organization, which includes the gallery, the Photography Festival and the Woman's Art Festival, annually draws in excess of 25,000 visitors, including international students, diplomats and the general public. Touma's essay, We still Have Some Hopes was published in the NAZAR book.
Touma, whose work is on view as part of the NAZAR exhibition, spoke about the origins of the photography festival and his protracted legal battle with the Baathist regime in Syria over his international cultural work in Aleppo.
On October 12, 2004, days after the official closings of both the International Photography Gathering and the International Women's Art Festival in Aleppo, policemen arrived at Le Pont Gallery and sealed the doors with a wax seal, officially closing the gallery and the organization. The closing of the gallery was the part of years of struggle between Touma and Baath party officials over the festivals and his relationships with international artists and diplomats. In August 2004, just one month before the opening of the 2004 festival, the Los Angeles Times published a story on Touma and his battle. Days before Touma was to speak at the Baker Institute he was informed that he had received permission from Syrian Security Forces to reopen the gallery, however the struggle continues. For a time-line of the earlier problems click here. | <urn:uuid:0362a128-b31b-4339-9c27-e8d58c1e081f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fotofest.org/nazar/baker.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972245 | 1,014 | 1.789063 | 2 |
USDA celebrated October National Cooperative Month and the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives with the release today of the top agricultural cooperatives and their revenues for 2011.
According to the release, farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives posted record sales last year of $213 billion and $5.4 billion in net income, surpassing the previous record sales year of 2008 by $10 billion while besting the old income record by $500 million.
“These new cooperative sales and income records for 2011 underscore the strength and productivity of the nation’s farmer- and rancher-owned cooperatives, and the vital role they play in the nation’s economy,” said Dallas Tonsager, under secretary for Rural Development. “Primarily because of mergers, the number of farm co-ops continued to decline, but memberships and asset values are up.” Tonsager also noted that co-op employment levels remained strong, with cooperatives employing 184,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers, up slightly from 2010.
CHS Inc. of Saint Paul, Minn – an energy, farm supply, grain and food co-op – was once again the nation’s largest ag co-op, with $36.9 billion in revenue in 2011, up by a whopping 50% from 2010. Part of the CHS cooperative portfolio is CHS Renewable Fuels Marketing, a leading ethanol marketer, and that part of the business helped the co-op boost revenues in 2011. The fourth ranked agricultural cooperative, GROWMARK, also markets biofuels under its energy division.
While not included under the list of agricultural cooperatives, Tonsager notes that “many of the ethanol plants across the country, or biofuels projects, either are cooperatives or cooperative-like institutions, where they are limited liability companies that have a democratic vote.”
Listen to or download Tonsager’s remarks here: USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager | <urn:uuid:b4b301fb-15b0-4b99-ab47-fcbf7c57636e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://domesticfuel.com/2012/10/02/biofuels-help-boost-co-op-income/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942724 | 417 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Accessing Android’s Google Map control in Oxygene for Java
When I was working out how to use the Google Map control on Android devices i found it a little daunting with all the information scattered around the web, often missing out crucial points and almost never mentioning the impact that Java 7 has on things….
So I thought it best to write all my findings up in a detailed article on the matter from the viewpoint of an Oxygene for Java developer – it turned out to be much longer than I was expecting! You can find the article on my web site as Using the Google MapView in Android with Oxygene for Java.
I hope you find it useful – it represents quite a long time spent researching and fiddling and testing things out! | <urn:uuid:98c062ed-c87b-4a32-8487-1808480952a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.remobjects.com/blogs/brian-long/2012/01/18/p3805 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945788 | 155 | 1.601563 | 2 |
A March 29 Washington Times article extensively quoted John O'Neill, co-founder of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, criticizing the White House's withdrawal of the nomination of Republican donor Sam Fox to be ambassador to Belgium, which the Times attributed to "Democratic pressure," noting that "Fox's $50,000 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was disclosed by Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee." The Times quoted O'Neill calling the withdrawal of Fox's name "an outrage" and "a tragedy," but did not report that both O'Neill and his group's 2004 campaign against Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) have been widely discredited, with many specific claims disproved or rebutted.
Media Matters for America has extensively documented the falsehoods and smears regarding Kerry's military record that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth spread in the six months leading up to the 2004 presidential election. For instance, Unfit for Command (Regnery, 2004), a book O'Neill co-authored, asserted that "Kerry was never in Cambodia during Christmas 1968, or at all during the Vietnam War" because "[a]reas closer than 55 miles from the Cambodian border in the area of the Mekong River were patrolled by PBRs, a small river patrol craft, and not by Swift Boats." However, as Media Matters noted, according to White House recordings, in 1971 O'Neill told President Richard Nixon that he himself had been in Cambodia and answered in the affirmative when Nixon asked if it had been on a swift boat.
Numerous major print outlets that reported on the withdrawal of Fox's nomination, including the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, failed to note that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign has been widely discredited. Three of these outlets described the group as "controversial," but did not offer the details of the "controversy" or note that the group's claims were repeatedly debunked:
- The Washington Post: "the controversial group that ran a campaign questioning Kerry's Vietnam record."
- Los Angeles Times: the "controversial campaign against Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in the 2004 presidential race."
- Associated Press: "a controversial conservative group that undermined Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign."
Two others did not characterize the group in any way:
- The Washington Times: "the group that undermined Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign."
- The New York Times: "When it came his turn, Mr. Kerry pounced, questioning Mr. Fox at length about his $50,000 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group and pressing him to identify who had asked him to give to it." | <urn:uuid:858ae2ad-e1e7-4e39-bc43-6d29012a4528> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediamatters.org/research/2007/03/30/print-coverage-failed-to-note-swift-boat-vets-c/138451 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967906 | 563 | 1.835938 | 2 |
How Big Is Big Enough?
In today's market there is no question that there are
several decisions to be made when it comes to buying a trailer. And since
"we" know our horses best, who better to make those decisions than "us",
right? We'd like to think so, but how well do we really know our
horses? Can you answer these simple questions immediately? How tall is
your horse? What size is your horse's blanket? You
probably got those two pretty quickly, now try these. How long is he from
his chest to his nose when at rest? How wide is your horse (not girth
size)? Did you get those? Tell the truth, no guessing or estimating allowed.
The point of these questions is that most of us really do not know how big
our horses actually are. Even though blanket size may give us an idea
of the length of our horse and the stall size he may require, blankets are
measured differently than horse trailer stalls. We challenge that if a
horse wears an 84" blanket and it fits properly he does not need an 84"
trailer stall, in fact we'd bet that a 72-74 inch (actual measurement) stall
is more than adequate.
So you're saying what is the point of all of this? If you are about to
buy a trailer maybe you should be armed with this information before you set
out. It just might help take the guess work out of the question,
"Will he fit?"
You know your horse better than we do, and some horses may not tolerate the
taking of such measurements. In all cases common & horse sense must
prevail, nothing is worth getting injured over.
Also this is just a guideline, since we cannot control the actual conditions
of the measurement taking methods we cannot guarantee the
The simplest way we could think of is to use a wall in the horses stall or
along a fence, to emulate a trailer wall, and a piece of chalk.
Body Length: Place your horse against a fence
or wall in his stall, place his hind quarters against the adjoining wall or
if using a fence maybe line his hind quarters up with a fence post, we are
trying to emulate the position of a butt bar. Place a chalk mark in
front of his chest, move your horse away then measure.
Neck Length: Place a chalk mark in front
of his chest on the fence or wall, and try to get your horse to relax and
place one in front of his nose, again move your horse away
Width: Place your horse against the
wall/fence as before take a string with a weight on it, even if its just a
small rock, go to the widest part of your horse let it hang down right above
the ground until it stops swinging then set it on the ground, like a
plumb-bob. Move your horse away, careful no to step on the stone or
rock, and measure the distance from the wall to the rock.
Happy Trailering... See you Next Month.
If you have any comments, suggestions
or topics for a "Trailering 101" article we'd be happy to take them.
Trailering education is our goal. | <urn:uuid:ef5961ca-1915-4326-98a1-8b65fad6c1bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.traveledlanetrailers.com/trailering101/trailering2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953069 | 682 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Edinburgh is one of the UK’s most friendly family city break destinations. As well as plenty of history and welcoming locals, the city offers an exciting selection of family days out which are suitable for all ages, from babies to grandparents. You can meet the UK’s only Giant Pandas at Edinburgh Zoo or take a ghostly tour of the city. Here’s a look at our top-five family days out in Edinburgh
1. Edinburgh Zoo
Edinburgh zoo is one of the best zoos in the UK and certainly in Scotland and is conveniently close to many Edinburgh hotels. Unlike many others zoos, it is a registered charity and conservation programmes are integral to the zoo’s operations. Home to two Giant Pandas, it also offers a range of daily events such as the penguin parade. You can even take a trip on the famous Hilltop Safari, a free tour around the zoo. Edinburgh Zoo offers a full days entertainment for the whole family.
2. Edinburgh Castle
The Castle is a day out that guarantees both adventure and learning and is therefore perfect for kids. It is also a good option if you don’t want to stray too far from the centre as it can be found right in the middle of the city. As well as a number of permanent and temporary exhibitions, the Castle also provides a café and restaurant. Children will love the one o’ clock Gunshot, which is fired every day except Sunday.
3. Childhood Museum
Edinburgh’s Childhood Museum is the kind of museum kids can really get on board with. Exhibitions revolve around the history of childhood, which comes alive with a huge display of toys, games, books, clothes and school equipment. The cyber generation will be fascinated by finding out how children lived twenty, fifty or even over a hundred years ago. The museum is a great day out that entertains and educates children and adults alike.
4. Black Hart Edinburgh Tours
The Black Hart Edinburgh tours include a selection of ghoulish and chilling tours that will excite and fascinate both kids and grown-ups. The company runs tours specifically aimed at children featuring tales of well-known characters such as Harry Potter and Frankenstein’s monster. Learning about the city’s history though the excitement of the Black Hart tours is perfect for children who prefer to be entertained than educated.
5. International Science Festival
Each spring, Edinburgh plays host to an International Science Festival. If you are lucky enough to be visiting the city during this time, it’s worth checking the events calendar as the festival provides many opportunities for family days out. Highlights for children this year include a Slime Showcase, a Jungle Safari and a Monster Hunt. These are just a few of the many events aimed at children and families which are perfect for a day out.
Edinburgh offers a huge and varied choice of fabulous family days out. If you are on a break with kids, you’ll need to get out of the four walls of your choice of Edinburgh hotels early each morning. With everything from science events to toy exhibitions, anyone taking their children to Edinburgh for a city break can expect the whole family to have a great time in this fun-packed city. | <urn:uuid:7e9533a4-d456-4c75-8376-95dbd7490006> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://slices-of-life.com/2012/02/22/five-family-days-out-in-edinburgh-travel-guide/ | 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 | 0.948808 | 662 | 1.539063 | 2 |
LifeWay Bans 'The Blind Side'
By Phinehas Hodges
July 18, 2012
Phin is an embattled artist who writes from a small apartment somewhere in the mid-west.
Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece, Slaughter-House Five, tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an optometrist who has become unstuck in time. He is kidnapped by aliens and taken to a planet called Tralfamadore to live in a zoo. The aliens, who can see time, explain that it is a flat plain: all things have already occurred and will always occur. That is fate. The Tralfmadorians do not strive to change their lives; they simply choose to concentrate on the beautiful moments, instead of the awful ones.
Humans, however, are doomed to travel through the same four-dimensioned world as if they are chained to a railway car with a metal pipe strapped to their face; so that time appears to be linear.
At least they are moving.
For many contemporary Christians, it seems the rail car stalled sometime in the fifties.
LifeWay, a prominent book seller, recently pulled The Blind Side, a film released last year, from its shelves, after a complaint was filed expressing ‘dissatisfaction with…any product that contains explicit profanity, God’s name in vain, and racial slur.’
This action might have been understandable if the film was one of the many movies Hollywood produces each year that are banal vehicles for sexuality and brute violence, but it wasn’t: it was a true story, an inspirational story, in which the Christian faith was portrayed as neither bland goodness nor small-minded piety.
Unfortunately, LifeWay removing The Blind Side (a movie that oozes 'feel-good') for its (accurate) depictions of inner-city life is not an outlier. It is yet another indicator that mainstream Christianity is continuing its alarming trend towards the attitudes espoused by the militant isolationists of the early nineties, for whom the human world writ large was a thing to build walls and stockpile weapons against.
Surprisingly, this does not endear us to the rest of humanity.Nostalgia is a generational disease. You would be hard pressed to find a generation that did not feel, intuitively, that the world had been a happier, safer place in their youth. But what we are seeing now is an entire religion suffering from a crippling nostalgia for a time that never was; a time when neighborhoods were safe (only in the suburbs) and people didn’t cuss or drink too much or even sleep in the same bed (only in the movies).
Because of this nostalgia, Christianity runs the danger of becoming a self-contained sect.
With each passing year, Christians find it increasingly difficult to engage the world community. We are becoming desperate in the attempt. This desperation gave us WWJD, and "Testamints," and the bad taste they left in our mouths; it also makes us cling so intensely to the few true artists to come out of the last twenty years (Sufjan, Donald Miller) that they are forced either to distance themselves completely or be drained incrementally of whatever talent and cultural equity they had.
The solution to being relevant isn’t to attempt to identify the most hip band or technology and then try to copy it; it isn’t remove ourselves to a world of felt sheep on a felt board and Sunday school and happy-happy hand clapping.
The solution to our backwardness, our anger, and our increasing irrelevance is simple: it is to be honest. We must address the concerns of this generation of men and women, who find themselves living in an impossibly large and diverse world, where evil is nebulous in its forms and practices, and can be a chemical in a hamburger as easily as it can in a hijacked plane headed for a tower.
After all, what is more relevant than truth?
This doesn’t mean that we are giving in, selling out. Were the guerrilla translators of the fifteenth century selling out when they translated the Bible into an up-to-date language? We, the followers of the first radical, who were once the white-hot edge of the world, have become the dull, heavy weight it drags along.
Christians have to catch up, or else end up isolated, shouting extraneous slogans to the wind.
Christians must become unstuck in time. | <urn:uuid:4bcc668d-2b04-428c-b119-a099dac1d60b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.relevantmagazine.com/comment/379643 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960722 | 926 | 1.632813 | 2 |
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International -- Asian Business
Commentary: Hong Kong Should Let in the Best and Brightest (int'l edition)
You can't say Hong Kong aims low. On Mar. 3, Finance Secretary Sir Donald Tsang unveiled a $1.7 billion project called Cyberport, intended to launch the territory into the high-tech big time. It's an ambitious plan--and comes not a moment too soon. When it's finished in 2002, Cyberport will provide world-class facilities for information-technology companies. At the very least, it will keep Hong Kong in the running against rivals ranging from Malaysia and Singapore to Taiwan and the city of Shanghai. They're all vying to become Asia's multimedia capital. But there's a problem with Cyberport: Hong Kong hasn't got the people it will need to fill it.
Government officials say Cyberport is vital to the territory's future. That's why Hong Kong has given public land to a developer who is to build intelligent buildings, broadband telecom infrastructure, offices, exhibition space, residences, and hotels. But if Hong Kong is serious about IT, it must do far more than green-light a big project. It will have to attract the talent necessary for an IT industry--a huge task, since Hong Kong suffers a dearth of high-tech engineers. It graduates about 10,000 science and engineering students a year, about a third of what it needs. Overcoming the scarcity requires far-reaching changes, which Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa must begin making now.FLOOD WATCH. Tung could start at Hong Kong's border with China, which turns out 400,000 science and engineering grads yearly. Logically enough, entrepreneurs look to China to solve their labor problems. It should be easy to bring some of its surplus talent to Hong Kong, especially now that the Brits are gone and the former colony is reunited with the motherland. But it isn't.
Ask Henry Lin. He's president and CEO of Goyoyo International Group, which designs Chinese-language Internet search engines for America Online Inc. Last year, Lin tried to bring Goyoyo's co-founder, An Qin, to Hong Kong from Beijing. Qin, a 32-year-old graduate in information engineering, couldn't get a visa from Hong Kong, which has the right to limit immigration from the mainland. "We tried so many different ways," laments Lin. "But they have so many different restrictions."
It's even getting harder now to bring in people from China. This is understandable--partly. A local court ruling just gave more mainland-born children the right to stay permanently, raising fears of a flood of main-landers that would strain housing, schools, and public services. And even amid a shortage of qualified technicians, Hong Kong's unemployment rate hit a 25-year high of 6% in March. With the rate likely to keep rising, any move to open the borders is sure to provoke the labor movement, which has long opposed opening the territory to foreign workers.
The bureaucracy should brave the political clamor and increase the flow of skilled engineers from the mainland. "They have to tap into that talent base," says Scott Durchslag, a McKinsey & Co. principal, "or [Cyberport] is dead on arrival."LONG WAIT. Finance Secretary Tsang promises that Hong Kong will study ways to expedite the visa process for Chinese scientists and researchers. But he should let Hong Kong companies look beyond the mainland, too. Consider Web Connection, a startup that creates E-commerce applications such as online ticketing and reservations. Founded four years ago, it has 70 employees--a dozen of whom are Western expats. Tapping the U.S. and European talent pool is essential in the Internet industry because that pool is so much deeper than either Hong Kong's or China's.
Singapore and Malaysia seem to know that. Both approve visas for high-tech employees in days. But Hong Kong can take four months. "In IT time, that's like two years," says Peter Hamilton, the 39-year-old Briton who started Web Connection. Hamilton has already lost several job applicants to Singapore rivals.
Hong Kong can't afford to move slowly. While technology has long taken a backseat to real estate, it's time to correct that economic bias. Dynamism and determination have never been in short supply among the territory's businesses. Tung Chee Hwa needs to show some of both if he wants to make Hong Kong a place that can attract top tech talent.By Bruce Einhorn | <urn:uuid:380d0485-c653-497d-b1cf-5071eaa582c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1999-03-28/commentary-hong-kong-should-let-in-the-best-and-brightest-intl-edition | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953907 | 956 | 1.578125 | 2 |
‘Sago’ - a natural product for cashew apple juice clarification
Clarification of cashew apple juice by removing phenols and tannins is an important step in cashew apple processing. The common clarifying agent recommended presently is poly vinyl pyrolidone (PVP), a costly chemical. A study to evaluate the efficacy of different clarifying agents, and to find a cheap substitutes for PVP showed that ‘sago’, which is a natural commercial starch preparation, has considerable potential in this respect. Juice clarified by sago was not only qualitatively similar to that clarified by PVP, but also had a higher recovery percentage.
Full Text: PDF | <urn:uuid:15f33fa7-9a21-4e5e-a4af-4a1c29af76b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jtropag.in/index.php/ojs/article/viewArticle/132 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95388 | 140 | 1.828125 | 2 |
BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - A urological training programme produces trained surgeons equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to eventually become consultant urologists.
Modern urology comprises a range of inter-related sub-specialties, which include urological oncology, endourology, female and reconstructive surgery and andrology (Table 1 ). In all sub-specialities rapid medical and surgical developments, e.g. laparoscopic, robot-assisted and single-port surgery are occurring. As the nature of the work is changing, the defi nitions of competency in urology are also changing. It is vital that urological training constantly adapts to these changes in practice to ensure that standards are maintained and patient safety is not compromised.
With the introduction of the European Working Time Directive in 2004, the training time available, for all doctors, is estimated to have dropped from 30,000 h to only 8000 h. Furthermore, with earlier diagnosis, progress in minimally invasive surgery and pharmacological advances, fewer patients require major urological surgery. The volume-based traditional (‘see one, do one, teach one’) Halstedian model of training is therefore likely to play a smaller role in future training. Surgeons are constantly looking for novel methods of effective training that are valid and reproducible. With quality assurance targets in place and rising patient expectations and litigation cases, it is becoming increasingly necessary to have acquired basic technical skills before operating on patients. This has led to huge interest in the field of medical simulation...View or save the full text Mini Review as a .pdf file
Rishma Gohil, Reenam S. Khan, Kamran Ahmed, Pardeep Kumar, Ben Challacombe, Mohammed Shamim Khan, and Prokar Dasgupta
MRC Centre for Transplantation, King’s College London, Department of Urology and Urology Simulation Centre, Guy’s Hospital, London, UK | <urn:uuid:36970bca-a3bb-49a4-968e-fda24a3acc58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urotoday.com/pediatric-urology-1318/links-1322/component/jentlacontent/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50373-bjui-mini-reviews-urology-training-past-present-and-future&catid=1168&Itemid=190 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934974 | 413 | 1.625 | 2 |
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She continued by sharing a consensus she and her friends came to, "...all our crazy really boils down to skewed expectations. In our minds, we have created certain ideals--those "shoulds" of life so to speak--and when those expectations aren't met, our crazy spirals."
I think Jamie has hit the nail on the head when she talks about skewed expectations. I also think her conclusions are particularly helpful for navigating the holiday season. Our unrealistic expectations cause our "Christmas Crazy!" Most of the time, those expectations are unrealistic and not congruent with the realities of life.
With the holiday season upon us, I don't believe we need to lower our expectations. I believe we need change our expectations. Lowering expectations seems to indicate that we're "settling" for something less. Changing expectations indicates a need to transform or modify our thinking. More often than not, we need to change unrealistic expectations to realistic expectations.
Source: Crosswalk.com | Jill Savage
Jill Savage (www.jillsavage.org) is the founder and CEO of Hearts at Home, an organization for moms. She is the author of 9 books including the upcoming release No More Perfect Moms. As a wife to Mark, and "mom" to five kids, Jill has learned that changing expectations is an important key to finding a sense of peace in the midst of the chaos of everyday life. | <urn:uuid:a76afbe3-f888-428d-83fa-f1067cb68be5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blackchristiannews.com/news/2012/12/how-to-keep-christmas-craziness-under-control.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950571 | 300 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The Football Rules Committee continues to seek ways to speed play during regulation, but when it comes to overtime, the clock is stopped.
Several rules announced last week were the latest attempts to reduce the length of games, but overtime remained untouched. That would appear to be an oversight, especially after examining the list of the 10 longest games of 2007. The top eight went into overtime.
As overtime rules stand, each team gets a possession starting on the opponent's 25-yard line, putting the ball well within range of kickers in this day and age. There is a play clock but no game clock. Beginning with the third overtime, teams are mandated to attempt a two-point conversion after a touchdown. These rules have resulted in an ultra-conservative approach by coaches and multiple overtime games.
Here's what can be done:
Overtime possessions begin on the opponent's 40-yard line. No more rewards for teams that fail to advance the ball. As it stands, teams can send out the kicker and likely get a field goal even without advancing past the 25. Putting the ball at the 40 would reward teams that are able to advance into field goal range.
Teams will have two minutes to score. Having two minutes to score from the 40 is more than fair and would add to the urgency of overtime. Besides, if you have a game clock for four quarters, why do you not have it during overtime?
After a touchdown, a team must attempt a two-point conversion. Extra points are successful 95% of the time. The success rate on two-point conversions is 45%. This would lessen the chances of multiple overtimes. | <urn:uuid:9a48522e-f10f-4fea-a7b2-05ae08756f51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thewizardofodds.blogspot.com/2008/02/its-time-to-put-overtime-rules-in.html?showComment=1203780720000 | 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 | 0.974909 | 334 | 1.8125 | 2 |
I am not system administrator, but I have nice knowledge of Linux, Unix, Windows and hardware.
What are the most needed topics that a Linux Administrator has to know by heart (at the point of being able to fix, setup, work it out without having to read the manual at the max; checking the man pages which are common with any distribution)?
The FOCUS I'd like to set for this would be from company network to server administration which may have some equal features will most of the time have some different ones as well. Like for example you won't always see an FTP server for a company server but probably see Samba most of the time...
I am not saying "book you must read" or things like that, but I meant the most necessary features that will probably be needed in your daily life as a Linux administrator.
- Kernel, iptables
- Sendmail, Postfix, qmail, exim
- Squid, Samba, NFS, LDAP
- Apache, ngxix, lighthttpd
- vsftpd, proftpd
- Daily problems faced
- What is the feature you used the most during the day
This is not an in-order list nor the most needed. It just names something that came to my head.
PS: I already have the basic knowledge, but I don't have a daily experience on the field. I have had servers, made some networks, and so on. Further I even have some deep knowledge in some portions of it. I just wanted to update this here, like I said this is more of a DAILY LIST OF A LINUX SYSADMIN LIFE.
I would appreciate if you guys/gals could list topics and for example which field inside it is the most used or important to memorize.
If you believe my question is unfit just let me know about it and I will delete it myself or if you feel it is fit but needs to be re-worked more let me know as well and I will try my best. | <urn:uuid:5f258a4e-5334-482d-a00a-26f9addbd577> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://serverfault.com/questions/167991/what-a-linux-administrator-must-know-by-head | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971847 | 421 | 1.523438 | 2 |
In 2008, then-Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was prosecuted and convicted on charges that he had failed to report free work that a politically connected contractor had performed on his home.
Eight days after his conviction in federal court, Stevens was defeated for re-election.
In early 2009, however, that conviction was overturned at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, which had discovered serious prosecutorial misconduct by attorneys in its Public Integrity Section.
A new independent investigation of that misconduct has now been released, and it is chilling. It concludes:
“The investigation and prosecution of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens were permeated by the systematic concealment of significant exculpatory evidence which would have independently corroborated Senator Stevens’s defense and his testimony, and seriously damaged the testimony and credibility of the government’s key witness.”
The details of the report make it even more chilling. Prosecutors were so determined to convict Stevens and get the scalp of a U.S. senator whom they believed corrupt that they point-blank lied to the court, to the defense and even to other members of the Department of Justice. (The report calls the lies “astonishing misstatements.”)
Prosecutors withheld crucial evidence. They allowed their witnesses to offer testimony that they knew to be false. There is also strong evidence that they pushed witnesses to fabricate last-minute testimony needed to close gaping holes in their case.
One of the few silver linings in the case is the fact that Stevens and the Bush administration that prosecuted him belonged to the same party. Had Stevens been a Democrat, this would been portrayed as a politically motivated hit job by the executive branch against a member of the opposite party, which would have created a crisis of an entirely different kind.
That also would have distracted attention from the real issues in the case, which are equally troubling in their own right:
– We need an aggressive, effective Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Justice Department; it is essential in ferreting out government corruption, especially at the state and local level where local prosecutors may be too intimidated or too compromised to take action themselves. However, actions such as these call into question the integrity of the Public Integrity Section. (It is important to stress that once other lawyers in the Justice Department began reviewing the case on appeal, they quickly discovered and reported the misbehavior of their colleagues; the Justice Department itself moved to have the conviction overturned.)
– If the defendant in the case was not a U.S. senator, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, it is questionable whether the facts of the case would ever have come to light. How many lower-profile cases in both federal and state courts are dogged by similar prosecutorial misconduct and are never discovered? When the awesome power of the government is turned against a single citizen, it is critically important that such power be wielded fairly and honestly. It is deeply troubling when such awesome power is abused.
– Despite evidence that “would prove beyond a reasonable doubt (that exculpatory) information was intentionally withheld from the attorneys for Senator Stevens,” the new Stevens report concludes that no criminal proceeding against the rogue prosecutors is possible because the legal barriers against such steps are so high.
Those barriers exist for a reason — prosecutors cannot do their job aggressively without a high degree of legal protection. But if those barriers are so high that they preclude punishment for conscious deception, fabrication and withholding of evidence, they need to be reconsidered.
As it is, prosecutors rarely suffer consequences for abusing the process. (Mike Nifong, the prosecutor in the infamous Duke lacrosse case, was eventually disbarred for his actions in that case, but such steps are rare.)
Consider a case out of Louisiana, in which prosecutors withheld blood evidence and other proof that would have helped to exonerate a murder suspect. Instead, the defendant was convicted and sentenced to death, eventually serving 18 years on Death Row and coming close to execution several times before being granted a new trial.
The truth came to light only after a junior district attorney on the case made a death-bed confession, and even then his confession was withheld for five years. In a new trial, the jury cleared the defendant after 35 minutes of deliberation.
Later, the defendant sued and was awarded $14 million in damages. But last year the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling written by Justice Clarence Thomas, threw that award out on grounds that it violated prosecutorial immunity.
– Jay Bookman | <urn:uuid:c2596965-e5eb-40eb-9cbe-405070b44843> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/03/16/in-stevens-case-federal-prosecutors-lied-and-deceived/?cp=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979591 | 930 | 1.5625 | 2 |
FNAC – abreviation: Feature not a Company (Marc Suster)
Remember back in 2008 when everyone (including me) was high on the live video lessons which were going to change the educational system? I think it’s time to face the truth: they are just a feature which has to be seen in a bigger context. As a stand alone business model it won’t cut the mustard.
Sure, live video lessons bring some new conveniences such as being able to have a French teacher in France or having the proverbial “lesson from the comfort of your home” but live lessons do not solve the need of the student to learn anytime, anywhere (although some platforms are claiming it). You still need to schedule a lesson, the teacher needs to connect to the lesson/classroom, you must have access to the internet etc.
And as always the proof is in the pudding. Just look at the numbers of users for the different services. Myngle as the biggest online teaching platform recently got its 100.000 user after being 3 years in business. You now need to subtract the teachers from this number and with that I don’t only mean the ca 300 “active” teachers but all on the waiting list. Furthermore, another platform, eduFire, got sold to Camelback Education, but more on that later.
Taking a look at online language communities next we see that italki has over 500.000 users in 3 years (minus the teachers) Busuu has over 500.000 users in 2 1/2 years, Babbel over 600.000 and Livemocha north of 5 million. Why? Because it’s convenient. I can really use those services anytime and with new features like iPhone / iPad applications anywhere. Even after Babbel chose the all premium way, the company is still adding users, without any problem it seems.
Apparently Jon Bischke was the first one to realize that a platform that is only built on live lessons, group or one-to-one, is not able to survive. So, he took the chance to get an exit by selling eduFire to Camelback education. For them eduFire will be an essential part in their new online university but that’s it: it’s only a part of a bigger picture.
Why is this? Students don’t want to learn at the pace given by a teacher, meaning only during live lessons with an educator. The students have a goal they want to reach and a teacher alone is simply holding them back or at least slowing them down the learning process. Even if the teacher was available for one lesson a day the price of this would simply go through the roof. If you compare the (in)famous Myngle Boost where they offer one 30 minute one-to-one lesson a day for one month at about 150 Euro to a monthly subscription at Livemocha, Babbel or Busuu you can learn more than one year at this price given. Hence I always encourage my students to get as much practice as possible besides our live lessons by signing up to a community like Livemocha, Busuu or Babbel, by buying a book, by watching video lessons or by looking for conversation partners etc.
I know, this seems to be cannibalizing my own business. Why on earth would I want that my student reaches his/her goal more quickly? Doesn’t that mean the revenue I would “get out” of the student will decrease? No, it does not. Being an online teacher for about 4 years now the general time a student spends learning with me is around three years. Helping the student reach goals quickly will motivate him/her to reach the next goal and then again the next and so on. Even a native speaker can still learn new vocabulary or sophisticated grammar rules if one is interested in or on the other hand reaching the level of conversing in almost any given topic, depending on interest of course, as the highest level of language teaching possible.
But back to our FNACs. So far, we can sum up that live lessons are inconvenient, more expensive and don’t seem to attract many students compared to self paced offers in the language learning space. Now, where do they actually fit then?
I think we should see them as the cream filling and the icing of a cake. More than 25% are simply too much. So, the filling might be important for the taste of the cake but eating only the sweet icing is no fun either. Taking the baking example you might even take a British coffee cake where you don’t even need cream at all to get the full taste. Hence I’d say, and this is also true for online teachers who want to make a living with online teaching, 75% of your offer needs to be asynchronous content and not more than 25% should be live lessons. The asynchronous content can be everything from videos to podcasts, from texts and flashcards to interactive exercises basically all the different learning units a student can do on his/her own without you.
Now what does this mean for the companies involved in online education? My prediction is that business models built and focused on live lessons will fail sooner or later. Exceptions may be models like Learn2Lingo which is based on the idea of spontaneous lessons, e.g. the teacher makes himself available when he has the time and if a student then decides to take a lesson it’s fine. But if this is really scalable and sustainable, I don’t know.
Winners will be services like Sclipo, Udemy, WiZiQ, Nixty etc which let you build and sell complete courses with live lessons as a feature. Students can come to your service/offer at any given time and take a lesson right away by watching a video course or taking a quizz. As a next step or at a certain point they might sign up for a live lesson or take another video course. In any case you will earn and so does the platform/service provider.
Winners will also be services like TeachStreet, School of Everything and Emagister which help you to get traffic and therefore generate new customers. They don’t interfere with your business they only add value to it and this is true for both sides as the student has the convenience of finding your service much quicker than on classic search engines. The unfortunate fact that many educators don’t consider themselves as service providers, at least not yet, slows this new way of seeing the role/importance of a teacher down but it’s an inevitable change (of mind) educators in a free market have to face/accept.
Winners will be providers in (micro) niches like YongoPal, Engo, Elycee etc that focus on a very targeted audience in verticals that convert well like test preparation, accent reduction and all that stuff.
Winners will be entertainment based services like English Attack! or LanguageLab which either offer a whole new experience of learning or which could work on different levels from absolute beginners to intermediate and maybe even above as they are focusing on entertainment and the learning process is sugar coated by their offers.
And of course winners will be services like Livemocha, Babbel, Busuu and of course Rosetta Stone which that a ton of self paced learning material and will for sure add sessions with live teachers (Rosetta Stone has this in TOTALe already) to their portfolio. They will own the biggest part of the online language learning market.
Teachers will only be able to survive on higher ground, as the lower levels of language acquisition will be flooded by more and more applications that are also becoming more and more intelligent. But more on this aspect in another post. | <urn:uuid:7d6cc683-f097-4481-aadd-d5927427dea5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kirstenwinkler.com/why-live-lessons-are-fnacs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958796 | 1,605 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Tue February 28, 2012
The Hidden Faces Of Modern-Day Slavery
Slavery continues to exist across the United States in a number of forms. There are brothels, farms, nail salons and factories across the United States where people are working against their will, for no pay. A number of states are working on legislation to address human trafficking. | <urn:uuid:89fc0fd1-75f8-4612-af01-a4763377da0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wmra.org/post/hidden-faces-modern-day-slavery | 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 | 0.95512 | 74 | 1.796875 | 2 |
LESLIE: Brandon in Ohio with a flooring question. How can we help you with your projects?
BRANDON: Well, we’re putting in a laminate wood-plank flooring in our living room and it starts in our kitchen and we want to continue it into the living room. But there’s a 1/2-inch drop between the kitchen and the living room. I’m not sure how to kind of raise up the floor so it can be level.
TOM: Do you want to raise it up or do you want to have a gentle slope downward?
BRANDON: Well, I guess I don’t know what works. Because we didn’t really want to put a transition piece between the two rooms; we just kind of wanted to – since it’s all the same material, just wanted it to flow smoothly into the next room.
TOM: Is it a doorway?
BRANDON: There’s no doorway.
BRANDON: It’s kind of like open when you first open our front door. But there’s two rooms.
TOM: Alright. Well, look, you have two choices here: you can either have a saddle with an obvious point of demarcation and a step-down; or you could shim it or build up the floor so that there’s a gentle slope downwards. You’re either going to end up with a slope-y floor, which is going to give you the sensation of walking down a hill; or you’re going to have a clean saddle and a step-down.
LESLIE: Well, and be a major problem for furnishings that would be along that wall in between the two spaces.
TOM: Yeah, exactly.
LESLIE: You’re going to have to shim China cabinets.
TOM: I’d rather see you put a clear saddle across there and work it into the design. Whenever you have something odd like that, sometimes it’s easier to shout about it and make it look like it was supposed to be that way than to try to hide it. If you try to hide it with the slope, it’s not going to feel right when you’re walking on it and, like Leslie said, furniture issues and so on. Could be even unsafe, too.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and a saddle is going to have a clear transition between the two. I mean you’ll see on either side, on the base of the saddle, where it is for one floor height and where it is for another.
BRANDON: Where would I be finding a saddle to do that? At any home …
TOM: Oh, any lumber saddle will have hardwood saddles.
LESLIE: Well, and wouldn’t the company that manufactures the laminate that he’s purchasing also sell saddles?
TOM: Perhaps. Yep, they should. Just check the links that are available. Except I would probably use a real wood than a laminate saddle.
LESLIE: Just for durability issues or …?
TOM: Yeah. It’s going to take a lot of beating.
BRANDON: OK. Alright, well thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. | <urn:uuid:acf8c93c-73b7-4dab-8188-3ddf6ca3c836> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneypit.com/audio-q-a/laminate-wood-flooring?quicktabs_1=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944714 | 734 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Massachusetts: Promotion for Vertex Drug Would Mislead, FDA Says
June 4, 2012
The Food and Drug Administration's Office of Prescription Drug Promotion has issued a letter requesting that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. not distribute promotional material that FDA says exaggerates the benefits of the hepatitis C drug Incivek.
Sent May 25, the letter said a Vertex-submitted "branded story" of a patient taking Incivek "is misleading because it overstates the efficacy, omits material facts, and minimizes important risk information."
The story was to be part of a promotion of a type common among drugmakers. Patients who are paid travel expenses and a modest honorarium by drug companies speak about their experiences in treatment; they are accompanied by nurses who discuss the therapy with prospective patients.
According to the "James 'J.P.' M, Hepatitis C Mentor" story posted on FDA's website: "Six months after the treatment ended, I found out I'd cleared the virus. That made me feel so good. I was happy to know I'd be around a little longer to see my son grow up."
In addition to noting the word "cleared" incorrectly implies eradication of the virus from the body, FDA regulatory review officials Sheetal Patel and Michael Sauers wrote, "This branded story misleadingly implies that most or all [patients] infected with hepatitis C will successfully achieve sustained virologic response" on Incivek.
Although the letter was not a formal warning, Vertex spokesperson Nikki Levy said the company is reevaluating the material. "We take the FDA's feedback very seriously," said Levy. "The material they're referencing hadn't been used publicly," she said, and will not be used "until we've addressed the FDA's concerns."
05.31.2012; Robert Weisman
This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update. Visit the CDC's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services.
Add Your Comment:
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adding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.) | <urn:uuid:c9704e3b-436f-4dc6-b15f-b4be5cea1844> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/67391/massachusetts-promotion-for-vertex-drug-would-misl.html?nxtprv | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935385 | 487 | 1.625 | 2 |
The Arctic Sea went missing in mysterious circumstances last month
Russia says it has found a missing cargo vessel near the Cape Verde islands and retrieved its Russian crew.
Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that the 15-member crew had been taken on board a Russian navy vessel. They were in good condition, he said.
The Finnish-owned Arctic Sea went off radar after passing through the English Channel with its cargo of timber.
Speculation over the cause of its disappearance had ranged from pirates to a mafia dispute to a commercial row.
The Arctic Sea was found at 0100 Monday (2100 GMT Sunday) 300 miles (480 km) off Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean, Tass news agency quoted Mr Serdyukov as telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
"The crew have been transferred to another ship. They are being interrogated now in order to find out what happened," Mr Serdyukov said.
TIMELINE: ARCTIC SEA
24 July: Crew say masked men board vessel, then leave
28 July: Ship contacts UK coastguard in English Channel
4 Aug: Ship fails to arrive in Algeria
17 Aug: Russia says ship found 300 miles off Cape Verde islands
The sailors were "alive, healthy and are not under armed guard", the agency quoted him as saying.
Malta's Maritime Security Committee confirmed that the vessel was in the hands of the Russian military. Further clarification in the case was being sought, it said in a statement.
Carrying timber reportedly worth $1.8m (£1.1m), the 4,000-tonne Maltese-flagged vessel sailed from Finland and had been scheduled to dock in the Algerian port of Bejaia on 4 August.
The crew reported having been boarded by up to 10 armed men as the ship sailed through the Baltic Sea on 24 July, but the intruders were reported to have left the vessel on an inflatable boat after 12 hours.
The last known contact with the crew was when the Arctic Sea reported to British maritime authorities in Dover as it passed through the English Channel.
It was then sighted in the Bay of Biscay on 30 July.
On Saturday, police in Finland said a ransom demand had been made, but emphasised that they could not confirm its authenticity. | <urn:uuid:dcdd7700-e9d1-4693-a5cd-99ba3e3d025e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8205590.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981614 | 481 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Vested Retirement Benefit
You are eligible for a vested retirement benefit if you leave public employment before age 55 and you have five or more years of credited service. This means that when you reach age 55, you will be entitled to a retirement benefit based on your service and the salary earned when you were an active member.
Under Article 15, if you retire between age 55 and 62 with less than 30 years of service credit, you will receive a reduced pension. With at least 30 years of service, or if you are 62 or older at retirement, there is no reduction in your pension.
Your Vested Benefit
This benefit is calculated the same way as your service retirement benefit. However, it cannot be less than the value of your accumulated contributions with interest. For an explanation of your benefit, please refer to Service Retirement Benefits.
The vested retirement benefit is payable for your lifetime. You may elect one of several payment options to provide for a continuing payment to a designated beneficiary of your choosing after your death.
To receive your vested retirement benefit at the earliest possible date, file a retirement application within 90 days before your 55th birthday. If we receive your retirement application after your 55th birthday, your vested retirement will be effective the date the application is received.
Remember, it is up to you to file a retirement application when you become eligible and wish to receive your benefit. | <urn:uuid:934b706b-4bc3-4c32-9988-bfdb2ed0217f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osc.state.ny.us/retire/publications/vo1522/vested_ret_benefit/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966531 | 279 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Slide copier for Pentax
gdigiorgi at gmail.com
Thu Jul 29 11:09:08 EDT 2010
What I was saying was not so much a series of statements leading to a
conclusion as a summary of my use and insight into using scanners.
Information, discussion perhaps, not really argument in this literal
Argument, when used in the context of talking about a discussion,
nearly always connotates some element of debate or persuasion. You
didn't have to mean to imply that, it's the common use of the word
that does. That's why it seemed odd to refer to my statements as my
'argument': I wasn't providing points of logic leading to a conclusion
or debating against some hypothesis I disagreed with.
On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, Boris Liberman <boris71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 7/27/2010 8:16 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote:
> I didn't think it was an argument, Boris. Just information.
> From Merriam Webster on the web:
> argument: a coherent series of statements leading from a premise to a conclusion.
> I used "argument" as a synonym to "reasoning"... In no way did I imply an argument as in: "a reason given in proof or rebuttal" or in " discourse intended to persuade". All quotes of course are from the same Merriam Webster page.
> The more English language I know/learn the more increasingly difficult it becomes to use it.
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML at pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
More information about the PDML | <urn:uuid:27e70f4c-0861-4f5a-abad-6bd6f322c96d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pdml.net/pipermail/pdml_pdml.net/2010-July/235301.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93343 | 381 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Trouble setting up print server
I'm using computers in a LAN Network that are running Win2000. I want to set up one of them as my printer server but I noticed that when I want to print I have to manually search for the print server using the "my network places" icon and then connect to the printer from the client. How can I solve this?
Now for the past two weeks I noticed also that I couldn't access any of my clients if it try to connect to them from other clients - it keeps saying that this machine has no logon permission, I didn't set any permission. What could be the cause?
Assuming the printer is installed on the workstation you wish to print from, its more likely that the port configured (Properties of the printer- Port Tab) has changed or misconfigured. Check the port settings and make sure they match the located of the print server.
Also, you might want to try and right-click on the desired printer once you browse through the 'My network places' icon, and see if you get an option that will allow you to install it. Usually there is such an option.
This was first published in June 2003 | <urn:uuid:a4f6135a-f449-49ad-b0a3-e2cb6988616a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/answer/Trouble-setting-up-print-server | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966768 | 245 | 1.515625 | 2 |
For table decorations, I got a few gerber daisy pots and put little bug stakes in them and throw a whole bunch of plastic bugs on the table. Of course, we placed gummy worms in little bowls--they were gone fast! One Sunday, Stella helped me decorate styroform balls with tissue paper and we made a bumblebee, catepillar and ladybug for the yard decorations. I also made large butterflies out of tissue paper, clothing pins and pipe cleaners. We had these buggies scattered around the backyard.
Once the kids arrived, they decorated bug catcher boxes with markers, glue art, crayons and stickers. They also each got a bug mask to wear during the party. After the art project, it was game time with Grasshopper Seth. They played "Spot the Ladybug"--each child licked an Oreo cookie and tried to stick it to the ladybug. The next game with "Flyswatter Race"--it was a relay game. Each child had to run to one side of the yard without dropping the bug on a flyswatter. This got a little confusing since some of the kids were a little too young. But they still had fun and they ended up just running after each other wearing their silly bug masks.
After the games, we had lunch: On the Menu: bug salad--a combination of catepillar coccoon (green grapes), green-speckled red beetles (strawberries), black beetles (blackberries). Butterflies (soft pretzels). Wrapped worms (hot dog in a bun). Beetle juice (grape juice). After lunch, they got to hit the orange bug pinata, which was filled with candy and more bugs. No one broke it open, so Seth had to mash it. Then it was cake and cupcakes--singing Happy Birthday to Stella. It was very windy outside, so no candles.
By now the kids were on a complete sugar high. I think they all had eaten their cookies, candy and cake, so we opened presents. It was fun watching the kids get excited as Stella would open their present, and she's been busy playing with them since.
After opening presents it was about time for the party to end, so for the big finale we had a bug hunt with LIVE buggies. Each kid took their decorated bug catcher box and were ready for the release of 100 crickets and 1500 ladybugs. It was hilarious! Many of the girls were shirking in delight but some of them were crying. The boys were scrambling to catch them. Seth and I were helping catch some of the buggies for the girls. At one point Lucas had five ladybugs crawling on his face. A cricket landed on Stella's shirt. It was a lot of fun. I wish I got it all on video camera because it was definitely a sight to behold, but yet again we had technical difficulties. Oh, well. The kids got to take home their new little friends, along with a little windmill and their bug masks. Whew! I even got into the festivities and wore bopper head antennaes. | <urn:uuid:d2b1367c-bfbc-46e2-9558-10951d3efa24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://darlingdarleen.blogspot.jp/2007/10/stellas-3rd-birthday-bug-party.html?showComment=1191454560000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988282 | 641 | 1.601563 | 2 |
- Series Producer
- Richard Denton
- Ethan Hawke
- Nicola Stockley
Episode 2 of 6
Duration: 1 hour
Shakespeare Uncovered: Ethan Hawke sets out to prepare himself for the possibility of playing the role of Macbeth by uncovering the true story behind the play, seeing some of the greatest productions and discovering the extraordinary insights into the criminal mind that Shakespeare reveals.
Ethan has played a modern-dress Hamlet, but he is fascinated by the challenge of the truly ancient story of Macbeth. Assisted by historian Justin Champion - who visits the actual Scottish sites of the story on his behalf - Ethan is introduced to Dunsinane where Macbeth supposedly lived and to the history books that distorted the true story and led Shakespeare himself to distort the truth.
Ethan is also helped by actors and performers in his home town of New York as he investigates the 'bloody heart' of this extraordinary character. He also wants to know how important Macbeth's wife is to the whole story and we observe Shakespeare's Globe actors rehearsing and performing scenes from the play. He talks at length to Anthony Sher and his director Greg Doran (recently appointed to take over as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company) about their legendary stage and film production of the play.
Finally, Ethan goes to look at a copy of the First Folio - The Complete Works of Shakespeare, as published in 1623. This priceless book contains the first ever printed version of the play - if Shakespeare's friends had not clubbed together after the writer's death to create this book, then Macbeth and 16 other Shakespeare plays would have been lost forever.
At the end of the film Ethan believes that this extraordinarily brutal and bloody play does have a message of comfort and explains why the mayor of New York chose to quote from it on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the atrocity of 9/11.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. | <urn:uuid:87d2cca9-a6d6-457a-8996-ec0982db4298> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kby6k | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953847 | 466 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Tom Konrad, Contributor
I write about peak oil and climate change as investment themes.
An EV for the 1%
The chatter among electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts and investors this week is all about the launch of the Tesla (NASD:TSLA) model S today. A cool ride, no doubt, but not many of us are ever going to buy a sedan that starts at $49,900, even after the $7,500 tax subsidy.
Fortunately for the rest of us, this week also brought news about two much more affordable EVs.
An EV for the 99%
Chicago EV enthusiasts will soon not have to stump up $50K to ride an EV, they’ll be able to ride an EV for just $2. That’s because the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) just placed the first order for two of New Flyer Industries’ (OTC:NFYEF, TSX:NFI) recently launched battery-electric transit bus. The CTA will pay $2.2 million for the buses, and will begin a pilot program to understand how they will operate in Chicago’s harsh climate.
The buses come equipped with traction drives and components from Siemens (NYSE:SI) and will be delivered in 2013.
An EV for the Chinese Working Class
On the other side of the world, the Chinese press identified Kandi Technologies (NASD:KNDI) as a supplier to the City of Hangzhou’s 20,000 vehicle EV rental program. The program will be active in “July and August,” meaning that the first EV purchases will occur within a month.
The vehicles may come from a variety of manufacturers, but only Kandi Technologies (NASD:KNDI) was identified as having a model approved for the program. The reporter was shown a Kandi tw0-seater, and Kandi’s mini-EVs were identified by a local power company official (which is a partner in the program) to “possibly” be promoted as they are “more suitable for city driving.” | <urn:uuid:f15219a8-90c7-49cb-9eeb-b44589cdb1d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomkonrad/2012/06/22/teslas-not-alone-evs-for-the-99-and-the-chinese-working-class/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter | 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 | 0.955671 | 439 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Bryan W. Shaw, Ph.D.
Shaw is an associate professor in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department of Texas A&M University (TAMU) with many of his courses focused on air pollution engineering. The majority of his research at TAMU concentrates on air pollution, air pollution abatement, dispersion model development and emission factor development. Shaw was formerly associate director of the Center for Agricultural Air Quality Engineering and Science, and formerly served as Acting Lead Scientist for Air Quality and Special Assistant to the Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Shaw served as a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Committee on Integrated Nitrogen, as well as the EPA SAB Environmental Engineering Committee and the Ad Hoc Panel for review of EPA's Risk and Technology Review Assessment Plan. Additionally, he is a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Air Quality Task Force. Since his appointment to the TCEQ, Shaw has served on the Texas Environmental Flows Advisory Group and as chair of the Texas Advisory Panel on Federal Environmental Regulations.
Shaw received a bachelor's and master's degree in agricultural engineering from TAMU and a doctorate degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. | <urn:uuid:20f43457-5903-46fb-aecd-c601b4b1a37d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/about/organization/shaw_bio.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963049 | 276 | 1.546875 | 2 |
As soon as news broke on March 4 about U.S. troops firing on reporter Giuliana Sgrena's Baghdad airport-bound car and killing Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari in the process, the clash of accounts began almost immediately. The Americans put the blame squarely on the Italians for driving too fast and not heeding supposed warnings; Sgrena and the surviving Italian intelligence officials, however, said the car was going at a reasonable speed, and that no warnings were given. The Americans claim it was an honest mistake stemming from checkpoint rules of engagement; the Italian Communist Party cast it as part of a dark plot to stop a reporter who knew too much. And so on and so forth.
The day after Calipari's death, I spoke with a veteran CIA officer who had participated in operations similar to Calipari's. The whole affair, he ruefully said, reminded him of similar incidents from a bygone era. Speaking on condition that neither he nor the country he operated out of be named, he recalled that at one particular duty station (a place noticeably beset by sectarian strife), it wasn't uncommon for Western citizens to end up as captives of insurgents. Oftentimes foreign intelligence services would endeavor to secure their citizens' releases. Sometimes, he said, those services would ask the Americans for help; other times, they would mount their operations entirely on their own, or only with another country's intelligence service, keeping their endeavors secret from the United States.
In general, he went on, there were more happy endings than not. But sometimes things took tragic turns. Sometimes, he said, even though an intelligence team had successfully secured its citizen from the hands of one insurgent band, on the way out it would run into one of the many other insurgent factions in the country -- in some cases one that the United States had relationships with. "Had we known what was going on," he said, "we would have been able to ensure safe passage, which was something we did in other cases where we knew what was going on."
The veteran CIA officer says he sees shades of this in the Sgrena case, except that instead of insurgents, it was allies who opened fire on the spies. The sad irony was that the Italians' good tradecraft in securing Sgrena was probably what got their car shot up by U.S. forces.
"You can't blame a secret service for wanting to operate secretly, especially in these circumstances," the CIA officer sighed. "I'd be willing to bet the Italians didn't say anything to anyone about this operation, and who can blame them? The U.S. isn't going to be enthusiastic about another country negotiating with terrorists and paying ransom, especially over a communist journalist. It's possible that at the last minute, Calipari's team -- or someone they talked to -- might have told the Americans what was going on, and the usual checkpoints were notified that they were coming, and to wave them through. But I'd also be willing to bet that the 'checkpoint' that shot them wasn't really a checkpoint, but some makeshift thing that was part of a sweep of insurgents, or some VIP's security detail.”
According to a U.S. military source quoted in Monday's Washington Post, this appears to have been along the lines of what happened. But as of Tuesday morning, more details weren't necessarily leading to greater clarity: While The Washington Times cited a leaked Pentagon memo saying that Calipari had failed to liaise with Americans, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini asserted that Calipari had in fact ''made all the necessary contacts with the U.S. authorities,'' and essentially said that the U.S. account of a speeding car and soldiers endeavoring to warn the car didn't hold water. (CNN, meanwhile, was reporting that the fatal checkpoint was in fact an ad hoc affair, set up on account of U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte's movements.)
Unfortunately, none of this matters to those who are already gleefully waving the bloody shirt: Some pro-occupation forces are all but calling Sgrena a liar on account of her past writings, her being a communist, and her conflicting accounts of the shooting; some anti-occupation forces, meanwhile, are uncritically venerating Sgrena and her accounts and theories, exalting the certainty of American nefariousness. But perhaps most useful in determining what actually happened (as well as what it reflects about the reality of Iraq) is examining the Sgrena case in the context of similar incidents involving Iraqi noncombatants -- incidents whose numbers run to the thousands, and have cost the U.S. government nearly $10 million in compensation claims.
On October 24, 2004, the Dayton Daily News published a detailed but neglected investigation of both the content and management of claims filed with the U.S. military by Iraqi civilians under the Foreign Claims Act, the only official way for Iraqis who have lost property or loved ones at the hands of U.S. forces to get financial recompense. (Provided, that is, that death or destruction occurred outside of combat: While the act covers instances of excessive or wrongful force against property or persons, it only does so in the case of "non-combat" operations -- and, unfortunately for many claimants, any number of daily U.S. endeavors in Iraq are considered combat. U.S. military units do, however, have authority to disburse "condolence payments" -- which, conveniently, are not expressions of responsibility -- for death or damage incurred in "combat" situations.)
While the Daily News didn't review all of the roughly 15,000 Iraqi claims filed as of October 2004, of the 4,611 it did examine, 905 involved the wounding or death of Iraqi citizens; of those, 39 were shootings that left 12 dead and 28 injured at security stops. In light of the Sgrena case, it's perhaps worth revisiting sections of the Daily News story that fall under the subhead "Checkpoints: Clash of Cultures":
If there is a place that most exemplifies the problems plaguing the American-led occupation, it is the traffic-control checkpoints. Often little more than a group of Humvees in the middle of a road, checkpoints are used to secure an area or conduct spot searches of cars . … [Ivan] Medina, [a] former assistant Army chaplain in Iraq, said many checkpoints were poorly marked and manned by soldiers who didn't understand the culture or have translators who could help them communicate with Iraqi citizens.
“‘Our soldiers would put their hands up as a sign to stop at the [checkpoints], but we didn't do our homework on how to deal with the Iraqi people,' he said. ‘To them, putting your hand up was a gesture or greeting, so they would just keep approaching the soldiers in their cars. And a lot of soldiers would just open fire, and they killed a lot of innocent people. We just didn't do enough to study the culture of Iraqis.'
Medina, whose twin brother was killed in Iraq last November, said soldiers sometimes were ordered to open fire on any vehicle that didn't stop. "In one case there was a father, mother and three children," said Medina, whose unit arrived shortly after the shooting. "They were shot many times. The car was full of blood. There was one kid alive. He was alive for a few hours before being pronounced dead … ."
Similar examples can be found elsewhere in the story, as well as in a small handful of reports in the back pages of other papers like Newsday and the Los Angeles Times over the last 18 months. Among the more recent was a December 5, 2004, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette report about two errant -- but deemed officially justified -- checkpoint shootings on September 30, 2004, which left three civilian Iraqis dead and four wounded. Characterizing the incidents as the result of "a deadly combination -- the language barrier and a day filled with car bombings," in both cases, cars with unarmed civilians were fired upon with no verbal or nonlethal warnings beforehand:
Spc. Jason Cole was manning a .50-caliber machine gun in the turret of his Humvee Sept 30. He heard the gunner behind him open fire on the red Opel, wounding the two men and boy. Moments later he faced a car speeding toward his end of the roadblock.
He opened fire, shooting the ground in front of the vehicle. Then he shot the engine and then the windshield.
Three of the four people in the car died at the scene.
The latest account of trigger-happy U.S. troops is in the March 7 Army Times, under the headline "Cash Not A Cure-All For Iraqis Hit By War." In one case, when a car outside Balad Ruz with two Iraqis didn't get out of a Humvee's way fast enough, a soldier in the Humvee opened fire on the car, killing the driver and wounding the passenger, schoolteacher Bassim Abid Azul, in the abdomen. (Abid Azul asked for $12,000 in compensation, but only got $2,000.) In another case, when Iraqi engineer Mahmoud Lateif Mohammed tried to pass a U.S. Army convoy earlier this year, a soldier opened fire on him for no discernible reason, riddling his car with bullets and blowing two fingers off of his left hand. Asking for $15,000, "he begrudgingly walked out with $3,400," venting to the paper that "[t]hey shoot me, then they leave. They didn't take me to the hospital."
While Sgrena and others have been floating the theory that she might have been the victim of an ambush, as thousands of claims and $8.2 million paid out in compensation as of last fall makes clear, instances of "shoot or destroy first, ask questions later" that end with civilian casualties are hardly uncommon in Iraq. And while the Italians may or may not file claims of their own, the U.S. goverment certainly expects to keep paying compensation for incidents like the one on the airport road: $10 million dollars has been budgeted for paying out future claims in 2005 alone.
"I understand how everyone wants to focus on what exactly happened to the Italians," the CIA officer I spoke with said. "But I hope that people don't forget the bigger picture here. The question here shouldn't just be, what happened to the Italians? It should also be, why, coming up on two years after liberating Iraq, isn't the road to the capital's airport secure? And is accidentally shooting people and other stuff to the tune of millions of dollars helping or hurting security there?"
Jason Vest is a Prospect senior correspondent.
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(If there's one thing we know about comment trolls, it's that they're lazy) | <urn:uuid:1ed6ea92-e427-4cfd-8d96-255a0a183e94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prospect.org/article/checkpoints-and-balances | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98072 | 2,258 | 1.578125 | 2 |
21st Session of the Human Rights Council, Statement by H.E. Amb. Johannes Kyrle
Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation in the Syrian Arab Republic
Check against delivery.
We thank the Commission of Inquiry for its report and I associate myself with the statement of the EU.
It is with great concern that we take note of its assessment with regard to the further deterioration of the human rights situation in Syria. Austria is appalled to learn that the Government forces including the Shabbiha have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. There is also reasonable ground to believe that also anti-Government forces have committed serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
The Syrian regime must respect the legitimate desire of the Syrian people for dignity, security and justice. President Assad has lost all his legitimacy by neglecting the public’s call for reform and by deploying public security forces against civilians who don’t ask for more than their democratic rights and freedoms. We call on all parties to fully respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law, to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to grant humanitarian actors full and unfettered access to all conflict areas. In view of the findings by the Commission we repeat our call that the situation in Syria should be referred to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Impunity cannot be accepted.
Those who are the most vulnerable victims of the conflict warrant our particular attention.
We are deeply distressed to learn of the killing of 125 children since 15 February 2012, the rape and sexual assault of children and women by government forces as well as the use of children for military purposes by anti-Government armed troops. We also deplore the high number of journalists who have become victims of the conflict.
The Commission’s work in documenting numerous cases of human rights violations is indispensable for effectively addressing impunity. Austria attaches the highest importance to this task and calls upon the Council to extend and reinforce the Commission’s mandate.
The international community and the United Nations must explore all available avenues to bring the parties to the negotiating table.
The appointments of Joint Special Representatives Kofi Annan and his successor, Lakhdar Brahimi, to contribute to finding a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria were important first steps. Regrettably, the parties have so far failed to respond seriously to their efforts.
In view of more than 25.000 victims, 2.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance and of more than 250.000 refugees up to date, the parties must come to realize that there is no military solution to this conflict.
I thank you. | <urn:uuid:7d462893-2f8d-4b6f-95f7-07f3fa4bab05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bmeia.gv.at/aussenministerium/pressenews/reden-und-interviews/2012/21st-session-of-the-human-rights-council-statement-by-he-amb-johannes-kyrle.html?ADMCMD_editIcons='%22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954248 | 531 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Dorset potter Rosemarie James exhibits at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum
The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum heralds the return of an exhibition by Dorset potter, Rosemarie James. James is returning to exhibit her glazed ceramics - influenced by the Dorset coast - in the fitting venue of what was the original conservatory of the historic Russell-Cotes house, with its stunning ocean views, from Tuesday 29 April. Admission is free.
Rosemarie had a hugely successful exhibition at the same venue in 2006/07. The pieces exhibited may include vases, bowls, wall hangings and water features, all are made with care, skill and an eye for detail. Most of the pieces exhibited will be for sale.
The exhibition coincides with Dorset Art Weeks, 24 May – 8 June 2008.
James has sold and exhibited in Israel and France as well as at various locations in the UK. Her work has been bought by collectors from far and wide, and is influenced by art and culture ranging from Russian to Ancient American, from Art Nouveau to Hans Coper and Lucie Rie.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. About Rosemarie James: Having gained her degree in Ceramics at the Wolverhampton College of Art and a teaching diploma from University of Southampton, Rosemarie James has since combined teaching and producing her own work with raising a family and an involvement in other fields. She is now free to devote her energies primarily to her own work. | <urn:uuid:fc5a1cd9-9125-447f-80e9-7ba64324fefe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.russell-cotes.bournemouth.gov.uk/News/2008/RosemarieJamesExhibits.asp?date=20/03/2012&dir=prev | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972535 | 315 | 1.570313 | 2 |
A trove of out-of-print books that have been mouldering in library stacks for decades is to go on sale in ebook form for the first time, following a legal settlement between Google and a group of book publishers.
After seven years of tortuous legal wrangling and tussles with US regulators, Google will have the right to sell out-of-print books that it has scanned which are still in copyright, provided the publishers agree. The settlement is likely to cover “hundreds of thousands or millions” of the 20m books that Google has scanned so far, said Tom Turvey, who heads the company’s digital book efforts.
However, the deal will go only part of the way to achieving Google’s once-ambitious plan to scan all the world’s books and make them available online. It will also do little to change the balance of power that has left Amazon at the top of the ebook market in the years since Google set off on its quest to leaf through the vaults of the world’s leading research universities, according to analysts.
The deal falls short of a plan that would have given Google blanket permission to sell all works still in copyright, including the many for which the rights holders cannot easily be traced. That idea was scrapped after opposition from the US Department of Justice. The search group’s grand plan is also still under fire from the Authors Guild in the US, which has its own lawsuit outstanding.
Thursday’s agreement will lead to more innovative ways of making old books available while respecting copyright, according to the publishers involved in the suit, which include Pearson Education and Penguin, both of which are owned by Pearson, which is also owner of the Financial Times.
Google will have to give digital copies of its scanned books to publishers and allow them to sell the work via other online stores.
In the years since it first riled the book industry with its audacious plan, the company has struck individual deals with many publishers to sell digital copies of their works in its online Play store, covering current works that represent the bulk of the industry’s sales.
“Pretty much anything publishers wanted to have digitised that is current, they’ve got it by now. Publishers know what’s been selling,” said one book publisher involved in the settlement. “I think what’s left over in these 20m books is largely academic, research and scholarly.”
Mr Turvey said that the book market is a “long tail” business in which there is a low level of interest in a vast array of specialised works, making the unearthing of old out-of-print works potentially of interest to many readers.
Google once saw its book-scanning project as a way to put itself ahead in the ebook world, giving it more titles even than Amazon, which styles itself “Earth’s biggest bookstore”. However, in the past seven years it “certainly hasn’t become the player people thought it might become as a seller of content”, said the publisher. | <urn:uuid:d028cabd-8c81-4e96-8fb4-e22710e590ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2012/10/05/google-ebook-win-little-threat-to-amazon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972662 | 643 | 1.585938 | 2 |
It!Me- Eco-Friendly Fast Food Chainby Chloe, Posted June 22nd, 2012 Tweet
It!me is a new chain of eco-friendly fast-food restaurants in Poland founded by Joanna Pszczółka and Łukasz Brandys. Because the partners did not have an inexhaustible budget, they relied on creativity and innovation to distinguish their brand without spending an enormous amount of money. Their first store is located in Ochaby’s Dream Park. By installing minimalist tables that are screwed directly into the wall and using chairs that are glued together with biodegradable adhesive, they have tremendously minimized their material use. The floor to ceiling windows enhance the tight space. The walls are made of concrete block, covered in a non-woven geotextile and clad in coniferous timber slats.
Joanna Pszczółka and Łukasz Brandys wanted to create a hip experience in their fast-food restaurant, while reducing having as little toll on the environment as possible. It!me uses only recycled and recyclable paper for burger sleeves and uses only 25% of the amount of paper that conventional fast-food joints use. Hopefully, It!me will be able to continue their growth and build more eco-friendly restaurants in Poland and around the world.
Original article found at www.inhabitat.com. | <urn:uuid:8a017104-5513-46c2-8696-7a91e45cfbc0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.cuipo.org/itme-fast-food-goes-eco-friendly/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93828 | 289 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Kern County Homeless Collaborative (KCHC) member Flood Bakersfield Ministries has received a $5,000 grant from The Bakersfield Californian Foundation to help with the purchase of incentive items such as snacks, toiletries, bottled water and blankets for unsheltered homeless individuals reached through its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded Street Outreach Program.
Flood was one of 15 nonprofits that received funding for programs that promote mental health, environmental education, animal welfare, or educational opportunities in the community, according to The Bakersfield Californian Foundation's website.
“This community support is so important in reducing homelessness and addressing the needs of the mentally ill in our community," Flood's Executive Director, Kim Albers, said. "The incentive items assist us in beginning a conversation that often leads to long term life change” for the homeless on our streets, she said, adding that Flood's street outreach effort is to have "consistent contact" with approximately 200 individuals per year.
Flood Minstries provides access and support to transition the permanently disabled out of homelessness into housing, said Albers, who also is the Chair of the KCHC's Steering Committee. "Housing is often the starting point to life transformation that allows the individual to address barriers such as mental illness or chronic health conditions."
She said Flood's roving street outreach team works with the unsheltered homeless it encounters to build relationships based on trust, with the goal of encouraging each individual to access community resources designed to improve their quality of life.
Earlier this year, Flood received $25,000 in grant funding from Kaiser Permanente to coordinate health services for unsheltered homeless who are transitioning into housing.
Assisting the chronically homeless to get off the streets and into permanent supportive housing is a top priority for HUD, which in recent years has awarded between $3 million and $5 million annually in Continuum of Care Program Funding to Bakersfield/Kern for the purpose of providing housing and supportive services to the homeless. | <urn:uuid:808f1dc9-c42a-4e63-beec-a1404edb8c95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kernhomeless.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news_item&news_id=84 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964553 | 422 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The holidays are filled with gatherings which have two things in common – alcoholic drinks and food. People normally worry about the idea of gaining weight on the holidays, but these uncertainties are often put on the back burner when the fun takes over. It’s only when you are faced with holiday extra weight that people begin to wonder: how to loose weight put on at some point in the holiday season.
01/04/2010 New York, NY – Bryan Parcel is a weightloss trainer working in a aerobics studio in down-town Manhattan. “Gaining weight on the holiday seasons could be inescapable, in a way,” said Parcel. “But with the right methods, you can readily loose the extra weight you gotten.” Parcel was also one of the people who were present at the launch of the webpage – HTTP://jadereviews.com/health-and-fitness/weight-loss-guide-reviews/how-to-lose-weight/. It deals with a method of weightloss using the Trimmer Method.
To loose the weight you have acquired over the holiday seasons, the first thing you need to do is to resume your old diet and exercise routine. Retreat to running if you used to do a lot of running. Just be sure to go on with your diet regime and exercise regime. If you did not do a whole lot of exercise previously, then it might be time to consider it.
Start hitting the aerobics studio or even just taking runs in the morning before work. Doing these activities is dropping by help you lose calories that will, in turn, help you loose weight. If you have some medical problems, consult your doctor first before you do anything. Most gyms are also hitting require certain medical tests or doctor’s certificate before you begin.
You also need to make sure to stay away from sweets and from alcoholic drinks if you want to loose weight. The holidays are without a doubt notorious for being filled with sweets and booze. So, if you would like to loose weight quickly, then you ought to really do what you can to remove these items from your current diet. It may also be a good suggestion to reduce your portions. Increase you water intake and eat more greens and vegetables.
Whenever possible, you should also reduce stress in your life. If after the holidays your schedule is packed with wakeful nights and lots of work stress, you need to really find out to cut back on these. You also need to make certain that you get at the very least 7 and 1/2 hours of sleep in the evenings. It’s either that or going for the 9 hour/night sleep rhythm, don’t go for the regular 8 hours because it has a penchant top leave you feeling drained and sleep deprived. If you really do not have the time, be sure you get at the very least 6 hours of sleep and just catch up on the next night with nine or 7 an a half.
Mapping out how to loose weight is the easiest part of the equation. You’ll find that the hard parts are still ahead. Commit yourself to the weightloss and to the time and effort it needs. Set aside the time, set practical goals, and make sure you reach them. | <urn:uuid:047b9afa-fcec-4e0a-9f72-4268d284e60a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbreelfest.com/blog/weight-loss/ways-to-loose-some-weight-following-the-holidays | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963483 | 673 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Meet Eden Rassette is the new teen programming library with the Erlanger branch of the Kenton County Public Library. Rassette, who is fresh out of librarian school, is introducing new ideas for programming such as anime and manga groups for teens.
Eden Rassette is young and ready to engage with local teens at the Erlanger branch of the Kenton County Public Library.
Since October Rassette, 25, has served as the young adult programmer and is looking for ways to get more kids to come to the library.
On Mondays, for example, she dresses up as a cosplay character to get teens talking. Cosplay, which stands for costume play, is an art form where people dress as their favorite video game or anime characters. ... | <urn:uuid:89d344fc-dc19-40c6-8d45-38e215965066> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121130/NEWS0103/311300103/Rassette-taps-into-teens-imaginations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962119 | 159 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Preparation prior to the interview
Ensure that you know the exact time and location of the interview and you have checked the route, parking etc. and know how long it will take to get there. (Note: if you have the postcode you can use http://www.streetmap.co.uk/ to find the exact location). You must know the interviewer’s correct title and pronunciation of his/her full name.
Interview Preparation is essential
You should know as much as possible about the Company, the position and the interviewer. Members of the BiS Henderson team will always run through this information with you beforehand, but you must spend time gathering information such as annual reports, research who their competitors are, visit their web page and search the web for related articles and news. The interviewer will make the assumption that someone who goes to this effort to find all this out, is more likely to put the same effort into their job. If the Company has any stores, visit one or two.
You must prepare questions that you will want to ask and be asked at the interview. An interview is a two-way process. You will want to find out if the role is right for you as much as the interviewer assessing whether you are right for them.
Have 2 or 3 strategic business questions ready, such as:
- “Where do you see the Organisation expanding over the next year?”
- “What problems, if any, do you see ahead/need to overcome with the changes in xyz legislation?”
- “What plans have been put in place to stay ahead of your competitors?”
Anticipate the likely questions you will be asked and prepare your answers. For example: What are your long-term career goals? What skills do you have that are important to succeed in this role? Describe your management style. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
“Tell me about yourself” is the most typical and vague question that the interviewer will ask at the beginning of the interview. You must take this open invitation to give a clear and precise summary of your professional career and the key achievements within it. This is not the time to discuss your hobbies or family. This opening question/answer must be prepared and rehearsed to ensure a successful start to your interview. This is also the most important time of the interview – the interviewers will make a judgement on you in the first 5 minutes. Be prepared.
Study the job description/information given on the opportunity and match where your strengths lie. If appropriate, be prepared to defend your lack of experience in a particular area. Discuss this with a member of the BiS team beforehand.
When asked a specific question always give your answer followed by the result/outcome. For example, “Have you implemented SAP?” Your answer should include the size of the implementation, budget responsibility, how long it took, who was involved and impacted, what aspect of the implementation you were responsible for and the end result (under budget, etc).
Never answer a question with a simple yes or no. Greater emphasis is placed on your practical experience than on paper qualifications so it is up to you to convince them that your experience qualifies you for the role. This will involve using your experience as evidence to support statements that you make in answers to questions.
The most common negative feedback about prospective candidates is their inability to articulate past accomplishments and how they can relate this experience to a new organisation. Brainstorm what you have done and how you can apply this experience to improve their organisation. Whenever possible, make correlations between your current organisation and the company that is interviewing you.
Always run through your CV, ideally the night before, and spend time recalling specific details – as many facts and figures as possible. Your potential future employer is looking not only to see if you can do the job, but if you can succeed and make significant contributions – you can only do this by giving them precise information and data. Anybody can say I can do the job …… the better prepared you are the more comfortable the interviewer will feel about your suitability.
Interview dress code
Always dress in business attire unless specifically asked to wear casual. A dark suit, ironed shirt and dark socks (not white) for the gentlemen and a dark suit and suitable top (not low cut) for the ladies. Wear limited cologne/perfume and never apply it with your hands. You have to shake hands and you do not want to be remembered for how you smelt!
Job interview process
Always shake hands firmly and wait until you are offered a chair before sitting. A smile is the most positive signal you can give, it re-affirms your enthusiasm and good nature.
Your attitude and demeanour plays an important role in any interview. You must ensure you remain enthusiastic, energetic and positive throughout. Do not become overbearing, aggressive or conceited. It is critical to develop a rapport with the interviewer right from the start. If you can give the impression that you have a lot in common and if he/she takes a liking to you, you will greatly improve your chances of success.
Talk in the future tense, e.g. when I join … I will (rather than would) – be assumptive
Listening to the questions asked is incredibly important since you can sometimes give an answer without fully responding to that particular question. It is always best to take a short pause before answering or to clarify their question by repeating it.
Answer succinctly and do not waffle. If you find yourself waffling, take a deep breath and summarise your answer. Keep to the point and be mindful of time.
Let your voice show your enthusiasm and keenness – speak clearly and in a controlled range of tones. Try to avoid a nervous ‘sing-song’ tone and being monotone. Ultimately, you should try to be natural.
Fidgeting shows boredom and restlessness, crossing arms indicates an unwillingness to listen and tapping your foot is distracting and a sure sign of boredom. Smile, relax and enjoy the metting.
Do not lie or expand your answer. Be as frank and open as possible.
Do not make derogatory or negative remarks about your present or former employers. Avoid negative phrases such as “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure”. It’s also a bad idea to get into discussions about your personal life.
Do not discuss money and do not state the salary you are looking for. If the interviewer asks you to confirm your package then do so but do not bring the subject up yourself. If they ask you what you are looking for, confirm your current package details and that you would expect an improvement but that the role and career opportunities are the most important consideration in making a move from your current role. Members of the BiS Henderson team are in a much better situation than you to discuss financial packages.
Closing the interview
You must always ask the interviewer for feedback. Ask if they have any concerns or worries about your suitability for the role. If you do not ask and they do have concerns, you will not have another opportunity to discuss and hopefully, remove their doubts. Enquire about the next stage and timings. If the interviewer offers the position to you and you want it, accept on the spot. Don’t be too discouraged if no definite offer is made since they will probably want to consult colleagues or interview other candidates (or both) before making a decision.
If you get the impression that the interview is not going very well – ask the interviewer outright what their concerns are. You may find that this will turn the interview around. Do not let your discouragement show and remain positive, enthusiastic and professional at all times.
Please ensure that you thank the interviewer for the time spent with you and say that you look forward to receiving their feedback once they have spoken to a member of the BiS Henderson team.
After the interview
Call a member of the BiS Henderson team as soon as possible after the interview. You will be able to run through the interview with them and if necessary, they will then be able to cover any concerns you have with the interviewer.
Click here to download a copy of this page in .pdf format | <urn:uuid:3b1fadcb-2ef9-4a05-baf1-d57af95c7d05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bis-henderson.com/interview-guide/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949465 | 1,706 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Everybody Loves RaymondEverybody Loves Raymond revolves around Ray Barone, a successful sportswriter living on Long Island with his wife, Debra, his 12-year-old daughter and his 8-year-old twin sons. Sounds like a nice life, huh?
Not when Ray's meddling parents, Frank and Marie, live directly across the street and embrace the motto "Su casa es mi casa." They manage to infiltrate their son's home to an unparalleled extent. Frank's favorite expression, "holy crap," is shouted at regular intervals, and Marie's cooking and cleaning "advice" is less than appreciated by Debra. Ray's brother, Robert, a police sergeant, has finally moved out of his parents' house and married Debra's best friend, Amy. Amy's uptight parents and antisocial brother make the family mix even more entertaining--except to Ray and Debra, who just wish someone would knock. | <urn:uuid:93e4392a-546b-49c2-b0b8-595fd85650ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,32006,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971775 | 191 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Yesterday, I went to a family barbecue out of state. My mom was there, and, unsurprisingly, she had her copy of my story in the paper and was showing it to everyone there within minutes of arrival.
Because of that, everyone was trying to get me to look for errors all day — and you can only do so much while at a barbecue out in the country! Pesonally, I didn’t want to do anything until three family members came to me with a sign:
The owner of the sign told me to use it on the blog but didn’t want to be identified further than her last name (as long as it was on a picture and therefore unsearchable). I will tell you, however, that she has a Ph.D in one of the social sciences and is (or at least was at some time) a professor at a prominent university in the northeast.
“My husband’s family got this for us when we moved to our new house,” she told me. “I can’t stand it! It’s EMBARRASSING! That apostrophe?! Every now and then, he asks me why I haven’t put it up yet, and the only times I want it out are when his family comes over!”
So, what are the grammar rules when it comes to last names?
If it’s meant to mean the house belonging to Fisher, then it’s correct. But there are multiple Fishers in this residence. Fishers’ House?
Or The Fishers?
I think that “The Fishers” was the intent, and for that reason, there should be no apostrophe.
Good luck coming up with more excuses for your husband!
Also, I’m not sure how many of you have been reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but this is the first time that I’ve read it with a Grammar Vandal’s eye. I’ve noticed that the British tend to use many more commas than we do, but Rowling actually doesn’t use them nearly as much. At any rate, I can’t wait to get back to reading it! I’m about halfway through. | <urn:uuid:0f06844a-6be0-4a35-a470-92dfb1f1bbf0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thegrammarvandal.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/grammar-embarrassment-2/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=55bb07b550 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979289 | 476 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Prostituting women’s solidarity
The UK government’s call to British women to help combat ‘sex trafficking’ amounts to a crackdown on immigration.
Women around Britain have been asked to unite to liberate their prostitute sisters from the shackles of modern-day slavery.
Last week, UK home secretary Jacqui Smith unveiled a proposal to protect women from exploitation by tackling the demand for prostitution – in other words, by punishing punters. Anyone who pays for sex with someone who is ‘controlled for another person’s gain’ could be fined and receive a criminal record. Under the proposal, ignorance of the circumstances would be no defence (1).
On Tuesday, Harriet Harman, the minister for women, followed up on Smith’s proposal by sending out a rallying call to members of the Women’s Institute (WI), the UK’s largest voluntary women’s organisation. She asked the ladies to help tackle the sex trade by complaining to editors of local papers that run ‘sleazy adverts’ for sexual services.
Harman believes this will help stamp out sex trafficking, which she has described as a ‘modern-day slave trade’. One WI member told the BBC that the ‘sleazy ads’ may be for services that the girls involved are not giving willingly. They may have been tricked and forced into prostitution, she said. Spokeswoman Ira Arundell said the WI’s aim is ‘to raise awareness and spread the message about what is happening with these girls’ (2). Just how complaining to editors about newspaper ads will counteract exploitation of women or reveal what happens behind the doors of massage parlours, brothels and erotic DVD shops is not entirely clear.
The images broadcast this week of middle-aged and elderly British WI members, gathered around tables to scour local papers – scissors and marker pens at hand – and tut-tutting at ads for erotic services, were reminiscent of those old gatherings of women knitting sweaters and collecting toys for starving, black babies. In effect, Harman and the WI view the foreigners who they are so intent on rescuing as childlike, helpless victims; as easily cajoled and loose women in need of the watchful guard of respectable, morally superior British ladies.
This war against international prostitution may be well-intentioned, but it looks like a puritanical ‘white woman’s burden’ mission. Far from engaging in an act of solidarity, the WI members who heed Harman’s call will only help to reinforce the image of migrants as a danger to themselves and to British society.
The numerous charities, non-governmental organisations, official bodies and police that work to root out human trafficking form what some have termed a ‘rescue industry’, whose collective efforts reinforce a dehumanising view of migrants. As writer Laura María Agustín points out it in Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry, migrants become reduced to ‘passive receptacles and mute sufferers who must be saved and helpers become saviours’. This, Agustín says, is ‘a colonialist operation’ (3).
Besides, who says migrant workers employed in the sex industry (which includes everything from charging for sex to pole-dancing, providing attentive dinner company and selling erotic lingerie, literature or DVDs) want to be ‘rescued’ in the first place? The debates and policies around trafficking and people smuggling rarely acknowledge that migrants can exercise free choice, that the decision to leave one’s home country in order to seek a better life expresses a desire to control one’s destiny. Instead, more often than not, migration is seen as a tragic solution which brings misery, exploitation and chaos into people’s lives.
Migrants who sell sex are viewed as particularly oppressed and desperate, and it is unthinkable to many that they should not feel victimised. But sex workers are not necessarily enslaved – many will have chosen to enter the sex industry over other options available to them. Of course, it is wrong to force women into sex and it would be silly to romanticise prostitution as an empowering profession. There are undoubtedly cases in Britain and elsewhere of women being forced into the sex industry and ending up abused and exploited. Yet others refuse to be labelled as victims in need of ‘rescuing’, which is effectively a trendy new word for repatriation.
A poster recently produced at a workshop at the Empower Foundation, a collective of sex workers, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is instructive. It lists reasons why the women there do not want to be rescued by police or charity workers, including that it leads to them to getting locked up, interrogated and deported without any compensation for them or their dependants. The final reason listed on the poster is ‘we must find a way back to Thailand to start again’ (4).
This is a far-away example, from a very different context than Britain, yet it shows that where women and others are determined to take any means necessary to improve their own and their families’ lives, migration control and rescue missions can never be strong enough deterrents. In fact, the actions of rescue workers seem to pose a bigger threat to these sex workers than anything they face on the job.
The women associated with Empower turn the usual image of foreign sex workers as exploited, vulnerable and fooled victims on its head. This is how they describe themselves: ‘We are sex workers. We are workers who use our brains and our skills to earn an income. We are proud to support ourselves and our extended families. We look after each other at work; we fight for fair and safe standards in our industry and equal rights within society. We are a major part of the Thai economy, bringing in lots of tourist dollars. We are active citizens on every issue… politics, economics, environment, laws, rights etc. We try and find the space in society to stand up and be heard. Some see us as problem makers but actually we are part of the solution…’ (5)
Perhaps British WI members relishing the opportunity to rescue fallen, foreign women should visit the Empower Foundation’s website.
Smith’s proposal has been described as a ‘backdoor ban on prostitution’ (6). It is a symbolic, not a realistic proposal – a way for the government to send a moral message about prostitution and an attempt to score easy political points. After all, who is for exploitation, kidnapping and forced labour? But does Smith expect a woman who really is exploited to open up to a punter she’s never met before? Does she expect the punter and the prostitute to engage in an existential conversation about the nature of exploitation, coercion and free will before they have sex?
Smith’s and Harman’s proposals have been greeted with much scorn and criticism. It has been argued that they will only help exacerbate the exploitative conditions that the government is trying to stamp out. If they can’t advertise openly, establishments that offer sexual services will only be driven underground and the women working there will be even more vulnerable to exploitation. This will not stamp out trafficking, critics have said, but it will turn it into an even more covert, uncontrollable activity.
But what really needs to be questioned here is the validity of the term ‘trafficking’, which is notoriously difficult to define, measure or tackle. Even those who campaign against trafficking often refer to it as a ‘hidden’ activity and they acknowledge the difficulty of gathering accurate statistics on undocumented migrants or those who work in ‘the shadow economy’.
While forced kidnapping should be clamped down on, trafficking typically refers to the recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of people for the purposes of ‘labour exploitation’. What counts as exploitation, however, will differ depending on who you ask. Migrants are for example often willing to take menial jobs for relatively low wages as this is still preferable to the poor opportunities in their home countries.
Many migrants pay strangers large sums of money to be transported across the world and they will not always have been certain, at every step of the way, where they would end up and how they would fare. What is rarely acknowledged is that ‘trafficked’ individuals in fact take a conscious decision to migrate and, because of the lack of legal options, they are willing to pay strangers to take them to their desired destination and then to do crappy jobs once they get there. If they enjoyed freedom of movement, foreigners could simply buy a plane ticket - a cheaper, safer and more practical option.
Those who have been defined as ‘trafficked’ or ‘enslaved’ have worked in everything from agriculture and housekeeping to elderly care and, indeed, in the sex industry. Britain does not grant work permits for unskilled non-EU migrant workers and so they are led to take illegal routes here and then to take up illegal employment. In effect, stamping out trafficking amounts to stamping out the movement of people.
Harman and the WI’s mission may look like a benevolent rescue operation for ‘enslaved foreign women’, but ultimately it amounts to a clampdown on immigration itself, which will only make it more difficult for women to improve their lot.
So much for women’s solidarity.
Nathalie Rothschild is comissioning editor of spiked.
(1) Prostitute users face clampdown, BBC News, 19 November 2008
(2) WI asked to help tackle sex trade, BBC News 25 November 2008
(3) Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry, Laura Maria Agustin, Zed Books, 2007
(4) You can view the poster on Laura Maria Agustin’s blog, Border Thinking on Migration and Trafficking: Culture, Economy and Sex.
(5) See the Empower Foundation’s website.
(6) Slithery Jacqui Smith wants a backdoor ban on prostitution, The Times (London), 23 November 2008 | <urn:uuid:78c8dec8-1d52-4754-b5b1-2e0e39c2429e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5973/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95326 | 2,112 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the only potential 2012 candidate who would be legal to perform same-sex marriages under the New York law that passed last week, walked a delicate line today in his first public comments on the topic, per the Daily News politics blog:
"My thoughts are that I'm glad that people who felt discriminated against have sort of had that burden of discrimination lifted. I signed the first civil-union, domestic partnership bill I think in the country. Maybe it was the second. And I still take a lot of criticism for that," said 2008 GOP presidential hopeful Giuliani at Joe Torre's Safe at Home Foundation golf outing at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor.
"I still state that marriage is being defined between a man and a woman, but I can truly understand what people are striving for. And as someone who signed civil unions and domestic partnerships, that's probably my preference," Giuliani said, according to our Peter Botte.
"But I was very glad to see people relieved of this burden of discrimination, which is a terrible thing to feel...
"And I think Gov. Cuomo deserves a lot of credit. Even if you don't agree with the result, it showed a lot of leadership to execute the result. For the first time in a long time, we're seeing leadership at the gubernatorial level in New York, including expenses and a lot of systematic control of government and I think that's a good sign for a lot of other things the governor can do."
Giuliani explicitly voiced his feelings about marriage as "between a man and a woman" in his 2008 presidential run, when he was courting conservative activists.
As he said, he signed a break-through civil unions bill when he was mayor. He also, famously, lived with friend Howard Koeppel and his partner while he was divorcing his second wife Donna Hanover. | <urn:uuid:c5ac8485-083b-4e82-a1f7-9c2794c2af70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=D32686C4-ABFB-B212-E65C361BE628B7FE | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984639 | 386 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Texas Credit Union Foundation (TCUF) has expanded its outreach to Central America through a recent "train the trainer" session to help teach financial literacy in Belize.
Courtney Nickles, foundation executive director, recently presented the National Endowment for Financial Education High School Financial Planning Program, a financial literacy program aimed at high school-aged students, to educators, credit union staff and community leaders in Belize. The Belize Credit Union League has a partnership with Southwest Corporate FCU in Plano, Texas (LoneStar Leaguer Oct. 20).
During the session, Nickles gave classroom-style presentations and had interactive role-playing activities to help students relate to their materials.
"We can see how our partnership with the foundation will facilitate a wide cross-section of credit union members and high school students to learn fundamental financial management skills, which will allow them to make informed financial decisions from an early age," said Corinne Fuller, Belize league executive director. "We are excited about the possibility of including financial planning in our high school core curriculum."
The Ministry of Education in Belize also attended the presentation.
"We at the Ministry of Education believe that financial education should definitely be included in the curriculum if we are truly educating our students to take care of themselves, as well as to participate in nation building," said Carol Babb, Ministry of Education deputy chief education officer. "We intend to integrate this topic in the social studies curriculum."
Belize has the highest literacy race in Latin America, but the country is plagued with poverty and unemployment, said Victor Miguel Corro, World Council of Credit Unions senior manager of international partnerships.
"Providing the people of Belize with the tools to make better choices with their money, coupled with access to affordable financial services, remains essential to improving the quality of life in the country," Corro said.
Nickles noted that the presentation was an emotional experience, and the participants were incredibly appreciative.
"The luxury of accessible information we are afforded allows us to be aware of the basic fundamentals of financial information, but only when you see the genuine appreciation and comprehension of those individuals who have never learned something we take for granted, like how to balance their checkbook, do you realize how fortunate we are," Nickles said.
To view the full release, click here | <urn:uuid:8ef7d06d-a044-4790-b5d8-b2596974f1e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.woccu.org/involved/partnerships/activities?lang=spa&lang=spa&id=93 | 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 | 0.957182 | 477 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Rhinebeck town Supervisor Tom Traudt hails affordable housing
RHINEBECK, N.Y. — The planned completion of the Rhinebeck Gardens housing project is a step in the right direction toward having affordable living options in the town, Supervisor Tom Traudt says.
Traudt said the fact that there will be 17 affordable units among 173 apartments at Rhinebeck Gardens proves that new planning tools in the town are working.
“Now we have it so if a developer comes to town and puts in five or more units in a piece of property, they have to participate in an affordable housing program,” Traudt said in a recent phone interview. “It allows either (12 percent) of the units to be workforce housing ... or if they don’t provide workforce housing, then they have to contribute funding for affordable housing programs so it can be done somewhere else.”
Developer Rhinebeck Gardens LLC took over the project in June 2011 after village and town officials sought to have the former developer, Selvin Green, complete a planned 255 units at the site, which covers 145 acres near Astor Drive.
Rhinebeck Gardens LLC agreed to pay $360,000 toward affordable housing programs while including eight affordable units in the current phase of construction and nine in the next phase.
“We worked out an agreement ... where basically 10 percent of the housing would be workforce units,” said Rhinebeck Gardens LLC’s David Silver.
The project’s first phase, comprising 83 units, was approved in 2001 and completed in about two years. The second phase, comprising 80 units, was approved in 2004, but work on the buildings was inconsistent and then was halted in early 2008 when the town found problems with a letter of credit. A third phase, consisting of 92 units, had been planned until the financial problems became public.
Residents of the completed first phase complained in 2009 that there were code violations in their homes when the project received certificates of occupancy. They also said vandalism in the then-unfinished buildings was not being addressed by the mortgage holder.
“It was a project that had fallen apart until the new developers came in and took over,” Traudt said. “They came in and did a high-end job on the property.”
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City Editor Jeremy Schiffres comments about the news of the day and other topics that he finds interesting. | <urn:uuid:96261289-ae25-43c0-8e14-aef6ef256b62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/01/03/news/doc50e4efeb7e4e8040115636.txt?viewmode=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952608 | 847 | 1.5 | 2 |
Market and Stories
Tuesday, November 07, 2006By Melissa Rick
A couple of weekends ago I stayed at a Ghanaian family’s house. They are a wonderful couple from the church that I attend that have been generous to show me different aspects of normal Ghanaian life. When they picked me up from my hostel, we immediately went to a Farmer’s market. Me and Ante Charity went into the market. Immediately after exiting the car a small girl with enormous metal bowl on her head attached herself to us. She would carry all of the produce and food stuffs that Charity bought on her head. Many like children were following all the other individuals in the market. I was amazed what these small children could balance on their heads. The bowls were overflowing with yams, pineapple, fruit, meat, and more.
Charity moved confidently through the market as I followed along in her shadow in a state of sensory overload. There was kenkey (balls of dough wrapped in corn husks), dried shrimp and fish, fresh hunks of meat, all kinds of fruits, and vegetables. Charity talked to the sellers (wura) in Twi. At each stand the amount the item is sold in is grouped together, like 5 for 2, 000 cedis. Usually the seller would smile as she packaged the items and throw a couple extra into the bag. Food stuff seems to follow clear gender roles in Ghana. Men sell kabobs, meat, coconuts, and on the street popcorn. Women sell everything else from working the chop bars (where we each most of our meals), to the small stales, fruit, and water.
Later that day, I played with their grandchildren and tried to teach them how to pop gum. It was fun to be called Ante Melissa and Ante Akosua (my Twi day name). Charity taught me how to make groundnut soup. Later that night the power went off as part of the scheduled rolling blackouts. We sat around in the living room and told stories. I though it was interesting that they told Western and African stories. I heard African tales I had heard before and are famous in this area, like the Ashante story of the Golden Stool. In West Africa, Ananse (the spider) is a central role in folktales. He is clever, lazy, and gets in trouble. They told different stories with Ananse as the central character. The variety of the stories was interesting. I think that Western and African cultures influence each other and take different elements from each. However, I also think there is an unequal exchange with African cultural elements losing. For example, I never heard African folktales before coming to Africa but in African Western folktales were told. Another surprise and insightful observation.
GundonaBy Melissa Rick
Her dark face worn with clusters of wrinkles, demanded respect from the many difficult years each wrinkle represented. She had a subtle shake, a combination of years and illness. A few days prior, Gundona the female chief had been in the hospital and still carried a deep chest cough with her as a souvenir of some irritating illness. She has been ruling for seven years now. Traditional leaders in Ghana still play important roles. Although they are no longer military leaders, they act for the social service interests of their people and as lobbyists.
Gundona’s palace was part of a mud compound house that housed over 300 individuals. The room she was sitting in when we visited her was one of these circular clay rooms. It contained no windows and the sun tried to permeate the darkness through two doors located on either side of the room. Flies swarmed the room and the heat gave it a strange smugly atmosphere. Thundering drums gave a droning sound outside the room.
She sat on a raised platform on skins. In the Northern Region of Ghana the chiefs sit on skins whereas in the South they sit on stools. For a chief to be dethroned it is called de-skinned or de-stooled. We presented Gundona with a cell phone as a gift. Through a translator she thanked us then told us of the grievances of her and her people. She asked us to provide her with a car and to get the community a health clinic. We didn’t know what to say. As we climbed back into our air-conditioned bus, we were humbled and determined to remember this and the many similar experiences we experience daily in Ghana.
Northern Region Summary
Saturday, November 04, 2006By Melissa Rick
From Monday to Monday sixteen students, Professor Groenhout, her kids, Samuel, and our driver Robert went to the Northern Region. Northern Ghana has a mystic element about it. Most of the Southern Ghanaians I have met have never traveled to the Northern Region. Stereotypes and generalizations about the North and Northern people permeate discussions and assumptions. 1,820,000 people live in the Northern Region, a small percentage of the 21 million population of Ghana. Of this number 305,000 live in Tamale. 70% of the economy is agricultural and Islam is the dominant religion. The average yearly income is around $100 US dollars.
We drove by villages comprised of round clay huts with patched roofs. Groups of compound houses would make up the small village. Compound houses are separate huts formed in a circle with a courtyard in the middle. One hut will be the kitchen, one for the male, one for each wife (polygamy is legal and practiced in Ghana especially in the North), and then an entrance hut.
After a twelve hour bus ride we arrived for our first night in Tamale. We spent most of our nights at TICCS (the Tamale Center for Cultural Studies) as we traveled around the surrounding areas during the day. Perhaps my favorite part of the trip was renting old-rusty-barely-working-metal-bikes in Tamale. Tamale has few cars and most people get around the relatively small city on bikes. It was accelerating weaving past motor bikes, pedestrians, stalls, and other bikers on wobbly bikes. The bike tour was a great way to see and experience the city.
We also visited World Vision’s Northern office. World Vision is focused on providing clean water for different villages in the North. They function as an amazingly efficient NGO that wants communities to build sustainable projects that the community can maintain without assistance from World Vision.
Another day we visited a crocodile pond. The members of the village that surrounds this pond have their entire lives wrapped up in the existence of the crocodiles. The crocodiles even lay their eggs in people’s homes. For the tourists (us), the villagers coaxed a large crocodile out of the pond with a squawking live chicken. The crocodile stayed stationary with its jaws open toward the chicken while our group sat on its back and took pictures. Finally they handed the chicken over to the mouth of the crocodile and he consumed it in a few bites then slide back into the water.
One night we stayed over in Yendi, which is the second largest “city” in the Northern Region. While there, we saw another NGO, BIRDS and visited women in a collective. The collective makes shea butter and sells it to make profit.
That night we were treated to a Gonji Performance inside the courtyard of a more modern compound house. The courtyard was packed with gonji players, women, and at least a hundred children. The gonji is a traditional guitar like instrument that has almost a moaning type sound. The performance was fun and at one point we each had to dance by ourselves or with one other person in the courtyard (embarrassing).
Another highlight of the Northern Region Trip was Mole National Park. The Park is a reserve for African animals. We stayed at a hotel (with a pool!) at the park. The hotel overlooks a watering hole and we watched warthogs, elephants, and birds enjoy the water. In the morning we went on a nature hike through the park to see animals. However, when we woke up we were surprised to find an elephant inches away from our hotel rooms! On the nature walk we found two more elephants drinking water and sat and soaked up their majestic entertainment for a while.
Cape CoastBy Melissa Rick
Ghana rests on the Gulf of Guinea. Cape Coast, one of the largest cities in Ghana, embodies a typical tropical city. The buildings are painted brighter colors, palm trees lean into the ocean, and white beaches scattered with white shells. Long narrow wooden fishing boats crowd the beach fronts. They are painted bright colors and are filled with thick fishing nets. Naked or scantly clad children play in the water or practice acrobatic tricks on the sand.
Our primarily purpose for visiting Cape Coast was to see the infamous Cape Coast castles. Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle are painted white and to the unknowing eye, beautiful historical structures. However, I found the community trash dump behind Cape Coast Castle to more adequacy portray the historical elements of these landmarks. These castles represent periods of Ghana’s history since they were built. Elmina Castle was built in the 1400s when the Portuguese were first establishing trade links with the African people off the coast. This location was crucial in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The process of the trade is described as a triangular slave trade. England would trade manufactured goods for slaves. The slaves were then sent to America to work in plantations to produce the raw materials that were sent to England to manufacture goods…and the cycle continues. Over 11 million slaves passed through Elmina Castle and 4 million passed through Cape Coast. This figure does not include those that died at the castle and in the process of capture or transport. Elmina Castle over time switched hands to the Dutch and then the English. Also as history progressed and slave trade was abolished by the British the castles took more administrative proposes.
Visible cruelties run throughout the structures. For example, the church in Elmina castle is located directly above the slave’s dungeons. The dungeons still smelled terrible. They are concrete rooms underground with little to no ventilation or light. The rooms were built to contain 500 persons but during the height of the slave trade over 1, 000 were kept there at a time. The captives could stay in the rooms for up to 3 months. Both castle’s exit to the ocean was called the door of no return. Our guides explained that these gates were now the doors of return for the Africans of the Diaspora to return to Africa.
We also visited Kukom Rainforest and Canopy Walk. The Canopy Walk is narrow rope bridges strung from tree to tree. The bridges hover over the rainforest trees allowing us to look down into the forest. Walking on the shaky but ultimately stable bridges was an adrenaline rush. While at the park we also took the Ebony Tree Trail Walk. Ebony is an endangered wood and was extracted from Africa during pre-colonization and colonization. One tree takes 1,000 years to mature! My favorite tree on the walk was the proud tree. It is a small tree but its roots make it stand above the ground and the roots grow out in front of it so it follows were the water is essentially walking through the forest. The sap from the roots cures certain aliment and the fruit cures different aliments. However, if the two are mixed together it is a powerful poison and is even used as a pesticide. The liquid that comes from the roots will kill any plant life that it touches so that nothing stands in its way as it moves through the rainforest, hence the name proud tree. | <urn:uuid:d940a39f-1180-4f5f-9328-bbbc9e413e7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/ghana/2006/11/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975018 | 2,403 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Posted this topic in Other Computers forum also, thought I'd put it in here also, as it fit's in both.. Also desperate for responses =P Thanks to Bdub for his post, I have added that to the list..
I am currently working on a list of FAQ's for my computer business which our tech's will give out to out business customers when they install a new server..
Just so the clients can have some answers in front of them without ringing us up all the time;
This is what we have so far..
1 - What is a back up log? Where do I find it and how do I understand it?
2 - The Tape log says that there was problem!
3 - I put the wrong tape in
4 - The Tape was supposed to eject.. But it didnt!
5 - There was a power outage, the server went down and we have work to do!
6 - The server turned off while we were working!
7 - The internet wont work on any of our PC's on the Network
8 - How do I turn the server off safely?
9 - How to I power up the Server correctly?
10 - Who do I contact if my question isnt answered here?
** All of our business servers run Windows 2003 Server**
Can anyone think of any more FAQ's I should include in this list? | <urn:uuid:5f805d8e-b1b1-4da0-9b31-8c8e362cf43e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.applefritter.com/node/19144 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966487 | 284 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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Environmental campaigners from the militant Sea Shepherd group said Wednesday a Japanese whaling ship had rammed its vessels in their worst confrontation in the Southern Ocean in three years.
Sea Shepherd said the Japanese factory boat the Nisshin Maru had deliberately collided with boats crewed by anti-whaling campaigners, the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker.
"There has been the most outrageous attack on the Sea Shepherd Australia ships today; multiple rammings of those ships by the giant factory whaling ship from Japan," co-campaign leader Bob Brown said.
"Water cannon laid on the ships and concussion grenades lobbed on the ships from the Japanese government escort vessel.
"Japan through its loud hailers... ordered Australian ships out of Australian territorial waters while they wanted to proceed with their illegal refuelling of the Nisshin Maru... to allow them to continue their illegal whaling in this international and Australian whale sanctuary."
Brown said the incident had destroyed a life boat on the South Korean tanker the Sun Laurel, which was refuelling the Japanese factory ship when the clash occurred.
He said it was the worst confrontation since a January 2010 collision that caused the campaigners' vessel the Ady Gil to sink, with at one point the Bob Barker sandwiched between the Nisshin Maru and the Sun Laurel.
Sea Shepherd said the Nisshin Maru rammed the Bob Barker several times, including from behind, destroying one of their radars and all of their masts and causing it to lose all power and issue a MayDay distress call. Power has since been restored to the ship.
"It's extraordinarily dangerous and it's just a direct break of international law," said Brown, the former leader of Australia's Greens party.
"Canberra needs to tell Tokyo to haul off immediately and to despatch naval vessels down there to uphold international law."
Sea Shepherd's Jeff Hansen said the Steve Irwin had been struck on the stern and right hull.
"We're now under attack with concussion grenades being thrown by armed Japanese coastguard in Australian waters at our crew," he told ABC television.
"We're very concerned for the safety of our crew at the moment."
An official at the whaling division of the Japanese government's Fisheries Agency said it was checking the allegations.
The incident comes after the US Supreme Court earlier this month denied a plea from Sea Shepherd to throw out a lower court's injunction to stay at least 500 yards away from the whaling vessels.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is chasing the Japanese fleet hunting whales off Antarctica as it has done for years in a bid to harass the whalers and prevent animals being slaughtered.
Environment Minister Tony Burke has described Japan's whale hunt as cruel and unnecessary but has so far rejected calls to send an Australian government vessel to monitor the hunt.
He said he was unable to confirm details of the alleged clash.
"The government condemns so-called 'scientific' whaling in all waters and we urge everyone in the ocean to observe safety at sea," he said.
Australia strongly opposes whaling and launched legal action challenging the basis of Japan's so-called "scientific" hunt in December 2010.
Japan claims it conducts vital scientific research using a loophole in an international ban on whaling, but makes no secret of the fact that the animals ultimately end up on dinner plates.
Sea Shepherd said its boats were now escorting the Sun Laurel north, behind the Japanese vessels. None of its crew have been injured, it said. | <urn:uuid:c43eeaa2-1425-4a22-bbd0-6888c91c5e58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130220/activists-say-japanese-whalers-rammed-ships-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966287 | 718 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Parking Reform: Reduce Congestion & Raise Money Minus Albany
Unless Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff are content to leave their legacy in the hands of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority leader Joe Bruno, they should pursue three parking policy reforms that would, like congestion pricing, reduce traffic and generate millions for transportation and street improvements. Unlike congestion pricing, these reforms do not require the approval of the state legislature.
Most Manhattan-bound drivers (PDF file) drive out of choice, not necessity. A recent Schaller Consulting study uncovered the reason why: Most drivers do not pay for parking. As any transportation expert will tell you, the carrot of free parking is too irresistible for drivers to refuse, even when they have decent transit options.
Government workers have their coveted (and often counterfeit) placards, and all drivers have access to a bounty of free and $1.50 per hour spaces, even if they have to circle the block for 40 minutes to find one. Because under-priced spots along the curb are always full, cruising for parking accounts for up to 45 percent of all traffic on city streets.
Three steps, used in other big cities, would enable the mayor to redress root causes of traffic congestion while generating a windfall to fund street improvements:
- Increasing the price for metered parking to a level that frees up spaces and reduces cruising;
- Charging residents for permits that would give them preferences for parking on public streets;
- Cleaning up the rampant misuse and abuse of city issued parking permits. | <urn:uuid:bb733a0b-75c5-4c94-843d-e613976c43d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/07/17/parking-reform-raise-money-and-reduce-congestion-minus-albany/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937159 | 315 | 1.84375 | 2 |
"It's good news," said Rene Velasquez, who watched a Spanish translation on Mexican television of Obama's Tuesday speech. "At last, the U.S. government is taking notice of this problem that is important for their country and ours."
Eduardo Palacios, who came back to Atlixco to run a pizza restaurant after working as an immigrant in the United States, said he was happy to hear that change could be coming.
"I'm glad immigrants may be able to fix their documents," he said, "because many die on the border or suffer a lot."
In Mexico's capital, the new push for immigration reform in the United States was met with some skepticism.
"It is possibly a waste of time. I don't see it succeeding," said Luis Gonzalez, an accountant. "There is no compassion, and we need to work much more diplomatically."
Nancy Perez, director of the Mexico-based immigrant rights organization Sin Fronteras (Without Borders), cautioned against high expectations for reform based on recent comments from U.S. politicians.
"These are the first steps," she said, adding that what the government does will speak volumes.
"We find contradictions in the willingness expressed publicly and the concrete actions of the government," she said, noting that deportations from the United States have increased in recent years.
Mexico's foreign ministry noted Tuesday that the push for immigration policy changes seemed to be gaining momentum.
"The priority of protecting the rights of individuals, regardless of their migratory status, has been rightly included at the center of this debate," the foreign ministry said in a written statement. | <urn:uuid:e407007d-21d3-4e96-aaca-db24af434d3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wdsu.com/news/national/Mexico-welcomes-immigration-reform-push/-/9853500/18332002/-/item/1/-/7o35vs/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978517 | 339 | 1.710938 | 2 |
William Baude at Crescat Sententia quotes Reverend Abernathy of “Guys and Dolls”, asking:
For Roman Catholics, the answer is clear. It’s not a sin because in 1763 Pope Clement VII drank some and decreed:
I would submit it’s a sin to drink bad coffee. Do give that up.
For more coffee history read An Overview of Coffee Evolution which suggests that discussions in coffee houses contributed to calls for political change, and indirectly helped foment both the French and American revolutions. Likely the effect is indirect. However, if coffee can, indeed, lead to revolution, we may need to cut Jacob Levy off or risk overturning our current form of government.
No related posts. | <urn:uuid:14ee21ae-322f-4ac4-bc7e-a950819e5e12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amptoons.com/blog/2004/10/02/coffee/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933978 | 157 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Mission statement: To create and nurture a partnership between a visually impaired individual and a guide dog, facilitating life’s journey with mobility, independence and dignity.
Just to our north in Palmetto lies a bucolic campus where Southeastern Guide Dogs breeds, raises, trains and matches guide dogs with the visually impaired. Through its programs Paws for Independence, Paws for Patriots and Gifted Canines, the nonprofit serves more than 700 active guide dog teams across the nation. Every year, more than 70 teams are added. All of Southeastern’s services are provided at no charge to the recipient, thanks to the generous support of donors and volunteers.
How it all started
The idea for starting a guide dog school in the South came about because there was a need for working guide dogs that were already conditioned to the sometimes brutal heat and humidity we endure. Therefore, if they were bred, raised and trained here, they would be more comfortable with the weather than would a transplant from the North. Southeastern began with humble roots, taking advantage of loaned land and donated golden retrievers to start the program. As the program grew, so did the push to provide the highest quality guide dog, leading to cultivating its own breeding colony of dogs that contained all the qualities needed to be successful guides.
Throughout the years, land was purchased and the facilities have grown. Kennels were built to house 100 dogs-in-training, plus the approximate 200 puppies that are born on campus each year (the puppies are sent to live with volunteer Puppy Raiser families at 9 weeks of age until they come back for harness training at about 1 ½ years). Dormitories were built on campus for the students to stay for a 26-day training period, during which time they learn to function as a team with their new guide.
Southeastern has created more than 2,500 guide dog teams since inception, providing mobility and independence to people in need. It is one of only 12 guide dog schools in the United States, and the only one to focus primarily on the southeast.
In 1987 the organization held its first major fundraiser — Walkathon, a tradition that continues today. March 5 marked the 25th annual Walkathon. and featured a record number of people (2,200) and dogs (more than 500), and it is projected to have raised $375,000 by the time all funds are tallied.
In 199, Southeastern created the Graduate Panel, a group of past graduates who provide input on their experience and aid in improving the program for incoming students.
In 2002, the Gifted Canines program was started as an outlet for dogs who did not meet the stringent guidelines for guide dog work. Dogs from this program have gone on to work for law enforcement and as therapy dogs.
The brand new Canine Connections program pairs gentle companion dogs with visually impaired children to introduce them to the joys and responsibility of dog ownership in preparation for a future guide dog.
Paws for Patriots was started in 2006 and pairs visually impaired veterans with professionally trained guide dogs. In addition to providing guide dogs to blinded soldiers, the organization also provides Veteran Assistance Dogs to veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In addition, Southeastern has placed therapy dogs at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to spread encouragement to soldiers during their grueling physical therapy as they learn to recover from their injuries.
Location, Location, Location
Southeastern Guide Dogs’ campus is a 23-acre site in Palmetto that includes the administration building/student dormitory, receiving kennel, training kennel, puppy & breeding kennel, and the “Freedom Walk” – a place where the students first learn to work with their new guides.
Southeastern Guide Dogs' Downtown Training Center is located in downtown Bradenton and is a base camp for students and trainers during the initial phases of their training. Visitors and those who work downtown have become accustomed to seeing the trainers in their blue shirts putting their charges through their paces throughout the downtown area.
The Discovery Center, located in downtown Sarasota, opened to the public last September. It is a place where visitors can learn all about guide dogs and the amazing service they provide. The Discovery Center also hosts weekly educational seminars on a variety of dog-related topics and puppy hugging sessions. It also includes a unique pet boutique where shoppers can find unusual items for their four-legged friends. Trainers with guide dogs-in-training use the facility as a home base while working the dogs in the hustle and bustle of downtown. Students also utilize the Discovery Center during the second phase of their training while learning to negotiate Main Street and all its hazards.
A Caring & Nurturing Culture
Southeastern Guide Dogs’ 75 employees and 350-plus volunteers are guided by a board of directors comprised of a wide range of influential businesspeople, along with CEO Titus Herman. The nonprofit is run as a well-functioning business that is committed to making fiscally sound decisions.
The atmosphere at Southeastern is one of camaraderie and teamwork where everyone is working for the greater good. They understand the impact a guide dog can have on a visually impaired person’s life and are mindful of that in all interactions. Approximately 368 people have a hand in breeding, whelping, raising and training each successful guide dog team.
You, too, could have a hand in the activities at Southeastern. They are the only guide dog school to invite the general public in to help socialize their 6- to 9-week-old puppies during Puppy Hugging Sessions. Every day except Thursday and Sunday, residents and visitors alike are invited on campus from 9-11 a.m. to interact with the puppies in the puppy kennel and walk the guide dogs-in-training. There are also volunteer opportunities at many different levels of commitment. For more information, visit www.guidedogs.org or call 941-729-5665 ,and be sure to check back with Bradenton Patch for the next installment of Weekly Tails from Southeastern Guide Dogs. | <urn:uuid:6df6973c-f8e1-4d8e-9732-cf09abd0dcd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bradenton.patch.com/groups/volunteering/p/hello-from-southeastern-guide-dogs | 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 | 0.964314 | 1,268 | 1.8125 | 2 |
ARLINGTON, Va.--()--Consumers are seeking high-definition televisions (HDTVs) with the latest built-in features as a growing number of U.S. adults own smart app-enabled displays, according to new research from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®. The study, Beyond 2D Viewing: Understanding the Demand for Advanced Television Features, examined whether current built-in television features, such as 3D and Internet-connected applications, are meeting the needs of consumers.
“Continuing to expand and innovate with 3D content will be extremely important for future usage and will continue to drive sales.”
Consumers are using the built-in features on their HDTV at a high rate, with an increasing number gaining access to Web-enabled content directly through their televisions. More than one in five U.S. adults owns a smart app-enabled HDTV and almost all (90 percent) use the apps available on their displays in some capacity. In addition, more than four in ten HDTV owners connect their primary displays to the Internet, with 76 percent connecting at least one external device with smart app capabilities to their primary displays. Half of all HDTV owners connect a video game console or a DVD/Blu-ray player to their primary displays. Smart app users are most likely to stream video content from the Internet (61 percent), browse the Internet (56 percent) and view pictures (54 percent) using smart apps on their televisions.
Consumers are also looking for displays with built-in Wi-Fi and Internet browsing when purchasing a new HDTV, which trail only high-quality audio and video as the most important purchase factors of HDTVs. Approximately one in three consumers plans to purchase a new HDTV within the next 12 months.
Another way many consumers are experiencing Web-enabled content for HDTV is through a second screen on a portable connected device. Social networking is the most common activity on the second screen. Among HDTV owners who also own a tablet, two-thirds (67 percent) use their tablets for social networking while watching TV. Among HDTV owners who also own a smartphone, more than half (58 percent) are using a social network on that device while watching TV.
“We are living in an app-dominated world, whether it’s on your smartphone, tablet or television,” said Kevin Tillmann, senior research analyst at CEA. “Consumers want access to their apps at all times and they will use whatever device, TVs included, that offer the best and most convenient user experience.”
As 3D becomes a more common feature on HDTVs sold in the U.S., consumers have not only become more aware of the technology, but, according to the study, they are also beginning to embrace it. Today, 21 percent of U.S. homes own at least one 3D-enabled television. CEA’s most recent U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecast shows that unit sales of 3D televisions will reach an estimated 5.6 million in 2012, representing 18 percent of total TV sales, up from 8 percent of total TV sales in 2011. Nearly half (42 percent) of 3D-capable HDTV owners watch five or more hours of 3D content a week. By comparison, three-quarters (75 percent) of 3DTV owners watch more than five hours of 2D content on their 3DTV a week. However, one in ten (nine percent) report watching more than 15 hours of 3D content a week. Movies are the most common content source for viewing 3D, with nearly half (48 percent) of 3DTV owners having watched a 3D Blu-ray disc. Live programming (42 percent) and video games (30 percent) are also popular sources of 3D content. Overall, two-thirds (68 percent) of 3DTV owners rate the visual experience of 3D programming as excellent or good.
“Consumer interest in 3DTVs and 3D content continues to grow as ownership rates increase,” said Tillmann. “Continuing to expand and innovate with 3D content will be extremely important for future usage and will continue to drive sales.”
The Beyond 2D Viewing: Understanding the Demand for Advanced Television Features study was conducted in September 2012. It was designed and formulated by CEA, the most comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry. Please cite any information to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®. The complete report is available free to CEA member companies at members.CE.org. Non-members may purchase the study for $999 at myCEA.CE.org.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $206 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also owns and produces the International CES – The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA’s industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org, www.DeclareInnovation.com and through social media: https://www.facebook.com/#!/CEAfeed, http://twitter.com/ceafeed, http://blog.ce.org/.
2013 International CES
January 8-11, 2013, Las Vegas, NV
March 8-10, 2013, Snowmass, CO | <urn:uuid:b7bcc0ea-9dd2-4553-8477-7608724caff6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20130103006301/en/Consumers-Seek-Embrace-Built-In-Features-HDTVs-CEA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933449 | 1,168 | 1.5 | 2 |
When I was asked to participate on a panel on search and behavioral targeting, my initial thought was "this is going to a short discussion." Of course, it made complete sense that the two industry sweethearts, search and behavioral targeting, be discussed in one forum. But is there really that much to discuss?
While the Big Three, Yahoo, and more recently, MSN and Google, offer levels of behavioral targeting, the search space has been relatively dark when it comes to the topic. The major reason cited is privacy of consumer information.
Privacy concerns and behavioral targeting have long gone hand-in-hand. A survey conducted in 2004 by Burst Media found only 23 percent of respondents are comfortable with Web sites collecting non-PII (personal identifiable information) to deliver more relevant ads. Women were less open to being tracked than men.
Two years later, privacy concerns continue to be a hot topic, particularly since AOL's recent mishap involving user-search data. In July, AOL released search data on 658,000 subscribers. It was intended to be used by the academic community as part of an AOL Research site. The plan backfired because personally identifiable information could still be extracted from the data, including subscribers' names, since most people search their own names. AOL apologized for the error and immediately removed the information; however, this mishap created additional anxiety over Internet privacy issues, which again transferred over to behavioral targeting.
The panel, which was a part of the recent OMMA Expo in New York, included privacy expert Fran Maier, Executive Director of TRUSTe. Ms. Maier's bottom line is to apply judgment when it comes to behavioral targeting and privacy. As an example, serving ads with the consumers name in it may seem like a good idea, but for many it's just is plain creepy.
Whether consumers like it or not, behavioral advertising is taking place both in the offline and online realms and, in many cases, consumers encourage it. Every time a consumer uses their a grocery or drugstore loyalty card to qualify for a store discount and/or money back, the store is employing a form of behavioral targeting. If a customer purchases Pepto-Bismol and swipes his or her card, in subsequent purchase receipts it's very likely he or she will receive a coupon for the same product.
Online, the key is discretion. Advertisers should ask themselves the following questions before implementing a behavioral-targeted campaign:
Remember, there are no standards in this space, and not all solutions are created equal.
In addition to privacy issues, the other hot item on the agenda was Revenue Science's release of Search Re-Targeting, which Omar Tawakol, the company's CMO, discussed. Search Re-Targeting has a lot of potential because it employs the best of search and behavioral targeting, including the following:
There's a lot more to search and behavioral targeting than I originally thought. It's definitely here to stay, and as privacy issues are addressed, publisher opportunities will increase along with consumer acceptance.
Know your Ambiguous Customer: Effective Multi-Channel Tracking
Wednesday, June 5 at 1pm ET - Learn why a move from the "batch and blast" email approach enables better conversations with your customers.
Register today - don't miss this free webinar!
Based in New York, Anna Papadopoulos has held several digital media positions and has worked across many sectors including automotive, financial, pharmaceutical, and CPG.
An advocate for creative media thinking and an early digital pioneer, Anna has been a part of several industry firsts, including the first fully integrated campaign and podcast for Volvo and has been a ClickZ contributor since 2005. She began her career as a media negotiator for TBS Media Management, where she bought for media clients such as CVS and RadioShack. Anna earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from St. John's University in New York.
Anna's ideas and columns represent only her own opinion and not her company's.
June 5, 2013
1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT
June 20, 2013
1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT | <urn:uuid:2261392c-3117-4fc9-bbc2-ef674ef35da8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1704176/search-behavioral-targeting-the-coming-storm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96133 | 854 | 1.734375 | 2 |
By Teresa Rivas
Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund a for a 22-month $4.8 billion loan.
The loan is seen as a necessary step to help restore the company’s beleaguered finances, as well as investors’ faith in the country.
Egypt is expect to submit a request to the IMF Executive Board in a few weeks, to be finalized on Dec. 19. The first funds would be available immediately after board approval, and would help the Egyptian government’s economic program through fiscal 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Fiscal reforms are a key pillar under the program. The authorities plan to reduce wasteful expenditures, including by reforming energy subsidies and better targeting them to vulnerable groups,” said the IMF’s Middle East and central Asia division chief Andreas Bauer in a statement today. ”At the same time, the authorities intend to raise revenues through tax reforms, including by increasing the progressivity of income taxation and by broadening the general sales tax to become a full-fledged value added tax.”
The increased revenues would help Egypt pare down its budget deficit, as well as pay for infrastructure improvements and social programs.
The loan has been long-anticipated as ongoing political uncertainty has spooked investors and squeezed the country’s finances. | <urn:uuid:471bc701-3737-41b6-b00c-8a1bcf0720d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.barrons.com/emergingmarketsdaily/2012/11/20/egypt-imf-reach-preliminary-4-8b-loan-agreement/?mod=BOLBlog?mod=BOL_twm_em | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967759 | 273 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Below is an email sent to all Chesapeake employees Monday morning by the company’s Chief Operating Officer Steve Dixon. Dixon describes how he thinks the EPA’s research is flawed, and says the chemicals found in their test wells are naturally occurring.
Dear Fellow CHK Employees:
By now many of you have read or seen the media coverage of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s draft report claiming evidence of fracking contamination of groundwater near several of EnCana Corporation’s wells in Pavillion, Wyoming. The Pavillion Field was first discovered in the 1960’s and has been developed over time since then using conventional vertical drilling techniques. I am writing to assure you that the media has missed several key facts about this draft report. Meanwhile, despite minimal regional, geological and hydrological knowledge and after years of properly delegating industry oversight to state regulatory agencies, the EPA appears to be attempting to gain regulatory oversight of our industry. We believe that in their haste to find even one exception to the industry’s sterling record of responsible hydraulic fracturing, the EPA has compromised its well testing and data gathering protocols.
In my position, I regularly speak to my counterparts in our industry. When discussing this matter with industry sources, I have learned that the EPA’s test results should not be surprising as the two monitoring wells used to collect samples were drilled into hydrocarbon-bearing zones. As you know, elevated levels of methane and other petroleum related compounds, such as benzene, are naturally occurring in such zones. The bottom line is fracking did not put them there, nature did. Furthermore, when the EPA tested existing domestic water wells in the area, they found no indication of any oil and gas impacts. Only when they drilled their own, much deeper monitoring well did they encounter the hydrocarbons.
It is important to note that throughout the report the Agency hedges its bets by regularly using words such as “likely” or “might” before addressing key findings. In fact, the EPA’s own press release announcing the report says, “the draft report indicates that groundwater in the aquifer contains compounds likely associated with gas production practices, including hydraulic fracturing.” Unfortunately, many in the news media either inadvertently or intentionally missed this nuance and reported a direct causal link between hydraulic fracturing and the compounds detected in two EPA-drilled monitoring wells.
I also think it is important to point out that this draft report has not yet been subjected to the standard scrutiny of a scientific peer review, and its alleged “findings” will almost assuredly not withstand that process. The way this release was handled seems to any objective observer to point to the EPA being more interested in their PR strategy and in establishing a connection between hydraulic fracturing and water contamination than in finding the truth.
While Chesapeake does not operate in this area, this incident is an important reminder to all of us. Our industry is constantly under the microscope from this federal agency that would like nothing more than to find a reason to justify giving the federal government more regulatory oversight. As the most active driller in our industry, much of that attention will fall on our company. This reality further underscores the need for every employee, in all departments, to continue to operate under Chesapeake’s guidelines and uphold the highest standards of care and integrity. Our operations team, the drilling group, and our regulatory team continue to work 24/7/365 to ensure that Chesapeake meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements and continues to lead best practices in our industry. The result of our efforts will continue to revolutionize our industry and reinvigorate our economy.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns and feel free to share with others. | <urn:uuid:fc7bdbba-6675-4880-b29e-d782648a073b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2011/12/12/chesapeake-official-disputes-epas-report-on-pavilion-wyo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960868 | 764 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Promoting a community of learningCollaborative Services
The Collaborative provides services to full- and part-time instructors that support excellence in teaching and student learning. All services are completely confidential, and should be requested by the instructor.
SoTL Faculty Scholars
A cohort of faculty engaged in scholarship to identify and adopt best practices into their teaching, and to explore and measure the effectiveness of these practices on student learning.
Excellence in Education Seminar Series (EESS)
A collaborative effort by representatives from the various schools, colleges and academic areas to share innovative ideas in education with the Quinnipiac community.
Technology Users Group (TUG)
Seminars and workshops designed to highlight how the expanding collections of educational technology services might positively influence pedagogy and learning.
Communities of Practice
Communities of practice consist of small working groups engaging in active, collaborative, year-long projects that are in support of the shared goals of the learning community.
Committee for Engagement and Education of Part-Time Faculty (CEEP)
A committee of the Collaborative dedicated to meeting the needs of part-time faculty.
Scholarship Across the Disciplines (SAD)
The events sponsored by this committee are designed to foster student and faculty engagement around intellectually stimulating topics, including sabbatical and other scholarship.
Best Practices Workshops
Participants share expertise on teaching skills critical to any discipline.
University Book Club
Students, faculty and staff gather in small groups to discuss books related to teaching and learning or the University's common discussion theme program, Campus Cross-Talk.
Held in August and January before classes begin, the Annual Symposia feature an invited speaker and workshops on topics relevant to student engagement and learning and/or University initiatives. These are the first all-faculty/staff gatherings of each semester. | <urn:uuid:6ebc0ca1-c4aa-46d2-8e96-22faae0c1615> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-and-centers/the-collaborative-for-excellence-in-learning-and-teaching/collaborative-programs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940171 | 377 | 1.570313 | 2 |
MIAMI BEACH — Frank Gehry has gone and done it. He has built a box.
At 81, Gehry is probably the most famous living architect, known for buildings that tilt, swoop and all but dance in the street. In the New World Center, however, opening in a series of concerts this week, he has returned to the box — as he has occasionally throughout his career. The $160 million new headquarters for the New World Symphony proves that Gehry can still surprise.
Driving down Washington Avenue, a block above trendy Lincoln Road, you might tag the building as a newish shopping center. An 80-foot-tall glass curtain wall covers half the facade, white panels the rest.
In a symposium Wednesday, Gehry talked about designing the building to fit into its context. At the upper end of the famous art deco district, much of the context is crisp modernist office and apartment buildings.
Look a little closer, though, and you’ll spot a signature Gehry “flower” blooming on the roof, and another over the entrance. At night, you’ll see strange shapes inside: stacks of what look like giant white blocks bulging and listing.
If Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, hides rectilinear galleries inside its titanium swoops, in Miami Beach the architect reverses the equation. The funny stuff happens inside: rehearsal rooms and stairways articulated as tilting slabs and scoops.
The concert hall isn’t a typical 2,000-seater but a surprisingly cozy space for a large orchestra and small audience. Steeply raked seats, upholstered in partly-cloudy blue-and-white prints, accommodate a mere 756, judged appropriate for what is, after all, an apprenticeship orchestra for musicians between conservatories and professional careers.
Below white walls and ceilings, the stage is yellow Alaskan cedar, the floor elsewhere oak. Overhead, big convex acoustical reflectors suggest you’re looking into an enormous white flower. Doubling as projection surfaces, in concerts Tuesday through Thursday they were used variously for video art, line-by-line song translations and brief program notes.
The whole roomy stage, with motorized risers, can be flattened to audience-floor level. The front section of audience seating can be retracted to expand the floor for dinners, receptions, even dancing.
As in Gehry’s Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the audience is clustered in terraces all around the stage. In a mixed-bag Schubert concert Thursday, the onstage orchestra alternated with smaller ensembles on minibalconies at sides of the stage and the audience.
There’s hardly a parallel surface anywhere, hardly a symmetry, generally good for sound dispersal, and a 50-foot-high ceiling gives the sound some room to bloom. It’s a small hall, though, for a full symphony orchestra, and even with all available sound-absorbent curtains deployed on side and rear walls this week, fortissimos were very loud. The orchestra probably needs to learn to play with more reserve.
The building also includes several sizes of rehearsal rooms, the largest with a glass wall toward the facade, plus plenty of individual practice rooms. Every room is wired for state-of-the-art Internet2, for high-resolution video-and-audio links to teachers and coaches around the world.
Gehry and NWS founder and artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas have been keen here to break down barriers between stage and audience, and, indeed, to open the sometimes remote world of classical music to the world outside. With multiple fixed and remote-control cameras inside, concerts can be projected in high-quality video on the building’s facade, with excellent sound in the new 2.5-acre SoundScape park out front. Otherwise, kaleidoscopic video art by Tal Rosner and C.E.B. Reas animates the wall.
The New World Center is a specialized building for a special client, but its democratizing concepts and technological advances deserve study by professional orchestras. Once again, Frank Gehry has proved that architecture can be fun.
New World Center, Miami Beach, Fla.
Architect: Gehry Partners, LLP
Consultants: Yasuhisa Toyota, Nagata Acoustics America Inc. (acoustics); Theatre Projects Consultants (theater design)
Size: 100,641 sq. ft.
Cost: $160 million | <urn:uuid:46baecbf-28b7-47d3-8d61-9aec3afda168> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/scott-cantrell/20110128-architecture-review-frank-gehry-designs-a-box-with-surprises-inside-for-the-new-world-symphony.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932399 | 955 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Over the past ten years, increased global interconnectivity among societies, businesses and individuals has given rise to a lot of complexity. For most people and organizations, the future is more volatile and uncertain than ever before; and this is only the beginning. The next decade belongs those who learn to adapt and thrive through large-scale structural changes and turbulence.
For most businesses, software plays a key role in anticipating and responding to these dynamics. Getting ahead and staying there is now directly tied to our ability to design, deliver and evolve software. Routinely closing the loop between business strategy and software delivery has never been more critical, or more possible. But it is hard. Everyone - business, techies, managers and executives - must get in on the action.
Continuous Delivery can help large enterprises become as lean, agile and innovative as a perpetual beta startup. It requires a culture of collaboration, learning and discovery across the entire organization. Leaders will need to re-think their management styles. Business people will need to learn a lot more about software, and software people will need to learn more about business. Individuals will need to re-invent themselves at every level in the organization. In this talk, we'll look at the leadership practices, mindsets and behaviors you'll need to make it happen. | <urn:uuid:896b2c34-3b8d-4d76-b3d5-14d54bcb1024> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/ALM-Summit/2011/Adaptive-Leadership | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960173 | 263 | 1.726563 | 2 |
49:00 minutes (23.53 MB)
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*This episode originally aired on December 7, 2009.
The average American wakes up each day, goes to work, comes home, and goes to bed—with no idea that he or she may have committed a federal crime or two over the course of the day.
That's the argument of attorney Harvey Silverglate, whose new book Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent makes the case that federal laws are so wide-reaching and vague that most of us violate them all the time without ever intending to or even realizing it. Silverglate says he knows plenty of real criminals but that a troubling pattern of prosecutorial overreach has taken shape since the 1980s-- and it amounts to a kind of vicitimization-by-law, that puts our democracy at risk.
It isn't just this one book or this one author ringing the alarm bell though. In fact, just when it seemed like liberals and conservatives might never agree on anything again--scholars and politicians from all over the political spectrum have united against a common cause: big government as applied to criminal justice.
Today, Where We Live, we'll talk with Silverglate about his book--and about some of the seemingly every day activities that are actually illegal, and why it matters.
Join the conversation! Leave your questions and comments below! | <urn:uuid:adeef92a-86ff-47f5-9035-6e089110f56f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cpbn.org/program/where-we-live/episode/wwl-nation-criminals?mini=calendar/2013/02/all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960221 | 289 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The Bibb County school board agreed Thursday to a blended school calendar for the 2013-2014 academic year but didnt immediately endorse a plan to begin year-round school in the fall of 2014.
The board unanimously approved next years calendar that will help the school district transition from a traditional calendar to a year-round schedule. The committee, however, tabled the 2014-2015 calendar proposal because of lingering questions by board members.
Deputy Superintendent Jane Drennan noted during the meeting that a year-round schedule -- in which students attend class for 45 days followed by vacations of 15 days each quarter -- is part of the Macon Miracle, a plan approved a year ago by the board to help improve Bibbs public schools.
Last month, board members put on hold a year-round proposal that would have meant year-round schools for the upcoming school year, because several members said the issue needed to be studied further. Administrators returned Thursday with two proposed two-year plans.
Option A, the blended option, is similar to the calendar Houston County schools use. That would go into effect for the 2013-2014 year followed by the year-round calendar the next year. Option B proposed a similar calendar to the one the district currently uses, followed by the year-round calendar.
Based on separate surveys from employees and the community, Drennan said, the majority of people asked favored Option A.
The board didnt dismiss going to a year-round calendar, but several board members, including Lester Miller, Thelma Dillard and Jason Downey, said theyve heard from several constituents who have concerns that need to be addressed before that happens.
However, board member Tom Hudson said he hadnt heard any concerns from his constituents and thinks the district should approve the calendar.
In the end, board member Wanda West proposed a compromise in which the committee approved the blended calendar for the 2013-2014 academic year while tabling the year-round proposal for the following year. The matter will be tabled until Drennan can answer board members questions.
Under the 2013-14 calendar approved Thursday, classes will begin Aug. 1 and end May 28. Students will get extended breaks in October and February, plus vacation during the week of Thanksgiving as well as traditional holidays and spring break.
In a separate presentation, the board unanimously approved switching to a daily, seven-period high school schedule for next year. Thats a change from the current four-by-four block scheduling the district has used since 2001-02.
During the scheduling presentation, administrators told board members that while the school day would remain on a 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. schedule, individual classes would run 50 minutes for the entire school year instead of the current 90-minute sessions for a semester in the block scheduling.
Students would get 9,000 minutes of instruction in the seven-period format instead of the current 8,100 minutes, and teachers would teach up to six classes a day with a planning period rather than three classes a day with a planning period.
Students also will need 24 credits to graduate instead of the current 28. Houston, Fulton, Henry and Monroe counties all use a seven-period school day.
The switch is expected to yield huge budget savings -- about $2.9 million in salaries and benefits by the end of the fourth year, officials said. Cumulatively over the four years, an estimated 39 positions would be eliminated in Bibb County high schools, mostly through attrition.
Jerri Hall, principal of Rutland High School and a member of the committee that examined the seven-period day, told the board that because of the amount of testing the state requires, teachers often lost valuable instruction time during block scheduling.
Officials told board members that by approving the change now, it would allow the district to implement the new class schedule by August.
Writer Andrea Castillo contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:ecbd2171-7f0a-42fd-859e-9d1c6bbd66d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macon.com/2013/02/28/2375580/bibb-school-board-committee-approves.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962615 | 799 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Three key issues dealt in the EFSF are:
1. Lever EFSF to Increase its fire power
2. Greek debt Haircuts (10% vs 50%)
3. Recapitalisation of European banks
We look at each of these in some level of detail on what it holds for bond markets, the only true barometer of what lies ahead.
1. EFSF Leverage:
The EFSF was not granted a banking license which would have given it an ability to raise capital off ECB balance sheet and hence resolve the whole matter. This was anyways impossible without A FISCAL UNION. So am not sure why the markets were even talking about it. The EFSF as it stands will increasingly phase out ECB bond buys.
There are two important options via which EFSF will deal with the issue of bond purchase:
- A peripheral country issues bonds with a partial insurance certificate to be covered by EFSF bonds, which the peripheral has bought using an EFSF loan and deposited with a fiduciary. If the peripheral defaults, the fiduciary will deliver the EFSF bonds to investors in compensation. From an economic vantage point, the EFSF will provide partial insurance against a default of the peripheral bonds. It is important that EFSF maintain its AAA rating at all times for this to work. It is also important to understand on how the EFSF will deal with losses exceeding 20% like in the case of Greece.
- An SPV(special purpose vehicle) buys existing or new peripheral bonds. The EFSF will make a financial contribution to this special purpose vehicle by participating in the most risky tranche, which would be the first to shoulder the losses in case of a default on the peripheral bonds bought by the vehicle. Other investors would buy the less risky tranches. Just as under the first option, the EFSF would ultimately insure the repayment of the peripherals against default up to an amount that is still to be defined.
According to the statement, both options might be used to insure bonds up to the four or fivefold volume of the EFSF assets. The EFSF may lend € 440 bn at most. Taking into account the already committed funds (€ 133 bn) and the funds needed for other purposes (such as banking recapitalisation), the EFSF might have € 200 – 250 bn at its disposal. If it insures 20 – 25% of
the repayments of the peripheral bonds, it could provide insurance for bonds with a total volume of about € 1,000 bn. That would certainly be enough to cover Spain’s and Italy’s financial needs until the end of 2014. We expect that Spain and Italy will require a total of € 710 bn; usually, the IMF takes on one-third of that amount. However, the key question is whether investors will be willing to buy large volumes of insured bonds and thus put an end to the government debt crisis. This will be tricky for the following reasons:
- The very fact that Government needs to provide insurance will spook bond investors who will perceive that these bonds are not at all secure. Bond investors close to EU markets may deal with this contradiction differently from Bond investors in US or Asia who will be far skeptical of such a mechanism
- Many investors may doubt the credibility of this partial insurance. If the governments state that a haircut for a peripheral country is “voluntary” as in the case of Greece, investors might think that the EFSF as insurance provider may not pay in the case of future haircuts.
It is also to be seen on how EFSF is able to leverage its existing pool of equity. Given China reluctance, it may ultimately be left to private investors who will be far more demanding and hence threatening the whole leverage story itself.
2. Haircut is significant but insufficient
Even with haircut of 50% for Greece debt (more than 12% agreed on July 21), the country still has a debt/gbp ratio in excess of 100% and hence future defaults cannot be ruled out. The community of states would contribute another €30bn, presumably in order to enhance the new bonds with collateral and thereby provide a bigger incentive for private sector creditors to participate in a debt exchange.
According to the community’s plans, Greek debt would decline by an amount which is estimated
to correspond to 50% of Greece’s GDP.
3. Bank recapitalisation
As expected, the heads of government agreed that European banks shall have a core capital ratio of 9% in the future even if the government bonds they hold are accounted for at market valuations. According to the statement, banks shall reach this target by mid-2012. In order to do this, banks shall primarily raise funds themselves. The EFSF shall take action only if neither the banks themselves nor the national governments have enough funds to recapitalise the banks. But as we reported from Reuters that the Bank recap is a political problem more than an economic one and hence we will back the EU politicians to throw their weights around to solve the problem of bank recap.
The shortfall created by a tougher stress test is certainly large. Take the 90 banks that participated in the European Banking Authority’s now-discredited exam in July. If banks were forced to mark their sovereign debt to market and achieve a core Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 7 percent under a stressed scenario, they would need 93 billion euros. Raise the pass mark to 9 percent, and the hole is 260 billion euros.
That’s a giant leap from the gap of 2.5 billion euros identified by the EBA in July. However, when judged against the economies of the 21 countries whose banks sat the test, it’s still manageable. A 93 billion euro capital injection is equivalent to only 0.7 percent of the countries’ expected GDP for 2011. Even with a 9 percent pass mark, the bill is still just 2 percent of GDP.
While the partial insurance scheme should provide stability to debt problem and cover Spain and Italy needs well into 2013, we are not bought into the story given lack of details. Italian auctions after the launch of EFSF did not comfort investors as yields hit the roof again at 6%, a level which will not be sustainable for Italy weak cash balance sheet.
Euro zone is developing from a monetary union characterized by the Maastricht Treaty towards a transfer and liability union. If the current EFSF mechanism fails to please the bond investors, the governments may request their parliaments at the end of the day to increase their guarantees for the EFSF another time so as to enable the EFSF to cover the funding costs even of the large peripherals Italy and Spain for three years. Further leverage may be difficult to get approval and if they do get approval, EFSF itself may lose its rating and hence risking the entire structure. This alone is enough for us to suggest that crisis worsen far more before before ebbing off. | <urn:uuid:0af68df5-0d1c-43c6-9d68-2bb924c40988> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://capital3x.com/think-tank/efsf-deal-analysis-from-captial3x/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955665 | 1,441 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Updated: March 6, 2013 4:36 PM EST
Sass & the City: Housework is new workout
What do a pair of size-five bluejeans and a clean kitchen floor have in common?
According to a new study, everything.
Sit down and grab a Kleenex. Because this is way depressing.
The study, as reported by the New York Times, found that women are doing far less housework today than they did back in the 1960s. And it's no surprise that the result is a collective expanding waistline and higher levels of obesity.
Apparently, in 1965, women spent an average of 25.7 hours a week cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. These days, that number is down to only 13.3 hours of housework a week.
Excuse us! Most of us are busy earning a living 40 or more hours a week. When we get home, we want to spend time with our kids, enjoy our hobbies and just relax.
The last thing we want to do is pick up a broom.
Honestly, I am shocked at the fact that any woman spends even 13.3 hours weekly on housework. Personally, the majority of time I invest in housework is either spent whining about it or wishing I didn't have to do it.
According to the study, even housewives and stay-at-home moms are slacking in the housework department. They now burn about 360 fewer calories daily than they did in the 1960s.
Women who work outside the home fare a bit better, burning about 132 fewer calories on household chores than they did in the past ... all of which add up to extra pounds.
The study's recommendation? Duh. More housework.
Somehow, I feel like Martha Stewart has to be behind this, checking for dust and pulling the strings like the evil, lavender-sachet-scented, dirtless, apple-pie puppet master that she is.
And where, may I ask, are the men in this study?
To make matters worse, the study was funded by a grant from none other than Coca Cola.
This is the company that sells the sugary beverage that is consumed on average 403 times per year by Americans. And, at 97 calories a crack, that adds up to a whopping 39,000 or more calories a year.
That's a lot of bath tub scrubbing, people!
Pass the Comet Cleanser ... to your guy!
Follow Monica on Twitter at twitter.com/sassnthecity or e-mail her at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:0d396d9c-23e3-4f91-bd77-e2a3c2d2870d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130307/ENTERTAINMENT15/303079949/0/SPORTS05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957454 | 546 | 1.5625 | 2 |
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